Resort Thread Jambo! Disney's ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE

[TreAntDeu]

I need Jiko to come back so bad

I miss it so much. Lot of nostalgia tied up in there. Really hoping its open early December.

 

[Meglen]

Had to share the excitement in getting the partial view savannah room as a standard. Getting to go to sleep with zebras so close is just amazing.

 

[rangerxenos]

Had to share the excitement in getting the partial view savannah room as a standard. Getting to go to sleep with zebras so close is just amazing.

This is what I'm hoping for December! Did you put a request in for a partial view for a Standard in advance, or just get lucky when you checked in?

 

[Meglen]

This is what I'm hoping for December! Did you put a request in for a partial view for a Standard in advance, or just get lucky when you checked in?

Just got lucky. It is very far from the lobby but worth it imo.

 

[rangerxenos]

Just got lucky. It is very far from the lobby but worth it imo.

We lucked out several times with partial savannah views in Standard rooms in past stays, and happily exchanged a short walk for savannah!

 

[mousedroid]

New to booking at one of the deluxe resorts, and I'm curious whether other folks feel Club Level is worth the price.

For the dates of our trip, we can do a Savanna-view room with 4-day park pass with Park Hopper option for $4,793. For a Club Level Savanna-view room, the total for the same package is $5700. So Club Level access is a $907 upcharge. We're staying for 5 nights, so the upcharge amounts to $181 per night.

Other than access to the Kilimanjaro Club, which would be neat, what other perks does Club Level access have to justify the cost? Will our room have a significantly better view of the Savanna than a non Club Level room? Will we get preferred access to dining, or other activities at AKL or elsewhere, like an advantage on booking Fast Passes if those still exist in 6 months?

We don't plan on hanging out at the Lodge that often. We'd probably take advantage of the coffee and breakfast service most mornings (though we plan to eat at Kona one day, and may need to get to parks for rope drop certain other days). We'd probably also take advantage of the evening hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in the lounge a few nights, but that's about it.

Most days we'll be out in the parks, and miss the daytime snack offerings in the lounge, and even certain evenings if we stay for fireworks, we would probably miss the evening snack and beverage services.

So really it comes down to, can we expect the $181/day extra that we'd be paying to count as a room upgrade to an area with a significantly better savanna view (what we really care about), and/or are there perks beyond the access to the lounge that might justify this additional cost? If it helps, the Club Level Savanna view room would overlook the Arusha Savanna. I'm not sure what a non-Club Level Savanna View room would overlook.

 

[EmilyGahr]

New to booking at one of the deluxe resorts, and I'm curious whether other folks feel Club Level is worth the price.

For the dates of our trip, we can do a Savanna-view room with 4-day park pass with Park Hopper option for $4,793. For a Club Level Savanna-view room, the total for the same package is $5700. So Club Level access is a $907 upcharge. We're staying for 5 nights, so the upcharge amounts to $181 per night.

Other than access to the Kilimanjaro Club, which would be neat, what other perks does Club Level access have to justify the cost? Will our room have a significantly better view of the Savanna than a non Club Level room? Will we get preferred access to dining, or other activities at AKL or elsewhere, like an advantage on booking Fast Passes if those still exist in 6 months?

We don't plan on hanging out at the Lodge that often. We'd probably take advantage of the coffee and breakfast service most mornings (though we plan to eat at Kona one day, and may need to get to parks for rope drop certain other days). We'd probably also take advantage of the evening hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in the lounge a few nights, but that's about it.

Most days we'll be out in the parks, and miss the daytime snack offerings in the lounge, and even certain evenings if we stay for fireworks, we would probably miss the evening snack and beverage services.

So really it comes down to, can we expect the $181/day extra that we'd be paying to count as a room upgrade to an area with a significantly better savanna view (what we really care about), and/or are there perks beyond the access to the lounge that might justify this additional cost? If it helps, the Club Level Savanna view room would overlook the Arusha Savanna. I'm not sure what a non-Club Level Savanna View room would overlook.

Club level rooms will be on a higher floor, but I wouldn't say the view is significantly better.

Fastpass+ is permanently gone, and currently there are no Club Level benefits with Genie+ launching next week.

Package delivery to your room (a club level perk) is currently suspended, as is turn down service.

Having a dedicated concierge is nice, so you can ask questions, pay off your room charges, etc without waiting in line at the front desk.

It's really up to you to decide if breakfast and evening cocktails are worth the upgrade!

 

[igrsod]

New to booking at one of the deluxe resorts, and I'm curious whether other folks feel Club Level is worth the price.

For the dates of our trip, we can do a Savanna-view room with 4-day park pass with Park Hopper option for $4,793. For a Club Level Savanna-view room, the total for the same package is $5700. So Club Level access is a $907 upcharge. We're staying for 5 nights, so the upcharge amounts to $181 per night.

Other than access to the Kilimanjaro Club, which would be neat, what other perks does Club Level access have to justify the cost? Will our room have a significantly better view of the Savanna than a non Club Level room? Will we get preferred access to dining, or other activities at AKL or elsewhere, like an advantage on booking Fast Passes if those still exist in 6 months?

We don't plan on hanging out at the Lodge that often. We'd probably take advantage of the coffee and breakfast service most mornings (though we plan to eat at Kona one day, and may need to get to parks for rope drop certain other days). We'd probably also take advantage of the evening hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in the lounge a few nights, but that's about it.

Most days we'll be out in the parks, and miss the daytime snack offerings in the lounge, and even certain evenings if we stay for fireworks, we would probably miss the evening snack and beverage services.

So really it comes down to, can we expect the $181/day extra that we'd be paying to count as a room upgrade to an area with a significantly better savanna view (what we really care about), and/or are there perks beyond the access to the lounge that might justify this additional cost? If it helps, the Club Level Savanna view room would overlook the Arusha Savanna. I'm not sure what a non-Club Level Savanna View room would overlook.

The view won't be better at all than the regular Savannah rooms... it will be about the same. From my limited knowledge and someone can correct me if I'm wrong, the Club level rooms are on the higher floors, and from our stays, the best views are lower to the Savannah... up close and personal.
We have never done Club level, as our trips would not allow us to take advantage of the Club food enough to justify the price. If I were planning on spending quite a bit of time at the resort, then I could see how it could be a nice little perk.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

New to booking at one of the deluxe resorts, and I'm curious whether other folks feel Club Level is worth the price.

For the dates of our trip, we can do a Savanna-view room with 4-day park pass with Park Hopper option for $4,793. For a Club Level Savanna-view room, the total for the same package is $5700. So Club Level access is a $907 upcharge. We're staying for 5 nights, so the upcharge amounts to $181 per night.

Other than access to the Kilimanjaro Club, which would be neat, what other perks does Club Level access have to justify the cost? Will our room have a significantly better view of the Savanna than a non Club Level room? Will we get preferred access to dining, or other activities at AKL or elsewhere, like an advantage on booking Fast Passes if those still exist in 6 months?

We don't plan on hanging out at the Lodge that often. We'd probably take advantage of the coffee and breakfast service most mornings (though we plan to eat at Kona one day, and may need to get to parks for rope drop certain other days). We'd probably also take advantage of the evening hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in the lounge a few nights, but that's about it.

Most days we'll be out in the parks, and miss the daytime snack offerings in the lounge, and even certain evenings if we stay for fireworks, we would probably miss the evening snack and beverage services.

So really it comes down to, can we expect the $181/day extra that we'd be paying to count as a room upgrade to an area with a significantly better savanna view (what we really care about), and/or are there perks beyond the access to the lounge that might justify this additional cost? If it helps, the Club Level Savanna view room would overlook the Arusha Savanna. I'm not sure what a non-Club Level Savanna View room would overlook.

IMO CL will never 'make sense' for most when you try to break it down into dollars and cents. But for us it's mainly about convenience (which is hard to put a $ value on), and that's mainly breakfast. Just simple stuff like a cup of coffee without having to run to Mara, maybe a morning mimosa, a place to hang out while others in your party are getting ready, etc. While not usually needed, having CL CMs there to assist with any problems (MagicBands, room charges, etc) can be handy. A glass of wine or beer here and there can add up, depending on your habits.

PP covered the basics... .there's typically not much other magic/Pixie Dust when it comes to CL.

I do like knowing I'll be on the 4th floor and the CL rooms are generally closer towards the lobby, not all the way on the end of each wing.

I haven't been to AKL CL since it reopened in August but have seen pics - pre-COVID I would have rated AKL CL as the best breakfast spread of any CL, and the pics seems pretty consistent with pre-COVID. Overall I rank AKL CL pretty high overall among the CLs - just a warm, inviting place with typically decent offerings and lovely CMs.

We usually stay CL but don't get ourselves 'married to the lounge' for services. If we're out/about and miss a service, so be it. If we happen to be around, great. We have trips where we look back and are like "geez, we were barely around the resort, that really wasn't worth it" and others where it felt like we were around a lot, but we just roll with it.

Just one person's perspective and everyone will be different on the topic. Happy to answer any questions!

 

[Best Aunt]

Re Club Level: I think you need to know what hours the lounge is open, and compare that to the hours you would be at the hotel. Would you leave in the morning before the lounge would open? Would you come back at night after they stop serving food?

Also, find out what food they are serving in the lounge. Would your family eat it? If no, then food in the lounge is not a benefit to you.

several years ago, i was taken up to the lounge to bypass the front desk. There was only one person working up there and she was on a long phone call. I felt like it woukd have been faster at the front desk.

 

[rangerxenos]

New to booking at one of the deluxe resorts, and I'm curious whether other folks feel Club Level is worth the price.

For the dates of our trip, we can do a Savanna-view room with 4-day park pass with Park Hopper option for $4,793. For a Club Level Savanna-view room, the total for the same package is $5700. So Club Level access is a $907 upcharge. We're staying for 5 nights, so the upcharge amounts to $181 per night.

Other than access to the Kilimanjaro Club, which would be neat, what other perks does Club Level access have to justify the cost? Will our room have a significantly better view of the Savanna than a non Club Level room? Will we get preferred access to dining, or other activities at AKL or elsewhere, like an advantage on booking Fast Passes if those still exist in 6 months?

We don't plan on hanging out at the Lodge that often. We'd probably take advantage of the coffee and breakfast service most mornings (though we plan to eat at Kona one day, and may need to get to parks for rope drop certain other days). We'd probably also take advantage of the evening hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in the lounge a few nights, but that's about it.

Most days we'll be out in the parks, and miss the daytime snack offerings in the lounge, and even certain evenings if we stay for fireworks, we would probably miss the evening snack and beverage services.

So really it comes down to, can we expect the $181/day extra that we'd be paying to count as a room upgrade to an area with a significantly better savanna view (what we really care about), and/or are there perks beyond the access to the lounge that might justify this additional cost? If it helps, the Club Level Savanna view room would overlook the Arusha Savanna. I'm not sure what a non-Club Level Savanna View room would overlook.

Honestly, I don't think it's worth the extra expense unless you plan on spending a lot of time at the resort.

We were upgraded to CL a couple of years ago at GF, and it was nice, but we barely used it other than mornings because we were at the parks most of the time. If I was paying for it, I don't think I'd do it.

 

[mousedroid]

Thank you all for your replies! I figured it would come down to a personal decision of what the value is, I was just curious if there were any perks I was unaware of.

EmilyGahr mentioned package delivery to your room, but I thought any resort guest could have packages delivered from the parks to at least their resort, if not exactly their room.

Also, my sister and brother-in-law live in Orlando, if they came to the resort to visit us one day, could we take them up to the lounge to check it out, or is each guest required to scan a magic band at the concierge desk or something? Not trying to "game the system" or get something for nothing, but my sister loves AKL and has never been to the Kilimanjaro Club, so it would be a nice treat for her to check it out and spend a little time there.

 

[Happy_2_B]

New to booking at one of the deluxe resorts, and I'm curious whether other folks feel Club Level is worth the price.

For the dates of our trip, we can do a Savanna-view room with 4-day park pass with Park Hopper option for $4,793. For a Club Level Savanna-view room, the total for the same package is $5700. So Club Level access is a $907 upcharge. We're staying for 5 nights, so the upcharge amounts to $181 per night.

Other than access to the Kilimanjaro Club, which would be neat, what other perks does Club Level access have to justify the cost? Will our room have a significantly better view of the Savanna than a non Club Level room? Will we get preferred access to dining, or other activities at AKL or elsewhere, like an advantage on booking Fast Passes if those still exist in 6 months?

We don't plan on hanging out at the Lodge that often. We'd probably take advantage of the coffee and breakfast service most mornings (though we plan to eat at Kona one day, and may need to get to parks for rope drop certain other days). We'd probably also take advantage of the evening hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in the lounge a few nights, but that's about it.

Most days we'll be out in the parks, and miss the daytime snack offerings in the lounge, and even certain evenings if we stay for fireworks, we would probably miss the evening snack and beverage services.

So really it comes down to, can we expect the $181/day extra that we'd be paying to count as a room upgrade to an area with a significantly better savanna view (what we really care about), and/or are there perks beyond the access to the lounge that might justify this additional cost? If it helps, the Club Level Savanna view room would overlook the Arusha Savanna. I'm not sure what a non-Club Level Savanna View room would overlook.

Rooms are the same- sometimes one floor higher- same view. It can be worth it, but for our trip next month we decided to just go with a savannah view room instead of CL since they are just ramping up and services aren't what they used to be at AKL CL yet. We have requested a room that is considered standard literally two doors down from the CL room where we normally stay- see what happens. If they return to the way they used to do stuff we may go back- but these days it is just DW and me, so that $200.00 a day pays for a Boma breakfast buffet every day with enough left over to cover a huge chunk of a TS dinner for two every night.

A few things to help with your decision. Do you drink alcohol? If so, the complimentary drinks in the evenings are worth a considerable amount of money, as are the unlimited sodas and waters and teas and coffees and whatnot. A refillable cup from the resort will do something similar- but it isn't the same as stuffing a bunch of sodas and waters and snacks in a backpack to cover the trip to the park for the day- there is tangible value in that. How many kids do you have? When our kids were younger and they went with us, that was the tipping point for value since 4 (or more) people you can usually break even or do better than you would in a standard room (if you drink alcohol). The concierge at the front desk can do all the same stuff as the CL concierge- but you may have to wait in a line to get done what you need to get done. There have been times at CL when there was a wait to talk to the concierge as well- and it was faster to just go downstairs and have the front desk concierge handle it. Do you like desserts? The dessert options are usually amazing, so this has value as well. If you aren't going to be back in time for evening appetizers at least half the time you won't reach the break even point as far as dollars and cents are concerned- whether you drink alcohol or not. Then you need to decide if the convenience is worth the additional money. There's my 2 cents worth.

 

[mousedroid]

A few things to help with your decision...

Thanks Happy_2_B. I am leaning towards the standard Savanna view room. It's just going to be my fiancee and I, so it would be $90 per person. While we do drink alcohol and I do like the idea of being able to pack snacks and drinks to take to the parks with us, I just don't know that we'd get $90 per day per person of value out of it (or $75/day/person if you count the morning we check out).

Disney vacations can be hectic as it is (especially when you only go every 5-10 years like us), so worrying about getting back to the hotel for free apps and drinks, and maybe skipping a fireworks show or something to do so would just add stress to the trip.

 

[rick1zoo2]

New to booking at one of the deluxe resorts, and I'm curious whether other folks feel Club Level is worth the price.

For the dates of our trip, we can do a Savanna-view room with 4-day park pass with Park Hopper option for $4,793. For a Club Level Savanna-view room, the total for the same package is $5700. So Club Level access is a $907 upcharge. We're staying for 5 nights, so the upcharge amounts to $181 per night.

Other than access to the Kilimanjaro Club, which would be neat, what other perks does Club Level access have to justify the cost? Will our room have a significantly better view of the Savanna than a non Club Level room? Will we get preferred access to dining, or other activities at AKL or elsewhere, like an advantage on booking Fast Passes if those still exist in 6 months?

We don't plan on hanging out at the Lodge that often. We'd probably take advantage of the coffee and breakfast service most mornings (though we plan to eat at Kona one day, and may need to get to parks for rope drop certain other days). We'd probably also take advantage of the evening hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in the lounge a few nights, but that's about it.

Most days we'll be out in the parks, and miss the daytime snack offerings in the lounge, and even certain evenings if we stay for fireworks, we would probably miss the evening snack and beverage services.

So really it comes down to, can we expect the $181/day extra that we'd be paying to count as a room upgrade to an area with a significantly better savanna view (what we really care about), and/or are there perks beyond the access to the lounge that might justify this additional cost? If it helps, the Club Level Savanna view room would overlook the Arusha Savanna. I'm not sure what a non-Club Level Savanna View room would overlook.

Going to echo a lot of what GADisneyDad14 said, if you are looking for dollars and cents comparison, CL won't be worth the extra $. For us, CL is all about having a place to sit and relax (and unfortunately work), with light snacks and drinks available. If you are mainly going to spend most of your time at the parks, especially if you plan to be early and do rope drops, the CL lounge hours aren't set up to accommodate that, you may end up getting breakfast elsewhere. At AKL, as others have said, the view is not much different, and frankly if you are looking to save $, a regular room at AKL is fine, as there are plenty of places (porches, etc.) that you can sit and watch the animals from.

 

[Happy_2_B]

so worrying about getting back to the hotel for free apps and drinks, and maybe skipping a fireworks show or something to do so would just add stress to the trip.

This is the EXACT reason we decided to skip CL this time. Plus, I quit drinking a couple of years ago- and my wife doesn't drink alcohol- so we just can't justify it. The money will be better spent on regular meals- although we will miss the CL experience.

 

[mousedroid]

...frankly if you are looking to save $, a regular room at AKL is fine, as there are plenty of places (porches, etc.) that you can sit and watch the animals from.

Understood. However, my finacee once told me that one of the things she's always wanted to at Disney was stay at the AKL in a room overlooking the Savanna, so I'm going to do that for her one way or the other. It's the least I can do after she agreed to spend the insane amount of money for us to spend two nights on the Galactic Star Cruiser during this trip.

 

[rick1zoo2]

Understood. However, my finacee once told me that one of the things she's always wanted to at Disney was stay at the AKL in a room overlooking the Savanna, so I'm going to do that for her one way or the other. It's the least I can do after she agreed to spend the insane amount of money for us to spend two nights on the Galactic Star Cruiser during this trip.

Now that train of thought is one that I completely understand and agree with - doing something that will make your partner happy. That is the rational for many things we have done on our trips, including staying Club Level.

 

[mousedroid]

Now that train of thought is one that I completely understand and agree with - doing something that will make your partner happy. That is the rational for many things we have done on our trips, including staying Club Level.

Yes, and while I think she would appreciate the perks of Club Level access, she wouldn't feel they were critical to her enjoyment, or particularly worth the money. Therefore, I rebooked a standard Savanna view room and cancelled the Club Access room.

We are hoping the Savor the Savanna experience is once again available by next May, because we'd eagerly spend some of the money we saved on that.

 

[Happy_2_B]

I rebooked a standard Savanna view room and cancelled the Club Access room.

You made the right choice IMHO based upon your travel party and what you are planning to do at WDW.