Just arrived home last night from a wonderful four-night mother-daughter trip at AKL - Jambo House. This was our first time actually staying at the resort, though we had visited twice before to dine at Jiko and loved it. Overall it was a great experience, and I have already booked another long weekend for myself at AKL in December.
Our thoughts:
Buses: We had great luck, and were actually quite impressed when comparing the bus service to POFQ and the Polynesian, our other frequent favorites. Usually we were on a bus within 5-10 minutes of walking into the the stop. One morning around 8:30, the first bus for MK filled up and we had to wait for the second one, but we were still on a bus within 15 minutes. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a return bus from the parks or even Disney Springs. Still not as convenient as the Polynesian's overall transportation scheme, with its easy access to the TTC and all the monorails and boats, but pretty good nonetheless for buses.
Dining: We found the Mara to be decent for quick service and everything we ordered there was tasty. Tried the Zebra Domes from the refrigerated case, and they became our go-to dessert and after-park snack. We skipped Jiko and Boma this trip (tried Tiffins instead) but did stop into Sanaa for the bread service. Yes, it was the best bread service we have had on property to date, and huge! The Tandoori chicken sandwich was fine, but after the bread service we were too full to enjoy it properly. We rated Sanaa as the AKL's equivalent of the Kona Cafe at the Poly, very good if you know what to order, and a good dining choice if you are staying at the resort.
Room: Loved our pool view room - #4430. We had requested this exact room using the Touring Plans fax service, and received it! I also did online checkin, but did not make any requests through Disney. The room was ready when we arrived at the resort around noon. The only surprise was that the room had a king bed room rather than two queens as shown on Touring Plans. This was not a problem since there were only two of us, we just shared the bed and enjoyed having the couch and extra floor space. When we first arrived, I second-guessed myself at not booking savanna view, but we were easily able to get our fill of animal viewing from the observation decks around the resort and ended up not missing it at all. For us, the money was better spent on dining and other experiences. Plus, the room location was very convenient and view from our balcony was gorgeous!
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Staff: Excellent! Clean room, responded to supply requests, everyone around the resort was super-friendly. The Disney feeling is alive and well here, which impressed me very much.
Negatives: I am wracking my brain to think of something, but not coming up with anything at the moment. One morning I had a digestive ailment (from so much rich food), and stayed back from the parks. However, that made me like the Lodge even more, because there was enough to see and do on my own that I wasn't lonely and didn't feel as if I was missing anything. Oh, and one night there were some young people hanging out in the pool courtyard after the pool closed, having a good time and shouting a bit. I was trying to read on the balcony but decided to go inside because the sound carried and echoed so much. I'm sure it was much louder than they were intending to be, but they were having fun and not thinking. Other people were outside enjoying late snacks from The Mara, and normal voices didn't carry, just the shouting. A chaperone may have helped, but c'est la vie!
AKL is now on my list of favorite places to stay. I love that if feels so immersively unique without the price tag of the Polynesian. Looking forward to my next stay December 8-12!
