JAMBO! The UN-official AKL Thread ~ UPDATED(short film/pg 8 & slideshow/pg 12) Part 2

[pilferk]

Hi there I haven't stayed in a handicap accessable room, however I was told they were all King size bed rooms. The rooms are the same lay-out, only with larger door opening and safety bars and a larger bathroom.

I hoped by bumping this up more people would see it and join in on their experience.

All accessible rooms have king sized beds, but not all king sized bed rooms are accessible. Does that make sense? I'm not sure I'm explaining it well.....

We had a Deluxe Savannah view room, with king bed, back in '01 and it was NOT a handicap accessible room.

 

[ms_mckenna]

Originally we had booked a standard with 2 queens that was accesible with a roll in shower. I found out DH is going on the trip with us so I called back and nixed the accesible room because we will both be there to help DS so I wanted someone who really needed it to use it. So I am not sure all accesible rooms just have a king bed. Maybe I just had a CM that didn't have a clue? I am really glad we changed over if they only have the king bed. That would have been a suprise that I would not have been happy with.

 

[pilferk]

Originally we had booked a standard with 2 queens that was accesible with a roll in shower. I found out DH is going on the trip with us so I called back and nixed the accesible room because we will both be there to help DS so I wanted someone who really needed it to use it. So I am not sure all accesible rooms just have a king bed. Maybe I just had a CM that didn't have a clue? I am really glad we changed over if they only have the king bed. That would have been a suprise that I would not have been happy with.

Or I had the CM that was clueless...but that's what we were told: All accesssible rooms at AKL had a king bed. King with a pull out single in the "standard" sized rooms and King with daybed in the "deluxe" sized rooms, I think is what we were told.

Allears.net seems to confirm that:

http://www.allears.net/acc/g_akl.htm#ac

Room Explanation
Floors 1-2-3-4 have Standard Rooms with one of 3 views: Standard, Pool or Savanna. The rooms can be either 2 Queens, 1 Queen and Bunk Beds, King Bed with Daybed, Handicapped Accessible with King Bed and Daybed.

Floors 5-6 have Deluxe rooms. Concierge rooms are the same as Deluxe rooms. These have one of 2 views: Pool or Savanna. The rooms can be either 2 Queens, 1 Queen and Bunk Beds, King Bed and Daybed, Handicapped Accessible with King Bed and Daybed. 6th Floor is exclusively Concierge.

 

[kimmar067]

NEWS BITES

The Bush Camp, a three-hour experience for children 6-14 that was previously only offered to Animal Kingdom Lodge guests, is now available to everyone. During the program, kids will learn about the African culture through games, activities, foods and crafts. They will explore animals on the Animal Kingdom Lodge savanna and "Play-Along" with a character from The Lion King. Bush Camp is offered from 1 to 4 p.m. every Saturday, and the cost is $70 plus tax per child. You must guarantee your reservation with a credit card, and must cancel more than 24 hours in advance for a refund. A donation of $20 from each reservation is made to the Wildlife Conservation Fund. NOTE: Disney Vacation Club members receive a 10 percent discount. Book the Bush Camp by calling 407-WDW-PLAY.

 

[ms_mckenna]

Hmmm I am googling trying to find out anymore information on the Bush Camp and not coming up with anything relevant. Wondering if anyones kids have done this camp? I have 2 kids who will be 12 and 14 by the time we would be able to go to this camp. Is it something they would enjoy. The give up would be an afternoon relaxing by the pool, our scheduled down time.

 

[ms_mckenna]

I just called and booked figured it would be better to go ahead and get it and then cancel it later if we change our minds. It is at the Simba Clubhouse. I had issues with people saying no we do not have this so be persistant if you want to book it. The lady at the recreation department basically told me I had no clue what I was talking about and connected me to AKL. AKL sent me to dining. Dining said no there is not a Bush Camp or Club ... but I will check anyway. Well there is lol, he was amazed. It is booked thru the dining number.

 

[kimmar067]

I just called and booked figured it would be better to go ahead and get it and then cancel it later if we change our minds. It is at the Simba Clubhouse. I had issues with people saying no we do not have this so be persistant if you want to book it. The lady at the recreation department basically told me I had no clue what I was talking about and connected me to AKL. AKL sent me to dining. Dining said no there is not a Bush Camp or Club ... but I will check anyway. Well there is lol, he was amazed. It is booked thru the dining number.

...amazing how you get more 'exact' info here on the 'DIS' than "straight from the horse's mouth", so-to-speak....

 

[ms_mckenna]

...amazing how you get more 'exact' info here on the 'DIS' than "straight from the horse's mouth", so-to-speak....

I totally agree! Sad thing is this is not the first time it has happened.
Kimmar067 I also wanted to tell you thank you so much for posting this. I talked to DH about it tonight leading with what would you say if we could spend 3 hours without the kids on the trip this summer? He was like I don't see how buy ya thatwould be nice lol. I told him all about it and the price and he is excited. We have never spent any time together alone on a vacation ever and are both looking forward to it GREATLY! We are going to be on the look out for someplace nice and quiet that we can sit and enjoy AKL while they are enjoying the camp. Have even talked about getting a drink at Jiko even tough it is very early in the day lol. Hopefully we will get some pixie dust and have a nice view to enjoy from our balcony.

 

[dizze98765]

Well, it's too late now since we've already made our reservation. I've heard people complain that the AKL is too far away and too inconvenient to take breaks in the day, etc. I guess I just never realized when looking at the map how spreak out it really is! I really like the look and atmosphere of AKL, but just wondered if others saw this as much of an inconvenience. We've never been to Disney World, so are just scared that we might be missing out on being right in the middle of things. Just wondered if the distance bothered anyone or if it's still worth it! Thanks.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Hi,
We were at AKL in May 2005 with a 3 and 6 year old, both developmentally disabled. Coming back to the hotel for a mid-day break was extremely important to us. Coming back to AKL was no problem! The buses were outstanding and we were always back to the hotel in no time. Now if we had to share a bus with another resort, that would have been a different story.

 

[RachelTori]

Well, it's too late now since we've already made our reservation. I've heard people complain that the AKL is too far away and too inconvenient to take breaks in the day, etc. I guess I just never realized when looking at the map how spreak out it really is! I really like the look and atmosphere of AKL, but just wondered if others saw this as much of an inconvenience. We've never been to Disney World, so are just scared that we might be missing out on being right in the middle of things. Just wondered if the distance bothered anyone or if it's still worth it! Thanks.

Put your fears to rest -- like Nik's Mom said, no problem with the transportation; in fact, we find it *superior* to staying at other WDW resorts. And the atmosphere is soooooo worth it!! ENJOY!!!

 

[dizze98765]

Thanks! I feel SOOOO much better now. We're going on our HM there in Nov. so we didn't necessarily want to be right in the middle of things, but were just afraid we wouldn't be able to relax if we were constantly just try to get places. We're happy again now!

 

[dizze98765]

I know it's talked about all of the time, but we're a little worried about going to AKL for our honeymoon because of the construction. I talked to our travel agent who called Disney. She basically said there's no guarantees. We're going right around thanksgiving too so she said they would be busier and might have more of a chance getting stuck near construction. There's nothing hot about construction workers on a honeymoon!! If it were a normal vacation I might want to chance it, but there might be a day or two we'd like to sleep in late.... We would probably switch to the Poly. I really LOVED the idea of going to AKL but am just afraid it won't live up to honeymoon expectations!

 

[Nik's Mom]

First of all, congrats on the Wedding! We honeymooned at WDW a little over 10 years ago! AKL is fantastic! We're going to be there again in late May/early July. I guess if it's bad (noise, etc) we'll ask to be moved to another resort. But we are going to at least try and see how it is.

I don't blame you for being worried. Your honeymoon should be very special. Maybe you can see how it is and if it's not up to standard, you can request to move.

 

[John's Mom]

Bumping to Page 1!

 

[kimmar067]

...hey, did anyone catch "Great Hotels" with Sandra Brown yesterday?? The AKL was featured.....

 

[pilferk]

...hey, did anyone catch "Great Hotels" with Sandra Brown yesterday?? The AKL was featured.....

Yup, from 2 PM til about 3 AM (Eastern), Travel was doing all Disney shows...mostly WDW, but one DL and one DCL show in the rotation, too.

For hotels they covered, the GF, AKL, Yacht and Beach, and WL. I've got them all DVR'd now (and will transfer them to DVD shortly... ). AKL was, of course, the favorite.

 

[ms_mckenna]

We caught it as well. I asked DD after it was over if she still wanted ago and she said "oh ya!" I can't wait.

 

[Dusted]

I've never been fortunate to have a cable system that gets the travel channel. Does anyone sell copies of something like the show run on Sunday on ebay or something?

 

[Dis Ohana]

We watched the Travel Channel all day yesterday and we're so excited! I'm so glad I saw this show, I've been so concerned about the construction and if our family would even like this resort. Now I'm convinced that this is the place for us! Now if I can only figure out a way to stay in that beautiful presidential suite...