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

[scoutsmom99]

... Lookit my ticker, lookit my ticker.... ! !

Kimmar I can't believe you are under 30 days!!!!

 

[Disney8704]

Just wondering but if you go like a week or 2 before the free dining plan kicks in, being that most people will be there for that instead of the week or 2 before the free dining, do you think my chances of getting a free upgrade to savannah will increase then if I were to go during free dining being it wont be as busy. I dunno if Disney will have the free dining in Aug 07 but just saying IF they do.

 

[scoutsmom99]

Just wondering but if you go like a week or 2 before the free dining plan kicks in, being that most people will be there for that instead of the week or 2 before the free dining, do you think my chances of getting a free upgrade to savannah will increase then if I were to go during free dining being it wont be as busy. I dunno if Disney will have the free dining in Aug 07 but just saying IF they do.

I would think your chances would be the same. This year the free dining must not have filled a lot of rooms because the offered both a general and AP holder discounts during the same time. A lot of people might not be able to take advantage of free dining because of when school starts (which, seems to be anywhere from the first week of August to the first week in September). I know here in MN we start the day after labor day, but it seems in the south most schools start earlier in August.

 

[tinknme]

Lucky you Congrats on hitting 12K posts!

... Lookit my ticker, lookit my ticker.... ! !

 

[slkant]

We will be staying at AKL the first week of January and were wondering about transportation to the theme parks. What is the bus service like? How long are the waits typically and how long does it take to get to each park in Disney? We will also have our own transportation. How long would we need to get back and forth if we use our own vehicle? Has anyone tried both ways (your own transportation and Disney)? How do they compare? If figure there are pros and cons to each approach. Thanks.

 

[Disney8704]

I was talking to this one guy online a few mins ago and he told me he had stayed at the AKL. Well being I never stayed there b4, I took the opportunity to ask a lot of ?s. I asked him what view he had and he said Kingdom View..Im like you mean Savannah and he said yea. Then I asked him what animals he saw and he told me he saw Elephants. Im like WHAT? There are NO elephants at the AKL. Then I asked him if he remembered what side he stayed on, weither it be Kudu or Zebra Trail or Arusha Rock and he told me he couldnt remember. How can you NOT remember? Thats something it shouldnt be to hard to forget. His excuese its been awhile. 2003? 3 yrs ago isnt that long. Then he told me he would show me pics but doesnt have any? How can you go to disney and NOT take pics? Thats totally un-american! LOL. Even people from other countries take pics! I guess I shouldnt say un-american but more of its not NORMAL! LOL. But anyways then I asked him if he ever ate at the restraunts at the AKL and asked him which ones and he told me he couldnt remember what they were called. C'mon now! For real! I have never been to AKL in my entire life and even I know what the restraunts are called and even know what they serve at each one. Oh and this is the real kicker. He told me he saw the animals standing on top of the bus because on the top floor theres a door that leads out to a platform that you can stand on to climb on top of the bus to get a good view of the animals. What is that all about? How is that even possible? I have NEVER heard of this before. So is this dude like completely totalling lying to me about staying at the AKL or what?

 

[wendypooh]

So is this dude like completely totalling lying to me about staying at the AKL or what?

 

[Tig-girl]

I wonder what AKL he stayed at? Like what planet? I sure did have a good chuckle though.....

 

[scoutsmom99]

We will be staying at AKL the first week of January and were wondering about transportation to the theme parks. What is the bus service like? How long are the waits typically and how long does it take to get to each park in Disney? We will also have our own transportation. How long would we need to get back and forth if we use our own vehicle? Has anyone tried both ways (your own transportation and Disney)? How do they compare? If figure there are pros and cons to each approach. Thanks.

I have never used my own transportation from AKL. But the busses are really reliable and they have the best service of any resort I have stayed at. I think it depends on time of day you board the bus and time of year as to how often they run, but I think the longest wait I had for a bus was in the 10-15 minute range. This would be my guess as far as times:

AKL to AK 5min
AKL to MGM/BB 10-15min
AKL to Epcot 15min
AKL to MK 20min
AKL to DTD/TL 15min

One bonus of taking the bus to the MK is that you get dropped off right at the front of the park and don't have to take the parking lot tram to either the ferry or monorail.

 

[wendypooh]

I agree with Scoutsmom ~~

We usually drive down, but once there we never drive our car anywhere. We always use WDW transportation, it is really good and we find it very easy to use. We've never had a problem with waiting, the buses run all the time. They will also take you anywhere on property you need to go...... from the parks, to DTD, to the waterparks, etc.. Unless you plan on leaving WDW property, then I wouldn't drive my own car at all!!! We really enjoy having someone else drive, plus you just cannot beat the convenience of the buses!

 

[AKLGoofy]

I have never used my own transportation from AKL. But the busses are really reliable and they have the best service of any resort I have stayed at. I think it depends on time of day you board the bus and time of year as to how often they run, but I think the longest wait I had for a bus was in the 10-15 minute range. This would be my guess as far as times:

AKL to AK 5min
AKL to MGM/BB 10-15min
AKL to Epcot 15min
AKL to MK 20min
AKL to DTD/TL 15min

One bonus of taking the bus to the MK is that you get dropped off right at the front of the park and don't have to take the parking lot tram to either the ferry or monorail.

I concur. During our recent stay I would say that these time estimates are failry accurate (give or take 5 minutes or so depending on traffic). Very handy to be able to go directly from point to point with no stops in between.

Bob

 

[calgarygary]

Bob, I want to thank you for sharing that amazing trip with all of us. I'm sure I'm not in the minority by saying "Take a bow! You did a great job." I'm also wondering if we can convince Susan to share her side of the experience.

 

[lookingforward]

I agree with Scoutsmom ~~

We usually drive down, but once there we never drive our car anywhere. We always use WDW transportation, it is really good and we find it very easy to use. We've never had a problem with waiting, the buses run all the time. They will also take you anywhere on property you need to go...... from the parks, to DTD, to the waterparks, etc.. Unless you plan on leaving WDW property, then I wouldn't drive my own car at all!!! We really enjoy having someone else drive, plus you just cannot beat the convenience of the buses!

We usually drive our own car if we plan on staying until park closes (at MGM/Epcot/AK) because it seems so much faster than waiting in line. If we go to the Magic Kingdom we usually take the transportation. I just love getting in my own car after Illuminations, etc. and getting back to the hotel fast. Transportation from AKL is really good , though, in my opinion. Fast and dedicated.

 

[kimmar067]

IT JUST HIT ME!!!!





(I am starting to get REA-A-A-A-LLY excited about our trip..... ! )

 

[Tig-girl]

JUST GETTING EXCITED NOW???? I'm planning for a year out and I'm already excited!
Hey, since you've been to AKL a few times since I have been there last........has anything changed? Any rehabs, not that it needed it when we were there. You know I LOVE WL, and last time we split the stay, and we may end up doing that again, but right now everyone is in favor of AKL. So if you have any updates, fill me in please

 

[scoutsmom99]

IT JUST HIT ME!!!!





(I am starting to get REA-A-A-A-LLY excited about our trip..... ! )

I'm right behind you kimmar!! We just paid off the rest of our trip this weekend and it is starting to feel real!!!

 

[AKLGoofy]

Bob, I want to thank you for sharing that amazing trip with all of us. I'm sure I'm not in the minority by saying "Take a bow! You did a great job." I'm also wondering if we can convince Susan to share her side of the experience.

I've talked to her about that. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get her to do the dolphin tour details but don't know if she'll take the time to do the rest. I'm going to at least push for the entire anniversary day if nothing else.

I am hoping to get the platinum plan details and information section up shortly. I'm still trying to figure out the photo gallery thing from yahoo so it may be a bit before the rest of the pictures go up.

Bob

 

[Nancyg56]

We will be staying at AKL the first week of January and were wondering about transportation to the theme parks. What is the bus service like? How long are the waits typically and how long does it take to get to each park in Disney? We will also have our own transportation. How long would we need to get back and forth if we use our own vehicle? Has anyone tried both ways (your own transportation and Disney)? How do they compare? If figure there are pros and cons to each approach. Thanks.

We were there last January, and the times posted here seem about right. We actually enjoyed the travel time because we had time to just discuss our plans without thinking about traffic. This was especially true the weekend of the marathon. My DH drives for his living, and the thought of being cooped up in a car with him as he navigated through the marathon is enough to send me to Mara for a Zebra Dome marathon .

 

[calgarygary]

I've talked to her about that. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get her to do the dolphin tour details but don't know if she'll take the time to do the rest. I'm going to at least push for the entire anniversary day if nothing else.

I am hoping to get the platinum plan details and information section up shortly. I'm still trying to figure out the photo gallery thing from yahoo so it may be a bit before the rest of the pictures go up.

Bob

That will be great. Hopefully the folks at Disney will see your report and address the shortcomings of the platinum plan. Given the substantial cost of the plan, you would think CM's would be falling over themselves trying to resolve any problems. For someone who dislikes lines, you certainly stood in a lot of them trying to get 2 cold drinks.

 

[kimmar067]

...not to digress, bu-u-u-u-ut...Wendy,

...this is soooo hot!