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

[Laurajean1014]

We'll be checking in, in 37 hours......

Looking forward to seeing the Conciegre's level! We love AKL at Christmas time!

Really looking forward to seeing the baby giraffe. We opted for the Sunrise Safari, so maybe they will allow us to she her up close.

 

[glass slipper girl]

Really looking forward to seeing the baby giraffe. We opted for the Sunrise Safari, so maybe they will allow us to she her up close.

She's at the resort, not the park, so she isn't on the safari. We saw her at one of the viewing areas off the pool. I did not have my camera with me at the time (we were swimming and I brought a big digital SLR complete with accessories so it wasn't with me) so unfortunately I don't have photos of her. Our friends who were with us there do so I have already said I want a copy of one. She's a DISer too so I am sure she will post.

Oh yeah, and could you, perhaps, write about your experience with the concierge lounge food offerings please

Sure, we did not use the lounge as much as we had planned to. Partly because it was really inconvenient from our room (we were almost all the way down Kudu trail so it was a hike to get there), partly because of our plans and partly because you had to be there right as the food was set out to get stuff! They did replenish it but not as much as when it is first put out. Breakfast was a madhouse in the lounge if you got there in the 7:30 - 8:30 window. The staff was having a hard time keeping up with clearing the plates (they were doing their best, it was a volume thing, not a lack of effort or attention thing, kwim?) Lots of people bringing heaps of food back to the rooms.

Morning offerings included oatmeal (plain and cinamon), various cereals, lots of different pastries, breads and fruit, coffee (both regular and the wonderful cappuccino machine ) hot teas etc. Juices and milks in the fridge. Snacks had cookies, fruit, nuts, gummy bears (a fave of my kids), goldfish crackers etc. for kids, sodas and juices in fridge, we were never there for tea offerings so I have no clue on that, appetizers were from Boma and Jiko. I saw chicken fingers more than once, ribs, cous cous etc. Deserts there were zebra domes for sure, those chocolate crunch things from Boma and a few others by the looks of the plates but that was all that was left by the time we got there, cordials included Baileys (which always went REALLY fast...saw a few people using the big cups meant for the iced tea/African Smooth/Lemonade/Water/Eggnog for HUGE servings of Baileys rather than the little cordial glasses) Kahlua, Grand Marnier and several others (have to go back and look at my notes ).

 

[jcemom]

Wow, sounds as if there are some animals inside the resort as well as on the savanna, LOL.

 

[kimmar067]

Wow, sounds as if there are some animals inside the resort as well as on the savanna, LOL.

Yeah, unfortunately, it's THOSE kinda people that spoil it for the REST of us....

 

[MICKEEP]

Sure, we did not use the lounge as much as we had planned to. Partly because it was really inconvenient from our room (we were almost all the way down Kudu trail so it was a hike to get there), partly because of our plans and partly because you had to be there right as the food was set out to get stuff! They did replenish it but not as much as when it is first put out. Breakfast was a madhouse in the lounge if you got there in the 7:30 - 8:30 window. The staff was having a hard time keeping up with clearing the plates (they were doing their best, it was a volume thing, not a lack of effort or attention thing, kwim?) Lots of people bringing heaps of food back to the rooms.

Morning offerings included oatmeal (plain and cinamon), various cereals, lots of different pastries, breads and fruit, coffee (both regular and the wonderful cappuccino machine ) hot teas etc. Juices and milks in the fridge. Snacks had cookies, fruit, nuts, gummy bears (a fave of my kids), goldfish crackers etc. for kids, sodas and juices in fridge, we were never there for tea offerings so I have no clue on that, appetizers were from Boma and Jiko. I saw chicken fingers more than once, ribs, cous cous etc. Deserts there were zebra domes for sure, those chocolate crunch things from Boma and a few others by the looks of the plates but that was all that was left by the time we got there, cordials included Baileys (which always went REALLY fast...saw a few people using the big cups meant for the iced tea/African Smooth/Lemonade/Water/Eggnog for HUGE servings of Baileys rather than the little cordial glasses) Kahlua, Grand Marnier and several others (have to go back and look at my notes ).

I am now beginning to regret our decision to go AKL CL. We will be there in three days. I can not blame the people using the lounge I have to blame Disney and if the AKL can not keep up with the demand, maybe they should consider reducing the amount of CL rooms available. But I am sure it is a money thing. Maybe creating another lounge on the fifth floor would solve two problems. the other problem is many people saying they have to travel too far to the lounge.

You pay an awful lot of money to stay CL and what this poster experienced should not be tolerated.

 

[glass slipper girl]

We still had an enjoyable time. I am sure we will be back eventually too. When the bellhop showed us where our room would be on the way to the lounge to check in I knew I would be asking if anything else was available. My room requests did not include a specific area, only NONSMOKING and near the lounge. Of the concierge rooms, only the pool view rooms are smoking so I didn't even include savannah view, just near the lounge. I asked at check in if something closer was available and the CM checking us in said "oh this is a good room, you'll like this one." I am not sure what she meant by that now. We saw hardly any animlas our first 2 days but I think that was a combination of weather and timing of when we were in the room. Our third day we saw a BUNCH of animals. I did ask our 2nd day if we could move but they couldn't tell me for sure where we would go and we would have to store luggage and wait till 3:00 to find out so we decided just to deal with the room we had.

I did speak with someone in the lounge who was on their last day and she said the guest behavior in the lounge had changed in the last couple of days. That in the early part of their stay it wasn't like that. so I guess it is hit or miss on that. I don't mind people using the food and if you are tired and not headed out again, having heavy appetizers maybe combined with a bowl of soup from Mara for a meal isn't so bad but when they put out ribs at 5:00 and there are a lot of people milling about the lounge, to have one family take 2/3 of them filling up 2 or 3 plates then dashing back to the room is poor manners on the guests part.

My DH said the same thing about reducing the # of CL rooms to the 15 or so that are on the 6th floor plus maybe one block of rooms on the 5th that are near the elevator up to the 6th floor. We were paying well below rack rate so I wasn't too upset but if we'd been paying $450/night I'd have been not happy. I know Disney can't control the guests in the lounge and their manners (to some extent, they can control some things) but they do have control over room blocking. If I were paying rack and was that far out I would NOT be happy.

 

[kimmar067]

I am now beginning to regret our decision to go AKL CL. We will be there in three days. I can not blame the people using the lounge I have to blame Disney and if the AKL can not keep up with the demand, maybe they should consider reducing the amount of CL rooms available. But I am sure it is a money thing. Maybe creating another lounge on the fifth floor would solve two problems. the other problem is many people saying they have to travel too far to the lounge.

You pay an awful lot of money to stay CL and what this poster experienced should not be tolerated.

...don't blame WDW for the actions of a few. You will have rude people ANYWHERE you visit. Sometimes people will take advantage, figuring, "Oh, I paid good money for this, might as well get the most I can for my money...." While it is true that you are paying extra for a particular service, one CAN go overboard, which just isn't right, and CERTAINLY isn't fair to the other guests and Disney itself. As for the room being REALLY far from the lounge, I suggest requesting a room, either on the 6th floor itself, or, a room closer to the lobby area. I'm sure that concierge will do its best to accomodate you. It would not make sense for WDW to add another lounge on the 5th floor too, because, not all guests on the 5th floor are concierge guests. If the CL guests take advantage of the "free stuff", imagine what would happen with the "non-paying" ones??!?!?!?

(EDIT: I did not read the previous poster's comments, so MY post may be redundant....sorry !)

 

[kimmar067]

"...It's beginning to look alot like CHRISTMAS, everywhere you go...."

 

[MICKEEP]

...don't blame WDW for the actions of a few. You will have rude people ANYWHERE you visit. Sometimes people will take advantage, figuring, "Oh, I paid good money for this, might as well get the most I can for my money...." While it is true that you are paying extra for a particular service, one CAN go overboard, which just isn't right, and CERTAINLY isn't fair to the other guests and Disney itself.

I am not really blaming Disney for the actions of others...You are so right; there are rude people everywhere and there is not a lot you can do about it. But I do blame Disney for not taking into consideration the fact that there are rude people, who take advantage of these situations, and the ones who suffer are decent, honest people like you and me.

 

[Rneighh]

SHOULD I REQUEST A ROOM LOCATION?

The last time we stayed concerige and were on the fifth floor on the Arusha Savana (I think) pretty close to the rock viewing area. It was a good location. We always had animals. Three Gensboks(sp?) (the big guys with the clicking knees) were always below our room. This time I would like to see more Giraffes and Zebras. Where should I request? We are not staying conceirge this time as were are on the dining plan. Also how do I make my request?

Thanks Renee

 

[kimmar067]

SHOULD I REQUEST A ROOM LOCATION?

The last time we stayed concerige and were on the fifth floor on the Arusha Savana (I think) pretty close to the rock viewing area. It was a good location. We always had animals. Three Gensboks(sp?) (the big guys with the clicking knees) were always below our room. This time I would like to see more Giraffes and Zebras. Where should I request? We are not staying conceirge this time as were are on the dining plan. Also how do I make my request?

Thanks Renee

...sounds like you would be interested in Zebra Trail. You can call AKL directly and put in for your request, but remember, it IS only a request; they will do their best to accomodate you....hope this helps (if not, I'm sending Pixie Dust your way..... !)

 

[kimmar067]

....purplern's pix, she focuses on the "little things", and those are the things that take me back to AKL again and again and again.....

 

[MICKEEP]

Kimmar,
Does the AKL still take fax requests for rooms? If so should we send it to the room scheduler or directly to Concierge

 

[kimmar067]

Kimmar,
Does the AKL still take fax requests for rooms? If so should we send it to the room scheduler or directly to Concierge

...they do not. However, I would email concierge DIRECTLY (or phone - OR do both!) with your request...they have a way of makin' things HAPPEN! You'll have to scroll back a few pages to find where I listed the link to concierge; they really are a wonderful bunch!

 

[kimmar067]

....on page two??!?!?

 

[kimmar067]

...."yummy" pic to add to purplern's AKL Christmas pix!

 

[plutospup]

I wasn't sure if they accepted faxed requests or not. We had booked online with the Annual Pass website/BRP. Online we didn't request anything. A few days prior to checkin I sent AKL a fax requesting a non-smoking room with bunk beds. I also mentioned that this was a "Birthday Vacation". Upon checkin we were greeted by the CM with Happy Birthday wishes, and soon learned we were getting a bunk bed room. BTW on the second day of our vacation we received "autographed" photos of Mickey, and Minnie wishing my wife and I happy birthday (Nov. 29th & 30th). DD8 even received a photo from Cinderella, and Prince Charming wishing her a wonderful vacation!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Hello!

We'll be at AKL in 227 days. I can't wait! Thanks for all the great pics & info!

 

[kimmar067]

...your sitting in HERE:

...sipping on a Victoria Falls Mist.....

 

[kimmar067]

I wasn't sure if they accepted faxed requests or not. We had booked online with the Annual Pass website/BRP. Online we didn't request anything. A few days prior to checkin I sent AKL a fax requesting a non-smoking room with bunk beds. I also mentioned that this was a "Birthday Vacation". Upon checkin we were greeted by the CM with Happy Birthday wishes, and soon learned we were getting a bunk bed room. BTW on the second day of our vacation we received "autographed" photos of Mickey, and Minnie wishing my wife and I happy birthday (Nov. 29th & 30th). DD8 even received a photo from Cinderella, and Prince Charming wishing her a wonderful vacation!

....how AWESOME!!!