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

[lsmaggy]

Hi -

Has anyone else checked in at night recently?
We will arrive about 11pm - concierge will be closed.
I am wondering what time we should expect our bags, and say we go down to the jacuzzi to wait - will our bags magically get inside our room - or do we have to wait in our room?

 

[Viki]

We checked in late, around 9:30 - but concierge was still open. We went down to eat a late dinner at Boma and when we came back our bags - from ME - were in our room. Presto!

 

[jcemom]

Hi guys! I just got back yesterday from 8 wonderful days at WDW. We were at BWV Sunday through Friday. I was expecting to love it...but, I didn't. It was okay...beautiful resort really...but I just didn't love it. We moved to AKL on Friday through Monday...Aahhhhh! Now, AKL I LOVE! We were booked in Standard View but upgraded to savanna at no charge. Our room overlooked the small savanna to the left and was very near one of the 'people pens' you read about. I don't know if I'd have been crazy over the location if we'd paid for savanna view, but since we only paid for standard I was perfectly fine with it. Although the people pen was a little unsightly, we saw a lot of animals...giraffe, ankole cattle, vultures, cranes, some kind of boar or pig, and ostrich. Often they were all in view at the same time! Wow! Bus service was pretty good. We waited a while for a couple of buses (maybe 20 minutes), but considering how slow the parks were last week I'm sure they just weren't running as many buses. It was no big deal and most of the time we waited less than 10 minutes anyway. (I hated the BWV buses btw. The AKL and DtD buses run BWV, Swan, Dolphin, YC, BC...OMG, 5 stops, eek!) All the AKL CMs we encountered were very friendly. Last time we stayed there we thought they weren't as friendly as other CMs, not unfriendly, just not AS friendly. Not so this time, they were great. A housekeeping CM delivered a cookie bouquet to our room that I had ordered for DH's birthday...she would not even accept the tip I tried to give her.

As soon as I get my pics uploaded and organized I'll post some!

 

[kimmar067]

Hi -

Has anyone else checked in at night recently?
We will arrive about 11pm - concierge will be closed.
I am wondering what time we should expect our bags, and say we go down to the jacuzzi to wait - will our bags magically get inside our room - or do we have to wait in our room?

We had checked into coneirge at that time also; there was no problems with our bags. However, there WAS a problem with check-in, as fas as 'concierge'/'non-concierge', but that is a different story.....(see page 1-2 of this thread )

 

[kimmar067]

Hi guys! I just got back yesterday from 8 wonderful days at WDW. We were at BWV Sunday through Friday. I was expecting to love it...but, I didn't. It was okay...beautiful resort really...but I just didn't love it. We moved to AKL on Friday through Monday...Aahhhhh! Now, AKL I LOVE! We were booked in Standard View but upgraded to savanna at no charge. Our room overlooked the small savanna to the left and was very near one of the 'people pens' you read about. I don't know if I'd have been crazy over the location if we'd paid for savanna view, but since we only paid for standard I was perfectly fine with it. Although the people pen was a little unsightly, we saw a lot of animals...giraffe, ankole cattle, vultures, cranes, some kind of boar or pig, and ostrich. Often they were all in view at the same time! Wow! Bus service was pretty good. We waited a while for a couple of buses (maybe 20 minutes), but considering how slow the parks were last week I'm sure they just weren't running as many buses. It was no big deal and most of the time we waited less than 10 minutes anyway. (I hated the BWV buses btw. The AKL and DtD buses run BWV, Swan, Dolphin, YC, BC...OMG, 5 stops, eek!) All the AKL CMs we encountered were very friendly. Last time we stayed there we thought they weren't as friendly as other CMs, not unfriendly, just not AS friendly. Not so this time, they were great. A housekeeping CM delivered a cookie bouquet to our room that I had ordered for DH's birthday...she would not even accept the tip I tried to give her.

As soon as I get my pics uploaded and organized I'll post some!

Cool beans...that is an AWESOME upgrade!! Sounds lke you had a really wonderful time (didja eat any Zebra Domes??) Can't wait for the pix!!!

 

[kimmar067]

...wendypooh, where are you?!?!?!?!
luto:

 

[kimmar067]

 

[scoutsmom99]

Hi guys! I just got back yesterday from 8 wonderful days at WDW. We were at BWV Sunday through Friday. I was expecting to love it...but, I didn't. It was okay...beautiful resort really...but I just didn't love it. We moved to AKL on Friday through Monday...Aahhhhh! Now, AKL I LOVE! We were booked in Standard View but upgraded to savanna at no charge. Our room overlooked the small savanna to the left and was very near one of the 'people pens' you read about. I don't know if I'd have been crazy over the location if we'd paid for savanna view, but since we only paid for standard I was perfectly fine with it. Although the people pen was a little unsightly, we saw a lot of animals...giraffe, ankole cattle, vultures, cranes, some kind of boar or pig, and ostrich. Often they were all in view at the same time! Wow! Bus service was pretty good. We waited a while for a couple of buses (maybe 20 minutes), but considering how slow the parks were last week I'm sure they just weren't running as many buses. It was no big deal and most of the time we waited less than 10 minutes anyway. (I hated the BWV buses btw. The AKL and DtD buses run BWV, Swan, Dolphin, YC, BC...OMG, 5 stops, eek!) All the AKL CMs we encountered were very friendly. Last time we stayed there we thought they weren't as friendly as other CMs, not unfriendly, just not AS friendly. Not so this time, they were great. A housekeeping CM delivered a cookie bouquet to our room that I had ordered for DH's birthday...she would not even accept the tip I tried to give her.

As soon as I get my pics uploaded and organized I'll post some!

Glad to hear you had a great trip. I can't wait to see your pics. I had a friend stay at AKL and was upgraded to the Sunset Savannah and said the same thing you did she would have been dissapointed if she had paid for the view she had. All of the resorts that share busses tend to turn me off...I can't imagine having to do 5 stops at seperate resorts. Did you dine at Jiko on the trip?

 

[lsmaggy]

Thanks Kimmer - I'll go read page 1-2.

I am also wondering if the bunk beds are big enough for an adult. I want mom to be the most confortable - and it might be nice if she had the bottom bunk, rather than sharing the queen size.

Any opinions?


15 Days!

 

[kimmar067]

Thanks Kimmer - I'll go read page 1-2.

I am also wondering if the bunk beds are big enough for an adult. I want mom to be the most confortable - and it might be nice if she had the bottom bunk, rather than sharing the queen size.

Any opinions?


15 Days!

With whom would she be sharing the queen bed? Last Feb my DS's slept in the bunks - my older one (16 - y - o) was about 5'7" at the time, and he was comfortable on the bottom bunk....(also: the deluxe room has a couch that opens to a single bed!)

 

[Cass]

As soon as I get my pics uploaded and organized I'll post some!

Can't wait to see them! AKL is my favourite too... great upgrade to Savanna & thanks for the review.

 

[plutospup]

\ My 13 year old daughter wanted to stay at CB because of the pool and water slide (would have preferred Boardwalk, but thats a little beyond our budget) - the AK pool doesn't look like it has much of a water slide - any comments? Also, I assume the room is little more roomy than that at CB- true?

POOL: The Carribbean Beach pool does look "cool", with the pirate fort appearance, and cannons. However, the slide isn't any better at CB than AKL. The CB pool is smaller than AKL. Also there are two hot tubs (large) at AKL while CB only has one small hot tub. Overall, with so much vegatation around the AKL pool, and along with the music, I feel it has a much more "tropical" feel to it. I've experienced both, and side by side, I feel AKL wins hands down.

Room: Carribean Beach was the first "value" resort on WDW property back about 1998. Of course today we know it as a moderate. It's rooms are the largest of all moderates. Size wise I believe they are similar to AKL, and WL in square footage. The bathrooms are laid out a little differently, and of course AKL has a balcony, while CB doesn't. After experiencing both, I feel AKL may seem a little more roomier.

Have a great vacation!

 

[scoutsmom99]

We have reserved a standard room at AKL for 3/23-3/30 - changed from CB - I have a couple of questions. My 13 year old daughter wanted to stay at CB because of the pool and water slide (would have preferred Boardwalk, but thats a little beyond our budget) - the AK pool doesn't look like it has much of a water slide - any comments? Also, I assume the room is little more roomy than that at CB- true? Any other suggestions for travelling with a 13 year old would be welcome!

AKL and CBR are my two favotire resorts...I just love the theming at both of them. The main theme pool at CBR though is nothing spectacular and IMHO it is way too small for the size of the resort. Having said that I really enjoy the village pools (no slide though) at CBR because most of the time there is no one in them when I'm there. The AKL and CBR slides are not terribly exciting at all I would rate them a 4 or so on a scale of 1-10.

The rooms are actually fairly close in size though. CBR rooms are 340 sq ft and the standrad rooms at AKL and WL for that matter are 344 sq ft (deluxe rooms at AKL/WL are larger though because they have a day bed). Having said that AKL will have queen size beds while CBR only has full size beds.

 

[jcemom]

Taken from our balcony:

 

[scoutsmom99]

Tracey,
What grogeous pics! I love the pic looking down on The Victoria Falls Lounge.

 

[padisneylover]

Great pictures keep them coming.

 

[kimmar067]

POOL: The Carribbean Beach pool does look "cool", with the pirate fort appearance, and cannons. However, the slide isn't any better at CB than AKL. The CB pool is smaller than AKL. Also there are two hot tubs (large) at AKL while CB only has one small hot tub. Overall, with so much vegatation around the AKL pool, and along with the music, I feel it has a much more "tropical" feel to it. I've experienced both, and side by side, I feel AKL wins hands down.

Room: Carribean Beach was the first "value" resort on WDW property back about 1998. Of course today we know it as a moderate. It's rooms are the largest of all moderates. Size wise I believe they are similar to AKL, and WL in square footage. The bathrooms are laid out a little differently, and of course AKL has a balcony, while CB doesn't. After experiencing both, I feel AKL may seem a little more roomier.

Have a great vacation!

....I've stayed at BOTH also, and I agree!

 

[kimmar067]

Tracey,
What grogeous pics! I love the pic looking down on The Victoria Falls Lounge.

Me too!

(PS ~ more pix, more pix!)

 

[TnTsParty]

Ok I need to find out how I can be put in a request to stay on the savannah with the zebras? They are my favorite. My DH loves the giraffes so at least I know he will be able to see his fav from any of the savannahs. We got lucky the last time we stayed there and were on the right savannah for the zebras but we didn't really care for the rooms location since it was on the 3rd floor 2 doors in from the lobby. We looked at the pelicans (not that I mind pelicans its just that we see pelicans all the time ~ granted the ones I see aren't African pelicans but still pelicans) Can I request that savannah and to be placed further out for that matter I wouldn't mind walking all the way to end of the building instead of being right off the lobby.

 

[TnTsParty]

bump