We came home Thursday from a wonderful trip. I would be happy to answer any questions -- I'm still in that post-Disney letdown; can't stop thinking about the trip and would love to keep talking about it!
We stayed at AKL for the first two nights. (Two years ago we stayed AKL concierge and have been longing to return to this resort ever since.) I had booked a savanna view room but we were upgraded to a deluxe savanna view on the fifth floor. I was excited to get the bigger room, but our room was at the end of Kudu trail and we had to walk forever to get to it. There were viewing opportunites on the long walk which helped break it up a bit, but it was so far to get to the bus or the pool or the restaurants. Our view was above one of the people holding pens so it wasn't as close to the animals as some other locations, but that didn't really bother us. The CM who checked us in warned us about the long walk but said it was worth it because the animals tended to hang out on that part of the savanna. There were always a lot of animals outside which was really nice, but this room was on the edge of the savanna and very close to the fence closing in the animals and dividing this savanna from the zebra trail one. Seeing the fence made you feel like you were at a zoo more than in Africa. We didn't receive turndown service on our first night, and then I noticed that you had to request it. I requested it for the second night, but we never got it. We were there on a Saturday and Sunday and the pool was packed. Every single CM we encountered at AKL was so friendly -- every CM we passed in the hall made a point to speak to us. We enjoyed this hotel a lot more on our first trip when we stayed concierge -- didn't have that long walk and didn't have to look at that fence.
We had originally planned to stay at AKL for our entire trip, but we have two young children (ages 1 and 3) and we decided it might be nice to stay at a monorail resort too. It is so much easier for us to roll our strollers onto the monorail instead of breaking them down to ride the buses. We had stayed Poly garden view concierge on a prior trip and did not like it, so we decided to try the GF this time. We are so glad we did -- it was fabulous! I had booked a garden view room but they upgraded us to a lagoon view room in Boca Chica! I was so excited when I walked in and saw the water and realized we could see the castle if we peered around a tree a little. I was never sure the extra money for lagoon view was worth it, but now I'm convinced it is -- it is so magical to be able to see the castle and the monorail, the park, the boats, the Contemporary and Poly. We did not want to check out of this room and stayed for three nights instead of the two we'd originally planned. I loved the theming of this resort and it is so easy to zip in and out of MK and Epcot on the monorail. Our son had loved the AKL slide and the GF one was twice as long and even more fun since the pool wasn't as crowded. I thought he would miss seeing the animals when we left AKL, but he loved watching the boats go by just as much. The first night we got home he was wondering why there was no chocolate on his pillow -- he got a little too used to the turndown service there (which we did not have to request). I think GF is our new favorite resort!
We stayed at AKL for the first two nights. (Two years ago we stayed AKL concierge and have been longing to return to this resort ever since.) I had booked a savanna view room but we were upgraded to a deluxe savanna view on the fifth floor. I was excited to get the bigger room, but our room was at the end of Kudu trail and we had to walk forever to get to it. There were viewing opportunites on the long walk which helped break it up a bit, but it was so far to get to the bus or the pool or the restaurants. Our view was above one of the people holding pens so it wasn't as close to the animals as some other locations, but that didn't really bother us. The CM who checked us in warned us about the long walk but said it was worth it because the animals tended to hang out on that part of the savanna. There were always a lot of animals outside which was really nice, but this room was on the edge of the savanna and very close to the fence closing in the animals and dividing this savanna from the zebra trail one. Seeing the fence made you feel like you were at a zoo more than in Africa. We didn't receive turndown service on our first night, and then I noticed that you had to request it. I requested it for the second night, but we never got it. We were there on a Saturday and Sunday and the pool was packed. Every single CM we encountered at AKL was so friendly -- every CM we passed in the hall made a point to speak to us. We enjoyed this hotel a lot more on our first trip when we stayed concierge -- didn't have that long walk and didn't have to look at that fence.
We had originally planned to stay at AKL for our entire trip, but we have two young children (ages 1 and 3) and we decided it might be nice to stay at a monorail resort too. It is so much easier for us to roll our strollers onto the monorail instead of breaking them down to ride the buses. We had stayed Poly garden view concierge on a prior trip and did not like it, so we decided to try the GF this time. We are so glad we did -- it was fabulous! I had booked a garden view room but they upgraded us to a lagoon view room in Boca Chica! I was so excited when I walked in and saw the water and realized we could see the castle if we peered around a tree a little. I was never sure the extra money for lagoon view was worth it, but now I'm convinced it is -- it is so magical to be able to see the castle and the monorail, the park, the boats, the Contemporary and Poly. We did not want to check out of this room and stayed for three nights instead of the two we'd originally planned. I loved the theming of this resort and it is so easy to zip in and out of MK and Epcot on the monorail. Our son had loved the AKL slide and the GF one was twice as long and even more fun since the pool wasn't as crowded. I thought he would miss seeing the animals when we left AKL, but he loved watching the boats go by just as much. The first night we got home he was wondering why there was no chocolate on his pillow -- he got a little too used to the turndown service there (which we did not have to request). I think GF is our new favorite resort!
The GF is my favorite. I agree--the Lagoon View is wonderful! Being able to see the castle twinkle at night makes it so special.
