Just back from AKL - Awesome trip but no upgrade!

[Deweysgirl]

We just got back from our first trip to AKL. What can I say, this place rocks! Great atmosphere, friendly CM's, wonderful food, beautiful grounds and of course, the animals! Upon check-in we got our room assignment, went to the room, no upgrade.
We had a standard room with a view of a rooftop and the pool in the very far distance. The kids were disappointed because they have watched the planning video a hundred times and couldn't understand why there were no animals. To make a long story short, our bellman was still in the room unloading our luggage and he called down to the front desk to check on savanna availabilty. Yes, plenty of rooms available, he asked if they would comp. an upgrade, and the polite answer was no. We went ahead and paid the difference to upgrade to savanna view and it was well worth it. (2nd floor Zebra Trail #2652) I was just hoping for a little pixie dust because so many have reported free upgrades here.
We really had a wonderful vacation. We ate at Boma for breakfast and dinner, both were outstanding! We also did the night vision and the story-telling at the firepit. We had such a wonderful vacation and would return to AKL in a heartbeat! I'd be glad to answer any questions.

 

[Kimberle]

Glad you had a nice time. You should always book a certain view if it is important to you. You're lucky the Savannah view wasn't sold out.

 

[Sammie]

Glad you have a wonderful time. As many have stated booking what you really want is probably always the best route to take, as upgrades are never a guarantee, glad you were able to the get the room.

Based on what I have heard I think upgrades are going more toward the unplanned, unasked for, and less of the "Can I have one for free".

Maybe too many people were asking, not sure, but glad you had a good time anyway.

 

[wld]

We just returned from AKL and were pleasantly suprised with an upgrade.I had just asked for non smoking and bunk beds on our reservation(standard view). When we got there about 11 pm the very nice cast member said we were booked for a savanna view with bunk beds. I didn't ask for an upgrade at any point. We were taken straight to our room with our luggage and opened our curtains. We were on the second floor with one of the people corrals right in front of us. From our angle though it looked like a homemade fence and really didn't detract from the view. The area was kind of small fenced in so we always saw animals up close. We could see them a little farther away in the other fenced in area. We always could see animals in our smaller enclosure and in the far away one. At one point we could see 22 animals without trying. We always had giraffees and cattle in our enclosure and very often tommies and other anelope in the other enclosure up close to the gate. At one point there were 4 zebras, 4 giraffees, 2 cattle, 5 guinea hens and 5 other black and white striped birds in our small enclosure with about 5 tommies right against the fence. This room was smaller than our other savanna room in January. This one didn't have a day bed and I doubt it would have fit in the room. We had booked the savanna that time and now I wonder if we were upgraded to a deluxe savanna or if the savanna rooms are of different sizes some with day beds, and some not.

 

[DisneyFreaks]

I'm so glad that you were able to pay for the upgrade. I'm sure it made your children's time there all the more magical. We didn't get an upgrade either and with 3 rooms it just wasn't possible for us to pay the cash up front. We had a great time there anyway and cannot wait to return. AKL is just the best!

 

[disboo]

What story did you hear at the story telling? We have gone twice and heard the same story twice (featuring monkey and crocodiles). Just wondering!

 

[DebbieB]

How much extra was the upgrade? Was it cheaper than you would have paid upfront? Did you have a discounted rate to start with?

 

[Deweysgirl]

DebbieB~Our standard view room was discounted with the Fl. resident rate of 139.00 a night. We paid 60.00 a night more to upgrade. It was the same price to upgrade "on-the-spot" as if we had booked it in advance.

disboo~The moral of the story was about offering those less fortunate than yourself help when you can. It involved a poor family from Africa who would never accept help when asked but did eventaully accept when it was given rather than offered.

We were hoping for an upgrade but didn't totally count on it. I was glad they did have availability so that we could change our room. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal to the kids because there are other places to see the animals, but we all agreed as a family that it was worth it to us to upgrade. We'll tighten up the budget a bit to cover the difference, but as I said it truly was worth it and made all the difference to us. We didn't ask for a comp. upgrade, Tipton took it upon himself to ask for us. I was glad he did, because I don't think I would have asked myself. The answer was still no, either way.

 

[nwdisgal]

Okay, as one who's been upgraded at AKL, let me offer a perspective:

We had surprise upgrades to Savannah View both times we were there but ... it was Savannah View with the People Pen which is different from getting a prime Savannah View. Yah, those rooms are Savannah view, but they almost fall into their own catagory of "kinda Savannah View, but not really." Depending on the time of day, there was often an empty concrete pen to look at We didn't complain, because it was a complimentary upgrade (and who can complain about that) and there was the chance to see animals and sometimes we did. Still if I had been paying for a Savannah View looking at that concrete People Pen wouldn't have been my choice room location. I probably would have asked for another room assignment.

I am glad that you were able to upgrade to Savannah and have a room with a good location.

 

[SB in KY]

I have a theory that under the new room availability system...if you check in early your chances of being upgraded are quite slim....since they assign you available rooms in the category you booked...

that being said I would still check in early if possible, because you would have a much better chance of getting what you wanted within your room category (and call me crazy, but I am never dissapointed to get the room category that I actually booked) i.e., I might have requested non-smoking, near an elevator with bunk beds or whatever....if I arrive and check in at 8AM chances are great that they will find me a room that meets all those requests (even if it is not ready at 8AM), or they might have a non-smoking room with bunk beds available at 8AM even though it isn't right by the elevators and they would offer me that room (that I could move into at 8AM, which to us is a GREAT luxury) or I could hold out for my exact request to be prepared later.

If I don't check in until 10PM there may not be a whole lot left to choose from...in fact if I booked a standard view they may all be assigned already and they will give us a complimentary upgrade...or I may get the very last standard view available in the hotel, that is a non-smoking with 2 queens that is 6 miles from the elevator...it is a real gamble.

So for those of you dying for a free upgrade, that are willing to take the chance on winding up with either the upgrade you dreamed of OR getting the least desirable room in the category you booked....then my advice would be to check in as late as possible (certainly after 8PM)... and then don't spend your vacation whining because you didn't get what you had hoped for!!

If, like us, you are really not risk takers at heart and would rather play it safe and get what you booked in a location that appeals to you, then the earlier you check in the better off you are I think.

I think this is a fairly reliable system since Disney changed their room assignment poliy....they used to pre-assign rooms at midnight for the check in day and the CM could only change that at guest request to other rooms that were not blocked for check ins (if I arrived at 7AM and was not happy with what they had assigned me they could only offer me other rooms that had not been assigned for guests checking in that day....and since hotels stay at >90% occupancy, there wasn't usually much to pick from)...now any unoccupied room is fair game and early arrival does have its advantages.

 

[roxwithears]

Just wondering how your transportation was? Does AKL share buses?

 

[Acklander]

Do you think that maybe you didn't get the free upgrade because you had a FLA discounted rate? As someone who has never gotten (and never asked for) a free upgrade, I was wondering how hotels decide who gets bumped up and who doesn't. I was wondering if people paying full price or almost full price have a better chance of a free upgrade than those on a discount. The other thought I had is maybe those that don't have special requests have a better chance. For example - if I asked for a 1st floor, non smoking, corner room with a connecting door to another room, they may already have that pre-blocked off for me so I won't get a bump up. Any other ideas for who does and doesn't get upgrades????

 

[babybunrab]

I booked a savannah view because it's really important to me that we get one since we can't normally afford to do that (yay, AP rates). I couldn't handle to stress of hoping for an upgrade! It's happened to me once at CSR, but I hadn't counted on it, so it was a nice surprise.

roxwithears-I do not believe that AKL shares busses. I think the closest resort to AKL is CSR, and I know I've never gone over to AKL on a CSR bus.

 

[Maleficent2]

we stayed at AKL once for 2 nights savannah view and loved this resort. When we can get a great rate again we will return it is one of our favorite resorts.

Love Bomas.


Mal

 

[SeattleMark]

AKL does not share its buses with any other resort. That's one of the reasons we like it so much - dedicated transportation!

 

[LuvN~Travel]

I'm not really sure how or why they upgrade. We went last week and had the annual pass rate of $139.00, same as another poster, and we were surprised and happy, of course, and got a savannah view room. One of the outer savannahs and not the people pen/savannah. I wonder if it is possible it goes by how soon you booked your room? I know I booked ours the exact day the annual rates came out.
Kim

 

[Lewisc]

Interesting theory. Upgrades are based on availability. How many Savannah rooms are empty and how booked the standard rooms are. Disney could easily overbook the standard rooms. Guests won't complain about being upgraded.

The contrary opinion would be the front desk already knows how many complimentary upgrades will be available and the earlier guests might get them.

You may be right but I'd be concerned that by checking in late I'll be stuck with the lefover rooms. Maybe one of the standard rooms with a balcony right next to the bus stop.

I have a theory that under the new room availability system...if you check in early your chances of being upgraded are quite slim....since they assign you available rooms in the category you booked......
If I don't check in until 10PM there may not be a whole lot left to choose from...in fact if I booked a standard view they may all be assigned already and they will give us a complimentary upgrade...or I may get the very last standard view available in the hotel, that is a non-smoking with 2 queens that is 6 miles from the elevator...it is a real gamble.

......then my advice would be to check in as late as possible (certainly after 8PM)... and then don't spend your vacation whining because you didn't get what you had hoped for!!

If, like us, you are really not risk takers at heart and would rather play it safe and get what you booked in a location that appeals to you, then the earlier you check in the better off you are I think.

I think this is a fairly reliable system since Disney changed their room assignment poliy....they used to pre-assign rooms at midnight for the check in day and the CM could only change that at guest request to other rooms that were not blocked for check ins (if I arrived at 7AM and was not happy with what they had assigned me they could only offer me other rooms that had not been assigned for guests checking in that day....and since hotels stay at >90% occupancy, there wasn't usually much to pick from)...now any unoccupied room is fair game and early arrival does have its advantages.

 

[Deweysgirl]

I did wonder if we didn't get the upgrade because of the Fl. resident rate. We checked in around 4:00pm. It's hard to say what the reason is. We didn't request anything at all. Not bunk beds, or smoking preference or a specific trail, nothing. We took a chance based on so many posts I read before the trip about getting automatic upgrades when there is availability, I'm sure you all have seen them. Luckily we didn't have our heart set on it and I am glad we were able to upgrade on the fly.

Bus service was excellent during our trip. You don't share with anyone so it is truly dedicated service just for AKL guests.

 

[Divamomto3]

I'm crabby today, I admit that.

I am annoyed by the endless "I want a free upgrade" posts on this board. Sorry.

I paid for the savannah view I'll have in August. I was upgraded in February at the Wilderness Lodge. It was 10pm at night, I paid for Woods view with an AP rate, I'd have been thrilled with a woods view, but got a free upgrade to a courtyard view of the beautiful pool with a side view of the lake. It was major pixie dust. However, I never expected it, asked for it, or hinted to it. I think I got it b/c the room was still open that late and my 4 year old was really putting on the charm by chatting with the CM at the desk. And he'd been on 2 planes that day...gotta love that kid's personality and energy.

Anyway, you want to look at the animals, the water, the pool, whatever...book that view. You save yourself a lot of disappointment.

Glad you had a good time...sorry I'm crabby.

 

[cocowum]

Interesting theory. Upgrades are based on availability. How many Savannah rooms are empty and how booked the standard rooms are. Disney could easily overbook the standard rooms. Guests won't complain about being upgraded.

The contrary opinion would be the front desk already knows how many complimentary upgrades will be available and the earlier guests might get them.

You may be right but I'd be concerned that by checking in late I'll be stuck with the lefover rooms. Maybe one of the standard rooms with a balcony right next to the bus stop.

We checked in at 1:00pm. We had a pin code for 129.00 pool view. Upon arrival we were offered a free upgrade. I declined it. We wanted a pool view. She said I'm sorry but we only have Savannah rooms left. She had to call a manager to get us our poolview.

I absolutely loved our view and AKL was wonderful. We can't wait to go back.