Just back from AKL concierge - any questions??

[DisneyBee]

We just returned from a fabulous stay at AKL - July 1-7. We were on the 4th floor on the Kudu Trail near the elevator. Everything was great. We heard construction one day when we were exploring the resort, and then we would see the construction guys on the 5th floor when we went to the lounge. They were actually closing off the 5th floor from the elevator down on our last day. I'll try to post some photos later.

If you have any questions, ask away!

Edited to add some photos taken in the lounge. I didn't take too many in the lounge as there were always people in there relaxing and I tried not to be intrusive.

Balcony

View from balcony

View from balcony

Fruit and oatmeal at breakfast

Muffins at breakfast

Breakfast items

TV in smaller room within lounge

Outside lounge

Powder room in lounge

View looking into lounge from smaller area within lounge

Small area in lounge with a table for two

Breakfast fruit display - sorry about the lighting!

Coffee service in background

 

[stm61]

I have some! What type of food and drinks were usually in the lounge? Did you by any chance stay in either a bunk bed or 5 person room? Hoping to stay AKL concierge in Sep '08, but can't have ds share a bed with his sisters. Did you think concierge was worth the price? Thanks!

 

[DisneyBee]

Each day was pretty much the same as far as the food offerings go, with the exception of the "twilight offerings."

Breakfast was an assortment of pastries, bagels, croissants, oatmeal, quinoa, dry cereal, and fruit. All of it very, very good. You can have a great breakfast there unless you're an egg/meat breakfast type person. They always have plenty out, and I was amazed at how much some people ate. They also have, of course, coffee, tea, water and various juices. There is also milk (whole, lowfat, chocolate) and canned soda available. We would often stop in and get a beverage to take with us - they have plastic cups for cold drinks, and styrofoam for coffee.

They have snacks in the early afternoon which consist of spicy nuts, trail mix, goldfish (my son claimed they were stale) as well as two kinds of warm cookies. They also put out their African Smoothie at this time, and that's available for the rest of the day. It's a mixture of fruit juices, and it's not frozen as you would think - you serve it over ice. It's good!

Mid-afternoon is tea time and they offer fresh scones (very good,) brownies (again very good,) and a few other cookies.

Twilight offerings are the best. They have various cheeses, hummus and other dips, assorted flat breads, olives and other assorted marinated veggies. They also have some type of soup or stew from Boma - the nights we stopped by and tried the soup/stews they were just fabulous. It's different each night. They also have two hot appetizers - they had fried chicken wings 2-3 times the week we were there - they're quite tasty - not your typical fried chicken. They also had veggie tarts, lamb meatballs, some other kind of meatball, and ribs. The ribs were spicy and to die for!

They also offer, at twilight, three different wines and a variety of bottled beer.

Sadly, we were never there for the dessert/cordial hour after the twilight offerings so I can't tell you anything about that other than it's an assortment of desserts from Boma and Jiko, as well as liquers.

The staff was great - always there if you needed them, but not in a pesky sort of way. They can check on ADR's for you and make changes right at their desk as needed. They also printed our Southwest boarding passes the day before we left.

The lounge is in the Presidential Suite and according to the staff, will be for some time. It's smaller than the normal lounge, but has the fabulous balcony overlooking the Kudu savannah.

We had a 4th floor room - it was a standard overlooking the Arusha Savanna - with two queen beds. It was myself, my husband and our 15 year old son. If we had one more person, we would definitely need a larger room and bunk beds.

The concierge staff did say that bunk rooms are in short supply and there are very few rooms available on the 5th floor. In fact, the day we left they were closing off most of the rest of the 5th floor for construction. If you're going in Sept. '08, I'm sure you should be able to get a bunk room.

We would go concierge again. It's more money, but worth it to us just for the lounge as somewhere to go and relax away from our room. It's also nice to be able to have someone there to handle things for you if you need it.

I will say that we were on the dining plan and were on total food overload all week. I doubt we'll do the dining plan again. We don't need to ever eat that much food again!

I hope this helps you - let me know if you have other questions!

 

[Dis Ohana]

Welcome home and thanks for posting, DisneyBee! I'm going in December and I'm actually hoping the lounge will remain in the Pres. Suite til then. I hear the view of the savannah is a lot nicer there.
I do have a few questions, is bottled water available in the lounge? Is it ok to take food back to the room if we want? We normally are only around for the breakfast hour, but I'll have to make it a point to get there for the evening offerings, sounds great.

I look forward to seeing your pictures!

 

[amycishere]

Did you see lots of animals during your stay? What were the best times?

 

[DisneyBee]

Dis Ohana, they don't have bottled water that you can take with you. They have an ice bucket, plastic cups and a large bottle of Evian and a couple of bottles of Perrier. You can fill your cup and take that along - we did that a couple of times. Bottled water out of the machines in the lodge costs 2.50 a pop!

We only took a cookie or two out of the lounge with us on a napkin. I did, however, see people load up plates (small luncheon sized plates) and take those out. I don't know that you're supposed to do that. The staff never stopped them, but I did see one staff member sign heavily when a family did that. I was embarassed for the family - it was like six of them - one had two plates full!

You also have to show your 'gold' card to the staff when you enter the lounge. They get to know you by the end of your stay and it's not really necessary, but there are several different staff members on duty so you may not see the same ones each time and you should have your card handy when you go. My 15 year old had to show his as well.

The balcony and view over the savanna is wonderful. I think they should just keep the lounge there, even though it's a bit small.

Hope this helps!

 

[amycishere]

Did you see lots of animals during your stay? What were the best times?

 

[DisneyBee]

Amy - we did see lots of animals. Giraffes, zebras, all types of birds, cattle, etc. There was something out at all hours to be seen. We were on the Kudu trail and apparently there are some animals that are only on the other savannas - we were told that the ostriches don't get along with zebras, so they're kept apart.

 

[amycishere]

Amy - we did see lots of animals. Giraffes, zebras, all types of birds, cattle, etc. There was something out at all hours to be seen. We were on the Kudu trail and apparently there are some animals that are only on the other savannahs - we were told that the ostriches don't get along with zebras, so they're kept apart.

That is great to hear-my so called friend was telling me how much she hated the resort because she only saw one Girraffe. I keep wondering how this is even possible. But she had me wondering for awhile. Whenever I get excited about anything, she loves to tell me how horrible it is. I haven't really cared to speak to her since. Part of me is wondering if she even stayed there...lol.

Did you do either of the special Safaris? We are SUPER excited about those!!

So very glad you had a great time!
Amy

 

[Kimberle]

Not everybody likes to eat in the lounge, so I see no problem with taking food back to your room. Many people did so at CR 14th floor and RPR.

Question, do they stock the fridge in your room with cans of soda? They restocked our's every day during our stay on the CR 14th floor. It was so nice.

 

[DisneyBee]

Kimberle - no they didn't stock anything in our fridge. We're not big soda drinkers so that wouldn't have been something great for us - now water or juice would have been a different story!

I can see taking something back to your room from the lounge, but not like this one family. When I say they filled their plates, they were piled so high that things were falling off. The kitchen staff had to replinish pretty much everything after they left.

 

[goofy for goofy]

We'll be at AKL July 27-Aug 4. We love the resort but are now afraid of what the construction may do to the atmosphere. We've been told by our travel agent that they are currently moving many guests with savannah views to other resorts which would significantly reduce the number of guests at AKL. So far we haven't been contacted by Disney, maybe b/c we have a pool view. Did you hear any news about how the DVC construction would be affecting the resort the rest of the month? I just wonder if I should request a move to another resort or wait until I get there and check it out. I just don't want anything spoiling that "Disney feeling" and I'm afraid that jack hammers and the reduced number of guests would ruin it for us. I don't want it to be just us and the lifeguard at the pool! If anyone can advise, please feel free to do so.

 

[Bronte]

We have never stayed club level before but are thinking about it for our December trip. I do have a few questions/concerns. What types of beer and wine do they serve ... was it like a bar or lounge environment and more importantly would my teenage girls feel uncomfortable (we took them to PI once for an early show at the Adventures Club and they have never let us forget it ... mom and dad took us to a BAR ... it was soooooo inappropriate my older daughter said.)

 

[lisaviolet]

Thanks Disneybee.

I'm thinking of buying some AKV points. There are only a few AKV conciege rooms.

I know little about concierge level at Disney. Why would one want concierge? Ie. What's it all about? I mean besides the lounge and food that you listed.

 

[lisaviolet]

Whoops. I do know one thing. That you can book a "safari" staying in AKL/AKV concierge.

 

[DisneyBee]

Goofy - When we were there we were on the 4th floor and heard no construction while in our room. We did, however, see the workmen on the 5th floor when we would go up to the lounge. They were always polite, said hello, and stepped aside in the hallway. We also heard some noise while in the lobby one day - it wasn't annoying - just some sawing noises as we were walking through. Kids were watching cartoons on the tv in the lobby and it didn't seem to bother them.

I'll post some pictures we took of the construction that we saw in progress.

When we were there, we heard of two families that had checked in, but were being asked to move to another resort due to construction. I overheard one woman on her cell phone talking to her travel agent(?) and she was not pleased (can't say I blame her.) I don't know what will happen later in the month as far as concierge rooms go. If I were you, I'd contact the IPO office and ask them directly - just to get some reassurance.

Bronte - the "lounge" is perfectly fine for families. It's nothing at all like a bar setting. The beer/wine is only served in the evening and it's not like they have a keg out. It's a few bottles at a time in a small iced container - I honestly don't recall what brand of beer it was as we aren't beer drinkers, but the wine was African wine.. It's just a place to relax at tables, or watch tv, and have a small bite to eat. They play Disney music throughout the day.

Lisa - staying concierge does cost a little more, but there are some perks. The lounge being one of them, the staff will also help you with your ADRs before you go and while you're there, answer questions, and obtain things for you that you might not be able to otherwise get - special foods, etc. It's just nice to have another place to go to relax and we also chatted with other families that we met in the lounge. You don't have to be social - we're not an overly social family - but the close quarters make it a little easier.

It's also noted on your ADRs that you're staying concierge level. I don't know if that helps at all, but we never waited for any of our ADRs when we checked in - even if we were early, we were seated immediately.

Hope this helps!

 

[#1hockeymom]

Thanks for posting the pictures of their new/temporary? lounge! While I loved the peacefullness uptop above the lobby, I bet it was fantastic to have savannah views for breakfast!

Debbie

 

[Bronte]

Thanks for the info. and the photos ...

Only 162 more days till we are there for the holidays !!!!!!

 

[DisneyBee]

Amy - we didn't do either of the special safaris this time, but we had taken the sunrise safari a couple of years ago and it was great fun and well worth it. If your friend only saw on giraffe, perhaps she had a pool view room, and went to the viewing areas to see the animals. I could see where, if that's the case, you might only see one giraffe during your stay. However, you can't have a savanna view room and only see one giraffe!

 

[goofy for goofy]

Thanks DisneyBee. Can you tell me what the IPO stands for? I didn't know who to call to get the most accurate info so I can make a decision asap.