I'm just back from a really nice trip to the AKL on 11/10 to 11/16. I thought I'd just share some of my views and opinions on the resort.
1st-the resort has really great detail and design. The theming is fantastic. It even goes to the lights on the drive to the lodge-they are designed to flicker and look like campfires and even appear to be made of twigs. I had a really nice room location on the Kudu trail overlooking the Arusha savannah. There were animals outside the window every time I looked. However, it was usually the same 3 ankole cattle. I also saw several types of exotic birds, giraffes(3), zebra, and several other animals from the balcony. The other savannahs seemed to have more visible animals, but they were smaller ones-ostrich and gazelles. The CM at checkin was really nice and tried to fill my requests-non-smoking/Arusha/Zebra and filled all but the zebra trail. My room was 3305 which was past the elevator by a few doors-any closer to the lobby and the hall traffic would have been unbearable. 3rd floor was a great level to view from, but it was the main level to go to the lobby so it was noisy at times.
Bus transportation was great. There were only 2 times when I waited over 5 minutes for a bus. The first was my very first bus ride from AKL to Epcott. I waited about 15 minutes. The second time was returning from AK-it took 25 minutes for a bus to arrive. The bus ride is only 3 minutes long(I timed it) so why was the wait so long?? Other than those 2 times(even at Epcott and MK closings), the bus transportaion was great with very short waitsand I used the bus a lot. The rides were not long either. AKL is only a couple miles farther out than other resorts so I did not feel it was remote as others have mentioned. Bus to MK took a lot LESS time than the one from BC last year since AKL is the ONLY stop on the route.
The room itself was ok. It was on the small size since so much room is given to the sink/closet/bath area. There, however, was enough room. LIGHTING leaves much to be desired. OK, I guess I understand the dim lights for mood in the rooms, but why in the bath room?? I brought a light since I had read about room light levels in the board and highly recommend you do the same if you like to read. Also, there was no minibar in the room which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but just unusual. I had also read about noisy plumbing on this board-believe it. It wasn't loud enough to really bother me since I can sleep through alot of noise, but every time the neighbors used the plumbing I heard it. Every time I turned on the cold water at one of the sinks, it made a howling noise which I'm sure my neighbors loved. I also heard the people in the room above me walking around and people walking/talking in the hall. Sound proofing of the room was very poor. Anyway, the rest of the resort plus the great rate I got more than made up for any disapointments with the room.
SInce I'm gettin long here, to sum it up the positives: great staff, good food, nice pool, good bus transportation, great theming: The negatives: Noisy plumbing, poor room lighting and relatively small room for a "deluxe" resort. The positives still outweigh the negatives by a lot IMHO. Overall, I'd stay at AKL again in a second if the price was right.
1st-the resort has really great detail and design. The theming is fantastic. It even goes to the lights on the drive to the lodge-they are designed to flicker and look like campfires and even appear to be made of twigs. I had a really nice room location on the Kudu trail overlooking the Arusha savannah. There were animals outside the window every time I looked. However, it was usually the same 3 ankole cattle. I also saw several types of exotic birds, giraffes(3), zebra, and several other animals from the balcony. The other savannahs seemed to have more visible animals, but they were smaller ones-ostrich and gazelles. The CM at checkin was really nice and tried to fill my requests-non-smoking/Arusha/Zebra and filled all but the zebra trail. My room was 3305 which was past the elevator by a few doors-any closer to the lobby and the hall traffic would have been unbearable. 3rd floor was a great level to view from, but it was the main level to go to the lobby so it was noisy at times.
Bus transportation was great. There were only 2 times when I waited over 5 minutes for a bus. The first was my very first bus ride from AKL to Epcott. I waited about 15 minutes. The second time was returning from AK-it took 25 minutes for a bus to arrive. The bus ride is only 3 minutes long(I timed it) so why was the wait so long?? Other than those 2 times(even at Epcott and MK closings), the bus transportaion was great with very short waitsand I used the bus a lot. The rides were not long either. AKL is only a couple miles farther out than other resorts so I did not feel it was remote as others have mentioned. Bus to MK took a lot LESS time than the one from BC last year since AKL is the ONLY stop on the route.
The room itself was ok. It was on the small size since so much room is given to the sink/closet/bath area. There, however, was enough room. LIGHTING leaves much to be desired. OK, I guess I understand the dim lights for mood in the rooms, but why in the bath room?? I brought a light since I had read about room light levels in the board and highly recommend you do the same if you like to read. Also, there was no minibar in the room which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but just unusual. I had also read about noisy plumbing on this board-believe it. It wasn't loud enough to really bother me since I can sleep through alot of noise, but every time the neighbors used the plumbing I heard it. Every time I turned on the cold water at one of the sinks, it made a howling noise which I'm sure my neighbors loved. I also heard the people in the room above me walking around and people walking/talking in the hall. Sound proofing of the room was very poor. Anyway, the rest of the resort plus the great rate I got more than made up for any disapointments with the room.
SInce I'm gettin long here, to sum it up the positives: great staff, good food, nice pool, good bus transportation, great theming: The negatives: Noisy plumbing, poor room lighting and relatively small room for a "deluxe" resort. The positives still outweigh the negatives by a lot IMHO. Overall, I'd stay at AKL again in a second if the price was right.
