G&GMom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2007
- Messages
- 127
We just returned from our stay at AKL. We arrived Sept. 19 and left Sept. 24. My kids are 6 and 4 and this was our 9th or 10th on property stay since they were born. The kids and I are lovers of all things Disney and my DH tolerates Disney because it makes us happy. Earlier in the year we did a DCL cruise and WDW stay and last month we went to DL. So DH was not totally looking forward to this trip. and said he was Disneyed out for the year.
We usually stay at a value resort, we usually don't spend anytime in our room so my DH went into this trip thinking we were wasting money. The kids and I were super excited about AKL. The kids watched the Great Hotels show every single day and can quote Samantha Brown word for word. I had a savanna view booked. My DH did not understand that the savanna view was a guaranteed category and he kept telling the kids not be disappointed if they had a parking lot view. This was really getting on my nerves. But at the same time I didn't want to build it up too much because I had read reports on here about not neccessarily seeing animals outside your room all the time. Also I was nervous about construction and called at least a dozen times asking questions about it.
So we arrive at 9 pm on the 19th. We had rented a car and the guard had our parking pass printed for us. There was no line to check in. I made sure the cast member knew that I wanted to be far away from any construction. I was told that I would be very far away from any noise and that it would absolutely not be an issue. Then she showed me the room. It was #3365 which is the second last room on the end of Kudu trail, facing the sunset savanna. I asked if there was anything closer (like I had requested) and was told no. I didn't argue because honestly I was thrilled to be there and someone has to stay in those rooms right?
On the way to our room we could see tons of animals on arusha savanna. It took us 20 minutes to walk to the room because the kids wanted to stop at every set of windows. We were all so excited to see the animals and I was surprised the savanna was so well lit at night. We got to our room and tried to get the kids to bed. We went on our balcony and thought we spotted a giraffe, but it was really just a tree.
Everything seemed fine.
The next morning I got up and got ready and went out on the balcony. I was a little surprised at the view. The savanna was a lot shorter than I thought it would be and I didn't expect to see the constuction work. I looked all around and couldn't see any animals. After getting the kids up and ready we all went out on the balcony. Two cm's were out on the savanna doing something and a family below us was asking them where the animals were. They were told that they were down by the animal barn waiting for breakfast. We could see some animals hanging out by the barn. My kids could only see if they stood up in a chair and leaned over the railing, which I did not want them doing. That day we left to go to the parks and came back after dark. We did the night viewing which was by the pool and was really amazing.
On Friday morning we were going to MK EMH so I was up really early and was out on the balcony at 6:30. I noticed headlights on the other side of the fence. By the time I got my kids ready it was daylight and we could see some construction work going on. It was really loud by the time we left at 7:15. I was really surprised that they were working so early, especially since I had been told over and over the construction work would only happen while I was at the park. We came for a nap in the afternoon and didn't notice any work going on outside. There were quite a bit of workers milling in the hallway and we later figured out they were painting in the first few pods of rooms on our trail.
The next morning, same thing, early work outside. At this point I am starting to feel disappointed. I kept thinking about the people that paid the same as me but had a room on arusha savanna. I felt like they must have had a totally different experience. Everytime we would walk to our room we would see tons of animals on arusha. I did go to the front desk to talk about it and basically they have no idea what is going on as far as the outside construction work. I almost felt like they didn't believe me that it was even happening. We came back at night and ate at the Mara. My DS and I went to Zawadi Marketplace to buy some postcards. I really enjoyed looking around.
We did an EMH morning again on Sunday so we were out of the room early. They were doing construction work again. We came back late that night.
Monday was our check out day. My DH asked if we could stay in the room until noon and I was very surprised the hotel said yes. I didn't think Disney did late check outs. We were up early, the construction noise started about 7:30 that day. I really have no idea what all they are doing out there. Getting ready to build obviously but beyond that you mostly hear instead of see. We could definitely see a crane, and other big machines (and personal vehicles) but the trees do block a lot of it from view. We had breakfast at Boma and then went to the pool. The pool was awesome, my kids really loved it. The slide opened at 10 and they got a magical moment certificate for helping to open it. They went down the slide so many times and were so sad when we had to leave. We were out of our room right at 11 anyway.
Overall, I really loved the hotel and it was truly special to have stayed there with the animals. But I must admit I felt disappointed that I had been told so many times that the construction wouldn't be an issue because it was. It was not noticeable in the building at all except for the black drapes in the lobby (which really blend in to me). But the work on Kidani is really loud and intense. I would love to stay at AKL again (and as soon as I got back I started looking at buying DVC points) but I would not want to stay on sunset savanna for the next 2 years. I feel like the noise and the view can only get worse. I personally felt like it did bother the animals because they were mostly huddled around the animal barn all day. You never really saw them on the savanna like you did with the animals on arusha savanna.
What else... The Mara, we ate here several times and the food was good and it wasn't crowded at all. For breakfast we used our snack credits to get muffins and danishes. We drove instead of using the buses and our key would never work to open the gate. We took it to the front desk and they checked the computer and said the keys were fine. My DH was kind of ticked that no one would help us get that straightened out because if they weren't opening the gate then something was wrong.
I felt like my family had a great time. My kids really weren't bothered by the construction noise and equipment but I was. I hope I can talk DH into staying there again. I know he would love to do the safari breakfast and told me I should have booked at least one concierge night. So maybe there is hope. I will post some pictures down below.
We usually stay at a value resort, we usually don't spend anytime in our room so my DH went into this trip thinking we were wasting money. The kids and I were super excited about AKL. The kids watched the Great Hotels show every single day and can quote Samantha Brown word for word. I had a savanna view booked. My DH did not understand that the savanna view was a guaranteed category and he kept telling the kids not be disappointed if they had a parking lot view. This was really getting on my nerves. But at the same time I didn't want to build it up too much because I had read reports on here about not neccessarily seeing animals outside your room all the time. Also I was nervous about construction and called at least a dozen times asking questions about it.
So we arrive at 9 pm on the 19th. We had rented a car and the guard had our parking pass printed for us. There was no line to check in. I made sure the cast member knew that I wanted to be far away from any construction. I was told that I would be very far away from any noise and that it would absolutely not be an issue. Then she showed me the room. It was #3365 which is the second last room on the end of Kudu trail, facing the sunset savanna. I asked if there was anything closer (like I had requested) and was told no. I didn't argue because honestly I was thrilled to be there and someone has to stay in those rooms right?
On the way to our room we could see tons of animals on arusha savanna. It took us 20 minutes to walk to the room because the kids wanted to stop at every set of windows. We were all so excited to see the animals and I was surprised the savanna was so well lit at night. We got to our room and tried to get the kids to bed. We went on our balcony and thought we spotted a giraffe, but it was really just a tree.
Everything seemed fine.The next morning I got up and got ready and went out on the balcony. I was a little surprised at the view. The savanna was a lot shorter than I thought it would be and I didn't expect to see the constuction work. I looked all around and couldn't see any animals. After getting the kids up and ready we all went out on the balcony. Two cm's were out on the savanna doing something and a family below us was asking them where the animals were. They were told that they were down by the animal barn waiting for breakfast. We could see some animals hanging out by the barn. My kids could only see if they stood up in a chair and leaned over the railing, which I did not want them doing. That day we left to go to the parks and came back after dark. We did the night viewing which was by the pool and was really amazing.
On Friday morning we were going to MK EMH so I was up really early and was out on the balcony at 6:30. I noticed headlights on the other side of the fence. By the time I got my kids ready it was daylight and we could see some construction work going on. It was really loud by the time we left at 7:15. I was really surprised that they were working so early, especially since I had been told over and over the construction work would only happen while I was at the park. We came for a nap in the afternoon and didn't notice any work going on outside. There were quite a bit of workers milling in the hallway and we later figured out they were painting in the first few pods of rooms on our trail.
The next morning, same thing, early work outside. At this point I am starting to feel disappointed. I kept thinking about the people that paid the same as me but had a room on arusha savanna. I felt like they must have had a totally different experience. Everytime we would walk to our room we would see tons of animals on arusha. I did go to the front desk to talk about it and basically they have no idea what is going on as far as the outside construction work. I almost felt like they didn't believe me that it was even happening. We came back at night and ate at the Mara. My DS and I went to Zawadi Marketplace to buy some postcards. I really enjoyed looking around.
We did an EMH morning again on Sunday so we were out of the room early. They were doing construction work again. We came back late that night.
Monday was our check out day. My DH asked if we could stay in the room until noon and I was very surprised the hotel said yes. I didn't think Disney did late check outs. We were up early, the construction noise started about 7:30 that day. I really have no idea what all they are doing out there. Getting ready to build obviously but beyond that you mostly hear instead of see. We could definitely see a crane, and other big machines (and personal vehicles) but the trees do block a lot of it from view. We had breakfast at Boma and then went to the pool. The pool was awesome, my kids really loved it. The slide opened at 10 and they got a magical moment certificate for helping to open it. They went down the slide so many times and were so sad when we had to leave. We were out of our room right at 11 anyway.
Overall, I really loved the hotel and it was truly special to have stayed there with the animals. But I must admit I felt disappointed that I had been told so many times that the construction wouldn't be an issue because it was. It was not noticeable in the building at all except for the black drapes in the lobby (which really blend in to me). But the work on Kidani is really loud and intense. I would love to stay at AKL again (and as soon as I got back I started looking at buying DVC points) but I would not want to stay on sunset savanna for the next 2 years. I feel like the noise and the view can only get worse. I personally felt like it did bother the animals because they were mostly huddled around the animal barn all day. You never really saw them on the savanna like you did with the animals on arusha savanna.
What else... The Mara, we ate here several times and the food was good and it wasn't crowded at all. For breakfast we used our snack credits to get muffins and danishes. We drove instead of using the buses and our key would never work to open the gate. We took it to the front desk and they checked the computer and said the keys were fine. My DH was kind of ticked that no one would help us get that straightened out because if they weren't opening the gate then something was wrong.
I felt like my family had a great time. My kids really weren't bothered by the construction noise and equipment but I was. I hope I can talk DH into staying there again. I know he would love to do the safari breakfast and told me I should have booked at least one concierge night. So maybe there is hope. I will post some pictures down below.
. thanks!
I have to admit, I am not fond of the view from your balcony. We are staying there next month, and I hope we have better luck.
