Just back from AKL

[grumpyandbashful]

.Just back from a 5-night stay at AKL. This was my 4th stay there (I love it!). I went with my sister, who was visiting WDW for the first time.
I had requested a room on the Zebra Trail facing Arusha Savannah, as close as possible to the elevators down to Mara & the pool. This was requested when I made the ressie, and I also faxed my requests 4 days prior. When we arrived Saturday, the resort was PACKED!! I couldn't believe it. A bellhop told me that a lot of Floridians come just for the weekend, and that things would clear out . This was true - on Monday things were back to normal and the AKL was a nice serene place!
Anyway, we were told there were no rooms left overlooking Arusha Savannah , but I pleaded my case nicely and eventually we got a perfect room.
We asked about upgrading to concierge for one day (Tuesday) to do the Sunrise Safari. There was room on the safari, but it would have cost over $100 for the one-day upgrade, plus the cost of the safari, so we passed it up
.
Transportation was great, except for one time when we had to wait about 40 minutes at Epcot for a bus back to AKL. Otherwise buses were prompt. We had a rental car, and used to to go to Downtown Disney 3 nights, and to drive to the Poly for breakfast our last morning.
The pool was the perfect temperature, and swimming was very comfortable even though it was pretty cool while we were there.
We ate dinner at Boma, and it was awesome as usual!!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

 

[DrDoobie]

I am leaving for AKL on Sunday for 5 days. Any tips or suggestions? This is our first stay at AKL. I already booked the Sunrise Safari (recommended by our planner).

Thanks in advance.

Jason

 

[corvair]

Thanks for the report. Just wondering where your room was. I booked for May and asked for the same requests. Zebra trail. near the elevator. I have two girls who will want to go to the pool alot. Any tips would be great... How were the hot tubs...thanks..amy

 

[JennSaint]

Glad to hear you had a good stay. We'll be checking into AKL on Wednesday!!

 

[jenjenmouse]

That's my dream resort. But alas, ASSp here we come.
Glad you had fun and thanks for letting us live vicariously.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi there...

Just curious, how were they able to "come up" with the perfect room after saying nothing was available? Were they lying at first???

It amazes me sometimes what can happen - if you perservere and don't give in to the first "no" someone gives you.

>>^..^<<

 

[corvair]

I was wondering the same thing..amy

 

[roserae]

We will be at AKL in less than 24 hours! Whoo-hoo! I'm concerned now about our room reservation. We also faxed a request, but not on the Zebra Trail. We asked to be on the Kudu trail overlooking the Arusha Savannah. Hoping that request wouldn't be as popular as the Zebra Trail. But now I'm concerned that we won't get either! I guess we'll live. DH really has his heart set on Arusha. I guess what will be, will be. I'd also like to know how you ended up with "the perfect room" Elaborate please! And hurry...we're leaving soon!

 

[grumpyandbashful]

After checking "in the back" once, they told us there was ONE room available overlooking Arusha Savannah - at the VERY END (last room!) of Kudu Trail on the 2nd Floor. I knew this wouldn't work for us, as my sister has some difficulty walking, so we explained this to the very nice CM who was helping us. She went to the back one more time, was gone about 10-15 minutes, and came back with room 2419, which was in the first section of rooms on Zebra Trail, overlooking Arusha Rock/Savannah, and quite lose to the elevators to the pool & Mara. Ideal would be one or two sections further out on Zebra Trail, but I certainly wasn't complaining!! Our CM told us that that room was being saved for another guest, but they decided to give it to us, because we would be staying more nights . I didn't feel guilty, since I had requested that room location in advance, and my sister really did need a room that didn't involve much walking.
For DrDoobie - have a great time!! If you are staying in concierge and doing the Sunrise Safari, you'll have a great time. Make sure you take plenty of warm clothes - even though we lucked out and had highs mostly in the 70's, it was pretty cool (jeans and jackets) in the mornings and evenings.
Make sure you eat at Boma - it's incredible!amy - hot tubs are awesome!! Slide is very fun and like I said, the pool is the perfect temp.
roserae - if you aren't checking in on the weekend, you shouldn't have too much of a problem getting what you request - well, I might take that back! I have never gotten what I've requested at AKL, but I just ask nicely at checkin and they can usually come up with a location that makes me happy. Our CM this time was very nice and understanding - don't hesitate to ask if you don't get what you want!!

 

[roserae]

Thanks for the quick reply grumpyandbashful! We will be checking in tomorrow (Saturday) so it may very well be busy, but I really appreciate the heads-up so we won't be disappointed when we get there. Thanks a lot!





Can hardly contain my excitement!

 

[grumpyandbashful]

Have a great time and I hope you get the general area you want!! If it's crowded, don't worry - everyone will head out on Sunday .

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by grumpyandbashful
.Just back from a 5-night stay at AKL. This was my 4th stay there (I love it!). I went with my sister, who was visiting WDW for the first time.
I had requested a room on the Zebra Trail facing Arusha Savannah, as close as possible to the elevators down to Mara & the pool. This was requested when I made the ressie, and I also faxed my requests 4 days prior. When we arrived Saturday, the resort was PACKED!! I couldn't believe it. A bellhop told me that a lot of Floridians come just for the weekend, and that things would clear out . This was true - on Monday things were back to normal and the AKL was a nice serene place!
Anyway, we were told there were no rooms left overlooking Arusha Savannah , but I pleaded my case nicely and eventually we got a perfect room.
We asked about upgrading to concierge for one day (Tuesday) to do the Sunrise Safari. There was room on the safari, but it would have cost over $100 for the one-day upgrade, plus the cost of the safari, so we passed it up
.
Transportation was great, except for one time when we had to wait about 40 minutes at Epcot for a bus back to AKL. Otherwise buses were prompt. We had a rental car, and used to to go to Downtown Disney 3 nights, and to drive to the Poly for breakfast our last morning.
The pool was the perfect temperature, and swimming was very comfortable even though it was pretty cool while we were there.
We ate dinner at Boma, and it was awesome as usual!!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Hi grumpyand bashful,

My husband and I were at the AKL the same time you were. We arrived on Sat the 1st and got home last night. We stayed 5n/6d in a Savanna view Coneierge room. We had room 5427 on the Zebra Trail. It was great. We did the Sunrise Safari on Tuesday the 4th and there were two other parties that post/read the DIS on the safari. I hope I get the names right but hi to Sharon and her husband and hi to Ricky and his wife and two childern. It was our best trip ever to WDW. Glad to see that you also had a great time.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by DrDoobie
I am leaving for AKL on Sunday for 5 days. Any tips or suggestions? This is our first stay at AKL. I already booked the Sunrise Safari (recommended by our planner).

Thanks in advance.

Jason

Hi DrDoobie,

I am not the original poster but we just returned from 5n/6d at the AKL in a concierge room and did the Sunrise Safari on the 4th. Tips; if you are a wine drinker there are amazing South African wines served from 5pm to 7pm. We would stop buy at the lounge for a quick drink before heading out for dinner. From 8pm to 10pm dessets are served in the lounge and you have to give the Zebra Domes a try they are out of this world. The lounge also serves cordials during this time. Make sure you bring enought flim/smart media for the Sunrise Safari. You will receive an invitation the night before the safari instructing you to meet in the concierge lounge between 6:30am and 7:15am for check in and to grab a quick cup of coffee or tea. You cannot bring cups of coffee or tea on the safari. At 7:15am you are moved to the Sunset Overlook and then you are boarded on the bus at 7:30am on the dot. It is amazing and the breakfast afterwards is also very good. It costs $49.95 per person but my husband and I both agree that it was the best $100 we have ever spent. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I will be happy to try and answer them before you leave.

 

[DisneyVa.]

We were there the first week of the year. We had been looking forward to this trip and had reservations for almost 11 months. We had researched the resort and knew exactly the floor, trail and savannah we wanted. We requested this information on our reservations we made last Feb. for a savannah view room. I also called the day before we checked in since we were already at the Swan earlier in the week. When we got to the resort around 1:00p.m; the line to check in was almost out the door! Unbelievable. They really were very busy. Finally, about 50 minutes later, we reached the front of the line. By now my kids were seated in the lounge area. The CM said no rooms on the Arusha savannah at all. They did have one on the 4th floor of Zebra trail that was smoking. I kept pleading and begging. Now my son came over and I told him we couldn't get a room anywhere or the Arusha savannah. He began to cry! I finally asked where our room would be. She said on the Ostrich trail right next to the bell stand! No thanks. My husband came up to the counter when he saw my son upset. I told him we might as well get our money back and go and check into another resort. Then, the CM said just a minute. She went in the back room for about 10 minutes and return to tell us we now had a room on Zebra Trail, Arusha Savannah, 2nd floor, bunk beds,......room 2435, everyone of our requests. No matter how full the resort is, don't give up. We loved the resort and plan on returning next summer.

 

[kevind65]

welcome back! we stayed at AKL for the first time last june and fell in love with it. we will definetly return. just a tip for some of the others going down. If you're concerned with having a savannah view and you want to be close to everything: we stayed in room 1456(can't remember the trail) which is a pool view room. right across the hall from simba's playhouse the laundry facility and the elevators. closest room to the exits leading out to the arcade, mara, and the pool. best room location we've had at disney.

 

[>>^..^<<]

LOL on this topic...

I would love to get a look in the AKL "BACK ROOM"

Just to see what goes on back there !

>>^..^<<

 

[DWDreams]

I was also at AKL for the first time this past week! We arrived Thursday 01/30 for 5 nights, leaving on Tuesday 02/04.

We had only booked a standard room and I didn't really expect much, only hoped not to overlook the parking lot! When we checked in I half-heartedly asked about an "animal view," but really am not very good at that sort of thing. Anyway, she said no when I asked and said that standard rooms didn't have animal views and that was fine with me. Then the bellhop takes us up to a room and explains how it's a sunset savannah room, room 4212, and I was beyond excited lol! Then our keys didn't work in the door so he let us in and called down to the desk to have them make new keys, only to learn that he'd brought us to the wrong room and the actual room was 4412! Bummer, we were already out on the balcony ooohing and aaaahing!

Anyhow, 4412 ended up being a poolview and I was more than happy with that considering I'd booked standard. This resort was fabulous and we had a wonderful time. The atmosphere is just so peaceful and my daughter was beside herself with the animals to view. It was definitely more crowded over the weekend but not terribly so.

We also ate at Boma one night and it was excellent. Anyone considering this resort should go for it, it's truly a great place to stay!

 

[kenman]

Anyone have any pictures?

 

[wdwnut61]

Welcome back!

Glad you enjoyed your stay. We've only been back a little over a month and I miss it so much. Thanks for the report.


kenman,

Below is a link to some pictures from our recent stay at the AKL concierge. There are some pics from the Sunrise Safari and from the resort itself.http://photos.yahoo.com/wdwnut61