TheSouthernBelle
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2017
- Messages
- 3,093
So our quick, last minute trip to WDW included a 1 night stay at AKL. We booked our room last Thursday for our Saturday stay. It's me, DH, DD 11 and DD 9. We booked a standard room and paid full rack rate
We were all first timers!!
Our observations of AKL-
We did online check in but sadly it didn't work out, our room wasn't ready till 3pm and we still had to go to the desk. I know it doesn't always work out where you can bypass the desk but it would have been good since we were trying to plan our park midday break around check in.
When we did check in, it was very fast, less than 5 min and every CM was very friendly and helpful. The pixie dust moment for us was our upgrade to a savanna view room, that was cool!! Also when we checked out, we were able to get a late check out of 1pm which was wonderful.
The lobby is very pretty, clean and extremely well themed. The details in the resort are amazing. I will say that the resort is kind of dark, maybe because it was cloudy out, I am not sure but even the next morning when it was sunny, the resort lacks natural light. Maybe it's the thatched exterior overhangs?
Room 3503-Our room was very nice, we were on the zebra trail third floor (which is lobby level).
Now my negatives. And i know my opinion will not be popular since I only hear good things about AKL.
The standard rooms are really small and I wish they were at least the same size as some of the moderates. I read that there is a 2 foot loss in the standards. I know AKL is the lowest price of the deluxes but it's still pricey. Other than the resort having interior hallways, I don't see how AKL is classed as a Deluxe. I understand you're paying for the animals but it's not enough for me. The room appointments were nothing special and I actually prefer the Royal Room we had at POR over this room. All deluxe rooms should have a Keurig, the pod coffee makers are not very good. And at deluxe prices, you should get a microwave. I know it's just a basic standard room but those are some amenities that should be included in that price. We were very excited to have the balcony overlooking the savanna and for my girls, this was what made the trip worth it and what you are paying for. If it were just me and my husband, we would have been disappointed. But they loved it and really enjoyed the balcony. We had a few giraffes, zebra, misc birds and antelope outside our room. I suppose I was expecting more as this was our first deluxe stay and sadly we were not impressed.
We were able to get an ADR at Boma for breakfast the next morning at 9:40am. Also had heard really great things about the breakfast. It was a pretty standard check in at the desk, they get your cell number and text you when your table is ready. We only waited about 5 min which was wonderful, we were so hungry. The food was good but nothing overwhelming. I tried a lot of the offerings, the traditional African bobotie and hash and even the eggs and bacon, pretty standard fare. The buffet line was pretty long, I'd say it took about 10-15 min to get in line, grab a plate and get food back to your table. Our waitress was nice but a little slow. She didn't clear plates as fast as she should have and when it came time to pay she was missing in action.
We enjoyed the Uzima pool which my girls loved too. The slide is a winner in their books! The pool is nicely appointed with shade trees and plenty of chairs. There are several areas within the pool which make it feel more private and smaller than it really is. We also ventured out to all the animal overlooks to see what we didn't see from our room which was nice. Now we only stayed for one night and we couldn't have our girls participate in any of the activities but I understand they have a pretty full schedule of offerings so we missed out on that.
Overall AKL is a very nice resort, the staff is friendly and Boma is enjoyable but as an adult, me and my husband expected more than we got but from a kids perspective it's a winner.
We were all first timers!!Our observations of AKL-
We did online check in but sadly it didn't work out, our room wasn't ready till 3pm and we still had to go to the desk. I know it doesn't always work out where you can bypass the desk but it would have been good since we were trying to plan our park midday break around check in.
When we did check in, it was very fast, less than 5 min and every CM was very friendly and helpful. The pixie dust moment for us was our upgrade to a savanna view room, that was cool!! Also when we checked out, we were able to get a late check out of 1pm which was wonderful.
The lobby is very pretty, clean and extremely well themed. The details in the resort are amazing. I will say that the resort is kind of dark, maybe because it was cloudy out, I am not sure but even the next morning when it was sunny, the resort lacks natural light. Maybe it's the thatched exterior overhangs?
Room 3503-Our room was very nice, we were on the zebra trail third floor (which is lobby level).
Now my negatives. And i know my opinion will not be popular since I only hear good things about AKL.
The standard rooms are really small and I wish they were at least the same size as some of the moderates. I read that there is a 2 foot loss in the standards. I know AKL is the lowest price of the deluxes but it's still pricey. Other than the resort having interior hallways, I don't see how AKL is classed as a Deluxe. I understand you're paying for the animals but it's not enough for me. The room appointments were nothing special and I actually prefer the Royal Room we had at POR over this room. All deluxe rooms should have a Keurig, the pod coffee makers are not very good. And at deluxe prices, you should get a microwave. I know it's just a basic standard room but those are some amenities that should be included in that price. We were very excited to have the balcony overlooking the savanna and for my girls, this was what made the trip worth it and what you are paying for. If it were just me and my husband, we would have been disappointed. But they loved it and really enjoyed the balcony. We had a few giraffes, zebra, misc birds and antelope outside our room. I suppose I was expecting more as this was our first deluxe stay and sadly we were not impressed.
We were able to get an ADR at Boma for breakfast the next morning at 9:40am. Also had heard really great things about the breakfast. It was a pretty standard check in at the desk, they get your cell number and text you when your table is ready. We only waited about 5 min which was wonderful, we were so hungry. The food was good but nothing overwhelming. I tried a lot of the offerings, the traditional African bobotie and hash and even the eggs and bacon, pretty standard fare. The buffet line was pretty long, I'd say it took about 10-15 min to get in line, grab a plate and get food back to your table. Our waitress was nice but a little slow. She didn't clear plates as fast as she should have and when it came time to pay she was missing in action.
We enjoyed the Uzima pool which my girls loved too. The slide is a winner in their books! The pool is nicely appointed with shade trees and plenty of chairs. There are several areas within the pool which make it feel more private and smaller than it really is. We also ventured out to all the animal overlooks to see what we didn't see from our room which was nice. Now we only stayed for one night and we couldn't have our girls participate in any of the activities but I understand they have a pretty full schedule of offerings so we missed out on that.
Overall AKL is a very nice resort, the staff is friendly and Boma is enjoyable but as an adult, me and my husband expected more than we got but from a kids perspective it's a winner.
IDK, I may have just had higher expectations.
.
