Just booked AKL... Honest opinions

[JennyDrake]

Good: animals; atmosphere

Bad: if you don't like/get bored with the QS, too bad. Nothing else is close enough to be an option; small rooms, no daybeds

Ugly: buses. 15 min Epcot. 25 min MK.

DITTO.

The rooms are also very dark and in 3 stays, I've had ongoing issues with in rooms noise each time (ie. could hear the guy next door unzipping and peeing).

With that said, most people LOVE this resort.

 

[DisneyMamato4]

In 31 days we will arrive for our 7th stay at AKL. We've stayed at several other deluxe resorts but this is our all time favorite. You can't beat the price for a deluxe, the views are amazing and we love the food options. We have had several times where the buses were off but we drive so we can always take our car if needed. It doesn't deter us from staying there though!

 

[DJFan88]

You can also go over to KidAni poolside or Boma has a lounge I believe with other quick menu options.

 

[Aurora410]

I'm getting so excited for our trip!

Theresa

 

[happymommy]

I've stayed there 4 times (I think?). First time, it was just me and my kids in a standard room for 5 nights (they were 4 and 6, and it was my first trip taking just them). We loved it. Next time, club level, with my husband. It was a great time. Third time, extended family came, it wasn't my first choice, but oh well, it was just okay. Last time we stayed in a one bedroom/two bathroom villa at Kidani (rented from an owner off redweek). I didn't care for Kidani at all. Other than the villa, which was nice and all, but we had to walk a LONG walk to the Mara for quick serve, and the options got kind of tedious. Also it seemed to take a long time to get food at the Mara. We did cook in a bit, but I also felt quite isolated. I would have preferred two rooms at Pop Century honestly; every park from there seems so much quicker!

I won't ever return to AKL. Our first two times were fun, but if I'm doing bus to each and every park, I'll stay value. We typically swim maybe once a trip, and the pool is okay there but not a huge draw to me (now our first stay at Jambo it was nice to have the zero entry pool, as my DD was 4, and I could sit right nearby and watch her swim). The Mara also used to be better to me. Now that I've tried Pop and their food court, I have to say I prefer the options there over many other QS locations (the more we go to Disney, the less TS we end up doing).

 

[busymommy2pink]

After staying at many Deluxes, and visiting all resorts on property (with exception of AoA), it is the ONLY hotel that took my breath away. We LOVE AKL...and will stay there without a second thought.

Ask for the animal scavenger hunt at the front desk, was a fun activity to go around the resort and do. And DO check out both pools.

 

[disneyAndi14]

We loved AKL, stayed this past February and would stay again for sure. The resort is beautiful with great dining choices, our room was great, we had a partial savanna view. The bus ride to MK is a little long but not terrible.

 

[DJFan88]

I have to agree with happy mommy that Jambo House is the way to go. Kidani seemed blah in comparison.

 

[angelinaxox]

I just stayed last week for the first time for three days before my three day DCL cruise. I was nervous about having long waits for the buses and long bus rides but I had no problems. I loved my room location which was the first room from the lobby so it was convenient to the transportation (greatly appreciated on our 7 am to 2 am MK day). I loved the theming of AKL and our safari view. I would definitely stay at AKL again.

 

[Rose7777]

We love it there. Out of Jambo and Kidani, we actually preferred Kidani- it was incredibly quiet and peaceful. The rooms didn't seem dark at all and the savannah views are breathtaking. The buses were more efficient than anywhere else- I don't think we waited more than 10 minutes for a bus the entire week we were there. We also always got seats. Once on, yes, the rides are a few minutes longer than from other resorts, but it was a total nonissue. I'd stay there again in a heartbeat.

 

[rangerxenos]

We loved AKL when we stayed there, we stayed at Jamba. LOVE Boma, it's one of my favorite Disney restaurants, I go over to the resort for breakfast and/or dinner at least once every trip for a meal. We didn't have too much trouble with the buses, but DH is not a rope drop person, so we usually weren't taking the buses at peak times. Pool is gorgeous. I did not like Mara for QS.

 

[TravelingTotMom]

We just got back from a 3 night stay, and we also stayed one night last month. My family (me, DH, DS3) LOVES AKL. I'm pretty sure this is going to be our go-to Disney resort from now on. Every single time I walked into the lobby, it was this mixed sense of amazement and tranquility.

Both times we booked standard and ended up with great partial savannah views. Also, all of the public viewing spaces are wonderful, and the night vision goggles were fun to try. There is a pretty good line up of activities for all ages each day.

You can also use the pools at both Jambo and Kidani, and there is a complimentary van that runs between the two lobbies.

We had no issue with the bus transportation (and actually, we waited less time than other resorts), except we won't take the bus to Disney Springs again. Based on the distance and the traffic by Disney Springs, it ended up being a little over a half an hour ride. The parks were all fine though - maybe a couple more minutes than other bus resorts, but nothing noticeable to us. And we loved being able to quickly return to AK at night.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

We stayed at Jambo earlier this week for a quick 2 night trip. Booked a standard room, got a partial savannah, of 2 different savannahs. The room itself wasn't dark, but the hallways certainly were! The room was decent sized, the bathroom definitely a bit bigger than value bathrooms. We were in 4574 (I think), a bit of a hike down the halls to get there.

The people upstairs were very noisy the first night...we could hear the adult male encouraging the children to jump from bed to bed and to the floor, and when we complained, we were told at the desk they couldn't do anything about it until 10pm (this was 9:30, with a 1 year old asleep). At 10:15, when it still hadn't stopped, I went back to the desk and the CM said "well, I'm not sure what you want me to do about it." I asked for a manager, and finally spoke to one about 20 minutes later. The upstairs noise was gone by the time I made it to bed about 11:30, but then we had a knock on the door. A CM, looking very confused, said we called down for an animal guide, and brought it to us. No one called about the guide...we think it was the upstairs people being jerks because they got called out on their noise. No noise the next night though.

Also, the bus to MK was bad. We waited through 3 buses to AK, 2 to Epcot before one came for MK...on a EMH morning 8:15 am. We were there 40 minutes waiting. It was the same driver that was so slow when we were there in October, waiting on a bus from Epcot to AoA...that was an hour wait midafternoon! He let half a family on the bus, but then shut the door on the dad and started to drive off. The little girls freaked out about dad, and the mom told him to stop and let dad on, but the driver said no room. He did stop and let the family off, but the girls were in tears by then. We did complain to the transportation guy we saw at MK at our drop off point, and I did call transpo about the driver (again) when we got home on Wednesday.

We only ate at Mara for dinner one night (ate at Sweet Tomatoes on our arrival, and at the parks the other meals). I ordered a Chicken BLT, and received a chicken and lettuce on a ciabatta. Not what I ordered. DD had gone down to get the food, and ordered it correctly (on the ticket) but not the right food. Took it back down and they gave me a bit of guff before replacing it.

Other than those 3 things, we loved the resort.

 

[JoJoGirl]

He let half a family on the bus, but then shut the door on the dad and started to drive off. The little girls freaked out about dad, and the mom told him to stop and let dad on, but the driver said no room. He did stop and let the family off, but the girls were in tears by then. We did complain to the transportation guy we saw at MK at our drop off point, and I did call transpo about the driver (again) when we got home on Wednesday.

OMG, we were there and saw that!! It happened just as you said, and it was uncalled for and a bit disturbing. The driver wouldn't even let the dad hand the mom her cell phone so they could communicate. I blame the driver and not the resort, though, as bad bus experiences can and do happen anywhere. That morning was the longest we waited for a bus. We got on the next MK bus after that, total wait time for us was about 15 minutes. I really felt for that family and hope their day got better afterward.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

OMG, we were there and saw that!! It happened just as you said, and it was uncalled for and a bit disturbing. The driver wouldn't even let the dad hand the mom her cell phone so they could communicate. I blame the driver and not the resort, though, as bad bus experiences can and do happen anywhere. That morning was the longest we waited for a bus. We got on the next MK bus after that, total wait time for us was about 15 minutes. I really felt for that family and hope their day got better afterward.

yeah, as I said, he was a bad driver. That just kinda soured things for a bit for us, that's all.

 

[shellyj]

AKL is by far our favorite! Not just at Disney, but of anywhere we've traveled.

There is nothing like walking into Jambo House for the first time. I think it appeals to every age range. The animal night viewing is very cool and I think older kids will enjoy it. You can watch an artist carve figurines in the gift shop - neat thing to see. It's a fun resort to explore. Wander back around past the pool and check out the flamingos! Even if they feel too old, or too cool, to participate, a lot of the activities are neat to watch. The drumming in the lobby is especially cool. We love having a room near the lobby where we can hear the drums.

There are some great hidden Mickey's there, too. Make sure you look all the way up and all the way down. The one near Boma was really hard to find. We buckled and googled an extra clue.

We LOVE Boma for both breakfast and dinner. They rotate 2 buffet menus so we try to have dinner there twice each visit. The breakfast buffet is delicious. Although, if it fits your budget and touring plan, I would recommend a ppo breakfast at Tusker House in AK instead. The breakfast offerings are really similar to Boma, great character interactions (especially for older kids who don't want princesses or kiddie characters), and you can jet back to EE and ride it a couple times before the rope drop crowd makes it back there!

We've had great luck with the buses. The bus ride doesn't bother us at all. My kids are still young and my youngest has autism. We actually appreciate the bus to help transition from park to room. We usually drive so we have the option to take the car, but we much prefer the buses.

 

[DisTXMom]

I'd love to try AK, but DH despises relying on only bus transportation. If I ever convinced him to stay there, we would use Uber to get around.

 

[mjohnson96]

AKL was an amazing resort and if you have a Savannah view room the highlight of my kid's day was getting up in the morning or coming back to the room and seeing who was outside our balcony today.

Good: Views of the animals both around the resort and from the room, the pool at both the main resort and over at the villas area (fun play area). Since this was our first time in a deluxe we had a bunk bed room, which the kids loved, and I thought the size of the room was just great for us. My parents had the room next door and my dad did not have any issues with his scooter.

Bad: Remember no balloons you have to give those to the bell desk when you come back from the park.

Ugly: Yep the distance and busses, since we were there for the Halloween events it was a pretty distance to get to MK and the other parks. We had my parent's car a few days and drove to many of the parks but when taking the bus back at night it was a packed disaster at times.

I did not have a problem with the food court but honestly we only ate there a few times and then we love BOMA. We would go back again, when the kids are older, but I would make sure to rent a car that trip.

Of course this summer we are staying at the POLY so I might get spoiled

 

[pjhootch]

We stayed a couple of years ago in late spring. We had 4 of us in a pool view bunk bed room and it was very comfortable. The bunk beds were big enough that my two grown kids were comfortable in them. We loved the hot tubs that were tucked away in the corners and the overall theme of the resort. We really enjoyed Boma too. I really am too cheap to spring for a deluxe resort most of the time, but I am pretty sure I received a discount code or something that made it bearable for me. I don't think I could make myself pay rack rate to stay there, but we really did like the resort and if you are comfortable with the $$ you are paying that makes it all worthwhile.

We mostly used the bus transport and didn't have any issues. It seemed like there was a bit of a wait sometimes but the only time it mattered to me was for an early breakfast reservation for BOG and first thing in the morning the buses were right on time. We also enjoyed the observation areas to see the animals.