Just got back from 5 nights at AKL

[cranbiz]

Just pulled in the driveway from our family trip. I have just got to say, What a great place AKL is.

We checked in Monday Dec 6th at 8am. Naturally the room was not ready, but we got our tickets and headed for the park. We had reserved 2 pool veiw rooms, and I asked about an upgrade while checking in. The CM said "lets see if I can" and checked. Unfortunately, the lodge was overbooked by 6 rooms for savannah veiw and he could not do it for us.

We got Rooms 5014 and 5016, not connecting like I requested, but we just put all of the kids in one, mom and dad had the other (kids are 23, 18 and 16)

These rooms were on Giraffe trail. Great view of the pool area nad a distand veiw of part of the savannah. We were able to see animals every day from there (yes they were somewhat distant, but with the ever present binoculars) had no trouble identifying them.

The lodge itself was spectacular, and we took advantage of storytelling (don't always believe the front desk on time though) and the night viewing.
I did not think the rooms were all that small for 2 or 3 people and I did not think that they were all that dark. Loved the balcony, it was a great place to sit with a drink, transfer pics to the laptop, etc.

We did not get towel animals, but mousekeeping was fine, no problems, and the rooms were made up on the days we came back from the parks in the afternoon.

The self parking would be my only complaint, though. It was a bit of a walk most of the time. I solved that problem by just dropping everyone off at the lobby and then parked the truck. In the morning, I would get the truck and pick everyone up. I did consider valet, but in the end, just did the above.

Fridges were in the rooms at N/C and we were informed of that on checkin.

BOMA was as good as always and Mara was quick, and no more expensive than the Value food courts, and it was nice to eat poolside.

NOW, if only Disney would do something about Nescafe

 

[rlduvall]

cranbiz:

We were there at the exact time as you; right down the hall. 12/6 for five nights. I had booked a pool view and was also told no upgrades to Savannah view as hotel was booked. (shame on me, I actually didn't believe him) We had room 5032 and I totally agree about the great view. We could even see more of the Savannah than you. I loved that room and will try to get it when I go back. I thought that pool view was even better than the Savannah view. Wasn't the weather great???? Naturally, I went to Typhoon Lagoon on Friday - the only day it rained.

 

[cranbiz]

rlduvall,

You are so right, we couldn'd have asked for better weather. We went to Animal Kingdom on Friday, The animals were playing in the rain while we were on the safari and Kali was no problem, since we were already wet.

 

[liznboys]

Sounds great! We can't wait to stay there in Feb.

 

[buckeye]

Thanks for the report! It's getting me excited for Spring Break! Did you have bunkbeds in either of the rooms? We have requested pool-view, connecting rooms----now I'd like to ask that one room have bunkbeds, but don't know if those rooms are all that common.

 

[Daisie]

I love the Animal Kingdom Lodge....did you happen to eat at Jiko's....it's one of my favorite disney restaurants.

 

[ILuvWDWorld]

So excited to hear about your trip! I can't wait to go again in February with all of my family - it's gonna be great! I love AKL!

 

[shoes99]

We were at AKL for 5 nights from 12/8 to 12/13. We booked a standard but were upgraded to a Savannah view all the way at the end of the split hallway between 2 savannahs. We had room 2572 and it was very nice. Lots of animal activity, especially at mid day when we came back twice for a rest and for DH to check E___ on his laptop. We are new laptop users and we had a little problem with finding dial up numbers. I spent $5.00 before I realized that the AOL search feature was costing $.75 everytime it dialed AOL. Front desk refunded my expensive mistake, then it cost me $.75 per call each time I dialed a local AOL number. We ate at Mara, but our two expensive dinners (on a VKD voucher) were Chefs France and Narcosses. We split one adult voucher each and had plenty to eat. We loved this time of year, it did get cold at night on Sat and Sun, but I had gloves and a hat, the wind was very cold. We used the quick and casual lunch voucher to get a wonderful ribeye steak dinner at Coronado Springs, which we split. Our vacation package for Mousefest Convention came with 8 different vouchers, and we had a blast using them.
We did MVMCP on 12/9 and Candlelight Processional on 12/12. Our Mousefest group had a private party at Adventurers Club on Sat, and we went to the Comedy Club immediately after, it was sooo cold, we couldn't walk around, so we went back to AKL..never saw the 12 midnight fireworks at PI.

 

[Colorado Belle]

Dear Shoes,
We were at AKL same time as you, and I have to say that I was upset about our room and view...and the front desk's complete disinterest in the fact that we had requested an entirely different savanah, but had given a span of about 10 rooms on each of 5 floors (50 rooms) in our 'preferred' location.

Someone above mentioned that there are fridges in all the rooms at no charge, but we requested one at check in and were told that they were $10 a day, which on top of the savannah room rate seemed steep. (The CM mentioned that there wasn't a charge IF it were for medicine, so I said truthfully that I had medicine (tho I never said it had to be refrigerated...is that called lying by omission?????) and we weren't charged. We were given the floor and 'savannah' number (the first 2 numbers of the 4 digit room numbers) and when I went exploring, I realized that it was likely we would have a room overlooking this very bland and dusty 'PENNED in area'. I asked what it was and they told me that it was in case of emergencies...whether they would put the animals or the people in them I never found out, but I immediately requested (before any of the rooms were ready mind you) a room change and was told that the front desk personnelle cannot assign rooms.
(I kinda wonder what the heck they are there for then) Our room was indeed overlooking this pen and nothing but this pen. So we never saw an animal from our room the entire stay, as I presume there was never an EMERGENCY.

While I found the maids, the waitpersons, the outdoor staff very friendly and nice, I thought the front desk people were horrible (I spoke with 3).
Also, we left early the first day for the parks and just after the maid came by and knocked on the door re cleaning. We were surprised to return to the room at 3 to find it had not yet been made up...but then as soon as we came in (and it was just to change to warmer clothing for the night festiviites) there was another knock on the door re cleaning.....Surely, there wasn't some kind of game going on was there?

Finally, I'm pretty much of a 'find the good ' in any given situation, but I just didn't think AKL was an enjoyable experience for us. The rooms were more theme decorated than most other of the resorts, and the lobby, tho very dark, was impressive...but we were there for the unique aspect of having animals cruising by the room and that just didn't happen.

Of course, I don't let a bad room spoil MY Disney holiday...I just wont' go back to the AKL.

colorado belle

 

[majimikate]

We stayed at AKL Savannah View in October. We were happy with the rooms, 2 adjoining, although not at all the rooms I had requested. We too were near a pen, but not overlooking one as in the previous post. I found the hotel beautiful, but kind of out of the way. We had a car so we could driv eto the parks etc., but getting back to the AKL seems to take forever!! It was gorgeous, I enjoyed it, but if I'm going to spend "deluxe money" again. I think I might choose a resort closer to the parks next time. All that being said, the pool and grounds of the resort are amazing!!