Just got back from AKL

[tekmom]

We had a great first trip! AKL was beautiful and I would stay again in a heartbeat! Checked in at 10am and was upgraded from standard to savanna, 4th floor kudu trail, sunset savanna! Saw animals all throughout the day, mousekeeping was great, got towel animals and about 20 bars of soap..ha ha! We tipped everyday and the room was very clean. Cancelled our ressies at Boma. I'm the only adventerous eater and after about 3 days we realized it wasn't worth it for us...we did order room service a couple of times, so if the primerib was from Boma it was delicious! The kids enjoyed the pool and my 8 year old did all of the activities and earned all of her beads. The room was 4266 and was not far from the places we needed to be. Rooms were bright and we did not have any problems with darkness. Buses were great and we never waited long for a bus and they never seemed crowded. We had a great time! Thank you DIS boards for all your advice!

 

[Noah122898]

I am so glad to hear that your stay at the AKL was so wonderful. We are going there for the first time in 29 days and I was wondering about the transportation. Thanks for the review.

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

Glad you had a great time!

Have you started planning your next trip?!?!?!?!

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

Glad to hear you had a great time. We have only visited the resort and I do agree it is beautiful.

 

[vgsmom]

tekmom-

We're staying at the AKL in October and we're excited. You're review makes me more excited. I also have an 8 year girl. What kind of activities earned her beads?

vgsmom

 

[scoutsmom99]

Glad you enjoyed your stay at AKL it is one of my favorite resorts at WDW! I can hardly wait to be there in 2 months

 

[tekmom]

I can't wait to go back! My daughter did the various activities around the hotel. At 9:30, they had flamingo feeding behind the pool area and when she completed that they gave her a strand of twine with a pink bead on it signifying completion of that activity. At other points during the day, they had other activities that also earned her a bead on completion. On her last activity at the end of our trip, she received a completer bead and now had a lovely beaded necklace. They can give you a list of the activities and times, but you can also do the same activity more than once and still get another bead. They have a parade of kids banging on instruments from the gift shop and marching around the lobby at 8:00 pm and you get a certificate when it's over. I went thinking I was going to lay around but there was many things to do and see while we were there. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Nuchi15697]

We are going for 7 nights in Dec. and are crossing our fingers for an upgrade too. How many nights did you stay?

 

[tekmom]

Noah, the bussing was fine. We had a rental car with us and never used it the first time after we arrived at the hotel. We never shared a bus with any other resort. On the way to MGM, it did stop at Blizzard beach but I never found the buses crowded except for one time, leaving the MK at closing one night, and even that wasn't so crowded that it became annoying. We were very happy with our stay at AKL.

 

[tekmom]

We stayed for 7 nights and the hotel was at capacity

 

[Mr Poohbrain]

Tekmom,

Sounds awesome! Hey, how'd you get upgraded from a Standard to a Savanah room? Any tips that you can share?

Thanks,

Mrs. PB

 

[jgreen]

Glad you had a great time! Hopefully we will be as fortunate as you on our upcoming trip in just over four weeks time. It will be a first trip for our kids and my first since 1973 .

 

[ScottNBecky]

FYI we stayed there a month ago and our DD's 8 and 6 did the Hidden Mickey Hunt. You ask for it at the front desk then using the clues they give, go throughout the AKL and try to find them. Our DD's LOVED IT. We found everyone but 2. Then turn in your form in the gift shop (Zawadi) and they give you a cool souvenir certificate saying you completed the hidden mickey hunt. The certificate is a 50 year Happiest Celebration on Earth card, so well worth it to collect. The hunt took us about 1.5 hours and it was well worth the time invested.

 

[tekmom]

I don't know how we got the upgrade but it was definately done before we ever got there. The woman at the checkin never told me we got an upgrade until she gave me the map to get to the room. I saw that I was not in the standard view area, and said "Oh, I thought we booked this area" and she said that we have been given a complimentary upgrade to savanna and had also received the non smoking, bunkbeds, third floor or higher room that I had requested. She said to have a magical first trip and that even though it was only 10 am, our room was ready....sweeet. We were thrilled. I believe the upgrage was given in the system a while ago (we had booked in January) and everytime I would call to apply a payment, the CRO person would always say that it being our first trip we should get alot of pixie dust and they bet we see alot of animals...I would tell my husband they were taunting me Because we got there early, we were assigned a room that was already ready...and the view was so nice.

 

[CaseyJr]

DS & I (Mom) stayed at AKL in May/June and absolutely loved it! This past week DH had a business trip and conference, so we had to stay at the Dolphin (which was nice, too, but.....). On one of his "off" days, we rode to AKL to have B/fast at BOMA then to give DH the grand tour. It was so nice to be back! At BOMA, we ran into a few CM's who remembered us, and it was nice to see them again, too.

 

[tekmom]

We really enjoyed our stay and I would gladly stay there again!