Our Most Excellent Trip to AKV!

[Inkmahm]

The bathrooms had bars of soap, shower gel, shampoo, mouthwash, conditioner, and toothbrushes!

AND they replenished most of those things daily!

My favorite discovery was that in concierge, you don't have to go to the gift shop to pick up all the packages from the park that you've had sent back. Concierge picks them up for you and delivers them to your room!

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

My favorite discovery was that in concierge, you don't have to go to the gift shop to pick up all the packages from the park that you've had sent back. Concierge picks them up for you and delivers them to your room!

We didn't use that service but there was one day when we could have.

Here is another concierge discovery that we didn't know about. Our first day there it was raining off and on. I asked at the desk if they had any ponchos and she went into a nearby storage closet and pulled out 2 ponchos for us!

 

[eporter66]

Glad you liked the resort. We were at WDW in Feb, and one afternoon I took a ride over to AKV's while our daughter was down for a nap. Wow - what a great looking resort. The Lobby reminds me of the WL, but a bit darker due to the wood they used. I was surprised because there were not many people out and about the resort. It was a nice day, and the pool area was busy but not crowded. I went out the back to see the Savannah, and although they were doing a lot of construction I still saw some animals. And out on one of the porches, 2 Peacocks were out strutting around. I love it, and can't wait to stay at AKV.

Once all the construction is complete, it will be another amazing hotel on Disney Property. As DVC members, all the resorts are on our radar, but this one will be at the top of the list, as our daughter would be thrilled to stay there and see all the animals

 

[ktbugsmom]

Thanks for the report Robo-Daddy 3000!

We are staying in a studio concierge for 4 nights in January and now I am completely excited! We are hoping to slow down that trip and not run around so much, so I thought that enjoying the resort more and the concierge lounge would be a wonderful way to do it! We are also going to book the sunrise safari. My 8 year old is going to love it. Yeah!

As for dinner "snacks" - what did they have? You mentioned making meals out of them a couple times - which was part of my plan. Is there enough for a "meal"? I know we will always have Mara as a back up and will do Boma or Jiko one night - but just thought it might be nice to not have to run to a restaurant and just chill for a couple nights.

Thanks again!

 

[kgc07]

Thanks for the report Robo-Daddy 3000!

We are staying in a studio concierge for 4 nights in January and now I am completely excited! We are hoping to slow down that trip and not run around so much, so I thought that enjoying the resort more and the concierge lounge would be a wonderful way to do it! We are also going to book the sunrise safari. My 8 year old is going to love it. Yeah!

As for dinner "snacks" - what did they have? You mentioned making meals out of them a couple times - which was part of my plan. Is there enough for a "meal"? I know we will always have Mara as a back up and will do Boma or Jiko one night - but just thought it might be nice to not have to run to a restaurant and just chill for a couple nights.

Thanks again!

I'm just wondering if you booked 11 months day by day?

 

[ktbugsmom]

I did. I called exactly 11 months out at exactly 8am CST and quickly said - "I need Animal Kingdom Villas Concierge..." They seemed to understand and worked quickly. I am not sure I needed to do that for January... but I was not taking a chance of getting one or two days and not the rest.

I then called 4 more days in a row to make sure to get my BWV Studio boardwalk view. Now I just have about 260 days to wait for my vacation!

 

[byoung]

Thanks for reporting.

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

As for dinner "snacks" - what did they have? You mentioned making meals out of them a couple times - which was part of my plan. Is there enough for a "meal"? I know we will always have Mara as a back up and will do Boma or Jiko one night - but just thought it might be nice to not have to run to a restaurant and just chill for a couple nights.

Thanks again!

After consulting with my DW, who is better at these things than I am, she said that one night there was marinated chicken on sticks, another night there were saucy ribs of some sort, and another night there was chicken again but now I forget what kind she said. There was also a soup out each night- butternut squash soup, mulligatawany (sp?) soup, and maybe another too. Plus, there were assorted hummus dips cheeses, crackers, pita bread. Plenty to fill you up. We were in the lounge for dinner for 3 out of the 5 nights. I think dinner was from 5-7. The staff was refilling the food as needed pretty consistently up until about 6:40 pm each night when dinner was starting to wind down. Desserts start at 8pm.

 

[ktbugsmom]

Thanks Rob. That sounds great. I am not trying to "cheap out" and only eat there, but I tend to be a "go go go" person when we go to Disney. My DD8 is right there with me. She would get up and go all day long.

However, DH is not quite on the same page! He is a late sleeper (preferably) and would rather be more leisurely and get to the parks later etc. But DD and I have him up and out the door by 8-8:30am most mornings!

So - for this trip - I booked 4 nights concierge and am planning on not going to the parks the day we get there (we get in at 11am - plenty of time for parks - but I am resisting!!!) - so we can relax at the resort and enjoy the pool and concierge. Then Saturday and Sunday, I said we would only do Animal Kingdom - which closes at 5pm - so again, great evening time to relax. So - it seemed like the perfect time to take advantage of the food offered there and the amenities there. I hope I can take it down a notch and follow through with the plan!

Thanks again for the updates. I appreciate it and it sounds lovely. I think it will be worth the splurge on points.

 

[huey578]

We had a super fun family vacation last week at AKV. I can't say enough about the concierge staff and service on the 6th floor. It was amazing and it made this trip really special for us. We were in a savanna view studio for the first two nights and then checked in to a 1br pool view for 3 nights after that. Check in and check out was a breeze considering we were just moving from one side of the 6th floor to the other. I was surprised that our 1br was ready for us to check in to at 9am so I'm figuring that it was probably unoccupied from the night before. We (Me,DW, DS12, DD8) felt a bit cramped in the studio so the space in the 1br was much appreciated by all of us.

We had breakfast in the lounge every morning. Although by the end of the trip we may have just picked up some food and came back to the room with it once. Dinner foods and desserts were soooo tasty. Are they from Jiko or Boma or both? We had turn down service all but one night but only had a USA Today at our door on 2 mornings. Not that it made a difference, there was at least one or 2 copies available in the lounge. But really the house keeping to me was incredible. They actually loaded and ran the dishwasher for us and folded my daughters pajamas too!

If you get the chance, you must do the Sunrise Safari. Highlights inlcuded the safari itself of course, the short ride backstage to get into the park, and the breakfast at the end! Having an hour or so on the safari was amazing opportunity for pictures and to learn about the animals. We went on the ride again later in the day and it really couldn't compare to what we experienced in the morning.

We ate at lunch at LeCellier and at San Angel in Mexico, and dinner at Kona Cafe. All the other dinners were in the lounge. Although once I had to get something at the Mara because we got to the lounge a little later and they were cleaning up and getting ready for the desserts. We had picked up lunch at the Mara a couple of times too.

This is getting a little long I guess but like I said, it was a super fun family vacation.

How far in advance can you book the Sunrise Safari ? Do you have to prepay at time of reservation?

 

[LisaS]

How far in advance can you book the Sunrise Safari ? Do you have to prepay at time of reservation?

You can book it 180 days in advance. You don't pay in advance.

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

You can book it 180 days in advance. You don't pay in advance.

Right, you pay on the morning of the safari in the lounge. I just signed for it and they charged it to the room. I was told that our safari was fully booked with 55 people. It's probably better to book it sooner rather than later.

 

[bobbiwoz]

How does a guest who is staying at AKV, non concierge go about signing up for the Sunset Safari? Also, what nights is offered?

Bobbi

 

[huey578]

Right, you pay on the morning of the safari in the lounge. I just signed for it and they charged it to the room. I was told that our safari was fully booked with 55 people. It's probably better to book it sooner rather than later.

Thanks to all for the information.. I sent them a email this morning to reserve 2 seats. Haven't gotten a response as of yet.

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

How does a guest who is staying at AKV, non concierge go about signing up for the Sunset Safari? Also, what nights is offered?

Bobbi

Good question, Bobbi. I'm not really sure how you go about booking that safari if you are not concierge. I know that the Sunrise Safari is offered only on Sunday and Thursday mornings but I'm not sure about the Sunset Safari. I would imagine that the Sunset Safari will only get better (more animals and more available savanna) once the Kidani construction is finished.

 

[Markeymouses]

Would you have alot of concerns booking an AKV studio 11 months out for the summer months ... say end of june or july?

 

[Markeymouses]

Ok sorry I meant AKV concierge studio

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

Ok sorry I meant AKV concierge studio

Markeymouse, If you really want concierge, I think you need to book it day by day no matter what time of the year you are going.

 

[disfanforlife]

New here, and just bought in at AK. Thinking of future visits what are the extras that you get with concierge? You talked about eating in the lounge - are meals offered there?

 

[kimberh]

Thanks for reporting, we are going May 4th, if my new grandbaby arrives next week. He is taking his time on coming. I've had the reservation booked so long, we weren't even going to have a grandbaby when I booked it, Or we didn't know about it, yet. Funny how life works! I am glad to hear the food is so good. I am really counting on that.