Please tell me about AKL

[MinnieMom]

DD8's dream is to stay at AKL and I am considering it for a March '09 vacation since the 4/3 deal would at least make the price somewhat bearable! LOL!

I've read a few things here and there about construction at AKL - is this still going on? What kinds of kids activities are offered?

How are the views? Do you have to upgrade to a savannah view room in order to see the animals from your room? That is what she really wants . . . to wake up in the morning, walk out onto the balcony and see animals!

Please give me any and all info - the good, the bad, and the ugly! We go to WDW fairly often with my family and we usually stay offsite with my parents and my sister's family. They are all going to be offsite again this trip and I'm trying to justify separating from them and paying $3k to be at AKL for one week versus paying $400 to be in a 6 BR house with my family for 10 days. UGH!! Vacations are not supposed to be so stressful!

 

[ppan77]

We really enjoyed AKL when dh and I went before we had our children. This resort is absolutely beautiful!! It has the best theming (imo) of all the resorts. We had a savannah view but it wasnt the best view. We were in a corner and had a better view of our neighbor's balcony. I would ask for a certain area if someone recommends one here on the boards. The food at Boma and Jiko are excellent and we were very happy w/ all our meals. Lots of activities to do around the resort as well. You will definitely hear a lot of "it takes forever for the buses" from this resort. Which I agree with but in the future I would just drive to the other parks if we stayed here again. Its still free and at our convenience. I would definitely stay here again. We are just waiting to be out of the toddler stage and off the monorail.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We stayed there in Oct 08 and although we were told by the CL Conceirge that there would not be any construction near our room we still had scaffolding and painters outside our balcony for 5 days and inside hallway painting the entire time

We were on the zebra trail and had amazing views of the animals from 7am until it was dark. Could not get any better views than that!

We loved the dining options too!

While I would go back there DH will not...it is just too loud in the lobby at all times and it is a pain waiting for the buses. Plus we felt way too far away from all the action.

 

[SharonLovesMickey]

I stayed at AKL Oct '08 and while there was painting and some construction it was routine and at the most just kind of awkward. They had finished our side of the building by the time we left.

We had a "parking lot view" but were able to see some animals from our balcony.

If you don't have a savanna view you can always go to any of the overlooks which offer EXCELLENT viewing.

I will also add the the food (quick service area is GREAT and Boma breakfast was so good that we did it twice) and the activities are excellent (including using night vision goggles--that was pretty unbelievable!).

I found it nice to be tucked away in our little resort area. If you feel that you are "away from the action" you can always go on a hidden mickey hunt or participate in any of the activities, many just for children.

Bottom line: If you have a child that loves animals this would be a dream location for them.

PS: We had no problems with buses except one night on the way back from Hollywood Studios. We were so happy with our stay that my husband surprised me with a trip for my birthday this February...we will stay at AKL again!

Let me answer your other questions too: I have heard that construction is complete, but because they are getting animals oriented to the new buildings there are no animals on the sunset savannah. Try to stay on Zebra trail or see if you can get a look at a map when you making reservations.

Kids Activities: Night vision goggles (awesome!), also lots of "resort" activities like crafting, necklace making, hearing and learning about African culture and also medallion rubbing (believe me I wanted to sit right down and do this one--they have beautiful embossed medallions on the floor in the lobby and they provide supplies for the kids to make their own rubbings).

 

[darty]

First off, let me say we are not "animal" people, but I though staying at AKL would be exciting. It wasn't. The rooms are so dark and dreary that you can't even see to brush your hair in the mirror. We had a Savannah room, and saw zebras, some kind of antelope, giraffes, and maybe two other kinds of deer, but only when it was feeding time. Maybe I just don't get just sitting and looking at animals, but it was a waste of money to me.

We disliked it so much we left half way through the week stay, and moved to the Caribbean Beach. There is a reason it's one of the cheapest Deluxe resorts.

Also we wanted to go Downtown and were told that the busses stopped running at 10 or 11. But Pleasure Island was open until 1 AM. When I asked how we were suppose to get back, I was told we could take a taxi cab.