Please tell me if I book standard at AKL it will be ok!

[jsmla]

We booked a standard and the yellow dot on the photo below marks the first room we were put in. I could not believe that there were rooms that close to the private car/taxi/magical express drop off area. The balcony had an enclosed 1/2 wall which made the room seem very dark and the fumes and sounds from the traffic and people outside was just too much.

Our room was in the same general area just on the first floor and down past the entrance to the gift shop. We booked the AKL because we could usually get a good AP rate and my whole family loves the pool and the restaurants there. For what we were paying I didn't mind looking at the parking lot but the standard view rooms on the Giraffe Trail are the pits!

I guess with some of the rooms becoming DVC the days of $120 rates at the AKL are gone

Jennifer

 

[DisneyFreaks]

We booked a standard and the yellow dot on the photo below marks the first room we were put in. I could not believe that there were rooms that close to the private car/taxi/magical express drop off area. The balcony had an enclosed 1/2 wall which made the room seem very dark and the fumes and sounds from the traffic and people outside was just too much. We were planning on spending quite a bit of time at the resort relaxing because I had just had surgery a few weeks prior and the thought of sitting one story above all of that traffic was just not appealing to me. The room was also an optional smoking room and I'm allergic so we went to the desk and asked to be moved to a room overlooking the parking lot. We were told they were all booked and were given a room at the back end of Kudu Trail. We were told that it had a slight savannah view, but that it sucked (in the words of the desk manager) so they downgraded it to standard view. If I were staying there again, I would definitely opt for a savannah view or at least request a room on Ostrich Trail which does overlook the parking lot.

The only disappointment in our being moved was that we had been directly above the restaurants and pool access area...our walk from the end of Kudu Trail to these places was a good 5 mins or so but we saw lots of animals and great artifacts that we might not otherwise have seen had we stayed in the room at the front of the hotel

We were first placed in a room like you describe. Fifth floor and no balcony. It felt like a closet with a port hole. We went back to the desk and asked politely if we could move. They couldn't have been nicer. They moved all three of our rooms while we were at the parks. I was amazed.
I do have to correct my previous post though. We were then put in Ostrich Trail not Giraffe Trail. Must have had giraffes on my brain. LoL

 

[MMcCarthy]

we just got back and had a pool view. the room was wonderful, the resort was awesome. we were not in the room much. we went to the viewing areas several times. we really enjoyed the night viewing. it was a wonderful experience for all of us. we will be returning & I don't care what kind of view we have so long as we are at Disney

 

[thepwa]

Put me in the group that got the room upgrade without asking for it. My feeling was Standard was overbooked and we got the benefit!

Having the Savannah view made me think that if I didn't have it I'd be missing something. If I went back I don't know if I would just go ahead and book the Savannah or standard and hope for the best. I know I would be disapointed if I gambled and lost.

Overall, terrific place to stay! Only issue is the distance from everything except AK.

 

[HGD24]

Before being assigned to our original room (see post on pg 1), we asked at check-in if there were any upgrades available and were told that there weren't. We said that we were willing to pay for an upgrade but again, were told that they had none available but that we could check back during each morning of our stay if we wanted to.