Random Animal Kingdom View Questions, mostly Club Level related

[mreynoldsDisney]

Booked an upcoming stay for a few nights in a Club Level Sav view hotel room at the Lodge.
Is a split stay and part of the time is at Kidani in a standard view DVC studio so wanted to have the best views possible for the 3 nights staying at the AKL.
To me it seemed like the only way to guarantee a Sav view room overlooking the Arusha Savannah was to pay a little more for the Club Level.
I imagine I could still change my booking to a Sav view / non-club at this time.

At first reading up on the views, it sounded better to be high up ; but 6th floor was a little too high over the trees so 4th was ideal height and Disney choose the 4th for the Club Hotel rooms for that reason. Though the more I read it seems that is not really the case or not the opinion of many who prefer the 2nd or 3rd level for a more straight on view.
Concern 1 is did I make a poor choice in choosing Club where all rooms are on the 4th floor?
I did look at different websites that show views from floor heights but is not the same as being there and with inconsistencies of the photos I could not tell much.

Many reviews of the club are mixed between DVC which is 6th floor and hotel which is 4th floor so hard to make an opinion based on.

Concern 2 is looking at the views I have seen on some websites of various rooms ; I personally don't like any views where you see prominently the big center Rock overlook / public viewing area. Seems less private but even worse for me also less like you are in the middle of Africa so ruins the privacy as well as the mood I am paying extra for ; Or I fear it would.
Looking at the Club rooms, most appear to be in the first couple of pods so I suspect I may get one of these views which could be better for animal viewings being close to the room but poor for the reasons I mention.

If sticking with Club Level ; should I put in a request to be as "far from lobby as possible" ; sounds odd but unlikely ever asked so my request may be granted.
I do care a little about inconvenience of distance to the Club area lounge and care a little about distance to the pool ; but don't care at all about distance to the lobby or the bus.
I know I would prefer Zebra trail for pool proximity but care more about view than the pool so hesitant to request one trail over the other.

Of course if I am WAY overthinking this and will love any Sav view room on any floor ; please do tell me. The cost per night is more than I am comfortable with club or noon-club so really don't want to be disappointed with the views from the room.

 

[epcotobsessed]

We have stayed in about half a dozen different CL rooms at AKL. All had a fantastic view. I do think you're overthinking it a bit and that you will have a great view no matter what. If you are disappointed, you can always call down and see if a different room is available, but I think you will be happy.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Of course if I am WAY overthinking this and will love any Sav view room on any floor ; please do tell me.

I mean this respectfully, but I do think you’re overthinking it a bit. You have a few conflicting observations/concerns that I ultimately think will turn out to be non-issues, but to me AKL is sort of one of those places you have to experience in person to really understand the views, room locations, etc. I agonized over it as well before staying there.

I personally don’t think floor level matters all that much when it comes to views. Maybe subtle differences, but nothing major.

As for having the Arusha Rock in your view...well, many of the CL rooms will face in that general direction. How much of the path and people you see will vary quite a bit depending on your exact room location, how far out on the Zebra or Kudu trail you are, etc.

AKL is big. Very big. Since the CL lounge is on the sixth floor overlooking the lobby, a request to be “far from the lobby” is also going to be far from the lounge.

We really enjoy AKL CL by the way. If helpful, here are some posts from a stay there last year with room and view pics: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...formation-and-questions.3414590/post-59092412

I am unsure of the exact status of renovations, but you may want to check on the AKL and CL threads. They have recently had one of the trails offline for room renovations, not sure if the timing impacts you stay or not.

Whatever you decide, have a great trip!

 

[mreynoldsDisney]

@epcotobsessed & @GADisneyDad14
Much appreciate you talking some sense into me!

Is definitely anxiety in trying to justify paying so much nightly for a hotel. I am normally quite laid back and don't worry about the room I will get.

I keep reading about large AKL is and the same or worse about Kidani in terms of walking distances ; yet only looking at scale models showing not too many rooms I cannot relate to it without having been there.

 

[kiford]

I think you're way overthinking it and, unless you really want CL, I think you're overpaying just to get a specific view which you aren't even sure of. We've booked Savannah View twice. Once we ended up overlooking one of the side savannahs which I wasn't too happy with at first but they feed the animals a couple of times a day close to the resort so we got some really good and fairly close views of the giraffes while eating pretty much every day and some days there were lots of animals wandering about near our room. It turned out to be really good views and we were not too far from the lobby. I think we were on the 2nd floor. The second time we just put in a request for Arusha view which we got, 4th floor. It was a fair walk from the lobby but not too terribly bad and we had great views with lots of animals. I'd be happy with either one next time.

Consider how much time you'll actually be spending looking out your window or sitting on the balcony and ask yourself if it's worth it for the higher CL cost unless CL is really what you want. You can get excellent views either by making a request and even if you're not exactly where you wanted or requested, you'll still get good views of the animals if you're in a Savannah View room.

 

[mreynoldsDisney]

@GADisneyDad14 Fantastic trip report with photo support btw!
The food in the club lounge looks fantastic, I think one could easily be content with eating just 1 good sized table service lunch if you are able to get to the Club for the other meal times. Compared to where the Club rooms are per the website touring plans your room is actually one the further away from the lobby rooms on the Zebra side ; as the club rooms don't extend too far down on either side.

@kiford Thank you! I do value some of the other club benefits ; just with the club on the 6th floor and rooms on the 4th ; combined with being out of the resort some days I did not want to put too much weight on the free food/drink aspect.
Even if we only use it for breakfast each morning and a glass of wine/beer each evening it at least partially pays for itself.

I am trying to tweak my plans to have it be more heavy park days in the beginning when we are on a non CL stay and then more relaxing at the end with the club stay to take advantage of the club benefits more and also just give some more time to relax enjoy the view from our room, enjoy the pools, the resort activities with our daughter and generally decompress from work before we return to regular life back home.
I think that is largely speaking to your points, that if you are going to pay extra you better make sure you will actually be using the view, the lounge, the food, the drink, etc... ; if you are going to be going to parks each day from open to close you really should just get a bed to sleep in and not pay for anything else I feel.

 

[DJFan88]

Love AKL CL! We were in the end of the 2nd Pod section of Kudu just before the elevators and Loved our room. 4th Fl. is perfect height.


This is Room #4241 Kudu. Originally I had requested Bunk beds but couldn't get it, but he said he could give me a good view and he did.

 

[mreynoldsDisney]

Thanks @DJFan88 feeling much better about my Club decision ; no regrets about it anymore.

Still thinking my idea of requesting furthest from lobby is not a bad one.
I know it sounds strange but unless they added more Club rooms none of them are actually very far out on the 2 wings.
To me the Club Rooms I want least are the very closest ones to the lobby/Arusha Rock which is why I am thinking of this as a "room request".

 

[DJFan88]

The last couple of times I thinkthey looked at the rooms as I was sitting there with them to place me. So I think there may be some flexibility there, as well, like some other poster has mentioned. If you don't like what they give you at first, I would try and ask for what else do they have. Also the room I showed you, was about halfway down the side. Of course if you have a room request, it can never hurt to put it down like you're planning to do.
Also when you are there, don't forget about the staircase along the back side. We found it to be much easier to access the club level lounge, then taking the elevator all the time. It's like you just sneak up around the back. Kids loved it

 

[Lehuaann]

Duplicate post. Strange...

 

[Lehuaann]

Thanks @DJFan88 feeling much better about my Club decision ; no regrets about it anymore.

Still thinking my idea of requesting furthest from lobby is not a bad one.
I know it sounds strange but unless they added more Club rooms none of them are actually very far out on the 2 wings.
To me the Club Rooms I want least are the very closest ones to the lobby/Arusha Rock which is why I am thinking of this as a "room request".

You are correct, the rooms are not that far out on the 2 wings. But far enough not to be right on top of everyone.

CL rooms are odd numbered facing Arusha Savannah in pods 4210-4241 (Kudu) and 4407-4437 (Zebra). I had to check my previous room notes, and it goes into the second pod because we’ve stayed in 4237.

We are the opposite and always request closest to the lobby.