SURPRISE!!!!! One night at AKL

[autismgoesdisney]

This next trip we will be heading to Disney. My daughter chose what time of year she wanted to go and we told her we would get her tickets to the Halloween Party as her Communion pesent.

This same daughter would LOVE to stay deluxe. It is her little 7 year old dream. I have ran numbers and its just impossible for our family of five to stay deluxe right now. In the future, probably, but this year no way

However, I just thought of a surprise. We would do 7 nights at POR with park tickets and dining plan. Then when the kids think we are going home, we would pull up to AKL for one last trip....and one of us would get the room key and surprise the kids when they see our room!!!! So that ONE night would be no park tickets, so we would swim all day.....and what would you do at night? Is there enough at AKL to do stuff and not leave? I want to treasure every moment at AKL and staying deluxe with the kids since most likely we will never stay at AKL again (its not the deluxe I would choose for a week IF I could afford deluxe).

Also, for $85 is a savanahh view absolutely worth it? Part of me says just suck it up and pay it, and the other part of me says save the $85 and do a nicer dinner or something since we won't have the dining plan that last night.

Lastly, anyone know of any discounts that would be around Sept 2012 for ONE NIGHT stay and no park tickets? I'm thinking we will be stuck paying rack rate

THANK YOU

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

This next trip we will be heading to Disney. My daughter chose what time of year she wanted to go and we told her we would get her tickets to the Halloween Party as her Communion pesent.

This same daughter would LOVE to stay deluxe. It is her little 7 year old dream. I have ran numbers and its just impossible for our family of five to stay deluxe right now. In the future, probably, but this year no way

However, I just thought of a surprise. We would do 7 nights at POR with park tickets and dining plan. Then when the kids think we are going home, we would pull up to AKL for one last trip....and one of us would get the room key and surprise the kids when they see our room!!!! So that ONE night would be no park tickets, so we would swim all day.....and what would you do at night? Is there enough at AKL to do stuff and not leave? I want to treasure every moment at AKL and staying deluxe with the kids since most likely we will never stay at AKL again (its not the deluxe I would choose for a week IF I could afford deluxe).

Also, for $85 is a savanahh view absolutely worth it? Part of me says just suck it up and pay it, and the other part of me says save the $85 and do a nicer dinner or something since we won't have the dining plan that last night.

Lastly, anyone know of any discounts that would be around Sept 2012 for ONE NIGHT stay and no park tickets? I'm thinking we will be stuck paying rack rate

THANK YOU

If you are only staying one night, PAY for the Savannah view, nothing beats opening the balcony to see the animals, walking down the hall and looking elsewhere does not compare.

Try AAA to see if they have a room code, and or just call and see if you have a room code. Some dates where there for the bounceback, so you never know. Yes you can make a day of it without going to the park, but, you may have your last day ticket still left and a quick trip to Animal Kingdom would be nice, then dinner, swimming, and the arcade. They have night goggles for viewing at night but this is really hit and miss, but the stars look amazing. If no animals, look UP!!! The pool would be wonderful for both days, and a breakfast at Boma the last day would be a great meal for your daughter.

They also have many crafts, story time around a fire-pit, movies by the pool, and more... Just speaking with the CM's can take up quite a bit of time.

Keep checking also because some times the discounts cover the CL, and that would be a really cool thrill to give your daughter if she really wants to do something special.

Then remember on the way home to remind them it is a one time thing at this point. Seriously, it can be addicting to you and the kids.

If you can't afford this, there may be some specials where you can split stay to one of the new rooms at POR and or AOA. They have that deluxe feeling at a little bit of a lower rate.

Your daughter is very lucky, you not so much if she already at 7 is dreaming of Deluxe.... good luck on that! (hehe)

 

[autismgoesdisney]

Your daughter is very lucky, you not so much if she already at 7 is dreaming of Deluxe.... good luck on that! (hehe)

Your telling me!!!! She started during our August trip when we went to dinner at Boma. We went when they were feeding the animals, and I admit, it was awesome. We met an AWESOME CM, had a terrific BOMA dinner and it was a perfect night. She started then that she wanted to stay there.

Then she got home and we had gotten her the disney books that goes over (quickly) on each resort. Well she read on every deluxe and now wants to stay at them ALL! LMAO!

She really is a good kid, and she cracks me up because there are NO toys in this world that she asks for....seriously! So when she wants something like deluxe hotel, who am I to complain???? LOL!

 

[disneysmyhappyplace]

We stayed last year for two nights at AKL Kidani village before our stay at POR. We stayed at AKL without park tickets. There were plenty of activities and things to do at the AKL. We stayed the end of August an I had a 40% off code that I used to book a 1 bedroom room with a savannah view. The savannah view was absolutely worth it! We woke up every morning to beautiful animals right outside our double balcony! Beautiful! Yes, it was a lot of money but with the 40% off I felt like we got a deal and what an amazing hotel. Go and enjoy!

 

[4forthemouse]

First the bad news.. there are no regular rooms at AK that sleep 5. We too are a family of 5 so I know all the hotels that will take and reject us.

That being said, the Savannah room is absolutely worth it. It is amazing to get up in the morning and see what animals are outside your room. Yes there are public overlooks, but it's not the same.

There are non stop activities at AK all day and evening. We intentionally try and take one day to just stay at the resort when we're there because of this. The activities are free which is an extra bonus. We've done the animal tracking, bird learning activities, medallion rubbings, cookie decorating at BOMA, African music and storytelling, and I'm sure more I forget. At evening there is animal night vision watching and movies in the pool. Love this resort!!

 

[HoltDisney07]

Okay so we did this in August 2011. We were doing 10nts at CBR but I really really wanted to stay at AKL. Like you we are a family of 5 (youngest one turned 3 this month). We decided to add 1 night on at AKL the night before our package stated. BIG MISTAKE! I LOVED AKL! I didn't want to leave and practically begged my DH to let us see if there was anything open at AKL. He said no of course as I had already run the #'s and it would have been another $1100-$1200 for the week. Alas we checked out moved to CBR and we had a blast. I loved CBR too, just not as much as AKL. We just got a pool view at AKL(VERY VERY SMELLY and would have asked to change rooms if we were there longer than the 1 night).

So bottom line if you decide to do this....do it at the end and NOT at the beginning of your stay. GL with your decision. We will be at POR for our next trip or maybe the Poly if I can save enough. ;0)

 

[autismgoesdisney]

I want to thank the person that showed me that on another website someone so foolishly posted about me and my family and my post.

I absolutely can not believe that there is an even a website where people get together to BASH the people that post on disboards. The worst part is these are adults!!!!!

To call me a liar because they don't believe that a 7 year old would know the word deluxe or want to stay at a deluxe hotel is absolutely insane to me! My 7 year old has read every Disney book out there that explains the different categories of hotels and which hotel has what. So I think it goes without saying that her two dream hotels are Animal Kingdom Lodge (what kid wouldn't want to wake up with a giraffe under the window like advertised) and Polynesian (again its said its like Hawaii and last I heard most 2nd graders would love to see Hawaii).

Believe what you will, but please leave me and my family and our integrity out of your thoughts.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I think your idea is a great one. My DD9 is absolutely fascinated by the GF. We would not be able to stay there for our next trip because we exceed the occupancy limit and it exceeds our budget but I would love to surprise her and my younger DD with a "girls night out" stay there for just one night on our next family trip; and I think we could add in some fun activities during our one night stay like the afternoon tea or Wonderland Tea Party, hang out at the pool in afternoon, enjoy the marina and beach, and then do the 1900 Park Fare breakfast in the morning before meeting up with the rest of our family at a park.
I think there will be some kind of room only discount offered for September since that is still a slower month for WDW. I would bet there would be at least a 25%-30% off room only discount offer for that month.

I am also curious about the website you mentioned and how to find it. It is disheartening that there is something like that out there.

 

[autismgoesdisney]

I am also curious about the website you mentioned and how to find it. It is disheartening that there is something like that out there.

I will send you a PM with the info!

 

[Singinglizzie]

Since you are only planning to stay AKL for 1 night, I would recommend trying to rent someone's DVC points. We've done this the past 2 trips and it has worked out for us. You will be able to have a party of 5 stay if you rent a 1 bedroom. You can find out all you need to know about renting points, here on the Dis boards the under the DVC forum. Make sure you are logged in, otherwise the DVC forum that discusses rentals, doesn't show up. We stayed last time in a standard room, and although staying in a Savanah view room would have been nice (but much more expensive), we had a wonderful time as there are many nice viewing stations throughout Kidani and Jambo house. Have a wonderful trip! We absolutely love AKL and a can't wait to return!