The All-New "unofficial" AKL/AKV's Jambo & Kidani FAQ thread.....

[DisneyBride'03]

Love your photos!

 

[Flossbolna]

Thanks, that helps alot. I guess 45 mins isn't all that bad, really.

As others have said, our bus stopped at POP and Coronado Springs. With ME you might have a bit of a wait at MCo until your bus leaves, but when we arrived late at night, we did never wait for the bus to be full. I think the busses leave after a certain time whether they are full or not.

Also, keep in mind, with a town car you will have to collect your luggage yourselve which can add quite some time. With ME you can let them handle your luggage. It always makes sense to pack what you would need for the first 24 hours in a carry on anyway. Once you are in your room, just call bell services to tell them to hold your luggage until the morning and put the do not disturb out. When you wake up in the morning, call for your bags and they should be with you soon.

 

[aurorafan]

eeyoresnr those are great pictures! I just got back from there on Saturday and I miss it already! We were supposed to stay there again in June, but DH screwed up our plans so we have to stay at OKW instead, which I'm looking foward to, but AKV will always be "home" :

 

[2manypets]

AKL for sure has that AAHHHH effect. Beautiful pictures Eeyoresnr.

 

[eeyoresnr]

thanks all... we have been back since Dec 15th and I'm just now getting around to posting some pics... I sure do want to go back

 

[DisneyBride'03]

Here are some of my AKL pics.....

Loved that Balcony!

 

[2manypets]

Wow, that's a huge balcony. Is that from a suite? I think I see two doors.

 

[DisneyBride'03]

Wow, that's a huge balcony. Is that from a suite? I think I see two doors.

It was a one bedroom villa It was awesome....yes 2 doors, we loved it, great way to relax post DCL cruise/no parks! We certainly enjoyed the resort and our view

 

[jpmom]

Loved your pictures --
We are staying in a 1-BR in March.

Really looking forward to it!!!

 

[FSUSammy]

I LOVE seeing all of the photos. Can't wait for March to be here already!!!!

 

[JenniBarra]

DH and I are just back from a week at AKL. We did our usual last-day walk-through to see all the public views of all the savannas, and the one thing that surprised us was that there are not just a few animals on the supposedly non-animal-populated-through-April-15th Sunset Savanna, there are a lot of animals on the Sunset Savanna.

Because of the DVC construction (clearly visible and audible from the Sunset Savanna), those rooms are being booked as standard view.

I just got back yesterday from a week at WDW. We were booked for a standard room through the 4/3 deal. Where we were placed was on the Kudu trail in a savanna view room. The animals in that area were supposed to be gone already, but we were told that was being delayed until February. We could see the construction from our room, but we also lots of animals, at least until the last couple days. On our final day, we noticed that the watering hole had been emptied. It was incredible to have that view for as long as we did, especially when we weren't expecting it!

Can anyone tell me how long it takes to get from MCO to AKL via Magical Express? Are there many stops? We're arriving at night and need to get to the hotel somewhat quickly.

The drivers all said (both coming to and from property) that Disney World is half an hour from the airport. The rest of the time will depend on how many stops/where the other drop-offs are. Unfortunately, with occupancy so low, I think they have to make more drop-offs than they may have before. We had to drop people off at Pop Century, All Star Sports, and Coronado Springs before going to AKL (the last stop).

 

[lissiesmum]

just curious if there are flat screen tvs like at the WL? Is there an input on the tvs to plug in your portable DVD players?

 

[xmansmom]

We're staying at AKL next month with our kids ages 6 and 12. We arrive in the late afternoon and I'm wondering if there is enough to keep us occupied at the hotel or should I add a day to my tickets and try to hit a park. Please help me make a decision. Thanks!

 

[itchin2go]

just curious if there are flat screen tvs like at the WL? Is there an input on the tvs to plug in your portable DVD players?

The tvs are LG flat screens, but the remotes don't work very well. We had a DVD player in one of our rooms.

 

[itchin2go]

We're staying at AKL next month with our kids ages 6 and 12. We arrive in the late afternoon and I'm wondering if there is enough to keep us occupied at the hotel or should I add a day to my tickets and try to hit a park. Please help me make a decision. Thanks!

We arrived around 1:00, got acclimated, and went to Boma for dinner. I like a laid back first day. If you really want to hit a park, though, I would go to Epcot. Once you're on the bus, it only takes 10 minutes or so to get there.

 

[aurorafan]

We arrived around 1:00, got acclimated, and went to Boma for dinner. I like a laid back first day. If you really want to hit a park, though, I would go to Epcot. Once you're on the bus, it only takes 10 minutes or so to get there.

There's lots to do! Around 5 they have Music of Africa at the Sunset overlook in the lobby, around 8:30 they have night vision goggles at the savannah overlook by the pool, and storytelling around the outdoor firepit is somewhere in there . They'll give you a list of that weeks activities when you check in, but there's plenty to keep them occupied--checking out all the animal viewing spots throughout the hotel can be lots of fun

 

[bethclayton]

to answer a few questions...

tv's were flat-screen and i agree w/ pp who said the remote did not work well at all.

we had a separate "box" for tv inputs to hook up other devices.

there is PLENTY to do at the lodge. just walking around exploring could kill a few hours, then you can relax by the pool, the firepit, in the lobby, in your room... a pp also mentioned some of the activities. their restaurants are great, too. my only regret this last trip was not having even more time at the resort.

 

[west&east]

I would DEFINITELY take the afternoon to stay at the lodge. I wished we had more time to enjoy it. Of course the pool is beautiful and you can walk all over to see the animals on different savannahs. there is the indoor firepit and the outdoor firepit. in January there was family fun and games poolside at 4pm with the recreation cast, learn to play an African instrument at 5pm, African Folktale around the firepit at 6:30pm, wildlife games at 7pm, and the primal parade at 7:50pm. Night viewing was from 8-11pm. that would be a great time to eat at Boma. We ate there our first night (you can read my dining report for more info) and liked it so much we went back on our last night.

Have a great time!

 

[joelp]

We're staying at AKL next month with our kids ages 6 and 12. We arrive in the late afternoon and I'm wondering if there is enough to keep us occupied at the hotel or should I add a day to my tickets and try to hit a park. Please help me make a decision. Thanks!

There's lots to do at AKL - it's almost a theme park in itself!

Depending on how long you're staying, I would try to spend at least one morning, one afternoon, and one evening at the resort ...

 

[loveminniemouse]

Hello!

I'll admit I didn't read every single page of this thread to see if my question was asked/answered or not already.

I am wanting to stay at AKL next month on a last minute trip. There are no savanna view rooms available. There are pool and standard.

Is it still worth staying at AKL if I can't get a savanna view? I would get the pool view versus the standard view.

Thank you!