Laurabearz
I cant load my bobbin!
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2001
- Messages
- 13,634
ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE
We pull up to the front gate to find our parking pass all ready. The older gentlemen working the gate was very nice and made us feel special. Nice first impression.
We pull up and tell the Valet we are Concierge, and off we go. He stops briefly at the bellhop desk, and presents us with our keys. Nice touch.
I must comment on my first views of the lodge.... driving up.... It was quite lovely. Lots of tall grasses.... wonderful landscaping.... I Esp. love how you couldn't even see the lodge until you were right up on it. Disney is wonderful at letting you see only what they want you to see.... I was impressed.
My DD (4) commented on the hay roof, and she thought it was funny. How can a roof be made of hay... hay is for horses... ha ha ha ha... quite amused she was.... too cute.
Although AKL is quite grand... I found it modest in its approach. As I walked into the lobby, I didn't expect the overhang, and was a bit taken aback from the very dark entrance... then I walked up 10 feet and full scope of the lobby came into view. Wonderful. But dark. NOTE: I will admit I need glasses (about to be 40 ya know, but still in denial) And light is very important to me... I cant see all that well in good light, and low light... forget about it....kinda of bummed I didnt make the time for me to get glasses before the trip.
Our 1 bedroom suite was off the Kudo Trail... don't know the room number off hand, but if you take the hike down Kudo( off the lobby)and make the first left... all the way down... corner room on the right. I was a bit upset (yeah yeah I know) that our room was so far away from the concierge lounge. I was expecting (dont know why... just was) that we would be at least be on the 5th or 6th floor and a quick hop to the lounge.... whatever... no biggy, got over it quick.
I have mixed feelings about the Concierge staff... I had talked to them about having some gifts for my DD in the room on our arrival, and each night at turndown. Nothing was in the room... I called and spoke with Jill and she said they thought it was just for turn down service... Oh okay... fine. That night they set up a Safari Tigger and Minnie and two autograph books, plus pictures of Pooh and friend and Mickey and Friends autographed..... Very nice.
That night we were also treated to a lovely yummy Zebra cake and party hats for my birthday. Very nice. Cake was yummy. DH thought they should have sent up some milk too... he loves his milk with cake... lol
The next night though.... we come back to the room rather late and I am sooo excited to see the surprises the rest of the $100 plus bucks they charged to my CC would be, and there is nothing.... Thank goodness I didnt do a build up to the girls... so they werent disappointed... just DH and I. I called up to the concierge and after 10 minutes they said something like.... Well if we had known the turn down people didnt do it, we would have done it..... HUH? Okay, fine... no biggy... just credit me, and try to have better follow up with
the next group a bit better. What bugs me the most is... they never said they were sorry. UGH... Oh well. I will know next time to follow up better on things like this myself, and not delegate that responsibility to others.
The One Bedroom Suite was larger than I thought it would be, but still too small for us (lol) The shield on the door was lovely and I regret not taking a picture of it. The room was very nicely appointed all the details were marvelously. But like I said before Dark even with all the room lights on, I found it hard to read. One big annoyance was only 2 small garbage cans in the whole place. One in the parlor and one in the bedroom. None in either bathroom. The vanity in the second bathroom was a lot higher than normal. Felt regal. The master bath was quite nice. Very large 8 person shower lol double sinks nice décor. Again dark. There was a vanity outside the master bath that had a magnifying mirror, but the light source provided was not conclusive to putting on makeup.
Hmmm what else talked about the view already and the room . Oh the pool .
THE POOL ..
We all really liked the pool. Charlie and I found a couple of lounge chairs way in the back, kinda next to/behind the slide area, just past the bridge. We couldnt see much of the pool, but the shade was nice, and we got to see a HUGE 3-4 foot long snake slithering by. I did manage to take pictures of that .. quite a thrill for everyone! Maddie thought the slide was a bit rough, so she only went down it 4 times . Lol They both also liked the playground. I liked the fact that it was shady.
BOMA ..
Lets just say, this type of food isnt our cup of tea. Neither of us really liked it plus I found the service lacking. Our greater, gave us two necklace oval things for the girls to color, one red crayon, one black, and didnt tell us any of the story that went with them. Plus I thought one set of crayons should have been offered to each child No biggy, but I would like to know the meaning behind the necklace and the colors.
RESORT
Over all we liked the resort. The animals were neat to look at, the landscaping was wonderful, and the décor was wonderful. BUT we wont be returning anytime soon. It just isnt us hard to pin point but both my husband and I just werent as thrilled as we thought we would be plus we really are spoiled by DVC and we need our two bedrooms.
We pull up to the front gate to find our parking pass all ready. The older gentlemen working the gate was very nice and made us feel special. Nice first impression.
We pull up and tell the Valet we are Concierge, and off we go. He stops briefly at the bellhop desk, and presents us with our keys. Nice touch.
I must comment on my first views of the lodge.... driving up.... It was quite lovely. Lots of tall grasses.... wonderful landscaping.... I Esp. love how you couldn't even see the lodge until you were right up on it. Disney is wonderful at letting you see only what they want you to see.... I was impressed.
My DD (4) commented on the hay roof, and she thought it was funny. How can a roof be made of hay... hay is for horses... ha ha ha ha... quite amused she was.... too cute.
Although AKL is quite grand... I found it modest in its approach. As I walked into the lobby, I didn't expect the overhang, and was a bit taken aback from the very dark entrance... then I walked up 10 feet and full scope of the lobby came into view. Wonderful. But dark. NOTE: I will admit I need glasses (about to be 40 ya know, but still in denial) And light is very important to me... I cant see all that well in good light, and low light... forget about it....kinda of bummed I didnt make the time for me to get glasses before the trip.
Our 1 bedroom suite was off the Kudo Trail... don't know the room number off hand, but if you take the hike down Kudo( off the lobby)and make the first left... all the way down... corner room on the right. I was a bit upset (yeah yeah I know) that our room was so far away from the concierge lounge. I was expecting (dont know why... just was) that we would be at least be on the 5th or 6th floor and a quick hop to the lounge.... whatever... no biggy, got over it quick.
I have mixed feelings about the Concierge staff... I had talked to them about having some gifts for my DD in the room on our arrival, and each night at turndown. Nothing was in the room... I called and spoke with Jill and she said they thought it was just for turn down service... Oh okay... fine. That night they set up a Safari Tigger and Minnie and two autograph books, plus pictures of Pooh and friend and Mickey and Friends autographed..... Very nice.
That night we were also treated to a lovely yummy Zebra cake and party hats for my birthday. Very nice. Cake was yummy. DH thought they should have sent up some milk too... he loves his milk with cake... lol
The next night though.... we come back to the room rather late and I am sooo excited to see the surprises the rest of the $100 plus bucks they charged to my CC would be, and there is nothing.... Thank goodness I didnt do a build up to the girls... so they werent disappointed... just DH and I. I called up to the concierge and after 10 minutes they said something like.... Well if we had known the turn down people didnt do it, we would have done it..... HUH? Okay, fine... no biggy... just credit me, and try to have better follow up with
the next group a bit better. What bugs me the most is... they never said they were sorry. UGH... Oh well. I will know next time to follow up better on things like this myself, and not delegate that responsibility to others.
The One Bedroom Suite was larger than I thought it would be, but still too small for us (lol) The shield on the door was lovely and I regret not taking a picture of it. The room was very nicely appointed all the details were marvelously. But like I said before Dark even with all the room lights on, I found it hard to read. One big annoyance was only 2 small garbage cans in the whole place. One in the parlor and one in the bedroom. None in either bathroom. The vanity in the second bathroom was a lot higher than normal. Felt regal. The master bath was quite nice. Very large 8 person shower lol double sinks nice décor. Again dark. There was a vanity outside the master bath that had a magnifying mirror, but the light source provided was not conclusive to putting on makeup.
Hmmm what else talked about the view already and the room . Oh the pool .
THE POOL ..
We all really liked the pool. Charlie and I found a couple of lounge chairs way in the back, kinda next to/behind the slide area, just past the bridge. We couldnt see much of the pool, but the shade was nice, and we got to see a HUGE 3-4 foot long snake slithering by. I did manage to take pictures of that .. quite a thrill for everyone! Maddie thought the slide was a bit rough, so she only went down it 4 times . Lol They both also liked the playground. I liked the fact that it was shady.
BOMA ..
Lets just say, this type of food isnt our cup of tea. Neither of us really liked it plus I found the service lacking. Our greater, gave us two necklace oval things for the girls to color, one red crayon, one black, and didnt tell us any of the story that went with them. Plus I thought one set of crayons should have been offered to each child No biggy, but I would like to know the meaning behind the necklace and the colors.
RESORT
Over all we liked the resort. The animals were neat to look at, the landscaping was wonderful, and the décor was wonderful. BUT we wont be returning anytime soon. It just isnt us hard to pin point but both my husband and I just werent as thrilled as we thought we would be plus we really are spoiled by DVC and we need our two bedrooms.
Thanks for taking the time to post your trip report. I enjoyed reading it.
