We're back from AKL! Any questions?

[ADisneygirl]

Whew! What a whirlwind week, but a wonderful one. We returned home Friday afternoon from a fabulous stay at AKL. What a beautiful resort this is. This was our second trip there, the first time was in 2003. We booked a standard view room and would have been happy with it (happy to just be at Disney!) but we got some magic and were upgraded to a pool view!

Last time we stayed we were upgraded to a savannah view, which was awesome I must say, but the room they gave us was at the very end of a very long hall. It was an event to just get back to the room after a long day at the parks. This time, the pool view room was so convenient! Wow is all I can say! It was on the Zebra trail, and it was just past the first set of windows down the corridor. As a comparison, let me say that to get to the savannah view room we had in 2003 we passed about 12 sets of windows. It was a plus to be able to check out the pool and see how busy it was before popping down for a swim. Just down the hall a little was an elevator that took us down to the entrance of Simba's Club (the kids club) and out the door to the pool area. The Mara food court was just to the right. This was possibly the best location to get a room as far as convenience in our opinion.

We saw animals anytime we stopped at the hallway windows as well as the few times we went out on Arusha Rock to view them at night with the night vision goggles.

The room was gorgeous, and we do not feel it is too dark. The theming is done very well at this resort, and it has an elegant, mysterious feel to it. We ate at Boma a few times and at the Mara. We are not that adventurous, but I tried a few things. Loved the things I tried except for the African Stew in a bread bowl. Thought that looked great, but I didn't like it. Got my favorite zebra domes too! They even had them at the Mara for sale in little boxes with a brownie type dessert. Did not go in Jiko this time.

The parks were crowded, and it rained a lot, but we got to go on Soarin' at Epcot, so I was happy. That was a great ride! Made the best use of FP at MGM, running between the RnR and ToT. The Beauty and the Beast show there is still one of my favorites.

Overall, it was a fabulous little vacation, and I am sad to be home again. Now I need to plan another trip! Any questions, I'd be glad to help if I can.

 

[ciera321]

So glad to hear you had a wonderful stay at AKL, my favorite. We've stayed at a lot of different DW resorts, but AKL gives me this feeling that is hard to describe. The scent as you walk into the resort is so wonderful, the restaurants are great....I just love it there. I think it will be our next resort!!! We just returned on June 4 and Soarin was a hit with us, too. We rode 6 times...

 

[Disney's My Goal]

Out of curiousity, what time in the day did you check in when you got free upgrades?

 

[loadsapixiedust]

Out of curiousity, what time in the day did you check in when you got free upgrades?

I would be interested to know this too as we are off to AKL in a few weeks for the first time. When is a good time to check in?

I was also wondering, if you used the bus from there, how was it?

 

[ADisneygirl]

I really think these upgrades happen by chance. The first time in 2003 when we had a standard room booked and received a savannah view we checked in at 9:30 in the morning! Very early, I know, but we had just gotten off the Disney cruise and we arrived at WDW within 35 minutes. We assumed the room wouldn't be ready at that early hour. But not only did they upgrade us for apparantly no reason to a savannah view, but the room was actually ready! We felt like we got a head start on our trip being able to get into the room at 9:30am.

This time we checked in at 11:30, but the room was not ready. They couldn't tell us what room we were assigned to yet. It was actually the first time we had to wait for a room in all our trips to WDW. Guess we have been very lucky in that dept.

We checked our luggage with bell services and walked around the resort for awhile, ate at the Mara, and kept calling the number every 1/2 hour to see if the room was ready. It wasn't ready until 2:15. It still was available earlier than the official check in time. She said "you've been given a pool view room", which sounded like she was reading it off the computer, and not deciding it herself at the spur of the moment. We didn't mention any special events/birthdays. We didn't even ask for an upgrade or a better view. We simply smiled and were our friendly selves.

As far as the buses, we used them to go to all the parks. We thought it was nice not sharing with another resort as the Epcot resorts do. They came frequently -- we timed it and never waited longer than 20 minutes, and that time was because we had just missed the AKL bus outside of Epcot. We ran, but the driver didn't see us!

We did drive once when we went to the Boardwalk to eat at ESPN and watch the basketball finals. I think there should be a way to get around the resorts easier by Disney buses, instead of having to go to a park and catch the resort bus you want or drive yourself. Especially since so many of us like to dine at different resorts.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

I would be interested to know this too as we are off to AKL in a few weeks for the first time. When is a good time to check in?

Honestly, we've stayed at AKL at least twice a year (AP holders) since the resort opened and have always been upgraded. I think they upgrade far more often than not. We've checked in at a variety of times, although most of the time, it's been before 10am. Good luck!