Tell Me What You Think of AKL About This Page:

[TinkRocks]

I am still just WDW "dreaming" at this point, but I am starting to put together a plan (a proposal? a proposition? a presentation???) to try to convince my DH we should return to WDW in 2013. (I'm aiming for January, but am flexible).

The last time we actually spoke about WDW, he said he wanted something "different" than we had done before. I believe he was trying to get at staying off-site (and also taking a day or two away from WDW and going to Universal ... but that's a whole different discussion! LOL). This is something he has wanted to do before.

I'd like to remain on-site. AK is his favorite park. SO ... I am thinking AKL would be a winner from his perspective.

So tell me ... what do you love about AKL? How are the savannah viewing areas? (I realize the savannah view rooms are an upgrade ... and I am not sure we'll go for those considering the increased price). What other special touches does AKL hold? Tell me about what you love? And yes - what you don't love too. I need to know the good and the bad.

Looking for any and all feedback. Thanks!

[Sue M.]

We stayed at AKL in 2009, and looking forward to returning this Aug. Some of my fav restaurants are here- Boma, and now Saana at Kidani.
For Aug we booked a pool view room, it's not much more then standard view.
Lots of viewing areas around the resort off the lobby there's 2 large proches with rocking chairs, down the stairs there is Arusha Rock viewing area, beyond pool there's a viewing area of Uzima Savana.

I enjoyed the evening viewing with night scopes, Cultural exchange presentations at night also off the lobby, The culinary Tour, great pool. Prob one of the nicest after SAB at BC/YC.

Beautiful lobby, good food court with lots of seating, and an interesting gift shop.

The bus service, when we stayed in 2009 was good.

[Colexis Mom]

We love AKL. There is nothing better than sitting on your balcony and watching the animals. It's like being transported somewhere else, and not at WDW. The pool is great, the Mara has great quick food. I just love the smell of the lobby. It is a dark resort, with all the dark woodwork and such, but we enjoy it! And, it's remote, but that doesn't bother us!

[chezp]

We absolutely love Animal Kingdom Lodge, it's our second favourite after the Beach Club. It's wonderful to be able to wander around the savannah outlooks and see various animals. We find that, particularly at off hours, they can be very peaceful. I know that the savannah rooms do cost me, but if you can spring for them, they are absolutely amazing. There is nothing better than looking out there when you wake up and when you get back to the room and seeing animals out there.

[Nova]

It is a fast bus ride to AK for sure, just seems longer to the other parks, but as long as you consider the bus ride another Disney ride you are fine. It is a beautiful resort and sitting on the balcony watching the animals is so nice. We live in the woods and animals are something we see but this is so different. Even hubby who's first reaction to the trip was Who's going to sit on the balcony anyway and watch some animals. It was the first place he went on arrival with the Grandkids squeeling look animals, I think there is a lion look something with horns, Come see Mom Mom as I was putting cloths away. They were so excited. And this was at night they could still see them they bunked down right outside our room area. There really was not anything I didnt like. The pool area was great with a 0 entry area and the slide was great for the Grandkids, you could watch them go up the steps to the slide so you could be down in the water area to watch them come down the slide. Lots of viewing area and places to walk out and see animals. Viewing area's with chairs to sit. Very nice place to walk around and view animals as your cloths were in the washer and dryer. We didnt get to eat at the restaurants as we had to leave Disney early before we had our ADR scheduled so we only did the fast food place which was great for us. Hope you get to stay there I dont think you would be sorry.

[PlantJoe]

It's such an immersive experience, from the drive-up to the room. We liked everything.

[JoanneS]

I know everyone raves about AKL, but it didn't really work for us. We are a family of four and stayed in a bunkbed room. It was so small and cramped that two people couldn't pass each other in the small walking areas of the room. And there was little space for our luggage and it's contents. It was also very dark and every time we went through the lobby someone was drumming. Mara was small and had a very limited menu. They also have a very short soundtrack that repeats itself over and over. It was a running joke with us; how many times are we going to hear this song during this meal?

However, the viewing areas are great and it's very peaceful. The gift shop is better than most, and there are some interesting restaurants here. If you're looking for calm and different, this is a great resort (as long as you don't have to spend too much time in your room)

[TuffyCO]

We stayed in AKL for the first time in 2007 and fell in love with it. We had 5 people (me, DH, DD7, DS4 - at the time - and Grandma) in a bunk bed room and we felt we had plenty of room. We loved the views from the room, although we did change rooms mid-trip as we were put at one of the smaller savannahs and they were doing construction on it. Not a very "savannah view" in our opinion. My mom loved it so much that she bought into DVC shortly after with AK as her home resort. We just bought into DVC in Aug, with AK as our home resort and look forward to our first trip there on our points.

What do we love about it? Well, AK is one of our favorite parks as well and we enjoy that when we are there it feels like we are still in a park. There is a lot of wonderful artwork around the resort (especially over at Kidanai). My DD11 wants to be an artist or an architect and can spend a whole day just looking at the artwork and the architecture of the building. The kids activities are really fun and not very expensive. The pool is really nice and never seems to be crowded, at least when we have been there. We like the Mara and love Boma and Sanaa! We have not made it to Jiko, yet. The gift shop is one of the best and we love that there are unique things that you can't seem to find anywhere else. We just love the whole feel of the resort and unlike everyone else we prefer the darker rooms, I think it makes the rooms feel cozy. Even if you stay in a regular view room, there are plenty of areas to view the animals. I will say don't get your expectations up on the animals, as sometimes the savannah is completely empty.

Our favorite thing is a really small silly one. On the way out the lobby doors of Jambo house there is a piece of artwork (can't remember what it's called). But you are suppose to touch it as you leave for good luck. We made sure everyone touched it every time we left. When we stayed at Kidani everyone missed this so much we started touching the masks by the elevators (hopefully this didn't bring us bad luck). I'm not superstitious but it was fun and the kids got a kick out of it.

I can't say much on the buses as we always rent a car (my mom has a scooter and it is easier that way). We find that driving to the parks is much faster and like to be able to leave when we are ready. We also make a run to the grocery store for breakfast foods. But we have used the buses a few times when we split up and we only had one time that was a real problem and it was at park closing at DHS and had to wait quite awhile. This was in 2007 and since then we haven't had problems, so don't know if they fixed it or we just had bad luck that night.

I think if your DH loves AK, he would enjoy this resort. I don't know where you have stayed before, but my DH loves AK and AKL, but absolutely hates the Contemporary, and GF. His favorite resorts in all Disney properties: AKL, WL, Poly, and DGCalifornian, oh and now Aulani. Do we see a theme here?

[coasties]

Originally Posted by JoanneS

I know everyone raves about AKL, but it didn't really work for us. We are a family of four and stayed in a bunkbed room. It was so small and cramped that two people couldn't pass each other in the small walking areas of the room. And there was little space for our luggage and it's contents. It was also very dark and every time we went through the lobby someone was drumming. Mara was small and had a very limited menu. They also have a very short soundtrack that repeats itself over and over. It was a running joke with us; how many times are we going to hear this song during this meal?

However, the viewing areas are great and it's very peaceful. The gift shop is better than most, and there are some interesting restaurants here. If you're looking for calm and different, this is a great resort (as long as you don't have to spend too much time in your room)

WHEW I thought we were the only family on earth that did not care too much for AKL!

We stayed in a savannah view room in '09. I concur with the above about the rooms being very cramped and dark.

The noise from other rooms beside and above us got to be very annoying. This is the only resort at WDW we have stayed at where the noise was an issue.

The resort is very large and the walk to and from the bus stop was VERY long.

The Food court area was small and disappointing compared to other resorts we have stayed at ( CBR,ASMo, POP, Ft. Wilderness)

The pool area was nice and we enjoyed the hot tub

The balcony was small if all four of us wanted to watch the animals.

Although the atmosphere and animals are wonderful this did not make up for the short comings at AKL for us.

[Luvsun]

AKL is my favorite resort!!! But I love the whole African theme and I the animals!!!!
From the moment I walk into the resort I feel like I am in Africa, with the exotic aromas and the beautiful decor!
Boma is one of my very favorite places to eat on property!! And I enjoy eating at Mara as well!!
We almost always stay in a savannah view room. Being able to open up the sliding glass doors and watch the animals come and go is amazing to me!
One fun thing to do is to watch the animals at night with the night vision goggles. They do this in the early part of the evening in an area behind the pool area.

[TinkRocks]

Thank you for all the responses!!!!

Reading about your experiences and what you love about AKL has me excited about this possibility.

The "cons" shared are helpful too. The small foodcourt and its limited options are concerning, as are the cramped rooms. We've never stayed Deluxe - always moderate - and I sort of just assumed the rooms at a Deluxe would be bigger (not that we need anything bigger ... we thought the rooms at POFQ, CSR and CBR were fine for us). These issues will be something to prepare for.

Has anyone ever done the storytelling at the firepit? ( I saw this listed on some site ... is this still a thing?) Or Simba's Cubhouse? ( I could in theory see DH being interested in "date night" at Jiko with the DD's at Simba's or by the fire with their Grandma) ...

[Sue M.]

Originally Posted by TinkRocks

Thank you for all the responses!!!!

Reading about your experiences and what you love about AKL has me excited about this possibility.

The "cons" shared are helpful too. The small foodcourt and its limited options are concerning, as are the cramped rooms. We've never stayed Deluxe - always moderate - and I sort of just assumed the rooms at a Deluxe would be bigger (not that we need anything bigger ... we thought the rooms at POFQ, CSR and CBR were fine for us). These issues will be something to prepare for.

Has anyone ever done the storytelling at the firepit? ( I saw this listed on some site ... is this still a thing?) Or Simba's Cubhouse? ( I could in theory see DH being interested in "date night" at Jiko with the DD's at Simba's or by the fire with their Grandma) ...

The rooms are bigger then the mods, so if you weren't cramped at CSR or FQ, you won't be cramped at AKL.
The food courts at Deluxe aren't as large as the mods or Values, because the Deluxe have more food options, with usually 2 table service restaurants, plus the food court.
Values have no other restaurants so the food courts are larger.

Everyone has different preceptions of places. For us, the room didn't feel dark, and didn't think the walk to the bus stop overly long. We had plenty of room on the balcony as well. I never heard any one next door, only a man on his balcony who thinks you have to shout to talk into a cell phone You can have loud neighbours at any resort. So as you can see, everyone has different experiences. None are right or wrong.
What you should do is go and experience it for your self.
We booked CBR in 2007, and I was very worried after reading some negative posts. When we got there I was so relieved, that what I read wasn't my experience.

[TinkRocks]

Originally Posted by Sue M.

I never heard any one next door, only a man on his balcony who thinks you have to shout to talk into a cell phone You can have loud neighbours at any resort.

This made me smile a little beacuse my next door neighbor at home apparently hasn't received the "you don't have to shout on a cell phone" memo either! In the spring and summer she is out on her deck having hour long conversations. We can hear every word from our living room! LOL!

Thanks for all the feedback!

[saxgirl2003]

AKL is one of the best hotels i have stayed at while at Disney. If u don't get a Savannah room, u can still walk the Hallways of those rooms and look at the Diff savannahs. The Pics r amazing and being soo close to AK is awessome too.

The Flamingos r near the Pool. Plus they have Giraffes and Ostriches roaming around. Along with those u will c, Zebras and Wilderbeasts.

Look at the reviews for AKL for some more tips.

[elbodans]

when people say that the rooms are cramped, it doesn't mean they are small--they are just stuffed full of GIANT furniture. i think that's the issue ate AKL.

additionally, the resort is HUGE. i've stayed at both kidani and jambo and at least once in both lodges i've had a room that was as far away from the lobby (and the buses and the food) as humanly possible. it had to be a half mile walk to my room. i do not think this is an exaggeration.

however, my stay at kidani was one of my most enjoyable stays in WDW ever. though that could have something to do with the fact that 1. i had a car for part of the time (and parking at kidani is super convenient) and 2. i had a one bedroom villa, which was HUGE.

however, i never felt that the bus ride was overly long. i realize that's a complaint that many people have, but i never had any issues with it. now WAITING for a bus to pick me up from MK...now THAT took a WHILE!