AK Upgrade to Savannah - Tips Please

A

ADStang

New Member
I've read a number of trip reports where people staying at the AKL receive upgrades from the standard room to a savannah. Does anyone have tips on improving our chances of receiving an upgrade? I see the numbers are in our favor - only 127 std rooms and 748 savannah. I'm wondering if there is an optimal time of day to check in, certain things to say (other than the obvious of being polite), etc. Our flight gets in 11AM on Thursday the 24th of July - don't know if day of week has an effect or not.

I assume it's a short walk from the lodge to the AK - can anyone describe how the two are situated?

I haven't been visiting this forum for a long time, but I haven't seen anyone talking about the value of buying an annual pass to obtain resort discounts. Is that a common thing to do? I am purchasing an annual pass (from the local Disney store) and will receive over $100/night off the room. It will easily pay for itself, and hopefully we can return again within the 12 months. Seems like a deal - am I missing something? Are there other benefits of having the annual pass?

Thanks for the help, looking forward to our 7/24 - 7/29 AKL stay.
 
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crazygirley

crazygirley

New Member
Well, we were upgraded from a standard view room (which our reservations were for and clearly stated) to a deluxe savannah view room, and we figured that we were upgraded for two reasons: We were staying for two and a half weeks and we had premium annual passes. When we checked in (which was around 5:30, but probably made no difference) they kept commenting on the fact that we were staying so long, and for the third time that year on our AP's, etc. Eventually, they told us we would be in a deluxe savannah room, however, never mentioned the word "upgraded". I don't know what to tell you to do to help your chances. Alot of people were in the standard view rooms, I mean, the lights were always on as we were coming up from the parking lot or bus stop. I hope you get lucky, too!
 
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AkiraRaptor

AkiraRaptor

Meega, nala kwishta!
Originally posted by ADStang
I assume it's a short walk from the lodge to the AK - can anyone describe how the two are situated?
Click to expand...

It's a short distance, but not a walk. You are not allowed to walk to AK. You have to take a bus. They have not build any kind of path between the two places.

Have fun!! :wave:
 
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mousefan17

mousefan17

New Member
I got back from AKL one week ago today...:(very sad......anyway

as for your annual pass. we just did the same thing. bought one to get the annual pass holder rate. But we were not going to pick it up untill we got to Disney. So we thought we would have to go to AKL, take a bus to DTD to get the pass then go back to AKL to check in. But nope! When we checked in, they never asked to see it, and we got the annual passholder rate.

and AKL is soooo awesome. It was so neat to have all the animals outside your room.

If you like taking pictures, make sure you bring extra, because you can get some really awesome pictures of all the animals. And watch out for the bugs at night! When you are sitting on your deck that is! I got alot of mosquito bites!

and like someone else said you can't walk to AK....its close, but not so close that you would want to walk. its probably closer than we all realize, but being how disney is with making things seem further away than they really are, you wont want to walk!

hope that helps!
 
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T

TURKEY

New Member
Originally posted by s25843
Dont Count on getting an upgrade, as 95% of the people DONT get one. Espically when you are on a Discount rate.
Click to expand...

While I didn't get a savannah room, I got upgraded from standard to a pool view and I was getting 50% off and this was the Christmas/New Year's week.
 
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no2apprentice

no2apprentice

Well-Known Member
Last year was our first time staying on property, and we stayed at AKL (on a discount that the reservation CM told me about). Anyway, we had booked a standard room (what we could afford). I had read some suggestions about getting upgrades on these forums, so when we got there to check in, everybody was wearing a Disney hat...even my wife, who normally does not wear hats (DON'T TOUCH THE HAIR). I told my wife and kids to smile alot and try to be really "upbeat" about being at the AKL. That wasn't too hard to do, since it was a surprise for my boys. Once we saw the lobby, we were obviously excited about staying there.

We all stayed together when we checked in, and whether the CM saw we were sincerely excited about being there, or she had instructions to try and upgrade when appropriate, or she could tell that we had the Disney Magic, she did upgrade us to a Savannah View room.

I don't know if you've read very many threads about AKL experiences, but some people are disappointed with the view of the animals. Keep in mind that there are not "herds" of animals roaming around, just a small handful. And the higher the floor your room is on, the farther away the animals are. There is also some distance between the barrier line and the resort building, so even if you were on a lower level, the animals will not be "right outside" your room. We didn't mind this at all, we still thought the experience was great. I guess everyone has different expectations.

I hope you have a great time on your trip, and I hope you enjoy AKL as much as my family did.
 
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mousefan17

mousefan17

New Member
We must have really lucked out with our room, because at some points in the day we would have 4 giraff's, a couple kudos, osrich (spelling?) and these really neat birds with blue heads, and another animal that i dont know the name. All at the SAME time! It was amazing! (BTW, they do give you "cheat sheets" to help identify the animlas!)

we were able to see more animals than i expected. and it would always take just a little bit longer to leave the room, because on the way to the lobyy, in one of the view areas, there would always be an animal, or more.

I LOVED AKL, and I would love to stay there agian!!

:)
 
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Kingdom Konsultant

Kingdom Konsultant

WDWMAGIC Board Sponsor
Premium Member
WDWMAGIC Sponsor
I just stayed at the Boardwalk and they upgraded us to the concierge level. They will usually upgrade you if they do not sell out of the better view rooms. If you have a standard room booked and they have a water view available, they will usually upgrade you. I am finding that with a lot of my clients, they are getting more and more upgrades lately.

Pam
 
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smilez4011

smilez4011

New Member
When I was down in January we stayed at the All Stars, but our first night at Disney we surged and stayed at the AKL. We paid for a parking lot view, but we were nicely surprised when we got to our room and realized they upgraded us to a pool view. It just made our trip even nicer. Here's a tip..... never go from a Deluxe resort to a value resort in the same vacation. lol

Sitting here thinking about escaping the "real world" and wishing I was in Florida. (only 29 more days to go!) Coronado Springs here I come!
 
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