Animal Kingdom Lodge Savanna View Rooms

[tehSAC]

I'm booking soon, and going to do it by phone. I will have my 4 yr old (5 at the time) with us and she loves animals so we are going to get a savanna view. So to those that have stayed, what are the best savanna's and/or which should I suggest to try and reserve?

thanks

 

[tehSAC]

bump

 

[wizards8507]

Pending other replies to this thread, I'd stop by Barnes and Noble and check out the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. Even if you don't buy it, you can take a quick peek at the Animal Kingdom Lodge section and make some notes. They usually have good room-by-room tips for the Disney resorts. I have heard that AKL can be fairly loose as to what they call a Savannah "view".

 

[TinkerChelli]

We have stayed at AKL many times and the Arusha Trail Side is the best views in my opinion. :>) I love it there.....:wave:

 

[tehSAC]

thanks for the suggestions so far.

I just want to make sure my daughter has a great view of the animals, and we dont have too long of a walk to our room after a long day.

Also is it true AKL has there own busses? IE the pick you up at magic kingdom, and dont make any other stops.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I just want to make sure my daughter has a great view of the animals, and we dont have too long of a walk to our room after a long day.

Also is it true AKL has there own busses? IE the pick you up at magic kingdom, and dont make any other stops.

Can't do anything about the long walk - some rooms are just FAR from the lobby. Take a look at the map here - http://allears.net/acc/g_akl.htm#maps - because they have so many rooms looking out on the Arusha savannah, some rooms are quite a walk from the lobby.

Yes, almost every AKL bus route is direct; one route (DTD?) may make a stop at a water park.....btw, sometimes the uphill walk from the bus to the lobby is tiresome after a long day in the parks.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

thanks for the suggestions so far.

I just want to make sure my daughter has a great view of the animals, and we dont have too long of a walk to our room after a long day.

Also is it true AKL has there own busses? IE the pick you up at magic kingdom, and dont make any other stops.

The two sections of Animal Kingdom Lodge share a bus. The park buses will stop at Kidani Village first and then proceed to Jambo house (original building). The DTD is the only one that does this in reverse. The only place where you will have to make an additional stop on your way to a park is the Studios bus. The Studios and Blizzard Beach use the same bus from that resort (as opposed to most resorts where it is Animal Kingdom/Blizzard Beach). While you will hear a number of comments about the bus transportation to/from the lodge, I found it to be some of the best I have had at a deluxe resort. Buses came frequently and the trips didn't take nearly as long as people made me think they would be.

 

[Dukeblue1227]

Hey there!

I was tackling this debate back and forth last year; almost worrying too much over making sure to get the right Savanna view. I ended up taking the advice I got from a thread I started; http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=594029, and I went with the Uzima Savanna.

It was awesome, we absolutely LOVED it.

There were three giraffes out there at all times, along with a group of about 7-8 Thompson Gazelles. There were big wilderbeast looking guys out there as well, and even got surpised by having 3 Zebras in there (Our research seemed to show that Zebras were only in the Arusha, but that wasn't the case).

The animals were always walking around right outside our room and the wilderbeast would sleep literally 20 or so yards from our room. It was also so nice because it felt so secluded.

Lastly, we also liked the idea of the Uzima because the Arusha is the big Savanna that you can walk out into and get a view of all the animals; and there's a decent viewing area of the Sunset Savanna right off of the Lobby. So it seemed as though the Uzima was the biggest fan favorite, was the most secluded, and was the only one you couldn't get great views of unless staying within it (you can view the animals in the Uzima from just behind the pool area though we later learned).

Anywho, that's my two cents, and no matter what... you're going to love whatever Savanna view you get and so will your daughter!!! They'll all be great!

 

[disneygirl1]

We had a room overlooking Sunset Savanna in December and LOVED IT!!! It was the perfect location... Convenient to everything at the resort and great views!!!

As far as the buses go... Jambo House and Kindani village share a bus. Not bad at all!

 

[worldfanatic]

The AKL is an amazing resort! Right there with Boardwalk as my favorite.
On our last visit there, we spent 6 nights with no park or waterpark visits.
Pretty much focused entirely on the lodge.

I had requested the Arusha Savanna because I felt it was the "main" one and was the "place to be".
However, it was a busy time at the lodge and we were instead put on the Sunset Savanna.
THANK GOD!!!!!

It was awesome!
Not that the others were bad, but the giraffes (and lets be honest, the giraffes are the clear cut STARS of the savannas) were constantly moving about and very active on the Sunset Savanna.
I checked out the other savannas all the time (for future request ideas), and there was no contest.
Something about the Sunset Savanna kept them moving about much more.

Of course, every day is different "on the Savanna".
But I'll request the Sunset Savanna without a doubt on our next AKL trip.

 

[jwarren3768]

I'm booking soon, and going to do it by phone. I will have my 4 yr old (5 at the time) with us and she loves animals so we are going to get a savanna view. So to those that have stayed, what are the best savanna's and/or which should I suggest to try and reserve?

thanks

My last family trip was to the AKL, and IIRC correctly we had two rooms one on the Sunset Trail and one on the Arusha Savannah. The Arusha Savannah had significantly more animal activity than the Sunset Trail did, but that said, there were plenty of animals to watch.

I will echo the previous comment that this resort is huge. This was our first experience in a deluxe resort so I have no true frame of reference regarding its size (my "home" resort is always POFQ), but the trek from the entrance to the rooms and the rooms to the pool could be brutal at times.

But no matter what, you'll have a wonderful time. Please take time to talk the the cast members, especially the guides outside. They are wonderful folks to talk with and chock full of information about their home countries and the animals you are seeing.

 

[mickeysshoes]

I am pretty sure we were on Sunset Savanna back in 2006 and i just loved the view and the number of animals we saw everyday. We could just about tell time by the animals. We were close to everything and walks were not bad at all. The walk once you got off the bus up to the front doors was by far the worst part of the walk and everyone has to do that. Enjoy your stay at AKL and dont over think this to much!!!

 

[disneygirl1]

The AKL is an amazing resort! Right there with Boardwalk as my favorite.
On our last visit there, we spent 6 nights with no park or waterpark visits.
Pretty much focused entirely on the lodge.

I had requested the Arusha Savanna because I felt it was the "main" one and was the "place to be".
However, it was a busy time at the lodge and we were instead put on the Sunset Savanna.
THANK GOD!!!!!

It was awesome!
Not that the others were bad, but the giraffes (and lets be honest, the giraffes are the clear cut STARS of the savannas) were constantly moving about and very active on the Sunset Savanna.
I checked out the other savannas all the time (for future request ideas), and there was no contest.
Something about the Sunset Savanna kept them moving about much more.

Of course, every day is different "on the Savanna".
But I'll request the Sunset Savanna without a doubt on our next AKL trip.

Couldn't agree with you more!!! I was so happy with the sunset savanna! Simply amazing! Can not wait to stay there again in the future!

 

[YankeeMouse]

Sunset all the way. Our favorite savanna. The barn is at the top left tip of the horseshoe-shaped lodge (see map in above post) and the animals regularly walk back and forth, waiting to go in to the barn for morning feedings, or to "visit" any of their animal friends who might be in the barn. Not as pretty as Arusha, but definitely more action.

 

[kath2me]

So booked a Arusha view room, because I wanted to make sure I saw the animals and get good pics, r u feeling the sunset is better to have ? Is it that much closer to the main entrance or pools ?

 

[disneygirl1]

Arusha and Sunsent are VERY close to each other, from where we were in Sunset we were about a 3-5 minute walk to everything! I could not have been more happy with our location.