-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Animal Kingdom Lodge, who reccomends it?
- Thread starter wedance
- Start date
Mr. Toad
Active Member
I was there last year during the first week of May. There were crowds but they were not too bad.
As for AKL, we stayed in a Savanah view room and loved it. It is a great hotel and a unique experience (waking up and seeing a giraffe outside your window is cool). I would definately recommend staying there and if you can get the Savanah view room then go for it. Even with a non-Savanah view room there are plenty of places to go and watch the animals.
As for AKL, we stayed in a Savanah view room and loved it. It is a great hotel and a unique experience (waking up and seeing a giraffe outside your window is cool). I would definately recommend staying there and if you can get the Savanah view room then go for it. Even with a non-Savanah view room there are plenty of places to go and watch the animals.
Upvote
0
We stayed there last year in May and thought it was wonderful!!! In fact, I am staying at Boardwalk Inn this May, and am worried that I will regret not going back to AKL (but I've made up my mind to try different resorts).
We stayed there last year over Memorial Day and I didn't notice any particular crowd problem, even for that weekend. AKL is a beautiful resort, the lobby is gorgeous. It has a more remote, isolated feeling then some of the other resorts, and I liked this. At times, you could almost convince yourself that you're staying at a lodge in Africa. Jiko is a must for dinner. Boma has a great breakfast buffet.
Definitely, definitely stay in a Savannah view room. I agree with the prior reply that waking up and seeing giraffes, zebra, etc. is great. Plus, my husband and I would order drinks from the bar, head back to our room and have our tropical drinks on the balcony while watching the animals.
I would recommend request a room on the Arusha savannah, zebra trail, third floor, by a feeding station. That's where we were, and we had a great view of the animals.
Hope you enjoy it!!
We stayed there last year over Memorial Day and I didn't notice any particular crowd problem, even for that weekend. AKL is a beautiful resort, the lobby is gorgeous. It has a more remote, isolated feeling then some of the other resorts, and I liked this. At times, you could almost convince yourself that you're staying at a lodge in Africa. Jiko is a must for dinner. Boma has a great breakfast buffet.
Definitely, definitely stay in a Savannah view room. I agree with the prior reply that waking up and seeing giraffes, zebra, etc. is great. Plus, my husband and I would order drinks from the bar, head back to our room and have our tropical drinks on the balcony while watching the animals.
I would recommend request a room on the Arusha savannah, zebra trail, third floor, by a feeding station. That's where we were, and we had a great view of the animals.
Hope you enjoy it!!
Upvote
0
tweetypez1
New Member
We stayed there in November. It's a beautiful property. Two great restaurants, nice pool, great atmosphere...very Disney. My tips would be...
1. If you are staying there, make sure you have a Savanah view...that's why you're there and it's worth it.
2. If you stay there, ask for a room on the 3rd floor (lobby level) near the lobby. Your feet will thank me later.
3. I LOVED this place, but I don't recommend it for first time visitors with length of stay passes, who will be overwhelmed with things to do reguardless of where they stay. AKL needs a little time to be enjoyed. There's a lot to do right there!
1. If you are staying there, make sure you have a Savanah view...that's why you're there and it's worth it.
2. If you stay there, ask for a room on the 3rd floor (lobby level) near the lobby. Your feet will thank me later.
3. I LOVED this place, but I don't recommend it for first time visitors with length of stay passes, who will be overwhelmed with things to do reguardless of where they stay. AKL needs a little time to be enjoyed. There's a lot to do right there!
Upvote
0
Pippa
Well-Known Member
I only stuck my head in the lobby but it looked wonderful and i have also wondered about staying there. Do the bus run frequently to the parks etc as its on the edge of the property and do they take ages to get there?
By the way Kennedy, i have stayed at the Boardwalk Inn, it is fabulous, massive rooms, marble bathrooms, yummy breakfast in bed if you order it and on our last night when we returned from Pleasure Island we found a basket of sweets inside the door saying,"hope you had a magical vacation love the boardwalk front desk". I hope you enjoy it as much as i did!!!!
By the way Kennedy, i have stayed at the Boardwalk Inn, it is fabulous, massive rooms, marble bathrooms, yummy breakfast in bed if you order it and on our last night when we returned from Pleasure Island we found a basket of sweets inside the door saying,"hope you had a magical vacation love the boardwalk front desk". I hope you enjoy it as much as i did!!!!
Upvote
0
Pippa: I recall that the buses seemed slightly slower in coming to AKL, and that the bus rides were slightly longer (except for the bus to AK, obviously). However, the increases in wait time seemed very minimal, and in fact, unless asked specifically about it, I don't think I ever would have thought about it. It certainly wasn't something that bothered me while we were staying at the resort.
Good to hear about the Boardwalk. It's going to be tough to beat AKL, but I'm at least hoping to have a comparable (and different!) experience.
Good to hear about the Boardwalk. It's going to be tough to beat AKL, but I'm at least hoping to have a comparable (and different!) experience.
Upvote
0
AkiraRaptor
Meega, nala kwishta!
I'd agree with that on the busses. Never really an issue. They run 20 min or less. Depends upon the time of day, which park, and the crowd levels of the day.
The only issue I've ever had was getting to MK on a Sat night, and it was a busy night too. We just took a bus to Epcot, then used the monorails, worked out fine for us.
AKL is so tranquil, you quickly get out of the rush rush commando mode, and take your time. Even waiting for a bus doesn't seem to bother people. :lol:
Upvote
0
We stayed there in October and absolutely loved it. The smells are incredible. There's no way I can describe them except to say you'll have to experience them for yourself. We've stayed at several of the resorts and I must say that AKL is definitely one of the best.
Be sure you eat at Boma at least once. The desserts are out of this world.
The only downside is no monorail or boat transportation.
Be sure you eat at Boma at least once. The desserts are out of this world.
The only downside is no monorail or boat transportation.
Upvote
0
Stellajack
Premium Member
- In the Parks
- No
AKL. . .
Stayed there in Dec 02-savannah view-awesome! I can't say anything about May crowds since the crowds 2nd week of Dec were low, but the lodge is incredible- sounds, smells, views, everything ! ENJOY your stay.:wave:
Stayed there in Dec 02-savannah view-awesome! I can't say anything about May crowds since the crowds 2nd week of Dec were low, but the lodge is incredible- sounds, smells, views, everything ! ENJOY your stay.:wave:
Upvote
0
imagineersrock
New Member
*****good info!!!*****
hey there- i saw your question and just had to reply because i felt i could help out some fellow disney fanatics!
ok so we just returned from our very first trip to the animal kingdom lodge. in all honesty, a stay at this hotel could be one of the most magical and unique hotel stays you will ever have, and can equally be one of the most dissapointing! so heres a few tips so i can hopefully help everyone reading have a great experience.
- you see, AMK lodge some how COMPLETELEY screwed up our reservations and etc. and we ended up walking around the entire resort for nearly 2 hours in search for some rooms for us! -you see someting went wrong somewhere, and people were actually in the rooms we were supposed to be staying in... as if this wasnt bad enough, this happned to be presidents/valentines day weekend, so this understanably meant the hotel was practically 99% full so we had a rough time finding us some other rooms. -luckily, due to the mess they made, we ended up having a great stay because we got plenty of extra special treatment and a suprisingly large amount of $ was taken off the bill because of the "ordeal" we went through... not that bad huh?? OK BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME LETS GET TO THE HOTEL ALREADY!
***some info before you go! -you will have to be VERY specific about where you want the location of your room to be. -as you can predict, disney tends to very loosely throw around terms such as "savannah view" -your location could depend whether you look out your window and see a giraffe looking back, or perhaps your looking at a maintanence building and a few trees and shrubs. <---I will extend on this below... but lets now start from the beginning.
1.) ok so you arrive and enter the hotel through the lobby. its a large, beautiful and greatly deatailed interior; one of the best disney hotels i've seen when it comes to eye candy!! -but yes you begin at this one central "hub" type building which includes everything from the lobby, to all of the restaurants, the large gift shop, you know all those neccesities.
2.) from this point, the hotel branches off into 4 different guest room wings. [dont worry about the first two because you dont want to stay in either] but as for the two main wings; the branch out into a letter "U" shape and then begin to turn back in, almost completing a full circle shape with one of the three on-property animal savannahs. these two guest wings are known as either the "kudu trail" (to the left) or the "zebra trail" (to the right).
3.) now lets talk rooms. one thing you MUST REMEMBER about this hotel; THE HIGHER THE LEVEL YOU ARE ON, THE BETTER! -this is very important because the higher you get, the better, further, and widespread your view will be; even the not-so-great rooms have decent views from the top levels. so here are my suggestions as for when it coems to rooms; ***1.) make sure you are either in a room on either one of the "Kudu trail" or the "zebra trail" 2.) be sure to specify you wish to stay on one of the rooms facing inward towards the "arusha rock savanna overlook" [this will guarantee you a room on the main savanna which includes a great, unopsrtucted view of the savanna (and the animals!!)] -just to give you an idea if the ask for specific room areas or numbers, we stayed in rooms 3527 and 3529 (great views) .....so (just a suggestion-) i would say you should be safe if you specify you wish to be in rooms 3516-3531 (facing the main savanna) and incase any of those are unavailable, im sure they'd be willing to look if you ask "...or at least something similar to that..."
-as for any of the rooms facing outwards towards the other 2 savannas, im afraid to guarantee anything on those rooms because you could have an excellent view of animals, or an excellent view of a wooden fence... you see this is where things begin to get "-iffy" and it becomes a real toss-up.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
so just to sum things up...
1.)be specific on a view facing the arusha rock overlook area if possible.
2.)dont be too dissapointed if your view isnt the best; there are countless animal viewing areas from which you can get some great views from all over the property (*and some great family photo opportunities with wild animals in the backrground as well!)
3.)there is a neat pool area and if you have time in your schedule, a few hours by the pool is always fun for the family
4.) BOMA is the main restaurant; and it's buffet style -great for all ages. and though you may not even ever be around for dinner time, a must do would have to be BREAKFAST AT BOMA -what a breakfast buffet!
5.) when it comes to seeing the animals, best times are early morning or early evening (dawn/dusk) because generally anytime during mid-day is too hot for the animals and they tend to hide in the shady areas.
-the AMK lodge is a beautiful resort, and using some of the above tips, you will hopefully i helped you plan a fantastic stay.
good luck from a fellow disney fan;
-Alex V.
hey there- i saw your question and just had to reply because i felt i could help out some fellow disney fanatics!
ok so we just returned from our very first trip to the animal kingdom lodge. in all honesty, a stay at this hotel could be one of the most magical and unique hotel stays you will ever have, and can equally be one of the most dissapointing! so heres a few tips so i can hopefully help everyone reading have a great experience.
- you see, AMK lodge some how COMPLETELEY screwed up our reservations and etc. and we ended up walking around the entire resort for nearly 2 hours in search for some rooms for us! -you see someting went wrong somewhere, and people were actually in the rooms we were supposed to be staying in... as if this wasnt bad enough, this happned to be presidents/valentines day weekend, so this understanably meant the hotel was practically 99% full so we had a rough time finding us some other rooms. -luckily, due to the mess they made, we ended up having a great stay because we got plenty of extra special treatment and a suprisingly large amount of $ was taken off the bill because of the "ordeal" we went through... not that bad huh?? OK BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME LETS GET TO THE HOTEL ALREADY!
***some info before you go! -you will have to be VERY specific about where you want the location of your room to be. -as you can predict, disney tends to very loosely throw around terms such as "savannah view" -your location could depend whether you look out your window and see a giraffe looking back, or perhaps your looking at a maintanence building and a few trees and shrubs. <---I will extend on this below... but lets now start from the beginning.
1.) ok so you arrive and enter the hotel through the lobby. its a large, beautiful and greatly deatailed interior; one of the best disney hotels i've seen when it comes to eye candy!! -but yes you begin at this one central "hub" type building which includes everything from the lobby, to all of the restaurants, the large gift shop, you know all those neccesities.
2.) from this point, the hotel branches off into 4 different guest room wings. [dont worry about the first two because you dont want to stay in either] but as for the two main wings; the branch out into a letter "U" shape and then begin to turn back in, almost completing a full circle shape with one of the three on-property animal savannahs. these two guest wings are known as either the "kudu trail" (to the left) or the "zebra trail" (to the right).
3.) now lets talk rooms. one thing you MUST REMEMBER about this hotel; THE HIGHER THE LEVEL YOU ARE ON, THE BETTER! -this is very important because the higher you get, the better, further, and widespread your view will be; even the not-so-great rooms have decent views from the top levels. so here are my suggestions as for when it coems to rooms; ***1.) make sure you are either in a room on either one of the "Kudu trail" or the "zebra trail" 2.) be sure to specify you wish to stay on one of the rooms facing inward towards the "arusha rock savanna overlook" [this will guarantee you a room on the main savanna which includes a great, unopsrtucted view of the savanna (and the animals!!)] -just to give you an idea if the ask for specific room areas or numbers, we stayed in rooms 3527 and 3529 (great views) .....so (just a suggestion-) i would say you should be safe if you specify you wish to be in rooms 3516-3531 (facing the main savanna) and incase any of those are unavailable, im sure they'd be willing to look if you ask "...or at least something similar to that..."
-as for any of the rooms facing outwards towards the other 2 savannas, im afraid to guarantee anything on those rooms because you could have an excellent view of animals, or an excellent view of a wooden fence... you see this is where things begin to get "-iffy" and it becomes a real toss-up.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
so just to sum things up...
1.)be specific on a view facing the arusha rock overlook area if possible.
2.)dont be too dissapointed if your view isnt the best; there are countless animal viewing areas from which you can get some great views from all over the property (*and some great family photo opportunities with wild animals in the backrground as well!)
3.)there is a neat pool area and if you have time in your schedule, a few hours by the pool is always fun for the family
4.) BOMA is the main restaurant; and it's buffet style -great for all ages. and though you may not even ever be around for dinner time, a must do would have to be BREAKFAST AT BOMA -what a breakfast buffet!
5.) when it comes to seeing the animals, best times are early morning or early evening (dawn/dusk) because generally anytime during mid-day is too hot for the animals and they tend to hide in the shady areas.
-the AMK lodge is a beautiful resort, and using some of the above tips, you will hopefully i helped you plan a fantastic stay.
good luck from a fellow disney fan;
-Alex V.
Upvote
0
Thanks everyone who replied!! We might just stay in standard room(no Savannah view), since we spend most of our time on grounds, Lobbys,pool, etc. and We don't feel like spending $700 more just for that. But it seems like just staying there is worth it, and the rooms seem nice inside. Thanks again!
Upvote
0
mikebrakes
New Member
I was there last year May 4th to 12th. The crowds weren't that bad at all. Some of the more popular rides had a wait time of close to two hours, (Pooh, Spaceship Earth) but most weren't that bad. I thought the bus service was pretty good. I do recommend asking for a room close to the lobby if you can get one. Our room was at the far end of the resort, and after walking around the parks all day, it was a loooooong walk back to the room. Not to mention that Mara (where the refillable mug is sold) is close to the lobby. If I'm not mistaken, we asked for non-smoking rooms and it seemed all of the rooms close to the lobby were smoking rooms.
As far as staying on the savannah side - we did and it was great seeing the animals from your balcony, but there are several spots to view the animals if you don't want to spend the extra cash. Different viewing areas, as well as several viewing windows along the hallway that offer a chance to see the animals.
As far as staying on the savannah side - we did and it was great seeing the animals from your balcony, but there are several spots to view the animals if you don't want to spend the extra cash. Different viewing areas, as well as several viewing windows along the hallway that offer a chance to see the animals.
Upvote
0
kimrn87
Member
We stayed at the AKL unintentionally..........we had reservations at the Contemporary but they did not book our rooms so we had our pick and chose the AKL. We had a deluxe savannah room. Our family of five really enjoyed it. The scenery was great, loved the animals. The kids loved the pool!!! It was relaxing and comfortable. The service was excellent. It was a long walk to the room but I had my personal valet parking (my husband) I would love to stay there again. We stayed the first week in May 2002.
Upvote
0
goofyfan13
Well-Known Member
AKL is a simply beautiful resort! The theming, savanna, and Boma are all amazing. The pool area is also rather nice and the fitness center was awesome. My favorite resort and I highly recommend it. If your looking to save some money, I met someone on my recent trip to Lake Tahoe and they said they went through priceline.com and got rooms at AKL for $120 a night. My family is going to try it now for the Boardwalk so hopefully it works out. Have a great trip! I hope everything works out for you.
Upvote
0
We will be staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in May for the first time. However we have visited it a few times. Our favorite hotel is the Wilderness Lodge and since the same architect(sp) designed AKL it has a similar feel to it. The food is wonderful. We have eaten @ Boma for breakfast and dinner and at Jiko for dinner. I recommend both. We can't wait.
Upvote
0