Any Animal Kingdom Lodge hints?

[tonypitt]

I'm soo excited. My wife and I just made reservations for 8 nights at AKL in early June. We booked the rooms using the AP rate.

We've never stayed there before, and I'm sure we won't get great rooms at the lowest rate.

Can anyone offer any helpful hints regarding this trip? Any tips on getting a good room or requests to make?

 

[inafog]

I'm soo excited. My wife and I just made reservations for 8 nights at AKL in early June. We booked the rooms using the AP rate.

We've never stayed there before, and I'm sure we won't get great rooms at the lowest rate.

Can anyone offer any helpful hints regarding this trip? Any tips on getting a good room or requests to make?

Congratulations on AKL! I have stayed there twice, both times on AP rates. The first time we were travelling with friends who had paid for a savannah view room and had asked that our room be near them. So, we got an upgrade to a water (pool) view for free.

On our second trip we arrived at midnight with two sleeping children. Checking in I asked for a room with bunk beds. They didn't have one so the CM upgraded us to a savannah view room, again for free.

I think that if you get there and ask them they do try to accommodate people. I have heard of people just asking for an upgrade and getting one. I'd actually recommend passing on a pool view if they offer it to you because they start the music pretty early.

Hope you have a great time!

 

[DiPSU224]

I stayed at AKL last November using an AP rate. We booked a standard room and they upgraded us to a beautiful Savannah view room for free without us even asking.

It is a beautiful resort! Make sure you take a little time to walk around the grounds or even relax with a coffee one morning in the lobby overlooking the savannah. Have fun!

 

[SpectroMan]

My friends and I stayed there for senior trip. We booked a standard room, but we were upgraded to Savannah views.

My suggestion, don't be afraid to go exploring around the resort. Everytime we walked around we found something new and different to see. There are a few out-of-the-way balconies. So, look for them, and keep your eye out everywhere becuase of the art and all the many details placed all over.

Have fun! It is a true experince to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

 

[AkiraRaptor]

I'm soo excited. My wife and I just made reservations for 8 nights at AKL in early June. We booked the rooms using the AP rate.

We've never stayed there before, and I'm sure we won't get great rooms at the lowest rate.

Can anyone offer any helpful hints regarding this trip? Any tips on getting a good room or requests to make?

First off, you'll love AKL. I think it's the best themed of all the Disney resorts available.

What type of room did you reserve? Like others have said, a savanna view room is the best, but you may get luck and get a fre upgrade depending upon availability. Otherwise, there are several outlooks around the resort to view all three savannas.

As for tips, try out some of the resorts extras like:

Hot tubs at night, stories around the fire pits, use of the night vision gogles at Arusha Rock, viewing the arts displayed around the resort, reservations at Boma for breakfast or dinner, or better yet, a dinner at Jiko. There is so much to do and see at AKL, it's like a mini park all in it's own.

We find that we end up spends alot of time at the resort. Something we've never done at Poly or the Contemporary before. They were more of a place to rest the worn feet at the end of the day.

Check out the FAQ at Deb's

Have fun!

 

[barnum42]

The resort is well out of my pocket, but I love to visit, explore, eat at Boma and Mara - try the African Stew at Mara, it's the best thing I've ever had from a counter service restaurant. :slurp:

 

[Domboy]

We stayed there

You'll love it!

We had a room out on the left wing - over looking the central Arusha Savannah. It was amazing - Im not sure if we got any upgrade as my Dad was there already when my sister and I arrived - but we got a nice corner room with a large round balcony that was under of the domed roofs at the end!

Only thing I would say is - it was a bloomin long walk back from the lobby! hehe - and because the wings curve - u cant see how far you have to walk - very sneaky of them

We could sit out there and watch the girrafes and zebras walking around and feeding as well as the other animals.

And the smell of the lobby is great - a huge open fire mmm

Enjoy

 

[RandeB]

Tips

Was there at the end of January.

There are Savannah views that are better than others. The rooms facing the inner view are better-more animals.

On this map the rooms facing the middle where the "Arusha Rock" overlook are the best.

The way the hotel is laid out (with animals all around) there are no real shortcuts to get around-everyone has to go up and down the hallways past the rooms to get to their rooms. So to me, the further away from the lobby the quieter it should be. Also, we found walking to the lobby was easier on a different level than the lobby level (2). Very congested at times. We were on the first floor so we walked to the lobby on that floor, taking the steps up to the lobby (of course, wheelchairs and stroller folks can't complete that trip).

The only other shortcut we used is to cut through the gift shop on the way to the buses. Saved about 14 seconds.

 

[TwoTigersMom]

We stayed at AKL last April and we fell in love with it! It's absolutely breathtaking. We ate dinner one night at Jiko and it was excellent. We had breakfast at Boma several times and we loved that too. Ask the front desk for Hidden Mickey Clues if your into that. They have some very unusual ones. The bar area has a very nice atmosphere too. It deffinately is a very long walk to the rooms. I had taken my 2 year old to the pool one night and we ended up staying until 10 or 10:30pm. Well when I finally drug him out kicking and screaming, we got on the elevators, he melted to the floor and started pawing at the doors screaming at the top of his lungs that he wanted to swim. I felt so sorry for anyone that was attempting to sleep in all those rooms we passed to get to our room on the totally opposite side of the resort. I know they could hear him because when we got in our room, my Mom called from her room and asked if that was him hahaha. Another thing he really enjoyed was spedning time in the lobby. Everytime we went down there were usually several kids sitting around watching cartoons on tv. He made a lot of little friends while we were there.
What was suppose to be our last night there, I went down to the front desk and told the gentleman that I had a little problem. He said "Oh no, what's wrong?" I told him that nothing was wrong, that everything was so perfect, we wanted to stay one more night and celebrate our anniversary there the next day. But I told him we would need to move from our Savannah view room, because we couldn't afford another night there since we hadn't budgeted for it. He said "No problem at all! Someone was booked in our rooms the next night anyway." Then he checked him pc and said "Did you say tommorow is your anniversary?" I told him yes and my hubby's birthday. He gave me a Birthday Button and upgraded us back to a Savanna view for the parking lot price!

 

[skeeter]

I stayed at the AKL last May with an AP rate, and was upgraded to Savannah, without asking! What a surprise. This resort is a treat for the senses. The view from the room can not be matched by any other resort in the country--I mean, where else can you go out onto your balcony at 1 in the morning to see a giraffe munching on a tree limb snack? The lobby at night is breathtaking. Actually, at night, the resort takes on a whole new life. The lighting is a work of art in itself. Boma and Jiko are truly original gems that must be tried! The pool has excellent detail (although keep in mind there is no quiet pool and it can get a bit rowdy in the day). The architect that designed this resort should receive a pat on the back for creating one of the best "treats" in WDW!

 

[tomm4004]

I'm sure you'll enjoy this beautiful resort.

One tip though is to leave yourself plenty of time for bus trips. The bus service tends to be sporadic, especially trying to get back to the resort. There is a phone at the AKL bus stop. If a bus is taking an unusually long time to come, don't be afraid to call the front desk. A bus will magically appear a few minutes later!

 

[poohbear6103]

I had a similiar experience when staying there 2 years ago. We paid for a regular room and then we got a Savannah View room. The funny thing was we didn't ask for it and they didn't tell us. It was a pleasent surprise when they were pointing out the room on the map they show you and I saw that we were facing it.

 

[kennedy]

tips

Yes, I've stayed there twice, here are my tips:

(1) Stay in a savannah view room. Regardless of whether this means you get upgraded or you have to pay.

(2) Stay in a savannah view room.

(3) In that savannah view room, ask for a room on the Arusha savannah, zebra trail, third floor, a room by the feeding station.

(4) Eat at Jiko for dinner.

(5) Have cocktails/south african wine at the bar, Victoria Falls.

(5b) Take those drinks from the bar, head back to your room, and sit on your balcony overlooking the savannah with your drinks and watching the animals. You will feel far, far from Orlando, FL.

(6) Eat at Boma's breakfast buffet.

(7) Explore Arusha Rock savannah overlook.

(8) Allow extra time for the buses when traveling to the parks (except AK).