Is the Animal Kingdom Lodge a 'Too' hotel?

[yensid354]

We recently stayed at the AKL and were disappointed in the accomodations and the price/value.

The hotel is a beautiful place, the workman ship and decoration is superb, but I could not help but wonder about the value for the money.

Understand that we've stayed at almost every Disney hotel in our 20+ trips to WDW, Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Yacht, Beach, Boardwalk, Caribean Beach, Dixie Landings (Port Orleans Riverside), Port Orleans (Port Orleans French Quarter), Old Key West and All-Star music.

Comparing the AKL, a premium hotel, to the others makes me thing that AKL is a 'too' hotel.

Rooms too small

Rooms too poorly illuminated (you had to go to a stairwell to get enough light to read a book after dark)

Location too remote from most attractions (MK, MGM, EPCOT)

Busses run too infrequently (waited 45 minutes for a bus to AK on our first day)

Price too high for what you receive.

Has anyone else felt this way?

I understand that many people just love the AKL, and I say more power to you, but to me, the value for the price is just not there!

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Right now I am looking at where to stay for our August trip to WDW. I heard so many great things about AKL so I decided to check it out. I looked in to the price of a savannah view room (If i am going to stay there I want to be able to experience the animals from my room. You want to have the maximum experience if you are paying to stay in a resort like that). I saw that the price of the savannah room is almost the price of a room at the Polynesian. We stayed at the Polynesian last year and really liked it. So I looked at the ammenities of the resort and noticed the same things you did. For the price it seems that you aren't getting much in the room. Sure the resort is beautiful and the animals are great I just don't know if it is worth the price. I think I would rather have the big room at the Polynesian, with the excellent transportation, and close proximity to everything. I am still deciding though and waiting to hear people's opinions. I still have time to book.

 

[AkiraRaptor]

OK, I'll add my opinion from the "love it" camp.

I don't think the rooms are too small. They are bigger than the value and moderates. It can seem a bit crampem in some of the lower rooms (non-deluxe) with two large beds in them, they do "look" small, the sq. footage is on par with the deluxe resorts.

Yes, the resort on the whole has a "less lighted" look to it. I hear that is for the animals needs, so it doesn't distract them, and they will come closer to the rooms for people to view them. Myself, I had no problems turning on the bedside lamps or sitting out at the pool at night and reading.

I disagree with the whole "too far away" arguments. We've never had any more issues in transportation that any other resort. Maybe we were just lucky. We usally had no more than a 5-10 min wait for a bus, usally less. At peak times for MK was the only ones I'd even say may have taken longer.

We also use our car alot when we are there cos' we do alot of PS at resorts, and it's just easier getting around that way than useing Disney transportation (no matter what resort we'd stay in).

I think we got our monies worth. Heck, we've done them twice now. And I even stepped up in service on our second trip. And if I can swing the suite costs, we'll do that next time.

My look at all of this is that in all the times we've visited WDW, the resort has always been just a place to lay the tired bones. Contem., Poly, while both very nice, after walking around the ground, it just became a nice resort.

AKL has changed all of that for us. We spend real park time at the resort instead of the parks now. We come back to the resort for mid-day breaks (something we've never done before). We find AKL is a mini-park in it own right. You can spend hours watching the animals, walking around, talking to the CM.

For us, unless Disney makes a better place than AKL, this is our resort of choice forever on. We have no want to stay at any of the other deluxes anymore.

Again, this is our opinion, and as usally, others will disagree.

I would recommend you read through the many threads on this site, and check out the reviews link on this site to see what others have said as well.

Have fun in any choice you make!


Here's the link to the AKL reviews here:
AKL Reviews

And here is a good thread about the the awards it has won. This thread also gets into the pros and cons of the resort (or the likes and dislikes). It's a good thread on this resort to read over: AKL thread

 

[yensid354]

AKL

Akira...

I'm glad you enjoy the resort. We had a 'Savanna' view of the hot tub. As long as an animal happended to wander over to the edge of the compound we could see them. Not what I expected from the sales literature.

I had no real problem turning on lights either, but from a flow standpoint, you had a wall switch that turned on the entry area light, a wall switch for the vanity, and then have to walk into a dark and back lit room to get to either the floor lamp in the corner, or to the switches for the lights over the bed.

I will disagree on room space. We had very little space between the beds, the beds and the walls, and at the foot of the beds between the TV/dresser and the beds themselves.

We noticed that you could only watch TV if you were seated on the bed, and could not see it from the table/chairs.

Based on our memory of PO and CB, these rooms are about the same size, for a lot more money.

As you noted, the concierge units may be much better than one of the wing rooms, but I was not really impressed at all.

We wound up using our car to travel to the parks, AK included as the bus service was very slow. We may have been unlucky and hit the seam just wrong, but it was rare to wait for less than 10 minutes.

I will say that BOMA and MARA were great for food and fun, good food at a great value, especially the breakfast buffet, but too many negatives for me.

Of course, sharing the room with 3 high maintenance females (wife and 2 children) may be coloring my outlook, but for me, ALK is one of those, 'nice to have stayed, but I won't be back'.

 

[Invero]

In regards to transportation...

AK Lodge gets better transportation than any other Deluxe resort.

As for AKL -> DAK... In the morning... that bus shuttles back and forth from AKL to DAK... starts at about 8:05, and just shuttles.

All other busses run in 15 min intervals, and are not shared with other resorts.


As for being "too far away".......

AK Lodge is less than 10 mins from DAK, Epcot, and MGM, and less than 15 mins from the Magic Kingdom.

 

[WDWspider]

Again I'll say it...

I find the experience of animals just outside the window and the authenticity of the cast members and food to be the main reason I pay that price, so if that's not what you want, then obviously this hotel is not for you or worth the cost, but Animals are very expensive upkeep. And maybe the illusion of realism is too good on this hotel giving some the "un-idealistic" opinion of what is Deluxe. They tried very hard to downplay the grandure to not over-power the Deluxe hotels found in Africa. A lot of thought is throughout this hotel on culture, respect, and realism... maybe too much so however, but I feel the Animals more than compensate.

 

[Horizons38]

My two cents here : For us the transportation has always been the best, a lot better than all the other resorts buses . Decor , food and pool and recreation area the best also with Wilderness lodge a close second. For me though the animals are where it's at so i guess for us it's our favorite ! I love the Polynesian and the Contemporary also but every trip is different and this time we're going with my mum and she has trouble walking so monorail is the choice now. Not that i'm complaining !

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

having viited the lodge to eat at Bomas I made up my mind I had to stay there when i enquired i was told i required a savanah room ( our tripis Aug 2003) I got a price through the Disney Club but when i phoned back to book 3 days later I was told that all those rooms were gone. Ahh well I may try the Hard Rock hotel if the reintroduce the dicounts they offered this year.
Is it worth the money? I dont know but its hard to accept anything else when youv had a true Disney experience.

 

[AkiraRaptor]

Re: AKL

Originally posted by yensid354
Akira...

I'm glad you enjoy the resort. We had a 'Savanna' view of the hot tub. As long as an animal happended to wander over to the edge of the compound we could see them. Not what I expected from the sales literature.

I had no real problem turning on lights either, but from a flow standpoint, you had a wall switch that turned on the entry area light, a wall switch for the vanity, and then have to walk into a dark and back lit room to get to either the floor lamp in the corner, or to the switches for the lights over the bed.

I will disagree on room space. We had very little space between the beds, the beds and the walls, and at the foot of the beds between the TV/dresser and the beds themselves.

We noticed that you could only watch TV if you were seated on the bed, and could not see it from the table/chairs.

Based on our memory of PO and CB, these rooms are about the same size, for a lot more money.

As you noted, the concierge units may be much better than one of the wing rooms, but I was not really impressed at all.

We wound up using our car to travel to the parks, AK included as the bus service was very slow. We may have been unlucky and hit the seam just wrong, but it was rare to wait for less than 10 minutes.

I will say that BOMA and MARA were great for food and fun, good food at a great value, especially the breakfast buffet, but too many negatives for me.

Of course, sharing the room with 3 high maintenance females (wife and 2 children) may be coloring my outlook, but for me, ALK is one of those, 'nice to have stayed, but I won't be back'.

Our first trip was in a normal savanna room, our second was in a deluxe room. The Deluxe rooms are bigger. I would agree with you that there is not that much space between the beds and other furniture in the normal rooms. The deluxes however do have room and I think you'd agree that they would more to you liking that the normal ones, but they do cost more.

And yes, the light switch can be annoying if you're not on that side of the bed, and you did have to walk around a dark room to turn it on, but we always left it on, and if we forgot, room service turned it on for us.

It also sound like you just didn't get a good view room either. Our's were both front and center on the savannas. One on the second floor, the other on the 5th.

The TV is the same in the deluxe. It's those lazy susans that they are sitting on. They don't extend out far enough, or turn far enough. Bad design of the furnature.

The AKL rooms are bigger in sq footage than moderates, I think there was even an argument on the other thread about that. But looks can really be deciving if you have two twins versus two queens or doubles. Even though they give you bigger beds at AKL, it can make it look like the room is smaller.

As for busses, it sounds like you just kept getting bad luck. BTW when was it that you went? Maybe it was a peak time of year that caused the delays. Like Fantasia Boi said, they really do service AKL very well. On our trip, the only snafu I saw was a huge amout of people going to MK one evening. They were all going over for the MNSSH and their was at least two bus full of people waiting. We needed to get to MK as well for a late PS, so we used the Epcot buss to monarail to get there. Still only took a few minuets. Heck it took longer for the monarail ride than the bus ride.

Yes, Boma is wonderful. We ate there almost every morning except the morning of our Savanna Tour. Great place to eat. I like better than Poly's cafe.

Hmm, AKL has no lions, so guess you can't feed them the rugrats... :lol: ...guess your stuck with a crowded room.

Hey, each there own. Some people love the GF, I feel way to uncomfotable in that resort, I just never feel relaxed, to posh I guess. Hope you give it another chance, but have fun where ever you next stay...hey it's Disney!

 

[Pioneer Hall]

The Standard rooms at the AKL are 344 Sq. Ft. The moderate resorts rooms are 314 Sq. Ft. The Polynesian and most other deluxe resorts are around 400-410 Sq. Ft. Even the Deluxe rooms (381 Sq. Ft.) are not close to the rooms at the other deluxes (with the exception of wilderness lodge). So you can see why people might complain about the room size for a deluxe resort. They are kinda small for the price tag on them.

 

[DizneyD]

Each hotel caters to different tastes. If you're looking for a bustling hotel this probably wasn't the right choice. In my line of work (zookeeper) I can totally understand why the hotel is the way it is, quiet, and serene compared to the rest of the "world". WDW has had enough animal problems with the initial opening of AK that in order to build a hotel, and not ruffle feathers (for lack of a better term) of the AZA (American Zoological Association) and any animal rights group, the animals have to come first. So lighting and noise are sacrificed.

As for bus service, I don't know about you but I can remember paying hundreds of dollars to stay at Old Key West and having the worst bust service ever, while I watched those at All Star paying less than a hundred a night get the best bus service known to man. Give it some time, they have to work out the kinks, it can only get better. Also being out in the boonies of the property alows them to accomodate the animals and the facilities they need to house them comfortably and safely, and let's face it outside of Africa where else can you see a Giraffe outside your window?

 

[AkiraRaptor]

Originally posted by DizneyD
Each hotel caters to different tastes. If you're looking for a bustling hotel this probably wasn't the right choice. In my line of work (zookeeper) I can totally understand why the hotel is the way it is, quiet, and serene compared to the rest of the "world". WDW has had enough animal problems with the initial opening of AK that in order to build a hotel, and not ruffle feathers (for lack of a better term) of the AZA (American Zoological Association) and any animal rights group, the animals have to come first. So lighting and noise are sacrificed.

Cool, what zoo? What types of animals do you tend to?

As for bus service, I don't know about you but I can remember paying hundreds of dollars to stay at Old Key West and having the worst bust service ever, while I watched those at All Star paying less than a hundred a night get the best bus service known to man. Give it some time, they have to work out the kinks, it can only get better. Also being out in the boonies of the property alows them to accomodate the animals and the facilities they need to house them comfortably and safely, and let's face it outside of Africa where else can you see a Giraffe outside your window?

Yes, I agree. I remember one night leaving the MK. We waited, along with other deluxe and moderate resort people for a bus to come pick us up. It was probebly 20 min. for all of us. I know I was though, not directly because it was 20 min, but because the All-Stars lines, even though they were much longer and crowded, had busses lined up for them, like 4-5 of them! The only reason they had a line was because of the time it took to load a bus with all the strollers and handicaped delaying each bus. It just ate at me a bit for the cost we pay vrs All-Stars, I'd say let them stand as long as us and give a few more busses to the other resorts.

 

[Invero]

Originally posted by AkiraRaptor
Yes, I agree. I remember one night leaving the MK. We waited, along with other deluxe and moderate resort people for a bus to come pick us up. It was probebly 20 min. for all of us. I know I was though, not directly because it was 20 min, but because the All-Stars lines, even though they were much longer and crowded, had busses lined up for them, like 4-5 of them! The only reason they had a line was because of the time it took to load a bus with all the strollers and handicaped delaying each bus. It just ate at me a bit for the cost we pay vrs All-Stars, I'd say let them stand as long as us and give a few more busses to the other resorts.

Remember... you're paying the extra money (deluxe versus value)for a Hotel Room... not a bus. Although the All-Stars pay less per room... they have more rooms, which translates to they pay more for transportation.

On a side note... Disney advertises busses as running every 20 minutes. However, most of the time busses run more frequently. Unfortunetly, even if the bus runs every 10 minutes, 90% of the time guest perception will multiply that by 2, and make them think they waited 20 mins, when it was only 10.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

TYLER!!!! I have a BONE to pick with you young man! :lol:

(did you hear about the problem Saturday night?)

We were STUCK at the Wilderness Lodge for an hour and a half!!! I was sooo tempted to call you and say, "Can you fit 6 in your Jetta? :lol: "

 

[Rogue21]

AKL

I stayed at the AKL last December and I won't go to any other resort again. Well, maybe the Wilderness Lodge.

It was simply beautiful. The Holiday decorations, the relaxing atmosphere -- where else can you sit on a big ol' wooden rocking chair by an outdoor fire pit? -- great savannah view and the best restaurant experience in WDW at Jiko.

It was the first trip to WDW that there was no rush to get to the parks in the morning. We relaxed with some coffee and the newspaper while the giraffes and other assorted wildlife grazed just outside our balcony. What an awesome start to the day!

For me, it was worth every penny -- and I'm saving more now to return.

 

[KathyG/poohbear]

I have only stayed on property at the AKL...all of my other experiences have been staying at a house or a hotel outside Disney.

I was disappointed in the AKL. Many of you will remember they lost my luggage...but even before this...I kept thinking I waited all my life to stay at a deluxe Disney hotel and this is it.

We stayed on the concierge floor. Half of our balconey was covered by the roof. We could only see the animal from half of it. The animals never got close like they do in the promo literature. We really need binoculars to see them well.

I also had a horrible time with transportation. We were trapped at Downtown Disney for over an hour one night. Every time we were waiting for a bus back from a park...we would see 1 or 2 of every other hotel before seeing ours.

I honestly felt the service was lacking as well. I found much better service and attitude of staff at The Plaza in NYC than AKL. When I would try to discuss anything with the concierge staff they seem distracted and patronizing like they weren't even listening.

The good points are the pool and the huge gift shop. Just my 2 cents.

I am staying at the Poly in February and I am hoping for a better experience.

 

[AkiraRaptor]

Originally posted by Fantasia Boi
Remember... you're paying the extra money (deluxe versus value)for a Hotel Room... not a bus. Although the All-Stars pay less per room... they have more rooms, which translates to they pay more for transportation.

On a side note... Disney advertises busses as running every 20 minutes. However, most of the time busses run more frequently. Unfortunetly, even if the bus runs every 10 minutes, 90% of the time guest perception will multiply that by 2, and make them think they waited 20 mins, when it was only 10.

Sorry Tyler, I think I came off too strong in that post. I know we didn't wait any longer than the advertised time. It was just hard to watch so many busses stop for All-Stars and not for us or the other resorts. One bus was even AKL, bus one of the CM stopped them, and then he changed the AKL sign to an All-Star, and got in line with th rest of them. Errr. I'm not mad about it or anything, just at the time, we you know the drill, your tired, want to go back to the resorts, and waiting in another line just isn't pleasant. :lol:

I was looking for you on every WDW transportation I got on. I wanted to yell out Fantasia Boi if I saw ya, but I never did. Maybe next trip.

 

[DanStat]

The lighting in the AKL is better than you will find in most game reserves in Africa!

I liked the rooms...they were comfortable for our family. We travel during Spring Break a "peak" time, and we've never had a problem.

I was pleased with the busses as well...after staying at Port Orleans: Riverside, we were extremely happy!

I will be back in April...I, as well as my family found it to be a great experience!

 

[jwbeck3]

I have stayed at Polynesian many times, but have visited AKL and it was awesome although I haven't stayed there. So I need to know which one is better..........Poly or AKL

 

[DanStat]

Like I said, after staying there, we will be back, and most likley won't stay anywhere else on Disney Property!