We're going to Animal Kingdom Lodge :) Advice?

[zurgandfriend]

AKL is a great resort, 3 good restaurants (Jiko, Boma & Sanaa) a really cool gift shop and a nice pool. The only fault we found was going out on the balcony in the afternoon, if the wind was right it reminded me of growing up on the farm.

 

[BeautyAndTheTwe]

AKL is a great resort, 3 good restaurants (Jiko, Boma & Sanaa) a really cool gift shop and a nice pool. The only fault we found was going out on the balcony in the afternoon, if the wind was right it reminded me of growing up on the farm.

We are starting to plan out our days on the trip, did you find that you spent a lot of time at the hotel during your stay?

 

[zurgandfriend]

We are starting to plan out our days on the trip, did you find that you spent a lot of time at the hotel during your stay?

We usually "hit a wall" in the afternoon, we go back to the resort and relax by the pool and then clean up and go back out for dinner and whatever. With the 3 restaurants we had dinner there 3 evening of our week stay. My DW usually insists on staying on the monorail but we had a little fun trip when our DS went off to college and we stayed at AKL. We enjoyed it very much, we just can never tell our son we went without him.

 

[s&k'smom]

If this is your home resort, I'd consider eating at all of them, easily 3 of the best on property.

As for the time there, it's such a beautiful resort. I miss it daily.

Food is fantastic. We are a family of four with completely different food taste's and happily can find something for everyone.

 

[BeautyAndTheTwe]

We usually "hit a wall" in the afternoon, we go back to the resort and relax by the pool and then clean up and go back out for dinner and whatever. With the 3 restaurants we had dinner there 3 evening of our week stay. My DW usually insists on staying on the monorail but we had a little fun trip when our DS went off to college and we stayed at AKL. We enjoyed it very much, we just can never tell our son we went without him.

Thats what we are thinking, after an early day at the parks it might be nice to come back and chill in the afternoon.

 

[danlb_2000]

Boma was great for both breakfast and dinner.

 

[BeautyAndTheTwe]

Boma was great for both breakfast and dinner.

We are hoping to do Boma for our first night

 

[nickys]

We are starting to plan out our days on the trip, did you find that you spent a lot of time at the hotel during your stay?

We stayed 4 nights as part of a split stay. There is a ton of activities on at both AKL and Kidani (which is a 10 minute walk or shuttle bus away), with kitchen tour, wine tasting, cultural talks and so on, mostly during the afternoons. There's also the Starlight safari onto the savannahs with night vision goggles or, if you can't book that, Kidani have night vision goggles to use on the outlook. At Christmas these were put away at around 10pm so don't leave it too late to go, the first night I went at about 9:45 so went back the next night earlier.

I really wish I'd planned an afternoon at least... Just means we'll have to go back! I think you can see a monthly schedule of events on an AKL website. I found one for the Contemporary from a post on one of the forums, can't remember the exact name but I think it should be easy enough to find. Might be worth having a look. The wine tasting I remember is on a Wednesday and has a small cost. That and kitchens and Starlight are all on WDW site.

 

[Nickels5]

Hey Guys,

We are going to animal kingdom lodge for our honeymoon this year, we would love to hear what you think about the on site restaurants, which one is your favourite?

We just uploaded a video with our plans for the trip and a few questions that we have.



Hope you guys can help out

We are going to AKL for our honeymoon as well, it seems like such a beautiful resort.

 

[contrariwise]

As other have said, all restaurants are really good.

The QS place, Mara, is above average for resort QS. Not your typical offerings, and the grab and go section is great. You can get zebra domes there and their hummuses (is that the plural of hummus?) are really different and good.

Boma is an adventurous buffet, more adventurous at dinner than breakfast. Both are really good meals, and it's so fun being able to try all the different dishes. Soups in particular are top-notch. Both meals are expensive, but I still really like them.

Jiko has a stunning dining room and a really interesting, different menu. In a pricey place (Disney World), Jiko is particularly pricey. You could cut the price by just doing appetizers and desserts there. Those are the standout items anyway.

Sanaa is over at Animal Kingdom Villas, not in the main Lodge. I have eaten there twice and the food has been spectacular both times. The bread service with dips/accompaniments is super fun and so delicious. I was unsure if they had gluten free breads, but I googled it and found this: http://www.gfinorlando.com/2015/03/sanaas-gluten-free-naan-bread-recipe.html

I don't know if you need to call ahead to make that bread happen, but it sure sounds good. We went to dinner before dawn at a very early seating and were able to wait a few minutes to get a table right on the windows. That made the experience that much better. If you are not seated near a window, the view is hit and miss, mostly miss. The food is spectacular either way.

Animal Kingdom Lodge has lots of fun activities. Ask for a schedule when you check in. We did the "culinary tour", and it was neat . . . and free. Here's a review: http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2009/05/27/culinary-tour-boma-and-jiko/

AKL is such a beautiful place. You are going to have a great honeymoon!

 

[Chernabog1940]

[QUOTE="contrariwise, post: 7565871, member: 108827

I don't know if you need to call ahead to make that bread happen, but it sure sounds good.
AKL is such a beautiful place. You are going to have a great honeymoon![/QUOTE]

No, you do NOT have to call ahead for the naan bread service that is gluten free. The gluten free bread is good, but not quite as good as the 'real thing.' They will even split the bread order to make som regular and some gluten free. Another thing, at every buffet, the chef will come out and advise you what you may eat. Depending on the buffet, they may have doughnuts, waffles, pancakes, toast, muffins that are gluten free. The other restaurants, have a printed 'allergy' menu from which you can order.

 

[MumziDarlin']

You are going to have a GREAT time! I had a few ideas. You are staying for 14 days (how amazing!). I apologize if the following is not what you are interested in, but in case you haven't thought about it/heard about it:

Have you thought of a "split stay"? And/or "Renting points" to stay at a Disney Vacation Club Villa?

We are renting points this summer as it will save us a lot of money. I crunched the numbers for you below. (based upon fictitious July dates.) You would spend less to stay at AKL by renting points, and you could purchase the dining plan. If you purchase the dining plan, you would be required to purchase the dining plan for however many nights you stay at that DVC location. The advantage is that staying at a DVC villa, your tickets are not tied to your meal plan. You could stay for 10 days at AKL/DVC, have the meal plan for that long, then change resorts for the rest of your stay, and not be tied to the meal plan. So you could buy 14 day tickets, and 10 meal plan days. The meal plan provides a LOT of food - you may want to cut back a bit near the end of your vacation and share meals. (It is also very hot in the summer, and we found it was too much food, unless we always combined two table services to use at signature dining experiences.) It is GREAT to not have to worry about what you are spending, but it is a LOT of food.

In July there will most likely be 25% discounts for Deluxe resorts (no free dining with that discount; there might be free dining discounts released when resort discounts are released - for deluxe resorts it is typically better to get the discount and pay for the dining plan separate), (posted in March) so maybe you would want to stay AKL DVC on the dining plan, then transfer/try another great experience, such as Club Level at the Polynesian for a few nights. Or pay out of pocket at another resort. (note: only club level via DVC is at AKL.) Bell services would transfer your bags to another resort for you.

Another big benefit to renting points is that you avoid the 12.5% resort tax. Renting points would also save you $$$ on the room cost (drawback: they do not do daily room cleaning.) For 14 nights at AKL Jambo House:

Amounts in US Dollars:
Renting Points, from the 8th-21st of July: Standard Room: $3,210 Savannah View: $3,840 Club: $4,230
WDW Rack Rates, from the 8th - 21st of July: Standard Room: $5,121.05 Savannah View: $7,014.39 Club: $8,100
Rack Rates, with 25% discount, same dates: Standard Room: $3,840.70 Savannah View: $5,260.79 Club: $6,075
Add Tax, to 25% room discount (no tax for renting points:
Standard Room Cost: 3,840.7 x 12.5% tax = $480.09 taxes.
Savannah View: $5,260.79 x 12.5% tax = $657.60 taxes
Club: $6,075 x 12.5% tax = $759.38 taxes

As you can see, you could rent points for a Savannah View for the same price that a 25% room discount in a Standard Room could cost you via the WDW reservation system. This is before taxes.
There are no taxes for renting points.
If you do rent points, I recommend using only a reputable broker. I am linking to a wdwmagic page where the link is posted to the broker that we used: http://www.wdwmagic.com/davids-vacation-club-rentals.htm We just rented a two bedroom villa through him, and it was a very easy process.

Whatever you decide, you will have a marvelous time!

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I can't wait to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in May

 

[ryguy]

Congrats!!

AKL is one of the most unique hotels in the world. I mean not to many places (at least in the US) where you can look out your balcony and see African animals. The two restaurants are quite popular. I am a finicky eater and not adventurous when it comes to food so I wasn't overly thrilled eating at AKL. I am in the minority for sure.

My wife and I for our anniversary ate at Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge. We really enjoyed our meals as well as the atmosphere. It was peaceful and quite and thought the service was top notch. I have heard good things about Yachtsman Steakhouse. And the new Disney Springs has many great higher end options.

Enjoy your time as a couple together because it's a completely different experience if/when you decide to have children. Amazing but different. Do the stuff you probably wouldn't do if you had a child in a stroller. Take a tour, rent a boat, go to Trader Sam's, go bar hopping around world showcase, Horseback riding at Fort Wilderness, etc.... There is so much more too do than just the theme parks.

Have a great honeymoon!

 

[BigRedDad]

My advice is to spend time and explore the resort. There is so much there. Great dining options...QS and TS. Enjoy the bars, pools, and savannas.