Animal Kingdom Lodge

[A&M'sMommy]

Just booked our trip for Feb 2010. We've never stayed but are very excited!

For those who have, tell me all about it!

Thanks! :cloud9:

[faline]

We've several times and have greatly enjoyed it. On two occasions, we had a savannah view room; on one occasion - pool view.

I certainly prefer Savannah view. However, it can be quite distracting as it was difficult to tear ourselves away from "our animals" to go to the parks! We were also anxious to get back to see "our animals" at the end of our day!

Boma is quite fun. We've also greatly enjoyed Jiko. The pool is quite nice and the gift shop is probably my favorite resort gift shop on site.

Transportation has been very good but we last stayed there before the DVC units opened so things may have changed.

The lobby is very impressive and they have a wonderful lounge.

We haven't gone to the storytelling offered in the evening out back except for a quick 5 minute stop in so it seemed it could be quite interesting.

[RedSoxFan]

We had pool view rooms which were very nice. Not noisy at all. BOMA's is great. The lobby is amazing. The gift shop is very unique. I loved it. The grounds are very nice to walk around to view the animals too. My kids love the pool. We had no problems with the bus service. The longest we waiting was 5 minutes. Best resort so far that we've stayed at for bus transportation. Enjoy.:mickey:

[mickeys_princess_mom]

Had a very luxurious feel to me. One of my favorites. Loved the gorgeous, exotic lobby. I could just hang out there forever! So cool to look out our windows and see giraffes, zebras...:cloud9:

[mrsgaribaldi]

We stayed there in Feb. No savannah view but it didn't matter. There are alot of places to sit outside and look at the animals. There are even cast members outside to tell you about them and help you locate them. At night, they have night vision goggles with guides to help you see the animals. That was awesome. We did that twice. I'm sending you a PM with a link to pics if you would like to look around. I would stay there again in a second:mickey:

[A&M'sMommy]

Thanks everyone for the input! We're going with the pool view bunk, little cheaper, so we went that route.

The person who we booked with today told us about a bonfire that they do at night and about how you the kids can see the animals so hubby was siked about the bonfire and kids were about seeing the animals. Maybe that's around the same as the storytelling thing? I'm so excited now!

[kakn7294]

We've never stayed there but visited a few weeks ago. I have the opposite opinion - we weren't impressed and it's actually steered me from wanting to stay there, at least for now. Don't get me wrong, it looks nice but it's just not my style and while it was nice to look at the animals, we don't spend enough time at the resort to warrant the extra money to do that.

[Mousemates]

I certainly prefer Savannah view. However, it can be quite distracting as it was difficult to tear ourselves away from "our animals" to go to the parks! We were also anxious to get back to see "our animals" at the end of our day!


We felt the same way about "our giraffe."

[Dsnygirl]

We stayed there in Feb. No savannah view but it didn't matter. There are alot of places to sit outside and look at the animals. There are even cast members outside to tell you about them and help you locate them. At night, they have night vision goggles with guides to help you see the animals. That was awesome. We did that twice. I'm sending you a PM with a link to pics if you would like to look around. I would stay there again in a second:mickey:
Stephanie, could you PM me the link to the pics, too?? We are staying in October, and I just can't get enough of looking at pictures! Thanks!

I'm excited to hear about the night-vision goggles... is there any time limit on when you can get them? I don't see us back to the resort any night before 9:30 or 10pm, but I'd love my girls to get a chance to use them. (And us, too!!) That'd be so neat!

We're doing a pool room -- for those of you who have had one, any tips on where to request one??

You guys have got me even more excited now...

[madi47]

I absolutely love this resort...so much so that we bought the DVC!! We have only stayed once and visited another time.....the pool is beautiful and the animals were so neat to look at! We ended up getting an upgrade to a savannah view room(which was really nice)....it was great to sit on the balcony in the mornings and watch...we also watched some of the building of the vacation club never thinking we would buy but it is so neat to know I own a little piece of the magic.....we are leaving tomorrow for our first stay in kidani village!:cloud9: We also did eat at Boma for breakfast....it was really really good! Have a great time!

[DisneyHoneymooners]

We were never interested in becoming DVC members until they announced one coming to AKL. We love everything about this place! I know some people complain because it's far from most of the parks, but we actually enjoy that-it would be odd to have that kind of a themed hotel close to roller coasters! Savanna view is GREAT but as others have said there are plenty of places to see the animals. You may want to ask about the kid activities they have by the pool every day.

[Cinderella's mom]

We have been at Christmas several times over the years, but had never seen such beautiful decorations until we stayed at AKL. The Christmas tree was phenomenal! The kid activities are great. We got upgraded to a Savannah View (didn't ask for it!) :number1: Anyway, like mentioned before, BOMA's is fantastic! Also, the animals are great to look at. We LOVED watching them every hour of the day that we were on our balcony. They do have a resort only safari ride. Not sure how much it costs, but well worth it. Congrats at staying in our favorite resort!!!!

[epcot linnie]

We are going to AKL on Saturday to stay for the first time for 8 nights. We went last summer for dinner at BOMA and decided then and there that it would be our next hotel to try. We have done Polynesian, Contemporary, Port Orleans French and Riverside, Carribbean and All Star Music. We are thrilled to be going to AKL and will send a report when we return. We were upgraded to Savannah view, so it should be great! 2 1/2days to go!!!

[mom2morgan]

We've only stayed at POR, which we liked. We've decided on our next trip we are going to split it between Carribbean Beach and Animal Kingdom. What are your thoughts about CBR? Then when you get back you can tell me about AKL ;-)

[epcot linnie]

I stayed at CBR about 15 years ago. Liked it mostly for the tropical feel. We were a LONG way from the food court and shops, which was tough with a toddler. It was nice that there were many smaller pools, if the large on was too crowded. I would request to be as close to the lobby and food court as possible!

[Dsnygirl]

We've only stayed at POR, which we liked. We've decided on our next trip we are going to split it between Carribbean Beach and Animal Kingdom. What are your thoughts about CBR? Then when you get back you can tell me about AKL ;-)
We are doing a split stay b/w CBR and AKL this October, so watch for my trip reports when we get back! :)

We love CBR... being from Upstate NY, we really like feeling like we are away from it all and in the tropics when we go down to FL. It's very relaxing, but like the PP said, try to stay in an "island" near Old Port Royale, the main building, if you're going to want to shop or eat there.

We stayed in Aruba last time, which was a quick walk to the bridge that takes you across the water through Caribbean Cay to OPR... this next time, we are trying to get into Jamaica, which is also across the way, and SO pretty. Bright yellow bldgs with blue trim... :cloud9:

I don't think you can go wrong with CBR/AKL... I'll let you know how it goes!!

[Bellerella]

We love AKL!! We stayed there in July '08 (our first Disney trip!), and loved it so much, we stayed there again in our May '09 trip. First trip we got upgraded to a pool view from a standard view, which was awesome! We booked pool view for our second trip, and still loved it! There are a lot of viewing areas to see the animals if you don't have a savannah view room which is great. The lobby is stunning- be sure to look at the ceiling! Also be sure to notice the little touches of Disney in your room, such as pattern on curtain, comforter, shower curtain, etc. We loved the Boma breakfast, not as crazy about Boma dinner but it was still good. I hope you love AKL as much as we do! :mickey: