Sunset Savanah Disappointment

[Mogie]

Just got back from a 5 day trip over the weekend. Had a great time all around EXCEPT for a huge let down with our Sunset Savanah View Room at AKL for 2 nights.

We have always wanted to stay at AKL and get a Savanah view, have breakfast on the balcony, or have a glass of wine at night, viewing the animals...

We saw NO animals. I take that back, we saw 1 bird sit on a log for 2 days straight. It moved twice. I went out on the balcony to look first thing in the morning, right before we leave for the parks, when we get back from the parks, before dinner, after dinner, before bed, heck even when in the middle of the night when I woke up to use the bathroom. Nothing. Just that 1 bird.

Yes I know these are wild animals, and they are unpredictable. I know the sunset Savanah is big and the animals like to sleep away from the rooms and the lights. But we had a view of just about the whole savanah, could even see under and around the trees. There were no animals there.

Maybe we should have stayed at the Arusha Savanah. Maybe the animals come out during the day I dont know. But for the premium we payed for the room specifically to have a great experience and view of the animals, we felt ripped-off.

[SBETigg]

Wow, that's unfortunate. I would feel let down, too. I've heard so many people talk about the wonderful animal viewing from those rooms, and then to see one bird the whole time? That's really unexpected. I'm sorry for your disappointment.

[PlutoPlanet]

Sorry for your bad luck. We have stayed at AKL 3 times and always saw animals.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Wow, what a bummer. Our dream is to stay AKL Savannah View one day I would be upset too.

[jillluvsdisney]

I agree with you. In November, the animals were very visable in the Arusha savanah every afternoon. We only saw a group of zebras once in the Sunset savanah.

[mom2morgan]

I hope it was a really SPECIAL bird, LOL! We're going in September and decided not to spring for a Savannah view - it's just too expensive. This makes me feel better about that; if the animals are out and about I can view them from one of the lovely "viewing areas" and not feel like I got ripped off if I don't see any ;-)

[BugeyedMuggy]

Very strange but we were there last weekend and wanted to show my sister and her husband the excellent sights of the animals on the savana for our next October trip. There were no animals out and it was almost noon. The animal guide said they were eating. I know when we stayed there the giraffe's eat out on the savana. Wonder where they were.

[MNNHFLTX]

Sorry for your disappointment. :(

I've never stayed in a Sunset Savannah room, but have stayed in Arusha Savannah rooms twice and we have always had good animal viewing--ankole cattle, giraffes, zebras, etc. I do know that Disney feeds the animals in such a way as to try and draw them close to the rooms (on Arusha, anyway). One morning we went out on a balcony to find a giraffe eating from a tree feeder just 30 feet away.

[MouseHouser]

Sorry to hear that. That's pretty serious. We "kids" saved our pennies and pitched-in so that we could spring for Mom and step-Dad to stay there for 2 nites. It was a huge hit.

Pls contact Disney and ask for an accomodation. No animals at AKL? Sorry, that's really unacceptable. And this comes from an AKL lover.

[Mogie]

Pls contact Disney and ask for an accomodation. No animals at AKL? Sorry, that's really unacceptable. And this comes from an AKL lover.

Do you think that will help? We were in such a rush to check out of the AKL and have our bags moved to the Beach Club and get to the parks that we didn't bother to complain at the front desk. We also figured that it wouldn't do any good... We just got back from our trip on Tuesday night. I'm sure Disney collects customer feedback, but do you think they would actually give some kind of refund or credit for a future trip?

[mouseketeer mom]

I had to respond to your post, because we had the very same experience as you when we stayed in a Arusha savannah room a few years back. No animals to be found. We saw lots of dirt, grass and an occasional mooing animal of some kind, but other than that, nothing. And we were there five days. Incredibly disappointed, and we never went back. Not for that reason alone, but really? To pay that much for a room, and we were club level to boot!!! Ridiculous, we should have seen something more!!!

[BelleBeauty]

I understand you disappointment. I brought DH to AKL (just to see it, we stayed at CSR) thinking this would be where he would love to do future trips. However, after spending the day at AK it was a let down. We did see a bunch of animals, but it was just lacking in that typical Disney magic. The hotel was nice but the savannah was the selling point and none of them really did it for us. Surprisingly DH told me that Wilderness Lodge is where he'd like to stay in the future. I'm sorry that you had to spend the money to find this out!