Animal Kingdom Lodge - need your opinions

[stitchcousin]

Hi Everyone, I haven't been down to WDW since 2009. We're planning on a trip and are thinking of staying at the AKL. We've only stayed at moderate resorts, so this will be a splurge for us. My question: Is it worth it to splurge on a savannah view room instead of a standard room? My kids will likely only want to be in the pool... We would be staying for 5 days. My husband wants to view the animals from the room (but do you really see them that much to make the extra $ worthwhile? Any info and opinions would be greatly appreciated!

[faline]

We've stayed several times at Animal Kingdom Lodge. On all but one occasion, we've stayed in a Savannah view room. Most times, we greatly enjoyed being able to see the animals from our balcony. The one time we stayed in a room with another view (Pool), we were able to find any number of public balcony areas where we could sit with morning coffee etc. and watch the animals. On one trip, we were placed in a room in a different area of the resort from the one in which we usually been placed which put us on a different Savannah. That occasion was rather a disappointment - we only saw one animal on the Savannah and that animal (A cattle) only appeared in the evening - not sure what was up with that.

How old are your kids? That might help determine whether the extra money for the Savannah view room might be worthwhile.

[stitchcousin]

16 and 13 are the ages of the kids

[faline]

With kids that age, I might think about saving the money. It depends on the kids, of course, but many teenagers wouldn't really appreciate the view. Perhaps while the kids are at the arcade, you and your husband could get a to-go drink from the lounge and head over to one of the balcony/patio areas for animal viewing. You could also plan to get a to-go breakfast from the Quick Service location and do the same.

[faline]

On the other hand, if this a splurge that you and your husband really want for yourselves, it would be worthwhile for the two of you!!

[stitchcousin]

Thanks Faline! I appreciate your info.

[AgentC]

I'm the opposite of Linda. I have stayed at AKL lodge multiple times and have never stayed in Savannah room. We usually stay pool view.

There are lots of great places to view the animals from. Though I'm sure it is great to see them right from you balcony, I have never felt like I was missing anything.

We spend more time at AKl in the public areas ( which are beautiful) so it doesn't make sense for us to pay for a view that we might only enjoy for a little bit each day. Unless it is a must do or you spend a lot of time in your room, I would spend the money elsewhere. We do pay for pool view because it is not much more than standard and I really don't like parking lot views. :)

[Nascfan]

My opinion, yes, yes, oh yes, most definitely worth it for a savannah room. We stayed there as a present to our daughter for her high school graduation and absolutely loved it. We had breakfast every morning on our balcony with the animals and many times I found it hard to tear myself away to go to the parks. When a giraffe sleeps outside your room all night, right there is worth it. If you get a savannah room you may be surprised at how much your kids love to watch the animals. Maybe not too, but I'd wager they would love it. We are not normal "deluxers" either, and so in my opinion, if you're splurging on a deluxe, go all the way.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

Sorry this is soo long. :blush:

We usually stay at the French Quarter when we are down, but a couple trips ago, I treated some family members to an upgrade and we stayed 3 nights in AKL before going to the Quarter.

We got a pool view and it was beautiful! Loved the view, greenery and our room was perfect(for us). Literally across the hall and down one floor was a side door that let us out right beside the bus stop; we were about a hundred feet from the hot tub; and about a minute walk from the food court.

AKL has alot of neat things going on at it that were cool, if you spend alot of time at the resort. We don't and we really didn't see it being worth the money from that perspective. So from that hand I would say spring for the savannah view because it would probably make the experience feel like it was more "deluxe".

Also we ran into a couple one night at the hot tub, that were staying in a 3 bedroom suite(I think it was) and they were complaining bitterly about how much it cost them and how far it was from everything. After much grousing, they asked where we were in the Lodge, and my Dad pointed at our balcony and said "right there. Nice and close in the cheap seats!" We all howled at the looks on their faces! :D

[Reedy Creek Buccaneer]

I have a Savanna room booked in June, and I can't wait!

[Zawadi]

We have stayed at the AKL several times, each time in a different grade of room. We have been fortunate to be upgraded to both pool and savannah views. However, the occasion when we decided to treat ourselves to a savannah view and pay the extra $$$, the room was towards the end of the wing ( a very long walk from the food court, lobby, pool etc) on the fourth floor, therefore placing us above the canopy of the tree that was in front of the balcony, which totally blocked any view of the animals below. We were really disappointed. :(
My sister has previously had a standard view room at the end of one of the wings on the 2nd floor overlooking the animal feeding stations / sleeping barns and really raved about it, as she saw lots of animal activity from the balcony.
So really, there are good and bad rooms in each category. Standard view does not necessarily mean car park and savannah view does not necessarily mean animals.
We have booked a standard view for December this year ( maybe upgraded, maybe not) and if the view from the balcony is disappointing, then, no problem, as there are plenty of animal viewing opportunities throughout the resort.

Hope you choose the AKL and have a wonderful time there.

[stitchcousin]

Thank you all for your views. I appreciate it a lot. Still not sure which way I am going to go since you all brought up great ideas (I hadn't even considered the pool view...). But from what you've all written, I don't think I can go wrong whichever room I choose!

[EJS-Houston]

We have stayed at the AKL several times, each time in a different grade of room. We have been fortunate to be upgraded to both pool and savannah views. However, the occasion when we decided to treat ourselves to a savannah view and pay the extra $$$, the room was towards the end of the wing ( a very long walk from the food court, lobby, pool etc) on the fourth floor, therefore placing us above the canopy of the tree that was in front of the balcony, which totally blocked any view of the animals below. We were really disappointed. :(
My sister has previously had a standard view room at the end of one of the wings on the 2nd floor overlooking the animal feeding stations / sleeping barns and really raved about it, as she saw lots of animal activity from the balcony.
So really, there are good and bad rooms in each category. Standard view does not necessarily mean car park and savannah view does not necessarily mean animals.
We have booked a standard view for December this year ( maybe upgraded, maybe not) and if the view from the balcony is disappointing, then, no problem, as there are plenty of animal viewing opportunities throughout the resort.

Hope you choose the AKL and have a wonderful time there.

I'm a big fan of the Savannah view rooms, but yes, you do need to make sure you're on either the 2nd or 3rd floor. We were on the 3rd floor, and every day brought a fascinating parade of animals, especially at twilight. I would only add that if there are any photographers (professional or amateur) in your group, the Savannah View room is worth the extra $. My brother was ensconced on our balcony whenever we were back at the hotel...and I have to confess I was too.

[WhiteRose1]

We stayed at AKL nearly 10 years ago and had a savanna view room. We have zebras outside our room every day. (along with giraffes and cattle.) We would wake up, say hi to the animals we named. (George, Howard etc...then we would argue for a bit saying.. no.. that one looks more like a 'Ronald'.)

:mickey:

I could just sit out there in my jammies and enjoy! It was very relaxing!

[MNNHFLTX]

We have stayed three times at AKL, all three in an Arusha savannah-view on the 3rd floor. Love this locale!! If you get up early you get to see the animals feeding (the feed boxes in the trees made for amazing giraffe viewing). As someone else mentioned, it was hard to break away from the view to go to the parks! Even in the middle of the night if I got up for a drink of water or whatnot, I would take a peek outside and find zebras grazing or ankole cattle sleeping just below our window.

No matter what room you decide to book, if you don't want a long walk to the lobby/restaurant/food court/pool, make sure you put a request to be near those things with your reservation. If you book a savannah view room, make sure to also request what savannah you want your room to be on--each has a different type of view and different animals, to some extent. Of course, this is not guaranteed, but if you are able to check in at a earlier time you have a better chance of getting a room that fits your criteria.

[Ms. Mode]

We also treated our DD to AKL savannah view room for graduation. We went in August and found that if we went back to the resort in the afternoon to cool off and rest we could open the curtains, lay on the beds and watch the animals and get some down time. It was just a wonderful place to stay, we had a zoo in our back yard! We really plan to stay there again at some point but are trying out some of the other resort first. :D

[snowflakegirl]

We stayed at AKL in 2010. I booked a standard room because staying deluxe at all was a HUGE splurge for us, but I figured the lodge itself was gorgeous and there are a bunch of places to overlook the Savannahs. We were lucky enough to get an upgrade to a Savannah view (albeit not the best one) on the Kudu Trail (on the side overlooking not the Arusha Savannah, I can't remember which savannah it was). When we first checked in, we pleased, but didn't realize how much we'd love it. We ended up starting almost every day with breakfast on the balcony with the animals, and wrapped up every evening with a glass of wine on the balcony watching the giraffes that were frequently there...no matter how late we came back to the room we somehow still managed to spend an hour on the balcony. We were absolutely in love with it. I think the next time we go, which won't be for a couple of years yet, I will probably book a savannah view again because we enjoyed it so much last time. That said, I think I would still be quite happy with a standard or pool view and just enjoying the lodge and the views that are there!

[BugeyedMuggy]

Not a guarantee but all the times we have stayed at AKL & in the villas we have paid for standard view and been given a savanna view that they call limited view. We sat on our balcony every morning to a wonderful view of the animals. You can ask upon check-in for a limited view and pay for the upgrade to a savanna if you are not happy.

[#1donaldfan]

I loved being able to drink my coffe on the balcony, watching the animals while the kids got ready !! YES, it's worth the extra for the Savanah View room !! We're on vacation too, and we need our time to unwind, or prepare for a great Disney day !!! :thumbsup:

[conan617]

We would wake up, say hi to the animals we named. (George, Howard etc...then we would argue for a bit saying.. no.. that one looks more like a 'Ronald'.)



We named one of the Elands - Joe Eland because he would bed down under our balcony everyday.

The savannah is worth it. You can see the animals from other places throughout the resort, but a close up and personal realationship with Giraffes, zebras, elands, ostriches etc....it was worth it for me.

I would recommend the 3rd floor. You can look giraffes in the eye and not be too high up to enjoy the close relationships.

After a day at the parks, you can come home and visit the animals or when you wake up they are there to say good morning.

[TexansInNY]

Definitely worth it once IMHO but you can see them from the public areas. What I found funny was that the kids on Day 1 = Ohhh Love the animals - Look at the giraffes and the zebras and listen to the noises. Day 5 = I wish the animals would be quiet I am trying to sleep.

:thumbsup:

[lawgirl]

This is my favorite resort by far. We've stayed here ever since it first opened. We've booked Savannah rooms, and standard rooms, and half the time the standard rooms have better views than the savannah rooms! If you get a room on the main Savannah, it is pretty spectacular. But we've also had standard rooms that ended up overlooking the savannah as well. This next time we are renting DVC points again, and so I'll be very interested to see where our room is at Jambo (we usually do DVC rental at Kidani).

[mom2morgan]

My experience - we stayed for a couple of days in September. We booked a pool view, and got upgraded to a Savannah view. I really did enjoy sitting out on the balcony at night and watching the animals - and where we were, there WERE quite a few in the evening. Not so much throughout the day. I particularly liked the giraffes. But all that being said - I would not have actually paid the very big upcharge for a Savannah. I would have enjoyed the animals from the other viewing areas. My advice would be to take a pool or standard view and cross your fingers for an upgrade ;-)

[NewmanFamily6]

Hi I'm the cheapie Mom:blush: I am not paying for the view this summer when we go. I am going to allow the children to go to the viewing areas around the resort. We are also only going with the quick service dining plan. My kids will not want to take the time to sit down everyday but they will stop at a counter:thumbsup: