Savannah View Worth it at Animal Kingdom Lodge? [Archive]

Mogie

10-06-2011, 01:59 PM

Hey everyone,

Thinking of booking my next trip to WDW at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Is the Savannah View worth the extra money?

We are not going to spend muchh time in the room. But I imagine that Room Service Breakfast on the balcony might be fun. And maybe some night time viewing before bed.

I'm thinking about doing something special and splitting the trip at the AKL and then the rest of the trip at our tried and true Dolphin.

Thanks!

DVC2004

10-06-2011, 02:25 PM

It;s def worth it. It's the highlight of the resort. I would suggest as you are thinking- maybe do one or 2 nights there for the splurge and spend the rest at Dolphin. We did it before and it was an amazing site to see. That's a big reason to selcet that resort.

minnie04

10-06-2011, 02:30 PM

We stayed there too. It's worth the extra money. Some people think it wasnt that big of a deal, but my kids loved it :mickey:

DebK

10-06-2011, 02:44 PM

Yes!

darthmacho

10-06-2011, 04:10 PM

I hope so, it's on my WDW bucket list! How many places outside of Africa, can you wake up, stroll out onto your deck, and see live giraffes, zebra, and wildebeests? Probably none. Seems worth it to me! I can't wait to read your trip report! :mickey:

buzznwoodysmom

10-06-2011, 04:35 PM

We've stayed at AKL twice, once without a Savannah view and once with a Savannah view. Without a doubt we won't be staying at AKL again without the Savannah view. We weren't in the room that often, but when we were we loved sitting out on the balcony watching the animals. My 9 year old son is an animal lover and anytime we were in the room he was out on that balcony. He's claimed AKL his favorite resort in all of WDW. When asking him if he'd stay there without the view, he says "No, if I can't see the animals from my room then we just as well stay at my other favorite resort, WL". To us the view made all the difference in our stay.

cajunprincess

10-06-2011, 04:58 PM

Yes!!!! It is sooooo worth it! We loved sitting outside on our balcony and seeing all the animals. It was amazing. BE AWARE.....you can not bring balloons to your room!!!! We saw some major breakdowns over this. Just some F.Y.I.

conan617

10-06-2011, 05:05 PM

Just returned from the World and we had a Savannah view room. TOTALLY WORTH IT! There was a Patterson't Eland that bedded down right below our balcony every day (the kids named him Joe he was there so often) and giraffes, zebras, antelope.....FANTASTIC! Your not in the room very often, but being 20 feet from a giraffe...WORTH IT. You won't regret it! Watch for my trip report...Coming soon - just finishing up the details but there is a section on the Lodge and the View!

faline

10-06-2011, 07:24 PM

We've stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge several times - only one of those trips was without a Savannah view.

I would say that most of the time, the Savannah view room is worthwhile. Why most? Two years ago, we stayed on a Savannah that we had not previously visited and the lack of animals on that Savannah was rather astounding to me. Most recently, we stayed in a Savannah DVC room and we had many animal sightings but, then again, we were placed in the same area where we had previously had good sighting experinces.

Being in a non-Savannah view room is not a real problem as there are many spots where you can see the animals. There are a number of balconies that are sparsely used where you can enjoy viewing the animals without having the view from your room.

Mousemates

10-06-2011, 08:23 PM

yes...in my opinion without the savannah view a room at the AKL becomes a room at the wilderness lodge (not a bad thing, since we LOVE the WL). But the WL has a much better location and transportation options at the same price.

So I would either spend the extra money for the view at the AKL, or do a room at the WL and spend an evening at the AKL enjoying the animals after dining at either Boma or Jikos.

sixshot19

10-07-2011, 02:13 AM

Absolutely worth it.

MinnieMommie

10-07-2011, 06:34 AM

Yes I highly recommend. Even though you may not be in the room all that much the time you will spend on the balcony viewing the animals will be so worth it. We have done this as a split stay and it worked out perfectly for us. We usually plan AKL as a 2 night stay and then move on to another resort. Sounds like a good plan AKL and then Dolphin but I would go for the savannah view. :mickey:

pox24

10-07-2011, 09:16 AM

My DW and I spent a long week end at the Jambo House last month. We were right on the main savannah behind the hotel and it was great. Room service for breakfast each morning watching giraffe's and zebra's outside the room. Its well worth the extra. We are DVC and had the 5th floor. It was our 4th time there and it never gets old.:thumbsup:

sonamae80

10-07-2011, 09:19 AM

I love hearing this! We're headed to stay at AKL next Tuesday and we have a room with a Savannah view! My DD is 5 and she is going to flip when she can walk out on the balcony and see giraffe's, zebras, etc! I can't wait!:mickey:

c&d

10-07-2011, 09:49 AM

Watching all the animals from your room is definitely worth it.

One of our favorite memories of AKL was watching the CM's trying to get some small animals into the shelter. I can't remember what they were but they were about the size of chickens. We were on the Zebra wing and they were trying to get them into the shelter for the night. It was in January so they couldn't be left on the savannah overnight. It was very much like "herding cats." They would get 2 inside and try to get the 3rd one in and while they were doing that 1 of the others would run. It went on for almost 15 minutes. Even the CM's trying to get them in started laughing.

Dave H

10-07-2011, 10:33 AM

Absolutely worth it. Waking up to giraffes having breakfast outside your window is an experience not to be missed.

Stickey

10-07-2011, 02:25 PM

It is definitely worth the additional expense. I recommend the Arusha savannah if you would like to see the zebras from your balcony.

Jennifer_and_Chris

10-07-2011, 02:55 PM

I totally would stay at AKL Savannah view. Since we have only stayed with a AKL view and are going to be there again in a few days, I may be biased. But, my parents had a room with a "bus stop" view right across the hall from us last year. They kept coming into our room to sit on the balcony.

Everytime we were in our room - no matter how short that time - we were outside on the balcony. My kids would say hello/goodbye/goodnight to the animals everytime we came in or left the room. :cloud9:

Mousemates

10-07-2011, 03:29 PM

Absolutely worth it. Waking up to giraffes having breakfast outside your window is an experience not to be missed.

:thumbsup:

mrmcgiv

10-08-2011, 02:17 AM

We stayed at AKL Aug 2010 for 5 nights. We were at Arushka savanna and we saw very few animals. From my experience it is not worth it, but maybe that was the exception.

snowflakegirl

10-08-2011, 07:51 PM

When I was planning my recapture the magic trip two summers ago and managed to figure out a way to budget a trip to AKL, I decided that it wasn't worth it because at the time it was the difference between staying there or not. I figured there were plenty of places that I could see the animals without needing the savannah view. .Plus, how often were we going to be in the room?

We lucked into a partially obstructed savannah view. It was incredible. Our first night after a long day at the parks, we picked up a bottle of wine to sip before bed. We went out the balcony with our glasses and ended up spending 3 hours watching 6 giraffes 100 yards from our room! We had breakfast on the balcony a number of monrings (and I've ALWAYS been a park open to park close kinda girl) before heading to the parks.

We realized after we left that the next time we go we'll have to do the savannah view to guarantee we get it...we loved it too much to not have it again. it really was the icing on our already awesome trip. and is one of the things we still talk about...wine with giraffes and breakfasts with ankole cattle.

luvdiznee

10-09-2011, 10:31 AM

Having just gotten back from here. I would have to say yes, as well that it is worth it. Especially if you plan to view it often. We had a Savannah view on our first stay and absolutely loved it. Now on our last, we did have the poolview. But that was enjoyable for me as well. For us it was no problem walking around the resort to get a view of the animals. And when we had dinner at Sanaa, we had a great view of the animals right from our table as well.

brivers222

10-10-2011, 01:30 PM

I would like to give it another chance since back in '04 we stayed there and splurged to get a savannah view... only to find that the walk from the front door to our room was 20mins AND the only animials we saw our 4 days there was a bird on a rock... and I dubbed that my "Pet Rock" rather dissappointing... but i would give it a shot again... i miss the smell of the lobby!

badkitty

10-10-2011, 02:10 PM

mrsgaribaldi

10-10-2011, 02:14 PM

We stayed there once without the view and still loved it. There were lots of places to sit outside and enjoy the animals. They also had night vision goggles that I really enjoyed using and you had to go outside to get them. It was great without the view, just a beautiful resort all together. :mickey: Either way I think you'll love it!

Mousemates

10-10-2011, 02:32 PM

the noise from the pool noticeably lessens the higher up you go...so if you think the noise might be an issue for you then you might include a request for a room just below the concierge level. We had a room overlooking the pool at the WL and got very little noise 4 floors up.

EJS-Houston

10-10-2011, 03:44 PM

...the overwhelming consensus that Savannah View is worth it! I'll be there in 22 days; can't wait to experience a new facet of DisneyWorld.

luvdiznee

10-10-2011, 06:16 PM

Was the pool view noisy? I wasn't able to get a savannah view this time around with my AP but we have a pool view. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

Poolview noise level was not a problem for us. And we were on the 4th floor. Yes, when you open the balcony door you certainly do hear the noise of "happiness". But when our balcony door was closed it was no problem at all. No noise.

It kind of reminded me of our stay at BWI. When you open the balcony doors you hear the people out there, but once closed, not an issue.

It is a beautiful resort! Just got an em to do a survey on our stay there. So I will be giving a lot of praise.