Animal Kingdom Lodge

[sent]

Thoughts? Pool experiences? Did you have a savannah view room?

I know it's far from the other parks. I also like the restaurants Boma and Jiko and the overall vibe of the lobby each time we went for dinner. 

Contemplating it for Jersey Week. 

[mrsslocombe]

Personally, I didn't think AKL was worth the money. Previously I've stayed all: All Star Music, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans Riverside, French Quarter, Pop Century. We are the type of people the do open-close every single day at Disney, so the hotel is mostly a place to sleepy except for arrival/departure day.

We didn't have a savannah view room, but we still had at least a few animals a day wander by our little courtyard area we faced. Usually a couple zebras, a giraffe, etc. Also there's places around the property you can see the animals from, so if you don't want to splurge the extra $$ you can see see them.

The lobby really is stunning. Didn't use the pools because it was too cold to swim but did sit in the lounge chairs and enjoyed the outside spaces, which are very nicely designed.

Reasons I was not a fan:
1. The looooooong drive to every. single thing. It's not like Art of Animation or Port Orleans are close either but we really felt it at AKL. Even the drive to AK was long. That alone is enough for me not to stay there again (especially given the price).
2. The room didn't feel that much bigger than Port Orleans. A little bit more space in the bathroom area, which had a double sink. And maybe a smidge wider. But 4 adults in AKL vs 4 adults in Port Orleans did not have a notable difference, there still wasn't enough room for our luggage.
3. The distance from our room to the lobby/buses was farther than I've had at any other resort. And we had a lot of issues with our room keys/magic bands so there were several nights where we had to go back and forth to the lobby three times to get things working, the distance really added up.
4. We don't usually eat sit down at the hotels, only do quick service for breakfast and the quick service at the value locations is better. So the fancier restaurants at AKL weren't a draw for us.

I've never stayed at any other deluxe resort so I can't compare it to those. Since the park time is more important to me, I just don't think it's worth twice the price compared to Port Orleans etc. French Quarter is my favorite resort.

[curbsideprophet]

I have stayed there but not in the hotel rooms. I have only been in the DVC rooms. We enjoyed having a Savanna view room.

Kids enjoyed the pool. It was a short trip so we only used the pool at Jambo House since that is where our room was.

The lobby is beautiful and is one of my favorites over Thanksgiving/Christmas. The on-site dining is great. Definitely worth going over to Kidani for a meal at Sanaa.

If you have a car, it is not really that bad to drive to most of the parks. The most hassle is MK. It is a little far to MK. Driving to MK is more of pain from anywhere since the parking lot is so far away from the park.