Standard View At AKL, A Few Questions And Were You Upgraded?

[Disneylvr]

DH and I are staying at the AKL for the first time in September/October. We couldn't pass up that postcard rate! It will be a budget trip so a standard room was a must. We aren't expecting an upgrade to a better view but I have noticed that many DIS posters received an upgrade from a standard view. Please let me know what you were upgraded to and were you pleased with the upgrade. I am also interested in hearing reports from those who did stay in a standard view room. Where are those rooms located? What floor? How far are they from the bus stop and restaurants? And do they truly look out at parking lots or is the parking lot blocked by trees or other vegetation?

Thank you!

 

[stacie_d]

I am probably not a whole lot of help, but we had a standard room booked, and on check in, they upgraded us to pool view. They told us we could go to a savanah view for $10 a night. But we didn't do it. We stayed with the pool view, and I am glad we did. It was beautiful. The resort was really empty when we check in though.

 

[Justhope]

We went in April and had booked a standard view, we were upgraded at check-in to a savannah view(I was so excited)can't remember which trail ,but it was the opposite end from the pool.
We loved being able to sit on the balcony and watch the animals BUT i think I would rather have been closer to the pool (for the kids) I mean it was ssooooooo far from everything else but the room and view were great. I don't think you can go wrong at AKL for the price. I think you will have a wonderful time no matter what room you're in.


Have a great trip!!!!!!!
Hope

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by Disneylvr
DH and I are staying at the AKL for the first time in September/October. We couldn't pass up that postcard rate! It will be a budget trip so a standard room was a must. We aren't expecting an upgrade to a better view but I have noticed that many DIS posters received an upgrade from a standard view. Please let me know what you were upgraded to and were you pleased with the upgrade. I am also interested in hearing reports from those who did stay in a standard view room. Where are those rooms located? What floor? How far are they from the bus stop and restaurants? And do they truly look out at parking lots or is the parking lot blocked by trees or other vegetation?

Thank you!

Hi Disneylver,

The standard view rooms at the AKL are located on the "Giraffe Trail" and the "Ostrich Trail" and face the parking lot. The bus stop is located at the end of the Giraffe Trail so if you are in a third floor room on the Giraffe Trail the people walking to the bus stop will be walking by your balcony. Other then that there are plenty of areas around the resort to view the animals. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[gepetto]

No upgrade here. We were just there one night before moving over to the Polynesian. Our room was on the 5th floor overlooking the roof and a big air conditioning unit. (that's what I think it was anyway). We had a concrete wall instead of a balcony. It was room #5106.

 

[dznynut]

My son and I just returned Tuesday from our 3 night AKL & 8 night BWV stay. We received a free upgrade from standard view to savannah view. We were on the Ostrich Trail on the 4th floor with a GREAT view of 3 giraffes, several kinds of birds and other antelope type animals. I LOVE this resort. We are DVC members. I hope that someday they build a DVC resort here. We are planning on going to Vero Beach with some friends next summer and then spend some time at WDW. If they have the great rates like they did this summer, I think I'll save our DVC points and make a cash reservation at AKL. Have a great trip!

 

[SilverCrab]

Disneylvr, My family and I just got back from the AKL this past Wednesday night, from a 10 day stay. Since we stayed in the Savannah view last June, it would have been ok with us to have kept the standard view we had booked . Just being in the lodge is worth it. However, being the bold guy that I am, I just point blank asked the cast member that was checking me , if I could have a free upgrade to pool view. She checked and said that she could do that. I had already asked for third floor ,non-smoking in my reservations. The room we given was # 3420. It is on the lobby level. Nice view of the pool. Half way from the lobby area and the elevator . The elevator is the fastest way to the pool and Mara food court.
As for the standard rooms go, I did a lot of exploring of the different sections one night ,while waiting for my BOMA Restaurant reservations. The rooms that face the parking lot to the left appear that they would be noisy. Especially , the loading of taxi's and other cars there. As far as the ones next to the bus stop, they are awful . I never saw a person on the balcony or saw a light on in the room the whole time we were there. I think the location of these rooms were very bad planning on Disney's part.
They probably use them only if all the rest are full. You will probably get one too, especially the time of year you are going. I was very lucky to get mine in June. I prpbably will not take the chance again on my next visit. The pool view was nice. We never missed the Savannah View. Having had both, I like the pool view better.

Ronnie from Va.

 

[Tinkerbell2]

We were there about a month ago and we got an upgrade too. We were there on a $139 postcard rate and I was really doubting that we would get the upgrade since they told us that they were sold out for the weekend we were there...but we did. I kinda think they upgrade based on the rate you got..we were talking with some other people that were there on a $129 postcard rate that did not get the savanah upgrade. I think we had room 2224 (?) and they fed the giraffes right in front of our room...the only complaint I had was that it was a hike to the pool....through the lobby down the elevator..get lost (lol) and finally outside to the pool! I would definatly request the pool side of the resort next time!

 

[Muushka]

We stayed at AKL for 2 nights last December. I booked one night conceirge, and added the extra night the day before we left for FL. The added night was a standard room. We checked in late, and mentioned that we would be changing rooms the next day. They let us do just that. They were not in the least friendly. Also, they saw it was just the 2 of us, and put us in the room with the bunk beds and the queen. They did switch us to a king room, but it was not considered an upgrade. The next day we moved to conceirge.

I really did not expect conceirge access for the 2 nights, but I was surprised at the fact that they bothered having us change rooms.

To be honest, I was not impressed with the staff there. Even the conceirge was not helpful. I asked them for only one thing (CP package- I figured they would have them), and they didn't even do that! But the lodge itself is wonderful, and we very much enjoyed the conceirge, but I would not count on an upgrade!

 

[connor69]

we got an upgrade from standard to Sanannah view BUT the guy was rude..he originally gave us a pool upgrade but his manager was standing there and said "Hey we can do better than that..give them a Savannah view".
It was great..but the guy checking us in made this remark" do you PEOPLE realize how lucky you are...considering what you paid for your room(we had a code rate).
i thought this was rude AND I couldn't believe he knew how much we paid ! Of course he made this comment after his manager walked away.

 

[Gillian]

You know, I think that every time a CM makes a comment on (low) room rate, we should email or write Disney with their names. It is incredibly rude! I found the front desk staff at the AKL to be less than helpful, but as the 3 people I dealt with barely said anything, I couldn't exactly call them rude!

I don't usually write to complain, mainly to praise, but if someone said that to me, you can bet I'd do something about it! In fact, I believe I would have asked if the manager could come back out immediately!

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by Muushka

To be honest, I was not impressed with the staff there. Even the conceirge was not helpful. I asked them for only one thing (CP package- I figured they would have them), and they didn't even do that! But the lodge itself is wonderful, and we very much enjoyed the conceirge, but I would not count on an upgrade!

What is a CP package? The only thing I can think of is the Candlelight Processional. Is that what you are referring to?

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by connor69
we got an upgrade from standard to Sanannah view BUT the guy was rude..he originally gave us a pool upgrade but his manager was standing there and said "Hey we can do better than that..give them a Savannah view".
It was great..but the guy checking us in made this remark" do you PEOPLE realize how lucky you are...considering what you paid for your room(we had a code rate).
i thought this was rude AND I couldn't believe he knew how much we paid ! Of course he made this comment after his manager walked away.

It was rude of him to comment on how much you were paying. But, they do know how much you are paying for your room or they would not know what you bill you. We always book room only and pay a one night deposit in advance and then when we get there they ask how we are paying the balance we give them the credit card and they charge the rest of the nights.

 

[Muushka]

Originally posted by Tiffany


What is a CP package? The only thing I can think of is the Candlelight Processional. Is that what you are referring to?

Yup, that is what it was. It was the only time I asked them for anything.

With the above comments about treating people not as nice because they did not pay as much makes me wonder if this is why we were not treated all that well. We did not get a smile from any of the conceirge people or the desk people.

 

[Taryn]

I totally loved AKL too...

The CMs were really nice, again with the exception of the registration CMs. I had a good AP rate of $169 Savannah View and didn't make any room requests at all. I thought I was a pretty easy guest to deal with... all smiles and so happy to be there.

The CM who checked me in left the counter as I was asking how to get to my room and never returned. I did wait a while to ask my question but he had said "Enjoy your stay" and handed over the map, I figured he was done with me. So I went off to find it myself.

I realized after I was almost there that I had not been given a room key! I was at the end of zebra trail so it was a bit of a hike with my luggage but it didn't bother me. I was still happy, the room sounded like it would be great. It was by the way, 4573.

I got back to the counter and waited in line again. Explained I had not been given a room key. The new CM never spoke to me just typed alot, really hard and was obviously put out with me. I was still all smiles and just asked if there had been an original card printed and if so could I be sure that another guest did not have it by accident? I was concerned because it had charging privledges on it attached to my credit card!

He still did not speak to me... he smacked down the new card still without speaking and I asked again about the whereabouts of the original. He finally spoke...

"I deleted your first card, that is what took me so long, take better care of this one"

And left.

Every other CM was really kind. I will be back for sure. I would be scared to ask for anything out of the ordinary at the check in desk though!

 

[Disneylvr]

It sounds like if you get beyond the front desk AKL is excellent. I am wavering between AKL and PO-Riverside so please keep the opinions coming!

 

[Robinette]

We had a standard room booked in May for 4 nights @ $139 a night. Two nights before check in we had dinner at Boma's. We were staying at CS before AKL. After dinner I stopped by the front desk to see how much more for a savannah view room. He told me my room had not been assigned yet and that's a good sign for an upgrade. He said please don't expect one but I may be pleasantly surprised. Two days later I checked in with the same gentlemen and he did upgrade us to savannah, Kudu trail on the third floor. Every CM we encountered this entire trip, 15 days, were so wonderful, happy, helpful... just plan nice! We had many mishaps this vacation. 6 out of 12 of us getting the stomach flu, my 2 year old burning his hand (2nd degree), losing two loads of clothes because crayons were left in pockets and a few other little things. But they didn't come close to ruining our vacation because for one, I wouldn't let that happen and secondly, the CM's wouldn't let that happen! They are a big part of why we return to Disney year after year!

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by Disneylvr
It sounds like if you get beyond the front desk AKL is excellent. I am wavering between AKL and PO-Riverside so please keep the opinions coming!

Hi Disneylvr,

We stayed at the AKL for two trips totaling 15 days in 2001 and we found the front desk clerks to be great both times. I think they do more then one job. The young man who check us in when we first arrived and was very nice and friendly was a valet on another day and at Bell Services another. All of the CM were great. We love the AKL very much. We do not care for the theming of PO-Riverside so if we had to choose between the AKL or POR. We would go with AKL. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[Muushka]

I would never not stay at a resort because of the people at the desk (or in my case there and conceirge staff). I would just go again with absolutely no expectations of a nice staff, and would not be dissapointed.

When we went last year, people raved about the very friendly CMs. I did not expect free upgrades, but a smile would have been nice.