Post by lola on Feb 13, 2024 13:26:00 GMT -5
Hello, All!
I would love to share a few thoughts from our recent visit to Animal Kingdom Lodge.
DH and I stayed 5 nights at AKL in a Savanna View room with two queens. We have not stayed in a WDW hotel room since 2008 and we are clearly accustomed to DVC Villas. We usually stay 1BR for the two of us, so we are a bit spoiled. LOL
We reserved the room late last fall after receiving an email for AP discounts during January and February. We booked the double queen in case one of our adult DDs might be able to join us. Sadly, they were not able to break away from the busy lives of 20-somethings.
Our room was 2392. It was a crazy hike from the lobby, second from the very end! We were closer to Kidani than the Jambo lobby. But, being an adult-only trip, it was nice not to have the clamor of little feet running down the long hallways!
The room was suitable for sure, but storage was much less than I remembered. That closet is MINISCULE! Even compared to historical hotels we often stay in other cities. We were able to find plenty of room in the coffee area for some snacks and fruit, as well as some vodka and rum. The mini fridge had enough room for cocktail mixes and yogurts and water. All in all, we had space for everything we needed for breakfast and happy hour!
The lighting has improved drastically in AKL since our last stay (again 16 years ago!). We were pleased about that, as we are older now!
Our view of the savannah at the very end of the hall and on the 2nd floor wasn't really all that great. It was a dead end fenced area with a gate for the dirt road. Upon check-in, we were worried that no animals would venture down into that sad looking area, but we had TONS of visitors! It turned out to be a very intimate area for great viewing and the second floor room felt very close to the action! There were nighttime safaris just feet off our verandah, though, so we had to be mindful of privacy. We chatted up one of the groups when the guide was having difficulty with the gate.
We chose AKL because we feel their dining choices are amazing. We doubled up at Jiko (dinners) and Sanaa (lunches with bread service...YUM!) and went to Boma for breakfast one morning. I'm not a buffet person at all, but I can do Boma. The ham with spicy mustard and goat cheese eggs were amazing and worth the chaos of a buffet.
We spent one full day at AK and two half days at Epcot. Festival of Arts was fun, but we found the food kiosks underwhelming and crowded. We also spent some time at Universal. Velocicoaster is a GREAT RIDE and very fast!! I am not as young as I used to be!
I don't do a lot of advance planning, but was able to reserve San Angell Inn with 1 hour 45 minutes notice on Saturday night. On Sunday I got Space 220 with about two hours notice. Space 220 food was better than we expected. The calamari is excellent, so is the beet salad. We shared everything on the table. (Space 220 is prix frix, we each ordered different things and shared all).
Weather was coolish and we had a bit of morning rains, but being from MN we can handle just about anything.
Just booked our next stay for September at Riviera. We love it there! But we really enjoyed our time at AKL.
Thanks for tagging along. Lola
I would love to share a few thoughts from our recent visit to Animal Kingdom Lodge.
DH and I stayed 5 nights at AKL in a Savanna View room with two queens. We have not stayed in a WDW hotel room since 2008 and we are clearly accustomed to DVC Villas. We usually stay 1BR for the two of us, so we are a bit spoiled. LOL
We reserved the room late last fall after receiving an email for AP discounts during January and February. We booked the double queen in case one of our adult DDs might be able to join us. Sadly, they were not able to break away from the busy lives of 20-somethings.
Our room was 2392. It was a crazy hike from the lobby, second from the very end! We were closer to Kidani than the Jambo lobby. But, being an adult-only trip, it was nice not to have the clamor of little feet running down the long hallways!
The room was suitable for sure, but storage was much less than I remembered. That closet is MINISCULE! Even compared to historical hotels we often stay in other cities. We were able to find plenty of room in the coffee area for some snacks and fruit, as well as some vodka and rum. The mini fridge had enough room for cocktail mixes and yogurts and water. All in all, we had space for everything we needed for breakfast and happy hour!
The lighting has improved drastically in AKL since our last stay (again 16 years ago!). We were pleased about that, as we are older now!
Our view of the savannah at the very end of the hall and on the 2nd floor wasn't really all that great. It was a dead end fenced area with a gate for the dirt road. Upon check-in, we were worried that no animals would venture down into that sad looking area, but we had TONS of visitors! It turned out to be a very intimate area for great viewing and the second floor room felt very close to the action! There were nighttime safaris just feet off our verandah, though, so we had to be mindful of privacy. We chatted up one of the groups when the guide was having difficulty with the gate.
We chose AKL because we feel their dining choices are amazing. We doubled up at Jiko (dinners) and Sanaa (lunches with bread service...YUM!) and went to Boma for breakfast one morning. I'm not a buffet person at all, but I can do Boma. The ham with spicy mustard and goat cheese eggs were amazing and worth the chaos of a buffet.
We spent one full day at AK and two half days at Epcot. Festival of Arts was fun, but we found the food kiosks underwhelming and crowded. We also spent some time at Universal. Velocicoaster is a GREAT RIDE and very fast!! I am not as young as I used to be!
I don't do a lot of advance planning, but was able to reserve San Angell Inn with 1 hour 45 minutes notice on Saturday night. On Sunday I got Space 220 with about two hours notice. Space 220 food was better than we expected. The calamari is excellent, so is the beet salad. We shared everything on the table. (Space 220 is prix frix, we each ordered different things and shared all).
Weather was coolish and we had a bit of morning rains, but being from MN we can handle just about anything.
Just booked our next stay for September at Riviera. We love it there! But we really enjoyed our time at AKL.
Thanks for tagging along. Lola
