Animal Kingdom Lodge
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Reviewer's Name:
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Brian Linder |
Reviewer's Email Address:
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brianlinder@yahoo.com |
Rate / Night (for your stay):
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$179 (Sweet deal! Somehow I managed to get an up sell rate.) |
Date(s) of Stay:
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5/15-5/18 |
Accommodation Used:
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Standard Room / Studio |
Accommodations Review:
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The room was your basic Animal Kingdom Lodge room, but it was super
nice. Immaculate down to the smallest detail. The hand-carved furniture
in the rooms is very nice. |
Why Did you Select This Resort for your Stay?
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It's the newest and the coolest. |
Room # and Location Description:
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5122 / Ostrich Trail / Savannah View |
Room Location Pros & Cons:
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I had initially requested a Zebra Trail room - after reading they
were the best for viewing animals - but they couldn't / didn't grant
my request. At first I was bummed out about this but we were spared
the long walk to the rooms at the end of the hall. Instead they gave
us a great room on the 5th floor of Ostrich Trail (which is located
in the front of the lodge, just off the lobby). The room view was
great. We saw all the animals except zebras (there aren't any in that
particular savannah). We also had an awesome view of the sunset from
our room. |
Check-In / Check-Out Comments:
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Super smooth. Admittedly, we were there in a off peak time (mid-May),
but the lodge had just opened. Everybody at the desk was great! |
WDW Transportation Comments:
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The bus situation was pretty beat. Allow extra time if you have
to be somewhere. My fiancée (then girlfriend) and I ended up being
late for our private "fireworks cruise" where I was set to propose
to her. But of course, everything still went off without a hitch.
It's Disney! The buses are the only drawback of staying at AKL and
as long as you're prepared, it's a small price to pay. |
Restaurant / Lounge Review:
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Awesome! I am not exaggerating when I say I had the best meal of
my 25 years on Earth at JIKO!!! I dropped some serious jack for dinner
for two, but it was well worth it. The servers were fantastic, and
the place overflows with atmosphere. We had breakfast at Boma every
morning. Our servers were cool, the food was great. Get the breakfast
pizza. The house beverage is called Frunch. We've been trying to recreate
it ever since. We thought Mara was kinda wack. It's great for a grab
and go place though. Just not what we were there for. The tiny Victoria
Falls lounge looks like it would be really cool, but there was never
anybody there when we were there. No customers, no staff. It was totally
empty. We're night owls and it would be nice to have a place like
this open later for the adult crowd. |
Pool Description / Comments:
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Disney spared no expense on this one. The spa was nice too (except
I dropped my camera in one). Even if you were to get shafted with
a pool view it wouldn't be so bad because the pool is so cool! |
What Suggestions Would you Give Anyone that is Considering This
Resort?
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You won't regret it! This is *the* resort to stay at if you're looking
for a romantic getaway without the gaudy decor of the Grand Floridian.
The best theming of all! If you're loaded, spare no expense and get
the Presidential or Vice Presidential Suite (currently $1800 and $1590
per night). They're located on the top floor, directly above the Fire
Pit area. If you're wandering around and see a CM, ask them if you
can take a look inside. They're sweet!!! |
Other Comments:
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We had a fantastic stay! If they would fix the bus system it'd be
nearly perfect. My only other complaint - one that is probably true
of some/most Disney resorts: The place becomes a freakin' ghost town
around 11:00pm. As I mentioned earlier, we're night owls and it'd
be nice if something* ... *anything* ... was open after midnight.
AKL has bit of an adult atmosphere (though I'm sure kids will love
it too) and it's very romantic (in contrast to the chaotic and noisy
Wilderness Lodge - the Honeymoon Room we stayed in at WL paled in
comparison to the standard room at AKL). The music and lighting outside
at night, out back on Arusha Rock near the Fire Pit, is nice and romantic.
But just when you start to enjoy it all... they turn it off. The music,
the romantic flickering lights, and even the *fire* pull a Cinderella
at the stroke of midnight. With everything locked up you can't get
so much as a slice of bread to eat. If it's not in the vending machines,
you're out of luck. Even room service shuts down. I wasn't feeling
well one night and my girlfriend phoned the desk and asked if we could
get some orange juice. The CM came through in true Disney fashion!
He was super nice and unlocked the doors of Zawadi (the store there)
to get us a bottle of juice. I don't even think they charged me for
it (*gasp*)! |
