Jambo! The newest AKL Information thread

[kimmar067]

...we already have 2 days [delegated to the 2 F&WF visits at Epcot] on our Mickey bands from the last trip [back in 2014]....I also purchased 4 MNSSHP tickets for that Sunday, so we won't be needing a ticket for THAT day (no plans to go to a park on Sunday morning/afternoon]. However, I really counted on going to AKL on the Friday that we arrive....

 

[kimmar067]

I honestly don't see why it would be a problem to extend those park-hopper passes by 5 days....I mean, REALLY, 5 days?

 

[rangerxenos]

December

Jmsaj, 1st - 5th, AKV

Monica9, 1st - 7th, AKL

Beedee12, 1st - 10th, AKL

Rlduvall, 2nd - 9th, AKV

Disdadd14, 2nd - 9th, Jambo House

Rlduvall, 2nd - 9th, AKV

Lumee23, 2nd - 9th, Kidani

Somnia, 6th - 15th Jambo CL

JoJoGirl, 8th - 12th, AKL

Disraavenlaur, 8th - 16th, AKL

Sunset7132, 8th - 17th, AKL

New Hamp, 9th - 12th, AKL

MarcV, 9th - 16th, Kidani

Sndral, 9th - 15th, Jambo

CrazzzyforDisney83, 10th - 16th, AKL

LvsTnk, 10th -19th, Kidani

Akess, 13th - 22nd, AKL

Dtkids, 16th - 22nd, AKL

Mlunsford, 21st - 26th, AKL

Jeremeyp, 21st - 27th, Jambo

BaseballMoM2007, 21st - 30th, AKL

Brandyleeann, 30th - Jan 1st, AKL

Can you please add me for December 4 - 12? Looking forward to staying at AKL again, DH and I stayed here for the first time in April of 2015 and loved it.

 

[sndral]

I honestly don't see why it would be a problem to extend those park-hopper passes by 5 days....I mean, REALLY, 5 days?

Because, well, the tickets will have expired, would you expect to show up for something like a play this week w/ tickets for last week's production and get in? It's not Disney's fault that you failed to notice that the tickets had an expiration date, although, they all do these days. I wish they'd let me extend an AP an extra few days to make it easier for me to get 2 trips out of one pass, but they won't. & I can't tell you how irritating it is to not be able to buy 11 or 12 day tickets (max is 10 days - unless you're from Europe & those people can get longer passes.)
Have you asked about using them towards purchasing replacement tickets over in the theme park/attractions forums? They are the ticket guru/experts over there.

 

[Akess]

DW and I are on our last day of a 14-days trip at the AKL, in CL. We spent so many days in the resort that we would not say that 2 are too much! it always depends if you are more park persons or resort persons, though in the AKL there is always plenty of things to do, be it go to the savanaah overlooks (you didn't say if you have a savannah-view room), enjoy the pool or a drink. As far as we were concerned, two weeks were not even enough to go check the Kidani Village, though if we come back tot his resort, I'm sure we will try to walk/bus hop to there!

Thanks for the response. I'd say we are both park and resort people. With that being said, we are not the type of people to be in a park from open to close. We like breaks and we enjoy resort time. We did not book a Savannah view room because we are four adults and we want to enjoy the resort, not just our balcony. I couldn't visualize the four of us standing on the balcony for long periods of time. I felt by booking standard, we would be forced to get out of our room and explore the resort interior and take advantage of the resort overlooks.

 

[Akess]

I agree! We just got back and wish I scheduled 2 full resort days. We only scheduled 3/4 of one day and an evening (different day). Not enough time to fully appreciate this beautiful resort. We never made it over to Kidani to use the pool and never did made it to the nighttime animal viewing. 2 full resort days/evenings would be ideal.

Thank for the response. What exactly is there to do at AKL on resort days besides animal viewing? I've heard there are many activities for children and the dining tours at Sanaa and Boma; however, I'm not sure that is something of interest because we already have dinner scheduled at Boma and Jiko, and Sanaa's menu is a little much for me as I am quite a picky eater.

 

[kimmar067]

Because, well, the tickets will have expired, would you expect to show up for something like a play this week w/ tickets for last week's production and get in? It's not Disney's fault that you failed to notice that the tickets had an expiration date,....

....well, there's the rub....there were simply 4 passes in a plain white envelope....plus, a lot happened in our lives that prevented us from taking a WDW vacay sooner....

 

[Arden01]

Hello!

We will be on our first Disney trip staying at AKL next week! I am looking into grocery delivery. I am trying to decide between prime pantry, Prime Now, or Garden Grocer. Has anyone had any luck with these services at AKL? I noticed that Prime Pantry says 4-5 Days for delivery, so I will need to order early. If our package arrives before we do will they hold it for us? If GG delivers, should you be there for their delivery time? We are getting there pretty late on Friday evening. I see they deliver until 9:00pm and our plane lands around 7pm, so that would be cutting it close! Their website says resorts will hold the items and you don't have to be there but....GG isn't Disney so I wanted to check!)

One last question, how big are the refrigerators? Could I fit a half gallon of milk in one? Thank you everyone!!

We used Prime Now twice on our recent trip and it was incredibly easy. We ordered a mix of snacks, refrigerated items and cases of water. I found their prices very good. Both boxes were held at Bell Services for us and they refrigerated our perishables. I placed my first order when I got off of the plane (my Prime Now cart was already loaded and ready to go) and it arrived within two hours. The refrigerators were the mini size, but we were able to fit a half gallon of milk on the door. Hope that helps!

 

[Arden01]

Thank for the response. What exactly is there to do at AKL on resort days besides animal viewing? I've heard there are many activities for children and the dining tours at Sanaa and Boma; however, I'm not sure that is something of interest because we already have dinner scheduled at Boma and Jiko, and Sanaa's menu is a little much for me as I am quite a picky eater.

There's a resort schedule that shows all activities each month. My daughters spent time making medallion rubbings in the lobby and talking with cast members. We also participated in a drum circle. Just talking with the cultural representatives was another activity that we enjoyed. We also spent time wandering around viewing all the different savannas - in back of the pool and the overlook. At night, we heard stories by the fire pit and my daughters roasted marshmallows. We never made it over in the evening to watch the animals with night vision goggles, but I wish I had! I also got a massage at the spa, which was lovely. The pool is great, as are the hot tubs. We spent a lot of time swimming. I heard Kidani has a great children's splash area, but we never made it over there, except to eat at Sanaa. Check out the resort activities calendar! Btw, Jiko was one of the best meals we've had at WDW.

 

[Arden01]

This was the August schedule.

 

[Vintage princess]

We used Prime Now twice on our recent trip and it was incredibly easy. We ordered a mix of snacks, refrigerated items and cases of water. I found their prices very good. Both boxes were held at Bell Services for us and they refrigerated our perishables. I placed my first order when I got off of the plane (my Prime Now cart was already loaded and ready to go) and it arrived within two hours. The refrigerators were the mini size, but we were able to fit a half gallon of milk on the door. Hope that helps!

Thank you so much! That was very helpful! I had the same thought about placing the order when the plane lands. Did you have to pay $5.00 a box to bell services?

 

[sndral]

....well, there's the rub....there were simply 4 passes in a plain white envelope....plus, a lot happened in our lives that prevented us from taking a WDW vacay sooner....

Hopefully it all gets sorted for you, my WDW trip just increased in cost too because son's GF just decided she'd join us after all, not to mention the challenge of trying to change all those ADRs that we were up @ 4am our time a couple of months ago to get.
Tickets have gotten so expensive, especially the 1 day ones - I sympathize w/ you, I'm just not optimistic that you'll find a Disney CM who will break their rules for you, always worth a try, I suppose.

 

[Arden01]

Thank you so much! That was very helpful! I had the same thought about placing the order when the plane lands. Did you have to pay $5.00 a box to bell services?

Nope. I did leave a tip for the Prime Now delivery person and tipped Bell Services when they delivered the box. I think it works out about the same.

 

[Minnieloves4]

Jambo everyone

Just got back from AKL and we had a great time. We paid for a standard view room, and we was given a savanna view on the zebra trail. Everyday my kids woke up wanted to see the giraffe that was always eating from the tree that was at the corner of our bacolony.

Room: the room was clean and in great condition. I felt that the bathroom was small and dark for me. One time out of the 7days there I had to call housekeeping because they did not leave enough washcloths. They didnt clean the room until 1pm watch became a problem because it was the day we was going to the MNSHP and had to get the kids down for naps. But all in all nothing really huge to complain about.

Bus: We never waited more than 5minutes for a bus. I've read other people comments where they said its a long ride to the parks. Well that is not true at all. I timed going and coming back from the parks; MK 23min, EP 15min, HS 5min, AK 3min, DS 15min with traffic.

Pool: the pool was great. Great waterside, my DD love the slide. Itsa great size pool never felt crowded.

Dinning: Boma breakfast was delicious, we are a family of picky eaters and wewas able to find things we like. Mara the food selectionis very limited, lunch/dinner we just stuck with burgers, and my kids had pizza (they loved the pizza) The burgers taste like frozen pattys that they throw on seasoning. Desserts was also limited, compare to POP and CB, AKL should have more of a selection.

Grounds: Very Clean and well maintained. The loddy is beautiful.

All and all AKL is a beautiful resort and we will be returning for our 2019 trip!!!

 

[suse66]

I arrived back late Monday evening from a wonderful week long solo trip to AKL. I LOVED this resort. Originally, I had a room on Ostrich Trail overlooking the front of the hotel but had an issue with small brown specks on the sheets (this was handled extremely well by pest control and the housekeeping manager and was proven NOT to be bed bugs). I was freaked out however and asked them if I could possibly move as I was just not feeling comfortable. Front desk had a room already reserved for me on Zebra Trail (rm 2546) and handled everything beautifully. The level of service was just exceptional.

I loved the pool and grounds and made time every day to enjoy some time lounging and swimming. The buses were very very prompt, in fact I never waited longer than 10 minutes with the exception of the Disney Springs bus which was a 25 min wait. I had excellent meals at Jiko for dinner, Sanaa for my last day lunch and Boma for breakfast. I made good use of the Mara for morning coffee, a few snacks and dinner the night of the crazy thunderstorm. Coffee at the Mara was the best I've ever had on Disney property.

The real highlight of AKL was the cast members. I have never had such overwhelmingly friendly and warm interactions with staff. They truly are exceptional. I was so sad to leave and can't wait to stay there again. I am a new member of the AKL fan club!

 

[kimmar067]

All and all AKL is a beautiful resort and we will be returning for our 2019 trip!!!

....awesome.....did you do a bounce-back?

 

[Vintage princess]

We are going to be arriving on the 8th. When should I fax in our room requests? I don't have a touring plans subscription and plan on doing it myself, unless you all think the touring plans fax would be better. Thoughts?

 

[Grmnshplvr]

JAMBO!!!

Just got back yesterday.We stayed at Jambo house. We had room 2259 Kudu trail. We had giraffes outside our balcony almost everyday!

The lobby is amazing, I'll miss hearing those drums each morning for sure. This resort was so immersive in the theme I really think its probably the best on property.

Boma was fantastic and I think we'll continue to eat there even if we don't stay at the resort again. I didn't like that to get to the food court you had to go outside, but not a huge deal.

The room was very clean, bathroom was too small and too dark but it was clean.

The grounds, pool, and food court were all very clean as well. Customer service was great as always.

With that said, we really are park people and this was a bit too far for us so i dont think we'd return, but because of location only, we really did love the resort.

Buses - we must have had bad luck or Disney is cutting back. We always go the last week in August and we waited longer for buses on this trip than other trips - again maybe just our timing.

Overall we had a fantastic time and booked our bouceback for August 2018 for Coronado Springs

 

[MISSYLEXI]

Have a great time and thx for posting.
Since you are in Kidani & can see giraffes I assume you are on Sunset savanna - is there still a small herd of zebras? I know AK was part of the breeding program for the Hartman's zebras and am curious to know how that's going these days & if the Hartman herd is still on Sunset.
.

There are Zebras. I did ask 2 people about the Hartman's breeding program, the told me that they were part of a breeding program but not sure which one.

If you are on the Sunset Savannah and in your room in the morning would you please look out your balcony and see if there are any animals present. If so I would love to know at what time.

We were at Jambo, on the Arusha Savannah, last November and really never saw any animals from our room in the morning before leaving for the parks. I have heard the animals are let out earlier on the Sunset Savannah and if so that is the side of the hall I will request this November. We really hope for a leisurely morning animal watching while eating breakfast on the balcony. My idea of heaven!

Thank you so much and have an awesome time!

I did not see many animals at all in the am, mostly just birds.

Thanks for sharing with us. And OH MY where did you get that Bruins Mickey avatar??? (sign 88 already!!!!)

Thanks, I believe I got it from a disigns here on the DISboards.

 

[MISSYLEXI]

Got back late Sunday night from AKL Kadani Village. I absolutely loved it!!!

Want to thank you all for the suggestions and info here on the Disboards on things to do and food to try.

So I did take the advice about Rose & Crown for Illuminations. I had to get 2 ADR for 7:45pm, one for 4 people and one for 2. Checked in at 7:30 and asked if we could be seated together, no problem, then I asked for a table on the balcony, again no problem. So we had a great seat for the show. Then during the show a hot ash landed on my 20 year old daughters leg and it didn't burn her, it left a little red mark, but did scare her. When she was hit by the ash she had her phone in her hands and she threw it in the air so we all watched as it went over the railing and bounced towards the water. It finally stopped and she was able to reach through and get it. Screen was cracked but at least she didn't lose it!!!

We did the Tusker House ROL breakfast at 10:30 am. We did not get to see any lunch items or try them so if that is your plan try for an ADR at 10:45. Did see ROL show It was not as exciting as I thought it would be, but it was different and nice to see.

Pandora was nice to see in the day light. Night was just to dark for me. Had FP for Navi 1 day at AK, was great. Then our second day at AK we had FP for FOP, that was awesome!!! The wait for this was at 210 min at one point. The people we went with said it would of been worth the wait if we did have to wait for it. So if you have the time to do it, I would try.

The weather was good to us, as far as the rain goes but heat wise, it was Hot!! It did rain the night of MNSHHP but we were heading back to the bus stop when it really started to come down. We did do all the candy stops and did do a lot of the rides, but did not do SDMT, Splash Mtn or Thunder Mountain. Did not see the parade or do any meet and greats. So I have decided that if we go again during the party times we will do 2 parties, one for the Trick or Treating and rides and one for the meet and greats, fireworks and parade.

Took the shuttle from Kadani to Jambo a few times, there gift shop is much better than the one at Kadani, and did not have to wait long at all for those.

Buses to the parks were great. No long waits. One day we were on our way to the bus stop and I asked if everybody had there Magicbands, of course there was one that didn't. So they went back to get it and as they were just coming down the bus we wanted was just leaving. So that was our longest wait 15-20 min. I liked the fact that it was just AK Lodge bus and did not have to make stops for any other hotels. Most of the time it dropped us off at Kadani before going to Jambo. And picking up was usually Kadani first then stopped at Jambo. So keep that in mind.

I did ask about the screens at the bus stops, the ones with the expected arrival of the buses for each park and if they would be on the app. He said that it should be about 3 months or so but it will be on the app at some point.

Did get some photos on rides that I did not know took them. POTC and Frozen are the 2 that come to mind.

As for anything bad: This is Just My Opinion so please don't take any offense to this

To us it just seemed like there was a lot of pushy and rude people this time. I don't know how many times we were plowed into with no sorry or excuse me being said, just rude comments. Don't get me wrong there were a lot of nice people but this was just not what I am use to experiencing and seeing at WDW. The last time we went to Florida we went Disney and a different park, it was a whole different atmosphere at the other park then at Disney and I don't want Disney to go down that path.

At one point me and my friend were waiting for our families to get on a ride and we saw 2 grown men, 1 probably late 50's the other early 40's, racing in scooters and almost collided with each other. I just don't think that MK is the place to be doing thinks like that.

Then we were in line for POTC and a women in front of us was in a wheel chair. It said Magic Kingdom on the back and she had a bandage with ice wrapped around her ankle. We asked if she twisted her ankle and they told us that a women in a motorized scooter ran over her foot. They said the women didn't stop or say she was sorry to her. She just kept going. It was the second day of vacation for them and they had 7 more days to go. It had happened at 1:00 and when we saw them it was 5:00. And this was the first ride they had been on all day. They had kids and didn't want to ruin the day for them so he said he will take her to the ER after they leave the park. They ended up on the ride with us and she was having a real hard time getting on and off the boat. My daughter, who is an LNA at a nursing home, made sure that she got off the boat ok. I am very proud of her for doing that. That is the type of things I like to see at Disney.

Like I said this is just my opinion and how I feel about it.
But all in all we did have a great time!!