justhat
<font color=teal>DC DISer<br><font color=red>pick
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2002
We stayed at AKL from 12/27-12/31 and I loved the hotel and can't wait till we cans tay there again. We stayed in rooms 2507 (Arusha Savannah) and 2508 (Uzima Savannah). We called our requests in on 12/23 and got exactly what we asked for. Since we had to rooms, we wanted to be on different savannahs, but near each other, so that we could see the views from each savannah. We asked for Zebra Trail, one on Arusha and one on Uzima on the 2nd or 3rd floor. We were in a great location and there were feeding stations in front of 2507 and very close to 2508 so we always saw many animals. We took some great photos which I'll post a little later. For anyone requesting a certain room, I would recommend these 2 locations, but really anywhere on this floor is probably great. You're almost eye level to the animals and we were just a short walk from the lobby and restuarants. It was too cold to swim, but we were also very close to the pool.
My mom and fiancé were much less enthusiastic about the hotel, but still liked it a lot. Both of them are monorail people so since AKL doesn't have the monorail it's not as good to them. What may have contributed to this view was the horrible bus service we encountered practically every time we left the hotel. We never waited less than 20 minutes for a bus, and since others were waiting when we got there, the bus we wanted could not have just been there. On average, our wait times were 30-35 minutes and when a bus did finally come, it almost always stopped at AK to drop people off, even after AK closed it would stop there so people could get their cars out of the AK parking lot. This stop at AK would not have been bad if the buses ran more frequently, but since we had already been waiting 30 minutes, the last thing we wanted was to stop at AK. The bus service really messed up our plans on many occasions, especially in the mornings. Since MK, MGM, and AK all opened at 8 while we were there, EE was at 7am so we'd drag ourselves down to the bus stop between 6:45 and 7 each morning. We just couldn't get up early enough to be there right at 7, but as long as we beat in the offsite crowd we were happy. Well, this rarely happened for us because of the wait time for buses. Though we got to the bus stop on NYE at 6:45am, the MGM bus didn't come until 7:35. Then it stopped at AK to drop off and pick up people, then it went to MGM. Well, by the time we got there it was almost 8am and since so many people were there for NYE by 9:30am the park was pretty crowded and we had missed out on all that EE time. Though we didn't expect the bus to be there when we got to the bus stop, we thought we'd definitely be at the park by 7:30, but instead we were still waiting for the bus then. What made this worse was that they had AKL CMs at the bus stop that morning and the bus still took forever.
This happened again on 12/30 when we went to Epcot for a PS at Bistro de Paris. Our PS was for 6:30 so we were at the bus stop at 5:30pm. The Epcot bus did not arrive until 6:25pm. We told the bus drivers for every other park how long we had been waiting and they said a bus was on the way. If we had known it would take this long we would have taken the MGM bus and then taken the boat, which would have been faster even with the slow speed of that boat. When the bus finally got there, everyone complained to the driver who responded that he was on his break. I understand he needs a break and as a union leader totally support them, however they should have had another bus while one driver was on his break. He then stopped at AK to drop off and pick up people and waited there a few minutes before going on to Epcot. By the time we got to Bistro de Paris, it was after 7pm.
When we switched to the GF, however, we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus and their CM at the bus stop, who was there everyday, asked where people were going and called for a bus if one wasn't there. We ate dinner at the Yacht Club one night and the bus service there seemed fine too.
Also, we came back to nap on 12/30 around 1pm and the room had not yet been cleaned, so we hung the do not disturb sign and napped. When we got ready to leave for dinner we called housekeeping since they had left us a message and asked them to come clean the room. This was about 5:00pm and when we left our room at 5:15 they hadn't come, but we didn't expect immediate service nor did we need it done until we got back that night, which ended up being around 11:30pm. We got back and the room had not been touched so we called housekeeping and they said our room was marked as cleaned. Well it was not and we told them, but since it was so late, we just wanted towels so we could shower and go to bed and some glasses to drink some OJ the next morning. After 20 minutes we called again and another 15 minutes later a woman knocked at the door and handed us a bag with towels and glasses and left without saying a word. I know it was after midnight at this point, but we had asked for this to be done at 5pm so it was really not our fault.
Other than the transportation problems and one night of bad housekeeping, I loved this hotel and the views and amenities. I do understand why others have complained about long transportation times to the parks, but I hope that on our next stay there these bus issues will be resolved. Overall I would say it's a great place to stay and we'll be back there again.
My mom and fiancé were much less enthusiastic about the hotel, but still liked it a lot. Both of them are monorail people so since AKL doesn't have the monorail it's not as good to them. What may have contributed to this view was the horrible bus service we encountered practically every time we left the hotel. We never waited less than 20 minutes for a bus, and since others were waiting when we got there, the bus we wanted could not have just been there. On average, our wait times were 30-35 minutes and when a bus did finally come, it almost always stopped at AK to drop people off, even after AK closed it would stop there so people could get their cars out of the AK parking lot. This stop at AK would not have been bad if the buses ran more frequently, but since we had already been waiting 30 minutes, the last thing we wanted was to stop at AK. The bus service really messed up our plans on many occasions, especially in the mornings. Since MK, MGM, and AK all opened at 8 while we were there, EE was at 7am so we'd drag ourselves down to the bus stop between 6:45 and 7 each morning. We just couldn't get up early enough to be there right at 7, but as long as we beat in the offsite crowd we were happy. Well, this rarely happened for us because of the wait time for buses. Though we got to the bus stop on NYE at 6:45am, the MGM bus didn't come until 7:35. Then it stopped at AK to drop off and pick up people, then it went to MGM. Well, by the time we got there it was almost 8am and since so many people were there for NYE by 9:30am the park was pretty crowded and we had missed out on all that EE time. Though we didn't expect the bus to be there when we got to the bus stop, we thought we'd definitely be at the park by 7:30, but instead we were still waiting for the bus then. What made this worse was that they had AKL CMs at the bus stop that morning and the bus still took forever.
This happened again on 12/30 when we went to Epcot for a PS at Bistro de Paris. Our PS was for 6:30 so we were at the bus stop at 5:30pm. The Epcot bus did not arrive until 6:25pm. We told the bus drivers for every other park how long we had been waiting and they said a bus was on the way. If we had known it would take this long we would have taken the MGM bus and then taken the boat, which would have been faster even with the slow speed of that boat. When the bus finally got there, everyone complained to the driver who responded that he was on his break. I understand he needs a break and as a union leader totally support them, however they should have had another bus while one driver was on his break. He then stopped at AK to drop off and pick up people and waited there a few minutes before going on to Epcot. By the time we got to Bistro de Paris, it was after 7pm.
When we switched to the GF, however, we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus and their CM at the bus stop, who was there everyday, asked where people were going and called for a bus if one wasn't there. We ate dinner at the Yacht Club one night and the bus service there seemed fine too.
Also, we came back to nap on 12/30 around 1pm and the room had not yet been cleaned, so we hung the do not disturb sign and napped. When we got ready to leave for dinner we called housekeeping since they had left us a message and asked them to come clean the room. This was about 5:00pm and when we left our room at 5:15 they hadn't come, but we didn't expect immediate service nor did we need it done until we got back that night, which ended up being around 11:30pm. We got back and the room had not been touched so we called housekeeping and they said our room was marked as cleaned. Well it was not and we told them, but since it was so late, we just wanted towels so we could shower and go to bed and some glasses to drink some OJ the next morning. After 20 minutes we called again and another 15 minutes later a woman knocked at the door and handed us a bag with towels and glasses and left without saying a word. I know it was after midnight at this point, but we had asked for this to be done at 5pm so it was really not our fault.
Other than the transportation problems and one night of bad housekeeping, I loved this hotel and the views and amenities. I do understand why others have complained about long transportation times to the parks, but I hope that on our next stay there these bus issues will be resolved. Overall I would say it's a great place to stay and we'll be back there again.
