I was reading another thread about people's least favorite resort, and AKL was not getting much love. So tell me- what is your FAVORITE thing about AKL?
Wow. AKL is not everyone's cup of tea. NOTHING is beloved by everyone. But the trouble is, you are reading boards where the people already have their own favorites, so they are not AKL people. Those who prefer Boardwalk or Beach Club or other Crescent Lake resorts are in love with the 'local' action, and the proximity to Epcot and HS. Why would they love AKL? (Of course, the walk to HS is
more than a full mile, each way, and that certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea.) People who love Saratoga Springs often really love Disney Springs and the proximity of SSR. BLT has a very nice walk to Magic Kingdom. Poly is on the monorail and Grand Floridian is on the monorail and very elegant. Wilderness Lodge is another amazing building with a great Lobby, and wonderful property to wander around on. ALL DVC RESORTS are spectacular in their own ways. That doesn't make any of them better or worse. What matters is
WHAT DO YOU LIKE? WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Here are some great points about Animal Kingdom Lodges. If this IS your cup of tea, then it is a resort you will love. Animal Kingdom Resorts are the favorite Disney World resorts of ALL of my extended family members.
First, Animal Kingdom Lodges are unique in the United States, and perhaps even in the whole world, in that it has a 'natural wildlife park' that has fascinating African animals on the beautiful savannahs. Kids especially tend to love the Savannahs. Yes, I know it isn't really NATURAL. It is really a specialty Zoo, but it is amazing none-the-less. If you want a better 'Savannah' setting, you probably need to go to Africa. (By the way, even Africa is not jam packed with animals like you see on the Nature Documentaries. Sure, there are some amazing conglomerations at times, but mostly, most of the time, it is just open Savannah with only a few animals.)
The Savannahs themselves are nice to look at and very relaxing, even when the animals are not present. I just wish there was some way to be able to wander around in them. I know there isn't a way to do that, to let everyone run free, but every time I see the Savannahs that is what I want to do.
Animal Kingdom lodges have a wonderful African motif. How many 'hotels' in the United States can say the same? Again, I'm not sure there are ANY others in the United States, so, if you are interested in Africa, African animals and African culture, then it is hard to do any better.
Kidani Village has the largest collection of African folk art in the United States. Hey, it is FOLK ART, not the Metropolitan Museum, but it is an amazing cultural expression.
Jambo House has one of the great hotel lobbies in the world, depending, again, on what you like. All I can say is 'very impressive.'
Perhaps the room decor is not for everyone, but Animal Kingdom Lodges have the most thematically consistent decor of any of the Disney World resorts. BLT is too 'modern.' Poly is only marginally Polynesian in appearance. The decor of the rooms
inside Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Boardwalk, Beach Club, SSR and OKW is pretty much just generic. I love the decor of the rooms and hallways at AKL.
Sanaa, Boma and Jiko are three of the very best restaurants in Disney World. Does EVERYONE like the African/Indian motif of these restaurants? Of course not. But for those with an 'expanded palate' they are great restaurants. The quick service restaurant, the Mara, is also one of the best quick service restaurants in Disney World.
AKL has two great pool areas. Uzima Springs at Jambo is one of the very best pools in Disney World. The pool over at Kidani is also a favorite of a lot of people.
AKL lodges have some of the best lectures and educational activities in all of Disney World.
I have ALWAYS found the staff at AKL to be some of the best, most helpful in Disney World.
Animal Kingdom lodges are the closest to Animal Kingdom park. About 5 minutes by bus. And Animal Kingdom park is my second favorite park, after Magic Kingdom. Again, the landscaping is lush, unlike the 'concrete jungle' of all the other parks. AK park has some of the best rides in Disney World. It has some excellent table service and quick service restaurants. It is often less crowded and is my favorite park to just go hang out and relax.
At animal kingdom, the bus comes first to Kidani, and then goes to Jambo. And it takes about 1 and a half minutes. Then it doesn't have to go anywhere else, except the destinations. This is a big advantage over the buses to a lot of other resorts, including OKW, SSR, the Crescent Lake resorts and Riverside, Coronado Springs and Caribbean Beach. All of those resorts have buses that make multiple stops, sometimes including stops at other resorts, and each stop is just more aggravation to me.
Finally, I love the convenience to the parks that the AKL resort has, and the speed with which you can get to the parks. Yes, you heard that right. People look at the location of Animal Kingdom and see it way over there on the side, and they just think, "Too far. Too slow." But they are wrong. If you go to websites that track ACTUAL TRAVEL TIMES to and from different locations in Disney World, on an average, Animal Kingdom lodges has some of the best travel times in all of Disney World. How is that possible? Well, the bus makes 2 quick stops, as I mentioned, and then it goes out on high speed roads and can be anywhere else in just a few minutes. The only real exception is Magic Kingdom, which is a bit longer, BUT STILL NO LONGER ON AN AVERAGE THAN TRAVEL TIMES FROM ALL THE OTHER RESORTS to the Magic Kingdom. The other resorts have multiple bus stops, and larger properties that the buses must wend their way through. And the Crescent Lake resorts may have great access to Epcot, and BLT to Magic Kingdom, because you can walk easily, but their access to other resorts is usually slower than Animal Kingdom lodges, and the Friendship boats from the Boardwalk area are very slow to HS. The monorail resorts, especially, have surprising delays in their access to Epcot, and they are too far out of the way for all the parks other than the Magic Kingdom. The monorail sounds great, but it is really slow. From Grand Floridian to MK its pretty fast, but if you want to go to Epcot, you need to make stops at MK, Contemporary and then the Transportation Center, where you must change to another monorail, so total travel time to Epcot is often 40 minutes or more. Poly is even worse, because it stops at Grand Floridian, in addition to MK and Contemporary, before the TTS. Unless you walk the quarter mile directly to TTS, and then board the Epcot monorail, which still takes another 25 minutes or so to get there.
I could go on and on, but I guess what I really want to say is that Animal Kingdom is truly a
great resort and those who cast shade on Animal Kingdom Lodges simply do not know what they are talking about. Perhaps you can see why Animal Kingdom Resort is our family favorite.
