Reviews of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Concierge
Reviewed by disneymom5 Review Date: 02/13/2019
Rating: (6) Not Recommended
You’ve read all the reviews about the animals and the great theming, it’s a lovely place. It truly is a great resort, although more spread out and expansive than we prefer. Our preference for a similar resort is Wilderness Lodge, with a similar pool and similar architecture in the main building, but everything feels closer, more central and more easily accessible in the WL; plus we prefer that location by the MK. AKL is very nice but it cannot be overstated how inconvenient the location is, particularly with small children, to be SO far away from the other three parks and have to take the buses everywhere. They are such a hassle. With three small children and a stroller…Those busses day after day became a nightmare. For us, it wasn’t worth seeing a few animals to deal with those buses as our only mode of transportation. In addition, you have to pay significantly more for a savanna view room (that’s probably why you’ve come here, to see animals, right?) and the standard rooms are nice, loved the bunkbeds, but if all you’re going to get is a standard room, why not just stay at the Wilderness Lodge and be much closer to everything? But we’re glad we tried it once, and if you absolutely love animals, then this is the place for you. Really nice counter service location.
Pros:
Lovely theming, great pool, lower priced than the other deluxe resorts (the rooms are slightly smaller).Cons:
Four people max per standard room. Smaller rooms that most deluxe resorts, and SOOO far from the other 3 parksReviewed by Jason V Review Date: 09/29/2018
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
I had stayed here with DVC rented points and wasn't aware of all the DVC rules, such as you only get towers ever so many days, if you want them daily you have to pay per towel... The hotel itself to visit is great, the theme and atmosphere is awesome and great restaurants. But to stay here, I DO NOT THINK IT IS WORTH THE MONEY. If you are going to spend a majority of your time in the hotel, then maybe splurge. But my family has stayed at the All-Start resorts many times and had better staff service and overall experience that here at a fraction of the cost.
The pool here isn't that much better. The location is basically where All-Star resorts are.
When we stayed here we had issues with our tickets that I knew how to resolve and the desk staff argued with me on the solution to finally admit I was right and do what I suggested to start with. When we checked out, I waited 2 hours for check my bags with magical express and we still didn't get them checked the line was so long and service was so slow.
We had an safari view and barely saw animals out of our room.
Pros:
Good restaurants and atmosphere but you can get those from visiting, you don't have to stay here and pay the high cost.Cons:
Services wasn't good it actually seemed to be the worst service we ever had, they won't clean your room or give you new towels daily without paying extra for it. Doesn't seem like there is much extra value to pay for based on the price.Reviewed by Mars315 Review Date: 09/26/2018
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
We stayed here in early September for five nights. The cast members are unfriendly. The only time they paid any attention to us was when we checked in, and even then they seemed bored and distracted. The lounge is WAY overcrowded. Our room was on a different floor, far from the lounge. Ovbiously Disney can designate as many rooms as they like as CL this way, instead of the old model of doing it where there was a club level floor, and you would be limited in the number of guests making use of the lounge. At the AKL, if I did not go right up to the lounge first thing, we could not get a table. In the evenings, people would crowd around just waiting for the staff to bring the food out and they would descend upon the offerings as if they had never had food before. To get a glass of wine, you had to flag down a passing CM (EXTREMEMLY difficult as they walked by with eyes averted on their way back into the kitchen), who then acted surprised that you were asking for a glass of wine. The last straw for us was when, having paid in the upper hundreds for a savannah view room, we attempted to take our wine back down to our room to enjoy the view (as well as to just get some peace from the OVERCROWDED lounge), we were loudly SCOLDED by the desk CM who told us that THEIR wine glasses do not leave the lounge! Are you kidding me? EVERY hotel I've ever stayed at I have been allowed to take my wine back to my room. Even at the Courtyard by Marriott. We will never return to the CL there. EVER.
Pros:
The food itself.Cons:
Service (NONE), overcrowding, distance from room to lounge, unfriendly staff.Reviewed by LynnM Review Date: 03/31/2017
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
We stayed at AK club level 3/9 - 3/13/17 and were very disappointed this time. The club level staff ignored us in the lounge. At check in we asked for a quiet room and were told we would be away from the elevator as requested. When we got to our room that was not the case, the room was right off the elevator corridor. The next morning after not sleeping very well due to elevator noise, staircase noise and a service room above our room we voiced our complaint. Sue said she would let management know. Later that day she got us a credit for one night which was very nice. But, besides Sue, the attitude of the staff was not what we are used to at Disney. We will not stay club level there anymore.
Pros:
Beautiful resortCons:
club level service was terribleReviewed by Disney Dad Review Date: 10/19/2016
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
I have been to WDW more than 20 times, and decided to take my family to the AK lodge. We splurged on a Club Level, one bedroom suite. The room and lodge were fantastic, and as always Boma and Jiko were perfect!
However, we won't be back to the Club Level room. The club service continues to deteriorate.
I timed my check-in time at just over one hour (3pm on a Sunday). We were given a small, not helpful map to navigate the large resort without offer of Bell service or useful directions.
Several times, the cast members in the Club Level were complaining about their staffing ratios (apparently decreased from 4 to 3 cast members per shift) and needing to arrive for work at 5 am.
When they didn't know the answer to a question, they made up an answer instead of looking up the correct answer. As a savvy Disney traveler, this is sad. The AK lodge has a wonderful physical building, but the Club Level is not worth the considerable expense.
For a truly great Club Level experience, I recommend Yacht Club. It has always been warm and welcoming.
Pros:
Beautiful lodge, spacious room, comfortable rooms, quiet roomsCons:
Lounge staffReviewed by tink1970 Review Date: 05/23/2016
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
My mother had always wanted to stay here so we splurged for 2 rooms CL for 1 night prior to our NYE cruise. Sadly, her room was initially ready, then not. We waited, had dinner, waited some more., had dessert. The CL hosts were not helpful at all, either not knowing what the delay was or not sharing.Finally my parents were in their room by 9 pm. This defeated the point of being at AKL with a Savannah room. Since we were only there for 17 hours, and 5 were spent waiting for a room, 8 for sleeping, this was a waste of money. After the fact we were refunded a fraction of our cost...but there was no magic.
The food offerings were...fine. I'd hoped there would be some more unique items-but if there were I cannot recall. Again, the lounge hosts were neither helpful nor interactive.
Sadly, I think the obvious cost containment protocol has arrived at AKL CL.
Pros:
Animals, dining, themeCons:
cost, bus accessReviewed by Kirsten626 Review Date: 06/13/2022
Rating: (8) Recommended
My family and I stayed there a couple of days just to check it out. It was amazing, we had a great time looking at the animals from our room. The one bad thing was our location. My family always has a pool day and we were not located near the main pool so lugging everything over on a shuttle can be tiring.
Pros:
Great views, different type of hotel, nice and spacious rooms, good foodCons:
Location near amenities depending on where you stay, location near parksReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 06/10/2022
Rating: (5) Recommended
Spent a week at the resort. Housekeeping every other day and had to get up at 7AM for Genie+. Renaldo was a great cast member who helped us with reservations at Sanaa. The food offerings were very tribal and flavorful. The buses were always loaded to capacity and we had to stand most of the time. Mara had some burgers and mac and cheese that were as good as Steakhouse 71. We thought the unlimited alcohol was a plus and we took a bottle of Gran Manier back to the room for our enjoyment. The room needed cleaning and we slept on towels on the soiled sheet. The AC was noisy and we left the balcony door open most of the time. The animals were always near our balcony and we enjoyed the zebras. We thought the distance between the resort and amusement parks was a bit too much. If I rent a car I will stay here again
Pros:
Animals and tribal artifactsCons:
Housekeeping, Cleanliness. Most of staff, Kids running around in club levelReviewed by AKVHutch Review Date: 12/18/2020
Rating: (8) Recommended
<p>We recently completed a 2 week stay in a 1 bedroom at club level. Sadly, this was closed due to the pandemic (meaning nothing else in the hotel is open because Jambo is only open to DVC at this point). However, we have stayed twice previously in studios and had the experience of open club level. All of our stays at Club Level were on DVC points. As others have noted we have had some hit and miss reactions in dealing with CM. On our first trip, we requested a room with an animal view. Since we were staying for 2 weeks, we were willing to move when a room opened, but we were informed that there were no rooms on the 6th floor that had animal view. We have found that to be a very false statement. But the entire experience (other than those issues) was very pleasant. On our next trip everything was wonderful. We were on the side. Had a wonderful view of the animals and had a great group of CM. We got to go on the Sunset Safari which was well worth the cost. The food selection and the common area were very nice. This trip since everything was closed, DVC actually refunded our points used over a 1 bedroom standard. However, until Disney decides to reopen the club level services, I would not recommend Club Level over Value or Savana.</p>
Pros:
When open, the service is very nice indeed. The food is great. The availability of beverages is outstanding. On the Kidani village side, the views of the animals is decent. We have not had to wait for a room at Club Level, either driving or flying.Cons:
On the pool side, the views are not the best. Some of the CM come with attitude. Most are very nice and are at the Club Level for a reason.Reviewed by MelMel82 Review Date: 11/10/2020
Rating: (5) Recommended
Hit or miss. I think it all depends on who is working the concierge level as to the type of service you receive. I received a free upgrade to concierge level, my room was far from the lounge and everytime I went up there, I was followed around by a cast member, kind of weird.
