Hi everyone!
I just got back last night from a fabulous trip staying at AKL CL.
We will definitely be back to AKL. This was a mother/ daughter(15) and best friend mother/daughter(16) trip and we had the best time!
We arrived at the resort on Friday around 11am. Our room wasn't ready (which was completely expected) and a CL castmember found us in the lobby, checked our bags with bellhop and took us upstairs to the 6th floor CL. Having never been to AKL, we were all blown away with the beautiful decor all over the hotel. So much to look at. We got all checked in and had a few welcome beverages and snacks. Like everyone has said before the snack options are definitely not what they used to be precovid but we knew what to expect.
As we were heading out to the parks, we met Francisco (CL castmember who I remembered from GF CL) and he became one of the best parts of our trip. He went over and beyond for us the whole trip. One night he saw that my daughter was not eating much at the evening appetizers, came over and asked if she liked veggies and fruit. (She was really just not that hungry, but didn't want to say no) He came back ten minutes later with a beautiful giraffe and tree on a cutting board made out of carrots, mangos, aparagus, snap peas and grape tomatoes.
My daughter wanted to cry she was so touched! Also every CL castmember was amazing as well and so attentive. They were always bringing out bottled water for anyone that asked, so that was nice to take to the parks and back to the room. I felt like this particular hotel and CL had a very calm vibe compared to some of my other favorites CLs. Very relaxing in the lounge and we would just sit for a while and enjoy a glass of wine. Always plenty of tables available which was impressive since it was crowded in the parks. The breakfast was fantastic always having something new like sticky buns, bicuits with gravy, a different yummy egg casserole every morning and then the regular items like fruit, pastries, meats and cheeses, oatmeal with toppings, bread selections and cereal. The evening appetizers were great as well. They had the meats and cheeses and olives (charcuterie items), bread selections with a variety of hummus, pinwheel rollups, and a stew of some kind most nights. I know I am forgetting a ton of things too. Our last night they had bourbon bbq chicken a sweet corn pudding and also a gumbo. We made it back for a couple of dessert night and there were a bunch of choices. Cookies, brownies, tarts, little cones with a cream in them. At any time you could ask for beer, wine, sangria etc. There were also drinks in the fridge and ice cream bars in another fridge/freezer. My friend was of course in love with the coffee machine and took pride in giving lessons to other guests.
@mrsap I didn't get many pictures of the food but did get a picture of the giraffe veggie I will post soon!
As far as transportation goes (which is one of the main reasons I have not stayed here before) we actually had no issues at all with buses arriving. I think we were blessed with the bus fairy and always ended up walking up as a bus was arriving. I did miss the boat and monorail option though at the end of the night that the Epcot and Monorail resorts offer, but not enough to not stay here again. The giraffes and zebras in front of my balcony were the best! I did end up putting in a room request (for a few different blocks of rooms)and it was honored so that was exciting.
I know this is the CL Forum but want to add a side note on the parks and
genie+, ILL .(please remove
@GADisneyDad14 if not allowed) I purchased Genie + for all 4 of our park days (we had PHs too) and for us it was amazing and we rode everything we wanted too. Some things twice. I did ILLs at 7am each day for the headliners and got those without an issue. Then we just continued to book throughout the day and by night we were stacked. Like has been said on other forums related to this subject, when I would pick a time of 12pm for my ILL it did jump my time me to late afternoon, early evening by the time I got through the processing. Since our travel party included 2 teenage girls that like to sleep in a bit this worked great for us. We would head to the parks around noon until 4ish and then back again after 7pm until closing.
The only restaurant we had a sit down meal in was Steakhouse 71 and it was phenomenal! The best steaks, sides and cocktails. The rest of the time we did mobile ordering for lunches in the park and that was so nice and convenient.
Okay, sorry so long. If I can answer any questions for you please let me know! Now to plan my December BWI CL trip.
some of Francisco’s creations during our stay at AKL CL last week.
