Just back AKL w/DS1 and DS3

[Mainebound]

Hi all,

We just returned from a really wonderful Disney vacation. Both my boys loved it. Even the 15 mo old loved every minute of it.

They both had plane seats but only the baby had a carseat on the plane and it worked out fine.

AKL was a great choice for us, as the slide was great for my DS3 and the zero depth entry pool was great for both of them. They both LOVED LOVED LOVED looking at the animals. My 15 month old even learned to say "animal"! Bus service was extremely fast and reliable.

We did 5 day park hopper. Some days we came "home" for a swim, others we did not. Believe it or not, Epcot was a hit and MGM was a bust (except for Playhouse Disney show). MK and AK were big hits, of course.

We brought a Kolcraft side by side double umbrella stroller with partial recline and sun shades. it was great to have, but could have used a bit of storage space. I would DEFINITELY not recommend relying on the WDW strollers if you have very young children. there's a lot of walking to get from your resort room to your car or bus, then from your car or bus to the park gates. also, the park strollers are large and hard.

I brought 2 outfits for each day and boy am I glad I did. I used ziplocks and they worked great.

On the downside, I put our film in my checked luggage and all five rolls were ruined.

I'm happy to answer any questions I can.

Good luck planning!


--Mainebound

 

[JOC]

Hi,
Glad you had a great trip! How did your film get ruined?
Did you have a savannah view room? We have a 3.5 yr. old and wondered if there's enough to do around the resort during "park downtime" that he would enjoy. My husband's not too keen on staying there (the Travel Channel special on AKL really turned him off to the resort, for whatever reason). Our last stay in December was at the Polynesian and that was great because our son enjoyed riding the monorail, plus my hubby was near his favorite WDW attractions - - the golf courses!

 

[Selket]

I've been reading your trip review on the different boards and have really enjoyed them! I have ressies now for a trip to the AKL in early May and trying to decide whether to keep them or go in December as I had originally planned (thinking we'd get more use of the pool in May but maybe more crowds).

I have two sons who will be 16 months and 5 yrs when we're there. My youngest isn't yet walking. I thought the zero entry pool would be great for them - and there is a kids pool. Did you have a savannah view room? I have booked standard due to price reasons and I probably cannot afford to upgrade. How was the room size? I have seen that they have rooms with a king bed and daybed so thinking of asking for one of those - curious what arrangement you had (I probably read it on another board but can't remember). Do you think I'm going to regret not having a savannah view room??? I already do (!) but it is $75 more a night which I can't see us spending at this point.

How is the playground? Any nice places to sit outside?
If you drink coffee how was the refillable coffee if you got the mugs?
Did you do the storytelling?
How were the crowds at WDW?
How did the youngest handle days where you stayed in the park all day?
How did the youngest like the rides? Did you do things like Haunted Mansion, Buzz, etc with him? Any rides you would not recommend for the 16 mo old? (other than what is prohibited of course!).

I also found that we didn't find much to do at MGM with my son when he was 2.5 except the playhouse disney show (was bear in the big blue house then). He LOVED that. We're going to use our own stroller for the baby but rent one for the big kid if we need to. Too hard and expensive to find a stroller for one his size that we'd only use for a few days.

Thanks for all of the great info!

Carol G.

 

[Mainebound]

Originally posted by Selket


I have two sons who will be 16 months and 5 yrs when we're there. My youngest isn't yet walking. I thought the zero entry pool would be great for them - and there is a kids pool.

--Yes, there is a small, shallow kiddie pool, but the kids all really stayed in the big pool, even the babies. DS3 loved the slide. DS1 is just barely walking, sort of like Frankenstein.

Did you have a savannah view room?

--Yes, and I was really surprised that my 15 month old loved it as much as he did, even more interested in the animals than my 3 y/o. He would stand on the balcony holding the rails, bouncing up and down saying "mo mo" (his version of "animals").

I have booked standard due to price reasons and I probably cannot afford to upgrade.

--There are MANY placxes to see animals. I think we spent the most time looking at animals when we were down at the pool, actually.

How was the room size?

--Frankly, we did find it smaller than we had hoped. But it was adequate.

I have seen that they have rooms with a king bed and daybed so thinking of asking for one of those - curious what arrangement you had (I probably read it on another board but can't remember).

--We had a room with bunk beds. And a connecting room for my mother and sister with two queen beds.

Do you think I'm going to regret not having a savannah view room??? I already do (!) but it is $75 more a night which I can't see us spending at this point.

--No, I think you will enjoy the hotel either way. Plus, occupancy is very low and I talked to MANY people who had been upgraded when we were chatting at the pool. So, don't count on it, but it is a possibility.

How is the playground?

--The playground was just ok. Both my sons loved the hot tubs, actually. I sat oin the step and held the baby on my lap, so just his legs were immersed. He woudl sit for 15 minutes that way. So relaxing!

Any nice places to sit outside?

--There are many nice places to sit INSIDE. Outside you do have a few areas, and the large pool area.

If you drink coffee how was the refillable coffee if you got the mugs?

--We got the mugs, and the coffee was fine for us, but not gourmet.

Did you do the storytelling?

--Yes, one night. DS3 loved it.

How were the crowds at WDW?

--On Mon-Thurs they were nonexistent. By Fri-Sat things were more crowded, but never unmanageable. The most important lesson we learned was to get to the parks 30 mins. prior to opening. It made all the difference for us. The hotel was very uncrowded.

How did the youngest handle days where you stayed in the park all day?

--He did great, because he could nap in his stroller whenever he wanted. I really could not get over how much the baby enjoyed the trip - the characters, the parades, the food, even some rides. Anyone who says taking a 1 year old to WDW is a waste has obviously never done it. Sometimes we woudl come back to the hotel, if it was really hot, other days we did not. We played it by ear. One good thing I did was make PS's for lunch indoors each day. I did it in case fo rain. We used them every single day, to my shock. It was nice to be cool and quiet for a few minutes.

How did the youngest like the rides?

--The baby did things like Small World, Teacups, etc. He enjoyed everything, but he is an easygoing kid. If he did not go on a ride, he enjoyed just walking around chasing birds or playing with his water squirter or Pooh light spinner.

Did you do things like Haunted Mansion, Buzz, etc with him?

--No, we didn't, but I am sure you could. We had four adults, so it was really not nbecessary to try to get the baby onto every ride. My DS3 was too scared to do HM, Pirates, Snow White, and too short (by a mere half inch!!! Boy are they strict!) to do 40" rides like Splash Mtn. But he LOVED LOVED LOVED Kali river rapids, tomorrow Land Indy Speeday, Buzz ride. The baby did most of the things in Fantasyland, came to Tom Sawyer Island, was carried up Swiss Family Treehouse, loved the elaborate playgrouddns at MGM and AK, did safari and Lion King show at AK, loved Playhouse, did MuppetVision and like it ok, did the Land, Living Seas, trolley at MK, and more.

Any rides you would not recommend for the 16 mo old? (other than what is prohibited of course!).

--No, but we didn't try to do much with him, as I mentioned.

I also found that we didn't find much to do at MGM with my son when he was 2.5 except the playhouse disney show (was bear in the big blue house then). He LOVED that. We're going to use our own stroller for the baby but rent one for the big kid if we need to. Too hard and expensive to find a stroller for one his size that we'd only use for a few days.

--That makes sense. My DS3 was almost too big for the stroller we had.

I think AKL is very different form the Poly and MK resorts, as well as Epcot resorts. It is very low key and relaxing. you do feel a bit away from things, but we LIKED that. It helped us to transition out of the parks an dinto calm mode.

I hope you have a great time!

--Mainebound

 

[Selket]

Thanks for taking the time to answer my longwinded questions! I hope we manage to swing the May trip but I think I'm sold on the resort no matter if we go later in the year.

I know us well enough to know that we will never manage to get out of bed and into the parks that early. When my son was 2.5 he was afraid of several things - no way he would have done splash mountain. I'm not quite sure I can talk him onto it now but I think so Going in May might actually be good for taking the youngest onto rides as I think he is really too young to be afraid of things like the POC and the like - I don't think he'll notice enough to care. He is easygoing as well so I don't expect problems. Probably be my 5 yr old that will be afraid of stuff!

Thanks again! Hope you get a return visit soon!

Carol

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Hello, fellow Mainer! Glad you had such a great trip with your kids. I agree the AKL is VERY kid friendly. Did you get to eat and enjoy Boma? Congrats on taking your little one on the plane in his own car seat. I cringe when I see kiddos sitting on their parents' laps. I know its cheaper, but you can't put a price on safety!

 

[ROBNLEZ]

That all sounds so great. We will be going 4/30 and I just changed our view to the Savannah, I'll love just sitting on balcony in the morning. My dd will be 5 and I know she will just love it!

 

[Mainebound]

Hi all,

Just a few quick replies:

Selket: We did not have to get up that early to get to the parks early, as they opened at 9:00am each day. We would plan to be at the bus stop at AKL at 8:15, and this worked great.

JOC: I think the film was ruined by x-rays as our luggage went through security checkpoints. It was a very high speed -- 800. Thge only roll that was NOT ruined was a lower speed, 400. We were told by the photoshop that the high speed and multiple times through x-ray combined to cause the problem (it's a long story, but on the way home we had to switch airlines due to fog, and our luggage went through extra security as a result).

Happy Birthday Cat: Yes, the carseat for the 15 month old was wise. He is 28 lbs, and can be squirmy. It is half price, and well worth the cost for the security we feel.

ROBNLEZ -- mornings on the balcony were our favorite part of the day! Someone would run down to Mara with our refillable mugs and get some snacks and we would watch the animals move and eat in the cool morning mists. Very serene and quiet. Also, around 5:00 pm was a great time to watch them from the balcony, but we also saw them all day by the pool. And there were tons of CM's around to tell us all about them.

I wish we were going back soon, but we have a lot of other "travel goals", and, because we are academics, we tend to plan trips around where our work takes us, as at least one of us is paid for by the dept. But I'm thinking a return trip when the boys are 4 and 6 or 5 and 7 would be perfect because then they could both get on all the rides.

Hope you all have a wonderful trip!

--Mainebound