Hi!
AKL is one of my favorites and is a great choice with a car. Tons of good activities at the Resort.
We like three views, depending on the trip:
We only do a
savannah view if Club rooms are available. When a good room code is out they are under $100 more a night and just breakfast and a night cap makes that worth it for us. We also love the soups they serve during the pre-dinner service and I have been known to have the soup for dinner (or we go to dinner and split meals because the soup was so good we all had too much of it, either way it ends up a savings). All regular club rooms are well centered savannah rooms, best in the house. Beer and wine are out around 4 or 5 but you can ask earlier and they will get it for you. They will even get you a plastic cup to take it out to the pool.
Pool View- this is an under valued option that many people ignore. The pool view rooms give you excellent proximity to the main lobby area and are great for kids that are into swimming. The view is also lovely and some rooms have avery distant savannah view.
Standard rooms- I book these for park intensive trips. If we are only going to be at the resort when we are 1) at the pool 2) doing resort activities 3) sleeping why pay for a view? AKL has lovely public savannah viewing all over the place. Go to the end of any trail (hall) and out the stairs for a great open air view! There are sitting areas in several places and you can walk around the edges of the savannah out by the pool.
Free Resort activities not to miss:
The Culinary tour- Ask at Boma when and where this meets or Jiko if Boma has no clue. Also check the small glazed in bulletin board by the bathrooms on the Boma level for other activities. Fair warning if you do not have a reservation at one of these places before you go you will be looking for availability afterwards
yum.
Don't skip the
"bead" activities even if your kids are a little old for it- my 15 & 17 yo did them because the beads make really cute key chains
plus they love to feed the flamingos.
Same goes on
cookie decorating if they offer it. Fun for ALL ages!
One warning about AKL in January- there are fewer animals out that time of year and many fewer if yo get a cold snap. They almost always take the animals in pretty early, before most people return from the parks, due to the weather.
If that makes you want to think about another option I have three:
The other 'baby' deluxe-
Wilderness lodge- cold weather (as long as it is dry) enhances many of the things this resort has to offer or at least doesn't interfere at all. Proximity to the MK is a nice perk and the holiday decorations are great! This resort also has many free resort activities (all resorts do, but AKL and WL have the best ones)
Look into two Moderate options
Coronado Springs
Business Class rooms (they have a lounge, a step down from deluxe clubs but besides the breakfast it also puts you in the best location at the resort, which is huge).
Port Orleans French Quarter
There is some construction on site, mostly minor although a pool may be out of service. I have seen some really great rates for this resort recently and it is a high recommended location.
Paying with Gift Cards- you can pay for almost anything: room charges; room reservations booked through Disney; dining; any Disney owned shops (anything in park, but not all Disney Springs locations).
It is very easy to combine Disney Gift Cards (easier than Target! but that is also possible and since the limit is 4 per order you need to if you have lots of the $5 or $10 promo cards). I highly advise doing so, it is just easier! www(dot)disneygiftcard(dot)com
