What Items should one know about AKL?
Lots of fun Hidden Mickeys, night vision goggles are available in the evenings for animal viewing, every day before Boma opens for dinner service they do a little ceremony with African drums (afterwards they let kids have a shot on them), traditional African face painting is available…
All I can think of atm!
Edit There’s also a savannah tour only available to AKL guests, a Dine with an Animal Keeper experience at Sanaa & tours of the restaurants you can sign up for.
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AKL has tons of activities! Night vision goggles, kitchen tour, and stories by the fire pit are 3 good secrets. You will get a list of activities at the front desk, they are going on all day both around the hotel and at the pool. Take your own binoculars if you have a savannah view room. DD3 loved playing drums one afternoon outside of Boma with a cast member! Leave plenty of time to explore the artwork and the many animal viewing areas! Have a great time! 
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Funny thing but my grown son tells me his favorite thing is to stand in the lobby of Jumbo and smell Boma and Jiko. He never expected that that would be his favorite smell!
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We enjoyed the storytelling by cultural reps in Sunset Savanna room in the evenings.
One of my favorite memories is when my 3 year old played drums with a cultural rep outside Boma one evening before the restaurant opened for dinner (around 3 pm or so.)
My kiddos loved the nightly parade and storytelling in the lobby. Very fun, and a great way to wind down!
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Nightly parade in the lobby? I’ve never heard of this, I’m intrigued! What exactly happens & what time is it??
@Pooh2412 - Meet outside the gift shop at the designated time. (I’ll check my resort activities calendar, but it’s a good idea to check again at the front desk for the exact times for activities during your stay.)
Kids will get an instrument to borrow. When we were there, cast members gave commemorative certificates for participation too. Nice souvenir.
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How young can a child be to participate?
@crissyrose - as long as they can “march” around the lobby they are old enough. I kind of joined the procession when my daughter was 2 
There is a release of animals when the pool opens. DD still talks about the pool safari and plans to pack her hat for the next trip.
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If u booked a standard view or standard view villa thru DVC— when doing online check in (at 60 days), request kudu trail and near lobby, 3 out of 3 times i did this, i got room with savannah view (not parking lot or pool) True, greater kudu and some birds are out more than other animals but saw giraffes, zebra, impala and others-- every day. Not every animal every day but awesome view of them.
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Was that in Jambo or Kidani?
I originally planned on staying at POFQ for our first trip, once the discounts came out for Nov-Dec, the POFQ room we had was not part of that discount offer, so we upgraded to AKL, for $300 more for our stay. It is a Standard View, which I understand to be either the parking lot or roofs. Is this a big deal? Look into upgrading? Not sure what to do.
I had a standard view and I could see the savanna. I requested Arusha upper floor. There were giraffes and zebras every day.
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We booked a standard view in March and got a savannah view! There are some rooms which only have partial or obstructed views of the savannah so they class them as standard (people wouldn’t be happy paying extra for a view only to have it obstructed). Therefore you have a good chance if getting one if these, they’re almost as good 
However it’s not guaranteed that you will get one of those, the rest as you say overlook the parking lot & roofs.
If this will be a once in a lifetime stay I would personally upgrade. If not I would take my chances.
If you do online check in you can also request an upgrade if one is available when you arrive, that would be no extra cost.
AKL is wonderful! You won’t regret staying there, even if you keep the standard room. It’s an amazing resort!
@Pooh2412 how would the request for upgrade at on line check in not be an extra charged. This seems like a great secret .
@lauren_alicia we are very excited about our first trip