Animal Kingdom Lodge Club Level questions

Last night, I booked the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a July trip to celebrate DGS's second birthday. DD20 has been dying to stay there, and since DGS is hers, she decided that's where he would want to stay. ;) I booked Club level but have never done that before. What do I need to know about this stay? What area are the rooms located in? Do I need to order the dining plan like I had planned to do? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. I haven't done Club level before so this will be totally new and we are quite excited!!

We did Club level through DVC in March and the views were either savannah or the swimming pool, we lucked out and received the savannah view. I am not sure if you book regularly these are the same views. We did not have the dining plan while staying here and did not need it as in the morning they had plenty of items out like cereal, pastries, fresh fruit etc. During the day when we came back from the parks they again had snacks out or appetizers depending on what time of day so there was always something to munch on.

We also were able to take advantage of the Sunrise Safari since we were staying Club level. I think it was around $60 per person and included a breakfast buffet at Pizzafari. This was a great experience as Animal Kingdom wasn't open yet so we were able to stop along the safari and take pictures and learn more in depth about the animals and their characteristics. Something to think about.

Thank you so much for the reply. We booked a regular club level room and they said it was savannah view so hopefully it will be. I told them it was DGS's birthday when they asked about celebrations so hopefully that will help too. I think the rooms may be on the 4th floor so I've already told my family this is a big step for me to go to the 4th floor so they need to be excited! :o

We have been discussing the safari and wondering if DGS is old enough to enjoy it or if he will be bored and distracting to others. We haven't decided on that one yet, but we do have breakfast at Hollywood and Vine and dinner at Chef Mickey's the day of his birthday. DD wants to order him a big cake for CM and have the florist decorate the room too. I haven't checked in to those yet though.

Regarding dining plan or not, you'll hear different answers from different people. Some will say there isn't enough food in the lounge to feed you throughout the day. On the other hand, we've known people who only eat from the lounge when they are staying club level. Since it sounds like you're doing a split stay, you might just stick with the dining plan for the other part of your trip, and no dining plan on the AKL day. Or, if you plan on being in the parks, and not hanging out at AKL, dining plan could be good option.

There are so many variables which affect my advice, but whatever you think you'll want to do is the best choice.

Also, you have access to the lounge until the end of the day you check out, so even though you won't have a room, you can still use your card to access the lounge and extend your club level enjoyment :)