AKV -animal smell?

[srober]

Last November my wife & I spent our WDW vacation checking out DVC resorts deciding where to purchase our 2nd resort. I read so many positive comments about AKV, and my wife was excited about a balcony view of giraffes and other wildlife, so it was the pre-emptive favourite. But when we got there and stepped out onto the balcony we were hit with an overwhelming smell of animal manure. It was so strong that it made our decision for us right there. We eventually bought VWL.

Since then I've read many posts about the pluses and minuses of AKV, (parking, distance to the parks, food services, quality of service provided by staff etc) but haven't seen one that mentions the animal smell. Has anyone else encountered this?

I grew up across the road from a small dairy farm, so animal smells are nothing new to me, but that day at AKV was bad. That was November, how bad would it be in the heat and humidity of summer?

 

[AKchristmasqueen]

I wasn't overwhelmed with the smell of animals but did notice it mildly. What I noticed more was the cockroaches we had in our room and the extreme noise from the neighbors which made sleeping very difficulty. Although the kids loved seeing the animals we will not be returning. I preferred BWV over AKL.

 

[CruznLexi]

We just love AKV we love the quietness of it. We do not get SV to save on points. We have never smelled any type of animal odor.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Nope. The only place I've noticed a smell is by the flamingo pen but no rooms are located there.

We did watch them doing fertilizing during our GV stay. Maybe they had just done that prior to your arrival and that is what you smelled.

 

[drusba]

You don't usually get any animal smell at AKV. Srober, what happened to you likely had nothing to do with the animals. Every several months, Disney fertilizes the grass and all the flower, shribbery and like areas around the resort and Disney uses a natural type fertilizer that smells exactly like you describe. I have experienced it once at AKV and also at BWV.

 

[delilah]

We have stayed at AKL Jambo and Kidani numerous times, and I have never noticed an unpleasant animal smell. Once at Jambo, before there was DVC, and we were staying on the second floor, there was some sort of water leak in our bathroom (the carpet was wet near the sink), but it didn't smell.

At the time, we used a small cooler, because there weren't refrigerators in the room, and I thought that was the source, but, then I moved the cooler, and saw that it wasn't leaking or wet, so, the water was coming from somewhere else.

 

[kreckl]

No- never!

 

[Guapy]

Nope.

 

[DebbieB]

I've stayed there twice, both times in June, and didn't notice it. We saw workers in the morning walking around scooping.

 

[wdwdano@yahoo.com]

Stayed multiple times and never smelled. One time we were directly across from the pens in jambo house. Not once did we smell

 

[DisnutDave]

We've stayed at AKV twice, both times with a view overlooking the savannah and there was no odor. I agree with other posters that what you smelled was fertilizer. We encountered that once while staying at BCV, in particular the walk from Beach Club to BCV and they had just finished fertilizing.

The only thing that stinks about the animals at AKV is that you can't see them from other resorts!

 

[rentayenta]

We only smelt the giraffes one night. We had come back from a long park day and when I opened up to the balcony, I could smell something. When I finally turned on the light, there sat 4 gorgeous giraffes. It was actually pretty cool.

 

[LisaS]

We have stayed at AKL and AKV many times with Savanna View rooms on all but one stay. We spend a lot of time on the balcony and have never had a problem with odor from the animals. The staff does an excellent job keeping the savannas clean.

 

[mmmagic7754]

Our home resort and we stay there several times a year...have NEVER had a problem with animal smell. Other tourist is a different story

 

[Silver Queen]

We have stayed at both Jambo and Kidani several times and have never experienced an odor problem. I suspect that the posters who mentioned the possibility of fertilizer are probably correct. We have loved our AKV stays.

 

[Sammie]

They are animals, they poop, it smells, at times depending on the wind yes you can smell them and you can hear them too.

 

[goofygurlie]

We were just there in May for a week. We spent most mornings and evenings on the balcony. We didn't smell anything.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Gmouse]

Our home resort and we stay there several times a year...have NEVER had a problem with animal smell. Other tourist is a different story

sooo true!!! I'd rather smell animal poo than some of the dirty sweaty people I've ran into there!
with that said...I've never smelled anything at AK. It most likely was fertilizer they use. How else could you get those gorgeous grounds???