AUCTeX 11.88 no longer requires explicit activation when installed via ELPA (as the kit does). Including the older load commands will cause AUCTeX to fail with an error about not finding the /style/ directory. If you have this problem,

- Delete your existing AUCTeX using the package manager (M-x list-packages; mark AUCTeX for deletion with 'd' then 'x' to delete)
- Update the kit to this version
- Relaunch and Emacs should automatically re-download and recompile AUCTeX.