AKV Room Type??

[Mamiamjo]

I was wondering about the different room designations. I remember Value, Standard, Savanah, and Concierge. What is the difference between the Standard and Value? And what exactly is the difference between the Savanah and Concierge levels?

Thanks,
Mike

[gppnj]

Good question. I was also wondering what the difference was between standard and value. Though I'd always want savannah.

[Bichon Barb]

I think that the value rooms are little smaller and that the standard have an extra bathroom????

[Bichon Barb]

Studio
View layout

Sleeps up to four
Queen-size bed, plus full-size sofa bed
Flat-panel TV and DVD player
Wet bar, small refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker
Private balcony
316-365 sq. ft. in Jambo House
366 sq. ft. in Kidani Village
One-Bedroom Vacation Home
View layout

Value Rooms sleep up to four, all others sleep up to five
Master bedroom suite with king-size bed
Master bathroom with whirlpool tub (additional bathroom in living area of One-Bedrooms in Kidani Village only)
Queen-size sofa bed in living room
Sleeper chair in living room (except in Value Accommodations)
Flat-panel TV and DVD player in living room, and flat-panel TV in master bedroom
Full kitchen includes: coffee maker, dinnerware, glassware, flatware, pots and pans, microwave, toaster, stove, refrigerator, dishwasher and more
Laundry area contains stacked washer and dryer
Private balcony
629-710 sq. ft. in Jambo House
807 sq. ft. in Kidani Village

What size are the rooms?

The room sizes vary based on location. The approximate room sizes are as follows:

Studios = 366 square feet (Value = 316 square feet)
One-Bedrooms = 710-807 square feet (Value = 629 square feet)
Two-Bedrooms = 1,075-1,173 square feet (Value = 945 square feet)
Grand Villas = 2,201-2,349 square feet

[Mamiamjo]

Does anyone know if there are any floorplans out?

Mike

[Bichon Barb]

http://dvc.disney.go.com/dvc/guest/resorts/resortDetail?id=ProspectsDAKVAccommodationsPage&bhcp=1

[Simba's Mom]

So are we to assume that the value studio has the same layout and includes all the same ammenities, it's just a little more compact? And do the value studios have all the views (standard, pool, and savannah)?

[chalee94]

So are we to assume that the value studio has the same layout and includes all the same ammenities, it's just a little more compact? And do the value studios have all the views (standard, pool, and savannah)?

right - the value is basically the same but 316 sq ft instead of 365 sq ft.

while i've heard that over half of the standard rooms have some sort of savannah view (not guaranteed of course), i think you can expect none of the value rooms to have a savannah view. much more likely parking lot or dumpster views.

[dianeschlicht]

right - the value is basically the same but 316 sq ft instead of 365 sq ft.

while i've heard that over half of the standard rooms have some sort of savannah view (not guaranteed of course), i think you can expect none of the value rooms to have a savannah view. much more likely parking lot or dumpster views.

I kind of feel that way too, although my guide thought there would be savanna views available in all catagories. I do know that even if there are savanna views available in all catagories, the only way to guarantee it is with a savanna view. I suspect so many will be "paying" for savanna view, that virtually no savanna view will be available in any other catagory. In other words, I think 'savanna view' is a nebulous catagory and not a specific location other than that you WILL have a view of the savanna. JMHO

[lisareniff]

I might not have time to answer this completely but I will get it started before my girls call me. I think you need to think of the AKV rooms in terms of the seperate buildings.

The new building will be easy to understand. There will only be two types of rooms standard (pool and parking lot) and savanna(h) view. The floor plans for the studio, 1 and 2 bedroom villas that you see on the DVC web site are for the new building.

The reconfiguration of the 5 & 6th floors of the lodge are more complicated with more room catagories and views and different floor plans. It is really best to pull up a AKL map when you start thinking about this. First, AKL had two rooms sizes on the 5th floor; the Kudu and Zebra trails have/had larger deluxe rooms while the Ostrich and Girafee trails and aroud the lobby had/have standard size rooms. The smaller rooms are being made into the value rooms and being priced per point lower for the reduced size. These rooms do have views of the pool, sunset savannah and parking lot.

The larger deluxe rooms at AKL will be converted into the savannah or standard view rooms depending on if they overlook the savannah or pool. Most will be savannah view.

Times up! Gotta go.

[Dean]

while i've heard that over half of the standard rooms have some sort of savannah view (not guaranteed of course), i think you can expect none of the value rooms to have a savannah view. much more likely parking lot or dumpster views.It's actually the opposite. Non of the standard rooms will have a SV and roughly 60% of the value rooms will. Standard and SV are bookable view types while value is a bookable room type that could be either view.

[CapeCodFam]

I was just thinking about the points for the views. We added on specifically to book the Savanna View and enjoy the wildlife. It does appear that while not guarunteed, the value category will have many SV's.

I pulled this from the FAQ section on the website listed above:

What views are available from the rooms?

Approximately 80% of all rooms have a Savanna View.
All Grand Villas have a Savanna View.
Approximately half of the Value Accommodations and Kilimanjaro Club Concierge rooms have a Savanna View. The rest have a Standard View, which includes a view of the pool, garden or parking lot. While Savanna View or Standard View room categories are confirmed at time of reservation, please note that Standard View room view preference requests are noted but not guaranteed.
Most Studios, One Bedrooms and Two Bedrooms have a Savanna View. The rest have a Standard View, which includes a view of the pool, garden or parking lot. While Savanna View or Standard View room categories are confirmed at time of reservation, please note that Standard View room view preference requests are noted, but not guaranteed.

[lisareniff]

I had written the following for another forum the other day describing the room catagories at AKV in the lodge building for the 134 villas located there...

Concierge Rooms - 5 two bdrom lock offs on the 6th floor off the lobby with 3 overlooking the sunset savannah and 2 overlooking the pool.

Savannah View Rooms - These are the rooms on the Kudu and Zebra trails that over look one of the three savannahs (excluding those that overlook the pool). The will be the dedicated studios and 2 bdrm lock-offs. They will overlook all three current savannahs and will include the 6 GV's at the ends of the buildings.

Standard View Rooms - These rooms are the few on the Zebra trail that overlook the pool area.

Value Rooms - These are the smaller non-deluxe AKL rooms on the Ostrich and Girafee trails and the lobby rooms on the 5th floor. They will either overlook the Sunset savannah, pool or the parking lot. Only a couple will overlook the parking lot. These rooms will not have the sleeper chair (too small).

[chalee94]

It's actually the opposite. Non of the standard rooms will have a SV and roughly 60% of the value rooms will. Standard and SV are bookable view types while value is a bookable room type that could be either view.

good to know. (except now it will be hard to keep expectations reasonable when reserving a value room...;) )

[chalee94]

Concierge Rooms - 5 two bdrom lock offs on the 6th floor off the lobby with 3 overlooking the sunset savannah and 2 overlooking the pool.

so this means that "concierge" studio rooms will only be available when the new building opens?

[lisareniff]

so this means that "concierge" studio rooms will only be available when the new building opens?

No. Those few concierge rooms are only planned in the current lodge building. The descriptions I posted were for the villas they are creating in the current AKL.

I had written the following for another forum the other day describing the room catagories at AKV in the lodge building for the 134 villas located there...

Concierge Rooms - 5 two bdrom lock offs on the 6th floor off the lobby with 3 overlooking the sunset savannah and 2 overlooking the pool.

[SuzanneSLO]

good to know. (except now it will be hard to keep expectations reasonable when reserving a value room...;) )

That will be especially true if you are booking a Value Studio, which look like they will be spread throughout the resort. For 1 BR and 2 BR, it looks more likely that you will get a pool or parking view because that it where the majority of the standard size hotel rooms that are being converted to DVC seem to be located.

-- Suzanne

[lisareniff]

That will be especially true if you are booking a Value Studio, which look like they will be spread throughout the resort. For 1 BR and 2 BR, it looks more likely that you will get a pool or parking view because that it where the majority of the standard size hotel rooms that are being converted to DVC seem to be located.

-- Suzanne


Suzanne, I know you have studied this in depth and I seen you say things similar to this before and I am curious (some times they call me George!) why you are thinking the studios and 2 bedroom lock-offs are not more evenly distributed throughout the Ostrich and Giraffee trails? I never got that impression but may have missed something or forgotten a bit of information. I had gotten the info that half the value rooms would be savannah and half pool (they seemed to leave out those few parking lot view rooms in those percentages;) ) which makes sense since equal number of the 5th floor standard size rooms over look the pool and the sunset savannah.

Also wondering about value studios on the Kudu and Zebra trails? Are there actually some smaller rooms on those trails?

[jbrowna]

Does anyone know the breakdown of the number of rooms per size? I'm really asking for the number of studios, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, 2-bedroom lockoffs, and Grand Villas -- not their classifcation as to Value, Standard, or Savannah View (although that would be nice to know too!). The information I've seen says that there are to be 458 rooms when the project is completed, and I was wondering about the size breakdown of those 458. Is that info available? Can anyone hazard a guess?

Thanks!

[SuzanneSLO]

Suzanne, I know you have studied this in depth and I seen you say things similar to this before and I am curious (some times they call me George!) why you are thinking the studios and 2 bedroom lock-offs are not more evenly distributed throughout the Ostrich and Giraffee trails? I never got that impression but may have missed something or forgotten a bit of information. I had gotten the info that half the value rooms would be savannah and half pool (they seemed to leave out those few parking lot view rooms in those percentages;) ) which makes sense since equal number of the 5th floor standard size rooms over look the pool and the sunset savannah.

Also wondering about value studios on the Kudu and Zebra trails? Are there actually some smaller rooms on those trails?

Lisa: My statement was based on the following assumptions:

1. Most of the rooms on the 5th floor of the AKL are deluxe size. The exception seems to be the rooms on the Giraffe and Ostrich Trails and off the lobby. Only 12 of these existing rooms that overlook the parking lot will be converted to DVC. In addition, 24 of these existing standard rooms that overlook the pool will be converted to DVC and 16 of these existing standard rooms that overlook the savannah will be converted to DVC.

2. Every 3 existing rooms can be converted into a 2 BR lockout.

3. The existing hallways at AKL are set out in groups of 7, 8 or 12 rooms. Groups of 7 or 8 will convert into two 2 BR lockouts plus 1 or 2 dedicated studios. The configuration of the dedicated studios is shown on Phase 41A, recorded at Book 43, page 56, which is located on the Zebra Trail. This means that there will be dedicated studios in most hallways on the Zebra and Kudu Trails.

4. This means that there will probably be 4 2 BR lockouts with parking views (2 hallways with 6 rooms each), for a total of up to 8 units with parking views, 6 2 BR lockouts and 6 studios with pool views (from 3 hallways with 8 rooms each), for a total of up to 18 units with pool views and 4 2 BR lockouts and 4 studios with savannah views (2 hallways with 8 rooms each), for a total of up to 12 units with savannah views. Because these are converted from standard size rooms, they should all be sold in the value category.

4. DVC reported at one point that the dedicated studios were 316 SF, which is the size now being reported for the value studios. They also reported that there will be 46 dedicated studios. As noted above, there will be dedicated studios in almost every hallway in the Kudo and Zebra Trails. As noted above, only 10 dedicated studios will be on the Giraffe and Ostrich Trails and off the lobby.

Based on this, it looks like there will be 6 dedicated studios with pool views (in the Giraffe Trail and next to the lobby), 3 dedicated studios with pool views (in the Zebra Trail) and the other 37 dedicated studios will have savannah views. Even if the studio was booked separately in all the 2 BR value lockouts, there would still be 4 studios with parking views, 15 studios with pool views, and 41 studios with savannah views and 4 1 BRs with parking views, 6 1 BRs with pool views and 4 1 BRs with savannah views.

In contrast, if the 2 BR values were all sold as 2 BRs, there would be 4 2 BRs with parking views, 6 2 BRs with pool views and 4 2 BRs with savannah views, no 1 BRs and 9 dedicated studios with pool views and the other 37 dedicated studios with savannah views.

As you can tell, this means that those booking a value studio will have a much better chance of getting a savannah view than those booking a 2 BR (up to 37 out of 46 of the value studios will have a savannah view = 80% chance and only up to 4 out of 14 of value 2 BRs = 29% chance).

Of course, if my assumptions are incorrect, then my conclusions will be as well.

In particular, if none of the dedicated studios in the Zebra and Kudu Trails are sold in the value category, then you will only have a slightly better chance of getting a savannah view by booking a studio (at least 8 out of 24 = 33% chance) than by booking a 2 BR (up to 4 out of 14 = 29% chance).

Whew!

-- Suzanne

[LisaS]

4. DVC reported at one point that the dedicated studios were 316 SF, which is the size now being reported for the value studios. They also reported that there will be 46 dedicated studios. As noted above, there will be dedicated studios in almost every hallway in the Kudo and Zebra Trails. As noted above, only 10 dedicated studios will be on the Giraffe and Ostrich Trails and off the lobby.Excellent post! But I am curious where you saw the comment that all dedicated studios are 316 sq ft. The dedicated studios that are created from deluxe-size AKL rooms should be the same size as the lockoff studios created from deluxe-size AKL rooms. My guide did say that value rooms will be "smaller or oddly shaped" so it's possible there will be more value studios than just those created from standard-size AKL rooms. Having said that, I've never read anything on the Resorts board where someone reported getting an oddly shaped room at AKL, so I'm not sure where these oddly shaped studios would be located. It just doesn't make sense to me that they would categorize every dedicated studio as a value villa. Why not rate it a savannah view studio (or standard studio if it's a pool view) if it was created from a deluxe-size AKL room and there is nothing odd about the shape of the room? And looking at the floor plans on the OC website, none of the dedicated studios seem to be any different than the lockoffs, other than the ones on the inner corners where the balcony is smaller.

[lisareniff]

Thanks for the explanation Suzanne. It took me a couple times to read it all the way through, my girls kept interupting me!

So your thinking the dedicated studios on the zebra and kudu trails will be 'value' rooms. Hummm... I guess I've been thinking they would most likely be Savannah view since they are the larger deluxe AKL rooms, but there may a couple smaller or odd sized thrown in there.

One thing that I noticed interest (at least to Suzanne and LisaS!) when I was looking at the boundry map LisaS posted of the 5th floor, to me it looked like the lobby rooms that overlook the parking lot are not included. I may be wrong, but I would think that those rooms would jut out south of the curvey hallways entering the lobby area. If these rooms are not included then why would they have just the 6 parking lot view rooms?? Seems strange. I was wondering if they will have the laundry and support rooms there instead of villas.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/photopost/data/500/81115AKV_Units_0324.JPG

http://www.disneypix.com/2000ft/Roll5/Roll05_002.jpg

[lisareniff]

Does anyone know the breakdown of the number of rooms per size? I'm really asking for the number of studios, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, 2-bedroom lockoffs, and Grand Villas -- not their classifcation as to Value, Standard, or Savannah View (although that would be nice to know too!). The information I've seen says that there are to be 458 rooms when the project is completed, and I was wondering about the size breakdown of those 458. Is that info available? Can anyone hazard a guess?


It took me a while to find my old post (I strongly dislike the search function!)....

This info I got from my guide over the phone.

134 villas in Lodge (Jambo House)
46 Dedicated Studios
82 2 Bedroom Lock-offs
6 Grand Villas - 1 story

324 Villas in the New AKV building (Kidani Village)
140 2 bedroom - Dedicated
168 2 Bedroom - Lock-off
16 Grand Villas - 2 story

[SuzanneSLO]

Excellent post! But I am curious where you saw the comment that all dedicated studios are 316 sq ft.

The disclosure document I got from the California Dept of RE said that dedicated studios would be 316 sf. However, it is possible (and maybe even likely) that 316 is the minimum size and some (many??) will be larger.

As to the "oddly shaped" value rooms, these could be the result of dividing up the existing deluxe rooms that are in hallways of 7 or 8 rooms. That said, the dedicated studios shown in Phase 41A inthe Zebra Trail sure don't seem to be "oddly shaped" unless you consider it enough that the floor plan is different than the model plans because the bathtub is not being moved from its current location.

Even if none of the Zebra and Kudu Trails have value studios, the chance of a good view from a studio will be better than from a 2 BR simply because there are no dedicated studios overlooking the parking lot. Of course, that difference is slight rather than significant.

I seem to remember that the 1st phase opening in Sept will be on the Zebra Trail. If this is correct and some are able to book value rooms for that time frame, we should have our answer.

-- Suzanne

[LisaS]

The disclosure document I got from the California Dept of RE said that dedicated studios would be 316 sf. However, it is possible (and maybe even likely) that 316 is the minimum size and some (many??) will be larger.I think your theory is correct -- 316 sq ft is the minimum size. DVC lists the value studios as 316 sq ft and the other studios in Jambo House as 365 sq ft and the studios in Kidani Village as 366 sq ft.

As to the "oddly shaped" value rooms, these could be the result of dividing up the existing deluxe rooms that are in hallways of 7 or 8 rooms. That said, the dedicated studios shown in Phase 41A inthe Zebra Trail sure don't seem to be "oddly shaped" unless you consider it enough that the floor plan is different than the model plans because the bathtub is not being moved from its current location.I agree. The dedicated studios shown in Unit 41A and Unit 24 look the same as the lockoffs. We haven't yet seen a floor plan for one of the smaller studios, but the only difference should be that the living area will be about 4 feet shorter.

Even if none of the Zebra and Kudu Trails have value studios, the chance of a good view from a studio will be better than from a 2 BR simply because there are no dedicated studios overlooking the parking lot. Of course, that difference is slight rather than significant.I agree. There will be a lot of studios in Jambo House compared to the number of 2BR lockoffs.

I seem to remember that the 1st phase opening in Sept will be on the Zebra Trail. If this is correct and some are able to book value rooms for that time frame, we should have our answer.Yes, we should have our answer in just over a month. It is interesting that if you use the points calculator on the members' website, the only AKV accommodations that you can select are:
Studio Accommodation - Savanna View
One Bedroom Villa - Savanna View
Two Bedroom Villa - Savanna View
Grand Villa

The problem is, one of the studios in Unit 41A and the 2 2BR lockoffs in Unit 36 should be listed as Standard View since they face the pool area. But it is interesting that there are no Value accommodations listed.

It sure would be easier if they would just publish this info! But in the meantime, thank you Suzanne and Lisareniff for the work you both have put into figuring out the number and type of villas that will be available.

[pilferk]

right - the value is basically the same but 316 sq ft instead of 365 sq ft.

while i've heard that over half of the standard rooms have some sort of savannah view (not guaranteed of course), i think you can expect none of the value rooms to have a savannah view. much more likely parking lot or dumpster views.

There are SOME "value" rooms that will have savannah views, but not very many. Most will have, as you suggest, parking lot views, and a few others will have pool views.

[Dean]

There are SOME "value" rooms that will have savannah views, but not very many. Most will have, as you suggest, parking lot views, and a few others will have pool views.Actually from reports most will have a savannah view, somewhere between around 60 to 80%.

[Pennyguy23]

Just book marking this great info. :thumbsup2

[TLPL]

I just found this thread that started before they actually selling AKV. Does anyone has any update on this topic? Especially about % break down of different views for Value rooms.

[todd222222]

I just found this thread that started before they actually selling AKV. Does anyone has any update on this topic? Especially about % break down of different views for Value rooms.


I also would like to know if the details in this thread have turned out to be true. I have a value studio booked for January and wonder what my chances of getting a savannah view are.

Thanks!

[LisaS]

For an update on the number of Value villas, check out post #29 on this thread (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1561693&page=2).