Animal Kingdom Lodge Savannah questions

[surgefest]

I am somewhat familiar with the resort but just have a few questions about the savannah's. Does anyone have or know of a list of animals that are in each savannah? Also i had thought i read that there is a smaller section of the kidani village savannah beyond the pool that is a little different. It has Okapi's and some different animals than the rest of the savannah? Is this accurate? Any info would be great, also if you stayed and had savannah view i'd love to know where your room was located (general description) and how you found the view to be. Thanks so much!

 

[disneynutz]

IMO the sunset savanna is where Disney spends the money to attract the most animals. The savanna by the Kidani pool, Pembe, was a bust when we have stayed there.



Bill

 

[DenLo]

We have stayed on the Sunset and Pembe savanna at Kidani Village. If you think it is only a savanna view if you have giraffes and zebras then you need to request a room on the Sunset Savanna. The Pembe savanna has Okapis, multiple types of antelopes, birds, Ankole Cattle (the ones with the giant horns), sometimes the Red River Hogs. The zebras don't get along with many animals so they leave them on Sunset. The Arusha savanna at Jambo House only also has giraffes, zebras, some antelopes, and birds. The Uzima Savanna at Jambo House has giraffes, Somali wild asses, and Elands (antelopes).

It really varies because the keepers move animals around with the exception of the Okapi which stays on Pembe and the giraffes and zebra which stay on Sunset and the rarest animal at AKV, the Somali Wild Asses stay on Uzima. And all of the animals go in for daily health inspections so you might not find any animals on your area of the savanna from early morning until noon. Sometimes it's just because the animals are used to getting their daily check up and move to be near the barns which are located around the edges of the savannas. If your villa has a view of the barn gates, then you might see animals coming and going from there most of the morning. The keepers try to entice the animals to areas by placing feeders on trees and in unusual spots to keep them interested, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. On hot days the animals will hang out under the trees in the shade so if your room is high up you might not see that there are animals right outside your balcony.

Here is a list of animals I found on the AllEars website of the animals at the savannas around Jambo House which includes the sunset savanna:

Anikole Cattle, Bongo, Blesbok, Eland, Grant's Zebra, Greater Kudu, Impala, Reticulated Giraffe, Thomson's Gazelle, Waterbuck, Red River Hogs, and White-Bearded Wildebeest.

Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Blue Crane, East African Crowned Crane, Greater Flamingo, Marabou Stork, Ostrich, Pink-Backed Pelican, and Ruppel's Griffon Vulture.

Except for the giraffes and zebras any all can be on Pembe as well.

 

[Simba's Mom]

IMO the sunset savanna is where Disney spends the money to attract the most animals. The savanna by the Kidani pool, Pembe, was a bust when we have stayed there.



Bill

I agree with you, but apparently, the folks at Kidani were very surprised. At the Lunch with the Animal Keeper, the Animal Keeper told us that since Kidani was DVC, they were dealing with more repeat guests. Rather than having the "same old giraffes and zebras" they thought DVC members would be impressed with the apparently rare Okapi they chose for the Pembe savannah. What a surprise when the DVC members grumbled they wanted to see the giraffes. The animal keeper implied a possible change.

 

[TwizzleMouse]

I am somewhat familiar with the resort but just have a few questions about the savannah's. Does anyone have or know of a list of animals that are in each savannah? Also i had thought i read that there is a smaller section of the kidani village savannah beyond the pool that is a little different. It has Okapi's and some different animals than the rest of the savannah? Is this accurate? Any info would be great, also if you stayed and had savannah view i'd love to know where your room was located (general description) and how you found the view to be. Thanks so much!

DBF and I stayed there this past Sept. We were located on the Sunset Savanna in the Pumbaa section of Kidani. I have to say that while the animal view was worth it, walking forever and a day to get anywhere back and forth from our room was maddening (and very tiring after walking the parks all day). The smaller savanna you mentioned is the Pembe and while there were some cool animals like the Okapi's etc on it, I personally will only request the Sunset Savannah from here on out because I love the family of 5 giraffes that reside there. There is a list in every savannah room with the animals listed on it that you may see on the savannas. You may or may not see all of them even though some of them move around. I'm including a link where there is a generalized list of animals you may see and then there are two links w/in it that actually show a scanned copy of the animal guide provided in the AKV rooms http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/Resorts/aklodge/animals.htm

I'm also including a few photos from our stay there last fall from our balcony. Enjoy! Kidani is my favorite resort!

 

[Anal Annie]

We don't normally spring for a savanna view but did for this summer. I requested the Arusha savanna at Jambo House (not fans of Kidani). We had a savanna view on the Uzima savanna WAAAY back at AKL pre-DVC and it was HORRIBLE which is why we never did one ever again. Now that we're DVC we prefer to spread our points out as far as possible so usually book std views. But this was our only trip this year and is right before DS heads off to college (he picked AKV as his fav resort) and we had the spare points so we splurged for a change. We had one of the reclassified standard view studios on the sunset savanna in January of last year - we didn't see a LOT of animals but enough that it was cool since we only paid the std. view points. I thought it was as good as when we spent a fortune on that deluxe hotel room on Uzima from our first trip. But I was not overly impressed with the sunset savanna so that's why I requested the Arusha this time. Crossing my fingers - giraffe & zebras suit us and are what I'm hoping to be in the majority of our view. Down to about 5 weeks so I'm getting psyched...

 

[TwizzleMouse]

We don't normally spring for a savanna view but did for this summer. I requested the Arusha savanna at Jambo House (not fans of Kidani). We had a savanna view on the Uzima savanna WAAAY back at AKL pre-DVC and it was HORRIBLE which is why we never did one ever again. Now that we're DVC we prefer to spread our points out as far as possible so usually book std views. But this was our only trip this year and is right before DS heads off to college (he picked AKV as his fav resort) and we had the spare points so we splurged for a change. We had one of the reclassified standard view studios on the sunset savanna in January of last year - we didn't see a LOT of animals but enough that it was cool since we only paid the std. view points. I thought it was as good as when we spent a fortune on that deluxe hotel room on Uzima from our first trip. But I was not overly impressed with the sunset savanna so that's why I requested the Arusha this time. Crossing my fingers - giraffe & zebras suit us and are what I'm hoping to be in the majority of our view. Down to about 5 weeks so I'm getting psyched...

That's great and all but just know that there's only two giraffes at the Jambo House on their savanna compared to 5 of them and a load of zebras at Kidani on the Sunset savanna, just as long as you know that and are prepared going in you won't set yourself up for disappointment.

 

[Anal Annie]

That's great and all but just know that there's only two giraffes at the Jambo House on their savanna compared to 5 of them and a load of zebras at Kidani on the Sunset savanna, just as long as you know that and are prepared going in you won't set yourself up for disappointment.

Well since we don't like Kidani AT ALL that sort of settles that bit - we much prefer Jambo. I just didn't want to end up in the same area of the Sunset savanna that we were in that time last January. That view was good for a std. view but I wouldn't want to have wasted the extra points on it if we'd have booked savanna view. Do you follow that? I guess I didn't want to request Sunset and still be disappointed 'cuz we could very well end up with the same blah view. I thought Arusha was a safer bet.

 

[TwizzleMouse]

Well since we don't like Kidani AT ALL that sort of settles that bit - we much prefer Jambo. I just didn't want to end up in the same area of the Sunset savanna that we were in that time last January. That view was good for a std. view but I wouldn't want to have wasted the extra points on it if we'd have booked savanna view. Do you follow that? I guess I didn't want to request Sunset and still be disappointed 'cuz we could very well end up with the same blah view. I thought Arusha was a safer bet.

I got you the first time around. I never said you were or HAD to stay at Kidani. I honestly could care less, it's more DVC room avail for me when I go. All I was stating was that there are less giraffes/zebras at Arusha at Jambo and wanted to point THAT out to you, so that you knew ahead of time and didn't come back here and complain that you were disappointed post trip because you didn't get to see what you wanted. That was all I was saying. I never told you to go to Kidani or ever stay there again.

 

[Anal Annie]

I got you the first time around. I never said you were or HAD to stay at Kidani. I honestly could care less, it's more DVC room avail for me when I go. All I was stating was that there are less giraffes/zebras at Arusha at Jambo and wanted to point THAT out to you, so that you knew ahead of time and didn't come back here and complain that you were disappointed post trip because you didn't get to see what you wanted. That was all I was saying. I never told you to go to Kidani or ever stay there again.

The more likely scenario will be that if we're disappointed is that we'll confirm what we already thought from previous stays - the savanna views are simply NOT worth the extra points and we'll just never waste points booking one again. It would be a shame that they can't give a decent savanna view at Jambo House tho. But we've suspected all along that all savanna views are not created equally. Guess we'll see in a few weeks.

 

[TwizzleMouse]

The more likely scenario will be that if we're disappointed is that we'll confirm what we already thought from previous stays - the savanna views are simply NOT worth the extra points and we'll just never waste points booking one again. It would be a shame that they can't give a decent savanna view at Jambo House tho. But we've suspected all along that all savanna views are not created equally. Guess we'll see in a few weeks.

Guess you will. And if you hate them, then that's more available for people like me that love and appreciate them and also understand that all the animals are not out all of the time, they are free to wander a large area and they undergo checks on a daily or weekly basis which doesn't allow them to constantly be out on the hotel savanna. Anyway, enjoy.

 

[supersnoop]

The more likely scenario will be that if we're disappointed is that we'll confirm what we already thought from previous stays - the savanna views are simply NOT worth the extra points and we'll just never waste points booking one again. It would be a shame that they can't give a decent savanna view at Jambo House tho. But we've suspected all along that all savanna views are not created equally. Guess we'll see in a few weeks.

That's the thing, though. The savanna view rooms are Kidani are absolutely worth it. I don't think there are any reclassified rooms on Sunset; only on Pembe. Sunset savanna at Kidani is amazing. What do you have against Kidani? The pool is better and the restaurant is amazing, and bus transport is frequent and has video display boards with times for the next bus. The only reason I'd prefer Jambo is if I needed to frequent the counter-service restaurant.

 

[southerngirl528]

We go to Kidani quite a bit as locals to eat at Sanaa and to visit friends of mine that work there. And I have used my DVC points for a GV for my brood at Kidani. It was FABULOUS and the variety of animals we saw from our GV and it's balcony were amazing! The giraffes practically slept right under our lanai!!

I don't get the whole fascination with Jambo. I mean, as Supersnoop said there is frequent (averaging every 8-10 minutes!) transportation between Jambo and Kidani. And any villa 1 bdrm and larger has that extra bathroom at Kidani, which Jambo does not. But wait before anyone blows a gasket, this is one thing I really LOVE about DVC! I tell brand new members or prospective members who ask me "which resort is 'best'?", that they could stay at every single DVC resort and I would bet their favorite would NOT be the same as mine. And isn't THAT a good thing, Martha Stewart?? If we all loved the same resort, no one could ever get a rez!

 

[coastalhh]

We go to Kidani quite a bit as locals to eat at Sanaa and to visit friends of mine that work there. And I have used my DVC points for a GV for my brood at Kidani. It was FABULOUS and the variety of animals we saw from our GV and it's balcony were amazing! The giraffes practically slept right under our lanai!!

I don't get the whole fascination with Jambo. I mean, as Supersnoop said there is frequent (averaging every 8-10 minutes!) transportation between Jambo and Kidani. And any villa 1 bdrm and larger has that extra bathroom at Kidani, which Jambo does not. But wait before anyone blows a gasket, this is one thing I really LOVE about DVC! I tell brand new members or prospective members who ask me "which resort is 'best'?", that they could stay at every single DVC resort and I would bet their favorite would NOT be the same as mine. And isn't THAT a good thing, Martha Stewart?? If we all loved the same resort, no one could ever get a rez!

The thing with Jambo for us is the lobby We love it. It has that great lodge feel. It feels more "grand" we love the bar, jiko, boma and Mara. It just feels like it's a more complete resort with more options to us. We like kidani also but Jambo has that wow factor. Especially during Christmas with the big tree.

 

[southerngirl528]

AKL is gorgeous at Christmas, isn't it Coastalhh? And see, since you love Jambo and I prefer Kidani, I'm freeing up a room for ya!

 

[Anal Annie]

That's the thing, though. The savanna view rooms are Kidani are absolutely worth it. I don't think there are any reclassified rooms on Sunset; only on Pembe. Sunset savanna at Kidani is amazing. What do you have against Kidani? The pool is better and the restaurant is amazing, and bus transport is frequent and has video display boards with times for the next bus. The only reason I'd prefer Jambo is if I needed to frequent the counter-service restaurant.

Well, since you asked…..better is in the eye of the beholder.

We only use studios and we hated the studios at Kidani for multiple reasons. First, the kitchenette was like an afterthought. They are THE smallest kitchenette in the entire system (we've tried them ALL incl. Vero, HHI, VGC & Aulani - except for the 2 newest at VGF & the Poly). The frig and microwaves are kiddie sized. There isn't enough countertop area to even toast a bagel AND make a pot of coffee at the same time. Making breakfasts was soooo frustrating there. I pulled our Owners Locker over and used the top of it to put things becuz there was no room. I felt like I was camping. The sink in the kitchette is the size of a small bathroom basin. The coffee pot didn't even fit in it to be washed thoroughly. I really despised the kitchenettes there. I cursed every meal. Then there is the bathroom. Instead of the traditional split bath where the tub and toilet are together and the vanity area is out in the open so that 2 people can get ready at a time they put the vanity in the same room as the shower. So this encroaches on the privacy of whoever is trying to shower. You have to yell in to whoever is in the shower not to come out if you want to go in to use the sinks. Then when they're done you have to leave so they can get out. Dumb, dumb, dumb IMHO. We hated it. Then there is the schelp to the Mara. Sanaa is OK (the menu is a little on the small side for us and we'd appreciate a couple more options) but we prefer the Mara and Boma. We considered booking at Sanaa for our trip this summer but after studying the menus available online it looked like we'd all end up ordering Tandoori Chicken becuz nothing else appealed to us. That was a little discouraging because what if we don't FEEL LIKE Tandoori Chicken on the night we go. (And yes, we've been before and it was good, it just didn't appeal this time.) Sooo, we'll pass. We absolutely love Boma but aren't eating there either this trip bcuz Disney has overpriced all of their buffets. We'll likely skip all buffets from now on. Finally, we were also very underwhelmed with the lobby and store at Kidani. I found myself schlepping over to the store at Jambo for things. The pool area was just OK to us too. We were pretty far away from it the time we stayed there and it was in March so it was on the cool side - we pretty much spent the whole time in the hot tub. Our DS is 18 so the splash play area was not a huge draw for us either.

Jambo House feels much more grand when you walk in and I feel most of our gripes about Kidani are valid. It really mostly boils down to our dislike of the studio layouts - they do not suit us. If that's where we have to live for a week then we need to have it be functional and these were not. Don't tell me to book a 1-bedroom. We are not going to book 1-bedrooms as we don't have that many points. We bought with the intention of being able to plan 2 weeks a year in studios. We are just a family of 3 and a 1-bedroom still doesn't get our DS a real bed - he'd still have to sleep on a pullout sofa. They are not worth the extra points for us if he still doesn't get a real bed.

 

[bochnikm]

We have stayed on the Sunset and Pembe savanna at Kidani Village. If you think it is only a savanna view if you have giraffes and zebras then you need to request a room on the Sunset Savanna. The Pembe savanna has Okapis, multiple types of antelopes, birds, Ankole Cattle (the ones with the giant horns), sometimes the Red River Hogs. The zebras don't get along with many animals so they leave them on Sunset. The Arusha savanna at Jambo House only also has giraffes, zebras, some antelopes, and birds. The Uzima Savanna at Jambo House has giraffes, Somali wild asses, and Elands (antelopes).

It really varies because the keepers move animals around with the exception of the Okapi which stays on Pembe and the giraffes and zebra which stay on Sunset and the rarest animal at AKV, the Somali Wild Asses stay on Uzima. And all of the animals go in for daily health inspections so you might not find any animals on your area of the savanna from early morning until noon. Sometimes it's just because the animals are used to getting their daily check up and move to be near the barns which are located around the edges of the savannas. If your villa has a view of the barn gates, then you might see animals coming and going from there most of the morning. The keepers try to entice the animals to areas by placing feeders on trees and in unusual spots to keep them interested, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. On hot days the animals will hang out under the trees in the shade so if your room is high up you might not see that there are animals right outside your balcony.

Here is a list of animals I found on the AllEars website of the animals at the savannas around Jambo House which includes the sunset savanna:

Anikole Cattle, Bongo, Blesbok, Eland, Grant's Zebra, Greater Kudu, Impala, Reticulated Giraffe, Thomson's Gazelle, Waterbuck, Red River Hogs, and White-Bearded Wildebeest.

Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Blue Crane, East African Crowned Crane, Greater Flamingo, Marabou Stork, Ostrich, Pink-Backed Pelican, and Ruppel's Griffon Vulture.

Except for the giraffes and zebras any all can be on Pembe as well.

Thanks for this info. We will be staying at AKL for the first time in September. My wife loves giraffes.

 

[TwizzleMouse]

I'm not sure who twisted your panties into a knot over this Kidani thing or why you decided to hijack this thread to berate me over it. We're NOT staying there. Who said anything about being forced to stay there. Supersnoop asked me why I didn't like Kidani and I gave our reasons why and I think they're valid - but I was addressing Supersnoop, not you. So we're NOT staying at your beloved Kidani. We're staying at Jambo House because we like the kitchenette size and the layout of the studios better over there (there are other things we use the bathroom vanity for besides washing hands) plus they have the amenities we like (Mara, larger store etc) (and YES, we knew we could take a bus to go between the 2 buildings - but why bother doing that if we could just stay where we prefer in the future). Not sure what your fathers saying has to do with the price of eggs either but so whatever. I can't even begin to think what you're implying with that one. BUT…..

I agree with one thing - let's just LET IT REST. You stay at Kidani and we'll bunk at Jambo. Enough said. Please drop it.

It's funny that the one that has her panties in the bunch is the one accusing another of such. Also, I never said you were EVER staying at Kidani. You were the one that keeps bringing up your total hate for it and bashing it every chance you get and berating several of us over it, but you don't seem to see it that way and that's probably why you have the odd screen name that you do. Anyway, you are the type I just love to hit ignore on, so I will be doing so. Have fun at your lovely Jambo.

 

[southerngirl528]

Said it before, I'll say it again…..one thing I really love about DVC is that every resort has its pros/cons, and even it's own personality! Some folks adore BWV, me? Not so much. But for folks that DO love BWV, they won't have to worry about this long time owner vying for their favorite resort! I still love OKW. Some folks loathe it. Doesn't bother me, though I don't really get it. That's the beauty of having so many varied resorts to choose from! I LOVE Kidani but I don't stay in studios. I've seen every single studio at every single resort except HHI and they pretty much have the same amenities, though layouts vary. Remember the BLT debacle with the kitchenettes when it first opened? They had to redo every one of 'em!

Bottom line….stay where YOU love.

 

[ebonyeyes]

Bottom line….stay where YOU love.

I so agree!! There is something out there to suit everyones fancy better than the other. Some are not our favorites but I don't bash or belittle others because it is theirs. It's all about having a magical time to us and that is why we choose to stay where we are happy!