ALK Jambo House opening?

[KSR0330]

Are there any ideas of when Jambo House may be reopening? I’m booked for a Feb trip at Kidani but reconsidering based on the Jambo Houses closure. Not sure if I’d rather wait to be able to take advantage of its awesome gift shop and quick service. Thanks!

 

[Brett Wyman]

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would expect Jambo to be the last or nearly the last Deluxe resort to reopen. Right now, BWI, BC, WL (hotel) and Jambo are all closed, as well as Poly which is in refurb until summer.

Jambo is by far the largest of the 4 that could reopen, and it would be far easier to ramp up, let alone fill, any of the others, with WL being probably the easiest because of the staffing already in place for CCV and BRV.

 

[kimmar067]

Jambo House is currently open (or, at least it was, end of July) but it is like a ghost town.

 

[chalee94]

Only the DVC part of Jambo House is open- 5th floor only.

(Handful of villas on 6th floor also, sure.)

But that's why it's a ghost town.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

I also expect Jambo to be the last one to open. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was closed until next fall. AKV Is my DVC home, but we booked beach club for April because I want more amenities during our trip.

 

[RoseGold]

Jambo is a bussing nightmare. It will open after WL, for sure, and that's a steep task in itself.

 

[KSR0330]

Thanks, everyone. I think I'll save AKL for a later trip!

 

[buckeye130]

I don't understand why Jambo would be last to open? I would love to understand the thoughts why. If the 5th floor is open, why not further open? I admit I'm biased because I absolutely love Jambo, and hoping to revisit in early 2021

 

[Dave006]

If the 5th floor is open, why not further open?

Just the DVC units in Jambo House are open and have been since last June. They are required to be open as part of the DVC contract. Hotel rooms are private Disney property so they have compete control over when to open.

Disney simply does not need the additional inventory due to lower guest counts at the resorts. Until travel greatly recovers many resorts will remain shuttered or limited.

Next scheduled opening is All Stars Movies in Feb. 2021 so let's see how that goes.

Dave

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I don't understand why Jambo would be last to open? I would love to understand the thoughts why. If the 5th floor is open, why not further open? I admit I'm biased because I absolutely love Jambo, and hoping to revisit in early 2021

Of the Deluxe resorts not yet reopened, only Poly has an open date. Poly is taking bookings in July 2021 onward. Of the others - Beach Club, Boardwalk Inn, Wilderness Lodge, Jambo - Jambo is the largest by about double, and will require the greatest increase in staffing. Of the listed without open dates, Wilderness Lodge is actually smallest and requires the least operating staff increase, as both CCV and BRV are open and thus the desk is near full staff, housekeeping is fairly robust, more of the dining is open, transport is at high capacity.

Jambo is 930 units.
Beach Club is 583.
BWI is 378.
Wilderness Lodge is 430 units.

While Kidani is fully operational as DVC, it just doesn't balance out the hotel units the same way you see WL, BWI and BC balance out with their DVCs. Any of the three is a gentler add to inventory that uses more already-recalled staff.

Add in the plan to have Poly operational, and it will take a real boom in demand to make Jambo next in line, or even in line before at least an Epcot-area offering.

 

[LyssaLovesStitch]

We’re booked for AKL - Jambo for the latter part of January. Good news is we’ve stayed there before - bad news is I’m not looking forward to the lack of amenities. I could swap our reservation, but don’t want to spend additional points. Any suggestions on making the best of it?

 

[chalee94]

Enjoy the animals (unless it is cold and they are hiding in the barn). Probably too cold to hit the pools, but you might get a fluke warm day. There is a Publix around the corner and several offsite dining options down on 192...but dining is the main thing that you will have to adjust for, whether that is offsite options or Disney Springs or whatever...