The Great, the Good, and the not so Ugly...

[mellvswdw1]

Hello fellow DVC'rs! DH and I just returned for a nine day 3 DVC resort stay. We chose to leave a day early to avoid Irene, but ended up getting an extra day with no travel worries. We utilized DME, and only had a 20 minute wait.

Our first night we had a 1BR Villa at WL. We were tired when we arrived at 3pm and our room was ready. We had groceries delivered from We Go Shop and they did a great job. The room was clean and tidy, and in good shape. Nothing bad or dissapointing to report. We made dinner in the room that night and took a nice stroll around the resort. This is one of our favorite things to do, just decompress and have a glass of wine at the Territory Lounge. Unfortunately, there was too much wind for the Water Parade.

We checked out the next morning at 10 and moved over to AKV in the Jambo House. We took a taxi instead of having them deliver our luggage as we had bottles of wine, glass jars(salsa, etc.), and eggs. There was a long line, but I was finally able to check in and found out our room was ready! We went up to our 1BR Savannah room view.....and wow, what a room! There were a few maintanence items, but overall, nothing to complain, or stress out over. I will make one suggestion, and that is to close the master room door when doing laundry, because the washer and dryer are quite loud. We spent a lot of time at the pool, and really had a nice stay.

After three nights, we moved over to the BWV's to a 1BR Boardwalk View. Our room wasn't ready, so we went to lunch and toured Epcot for the day. I will say that after two spectacular room views, I was dissapointed with our view. We were in room 3009 which is in the "Crest O' the Wave" section. We were right next to the wall that juts out and not a good view of the "action" on the Boardwalk. After about ten minutes of pouting, I got over the view. I know that most people would "kill" to have the view we had for four nights. The room was in good condition, and we really enjoyed being able to see both Wishes, and Illuminations.

We had a fantastic trip, and I will say it was our most relaxing trip so far. We had wonderful meals at California Grill, and San Angel Inn. We were not impressed with the wait at 1900 Park Fare, and the food seemed to be worse then usual. However, the character interaction made up for the lack of food quality. There were several upset guests pretty much every time we went somewhere to eat, and I believe that Disney is WAY overbooking the ADR's. Luckily for us we do not have kids, so nobody was tired or cranky in our dining party....usually.

The parks were slower then what we are used to, so we were able to do everything we wanted without waiting longer then 20 minutes. We spent one day at Typhoon Lagoon. We had a BLAST!

We just got back last night, and are wanting to go back ASAP! We have been DVC members since 2006 and own at SSR, AKV, and BLT. We have stayed at all the properties. Out of all of our stays our personal favorites are OKW, and AKV Jambo House, and our least favorites areBLT and AKV Kidani. I am happy that Disney has so many properties for us to choose from, and we are blessed to be able to enjoy all of them!

 

[Sandisw]

Sounds like a fantastic trip! We got back just 3 weeks ago and I am already missing it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Was it your choice to have the 3 resort stay?

I'm glad you enjoyed your stay so much! 2 out of 3 rooms were ready early for you, that's good luck!

 

[mellvswdw1]

Originally we were only going to stay at AKV's and BWV's, but I got a little nervous about hurricane Irene, and called and got us an extra night at WLV's. I wish that we would have just stayed at AKV's as it was the most relaxing, but it was fun trying out different resorts!

 

[MinnieVanMom]

Thanks for the trip report. I am glad to read good news about the resorts and that your villas were good. I would like to try AKV but worry about being so far away from the parks. How was Typhoon Lagoon? Did you do the shark swim? We have never been but want to go next year.

Glad you had a good trip.

 

[crewmatt]

How was san angel? Just booked an ADR there for marathon weekend for after the marathon.

 

[DebbieB]

I had BWV 3009 on my last trip. My friend & I loved being close to the Dance Hall, we sat out until after 11:00 everynight listening to the music. I brought a router so we could use our laptops out there to catch up on e-mail.

 

[mellvswdw1]

MinnieVanMom- We LOVED AKV Jambo House, but we didn't like Kidani, again, this is just our personal opinion. Here is why we loved Jambo. It has a beautiful lobby, and when you walk in, we just take a deep sigh and relax. The music, the smells, the sights, truly out of this world. The pool area is so lush and so many nooks and cranies to sit in and relax. You have maybe a 15-20 minute ride to most parks, and maybe at most a 20 minute wait for the bus to arrive. I cannot even tell you how awesome we felt it was, but we were both sad to move to BWV's and we LOVE the boardwalk. We didn't like Kidani as we felt the fit and finish was not as nice as Jambo, and the "feel" was just not the same. Again, this is just our personal, and very humble opinions. We did do the shark swim, and we really enjoyed our day at Typhoon Lagoon. I rented a private Umbrella for $60 and I wouldn't do that again, as I would just arrive early and get a spot.

CrewMatt- San Angel was wonderful.....the atmosphere was wonderful, and the service was well above par. The food was great and very different then your "local americanized" Mexican Restaurants. I think you will really enjoy your meal!

 

[crewmatt]

if not i'll just head over to la cava . Where I plan to be before and after dinner anyway

 

[jade1]

Nice report. Any chance you can post the 3 views?

 

[mellvswdw1]

Sure...I need to download my pics, but we are going out to dinner now, so I will do that tomorrow.

 

[Cee]

Great report. Totally agree about Jambo House. Absolutely love it there. Thank you!

 

[mellvswdw1]

DebbieB- Sorry I missed your post earlier, I think we posted at the same time. We too enjoyed sitting out on the balcony, and like I said, after a few minutes I got over the wall. We loved being able to "stumble" back from Jellyrolls.

Cee- Thanks so much for posting....I will say that AKL is my personal fav, always has been, always will be!

 

[Lexxiefern]

Great report! I agree with Jambo over Kidani as well. We too have our favorites, but enjoy all of the resorts. Thanks for sharing!

 

[DizDays]

Great trip report! Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your great luck of having your first two rooms ready for you when you got there. Always a great way to start vacation. My DH and I will be at AKV Jambo in less than two weeks and we can't wait. We still don't know which we like better, Jambo or Kidani. They are both so different with their own unique pros and cons. We love the Jambo lobby and I totally agree with you about the deep sigh and relaxation as you just take it all in. Kidani's lobby just doesn't have that feel. But the rooms at Kidani are great. (And the underground parking is a huge plus, too.)

Hope you get back soon and glad you had a great time.

 

[moredisneyplease]

so much moving in such a short time...........but i guess thats the best way to experience multiple resorts in one shot! thanks for sharing!

 

[JJSWDW]

Great TR! Sounds like you had a blast. Last march we had room 3001 at BWV, right next to the Attic. At first we were a little concerned about the view and location but Illuminations was great and we got good at using the back entrance off the canal which out us right at our room. If the bus stopped at the swan first we'd just get off there and be back in our room quickly. Almost always a silver lining to any room you get. Our home resort is VWL but we like to stay at all of them. Though we are looking forward to getting back to VWL next trip!

Have fun!

 

[jade1]

Sure...I need to download my pics, but we are going out to dinner now, so I will do that tomorrow.