AKL LITE unofficial FAQ thread#10 - I believe that's known as a 'Jambo Dozen'

[staffieri]

Has anyone done online check in for AKL? What are the pros/cons of doing this? Does it not feel so welcoming? Is it better not to and feel more taken care of by checking in at the resort. This will be our first time. Were renting DVC and staying in a studio. Would love a view up grade. Also, hoping to get our one day cleaning change to a different day.

 

[stephensmum]

Did you plug in the standard view rooms at Touring Plans resort page? That should help you see what options there are at AKL. I'm not sure there are any ground level rooms there. If you mean floor 1, since that is where the animals are and they don't really want the guests hanging out with them

The lobby is on floor 3. Is that what you mean by ground floor?

ETA - looked at the listing and it shows 7 rooms that are standard/king w/day bed. Was that a bookable category at Hotels.com? Or just a requested category?

Hi, thanks for the reply. I meant 1st floor, we say ground here in the uk. My friend said it was the high level floors that had canopies blocking any view. I booked king bed with daybed through hotels.com, you had a choice of that or 2 double beds.
How Do I find the 7 rooms? Oh, found them, if I get the king & daybed it looks like a good room

 

[kimmar067]

Has anyone done online check in for AKL? What are the pros/cons of doing this? Does it not feel so welcoming? Is it better not to and feel more taken care of by checking in at the resort. This will be our first time. Were renting DVC and staying in a studio. Would love a view up grade. Also, hoping to get our one day cleaning change to a different day.

I'm not 100% sure about this, but if you are renting points, I don't think you can get an ugrade....

 

[kimmar067]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I meant 1st floor, we say ground here in the uk. My friend said it was the high level floors that had canopies blocking any view. I booked king bed with daybed through hotels.com, you had a choice of that or 2 double beds.
How Do I find the 7 rooms?

The only possible problems with views might be on the 6th floor [of Jambo House] , so I wouldn't worry too much about a blocked view...

 

[stephensmum]

The only possible problems with views might be on the 6th floor [of Jambo House] , so I wouldn't worry too much about a blocked view...

Thank you

 

[DizDaD7]

Has anyone done online check in for AKL? What are the pros/cons of doing this? Does it not feel so welcoming? Is it better not to and feel more taken care of by checking in at the resort. This will be our first time. Were renting DVC and staying in a studio. Would love a view up grade. Also, hoping to get our one day cleaning change to a different day.

I'm not so sure that this can happen. I believe it's on the 4 th day, regardless.
Or maybe that's the day they change/ refill paper goods. It might be only on the 7th day...

 

[Mousemommy1]

Not necessarily. The Lobby itself has an Arusha view.

The floor would be where the difference comes in to play. Lobby is on 3rd floor.

The map found here really helped me picture the layout much better. If you key in your room parameters you can narrow down exactly where those rooms are located, which helps even more
http://touringplans.com/hotel_maps/disneys-animal-kingdom-lodge

Don't know if this works with their site or not. I put in close to lobby, 3 min or less and Arusha Queen beds and this is the location of some of the rooms that it shows (these are Kudu Trail)
http://touringplans.com/hotel_maps/...filters[sound]=any&date=2014-06-26&rooms=true

Very helpful! Thank you!

 

[staffieri]

Good to know about house keeping. Hoping to ask for them to come earlier. Were only there five days. To come on the fourth seems lame

OK Help!!

We rented point so have a Studio no view , I think Jumbo house. Is there any request I can make?
Do you guys have any suggestions?

 

[sndral]

Has anyone done online check in for AKL? What are the pros/cons of doing this? Does it not feel so welcoming? Is it better not to and feel more taken care of by checking in at the resort. This will be our first time. Were renting DVC and staying in a studio. Would love a view up grade. Also, hoping to get our one day cleaning change to a different day.

Good to know about house keeping. Hoping to ask for them to come earlier. Were only there five days. To come on the fourth seems lame

OK Help!!

We rented point so have a Studio no view , I think Jumbo house. Is there any request I can make?
Do you guys have any suggestions?

From what I have read, those staying on points are unlikely to get an upgraded view, indeed I've read that if you ask for one you risk having the owner charged for more points.
Here's a link regarding housekeeping if staying on DVC points - post 3 from DebandBill sets out the DVC rules from the member's site -
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3241629&highlight=dvc+housekeeping
Since you are staying less than 8 days you will not get any housekeeping, so they will not clean your room on day four. I believe they will do a trash and towel service on day 4. If you would like housekeeping you can pay for it @ $30 per day for a studio and you can choose the day you want.
Realize that all services associated w/ DVC including housekeeping are paid for from the maintenance fees that owners pay every year and owners prefer lower fees rather than higher fees that daily or more frequent housekeeping would cost, thus the ability for those who care to pay extra for it w/out upping everybody's fees.

 

[digiMom]

Has anyone done online check in for AKL? What are the pros/cons of doing this? Does it not feel so welcoming? Is it better not to and feel more taken care of by checking in at the resort. This will be our first time. Were renting DVC and staying in a studio. Would love a view up grade. Also, hoping to get our one day cleaning change to a different day.

Hi, I'm renting DVC points for the first time, too. We're staying in a standard studio and doing online checkin. I don't think there's many request options. And no upgrades. But, I heard a rumor that there are some partial savanna views that were reclassified as standard, so I'm trying for one of those.

If you want additional services or supplies, I think these are the charges:
Additional Full Cleaning Rates: studio – $30.00 for each day requested
Additional Trash & Towel Rates: studio – $15.00 for each day requested
Laundry soap (single load box) – $1.00
Towel pack – $6.00
Toiletries (bar soap, shampoo, etc) – $5.00
Coffee service – $3.00

Replaced as needed at no charge: facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towels, liquid dish soap, dishwasher detergent, trash bags and paper/plastic dinnerware.

 

[DizDaD7]

Good to know about house keeping. Hoping to ask for them to come earlier. Were only there five days. To come on the fourth seems lame

OK Help!!

We rented point so have a Studio no view , I think Jumbo house. Is there any request I can make?
Do you guys have any suggestions?

LoL I hope you don't mean Jumbo, as in The Big House...

So you have a standard studio, at Jambo house..Well if this is any consolation, we actually had a value room studio, and it was perfect spot.

It was Awesome...It was a pool view room #5014 on Giraffe trail

 

[disney meema]

I have to admit every time I see the thread title I think of jumbo lol

 

[kimmar067]

I have to admit every time I see the thread title I think of jumbo lol

.....well!
























[ ]

 

[DizDaD7]

I have to admit every time I see the thread title I think of jumbo lol

Hmmm, a Jumbo dozen, would be somewhere around 16, right?

 

[nadira36]

Hmmm, a Jumbo dozen, would be somewhere around 16, right?

My kind of dozen!

 

[disney meema]

Oh man I'm embarrassed sorry everyone ...AKL being an African theme reminds me of a song my daughter learned in kindergarten 30 years ago about an African elephant Jumbo. So Jambo just reminds me of her jumbo song (( hiding my head ))

 

[staffieri]

LoL I hope you don't mean Jumbo, as in The Big House...

So you have a standard studio, at Jambo house..Well if this is any consolation, we actually had a value room studio, and it was perfect spot.

It was Awesome...It was a pool view room #5014 on Giraffe trail

My bad. Silly.

Yes we will be in a Studio standard view. A pool view would be supper. Does anyone know what these unit view are normally? We are going last week of August. Is there any good request?

 

[RachelTori]

My bad. Silly.

Yes we will be in a Studio standard view. A pool view would be super. Does anyone know what these unit view are normally? We are going last week of August. Is there any good request?

A Jambo (or Jumbo! ) DVC Studio "Standard" view is way different than an AKL Resort "Standard" view!

Studio Standard views (at Jambo; not Kidani) are pool view or reclassified savannah views (views that didn't quite warrant the points for a true Savannah view! )

I doubt you would be assigned a room on either Giraffe or Ostrich Trail as those are the "Value" villas.

We have been in 5210 & 5214 - Standard Studios which are on Kudu Trail in the first pod off the lobby. Those rooms face Sunset Savannah and there will often be an animal or 2 within easy view!

5406 is one of the villas directly off the lobby: the door is at the end of the suspension bridge; the room has a pool view. We LOVED that room!

I'd request "near lobby" but that's just my personal preference!




I also took the liberty of correcting something within your quote. I do think you meant "super", not supper!

 

[hmillerbarilla]

I posted this under the DVC threads, but thought I'd ask here as well.

AKV kitchens and tubs
Quick question for you AKV experts:

Are the Jambo and Kidani Kitchens different?

I've seen pics of the Jambo Value Kitchens along the wall in an L shape, and wondered if all Jambo kitchens are like that, even in Standard 1bds. Are only Kidani's kitchens set up differently with the counter?

Do standard Jambo 1 bds have the separate jacuzzi? Or still have the shower/tub combo?

Help!

TIA!

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

So reading through this thread I saw a post about using touringplans website to look at rooms, and wow! A lot of the standard view rooms have much nicer views than I would have imagined! Granted, I'm happy with a big old tree to look at or a nice bush, but I really thought for some reason every standard view room would have nothing but pavement. I'm even more excited and hopeful now. Unfortunately Savannah view was out of my price range, but I am happy to just be able to have the opportunity to stay at AKL at all! 5 days!!!!