AKL Villa 1night to attach to front end of an II exchange- what to choose?

[CarolynFH]

maybe if I book a 1BR savanna view with DVC points we could ask for them to just leave us in that villa for the II stay.

I hang out on TUG too and follow the II deposits there. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you got a Kidani savanna view. So I’d book the same for your 1 night, and when you get the II confirmation, call MS to get the Disney confirmation number and ask them to put a “continuing stay” notification on both reservation numbers. That’s the standard note telling the room assigners that you want to stay in the same villa. That request has a high likelihood of being filled, since they’d like to keep you in the same villa to save on housekeeping.

Since we like Jambo, would it make sense to book a 1BR savanna view and request Sunset savanna near Zazu elevator (note, edited to clarify: the Zazu elevator is in Kidani, so what I am talking about here is booking a KIDANI unit but requesting a location that per resort maps is closer to Jambo)? I know that’s the closest elevator to Jambo. We’d probably eat at Boma and Jiko, don’t care about Mara, would possibly want to use Jambo pool. Is Jambo close enough to the Zazu side of Kidani for this to be practical?

Yes, requesting near Zazu elevator makes sense if you want the shortest walk from Kidani to Jambo. The walk from front door to front door is 10-15 minutes depending on how fast you walk, so from the Zazu elevator would be much shorter. There’s also a shuttle that runs from front door to front door pretty much continuously. That would be an option if the weather is bad.

For MK, I remember it being a PIA to drive there, the parking is at TTC rather than at the park. So the other though is to book at a resort with easy transportation to MK. We love Wilderness Lodge and the Polynesian, like the Grand Floridian, and are ok with Bay Lake. If we were staying a week, WL would be our choice. But for a commando stay like I’m considering, would Bay Lake be the obvious choice?

I guess BLT is obvious, but I like WL, even CCV, much better, especially if booking a studio. The BLT studios are just too tiny — DH and I spent one night in one and it was enough. Did you know there’s now a walkway from Poly, through GF, to the MK? Obviously it’s a longer walk to MK than from BLT, but it’s something to consider if you love Poly.

 

[heathpack]

Worth mentioning that point value aside, Easter is not a hard booking at WDW campus.

If they were depositing first two weeks December, that'd be more a surprise.

Right, but the argument that I was a fool to think I might get a savanna view room was that people pay more points to get a savanna view villa vs a standard, so of course DVC deposits only standard view villas into II.

But folks also pay more points to go Easter week, and that obviously didn’t stop DVC from depositing high-point-value Easter weeks into II.

The reason the first two weeks of Dec are in high demand for DVC owners is because those weeks are a points bargain. By the logic you are using now, you’d actually be arguing that standard view villas would be *harder* to get in II because they are in demand for owners, on account of them also being a points bargain.

And honestly none of this is what I originally posted about anyway.

 

[heathpack]

My TUG friend just told me they were in villa 7814, which appears to be a true savannah view in a pretty optimal location.

 

[heathpack]

I hang out on TUG too and follow the II deposits there. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you got a Kidani savanna view. So I’d book the same for your 1 night, and when you get the II confirmation, call MS to get the Disney confirmation number and ask them to put a “continuing stay” notification on both reservation numbers. That’s the standard note telling the room assigners that you want to stay in the same villa. That request has a high likelihood of being filled, since they’d like to keep you in the same villa to save on housekeeping.


Yes, requesting near Zazu elevator makes sense if you want the shortest walk from Kidani to Jambo. The walk from front door to front door is 10-15 minutes depending on how fast you walk, so from the Zazu elevator would be much shorter. There’s also a shuttle that runs from front door to front door pretty much continuously. That would be an option if the weather is bad.


I guess BLT is obvious, but I like WL, even CCV, much better, especially if booking a studio. The BLT studios are just too tiny — DH and I spent one night in one and it was enough. Did you know there’s now a walkway from Poly, through GF, to the MK? Obviously it’s a longer walk to MK than from BLT, but it’s something to consider if you love Poly.

thanks for such a helpful reply! I am torn between booking night 1 at Kidani vs near Magic Kingdom. I’d probably go for Kidani though because a nice relaxing stay is really what we’re looking for!

 

[heathpack]

DVC will tell you the kind of room you booked once it shows up in their system. I guess I’m assuming as that’s how it was always done with RCI. But you shouldn’t have to wait until you show up to find out your room type. I’m also on TUG and haven’t followed as closely recently with the switch to II, but the pattern with RCI for AKV was mostly 1-bedrooms savannah at Kidani. I had one myself in Jan 2022 (edit - sorry typo, it was 22 not 21). A real one as confirmed by DVC when I called in to get my reservation info. I have pictures too if anyone is skeptical. And it wasn’t an upgrade. It was what DVC put into RCI and what my exchange was for. Who knows if this will continue with II. But call DVC to find out.

Thanks for this helpful reply based on actual experience with exchanging into Kidani

 

[RoseGold]

Right, but the argument that I was a fool to think I might get a savanna view room was that people pay more points to get a savanna view villa vs a standard, so of course DVC deposits only standard view villas into II.

You don't seem to know what you have booked. Perhaps you should start by figuring that out.

There are only two choices. Standard or savanna view. They are different rooms.

 

[heathpack]

You don't seem to know what you have booked. Perhaps you should start by figuring that out.

There are only two choices. Standard or savanna view. They are different rooms.

Correct. I have been well aware all along that standard and savanna view rooms are different. I believe all of my posts have indicated such. But thanks for the friendly reminder!

There is no way to determine what type of villa I’ve exchanged into from the II confirmation. What I learned upthread is that I can call MS and they will tell me. That information was conveyed by one of the helpful upstream posters who has first hand experience with DVC exchanges. Its amazing what you can learn from other people’s experiences. Did you note the upstream poster who mentioned that I could call? That was a really useful info! Now I actually have a way of finding out what was deposited, rather than assuming it’s a standard view. How cool is that?

 

[heathpack]

I called member services today. My II exchange was booked 11/27. Member services does not have it yet. This is common with exchanges in general- frequently it takes a week or so for the exchange company gets the info to the resort.

So I’ll have to call next week. I don’t want to just grab something with my VCG points until I know for sure what I’m booking in WDW because my VGC points are all tied up now with existing Grand Californian reservations which are irreplaceable once I cancel. If I book a 1BR savanna view at Kidani, that will require cancelling a VGC stay. If I book a studio somewhere else, I have a small amt of Hilton Head points that would likely be enough to cover that reservation.

So I wait.

 

[heathpack]

Finally had time to call DVC Member Services. Our exchange is into a SAVANNA VIEW!

 

[CarolynFH]

Finally had time to call DVC Member Services. Our exchange is into a SAVANAH VIEW!

Woohoo! Did you request to be near the Zazu elevator?

 

[heathpack]

Woohoo! Did you request to be near the Zazu elevator?

Totally forgot!

 

[CarolynFH]

Totally forgot!

Call back! I don't know whether they pay attention to location requests from owners who are exchanging in - our July SSR RCI exchange wasn't where I requested - but it doesn't hurt to ask, since that would be more convenient for you to walk to and from Jambo. Almost all Kidani savanna view villas look at the Sunset savanna, most guests request "near lobby," so a request to be near a specific elevator, especially one on the far end of the building, shouldn't be difficult for them.

 

[Wells Larsen]

Finally had time to call DVC Member Services. Our exchange is into a SAVANNA VIEW!

I love this!
Congrats and have a great trip!!

 

[DisnutDave]

Congrats on the Savanna View, you will love it!
If you plan on visiting MK you can’t go wrong with one night at BLT. It’s a 10 minute walk. I think it’s even a bit less of walk then Kadani to Jambo.
Enjoy your stay!