AKV Grand Villas worth it?

[ajpruett]

Going through process of adding on at AKV and was thinking about Thanksgiving or Christmas trip with family in 2012.

What do people think of GV's here? Are they worth the upgrade in points or do you feel like you sacrificed points (btw, master bath looks amazing!). Is SV worth upgrade?

How many GV's are at AKV? How do they compare to other resorts.

Thanks for the help!

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Check out DVCnews.com for tons of info on all the DVC resorts. It is such a great site. Tells how many of each type of villa, room views for some, maps, etc.

 

[mjc2003]

I am staying in one in November for 4 nights before switching over to BCV. We are staying in a Kidani GV, and I will tell you that the Jambo ones appear to be much nicer. They are one floor, have a much bigger dining room table, a pool table room, and better balconies. When I called both were available, and as a new member I was a bit confused as to which was which. I stressed that I needed ONE level, as we have my father in law coming a few weeks after knee surgery. The MS rep had them totally backwards, but I didn't know any better. He said, "You want Kidani then, it's all one floor and there is a pool table and bigger dining room table". So, I booked Kidani. A week later, I looked up the floor plans in the handbook and realized the MS error. I called back and sure enough, the Jambo one was no longer available. I explained to the MS rep that I had been misled, but what were they going to do....at that point, there was nothing available.
All that aside, we are excited. My Father in law is insisting that it won't be a problem.

I believe they are all Savanah View? Either way, if you look at the DVCnews.com site I believe there is a resort layout, and you can see where they are located.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The Jambo GV's are incredible. We were in one a few weeks ago and though the points are a lot I was not sorry. Since we had savannah view I can't really comment on the standard view. The single thing I didn't like about our particular room was that the view towards the left was of the service area between Jambo and Kidani and I assume it was the HVAC systems that we could hear constantly running. But it was one of the GV's closest to the lobby. We did have lots of animals around and everyone in our group enjoyed being able to watch.

I liked that we were all able to be in one unit and yet had plenty of space. And the pool table got quite a bit of use!

 

[crazybones27]

Yes!! We stayed in a Jambo GV last year in Sept. And we loooooved it! We brought my family and the husbands and we had plenty of room! We loved the pool table that comes with the Jambo villa. We requested the Sunset Savannah and got it. We had so many animals out our balconies. While the point hit can feel like a lot you don't look back once you walk in !

 

[IknowDoYou?]

I am staying in one in November for 4 nights before switching over to BCV. We are staying in a Kidani GV, and I will tell you that the Jambo ones appear to be much nicer. They are one floor, have a much bigger dining room table, a pool table room, and better balconies. When I called both were available, and as a new member I was a bit confused as to which was which. I stressed that I needed ONE level, as we have my father in law coming a few weeks after knee surgery. The MS rep had them totally backwards, but I didn't know any better. He said, "You want Kidani then, it's all one floor and there is a pool table and bigger dining room table". So, I booked Kidani. A week later, I looked up the floor plans in the handbook and realized the MS error. I called back and sure enough, the Jambo one was no longer available. I explained to the MS rep that I had been misled, but what were they going to do....at that point, there was nothing available.
All that aside, we are excited. My Father in law is insisting that it won't be a problem.

I believe they are all Savanah View? Either way, if you look at the DVCnews.com site I believe there is a resort layout, and you can see where they are located.

We stayed in a Kidani GV a few weeks ago, so I thought I should mention that the second floor has its own entrance, so though he would still need to take the stairs to get down to the living room or kitchen, he could take the elevator one floor further up at the end of the day if heading straight to bed, saving him some stairs....

 

[Donna M]

We stayed in a Jambo GV for 2 or 3 nights when they were first converted and they are amazing. We've stayed in GV in OKW, SSR and Vero, at Disney, Jambo was much nicer than the other ones. It is so much bigger, and the pool table is fun. We found that having a dining room table that can seat 12 was very handy.

 

[drusba]

All 22 AKL GVs are savanna view save two. The two standard views are located at the very end of the north wing of Kidani. They have a savanna view but were made standard because animals are seldom where they are. There are 6 GVs at Jambo and 16 at Kidani (including the two standard).

All the GVs are nice, However, the Jambo GVs are as good as it gets anywhere on site. I believe the master bath you saw in a picture is the one from Jambo if it had the tub in the room. The porches are huge. The sense of space with a single floor GV is incredible.

Is the Jambo GV worth the extra points? Definitely if you can afford the points.