AKV- savannah view or standard view??

[mykidslovesdisney]

We are in the process of planning our Aug 09 trip. I have booked Savanaah view 1 bdrm at Kinadi village. We have spent the past 4 trips at OKW. I am second guessing whether I should change it to a standard view. It will be me, Dh, DS 10,8,2 and DD 6. If we stay w/ savanaah view we would get a 7 night trip. Changing it to standard view gives us a 8 night trip. At first I was all for the balcony - overlooking the animals. Then I thought about it after booking the trip and started to think we barely use the balcony at OKW during our trip. Maybe standard would be better?? But (there always has to be a but)But do I want to be overlooking a parking area?? Chance of a pool view but no guarentees. Maybe we would be spending more time on the balcony. Oh why do decisions have to be soo hard?? I am more of a park person but being at a new resort for us we may spend more time there. We have APs so buying a ticket is not an issue. This is our 3rd trip- well 2nd trip but thanks to TS fay last aug we got an extended stay when our train home was cancelled!

For those who have stayed Savannah view is it worth it? It is about $150 more then standard but also 1 day less. We pay cash for the weekends.

The kids are not sure which is more exciting either- the animals or an extra day of vacation.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I need to call back on Friday to continue our ressies since we check in w/ points then pay cash she was not able to continue w/ points since the 7th month mark for those days is not till Thursday.

thanks in advance

 

[dianeschlicht]

We own at both OKW and AKV. While the whole point of AKV IS the savanna and the animals, I don't think not having that ruins a trip at all. There are plenty of places to view the animals other than from your room. On the other hand, very few of the standard view rooms are going to be "parking lot" views. Most of them will be pool, since most of the parking is supposed to be under the building.

If it means an additional day and that is what you really want, then I'd do standard. If you want the true AKV experience, I'd stick with the savanna view. We tend to think of AKV as our "special" experience, so seeing the animals is the draw (along with the wonderful theme and embiance). When we want to save points or stretch our stay, we stay at OKW for the additional nights with less points.

 

[MikeyNS]

For the extra time I'd do the standard. There are tonnes of places to see the animals, so I don't think you'll miss out at all. The resort is fantastic! You won't lose out either way.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Don't know how, but it was a double post!
Bobbi

 

[bobbiwoz]

I would keep the savannah view. That's the view that I bought AKV for, and it's the view I usually get. I've done the standard and value for short stays, but for 7 days, I want to see the animals from my room!

Bobbi

 

[spiceycat]

you can see the animals from several places.

standard view at Kidani - might be garden or drive way - the parking lot is underneath Kidani.

the bad side of Kidani standard view - it looks like you will be looking at US 192 - not a bad view - but not with the theme of AKV.

so will be interesting to see if DVC puts up something to stop this view - or just let it be.

it definitely does not fit the theme of AKV.

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I am now leaning towards keeping our savaanah view- (somewhat). MS has stated that standard view will be a parking area w/ few of the of the pool. I ?'d them about a parking view when there is underground parking but that is what they said. I am 17 points short to add 1 more night to our ressie for savaanah view. I don't want to borrow from next year. We don't want to do a resort change during the trip. We had to do that last aug bc of TS Fay and that was too much work. I guess I need to think a little longer on it. really decisions shouldn't be soo hard.

thanks again

 

[spiceycat]

that is strange - one thing I had heard over and over is the underground parking at Kidani.

so how can you be looking at a parking lot - when the parking lot is underground?

unless they are counting the offsite parking lot at the grocery store?

 

[kristenrice]

Just a suggestion, but what about booking your first night(s) standard and the rest of your trip savanna? I don't know how the points would work out for you. This is what we did, sort of. We didn't have enough points for our entire trip to be in a 1BR so we booked the first night ( a Saturday) in a studio and then the remainder in a 1BR. We generally don't arrive until early evening anyways so that first night is just a place to sleep. We are a family of 4 so that works for us. Since you are a family of 6, you won't be able to downgrade room size for a night, but you might be able to split up your view. It might be a bit of a hassle to switch rooms mid-trip, but you also could experience both types of view, and maybe save some points in the process.

 

[LisaS]

This might help you with the question about the view from a Standard View room at Kidani. As you can see from this drawing, there are about three building "segments" that overlook the pool. There are about five that have a view of roadway areas into and along the front of the building. The majority of the parking is supposed to be under the building so it looks like there will be roads along the front of the building to access those parking areas.

Also, this drawing is not completely correct. The 3-1/2 Kidani building segments closest to Jambo House (the lower end of the "E") are all single-sided with Savanna View villas only. The drawing shows those segments having both Savanna View and Standard View villas and that is not the case. That is very fortunate because otherwise those Std View rooms would have overlooked the AKL/AKV employee parking lot!

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

Okay I did go and change it to a standard view. The photo published was very helpful. We ended up w/ a 8 night stay. Looking at the photo it does not look like you are looking at a sea of parking lots- mostly roads which is doable esp if you have a higher floor. I did ? the parking and it is underground but there are parking areas that can be seen from a standard view. Hopefully w/ underground parking the vehicles stay cooler.

kristenrice- I didn't think of a split stay btwn the two but I think it would be too much for our family size. We are usually on property at 10 am if the autotrain is on time. We have been lucky at OKW to have a villa ready several different trips that early in the am. We did a split resort last aug due to Tropical storm Fay. Our train was cancelled for thursday , we did not get out till Monday plus we had to move from OKW to CR. It did take me a while to pack up the villa into bags for just CR and then also our carryons for the train. It seems like too much work for me w/ our family size. but great suggestion bc I didn't think about changing room levels- I was thinking resorts.

dianeschlicht-- we love OKW for the low pts. We orginally planned on a 1bdrm there for this trip but my biggest concern was the condition of the sleeper couch and having only 1 bthrm. our last trip in aug the couch was so sunken in. Luckly we had a 2bdrm so no one had to sleep on it. I didn't want to end up w/ a lousy sleeper and then the kids won't sleep- they will want to sleep w/ us and there is no way I am giving up my king bed to anyone but DH and I We orginally looked at Kinadi Village but was unsure about staying there -- now it seems like it would fit us right w/ the 2nd bathroom and the sleeping chair- sure wish they would put one in OKW.

Thanks for all the great advice. I knew this was the place to come to help me decide. I know we will find special places to view the animals. I just want to make sure we had enough time to explore and enjoy the resort too plus the parks so the extra day makes a big difference. I think I will pack our suits handy so if our room is not ready we can hit the pool area instead of the parks.

Thanks again. I can't wait till it opens and see everyones photos from their trips!