AKV savannah view worth it?

[JoeA]

Yeah, I get it now. I'm kind of stupid.

Nah, just helpful!

 

[sndral]

...Jambo House looks out over the Sunset Savannah from the southeast side of the savannah. Ask for a room along the KUDU TRAIL, with a look out over the Sunset Savannah. The other savannahs at Jambo are the Arusha Savannah in the middle of the building (between the wings of the building). I don't know how that view is, since I have never had a room with that view. And the Uzima Savannah, which is a smaller Savannah to the east, more comparable to Pembe at Kidani. I don't necessarily recommend that one, either, but I don't know. All the DVC rooms at Jambo are on the 5th floor, I believe. If you are at Jambo in a Standard Room and want a partial savannah view, ask for a room along the Kudu trail. It will give you a partial view of the Sunset Savannah.

My info. is gleaned from listening to several Wanyama safari husbandry staff through the years - when AKL was built all 3 savannas - Sunset, Arusha & Uzima were the same size - 11 acres, I believe. Then they built Kidani and enlarged Sunset savanna by a couple of acres to 18 acres(?) and added the 4 acre Pembe savanna. Uzima does ‘seem’ smaller than Arusha because of the way Uzima savanna is shaped. I’ve been on Arusha savanna from both Kudu and Zebra trail, Uzima savanna from Zebra trail and Sunset savanna from Kudu trail. My favorite was the Uzima villa, it had great animal viewing.
These days I’m willing to risk a standard view at Jambo if I want to save points, since the worst I could end up in would be a roof/pool view. I’d be very hesitant to opt for standard view at Kidani, since I dislike parking lot/road views, but I’d be disappointed to spend all those points for savanna view and end up on Pembe - probably why I’ve yet to stay at Kidani lol.

Just my humble opinion... I would stay at Wilderness Lodge or Beach Club or Boardwalk rather than a non-Savanah room. A poor view at one of these other resorts still puts you in a cool resort but also closer to Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, but staying in a non savanah room at AKV puts you a ways away from the parks and its cool, but not special (again IMO)...
...

Since there are 4 parks at WDW, every resort is ‘a ways away from [some of] the parks.’ Since AK is one of my favorite parks, the 5 minute bus ride from AKV to AK is a plus for me and far more convenient than the lengthy bus rides to get to AK from WL, BC or BW.

 

[orlanski]

I haven heard from friends of mine that Savanah view is better at kidani then jambo if you really wanted the view. Otherwise standard is good and you could get lucky!

 

[zavandor]

One thing you may consider is getting standard view at Jambo and requesting rooms on the Kudo Trail side of the building. All original standard views at Jambo overlooked the pool. In 2012, numerous savanna view rooms were converted to standard because the quality of the view was not considered the best. As a result, more than half the standard views at Jambo are converted savanna views, and many of those have fairly decent savanna views. All the standards on the Kudo Trail side of the building were formally savanna view rooms. Going that route comes with the risk of not getting your request\, but if you believe you will be away from the room most of the day, it may be worth the shot.

That's a great tip, I had it once and it was still a good view. I would probably be a bit mad if I had paid savannah view points for it (the reclassification was a good call) but as a standard view it was amazing.

However I have to say I love the hotel so much and the presence of the animals is not high on the reasons. It's such a fantastic resort, I love the theme, the lobby, the restaurants, the pool, the proximity to Animal Kingdom. They might remove the animals entierly and I would still book it.