I was just at Jambo for a week Jan 5-12 in a 2 bedroom.
I absolutely love this resort. Once they refurbish the rooms and get rid of the awful sofa beds, there will be almost no cons to staying at AKV.
It has the best buffet in WDW (Boma), one of the best signature restaurants in WDW as well (Jiko), Sanaa (the renowned bread service lives up to the hype, great burger and butter chicken) and the Victoria Falls Lounge serves amazing food (gold medal to the goat cheese dip and burger) and the best cocktail I had during my week (the hibiscus Margarita, which is the only place they serve it in WDW and I had so many I am ashamed to state how many I drank). Mara the quick-service option has great options at both breakfast (their version of a breakfast poutine is A+) and lunch (their flatbreads).
Great pool, hot tub, arcade and exceptional theming throughout the entire property. It's also the only hotel in North America where you can watch wild animals from your balcony. Once you factor the entire experience, it's a perfect oasis of peace and my preferred retreat from a long day in the park. I plan to rent a grand villa in 2027 for a big celebration and I can't wait to go back and see how the renos look.
As for cons, the lack of transportation options is often cited as a big negative, but we work around it.
For MK, we always do breakfast at Ohana or Stealkouse 71 before, so we Uber/Lyft over to Poly or Contemporary for $15 then either monorail or walk to the park. To return, if we just missed the bus and don't feel like waiting, we'll book a Minnie van once in the trip to avoid transferring to TTC because I am a lazy person.
For Epcot and HS, it's a 15 min bus drive. The new Epcot Uber/Lyft pickup/dropoff area is right next to the bus stops, at HS it's right after them. So we have often used a regular Uber to get back to Jambo when we didn't feel like waiting for the bus. Super convenient and cheap ($15 for a XXL, even cheaper for a regular ride).
AK is a 10 min bus drive. Barely an inconvenience.
We use
https://www.orlandomagicalrides.com/ for transportation from/to MCO, and Lyft/Uber for the rest of transportation. I spent less than 115$ on rideshares. A drop in the bucket vs the total cost of a week long vacation on property. It's also cheaper than renting a car, and a lot more convenient for us.
We also own at BRV, BCV and RIV. 11 months is absolutely needed for BCV for studios, and RIV as well if you want standard view, which everybody does. BCV and BRV don't have grand villas. RIV's grand villa is 50% more expensive than GVs at AKV. That was all part of my consideration when buying.
We loved BLT last Summer when we stayed for two nights before a cruise and a day at MK. It has a fantastic location, Steakhouse 71, California Grill, monorail and soon to be refurbished, just like AKV. The 2-bedroom units are huge and have 3 bathrooms (like Kidani). If you can get over the boring theming it's a great buy. I keep checking contracts on sale like a hyena.
Wishing you lots of happiness with your future voyages, I'm sure you will enjoy whatever resort you choose and make great core memories there.
, but the one time I had banked expiring points it was really easy to go through a broker & get them rented @ 4 months out for $15 per point.
Still, just suck it up....it really is a great resort and worth the 5 minutes. And yeah I know it’s o my busses.
