Animal Kingdom Villas

[kimberh]

So glad to hear you had a great stay. This is our favorite hotel, so we were equally excited when AKV's became available. Our first DVC stay is May in Concierge and I have never been so excited over a stay!

 

[RLRDA]

Did anyone who has stayed in the 1br at AKV sleep in the chair/bed? Was it comfortable?

When we stayed in a 1BR our 10 year old son slept in the chair bed and he said it was comfortable. As time goes on I'm sure it'll seem too small for him and we'll have our youngest sleep on it.

 

[twinmom108]

Did anyone who has stayed in the 1br at AKV sleep in the chair/bed? Was it comfortable?

My DS (15) slept on the chair bed for 4 nights. He said he absolutely loved it.

 

[disneymom8589]

Every time I hear another great AKV report I get more excited for our trip this spring (and glad we did the add-on!)

 

[twinmom108]

Every time I hear another great AKV report I get more excited for our trip this spring (and glad we did the add-on!)

I bet that once you are at AKV this spring you"ll be even more glad you added on there. On the down side there aren't alot of places to go for a good walk at AKV. I think that once Kidani Village is finished there will probably be several long walkways.

Another reason we're glad we added on there is that we are a family of 5 (with 3 teens) and we won't have to get a 2 bedroom which was way more room than we needed. On our recent trip I went over to SSR to preview the new 1 BDRM for AKV at Kidani Village. Those will have the extra bathroom which will be great for us! I also can't wait to see how the waterpark turns out at Kidani Village. I think my teen DS's will love it. If Kidani Village is completed by spring 2009 then we will plan to go there Summer 2009.

 

[AKV707]

That is the only drwaback that I see for us at AKV. I agree that when Kidani opens, we can take walks on the path between Kidani and Jambo. Can't wait for July 2008, our first trip there!

 

[keating]

We just returned from a trip to the new Animal Kingdom Villas. Though our room was nice.....just a word to the wise.....if you plan on using the sleeper sofa, check it out right when you check in and don't wait until the evening to find out it won't pull out. We waited for two hours while person after person from housekeeping and engineering would come to the room and try and figure it out. Long story short....after giving the Manager a piece of my mind he finally moved us to a new room. We went from a Savannah view to a view of the bushes. Now I can say we tried the Animal Kingdom Villas....been there....done that......I'll stay with the Villas at Wilderness Lodge thanks.

 

[kimberh]

We just returned from a trip to the new Animal Kingdom Villas. Though our room was nice.....just a word to the wise.....if you plan on using the sleeper sofa, check it out right when you check in and don't wait until the evening to find out it won't pull out. We waited for two hours while person after person from housekeeping and engineering would come to the room and try and figure it out. Long story short....after giving the Manager a piece of my mind he finally moved us to a new room. We went from a Savannah view to a view of the bushes. Now I can say we tried the Animal Kingdom Villas....been there....done that......I'll stay with the Villas at Wilderness Lodge thanks.

What did the manager or maintenance say the problem was? I have family that are DVC owners, they have just returned... just Sat they were telling me how comfortable the Sleeper sofa was. Sorry your stay wasn't what you were hoping for.

 

[twinmom108]

just a word to the wise.....if you plan on using the sleeper sofa, check it out right when you check in and don't wait until the evening to find out it won't pull out. We waited for two hours while person after person from housekeeping and engineering would come to the room and try and figure it out.

We had a similar situation. When we switched from a 1 bdrm to a studio we had to use the pull out sofa too. After checking out of our 1 bdrm we went to Epcot for the day. We got back to AKV around 11:00 pm found out what our room # was, and just wanted to crawl right into bed because we were so tired. My (15 YO) DS tried to open the pull out sofa and couldn't. I tried to help him but I have some physical limitations that makes that hard to do so. After about 15 minutes we called the front desk and they said they'd send someone up right away. After 20 minutes no one came so my son tried to open the sofa again. About 10 minutes later he finally got it open. Someone finally did come but it was more than an hour after we called for help.

Sofa instructions say there is a leather strap that needs to be pulled to open up the sofa. It is not leather but fabric. My literal DS kept complaining that there was no leather strap. LOL The fabric strap was still very difficult to pull to get the bed out. - I couldn't do it. As I said my DS finally got it out but it took some time and alot of braun - maybe because they are so new? Minor inconvenience I wouldn't let it stop me from staying there again. 2008 it will be VWL and back to AKV in 2009 - Kidani Village here we come!

 

[tomandrobin]

Does anyone know if it is harder to book a studio then a 1 or 2 bedroom? I've stayed at 2 br's at SSR and had no booking problems in the past. I thought that going in October/earlier November wouldn't be an issue, but I was wrong. I know that waiting until AKL was open for booking might be an issue and when I couldn't get a whole week there I was disappointed but understanding. So then I tried to get a whole week at any DVC resort at the WDW and couldn't get booked anywhere for all Oct/early Nov. I wound up splitting time between AKL and SSR. I've only been a DVC member for a short time. Am I always going to have to book at SSR 11 months out and then change try to change my reservation several months later when I can book at other DVC resorts?

Don't be mislead by the season types for DVC. Fall is a very high demand time. Points are cheap and DVC members flock to the parks at that time of year. We have booked a room with less then a weeks notice in the past year, and yet other times needed to waitlist at 1 day past the 11 month mark.

For certain times of the year, unit location and unit types, yes you will need book 11 months out.

 

[Jamie Curci]

We own at BWV and want to try AKV in early December of 2008. With all that I've just read, what are my chances of getting a 5-night studio with a short 7-month window?

Has anyone ever traded points to provide an 11-month window to both sides (if that makes sense)?

 

[twinmom108]

We own at BWV and want to try AKV in early December of 2008. With all that I've just read, what are my chances of getting a 5-night studio with a short 7-month window?

Has anyone ever traded points to provide an 11-month window to both sides (if that makes sense)?

I own at VWL & AKV and rent out very occasionally. I like to stay at BWV and usually need to rent in order to stay there.

Your chances for booking at 7 months out will probably be better after Kidani Village is opened, Disney is hoping for Spring 2009 because there will be more units available. I'm sure people do trade and probably post on the DVC Rent/Transfer board. Only one transfer is allowed per account per year so either both parties would have to either make the reservation for each other, or one party could transfer points into the other's account and that party could make a reservation for the one who transferred points to their account. Does that make sense?

 

[pilferk]

We own at BWV and want to try AKV in early December of 2008. With all that I've just read, what are my chances of getting a 5-night studio with a short 7-month window?

Has anyone ever traded points to provide an 11-month window to both sides (if that makes sense)?

Depends on the view/category you want.

So far, those trying to book at the 7 month window have had lots of success with savannah and standard view studios. Not so much with concierge or value studios.

The Jambo conversion piece will be finished by the end of January, according to the DVC FAQ...which means about 1/3 of AKV's units will be on-line. Your chances will, as the previous poster said, probably get BETTER once Kidani comes on line, but I'd bet you've got pretty good odds, provided you're not super picky about view type, at the 7 month window.

 

[Jamie Curci]

This is definitely helpful, so thank you! We would be looking for a Savanna view and it sounds like a good percentage of the rooms are classified as such.

I still feel like a newbie with respect to point transfers, etc. Since I still have until the end of the December before the 11-month window even comes up, I'll have time to do more research!

 

[calif disney 1]

Can you please tell me how the pool area is, and if there is anything for young teens to do, while at AKV. We are going in June. Have stayed at BCV, and loved it and all the stuff that comes along with the Boardwalk atmosphere...thanks

 

[spiceycat]

the pool is very, very nice.

didn't do the slide - but definitely had a nice swim!

the pool is big. but when we were there (this Sept) it was very, very uncrowded.

about 10 people tops in this pool. I would think 100 might be 200 could easily fit.

my niece and her boyfriend came to swim - yea right. I think she spend 5 minutes in the pool. She sun bathed and they walked around and look at the animals.