Animals at Animal Kingdom Savannah View

[jrtoastyman]

For those of you that have stayed there before, just how many animals do you see if you have the SV? To look at the promotional materials, you'd think you were basically sharing your cup of morning coffee with a giraffe, but I'm curious what the reality is. Do you really see a lot of animals, and is it worth the extra points? Are they out at a particular time of day? Do they spend most of their time out where you can see them, or do you just come by from time to time? What animals do you get to see, exactly?

Thanks for any intel.

 

[JKMJ441724]

You see the giraffes and the zebras.
There's also the cow with the big horns and some birds. There was never a time when I looked out and didn't see anything.

We've stayed a couple of times with the savannah view, but now we're "been there, done that" and don't really care if we get the view and are ready to try different resorts. Our children liked it quite a bit.

 

[habg1]

We stayed at Kidani in Feb 2011. Loved the savanna view. Zebra, giraffes, ostrich, ankole cattle (big horns), birds.

We had feeders right outside our room, which was nice! It depends on how long you are going to be in your room. We go back mid day and nap and head out for the late afternoon dinner plans.

If animals are not your thing, don't spend the points. But, I think you must try it once if points are not an issue.

 

[disneychic]

For us it was definitely worth the extra points for a savannah view. That being said -- we do not book a savannah view every trip. You see different animals at different times of the day. From our balcony we saw okapie, eland, giraffe, zebra, ostrich as well as some other animals. It definitely is nice to sit out on the balcony and just enjoy the view. I think the only time that I didn't see animals on the savannah was in the morning one day -- we asked the savannah guide downstairs and she said that they are on the savannah for 22 hours a day, but in the morning the animals in to the stable area for vitamins, medical needs, etc.

 

[CMOORE185]

One animal not mentioned we saw was a wildebeest.

 

[wildernessDad]

For us it was definitely worth the extra points for a savannah view. That being said -- we do not book a savannah view every trip. You see different animals at different times of the day. From our balcony we saw okapie, eland, giraffe, zebra, ostrich as well as some other animals. It definitely is nice to sit out on the balcony and just enjoy the view. I think the only time that I didn't see animals on the savannah was in the morning one day -- we asked the savannah guide downstairs and she said that they are on the savannah for 22 hours a day, but in the morning the animals in to the stable area for vitamins, medical needs, etc.

You saw Okapi and Giraffes together? The reason why I ask is that the Okapi are on the Pembe Savanna and the Giraffes aren't. Unless that has changed.

 

[jrtoastyman]

You saw Okapi and Giraffes together? The reason why I ask is that the Okapi are on the Pembe Savanna and the Giraffes aren't. Unless that has changed.

There's more than one savanna? Well, that adds a new wrinkle.

 

[cvjw]

It depends on where your room is on the savannah. If you stay at Kidani Village, and have a room close to the lobby, you will see lots of animals. They try to keep the animals close to Sanaa and the firepit, so there are lots of feeding stations around those 2 areas. Other areas of the savannah aren't so lucky. We had a room last year on the sunset savannah and saw the cows and a buzzard all week. A couple of weeks ago, we had a villa on the sunset savannah that was a little ways past Sanaa, and we saw more animals. If you get a room on the Pembe savannah, you won't see any zebras or giraffes because they don't live on that savannah. As of right now, you aren't guaranteed a certain savannah, so you could use all of the points for a savannah view, and not get to see the giraffes and zebras from your villa. I say that because seeing those animals was really important to the 4 boys traveling with us, and they tried to give us a Pembe villa when we checked in.

 

[wildernessDad]

There's more than one savanna? Well, that adds a new wrinkle.

Yes, there is the Uzima Savanna, the Arusha Savanna, the Sunset Savanna and the Pembe Savanna.

Kidani only has the Sunset and Pembe savannas and Jambo does not have the Pembe savanna.

 

[hakepb]

One animal not mentioned we saw was a wildebeest.

The wildebeast must be the king of the sunset savannah

During one feeding time, the zebras approached the low food first. Then the Ankole cattle came along and the zebra stepped back. Then the wildebeast came and the cattle left, but the zebra were friends with the wildebeast and joined in. I really enjoyed the savannah view and would do it again.

I will say, you need to be watching at different times of the day to see activity. Many mornings we did not see animals, but we always saw animals during out late afternoon breaks.

 

[bobbiwoz]

One of the best wildlife observations for us was at 11 at night, and on the sunset savannah as seen from Jambo house. There were 4-6 zebras munching on food and a hoofed animal or two over to the side. You could hear them munching and just being zebras, it was magical!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Though I would never pick AKV as my home resort (I prefer a more tropical theme), I have found it thrilling to stay there 1 or 2 days a year, usually when we bring someone with us who has yet to experience it!
I only book AKV w/ a savana view and yes, you can have your morning coffee and see the animals out. I've done 4 stays at Jambo and we've always seen plenty of animals. We will be trying Kidani for the 1st time in Aug, and I hope we will see animals there too!

 

[csmommy]

We spend a few nights there on each trip. It's like waking up in a zoo. We it!

 

[jrtoastyman]

So they really are that close to you, then? Sounds very cool!

 

[disneynutz]

It depends on which room you get. The animals are put on display and attracted by food placed by the Cast Members, some locations are better than others. During our Kidani stay we only saw some hogs and birds. During our Jambo Concierge stay we only saw some water buffalo and birds.

Bill

 

[bobbiwoz]

I stayed in Kidani with DGFs and we had a long walk to our room. However, facing the savannah from the lobby, there was an elevator to the left that we had to use, and in that area of the savannah where there were chairs, we always saw plenty of animals as we would be going back to our room at night. Often my friends and I would just stand and watch them for awhile, then we would go up and walk the walk to our room and see the Pembe savannah and those animals. Watching the animals was a delight, even though one of my DGFs always commented on the long walk, DSis and I just looked at it as an opportunity to view whatever was there.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We had a savanna view villa at Jambo last year and we saw LOTS of animals, BUT only in the afternoon. In the morning the savanna was deserted. In the afternoon the giraffes would feed right outside the balcony, along with zebras, ostriches, and a big eland.

Had we not gone back for midday breaks we would have come back saying we never saw a single animal.

It really depends on which savanna you are facing and what time you are looking out the window!

 

[pixie08]

It depends where you are. Jambo, Kidani, what part of the hotel what etc. We have stayed in both in fact we just got back from Kidani the other day. Ask to stay on the main Savannah. We saw more animals in the evening. Maybe it was because of the heat of June but few were out in the early morning or afternoon. We saw tons of varieties. Imapla, zebra, ankole, ostrich, crane, giraffe and they were all over! We have had the same experience at Jambo house and we have stayed there many times as well.

 

[com_op_2000]

Animals we have seen on the different savannas:
Impala
Zebra
Ankole
Ostrich
Crane
Giraffe
Red river hog
Wildebeest
Okapi
Water buffalo
Eland
The mornings are when the CMs clean, place food, etc on the savannas, that is when the animals are not out as much, even though we have seen zebras out as early as 09:00; cranes 09:00; cattle 09:30; and giraffe 10:30. Other animals come out at different times.
Best watch we had was when one impala and one okapi chased each other around for over an hour. Jumping up and over downed trees and tall grass.

 

[LisaS]

For those of you that have stayed there before, just how many animals do you see if you have the SV? To look at the promotional materials, you'd think you were basically sharing your cup of morning coffee with a giraffe, but I'm curious what the reality is.

It depends on what time in the morning you are having your coffee. They bring the animals into the barns for an hour or two every morning. The caretakers check them over and give them their most nutritious meal of the day. Meanwhile, crews go out and clean up the savannas. I can't remember the exact times when this happens (and I think the times vary a bit from one savanna to the next) but I think they call the animals in starting around 8:30 or 9:00am. It's designed to coincide with the time when many of the guests have already left for the parks.

So if you are having a leisurely morning and having coffee on the balcony between 9am and 10:30am you might not see any animals at all. Once the savanna is clean they release the animals from the barn so if you are out on your balcony around 10:30-11:00am you might get to see a Noah's ark like procession as they make the walk back out to the savanna.

The animals are on the savanna at all other times, including during the night, except in cases of severe weather (severe thunderstorm, tornado, etc.) Like any other creature, on a hot day they would rather rest in the shade than stand in the sun so on those days, unless there is fresh food being put out, you will probably find them resting in a shady spot somewhere.

At night, you might discover a small herd of ankole cattle sleeping within feet of your balcony or you might see giraffes or zebras coming to a feeding area to eat the food that was just put out at 10:30pm. My DH loves to sit out on the balcony at night with a glass of wine watching the savanna after dark.