Decided to take the late August plunge

[mjc2003]

I had asked a week ago if it would be unbearable late August, and got a lot of great responses. We decided to go for it, just booked our flights and rooms.

First of all, i am pretty happy with the availability at about the 7 week mark. We had plenty of choices. I know, end of August is slow. We got a Jambo Savannah 1 BR for the first 2 nights, and then BWV 1 BR Garden/Pool view the last 3 nights. We could have gotten some of the days at VWL, OKW, SSR, BWV and AKV (both Kidani and Jambo). So, very happy about that--of course we would have loved to get "cheaper" point rooms and not split the stay, but inside of 2 months we'd be fools to complain.

Two questions:

1) It's going to be just me and my two young daughters for the 1st day and night at AKV; my wife is meeting us on day 2 b/c of her work travel schedule. We have Jambo, would you stay there or is Kidani better with 2 young kids if you're going to spend the 1st day just using the resort/pool? I figured Jambo for CS, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

2) I know this has been rehashed 1000 times, but we have an 8 day hopper that we are going to upgrade to an AP. When I upgrade, will I get credited for the 8 day hopper Disney direct price, or will they credit me the amount I spent via UT? In other words, the AP's will be about $1700. We spent $1180 on the 4 tickets. If I bought those same tickets at the new price DIRECT from Disney, it would be about $1365. Do I get credited for the lower amount? I appreciate any thoughts on this, I know it's been discussed at length but could not find a thread.

We are really excited.....a quick, unexpected trip before our 10 day trip in November!

 

[antree]

I am happy to hear there were a lot of room choices for you. We will be there Aug. 23-Sept 2nd at BWV. I hope that means crowds will be low

I would do Jumbo House. I haven't stayed at Kidani, just stopped there on the bus drive. Jumbo house has a lot for you to do with the kids, the camp fire with story telling, the night vision glasses to see the animals and crafts throughout the day. It will be easier staying at Jumbo and doing the activities, then hoping on the bus to get to Jumbo House. Maybe Kidani has their own activities I don't know, but I vote for Jumbo House.

If you are going to upgrade your ticket I have been told through the Dis boards to use the ticket first, then upgrade it, because the ticket now is worth current selling price. I will be doing the same when we get there.

Have Fun We can't wait to get there!

 

[mjc2003]

I am happy to hear there were a lot of room choices for you. We will be there Aug. 23-Sept 2nd at BWV. I hope that means crowds will be low

I would do Jumbo House. I haven't stayed at Kidani, just stopped there on the bus drive. Jumbo house has a lot for you to do with the kids, the camp fire with story telling, the night vision glasses to see the animals and crafts throughout the day. It will be easier staying at Jumbo and doing the activities, then hoping on the bus to get to Jumbo House. Maybe Kidani has their own activities I don't know, but I vote for Jumbo House.

If you are going to upgrade your ticket I have been told through the Dis boards to use the ticket first, then upgrade it, because the ticket now is worth current selling price. I will be doing the same when we get there.

Have Fun We can't wait to get there!

We'll probably see you at the pool! I actually just found the link to the thread about upgrading, you are right: use it first, then upgrade to AP.

Here is the thread, in case anybody is interested: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2739917

 

[vek239]

My grandkids, ages 2-8 liked the Kidani pool better but I agree with you as far as the CS at Jambo. Plus the lobby has the "wow" factor.

 

[supersuperwendy]

I say Kidani all the way because the pool is AWESOME for kids! The walk over to Jambo for CS isn't long at all and our kids enjoyed walking over there.

I always upgrade our UT tickets at City Hall in the MK. After reading some threads about issues at other parks I for some reason feel the CMs at MK seem to know the drill the best! Who knows..or perhaps it just gives me the perfect excuse to start our vacation at MK!!

So yes, use your tickets at the park gate before upgrading. Know the dollar amounts before you walk in (including tax) so just in case they don't "bridge" your ticket to gate price you'll know right away if they are charging you too much.

 

[mjc2003]

I say Kidani all the way because the pool is AWESOME for kids! The walk over to Jambo for CS isn't long at all and our kids enjoyed walking over there.

I always upgrade our UT tickets at City Hall in the MK. After reading some threads about issues at other parks I for some reason feel the CMs at MK seem to know the drill the best! Who knows..or perhaps it just gives me the perfect excuse to start our vacation at MK!!

So yes, use your tickets at the park gate before upgrading. Know the dollar amounts before you walk in (including tax) so just in case they don't "bridge" your ticket to gate price you'll know right away if they are charging you too much.

If I stay Jambo, I can still use the Kidani pool, right? We might just stay Jambo b/c we are back in November and staying Kidani for 4 nights. My wife wanted to try out a different spot this time. However, I looked at some of the pics of the Jambo 1 BR's vs Kidani, and Kidani does look much nicer, especially the bathrooms.
Also, since it's just me and the two little ones for a day I need to be close to the bar so I can get a quick drink!

 

[henderkm]

We loved Kidani, but it felt strange not to have CS and the food selection in the gift shop wasn't that great. If you stay there, make sure and have some snacks handy in your room.

Our 3 1/2 year old granddaughter had a great time at the pool.

 

[Alexander]

We LOVE late August. Most of the south has gone back to school and the northern schools are getting ready. We usually do the last week into Labor Day weekend. Labor Day weekend will get busy as people move in for the long weekend, but we usually head home then.

This year we'll be at Kidani from 8/21 to 8/25 and then DCL 8/25 to 9/1.

I can deal with the heat OR I can deal with the crowds, what I can't deal with is heat AND crowds. So I take the late August heat and no crowds!

 

[mjc2003]

We LOVE late August. Most of the south has gone back to school and the northern schools are getting ready. We usually do the last week into Labor Day weekend. Labor Day weekend will get busy as people move in for the long weekend, but we usually head home then.

This year we'll be at Kidani from 8/21 to 8/25 and then DCL 8/25 to 9/1.

I can deal with the heat OR I can deal with the crowds, what I can't deal with is heat AND crowds. So I take the late August heat and no crowds!

Great to hear. We will be there 8/24-8/29. We have not yet done a WDW summer trip, let alone August, but plan to do things at a leisurely pace and only want to do the parks for a few hours at a time. As long as we can get some stuff done, we'll work around the heat.