Honest opinions please

princessap

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With three little kids should I be booking savanha view over std??

We plan on rope drop one day and our transfer day from BLT will be a resort day. Is it worth the extra money???
 
With three little kids should I be booking savanha view over std?? We plan on rope drop one day and our transfer day from BLT will be a resort day. Is it worth the extra money???

how often do you plan to be in the actual room? If not much I definitely don't think it's worth the extra $$$. There a ton of animal viewing areas. We have stayed in both savanna and standard. And honestly while it's nice to sit on the balcony in the morning and drink your coffee. We were rarely in the room to enjoy the view
 
Hi. I booked one night at the end of our stay in a 1 br standard view. I requested for check-in a view of the savannah because it was an option, and we got it. My 7yo and 3yo loved running around resort with the list of animals that they leave in your room looking for animals to check off. While initially the animals outside our room were interesting to the kids, that quickly wore off in favour of running around and it left me being the only one getting really excited about seeing waterbucks or zebras when we woke up. Depends on your kids, but for me next time I will book a standard and hope that we end up with a view and if we don't, let them enjoy the many other opportunities to see the animals.
 
With three little kids should I be booking savanha view over std??

We plan on rope drop one day and our transfer day from BLT will be a resort day. Is it worth the extra money???

A savanna view doesn't guarantee animals or animals that you will enjoy watching.

One time we had a wart hog view, another time we saw some birds.

The lobby area is where they keep the best animals.

:earsboy: Bill
 

My kids like checking off the sheets of the animals they saw. They enjoyed all of the viewing areas outside of the room. I was the only one sitting on the balcony watching giraffes in the morning! I loved the Savannah view, but it may not be worth the points if just getting it for the kids.
 
Will you be at the room during any afternoons or late afternoon? If so then I'm tempted to say yes but we are huge animal lovers. If just morning then that's the time the animals are brought into the barns to be checked and receive any care necessary so animal viewing is minimal to nothing.
 
When we stayed in July it was a savannah @ Kidani every morning over breakfast we got to see animals graze and it seems every evening around 5 o'clock it was pretty much the same routine. We loved it.
 
If all you are going to do is look at the animals occasionally and you don't plan on being in the room much, why not stay elsewhere and just visit AKV/AKL on a day when you aren't doing much? To me, the savanna view is the reason to stay at AKV. There are viewing areas off the lobby at the AKV/AKL where you can just sit and watch the animals for an hour or so.

Skip the split stay.
 
With three little kids should I be booking savanha view over std??

We plan on rope drop one day and our transfer day from BLT will be a resort day. Is it worth the extra money???

I would say yes. It is so cool to have them right outside. How "little" are your kids? If they are really young, they may not appreciate how unique and special it is. But nothing beats sitting on the balcony and watching them (or even from inside the room if the lace curtain is pulled aside).
Have a wonderful trip. It is the most beautiful resort. There are activities for kids too.
 
If all you are going to do is look at the animals occasionally and you don't plan on being in the room much, why not stay elsewhere and just visit AKV/AKL on a day when you aren't doing much? To me, the savanna view is the reason to stay at AKV. There are viewing areas off the lobby at the AKV/AKL where you can just sit and watch the animals for an hour or so.

Skip the split stay.

My original plan was to do BLT the whole week but my kids really want to stay at akv and this is our last trip for a whole :(

My kids will be 2,5,7 and I think they would like the idea of running around finding animals more then in the room. We plan to be at parks and swimming etc in the afternoons and ADRs for dinner so it sounds like standard might be the way to go?! I just don't want to regret not booking savanah view.
 
Hi. I booked one night at the end of our stay in a 1 br standard view. I requested for check-in a view of the savannah because it was an option, and we got it. My 7yo and 3yo loved running around resort with the list of animals that they leave in your room looking for animals to check off. While initially the animals outside our room were interesting to the kids, that quickly wore off in favour of running around and it left me being the only one getting really excited about seeing waterbucks or zebras when we woke up. Depends on your kids, but for me next time I will book a standard and hope that we end up with a view and if we don't, let them enjoy the many other opportunities to see the animals.

Did you request when you booked or at online check in?? I am renting points for first time so wondering when I do that?
 
Did you request when you booked or at online check in?? I am renting points for first time so wondering when I do that?

There are a few rooms at Jambo that were originally savannah view that were reclassified....I don't believe there are any standards at Kidani that have partial views but not sure...we got one of those rooms once and it was really nice...

Sometimes, the online check in will give you options based on Disney resort rooms--not really set up perfectly for DVC--so it could be the reason the person was given the choice....

I would not count too much on this being an option...when we were given one of those rooms, we checked in late and did not request it...
 
My original plan was to do BLT the whole week but my kids really want to stay at akv and this is our last trip for a whole :(

My kids will be 2,5,7 and I think they would like the idea of running around finding animals more then in the room. We plan to be at parks and swimming etc in the afternoons and ADRs for dinner so it sounds like standard might be the way to go?! I just don't want to regret not booking savanah view.

There really isn't any way to go "running around" to find the animals if you don't have the savanna view. You can sit down on the chair or stand in the viewing areas. But not run around. Some of the areas are in the corridors behind a window, so the children will need to be quiet when going through the corridors of the resort.
 
We LOVE AKV. We are new owners at the resort and we are so excited! We have stayed at Jamba and Kindani with two littles and will be back with FIVE in September. We are a foster family:) We have never booked a Savanah view room, but we have booked standard and gotten an excellent view of the Savanah. My thoughts are that resort is seriously so beautiful and unique itself. You can see animals all around you, when checking in, or going to the bus to go to the parks... or taking a walk outside. I say don't waste your points or money on booking a Savanah room. Have a great time!:thumbsup2
 
Has anyone ever stayed in the value room and what exactly is the difference between that and standard view ?
 
Has anyone ever stayed in the value room and what exactly is the difference between that and standard view ?

Value villas are only located in Jambo House and are three feet shorter in depth than the standard or savanna villas in Jambo House. The one and two bedroom value villas do not have the sleeper chair and sleep four and eight respectively. They have savanna, pool and parking lot views and views cannot be requested. They are hotel rooms that were already smaller and were converted into DVC villas (as were all the Jambo house villas).

Standard view at JH is pool and partially obstructed savanna view.
 
The savanah view is neat, however there are plenty of free places to see the animals. If you have points to burn, it will probably be ok, however I would not decrease the length of your stay just so you can see some cows, zebras, and giraffes in the morning or afternoon. My favorite place to watch the animals at Kidani is on the 2nd floor viewing location right off the lobby. There are always plenty of animals there. :mickeybar
 
We stayed there for a week with 4 kids under the age of 5. One room was standard and one was savanna view. My son LOVES animals, so he thought it was great. However, by the third day we were almost forcing them to look out the window LOL. I think that it was cool, but not necessary! I probably enjoyed it the most.
 
It is worth it to me if I have the points. I love seeing the animals from my balcony. I think the views at Kidani are better than Jambo.
 















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