Resort Thread Jambo! Disney's ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE

[kimmar067]

Overall it was such a fantastic trip and we really feel as though it was worth every penny. My husband, the man with the biggest case of resting jerk face just lights up at Disney. We really had the time of our lives and now he is refusing to stay anywhere else I've created a monster....

....same here...I know exactly what you mean...we went to the F&WF late October 2017, but stayed at BWV [more convenient for easy access to the F&WF, plus that fact that there were no availabilities at AKL] and almost daily, he'd ask if we were staying at AKL, to which I'd have to remind him that we weren't....of course, he was VERY annoyed by that.

 

[paradesintherain]

....looks like you were above the fitness center...

A little before the fitness center, I believe! Room 4028

 

[sunset7132]

hoping the pools reopen on time in december, we arrive dec 7

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

....same here...I know exactly what you mean...we went to the F&WF late October 2017, but stayed at BWV [more convenient for easy access to the F&WF, plus that fact that there were no availabilities at AKL] and almost daily, he'd ask if we were staying at AKL, to which I'd have to remind him that we weren't....of course, he was VERY annoyed by that.

We're taking the kids back for their 13th bday in 2020 (because some life event has to be occurring for me to justify the cost ). I'm like, "oh well adding the kids make it $____ more expensive. I'd like to try this place called Coronado Springs or the Port Orleans Resorts... There's Wilderness Lodge..."

His reply, "Those place don't smell like smoked meat now do they?"

 

[kimmar067]

We're taking the kids back for their 13th bday in 2020 (because some life event has to be occurring for me to justify the cost ). I'm like, "oh well adding the kids make it $____ more expensive. I'd like to try this place called Coronado Springs or the Port Orleans Resorts... There's Wilderness Lodge..."

His reply, "Those place don't smell like smoked meat now do they?"

...of COURSE they do....goes without saying.....

 

[karen4546]

HI ALL ! I rented points through DAVID'S for a 2 BR Standard view Jambo House. I have rented before a couple of times but Savanna view so no need for specific location request. My question is What would i request to get a partial savanna (grandchildren's first visit) so that they may be able to see some animals. I think i rented a standard view 1 BR once and got a Savanna view (with people pen) - it was still great but i didn't make a request that time either. Should i just roll the dice and hope for a partial Savanna view or is there a suggestion anyone can make when using the Touring plans room request? I have had a subscription with them for years and i would like to try this out anyway.

Also, is there a map that has the room types and locations for the villas at Jambo house? I rented a Value Studio for my middle daughter and i know i can't make a request on her room right? thanks for the help - Karen

 

[Grotto]

Does anyone have the July activity schedule available? Was specifically wondering what movie is playing Friday night at the Kidani Village pool.

Thanks!

 

[dansdad]

HI ALL ! I rented points through DAVID'S for a 2 BR Standard view Jambo House. I have rented before a couple of times but Savanna view so no need for specific location request. My question is What would i request to get a partial savanna (grandchildren's first visit) so that they may be able to see some animals.

Have David's ask the owner to put in a request of "Partial Savannah View Please".

 

[dansdad]

Does anyone have the July activity schedule available? Was specifically wondering what movie is playing Friday night at the Kidani Village pool.

Thanks!

Here you go.

 

[Grotto]

Thank you so much, dansdad. That's perfect!!

 

[dansdad]

Thank you so much, dansdad. That's perfect!!

 

[bwbuddy5]

Have David's ask the owner to put in a request of "Partial Savannah View Please".

We’ve actually had better luck with the Touring Plans fax tool, even when renting DVC points. Last month, we got the exact two room numbers we had requested at Kidani, they were ready by 1pm, and our owner had made our reservation at the 7-month window.

 

[Lewdannie]

We’ve actually had better luck with the Touring Plans fax tool.

That's good to know.
When is the optimal time to send these Fax requests in?

 

[Lewdannie]

That's good to know.
When is the optimal time to send these Fax requests in?

Edit: just saw that Touring Plans sends them in 5 days before your check in date

 

[pepperandchips]

Also, is there a map that has the room types and locations for the villas at Jambo house? I rented a Value Studio for my middle daughter and i know i can't make a request on her room right? thanks for the help - Karen

It doesn't look like anyone answered this part of your question, so I just wanted to mention that the map of room locations is available on touring plans. The value studios are on Ostrich and Giraffe trails (the short wings). If you have her reservation number you can make a request through touring plans as well. The trade off is that even if she gets a view of the "Buick savanna" (parking lot) these rooms are conveniently located, in my opinion.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

We got back from our trip about a week ago and I thought I would post here about our experience.

We booked a standard view and sent a fax through touring plans requesting a partial savanna view. I had added a little blurb to the fax as well talking about how we had stayed in the past in a savanna view, 3596, and how much we loved seeing the animals and the location of the room and if there were any standard partial savannas in that general area it would be wonderful if we could get one of those rooms. Well, they did better than that and upgraded us to a savanna view and gave us the same exact room we had stayed in last time and loved. We really appreciated it as we knew they absolutely did not have to do that for us. It was some great pixie dust to start out the trip. It is a great room and we loved watching the animals from our balcony every day.

The room was clean but you can tell that the rooms are in need of a refurb. Furniture is just looking a bit old and scuffed. Nothing that really bothered us though or impacted our stay at all.

We did have to call maintenance on our arrival day as our tv wasn't plugged in? No way I was moving that dresser on my own to plug it in. I still can't figure out how or why it was unplugged in the first place? They showed up quickly though once I placed the call so it didn't really inconvenience us.

Mousekeeping was good and our room was almost always clean when we came back mid-afternoon for a pool break. There was one day where our room got missed by mousekeeping so we had to call down to the desk before we went out for our late dinner to ask for a refresh which they did no problem.

We went to the pool almost every day in the afternoon and we never had any problems finding chairs although we did notice that some of the primo chairs often got reserved with towels but you never saw anybody in them. I liked that there was a good mix of shaded seats and seats out in the sun. There were also a lot of activities around the pool which I thought added a good variety of activities for people.

We ate at The Mara twice and the food was good both times. We had breakfast and dinner.

Jiko was delicious and I am glad that we finally made it there.

We were there for 10 days and so needed to do a laundry but the main laundry room by the pool was out of service the whole time we were there. The hotel ended up giving us a key to use the DVC laundry on the 5th floor.

The busses overall were good although there were a few hiccups. One morning the wait for the Magic Kingdom bus was an hour!! Multiple busses went by for all the other parks but nothing for Magic Kingdom. Some of the people waiting had been at the bus stop since 650 and a bus didn't show up until 755 and that was only after some people made angry phone calls and approached bus drivers that were going to other parks. Needless to say it was a large angry group that got crammed onto that Magic Kingdom bus. Some families were understandably upset as they had PPO reservations for breakfast or BBB that they were unable to make or were very late getting to. We noticed the next few mornings there was a cast member with a tablet out at the bus stops monitoring the frequency of the busses for all the parks.

The other instance was for Epcot where it took 40 minutes for a bus and the cast member monitoring the situation changed an Animal Kingdom bus to Epcot.

Other than those two instances we never had to wait long for a bus at the hotel or the parks.


Overall we had a great time at Animal Kingdom Lodge and we will definitely stay here again!

 

[Lewdannie]

What are the fenced areas used for?

 

[Firsttimer15]

In case of a Fire emergency you exit to this area.
This way people don’t have to exit onto the savannah with all the „dangerous“ animals

 

[BravePrincessMerida]

Has anyone done The Wanyama Safari? I’m getting it for our party of four as a birthday surprise for my dad’s 70th birthday. Was it worth the expense?

 

[RachelTori]

Has anyone done The Wanyama Safari? I’m getting it for our party of four as a birthday surprise for my dad’s 70th birthday. Was it worth the expense?

ABSOLUTELY!!!