Jambo! The newest AKL Information thread

[dansdad]

Is the pool at Jambo open yet?

Yup, opened November 5th.

Is the long refurb finished? If so, is anything different?

Nothing different. It was closed for plumbing work.

 

[DizDaD7]

Yup, opened November 5th.



Nothing different. It was closed for plumbing work.

So the toilets flush faster.....(lol)....Heheh j/k of course.

 

[DizDaD7]

Hey, I'm not sure if Brandi is still doing the guest list/ thingee for trips, but if she/ you are can you add us. Please. AKV(Jambo) 7/9-14 & BRV7/14-19th...Thanks.

 

[TheNameless]

Just booked AKV (Jambo) for my wife and I for 3 nights starting on November 6th. Never been to AKL before, so we are so excited to explore the resort. We booked with points for Savannah room. Were a little worried about the construction that will be happening at the resort, but this is the only time of the year we can go, and we really wanted to stay at AKL.

 

[NKHarris329]

Hello, prepping for our upcoming stay and had a couple quick questions. We are staying at Kidani in a 2 bedroom DVC room.

Will there be blow dryers available?
What type of coffee makers are in the rooms? Normal drip, pod, etc?
Any reccomend savannah rooms near transportation?
Where are drink refill stations?

Thanks!

 

[purpliequeen]

Just got back from a 7 day stay at Kidani Village 12/19-12/26. Had a wonderful and surprisingly relaxing trip despite the second half of the trip being kind of crazy from a crowd-level perspective. We lucked out on a 2 bedroom lock-off close to the lobby on the sunset savanna - which is shared with Jambo. We saw many, many animals throughout our stay including the three or so giraffes, four or so zebra, lots of kudu and other four legged creatures, the beautiful yellow headed cranes, and so much more.

We also experienced Kidani during a really heavy downpour day (12/20) with tornado threats and all. Fortunately it was uneventful. It was really interesting watching the animals on the safari. For the most part, they kind of just stood and watched the heavy rain fall. The zebras tend to stay under the trees. At times when there was lightning & thunder and extremely heavy rain, the animals bolted for the barns. It was a cool sight to see.

Sanaa was amazing as always. Be wary for those of you - back in 2015 and earlier, it was possible to walk in to Sanaa for dinner. Now this is no longer the case. I wanted to change and also add on a second meal during our trip and Sanaa was completely full. Well deserved.

 

[iona]

Hello, prepping for our upcoming stay and had a couple quick questions. We are staying at Kidani in a 2 bedroom DVC room.

Will there be blow dryers available?
What type of coffee makers are in the rooms? Normal drip, pod, etc?
Any reccomend savannah rooms near transportation?
Where are drink refill stations?

Thanks!

It's been a while since we stayed at Kidani (although we're heading back there about a week before you) so someone may come along and correct me but...

Yes to blow dryers (although if you have particularly thick hair you may want to bring one from home).

I think it's a drip coffee machine.

Rooms in the 7204-19, 7304-19, 7401-19 and 7501-19 range are well positioned for the bus stop. Floor is a matter of personal preference.

Drink refills are available in the gift shop and I think also at the pool bar.

 

[Ralphmiller007]

Just booked AKV (Jambo) for my wife and I for 3 nights starting on November 6th. Never been to AKL before, so we are so excited to explore the resort. We booked with points for Savannah room. Were a little worried about the construction that will be happening at the resort, but this is the only time of the year we can go, and we really wanted to stay at AKL.

I think I completely missed something....what construction will be going on at the resort? I booked Jambo next fall and hadn't heard anything about construction, uh oh.

 

[purpliequeen]

Hello, prepping for our upcoming stay and had a couple quick questions. We are staying at Kidani in a 2 bedroom DVC room.

Will there be blow dryers available?
What type of coffee makers are in the rooms? Normal drip, pod, etc?
Any reccomend savannah rooms near transportation?
Where are drink refill stations?

Thanks!

Hi NK - We were in a 2 bedroom DVC lock off, meaning it was a one bedroom attached to a studio.

Yes - there are blow dryers available. One blow dryer in each bathroom with a shower. Since you're in Kidani, you'll have three bathrooms and all three should have blow dryers. If you can't find them or they don't work, let mousekeeping know and they'll fix that right away. They're nothing fancy - black handheld blow dryers, but they get the job done. They are kept inside a black cloth bag.

The coffee makers are normal drip coffee makers. They give you Joffrey coffee with the coffee grinds already in a filter/sachet. If you want to bring your own coffee, which we always do, make sure to bring the coffee filters that sit inside the basket.

We had a savanna room overlooking the Sunset Savanna. We asked to be near the lobby. The transportation is near the lobby so if you ask for that, you should be good.

Yes, there are drink refill stations inside the gift shop on the ground floor (which is really level 2 because the first floor below the lobby has Sanaa and parking garages). I didn't venture out to the pool, but I believe the pool bar also has a drink refill station. As you may already know, you can always refill your mugs in Jambo House's Mara, the grab & go. Note that it's about a 0.5 mile walk between Jambo & Kidani though so it's not the most efficient option. They do run a white shuttle back and forth between the two. You can also hop on some of the Disney transportation buses to get between the two, but clarify with bell services/cast members which bus will stop at Jambo or Kidani first.

 

[TheNameless]

I think I completely missed something....what construction will be going on at the resort? I booked Jambo next fall and hadn't heard anything about construction, uh oh.

Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House- starting 2/12/2018 pilot program where transactions will be handled with cash free option. All purchases and service will accept MagicBands, credit cards, debit cards, Disney Gift Cards, Disney Rewards Redemption Cards, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay. Children's Activity Center closed as of 8/1/2018. Jambo House- room refurbishment- Mid 8/2018- Fall 2019. Uzima Springs Pool- Jambo House, Uzima Springs Pool and Uzima Springs Pool Bar closed 9/1/2018- Winter 2018. During this time Samawati Springs Pool and Maji Pool Bar in Kidani Village will be available. A shuttle will be provide to and from the Animal Kingdom Villas to Jambo house. Guests may see or hear construction butnoise should not be heard betweek dusk and 9 AM.
https://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/rehab.htm

 

[DizDaD7]

you should be fine by then

 

[sunset7132]

Is the pool at Jambo open yet? Is the long refurb finished? If so, is anything different?

looked the same to us 3 weeks ago, and yes opened

 

[NicoleLarson]

Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House- starting 2/12/2018 pilot program where transactions will be handled with cash free option. All purchases and service will accept MagicBands, credit cards, debit cards, Disney Gift Cards, Disney Rewards Redemption Cards, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay. Children's Activity Center closed as of 8/1/2018. Jambo House- room refurbishment- Mid 8/2018- Fall 2019. Uzima Springs Pool- Jambo House, Uzima Springs Pool and Uzima Springs Pool Bar closed 9/1/2018- Winter 2018. During this time Samawati Springs Pool and Maji Pool Bar in Kidani Village will be available. A shuttle will be provide to and from the Animal Kingdom Villas to Jambo house. Guests may see or hear construction butnoise should not be heard betweek dusk and 9 AM.
https://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/rehab.htm

It's just a soft goods refurb on the rooms, pillows, linens, etc.....pretty much zero noise. The noise that they were referring to from 9am-dusk was the pool noise but that's done

 

[TheNameless]

It's just a soft goods refurb on the rooms, pillows, linens, etc.....pretty much zero noise. The noise that they were referring to from 9am-dusk was the pool noise but that's done

Awesome, thank you so much for the response. So excited for the trip.

 

[EllNat11]

We just booked a week in a standard 1BR @ Kidani May 11-18. We stayed in a 2BR savanna view back in 2011 and I'm so excited to be going back to Kidani (and WDW as we haven't been since 2014!)

 

[KenC]

Does anyone know how often the Kidani/Jambo shuttle runs? We were hoping to have breakfast at Sanaa once or twice before heading to the parks but were wondering how time consuming that would be..

 

[purpliequeen]

Does anyone know how often the Kidani/Jambo shuttle runs? We were hoping to have breakfast at Sanaa once or twice before heading to the parks but were wondering how time consuming that would be..

As the bellmen & valet mentioned at Kidani, if the shuttle isn't in front of Kidani when you get there, it's at Jambo and vice versa. We've always found it in front of the resort when we wanted to take it, but I can't imagine it takes more than 5 min at ea stop. It's a white mini van and rarely full. In fact, my mom would usually be the sole traveler on the shuttle to / from the Mara and the driver would always comment about how good the food smelled! You can also take the regular park buses to / from the two resort buildings. Just check with the driver first. If I recall correctly, the first half of our trip I felt like the buses dropped off or picked up from Jambo first before Kidani (this was around 12/19 and 12/20), but then in the second half of the trip, it reversed with Kidani being the first top post park. Disney Springs bus is supposed to be the opposite of the park buses. I would just always ask the drivers first before you make any decisions! And also, as always, listen to the announcements on the buses before they pull up to the bus stop. We once encountered a very sleepy (and grumpy!) family that must've been asleep on the bus coming back from MK or DHS and they got off at Kidani thinking it was Jambo, only to walk up to the door and realize they were not "home."

 

[Texans_loyal]

3 more days till we're home!!!

 

[sndral]

Does anyone know how often the Kidani/Jambo shuttle runs? We were hoping to have breakfast at Sanaa once or twice before heading to the parks but were wondering how time consuming that would be..

As the bellmen & valet mentioned at Kidani, if the shuttle isn't in front of Kidani when you get there, it's at Jambo and vice versa. We've always found it in front of the resort when we wanted to take it, but I can't imagine it takes more than 5 min at ea stop. It's a white mini van and rarely full. In fact, my mom would usually be the sole traveler on the shuttle to / from the Mara and the driver would always comment about how good the food smelled! You can also take the regular park buses to / from the two resort buildings. Just check with the driver first. If I recall correctly, the first half of our trip I felt like the buses dropped off or picked up from Jambo first before Kidani (this was around 12/19 and 12/20), but then in the second half of the trip, it reversed with Kidani being the first top post park. Disney Springs bus is supposed to be the opposite of the park buses. I would just always ask the drivers first before you make any decisions! And also, as always, listen to the announcements on the buses before they pull up to the bus stop. We once encountered a very sleepy (and grumpy!) family that must've been asleep on the bus coming back from MK or DHS and they got off at Kidani thinking it was Jambo, only to walk up to the door and realize they were not "home."

It’s a small white bus (stopped being a mini van a couple of years ago) and runs between the 2 lobbies - max of 10 minutes, maybe?
Traditionally the park buses pick up and drop off at Kidani first, Jambo second and the DS buses pick up and drop off at Jambo first and Kidani second. Always ask as sometimes that varies.

 

[Dug720]

Just changed my birthday stay to here! Savannah View with the new discount!! Super excited!!