One night AKL Jambo Value

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Hello!

We stayed one night pre cruise in AKL Jambo Value studio. (June 7-8 2025) This was my very first DVC stay . Because of when my points loaded, I got this after the 7 month mark so felt pretty lucky. Originally booked resort view but wait listed and got value.

We left on Friday around 6pm and drove from VA.

DD5 and I got our nails done right before we left. She was finally tall enough to reach her feet to the soaking bowl for her first real pedicure.



Drive was uneventful. My husband and I took turns while the kids slept. I drove the first half then slept the second half.



Some pictures of stuff I thought was silly at Buccees..





And before I knew it we were there. It's about 11 hours not including stops so we probably got there in about 12 hours.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

We dropped off our bags with bell services and then explored the resort for awhile. We were all pretty excited. Bathrooms first! Excited to see sinks the kids height.





Kids excited to see a playground of course.





I really like how close everything is to another at Jambo house. Our last WDW stay was at CBR and that was just too much walking from thing to thing in the heat to feel relaxing.

Anyway the kids were very excited to see all the lizards.



And then breakfast at the Mara. It was still pretty early so not too many people which is relaxing for me. And we got a table near a TV with Mickey mouse cartoons which the kids liked.



Then more exploring and ping pong and connect 4





Up next we got to blizzard beach....which there are no pictures because I left my phone in the car (on purpose) so just thoughts and then back to AKL!

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

So I really enjoyed blizzard beach. The theming is so cute and well done. One of the first things we all noticed was a statue of a snowmen family with water effects to make them look like they're melting.

We used the dressing rooms to change and omg so cute. Like a winter lodge complete with a fake fire place.

Then we found the frozen kids area. DS3 is a HUGE elsa fan so of course he loved it. DD5 loved it too. They both went on all the slides in this area.

Then we did the lazy river which was way better than any other one we've done because the tubes have bottoms so DS3 can sit in it without falling out so I can actually relax a little instead of looking for death at every turn. And it had cute theming too.

Then we did the chairlift up and did the family raft ride down. The whole thing took about an hour. DH did not like having to wait in lines for these two things but I didn't mind and the kids didn't mind too much. The chairlift was kinda scary for me with DS3 because it's nonstop like the skyline but I had to hold him while I backwards hopped on and then moved him next to me before the lap bar came down but we did it. It also goes up really high so just the heights scared me a little. At the top we could see the tree of life from AK and something from HS probably TOT. The family raft ride down was super fun. Just the right level of thrill for us.

Then we showered and got dressed in the locker room.

DH and DS3 ate McDonald's in the car and DS3 napped in the car. DD5 and I got dropped back off at AKL. I mobile ordered us food from Mara so we went to get that and then we found our room because it was ready- yay!

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

I really liked this room! It's such a good value and it was just so close to everything!

I got the beef bowl from Mara for lunch. Very yummy. Everything tasted fresh.

I think DD5 got the cheeseburger and fries. She got so many fries. She shared with me. They were good



I called bell services for our bags and he came what seemed like immediately.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

DD5 spilled some ketchup on her shirt so and my tide pen couldn't get it out so we found the laundry....which was on the same floor...and free to use! I didn't know that it was free. I did some googling and decided to use some of the dishwasher soap since I hadn't packed laundry pods.



DH and DS3 had come back at this point so we all went to check out the community room while our laundry was in the dryer.

We were there awhile. They played with toys. DD5 colored. And we played games. DS3 really liked break the ice and DD5 and I played a never ending game of uno. I left to grab the laundry at some point and came back. Tarzan was the movie playing and it's one of the kids favorites.





I asked the kids if they wanted to go roast marshmallows or watch the movie under the stars but they wanted to stay in here until they said they were tired and wanted to go to bed.

DH put them to bed. I had to get some stuff out of the car and I had wanted to get a cocktail at a bar. I dropped the stuff at the room and I got my headphones in to listen to my book and I checked out the bar above boma but it was too many people for me. So I went out to the pool bar and ordered a Pina colada on the rocks. I drank that and listened to my book. I put in a mobile order at mara for the beef bowl for DH but the time was really far out. So I got up and walked in and asked the person at mobile order counter if I could check in to say I was there to maybe get it sooner and he was just like yeah no problem you'll get an alert when it's ready. And it was ready in like 10 minutes. I brought it back to DH who also really liked it and we all went to bed.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

The next morning I think we woke up around 5am. I wanted to wake DS3 early because I wanted him to nap earlier than usual on the car ride over to the cruise terminal.

I made coffee and started another load of laundry. I was pretty excited learning about the very convenient free laundry. I really liked walking in the hallway and looking down at the empty lobby. It was beautiful and quiet.

The kids really liked watching the timon and pumba safety videos while I took a shower and got them dressed. Then I took them out to play at the playground while DH got ready and did some final work stuff.







We were all pretty excited to be on vacation and to get on the cruise.

The kids had seen the arcade the day before and wanted to go when it opened. I wish the community hall opened early too but no.

I think I paid for a $10 card and we played for awhile





Then we went to the gift shop. DD5 had brought her chore money and her recent tooth fairy money and was itching to spend it. She bought a 2025 slap bracelet but she browsed for a very long time before she decided on it.

Then we went back to the room and the kids ate some snacks and I finished getting us ready to leave

DH got the car and brought it to the front and we packed it up. Then DH parked the car close so we could check out and do a final potty break. I accidentally slammed my finger in the trashcan kinda bad but we decided I was fine and didn't need anything besides an ice pack.

Someone was passing out Mickey mouse stickers as we were leaving and was so sweet to DD5. Just a sweet ending to a sweet visit.

Overall we had a really great time and I would love to stay there again. And it's such a great value. I would like to stay next June in the same room so fingers crossed

I'm going to continue the trip report in the DCL section. Up next is 5 nights on the Magic. And then I will continue here but in a different position because we had a one night stay at BLT before going to MK

 

[cruisehopeful]

I enjoyed reading this. I'll look for your cruise report. I'm doing something similar in a few weeks. I'll have 2 nights at Poly, a cruise and then one night at Beach Club.