Pro's & Cons to AKL Jamba Village

[Mishetta]

We currently have ressies this summer for AKL in the Jamba Village/ Savannah (?). What can you tell me about it? We've only stayed at Pop Century & a couple weeks ago, we stayed at the Saratoga Springs resort (which was awesome). This time we're renting DVC points from a friend & getting a studio for the 4 of us & we just found out we're booked in the Jamba village (hope I got that right), Savannah view. Pro's, con's?

My boys are (will be) 15 y/o & 8 y/o when we go. Will they be okay in the sofa bed?

Will Savannah view mean we get to see the animals?

Do they have a food court? Is it close? If not, which village or building would be?

Do you get a washer/dryer in a studio ~ I'm thinking we prob don't?

Sorry for all the questions but this is all new to us & I'm anxious to know more about it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Derby4me]

Ok, this is what I know as we have an upcoming trip staying at AKL in May. The Jamba village is the DVC portion of the original Animal Kingdom Lodge. They are old rooms that have been refurbished and converted to DVC rooms. I've seen pictures and they look nice but based on what I've read on square footage, it's possible that the room may be a little smaller than Kadani Village.

Savannah view means that your belcony will overlook the Savannah and that it is very possible that you will drinking your morning coffee with some visitors. I am so excited about this and hope we have some good activity outside our balcony while there.

Studio's do not have their own washer/dryer but there is a room where you can do your wash for free. However, you will need to pay detergent or bring some from home.

I can not advise on the sofa as we have not used it before.

The food court in the Jambo house is called the Mara. I understand that there is no quick service dining in Kadani so this is a positive of staying at Jambo.

I'm sure your visit will be amazing! Enjoy!

 

[Beavertails Queen]

I love Jambo house and have stayed there multiple times. Here are the answers to your questions as best as I can answer them.
My boys are (will be) 15 y/o & 8 y/o when we go. Will they be okay in the sofa bed?
The sofa bed is basically like a double bed so if they would fit in that then they should be okay.
Will Savannah view mean we get to see the animals?
Yes Savannah view means that you can watch animals from your balcony. The types of animals will depend on which savannah you look out on but they have everything from zebra, giraffe, gazelle etc.
Do they have a food court? Is it close? If not, which village or building would be?
Jambo has a quick serve restaurant located near the pool called Mara. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. They normally have a good variety of stuff to choose from. It is definately smaller then pop century but I like it.
Do you get a washer/dryer in a studio ~ I'm thinking we prob don't?
There are no washer/dryers in studios. However, there are laundry rooms on the floor. You can use those.
I really like Jambo house and I am sure that you will too!

 

[helloconnie]

So we just got back from staying at Kidani in a Studio with Savannah view. I walked over to Jambo twice. I own at BLT and this was my first stay at AKV. With me were my sons, ages 4 & 1, and my sister who has limitations due to health concerns.

First, you will do a lot of walking at this hotel as there only only a few floors and the rooms are arranged in a series of semi-circles that with follow the savannah or the parking lot.

Second, make sure you're room is on the main savannah. If you are not happy with the view, ask to move. I didn't and I was disappointed in my room the entire time. Our 'savannah' view was on the private Pembrooke Savannah. We were all the way at the end and had a direct head first view of the fence that separated the pool area from the savannah. The only animal I saw from my room the entire trip was a swan in the little water area. Meanwhile, the main savannah had giraffes (about 4-5), zebra (about 4), longhorn cattle (about 4), ostrich, something that resembled a gisselle.

Studios are NOT equipped with a washer and dryer. You will have a kitchette that has a mini refrigerator, sink, microwave, coffee maker, paper towels, paper plates and plastic utensils in the cupboard. The sink will have a small bottle of liquid dishwashing soap and a sponge. Thre is a washeteria in the hotel that is free, all you need is soap.

Sofa Bed - My sister slept on the sofa bed at Kidani and had no issues with it.

Amenities are much better at Jambo House than Kidani. There is a full size store for souvenier or snack shopping. (Kidani has a 'convience store'.) There are several restaurants including a quick service counter (located down on the 1st floor (you enter on the 3rd floor).) There is a bar area as well. The lobby is much more impressive at Jambo.

We went at the beginning of February so we did not partake in the pools. Jambo house pool was closed at the time getting a refurb.

Transportation to all parks is via bus. It takes a long time to get to all parks except for AK.

I hope this helps....

I know there are some die-hard AKV people out there. I have discovered that I am not one of them. I am looking forward to our May trip at BLT.

 

[drusba]

There are two buildings, Jambo (the orginal AKL hotel) and Kidani, the new building mentioned above. You are in Jambo which has DVC rooms on the fifth floor (hotel rooms below that), which is the top floor most everywhere, and sixth floor for concierge, which is the top floor only over the lobby. Savanna view means you will have view of animals. Studio does not have washer/dryer (you need a 1Br or larger for that) but there is a laundry room. Jambo has three savannas with Arusha in the center of the U-shaped building, Sunset to the left, and Uzima to the right. All three are nice and all three have giraffes.

You will find that the building and the room are not brightly lighted and there are a lot of dark colors to create the sense of a savanna at dusk. If you stayed in a studio at SSR, the room is close to that size. Pull-out couch is fine for the two kids (except in my experience a bed and boys 8 and 15 are usually something that are difficult to get together at WDW). Lobby is hugely impressive as is area where you can go outside the lobby and view animals fairly close. Very nice store. You can only exit in the front of the building to go elsewhere-- the savannas surround about 75% of the building and you cannot exit onto the savannas. The animals are kept about 40 feet from the building by electrical fence (you really cannot see the fence but just some small electrical units that look like small bushes spaced about ten feet apart). There are no ground floor rooms on the savannas (there are some around the pool area).

The pool is very nice, not a large slide, lots of places to find shade and two hot tubs. In the building not far from the pool is Mara's, a counter service restaurant (your food court) and you can sit inside or outside in a covered area. There is then Boma's, for my money one of the, if not the, best buffet restaurant on site, and Jiko's a very good upscale restaurant with a huge wine list. The store, restaurants and pool are all near the lobby area. The whole resort has a place-on-the savanna theme that is very impressive and there are so many trees and bushes outside the front and in the distance on the savannas that you really have a hard time realizing you are only in Florida. You will have a sense of isolation from the rest of WDW, intentionally done that way. Depending on where room is, you can have a fairly long walk to the lobby but not anywhere near as long as you would have at Kidani.

You can also go to Kidani, a likewise excellent place. It has a smaller pool but longer slide and an elaborate kids play area. It has only one restaurant, Sanaa, a table service and my one time there for dinner places it high on the list of best in WDW. However, the walk between Jambo and Kidani is about 1/2 mile (you can take one of the busses -- Downtown Disney bus goes to Jambo first then Kidani; all other busses go to Kidani first then Jambo). Bus system is usually good. Trip to AK is 8 minutes, MK, Epcot and MGM about 20 to 25.

As you are going through a DVC member, be aware that you do not get daily maid service; on fourth day they take out the trash and replenish some items including towels; you can pay for a package of extra towels.

 

[Mishetta]

Thank you all so much for your answers! I'm getting more excited & it does sound like the Jamba village is the better place to stay. Can we see animals from any studio in the Jamba village or are there rooms where it's not so great?

Another question please ~ their eating area in that building, is it similar to a food court where you can get coffee or soda from the fountains as in most food court areas? I understand that it's much smaller than say the Pop Century but just wondered about the drinks. So we can buy mugs there & use them there, right? Hopefully that area is not a far walk from where we will be staying.

May I just add that you guys rock? Honestly...I haven't posted in a long time. I used to answer questions & now I am asking them! Nice to not feel so dumb when you ask something here!

 

[maryloubsw]

We currently have ressies this summer for AKL in the Jamba Village/ Savannah (?). What can you tell me about it? We've only stayed at Pop Century & a couple weeks ago, we stayed at the Saratoga Springs resort (which was awesome). This time we're renting DVC points from a friend & getting a studio for the 4 of us & we just found out we're booked in the Jamba village (hope I got that right), Savannah view. Pro's, con's?

My boys are (will be) 15 y/o & 8 y/o when we go. Will they be okay in the sofa bed?

Will Savannah view mean we get to see the animals?

Do they have a food court? Is it close? If not, which village or building would be?

Do you get a washer/dryer in a studio ~ I'm thinking we prob don't?

Sorry for all the questions but this is all new to us & I'm anxious to know more about it.

Thanks in advance!

We had a sofa bed at SSR and my husband thought it was fine. Itwas not anything special of course, nothing comparable to my bed at home but still not bad

 

[dgaston]

Yes Mara has the usual mug refill area, and you can also refill mugs at the gift shop in Kidani and at their pool bar. I think your boys would really like a trip to the Kidani pool. IMHO the pool slide is much better there than at Jambo.

 

[wildernessDad]

Two buildings:
Jambo House (part of the original Animal Kingdom Lodge)
Kidani Village (the new building on the block)

 

[thepops]

Also, make sure you get a chance to try a meal at Boma. The food there is excellent!

 

[7thton]

Also, make sure you get a chance to try a meal at Boma. The food there is excellent!

Sanaa is great as well!

 

[DeeCee735]

We currently have ressies this summer for AKL in the Jamba Village/ Savannah (?). What can you tell me about it? We've only stayed at Pop Century & a couple weeks ago, we stayed at the Saratoga Springs resort (which was awesome). This time we're renting DVC points from a friend & getting a studio for the 4 of us & we just found out we're booked in the Jamba village (hope I got that right), Savannah view. Pro's, con's?

My boys are (will be) 15 y/o & 8 y/o when we go. Will they be okay in the sofa bed?

Will Savannah view mean we get to see the animals?

Do they have a food court? Is it close? If not, which village or building would be?

Do you get a washer/dryer in a studio ~ I'm thinking we prob don't?

Sorry for all the questions but this is all new to us & I'm anxious to know more about it.

Thanks in advance!

Yes, the boys should be just fine in the sofa bed, they are very comfy, however the studio's (and all villas) located at Jambo are smaller rooms than the villas at Kidani. Kidani is just a few minutes walk next to Jambo house and is all DVC villas. It's the newer of the two buildings, the rooms are bigger, they are all villas, whereas in Jambo it's hotel rooms up until floor 5 & 6 which are converted hotel rooms into villa rooms.

Savannah view means you'll see the animals. However in Jambo House (as opposed to the Kidani Village section), you will be on the 5th floor, so you're view will be higher up, not so much "eye to eye" with the animals as in Kidani, where you can request 2nd floor. Ask for the Sunset Savannah, I may be wrong, but I do think all the Savannah Views at Jambo are on the Sunset Savannah (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

Yes there's a counter service food court at The Mara in Jambo house, (near the exit to the pool off the main lobby) opens early, closes late, and has a very good selection of food/drinks and if you like white wine, try the Indawa Chardonay.....delicious!

Nope, no washer/dryer in the studios, but there are laundry rooms available.

Jambo House has Jiko Restaurant, which is a signature restaurant and is table service; Boma Restaurant, which is a wonderful buffet, both for breakfast and dinner, and The Mara which is the counter service restaurant. The pool is bigger than the one at Kidani, but IMHO they are both wonderful. Jambo has, IMHO, the best store on property

Kidani is much larger than Jambo. As I said, all rooms are villas. There are two savannah's, one is the Sunset Savannah, which has the giraffe, the other is Pembe (never stayed with that view, so I cant speak to what animals are on it). Kidani has one table service restaurant called Sanaa. I've had lunch there twice and it's delicious! There's a small store off the lobby, with grab and go coffee and snacks/bottled drinks and that wine again , etc. Villas are larger than at Jambo, the one bedrooms have 2 bathrooms!

Good luck with your planning and have an AWESOME trip!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Our best animal viewing from Jambo house was on the Arusha savannah.

Bobbi

 

[dianeschlicht]

We currently have ressies this summer for AKL in the Jamba Village/ Savannah (?). What can you tell me about it? We've only stayed at Pop Century & a couple weeks ago, we stayed at the Saratoga Springs resort (which was awesome). This time we're renting DVC points from a friend & getting a studio for the 4 of us & we just found out we're booked in the Jamba village (hope I got that right), Savannah view. Pro's, con's?

My boys are (will be) 15 y/o & 8 y/o when we go. Will they be okay in the sofa bed?

Will Savannah view mean we get to see the animals?

Do they have a food court? Is it close? If not, which village or building would be?

Do you get a washer/dryer in a studio ~ I'm thinking we prob don't?

Sorry for all the questions but this is all new to us & I'm anxious to know more about it.

Thanks in advance!

Jambo house is the original lodge building, so yes, you will be as close as possible to the restaurants etc, since they are mostly in that same building. There is a quick service food area called Mara and two wonderful restaurants, Boma and Jiko (a Signature).

Savannah view means you will have animals right outside your balcony. There are 3 savannahs around Jambo House: Sunset, Arusha, and Uzima.

There is no washer and dryer in a studio. For that you need at least a 1 bedroom unit.

I'd think your boys might not be so thrilled sleeping together on a double size pull out. I'd probably take an air matress along for the younger one.

 

[Mishetta]

You've all been so helpful & I still have yet another question....

We are renting DVC points from a friend, so do we still get free internet service if we're at AKL? On another thread someone said that the resort won't know if we are DVC or hotel room so we may still get charged for internet. Wouldn't that be horrible if we got a bill after using the internet all week!

We stayed at the Saratoga Springs with our friends DVC points & we never got charged for internet service...???

 

[Chuck S]

You've all been so helpful & I still have yet another question....

We are renting DVC points from a friend, so do we still get free internet service if we're at AKL? On another thread someone said that the resort won't know if we are DVC or hotel room so we may still get charged for internet. Wouldn't that be horrible if we got a bill after using the internet all week!

We stayed at the Saratoga Springs with our friends DVC points & we never got charged for internet service...???

You may or may not get a bill at the end of your stay for the internet. Renters are not entitled to free internet service, but usually do receive it free.

If you are charged, you can not contest the bill at the front desk because it is a Member Perk and you are not a member.

 

[Mishetta]

Gotcha. Thanks!