Should Pembe Savannah be a separate booking category?

[cvjw]

We just returned from 6 nights at Kidani Village, traveling with 4 boys ages 7 to 15. The younger boys were so excited about waking up in the morning and seeing zebras and giraffes - they had talked about it for months. I made one request when I made the reservation 7 months ago - to be on the Sunset Savannah. Imagine the disappointment upon check-in to be told that we had a great villa on the Pembe Savannah. This was our 3rd stay at AKV, and we had very bad savannah views the other 2 trips (our rooms were very far away from the areas where the animals usually gather). I took our bad views the other 2 times, and didn't say anything, but I simply wasn't OK with being on the Pembe savannah and having the younger kids disappointed for a week. They eventually found us a different villa on the Sunset Savannah.

So, that got me thinking - am I the only one that would be disappointed with the Pembe Savannah? When I think of savannah views at AKV, I think of giraffes and zebras, not red river hogs (even though they are very, very cute). I think I would rather save points and book a standard view than waste all of the points that it takes to stay on the savannah, and be on the Pembe Savannah. I wish you had the option of knowing which savannah your villa would be on when you booked, and then deciding for yourself if the Pembe Savannah is worth it. Kind of what they did at Jambo House with the Arusha Savannah - make the Pembe Savannah a separate booking category. Thoughts?

 

[SamSam]

View is very important to Dh and I, however, we spend quite a bit of time in the room (work), so view is very important to us. I think if you're a family that goes to parks from opening to close, then your Savannah is much less important. It's just different for each situation.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I've never stayed at Kidani so I'm not familiar with what the savannah names are. Is the one called Sunset Savannah the same as Sunset Savannah at Jambo? And what animals are/aren't on the Pembe savannah?

 

[CocosMeme]

we had a similar issue with our recent trip. I booked a Grand Villa 12 months out (we were there May 28 - June 4) and had requested "close to lobby" for medical reasons due to DH having PAD and 2 stints in his leg from surgery. WE were in the last section closest to Jambo!! The problem was no other Grand Villa was available on the day we checked in. We could not have been farther away from the lobby or pool. We had 6 grandchildren with us and their parents and had been telling them all year about how exciting it was to see the giraffe's and zebra's right outside your room. We NEVER saw a giraffe or zebra close to our room. We had to go to the lobby overlook to see them. I used 634 points for the room. I was pretty heartbroken. On our previous trip we were assigned a room on the Pembe Savannah also and had it changed to Sunset, but were on the 5th floor and only saw the tops of the trees On well - someboy must be getting the good views! Maybe next time.

 

[supersuperwendy]

arusha savannah at Jambo is a booking category? like HH at OKW?

 

[erionm]

arusha savannah at Jambo is a booking category? like HH at OKW?

I believe this only applies to cash reservations at the hotel portion of Jambo House. I've never heard of DVC reservations having Arusha as a guaranteed booking category.

 

[erionm]

I've never stayed at Kidani so I'm not familiar with what the savannah names are. Is the one called Sunset Savannah the same as Sunset Savannah at Jambo? And what animals are/aren't on the Pembe savannah?

The Sunset Savanna was expanded when Kidani Village was built. The Pembe Savanna is a small savanna on the back side of Kidani Village. On the Pembe you will find the Okapi and Red River Hogs and a few other species. The Pembe is the only savanna that does not have Giraffes.

We stayed at Kidani Village last September and I requested the Pembe. We got that request and I was very happy with the view we had and the animals.

As to making the Pembe a booking category, NO!

 

[disneynutz]

Our last savanna view at Kidani was the back side of the pool. If we looked to the far right, every couple of days we could see a hog and a couple of birds. We weren't really happy with the view and we were told that everybody complains about it.

Bill

 

[cvjw]

arusha savannah at Jambo is a booking category? like HH at OKW?

When you book a savannah view at Jambo House thru CRO, you now have to pay extra for the Arusha savannah, because everyone wanted to be on that savannah. There is no difference for DVC members.

 

[supersuperwendy]

thanks

 

[quentina]

I try to have the day at Disney is better than attitude however; we had this view once and it was a complete disappointment. I sucked it up but, if given it again, I think I would ask to relocate.

I do not believe it is worth the same amount of points as the other areas. So, I say, Yes....give it a different point structure.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Our last savanna view at Kidani was the back side of the pool. If we looked to the far right, every couple of days we could see a hog and a couple of birds. We weren't really happy with the view and we were told that everybody complains about it.

Bill

Was that prior to the first of the year? I had one of those rooms in January - actually it sounds like mine was further down towards the savanah since I looked out at the fence dividing the pool and savanah- and was told it was one of the newly reclassified standard views so they have corrected that problem. Nice to know they listened on this one.

We also had one of the newly reclassified standard views at Jambo in May which was previously a savanah view located over a people pen.

 

[sweetdana]

I think a 5th booking catagory (kinda 8th, if you include that you can pick between J and Kid) would be going to far.
Every booking catagory, makes trouble for the last few rooms. Esp spotty for people who stay a week or more. And do not book, 7 or 11 months to the day out.

Though it is too late, I think 4 is way to many, and really having 7(due to both resorts) is worse.

Instead a better option, would be down grade spotty rooms. If it is not a good view, then don't charge for it. If you pay 3 points a night for a studio, or 11 more per night for a 2 bedroom, you deserve what you paid for. If there are rooms that are not a good view they should be down graded to a standard.
Instead.. someone paying for a standard could feel lucky to get it. Instead of disappointed you spent the $$ or points for a terrible view. If that means down grading 30 rooms and charging 1 point more per night for the savanahh, or even the standard.. to cover it then do it. Do not set people up for disappointment and do not put in a 5th catagory.

 

[hbg4]

I was extremely disappointed with my Pembe Savanna view, and promptly requested a change to Sunset view. I prefer the pool view at jambo house for less points than the Pembe view- what a waste of points. We were lucky there was an empty villa across the hallway, but that was the last time we stayed in Kidani. The 2nd bathroom in the villa was nice, but the walk all the way to the end of the hallway was a killer with the suitcase.

 

[cvjw]

Thanks for all of the replies - good to know that I'm not the only one that has been disappointed with the Pembe Savannah.

 

[DizGirl20]

OP - Thanks for posting. To be honest, we do not spend much time in our room so we were extremely happy in April with our Standard View Room. I think if I ever book a SV room I will say "anything but the Pembe Savannah"!

 

[wdrl]

We were recently in a two-bedroom savanna view villa that overlooked the Pembe Savanna. Although we did not see any giraffes or zebras, we saw many other animals. One of the highlights of our view is that we saw a pair of nesting blue cranes right outside our villa. The male crane was protective of the nest, and would chase away the Thompson's gazelles that got too close, causing the gazelles to scamper at high speeds about the savanna. Another day, an animal keeper told us a young nyala was making her first outing on the savanna with her mom and dad. At times, there were hardly any animals in sight, other than the nesting blue cranes. At other times, there were a lot of animals. Here are some photos taken from our balcony:

The baby nyala and her mom, with dad barely in the photo. This was the baby's first day on the savanna:

The male blue crane. There is an interesting story about the blue crane's nest, but that is worthy of another thread:

A female okapi feeding from a trough. An animal keeper told us this okapi was pregnant and due in September:

A group of red river hogs:

Some Thompson gazelles. It was amazing watching them run around the savanna when we chased by the blue crane.

There are a lot of animals to see on the Pembe Savanna, and if you talk to the animal keepers you can learn some fascinating facts about these animals.

Based on our experience, I would not think that having a separate booking category for the villas facing the Pembe Savanna is warranted.

 

[DebbieB]

I try to have the day at Disney is better than attitude however; we had this view once and it was a complete disappointment. I sucked it up but, if given it again, I think I would ask to relocate.

I do not believe it is worth the same amount of points as the other areas. So, I say, Yes....give it a different point structure.

I don't think you will see a different point structure, the entire chart would have to be revamped for both Jambo & Kidani to do that (savannah view points are the same at both).

They could split it out for the same points, like they did for boardwalk view at BWV and HH at OKW.

 

[Inkmahm]

The Sunset Savanna was expanded when Kidani Village was built. The Pembe Savanna is a small savanna on the back side of Kidani Village. On the Pembe you will find the Okapi and Red River Hogs and a few other species. The Pembe is the only savanna that does not have Giraffes.

We stayed at Kidani Village last September and I requested the Pembe. We got that request and I was very happy with the view we had and the animals.

As to making the Pembe a booking category, NO!

I agree with all of this. We got Pembe as a standard view in March. We loved it! Of course, we love the red river hogs and the Okapi so this view was perfect for us.

 

[wildernessDad]

We enjoyed our Pembe Savanna view, but I would tend to agree that it should be a booking category.