SSR vs. AKV

[krohloff08]

Morning all!
We have narrowed down our choice for a 2 bedroom villa to SSR or AKV. THe price difference for me is $600 with SSR being the cheaper of the two. We wll have 6 adults and 3 kids (but the youngest child is 2).

What are your thoughts on these two villas?

Also, we are going in November this time (we usually go in June but are sick of the awful heat and humidity!) and I know park hours may not be as long. With that said the one thing we liked about SSR is that we are super close to DTD and not have to do the long bus ride there!

 

[Pakey]

It's a lot of people for a 2 bedroom at either location but I'd definitely go with AKV (Kidani, not Jambo) in order to get the 3rd bathroom. To me that makes up for losing the close proximity to DTD.

The walk or boat ride to DTD from SSR could be shorter than the bus ride from AKV but not necessarily. SSR is pretty big and if you are in Grandstand or Springs, your walk would be just as long as the bus ride from AKV.

I've stayed at both, AKV twice and SSR 6 times in various sections. Although I own at BCV, AKV is my absolute favorite DVC resort at WDW.

 

[cvjw]

9 people is too many for the 2 bedroom at SSR. Technically, Disney will allow that many, but it will be very, very tight. We have stayed in a 2 bedroom at all of the DVC resorts, and I would not put that many adults into the SSR 2 bedroom.

The 2 bedroom at AKV (Kidani Village) will have an extra bathroom, and the extra sleeping chair. I would pick Kidani village, no question.

 

[Magic3forme]

We own at both and prefer AKV. We like staying at Kidani because of the extra bathroom. The pool there is great too.

SSR is closer to some of the parks and DTD if that matters to you.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I have stayed at both resorts. SSR 2x and AKL Kidani 1x. Ssr has many great pools two with slides. Akl kidani also has a great pool witha slide. Ssr has a great qs and ts. Kidani does not have its own qs and u have to walk to akl jambo. For atmpsphere i like akl better bc of the incredible animals. Ssr was better fpr convonoemce for food and it also has a boat going to DTD.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Once you get more than four adults the two bedroom villas start to get crowded. Do two of the adults get relegated to the living room on the sleeper sofa? Or do four adults share the second bedroom and you make the children sleep on the sleeper sofa in the living room?

And if you don't get the two bedroom with the extra bathroom (AKV-KV or BLT), you have maybe six people sharing one bedroom and three in the other.

Figure out where everyone will sleep before you try booking. If you book AKV-Jambo House, the second bedroom will have one queen bed and one double sleeper sofa and it will be a lockoff (meaning a combination of a studio and one bedroom). You can't move the beds around to meet your needs. They are where they are.

 

[rutgers1]

We had a 2 bedroom lock-off at AKV, which we shared with our family and another, total of 9 people. It was fine.

Here are my thoughts on the two:

AKV:
1) The room was great in terms of what it offered.
2) We really didn't like the "darkness" of the room and the resort. The theming was cool, but the whole place seemed dreary to us. My wife kept commenting that you would never know if the room was dirty since it was so dark.
3) I felt a bit "remote" while there, not only from the parks but from the main section of the resort.
4) I think the main cool thing was the theming. The Disney touch is everywhere. For that alone I would stay again, as I like to reward Disney when they go above and beyond with the theming.

SSR:
1) This is my home resort, but possibly my least favorite.
2) I say least favorite because I feel it is large (spread out) and lacks the Disney touch in terms of theming. It is almost as if the theme is "condo," as that is what it feels like.
3) With that said, the rooms were always clean/nice.
4) I liked being close to Downtown Disney, though it isn't like it is a quick walk from all but one section of the property. It is nice, but not a selling point for us.
5) Likewise, the other amenities like golf and spa are nice, but once again not selling points for us.

For us, the decision between the two would always come down to points if it were between those two resorts. I like both, have issues with both, and would therefore say they are about "even" with me. So, I would go to whichever requires less points for my stay. If I were taking another family with me, I would go to AKV since it seems the most Disney-inspired of the two.

 

[krohloff08]

Right now 2 of the adults would only be with half of the stay. Then they are catching a cruise. We have my husband, myself and our youngest in the room with the king bed. My older two (9 and 5) in the second bedroom with my Mom and Dad since ther would be 2 queens. My brother and his wife would be on the sofa sleeper.