Staying at AKV

[kstorms27]

My wife and I are thinking that we would like to make AKV our home resort when were ready to buy our points. My concern is that Ive seen on here where people have a hard time getting their reservations even at the 11 month window. We have a 3yr old daughter and we would love to be at AKV around all the animals. Anybody experiance this problem at all? I think we would most likely try for a 1 bedroom Savanah view but not opposed to a studio. I just dont want my home resort to be someplace that I can never get what I want. Thanks for any advice!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Any reports about difficulty at 11 months have to do with a) booking a very busy DVC time and b) trying to get a room that has limited inventory such as the 5 concierge studios or 5 concierge 1BR's at AKV. You should have no problem getting a studio or 1BR savannah view at AKV at 11 months and usually even less than that. That is the largest view inventory at AKV.

 

[erionm]

The rooms at AKV that can be difficult to reserve are the Values and Concierge Level. Both of those categories only exist in Jambo House. The Standard View and Savanna View are in both building (Jambo House & Kidani Village) and those are generally available at 11 months and most times of the year available at 7 months or less.

 

[drusba]

We always get savanna view and have had no problem getting what we want during the 11 month window (and that includes having called 10 and 9 months out)

 

[kstorms27]

What is the difference between a values and a studio or a normal 1 bedroom or Concierge Level. Im still very much new to Disney and to this board so please bear with me if theses questions seem obvious. We are trying to learn as much as we can before making our decision.

 

[kstorms27]

What is the difference between a values and a studio or a normal 1 bedroom or Concierge Level. Im still very much new to Disney and to this board so please bear with me if theses questions seem obvious. We are trying to learn as much as we can before making our decision.

 

[luckyman_apd]

What is the difference between a values and a studio or a normal 1 bedroom or Concierge Level. Im still very much new to Disney and to this board so please bear with me if theses questions seem obvious. We are trying to learn as much as we can before making our decision.

You can pretty much google any resort and the size you want (studio/1 bedroom/2br) and you can find pictures that others have posted, and you will definitly find floor plans. This can help you see what each room looks like, and what you are getting for each point totals.

My wife and I are considering a 100 point resale purchase for BLT. I'm a cheapskate (not afraid to admit it ) and I just worry that times I want a standard view studio, all that will be available is a MK view or a lake view. That would require more points per night. However, for us, there is only 2 times of the year we can go, so we will definitely be planning at 11 months out, so I don't think this will be a problem. If you decide 9, 6, or 5 months out, you start running into less availability.

 

[MrShiny]

What is the difference between a values and a studio or a normal 1 bedroom or Concierge Level. Im still very much new to Disney and to this board so please bear with me if theses questions seem obvious. We are trying to learn as much as we can before making our decision.

Value: no view, slightly smaller, cheaper
Studio: like a normal hotel room, but with fridge & microwave
1 Bedroom: a room with king size bed attached to a living room with sleeper sofa (and sleeper chair in the larger ones) and a full kitchen. In Kidani, 2 bathrooms. In all, master bathroom has jacuzzi tub.
Conceirge - may or may not have savanna view, but get access to lounge which puts out food and drinks (including beer & wine) several times a day. Morning has a couple of hot items (quinoa & oat meal), mid day iss snacks, evening appetizers & desserts. We end up skipping quite a few meals out when we stay concierge.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Value rooms will have either Savannah view, pool view or parking lot view. You cannot reserve any in particular and you cannot place a request either so it's luck of the draw. Otherwise they are approx 3 feet shorter which means less space in the room. In the 1BR's and 2BR's this means there wasn't enough room for a sleeper chair so the occupancy is 1 less person than all other 1 & 2BR's at AKV.

Standard View - will have view of pool, parking lot or may have a partial savannah view.

Savannah view - is what it says.

Concierge - will have pool or savannah view and access to the concierge lounge and special tours (that are an extra cost). The rooms are all on the 6th floor of Jambo house and are not considered to have great views. The added point cost is for the concierge amenities and the rooms are the same as all others at Jambo except for the value rooms.

 

[hakepb]

After a split Kidani and Jambo 1BR stay, I am not sure I will ever stay in a Jambo 1BR again(unless it is couples only or a few Concierge days to get the am safari)
Before DVC converted Jambo, all 1BR's essentially had 1.3 bathrooms: a full bathroom + a vanity and whirlpool tub in the MBR so 2 people can get ready at the same time. Jambo only has a full bathroom detached from the master (with combined tub/shower) and no separate vanity in the MBR.
Kidani stepped it up with 2 full bathrooms, and the master bathroom is actually attached to the MBR.
(I would still prefer Jambo for studio (more restaurants) and GV-pool table!)

 

[ovalhead96]

We recently got a 2 bedroom at the 1 month time period. I just booked standard at Jambo for June 3 (6 month)

We love staying there. Our next purchase will definatelly be at akv

 

[majortom1981]

As a newish member of 2 years whose home resort is akv , you will have NO problem booking at 11 months.

I booked at 11 months for our first trip in may 2010 a savanah view at kidani, Got standard view studio for january and a standard view 2 bed september of 2012.

You would only have problems maybe for concierge and value but a better chance then most since you will be 11 months.

My experience is dont worry about the savanah view .We stayed savanah view last may and had only an emu by our room all the time .The giraffes and other animals stayed by jambo house pool all the time.

 

[daisyduck123]

We've stayed there several times (Jambo twice, Kidani twice) and have never had to waitlist for a studio at the 7 month mark.

 

[kamikazecat]

We just booked Kidani today at 6 months out (we own at BLT) and had no issues.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Value: no view, slightly smaller, cheaper

The best view I ever had in any villa at AKV was from a value studio. That's counting savannah (twice), standard (once) besides. Unfortunately I haven't gotten that particular value studio again, but I loved the view!
I've had a few times when I've had to waitlist for a value studio at 7 months. However, I've been fortunate-in every time, that waitlist has come thru in days or within a couple weeks.