The All-New "unofficial" AKL/AKV's Jambo & Kidani FAQ thread.....

[bgenew1]

We are booked at POFQ from Aug 30th thru Sept 5th. We do prefer deluxe resorts and can upgrade to AK standard view for $300. I know this board is probaby biased toward AK so do you think it is worth the extra money and what is your opinion on the standard view rooms?

 

[dischick4778]

I'm sorry if this has been answered already, I've been reading and reading and just want to make sure I understand. If we booked a 1 bedroom villa at Jambo and wanted a pool view would it be of the Uzima pool?

 

[caribear]

How far is the two pools? We're staying at akl for 2 nights and just hanging out at the resort. So of course we want to hit both pools.

Well...it is a little bit of a hike from Jambo House to the pool at Kidani Village. I walked it with my ds2 in his stroller....but my lazy dd7 took the bus with DH. There is trivia along the way though!

To get from Jambo to Kidani: can only catch the DTD bus
To get from Kidani to Jambo: can catch any bus other than DTD

So it is much quicker to go from Kidani to Jambo as the buses seem like they keep coming one after another....but sometimes it is a little wait for the ride from Jambo to Kidani since you have to wait for the DTD bus.

 

[Donald is #1]

I'm sorry if this has been answered already, I've been reading and reading and just want to make sure I understand. If we booked a 1 bedroom villa at Jambo and wanted a pool view would it be of the Uzima pool?

Yes, it will overlook that Uzima pool.

 

[dischick4778]

Yes, it will overlook that Uzima pool.

Great! Thank you!

 

[joelp]

We are booked at POFQ from Aug 30th thru Sept 5th. We do prefer deluxe resorts and can upgrade to AK standard view for $300. I know this board is probaby biased toward AK so do you think it is worth the extra money and what is your opinion on the standard view rooms?

I can't comment on the standard rooms - but for about $10 more/night you can try and get a Pool View room - and those views are fine.

We've stayed at POFQ and AKL - AKL is definitely nicer, with lots of activities, great restaurants, the animals ... While POFQ has it's own charm, the boat to DTD, a great pool ...

IMHO - if you're not planning to spend some time at AKL and taking advantage of the resort (i.e. if it's just gonna be a place to sleep) - it's probably not worth the extra $$. That being said, once you step into the AKL lobby and start walking around, you may change your plans and decide to spend the time at AKL (as opposed to being in the parks ...)

Either way - at either resort, you'll have a great time!!

 

[bgenew1]

Thanks for the response. We did make the switch as the room/hotel is important to us. I would rather have the balcony and have an enclosed hotel so that if we are already soaked by rain we at least have a dry walk to the room! The only pool view rooms available are with bunk beds and we are 2 adults with no children, so we will stick with the standard and cross our fingers for a possible savanna upgrade.

 

[jeanylaser]

thanks for the info!

 

[jenharring]

In the dvc villas at kidani are there robes in the room?
Is there a tv in the master bathroom?

 

[Donald is #1]

In the dvc villas at kidani are there robes in the room?
Is there a tv in the master bathroom?

I haven't been to Kidani yet, but I seriously doubt that there are robes in the rooms. The only DVC rooms that I have seen robes in are the CL ones at Jambo house.

 

[memobrien]

i'm thinking about staying at akl. we stayed there in jan 2008 and loved it. at the time we had hoped to try the safari but it was booked the one day we were staying there that had the safari.

i'm thinking about trying it this time. i'm wondering if anyone has any accounts of their experience with it.

thanks!

maura

 

[mmmears]

i'm thinking about staying at akl. we stayed there in jan 2008 and loved it. at the time we had hoped to try the safari but it was booked the one day we were staying there that had the safari.

i'm thinking about trying it this time. i'm wondering if anyone has any accounts of their experience with it.

thanks!

maura

We did the Sunrise Safari in April, and we're doing it again in a few days. It was a really wonderful experience. We woke up really early in the am and checked in at the club lounge. From there we went down and boarded special buses that took us through a back way to AK. We got to see the employee entrance and buildings, the back-side of the savanna, and the huge cages/barns where the animals sleep at night.

Then we went out on the savanna and had a slow and leisurely ride through the regular ride. No silly ride story, no rushing. Just lots of information about the animals, their care. Plenty of time to take photos and ask questions.

Then we walked out of the ride area and to Pizzafari. There was a lovely buffet breakfast there, just for the people on the safari. By then the park was open.

Hope this helps!

 

[jenharring]

ok we have decided to stay concierge now. I figure it is going to cost us about the same, since now we wont have to eat breakfast out, though we will 2x since the kids love character dining.
What is the nightly turn down service?
Is there a thread that talks about concierge at akl?
Tell me more. Is it true there is not a concierge level at the Kidani village?
We are staying in a 1br, I know they ones at the jambo house only have 1 bathroom and we orignally booked kidani b/c of the 2 bath. Also does anyone know how many robes are in the cl 1 brs
So I guess we will have to give the extra bathroom up for concierge

 

[floridascgirl]

Thanks for the response. We did make the switch as the room/hotel is important to us. I would rather have the balcony and have an enclosed hotel so that if we are already soaked by rain we at least have a dry walk to the room! The only pool view rooms available are with bunk beds and we are 2 adults with no children, so we will stick with the standard and cross our fingers for a possible savanna upgrade.

I just wanted to make sure that you realized that the Pool View Room with the Bunkbed also has a Queen Bed. I thought that I would mention it in case you and your travel companion are a couple. If you aren't, then I see why you would need the 2 Queens.

As far as Standard View Rooms go, check on the map for the section of rooms near the end that overlook a jacuzzi. Someone on the boards mentioned that they had a room in this section and it had a lovely view. Maybe you could make a request.

 

[glennbo123]

In the dvc villas at kidani are there robes in the room?
Is there a tv in the master bathroom?

No, the villas at kidani do not have robes and they do not have tv's in the bathroom. There is a tv in the master bedroom, though.

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

Thanks for this great thread... We are getting ready to book for June 2010.... We'd really like a Savannah view with a queen and 2 bunk beds.... from what I can tell with the new rates, these are the exact same price as the Standard Club Level rooms... ALL club level rooms are Savannah views, correct? Does anyone know if there is a way to reserve a club level room that has bunk beds? Are these usually more? It looks like we would be insane not to stay club level -- it is basically the same price? Yay!

 

[memobrien]

We are booked at POFQ from Aug 30th thru Sept 5th. We do prefer deluxe resorts and can upgrade to AK standard view for $300. I know this board is probaby biased toward AK so do you think it is worth the extra money and what is your opinion on the standard view rooms?

i'm wondering about the standard too. I've stayed at AKL once before and LOVED IT!! but we were savannah view that time. this time i was trying to do a more budget trip. i was thinking about staying at a mod. but we just loved akl so much. so we decided to compromise and do a standard view.

so i would love some thoughts ont he standard view rooms. should we make any kimd of request or anything?

 

[candeeapril]

We did the Sunrise Safari in April, and we're doing it again in a few days. It was a really wonderful experience. We woke up really early in the am and checked in at the club lounge. From there we went down and boarded special buses that took us through a back way to AK. We got to see the employee entrance and buildings, the back-side of the savanna, and the huge cages/barns where the animals sleep at night.

Then we went out on the savanna and had a slow and leisurely ride through the regular ride. No silly ride story, no rushing. Just lots of information about the animals, their care. Plenty of time to take photos and ask questions.

Then we walked out of the ride area and to Pizzafari. There was a lovely buffet breakfast there, just for the people on the safari. By then the park was open.

Hope this helps!

Can you do the special safari's if you're not staying club level? How much are they? TIA

 

[pilferk]

Can you do the special safari's if you're not staying club level? How much are they? TIA

You can do the SunSET safari. If you are not staying on the club level, the cost is $210 per adult and $105 per child (or those were the prices last I knew...they may have increased...that's awhile back). That includes dinner (more of a tasting menu..but "meal sized" in terms of total amount of food) at Jiko's.

The SunRISE safari is only available to CL guests.

 

[PrincessEeyore]

Just subbing to the thread. We'll be staying at AKL for the first time this year and all the info here has been more than helpful!