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

[mommy2mrb]

Thank you Thumper for sharing your experience...my DD is excited to finally be able to stay here, fingers crossed we get on the safari!!
your photos are beautiful, I've requested the same area you had, nice to hear there were lots of animals to see!

 

[Kathy Z]

Thanks so much for the reports of your recent stay at AKL Thumper! I'm getting even more excited for our upcoming stay. We're not staying CL but have requested Zebra Trail, 3rd floor and booked a savanna view room.

I know the term "long walk" can be so subjective. Walking at a moderate steady pace would you say your room location was more than 5 minutes from the lobby?

 

[sjs314]

Thanks for the TR , I had read where someone else said about a shuttle, good to have it confirmed, very nice pics. Happy to hear you had such a wonderful time, I picked the resort for our upcoming trip in Nov having stayed there back in 2006 with a friend, so I am truely hopeing DH, DS(401) and Ddil(40) love AKL as much as I did

 

[athenna]

Thanks for sharing your pics and sharing your experience

 

[JenniJ]

Thank you for sharing. Wonderful pics. Only 62 more days! woo hoo!!

 

[thumper*]

Thanks so much for the reports of your recent stay at AKL Thumper! I'm getting even more excited for our upcoming stay. We're not staying CL but have requested Zebra Trail, 3rd floor and booked a savanna view room.

I know the term "long walk" can be so subjective. Walking at a moderate steady pace would you say your room location was more than 5 minutes from the lobby?

Hope you get the 3'rd floor but if bumped up to 4 it's still a great view. Well athough the walk felt like 5 min it was probably closer to 3min. It is hard to get down the hallways at a steady pace since it is so hard to not stop and look out all the windows at the animals or artifacts. Plus I'm not counting elevator time which wasn't long at all. Enjoy your trip.

 

[rvashko]

Are we all sure that they provide high chairs for 1-bdrm Jambo Villas? I've called twice now, and the hotel desk keeps referring me to www.all-about-kids.com to rent a high chair @ $6/day and $25 delivery charge.

The desk didn't ask me if I was in a villa or a regular room. Maybe they don't provide chairs for regular hotel rooms?

 

[mommy2mrb]

i've never heard that they will give you a high chair for any resort...good luck finding out!

 

[WDWKOOK]

Are we all sure that they provide high chairs for 1-bdrm Jambo Villas? I've called twice now, and the hotel desk keeps referring me to www.all-about-kids.com to rent a high chair @ $6/day and $25 delivery charge.

The desk didn't ask me if I was in a villa or a regular room. Maybe they don't provide chairs for regular hotel rooms?

I know nothing about the high chairs, however, I do know that when you "call the front desk," you're actually calling a call center somewhere else in FL so they might not know about high chair inventory at the resort unless they put you on hold and call the resort themselves. Certainly, you can ask them to do this for you.

 

[haleofafamily]

Are we all sure that they provide high chairs for 1-bdrm Jambo Villas? I've called twice now, and the hotel desk keeps referring me to www.all-about-kids.com to rent a high chair @ $6/day and $25 delivery charge.

The desk didn't ask me if I was in a villa or a regular room. Maybe they don't provide chairs for regular hotel rooms?

We have always had them in the villas. They are usually in a closet. If you can't find it be sure to call and they will get it to you. They also provide a pack-n-play with a sheet.

 

[rvashko]

Thanks, all. I called Jambo directly, not the reservations call center. Twice, when I asked about a high chair, they referred me to that rental site. I called a third time, clearly explained that I was staying in a villa, and was told essentially what haleofafamily said (thank you!).

I politely suggested to this third person that there might be some retraining necessary on if/when the resort offers high chairs in the room. Had I not been diligent, I might have paid $70+ dollars for a high chair rental I didn't need.

 

[hematite153]

Thanks, all. I called Jambo directly, not the reservations call center. Twice, when I asked about a high chair, they referred me to that rental site. I called a third time, clearly explained that I was staying in a villa, and was told essentially what haleofafamily said (thank you!).

I politely suggested to this third person that there might be some retraining necessary on if/when the resort offers high chairs in the room. Had I not been diligent, I might have paid $70+ dollars for a high chair rental I didn't need.

I'm glad that you finally got accurate information. I recommend you send email to DVC member satisfaction to convey this problem. They can only follow-up on the retraining suggestion if it gets to them and it's unlikely to get from the person you spoke to to management.

 

[snykymom]

Thanks, all. I called Jambo directly, not the reservations call center.

Glad it ultimately worked out for you, but I did want to point out that even calling Jambo (or any other resort) "directly" does not connect you to Jambo. You're not connected to the reservations call center, but you are connected to a call center that might not even be in Florida. They simply answer the phone as if they were at the resort; they're not. And that's true even if you're calling from your room at the resort. If you want the front desk, you have to go down there and talk in person.

Ever wonder why you don't see Cast Members behind the desk at resorts on the phone? That's why.

 

[ChelleMouse]

We've recently returned from 8 nights at Kidani Village. The resort is breathtaking! Seeing the animals is just amazing! We ate at both Sanaa and Boma - both, we ate at multiple times as we enjoyed it so much. We found the staff at the gift shops, both at Kidani and Jambo to be wonderful and helpful. The people we encountered out at the locations to see the animals were great.

There is so much about this resort that we loved, however, there were a few things that were bothersome.

I inquired about transportation or a shuttle to Jambo house - they told us to use any of the transportation buses except for Downtown Disney and to take the Downtown Disney one from Jambo to come back. No offer or mention of a shuttle.

We were celebrating our anniversary and son's birthday while we were there. It was noted in the reservations and the meal reservations for those particular days. Nothing happened. Nothing.

Shipping a box back home to myself has been an unbelievable hassle. They kept my box for FIVE days and if I had not been calling EVERY DAY to find out why they had not shipped it, it would probably still be there. They LIED repeatedly and kept telling me that it has been picked up, that they watched the guy load it onto the truck. This was a pre-packaged box, labeled and everything - all they had to do was give it to the driver. I don't understand why this became so difficult.

The staff behind the desk seemed to be very unorganized and everything took an extreme amount of time. On several occasions, I found myself answering people's questions because the staff could not. (I have always found the counter staff in the resorts to be very knowledgeable and helpful - not this time)

My biggest complaint has to be regarding Mousekeeping. I do wonder if they did anything in addition to making the beds, changing the towels and taking out the garbage. (We are not DVC members, we paid cash for the room)

Our bathrooms were never really cleaned - even when we CALLED and REQUESTED the bathrub be cleaned. The bathtub was visibly dirty - there was no way you could have missed it - and yet, they didn't even touch it.

I left a sticker from the soap wrapper on the floor in the shower one morning to see if anyone would pick it up - was still there when we got back that night.

The sheets & pillowcases were never cleaned/changed either - even when it was completely visible that someone had sneezed into a pillowcase and got snot all over the pillowcase and sheet. (Sorry, gross, but how do you miss this when making the bed?) This, incidentally, was done the one and only night our beds were turned down and chocolate was left on them. I should have taken a picture - chocolate candy placed a few inches from dirty linens - nice.

There is a display of towel animals in the lobby at Kidani. Never saw any in our room.

Despite this, we had a great time. I would like to see Disney get their act together when it comes to this resort as the service is lacking.

 

[rvashko]

Hematite - good point. I doubt the person I crabbed to did anything about it.

snykymom - I had no idea. I thought the 407-938-3000 (given to me in my reservation confirmation alongside the hotel's physical address) dialed to Jambo. That might explain why the first two folk were clueless (i.e., they were answering the question generally, not specifically to DVC/DDV). Still doesn't excuse it, though.

ChelleMouse - you should have complained. Remember what happened when Pete complained about his CB Pirate room?

 

[sebastian75_99]

Quick question, any help would be greatly appreciated. I booked a savanna view 1 bedroom villa in Kidani for a November trip. I paid for it this week and Disney sent me a reservation confirmation. The reservation confirmation says that I booked an Outer building-Theme Park View. I can only assume that this is their lingo for savanna view, but I am not completely sure. Does anyone know for sure if Theme Park View is really Savanna view at AKL? I know I could call and ask but I'm afraid of getting a CM who does not know, gives me a wrong answer and throws me into a full blown anxiety attack.

 

[Kathy Z]

Quick question, any help would be greatly appreciated. I booked a savanna view 1 bedroom villa in Kidani for a November trip. I paid for it this week and Disney sent me a reservation confirmation. The reservation confirmation says that I booked an Outer building-Theme Park View. I can only assume that this is their lingo for savanna view, but I am not completely sure. Does anyone know for sure if Theme Park View is really Savanna view at AKL? I know I could call and ask but I'm afraid of getting a CM who does not know, gives me a wrong answer and throws me into a full blown anxiety attack.

That wording certainly confuses me. Does the reservation confirmation also state that you are booked in a 1 bedroom villa Kidani? If it does I would not get into a full blown anxiety attack but I would be questioning as you are. I've never stayed in a villa so I can't be more helpful.

 

[kdfogliano]

Quick question, any help would be greatly appreciated. I booked a savanna view 1 bedroom villa in Kidani for a November trip. I paid for it this week and Disney sent me a reservation confirmation. The reservation confirmation says that I booked an Outer building-Theme Park View. I can only assume that this is their lingo for savanna view, but I am not completely sure. Does anyone know for sure if Theme Park View is really Savanna view at AKL? I know I could call and ask but I'm afraid of getting a CM who does not know, gives me a wrong answer and throws me into a full blown anxiety attack.

almost sounds like a booking at the GF or CR,
I would call and have them double check, when you book online it says savannah view

 

[haleofafamily]

Quick question, any help would be greatly appreciated. I booked a savanna view 1 bedroom villa in Kidani for a November trip. I paid for it this week and Disney sent me a reservation confirmation. The reservation confirmation says that I booked an Outer building-Theme Park View. I can only assume that this is their lingo for savanna view, but I am not completely sure. Does anyone know for sure if Theme Park View is really Savanna view at AKL? I know I could call and ask but I'm afraid of getting a CM who does not know, gives me a wrong answer and throws me into a full blown anxiety attack.

I just pulled out my reservation to see exactly what it says. It states the resort and address my arrival and departure dates and "Vacation home type: Ded 2 BR Sav View Kidani"

If I were you I would call and check. If you get someone you aren't comfortable with politely hang up and call back.

 

[hematite153]

Quick question, any help would be greatly appreciated. I booked a savanna view 1 bedroom villa in Kidani for a November trip. I paid for it this week and Disney sent me a reservation confirmation. The reservation confirmation says that I booked an Outer building-Theme Park View.

I agree, that sounds like a MK area resort.