***The Official AKV Owners And Lovers Thread***. Come And Chat

[mrsap]

Hello everyone! I was wondering if there’s a big difference between the two main buildings? Does one have an advantage over the other? Is it just personal preference? Thank you!

 

[drusba]

Grabbed an AKV - club level room for 3 days next December. Decided to pass it off to my son and wife as a wedding gift. I know they'll love it.

My dilemma was how can I ensure they get the best first impressions of Jambo if they have a poor view such as what club level offers. To me, the SV rooms are amazing and the best way to go. Decided that since they'll most likely be swapping down to a standard view room for the last night or two (I have them booked seperate) and I have a SV view booked for myself that I can just swap rooms with them. Give them the best of both worlds.

About half the standards actually have savanna view; the rest pool view. With standard view, make a request for a room on the Kudo Trail side of the building and hope you get it; all standards on that side have savanna view.

 

[drusba]

Hello everyone! I was wondering if there’s a big difference between the two main buildings? Does one have an advantage over the other? Is it just personal preference? Thank you!

See my post from a few years ago here (but note change in that Sanaa now serves breakfast):
https://www.disboards.com/threads/help-with-a-decision-please.3460263/

 

[igrsod]

This is my first time staying at our home resort... we snagged a value studio. Is there somewhere I should put in a room request, or is this pointless?

 

[aoconnor]

This is my first time staying at our home resort... we snagged a value studio. Is there somewhere I should put in a room request, or is this pointless?

Nice! So far I've never NOT been able to get a value room, even on Thanksgiving, but I don't expect that will continue

They do not take room requests for values. You have a 40% chance of partial savannah view, 40% pool view, and 20% parking lot view, all of which are on the 5th floor. Luck of the draw.

 

[drusba]

This is my first time staying at our home resort... we snagged a value studio. Is there somewhere I should put in a room request, or is this pointless?

Though they do not take location requests with value, you could possibly request a dedicated studio.There are four of those with savanna view and four with pool view, thus giving you a 50% chance for savanna view, and getting one avoids the two studios with parking lot view, which are both part of lock-offs

 

[igrsod]

Though they do not take location requests with value, you could possibly request a dedicated studio.There are four of those with savanna view and four with pool view, thus giving you a 50% chance for savanna view, and getting one avoids the two studios with parking lot view, which are both part of lock-offs

Good suggestion.... do you know who I contact for this request?

 

[drusba]

Good suggestion.... do you know who I contact for this request?

If you are a member, you contact Member Services. If you are a renter from a member, you contact the member and ask him to put in the request. If you are renting through a rental agency, you contact it and have it contact the renting member to ask if the member will make the request through Member Services.

 

[igrsod]

If you are a member, you contact Member Services. If you are a renter from a member, you contact the member and ask him to put in the request. If you are renting through a rental agency, you contact it and have it contact the renting member to ask if the member will make the request through Member Services.

Thank you I'm a new member. I'm learning new things every day.

 

[shaunacb]

Wondering about club/concierge level? I will be booking 2 nights pre-cruise, and could get a 1-bedroom (our usual with 2 kids and 1 infant) or a Concierge Studio for about the same number of points. We still technically fit in a studio, though we prefer 1-bedrooms for longer stays. We will either do 1 day at AK park, or just enjoy the resort before our cruise. What benefits will I get booking concierge? Is the lounge food/drinks enough to eat a couple of meals a day? I think they do daily housekeeping, and there is the option to pay for 3 additional FPs (which we would not do), is there anything else I would get with club level? (Assuming I can get CL, I know they go seconds after 8 am...) Thanks!

 

[twinklebug]

Wondering about club/concierge level? I will be booking 2 nights pre-cruise, and could get a 1-bedroom (our usual with 2 kids and 1 infant) or a Concierge Studio for about the same number of points. We still technically fit in a studio, though we prefer 1-bedrooms for longer stays. We will either do 1 day at AK park, or just enjoy the resort before our cruise. What benefits will I get booking concierge? Is the lounge food/drinks enough to eat a couple of meals a day? I think they do daily housekeeping, and there is the option to pay for 3 additional FPs (which we would not do), is there anything else I would get with club level? (Assuming I can get CL, I know they go seconds after 8 am...) Thanks!

Oh, tough decision. Were you considering Kidani for that one bedroom with its additional bathroom, or did you want to stay in jambo? To me that extra bath makes all the difference and the 1br would win hands down. I'm split between the two when it comes to Jambo house. Well... hmmm... the 1br is winning when I consider having 3 kids in the room with me. Yup.

So, to answer your questions about club level:

Additional services concierge might offer include assistance scheduling dinner, a ride to the airport, stuff most of us do on our own these days.

Turn down service: If you want the housekeeper to set up the bed for you on the first night, you really need to pull it out and set it up before she gets there, otherwise the bed will be left as a sofa. (Side note: towel animals don't seem to be a thing anymore on any level, probably because the housekeepers are very overworked as it is.)

Food: You'll find enough for a quick breakfast in the lounge, the other offerings throughout the day are more along the lines of light snacks. Crackers, fruit, a soup with pita chips.

At dinner there's one hot dish which varies day to day. The things we saw were along the lines of chicken curry, duck, and so on. They are served on hors d'oeuvres plating (minuscule, often with a tiny spoon to match). I think you'll find that if you're considering club level to save on money you'll still be spending quite a bit down in Mara picking up burgers.

ETA: I'm re-reading what I wrote, and it comes across as negative. That's not the case. I do love AKL Club level for the atmosphere, a way to relax outside of the room that has easy access to coffee and is not in the middle of high traffic areas and the occasional offerings of snacks. As a place for kids... I don't know as mine are all adults who appreciate the lounge for the same reasons I do.

There is a small kid area with its own tv off to the side. The parents I've seen camping out there with their kids do not look happy though. They look exhausted, but that might be just because it's Disney and/or they and the kids were kicked out of their room by someone needing to sleep.

 

[gillep]

Oh, tough decision. Were you considering Kidani for that one bedroom with its additional bathroom, or did you want to stay in jambo? To me that extra bath makes all the difference and the 1br would win hands down. I'm split between the two when it comes to Jambo house. Well... hmmm... the 1br is winning when I consider having 3 kids in the room with me. Yup.

So, to answer your questions about club level:

Additional services concierge might offer include assistance scheduling dinner, a ride to the airport, stuff most of us do on our own these days.

Turn down service: If you want the housekeeper to set up the bed for you on the first night, you really need to pull it out and set it up before she gets there, otherwise the bed will be left as a sofa. (Side note: towel animals don't seem to be a thing anymore on any level, probably because the housekeepers are very overworked as it is.)

Food: You'll find enough for a quick breakfast in the lounge, the other offerings throughout the day are more along the lines of light snacks. Crackers, fruit, a soup with pita chips.

At dinner there's one hot dish which varies day to day. The things we saw were along the lines of chicken curry, duck, and so on. They are served on hors d'oeuvres plating (minuscule, often with a tiny spoon to match). I think you'll find that if you're considering club level to save on money you'll still be spending quite a bit down in Mara picking up burgers.

ETA: I'm re-reading what I wrote, and it comes across as negative. That's not the case. I do love AKL Club level for the atmosphere, a way to relax outside of the room that has easy access to coffee and is not in the middle of high traffic areas and the occasional offerings of snacks. As a place for kids... I don't know as mine are all adults who appreciate the lounge for the same reasons I do.

There is a small kid area with its own tv off to the side. The parents I've seen camping out there with their kids do not look happy though. They look exhausted, but that might be just because it's Disney and/or they and the kids were kicked out of their room by someone needing to sleep.

I love CL at AKV-Jambo, but with that many people even I would go with a Kidani 1 bedroom, the extra space and bathroom are really nice. I also don't think the daily housekeeping would sway me for that short of a trip.

Have you been to AKV CL in the past two years? I think the evening offerings have come a long way in the past two years. There is now a chef who plates up two hot items (small but you can go back for more) and a dutch oven of soup or stew plus one other item something like chicken nuggets or meat balls in a second dutch oven that you can serve yourself. Plus the usual meats and cheeses, hummus and crackers/bread, vegetable tray. I certainly wouldn't look to replace dinner with the offerings on multiple nights, but I could be happily full from the offerings if I needed to or was just being lazy, which is not something I would have said about the offerings a few years ago. The kids area has also changed too, before they rearranged all the furniture that area was pretty dedicated to small kids as it had a tv and little stools for children, now the area is regular seating with a tv that has kids shows on it, so although small kids and families do sit there for the tv it it is also just regular seating now with adult sized tables and chairs.

 

[twinklebug]

I love CL at AKV-Jambo, but with that many people even I would go with a Kidani 1 bedroom, the extra space and bathroom are really nice. I also don't think the daily housekeeping would sway me for that short of a trip.

Have you been to AKV CL in the past two years? I think the evening offerings have come a long way in the past two years. There is now a chef who plates up two hot items (small but you can go back for more) and a dutch oven of soup or stew plus one other item something like chicken nuggets or meat balls in a second dutch oven that you can serve yourself. Plus the usual meats and cheeses, hummus and crackers/bread, vegetable tray. I certainly wouldn't look to replace dinner with the offerings on multiple nights, but I could be happily full from the offerings if I needed to or was just being lazy, which is not something I would have said about the offerings a few years ago. The kids area has also changed too, before they rearranged all the furniture that area was pretty dedicated to small kids as it had a tv and little stools for children, now the area is regular seating with a tv that has kids shows on it, so although small kids and families do sit there for the tv it it is also just regular seating now with adult sized tables and chairs.

Yes, we were just there in December. Dinner did not have all the offerings you stated. It was mostly the Chef's station and a soup (the same squash soup flavor every time. I know some folk love it, but we really did not care for it at all). There were crackers and cheese on the side. The charcuterie tray was a mess.

We ended up in the kids area one evening as the rest of the tables were filled. I'm past the days where I can see a child spitting up while trying to eat, so we quickly decided that area was not for us. Believe me, I had kids with all kinds of issues so I am not blaming wither the kids or parents, spit up happens, LOL.

 

[gillep]

Yes, we were just there in December. Dinner did not have all the offerings you stated. It was mostly the Chef's station and a soup (the same squash soup every time they put it out, LOL, I know some folk love it, but we really could not stand the stuff).

We ended up in the kids area one evening as the rest of the tables were filled. I'm long past the days where I can tolerate a child spitting up while trying to eat, so we quickly decided that area was not for us.

How odd, we were just there for a week last month and each night it had all of the things I listed, and the soup was only a repeat two days in a row once. We didn't eat there most nights, but we were around to check out the offerings before heading back out all but one night. We only sat in the kiddie area twice, but when we did there were only adults there, but obviously that would change by the second and we just hit it at the right time.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

At dinner there's one hot dish .

Growing up in MN this immediately caught my eye and I started wondering what kind of hotdish they had now started serving?! Tater Tot? Rice?

 

[shaunacb]

Thanks! To answer your questions - after a big family trip last month, I am borrowing AKV points so only have enough for the 1-bedroom value (so Kidani with 2 baths is not an option this time unfortunately). It is the same amount of points for the 1-bed value as the studio CL... so I was trying to decide if the "free" food (and alcohol right??) is worth losing the extra space we would get in the 1-bedroom value, since we are only staying 2 nights. It sounds like we could make a meal out of the lounge offerings, which would save some money, while spending the same amount of points, but we do like the bedroom with 3 kids... I guess it may just come down to what I can actually get at 8 am at 11 months! (And also whether they release the value rooms back into inventory, which is a whole other story right now!)

 

[gillep]

Thanks! To answer your questions - after a big family trip last month, I am borrowing AKV points so only have enough for the 1-bedroom value (so Kidani with 2 baths is not an option this time unfortunately). It is the same amount of points for the 1-bed value as the studio CL... so I was trying to decide if the "free" food (and alcohol right??) is worth losing the extra space we would get in the 1-bedroom value, since we are only staying 2 nights. It sounds like we could make a meal out of the lounge offerings, which would save some money, while spending the same amount of points, but we do like the bedroom with 3 kids... I guess it may just come down to what I can actually get at 8 am at 11 months! (And also whether they release the value rooms back into inventory, which is a whole other story right now!)

Yes to the alcohol. It is only self serve at night, but any time the lounge is staffed the CL CMs are happy to get you alcohol. I think it is going to come down to availability for you, they are both great choices though so you can't go wrong!

 

[twinklebug]

Oh yeah, we're not drinkers so I had forgotten about the beer, wine and spirits. Although, they did make a mimosa for me one morning. reminded me why i don't drink: the muscle aches! Ugh.

 

[TheMick424]

Question about parking at Kidani: Is there only one entrance/exit to the underground parking area? We will be arriving in less than two weeks for our first stay as members and I’m very excited

 

[twinklebug]

Question about parking at Kidani: Is there only one entrance/exit to the underground parking area? We will be arriving in less than two weeks for our first stay as members and I’m very excited

Yes, one entrance/exit. It is marked.
There is one section that has outside parking after you've entered the garage area. Don't do it, LOL. I ended up having to back up all the way out as there was no parking and no exit on the other end.