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

[pilferk]

I think Phase 2 is scheduled to open in early September.

On that note, we leave in less than a month...4 weeks from tomorrow!!

Kidani, here we come!

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

We will be at Kidani two weeks from today!!!!

We will be staying in a 1BR and I was wondering if anyone knows if they have washbaskets in the rooms like they do at BWV?

 

[ITGirl50]

We will be at Kidani two weeks from today!!!!

We will be staying in a 1BR and I was wondering if anyone knows if they have washbaskets in the rooms like they do at BWV?

Yes. They have a laundry basket.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Yes. They have a laundry basket.

Thank You!

 

[DenLo]

I think Phase 2 is scheduled to open in early September.

On that note, we leave in less than a month...4 weeks from tomorrow!!

Kidani, here we come!

Has anyone seen a date for the Pemba Savana opening? Or has it already opened? If opened has anyone stayed there?

 

[toniosmom]

Has anyone seen a date for the Pemba Savana opening? Or has it already opened? If opened has anyone stayed there?

According to AllEars -- it is open! Here is the article.

 

[DenLo]

Thanks for the link, I forgot to check out Allears. It had a nice video of Kidani. We've succumbed to addonitis and made a bid for 100 points at AKV. We just received an email from the Timeshare Store than the offer has been forwarded today to Disney for ROFR. It looks like the wait begins!

I hope, hope, HOPE it passes ROFR. We just love the savanna views ... and the rooms ....and the ambiance .... and the restaurant(s) (including those at Jambo House). We already know what dates we want for next fall. Maybe we can make an 11 month ressie!

 

[majortom1981]

I just became a dvc member last week (my fiances parents are dvc memmbers at ssr) and i had to pick akv since i did the special 100 point program (with a special referal discount of $1300) and I had to buy it once i saw the rooms.

Now that I see the videos of kidani village I am soooo glad i picked this resort as my home resort. I go to disney for theming and things i cant do here at home (i live 45 min from nyc).

Its also fitting that i did a commercial for disney for the Opening of Animal Kingdom .

I made my reservations for my honeymoon for kidani village svanah room studio for may.

This resort has some incredible theming.

 

[Donald is #1]

I just became a dvc member last week (my fiances parents are dvc memmbers at ssr) and i had to pick akv since i did the special 100 point program (with a special referal discount of $1300) and I had to buy it once i saw the rooms.

Now that I see the videos of kidani village I am soooo glad i picked this resort as my home resort. I go to disney for theming and things i cant do here at home (i live 45 min from nyc).

Its also fitting that i did a commercial for disney for the Opening of Animal Kingdom .

I made my reservations for my honeymoon for kidani village svanah room studio for may.

This resort has some incredible theming.

Awesome! Congratulations and welcome home!!!

 

[PirateMel]

I purchased 200 points last Oct - for use year starting in Dec with the developer point offer. I am taking my Mom, Aunt and BF for two weeks in Oct and I am sooooo excited.

For the fiirst time I booked the Savana view - so want to see my giraffes

I was there in August staying at VWL and went over to AK Villas - and all I can say is OMG if the rooms are half as nice as the lobby I think when they say "Welcome Home" I might just never want to leave.


Pictures posted here are Awesome!

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Just back from our first stay at AKV Kidani Village. First of all for all of those who are going here soon be aware that the bus stop for the resort busses are closed and you have to go through the lobby to catch the busses. They are re-doing one of the paths and putting a roof over the Hollywood Studios stop.
We have mixed feelings about the resort. First of all our room was beautiful! It was only the 2nd time we have stayed in a 1 BR and we loved it. The woodwork, tile and granite were beautiful and the room was spacious. It was perfect for 5 people especially since there were 2 bathrooms. We loved looking out on the savannah and seeing all the animals. One night as we were all out there watching the animals we saw a shooting star! We didn't get to use the pool but we did check it out and it is really nice.
There were a couple of bad parts of it though. We had my 80 year old MIL with and although we requested a room near the lobby we got one that was just about as far away from it as you can get! It was quite the walk. Also the bus transportation was terrible. There were times when we had to wait quite some time for a bus. Plus the resort is just so far from most places that it took forever to get there. For us this is an issue so it will probably keep us from staying there in the future.
I'll try to post some pictures in the future.

 

[gkrykewy]

Plus the resort is just so far from most places that it took forever to get there.

See, I just don't get this bit at all, and it's a common complaint. AKV buses are actually better than average in terms of stop-to-stop travel time, because they're not shared with any other resorts (and we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus in August, but your mileage may vary on that).

Interesting news about the work at the stop area and on one of the paths... I'm curious about this.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

See, I just don't get this bit at all, and it's a common complaint. AKV buses are actually better than average in terms of stop-to-stop travel time, because they're not shared with any other resorts (and we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus in August, but your mileage may vary on that).

Interesting news about the work at the stop area and on one of the paths... I'm curious about this.

I think one thing as far as we are concerned is that we have stayed alot at the Epcot resorts so we are spoiled with being able to walk back to the resort. So that may be some of the reason why it was an issue for us. I think it is a matter of perspective and how patient you are. But we did seem sometimes to have to wait awhile for a bus. There was one time that DH had to wait over 30 minutes for a bus to Epcot. This was him !

 

[CruznLexi]

We bought a 100 point package in Jan and will get to stay in Oct for 5 nights. in April we did 2 nights at AKL for a cash only. We thought the resort was great! The bus system did seem slower than POP but heck I am on vacation and I am not in a hurry. We loved the nice big hot tub under the trees. The first night we just spent time by the pool and went to DTD and back to the lodge. The wait for a DTD bus was about 20 minutes and to come back we walked right on the bus. The next day to go to MK in the afternoon was less than 15 minutes. Could be better but we are not in a hurry! We are looking forward to Kidani in Oct.
Lexi

 

[majortom1981]

Doesnt bother me about the buses. IT sounds like the same problems i have with buses at ssr ( since my fiances parents home resort is ssr i sort of have two home resorts, akv and ssr).

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

This is why I said that it is a matter of perspective and patience. What may be an issue for one person won't be for another. It just was for us. It's the same as anything else. One person may have a great experience and another not so much. I think for us it was the combination of having the long walk just to get to the bus stop along with us being used to staying in a resort closer to the parks we go to most. Otherwise we had a great vacation and we are glad we tried AKV. Thanks for the information we got before our trip.

 

[twinklebug]

I think one thing as far as we are concerned is that we have stayed alot at the Epcot resorts so we are spoiled with being able to walk back to the resort. So that may be some of the reason why it was an issue for us. I think it is a matter of perspective and how patient you are. But we did seem sometimes to have to wait awhile for a bus. There was one time that DH had to wait over 30 minutes for a bus to Epcot. This was him !

Hi DLI Thanks for your thoughts on your visit - the first time's the roughest when switching from one you know and love to a new one. It sounds like it didn't go too bad for you.

You can't really compare any of the resorts to each other unless they are side by side. For VWL you have the direct boat access to MK and the monorails (although don't get me started on how long that trip and transfers take LOL). For BWV/BCV you have boats or can walk to EPCOT/MGM but to anywhere else you take very crowded buses. AKV has the benefit of being just a couple minute ride from AK but to anywhere else you have the highways to deal with. They all have ups and downs & I love each resort for different reasons. Transportation isn't the issue.

The wait your DH experienced for the bus was an entirely different situation than the location of the resort. Each bus (with exception to Ft. Wilderness & OKW internal buses) is dispatched depending on need. A driver might be on a Poly->MGM route and be diverted off to AK->EPCOT as the computer decides it's needed there more. You'll occasionally see purple pants managers at the stops recording the buses to see if they're operating as well as the computers think they are. The routes are constantly being tweaked.

As to your other comments about AKV I can understand. I'm a VWL fan through and though. When we first stayed at Jambo house two years back I was (and I wasn't) expecting the same sort of experience as VWL. Needless to say I was let down in that respect - it's TOTALLY different with the same huge lobby causing people to compare the two resorts. I missed the lake and boats terribly. I did however fall in love with the giraffes & rooms. Kidani had me a bit nervous, but it was more than I could have hoped for and instilled that true "homey" feeling into me once I knew what to look for and anticipate. I get a bit ticked off when people compare WL to AKL - they're NOT the same, not in the least bit. The only thing the same is the architect. Two very different, very wonderful resorts & every time I get to say we're visiting one or the other I feel lucky to be able to do so.

 

[experiment818]

We just checked into our AKV Jambo value studio yesterday. We are in room 5114 with a savanna view. Since it is only DW and I, the size is not even an issue. Although the bathroom seems tiny after spending our first night in a refurbished boardwalk view 1BR at BWV.

We walked over to Kidani last night for our ADR at Sanaa and had a great dinner. I had the beef short ribs, chicken with red curry sauce and basmati rice. It was delicious. My wife had the same thing but with five grain pilaf instead of basmati rice. Our waiter, Giovanni, was great. He took time to explain what was in each of the sauces and how some of the menu items were cooked and he was very friendly.

If you have any questions about the resort let me know and I will try to answer them.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Hi DLI Thanks for your thoughts on your visit - the first time's the roughest when switching from one you know and love to a new one. It sounds like it didn't go too bad for you.

You can't really compare any of the resorts to each other unless they are side by side. For VWL you have the direct boat access to MK and the monorails (although don't get me started on how long that trip and transfers take LOL). For BWV/BCV you have boats or can walk to EPCOT/MGM but to anywhere else you take very crowded buses. AKV has the benefit of being just a couple minute ride from AK but to anywhere else you have the highways to deal with. They all have ups and downs & I love each resort for different reasons. Transportation isn't the issue.

The wait your DH experienced for the bus was an entirely different situation than the location of the resort. Each bus (with exception to Ft. Wilderness & OKW internal buses) is dispatched depending on need. A driver might be on a Poly->MGM route and be diverted off to AK->EPCOT as the computer decides it's needed there more. You'll occasionally see purple pants managers at the stops recording the buses to see if they're operating as well as the computers think they are. The routes are constantly being tweaked.

As to your other comments about AKV I can understand. I'm a VWL fan through and though. When we first stayed at Jambo house two years back I was (and I wasn't) expecting the same sort of experience as VWL. Needless to say I was let down in that respect - it's TOTALLY different with the same huge lobby causing people to compare the two resorts. I missed the lake and boats terribly. I did however fall in love with the giraffes & rooms. Kidani had me a bit nervous, but it was more than I could have hoped for and instilled that true "homey" feeling into me once I knew what to look for and anticipate. I get a bit ticked off when people compare WL to AKL - they're NOT the same, not in the least bit. The only thing the same is the architect. Two very different, very wonderful resorts & every time I get to say we're visiting one or the other I feel lucky to be able to do so.

Thanks TB. I feel bad that my TR appearantly came off as being so negative. I didn't mean for it to. AKV is a beautiful resort. It just isn't our favorite for a couple of reasons. It wasn't my intent to compare the resorts on this thread. I just mentioned that on the VWL thread since that is the subject there. I would have done that no matter what resort we had stayed at. I seem to be having a problem saying what I mean without it coming off poorly so maybe I will just stop now before I dig my hole even deeper!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Giving a bump up!