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

[stopher1]

Happy New Year all!

 

[stopher1]

Hey fellow AKV lovers! We're just back from our 5 night stay at Kidani in a 2 br SV. We were in the north wing, in room 7726/28. It was wonderful.

Here are just a few photos of our stay. You can read about it if you'd like in my "Triple Whammy" trip report (link below in my signature). There are LOTS of pics in that.

We can't wait to get back!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Hey fellow AKV lovers! We're just back from our 5 night stay at Kidani in a 2 br SV. We were in the north wing, in room 7726/28. It was wonderful.

Great photos! Makes me miss our second home. Now I'm going to have to catch up on your trip report.

 

[rbcheek]

Thanks for the photos. Makes me miss this place even more. We have only been able to stay one night in Kidani, and we were only there for about 16 hours.

 

[blancosofhollywood]

We just got confirmed for October.. I know it is far out, but we wanted Kidani Village and we got in!! We went to see it last december and it looked amazing! We can't wait. We have a 1bdrm SV!! Can't wait to have a sip of coffee and look at the animals....

 

[mamaprincess]

We have the best of both worlds for our upcoming trip. We booked my mom at Kidani in a std. studio and we will be in Jambo in a 1 br value Dec 24th-Dec 28th 2010. I love both locations. We surprised my mom with a stay in Jambo sv studio for Christmas eve- Dec. 26th 2009. It was the best surprise EVER!!!

 

[twinklebug]

16 days to go! Just got my camera fixed up for the trip: new SD card, batteries & charger. Missed this little guy so much on our last trip, and let's face it, cell phones are great for communicating but they make horrible cameras and camcorders.

1st thing I'm going to do is hit the pool bar for a drink and soak in a hot tub.

 

[twinklebug]

Our "little" thread keeps falling to the bottom... bump!

7 days and counting ... fingers crossed the weather will be nice.

 

[LaurenT]

20 days to go!! It'll be our first time staying as owners! We requested a lower floor near the lobby - would that give us a good savannah view?
Thanks!

 

[twinklebug]

Question ... Do you know...

The architect's name who designed Kidani? What other Disney projects was he involved in?

 

[blossomz]

It was Peter Dominick. He actually recently passed away and he was a pretty young man. He also designed the Wilderness Lodge and Grand Californian. LOVE all his lodges! He will be sorely missed...

 

[twinklebug]

It was Peter Dominick. He actually recently passed away and he was a pretty young man. He also designed the Wilderness Lodge and Grand Californian. LOVE all his lodges! He will be sorely missed...

Awesome Blossom (hehe, sorry, had to say it!)

I was doing a bit of research on him to see if there were any non-Disney properties he did that were closer to home we could visit and came across his bio on his company's website:

Denver, Colorado, January 5, 2009 - Architect and planner Peter H. Dominick, Jr., FAIA - a fierce steward of the land who combined his passions for nature, cities, art, and travel into a highly successful career - died New Year's Day after a cross-country skiing excursion in Aspen, Colorado. He was 67.

The cause was a heart attack, according to his business partners E. Randal Johnson and Thomas Brauer of 4240 Architecture, which is based in both Denver and Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Dominick had been the firm's president and chairman.

<snip>

While at 4240 Architecture and UDG, Mr. Dominick designed both the Wilderness and Animal Kingdom Lodges in Orlando, among six built commissions for the Walt Disney organization. He was also Principal in Charge of the revitalization of Vail, Colorado; the great Platte River Road Monument in Kearney, Nebraska, a museum that is also a unique bridge across a highway; the new Town Center on the site of the old Stapleton Airport; and the transformation of the section of lower Denver called the Central Platte Valley from old rail yards into a thriving neighborhood now known as Riverfront Park.

Also, his original design for the lobby of Kidani was just a bit off from what was actually created. For some reason the board is not allowing me to post the pic here, might be size related.. Click on the thumbnail below to see image and try to spot the differences between his vision and what came to be.

​

 

[princessbride6205]

We're not owners at AKV (yet) but we absolutely loved our stay last week! We did a split with BCV, so we were only at AKV for 2 nights - but even so we made time to enjoy the resort and the restaurants. DH and I had stayed at AKL twice a few years ago. This was our first villa stay, we were in an SV studio at Kidani. We were able to check in at 1pm, our room requests were met, no issues during stay, saw giraffes from our room - all was good!

LaurenT - are you staying in Jambo or Kidani? If Kidani, I preferred the Sunset Savanna.

 

[CruznLexi]

We own at KV and love it. We are doing the Panama Canal repo and our doing Disney transport. Pick up is at Jambo will bell services take our luggage to Jambo for us? I hope so as we love KV

 

[newyorkmike]

Hello everyone. My wife and I are now (or close to being) new DVC members. We received the fedex with our closing documents today and are purchasing 250 points at AKL with an August use year. We are planning our first trip to Kidani for early May and are just waiting to hear back from my parents to see whether they will be able to join us before we proceed with booking a room. We had an existing PIN code reservation booked at CBR that we have now cancelled.

I can't wait to check out the Kidani side of the resort (I've only previously stayed at Jambo) and watch our son play in Uwanja camp. He will have just turned 2 at the time of our trip and he loves playing in water and foutains, sprinklers, etc.

I look forward to sharing our "home" over the coming years with all of my new neighbors!

-Mike

 

[toniosmom]

Congratulations and welcome home to you and your family, Mike! I bought into AKV Kidani in 2008 and in a few weeks, we are making our first trip "home". I can't wait.

Enjoy your membership!

 

[gillep]

Just purchased at AKV after falling in love with the resort on our January visit We already have plans to stay for 4 nights in October and 7 nights in January!!!!

 

[twinklebug]

Supposed to be flying out tomorrow... in a snowstorm Yup, We'll see how that goes. Bringing a book, a pillow and a fully charged phone to the airport with us... & suggesting each of the kids do the same

I'll be happy once the plane takes off.

Not planning on bring the work laptop with me this time - the thing gives me a guilt trip & headache - so no pics posted from the stay while we're there. I may have one surprise for you all tonight though... hmmm... where'd I put that video?

 

[twinklebug]

From Last July: (please pardon our commentary - it was hard not to talk)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhBncUWb4b8

"Thank you Kenya!"

 

[LisaS]

From Last July: (please pardon our commentary - it was hard not to talk)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhBncUWb4b8

"Thank you Kenya!"

That is a great video! This is one of the things I love about staying there -- you get to see the way the animals interact with their environment, with the animal care team and with the other animals. You captured it all in this great video.

I hope the storm doesn't cause you any problems tomorrow!