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

[stopher1]

I just spoke with my rep this afternoon and added on AKL today! Woohoo!

Congrats!

 

[leamom2princesses]

We just became DVC Members. We bought 200 pts at Kidani Village. We will be taking our first trip to our new home May 22-29th! We can't wait!!

 

[stopher1]

Congrats & Welcome Home!

 

[chillcoupons]

Hi all, brand new owner here! Looking forward to our first visit home in late May!

 

[stopher1]

Hi all, brand new owner here! Looking forward to our first visit home in late May!

Congrats & Welcome Home! Welcome. Glad you found us here, chill!

 

[Brave teacher]

We just became DVC Members. We bought 200 pts at Kidani Village. We will be taking our first trip to our new home May 22-29th! We can't wait!!

Congrats and Welcome Home again!

I am slightly excited for you guys!

 

[Brave teacher]

Hi all, brand new owner here! Looking forward to our first visit home in late May!

Congrats and Welcome Home!

 

[Donald is #1]

Hi all,
I have a question to all you AKV lovers, we have an upcoming ressie at 1br value. It'll be DH, our 1yr DD and myself. Do you think we'll enjoy it there?
I'm getting nervous because I've been reading people not liking the distance to the other 3 parks, jambo bus being full b/c of kidani, the room being dark.

Could you make me feel better a little bit? Tell me ALL the wonderful things about AKV value room so I won't rethink my ressie every day and wondering if I should move somewhere else... thank you!

To your question on the buses with Kidani added, I stayed at Kidani in December for about 10 days and to be honest, only once did I see the bus fill with people from kidani and that was when there was a second bus right behind. It was also mid morning.

On all my other bus rides, only a few people got on (& off for that matter on the return) at Kidani. When a bus filled it was mostly due to the people from Jambo.

Now this was my only stay since Kidani opened so I only have the one experience.

 

[Donald is #1]

Hi all, brand new owner here! Looking forward to our first visit home in late May!

We just became DVC Members. We bought 200 pts at Kidani Village. We will be taking our first trip to our new home May 22-29th! We can't wait!!

I just spoke with my rep this afternoon and added on AKL today! Woohoo!

Hi Everyone,

Our resale purchase just closed today, and we are very excited that we can now call AKV home!

Congratulations & Welcome Home Everyone!!!!!

 

[edk35]

We are AKV owners stayed at AKV Kidani last summer for a 3 night stay in a 2br SV. We loved it. However.... we went over to Boma's for breakfast one day and Mara for lunch twice. Would we be disappointed staying at Jambo after staying at Kidani?? We bought site unseen when we added on at AKV. We visited there for the first time in Nov. 08 before staying there in July 09. So we really don't know much about Jambo. How is the pool there????


I would love any insight.

 

[twinklebug]

Hi Denise!

Jambo has the bigger pool and great hot tubs in their own little coves surrounded by vegetation. Many folk prefer it over Kidani's pool. I've never tried the pool or hot tubs there though so can't compare from experience.

I'm a Kidani person myself. Jambo's lobby is very loud with drums and singing and while it's festive, when I come "home" from the parks, I just want some quiet. It's not bad down in the rooms away from the lobby.

We also use the bus system while on site and found a couple times when we had to leave a bus load of folk behind at Jambo since the bus was full. Kidani loads first to the parks so that was never an issue. It was school vacation week so the crowd lever was mid-high, but I thought the bus situation could have been managed far better than it was.

 

[stopher1]

I like aspects of both. We definitely prefer the pool complex at Kidani - but love the size of the lobby better at Jambo. We definitely prefer the extra bathroom in the 1 BR in Kidani that is lacking in Jambo. The size/shape of the kitchen in Jambo was quite enjoyable in Jambo vs. the smaller, more traditional size/space of the Kidani kitchen. DEFINITELY preferred the master bathroom in Kidani vs. Jambo. We like the extra activity amenities at Kidani vs. Jambo - the b-ball/tennis courts as well as the bbq areas. In short - they are both good - just have their own individual pros & cons.

 

[bgsnmky]

Hi all,
I have a question to all you AKV lovers, we have an upcoming ressie at 1br value. It'll be DH, our 1yr DD and myself. Do you think we'll enjoy it there?
I'm getting nervous because I've been reading people not liking the distance to the other 3 parks, jambo bus being full b/c of kidani, the room being dark.

Could you make me feel better a little bit? Tell me ALL the wonderful things about AKV value room so I won't rethink my ressie every day and wondering if I should move somewhere else... thank you!

Hi there, I know someone has already commented on the distance that AKL is from the parks.

I always think this is odd since it appears when looking at a map ( I have never mapped out the miles)..but if you stay at MK resorts..aren't they just as far to AK as when you stay at AKL and you go to MK?

I LOVE AKL!

 

[stopher1]

Hi there, I know someone has already commented on the distance that AKL is from the parks.

I always think this is odd since it appears when looking at a map ( I have never mapped out the miles)..but if you stay at MK resorts..aren't they just as far to AK as when you stay at AKL and you go to MK?

I LOVE AKL!

Exactly! The thing is - so many people complain about AKL because "it's so far away." But in reality - EVERYTHING is far away from something at WDW. If you are staying at an MK area resort and want to go to DTD - it's a LONG bus ride. If you are staying at SSR and want to go AK, it's a LONG bus ride. If you are staying at AKV and want to go to the MK, it's a LONG bus ride. The only resorts that are truly a short ride are the ones that are right next to a park/destination. Otherwise, it's a long ride to get to your destination. Especially when you consider the buses that make multiple stops along the way. We recently stayed at the VWL and wanted to go see a movie - it took more than 50 min. to finally arrive at the Pleasure Island side of DTD (after stopping first at the GF, then at TL, then the DTD Marketplace and finally the PI stop). I can get from AKV to the MK in much less time than that.

 

[marvali]

Exactly! The thing is - so many people complain about AKL because "it's so far away." But in reality - EVERYTHING is far away from something at WDW. If you are staying at an MK area resort and want to go to DTD - it's a LONG bus ride. If you are staying at SSR and want to go AK, it's a LONG bus ride. If you are staying at AKV and want to go to the MK, it's a LONG bus ride. The only resorts that are truly a short ride are the ones that are right next to a park/destination. Otherwise, it's a long ride to get to your destination. Especially when you consider the buses that make multiple stops along the way. We recently stayed at the VWL and wanted to go see a movie - it took more than 50 min. to finally arrive at the Pleasure Island side of DTD (after stopping first at the GF, then at TL, then the DTD Marketplace and finally the PI stop). I can get from AKV to the MK in much less time than that.

A lot of people are always going to find something to complain about. We stayed at OKW and had an ADR at Boma, and it seemed like we would never get there. We stayed at Kidani last summer and only once did we have a problem with getting where we wanted to go in a fairly quick time. I think we were headed to Epcot and saw multiple buses to all the other parks before an Epcot bus finally came.....and then there were two in a row.

I guess that is the good thing about being DVC. We plan our trips and allot the time for things we want to do. Since we know we are going to be back soon, we no longer try to do it all, and just relax and enjoy our vacation. Bus rides are part of it. But still in all of our trips, and staying a number of places, I don't remember more than two or three times we have ever felt the bus wait/trip times were an issue, and we usually have at least one trip pretty much everywhere at WDW.

 

[Mandsu1]

I can't wait! We are staying in the AKV in 5 weeks and after seeing all of the photos that people have posted, I am even MORE excited! (if that is even possible!) Thanks for all the posts!! Will post when we get back!

 

[wdrl]

We are AKV owners stayed at AKV Kidani last summer for a 3 night stay in a 2br SV. We loved it. However.... we went over to Boma's for breakfast one day and Mara for lunch twice. Would we be disappointed staying at Jambo after staying at Kidani?? We bought site unseen when we added on at AKV. We visited there for the first time in Nov. 08 before staying there in July 09. So we really don't know much about Jambo. How is the pool there????


I would love any insight.

We are new AKV owners and are looking forward to our first stay at Kidani in June 2011 when we have a family gathering. In June 2009 we stayed at Jambo House in a cash room and loved it. One of the many nice things about Jambo's pool is that there are shady areas very close to the pool even at mid day. Although I like to get some sun during pool time, I prefer not to sit baking in the sun for hours at a time.

One thing I liked about our Jambo cash room was that we were on the third floor, which gave us a great view of the animals on the savanna. One concern I have with the Jambo DVC rooms is that they are on the 5th floor (concierge is on the 6th floor). After being so close to the animals on the third floor, I'm not sure I want to be on a higher floor. One of the main reasons we are planning our family gathering to be at Kidani rather than Jambo is because we can request rooms on a lower floor. Eventually, we'll try Jambo and see whether the 5th floor savanna views are just as good, but its a low priority for us right now.

If you try Jambo, Denise, be sure to let us know what you think about it.

 

[freya]

I'm a little confused after reading all the posts about the dif between a value and standard view. We booked a standard view studio in AKV Jambo side. I thought this meant I would at least get a pool view. Does anyone know for sure? Thanks!!

 

[Paulieuk1969]

I'm a little confused after reading all the posts about the dif between a value and standard view. We booked a standard view studio in AKV Jambo side. I thought this meant I would at least get a pool view. Does anyone know for sure? Thanks!!

All standard view villas at Jambo are pool view, its only at Kidani that you get garden or car park standard view villas.

The value villas are only available at Jambo House and are on the Giraffe or Ostrich trails and can have either savanna, pool or car park views.

The link below has a map of the villas.

http://www.parkinfo2go.com/dvc-akv/floor5.php

 

[freya]

All standard view villas at Jambo are pool view, its only at Kidani that you get garden or car park standard view villas.

The value villas are only available at Jambo House and are on the Giraffe or Ostrich trails and can have either savanna, pool or car park views.

The link below has a map of the villas.

http://www.parkinfo2go.com/dvc-akv/floor5.php

Well thanks! It would seem that we should have a least a pool view with our standard reservation at the Jambo Hoause. I like the pool views. Thanks for the info! The pool room views are in a good location for the lobby.