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

You can see the animals better from the lower floors. I've had a second floor room twice and its great! Perfect view of the animals.

Thanks! I will request that. pixiedust:
I also want to request a room close to the lobby. We are traveling with 4 little ones and walking to the end of the hall after a late night will be difficult.
 
We are taking our first trip home to AKL this November. We have booked a 1BR Standard view room. :thumbsup2

I've been looking around for a thread that shows different pics of views from rooms to get an idea of what to expect from a location point of view. If anyone knows of a thread and can point me to it, it would be appreciated. :confused3

Also, I'd like to make a room request that would be centrally located to the pool, bus stops and the lobby (elevators, restaurants). does anyone have preferences or suggestions as to which room area I could request to accommodate this?

TIA
 
We got back last month and have tried to get hubby to stay else where since we bought in 2009 and the only others he likes is HH and VB which are just awesome and VB is our pre cruise hotel. We only stay studios so we have only had a SV once it was pretty neat but I would not do it again you can see the animals all over the place even by the pools. We ask to be by the lobby and pools and this time we did have to wait until almost 3 pm to check in normally room is ready when we get there we got there at 1pm on a Thur. We love the quietness of KV and the bus service being first one and off.
 
We are huge AKL fans. We own 450 pts at KV. It's tied with VWL for being our favorite resort. We just got back from a stay at VWL last month, but we'll be at KV with the kids for 8 days over Thanksgiving later this year. Then we'll be at JH next April for a nice 12 day adult only trip to celebrate DH's birthday. I love decompressing on the balconies while watching the animals. It's so relaxing.
 

8 weeks today we will be checking in for two weeks of bliss! Love AKV.
 
Sorry to but in ....Just bought (waiting on closing from DVD) 200 points at AKV! Soooo excited to finally be an owner. DH and I had been thinking about this for awhile but never thought it was for us. Well, we decided to take the plunge and can't wait until our first stay. I wish we could stay sooner but have to wait until Feb 2014. Well, I can't stop looking at pictures. What a beautiful resort!

Anyway, how do I get the giraffe thingy that says AKV and an Animal Kingdom DVC sign on my signature?

Thanks so much for this thread! So glad I found it!:wave2:
 
Planning a Feb 2014 6 day trip at AKL, hopefully savannah view. Just signing in to get the inside scoop.
 
Planning a Feb 2014 6 day trip at AKL, hopefully savannah view. Just signing in to get the inside scoop.

We'll be there for 5 days to celebrate Valentine's day... But just value studio... I'm the type to go for more days.. At least for now!
 
Hello everyone! We became official DVC owners as of Thursday! We are very excited after 8 straight years in a row "considering" it. We could have had it paid in full by now. :rolleyes2

Anyway, we will not be going until June 2014 and will have double our normal points of 240 so we have invited some family members for this trip and plan on doing a two bedroom and a studio both probably SV. We have never stayed at AKL but have enjoyed a few meals at Jiko and the resort is gorgeous. We have gotten spoiled over the years being on the monorail, but the kids are older now so I'm not to concerned with going back to buses only.

So excited to be learning a new resort!
 
Hi

I'm hoping all you owners and lovers can help me out.

We will be staying for the first time at Kidani in a two bedroom villa in Sept. We will be checking in early around 10:00. (Thanks to Delta rescheduling our flight!) I'm hoping since we are getting there so early, I will have more room to be picky about where my room is located. I requested to be by the bus stop since we won't have a car.

Should I call back and be more specific? Is there a certain elevator or section to ask for? I was thinking between bus stop and lobby based on a map. Does this area have a name? Is this a good or bad idea? Are two bedrooms only in certain sections? I welcome any advice.

Also, we didn't purchase enough days to go to a park on the first day, since our original flight actually left after the sun comes up not before. Our plan is to just enjoy the hotel.

Does anyone have any suggestions for not to be missed activities? I know we will swim, look for hidden mickeys, and find at least 1 craft to do. 3 adults, 3 Tweens. All girls except the one adult male who's plan for the entire vacation is to hide at the pool bar, so we can just pretend he doesn't exist. The girls love pretty much anything if its hands on or interactive.


Thanks!
 
Hi

I'm hoping all you owners and lovers can help me out.

We will be staying for the first time at Kidani in a two bedroom villa in Sept. We will be checking in early around 10:00. (Thanks to Delta rescheduling our flight!) I'm hoping since we are getting there so early, I will have more room to be picky about where my room is located. I requested to be by the bus stop since we won't have a car.

Should I call back and be more specific? Is there a certain elevator or section to ask for? I was thinking between bus stop and lobby based on a map. Does this area have a name? Is this a good or bad idea? Are two bedrooms only in certain sections? I welcome any advice.

Also, we didn't purchase enough days to go to a park on the first day, since our original flight actually left after the sun comes up not before. Our plan is to just enjoy the hotel.

Does anyone have any suggestions for not to be missed activities? I know we will swim, look for hidden mickeys, and find at least 1 craft to do. 3 adults, 3 Tweens. All girls except the one adult male who's plan for the entire vacation is to hide at the pool bar, so we can just pretend he doesn't exist. The girls love pretty much anything if its hands on or interactive.


Thanks!

Hi Night Owl :)

It doesn't hurt to call and verify the request you have on file.

Anything within the first 3 'beads' from the lobby is "close to lobby" in my book. The walkway to the bus stop is on the south loop within that first bead. Your current request covers both close to lobby and close to bus stop so you should be fine if they have a room in that area available for your dates they'll try to work you in.

As for arriving early and getting the pick of rooms - it really doesn't work that way at any of the Disney resorts. Rooms are assigned about a week in advance of arrival. When they give you your packet you'll be shown it's location on a map. If you don't like the location you can always (politely) ask if there is anything closer to the bus stop or lobby. Then they will call the assigner and ask them to look for you. Reassigning rooms is more complicated than just seeing which rooms are being turned over on the day you check in: they also need to make sure it's available for the full length of your stay and that by changing rooms for your family, they're not causing issues with the other room assignments. This is more easily done during the slow points of the year for the regular hotel rooms, but in DVC the rooms are fairly full at all times.

I've never had luck with asking so unless I'm assigned a dreaded no-balcony room at Villas at Wilderness Lodge, I just let it be (and Kidani really doesn't have any bad room views anyway)

You'll find plenty to keep you busy at the Kidani and Jambo resorts throughout the day. They have a daily "pool party" for the young and young at heart every afternoon, campfire at night at both Jambo and Kidani. The hot tubs put me into a trance and I seem to loose track of time. If per chance you do get Bored don't forget Downtown Disney is always there and is (to us) fun to walk around in the evening.

I'm pretty sure you'll love Kidani.
 
We are taking our first trip home to AKL this November. We have booked a 1BR Standard view room. :thumbsup2

I've been looking around for a thread that shows different pics of views from rooms to get an idea of what to expect from a location point of view. If anyone knows of a thread and can point me to it, it would be appreciated. :confused3

Also, I'd like to make a room request that would be centrally located to the pool, bus stops and the lobby (elevators, restaurants). does anyone have preferences or suggestions as to which room area I could request to accommodate this?

TIA
We've booked the same in Nov - at Jambo House. :thumbsup2

My understanding is that at Jambo, the 1BR Std View rooms are mostly Pool View, but there are some "partial savanna view" rooms. The Pool View rooms are "centrally located" - you may want to request "close to lobby", but the longest walks to rooms are not that long.

I'm not sure where the parial savanna view rooms are ...

At Kidani, the Std View rooms overlook the parking lot or pool area - so if you want to be close to the pool, you will need to request that.
 
Hi Night Owl :)

It doesn't hurt to call and verify the request you have on file.

Anything within the first 3 'beads' from the lobby is "close to lobby" in my book. The walkway to the bus stop is on the south loop within that first bead. Your current request covers both close to lobby and close to bus stop so you should be fine if they have a room in that area available for your dates they'll try to work you in.

As for arriving early and getting the pick of rooms - it really doesn't work that way at any of the Disney resorts. Rooms are assigned about a week in advance of arrival. When they give you your packet you'll be shown it's location on a map. If you don't like the location you can always (politely) ask if there is anything closer to the bus stop or lobby. Then they will call the assigner and ask them to look for you. Reassigning rooms is more complicated than just seeing which rooms are being turned over on the day you check in: they also need to make sure it's available for the full length of your stay and that by changing rooms for your family, they're not causing issues with the other room assignments. This is more easily done during the slow points of the year for the regular hotel rooms, but in DVC the rooms are fairly full at all times.

I've never had luck with asking so unless I'm assigned a dreaded no-balcony room at Villas at Wilderness Lodge, I just let it be (and Kidani really doesn't have any bad room views anyway)

You'll find plenty to keep you busy at the Kidani and Jambo resorts throughout the day. They have a daily "pool party" for the young and young at heart every afternoon, campfire at night at both Jambo and Kidani. The hot tubs put me into a trance and I seem to loose track of time. If per chance you do get Bored don't forget Downtown Disney is always there and is (to us) fun to walk around in the evening.

I'm pretty sure you'll love Kidani.

Thanks for the info. Would you suggest checking in online or waiting? I've heard conflicting reports about this. Ive heard some people say that if you have a specific request of where you want to be its better to wait. However,, wouldn't you have a better chance of the request being able to be fulfilled if you checked in earlier? Or does it make no difference because they assign the room at the same time either way.
 
Anyone know if there is a list if the pizza places that deliver here? It's not the norm Pizza Hut,dominos or pappa johns. We have had really great pizza delivered here twice but can't remember. Thank you
 
We just found out today that we'll get to stay 10 nights at Kidani after buying points off A DVC owner! I've read about the buses, crowds, where to try to request to stay near, but we'll be there the first of Dec. How does all of that play into that time of the year? Any helpful advice will be great, thanks!
 
Hi Night Owl :)

It doesn't hurt to call and verify the request you have on file.

Anything within the first 3 'beads' from the lobby is "close to lobby" in my book. The walkway to the bus stop is on the south loop within that first bead. Your current request covers both close to lobby and close to bus stop so you should be fine if they have a room in that area available for your dates they'll try to work you in.

As for arriving early and getting the pick of rooms - it really doesn't work that way at any of the Disney resorts. Rooms are assigned about a week in advance of arrival. When they give you your packet you'll be shown it's location on a map. If you don't like the location you can always (politely) ask if there is anything closer to the bus stop or lobby. Then they will call the assigner and ask them to look for you. Reassigning rooms is more complicated than just seeing which rooms are being turned over on the day you check in: they also need to make sure it's available for the full length of your stay and that by changing rooms for your family, they're not causing issues with the other room assignments. This is more easily done during the slow points of the year for the regular hotel rooms, but in DVC the rooms are fairly full at all times.

I've never had luck with asking so unless I'm assigned a dreaded no-balcony room at Villas at Wilderness Lodge, I just let it be (and Kidani really doesn't have any bad room views anyway)

You'll find plenty to keep you busy at the Kidani and Jambo resorts throughout the day. They have a daily "pool party" for the young and young at heart every afternoon, campfire at night at both Jambo and Kidani. The hot tubs put me into a trance and I seem to loose track of time. If per chance you do get Bored don't forget Downtown Disney is always there and is (to us) fun to walk around in the evening.

I'm pretty sure you'll love Kidani.

Thanks for the info. I'm just going to leave my request as is.

I did think of one other question. I was going to send the kids and our lone guy straight to the pool to get them out of the way while I checked in. Then I realized they may need a card to access the pool. If I can't send them to the pool, I'm sending them on a hidden Mickey hunt or something. There's no way I'm checking in with all them around, not after getting them all up at 4 in the morning. I don't think I can handle check in plus tired, grumpy, hyper excited kids running around.

Will I have issues with the pool? Or seeing that AK doesn't share grounds with any other resort, will it be open?
 
Thanks for the info. I'm just going to leave my request as is.

I did think of one other question. I was going to send the kids and our lone guy straight to the pool to get them out of the way while I checked in. Then I realized they may need a card to access the pool. If I can't send them to the pool, I'm sending them on a hidden Mickey hunt or something. There's no way I'm checking in with all them around, not after getting them all up at 4 in the morning. I don't think I can handle check in plus tired, grumpy, hyper excited kids running around.

Will I have issues with the pool? Or seeing that AK doesn't share grounds with any other resort, will it be open?

There shouldn't be any problem with them going straight to the pool. You don't need a card. They can just say you're checking in, if anyone asks. We were there a whole week, and no body ever checked for cards.

Have a great time!
 
Hello all-:wave2:

Last week we visited our Happiest Place on Earth- stayed at AoA. Nice resort. Kids had a great time. 1st visit for my ds who turned 5 yrs. old last month. I am happy to say that we also visited DVC at SSR during our stay. Count us in the AKV-DVC family. I probably won't post much; I will be a lurker
:surfweb: <--- like this as I am doing now.
 
Hello all! Only 9 days and counting to Kidani! Taking my friends with me for a week! woo hop!:cool1:pixiedust:
 















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