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

[pharm55]

A For example, we consider an ideal request for a savanna view room at Jambo to be "Arusha savanna view" (the one in the middle of Jambo), "along Zebra Trail" (the right side of the u-shaped building) and both times we made that request, we got it.

What do you consider to be the best request for savanna view at kidani if you have stayed there?

 

[pharm55]

Puts noticed opinions on views at AKL, Jambo... How about Kidani? We will be heading home in August for our first DVC stay... We have a one bedroom savanna room. What area should I request? Thoughts? Thanks in advance!!

Us too but we are there in July!! Very excited!! First trip to WDW!am also looking for this type of info or opinion...

 

[drusba]

What do you consider to be the best request for savanna view at kidani if you have stayed there?

Requests at Kidani depend on what you are attempting to achieve. About 80% of the savanna view rooms have a Sunset Savanna view (the largest savanna at AKL and part of Jambo faces it from the other side). The remaining 20% face Pembe, a much smaller savanna on the northwest to north side of Kidani (the front entrance faces west) that begins just north of the pool area. I am not personally enamored by Pembe including because it has no giraffes, but instead a much smaller giraffe kin called an okapi.


One fact about Kidani is that walks from the lobby to end rooms on the two wings (north and south wings) are long, and that is an understatement. Over the years, many have noted (and complained about) the "long" walks you can have at BWV. Apparently in building Kidani, Disney decided that it wanted to do away with the complaining at BWV by creating a structure where the walk from lobby to end room on the north wing is close to 4X the length of the longest walk at BWV. If returning from a park via bus after a long day with kids, you might want to bring camping equipment so you can set it up about half way down the hallway and spend the night before continuing the long, arduous journey in the morning. Actually, it takes between 5 to 10 minutes to get to an end room from the lobby depending on who is doing the walking (with small kids the 10 minutes is more normal). The south wing is somewhat shorter but still very long. There is ideal underbuilding parking and elevators along the wings, with the result that I have met members staying there that actually drive from their room to the lobby when they need somethiing at the store.

There are many good Sunset savanna views, even with rooms far away from the lobby. However, one of our main objectives is to avoid the long walks. The bus stop at Kidani is along the south wing, not far from the lobby, the pool is along the north wing. There are three elevators along each wing, one fairly close to the lobby that has no name, and then two with names along the wing. Requests to consider that can avoid very long walks:

1. Close to lobby: only rooms overlooking Sunset are close to lobby and the views are good including because not too far from lobby on each wing are areas they use to provide feed for the animals and thus attract them.

2. Close to Community Hall or close to Timon elevator: either request puts you fairly close to lobby but gives you a room on the south wing that is near the door exit that is closest to the bus station. All savanna view rooms on the south wing face Sunset. Community Hall is on the second floor and thus in meeting that request you may get second floor (first floor is the parking garage) and thus low view of the animals, which many like. Just be aware that your walk to the pool from the south wing requires going through the lobby.

3. Close to the Rafiki elevator, Sunset savanna view. This puts you a little ways from the lobby on the north wing but still fine and is the request to make if you want the shortest possible walk to the pool -- you go down the Rafiki elevator to the parking garage and walk over a short distance to a gate entrance to the pool area. You should include a request for Sunset savaana because Pembe starts not too far from the Rafiki elevator and thus if you just request close to Rafiki, you may get Pembe savanna.

You might include with a request either high or low floor. Many prefer the lower floor view. We actually like both. Higher floor gives you more panoramic view and lower floor gives you more direct sight line of the animals.

There are also those whose main goal at Kidani is to have the shortest possible walk to Jambo (including to get to Mara, the counter service restaurant in the morning -- Kidani's only restartuant, Sanna, is table service and not open until lunch). If that is desired, the request should be close to the Zazu elevator -- it provides the exit that is closest to Jambo although you still have just under 1/4 mile walk). Nevertheless you will have a long walk to the Kidani lobby and even longer to the pool.

 

[AliceandAriel]

It sounds like you are renting through an owner in which case the reservation had to be made for either standard view or savanna view. Thus, you should determine which you have.

Other requests need to be made through the owner to Member Services. Assuming the owner is willing to put in requests, then if you have standard view see some discussion of possible requests here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3242704&highlight=kidani+standard :and if you have savanna view, see discussions here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3221475&highlight=kidani

If you are staying 7 nights or less, they come on the fourth day (and count day of arrival as one to get to four) and empty trach and replace towels and bathroom items. If staying 8 nights or more, you get a full service cleaning on the fourth day and the trash and towel service on the eighth. If I recall correctly, the studios have four towel sets (consisting of bath towel, small towel, and wash cloth), you can request extra towel packages for $6. Things like portable grills, hot plates, and skillets are not permitted.The studio kitchenettes are not designed for cooking other than in the microwave. Buses to parks stop at Kidani first and then Jambo; ones to Downtown Disney stop at Jambo first and then Kidani. Trip to AKL, once the bus arrives, is about 10 minutes. Trips to other parks are about 25 to 30 from Kidani. Upgrades are rare but have happened and the usual reason is because they don't have your type of room avaialble because all ar full or a room has gone out of service. Requesting an upgrade at check-in won't get one.

Yes, I am renting through an owner. After an unexpected upgrade to the Lion King suites at AoA this February, I found how much I loved having a kitchenette on vacation, so that's a priority when booking places in Disney from here on out. Made sense to check out DVC rentals, and I was lucky to get one.

I read the walk from Kidani to Jambo (if you choose to walk) is about 10-15, correct? Maybe longer? Or is there no way to walk, period? What about the buses- how late do they run to Kidani from AKL after a night at DTD or late night at MK?

Scheduled date total is 7 nights/ 8 days, so I miss the full clean by a day. And it sounds like I'll probably be buying a towel pack, if not two. Grumble, but it's okay.

I thought hot plates were considered okay in kitchenette-based rooms? Maybe I imagined that one somewhere. Ah well, thank you for telling me before I packed that one up.

It is a standard view, not savanna. At this rate, I'll be happy with anything, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to avoid the parking lot views as much as everyone else, hah.

 

[mum of two pirates]

Why not buy a couple towels at the park for suv. And use them instead of renting them. We usually buy a new towel at each park. That way we have them to use at home all the time also.

 

[drusba]

Yes, I am renting through an owner. After an unexpected upgrade to the Lion King suites at AoA this February, I found how much I loved having a kitchenette on vacation, so that's a priority when booking places in Disney from here on out. Made sense to check out DVC rentals, and I was lucky to get one.

I read the walk from Kidani to Jambo (if you choose to walk) is about 10-15, correct? Maybe longer? Or is there no way to walk, period? What about the buses- how late do they run to Kidani from AKL after a night at DTD or late night at MK?

Scheduled date total is 7 nights/ 8 days, so I miss the full clean by a day. And it sounds like I'll probably be buying a towel pack, if not two. Grumble, but it's okay.

I thought hot plates were considered okay in kitchenette-based rooms? Maybe I imagined that one somewhere. Ah well, thank you for telling me before I packed that one up.

It is a standard view, not savanna. At this rate, I'll be happy with anything, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to avoid the parking lot views as much as everyone else, hah.

You can walk between the buildings. How far the walk is from Kidani to Jambo depends on where your room is and can range from about 1/4 mile (rooms on south wing near the Zazu elevator) to 7/8 of a mile (rooms at the end of the north wing). The Kidani building is enormously long (see my post above discussing it). Distance from front door to front door is about 1/2 mile and you can take any bus going to a park to get to Jambo and one going to Downtown Disney to get back from Jambo. Park busses run until an hour or so after a park closes. DTD bus goes until DTD closes about 2. There is also a shuttle that runs between the two buildings and just request it at front entrance area.

As to the hot plates, I have never tried but members have reported on this site being told, when they actually made inquiry of Disney, that they are not allowed.

As for standard view, any rooms on the south wing will have mainly road or bus stop view but those give a shorter walk to Jambo. To avoid main road or bus stop view, two possible requests to consider (which can be made through Member Services by the owner), which are not guaranteed, are either: (a) a room close to the Rafiki elevator and high floor, which would give you view of pool area and to the right from the balcony in the distance you can see southern end of Pembe savanna, and provides the shortest possible walk to the pool; or (b) room close to a standard view Grand Villa or the Pumba elevator (those are essentially the same request), which area on the north wing has standard view rooms converted from savanna view, and thus actually have savanna view; the savanna is just very narrow in that area; however, a room there gives you a long walk to the lobby and extremely long to Jambo.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Most rooms at Jambo are 2BR lock-offs, meaning adjoining 1BRs and studios which can be reserved as a 2BR, 1BR, or studio; there are also a small number of "dedicated" studios, which do not adjoin 1BRs. Thus you can get a savanna view studio on the fifth floor of Jambo (the DVC floor) virtually anywhere at Jambo. None of the studios at any DVC resort have a king bed. At AKV you get the queen bed and pull-out couch double (the Pop Century beds are doubles not queens). You should easily be able to get a studio at Jambo (or Kidani) for next June as long as you reserve no less than 7 months out. If studio, our preference is Jambo, which has three restaurants (including a counter service), the larger pool with more places to find shade, and bigger lobby and store. The studios at Jambo are about the same size as those at Kidani. If you decide on 1BR or 2BR, that is when you must seriously consider Kidani because those rooms are 100 sq ft larger than the ones at Jambo, have an extra bathroom, and just somewhat nicer overall. Kidani has only one restarant, Sanaa, but it is one the best, and Kidani has ideal under building parking. Also if you go for a studio at Jambo, you may want to request Arusha savanna view (the savanna in the middle of the U-shaped building) along Zebra Trail (the right side of the U). We find that area ideal both for savanna view and because the rooms face mainly west and thus you avoid bright sun bursting into the room in the morning and see pleasant sunsets.

Is there any difference between the dedicated and lock off studios?

The savannah view studios about halfway down zebra trail near the elevators, are those a good location? Is there noise from the elevators? It seems like a desirable location, close to the pool and restaurants is it as close as it seems to the pool? How far are those rooms from the lobby? Any savannah pics would be nice also

 

[drusba]

Is there any difference between the dedicated and lock off studios?

The savannah view studios about halfway down zebra trail near the elevators, are those a good location? Is there noise from the elevators? It seems like a desirable location, close to the pool and restaurants is it as close as it seems to the pool? How far are those rooms from the lobby? Any savannah pics would be nice also

A lock-off is a connecting 1BR and studio which can be either a 2BR or a 1BR and separate studio; the 1BR and studio are connected internally via two doors, one that can be opened only from the studio and one that can be opened only from the 1BR, a typical hotel arrangment when someone may want connecting rooms. A dedicated room such as a dedicated studio is one that can only be that type of room and connects to no other. There are only a small number of dedicated studios at Jambo, none at kidani.

There is an elevator near the lobby on Zebra Trail and then another one less than hallfway down the hallway. I assume you are referring to that second one; the views are ideal from that area. We have been close to that elevator but not right next to it and had no noise issue. In fact, the only noise issue I have ever experienced at AKV is someone screaming in the hallway when they go by the room. You are not far from the pool.

 

[AliceandAriel]

You can walk between the buildings. How far the walk is from Kidani to Jambo depends on where your room is and can range from about 1/4 mile (rooms on south wing near the Zazu elevator) to 7/8 of a mile (rooms at the end of the north wing). The Kidani building is enormously long (see my post above discussing it). Distance from front door to front door is about 1/2 mile and you can take any bus going to a park to get to Jambo and one going to Downtown Disney to get back from Jambo. Park busses run until an hour or so after a park closes. DTD bus goes until DTD closes about 2. There is also a shuttle that runs between the two buildings and just request it at front entrance area.

As to the hot plates, I have never tried but members have reported on this site being told, when they actually made inquiry of Disney, that they are not allowed.

As for standard view, any rooms on the south wing will have mainly road or bus stop view but those give a shorter walk to Jambo. To avoid main road or bus stop view, two possible requests to consider (which can be made through Member Services by the owner), which are not guaranteed, are either: (a) a room close to the Rafiki elevator and high floor, which would give you view of pool area and to the right from the balcony in the distance you can see southern end of Pembe savanna, and provides the shortest possible walk to the pool; or (b) room close to a standard view Grand Villa or the Pumba elevator (those are essentially the same request), which area on the north wing has standard view rooms converted from savanna view, and thus actually have savanna view; the savanna is just very narrow in that area; however, a room there gives you a long walk to the lobby and extremely long to Jambo.

Perfect, thank you! Just secured our reservation, only 199 days to go…

 

[NDQuietman]

Congrats !

I sent in my closing documents today. 200 point Animal Kingdom Villas contract. I just thought I'd check in.

 

[NikkiV72]

Thanks for the Kidani advice! 132 days until our first DVC trip! I have made a request with member services for a room near the lobby. I don't mind long walks, but we are traveling with two kids so any help we can get to minimize fatigue would be great!

 

[psac]

One fact about Kidani is that walks from the lobby to end rooms on the two wings (north and south wings) are long, and that is an understatement. Over the years, many have noted (and complained about) the "long" walks you can have at BWV. Apparently in building Kidani, Disney decided that it wanted to do away with the complaining at BWV by creating a structure where the walk from lobby to end room on the north wing is close to 4X the length of the longest walk at BWV. If returning from a park via bus after a long day with kids, you might want to bring camping equipment so you can set it up about half way down the hallway and spend the night before continuing the long, arduous journey in the morning. Actually, it takes between 5 to 10 minutes to get to an end room from the lobby depending on who is doing the walking (with small kids the 10 minutes is more normal). The south wing is somewhat shorter but still very long. There is ideal underbuilding parking and elevators along the wings, with the result that I have met members staying there that actually drive from their room to the lobby when they need somethiing at the store.

This is one of the funniest, and most accurate, things I've ever read here. We were in room 7260 in Kidani, past the Zazu elevator, and the third to last room on the south wing. It literally took 7-8 minutes to walk to the lobby, and we're two adults with no kids. It was 5-6 minutes to the bus, and amazingly, about 6-7 minutes to the Jambo lobby!! One of the biggest mistakes we made was not renting a car, and when we wanted a cab to get to other resorts for dinner, we found it was much easier to walk to the Jambo lobby instead of our own! We kept saying (only half joking) that they should have installed an automated walkway like in the airports or have golf carts going back and forth through the hallways. It wasn't pleasant. It felt like the hallway was going on FOREVER.

So I totally agree, a request for close to lobby is definitely the way to go.

The one consolation was this view.

 

[twinklebug]

This is one of the funniest, and most accurate, things I've ever read here. We were in room 7260 in Kidani, past the Zazu elevator, and the third to last room on the south wing. It literally took 7-8 minutes to walk to the lobby, and we're two adults with no kids. It was 5-6 minutes to the bus, and amazingly, about 6-7 minutes to the Jambo lobby!! One of the biggest mistakes we made was not renting a car, and when we wanted a cab to get to other resorts for dinner, we found it was much easier to walk to the Jambo lobby instead of our own! We kept saying (only half joking) that they should have installed an automated walkway like in the airports or have golf carts going back and forth through the hallways. It wasn't pleasant. It felt like the hallway was going on FOREVER.

So I totally agree, a request for close to lobby is definitely the way to go.

The one consolation was this view.

OK, I've had 5 Kidani SV rooms, and this view beats them all!

Yes, those ones near the lobby are convenient for the store and laundry room, but the animals tend to keep moving on past the rooms.

 

[pharm55]

Requests at Kidani depend on what you are attempting to achieve. About 80% of the savanna view rooms have a Sunset Savanna view (the largest savanna at AKL and part of Jambo faces it from the other side). The remaining 20% face Pembe, a much smaller savanna on the northwest to north side of Kidani (the front entrance faces west) that begins just north of the pool area. I am not personally enamored by Pembe including because it has no giraffes, but instead a much smaller giraffe kin called an okapi. One fact about Kidani is that walks from the lobby to end rooms on the two wings (north and south wings) are long, and that is an understatement. Over the years, many have noted (and complained about) the "long" walks you can have at BWV. Apparently in building Kidani, Disney decided that it wanted to do away with the complaining at BWV by creating a structure where the walk from lobby to end room on the north wing is close to 4X the length of the longest walk at BWV. If returning from a park via bus after a long day with kids, you might want to bring camping equipment so you can set it up about half way down the hallway and spend the night before continuing the long, arduous journey in the morning. Actually, it takes between 5 to 10 minutes to get to an end room from the lobby depending on who is doing the walking (with small kids the 10 minutes is more normal). The south wing is somewhat shorter but still very long. There is ideal underbuilding parking and elevators along the wings, with the result that I have met members staying there that actually drive from their room to the lobby when they need somethiing at the store. There are many good Sunset savanna views, even with rooms far away from the lobby. However, one of our main objectives is to avoid the long walks. The bus stop at Kidani is along the south wing, not far from the lobby, the pool is along the north wing. There are three elevators along each wing, one fairly close to the lobby that has no name, and then two with names along the wing. Requests to consider that can avoid very long walks: 1. Close to lobby: only rooms overlooking Sunset are close to lobby and the views are good including because not too far from lobby on each wing are areas they use to provide feed for the animals and thus attract them. 2. Close to Community Hall or close to Timon elevator: either request puts you fairly close to lobby but gives you a room on the south wing that is near the door exit that is closest to the bus station. All savanna view rooms on the south wing face Sunset. Community Hall is on the second floor and thus in meeting that request you may get second floor (first floor is the parking garage) and thus low view of the animals, which many like. Just be aware that your walk to the pool from the south wing requires going through the lobby. 3. Close to the Rafiki elevator, Sunset savanna view. This puts you a little ways from the lobby on the north wing but still fine and is the request to make if you want the shortest possible walk to the pool -- you go down the Rafiki elevator to the parking garage and walk over a short distance to a gate entrance to the pool area. You should include a request for Sunset savaana because Pembe starts not too far from the Rafiki elevator and thus if you just request close to Rafiki, you may get Pembe savanna. You might include with a request either high or low floor. Many prefer the lower floor view. We actually like both. Higher floor gives you more panoramic view and lower floor gives you more direct sight line of the animals. There are also those whose main goal at Kidani is to have the shortest possible walk to Jambo (including to get to Mara, the counter service restaurant in the morning -- Kidani's only restartuant, Sanna, is table service and not open until lunch). If that is desired, the request should be close to the Zazu elevator -- it provides the exit that is closest to Jambo although you still have just under 1/4 mile walk). Nevertheless you will have a long walk to the Kidani lobby and even longer to the pool.

Thanks for that very detailed summary. It helps me a lot. Knowing my kids we probably want to be close to the pool so will likely request that first. Am kind of excited about the savanna view as we would not have spent the points if standard had been available for our dates.
I notice someone else who is staying at a later date than us has already put in room requests. I thought it was best to wait until closer to your dates. Does it matter when you put in requests?

 

[pharm55]

This is one of the funniest, and most accurate, things I've ever read here. We were in room 7260 in Kidani, past the Zazu elevator, and the third to last room on the south wing. It literally took 7-8 minutes to walk to the lobby, and we're two adults with no kids. It was 5-6 minutes to the bus, and amazingly, about 6-7 minutes to the Jambo lobby!! One of the biggest mistakes we made was not renting a car, and when we wanted a cab to get to other resorts for dinner, we found it was much easier to walk to the Jambo lobby instead of our own! We kept saying (only half joking) that they should have installed an automated walkway like in the airports or have golf carts going back and forth through the hallways. It wasn't pleasant. It felt like the hallway was going on FOREVER. So I totally agree, a request for close to lobby is definitely the way to go. The one consolation was this view. https://www.flickr.com/photos/psac42/13509022984/

great photo!!

 

[drusba]

I thought it was best to wait until closer to your dates. Does it matter when you put in requests?

From our experience -- we have made requests as early as 11 months out and as late as 2 months -- it makes no difference when you put in the request although I have seen it reported that you should do it at least about two weeks beforehand to assure that it is transmitted to and known at the resort before any room assignments are made, and probably best to do it at time you make reservation to avoid any risk of forgetting to do it.

 

[AliceandAriel]

Might as well ask while it's on the brain. Hi again!

Two questions!

1- Is there a fee for picking up mailed packages to Kidani? If so, how much?

2- How is the Mara in terms of activity at immediate open at 7AM? I'm one of those 'get to the parks crazy early' girls, but have to eat a big breakfast or nothing goes right. But if the Mara is packed right upon opening, I might not do too many early mornings there, maybe just my lazy days.

 

[AliceandAriel]

As for standard view, any rooms on the south wing will have mainly road or bus stop view but those give a shorter walk to Jambo. To avoid main road or bus stop view, two possible requests to consider (which can be made through Member Services by the owner), which are not guaranteed, are either: (a) a room close to the Rafiki elevator and high floor, which would give you view of pool area and to the right from the balcony in the distance you can see southern end of Pembe savanna, and provides the shortest possible walk to the pool; or (b) room close to a standard view Grand Villa or the Pumba elevator (those are essentially the same request), which area on the north wing has standard view rooms converted from savanna view, and thus actually have savanna view; the savanna is just very narrow in that area; however, a room there gives you a long walk to the lobby and extremely long to Jambo.

I ended up asking if the request could be put in for a high floor, and close to an elevator. Even if they only honor one of those, I'll be ecstatic. And if not, it won't hurt me to walk a little extra or have a less-than-stellar view. Thank you for the tip!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Have a 2 random questions. We are staying in a standard studio at Jambo house in 3 weeks. Am I able to request more hangers for the villa does anyone know? Also does anyone know if you can request an egg crate topper for a little extra support for the sofa bed?

 

[tillerrw]

While not an owner, I am very interested in the posts in this thread as my family will be staying in a 1 bedroom at AKL Kidani this August. We own at BCV but are looking forward to enjoying all that AKL has to offer. Based on previous suggestions I'm requesting a room close to the lobby at Kidani for our savannah view villa.