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

[sndral]

We are going in November to a 3 BR grand villa in Jambo. It is our first stay at AKV. The grandkids are so excited about it. As are we! Can't wait for November to roll around!

We also have a Jambo GV booked, ours is for a week in October - my first GV stay.
I vacillated between Kidani/Jambo GVs, even toyed w/ trying for one of the 2 standard view Kidani GVs to save a few points, I watched so many YouTubes of the GVs. Ultimately I opted for Jambo - w/ those 3 huge balconies of the Jambo GVs being one big reason why. We’ve stayed at Jambo so many years now I get a warm fuzzy so happy to be back feeling when I walk into the grandeur of Jambo’s lobby.
Does anyone have any info. about the bead collecting activities AKL/V offers? I’ve never paid attention to what’s available for kids but I’ve spotted the kids doing a march to light up the Christmas tree in Dec. & read about the beads years ago, since we’ll have two 9 yr. olds & a 4 yr. old in our GV, I’d appreciate any advice on current activities they might enjoy.

 

[RickNJane]

We also have a Jambo GV booked, ours is for a week in October - my first GV stay.
I vacillated between Kidani/Jambo GVs, even toyed w/ trying for one of the 2 standard view Kidani GVs to save a few points, I watched so many YouTubes of the GVs. Ultimately I opted for Jambo - w/ those 3 huge balconies of the Jambo GVs being one big reason why. We’ve stayed at Jambo so many years now I get a warm fuzzy so happy to be back feeling when I walk into the grandeur of Jambo’s lobby.
Does anyone have any info. about the bead collecting activities AKL/V offers? I’ve never paid attention to what’s available for kids but I’ve spotted the kids doing a march to light up the Christmas tree in Dec. & read about the beads years ago, since we’ll have two 9 yr. olds & a 4 yr. old in our GV, I’d appreciate any advice on current activities they might enjoy.

The balconies did it for us as well! I have not heard anything about bead collecting. Our GKs are 5 and 9. The youngest is passionate about wildlife. Wild Kratt's is her favorite TV show right now. She is going to go bonkers about the savanna!

 

[sndral]

Here’s the activities guides which note times/locations for collecting string of memories beads. I’m hoping someone will have done these & can recommend/not recommend

 

[Smilelea]

Here’s the activities guides which note times/locations for collecting string of memories beads. I’m hoping someone will have done these & can recommend/not recommend
View attachment 953255View attachment 953256

We have but it was in 2019 so it may be different now, but you basically go to each station at the designated time/place and do an activity to earn the beads. They are (or at least were) themed to the activity. So for example, the bead might be an elephant and that activity involved learning about elephants; how they live in the wild, what they eat, etc. Our 7 y/o enjoyed it.

 

[Girlstar30]

So excited to be officially be an AKV member as of today From the YouTube videos I've seen of the grand villas i like the look of the Kidani one better, but it seems like the Jambo one may be preferred. Is the savannah view better at Jambo?

 

[Smilelea]

So excited to be officially be an AKV member as of today From the YouTube videos I've seen of the grand villas i like the look of the Kidani one better, but it seems like the Jambo one may be preferred. Is the savannah view better at Jambo?

Welcome Home!

 

[Girlstar30]

Welcome Home!

Thank you

 

[netsirk007]

Here’s the activities guides which note times/locations for collecting string of memories beads. I’m hoping someone will have done these & can recommend/not recommend
View attachment 953255View attachment 953256

The bead activity is really great. It does take dedication to go to all of the stations since they are spread over both Jambo and Kidani. We were there for a week last May and were able to get them all over the course of the week. They don't take long and you do learn a lot and they are interactive. The animal enchantment one is really great. The kids make food bowls for the animals and learn what they like to eat. This picture was from that session. You can see the string of beads on the CMs shoulders too. They are plastic but nicely done. You earn one bead per session and the long mickey head one when you complete it.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

So excited to be officially be an AKV member as of today From the YouTube videos I've seen of the grand villas i like the look of the Kidani one better, but it seems like the Jambo one may be preferred. Is the savannah view better at Jambo?

No, I wouldn't say the view is better or worse at Jambo. The designs of the GVs at Jambo and those at Kidani are completely different. Both are awesome rooms. Jambo is all one floor, Kidani has them on 2 floors (which you've probably seen in those videos). We've done the Jambo room for a family trip, and loved it. In the future, we hope to enjoy one of the Kidani GVs, too!

Welcome home! AKV has been our home for many years, and it's the most amazing resort to explore and enjoy!

 

[Girlstar30]

No, I wouldn't say the view is better or worse at Jambo. The designs of the GVs at Jambo and those at Kidani are completely different. Both are awesome rooms. Jambo is all one floor, Kidani has them on 2 floors (which you've probably seen in those videos). We've done the Jambo room for a family trip, and loved it. In the future, we hope to enjoy one of the Kidani GVs, too!

Welcome home! AKV has been our home for many years, and it's the most amazing resort to explore and enjoy!

It is one of our favorites too of course! Love everything from the food to decor to service

 

[ajiuo]

Anyone know if they have been working on room renovations at Kidani at all? I know Jambo probably isn’t starting until next year.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I believe the Kidani renovations are scheduled to begin in October.

 

[ajiuo]

Oh wow.. I wonder if Jambo won’t be until 2027. Kidani is a huge resort. I guess if they do really quick and cheap hard goods like they are doing at the Grand Californian it might not take long.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I thought I read the original schedule is to start with Kidani in October, then move over to the Jambo rooms when that's done (maybe March of 26?), and then do the Jambo side, finishing up May/June/July. Of course I don't know that's official, and I'm sure that's all subject to change, but it is the schedule we've looked at for planning our stays next year.

 

[NVDISFamily]

So excited to be officially be an AKV member as of today From the YouTube videos I've seen of the grand villas i like the look of the Kidani one better, but it seems like the Jambo one may be preferred. Is the savannah view better at Jambo?

Welcome home! We have loved our stays at both. With Kidani you just have better odds being a bit closer to the animals as your living room/master BR floor will always be lower than Jambo on the 4th or 2nd floor where at Jambo it's always the 5th floor. Kidani also has the advantage of just a better overall room/layout but with that said we really loved our 7 night stay at Jambo last year.

 

[Girlstar30]

Welcome home! We have loved our stays at both. With Kidani you just have better odds being a bit closer to the animals as your living room/master BR floor will always be lower than Jambo on the 4th or 2nd floor where at Jambo it's always the 5th floor. Kidani also has the advantage of just a better overall room/layout but with that said we really loved our 7 night stay at Jambo last year.

I love the authentic look of the kidani rooms and the chance to be closer to the animals. The pool table in Jambo is a fun addition. I guess I'll just have to try both

 

[Baldy]

We will be staying in a 2 bedroom villa for the first time. Any suggestions on what to request for a standard view that might still have animals visible? Or any we should avoid (parking lot view!!)?

 

[sndral]

We will be staying in a 2 bedroom villa for the first time. Any suggestions on what to request for a standard view that might still have animals visible? Or any we should avoid (parking lot view!!)?

Are you staying in Jambo or Kidani? If Jambo, only a couple of the values have parking lot views - so no worries there, for animals at Jambo the Kudu trail villas overlook Sunset savanna.

 

[Baldy]

Are you staying in Jambo or Kidani? If Jambo, only a couple of the values have parking lot views - so no worries there, for animals at Jambo the Kudu trail villas overlook Sunset savanna.

We will be at Kidani

 

[drusba]

We will be at Kidani

If standard view at Kidani, the request to make to have chance of getting a savanna view room is for a room near the Pumbaa elevator, the last elevator on the north wing (the KIdani front entrance faces west). That elevator is between the fifth and sixth building units on the north wing and all the rooms in those two building units on the Pembe savanna side of those building units are standard view but have a direct savanna view of the Pembe savanna. Just note that if you actually get the request, your room will be very far from the lobby area and bus stop. Also, do not expressly request a savanna view room if you have standard view. Just request room near that Pumbaa elevator (if you actually request savanna view with a standard view room, it is likely MS will just reply that you need to reserve savanna view to get it).