Value studio or standard studio at AKV?

[disneygal55]

We just booked 2 studios (standard) at AKV (Jambo) for a five night Thanksgiving vacation. We are going in June also so we wanted to save some points by booking values but there weren't any for November. We are on a waitlist but were told that if one goes through they couldn't promise that the second studio would go through also. Has anyone seen both types of rooms? Is it worth switching to a value to save points? Are the views (or lack of) worth the extra points? And last but not least...are the value and standard rooms near each other or are they usually far apart from one another. Not sure if I should drop the waitlist if both rooms can't be guaranteed to switch together. Thanks.

 

[tjkraz]

At Jambo, all of the Standard view rooms overlook the pool.

Value rooms received the designation "value" because they are SMALLER than a normal room. They lose about 3-4 feet of depth in the living room. In a studio, the bed, end table and sofa are pretty tightly squeezed together.

Some value rooms actually overlook the savanna (about 30-40% if memory serves), but you cannot guarantee that at the time of booking. Other rooms overlook the pool and parking lot.

So "standard" is more a description of the view (non-savanna) while the "value" designation has more to do with the size of the accommodation.

With two Standard reservations at Jambo, you should be pretty close since they are all around the pool. Value rooms could be a bit further since the wings extend to the right and left of the main lobby.

 

[disneygal55]

Thank you very much. Just not sure if I should drop the waitlist for the value rooms.

 

[supersuperwendy]

We just recently booked a value 2 bedroom because it's such a point saver. We haven't stayed in one yet, but I think it'll be fine. We really don't spend too much time in our rooms anyway. We are typically out and about all day long so to save the points seemed like the best thing for us. I looked into the square footage before and someone could correct me if I'm wrong..but I think the value studio is about the same size as a moderate resort room like at Port Orleans. If you are trying to conserve points then I wouldn't drop the waitlist. We only have 160 points to work with and I STRETCH them as far as they'll go!!! They used to go a lot further before the point chart reallocations ..grrrr.

 

[erionm]

Here's a map of the 5th floor rooms in Jambo House.

The Values are along the Ostrich and Giraffe Trails. The rooms on the map that are shown in white are hotel rooms that DVC did not take over.

The Standard Views are the those along the Zebra Trail that face the Uzima Pool plus the four that are over the lobby.

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

 

[disneygal55]

Thank you so much for the map. It really helps to get a visual of the resort.

 

[Anal Annie]

We are 3 people and did a value studio once for 3 nights ('cuz we were booking on cash with the DVC member discount & we were trying to save cash). VERRRRY small. 3 people for 3 nights was all I would be able to stand. And we spend about 16 hours a day out of the room!! In fact, it was so small it's got us hesitating to try a studio at BLT...it is wall to wall furniture! The few feet you gain with the larger units is worth it IMO.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

We just returned from 6 nights at AKV in a value studio (Jambo House, room 5016). There were 4 of us ~ Mom, Dad, DD18 and DD14. We fit fine. Yes, it is smaller but we did just fine. We also stayed 3 nights in a studio at Beach Club and actually felt like we had more room at AKV. We liked that it had 2 sinks, that helped a lot with 2 teen girls trying to get ready at the same time! We also loved overlooking the pool and being so close to the lobby.

We normally stay in 2 bedroom units at Kidani with other people along.

I prefer Kidani, so I don't know if we would do a AKV value studio again, but not because of space - just a preference for Kidani over Jambo House.

 

[disneygal55]

The size of the room doesn't matter that much. Are the views from the standard much better than the value? Not too keen on looking at a parking lot because we have always had a savannah view in past. I'm also not too keen on the possibility of one room's waitlist coming through and then both rooms being far apart. My 2 sons are in their 20's but it would be more convenient for us if we were fairly close.

 

[erionm]

The size of the room doesn't matter that much. Are the views from the standard much better than the value? Not too keen on looking at a parking lot because we have always had a savannah view in past. I'm also not too keen on the possibility of one room's waitlist coming through and then both rooms being far apart. My 2 sons are in their 20's but it would be more convenient for us if we were fairly close.

All Jambo House Standard View rooms face the Uzima Pool. The Values can face the Uzima Pool, Sunset Savanna or the parking lot. It has been reported that MS is no longer accepting view requests for the Values.

 

[DizDays]

This is great information. Thanks OP for asking. I was wondering the same thing. We are booked for a Value Studio in September and I was a little nervous about what we were getting ourselves into. Now I'm excited.

 

[mikeandkarla]

We stayed in a 2 br value that overlooked the savanna in June 2009. We had plenty of room with 3A 1T 3C. I think the AKV Jambo Value rooms are the best DVC point bargain. Especially with a savanna view!

 

[Havana]

The size of the room doesn't matter that much. Are the views from the standard much better than the value? Not too keen on looking at a parking lot because we have always had a savannah view in past. I'm also not too keen on the possibility of one room's waitlist coming through and then both rooms being far apart. My 2 sons are in their 20's but it would be more convenient for us if we were fairly close.

Getting the Value is a pot luck of views, no guarantee. We booked Value studios two times in the last year. The first time we were lucky to get a Savannah view, and the second time we had a parking lot view.

 

[mikeandkarla]

The size of the room doesn't matter that much. Are the views from the standard much better than the value? Not too keen on looking at a parking lot because we have always had a savannah view in past. I'm also not too keen on the possibility of one room's waitlist coming through and then both rooms being far apart. My 2 sons are in their 20's but it would be more convenient for us if we were fairly close.

You have an 80% chance of NOT getting an AKV value parking lot view studio. Only 2 of 10 studios have that view. Of the 8 that don't, 4 have savanna and 4 have pool view.

 

[disneygal55]

Thanks everyone.