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

[flea1267]

May I ask what are "walkers"? We would be renting points so this is new lingo to me Pardon my ignorance.

 

[RunningAriel]

Afternoon folks! I have convinced my DBF to run the Darkside 10K next April (a feat in and of itself!) His one stipulation is that we stay AKL, Jambo House, savanna view. I am looking at renting points for a studio because it's so much cheaper than rack rate even with an AP discount. Am I shooting for the moon with this one?? Right now we are at the 9mnth window. I would kill for CL but I know that is almost impossible so I would be happy with a studio.

 

[drusba]

Afternoon folks! I have convinced my DBF to run the Darkside 10K next April (a feat in and of itself!) His one stipulation is that we stay AKL, Jambo House, savanna view. I am looking at renting points for a studio because it's so much cheaper than rack rate even with an AP discount. Am I shooting for the moon with this one?? Right now we are at the 9mnth window. I would kill for CL but I know that is almost impossible so I would be happy with a studio.

If you are asking about availability, savanna view at Jambo is typically open that time of year, and it was for the race weekend this year, even at 7 months out, and is typically open much of the year at 9 months out. There is a possible risk it could fill nefore 7 months out for 2017 because it is a race weekend and it happens to be the end of Easter week in 2017. so your best srategy would be to look now to find someone from whom to rent. As to club level, at nine months out you can safely assume your chances are next to nothing.

 

[twinklebug]

May I ask what are "walkers"? We would be renting points so this is new lingo to me Pardon my ignorance.

In terms of DVC, a walker is an owner of points who will start booking for their trip long before the 11 month window is open, and every day or so cancel the old dates while tacking on new ones out in the further future. Since the only people who can book those dates beyond the 11 month window are ones who own reservations on the currently open 11month date, then others are essentially locked out from obtaining those. After days/weeks, even months of "walking" the reservation (it's more like inch-worming) they'll come upon the days they wanted to book and be able to reserve them without issue.

If you're going through someone to book the reservation for you, I doubt they'd have the time & patience to attempt to book CL. There is a 1:1,000,000 chance you might luck out and find a recently cancelled one for the exact same time period, so don't hesitiate to mention it.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Afternoon folks! I have convinced my DBF to run the Darkside 10K next April (a feat in and of itself!) His one stipulation is that we stay AKL, Jambo House, savanna view. I am looking at renting points for a studio because it's so much cheaper than rack rate even with an AP discount. Am I shooting for the moon with this one?? Right now we are at the 9mnth window. I would kill for CL but I know that is almost impossible so I would be happy with a studio.

It's still possible.

If savannah view is the agreement then you actually wouldn't have wanted CL ( which is booked by this point) because 2 of the 5 DVC CL studios are pool view and you couldn't guarantee not getting one.

 

[socababy]

Couple of questions please How hard is it to get a CL room if you book right at the 11 months mark...and can anyone share with me their CL experiences? Thank you so much!

I would guess it would depend on the time of year. We are going next June and I was online right at my 11 month window and was able to get a 1 bdrm CL for the week. Wanted a 2 bdrm, but those studios must have gone fast or were being walked. I believe the 2 bdrm was only available 4/7 days when I booked. I then called 4 days later when we decided to add 3 days to our trip and I was able to add those extra days no problem. I feel pretty lucky to have snagged 10 days CL when I've read so much about how hard they are to come by!

 

[that's nice]

Thanks for all the info on this tread!

We leave Sunday for our 3 resort split stay with AKV being our middle resort. We cannot wait to stay at Kidani as we have a 1BR savannah room. We stayed at AKL Jambo a few years ago due to a great promotion and that is what changed our thinking from staying in Values and Moderates to seriously looking into DVC.

 

[jedz007]

Where are the locations of the Grand Villas at Kidani? Are they right at the ends of the hall ways our are they sprinkled throughout?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Where are the locations of the Grand Villas at Kidani? Are they right at the ends of the hall ways our are they sprinkled throughout?

At Jambo they are at the ends of the wings but Kidani they are thru out. I can't quickly find an aerial view of Kidani but if you see one just looked for the large peaks in the roof and those are the GV's.

I found that Drusba wrote out where they are too:

"Go to this map of Kidani: http://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/Kindani_Village_Map.jpg. The lobby is in the center and faces west toward the bottom of the map. The left group of building units is the north wing. You will see nine building units (pods) on that wing with the last being indicated as smaller than the others. There is a GV in every pod on that wing except the fourth, fifth and eight pods from the lobby. The last and smaller looking pod on the north wing furthest from the lobby has three GVs. The six and seventh building units have a GV on both the Sunset Savanna and on the Pembe Savanna side of the pods and the two there that face Pembe are the standard GVs (those are the only two that do not face Sunset Savanna).

On the south wing of Kidani (right side of map), there is a GV in every pod except the fourth and seventh pods from the lobby."

 

[jedz007]

At Jambo they are at the ends of the wings but Kidani they are thru out. I can't quickly find an aerial view of Kidani but if you see one just looked for the large peaks in the roof and those are the GV's.

I found that Drusba wrote out where they are too:

"Go to this map of Kidani: http://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/Kindani_Village_Map.jpg. The lobby is in the center and faces west toward the bottom of the map. The left group of building units is the north wing. You will see nine building units (pods) on that wing with the last being indicated as smaller than the others. There is a GV in every pod on that wing except the fourth, fifth and eight pods from the lobby. The last and smaller looking pod on the north wing furthest from the lobby has three GVs. The six and seventh building units have a GV on both the Sunset Savanna and on the Pembe Savanna side of the pods and the two there that face Pembe are the standard GVs (those are the only two that do not face Sunset Savanna).

On the south wing of Kidani (right side of map), there is a GV in every pod except the fourth and seventh pods from the lobby."

Thanks for the info.

 

[gabriellyn]

Howdy Everyone! Not sure why I haven't joined this group yet but I wanted to pop in and say hello!

 

[RunningAriel]

Silly question! Which savanna do the Jambo studios look out over? I think I remember Arusha but not 100%. Thanks gang!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Silly question! Which savanna do the Jambo studios look out over? I think I remember Arusha but not 100%. Thanks gang!

There are 3 savannahs at Jambo. Arusha is in the center "horseshoe" section. Uzima is on the Zebra Trail pool side. And the Kudu Trail rooms that face the direction of Kidani face the Sunset savannah.

And most of Kidani looks at the Sunset savannah and Pembe is the second savannah there.

 

[millys]

Should have posted these a few weeks ago but work took over as soon as I got back home!!!

We stayed 3 x nights in two studios at Jambo House - 5th floor standard view but had a really nice savannah view actually.
Two studios right next to each other right at the end of the Zebra Trail - rooms 5582 & 5584.
Bit if a hike to the lobby but very quiet and 5584 had no neighbouring room - just a corridor leading to the fire escape.

The balcony of 5584 and view:-

Giraffe family that greeted us every morning:-

Check in desks:-

Victoria Falls Lounge and Boma Restaurant:-

Library just of the lobby:-

Jambo House from Arush Rock:-

Jambo House Lobby:-

Rocking chairs from one of the viewing areas off the main lobby:-

Another Lobby view:-

AKL is still our favourite resort and we will be back - NO DOUBT

Milly

 

[TeeterTots]

Beautiful pics!

 

[twinklebug]

Love the pics Millys!
Noting the ever-present drum beaters in your pic of the stairs down to Boma. I have a love/hate relationship with them (They always tend to play at times I really need them not to)

 

[jenhelgren]

Hi all! We will be staying just one night at Kidani in October and I am looking for information on tours offered at either Jambo or Kidani. This will not be our first stay but we usually have the hustle and bustle of parks figured in so I am really excited about spending the entire day at the resort!! I found some information on the night safari and it was priced around $70 pp-can anyone confirm if that info is correct? Is there an animal feeding schedule or any hands on experiences for the kids? It has been a few years since our last visit and I really cant remember much about the activities schedule. We have a 9 and 15 year old. Thank you!!

 

[ryangosling]

Hey All! Staying in Jan at Kidani in a standard room with 2 young children (2 and 4). Should I push to be close to the pool view? Or close to lobby to minimize walking with the kiddos? Anyone have any experience with long walks at the resort with kids? Thanks!

 

[drusba]

Hey All! Staying in Jan at Kidani in a standard room with 2 young children (2 and 4). Should I push to be close to the pool view? Or close to lobby to minimize walking with the kiddos? Anyone have any experience with long walks at the resort with kids? Thanks!

Pool view (or a like alternative request, close to the Rafiki elevator) leaves some more walking than near the lobby but not an overwhelming amount. Asking for pool view is a request that is more likely to be met than close to lobby. Close to lobby is now the most popular request, including because it is listed in the online check in system that even cash customers can use. There have been a number of reports from those who requested close to lobby not getting it and ending up as far from the lobby as you can get -- when a location request cannot be met, the default is to give you any available room and not look for one close to what you requested.

It is probable that using the pool may not happen a number of the days in Jan but for standard view, pool view would put you in one of the better areas to be. Another possible option is asking for close to transportation but the standard rooms on that side of the resort in the applicable area are the ones with the worst standard views. Note, make your chosen request through MS and then do not use the page for requests when doing online check-in.

 

[jpuglvr]

Trying to figure out parking at Kidani. Trying to request one of the standard 2 bedroom with the partial Savannah view and am aware of the loooong walk to transportation that is often mentioned. If we will have a car, will we be able to park closer to that end of the wing if we should get a room there? Thanks for any help!