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

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

It's been a couple years since I stayed there, but I'm pretty sure the dinner menu stopped at 9pm.

Thank you. Seems like it was 8PM last time I was there.
Edit: I know it varies with time of year.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

MDE says dinner 5-10; late night dining 10-11.

Thank you.

 

[ANGIELAST]

Hi
I’m a newbie looking into buying my first dvc resale. I’ve been looking at AK or CCV. I’m from uk so will be coming every other year. If all the kids decide to come I’ll need a 2 bed villa. We will only be able to travel in uk school holidays.
Any advice or tips on buying. I’ve not stayed at AK but my kids love the look of it and seeing the animals. Thanks so much x

 

[Hubalorian]

Hi
I’m a newbie looking into buying my first dvc resale. I’ve been looking at AK or CCV. I’m from uk so will be coming every other year. If all the kids decide to come I’ll need a 2 bed villa. We will only be able to travel in uk school holidays.
Any advice or tips on buying. I’ve not stayed at AK but my kids love the look of it and seeing the animals. Thanks so much x

My main tip is look for a contract that works for your family. I own at AKV and LOVE it. I like the idea of buying smaller contracts to add up to the amount I want. Also - do some research on use years that would work best for you and your family.

Side note - AKV will be renovated seemingly at the start of 2025

 

[marcar12]

I made a reservation this week to stay at AKV next March!
I know that there is a planned refurbishment in 2025. Does anyone know if it will be limited to just the rooms? Or will the pool(s), restaurant(s), lobby, etc also be potentially affected?

 

[BamaGuy44]

Hi
I’m a newbie looking into buying my first dvc resale. I’ve been looking at AK or CCV. I’m from uk so will be coming every other year. If all the kids decide to come I’ll need a 2 bed villa. We will only be able to travel in uk school holidays.
Any advice or tips on buying. I’ve not stayed at AK but my kids love the look of it and seeing the animals. Thanks so much x

For AKL I would advise to buy the amount of points youll need to book at least the standard villas. You can't count on being able to get the value villas, even at 11 months.

 

[starsaber25]

Hey all. My wife and I just became DVC owners. We bought BLT and our contract had 38 leftover pts for 2023 so my 16 year old son and I are traveling down in June. As of right now I was able to get a standard view studio at Kidani Village. We will only be down there for two full days and it will be a full park trip and we plan to knock out rides all day until the parks close so we will not be at the resort much. My question is would there be any reason to try and get into Jambo House if I can? Would there really be a difference for us? Or should I just be content where we are? This is my first DVC stay ever.

How is the bus system at AKL? Would I ever need to consider an uber or I should be fine with the buses at any time. Thanks

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Hey all. My wife and I just became DVC owners. We bought BLT and our contract had 38 leftover pts for 2023 so my 16 year old son and I are traveling down in June. As of right now I was able to get a standard view studio at Kidani Village. We will only be down there for two full days and it will be a full park trip and we plan to knock out rides all day until the parks close so we will not be at the resort much. My question is would there be any reason to try and get into Jambo House if I can? Would there really be a difference for us? Or should I just be content where we are? This is my first DVC stay ever.

How is the bus system at AKL? Would I ever need to consider an uber or I should be fine with the buses at any time. Thanks

It probably depends on how much time you plan to spend at the resort (and it sounds like not that much). If you're staying on the Kidani side, you can easily walk to Jambo for the restaurants (Boma, Jiko, The Mara are at Jambo) and the souvenir shop. Sanaa is at Kidani. Rooms on both sides are very nice - we actually prefer the rooms at Kidani slightly.

The buses at AKL work pretty well, with only 2 stops - 1 at Kidani and 1 at Jambo House. The only longer bus ride is the one to Magic Kingdom - if that's a park you plan to do. The other parks aren't that long of a ride. But I wouldn't recommend an Uber to Magic Kingdom, as you get dropped off at the Ticket & Trans Center, and then need to boat or monorail the rest. Not sure if any of this helps, but enjoy your stay!

 

[intamin]

It probably depends on how much time you plan to spend at the resort (and it sounds like not that much). If you're staying on the Kidani side, you can easily walk to Jambo for the restaurants (Boma, Jiko, The Mara are at Jambo) and the souvenir shop. Sanaa is at Kidani. Rooms on both sides are very nice - we actually prefer the rooms at Kidani slightly.

The buses at AKL work pretty well, with only 2 stops - 1 at Kidani and 1 at Jambo House. The only longer bus ride is the one to Magic Kingdom - if that's a park you plan to do. The other parks aren't that long of a ride. But I wouldn't recommend an Uber to Magic Kingdom, as you get dropped off at the Ticket & Trans Center, and then need to boat or monorail the rest. Not sure if any of this helps, but enjoy your stay!

Agreed on this. However, if you do a Minnie Van through lyft it will drop you off at the entrance to MK (bus stops) but it is much more expensive than a standard lyft.

 

[SpicyMcHaggis]

People make the busses out to be worse than they are IMO. No it isn't as convenient as walking a few minutes from BLT to get to Magic Kingdom, but they're not terrible. They are dedicated busses and stop nowhere but Jambo and Kidani. They come frequently throughout the day, but I can see it being slightly aggrivating if you just miss your bus and have to wait for the next to come. Be sure to check the bus times in the app and make sure you leave your room with plenty of time to make it to the bus stop before your planned departure. I'm definitely in the camp of "just relax and enjoy the ride." If you want to rent a car or Uber to pay a bit of money in order to save a few minutes, that's up to you, but for me personally I don't feel that it's necessary. The first bus out will get you there in plenty of time for rope drop if that's your goal.

If you won't be spending much of any time at the resort, there's not really much materially different between the two. My only caution with three people in a studio is that the pullout bed isn't great for either Kidani or Jambo. I'd rather sleep on the folded up couch than pull out the bed personally.

 

[sndral]

People make the busses out to be worse than they are IMO. No it isn't as convenient as walking a few minutes from BLT to get to Magic Kingdom, but they're not terrible. They are dedicated busses and stop nowhere but Jambo and Kidani. They come frequently throughout the day, but I can see it being slightly aggrivating if you just miss your bus and have to wait for the next to come. Be sure to check the bus times in the app and make sure you leave your room with plenty of time to make it to the bus stop before your planned departure. I'm definitely in the camp of "just relax and enjoy the ride." If you want to rent a car or Uber to pay a bit of money in order to save a few minutes, that's up to you, but for me personally I don't feel that it's necessary. The first bus out will get you there in plenty of time for rope drop if that's your goal.

If you won't be spending much of any time at the resort, there's not really much materially different between the two. My only caution with three people in a studio is that the pullout bed isn't great for either Kidani or Jambo. I'd rather sleep on the folded up couch than pull out the bed personally.

I think the pull out single chair is more comfortable than that sofa bed.
The big difference between Kidani & Jambo in a standard view IMO is that you have a much better chance of getting a villa overlooking a savanna w/ standard at Jambo, but if you aren’t going to be in the room much .
We fly in & use Disney transportation, AKV/L has pretty reliable bus service, especially going to the parks, leaving the parks at prime exit times can be frustrating - but that’s true wherever we stay. Park buses pick up & drop off at Kidani first Jambo second.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Agreed on this. However, if you do a Minnie Van through lyft it will drop you off at the entrance to MK (bus stops) but it is much more expensive than a standard lyft.

Agreed. I was just following since the poster mentioned Uber. And yes, Minnie Van would be much more expensive - but fun!

 

[Hubalorian]

I will agree Minnie Vans are both more fun and more expensive!

 

[DaviVascaino]

Hello everyone,

I have an upcoming trip to WDW on Feb8th-15th 2025. We are family of four, my wife and I, and two boys. We will be staying at BWV

I will be able to leave work earlier on Friday 7th 2025 and I was able to book a flight for that day instead of Feb 8th. I would arrive in orlando around 10pm the night before the BWV check in.

The original plan was to just crash at a nearby hotel, however any decent hotel close to airport is at least $220ish or more. The Hyatt inside MCO is like $420.

I was able to find a seller willing to rent DVC points for a standard view studio for the night of Feb 7th . It would cost me around $270, so not bad.

Even though we would be getting at AKV only around 1030-11pm, I guess the price is not much higher than staying at a nearby airport hotel. I think it makes sense since we can just use bell services the next morning to transfer our luggage to BWV.

My questions are :
1. How easy is to get luggage transferred from one Disney resort to another? Is that something that happens earlier in the morning, later at night? Wondering how I should prepare in case we take advantage of the free water park admission on check in day followed by late afternoon park day

2. If we arrive at AKV around 1045-11pm, will anything be open at that time for us to grab dinner? Does not matter if it is QS or sit down restaurant. If nothing is open, what do you suggest?

Thanks

 

[SpicyMcHaggis]

Hello everyone,

I have an upcoming trip to WDW on Feb8th-15th 2025. We are family of four, my wife and I, and two boys. We will be staying at BWV

I will be able to leave work earlier on Friday 7th 2025 and I was able to book a flight for that day instead of Feb 8th. I would arrive in orlando around 10pm the night before the BWV check in.

The original plan was to just crash at a nearby hotel, however any decent hotel close to airport is at least $220ish or more. The Hyatt inside MCO is like $420.

I was able to find a seller willing to rent DVC points for a standard view studio for the night of Feb 7th . It would cost me around $270, so not bad.

Even though we would be getting at AKV only around 1030-11pm, I guess the price is not much higher than staying at a nearby airport hotel. I think it makes sense since we can just use bell services the next morning to transfer our luggage to BWV.

My questions are :
1. How easy is to get luggage transferred from one Disney resort to another? Is that something that happens earlier in the morning, later at night? Wondering how I should prepare in case we take advantage of the free water park admission on check in day followed by late afternoon park day

2. If we arrive at AKV around 1045-11pm, will anything be open at that time for us to grab dinner? Does not matter if it is QS or sit down restaurant. If nothing is open, what do you suggest?

Thanks

I've done exactly this but staying at a value resort for a night when we were getting in late; since we knew we wouldn't really need anything special apart from a bed to sleep in as we would be up and rope dropping early the next morning anyway, we went on the value end to save some cash.

Bell services will make sure your luggage gets to your next hotel without too much difficulty. There will likely be a line in the morning and it might take a bit of time to get your bags checked in with them, so plan accordingly if you want to rope drop.

As far as food availability, Mara is open with a limited selection until 11 PM (flatbreads, cold sandwiches, desserts, drinks.)

 

[DaviVascaino]

I've done exactly this but staying at a value resort for a night when we were getting in late; since we knew we wouldn't really need anything special apart from a bed to sleep in as we would be up and rope dropping early the next morning anyway, we went on the value end to save some cash.

Bell services will make sure your luggage gets to your next hotel without too much difficulty. There will likely be a line in the morning and it might take a bit of time to get your bags checked in with them, so plan accordingly if you want to rope drop.

As far as food availability, Mara is open with a limited selection until 11 PM (flatbreads, cold sandwiches, desserts, drinks.)

We would stay at a value resort but nothing is available at that day, and the price was about the same anyways.

So no food available after 11pm? Shoot

 

[Jonnnyap]

Hope you have a great trip.

If you order grocery delivery, they will hold it for you (room temp and cold separately), so you might order some food from a local grocery, and have it delivered to AKV/L. It’ll then be there when you arrive late that night.

Good luck!