Wwyd ? Akl?

[julluvsdisney]

I have to alter our vacation by one day. We are staying at the poly for 7 nights and 1 night booked at akl value studio. I am shifting it by one day so now it'll be 6 days at the poly and 2 nights at the akl. Here's the question : do I keep my value studio and add a Savannah view the first night or change the first two nights to standard view? I'd like to try Savannah view both night but I need to save my points for my October trip! This may be my only opportunity to do akl as my husband thinks akl is too far away. If he doesn't love it we may never get to try it again. But checking in and out seems like it could be annoying. What would you do?

 

[loves to dive]

3 moves in one trip is a bit much, I've done it when I added an extra night to split stay and couldn't stay in the same room. Son and DIL hated having to pack up to move for just one night. I would do the 2 nights standard view. You might get lucky and have a view of the people pens, which is standard but is on the savannah. We had a one bedroom and got the people pens and every morning I sat on the balcony and watched the animals getting their breakfast. The people pens are pens they have blocked off on the savannah for people in case they have to evacuate the hotel, can't have the people out in the open with the animals roaming. They are just in the corners and in no way block any of the view.

 

[disfanforlife]

We own at AKV and haven't stayed in a savannah view. We love the resort and have had standard rooms with great views. We also go outside to view the animals. The same thing happened to us. We have a trip in January - my daughter really wanted BLT but I couldn't get all 6 nights there, so we are staying 2 nights at Kidani then moving to BLT. Our kids have friends coming and they are excited to have the opportunity to stay at two resorts, they view it as a bonus, although I do fine moving is not my favorite thing, it's not that big of a deal.

 

[julluvsdisney]

So if I do standard room which do you prefer Jambo or kidani?

 

[disfanforlife]

I have only stayed in Kidani so I can't answer that. We have only stayed in a 2 bedroom - never been in a studio either.

 

[DisDadDVC]

Keep the 2 nights in the same room. You are not gonna want to switch twice.

 

[supersnoop]

I've stayed in a savanna view studio at Kidani and a value studio at Jambo. I, personally, preferred Kidani; it seemed more relaxed to me, and had better views of the animals than Jambo, in my opinion. Jambo is a better option if you plan to eat at Jiko, Boma, or the Mara often.

 

[Simba's Mom]

So if I do standard room which do you prefer Jambo or kidani?

Last time I stayed in a standard view at Jambo, I got a sunset savannah "partial savannah view". As far as I was concerned, there was nothing "partial" about it. It was a better savannah view than I'd had from my "savannah view" a few months beforehand. From what I understand, none of Kidani standard views have any savannah view, so I'd definitely go for Jambo. Besides, Jambo has a bigger, better gift shop and the counter serve place. Judge for yourself on the standard view-

 

[hakepb]

Last time I stayed in a standard view at Jambo, I got a sunset savannah "partial savannah view". As far as I was concerned, there was nothing "partial" about it. It was a better savannah view than I'd had from my "savannah view" a few months beforehand. From what I understand, none of Kidani standard views have any savannah view, so I'd definitely go for Jambo. Besides, Jambo has a bigger, better gift shop and the counter serve place. Judge for yourself on the standard view-

Jambo standard with partial savanna view is a better view, and a shorter walk to the lobby (and I would think Jambo's lobby is more likely to impress)

... But if you survive the ~60% chance of a Kidani parking lot view, and the loooooong walk (53 rooms past the lobby) there are some partial Pembe savanna views at Kidani

 

[julluvsdisney]

Thanks for the info! Which has a better pool?

 

[supersnoop]

Thanks for the info! Which has a better pool?

I think the Kidani pool area is better, especially for kids.

 

[hakepb]

Jambo has one of the largest pools at WDW, has more available shaded seating, and is next to the only QS eating at AKL

Kidani has a more adventurous pool slide and a great kids splash area.

For a studio stay, I prefer Jambo.
I enjoy the more impressive lobby at Jambo.
Kidani has the longest hallways at WDW (by far)
Kidani does not serve a breakfast, and does not have QS. (Which is a bigger problem without a kitchen in the villa)

I do prefer Kidani for 1BR. The huge master bathroom plus the 2nd full bathroom and the added sleeper chair are really nice in the Kidani 1BR.

 

[firstwdw]

What type of request is best for standard studio stay at Jambo to have a good partial animal view and not be far from lobby, pool, bus, etc??

 

[DavidRoss]

I have stayed at both Kidani and Jambo. One thing I really like about both are the cultural immersion talks they do in the evenings. We have met different employees and learned about their homes in Africa. The cultural learnings are really impressive and very unique to AKL. There also are some tours of the resort that you can take and learn about the museum quality artifacts on display. These tours (when we have taken them) talked about the friendships and bonds that Disney Imagineers forged with tribes and people in Africa and how many of the unique, one of a kind pieces on display were given to an imagineer as a very personal and symbolic representation of those relationships.

So, if you are concerned about your spouse not liking AKL because it is far away, you may be surprised. Many of the value resorts are nearly just as far. But being immersed in the culture of Africa by learning about it if you take the time, made our stays here outstanding. I feel that every opportunity you have to be immersed in this culture could very well be a once in a lifetime learning event.

As a side note, I booked a couple days for some friends who had two young children. One night was at SSR and the other at Jambo. They came back telling me that there was so much to see and experience at Jambo, they decided to not even go to the parks for that day and the next.

I honestly can't say enough good things about Kidani and Jambo. But I do agree with the comments above. Jambo has an impressive lobby and Kidani is more laid back. But I think Kidani is impressive in its own way too.

I have been a DVC member since 1999. I no longer feel I have to do the parks every day and all day. And now that I have that realization, I also realize all of what I have been missing from exploring the resorts themselves.

On a side note, one of the employees who talked about his situation at home described it in detail to us. I sat there stunned. The employee used to make bricks and bake them in the sun. He would then sell them until he had enough money saved up so that he could go to the university by where he lived. In order to make the bricks, he needed water which he would have to walk 90 minutes each way to get. He would pass all kinds of wildlife. He was able to describe to us how he would know when a lion would hunt or not and would have to pass several of them each way to get is water. He also told us about his hut and sleeping on the floor where rats were just a way of life. Then he told us about he had a cobra in his hut one evening that he trapped in the wall until he could take care of it in the morning.

 

[Dean]

I have to alter our vacation by one day. We are staying at the poly for 7 nights and 1 night booked at akl value studio. I am shifting it by one day so now it'll be 6 days at the poly and 2 nights at the akl. Here's the question : do I keep my value studio and add a Savannah view the first night or change the first two nights to standard view? I'd like to try Savannah view both night but I need to save my points for my October trip! This may be my only opportunity to do akl as my husband thinks akl is too far away. If he doesn't love it we may never get to try it again. But checking in and out seems like it could be annoying. What would you do?

I would not move three times even if I had to find more points somewhere for one trip or the other. Points availability and UY would affect my decisions to a degree but my preference would be to wait list the other night in value while also holding a Standard view (or savannah view). If you weren't trying to save points, my first choice would be savannah view though over the value and just hang out the resort those 2 days enjoying the ambience, animals, pool and restaurants there.