I just received confirmation of my reservation at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas (Jambo House - Savanna view) for six nights starting on March 2, 2008.
Does anyone have reviews or observations of these villas or the AKL in general?
Are the animals viewable(?) with the Savanna view?
How about the two restaurants, Jiko and 'Boma? Are they worth making reservations for?I believe Jiko is very, very expensive (two TS credits on thd dining plan).
My dog, Cookie, is a Llasa Apso and her breed is from Tibet. So let her ride Expedition Everest because I won't ride it again.
Jiko and Boma are both highly rated restaurants, and we love both of them.
Yes, you will be able to see the animals from your savannah view room.
I love the theming and feel of the AKL, so much so that I own at AKV.
I've seen the rooms here in Chicago and they are very nice. Plasma TVs and granite top kitchens very nice. The rooms are alot roomier than the other resorts and the one bedroom has a chair that makes into a bed along with the queen size sofa sleeper also it has 2 bathrooms instead of just 1. I like OKW for the room size and AKV are suppose to be the roomiest of all the DVCs.
It's every tribe, every nation. It's all God's children singing, Glory, Glory, Hallelujah. He Reigns.
Newsboys
If I HAD to pick one favorite restaurant at WDW, Jiko would be it.
And if I had to identify a buffet that I'd do again (I don't generally like buffets), Boma would be it without hesitation. In fact, Boma IS the only buffet I've done more than once!
Jiko is a 'signature' restaurant, so yes, it's 2 credits on the dining plan - but I think it's worth it.
Cathy
Just keep in mind that the models are of the rooms in Kidani Village. The rooms in the converted section of the existing Jambo House at AKL are different.Originally Posted by Wfoxx
Does anyone have reviews or observations of these villas or the AKL in general?
There is a write up & pictures on allearsnet.com of a studio & 1 bedroom.
We love Boma!
Even if if models are "representative" of what is in the Jambo House section currently, they are going to be wonderful. I will also be finding this out myself come April 08.
Boma has got to be one of our fave places to go. Its rather unique and overall very good. I love going there to sample certain items then going back for the ones I really liked. Definitely not a buffet to be rushed.
The search function is like the Force. It may take practice, but the more you use it, the more control you will have over it!
We spent 1 night in Animal kingdom lodge in Sept and we fell in love so much so that we bought our dvc points the next day
Jiko is fantastic.
Not tried Boma yet but will be doing that next September.
Did you stay in a villa room or a regular room?
I ask because it is my understanding that there will still be non-DVC rooms available even after the transformation of Jambo House is complete.
The search function is like the Force. It may take practice, but the more you use it, the more control you will have over it!
It was a regular room.
ok now im confused. The model in Chicago, that was of Kidani Village? What is the model that we saw in Saratoga Springs in August? Was that of Kidani Village as well or Jamba House? Whatever it was it was absolutely wonderful! As I imagine both locations will be. Im just curious.
Also, my other concern, we have resies for the GV in April, which Im very excited about.... but the construction, will we hear much of it during our stay? I really dont want to be awoken up by a jack hammer or anything. Seeing the workers/work doesnt bother me but I dont want to loose sleep over the noise. I wont change these resies - Im just curious.
We love Boma, as GusMan said, love it esp. for breakfast, the juice is AWESOME! Its so good that we got the recipe for it while we were there.
12/11CSR, 10/11OKW, 3/11AKL, 7/10 BCV/ KV; 9/09; 3/09VWL; 10/08 SSR; 12/08 SSR; 4/08AKL; 8/07POR; 2/06;10/05WL; 12/04AKL; 9/04 9/03WL;10/02; 1973?
I believe all the AKV models are of the proposed Kidani Village. Due to the limitations of rebuilding in the existing space within Jambo house, the rooms there won't be the same as the models (no 2nd bathroom in 1-BR, etc). There are even small differences between rooms of the same type (ie., one bathroom may have 2 sinks while another may only have 1). This is because of pillars and other structural constraints they had to work around.
I've just jumped on and most of my questions have been answered, thx for all the info.
How do you know what building your staying in? and how do I find out if it's near any construction?
also my son is a picky eater, he likes chicken fingers and fries, I'm a seafood, meat and potatoes person, what kind of food is available?
TeeCee54, Hello from Havertown!
If you want to know what the food is at any restaurant you can look up all the menus at Allears.net or on this site as well.
Here are links to the two restaurants in AKL:
Boma's menu - http://allearsnet.com/menu/menu_bomadin.htm
and Jiko's Adult Menu - http://allearsnet.com/menu/menu_jiko.htm
and Jiko's Kids Menu- http://allearsnet.com/menu/menu_jikokids.htm
We have eaten in Boma twice and loved it, the kids were happy with the selection of chicken fingers, fries, and spaghetti and meatballs. When we were there last week my DD 11 tried some of the things on the rest of the buffet and seemed ok with some of it. Which is one of the reasons I like the buffets, you don't have to order a whole meal to try something new.
Katrina
The Chicago rooms are of the Kidani Village. The remodel of the top floor rooms of the current building will be more like the rooms at SSR do to architectural limitations. We where just in the Chicago office over the weekend and where told that.Of all that we have seen and stayed in they seem to be the most family freindly with the two full baths in the 1 bedroom of Kidani Village. Others will have the split bath like SSR.
1988 Off Property,1990 Disneyland CA,1996 Off Property,1997 Disney's Contemporary,1998 Polynesian,1999 Port Orleans-Riverside ( Dixie Landings ),2000 Contemporary,2001 Disney's Wilderness Lodge,2002 Coronado Springs,2003 Caribbean Beach,2004 Disney's Wilderness Lodge,2005 Animal Kingdom,2006 Grand Floridian / Disney's Fort Widerness Cabins / Disney's Pop Century,2007 Beach Club / Saratoga Springs / Port Orleans -French Quarter,2007 new member DVC/AKV,2008 Disney Cruise/ Boardwalk
Has anyone stayed here? We have stayed at AKL but not the villas. I noticed on the DVC point chart there is a new concierge category and you can do this for a few extra points. Is it worth it? Is it in another location than the rest of the villas? Or are the extra points just for the daily mousekeeping?
I've heard nothing but good reviews from people who have stayed at AKV so far. We'll be there the first week of December.
The concierge rooms are on the 6th floor, whereas all the other AKV rooms are on the 5th floor. I believe 60% of the concierge rooms have a savannah view. There is no guarantee that you'll get that view or not.
The concierge rooms open on December 1.
Called yesterday to make a reservation, and cm said that even though the AKV 1bedrooms say they sleep five we will only be provided towels and bedding for 4. Whaa? If we want towels and a blanket and pillow for our #3 child there will be an additional charge? I have never heard of this. She just stated this out of the blue, I didn't ask for extra towels or anything. I guess it should say in the advertising media, "Sleeps 5, but only 4 can shower!"
With some humor, I guess there are a couple of ways to look at the towel situation....
- Either get upset when you find out that there are only enough towels, etc, for 4 people
or
- Know beforehand and plan accordingly.
But agreed... that does seem kinda odd, to say the least.
The way I see it is that they are going to have to work some of the bugs out of the system since if I recall correctly, this is the first time DVC will have 1 BR units that can sleep 5. I am sure these rooms are going to be popular with 5-member families and DVC will have to react accordingly to member feedback.
The search function is like the Force. It may take practice, but the more you use it, the more control you will have over it!
When we toured the models at Woodfield mall 2 weeks ago, I thought we were told that the new 1 bedroom units in Kidani Village would sleep 5 but the 1 bedroom units that they were converting at the original Animal Kingdom Lodge would only sleep 4, due to space constraints. I could be mistaken but I am almost positive that is what we were told.
No. Only the "Value" 1-BR units will hold just 4 people. All the other views (Standard/Savannah/Concierge) will hold 5 people.
Sorry my mistake!
Just make sure person #5 doesn't need any towels or toilet paper! lol
Later this week I can make reservations for a three day stay we are planning, after we get back from our cruise in June. Our home resort is SS, but I want to try a different resort. I'm thinking about requesting a value one-bedroom at AKL, which would provide more room than a studio, but would be less points than a one-bedroom at any of the resorts I am considering. For a family of 4, it looks like a good value.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks