Difference in Villas at AKL

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hello everyone.

I'm planning to secure some space by renting points at AKL.

But I was kinda confused by the price differences in the 2 bedroom villas.

The "value" villas seem to be for 8 people and costs around 2k.
While the "standard" are for 9 and cost 500 USD more on average.

Anyone knows what is the exact difference between them?
 

englanddg

One Little Spark...
Hello everyone.

I'm planning to secure some space by renting points at AKL.

But I was kinda confused by the price differences in the 2 bedroom villas.

The "value" villas seem to be for 8 people and costs around 2k.
While the "standard" are for 9 and cost 500 USD more on average.

Anyone knows what is the exact difference between them?
The majority of them are the "Standard". The Value 2 bedroom villas are in Jambo House only. They are smaller (945 sq ft) than the "Standard" (1173 sq ft). As a result, I believe they are missing the Chair Bed, hence why they sleep one less.

floorplan_dakv_kidanitwobedroomlockoff.jpg
 

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Animal Kingdom Villas (AKV) consists of two separate buildings located about a 10-minute walk from each other. (Disney runs a shuttle van between the 2 buildings.)

Jambo House is the name of main building. This building includes both DVC rooms and hotel rooms. Although physically in the same building, the hotel generally is referred to as Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL).

AKV Jambo House contains 4 categories of DVC rooms:
  • Value
  • Standard View (i.e. parking lot or pool)
  • Savanna View
  • Club Level
DVC members can book at their "Home Resort" up to 11 months in advance. They can book at all resorts up to 7 months in advance.

Value and Club Level rooms are extremely difficult to book. Club Level rooms generally book first thing in the morning, right at 11 months. Value rooms are slightly less difficult to book, but even these are difficult to book for anything other than a 1-bedroom villa.

Value rooms are former hotel rooms. They are smaller (i.e. less square footage) than Standard or Savanna View rooms.

AKV Kidani Village is the second building. It's a DVC-only resort, although non-DVC members can book DVC rooms there directly from Disney. It contains only 2 categories of DVC rooms:
  • Standard View
  • Savanna View
Kidani Village 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom villas include an extra bathroom. For example, a 2-bedroom at Jambo House has 2 bathrooms. A 2-bedroom at Kidani Village includes 3 bathrooms.

Being in the main hotel, Jambo House generally feels more active. Kidani Village generally feels more relaxing.
 
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JaxFLBear

Well-Known Member
All of the Villas in Jambo House are converted hotel rooms. The Value Villas were converted from Standard Hotel Rooms, while the Standard View/Savanna View/Concierge Level Villas were converted from Deluxe Hotel Rooms.

Kidani Village was built from the ground up as DVC Villas.
 

Blueliner

Well-Known Member
Right now we are booked at our home resort (Boardwalk Villas) for 4 nights just prior to Thanksgiving, but we were looking into possibly attempting to switch our reservation to Animal Kingdom Villas/Lodge at the 7 month window. It kind of looks like Jambo House with the Arusha Savanna view might be ideal. Do you guys have opinions/rankings on the different savannas?
 

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
Right now we are booked at our home resort (Boardwalk Villas) for 4 nights just prior to Thanksgiving, but we were looking into possibly attempting to switch our reservation to Animal Kingdom Villas/Lodge at the 7 month window. It kind of looks like Jambo House with the Arusha Savanna view might be ideal. Do you guys have opinions/rankings on the different savannas?
At the 7 month window the villas in Jambo are very hard (esp Oct- Dec) to come by because there is not many of them. I frankly prefer Kidani Village with a Sunset Savannah view. Kidani Villas are much nicer and offer an extra full bathroom in the 1 & 2 bedroomVillas. Also the master bathroom us much nicer as well etc. Also Kidani you get to park under the covered area (parking is the 1st floor) and it is much quieter there as well. One downfall is that eventhough you book Savannah View you may get the 3rd Savannah area Pembe Savannah(with very few animals) even if you request Sunset Savannah. This had happened to us before and were disappointed we did not get the Savannah we wanted. Also can be a very long walk to your room from the elevators due to how it is layed out. We absolutely love Kidani though and prefer to stay there most trips. :)
 

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
At the 7 month window the villas in Jambo are very hard (esp Oct- Dec) to come by because there is not many of them. I frankly prefer Kidani Village with a Sunset Savannah view. Kidani Villas are much nicer and offer an extra full bathroom in the 1 & 2 bedroomVillas. Also the master bathroom us much nicer as well etc. Also Kidani you get to park under the covered area (parking is the 1st floor) and it is much quieter there as well. One downfall is that eventhough you book Savannah View you may get the 3rd Savannah area Pembe Savannah(with very few animals) even if you request Sunset Savannah. This had happened to us before and were disappointed we did not get the Savannah we wanted. Also can be a very long walk to your room from the elevators due to how it is layed out. We absolutely love Kidani though and prefer to stay there most trips. :)
I can confirm the walk is HUGE.
It felt like walking from the entrance of magic kingdom to the mine train.. and I wasnt even in the last tower block.
yikes.. 5 minutes of walking isnt fun. Speciallyt if you are in a hurry to get the disney buses.
 

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
I can confirm the walk is HUGE.
It felt like walking from the entrance of magic kingdom to the mine train.. and I wasnt even in the last tower block.
yikes.. 5 minutes of walking isnt fun. Speciallyt if you are in a hurry to get the disney buses.
Yes it can be a very long walk! We always drive and use our own car so no rush to catch busses etc and sometimes it's a shorter distance to the elevators that go down to parking. Sometimes! Lol. We still prefer Kidani though by a long shot over Jambo. :)
 

dizneydreamer27

New Member
My family is arriving at Kidani in 45 days. We previously stayed at Jambo. My family has never been to Kidani. I understand that it is preferable to stay in the Sunset Savannah, but is there anything else I should add as a request? It offered lower floor, upper floor, near lobby, near elevator. Would love to maximize animal viewing and long walk to our room is not preferable if possible. We have a studio Savannah room booked for 10 days. Thanks for any advice.
 

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
Yes @dizneydreamer27 ask for a Sunset Savannah view, and if you do not want a long walk also ask to be close to an elevator. Now as for which floor we prefer an upper floor but really any floor is good because the rooms start technically on the 2nd floor because the parking garage is the actual 1st floor. For us the ideal animal view is on the 3rd floor. Kidani is our fave resort and also our home resort for DVC. With GFV being a very close second! Lol :)
Hope you get all your requests and hope you and your family have a wonderful trip!! :)
 

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My family is arriving at Kidani in 45 days. We previously stayed at Jambo. My family has never been to Kidani. I understand that it is preferable to stay in the Sunset Savannah, but is there anything else I should add as a request? It offered lower floor, upper floor, near lobby, near elevator. Would love to maximize animal viewing and long walk to our room is not preferable if possible. We have a studio Savannah room booked for 10 days. Thanks for any advice.
definitively near lobby (or Elevator).
If you get in one of the farther wings..(specially the left one)its a LONG WALK if you have to take the disney buses.
 

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