Animal Kingdom Villas Questions

[Lalita]

Hello all, just returned less than a week ago from a trip from WDW at th YC, the second last day we bought into AKV, very excited about it. I just have a few questions, I hope you guys can answer.

1. If I were to book either an one bedroom or two bedroom villa, standard view, does anyone know which views this would be?

2. At the models at SSR, the model had a extra bathroom, I think near the entrance near the kitchen, is that just in the kidani village or both?

3.Are the villa portion in AKL on the forth and fifth floor?

4. Are the chances of booking a room better if you book a higher category, like a two bedroom, or better if you book a studio?

5. Out of topic, but once you make ressie for your stay, do you get something mailed out to you like disney ressie, or does the confirmation get sent by e-mail?

Thanks for your help in advance

 

[wildernessDad]

1. If I were to book either an one bedroom or two bedroom villa, standard view, does anyone know which views this would be?

A standard villa at Jambo House (the original AKL) would have a pool view. A standard villa at Kidani Village would have either a parking lot, 'garden,' or pool view.

2. At the models at SSR, the model had a extra bathroom, I think near the entrance near the kitchen, is that just in the kidani village or both?

The extra bathroom is just for the 1 and 2 bedrooms at Kidani Village.

3. Are the villa portion in AKL on the forth and fifth floor?

Rooms on the 5th and 6th floors at AKL are being re-done to create AKV at Jambo house.

4. Are the chances of booking a room better if you book a higher category, like a two bedroom, or better if you book a studio?

I would tend to say yes to that question. Of course, that is a fuzzy yes.

5. Out of topic, but once you make ressie for your stay, do you get something mailed out to you like disney ressie, or does the confirmation get sent by e-mail?

You would get a confirmation in the mail. Check it over to make sure that it has the features you asked for. Look, for example, to see that they added the DDP if you wanted that.

Jambo!

 

[LisaS]

Hello all, just returned less than a week ago from a trip from WDW at the YC, the second last day we bought into AKV, very excited about it. I just have a few questions, I hope you guys can answer.

Welcome home!

1. If I were to book either an one bedroom or two bedroom villa, standard view, does anyone know which views this would be?

Standard View is defined as a view of a pool, garden or parking lot. This will definitely be the case in Kidani Village. Jambo House is different because it also has Value Villas and those are the only villas facing the parking lot. So in Jambo House, a Standard View villa will face the pool area.

2. At the models at SSR, the model had a extra bathroom, I think near the entrance near the kitchen, is that just in the kidani village or both?

Those models show the layout of the Kidani Village rooms. The Jambo House 1BRs are a bit smaller, do not have the extra bathroom, the kitchen is an "L" shape, and the bathroom does not have a separate shower stall (it has a combined whirlpool tub and shower).

3.Are the villa portion in AKL on the forth and fifth floor?

The fifth and sixth floors of the Lodge building have been converted into AKV. The sixth floor is all concierge -- there will be a total of five 2BR lockoffs on that floor, so if they are all divided up into 1BRs and studios, there will be a maximum of ten available villas in concierge. Most of the fifth floor is included within AKV -- there appear to be a few rooms along the front of the Lodge building that are not included.

4. Are the chances of booking a room better if you book a higher category, like a two bedroom, or better if you book a studio?

I don't really know. Because of the layout of the Lodge, I think there will be a higher percentage of studios in that building than in other DVC resorts, but with so few units in Jambo House overall I'm not sure how much of a difference that really makes.

5. Out of topic, but once you make ressie for your stay, do you get something mailed out to you like disney ressie, or does the confirmation get sent by e-mail?

Yes you get a confirmation in the mail about 10 days or so after you make your reservation.

Thanks for your help in advance

You're welcome. Welcome home and welcome to the DIS DVC boards!

 

[Lalita]

Thank you so much for the answers and the welcome. How come there is so little concierge rooms, if all the 6th floors is converted. Looking at the pictures of AKL it seems so spread out and big. Is it because it isn't completed yet? Or cause there are still regular AKL rooms up there? Does that mean there is only 5 2 bedrooms on the fifth floor as well?

 

[LisaS]

There were only 15 hotel rooms on the 6th floor. They run along two sides of the lobby area. Six of those rooms face the pool area and nine face the Sunset Savanna. It takes three hotel rooms to make one 2BR villa, so after conversion, this results in two 2BR lockoffs facing the pool and three 2BR lockoffs facing the Sunset Savanna.

The fifth floor of AKL covers the entire footprint of the Lodge building, with the exception of the very end of the Giraffe and Ostrich trails (the two short hallways along the front). Those two hallways are just a little bit shorter on the 5th floor than on the lower floors.

 

[SFLTIGGER]

LisaS, oh great guru of AKV , I don't mean to hijack the OP's thread, but this seemed like a good place to post this question.

When is Kidani to be finished? We are thinking about a trip first week of April and wonder what chances we will have for a 2BR SV at 7 months.

 

[LisaS]

When is Kidani to be finished? We are thinking about a trip first week of April and wonder what chances we will have for a 2BR SV at 7 months.

Disney has published a revised completion date for Jambo House (from May '08 to Jan 29, '08) but I haven't seen any info on the schedule for Kidani Village. In fact, the info that had been published on the AKV FAQs page of the public DVC website stating that Kidani would open in 2009 has been removed! I hope they provide some updated information for us sometime soon.

Other pages in the AKV section of the public DVC website do still state that (at least parts of) Kidani will open in "early 2009".

 

[my3squeals]

LisaS:

We have a std view AKV studio booked for Jan '08. Am I understanding correctly then that what we will likely be getting is a pool view? I was trying to understand the map on the DVC website and it wasn't making much sense at the time. But what I see now is that there has not been any "new building " constructed at the AKL just renovation of rooms to create DVC is that correct.
Sorry, slow to catch on........

 

[LisaS]

We have a std view AKV studio booked for Jan '08. Am I understanding correctly then that what we will likely be getting is a pool view?

Yes, in Jambo House (the 5th and 6th floors of the Lodge building) the Standard View rooms face the pool area. In Kidani Village (new building, opening in 2009) the Standard View rooms could have a view of a pool, garden or parking lot.

I was trying to understand the map on the DVC website and it wasn't making much sense at the time. But what I see now is that there has not been any "new building " constructed at the AKL just renovation of rooms to create DVC is that correct.

So far, yes. They are in the process of converting the 5th and 6th floors of AKL into DVC. That work should be completed at the end of January 2008. That part of AKV is called Jambo House.

They also plan to build a new building next to the Lodge. It is called Kidani Village and is scheduled to open some time in 2009.

 

[my3squeals]

Thanks
I was expecting the parking lot or "woods". That will make for an extra nice treat!!

 

[Lalita]

Thanks for your reply Lisa. You have been a great help. Sorry I have another question. I know the rooms are smaller at the lodge than compared to Kidani Village, do you know the square footage? The fifth and sixth floor were delxue rooms (381 square foot) right? So would the studio, since it is one room, be the same square footage(381)

Another side question as well. Since we usually have the tickets linked to the room, if I were to lose my card ,which I have several times, can the annual passes be replaced? Or if I lose it, it cannot be replace?

 

[LisaS]

I know the rooms are smaller at the lodge than compared to Kidani Village, do you know the square footage? The fifth and sixth floor were delxue rooms (381 square foot) right? So would the studio, since it is one room, be the same square footage(381)

All of the rooms on the 6th floor were deluxe size rooms. Most of the rooms on the 5th floor were as well, except for the rooms along the front and back sides of the Ostrich and Giraffes trails (the two short hallways along the front of the resort) which were "standard" size. After DVC conversion, those smaller rooms will become the smaller "Value" villas. So there are two different villa sizes in Jambo House. In the list below, the smaller number is the size of the Value studio, 1BR and 2BR. Also, after the conversion the larger Jambo House studios ended up as only 365 sq ft instead of 381 sq ft.

Studio:
316-365 sq. ft. in Jambo House
366 sq. ft. in Kidani Village

1BR:
629-710 sq. ft. in Jambo House
807 sq. ft. in Kidani Village

2BR:
945-1075 sq. ft. in Jambo House
1,173 sq. ft. in Kidani Village

Dedicated 2BR:
1,173 sq. ft. in Kidani Village

Grand Villa:
2,349 sq. ft. in Jambo House
2,201 sq. ft. in Kidani Village

Another side question as well. Since we usually have the tickets linked to the room, if I were to lose my card ,which I have several times, can the annual passes be replaced? Or if I lose it, it cannot be replace?

I have read here on the DIS that they will replace a lost AP. I expect you would need to present a photo ID.

 

[BCV23]

Lalita, APs are separate tickets made out of Tyvek which seems like a very light weight cardboard but the material is very tough.

My DH had an AP replaced on one occasion without a problem although as Lisa said I'm sure he had to show photo id. I've since read that there is now a charge for a replacement.

But APs are not added to your room key.

 

[adrianna_sarah]

Lisa-

So if I have a Value Villa 1 Bdrm booked (which I do-January 08) then I could have the small savannah, the pool, or the parking lot as my view depending on where I land on the Giraffe or Ostrich trail, right? The view was unspecified on the reservation sheet.

Adrianna

 

[AKV707]

That is correct. It could be any of those views. WE have a 1 br value room booked for next July.

 

[LisaS]

So if I have a Value Villa 1 Bdrm booked (which I do-January 08) then I could have the small savannah, the pool, or the parking lot as my view depending on where I land on the Giraffe or Ostrich trail, right? The view was unspecified on the reservation sheet.

As AKV707 said, the view from a Value villa could be the Sunset Savanna, the pool or the parking lot. You can request a particular view but it is not guaranteed.

Here's a drawing showing the AKV Units that have been declared thus far. The Units colored in yellow contain Value villas. Based on the outline of AKV, it looks like there won't be many parking lot view villas, probably just 2 2BR lockoffs in the area across the hall from Unit 49. It's possible that the rooms on either side of the lobby will also be Value villas. If so, that will further increase the odds of getting a pool view or savanna view rather than a parking lot view.

New Units (declared 08/09/07):
46, 48, 49: 2 2BR lockoffs
47, 50: 4 dedicated studios

Previously declared Units:
23: 1 Grand Villa
24, 26: 3 dedicated studios
25, 27, 28, 29: 2 2BR lockoffs

30: 4 dedicated studios
31, 34: 1 Grand Villa
32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39: 2 2BR lockoffs

40: 2 2BR lockoffs
41, 41A: 3 dedicated studios
42, 43: 2 dedicated studios, 1 2BR lockoff
42A, 44, 44A, 45, 45A: 1 2BR lockoff

Totals:
Dedicated Studios: 28
2 BR lockoffs: 37
GVs: 3

 

[AKV707]

Cool map Lisa! Where did you get it?

 

[LisaS]

Cool map Lisa! Where did you get it?

I copied and pasted the original outline drawing from one of the official documents that Disney files with the county. As they declare new units, I have been updating it to track the progress of sales of Jambo House. There have been so many questions about Standard View vs. Value villas that I recently added the color coding to help people see where those villas will be located.

 

[AKV707]

Lisa, Great work! Thanks for all of the info.

 

[adrianna_sarah]

So, right now, the only 1 bedroom value villas are units 46, 48 and 49? What are the chances of more 1 bdr. value villa units being open by January. I ask because when I called reservations for more info, I was told I had a parking lot/foliage view. That doesn't seem to be the case unless they are booking rooms they anticipate to be ready in January.