Jambo! The newest AKL Information thread

[Ariel 1715]

Sorry another, do they still offer night vision goggles for animal viewing?

They did not offer the vision goggles. You could still see some of the animals moving at night while on the balcony of the room.

 

[Tormania]

We're here now and in my opinion the buses in the am are not great; mainly due to the fact that they don't start early enough. The forst bus doesn't get here unitl 50- 60 mins prior to park opening, but because of how far AKL is to the parks (other than AK) that's gotten us to the park and through the turnstiles about 20- 30 mins later than the first ppl. at the parks. We had enough and today we ubered to CR and walked over. Getting in 25 mins after actual park open really takes away any rope drop advantage. I will also say that by about 1.25- 1 5 hrs prior to park open wouls b too late to get on the first bus as the stop will be filled with other parties. I'm not sure how many buses they're sending right at park open though so they could send back to back.

Besides the very limited menu and hrs of the piol bar you have absolutely no qs options for lunch or dinner. - It's aggravating for sure. I'd plan on ordering food. I'll be honest I haven't been fond of this resort. The resort seems crowded, yet they don't have everything open. There's often a line to get into the tiny gift shop and the only place other than pool to refill your mug. The pool has been crazy packed...like hardto find a seat packed; even the hallways just seem too narrow for the amount of ppl using them. We've also had 2 kinda rude cms which just never happens for us usually, so it's just not our cup of tea.

Well that is not good news. We arrive at Kidani Friday evening after Thanksgiving and knowing that normal AKL rooms are closed and knowing that Kidani picks up first we figured bus transport wouldn't be too much of an issue as long as we got to our stop early enough to be on the first bus. But if they are as late as you say that is quite discouraging to say the least. We will not do other transport (Uber, etc) to get to the parks and on our previous two visits to Kidani we could get to the parks before then started letting people in via normal bus transportation. We don't have to be the first person inside the park (It's why we go for 8 days and not 3 days) but still want to get there are early as we can.

 

[Ariel 1715]

Well that is not good news. We arrive at Kidani Friday evening after Thanksgiving and knowing that normal AKL rooms are closed and knowing that Kidani picks up first we figured bus transport wouldn't be too much of an issue as long as we got to our stop early enough to be on the first bus. But if they are as late as you say that is quite discouraging to say the least. We will not do other transport (Uber, etc) to get to the parks and on our previous two visits to Kidani we could get to the parks before then started letting people in via normal bus transportation. We don't have to be the first person inside the park (It's why we go for 8 days and not 3 days) but still want to get there are early as we can.

We never had any bus issues during our recent stay. Got to all parks prior to opening and no lines or issues at park close!

 

[Tormania]

We never had any bus issues during our recent stay. Got to all parks prior to opening and no lines or issues at park close!

Thanks for that info. That was my hope and I know things don't always run perfect all the time, but we never had issues on our two prior stays but I know things can be a bit different now so always good to hear positive experiences.

 

[Ariel 1715]

Thanks for that info. That was my hope and I know things don't always run perfect all the time, but we never had issues on our two prior stays but I know things can be a bit different now so always good to hear positive experiences.

We were just there and every day there was someone helping to make sure who came first. One day there were a ton of people but they had 3 buses back to back and every one was on the bus in like 5 minutes! Seemed pretty organized to me. Some days we were the only family on the return buses and the parks were packed!

 

[labmom67]

Hi everyone! This is our first time staying at Jambo house and our 1st deluxe resort.... What a year to start We'll make the best of it all BUT priorities.... is there a coffee pot in the Studios?? Are they "pod" pots? We plan on having a rental car so travel to the store won't be a problem. TIA

 

[HiStitch626]

The Jambo coffee makers are drip and come with a pre-measured coffee packet. You can request more of those for free from housekeeping.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Wonder why I can’t book Jambo in June. Any reason? Most hotels are available except AKL/Jambo , port Orleans

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Wonder why I can’t book Jambo in June. Any reason? Most hotels are available except AKL/Jambo , port Orleans

You mean as in the resort side? AKL the resort has no announced reopening set, and rooms are not currently bookable for any date.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

You mean as in the resort side? AKL the resort has no announced reopening set, and rooms are not currently bookable for any date.

Kidini is available but even the Jambo Villas aren’t available. I mean I’d assume they would be open by next June but I guess they won’t allow booking until they official open in general again

 

[HiStitch626]

I think Jambo is just open for DVC, not for cash rentals of villas.

 

[Aela]

Sorry if this has been already stated. Is AKL open to go inside? Or just Jambo house? My daughter wanted to get a smashed penny from there, but it looks like both machines are in AKL with zero in Jambo House. Unless there is one there and the map on the app is wrong?? Anyone know?

 

[Ariel 1715]

Sorry if this has been already stated. Is AKL open to go inside? Or just Jambo house? My daughter wanted to get a smashed penny from there, but it looks like both machines are in AKL with zero in Jambo House. Unless there is one there and the map on the app is wrong?? Anyone know?

The lobby was open but none of the stores or restaurants. Not sure about penny machines.

 

[Aela]

The lobby was open but none of the stores or restaurants. Not sure about penny machines.

Okay thanks. Maybe someone there now can answer. The penny machines are at Boma and the kids area. Maybe we can get to the boma one. It’s an open area.

 

[HiStitch626]

All of the restaurants are closed and blocked off. But, if the penny machine is in the lobby area between Boma and Jiko, you will be able to access it.

 

[JoelB]

We're at MCO heading home after seven wonderful nights at Jambo House.

The resort definitely isn't for everyone right now. The shuttered dining and gift shops are an unfortunate inconvenience, but were mostly a non-issue for us thanks to Amazon Prime Now and DoorDash/Uber Eats, none of which we had used before. And while I can see how some would be put off by a borderline "dead" hotel atmosphere, to us it was ideal.

One thing I cannot stress enough is how excellent the bus service was. I had some concerns that with the lack of guests, buses would be less frequent. That certainly was not the case in our experience. Since going to WDW as a kid, I've stayed everywhere from All-Star Sports to Polynesian, and I have never had such excellent service. There's always an element of luck involved when it comes to Disney transportation, but they certainly do not seem to be cutting back in this area.

We did take a Lyft and then walk from the Swan on our two Studios days, but we would have done that at any non-Epcot area resort.

Our standard view room (5232) provided a rather nice view of the Sunset Savanna. In a magical moment that couldn't have been scripted any better, a truck drove out in front of our balcony and we watched "our friends" (as we took to calling all the animals on the savanna) the giraffes amble over for feeding time right before we left the room to check out.

For us, a Disney resort room is mostly just a bed to sleep in when we aren't running around at the parks. It would have been tough for us to justify staying here if not for the confirmed DVC rental that was heavily discounted the week before our trip (which originally was booked at Pop, then switched to Swan). But under these specific circumstances, I can't imagine our vacation would have gone better anywhere else.

 

[Frederic Civish]

We're at MCO heading home after seven wonderful nights at Jambo House.

The resort definitely isn't for everyone right now. The shuttered dining and gift shops are an unfortunate inconvenience, but were mostly a non-issue for us thanks to Amazon Prime Now and DoorDash/Uber Eats, none of which we had used before. And while I can see how some would be put off by a borderline "dead" hotel atmosphere, to us it was ideal.

One thing I cannot stress enough is how excellent the bus service was. I had some concerns that with the lack of guests, buses would be less frequent. That certainly was not the case in our experience. Since going to WDW as a kid, I've stayed everywhere from All-Star Sports to Polynesian, and I have never had such excellent service. There's always an element of luck involved when it comes to Disney transportation, but they certainly do not seem to be cutting back in this area.

We did take a Lyft and then walk from the Swan on our two Studios days, but we would have done that at any non-Epcot area resort.

Our standard view room (5232) provided a rather nice view of the Sunset Savanna. In a magical moment that couldn't have been scripted any better, a truck drove out in front of our balcony and we watched "our friends" (as we took to calling all the animals on the savanna) the giraffes amble over for feeding time right before we left the room to check out.

For us, a Disney resort room is mostly just a bed to sleep in when we aren't running around at the parks. It would have been tough for us to justify staying here if not for the confirmed DVC rental that was heavily discounted the week before our trip (which originally was booked at Pop, then switched to Swan). But under these specific circumstances, I can't imagine our vacation would have gone better anywhere else.

So glad to hear you had a great experience

 

[amyadams1020]

I’m sure this has been discussed, but can you get a regular room at either building right now? Or is it all DVC?

 

[HiStitch626]

Kidani is 100% DVC, so they never had regular hotel room. Only the DVC rooms at Jambo are open, with no date set for when the hotel room will open.

 

[brewhome]

13 days until we arrive at Jambo... if anyone is there in the next couple weeks, let us know if they put up decorations!