DVC Savanna View at AKL Jambo House & Kidani Village?

[Elias1901]

Hey all,

Just a question to all those familiar with the savanna balcony rooms at both Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House, as well as those at Kidani Village... specifically the DVC rooms. We plan to do a bit of a split stay where half we are at Jambo and half at Kidani, however we will be staying in a standard room for one half and a savanna for the other.

My question is which resort should we prioritize requesting the savanna view stay to be at... Jambo or Kindani? I’m wondering which of the two has better views or just better in general and maybe some reasons why to help our decision making. Are they virtually the same and there’s no reason to have a preference in mind? We do plan on using the balcony a lot while we have it, so I want to be sure we pick the best option if we can!

Any other info shared is appreciated!!

 

[CastAStone]

Hey all,

Just a question to all those familiar with the savanna balcony rooms at both Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House, as well as those at Kidani Village... specifically the DVC rooms. We plan to do a bit of a split stay where half we are at Jambo and half at Kidani, however we will be staying in a standard room for one half and a savanna for the other.

My question is which resort should we prioritize requesting the savanna view stay to be at... Jambo or Kindani? I’m wondering which of the two has better views or just better in general and maybe some reasons why to help our decision making. Are they virtually the same and there’s no reason to have a preference in mind? We do plan on using the balcony a lot while we have it, so I want to be sure we pick the best option if we can!

Any other info shared is appreciated!!

Well, what animals do you want to look at off your balcony? The different Savannahs have different animals. I think there’s a guide map in the Animal Kingdom Lodge thread.

 

[Elias1901]

Well, what animals do you want to look at off your balcony? The different Savannahs have different animals. I think there’s a guide map in the Animal Kingdom Lodge thread.

Giraffes for sure, perhaps zebra, not too sure if both have them. Not too picky in terms of animals, just was wondering if the balconies were better positioned and the savanna enclosure you look out upon is better or larger, etc.

 

[clayfolks]

At Jambo, the DVC rooms are on the 5th and 6th floors. We always choose standard at Jambo because we are so far away from the animals. At Kidani, if we are staying savannah, we request Sunset Savannah and 2nd floor or close to lobby. Sunset Savannah is where the zebra and giraffes are.

 

[Elias1901]

At Jambo, the DVC rooms are on the 5th and 6th floors. We always choose standard at Jambo because we are so far away from the animals. At Kidani, if we are staying savannah, we request Sunset Savannah and 2nd floor or close to lobby. Sunset Savannah is where the zebra and giraffes are.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[Geomom]

Definitely Kidani for savanna view. Most of the savanna view rooms face sunset savanna, the main one with giraffes, zebras, eland, wildebeest, Impalas, etc. Our one time at Jambo DVC we didn't have a good savanna view, hardly saw any animals. 3x at Kidani, different locations (usually higher floor), all had great views.

 

[Best Aunt]

Giraffes for sure, perhaps zebra, not too sure if both have them. Not too picky in terms of animals, just was wondering if the balconies were better positioned and the savanna enclosure you look out upon is better or larger, etc.

think twice about the “not too picky in terms of animals.” I don’t know what it was like where you live or where you grew up. I live near a rural area. To me, a lot of the animals at AKL were like looking at cows and deer, which was no big treat for me. Giraffes were a very big deal for me.

 

[Flynn_Rider]

Stayed at Kidani, saw giraffes and my kids loved it

 

[Elias1901]

Seems like taking the value studio at Jambo House would be the way to go then. Does anybody know where the value rooms are located? We’re thinking of renting DVC points to make our trip happen... so, is there anything worth requesting when it comes to the DVC value rooms? Are they also all on floors 5 and 6 or are they somewhere else at Jambo House? Probably would be nice to request close to lobby if possible... but again, I’ve no idea where they are or if the value rooms are specifically located in a certain section of the resort.

As for the savanna view room, it seems like we should be requesting Kidani Village on the second floor or the lowest floor available, on the Sunset Savanna?

If I’ve got that that second part about the savanna room correct, please let me know so I can know that’s what’s best to request when the time comes. And if I could get some insight on that first part about the DVC value studio rooms at Jambo, that’d be appreciated as well. Thanks!!

 

[CastAStone]

Seems like taking the value studio at Jambo House would be the way to go then. Does anybody know where the value rooms are located? We’re thinking of renting DVC points to make our trip happen... so, is there anything worth requesting when it comes to the DVC value rooms? Are they also all on floors 5 and 6 or are they somewhere else at Jambo House? Probably would be nice to request close to lobby if possible... but again, I’ve no idea where they are or if the value rooms are specifically located in a certain section of the resort.

The value rooms are all right in the front of the building, and as such they are all near the lobby.

They are all on the 5th floor IIRC.

As the cheapest rooms in all of DVC, they are nearly impossible to book and even more impossible to book by renting. Some brokers will not agree to even try.

Disney does not accept room requests for Jambo value rooms and will ignore them if submitted, because if they did, everyone would request the few value rooms that overlook the savannah.
They are smaller than standard view rooms as well.

 

[Elias1901]

The value rooms are all right in the front of the building, and as such they are all near the lobby.

They are all on the 5th floor IIRC.

As the cheapest rooms in all of DVC, they are nearly impossible to book and even more impossible to book by renting. Some brokers will not agree to even try.

Disney does not accept room requests for Jambo value rooms and will ignore them if submitted, because if they did, everyone would request the few value rooms that overlook the savannah.
They are smaller than standard view rooms as well.

Good to know! I’ll take this info into advisement.

 

[Sweet T n Me]

I changed my reservations to Jambo house because of the restaurants. Love the Mara by the beautiful pool. Also near the pool, Flamingos! The Kidani Village is a shuttle bus drive away. Another thing I like about Jambo House is it's huge to walk around. If it storms, you have huge areas inside to see magnificent artwork and artisans. Good for social distancing. It's a lovely adventure!

 

[Best Aunt]

The 6th floor at Jambo House is the DVC Club Level rooms - five studios and five 1-bedrooms, which can be combined for 2-bedroom lock-offs.

The rest of the DVC rooms are on the 5th floor.

I assume you have been following along regarding the problems which the pandemic has caused to both owners and renters. There were reasons to be wary of renting before COVID; there are even more reasons to be wary now. Make sure you understand the rules for renting, particularly what happens if you cannot be in that room on those days, even if it is for reasons which are beyond your control. This is not like booking a hotel room, where you get your money back if you cancel by a certain date.

Also make sure you understand the bed configurations. When a DVC room is described as sleeping a certain number of people, that includes people sleeping on sofa beds, chairs that pull out into beds, beds that pull down from the wall... Studios at Jambo House and at Kidani do not have 2 real beds.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The value rooms are not as big as the savanna or standard villas. They are about three feet shorter in depth than the other rooms. So the room seems more crowded. I've heard that closing the door to the master bedroom in the value one bedroom is a bit tight.

 

[Elias1901]

Good thoughts and tips put forth here guys and gals, thank you! And yes, about the DVC renting cancellation policies and such, my first emails to them pertained about the causes of any potential of any travel bans or parks and resort closures that could ever happen due to the pandemic being prolonged in any way... the specific company I am looking at has reassured me that if any of THOSE types of reasons are in play for a trip to go south, they would work on crediting for a future stay, I believe. Don’t think it was a refund, but a future stay at least. Could be wrong, maybe by “credit” they did mean a refund. Honestly, I’d be fine with either. Seems like they are accommodating so long as it is a “no fault of your own or a personal issue” as the reason for not being able to travel. So long as it’s a force of nature like extreme weather or a pandemic, they said they’re apparently very good at problem recovery.

Anyway! Good notes about the different resort buildings and preferences. Having one queen and a pullout doesn’t bug us all that much, so long as there’s proper places to sleep. I believe we’ll only be a group of 3, at most, 4... so I don’t foresee any issues there.

 

[NJDIZGIRL]

Does anyone know if the animals are out on the savannas at the Jambo house, and are the Jambo House animal viewing areas open now?