Help me compare Grand Villas

gzmtlock

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 3, 2010
We're considering renting a grand villa for extended family in Jan/Feb 2020. We'll need to use 2-years worth of points; we're owners at Kidani. Point availability dictates one of the following resorts: AKV-Kidani, AKV-Jambo, Saratoga Springs or Old Key West. I have stayed at all four resorts (but it's been 15+ years since OKW); we've never been in a grand villa.

I'd love some comparison info re the GVs. Things like square footage, proximity to lobby/restaurants, and overall utility of the space if filled near/to capacity, etc. We will range in age from 60-ish down to <2 years old. I'm guessing a lot of this info is already here somewhere, but I can't seem to find it efficiently.
 
Post #9 in this thread in the DVC Resource center gives reported sizes of the GV's.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-dvc-resource-center-updated-november-2018.3655476/

We have only stayed in the Jambo GV and IMO it's stunning. They are single story with very large balconies. And it will have access to the restaurants and everything else that is housed right in the same building at Jambo house. I'd place SSR at the bottom because it has 1 tiny balcony - all other resort GV's have much better balconies.
 
We have stayed at OKW grand villas twice, once in building 15 and once in building 25. 25 is considered HH location. They are quite large. On the first floor is the master bed and bath, large living area, dining room and kitchen and laundry room, also a bath with shower. Upstairs is two beds and baths. One bedroom has two doubles and the other has two queens. We have not stayed since they have been redone. I would love to see pictures of them redone. There is a balcony with a table and four chairs. Have never stayed in any other grand villas. Good luck.
 
We also want to pool points to get a GV in early spring 2020. Never booked one before. We own at WL BR [no Grand Villas :( ] We hope to get a Copper Creek one.
 


No matter what, use your owner advantage and book Jambo or Kidani at 11 months. You can continue to think about whether to switch to OKW or SSR as the 7-month window approaches (but personally I’d stay at AKV!).
 
Post #9 in this thread in the DVC Resource center gives reported sizes of the GV's.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-dvc-resource-center-updated-november-2018.3655476/

We have only stayed in the Jambo GV and IMO it's stunning. They are single story with very large balconies. And it will have access to the restaurants and everything else that is housed right in the same building at Jambo house. I'd place SSR at the bottom because it has 1 tiny balcony - all other resort GV's have much better balconies.

I knew that info was somewhere - thanks for the link! And the photos of the Jambo GVs are very stunning. Some in the group might be overly influenced by the "too far away" worries with AKV. We love both Jambo and Kidani, and if the decision were solely up to us, that's where we'd be! Thanks for letting me know about the small balcony at SSR - that is an important detail.

We have stayed at OKW grand villas twice, once in building 15 and once in building 25. 25 is considered HH location. They are quite large. On the first floor is the master bed and bath, large living area, dining room and kitchen and laundry room, also a bath with shower. Upstairs is two beds and baths. One bedroom has two doubles and the other has two queens. We have not stayed since they have been redone. I would love to see pictures of them redone. There is a balcony with a table and four chairs. Have never stayed in any other grand villas. Good luck.

OKW is so much "cheaper," points-wise, that it's hard to casually cross it off our list. But the room with 2 doubles could be problematic. The families coming will have very young children, so it'll be one family per bedroom. Not sure who might be willing to be in the 2 doubles-room.

Between those I feel AKV is an easy choice- the design of the units is just much more impressive IMO. I like the grand double-height space of the Kidani villas, but Jambo does have a larger kitchen and the game room with a pool table which is neat.

You can do virtual tours of these (and all DVC villas) over at David's:

Kidani: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=5yEFSEQCYmk&utm_source=4

Jambo: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=WZxDUZdk61e&utm_source=4

Pool table at Jambo? The dads in the group would LOVE that! I'll hold that ace in my pocket and pull it out at a critical moment in the decision making. . .
 


No matter what, use your owner advantage and book Jambo or Kidani at 11 months. You can continue to think about whether to switch to OKW or SSR as the 7-month window approaches (but personally I’d stay at AKV!).
Great point! Thanks!!
 
I haven't stayed in any of these Grand Villas, but one thing you might want to look at are the bathrooms. Some Grand Villas have four full bathrooms and others have either three or three and a half bath. We stayed at the Grand Villa at the Grand Californian, which has the fourth full bathroom. The person sleeping on the fold out couch in the living room had their own bathroom, which was very convenient.
 
I have stayed in the Kidani and Jambo GVs. I have been inside the OKW and SSR GVs. All are nice but certain differences, other than just location, make me favor those at Jambo and Kidani. OKW's are the largest of that group and SSR the smallest, but all are still large. All four have four bathrooms.

Factors favoring OKW include that the GVs have the lowest point cost of all GVs (close to the same cost as standard view 2BR at VGF and theme park view 2BR at BLT)) and nice-sized balconies. They are often open at 7 months out for the time you mention except for the ones closest to the Hospitality House which often reserve at 8 a.m. exactly 11 months out. What I consider lacking in the OKW GV is no floor to ceiling windows in the high-ceiling living room; those windows exist at both Kidani and SSR. Also, most OKW GVs require using stairs to get to them because most of the buildings have no elevators.


The SSR GV has four downsides in my view: (a) only one fairly small balcony and that one is off the dining room area; (b) the living room is completely separated from the kitchen and dining area by walls making the living room and dining area feel small (the others combine those rooms into one large area); (c) the worst offense: the washer/dryer is upstairs; in other words, those most likely to be using it, the ones staying in the master bedroom downstairs, have to go upstairs to do laundry, and the most likely times you will be using it is when the small kids are in bed, in a bedroom near the noisy washer/dryer. OKW and Kidani have the w/d downstairs where it belongs; and (d) the points for them are too high because they should be closer to what OKW costs and the preferred view cost (needed for chance to get the favorable Congress Park lake view GV) is close to the same as AKV savanna view and even much higher during magic season.


The Jambo GV is large and has the open living room, dining room and kitchen. Having everything on one floor is a plus. Its balconies are huge and give great views of the savanna. The master bathroom is huge and borders on the hedonistic with a TV that can be watched from the tub. The addition of the room with a pool table is a plus for many (although personally I would rather just have more open space). Depending on location you can have a long or fairly short walk to the lobby, pool, and transportation. The one dislike: one side of the long dining room table has a park-like bench with no backing rather than chairs.


The 2-story Kidani GV has the one large room design for living, dining room, and kitchen. It also has the floor to ceiling windows in the living room that provide great views of the savanna, and though not very wide, the downstairs balcony is one long balcony running across all rooms on the first floor. A huge plus for us is the alcove at the top of the stairs with a pull-out queen, TV, and clothes drawers because it allows for those who may not want to sleep in the same bedroom with others to have an extra sleeping area other than just the pull-out in the living room. The dining room table is round and smaller than the other GVs but still OK. Also, those looking for a bargain in points can get one of the standard view GVs, often open even at 7 months out despite that there are only 2. Those have Pembe savanna view, and thus exclude giraffes, but you actually do see animals. A downside is that a number of the GVs are near the end of the hallways and that can mean a 1/3 mile walk or more down a long hallway to lobby and bus station.
 
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Thanks so much, drusba, for such helpful information! I'm looking forward to sharing info about Jambo and Kidani with our extended family, and deciding which we would like the most!
 
Enjoy... it’s going to be Amazing.
We did Kidani... I’d love to do Jambo.
 
We stayed in a Grand Villa at Saratoga. It was a free upgrade when our room quite literally fell apart at OKW lol (and we didn't know it wasn't another 2br until we opened the door!). We were in Congress Park with an awesome view of Disney Springs. It's two stories, on the second and third floors. We loved the room. If I were you, I would pick based on resort theming and amenities that you and your family enjoy. The rooms will be beautiful in all of them.
 
We have stayed at Jambo, SSR and OKW. If points don't matter, I'd go with Jambo for the reasons mentioned above. We wouldn't stay at SSR again because it felt too small and the balcony was way too small This April we will be staying at OKW because it has a lot of seating in the living room, feels spacious, but most of all, it uses the fewest points.
 
So the listed sleeping for all GV is 12, which seems to be 2/4/4 for the bedrooms and then 2 on the sleeper sofa, I am assuming. But I see, for example, that the AKV-Kidani has an additional sleep sofa. Do any of the other villas have more than the LR sleeper? Not looking to fit more people, just looking for the total number of "beds". On a related note, as OKW is refurbed, will the GV pick up a sleeper chair/sofa?

Excited to plan a trip for a race weekend-either W&D or 2020 Marathon weekend.
 
Strongly recommend booking your home resort Animal Kingdom at the 11 month window. The number of Grand Villas are limited and can be difficult to book at the 7 month reservation window. At the 7 month window you can check all DVC Resort Grand Villas availability and switch your resort location if needed.
 
And all of OKW is nearing completion of being rehabbed...but i am sure AKLV must be fabulous and it's your home resort ...so book it!!!!!!
 

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