***The Official AKV Owners And Lovers Thread***. Come And Chat

Have an upcoming trip at Kidani with the family, and I was thinking of doing the Starlight Safari. Does anyone have an comments or reviews on this? Is if worth the $75 each?

Thanks!
 
well, my 300 points contract I was hoping to get got taken by disney!! So, I am back at it again..... thinking of maybe splitting points between 2 resorts .... maybe akv and bay lake but worried about booking availabliity of say a grand villa at akv at 7 months.. because I would need all points saved and borrowed to make that happen..... thoughts?

Thanks so much, KIM
 
Kim Gillihan said:
well, my 300 points contract I was hoping to get got taken by disney!! So, I am back at it again..... thinking of maybe splitting points between 2 resorts .... maybe akv and bay lake but worried about booking availabliity of say a grand villa at akv at 7 months.. because I would need all points saved and borrowed to make that happen..... thoughts?

Thanks so much, KIM
Click to expand...

What time of year are you planning on traveling?
 
Kim Gillihan said:
anytime school is out... we love thanksgiving, weather etc. But I can see us doing summer, spring break, holidays... etc.
Click to expand...

So these are the thoughts I'd have when thinking about where I'd be able to stay at for those times.

Summer - especially if you are flexible with any time from June to August will have availability at both BLT (definitely lakeview) and AKV in 1BR's and some 2BR's. So that could be your time to stay either at BLT with AKV points or vice versa or really any points. A difficulty in splitting up points IMO is the difficulty of getting GV's over Thanksgiving. As I mentioned in another thread I think I'd want to own where ever it is I wanted to do that and have enough points either with banking/borrowing to cover that reservation or the 2 2BR's that you mentioned. If you did a split purchase I'd be certain to cover the Thanksgiving stay.

So maybe all the points at AKV will still be just fine as it sounds like that may be the location you'd like to do the GV's at and then use AKV points for BLT or other resorts during any summer travel. Holidays and other breaks may end up at whatever your home resort is though so I'd be happy with it. And then you never know what might be open at 7 months -spring break could have decent possibility to stay elsewhere. If you wouldn't be happy if you ended up at AKV many of your stays and BLT would make you happier consider that it's approx $6,000 difference for the purchase of 300 points (albeit those 300 can go further at AKV than BLT). Spread out over 20 years of ownership that's $300/year so not that bad even though it's a bigger hit to start out. In the end though - with summer and spring travel you will have opportunities to stay at many of the resorts with whatever points you purchase.

We have our favorites but we also like to stay at different resorts.
 
Last edited:
KAT4DISNEY said:
So these are the thoughts I'd have when thinking about where I'd be able to stay at for those times.

Summer - especially if you are flexible with any time from June to August will have availability at both BLT (definitely lakeview) and AKV in 1BR's and some 2BR's. So that could be your time to stay either at BLT with AKV points or vice versa or really any points. A difficulty in splitting up points IMO is the difficulty of getting GV's over Thanksgiving. As I mentioned in another thread I think I'd want to own where ever it is I wanted to do that and have enough points either with banking/borrowing to cover that reservation or the 2 2BR's that you mentioned. If you did a split purchase I'd be certain to cover the Thanksgiving stay.

So maybe all the points at AKV will still be just fine as it sounds like that may be the location you'd like to do the GV's at and then use AKV points for BLT or other resorts during any summer travel. Holidays and other breaks may end up at whatever your home resort is though so I'd be happy with it. And then you never know what might be open at 7 months -spring break could have decent possibility to stay elsewhere. If you wouldn't be happy if you ended up at AKV many of your stays and BLT would make you happier consider that it's approx $6,000 difference for the purchase of 300 points (albeit those 300 can go further at AKV than BLT). Spread out over 20 years of ownership that's $300/year so not that bad even though it's a bigger hit to start out. In the end though - with summer and spring travel you will have opportunities to stay at many of the resorts with whatever points you purchase.

We have our favorites but we also like to stay at different resorts.
Click to expand...
Great points and I think that is exactly why I made my first decisio to by AKV.... the thing with the GV booking is if I do split my points I would have to wait until 7 months to book it.... I can't imagine I wouldn't be happy with AKV, staying there if it was my only choice but I do want to try other resorts for sure. I hear ya 6k over 20 years not too bad... if you look at it that way!! I have lots to think about but I do feel that buying only AKV can still work just fine for us! thanks so much for trying to help me
 
We have a savannah view Kadani Studio booked in September. If we want to be near elevator and on a good Savannah, what area of the resort should we try to request? Thank you!
 
lovetotraveltx said:
We have a savannah view Kadani Studio booked in September. If we want to be near elevator and on a good Savannah, what area of the resort should we try to request? Thank you!
Click to expand...
I always request Sunset Savanna as it has the most animals and Disney does a good job of bringing them down to the far ends of the loops for feeding.
I also request "low floor" in order to be closer to the animals. Note though, the high floors give some magnificent views, and from some angles even a glimpse of the DHS fireworks over the tops of the trees, it's a personal preference. :)
Elevators are all over the resort, so no need to request "near elevator".
 
Last edited:
I would also be interested in opinions on the nighttime safari, if anyone has been.

Thank you.
 
lovetotraveltx said:
We have a savannah view Kadani Studio booked in September. If we want to be near elevator and on a good Savannah, what area of the resort should we try to request? Thank you!
Click to expand...

Sunset Savanna has 80% of all savanna view rooms and has giraffes, Pembe has no giraffes; thus first request should be for Sunset Savanna view. Your second request depends on what you would like to be near. If you would like to be near the pool (north wing), request near the pool or near the Rafiki elevator (down that elevator to ground floor gives you shortest walk from building to a gate to the pool area). If instead you want to be close to the bus station, request near community hall or near the Timon elevator (down that elevator to second floor gives you very short walk to door that leads directly to bus station).

Couple things not to ask for: (a) "near an elevator": since there are three elevators along each wing, that general request is pointless because every room in the building is fairly close to an elevator; if you want to be near an elevator in a particlar area of the resort, you need to name the particular elevator like above; (b) "near the lobby": the building is 2/3 mile long and rooms near the end of the wings can be a 1/3 mile from the lobby; the walk is forever, particularly when returning to your room after a long day in a park; the result is that everyone who has a far away room now requests near the lobby, which is also a request that can be made by anyone since it is in the online request section for check-in; the result is that many do not succeed in getting that request and end up being stuck in a room near the end of a wing. The requests I noted above would leave you not far from the lobby.
 
Last edited:
thebigman65 said:
Have an upcoming trip at Kidani with the family, and I was thinking of doing the Starlight Safari. Does anyone have an comments or reviews on this? Is if worth the $75 each?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

YES! We did it on 1/2/17. Very informative, the night vision goggles are pretty cool too. We were up close and personal to many of the animals (no touching of course), and knowing that a portion of the money you pay goes into the conservation fund is a plus as well.
 
momtwoboys said:
what has been your favorite Value studio? in the pool view side? 7 days till we check in!
Click to expand...
With a pool view, all the value rooms are pretty much the same: tree branches. There are a few that may peek out between the trees, but that changes from year to year as the trees grow.
 
I've just been reading about the Kilimanjaro Club concierge option for DVC rooms here - is there ever any availability for this at 7 months out where AKV is not your home resort?
It'd be a studio we'd be looking at, next October...
 
meryll83 said:
I've just been reading about the Kilimanjaro Club concierge option for DVC rooms here - is there ever any availability for this at 7 months out where AKV is not your home resort?
It'd be a studio we'd be looking at, next October...
Click to expand...
It's possible, but most likely only if someone cancels their reservation. There are only 5 2-bedroom lock-offs (studio & 1-bedroom w/interior connecting door) that make up the DVC portion of Concierge Level at AKV.
 
This October will be our first time at AKV. Have been there a couple of times with once being for dinner last December (GORGEOUS!) but have never stayed. We got a split stay between AKV and BWV. We're staying in a Savanna view Studio at Kidani. I really wanted a 1 BR at Kidani but with a 9 night trip it just wasn't possible with only 1 bedrooms available at BWV. Still, one more resort to cross off my list! I'm a DVC member and I've also waitlisted Jambo House. I think I would prefer JH in a studio and KV in a 1 BR. Yes, I got a look at those bathrooms! How close are JH and KV anyway? Walkable?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page


GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!


New DISboards Threads

M
Credit cards when sharing a 2 bedroom
Replies
2
Views
17
Minnie84
M
M
Old Key West - advice?
Replies
0
Views
31
Megazz
M
D
TDS Fantasy Springs Attractions Spoiler Thread
Replies
1
Views
85
Haley R
Haley R
F
Not thrilled with having to fly on a Boeing plane.
Replies
3
Views
164
fly girl
fly girl
Kenshin21
Hilton garden inn/home2 suites
Replies
2
Views
105
cmph
cmph
B
Best bang for the buck meal
Replies
10
Views
287
erinch
erinch
NEWS & UPDATES
DVC INFORMATION
DVC POINT CHARTS
DVC RESALES
DVC RENTALS
DVC LENDING


Latest posts










facebook twitter
Top