Jambo! The newest AKL Information thread

[leebee]

Just got back from our standard view room below - very happy with it - even had the giraffe feeding box right outside most of the time Great stay and wonderful view but unfortunately will likely be the only time we stay at AKL.

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ROOM NUMBER?? This is an amazing view!

 

[samcrawford01]

4136

 

[mamasha]

Here now! Check out this view! Womp wooooomp....

View attachment 352657
We are “just happy to be here!”

Omg I think that’s not even a standard view it’s no view. Maybe ask if there is something else available it’s pretty low season now.

 

[sjs314]

We’re doing great! We did Disney After Hours tonight and are going to crash very hard. Off to AK tomorrow....late morning hehe. I will say I called to request a king room or partial savannah and didn’t get either. Guess it’s luck of the draw. No biggie.


It is standard view, facing the parking lot. There is a balcony but you can’t see anything.

My first stay at AKL in 2006 Ibooked standard and also had a room facing the front of the resort, the balcony was tiny and it felt like you were peeping out of a tent lol
My next stay I took a chance and booked standard again and was upgraded to Savanah view.
Next month we are retuning but booked Savanah view CL, we are now hooked on the Savanah view.

 

[masylimed]

Question about on-line check in vs front desk check in. We are staying at AKL for the 1st time ever from 10/30-11/4 - Jambo House - savanna view. Our plane doesn't land at MCO until 8:30pm. I've only ever checked in at the front desk on previous stays. Should we do on-line check in or regular check in since we will be arriving that late? Not sure the difference is and if one would be a better option for us. Just me and DH on this trip. Thanks!

 

[PoohHappens]

My first stay at AKL in 2006 Ibooked standard and also had a room facing the front of the resort, the balcony was tiny and it felt like you were peeping out of a tent lol
My next stay I took a chance and booked standard again and was upgraded to Savanah view.
Next month we are retuning but booked Savanah view CL, we are now hooked on the Savanah view.

I there anyway to avoid this view, I guess I thought those were considered value rooms at AKL, although maybe I misunderstood that or had old information. We are staying 7 nights and I couldn't upgrade to Savannah view for budget reasons. This is a big trip for us and I am not expecting a fabulous view, but I was expecting a full light view and balcony that did not have an entire wall in front of it. Maybe with the pool renovation there will be some flexibilty with the rooms as the hotel may not be full. Currently, there is still standard rooms and Savannah rooms available for our dates. We usually request (I know not guarantee) a higher up floor, would that help?

 

[sjs314]

I there anyway to avoid this view, I guess I thought those were considered value rooms at AKL, although maybe I misunderstood that or had old information. We are staying 7 nights and I couldn't upgrade to Savannah view for budget reasons. This is a big trip for us and I am not expecting a fabulous view, but I was expecting a full light view and balcony that did not have an entire wall in front of it. Maybe with the pool renovation there will be some flexibilty with the rooms as the hotel may not be full. Currently, there is still standard rooms and Savannah rooms available for our dates. We usually request (I know not guarantee) a higher up floor, would that help?

The room without a view was I believe on the 5th floor back in 2006 was before DVC in Jambo.
You should request partial Savanah view like so many do and hopefully you will get a nice view.

 

[PoohHappens]

The room without a view was I believe on the 5th floor back in 2006 was before DVC in Jambo.
You should request partial Savanah view like so many do and hopefully you will get a nice view.

Thank you Shelia, here is hoping for a little pixie dust. I am fully aware I only paid for standard view, I just didn't realize it could be THAT view. I will as you suggest request partial. I just didn't want the room scheduler think I was demanding something I obviously didn't book.

 

[pepperandchips]

Question about on-line check in vs front desk check in. We are staying at AKL for the 1st time ever from 10/30-11/4 - Jambo House - savanna view. Our plane doesn't land at MCO until 8:30pm. I've only ever checked in at the front desk on previous stays. Should we do on-line check in or regular check in since we will be arriving that late? Not sure the difference is and if one would be a better option for us. Just me and DH on this trip. Thanks!

There's not a whole lot of difference with the obvious exception that you can potentially skip the desk visit entirely if you do online check-in. At AKL it doesn't make a huge deal if you need to visit the desk since you'd have to walk right past it anyway coming into the lobby. I always do online check in and then when we get our room text if I have questions or need to potentially ask for a different room assignment I could always visit the desk.

 

[sara_s]

In case anyone wants to know for future avoidance - I was in Room 3027 - Giraffe Trail, 3rd floor. No views to be had. I found the resort very beautiful though. Would love to try it again sometime I'm staying there longer, meaning pay for a better view. Went outside around 10:30 this morning but couldn't see any animals. If the pool was open, that would persuade me to stay too.

 

[WalkDisneyWorld]

I believe you can pay off your room charges with cash at the front desk- the front desk is the only place they take cash besides tipping housekeeping, valets, etc... you just can’t pay for your dinner or souvenirs with cash at the restaurants or store. So you would have to charge to your room and then pay it off with cash as opposed to paying with cash when you eat/purchase. Or get a gift card from the front desk with your cash.

Thank you so much for this information! My parents will be traveling with us on our trip and need to know these specifics!

 

[ShayBells]

Hi everyone! Booked for next September. Have always wanted to stay here so we are doing a split stay and doing the first couple nights at AKL. I’ve been skimming but apologize if these questions have been asked before. I always get varies of answers through google, etc. I’ve got two questions for now...

Where is Jungle Juice available? Is it at The Mara or any of the restaurants there?

And...

Do they offer cots for rooms? I noticed they do not have sleeper sofas like other deluxe resorts. It’s going to be me, my ds10, my mom, and my sons other nana. So three beds usually works better without awkward placements. So we can make it work but would probably be better if I could get a roll away bed for DS if they still do that.

Thanks!!

 

[suemom2kay]

Does anyone know anything about the room refurbishments? As in what floor or section they are starting on or where they are currently at?

 

[sndral]

I there anyway to avoid this view, I guess I thought those were considered value rooms at AKL, although maybe I misunderstood that or had old information. We are staying 7 nights and I couldn't upgrade to Savannah view for budget reasons. This is a big trip for us and I am not expecting a fabulous view, but I was expecting a full light view and balcony that did not have an entire wall in front of it. Maybe with the pool renovation there will be some flexibilty with the rooms as the hotel may not be full. Currently, there is still standard rooms and Savannah rooms available for our dates. We usually request (I know not guarantee) a higher up floor, would that help?

The highest floor for cash rooms is 4th floor, the 5th and 6th floors are DVC villas (except for a couple of suites, I believe.)
AKL/AKV room categories are confusing & there’s a lot of old info. about former room categories that no longer applies.
First you have two buildings - Jambo which has regular cash rooms and DVC villas and nearby Kidani which is all DVC villas.
Then within Jambo you have differences depending on whether you are staying in a cash room or a villa.
Cash rooms in Jambo currently include standard view (which includes front of the building views from Giraffe and Ostrich trails,) savanna view, pool view, club, and a couple of suites.
DVC villas in Jambo are value (on Ostrich and Giraffe trail in front of the building,) standard (which includes pool view,) savanna, and club.
Although DVC villas view categories are fixed as in this villa is standard, this one savanna view, etc., my suspicion is that cash rooms are somewhat more flexible. Thus, if they don’t sell out the more expensive savanna view cash category they may sell standard views knowing some of those will be upgraded to savanna view.

 

[sara_s]

Where is Jungle Juice available? Is it at The Mara or any of the restaurants there?

Jungle Juice was at the Mara this past weekend for sure. Not sure about other locations.

 

[Micharlotte]

I’m planning a stay here next September, but I’m not sure what type of room to book. There are only 3 of us and we are trying to be budget conscious. I was wondering if anyone knew if the pricing of the value studios was less than the price of a standard room with a standard view? I can’t get the website to work for the life of me! Thanks for the help.

 

[sndral]

I’m planning a stay here next September, but I’m not sure what type of room to book. There are only 3 of us and we are trying to be budget conscious. I was wondering if anyone knew if the pricing of the value studios was less than the price of a standard room with a standard view? I can’t get the website to work for the life of me! Thanks for the help.

The value villas are DVC which is a points based timeshare system, there are very few of them, they don’t cost many points per night so DVC owners tend to reserve them 11 months before their stay. They do pop up for cash rental through Disney occasionally, but not often. Most likely you are not seeing any value studios because there are none available for a cash rental through Disney. You might explore renting points through a broker like David’s (site sponsor David’s DVC) since you are about 12 months out or from a private owner (see rent/trade section of the DVC area here on the DIS) but there are risks/differences w/ renting points v. reserving through Disney.

 

[anna0513]

Anyone there recently who can say whether they had the Halloween Disney Mugs at Mara or Sanaa?

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Anyone there recently who can say whether they had the Halloween Disney Mugs at Mara or Sanaa?

There were there at the beginning of our stay, but I didn't see them at near the end.

We were there from 9/9 through 9/14.

 

[BaymaxForever]

Posted last week, but did want to say, while I never saw the Halloween mugs at the Mara all week, they did have them at Kidani’s gift shop and I purchased mine there while visiting the pool.