scottb8888
DVC: SSR, HHI & BVI
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2002
Next Summer will be our first trip to AKL. I'm told Jambo is the place to be. Any suggestions for rooms or buildings and floors I should request?
It all depends on what you like.Next Summer will be our first trip to AKL. I'm told Jambo is the place to be. Any suggestions for rooms or buildings and floors I should request?
Buses run about every 20 minutes, but sometimes you will get a 40 min gap, then 2 or 3 buses within minutes of each other. Generally figure 20 mins. Though they probably try to add an extra bus or two to each park in the hour before opening, you can't depend on this.Thanks for the very complete reply. I'm told I should allow about an hour for bus transport to any of the theme parks (except AK). Does that sound right?
Has anyone stayed at Jambo since reopening and taken the busses to the parks? I have been reading the busses are backed up in the mornings at Kidani and if Jambo is a ghost town, I am worried they may not have very good bus service for our upcoming trip. Not sure if we should wait at the Jambo stop, walk to the Kidani bus stop, or drive ourselves.
Early this year before the world went to hell, I booked our Christmas trip at a value studio in Jambo. Usually we are never in our room so getting the smallest amount of space wasn’t a big deal. Now with the parks closing earlier and with food options being so minimal do you think there’s a chance we can get upgraded? I’ve heard some DVC members have been getting this and I wouldn’t mind the full kitchen to cook a proper Christmas dinner if it’s possible.
Anyone have any luck with this recently?
We are driving for the first time and will have a car, staying at Kidani. I'm wondering what the best request on location is to make to access the parking garage. When we don't have a car I usually request close to lobby, but I'm thinking "close to elevator" would be smart assuming there are elevators down to the under-resort parking area? Thanks for any advice! We are planning on driving to and from the parks each day so hoping to reduce the long hallway walk a bit if possible.
We were there last week.Has anyone stayed at Jambo since reopening and taken the busses to the parks? I have been reading the busses are backed up in the mornings at Kidani and if Jambo is a ghost town, I am worried they may not have very good bus service for our upcoming trip. Not sure if we should wait at the Jambo stop, walk to the Kidani bus stop, or drive ourselves.
The two best elevators for access to the parking garage are probably the TIMON elevator, which is the first main elevator to the south of the lobby area. Timon also allows you to walk out, go up the hill a bit, and be at the bus stop. Second would be the Rafiki elevator. It is the counterpart of the Timon, but is to the north. Rafiki has the advantage that it is close to the pool (comparable to Timon's closeness to the bus).We are driving for the first time and will have a car, staying at Kidani. I'm wondering what the best request on location is to make to access the parking garage. When we don't have a car I usually request close to lobby, but I'm thinking "close to elevator" would be smart assuming there are elevators down to the under-resort parking area? Thanks for any advice! We are planning on driving to and from the parks each day so hoping to reduce the long hallway walk a bit if possible.
We are driving for the first time and will have a car, staying at Kidani. I'm wondering what the best request on location is to make to access the parking garage. When we don't have a car I usually request close to lobby, but I'm thinking "close to elevator" would be smart assuming there are elevators down to the under-resort parking area? Thanks for any advice! We are planning on driving to and from the parks each day so hoping to reduce the long hallway walk a bit if possible.
Hello everyone! After years of WDW trips to my familiar resorts, mostly WL, we are now thinking that AKL, especially Kidani, would be a great choice for our granddaughter's first trip in early 2022. She will be 2.7 years old, and judging by her reaction when she saw a Kidani walk-through video yesterday, I think she will love it. I have always been partial to resorts with water transportation, which is why I always hesitated when my daughter kept suggesting it over the years. Well, now that we are in planning mode, I am getting really excited!
I will not ask all my questions at once, but start with the basics. As a non-DVC owner, I will do my usual routine of booking two rooms in the lodge whenever they become available and then trying to modify to a villa. How hard is it, usually, to get a cash 2BR villa? Our target date is first week of February 2022. Speaking of February, if it's cold, do the animals still roam around the savannahs?
We are thinking of a resort and granddaughter-centric trip, so any suggestions would be welcome! Also, I would like to avoid the experience we had at BWV with unending hallways just to get to an elevator, so suggestions about room location, even though it is so far off, would also be welcome. Any rumors about refurbishments?
OK, will stop now! TIA!!
The Jambo stores and dining locations are not expected to open until the hotel side of Jambo opens. For now Jambo is DVC only. I don't believe I've heard an opening date announced yet, the site still shows it all down for booking in 2021. The pool is open as are the lobby and walkways around the resort. It's sort of a ghost town.HI all ! Just checking in. We will arrive December 12. Is the gift shop open @ Jambo? We are driving this time and so we can go to Walmart for groceries but I like browsing the gift shop every time we come back from the parks. It is our routine. If it is not open, we will have to figure out something else to do.
For those staying @ Jambo House.... tell me all your experiences. And, for those in the "know". Any news on more things opening at the resort? Jiko, Boma, MAra etc.
Thanks for your quick reply, VWL buddy!Kids of all ages are wowed by the animals right off the balconies. Kidani is a great choice.
Some things to know, if you aren't aware yet: The hallways are very, very long. I'd argue they are the longest in all the Disney resorts. I've had that room near the end of one of the wings and could have listened to an entire podcast by the time I got to my room by foot. BUT the nice thing is that the parking area extends all the way down and there are elevators near all rooms, at most 2 beads away. For those mornings to MK we'd drive down toward the lobby, park and then take the bus to/from the park. Just remember that you've got your car nearby when rerturning or you may find yourself with double the walk to go fetch it
2br units are usually plentiful in february at Kidani. I agree, that renting points from an owner is the way to go, but after this pandemic and hearing about the pains owners and renters went though to cancel and return funds, I understand why you'd want to go through Disney. Hopefully we never experience anything like that again.
I don't know what the refurbishment schedule looks like, so no help there, but I've never had an issue at Kidani. I have encountered blocks on the room I wanted at Jambo though as they have the scarce categories of value and club.