AKL Savanna view

OP, if you are booking a room through Disney (and not a DVC villa/studio) you will be in Jambo House. The standard views can be a partial savanna view or they can overlook the parking lot/front of the building and perhaps a few the roofs of the restaurants w/ the pool beyond.
If the resort is pretty full then some people will be in rooms that overlook the front. Be aware that you may end up in one of those rooms and w/ the new system of assigning rooms (and sending texts out to those not yet there) it may not be possible to move you to another room. AKL seems to be increasing in popularity, thus assume that you'll get what you paid for - a non savanna view if that's what you booked & a savanna view if that's what you booked. If you end up in a partial savanna view when you paid for a standard view consider yourself lucky :)

It would be booked thru Disney, but I think it said Kidani 1 br?
 
It would be booked thru Disney, but I think it said Kidani 1 br?
To clarify: YES, anyone can book a DVC villa through Disney. I'm sure @sndral knows that, but I can see where the wording may have thrown you.

Kidani Village is entirely DVC villas. Jambo House also has some DVC accommodations, converted from "regular" hotel rooms.

You should be able to check your reservation for your 1BR's view.
 
Would that be a standard room you are referring to? It says it view of parking lot, but I wondered if their standard views are just not the best savanna views and all have some savanna view, or if it is actually parking lot view?

Where are you looking at the descriptions? Disney's site lists the AKL/AKV complex as three separate resorts:

Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge: a Disney Deluxe resort with standard view (view of rooftop or parking area), pool view and savanna view rooms, with some club level savanna view rooms and suites

Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Jambo House: a Disney Vacation Club resort with value studios (slightly smaller, landscape or parking view), standard studios, and 1 or 2 bedroom villas (landscape or parking view), and savanna view studios and 1 or 2 bedroom villas. These rooms are located within the same building as the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village: a Disney Vacation Club resort with standard view (pool or parking) studios, 1 and 2 bedroom villas, and savanna view studios, 1 and 2 bedroom villas. These rooms are located in the separate Kidani Village building.
 
It would be booked thru Disney, but I think it said Kidani 1 br?
Sorry, I should have read more carefully - AKL/AKV is so confusing because there are multiple view categories. And what a particular view means for a room is different than what it means for a DVC villa and what you might get with a DVC villa in a particular view is different between Jambo and Kidani :)
If you are staying in Kidani in a 1 br. you will be in a DVC villa whether you are staying on points or reserved through Disney. There aren’t very many standard view villas at Kidani that front a savanna (unlike the standard view villas at Jambo, where you have a decent shot at a partial savanna view or at least a nice pool view when you book a standard view villa.)
At Kidani I’d opt for savanna view and request Sunset savanna. The other savanna at Kidani - Pembe, is the smallest savanna and does not usually have giraffes (I was told by husbandry the Pembe barn isn’t tall enough for them.)
 
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Where are you looking at the descriptions? Disney's site lists the AKL/AKV complex as three separate resorts:

Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge: a Disney Deluxe resort with standard view (view of rooftop or parking area), pool view and savanna view rooms, with some club level savanna view rooms and suites

Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Jambo House: a Disney Vacation Club resort with value studios (slightly smaller, landscape or parking view), standard studios, and 1 or 2 bedroom villas (landscape or parking view), and savanna view studios and 1 or 2 bedroom villas. These rooms are located within the same building as the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village: a Disney Vacation Club resort with standard view (pool or parking) studios, 1 and 2 bedroom villas, and savanna view studios, 1 and 2 bedroom villas. These rooms are located in the separate Kidani Village building.

Sorry, its confusing, we would be new to this resort. So originally I was speaking about Animal Kingdom Villas-Kidani, I am now seeing the price for Animal Kingdom Villas Jambo House is the same for our stay for 5 people, is there a "better" option?
 
There aren’t very many standard view villas at Kidani that front a savanna

I have stayed at Kidani Village three times in standard view rooms. Twice I was given a room that had previously been savanna view. These rooms are in the third "bead" from the end of the "necklace." They overlook a small strip of land where Pembe transitions to Sunset. There is a fence nearby to keep the animals from moving between savannas.

On the other trip, we had a view of the porte-cochère. So, I have ended up with a "free" savanna view 66% of the time.
 
Sorry, its confusing, we would be new to this resort. So originally I was speaking about Animal Kingdom Villas-Kidani, I am now seeing the price for Animal Kingdom Villas Jambo House is the same for our stay for 5 people, is there a "better" option?
Jambo House offers more dining options, including a buffet (Boma), a signature restaurant (Jiko) and a food court (The Mara). Jambo has a much larger store and a far more impressive lobby, although Kidani's lobby is very nice.

The Kidani pool, in my opinion, is better. It's not as large, but has a spray park for the kids and a nice slide. If you will have a car, parking is better at Kidani; most of it is under cover.

Both buildings can have long walks to rooms at the end of the hall.
 


Sorry, its confusing, we would be new to this resort. So originally I was speaking about Animal Kingdom Villas-Kidani, I am now seeing the price for Animal Kingdom Villas Jambo House is the same for our stay for 5 people, is there a "better" option?
I should add that Kidani has a sit-down restaurant, Sanaa, and it's a good one. It offers some small meals through the pool bar. Also, room service is available at both buildings.
 
AKL is my absolute favorite WDW resort. We've only stayed there once and we did have a Savannah View room. We had an amazing time and it was fun to watch the animals from the room. But . . . we decided we wouldn't spend the additional money on an a Savannah View Room in the future. We are typically away from our room for the vast majority of the day. That means we really only observed the animals in the morning for a bit, typically right as they were coming back out and we were heading out and sometimes for a bit in the evening if we had an early night. We actually spent MUCH more time watching the animals from the public balconies or while wandering around outside. As others have pointed out, you don't always see the animals from your room - they are typically off the Savannah in the mornings and even when they are outside they are often way out in the distance or you can't see them at all. If the ONLY way to see any of the animals was from a Savannah View room I would absolutely recommend it. For us the novelty of the whole thing wore off pretty quickly and we found we LOVED the time we spent at the various viewing location outside.
 
DH and I sprung for a savannah view room back in February. We were not disappointed. There really is something to be said about waking up, opening the curtains and seeing giraffes roaming around. I was always so excited to wake up in the morning and see who was visiting!
 
We have stayed at AKL 3 times and absolutely love it. I could stay there every time. We always get a Savanna view.

I know there are times that the animals aren't out but to me there is nothing like walking into your room and seeing a gorgeous giraffe. Or those crazy little red river hogs. If you absolutely want the guaranteed view, pick the savanna view. If you are willing to chance it, book what you can afford. The positive thing is the majority of the rooms have great views so you may luck out either way.
 
DH and I sprung for a savannah view room back in February. We were not disappointed. There really is something to be said about waking up, opening the curtains and seeing giraffes roaming around. I was always so excited to wake up in the morning and see who was visiting!

I could not agree more! If your bed is in the correct position, its pretty great to be laying there and seeing the animals walk by. HEAVEN!
 
Sorry, its confusing, we would be new to this resort. So originally I was speaking about Animal Kingdom Villas-Kidani, I am now seeing the price for Animal Kingdom Villas Jambo House is the same for our stay for 5 people, is there a "better" option?

Normally, I prefer Jambo house, however, for a 1 bedroom, especially with 5 people, I would absolutely book Kidani for the extra full bathroom and better set up of the master bath.

I always book Savanna view because I love to have coffee or a glass of wine on my balcony and watch the animals, which for me does not get old even after 10 years of yearly trips. Once we stayed standard view for a night and got a parking lot view, and for me, it just didn't feel like I was at AKV. That said, there are a lot of amazing animal viewing places around both resorts that are better than many of the savanna view rooms, so if you are fine with hanging around those areas to see animals then a standard view should work for you.

Keep in mind that although Sanaa (at Kidani) is a table service restaurant for lunch and dinner it is a quick service restaurant for breakfast. They have grab and go items or hot items and you can either take back the food to your villa or you can dine inside the restaurant.

The good thing about Jambo and Kidani is that they are very close and you can either walk, or take the shuttle, or regular buses between the two, so it is very easy to explore and hang out at either building regardless of actual room location.
 
So I just read that Jambo only has animal view rooms on floors 5 and 6. Does that mean automatically you have a better chance of getting an animal "view", savanna/partial or not, if you are at Kidani because all floors have animal views?
 
So I just read that Jambo only has animal view rooms on floors 5 and 6. Does that mean automatically you have a better chance of getting an animal "view", savanna/partial or not, if you are at Kidani because all floors have animal views?
This only refers to the DVC villa rooms located in Jambo House. Those are located on floors 5 and 6. There are hotel rooms on the other floors.

Kidani Village is all DVC.

So, if you are looking to book a DVC villa, your assumption is correct.
 
We just stayed at AK in April with a standard room. We had a small balcony with part of the roof covering the view. We really didn't mind since we would go down to the viewing area and see all the animals. If you really want to be able to sit and watch the animals then you should book a savanna view. Unfortunately its the only way to guarantee the view.
 
We always saw animals. I loved being able to have a glass of wine at night and sit outside and watch them. Also in the morning I would have my coffee and do my makeup and had a great view
 
I would definitely NOT pay for the Savanna View! We stayed in a standard room for two weeks and had a fantastic view. Saw animals from our room everyday; the highlight was when we arrived, our daughter ran straight to the window and shouted "Mummy! A giraffe!". Priceless memory. I'd be happy to double check the room number we stayed in and you could request that room. :)
 
I would definitely NOT pay for the Savanna View! We stayed in a standard room for two weeks and had a fantastic view. Saw animals from our room everyday; the highlight was when we arrived, our daughter ran straight to the window and shouted "Mummy! A giraffe!". Priceless memory. I'd be happy to double check the room number we stayed in and you could request that room. :)
Standard view can also be of a parking lot. Disney won't guarantee room number requests.
 
We stayed last month and paid for standard. We had an amazing view of animals. I requested zebra trail and I got zebra trail. I didn't even request "partial savannah" but we had great views of animals every day throughout the day.

Now if the trip is going to be completely ruined and you're going to be miserable if you end up with a parking lot view, you should probably pay for savannah. But if you're going to be disappointed, but ok with staring at the parking lot because that's really all you paid for, then you'll be fine. There are actually way more "standard" rooms that face animals than there are rooms that face the parking lot, so odds are in your favor to get a better view.
 

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