Animal Kingdom Jambo House Review

[Myalyas]

Stayed one night in a 1 Bedroom.
The parking lot makes for a miserably long walk to the lobby. Of course when you check in, you are right there but you still have to go park the car unless you pay for valet parking.
Our room was not far from the elevator, thank goodness. That was the only good thing about the room to me. As soon as we opened the door, I was disappointed.

I had seen the pictures online of the room but this didn’t quite match the pictures. There was not a counter bar area or an island in the kitchen that I had seen in the pictures online, but we did have an obvious big dented in area in the black fridge. The dressing area of the bathroom had only 1 sink, not 2 like in the pictures I had seen. The tub/shower was small. We did not use the Jacuzzi because it was just too small. There was not one single full-length mirror anywhere! The lighting was so dim, even after I turned on every light in the place! The dark décor didn’t help! Sure, we had the savannah view and we saw a giraffe once and some type of antelope once but nothing spectacular. Actually, the whole resort is too dark for me!

Would I stay at Animal Kingdom Villas again? NO!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely not!!!

 

[puakinikini]

Stayed one night in a 1 Bedroom.
The parking lot makes for a miserably long walk to the lobby. Of course when you check in, you are right there but you still have to go park the car unless you pay for valet parking.
Our room was not far from the elevator, thank goodness. That was the only good thing about the room to me. As soon as we opened the door, I was disappointed.

I had seen the pictures online of the room but this didn’t quite match the pictures. There was not a counter bar area or an island in the kitchen that I had seen in the pictures online, but we did have an obvious big dented in area in the black fridge. The dressing area of the bathroom had only 1 sink, not 2 like in the pictures I had seen. The tub/shower was small. We did not use the Jacuzzi because it was just too small. There was not one single full-length mirror anywhere! The lighting was so dim, even after I turned on every light in the place! The dark décor didn’t help! Sure, we had the savannah view and we saw a giraffe once and some type of antelope once but nothing spectacular. Actually, the whole resort is too dark for me!

Would I stay at Animal Kingdom Villas again? NO!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely not!!!

Yikes! We have a 2 bedroom that we rented the points for in Jambo House for March. Thanks for the review. I hope we have a better experience. It is disappointing when things are not as you expect them to be.

 

[weswife]

Thanks for the review.. Yikes!

We rented points to stay here in Oct. This will be our 1st day at AKV! This is DD # 2 pick, she is looking forward to her stay at Jambo! We booked a HC studio for 5 nights.

I agree its disappointing when its not what you were expecting. I hope you enjoyed your vacation!

 

[michelleiada]

Stayed one night in a 1 Bedroom. The parking lot makes for a miserably long walk to the lobby. Of course when you check in, you are right there but you still have to go park the car unless you pay for valet parking. Our room was not far from the elevator, thank goodness. That was the only good thing about the room to me. As soon as we opened the door, I was disappointed. I had seen the pictures online of the room but this didn’t quite match the pictures. There was not a counter bar area or an island in the kitchen that I had seen in the pictures online, but we did have an obvious big dented in area in the black fridge. The dressing area of the bathroom had only 1 sink, not 2 like in the pictures I had seen. The tub/shower was small. We did not use the Jacuzzi because it was just too small. There was not one single full-length mirror anywhere! The lighting was so dim, even after I turned on every light in the place! The dark décor didn’t help! Sure, we had the savannah view and we saw a giraffe once and some type of antelope once but nothing spectacular. Actually, the whole resort is too dark for me! Would I stay at Animal Kingdom Villas again? NO!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely not!!!

Wow! So sorry you were disappointed with AKV. We absolutely LOVED it. We had a one bedroom also and did have the island in the kitchen as well as a full length mirror in the bathroom. Our home resort is Beach Club and is of course our number one love...but AKV is a very close second in fact I'm considering adding on points there. We loved everything about it...the decor, the savannah view was awesome and we saw tons of animals. The main lobby in Jambo is gorgeous! The good thing for you is that there are a variety of tastes and styles or theming for all to enjoy at WDW and DVC. if AKV are not for you I'm sure you will find a resort you love. I hope to try them all some day too.

 

[Brancaneve]

Sad to hear you didn't enjoy my FAVORITE resort! Perhaps you had a one bedroom that had been converted from two hotel rooms? I love light but find the darkness so relaxing after being out in the hot, Florida sun. Perhaps you can try Kidani Village? The parking garage is underground and you can easily go up and down to your room. It also has a larger kitchen area and an extra bathroom. Don't give up yet!

 

[CruzTerri]

Just curious the pictures that you saw, were those of Jambo House or Kidani? I know that the rooms at Kidani are much different and larger than those at Jambo. I've not stayed at Jambo, but our home resort is AKV. So far our only stay has been at Kidani in a 1 bedroom. This had a galley kitchen with a bar like area above the sink, with the stove and refrigerator on the wall, two bathrooms. The master bath had a huge jacuzzi tub. Also in the master bath there was mirrored closet doors. The master bath had the tub and a separate double stall shower.

I do agree, however, that the rooms are really very dark and the light bulbs in the lamps are not bright enough.

It's sad that your expectations were not met during this trip. I hope that other resorts will provide you with a more positive experience.

 

[GW45]

I'd have to agree with you about AKL- we own there and stayed for the first time last year...... hated our week long stay and we were in Kidani Village with a room like you were expecting- island, two sinks etc.
You mention a miserable walk from the car park....we had that same miserable walk and then another 10 minute walk from the lobby to our room. The giraffes we saw through the window were cool the first time but knowing we had another 15 minute walk after getting off the bus in the evening with tired kids just took the good out of it.

The darkness was another factor- I soon leaned not to put make up on in those rooms as the light was bad it was not a good look when I spotted myself in the car mirror.

I really considered selling our DVC after that one stay at AKL but am hoping the next resort will restore my faith!

 

[Minniesgal]

If you want to stay at AKV and the room is important to you I would always pick Kidani. Rooms were purpose built and are larger and better laid out. Parking is under your room.

 

[paige2755]

I do enjoy the AMAZING!!! lobby of Jambo House; however, the rooms at Kidani are works better for our family. A one bedroom unit gets you two full bathrooms. Also, the underground parking can't be beat!!

 

[kirstenb1]

We've stayed at Jambo and Kidani. I like the rooms better at Kidani, but it is convenient to be right in the midst of shopping/counter service at Jambo. I 100% agree, both resorts have dreadful lighting in the villas. Putting on my curmudgeonly hat, my vision has taken a huge shift in my 40's. At 40, the dark rooms would have been at worst a mild nuisance. But at 48, even in my own home, I'm noticing the difference in lighting in different rooms.

 

[Kim H]

I'd have to agree with you about AKL- we own there and stayed for the first time last year...... hated our week long stay and we were in Kidani Village with a room like you were expecting- island, two sinks etc.
You mention a miserable walk from the car park....we had that same miserable walk and then another 10 minute walk from the lobby to our room. The giraffes we saw through the window were cool the first time but knowing we had another 15 minute walk after getting off the bus in the evening with tired kids just took the good out of it.

The darkness was another factor- I soon leaned not to put make up on in those rooms as the light was bad it was not a good look when I spotted myself in the car mirror.

I really considered selling our DVC after that one stay at AKL but am hoping the next resort will restore my faith!

We love AKL but I agree that Kidani Village was too far off the beaten path. I would stay away from Coronado Springs as well. Beach club is our home resort and still our favorite of all the villas we have stayed in. Location is good and the pool is GREAT!

 

[weswife]

I wanted to post a follow up from my Oct visit 2014! We stayed for 5 nights in a studio. We enjoyed our stay there, The pool is ok, we were not overly excited with it. We did walk over to Kidani and the pool was very nice with a water splash area. We ate at Sana it was not for us. The rooms are dark but I liked the decor. My family enjoys being close to the action so it was not a favorite for them. We did enjoy the animals and went to the night vision they offered. This year we are returning for 1 night after our cruise. We plan to stay in a 2 bedroom in Kidani! My older DD did not go last year so she is looking forward to staying there!