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

[cate2]

Has anybody heard any news or rumors regarding the sofa-beds? We have a 2 bedroom value resort booked for next January, the only sticking point is the pull out couch.

 

[Pooh12863]

Has anybody heard any news or rumors regarding the sofa-beds? We have a 2 bedroom value resort booked for next January, the only sticking point is the pull out couch.

A full refurbishment is scheduled for 2023 most likely after your stay. A 2 bedroom value is a lockoff, in the 1BR part you will have a King size bed and a sleeper sofa, in the studio part you will have a Queen size bed and a sleeper sofa.

 

[drusba]

Has anybody heard any news or rumors regarding the sofa-beds? We have a 2 bedroom value resort booked for next January, the only sticking point is the pull out couch.

Based on normal schedule, AKV would start a hard goods refurb sometime in 2023. Assuming no delay, that still means in Jan 2023 you are not likely to see any AKV room that has been refurbed. When the refurb does occur, the sofa beds are supposed to be converted to Murphy beds that pull out from the wall over the sofa (that was actually something announced a few years ago)

 

[cate2]

oh, we're just going to miss it

Glad to hear they are being updated (relatively) soon though.

 

[twinklebug]

oh, we're just going to miss it

Glad to hear they are being updated (relatively) soon though.

We don't know for sure that we will get those nice murphy beds, but as most resorts are being updated to them, I don't see why AKV would not. I hope they have the designs on the table soon for how to keep them AKL themed with fabrics and woods and will go into production by the end of the year.

It would be heartbreaking to see AKV units turned generic like they did with other locations.

 

[sndral]

A full refurbishment is scheduled for 2023 most likely after your stay. A 2 bedroom value is a lockoff, in the 1BR part you will have a King size bed and a sleeper sofa, in the studio part you will have a Queen size bed and a sleeper sofa.

Currently in the standard & savanna view 1 br.s there’s a king size bed in the master bedroom & there’s a pull out queen size sofa bed & a sleeper chair in the living room. I don’t think the value 1 br.s at Jambo have room for the sleeper chair. I wonder if in addition to replacing the sleeper sofa w/ the Murphy bed pull down sofa they’ll replace the sleeper chair w/ the single bed under the TV set up that they have at other places when they do the 2023 refurb.s.
In the studios there’s a queen bed & a pull out queen size sofa bed.

 

[drusba]

It was announced at the Dec 2018 annual meeting that WDW DVC resorts would have the pull-out couches replaced by in-the-wall Murphy beds that pulled out over a couch. That is supposed to occur with each hard goods refurb at a resort and the next AKV refurb will be its hard goods refurb since the last one was a soft goods. Changing the pull-out chairs in the 1BRs to pull-downs from the cabinet has not been mentioned at all by DVC, and personally I would consider that a step backwards rather than forward -- the pull-out chairs are actually twin-size while those cabinet pull-outs are smaller in both length and width than regular twin size.

 

[sndral]

It was announced at the Dec 2018 annual meeting that WDW DVC resorts would have the pull-out couches replaced by in-the-wall Murphy beds that pulled out over a couch. That is supposed to occur with each hard goods refurb at a resort and the next AKV refurb will be its hard goods refurb since the last one was a soft goods. Changing the pull-out chairs in the 1BRs to pull-downs from the cabinet has not been mentioned at all by DVC, and personally I would consider that a step backwards rather than forward -- the pull-out chairs are actually twin-size while those cabinet pull-outs are smaller in both length and width than regular twin size.

I’m not a fan of the very small pull down beds under the TVs either & hopeful that they’ll stay w/ them as the 5th bed. However, given the furniture they didn’t replace in the recent refurb at the VGF, I’m concerned that they’ll remove & not replace the sleeper chairs at AKV. At the VGF in the 1 br.s they didn’t replace a chair (albeit not a sleeper chair) or the 2 ottomans that used to be in the living room. From photos it looks a bit sparse in the seating department.

 

[Pooh12863]

Currently in the standard & savanna view 1 br.s there’s a king size bed in the master bedroom & there’s a pull out queen size sofa bed & a sleeper chair in the living room. I don’t think the value 1 br.s at Jambo have room for the sleeper chair. I wonder if in addition to replacing the sleeper sofa w/ the Murphy bed pull down sofa they’ll replace the sleeper chair w/ the single bed under the TV set up that they have at other places when they do the 2023 refurb.s.
In the studios there’s a queen bed & a pull out queen size sofa bed.

The OP has a value room which doesn't have the sleeper chair in the 1 BR, that's the only reason I didn't mention it.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Just a heads up, I just came back from AKV, and the pool area is super full. It was hard to find two seats together since Kandi is closed. So plan ahead. But loooved everything else about AKV.

 

[Sabine W.]

Just a heads up, I just came back from AKV, and the pool area is super full. It was hard to find two seats together since Kandi is closed. So plan ahead. But loooved everything else about AKV.

Thanks so much for this feedback. Is the crowding mostly with the chairs? Wondering if 2 kids will still have room to play in the water and use the slide.

 

[Splashboat]

We just came back and had a value room overlooking the pool. The pool was much more crowded last week then it seemed this week. Last week people were all over the outside waiting to get in an hour before it opened. Not so many there ahead this week.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Thanks so much for this feedback. Is the crowding mostly with the chairs? Wondering if 2 kids will still have room to play in the water and use the slide.

Yes finding chairs but pool too. Luckily pool is big but way more than I have ever seen it in pics. I was there last weekend.

 

[Hoppy-tn]

Is the massage department opened back up at animal kingdom lodge?

 

[Leight19]

With the end of Magical express I have my first Disney trip with a car coming up this May. We will be staying at jambo in value studio and I am wondering what parks would it make sense to drive to vs taking the bus? Our initial instinct is bus to magic kingdom and drive to rest but since I’ve never driven not sure what makes the most sense. Any suggestions/feedback would be appreciated.

 

[twinklebug]

With the end of Magical express I have my first Disney trip with a car coming up this May. We will be staying at jambo in value studio and I am wondering what parks would it make sense to drive to vs taking the bus? Our initial instinct is bus to magic kingdom and drive to rest but since I’ve never driven not sure what makes the most sense. Any suggestions/feedback would be appreciated.

My opinion is unless in a hurry, or headed to another resort which would require changing buses, just use the bus system to/from all 4 parks. The stops are close to the entrances and buses are reliable. Sit back and let them worry about traffic.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

With the end of Magical express I have my first Disney trip with a car coming up this May. We will be staying at jambo in value studio and I am wondering what parks would it make sense to drive to vs taking the bus? Our initial instinct is bus to magic kingdom and drive to rest but since I’ve never driven not sure what makes the most sense. Any suggestions/feedback would be appreciated.

I always drive down but while staying on-site I will almost always use the bus system. Since they have the estimated wait times on the display at the bus stop it's easy to look at that and decide if you want to wait that long or not.

I will have to say my last trip spoiled me . I estimate I spent about 30 ~ 40 minutes TOTAL waiting for a bus. This was for a trip from 12/26 to 1/3 - definitely a busy time. I had zero wait for a bus on NYE, and waited at the MK bus stop for < 1 minute on the 30th. I was truly lucky !

 

[softballmom3]

I just recently switched over @ the 7 month mark from SSR to AKV 2 bedroom in Jambo House. I am super excited and surprised I was able to get it. That being said.....I wasn't able to get my last night and am obviously going to waitlist it, but is it a big deal now moving from one room to another? I can get Kidani 2 bedroom for 1 night if the waitlist doesn't come through. If we went over to Kidani in the a.m. would they still hold our luggage until our room is ready like they used to? We've stayed at Jambo house since covid, but it was a literal ghost town then and I didn't have to move rooms.

 

[twinklebug]

I just recently switched over @ the 7 month mark from SSR to AKV 2 bedroom in Jambo House. I am super excited and surprised I was able to get it. That being said.....I wasn't able to get my last night and am obviously going to waitlist it, but is it a big deal now moving from one room to another? I can get Kidani 2 bedroom for 1 night if the waitlist doesn't come through. If we went over to Kidani in the a.m. would they still hold our luggage until our room is ready like they used to? We've stayed at Jambo house since covid, but it was a literal ghost town then and I didn't have to move rooms.

Yes, bell services will hold the luggage until your room is ready, but since you're considering going just from one building to the other in the resort I'd just bring all the luggage onto the shuttle between the two buildings, check it into bell services myself and not deal with the transfer truck which can take time and someone might need an item lost in a bag (swim suit, meds, etc).

I'm sure you've seen the shuttle, it's a small bus just like airport parking uses and is never crowded.

 

[sndral]

I just recently switched over @ the 7 month mark from SSR to AKV 2 bedroom in Jambo House. I am super excited and surprised I was able to get it. That being said.....I wasn't able to get my last night and am obviously going to waitlist it, but is it a big deal now moving from one room to another? I can get Kidani 2 bedroom for 1 night if the waitlist doesn't come through. If we went over to Kidani in the a.m. would they still hold our luggage until our room is ready like they used to? We've stayed at Jambo house since covid, but it was a literal ghost town then and I didn't have to move rooms.

Were you in Jambo before they opened the cash hotel rooms? It seemed fairly normal when I was there this Dec..
In addition to your wait list I’d stalk the RAT a couple of times a day as well to maximize your chance of snagging that last night at Jambo.