Animal Kingdom Owners Thread

This one is high on my list as a next contract

The refurbished rooms look amazing! Can't wait to stay here again post-refurb.

Have yet to stay here, but every time I catch content on it, I vow to make it happen! Being close to the animals and having that experience routinely has me thinking about a potential contract someday

I love the refurb! And AKL is my fave resort , added on there in 2009 . I never need to visit a park when I stay here, especially if I was lucky to get CL:) I had 3 nights ( not consecutive) in CL last year and I have 3 more scheduled this summer. I did 3 nights over Christmas at Kidani and we were the first ones to stay in the refurbed standard view studio we had. Sanaa is my fave restaurant in all of WDW, with Jiko a close #2.

Cannot wait for May! We're taking my brother, sister and brother-in-law for 6 nights in a 3 bedroom grand villa in Jambo, it's gonna be awesome!

Love being an owner here too. We haven’t stayed at kidani yet because we have been lucky to stay club level(Jambo) since first becoming owners 2 years ago. I love waking up and having coffee with the Savannah animals. We will be there again in May!

Our Home resort since 2012…booked a trip in July, can’t wait to see the refurbished rooms.

Have a trip booked there in July! Our family loves AKV!

Had such a great first trip there with our family that we came home and bought in. Love AKL!

We got points at AKL right before the refurb was announced and I feel like we hit the jackpot. Can't wait to stay in a new room!

We’ve been lucky to spend a week a year in club level for 6 of last 7 years.

The level of personal service you get is extraordinary, the staff really are wonderful.

We are actually staying Kidani this year though as Jambo will likely be mid-refurb.

AKV is truly an amazing hotel, something unique that’s made extra special by the international cast members.

Nothing like it in DVC portfolio

We love Animal Kingdom Lodge. Half of our points that we own are at AKL.

Then end of July/Early August we have 2 weeks in a Value Studio at Jambo

All of our points are at AKV. We stay at Kidani mostly if we are at AKV, and here are some observations about Kidani.

1. Depending on where your room is, it can be a LONG walk to the lobby and the bus transportation. It's like Las Vegas sometimes, where it takes 20 minutes to walk somewhere that seems next door. In other cases it's 10 steps. This is true for getting drinks in refillable mugs also - we always see how far the walk is before we decide whether to get them.

2. The buses can be crowded, especially at peak times. Maybe not SSR level crowds, but if you aren't on the bus early you will be standing. That can make a difference given the distance between AKV and 3 of the 4 parks. It's not a problem with AK usually.

Would love tips on securing the club level! We just bought an AKL contract (awaiting ROFR now). 😊

First contract is at Saratoga. We have stayed at AKL and loved it but looking forward to club level in the future!

AKV was our first resale purchase. It is our favorite. We bought 110 resale points initially and now have another 100 pending. We will be there next February for 6 nights in a savanna view room. We are so excited!

There are only 3 choices

• Try and start a walk way in advance of your trip

• Waitlist each day you actually need and it usually gets matched as walkers go on by

• keep stalking the calendar

Option 1 is ideal but it could mean a lot of modifications to move the booking to your preferred dates.

Option 2 works well for me but is troublesome as you could be in a queue if more people have waitlisted

Option 3 is possible if you are super flexible on dates or super lucky. Unlikely to get more than 2 days showing though

You’ll have more success at these options when using the home booking window as less competition

We bought last fall and loving every minute of it. We somehow snagged club level for one night in all three vacations this year.

AKV was our first contract and it’s still our family’s favorite. Nothing beats sitting on the balcony sipping coffee and watching the giraffes graze.

Our waitlist came through and we have a club level stay for the first time in July!

We love AKL, currently have 160 points but want more. Have not been able to get the Value or Club rooms yet....

We love AKL! we heard it was getting refurbished and bought extra points last year to enjoy extra days to experience the refurbished rooms and hopefully experience Club rooms...it is a different feeling waking up and seeing the animals from your balcony, such a peaceful moment!

AKL is our home resort. Loved the new refurbished.

We are staying at AKL Jambo in mid-May. Do you know where they are within the renovation schedule? I believe awhile back they projected to start renovating Jambo in May. Any info is appreciated. TIA.

AKL will forever have my heart. Bought in to DVC last year resale at AKL after falling in love with the resort. I look forward to many years here. I was lucky 2 weeks ago and got Club Level for 1 night end of August and 1 more night at Kidani to use free Waterpark ticket. Then we will be back to FWC 2 weeks later in mid September that was booked months ago. So bonus trip just for club level and Waterpark since free Waterpark perk will be over when we get there in September. We live in Alabama so its hot here all summer so likely will not go to Disney in summer months except September for low points.

My wife and I just pulled the trigger on an AKL contract. Have stayed at AKL before but never in a DVC room. Excited to get down there in 2027 😎

Proud AKV owner here. We do try to sample other resorts but each time we stay somewhere else as soon as we get home we say we need to go back to AKV. Just so many special things about that place. We actually just got home from a BCV trip and for the past year we have been saying poly is next then back to AKV. We weren't even of the plane yet and we made up our mind that it will be 2 BR Savanna view next year and poly can wait lol.

AKL is our first DVC home. Bought it in Dec 2007. Really love the resort and the vibe. Can't wait to go back and stay in the refurbished rooms in the future.

AKV was our second contract. We love the vibes there and of course being able to wake up to the animals outside your balcony isn’t bad either. Would love for more transport options (skyliner) but 🤷🏼‍♀️. Best food of any resort in my opinion too.

AKL is our home resort and I love it so much! We were lucky to get a club level room for two night come through a waitlist last August for my birthday. The club level was amazing!

AKL is our home resort bought a resale contract in 2025, using our points for the first time in august on a 3 generation trip with family! Main reasons we picked AKL was Value, Room Availability, the Animals, and THE FOOD..

We own AKL as well but it's one of the resorts we've never stayed at. I'm sure with the refresh we will be there sooner than later.

AKL was our first resale and we love it. We do split stays regularly and AKL is always one of our stays.

Our home resort at WDW. We are fortunate enough to have 470 points here and can't wait for our upcoming trip in August at Jambo House.

That’s one thing we have not done yet…stay in a club level room. We usually like to do longer stays, so we book the SV rooms to maximize points…so it’s either save points (never happens 😂) or buy more lol

AKL is our only contract at the moment. I LOVE it here and it's my favorite resort so far. I was really concerned about the refurb, but seeing the pics I'm so happy they kept the theming and it's beautiful. And there's a Savanna!!

We just recently closed on our first contract at AKL. We have stayed there a couple of times in the past, but our first trip as owners is planned for early November. We were going to go late fall, but we opted for Christmas Decor instead of Halloween. Our son Graduates college in December, so we will likely go on a graduation trip before the end of January. Navigating the Christmas rush and Marathon weekend may be a challenge.

AKL was our first DVC purchase. I so loved the resort side of this hotel, so it just made sense. Quickly realized we needed more points, so purchased another contract, within 2 months of the first. Love staying here at Christmas time and this is my choice for our relaxing stays. I could sit on the balcony for hours watching the animals. Such a magical resort.

PURCHASED AT AKL after renting a reservation for an 11 night stay and falling in love.

I found my people!

Remember the days of planning your Disney vacation by ordering the promo VHS tapes or DVDs directly from Disney (waiting for them to arrive was kinda like waiting on ROFR, but not quite that bad) and spending countless hours watching the different resort categories, Deluxe, Moderate, & Value. Seeing Animal Kingdom and Wilderness Lodges on those videos for the first time, I knew that’s where I was going to stay… and then… they showed the price per night. Ah, I’m Deluxe dreaming on a Value reality.

Fast forward to September 2008, staying at Disney’s All Star resort, free dining offer, with my kid sister celebrating her college graduation. I know it’s hard to imagine in September, but a torrential midafternoon downpour at Magic Kingdom made us duck into the Tomorrowland DVC kiosk for shelter. The CM asked if we wanted to know more and I said there was no way I could afford it. She then said, if we went and listened to the Guide, we would get three anytime FastPasses, a scoop of ice cream (my love languages 🤣) and dropped off anywhere on property we wanted for the hour of our time. We signed up for the tour. The next couple of nights after touring the parks, I crunched the numbers, and before our trip ended, I was the proud owner of 160 AKL points and a DVC tote bag. 🙃

I did all the DVC “wrongs.”:

✅ Emotional purchase

✅ Financed contract

✅ Bought the “only” resort for sale

✅ Bought direct (the only AKL option tho at the time ig)

✅ No lengthy research

Nearly 18 years later, I’ve never felt so right to be so “wrong” and I wouldn’t trade it for anything! That kid sister now has four kids, my other sister has two. Amazing AKL stays, countless memories, and every time, I hear those beautiful words, “Jambo! Welcome home!” dreams have indeed come true.

TLDR: Proud AKL owner, AKL is the best, AKL owners are the bestest too!

We just returned from a stay at Kidani . The best food we had was from the pool bar- a grilled goat cheese sandwich with tamarind onion jam. It was soo good

Not sure if they still have them but those spicy pork nachos were 🔥

I agree we got that too! Such good food from the Sanaa kitchen

It was our second contract and it's probably my DH favorite. We're taking our granddaughters in a couple months, for their first trip. I was really torn on which to book, Jambo or Kidani. I LOVE the lobby and feel at Jambo, but those brand new rooms at Kidani we're so tempting! Kidani won out for this trip, but I know that they'll love it either way.

Just stayed at Kidani with my 2 1/2 yrs grandson and he loved the kids water play area- with lots of shade. The playground at Jambo was extremely nice but Jambo doesn’t have a water play area

Disney has a lot of resorts where I love to do resort days. I own only at two resorts now, and this is one that feels like a park within itself. I’ve never heard anyone say “Animal Kingdom Lodge didn’t meet my expectations.”

We bought 180 resale points thru DVC Ressle (Scottie Kaufman) and stayed for the 1st time ever at a Studio Kidani village in December 2 days before refurb was completed…. So no new room . We had a resort view but we were able to upgrade to Savannah and just loved the Christmas vibe there and at Jambo house. Why we waited so long I still wonder why (buses probably) but we had no transportation issues at all . We now have booked a 1 bedroom in October for Food &Wine and cannot wait to see the new rooms.

We love AKV so much that we added on 160 DVC Resale (Andy Berry) points to our 125 direct points!

AK was our first contract and we usually end up staying there at least twice a year. I am excited for Jambo to get a refurb. Having coffee with the giraffes is my favorite. And my kiddo lost his mind when an ostrich laid an egg during our most recent stay. Now c’mon skyliner to DAK!

Kidani was our second DVC contract but first direct even though we don’t have enough points for the benefits. Our first stay was in April of 2024 when my oldest son and I ran the Springtime Surprise 10k. I should say that I attempted to run as I got swept buy my son made it the whole way, lol.

Does anybody know if the Grand Villas in Jambo House have fans on the balconies?

They do not. If I’m not mistaken, the only DVC villas with ceiling fans outside are at OKW (1BV and up). And those balconies are spacious - one of the highlights of staying there.