Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort (Disney Deluxe/Deluxe Villas Resort) Reviews and Ratings - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I just got back from this resort late last week. We stayed on the 2nd floor about 4 rooms from the middle of the Arusha Savanna. I loved it. I am a pretty cheap person but I actually felt the view was worth it. You can get the same view from the Arusha Rock Firepit\Overlook but you can't sit on your balcony and eat dinner like I did.
I did not care for the menus at the expensive restaurants but I thought the cafeteria restaurant was very good. The chicken pita was good. They also had a Cheese Flatbread pizza. That seemed sort of plain so I asked them to put grilled chicken, mushrooms, green\red sweet peppers and onions. They had to go to Boma to get some of those ingredients but they made it. It was really good and I am a picky eater partial to NY City pizza.
The pool was only 3 ft or so deep but it is very nice looking and my kids thought it was fine. The entertainment staff around the pool was great. They made my very shy 12yr old want to play pool side games which never happens. There are 2 hot tubs that are under shade and a small water side. It also has a small playground.
Lastly, the lobby is visually stunning. The also hold information stations during the day to learn about Africa. The employees that hosted these, as well as all the other employees, were very friendly and helpful.
We love AKL! Everything about it. Whenever possible, we choose to stay here. We've had two stays this year - summer and fall. The theming of the entire resort is beautiful. Watching the animals is always a highlight. Breakfast and dinner at Boma or dinner at Jiko or any meal/snack at Mara is always welcome. And the pool is my favorite.
The only drawback is price. But by saving and watching for deals, that can even be worked out. That being said, AKL is worth the money!
Nice place to visit but I wouldn't want my "home" there.
I am sure I am in the minority but I don't think I would stay here with my whole family again. I picked Kidani because my kids (19 & 15) were getting tired of Old Key West. Points were right, zero entry pool for the 4 year old plus splash area, animals...all good.
The room was smaller than we are used to but I knew this going in. It was just so dark. I'm not talking about the woodwork but the lighting-it is terrible. Low wattage CFLs plus amber lampshades equals terrible lighting. The room was clean, the shower was fantastic. The food situation is similar to OKW in that there is not a lot but OKW has more to offer. We had to walk over to Jambo to eat lunch on our pool day. It is also far from everything and the bus rides took forever to everywhere but Animal Kingdom park. We also prefer not having an internal hallway. My husband felt like it was just a hotel room with a kitchen rather than the DVC room we are used to. I am staying her with my oldest in January but strictly for points value. It was nice for one family trip but we are going back to OKW next summer.
We stayed at AKL Jambo House on 2 different trips and have been in love with this resort since the moment we stepped inside the first time!
We stayed in a one BR Villa on both trips and will never stay in anything different if I can help it! I love having a full kitchen to have breakfast in before hitting the parks. Our last trip we had a savanna view and it was so amazing! Waking up every morning and sitting on the balcony with my coffee and watching so many gorgeous animals grazing below!
The staff at AKL Jambo House is phenomenal! Our first trip was for our DS's 6th birthday. Every single member of the staff we encountered treated him like a prince! As a Mom, I couldn't have been happier. Anything and everything we asked for or needed was taken care of.
The restaurants are exceptional. DH and I have dined at Jiko's on our last 2 trips for our "date night". Love it! And Boma's has become a family "must"!
We absolutely love the pool and fitness center too. No complaints whatsoever!
The bus service is fantastic as well - we never waited longer than 10 minutes for a bus. Even if we walked up just as one was pulling away.
I really cannot say enough great things about this resort. The only downside is that it isn't in the "spur of the moment" affordable range. In order for our family to stay at AKL for a week or longer (we stayed 6 nights or first trip and 11 nights our 2nd trip) it requires a good year of savings to stay in the one BR villa. But that's okay given that we don't have any opportunities for "spur of the moment" Disney trips. So, the only way we ever go is to plan at least a year in advance and save accordingly
We adored our stay at Jambo House Nov. 14-21. It was lovely seeing the Christmas tree and decorations go up during that time. We booked standard view rooms but were upgraded to Uzima Savannah. I guess I can understand why people say the resort is dark, but I found the subdued lighting to be relaxing after a day in the parks. The resort is exotic but very welcoming. I love the wonderful smells that waft through lobby level!
We had multiple problems with our magic bands at check-in. A manager apologized and offered us fastpasses in any park, (think Wishes from the rose garden!) and all was quickly forgiven. We all agreed that we should have brought our own binoculars. I wish we could afford to stay at AKL every trip.
__________________
Katydid
10/96 - All Star Sports, 11/03 - CBR
9/05 - Wonder Cruise, 7/06 - Disneyland
11/08-All Star Sports - 7/09 Ft. Wilderness
11/14- AKL Jambo House
I recently stayed at AKL Jambo House in DVC Deluxe Studio Villa with savanna view with my mom and nephew from October 6 to 11. We loved the savanna view and very easily could have spent our entire vacation on the balcony. We had daily views of all types of animals: giraffes, birds, wildebeest, deer, etc. We also loved the breakfast buffet at Boma. Our only complaint was the long walk from the lobby to the room. After a day in the parks of walking, coming back to the resort and making the long trek from the parking lot to the room, was not our favorite thing. If staying here again, I would request a room as close to the lobby as possible. Other than that, the cast members were great, the activities in the resort were awesome, and the pool was fun. My nephew is 12 and every trip, he judges the resort by the pool - rest assured this one is kid approved, but his favorite is still Polynesian.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
.
Sandy
Linear Mode
