Steamboat Bill
04-22-2008, 05:27 PM
DVC Animal Kingdom Lodge Grand Villa Review
I have been a DVC member since 2001 and have had the opportunity to stay in a two bedroom unit at every fabulous DVC location. This year, I was planning a nice family reunion and decided to splurge on a Grand Villa at the Animal Kingdom Lodge on the fifth floor of the Jumbo House.
We were a group of eight and could have easily fit into a two bedroom unit, but we were planning on entertaining several friends on several different nights, so we used this as a nice excuse to upgrade to a Grand Villa.
Ever since I joined DVC, I thought the premium for a Grand Villa was not worth the points, but little did I know how nice these units really are. As an educated guess, the AKL GV was 6x as wide as a typical studio and 1.5x as long. Thus, my non-scientific estimation is a GV is about 8x larger than a typical studio hotel room. A great bonus was the three huge balconies that are included that are at least 6x (each) larger than a studio balcony. Thus, the GV provides balcony space that is about 18x the size of a typical studio balcony.
We checked into room 5483 at the end of the hallway and it occupied the entire end of the building. A double door entry way was a small clue to what lies inside. Surprisingly, there is no doorbell and this is something that should be added as we often were watching movies on the 42 flat screen television and blasting the surround sound system that was so nice that it is actually hard to hear someone knocking on the door.
Once you enter the main doorway, there is a greeting room entry that is about 10x8 feet with a guest bathroom and shower to the left, laundry room to the left, mirror and table to the right, and an incredible view into the family room. The ceiling was about 8 foot and opened up once you entered the main living areas of the Grand Villa.
The family room was directly ahead with 2 lounge chairs, family sized couch and a fantastic entertainment center that housed a 42 inch LG television. There was also a DVD, stereo, and surround sound system that really rocked.
Off to the left of the family room was a pleasant surprise, a billiard table that appeared slightly smaller than a regulation table, but provided tremendous fun for the entire family and our guests each day. This is a novel addition as none of us has actually stayed in a resort with a billiards table in the room.
The master bedroom was left of the billiard room and had a very King sized comfortable bed, great colors, 37 inch LG flat screen television and a nice desk for my laptop computer. There was a ceiling fan that we never used and a huge bathroom. The bathroom is separated from the bedroom with two solid core wooden doors that slide to open or close depending on your privacy needs. The first thing you see in the master bathroom is a single person jetted tub in the middle with a 37 inch flat screen television on the wall. In fact, you can actually view both televisions while soaking in the tub. There are two separate sinks with granite countertops, shower stall, and a large walk-in closet that is about 10x6 feet in size. The only complaint was the built-in safe was incredibly small and could use an upgrade.
On the other side of the family room is the dining room with a huge dining room table made from solid wood that can easily sit 10 people for dinner. This is a great feature. The kitchen had full sized Black Whirlpool appliances including refrigerator, microwave, stove, range, 4x toaster, dishwasher and a ton of accessories. The cabinets were themed wood and had granite countertops.
There is a long hallway to the two other bedrooms and two other bathrooms and even had a separate entrance way that we never used. I am not sure why this is needed as this unit is not a lock-off and is really wasted space that could have been added to the bathrooms. The first bathroom was a standard size with a tub/shower combo and a single sink.
Both bedrooms were similar in size and had 2x Queen sized beds, desk area, and great African theme. The other bathroom was larger and had a separate shower and separate tub area and the commode had a door attached for privacy. There is another large closet at the end of the hallway.
A cool feature that is hard to describe is how large the three half circle balconies really are. You can easily fit 10 people on each balcony for a party. The balcony to the right was located directly over the hot tub spa area near the Uzima Springs Pool Bar and also had a view of the flamingo animal area. The flamingos are not on the AKL map and must have been in mating season as they were quite noisy the entire time we were there and prevented the guests from sleeping with the windows open as it was a nice cool breeze the weekend we were there. The middle balcony had a large table and 4 chairs where anyone could enjoy a nice breakfast while watching the sun rise. The master bedroom balcony had the best view of the Uzima Savanna and we saw lots of animals, but is not nearly as good as the GV located at the ends of the hallway that provide a view into the Arusha Savanna.
The themeing of the GV and the entire AKL were incredible and clearly the best of any DVC I have seen. This of course, is my opinion, but this place is unbelievably beautiful. The carpet, paint colors, pictures on the walls, light fixtures, bedspreads, etc. were superb.
Although the GV was fantastic, in all fairness, there were a few tiny issues that could be improved. I think this specific GV was a handicapped access room as the master bathroom shower had a fold down chair, elevated shower curtain (vs a nice glass enclosure in the guest bathroom) and a terrible shower hear. In fact, we ended up taking our showers in the front entrance way guest bathroom as the shower was MUCH nicer than the master bedroom. This did not make my wife happy.
The GV in the Jumbo House is clearly a converted hotel room vs a specific DVC built GV that I think will be MUCH nicer in the new DVC ALK Kidani Village buildings and I would request staying in the Kidani Village if you want a GV in the future. I also think GV guests should get access to the 6th floor concierge floor as I tried to pay extra for this service and the front desk refused. Come on, we are staying in the most expensive and largest room on the AKL and we cant get access to the concierge?
The view from room 5483 was sub-par at best and was probably the worst view of all the GV locations. The view of the Uzima Savanna was only seen from the side of the master bedroom balcony and the two other balconies had a nice view of the hot tubs and lots of people standing at the Savanna overlook below. At first we thought it was a restaurant downstairs, but was only an area for hotel (and non-hotel) guests to view a few animals.
The rack rate for this room was about $2,000 per night and it only cost me 99 points per night. Thus, I felt I received great value from my DVC membership as I never would have spent that much cash on a GV. I can say for sure, our family can easily get used to staying in Grand Villas from here on out, but I will reserve these visits for special occasions.
Here is a link to some photos I took on the last day when we were checking out. It was a little messy and should have taken some photos when we arrived, but the kids were so excited and we had two carts of luggage that was unpacked.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steamboatbill/
I have been a DVC member since 2001 and have had the opportunity to stay in a two bedroom unit at every fabulous DVC location. This year, I was planning a nice family reunion and decided to splurge on a Grand Villa at the Animal Kingdom Lodge on the fifth floor of the Jumbo House.
We were a group of eight and could have easily fit into a two bedroom unit, but we were planning on entertaining several friends on several different nights, so we used this as a nice excuse to upgrade to a Grand Villa.
Ever since I joined DVC, I thought the premium for a Grand Villa was not worth the points, but little did I know how nice these units really are. As an educated guess, the AKL GV was 6x as wide as a typical studio and 1.5x as long. Thus, my non-scientific estimation is a GV is about 8x larger than a typical studio hotel room. A great bonus was the three huge balconies that are included that are at least 6x (each) larger than a studio balcony. Thus, the GV provides balcony space that is about 18x the size of a typical studio balcony.
We checked into room 5483 at the end of the hallway and it occupied the entire end of the building. A double door entry way was a small clue to what lies inside. Surprisingly, there is no doorbell and this is something that should be added as we often were watching movies on the 42 flat screen television and blasting the surround sound system that was so nice that it is actually hard to hear someone knocking on the door.
Once you enter the main doorway, there is a greeting room entry that is about 10x8 feet with a guest bathroom and shower to the left, laundry room to the left, mirror and table to the right, and an incredible view into the family room. The ceiling was about 8 foot and opened up once you entered the main living areas of the Grand Villa.
The family room was directly ahead with 2 lounge chairs, family sized couch and a fantastic entertainment center that housed a 42 inch LG television. There was also a DVD, stereo, and surround sound system that really rocked.
Off to the left of the family room was a pleasant surprise, a billiard table that appeared slightly smaller than a regulation table, but provided tremendous fun for the entire family and our guests each day. This is a novel addition as none of us has actually stayed in a resort with a billiards table in the room.
The master bedroom was left of the billiard room and had a very King sized comfortable bed, great colors, 37 inch LG flat screen television and a nice desk for my laptop computer. There was a ceiling fan that we never used and a huge bathroom. The bathroom is separated from the bedroom with two solid core wooden doors that slide to open or close depending on your privacy needs. The first thing you see in the master bathroom is a single person jetted tub in the middle with a 37 inch flat screen television on the wall. In fact, you can actually view both televisions while soaking in the tub. There are two separate sinks with granite countertops, shower stall, and a large walk-in closet that is about 10x6 feet in size. The only complaint was the built-in safe was incredibly small and could use an upgrade.
On the other side of the family room is the dining room with a huge dining room table made from solid wood that can easily sit 10 people for dinner. This is a great feature. The kitchen had full sized Black Whirlpool appliances including refrigerator, microwave, stove, range, 4x toaster, dishwasher and a ton of accessories. The cabinets were themed wood and had granite countertops.
There is a long hallway to the two other bedrooms and two other bathrooms and even had a separate entrance way that we never used. I am not sure why this is needed as this unit is not a lock-off and is really wasted space that could have been added to the bathrooms. The first bathroom was a standard size with a tub/shower combo and a single sink.
Both bedrooms were similar in size and had 2x Queen sized beds, desk area, and great African theme. The other bathroom was larger and had a separate shower and separate tub area and the commode had a door attached for privacy. There is another large closet at the end of the hallway.
A cool feature that is hard to describe is how large the three half circle balconies really are. You can easily fit 10 people on each balcony for a party. The balcony to the right was located directly over the hot tub spa area near the Uzima Springs Pool Bar and also had a view of the flamingo animal area. The flamingos are not on the AKL map and must have been in mating season as they were quite noisy the entire time we were there and prevented the guests from sleeping with the windows open as it was a nice cool breeze the weekend we were there. The middle balcony had a large table and 4 chairs where anyone could enjoy a nice breakfast while watching the sun rise. The master bedroom balcony had the best view of the Uzima Savanna and we saw lots of animals, but is not nearly as good as the GV located at the ends of the hallway that provide a view into the Arusha Savanna.
The themeing of the GV and the entire AKL were incredible and clearly the best of any DVC I have seen. This of course, is my opinion, but this place is unbelievably beautiful. The carpet, paint colors, pictures on the walls, light fixtures, bedspreads, etc. were superb.
Although the GV was fantastic, in all fairness, there were a few tiny issues that could be improved. I think this specific GV was a handicapped access room as the master bathroom shower had a fold down chair, elevated shower curtain (vs a nice glass enclosure in the guest bathroom) and a terrible shower hear. In fact, we ended up taking our showers in the front entrance way guest bathroom as the shower was MUCH nicer than the master bedroom. This did not make my wife happy.
The GV in the Jumbo House is clearly a converted hotel room vs a specific DVC built GV that I think will be MUCH nicer in the new DVC ALK Kidani Village buildings and I would request staying in the Kidani Village if you want a GV in the future. I also think GV guests should get access to the 6th floor concierge floor as I tried to pay extra for this service and the front desk refused. Come on, we are staying in the most expensive and largest room on the AKL and we cant get access to the concierge?
The view from room 5483 was sub-par at best and was probably the worst view of all the GV locations. The view of the Uzima Savanna was only seen from the side of the master bedroom balcony and the two other balconies had a nice view of the hot tubs and lots of people standing at the Savanna overlook below. At first we thought it was a restaurant downstairs, but was only an area for hotel (and non-hotel) guests to view a few animals.
The rack rate for this room was about $2,000 per night and it only cost me 99 points per night. Thus, I felt I received great value from my DVC membership as I never would have spent that much cash on a GV. I can say for sure, our family can easily get used to staying in Grand Villas from here on out, but I will reserve these visits for special occasions.
Here is a link to some photos I took on the last day when we were checking out. It was a little messy and should have taken some photos when we arrived, but the kids were so excited and we had two carts of luggage that was unpacked.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steamboatbill/