Animal Kingdom Villas

The DVC Open House Tour now includes models of the new room decor and furnishings for Disney's latest DVC Property and sales have began. Starting in July, DVC will take over the entire 5th and 6th floor of the main lodge building eliminating all the existing deluxe rooms, and many of the suites. Lodge Concierge Guest will stay on the 4th floor but will have access to the Concierge Lounge which will remain on the 5th floor. The Animal Kingdom Villas will open in the current lodge building (Jumbo House) in phases with the first phase opening in July 2007, followed by September 2007, December 2007, May 2008, and the new building (Kidani Village) is scheduled to be complete by the end of April 2009.

Jumbo House will offer Studios, 1 Bedroom Villas, and 2 Bedroom Villas, with select rooms including Concierge Services. Non-Concierge Villas will be considered Value Villas as the rooms sizes will be somewhat smaller then comparable rooms in the new Kidani Village. In early 2009, the new Kidani Village will bring an interactive water play area and feature pool, another full-service restaurant, and an additional savannah with some new animals not currently seen at the Lodge.

Kidani Villas Studios feature one queen bed and one full-sized sleeper sofa, flat panel TV, DVD player, a kitchenette, and will be 366 sq ft sleeping 4 guests.

The Kidani 1 Bedroom Villas feature a master bedroom with a King-sized bed and whirlpool tub, a living room with a queen-size sleeper sofa and pull-out sleeper chair, flat panel TV, DVD player, full kitchen, washer/dryer, and will be 807 sq ft. sleeping 5 guests.

The Kidani 2 Bedroom Villas feature all the same amenities as a 1 bedroom plus either one queen bed and full-size sleeper sofa (lock-off with studio) or two queen-size beds (dedicated 2 bedroom villa) in a separate bedroom with a private bathroom. These accommodations will be 1173 sq ft. and will sleep 9 guests.

The Kidani 3 Bedroom Grand Villas feature a master bedroom with a King-sized bed and whirlpool tub, a living room with a queen-size sleeper sofa flat panel TV, DVD player, dinning room, full kitchen, washer/dryer, and 2 two second floor bedrooms each featuring 2 queen-sized beds and a private bathroom. These grand villas will be 2201 sq ft and will sleep 12 guests.

Pricing for Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas DVC Membership starts as $16,640.00 plus annual dues.

As always, this information is subject to change, and you should check with Disney Vacation Club to confirm any details.

 

I was going to post my real response to this, but I don't want Sean and 'Minnie' to get in trouble if there are any Disney Corp. folks lurking. ; So I'll just say this:

While this is great news from a DVC perspective, I wonder if it's in any way non-sucky from the perspective of regular visitors who want a truly deluxe resort experience and great views of savannah animals from their rooms.

 

Alrighty... I've been told I can go ahead and post what I originally thought might be a bit risky, so here goes:

While this is great news from a DVC perspective... it seriously sucks from the perspective of regular visitors who cannot justify the expense on a time-share with an expiry date. ; The 5th and 6th floors were the rooms with the outstanding views of the main (and best) savannah. ; We stayed in a concierge room on the 5th floor when we were there in '06... we got some outstanding pics, but if we had been any lower, there would have been visibility issues due to the height of the trees on the savannah.

I have to say, at the rate things are going, we may not even stay at a Disney Hotel next time we go. ; We honeymooned in a tower club room at the Contemporary in '03... loved it, but by the time we were going again in '06, it was out of our price range. ; We stayed at AKL (again, Concierge level, because we like the features of it) in '06 and ADORED it... but now we can't repeat the experience. ; We stayed at Wilderness Lodge (again, concierge level) in '07 and NEVER have to do that again (it's a long story that I won't go into right now... suffice it to say on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being what we expect from a resort in a 'deluxe' category, putting it at a 3 would be VERY generous). ; Personally, I can't see paying deluxe resort prices for a non-deluxe resort experience.... so if the svannah views are hit-and-miss due to sight line issues (and below the 5th floor, they would be, based on our 5th floor experience), we'll take our money elsewhere. *grumble*

While I recognize that DVC is a great idea, Disney have to recognize that it's not for everyone and I'm not sure it's the best idea to promote and expand it such that it effectively bars regular visitors from having a true deluxe resort experience on-site.

 

Hmmm... ; how do you really feel???????? ; ???

Seriously, I am in compete agreement! ;

 

Heh... yeah, I'm not one to pull my punches when I'm displeased *laugh* ; When I have what I feel are reasonable expectations that aren't met, I tend to be very vocal about it

 

Apparently non-DVC members CAN 'rent' a DVC suite... but the rates aren't great, and priority is, for obvious reasons, given to members.

At least, I think that's what the guy who did our open house tour was saying... he kept talking about 'rental rates' vs. membership rates... it was all a tad confusing. ; Still, the free ice-cream and $100 Disney gift certificate was nice *laugh*