Reviews of Animal Kingdom Lodge JAMBO House (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by Snooganz Review Date: 12/08/2020
Rating: (8) Recommended
Amazing resort! Love it here!
Pros:
Atmosphere, Savana view rooms, Amazing foods!Cons:
If you cant get a savannah side room 🙁Reviewed by tiggeress Review Date: 03/22/2019
Rating: (8) Recommended
We stayed here for two nights celebrating my husband's bday. I did mobile check-in, and received our room notification at 1:00, so we were able to go directly to our room, bypassing the front desk. The lobby is espansive and beautiful, but is so dark! No matter what time of day you were in there, it seemed to be nighttime. Our poolview room was perfect, with a fabulous view of the pool, and right by the middle elevator. The room was very quiet and comfortable. The only bad thing about the room was again, the lighting. It wasn't so bad in the main room, but was totally inadequate in the bathroom vanity area. It was so hard to put on makeup with the low lighting and the high vanity keeping me away from the mirror. They definitely need to add a lighted makeup mirror. While we did enjoy our stay, it says here on allears that the pool is open until midnight, but this is not true. The pool hours are from 10:00am to 8:00pm, which I believe is too late to open, and too early to close. The hours are so much shorter that other resorts. The hot tubs are open until midnight,but had very bright, harsh lighting, not making for the romantic evening I had anticipated.The lights did not seem to be the reason for the short pool hours, since all lights were kept on all night, even the large spotlights, with one shining directly onto our balcony. The pool itself, when open, was really great, with good drink/food service at your seat. One highlight of the trip was the service at the valet. They were fantastic, very personable and informative, and super prompt.
Pros:
Beautiful,good price for a deluxe,valetCons:
Pool hours, lighting in bathroom, lobby, pool, and hot tubs.Reviewed by jessgallam Review Date: 09/27/2018
Rating: (8) Recommended
Absolutely stunning resort! Make sure to splurge a little and get a room with at least some savanna view you won’t be disappointed. Loved waking up every morning going on the balcony and seeing what animals were waiting. Also has plenty of dining options
My one complaint about this resort is it’s far from everything (except AK) no other transportation options besides buses. Only reason for the 8 rating.
Pros:
Animals!Cons:
Far from almost everything. Buses can be slow and packedReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 09/26/2018
Rating: (8) Recommended
We recently stayed at AKL and the hotel is wonderful. The only reason I don't give it a 10 is of its enormous size! The staff is friendly however, NO ONE told us that you can get to the pool or lobby area via different elevators and/or hallways. 4 days into the trip my daughter and I were exploring and found a elevator took it and bam we came out right by the pool!!! If I knew this earlier in the trip I would have been so happy. The lobby/buses and pool area are totally different parts of the hotel. There are hallways and elevators everywhere and they all lead to different spots. So point is take a few minutes on your arrival day and map it all out you may find closer ways to get to the area you want!
Pros:
Awesome hotel and friendly staffCons:
Big so a lot of walkingReviewed by senseicj Review Date: 08/17/2017
Rating: (8) Recommended
This is an amazing hotel. The restaurants including the counter service are delicious and can accommodate any palate. The views of the animals are amazing and I love the story time around the fire pit. Last time we were there a cast member gave my son a shark tooth which he has since put on a necklace and will remember that forever.
Pros:
The views and amenities are incredibleCons:
too far from the rest of WDWReviewed by allec999 Review Date: 07/07/2017
Rating: (8) Recommended
Stayed here for a couple nights in late June, in a studio with a Savannah view. At first, I was not at all pleased when I looked out the balcony to a view of another building maybe 100 feet away. Not exactly the view of animals I was hoping for. I was proven wrong the next morning, by a giraffe, a zebra, and a few other animals lounging around directly below our room. Great resort overall.
Pros:
ViewCons:
NoneReviewed by clayalex02 Review Date: 10/20/2016
Rating: (8) Recommended
Our stay did not start out to well. We had a not so great cast member checking us in. We had two rooms that I had cross referenced requesting that they be adjacent or adjoining. I realize that the cast member was not in charge of the room blocks but the way she handled it was not in the typical Disney style. We eventually got two adjoining rooms at the very end of the hotel, an extremely long walk each day especially for our 75 yr old mother. While it was a savannah view it was not a great one. Animals were only there during the early morning hours and when they were taken to the barn. The rooms were lovely, smaller than the contemporary but fine for us. We did enjoy the pool and the food court. The buses were inconsistent one day running smoothly the next we waited and waited. Our mugs were stolen at the pool one day and the cast member in Mara replaced them with no issues. We did enjoy our stay but would not rate this as a must return.
Pros:
beautiful surroundingsCons:
check inReviewed by Nicklissa Review Date: 12/28/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
Our family of four (husband and my in-laws) stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House on DVC points in a 2-bedroom lock-off with a savannah view December 22-27, 2013. The lobby never fails to amaze us, as we have seen it on numerous visits to the on-site restaurants. Our home resort is AKL Kidani and this was our first time staying at Jambo House. The theming is magnificent, the savannah quite beautiful, and the feeling of the Disney magic is definitely there. Check in was easy and cast members were very nice.
We stayed on the 5th floor (I believe all DVC units are on the 5th floor). We had a 2-bedroom lock off and both rooms had a musty/old smell. The larger 1-bedroom was hot all of the time - the a/c was not working well and the occupancy sensor was deformed, as if someone broke it. The fridge was also beat up - large, and I mean LARGE dents in the fridge were not exactly Disney-level. The small "island" in the kitchen had damaged legs, was uneven, and wobbled. The dining room table legs were also damaged and was wobbly. Some of the chairs were damaged and were also uneven.
The worst part was the studio lock-off. My husband and I shared this space. The couch had a VERY LARGE and VERY WET stain on one cushion - we were afraid to use the couch at all and put the bedspread on it and avoided both the entire week.
The 1-bedroom kitchen/dining/and living room were very small - VERY SMALL - especially compared to our stays at Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge Villas, Boardwalk, Kidani, Saratoga Springs, Hilton Head, etc. etc. We were always bumping into each other. The main bedroom was fine, the bathroom a good size. The studio lock-off adjoining the main 1-bedroom was also small. The bathroom was ridiculously small - barely enough room to turn around in to shut the door. We found it claustrophobic. TV's in both rooms were nice - a fair size and they pulled out from the hutch and were able to be turned. Ceiling fans appeared old, and were very, very noisy.
We enjoyed the savannah view, which made up for a lot. However, with the very obvious dents/damage and size - and the large amount of points required for a Christmas Week stay (not to mention the price if one were to pay cash), it was disappointing. It needs updating, cleaning, and repairs.
The Mara quick service restaurant was nice - my husband and I are vegetarians and we were able to find items to eat without asking for special accommodation - a huge plus.
The resort itself, outside of the rooms, is beautiful and well maintained. Yes, we would go back - but only on points at the Kilimanjaro Club level. Otherwise, if staying in a regular 2-bedroom, we'll go to Kidani every time until updates are made.
Pros:
Savanna view; most cast members; on-site restaurants; theme/Disney magicCons:
aged accommodations; some cast membersReviewed by Disney6Pack Review Date: 02/28/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
Stayed four nights in a standard view studio 2/9 – 2/13 on rented vacation club points. My group was me, DD15, DD13, and DD10. This was a surprise vacation for my DD13’s 14th birthday since they were off from school for Mardi Gras break. Drove overnight and arrived early at 8am. Had done online check-in 10 days prior with no special requests (other than noting the birthday) because I wasn’t familiar with the layout of this resort. When I checked in, they said no rooms were ready that early. I asked to see a layout of the resort and an explanation of where the studios were located. I wanted easy access to bus, food, and pool. They said they could give me a room facing the pool on the main lobby on the 5th floor and they would text me the room number when it was ready. Never received text message with room assignment, and I’ve always received the text during other stays on Disney property. CM did give me a Birthday button for my daughter. Since we drove, we left all our stuff in the van, changed clothes in the locker room by the pool, then headed to Universal Studios for the day. I know, how could I do that… well Universal was having a Mardi Gras parade and concert that evening and we wanted to enjoy that during this trip. Arrived back at the resort at around 10:30pm and had to go to front desk for room assignment and keys. Had the bell-hop bring our luggage up to room. He was very friendly; asking if we had any questions about the layout or amenities of the resort, and provided some useful information about pool and activities. He asked us where we were from (Louisiana – escaping the crazy Mardi Gras people) and said that over half of the resort was full with La people with the same idea. Didn’t realize that we were going to be there during the cheerleading competitions, so there were a lot of cheerleaders around the resort (the resort was “at capacity†according to the CM who checked us in). Didn’t have any issues with them at the hotel, but we encountered a lot of rude behavior by them at the parks.
Since this was a short trip, we didn't spend much time at the resort. Room was somewhat clean. Bedroom and bathroom appeared to be clean enough, but I did see some dust in bedroom. I dropped something in the sink area. When I retrieved it from the floor, I noticed that the floor under the sinks was extremely dirty (which was extremely gross to me). The lighting here is extremely dim. We would open the curtains if we were there during the daytime if we needed to be able to see anything. There was barely enough space and storage for four people for a four night stay, but if we would have had more clothes then we wouldn’t have had enough room. I tried the sofa sleeper and found it a bit uncomfortable myself, but DD15 and DD13 slept on it and said it was fine. I thought the bed was too soft (I’m used to a more firm mattress) so I woke every morning with a slight backache. The only tv we watched as maybe a few hours of the Disney channel, so I didn't really notice anything about the channel selection. TV reception seemed fine to me. Room stayed very cold and I had to turn up the temp in the mornings so that everyone would get out of bed. Had a laptop, smart phone, and ipod touch. Could not get the phone or ipod to connect to the wi-fi. Could not get the laptop to stay connected for more that 15 minutes at the time before it would drop (I did not have this many problems with connections at Saratoga Springs or The Art of Animation on our last visits there). We have verizon family plan with four phones and no trouble with reception in the room. Kids were able to text and talk with no issues. Even called the kids down by the pool without issue. Refrigerator and coffee pot work well, but did not use microwave, toaster, or hair dryer. The safe in these rooms are still the old ones with a key to lock and unlock – no problem with that. Our room was a lock-off that connected to the next room. Heard nothing from outside or from the adjoining room and did not hear any toilets or showers. I loved the location of our room (5406). Room door overlooked the lobby and balcony overlooked the pool. It was a short walk to the elevators and out the front door to the bus stop. Since we were staying on rented points, we did not have mousekeeping until day 3 of trip. Not an issue for us, but we did bring extra towels from the pool area because 4 females with a lot of hair need more that one towel each to make it through 3 days of showering. On the day that the room was serviced, they only took away all the dirty towels and replenished all supplies. Couldn’t tell if they vacuumed the floor, but they definitely didn’t make the beds or straighten anything in the room.
On the morning of my DD13's birthday, there was a voice message with all the Disney characters singing Happy Birthday to her. We all enjoyed that.
Ended up not going to any of the food areas so I have no comments on those areas. I liked the gift shop. There was a good selection of the standard Disney items that you see everywhere at Disney, but there was also a good selection of hotel themed and African inspired items. CMs in gift shop were very friendly. Pool and hot tub was very nice. We went there every evening and one time during the day. Only issue was this: the last night I let the kids go to the pool while I packed. My DD10 decided to wear her sneakers rather than her flip-flops (I have no idea why) and set them down in the hot tub area. They went back and forth between the pool and hot tub several times. When they were ready to come in for the night, they could not find her sneakers. I went down to look for them myself and went to the front desk to report them missing. Checked at the pool and front desk again the next morning before checking out, but they never showed up. I filled out a missing item report, but haven’t received anything yet. We lost an item years ago at Disney and it was eventually mailed to us, but nothing yet from this one and it’s been 2 weeks since we checked out. Really, who would take someone’s shoes from the pool area??? Luckily, they weren’t expensive or very nice sneakers.
Bus system was horrible this trip. Bus system seemed to run very slowly and there were long waits for buses every day. Because the resort was at capacity and the buses stopped at Kidani Village first, the buses were always full and we had to stand on every trip to a park. Only took bus once each to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. On the day going to MK, the bus was full and we had to wait another 40 minutes for another bus which was also standing room only. There was a CM at the bus stop talking to the bus system people about it, but it did not help. We drove to Animal Kingdom because it was our last day there. Checked out of hotel, went to AK for ½ a day, then drove home. Had no issues with buses returning to resort from any of the parks. We did not leave any of the parks at “closing†time though. The parking lot was huge and full and quite a distance from the main lobby. It was a long walk to the car whenever we did use it.
I love staying at Disney resorts and I would recommend this one to anyone, but Disney did not provide that extra magic this trip. I liked that everything was inside one building and not a long walk away (I did have a conveniently located room though). If it had rained and we had wanted to go to one of the dining rooms, then we would not have had to get out in the weather and get wet. I probably won't stay here again for a while because it's my goal to try all of the Disney resorts.
Pros:
BeautifulCons:
buses, location on Disney propertyReviewed by jking6 Review Date: 01/07/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
We just stayed there during the holidays. Friendly, nice pool area, beds ok, I have had more comfortable. I just thought it was too far away from all the parks except AK. If I was doing resort only, then I would go back. The savana was awesome we loved the animals.
