Animal Kingdom Villas Review

JMarsden92 January 4, 2012
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We just returned from Disney World today.  We drove down the day after Christmas, and left Florida on the 3rd.  While we were there we stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Our room was located in Jambo House.  This is the original hotel location that got several floors upgraded for DVC member accommodations.  We stayed there once previously, but it was not in a DVC accommodation because they weren’t fully finished as of yet.

As we entered the building we were teased with the smells of African food from one of the restaurants.  Being that we were situated with our food we did not have a chance to dine in the restaurants this trip.  We have heard that the restaurants are good.

Staying in the Jambo House we have found that the rooms have great views.  The layout of the 1 bedroom is slightly different than we are used to in comparison to Old Key West.  There is no FULL size jacuzzi tub.  There is a couch bed, and a chair bed in addition to the master bed.  In general the room felt slightly smaller than the Old Key West rooms.  We were in a Savannah view room.  Stepping out your porch door and seeing giraffe, and more just seems to make it so much more worth it.

The downside to Jambo House is that there is very few smoking areas.  You either need to go the the front of the building, or to the pool area.  This has a lot to do with animal safety.  The room had carpeting, and the kitchen, and bath were tiled.  The one thing that we would really find to be a nice change would be for the rooms to have wood flooring like the alloc original laminate that we have seen in some other timeshares.  The buses seemed to take forever.  I am sure that this had a lot to do with the holidays.

The lodge had their Christmas tree up still when we got there.  Towards the end of our stay we noticed some of the decorations being removed.  Overall the lodge is very nice looking, and the accomodations are acceptable.

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Disney’s Hilton Head Review

JMarsden92 May 22, 2011
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During our last trip home from Florida after our cruise on the Disney Dream we stopped in Hilton Head for one night.  We tried to get a reservation for more than 1 night, but it was not possible.  We stayed at Disney’s Hilton Head Resort.  When you come into the area where Hilton Head is you will find it nestled behind a few other resorts.  You pull up to an unmanned gate, and get greeted by a voice.  Check in is at the building immediately in front of you.  Upon walking up the steps to the building you will find a dog house with a Disney name tag on it.

After we checked in we took a walk around the property while we waited for our room to come ready.  We found the walk through the resort to be very short.  Even though there looks to be a lot of room on the proerty the property is actually very small, but everything is well placed to not waste any area.  We got into our room.  It was on the 3rd floor.  Our room had a balcony that was quite private.

Later we went to the swimming pool area so that our little one could do some crafts, and we could get something to eat.  We took a walk on the fishing pier to see what could be spotted.  We noticed a large amount of fiddler crabs.  After this we took a break in the jacuzzi.  This seemed to help my sun poisoning a bit.

One of the last things we got to do while at the resort was that we went over to the beach club for Disney guests.  There is a private pool at the club, and a path that leads down to the beach.  To enter the club, or get off the beach you need a resort keycard.  Later that night before we left we took one more stroll around the property and saw the campfire that they have.

Hilton Head is a very quiet resort.  The employees are very nice.  I had figured that the employees would be a bit more laid back in comparison to the Disney World resorts, but all of the employees have full uniforms, even the housekeeping that I would have figured would have been wearing something like Dickies scrubs.

We will definitelly try to stay at the Hilton Head resort again.  We would have enjoyed it more if it was for more than 1 night.

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Disney DVC – Vero Beach – Review

JMarsden92 February 3, 2009
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Here is some information about the Disney DVC Resort Vero Beach.

verobeachresort

While I am a Disney lunatic, I am also a person that likes a good resort.  My family stayed at the Vero Beach resort last year prior to sailing on the 7 Night Disney Cruise.  The resort itself is very well kept, and “Slightly” Disney themed.  The rooms are designed in the “hotel” configuration that I refer to quite often.  While there are no characters to the best of my knowledge, the resort is mainly for the getaway vacation in my opinion.

When you leave the Vero Beach gates you enter into “Real World.”  We went out to get food, and find other activities, as in my impressions, there wasn’t much to do.  The drive to most places outside of the resort isn’t a short one either.
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Disney DVC – Boardwalk – Review

JMarsden92 December 11, 2008
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Here is some information about the Disney DVC Resort Boardwalk.

This is one of those resorts that I refered to earlier in the series as a “Hotel Type.” The rooms are stacked, and the parking lot is far from the rooms. The hotel itself is very nicely laid out. When you walk into a hotel you go through a lobby, and then down long corridors to your room. This pretty much follows through with The Boardwalk.

The pool is themed around a old style amusement park.  Children, and adults of all ages seem to like the pool very much.  There is a “Boardwalk” that has activities, and shops.  There are boat launches to talk guests to Epcot.  The Boardwalk also has buses that transport guests throughout the property.  There is also a boat rental location that you can rent mini boats, full size pontoons, and water bikes.

Holidays in Disney are mind blowing.  During the Christmas holiday at there is a magnificent display of Gingerbread scenes throughout the main lobby.  Majority of the resorts have some sort of Gingerbread display on hand.  On Easter children from the resort gather on the rear lawn, and get to gather candy, make cookies, greet the characters, and much more.

Below you will find the Floorplans to the Boardwalk.

Boardwalk Studio Floorplan

  Boardwalk 1 Bedroom Floorplan

 Boardwalk 2 Bedroom Floorplan

 Boardwalk Grand Villa Floorplan

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Disney DVC – Animal Kingdom Villas – Review

JMarsden92 December 10, 2008
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Here is some information about the Disney DVC Resort Old Key West.

Animal Kingdom Villas is amongst the newest of the resorts on the DVC list. This resort is also amongst the “Hotel Type.” While the actual DVC rooms are not completed, Disney has refurbished some of the original rooms to be similar to what the DVC rooms are expected to be. Reservations for the resort are supposed to start for April occupancy.

The best feature I found with this resort is that you can walk onto your balcony, and see Live animals. (If you have a Savanah view) Waking up in the morning to watch animals from your window is by far one of the most amazing things that a person can do, in my impression.

The resort is themed around the African lifestyle. The pool is of good size, and enjoyable for children. There is a slide at this pool. Transportation by the Disney buses is great. The bus stop is a little off of the range of closeness to the resort entrance. There is a restaurant at the resort that serves up authentic foods for the theme.

Below you will find the floorplans to the Animal Kingdom Villas.

This is a rendering of the proposed Animal Kingdom Villas DVC building.

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