Deep in the heart of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House is a rare and majestic being known as the 2-Bedroom Lock-Off Villa – Value Accommodation. For many, its existence is unknown with rare sightings even with 11 months of planning. Luckily, however, I was able to stumble across this scarce wonder during a most recent Disney Vacation Club trip and have made it back alive and excited to share my observations.
Exclusive to Jambo House, this room category is a highly sought after value for many owners of Animal Kingdom Villas. I specify Animal Kingdom owners only to draw more attention to the limited and rare availability of this room option. Even as of 9:00am this morning when writing this, their was no immediate 11-month availability for the 2-Bedroom Value, likely due to some extremely lucky members who were online quicker than me or individuals electing to walk their reservation.
The true “value” of this 2-bedroom exists in both the rooms size, as well as its per night point cost.
Compared with similar rooms of its size, this specific value accommodation is approximately 100 square feet smaller than similar 2-bedrooms across property coming in at 945sq. ft. as compared to a standard two-bedrooms 1075sq. ft. This is visualized by a reduction in the rooms depth by approximately three feet. This is likely due to these being the product of previous Jambo House hotel rooms that were reimagined as DVC villas. As a result, the room sleeps 8 rather than the standard 9, with 1 king-size bed, 1 queen-size bed, 1 double-size sleeper sofa, and 1 queen-size sleeper sofa. Although I am sure this difference could be noticed to those who have stayed in the comparable standard 2-bedroom villas, I hardly noticed and at no time missed this lost space.
For a 2-bedroom, this room classification is also a steal when it comes to vacation point cost. In the more costly Magic Season, which includes most of the Summer as well as Thanksgiving, this value comes in at 227 vacation points per week. Want that extra three feet of missed space and a sleeper chair that comes with a standard 2-bedroom at Jambo House? That will cost you an extra 60 vacation points. Still not convinced? A standard 1-bedroom villa in Jambo House during this identical period will cost 1-point more at 228 vacation points for even less square footage!
All of these reasons validate why setting eyes on this amazing deal is so rare. While they have survived extinction thus far, I would be surprised if they outlast another refurbishment cycle since Disney always makes sure to poach out anything this beautiful. Stay tuned for part two of this expedition where I share thoughts on my week with the elusive 2-bedroom value!
Not commenting as a DVC owner – but for many years, simply as regular resort guests – we have stayed at the huge 2 bed-roomed lock offs at Old Key West resort which slept 9 people. For the last two years however, they are never available and no longer seem to exist. I thought at first that maybe it was simply because the owners were using them – but more recently I am believing that Disney are only renting them out to hotel guests as separate units (that is, a one bed-roomed unit and a studio). I suppose it would be possible to book both as two separate units (but together) creating a large 2 bed-roomed unit – but the cost is horrific. (Well there’s my own answer I guess!), I have been unable to find out anything anywhere on the internet – not even from other visitors. So I found your post extremely interesting!
Hey Julie! That is actually the same case with these rooms. They can be individually reserved as value studios and 1-bedrooms which can significantly decreased the the 2-bedroom availability even further. Thanks for the comment!
Do you know if any other DVC resorts charge less for the lock-off? I know OKW has lock-offs, but wasn’t sure if there is a difference in points or square footage.
Hey Shawn – It looks like across DVC properties outside of this Value accommodation there is no price difference for the lock-off. I took a peek at a week next may at OKW and both the lock-off and standard 2 bedrooms both cost the same number of points.