With our week long safari in the elusive 2-Bedroom Lock-Off Villa – Value Accommodation at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House secured, we can take a deeper look at this rare breed and the amenities it offers. If this all sounds a bit strange and new, make sure you caught ‘The Elusive 2-Bedroom Value: Part 1’ where I previously discussed availability, size, and vacation point cost for this limited room category!
My first initial impression when walking into this room was that there was no sense or feeling of ‘value’ level accomodations with what was in front of me. The room was spacious and screamed the luxury expected from Disney’s deluxe resorts and DVC accommodations.
In walking into the 1-bedroom side of the lockoff, you first encounter the kitchen with a beautiful island and sleek black appliances. I was quickly drawn to the cute Lion King themed tiles along the kitchen backsplash that are a great touch and represent a theme that is carried through the entire villa.
Heading into the living room, you begin to really feel the theme of both the room and resort with ornate plates and pictures hanging on the walls of the room. The couch pictured opens into a queen sized bed that my wife and I shared for the week. The experience reminded me of something out of our college dorm room days. While I personally could sleep on a rock and be happy, Amy noted the bed to be slightly uncomfortable. Also in the living room, is the most noticeable difference between the 2-bedroom value and its standard counterpart which is the lounge chair. In a standard 2-bedroom, this chair would also pull out into a bed allowing the room to sleep an extra person.
I found the bedroom very nice with a large amount of space available for clothes storage, as well as a beautiful headboard that I would have taken with me had it fit in my checked luggage.
Finally, the bathroom was the star of the show for Amy and I with a huge double vanity and large jacuzzi tub with painted tile that continued the Lion King theming.
Heading over into the studio side of the lock-off, this room felt and looked very familiar to most studios across the resort. While it didn’t have the same length of hallway space as regular studios, the room had the same furniture including a pull-out couch bed for additional sleeping space and offered an additional bathroom which is a must for larger families. Having stayed in the regular Animal Kingdom deluxe studios before, I did notice the bathroom to be laid out different. The double sinks are outside the bathroom in the value. Therefore, the overall bathroom space was much smaller than usual with just a tub and toilet. There was also a small kitchenette with mini-fridge.
The view from the 2-Bedroom Values are hit or miss with no options available when booking. Essentially, 4 of these villas provide savanna views, 4 provide pool views, and 2 have a wonderful view of the parking lot. We were satisfied with our roof/pool view and spent many mornings and evenings taking in the sights and sounds from the comfort of our balcony.
In attempting to find some faults with the room I found it difficult to note any large negatives but did want to point out a few thoughts that came to mind during our stay:
- While the room was exceptionally clean according to my standards,(and I did do some ceremonial Pete finger swipes in the hard to reach areas) I found the furniture items getting near the end of their use life. This is difficult to notice at first since most of the furniture is made to look aged, however many scratches and worn spots were noticed upon further inspection.
- The bathroom layout in the 1-bedroom makes me scratch my head. Heading to the restroom? You would first need to walk by whomever is taking a bath or shower to get to the toilet. I assume many utilizing these accommodations are related, but a couple seconds more of thought when designing this space would have allowed for better privacy.
- The balcony areas between the one-bedroom and studio are divided by a partition. This makes sense since the rooms could be booked individually, however since a locked door is used to separate the two rooms, the same should be considered for the balcony. We ended up moving all the balcony chairs to the one-bedroom side for our stay so that no one had to feel like they were in timeout over on the other side of the partition.
Overall, both myself, Amy, and our parents, fully enjoyed our week long safari in both this room and at Animal Kingdom Lodge. As I mentioned in Part 1, it is incredibly hard to complain about this room when you factor in the amenities that are included for such a low point cost. If you are up for the challenge I would highly recommend trying to snag one of these rare opportunities on your next trip ‘home’.
