A. Boardwalk
5 single-story (one HA) and two 2-story GVs. All are decent but single stories are much better than the 2-stories. All are in the same location with one of the best views on site, over the boardwalk above the general store, looking out over the lake with the big golf ball at Epcot in the distance. Recommend requesting single-story if you reserve, I consider it one of the best on site. The single-story has a significantly larger combined living room, dining area and kitchen (all open and together in one large room) than the 2-story. It also has a large laundry room near the master bedroom, and the other two bedrooms are at the other end of the unit.
The 2-story is decent but has one serious downside -- there is no laundry room; instead there is a washer/dryer in a small closet at the very end of the upstairs hallway right next to a bedroom where kids will usually be, thus making it impossible to use at night because the w/d is loud and keeps anyone in that bedroom awake. Moreover, the ones who most often do the laundry are those staying in the master bedroom and thus they have to go upstairs to use the w/d and there is no place at the end of the hallway to put anything, like your laundry basket, without blocking the doorway to the bedroom.
As one of the earlier resorts, point cost is reasonable, being signifcantly less than GVs at other near park resorts (Riviera, BLT, VGF and CCV). The BWV GVs are very often unavailable at 7-months out and in fall can, at times, disappear very quickly at 11-months out.
B. AKV
Jambo has 6-single story savanna view GVs, and Kidani 14 savanna view and 2 standard view, all of which are two-story GVs. Jambo is most often not available at 7-months out. Kidani savanna view and even standard are often available at 7-months out except during the high demand fall season.
Point cost is a virtual bargain, more than OKW (the lowest cost GV) , but on the savanna view level close to same price as SSR preferred GVs and less than BWV and the others. Moreover, its two standard view GVs are at a point cost that is just above SSR standard view and those two Kidani standard views are apparently a well-kept secret since they are often open at 7-months out, the rooms are fantastic, and they have Pembe Savanna view.
I consider both the Jambo single-stories and Kidani 2-stories to be among the best, in the same class as BWV single stories. The Jambo GV, for which the best request is Sunset savanna view, though there are no bad views, is huge, has its own separate pool table room, an almost hedonistic master bathroom with a whirlpool tub from which you can watch a TV, and much larger balconies than any other GVs -- semi-circular with a roof. The Kidani GVs have an excellent and practicable design: a large living room, dining room and kitchen area, the living room's ceiling is the second floor ceiling and has almost floor to ceiling viewing windows/doors. Numerous balconies. The fourth bathroom and laundry room are right after you enter the unit, the second floor bedrooms are at the opposite ends of the hallway , each with a bathroom, and then at the top of the stairway there is an alcove with a pull-out queen couch, table, dresser and TV, an excellent addition when you have those who do not necessarily want to double up with others in a bedroom.
Nevertheless, you have one serious risk with the Kidani GVs. A number of the savanna view GVs are the end of the two wings (north and south). Nothing wrong with those rooms or views. And the standards are also not significantly far from the end of the north wing. But the risk is distance. Kidani, from one end to the other, is about 2/3 of a mile long, one of the longest single hotel buildings in the world (and I mean on earth not just WDW). The walk from an end room on the north wing to the bus station on the south wing can easily take 12 to 15 minutes with kids in tow. Not much less to the lobby. If you have a car, parking is excellent in an under-building lot that runs almost throughout the building and with three elevators along each wing, you can usually park fairly close to your room no matter where it is. But the distance from end rooms to lobby is so long that many in that situation actually drive to the lobby when they need to get something at the store or go to the front desk. To avoid the distance you should request a room closer to the main activity parts of the resort, such as a room near the Rafiki elevator (closest to pool and not real far from lobby), or room near the Timon elevator (closest to bus station and not real far from lobby).
C. Others
Have not stayed in but have seen the inside of the BLT GVs (all two-story). Those are very impressive with the floor to ceiling viewing window/doors the living room providing fantastic views. The only downside I could tell with the BLT rooms was merely their higher than BWV and AKV point cost. I have stayed a couple nights in an SSR GV (all two-stories) that was actually reserved by someone else. The room was decent but had three downsides -- only one balcony, which is off the dining room area, the w/d is upstairs, and the downstairs design separates the living room from the kitchen and dining area by a wall, taking away that great room feeling you can get in others. Have also been in a OKW GV although not as the one staying there. Those are nice but one of the upstairs bedrooms has only two full-size rather than queen-size beds, there are no upstairs balconies, and at almost all the buildings you have to walk up a flight of stairs to get to them. Nevertheless, any downsides are easily overlooked for getting what is otherwise a huge, very good room for less than the price of a 2BR at VGF or Riviera.
