AKL villas - Kidani or Jambo??

[TxDisFans]

We're throwing together an April '10 trip. My husband wants to try a 1-br villa at AKL - we're seeing Kidani and Jambo available. (previous stay was at GF, never been to AKL before).

Which should we go for?? Is the construction at Kidani all finished? How is the long walk to Jambo from there? Villa comparison? Pool info? Bus problems? I'm concerned about the long bus trips from AKL in the first place, wondering if staying at Kidani makes it better or worse...

Any info at all on Kidani or Jambo villas would be super! Or suggestions of other threads to check out. Thanks in advance!!!

[vicki_c]

I would ask your question on the DVC Planning or Mousecellaneous boards as well.

[Reddog1134]

I haven't stayed at either location but I am a new DVC owner at AKV so i've done a lot of research. So none of this is firsthand info.

Jambo house has a very impressive lobby (not that it affects your stay but some people are swayed by that).

Kidani has a smaller lobby

Jambo has 2 table service and 1 counter service restaurants.

Kidani has 1 counter service restaurant.

Jambo has a larger pool.

Kidani has a nice water play area for kids near their pool.

Kidani rooms are slightly larger and 1 and 2br have an extra bathroom.

If you stay at Kidani, you're only making one extra stop (Jambo) if you ride the bus. People seem to differ on their opinions of the walk between the two buildings. Some say its a nice short walk. Some say it's a long walk through parking lots.

[kmk1180]

Last I heard you can swim at both pools because it's considered 1 resort.
So I would choose Jambo since it's better location and more features.
Then hop on the bus and check out the pool.

Get the best of both worlds.

At least that's what we're planning.

[MaleficentFan]

Originally Posted by Reddog1134

Kidani has 1 counter service restaurant.

Just to clarify... Sanaa (the restuarant in Kidani) is actually a table servcie restaurant. You can order a limited menu at the pool bar.

[Reddog1134]

Originally Posted by MaleficentFan

Just to clarify... Sanaa (the restuarant in Kidani) is actually a table servcie restaurant. You can order a limited menu at the pool bar.

Typo on my part. Thanks for the catch.

[DebbieB]

I stayed at Kidani in June. One issue with the busses - the park busses stop at Kidani first. We took the bus to MK or Epcot before opening time, both times some people were left at Jambo, the bus was full. That was even before Kidani was fully opened. If you have a car, Kidani is nice with the parking on the first level, there are elevators straight up to the guest floors, no need to go through the lobby.

[pilferk]

We've done both and, honestly, it's hard to choose.

At Kidani: We LOVED the new pool and water play area. We liked that the bus stopped at our resort, first, on the way to the parks. We really enjoyed the "closer to the ground" views from our room (DVC only has the 5th floor at Jambo). We liked the new savannah (my daughter wanted to adopt the red river pigs), the staff was GREAT, and liked a LOT of the offerings (the game room/clubhouse, the "library" area) that are unique to Kidani. In addition, the larger rooms were REALLY great and Saana was STELLAR. Really, our only complaint was the lack of a CS close by (and I hear they may be remedying that a bit with increased pool bar offerings?).

At Jambo, we LOVE the lobby, the resort layout and the atmosphere. You feel a little "closer to the action" because you have the Mara, Boma's and Jiko's right there. It's much more "bustling", while Kidani feels a little more intimate.

I think, for our family of 5, we'll probably stick with Kidani for a awhile. We learned a lot of the ins and outs while there and felt just as at home as we do at Jambo.

[TxDisFans]

Thanks, everyone! We're booked at Jambo now but I think I'll call tomorrow and try to switch to Kidani.... it's a tough call, but I think that's better for us all around.

Still nervous about the bus issue... we've always stayed at an MK resort with monorail! Any helpful/reassuring thoughts???

[Nagle]

Originally Posted by Reddog1134

I haven't stayed at either location but I am a new DVC owner at AKV so i've done a lot of research. So none of this is firsthand info.

Jambo house has a very impressive lobby (not that it affects your stay but some people are swayed by that).

Kidani has a smaller lobby

Jambo has 2 table service and 1 counter service restaurants.

Kidani has 1 counter service restaurant.

Jambo has a larger pool.

Kidani has a nice water play area for kids near their pool.

Kidani rooms are slightly larger and 1 and 2br have an extra bathroom.

If you stay at Kidani, you're only making one extra stop (Jambo) if you ride the bus. People seem to differ on their opinions of the walk between the two buildings. Some say its a nice short walk. Some say it's a long walk through parking lots.

We have stayed at both now through DVC ownership. I have to admit to being underwhelmed by the lobby at Kidani after having stayed at Jambo, however the 2 bedroom at Kidani was fantastic. Huge!

I got over the indifference to the lobby and thoroughly enjoyed the stay at Kidani.

We found the walk from lobby to lobby just over 5 minutes.

[Chelley00]

Originally Posted by TxDisFans

Still nervous about the bus issue... we've always stayed at an MK resort with monorail! Any helpful/reassuring thoughts???

We just stayed at Jambo last week. I know it's a slower time, but we never waited longer than 10 minutes for a bus, at anytime of the day. It stops at Kidani first, but it wasn't really full when they got to us, and the one time it did fill up (our last day leading into Thanksgiving week) another bus was there within 5 minutes or so. I had rented a car, but DD wanted to try the busses, and it was a waste of money for the car as we never had a problem.

We LOVED Jambo. It was quiet, but we were it wasnt' very far to the restaurants, lobby, bus stop etc.