Animal Kingdom Kidani

[mickeys girl 52]

I have not stayed at Animal Kingdom Kidani in a while, and when I did it was a three bedroom standard Grand villa way at the end. It was beautiful but quite a walk.
I am renting a two-bedroom standard view for a friend and was wondering if anyone could help me with a what a good request for this room would be? I am Not sure what type views the 2 bedroom standard rooms have. Thank you in advance

 

[Simba's Mom]

Unfortunately, I don't have good luck with requesting at Kidani. I asked for "near lobby", yet I got the last "pod"-about 4 rooms from the very end of the resort. The CM at the front desk saw my disappointment at being so far out and reassured me that it had a great view that would make the walk worth it. Well, it didn't have a very good view either.

 

[han22735]

I hear requesting near a specific elevator works better than "near lobby" I know there's a Timon and a Rafiki elevator. Someone with a map could be more specific.

 

[DenLo]

I have never seen a map with the names of the elevators for AKV Kidani Village. That would be a good way to request a room.

 

[drusba]

See this Kidani map: http://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/Kindani_Village_Map.jpg. The front entrance to the lobby faces west and thus there is a north wing to the left on the map and a south wing to right, with the pool on the north wing and the bus stop on the south wing which runs toward Jambo. The two standard GVs, which are the only GVs that face Pembe savanna, are at the end of the 6th pod from the lobby on the north wing and the beginning of the 7th. You were right near the Pumba elevator which is in the same place as that red AED (defibrillator) sign between the 6th and 7th pods. The standard rooms are in: (a) the first four pods from the lobby on the south wing (the last three pods on the south wing have no rooms on the road side); (b) first three pods on the north wing; and (c) converted savanna rooms to standard in the 6th pod on the north wing from the lobby, and also believed to be in some part of the 4th pod on the north wing and possibly the 7th. If you want a converted room with a savanna view, you should likely request being near the standard GV's where you were before. If you want a short walk to the bus stop but have some real distance to the pool, you could request either close to community hall or close to the Timon elevator (which is in the same place as the AED sign between the 2d and 3rd pods on the south wing), both of which also give you a fairly easy walk to the lobby. If you want a short walk to the pool but have some distance to the bus stop, request pool view or close to the Rafiki elevator, which is in the same place as the AED sign between the 2d and 3rd pods from the lobby on the north wing (down that elevator to ground, parking lot, floor gives the shortest possible walk from the building to the pool). If you want the shortest walk to Jambo (although still more than 1/4 mile), but do not mind being far from the lobby and pool, request near the Zazu elavator which is in the same place as the AED sign between the 5th and 6th pods on the south wing.

I recommend these days against requesting just "close to lobby." As time has passed, there are now a large number of members who have experienced Kidani and had the long walks from lobby to room, who now all request "close to lobby" with the result that many do not get it and the default placement when your location request cannot be met is to place you in any available room, which is usually one far from the lobby.

 

[AprilN]

I have never seen a map with the names of the elevators for AKV Kidani Village. That would be a good way to request a room.

One way to locate each elevator is by the color assigned to each section of Kidani on the map. Looking at the map linked above, there is a "glow" around each section, from left to right: red, green, yellow, blue. Those correspond to the elevators, located by the AED signs as mentioned above: Pumbaa (red), Rafiki (green), Timon (yellow), Zazu (blue). I have not actually found a map with those sections labeled, but did a bunch of research a few months ago to put it together, in order to make a location request for my own upcoming Kidani stay in January.

 

[DWorldOrBust]

We are at Kidani now in a 2 br std view room. I requested the TIMON elevator based off of recommendations from this board. We lucked out and got a room about 20 ft from the Timon elevator and on the top floor (5th)! YAY! If you don't plan on going to the lobby much, this is a GREAT location as just outside of the Timon elevator is the bus stop. It is as close to the bus stop as you can get and the view isn't bad either. It's not a savannah view but we do have a beautiful view of some natural wetlands. I would definitely recommend it!

 

[DWorldOrBust]

We just watched the MK fireworks from our balcony at Kidani. WOW!!!

 

[Don Duck]

See this Kidani map: http://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/Kindani_Village_Map.jpg. The front entrance to the lobby faces west and thus there is a north wing to the left on the map and a south wing to right, with the pool on the north wing and the bus stop on the south wing which runs toward Jambo. The two standard GVs, which are the only GVs that face Pembe savanna, are at the end of the 6th pod from the lobby on the north wing and the beginning of the 7th. You were right near the Pumba elevator which is in the same place as that red AED (defibrillator) sign between the 6th and 7th pods. The standard rooms are in: (a) the first four pods from the lobby on the south wing (the last three pods on the south wing have no rooms on the road side); (b) first three pods on the north wing; and (c) converted savanna rooms to standard in the 6th pod on the north wing from the lobby, and also believed to be in some part of the 4th pod on the north wing and possibly the 7th. If you want a converted room with a savanna view, you should likely request being near the standard GV's where you were before. If you want a short walk to the bus stop but have some real distance to the pool, you could request either close to community hall or close to the Timon elevator (which is in the same place as the AED sign between the 2d and 3rd pods on the south wing), both of which also give you a fairly easy walk to the lobby. If you want a short walk to the pool but have some distance to the bus stop, request pool view or close to the Rafiki elevator, which is in the same place as the AED sign between the 2d and 3rd pods from the lobby on the north wing (down that elevator to ground, parking lot, floor gives the shortest possible walk from the building to the pool). If you want the shortest walk to Jambo (although still more than 1/4 mile), but do not mind being far from the lobby and pool, request near the Zazu elavator which is in the same place as the AED sign between the 5th and 6th pods on the south wing.

I recommend these days against requesting just "close to lobby." As time has passed, there are now a large number of members who have experienced Kidani and had the long walks from lobby to room, who now all request "close to lobby" with the result that many do not get it and the default placement when your location request cannot be met is to place you in any available room, which is usually one far from the lobby.

Thanks for the info!

 

[DisFanatic]

Ask to be near a specific parking section, we like the rafiki section as it's right across from the pool/gym

 

[gracelrm]

So to request to be near the Rafiki elevators would place us closest to the pool and not too far from the lobby. That sounds like it should be a good request. Can you walk from the pool area to the bus area easily?

 

[DenLo]

The bus stop is on the other side of the lobby, see the map in the DVC Information Center above.

 

[imaginiff]

I would not use points for a savannah view again. Nothing to see in the morning!!! But you can explore all around the resort all day and see all sorts of animals. I loved Kidani for their underneath, shaded parking! I think we were near Rafiki elevator also. Close to the bus, but not a bad walk to Jambo either. I just stayed in the parking garage as long as I could until I saw the path (more shade in the garage).

 

[DisFanatic]

So to request to be near the Rafiki elevators would place us closest to the pool and not too far from the lobby. That sounds like it should be a good request. Can you walk from the pool area to the bus area easily?

It's right in front of the pool, but a good 5-7 minute walk to lobby and bus stop.. Worth it in our opinion as it beats the 30 minute walks from the end of the pods..

 

[pkhosla]

HI ALL,

Great posts here. Our Family, with 4 year old and 2 year old, heading down for New Years --- I'm wondering about what area to request our Standard Studio. Our daughter enjoys the community hall at BLT so being close to that and the pool area would be idea. That said I'm really not familiar with the Kidani so I would appreciate all comments and recommendations.

Thanks all.
PK

 

[disneyobessed]

Does anyone know if all HA rooms are facing bus stop/parking lot at Kidani or do any of them have a pool view?

 

[Paticake]

We are going in 4 weeks with friends. 4 adults in a 2bdrm. We requested to be near the elevator, near the lobby. I am having my second knee replacement after we return and it has slowed me down a bit. I am actually a little apprehensive about this trip in general due to my "bad knee"

 

[disneyobessed]

We are going in 4 weeks with friends. 4 adults in a 2bdrm. We requested to be near the elevator, near the lobby. I am having my second knee replacement after we return and it has slowed me down a bit. I am actually a little apprehensive about this trip in general due to my "bad knee"

You should request a Handicapped Accessible room. It will have a shower bench and rails near the toilet. We get a HA room for my son who has cerebral palsy yet is mobile but the extra assistance is a huge help for him. THe rooms are right off the elevator. We have stayed standard and savanna and both are very close.

 

[Paticake]

Thank you.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

We are staying in a 2 BR lockoff in June. So if we want a partial savanna view, would I need to request a certain elevator or is that too large of a range of rooms? Looking at the map, I'm guessing the savanna views are in the pod 7x34-7x41 facing the Pembe Savanna, is that correct? That looks like it would be near the Rafiki elevator, but that could also land us with a pool view or a parking lot view, correct? Would I be better keeping it "partial savanna?" Also does this limit me so much that I'll probably end up in the last pod?