Kidani Standard View vs. Old Key West

[oceanwave]

We are looking at renting 2 villas with DVC points. A 2 bedroom villa and a 1 bedroom villa.

Both Old Key West and Animal Kingdom Kidani have availability for both villa sizes, but for the 2 bedroom villa at Kidani it would have to be a standard view. There is not much difference in price between the 2 resorts.

What type of view would you get with a 2 bedroom standard view at Kidani?

For the 1 bedroom villa would you go with the Savannah view or Standard view?

Which resort would you prefer: Old Key West or Kidani standard view?

 

[tjkraz]

Standard at Kidani will either overlook parking lot, pool or a very narrow section of the savanna where animals are typically not visible. Regarding Standard vs Savanna, depends on your expectations. Savanna view is never truly as romantic as the Disney marketing materials would like to portray. There won't be giraffes eating from trees 4' from your balcony. More likely, animals will be clustered around trees and feeding spots spaced around the savanna. If you have kids that will enjoy it, might be worthwhile. Personally I rarely spend enough time on the balcony to make a special view worth an added expense. Also Kidani has plenty of public space to view the savanna, much of it better than what you see from a room balcony.

OKW rooms are noticeably larger, including the balconies. The villas are grouped in about 50 individual buildings, meaning it can take some time to navigate the resort. If you want the 2 rooms close together, it will be more difficult for Disney to meet that request at OKW. There are multiple bus stops and if you'll have a car, parking is conveniently located outside each building. Also all of the buildings are 3 stories and only 3 of them have elevators. Rooms are currently being renovated so it's a toss up as to whether you will receive updated rooms or older villas that haven't been refreshed in some time.

Kidani rooms have an extra bathroom. There are more dining options available at Kidani/Jambo combined. The Jambo pool is scheduled to close for refurb later this year, meaning Kidani could be quite busy. Kidani is a single building, but some room locations are a long walk from the main lobby.

Choice of theming comes down to personal preference: animal prints and faux woods vs. the tropical Key West building style and decor.

 

[Henwen88]

Also Kidani has plenty of public space to view the savanna, much of it better than what you see from a room balcony.

Great point. I find it hard to cough up the extra points when you can walk 5 steps out of your door and watch the animals from a public viewing area! I also think the standard view Kidani rooms are more conveniently located (near lobby, pool, bus stops, etc.).

It really depends on what ya'll are wanting for this trip... those 2 resorts have vastly different vibes (OKW more condo feel, Kidani more hotel) and theming. Both are great if you have a car as far as convenient parking, and they also have pretty good bus service to the parks.

And if you get a 2 Br and a 1 Br at kidani that's a whopping 5 bathrooms lol! Watch a few youtube videos of both resorts and poll your group

 

[DenLo]

If you can afford it I would book the 1BR as a savanna view. We love to sit on the balcony early in the morning, a great place to enjoy your coffee and early afternoon and again in the evening while enjoying a glass of wine or cocktail or in cool weather a hot beverage. Early morning might mean by 6:00 am to see the animals as they get taken in by the animal keepers for their daily check up after being on the savanna at night without supervision. We are view people and understand like any wild animal the animals on the savanna don't entertain on command. They spend their days eating and sleeping, but sometimes they put on a good show especially if young animals are involved.

We always would choose AKV over OKW simply because we know there are elevators at AKV. Only 3 buildings at OKW have elevators and they are really for guests with disabilities and very hard to get. Plus there are more restaurants at Animal Kingdom between Jambo House and Kidani. And you can easily get to the other resort via a shuttle or a 10 minute walk.

 

[oceanwave]

Thank so much! Some really good points to consider.

 

[Louis morrell]

I just returned from Kidani in a std studio. Room 7509 overlooking the lobby entrance to the right and the bus stop to the left. While we are not stay in the room people so take it for what it is worth. We enjoyed sitting on the balcony having coffee in the morning and a beer or wine in the evening. Buses never bothered us. Viewing of the animals from the fire-pit area was great. It was almost like they were trained to walk by and show off. We had a great trip.

Enjoy!

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

I have never stayed at AKV and probably won't. We just can't get past how much room we have at OKW. We really don't even consider anywhere else when staying on points although we did spend one night at SSR once

 

[kydisneyfans]

It's really a personal preference.
We own at Kidani, but have been staying at OKW alot recently.
For quick food, we like the selections at Mara(Food Court at AKL). For sit down, I'm a comfort food person and love Olivia's at OKW.
I like OKW location and the fact you can take a boat to Disney Springs.
We like having several pools throughout the complex instead of everyone at 1 pool like Kidani.
Rooms are larger at OKW.

but

Kidani does have additional bathrooms, much needed for a larger group.
Kidani has the animals-if you happen to get a room with a view as a standard room that is a bonus. If not, there are several places to view.
The room decor is themed much better than OKW.

For us, our last trip was at OKW. Our next trip is at Kidani. The trip after that is scheduled at OKW.

 

[KidaniZen]

For your particular situation, OKW. Have fun no matter what you choose!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

For us it comes down to how many are we bringing and are there a lot of teens/young adults who require a lot of grooming, yes grooming. In October, we will be 6 (3- 17 year old girls and a 22 year old boy who needs more time with his hair than they do), so we have a Kidany 2 bedroom, yes we love the theming and the animals but we love that 3rd bathroom more than anything else. Love the covered parking, Sanaa, access to Jiko. 2nd favorite resort tied with BLT

OKW, larger footprint, great patio/balcony, love the Turtle Pond area (near the "not so quiet pool"). We eat often at Disney Springs, and really enjoy the boat ride there. The lush landscaping, the tropical music, the Guirgling suitcase (Turtle Krawl), Olivia's (conch fritter, fried chicken). We are still 6 but no teenage girls, only 2 -22 year old, and the rest of us, so bathroom capacity is more than adequate. #1, top favorite resort, a vacation within a vacation (when you're done with Disney parks) your at OKW.....

Good luck!

 

[Wakey]

Kidani Standard View outside location walkthrough videos:

 

[Deb & Bill]

For us it comes down to how many are we bringing and are there a lot of teens/young adults who require a lot of grooming, yes grooming. In October, we will be 6 (3- 17 year old girls and a 22 year old boy who needs more time with his hair than they do), so we have a Kidany 2 bedroom, yes we love the theming and the animals but we love that 3rd bathroom more than anything else. Love the covered parking, Sanaa, access to Jiko. 2nd favorite resort tied with BLT

OKW, larger footprint, great patio/balcony, love the Turtle Pond area (near the "not so quiet pool"). We eat often at Disney Springs, and really enjoy the boat ride there. The lush landscaping, the tropical music, the Guirgling suitcase (Turtle Krawl), Olivia's (conch fritter, fried chicken). We are still 6 but no teenage girls, only 2 -22 year old, and the rest of us, so bathroom capacity is more than adequate. #1, top favorite resort, a vacation within a vacation (when you're done with Disney parks) your at OKW.....

Good luck!

Sounds like a younger Bryce Harper there. He uses two hair dryers.

 

[rg35]

I wouldn't let the view be the deciding factor. We own at AKV but have stayed 2x at OKW and 3x at AKV. Our first two AKV stays were Savannah views, our last was standard. After a while the savannah factor wears off because the animals are fairly common.

I'd rather much rather take a longer trip than use the points to get a Savannah view instead.

I will note that on our last trip I requested a room near the lobby, which we got on the first floor, and the view was basically of the driveway right next to the bell services room. This basically meant no privacy and having to keep the curtains closed the entire time. Not a huge deal for us but I figure something like that would bother a lot of people so it's probably worth mentioning. Kidani is just so big though that I was happy to be near the lobby and have pretty quick access to the pool, the walking path to Jambo, the community hall, etc.

 

[Main Street Matilda]

Having stayed at both, either is a good choice. At Kidani, we had a Savannah view and found that we stopped in other locations to look at the animals anyway. The only time the view made any difference was when we were sitting having our coffee in the morning and an occasional animal would mosey by. As it happens, we really loved OKW for both the size of the villa and the overall feel of the property.

The location of the resort on WDW property would play into my decision, too. We liked taking the boat to Disney Springs from OKW whereas at AK, you are somewhat remote.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

We are looking at renting 2 villas with DVC points. A 2 bedroom villa and a 1 bedroom villa.

Both Old Key West and Animal Kingdom Kidani have availability for both villa sizes, but for the 2 bedroom villa at Kidani it would have to be a standard view. There is not much difference in price between the 2 resorts.

What type of view would you get with a 2 bedroom standard view at Kidani?

For the 1 bedroom villa would you go with the Savannah view or Standard view?

Which resort would you prefer: Old Key West or Kidani standard view?

Kidani has a third bathroom and the rooms are Very dark. It is also noticably smaller. It can also be a long walk to the elevator or lobby. In order to get to the bus stop you need to go to the lobby. Also the laundry is in a closet.

OKW has some of the largest rooms on the Disney property. You won't feel crowded at all. They are nice and sunny. That is a sticking point for me. They have a dedicated laundry room. In the second bedroom the vanity is outside of the rest of the bathroom. The bathroom attatched to the master is seperated into 2 rooms. There are several bus stops but they run pretty regularly. I usually ask for a ground floor unit as I have a fear of heights. I have never not gotten it. With the rehab to the pool at Jambo the Kidani pool will be crowded. I have not seen the pool crowded at OKW. There are also several smaller pools there. The pool at Kidani was crowded anyway.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Sounds like a younger Bryce Harper there. He uses two hair dryers.

Yup, almost a pompadour, it’s a thing of beauty, me, I take a whopping 5 minutes.

 

[Wakey]

It's all personal preference. A few things push me in the direction of OKW.

1) Lighter, airy rooms. AKL feels like an extension of the park, very well done. But it's dark. Fine if it's sunny, but if it's cloudy, it felt a bit depressing to me.
2) The biggest one, AKL is cut off with nowhere to walk at all apart from between the two hotels. I felt like I was in some Carribean all inclusive on its own somewhere. We like walking on holiday, and like running. At OKW this was great, you can even run and walk along a canal all the way to Saratoga and Disney Springs. This is the deciding factor .
3) If you are planning a trip to either AKL properties when the Jambo pool is closed- no way. Kidani pool is quite small and we struggled with sun loungers with just Kidani people in. I suspect they'll try to jam more beds in the limited space . I just prefer the multiple pools of OKW.
4) Bee problem by pool in Kidani , my wife was stung, real nuisance.
5) Kidani rooms are large, but OKW are huge and depending on when you travel you'll almost certainly get a refurbed OKW room. I love the new rooms.
6) I like the ability to get on a quick boat to DS from OKW with the abundance of good restaurants.

But as I say a preference many may not agree with. Many may say they don't like the sprawling nature of OKW and lack of internal corridors for example.

 

[oceanwave]

We ended up completely changing and was able to book a villa at Boardwalk Villas. We have stayed there before and loved it, so can't wait to go back.

Thank you all for your input!

 

[Wakey]

We ended up completely changing and was able to book a villa at Boardwalk Villas. We have stayed there before and loved it, so can't wait to go back.

Thank you all for your input!

Boardwalk I absolutely love.