A Week at AKV - Kidani Village - LOVED IT!

[eporter66]

Wow - I will keep this short as I plan to do a full trip report later. We just got back (2 hours ago ) from 6 days at AKV's Kidani Village. We absolutely loved the resort, our DD(5) was crazy for the animals.

Let me just say Disney nailed this one. What a great resort. We stayed in Rafiki building, a 1 bedroom Standard view (Room 7911). We had such a quiet room - and only people on one side (a studio). Top floor - close to the elevators. The elevators are incredibly fast, you dont wait long at all.

An amazing place, they did some great activities with the kids - our daughter danced with the staff on Wednesday night. At 8:15 they do a little thing in the lobby playing drums and just dancing around - she loved it.

BOMA was fantastic, I highly recommend it. We did not try the other restaurants at AKV (although I wanted to). With the one bedroom we try to have a few meals in the room to save a little, and of course our EPCOT days was all about the Food & Wine Fest. The Ancho ribs at BOMA are out of this world good!!!

I would be glad to answer any questions, but I have to say that AKV will be tops on our choices for coming vacations. Not sure why the points are cheaper than the others - but I sure hope it stays that way...we loved it.

If you have any questions - please send them along.

 

[rmonty02]

Great to hear you had such an awesome time I'm planning a vacation to WDW for Thanksgiving 2010. AKV is at the top of our list, but we'll have to see what's available at the 7 month mark. If you explored Jumbo, how did you like that vs. Kidani?

 

[SLM]

I'm so glad you had such a great stay-I think it's a wonderful resort. We found it really hard to leave the villa some days!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'm glad you had such a great time! AKV is a lovely resort, both buildings!

Bobbi

 

[dizney4us]

Glad you had a nice trip. We are hoping to try the same thing in January 2011.

 

[lsutigger2]

Thanks for the great report with all the positives. We have a reservation for May 15-21, 2010. We're excited to try out one of the new resorts.

For those that are interested and keep up with the data, I was able to get a 1-bdrm savanna view in Kidani exactly 7 months out. It was a breeze!

{We need some little zoo type animals smilies}

 

[purpliequeen]

Aw welcome home and thanks for the review.

 

[ACDSNY]

It's great to hear nice reports about AKV...15 more days and I'll get to see for myself.

 

[Muhlenberg]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! We really liked it too...and as you said...what a great resort!

 

[eporter66]

Great to hear you had such an awesome time I'm planning a vacation to WDW for Thanksgiving 2010. AKV is at the top of our list, but we'll have to see what's available at the 7 month mark. If you explored Jumbo, how did you like that vs. Kidani?

Jambo house was very impressive. It reminded me of the main lobby for the Wilderness Lodge in layout, obviously the theming makes them each unique. The main pool at Jambo was very big, but we spent a day at the Kidani pool and it was not very crowded, that was more to our liking. You have more restaurant options at Jambo than at Kidani, and a bigger store for merchandise. Both have Savannah viewing, and a fire pit area where the guides will tell stories or just talk to you about the animals.

I did hear a few people complaining about the walk from Kidani to Jambo, but there is a nice walking path, probably 5-10 minutes to walk down. I did not mind that at all - I enjoy exploring the resort.

I just mapped out points for a 1 bedroom, same time for next year and the new points charts surprise me. BWV, AKV, and OKW are all very close in points (standard view for BWV & AKV). We might choose BWV's if they are open at 7 month for the F&W Fest, but I certainly would love going back to AKV if that is an option.

 

[fishermouse]

Glad you had a great time! We just got home at 2AM this morning- We had a 1 BR Savanna view room 7454. It was beautiful. We probably saw you at the pool- we were there on Tues afternoon, Wed morning and all day Friday. We loved it too and Sanaa was excellent. I will write a report too this week. A great stay and the CMs are fabulous there. AKV Kadani ROCKS!!!!

 

[Brave teacher]

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Kidani so much. It truly is fantastic. We did that walk to Jambo a few times in May/June. It is not too bad. I walked from our room near the lobby elevator to Mara and back one morning in less than 12 minutes. I was surprised it was so quick.

 

[disneynutz]

Wow - I will keep this short as I plan to do a full trip report later. We just got back (2 hours ago ) from 6 days at AKV's Kidani Village. We absolutely loved the resort, our DD(5) was crazy for the animals.

Let me just say Disney nailed this one. What a great resort. We stayed in Rafiki building, a 1 bedroom Standard view (Room 7911). We had such a quiet room - and only people on one side (a studio). Top floor - close to the elevators. The elevators are incredibly fast, you dont wait long at all.

An amazing place, they did some great activities with the kids - our daughter danced with the staff on Wednesday night. At 8:15 they do a little thing in the lobby playing drums and just dancing around - she loved it.

BOMA was fantastic, I highly recommend it. We did not try the other restaurants at AKV (although I wanted to). With the one bedroom we try to have a few meals in the room to save a little, and of course our EPCOT days was all about the Food & Wine Fest. The Ancho ribs at BOMA are out of this world good!!!

I would be glad to answer any questions, but I have to say that AKV will be tops on our choices for coming vacations. Not sure why the points are cheaper than the others - but I sure hope it stays that way...we loved it.

If you have any questions - please send them along.

Glad that you had a wonderful time. Looking forward to you full trip report.

Bill

 

[Cee]

Wonderful! We too love BOMA and hope to one day stay at this amazing resort.

 

[farmergirl]

Glad to hear you had a great time but now I must say I am confused. We always book top floor no matter where we stay but out last trip when we were on the top floor in Jambo the noise on the top floor from the A/C was terrible. It squeaked day and night so this trip we reserved 3rd floor. Now I am wondering if that was a mistake.

 

[fishermouse]

Glad to hear you had a great time but now I must say I am confused. We always book top floor no matter where we stay but out last trip when we were on the top floor in Jambo the noise on the top floor from the A/C was terrible. It squeaked day and night so this trip we reserved 3rd floor. Now I am wondering if that was a mistake.

Just stayed on the third floor, view was great they say second is good here also, puts you a little closer. We really liked the 3rd high enough to see far but still close to animals. I'm sure you'll love it.

 

[farmergirl]

Just stayed on the third floor, view was great they say second is good here also, puts you a little closer. We really liked the 3rd high enough to see far but still close to animals. I'm sure you'll love it.

Thanks! We are here now and LOVE IT!!!! Can't get over how nice and quiet the resort is. It's great!

 

[JasonDVC]

Glad to hear the nice report from our home resort! We'll be there in April! Can't Wait!

 

[CaptHomer]

We stayed one night on the 24th at Kidani in a studio savannah. The room was very nice. Being able to park underneath the hotel was nice. It made getting the bags to the car a lot easier than tramping through the lobby with them.

Depending on where your room is, it can be a long walk to your room from the lobby. The lobby is a huge let down compared to Jambo. There wasn't enough room in the lobby for all the people checking in. It was very crowded. I think the lobby in Jambo is the best lobby in WDW. Kidani would be at the bottom for me.

It is also a long walk to Jambo. They are doing construction on the bus stop now so you have to walk on the street some.

I booked a stay in a 2br savannah for Kidani next year but I might have to change it to Jambo. If it is someone's first time to stay at AKV, then I would suggest staying at Jambo to get the full AKV experience

Homer

 

[toniosmom]

I'm so excited to read that you enjoyed Kidani. We will be there in March for a week-long stay and plan to spend about half of our week not going to the parks. It's going to be our first trip where we don't leave the resort fo ra few days and I'm really looking forward to it. I think my son (who will be 5 by then) is really going to love seeing the animals whenever he wants to.