AK Jambo or Kidani?

[delauzons]

My mom passed away and I booked a trip for Labor Day weekend for my Dad and my family. My Dad is crazy about animals! Last time we stayed in a 2BR in Kidani with my parents. This time it is just 6 of us. Would you stick with Kidani or try Jambo? Both 2BR savannah views were available. I have Kidani booked but am wondering if Jambo is better. My Dad will not got to the parks at all. We will spend a lot of time at the resort. My kids enjoyed the pool games at Kidani. Is that the same in Jambo?

 

[erionm]

At Jambo House, the 2-bedroom villa will be a lock-off. It will consist of a 1-bedroom and a studio with a connecting door. At KV you will have a choice between a lock-off and dedicated 2-bedroom when you make the reservation (subject to availability). The JH 2-bedroom will have 2 baths where at KV there are 3 baths. The KV 2-bedrooms are about 100 sq feet larger.

 

[chalee94]

a 2BR in kidani has 3 bathrooms. the buses to the parks pick up first and drop off first at kidani.

a 2BR in jambo house will have a shorter walk to boma, mara and jiko.

 

[bobbiwoz]

There are games by the pool at Jambo as well. There was also a movie at Jambo's pool when we were there in April. We only were at the resort one evening, so I don't know if there was a movie every night.

I've stayed at both, and it's hard to say why exactly, but I prefer Jambo. They do have a sauna and steam room and that's why DSis prefers Jambo, but she did go over to Jambo when we stayed in Kidani. Kidani has a great master bathroom!

Bobbi

 

[lucyem]

I like both equally since they both have their pluses and minuses. Personally if not trying for concierge I would stick with Kidani for the space in the room.

To me Kidani feels more relaxing, Jambo always seems much more busy with a lot of people in and out for Jiko & Boma.

Both have activities for kids at the pool. Kidani has a better big slide and a little slide while Jambo has a medium (on the slow side according to my 9 yr old) slide. Jambo has the great play set near the pool. Jambo would have a table set up near the kids club where you could do a craft with the kids during the day. Kidani has the community room with all kinds of stuff like video games etc and they do some crafts there. I do not know about the movie at the pools. When at Jambo we only saw a movie at the pool once during the week we were there. At Kidani we were never near the pool in the evening.

As others have said Kidani has Mara, Jiko & Boma. IMO having Mara close by is probably the only one that matters since I doubt you will want to eat at Jiko & Boma every day. But hopping a bus was never an issue for us to get to Jambo.

 

[sweetdana]

If you have a car, KD all the way for parking under the hotel.


Otherwise, if he is not park hopping they are a very quick walk/bus from each other. IMO the pool is much better at KD, but mostly cause I have a little one. If he will be alone, the pool at JB is super nice for non kiddies too.

I don't really think of them as 2 different hotels cause it is more like 2 different buildings. (Comparing to SSR it is still only about 1/2 the size both together.)

G L picking.

 

[moredisneyplease]

i agree with lots of the people above: will you have a car or not? do you enjoy a bigger slide and super fun water play area? do you take advantage of Community Hall? these are the reasons we stay at Kidani!

 

[delauzons]

Thanks so much for the gread advice! We will stick with Kidani. We have been there and know we love it! I just thought maybe the animal areas were better at Jambo. We loved the rooms at Kidani and enjoyed the pool area. The food options aren't that important to us. We will have a car.

 

[CruznLexi]

We have stayed at both and prefer KV one because of the bus and it is just quiter for us. We do go to the Mara either by bus or walking it is not a big deal. We love the pool too.

 

[MiaSRN62]

My mom passed away and I booked a trip for Labor Day weekend for my Dad and my family. My Dad is crazy about animals! Last time we stayed in a 2BR in Kidani with my parents. This time it is just 6 of us. Would you stick with Kidani or try Jambo? Both 2BR savannah views were available. I have Kidani booked but am wondering if Jambo is better. My Dad will not got to the parks at all. We will spend a lot of time at the resort. My kids enjoyed the pool games at Kidani. Is that the same in Jambo?

We just returned from Kidani. Loved it. We did, however, have a room pretty far from the lobby which made it a pain for the refillable mugs. The pool area was so nice....especially the area for little ones---which is out of the way of the main pool which is nice for those sans little ones to relax.
My condolences to you on the loss of your mother. Sounds like you have a very nice family trip planned. Hoping you all have a great time.