Here's the review of the lodge that I posted at allears.net. I am still working on the lodge and safari pictures (editing) and as soon as these are done I will find a place for all to view.
Pros: Views of Animals, Most CMs, and Lodge in general
Cons: Smokers in Balconies below, One Lifeguard at Kidani Pool, Stairway Noise
Just got home from one week at Jambo House (Room 5564-three bedroom suite) and it was simply amazing. The daily views of the various animals (the room has a three fence line view)was wonderful and while it tended to make meal time longer I would do that anytime. The kids that were with us said that they never get to stop dinner to look at animals and I told them that if we saw giraffes and vultures outside our window at home (in NYC) I would let them stop dinner to look as well. The suite also faced east so the first night one of the parties staying with us (I fell asleep) got to see the shuttle launch.
Almost all of the CMs were very helpful and nice and the lodge in general (lobby, trails, the various areas to gather) were beautiful.
As for downsides (which were not many) we had a lot of issues with the people below us smoking when the whole lodge is supposed to be non-smoking, there was one lifeguard at Kidani pool that was critical of everyone for every little thing (and it was only her so it was not a "safety" issue), and our suite was next to a non-emergency stairwell so at night when people gathered on the stairs to view animals it tended to be very noisy in one of the bedrooms. As
DVC members we also were not allowed a late check out time (and the housekeeping staff was VERY clear that if we were staying on cash we could have stayed 2 more hours).
Also, this is not a complaint but one should expect that the beds are very high, if staying in the suite it is a long walk back to the room, and there is no way to communicate across the suite without yelling or walking back and forth (an internal intercom through the phone could help with that). I would also like to point out that there are a lot of lamps in the rooms so perhaps this was as response to the concerns that the rooms were "very dark".
As for comparing Jambo and Kidani I did not have a chance to see the suites at Kidani but after long days at the parks and having kids with us I think I am happy that we did Jambo (one level) as opposed to Kidani (suites being two levels). Jambo also has pool tables in the suites which was nice.
Lastly, while everything was very nice I do want to mention that some of Jambo is starting to show its age particularly compared to Kidani. It's not just the water play area or the size of the slide but also some outside painting, signage that is in place around Kidani and missing from Jambo, and "small" things such as stickers on trash cans.
Overall it was a wonderful suite and I would seriously consider doing the same setup again if we had the points to do so.
