AKL-Kidani suggestion?

[XMom]

Hi All! We just made our 1st reservation for a 1br savanna view villa at Kidani Village which happens to be our home resort. We've been members since 2008 but have never used our points in Florida...only CA and a cruise.

So my question is for all of you Kidani professionals. What location should I request? We will have a 10, 8 & 6 year old with us so I'm afraid of the long hallways I have read about, yet I don't want to miss out on a good view of the savanna. We aren't going until March of next year, but I'm one of those planner people

Any advice would be appreciated...and thanks again!

 

[stink]

I have stayed at Kidani many times in a Savannah view and I can say that I have never had a bad Savannah view.

On trips with my elderly parents when they were walking I requested villas closer to the Lobby so they did not have to walk so far. It was granted.

On other trips when it was me and my young nephews we have been long ways from the lobby and have had great animal views and nice quiet rooms.

The walk really did not bother us. I have read people complaining about the walks.

You can request a villa close to the lobby on the bus stop side of the Kidani vs what I refer to as Pool Side of Kidani. You can google a PDF resort map to give you specifc room numbers.

Sorry I'm not much help.

 

[drusba]

Make any of the following requests: a. Close to lobby, b. close to community hall, c. Close to Rafiki elevator, Sunset savanna view, d. Close to Timon elevator.

All of those put you on the Sunset Savanna which has giraffes. Pembe, the smaller savanna , does not. All those requests put you fairly close to the lobby and thus close to bus stop, store, restaurant, pool. The close to the Timon elevator or Community Hall request would give you the shortest walk to the bus. Close to Rafiki elevator would give you the shortest walk to the pool. All those requests give you good savanna views.

What you want to avoid is being in rooms far from lobby and thus far from restaurant, pool, store and bus stop. If you get rooms at the end of the north wing, the walk down the hall from lobby to room is so long that you need to take tents so you can pitch them halfway down the hallway to spend the night before continuing on the arduous trip in the morning.

 

[Theaberdeenkid]

We will have a 10, 8 & 6 year old with us so I'm afraid of the long hallways I have read about, yet I don't want to miss out on a good view of the savanna.

Any advice would be appreciated...and thanks again!

Just an FYI. Kidani has public places for you to go to see the savannah and depending on how hot it is, time of day, etc; the animals aren't always visible.
They have night vision at the front desk for watching the animals at night, ask at the front desk (I don't think you're allowed to bring night vision back to your room).

Since you are traveling with younger kids I'll throw this out there, Kidani has no quick service, only sit down and the store is small and has limited food choices. If you want quick service you will have to either walk or take the shuttle van over to Jambo to eat or pick up food.

 

[Theaberdeenkid]

Make any of the following requests: a. Close to lobby, b. close to community hall, c. Close to Rafiki elevator, Sunset savanna view, d. Close to Timon elevator.

All of those put you on the Sunset Savanna which has giraffes. Pembe, the smaller savanna , does not. All those requests put you fairly close to the lobby and thus close to bus stop, store, restaurant, pool. The close to the Timon elevator or Community Hall request would give you the shortest walk to the bus. Close to Rafiki elevator would give you the shortest walk to the pool. All those requests give you good savanna views.

What you want to avoid is being in rooms far from lobby and thus far from restaurant, pool, store and bus stop. If you get rooms at the end of the north wing, the walk down the hall from lobby to room is so long that you need to take tents so you can pitch them halfway down the hallway to spend the night before continuing on the arduous trip in the morning.

Ooo, good advice, I'll tuck that away.

 

[lauriegs]

we always request close to lobby - love it!

on another note, anyone know what would be a good request for a standard view room? should my friend request "close to lobby" as well?

 

[Sammie]

I will say our experience has been that close to the lobby will be nosier as everyone has to pass your room to get to theirs. At times we thought it was the wildebeest stampede.

We actually prefer about half way down the hallway. We saw more animals away from the lobby too, don't think they like the noise either.

 

[MarineFam]

We just bought DVC at Animal Kingdom and have never stayed there yet. We will be booking there for Next April before Cruising on the Magic. I was wondering if they had the refillable drink mugs like at other resorts and if so where are the drink stations located. Everyone says how large the resort is, just wondering if they had more than one station.

 

[Kingdome8]

I just left kidani. We had a sunset view close to lobby and elevator. It was great. My kids 9,5,1 had a blast looking at animals from room
And the walk to jambo was so easy. So sad to leave

 

[Upon a Star]

Which has a better view of the savanna , a high floor or low floor?

 

[RebelSoul]

We just bought DVC at Animal Kingdom and have never stayed there yet. We will be booking there for Next April before Cruising on the Magic. I was wondering if they had the refillable drink mugs like at other resorts and if so where are the drink stations located. Everyone says how large the resort is, just wondering if they had more than one station.

The refillable mugs are available at Johari Treasures, which is located just off the main lobby area. You can also refill the mugs over at Jambo as well.