Animal Kingdom Lodge- Jambo vs Kidani

[MrsBergs]

I know this has probably been answered before so I’m sorry, but what is the difference between Animal Kingdom Jambo and Kidani for a standard studio. We wanted something near the bus stops.
Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[DenLo]

Kidani has dedicated standard view 2BRs, which means the 2nd bedroom has 2 queen beds. All of the 2BRs at Jambo House are lock offs, so the secondary bedroom is a studio layout, a queen bed with a pull out couch. Also the Kidani 2BR has three bathrooms including one off of the living room. The Kidani 2BR is larger at Kidani than a standard 2BR at Jambo House. Also Jambo House has a 2BR value villa which is smaller.

AKV Kidani - 1173 sq. ft.

Jambo - 1075 sq. ft.

Value - 945 sq. ft.

 

[BillPA]

The studios are very close in size.
Kidani will typically be a longer walk to the bus stop as the resort is large.
Jambo the standard view studios are mostly a pool view and close to the lobby, bus and places to eat.
Jambo has a nice counter service located not far from the pool. Kidani only has a pool bar with premade items.

 

[Wakey]

I'd go Jambo studio, Kidani 1 and 2 bed.

 

[drusba]

Size of studios is close to the same. Big difference is bathroom area configuration. At Jambo, you have the sink in the open area and the bathtub/shower in the adjacent, separate room with the toilet. At Kidani the toilet is in its own room, but the bathtub/shower is in the open area next to the sink, and thus those in the shower can potentially be seen by others in the room who walk by in the hallway leading to the front door or come to use the sink. At Kidani a near the bus stop or near transportation request with standard view has a higher probability of being met than Jambo because about 40% of the standard rooms are fairly near the bus stop.

If you happen to actually want a savanna view with a standard room, then odds of getting one are higher at Jambo because more than half the standard views at Jambo have savanna view, resulting from the conversion of savanna view rooms to standard several years ago because rooms did not have great savanna views (but still not bad). A request for a room along Kudo trail (the left side of the U-shaped Jambo buidling), gives you a decent chance of getting a savanna view because all standards on that side of the building are converted savanna view rooms. A smaller percentage of the Kidani standards are converted savanna view rooms, to have a decent chance of getting one requires requesting a room near the Pumba elevator, and if you get it you will have a very long walk to the bus station.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Also, there are some standard view studios at Jambo which have been reclassified as they give you a partial view of the savannah. But to me, there's nothing "partial" about it. I had a savannah view studio at Jambo once, and a few months later, I returned and this time I could only get a standard studio. Well, this studio happened to be only a few doors away from my "savannah view" studio and I thought the view was just as good-

 

[Wakey]

Drusba's advice re standard at Kidani is invaluable as it's the only place I've seen this advice given, and I've duly requested 'near Pumba elevator' for my late July trip. Fingers crossed for a repurposed Savannah room, I don't mind a walk.

 

[MrsBergs]

Thank You for all your responses. So I think we are going to book Jambo House standard studio. Can you recommend any location we should ask for.

 

[MrsBergs]

We are planning a August or September vacation. How is the bus situation for the parks?

 

[Toffeewoffy]

Hubby and I had 6 nights at Jambo in 2016. They tried to put us over the pool but I refused! We were given a standard studio in the next wing up where we had a very similar view to that shown in the pic above.



It was quite a long way back to the main lobby, but if we were going to the Mara we could take the 2nd elevator up and come out in the corner by the pool - cut off schlepping right round, through the lobby and then down and through the double set of doors and past the pool. In a scooter that's much more convenient.

DD and I are going a girlie trip next year (2019) and she wants to stay at Jambo again, so I'm going to try very hard to get either the same room or one of that small run of 'standard' points.

If we go back as a family of 3 we'd go to Kidani in a 1-bed so DD could have her own bathroom (albeit she'll still be on the sofa bed).

 

[Toffeewoffy]

We are planning a August or September vacation. How is the bus situation for the parks?

Well, apart from the wait to get a bus to AK itself (which took longer than the actual journey to the park), we didn't really wait long for any buses that we wanted. There is one stop for each park with Disney Springs sharing with one of the water parks (if I've remembered correctly).

The bus stops aren't too far from the main entrance, and I think they were all under some sort of cover from the elements.

 

[drusba]

The buses, like those at other resorts, sometimes have delay issues but I have found those are generally less at AKL than elsewhere, possibly a result of not sharing buses with any other resort and having only two stops (one at Kidani and one at Jambo). As to a room request with standard view at Jambo, as I already mentioned above, if you want a decent chance of getting savanna view, request a room along Kudo Trail. If you just want a short walk to the bus station, then request near transportation but don't hold out hope for a savanna view if you do so.

 

[Tiggerette]

As I recall, and I think it can be seen the room layout, the Kidani studio has a door for the tub/shower/sink bathroom and a second interior door for the water closet (toilet). Unless someone chooses to leave the bathroom door open, there should be privacy for bathing. There's a sink opposite the bathroom door in the kitchette area to use for washing dishes/hands. When we stayed we found there was ample room to wash dishes, prepare sandwiches and tea in the kitchenette.