Animal Kingdom Lodge question

[Allisonmomofthree]

Okay, This is will be our first time to disney. I'm just wondering what's the difference in the Animal Kingdom lodge versus the animal kingdom villas (jambo and Kidani)? I think the hardest thing for me is trying to figure out where to stay. There will be 5 of us, 2 adults and 3 kids ages 17,8 and 3. Any suggestions and advice would be very helpful Thanks so much!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The villas are timeshare units. Your party wouldn't fit in a studio, but would fit in a 1BR unit. A 1BR unit has a full kitchen, a bedroom, and then a pull-out sofa and sleeper chair in the living room. It's basically a condo.

The Lodge rooms are hotel rooms. Many do sleep 5. They feature a typical hotel setup, no kitchen. I believe suites may also be available in the Lodge proper, but again, they won't have a kitchen.

 

[TsLoveMickey]

The lodge is just at Jambo House (main building). Villas are at both Jambo and Kidani. We stayed in regular lodge room in December and even if I went back to stay on DVC points or pay cash for a villa, I would most likely want to stay at Jambo again. I loved the atmosphere, the dining options, etc. But I've heard great things about Kidani and ate at Sanaa over there, so I wouldn't be opposed to staying there either. They're very close -- walkable or you can catch a bus.

 

[Allisonmomofthree]

Thanks so much

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We were thinking the same thing. We are going to stay there this summer and wasn't sure where to stay. Thanks.

 

[Allisonmomofthree]

We were thinking the same thing. We are going to stay there this summer and wasn't sure where to stay. Thanks.

I'm relieved I'm not the only one

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

I'm relieved I'm not the only one

We ate at both of them. We love Sanaa and Boma yet we have never stayed there. We can't wait. Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[Mainemama]

AKL standard rooms do not sleep 5. If you want to stay there, you either need 2 rooms, a deluxe room (sleeps 6), or to book a villa.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

We love AKL and will be having our third stay there in July. We always choose Jambo House. It is the only one of the two with a quick service restaurant. It has a much nicer lobby. Standard rooms have two queens rather than 1 queen and a sleeper sofa. More importantly for us, Jambo House has always been significantly cheaper than staying at Kidani.

A standard room at either resort will not sleep 5. Standard rooms sleep 4 (plus one infant 2 and under). Most of the time you will be able to get two separate rooms at Jambo House (sleeps 8 total) cheaper than you can get a 1 bedroom villa at Kidani (sleeps 5).

Kidani has the better pool and we prefer Sanaa to Boma, but you can easily travel between the two resorts very quickly. They have a shuttle van or you can walk.


The analysis may change if you want to rent DVC points, but you have to compare. In spite of what some people say, renting is not always cheaper than booking through Disney. It depends on the available discounts and the dates you are going. If you were going to rent points, you should compare prices for your dates. I have compared prices for all of our trips and have found that the very small savings renting offers over booking through Disney or Orbitz is not worth the hassle of not having flexibility of being able to cancel at the last minute. I am sure there must be some great ways to save money renting points, but we have not found that to be the case with our dates at AKL.

 

[loves to dive]

We love AKL and will be having our third stay there in July. We always choose Jambo House. It is the only one of the two with a quick service restaurant. It has a much nicer lobby. Standard rooms have two queens rather than 1 queen and a sleeper sofa. More importantly for us, Jambo House has always been significantly cheaper than staying at Kidani.

A standard room at either resort will not sleep 5. Standard rooms sleep 4 (plus one infant 2 and under). Most of the time you will be able to get two separate rooms at Jambo House (sleeps 8 total) cheaper than you can get a 1 bedroom villa at Kidani (sleeps 5).

Kidani has the better pool and we prefer Sanaa to Boma, but you can easily travel between the two resorts very quickly. They have a shuttle van or you can walk.


The analysis may change if you want to rent DVC points, but you have to compare. In spite of what some people say, renting is not always cheaper than booking through Disney. It depends on the available discounts and the dates you are going. If you were going to rent points, you should compare prices for your dates. I have compared prices for all of our trips and have found that the very small savings renting offers over booking through Disney or Orbitz is not worth the hassle of not having flexibility of being able to cancel at the last minute. I am sure there must be some great ways to save money renting points, but we have not found that to be the case with our dates at AKL.

I agree, sometimes the only rooms available to rent might be bigger than you need, say you need a studio or 1 bdroom but you can only rent a 2 bedroom, you would probably be better in that case doing two regular rooms at whatever discount is being offered. Also, keep in mind, rooms in the villas are not always available even if you are not renting points but paying "cash" but chances are regular resort rooms will be available.

 

[johnsonet]

Once upon a time there was just Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Then, Disney introduced DVC to the resort and turned rooms on the 5th and 6th floors into AKV-Jambo House villas. They also built AKV - Kidani Village, which is all DVC, next door.
I love the Lodge (AKV-Jambo House) but I have read many great reviews re. the Kidani villas.

 

[Allisonmomofthree]

Y'all are awesome !!!

 

[clayfolks]

We love Kidani. The one and two bedroom villas each have an extra full bath (1 bed =2 baths; 2 bed = 3 baths) plus washer and dryer. With the full kitchen, we usually make breakfast every day. The bus stops at Kidani first, then Jambo for all destinations with the exception of Disney Springs. We like the pool at Kidani better than the one at Jambo, especially for small children.

 

[Allisonmomofthree]

do the one bedroom villas at kidani have 2 bathrooms?

 

[Allisonmomofthree]

The lodge is just at Jambo House (main building). Villas are at both Jambo and Kidani. We stayed in regular lodge room in December and even if I went back to stay on DVC points or pay cash for a villa, I would most likely want to stay at Jambo again. I loved the atmosphere, the dining options, etc. But I've heard great things about Kidani and ate at Sanaa over there, so I wouldn't be opposed to staying there either. They're very close -- walkable or you can catch a bus.

Thanks so much Is it true the buses at the jambo are crowded because they stop at kidani first?

 

[Allisonmomofthree]

We love Kidani. The one and two bedroom villas each have an extra full bath (1 bed =2 baths; 2 bed = 3 baths) plus washer and dryer. With the full kitchen, we usually make breakfast every day. The bus stops at Kidani first, then Jambo for all destinations with the exception of Disney Springs. We like the pool at Kidani better than the one at Jambo, especially for small children.

Thank you! that was my question on another post.. So, the one bedroom villas do have 2 bathrooms?? I can't find it anywhere on the wdw site.

 

[buzznina]

For our family it's not even a tough decision, we will always pick Jambo over Kidani. We love the water play area at Kidani but the pool at AKL, plus coming back every night from the parks and walking into the Jambo lobby was always a great feeling.

 

[TsLoveMickey]

Thanks so much Is it true the buses at the jambo are crowded because they stop at kidani first?

We never had to let a bus pass for this reason and almost always had a seat. We went in early Dec.

 

[Iowamomof4]

We just booked a 2bdr villa in Kidani for right after Thanksgiving. Thanks for starting this thread, it has some good information for me as well.

 

[Allisonmomofthree]

We have booked jambo but I am still teetering on kidani I love how helpful everyone is