Animal Kingdom

[kalliyan1]

Can someone tell me the difference(if there is one) between Jambo House and Kindani Village?
If you prefer one over the other, why?
TIA

 

[chalee94]

jambo house is in the same building as the original AKL. the 5th floor is all DVC villas now (and a few concierge villas on the 6th floor).

since DVC sold well at AKL, they added another building of all villas, called kidani village.

jambo house/AKL has boma, mara and jiko for multiple dining options. KV has sanaa but no quick service option. each building has its own pool/water play area (but it's one animal kingdom resort, so guests at either building can use either pool so far as i know.)

park buses stop first at kidani, then jambo, then the parks. DTD buses go from jambo to kidani to DTD.

kidani 1BR villas have 2 bathrooms and kidani 2BRs have 3 bathrooms...so that's also a benefit if you are renting a larger villa.

 

[tallen429]

We have stayed at both and I far prefer Jambo.
Kidani is VERY nice, with and EXCELLENT pool and Sanaa is wonderful.
That said, not have any quickservice is a major drawback for us. We are not DVC and were actually moved to Kidani after a major room issue elsewhere so we were not prepared the same way we might have been had we planned it. (No Garden Grocer delivery, etc)
It was in the worst heat of August and even the "short" walk to Jambo to the Mara was uncomfortable.

It's a nice place if you are planning for it I suppose, but I wouldn't choose it again. Jambo on the other hand is one of our top two resort choices.

 

[kalliyan1]

So is the walk far from Kidani to the "main" lodge and is there anyway to get from one to the other inside? Is there a mug refill station at Kidani? Seems like no QS was poor planning on Disney's part

 

[RocketEAR99]

So is the walk far from Kidani to the "main" lodge? Is there a mug refill station at Kidani?

Yes there is a mug refill at Kidani, as you enter the main lobby, turn into the shop on the right. The refill station is in the right end of the store.

 

[RocketEAR99]

It's a fair walk from Kidani to Jambo. Not sure if you can do it all from inside. I always just took the bus to shuttle from one to the other. I think park buses go from Kidani to Jambo and Downtown Disney buses go from Jambo to Kidani.

 

[kalliyan1]

WOW!!! I'm glad I asked....Currently our family has two savannah rooms booked at Kidani for end of august, wondering if we should try to switch to Jambo to be closer to the "facilities"?
We will have a car so maybe that will help out some? What about by the pool, is there anything there to get snacks, drinks?

 

[tallen429]

WOW!!! I'm glad I asked....Currently our family has two savannah rooms booked at Kidani for end of august, wondering if we should try to switch to Jambo to be closer to the "facilities"?
We will have a car so maybe that will help out some? What about by the pool, is there anything there to get snacks, drinks?[/QUOTE]

Yes, you can get things like chips, cold sandwiches, a couple of salads etc. Not a huge variety but enough to fill a tummy. You would get very tired of it very fast if you used it as a "replacement" for a quickservice but we had a couple of lunches from the pool bar during afternoon swims.
Here is the pool bar menu from allears.net
http://allears.net/menu/menu_maji.htm
Oh, and IIRC, you had to order the "private dining" options well in advance. I don't remember being able to get them on the spot.

 

[chalee94]

WOW!!! I'm glad I asked....Currently our family has two savannah rooms booked at Kidani for end of august, wondering if we should try to switch to Jambo to be closer to the "facilities"?

kidani is all villas (all the rooms have at least a kitchenette) so leaving out the quick service option probably made sense at the time...

you cannot get from jambo to kidani all-indoors - using the buses is the best option in rain or extreme heat.

switching to jambo might be a good idea. but remember that jambo villas are only on the 5th floor, so if you wanted to be lower for better views of the animals, kidani works better unless you book a regular hotel room at jambo house.

What about by the pool, is there anything there to get snacks, drinks?

yes.

http://land.allears.net/reviewpost/showproduct.php?product=553

 

[Krabby Patty]

Great information and this is very helpful!!

 

[kalliyan1]

Thanks for all the information!!! I appreciate it.

 

[chalee94]

We will have a car so maybe that will help out some?

i meant to add, there is a target out on irlo bronson memorial hwy not too far from AKV, so that might be a good place to pick up snacks, drinks and maybe pop-tarts or other simple breakfast items if you like (kitchenettes in the studios all have a mini-fridge, toaster and microwave).

 

[Deb & Bill]

So is the walk far from Kidani to the "main" lodge and is there anyway to get from one to the other inside? Is there a mug refill station at Kidani? Seems like no QS was poor planning on Disney's part

There are other DVC resorts that don't have QS dining in all the buildings, just like most of the moderate and value resorts. The walk is about 10 minutes between the two buildings.