BWV or Jambo or Kidani

[Belle & Ariel]

I own at BWV and love it. I would like to try something else and want to do AK this time if we do. We are booked at BW in March, but are considering a change to AK.
1)What can you all tell me about bus service at AK? It is so nice to not have it at BW for Epcot and DHS. I have heard it is not real good at AK and have had a long wait there myself.
2)Between Jambo and Kidani, is it better to be at Kidani because I think busses go there first?
3)Does more stuff go on at Jambo because of all the viewing stations and docents?
4)Our son is 15 so the pool play areas are not a draw. Would the crowds coming to it make the pool there crazy? Which pool is quieter?
5)Are the rooms at Kidani a lot nicer because of being newer?
6)Should we stay at BW or expand our horizons?
Any other info would be appreciated.

 

[mccathy]

6)Should we stay at BW or expand our horizons?
Any other info would be appreciated.

I can only answer this one - YES! Expand your horizons.

 

[bobbiwoz]

'10 will be the second year that I've split my March break into BWV and AKV.

My March breaks are in the 3rd or 4th week, and all day at a pool has never been an option, it's been too chilly. There are CM's talks at both Jambo and Kidani. All buses except DTD stop first at Kidani and then at Jambo. We were just at AKV, Jambo, but we only went to DTD and MK by bus. We used a car for other places, including AK because we had some off site plans as well.

For a studio, I prefer Jambo. Without a kitchen, I like to be near Mara which has take out food that I like. We've been in a dedicated 2 bedroom in Kidani and it was absolutely beautiful.

I would give AKV a try if I were you, and I would do a split stay!

Bobbi

 

[LiseG]

We just returned from a 3-day stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge and a 7-day Disney Cruise. This was our first stay at AKL and it was fantastic. We had a studio in the Jambo House with a savannah view. There were animals outside our window all day. I loved stepping out on our porch late at night and seeing a giraffe sleeping just below. WOW!

The studio and our friends 1-bedroom were both wonderful. We enjoyed the BOMA buffet so much we went twice for dinner and once for brunch. The both pools were enjoyable for all ages. We didn't run into crowds being the first week of school I guess. I don't know what the occupancy was.

We only used the bus to go to DTD and once to get back from Kidani to Jambo. You walk past the bus stop walking to Jambo and the bus was there...why not catch a ride!

Is there anything else you want to know?

 

[minster22]

Our upcoming stay is split between Kidani and BWV. We were going to stay 3 at Kidani and 4 at BW (now 2@ Kidani/5@BW)but as much as we want to try something different we absolutely love our Boardwalk and this will hopefully be the best of both worlds. I will post my impressions when I return.

 

[drusba]

Have owned at BWV since '96. Have owned at AKV since '07. BWV has always been our favorite but AKV is now a close second. You know BWV so you know all of its benefits and its one major downside -- its abysmal bus system with the stopping and often waiting at two other resorts . At AKV, the bus system is much better, particularly because you are not sharing with other resorts but also because it usually does not have problems (and I cannot count as high as the times I have waited over 40 minutes for a BWV bus to show up at MK).

The rooms at Kidani are obviously new but the rooms at Jambo are not old -- they were all redone to new for DVC which opened in 2007.

Kidani's major advantage is when you get a 1BR or larger because those rooms are much larger and have an extra bathroom (Jambo's rooms are BWV size). Studios at the Kidani and Jambo are about the same size and equal to BWV. Jambo's major advantage is having three restaurants -- Boma, by our reckoning the best buffet at WDW, Jiko's, an upscale table service restaurant with a wine list that beats all, and Mara a counter service restaurant near the pool for anything quick. Kidani has only a table service restaurant, Sanaa but it is very good. You can go to the restaurants at both but walk from one building to the other is about 1/2 mile. Both lobbies are impressive but Jambo's is much larger and the more impressive. Both pools are nice but as adults who like shade we prefer Jambo because it has a lot of mature tress and foliage, Kidani's has not grown yet and has far more sun spaces than shade.

As far as which one has "more stuff going on" I do not think of AKV as a place that has "more stuff going on," except on News Year Eve last year Jambo had a band that was just fantastic but otherwise this not a resort you stay at if you are looking for major activity and nightlife as teens or adults, although both have daily kids activities. Both pools can get somewhat crowded although I have doubts that would occur much in March.

AKV is in a different world than BWV. It is very isolated, it is mostly savanna, and it captures that theme extremely well. Porches are larger than BWV and sitting out watching the animals on the savanna is something we do not tire of. Just an example: in January we got to see the great cat chase. A stray cat apparently decided to take up residence somewhere near the savanna and daily he would come out to the savanna and the other animals, apparently recognizing an interloper, would slowly gather together into a herd (birds, cattle and others) and then slowly start stalking the cat and then the pace would pick up and then ultimately you had this herd of large unrelated animals galloping after the little cat who then departed the savanna to his hiding place (only to repeat the exercise again the next day).

That of course brings me to the caveat. I would not stay at AKV without savanna view and I consider that view on the same plain of pleasantness as boardwalk view at BWV.

 

[DeeCee735]

We felt exactly the same way before the first time we stayed at AKV (at 7month window with our BWV points). BWV is still our favorite DVC resort, but we "broadened our horizons" with a stay at AKV in 2007, and just fell in love! Came home from the trip and bought a small add on there.

I will be there in 36 days!!!!! WOO HOOO! with just my cousins....an all girls trip! DH's and kids are staying home

This will be my first time staying at Kidani. I really made myself crazy about which to stay at Jambo or Kidani....Jambo for the lounge and restaurants, Kidani for the 2nd bathroom (we are in a one bedroom savannah view). In the end, the 2nd bathroom won out over the closer proximity to the restaurants. Turns out we will have a car anyway. One of my cousins lives in FLA., she originally wasn't able to join us, and now she can, she'll be picking us up at the airport!!! I'm getting very excited for this trip! My cousins are my best friends and this is going to be a blast!

In January my family and I are going and we are splitting the stay between Jambo AKV and BWV. 2 nights at Jambo in a savannah view room, and 3 nights in BWV! So we'll get to see what each of my kids and DH thinks about AKV. I want more points there, of course!

I definitely say broaden your horizons and check out AKV. It's very different from BWV and that's all the more reason to give it a try!

Enjoy your vacation!