Counter service at Kidani

[Ln42]

Hi
Does anyone know if Kidani will be required to put in a counter service restaurant at any point? Perhaps when the resort is sold out? Just wondering if that is in the future.

Thanks in advance.

 

[erionm]

Counter Service is available at Jambo House. Can't see them adding a second counter service location inside of one resort.

 

[wdrl]

There are some food items available at the pool bar at Kidani, such as salads and sandwiches. But the selection is limited and if they sell out of an item during the day I don't think they restock until the next day.

Since Disney made no promises in AKV's Public Offering Statements to build a counter service restaurant at Kidai, it is not under any obligation to do so even when AKV is finally "sold out." It will be strictly a business decision whether AKV can support a second counter service restaurant.

 

[mjc2003]

Counter Service is available at Jambo House. Can't see them adding a second counter service location inside of one resort.

Jambo and Kidani are one resort in name only, they are pretty far apart when you are talking about something like the convenience of counter service. There's nothing convenient about having to walk 15 minutes with 3 little kids over to the Jambo house for a sandwich (and this might be after walking 15 minutes to get from your room at Kidani to the lobby).

We found the lack of food options to be a huge detriment at AKV. We also hated the room location, we were in a GV in the 2nd to last building and the walk was a deal breaker. We felt very isolated.

We stayed once at Jambo and it was the complete opposite experience; lots of conveniences, great food options, and our room wasn't a mile away. We will not return to AKV, but would stay at Jambo again.

I don't even know where they would add a counter service at Kidani. Our Grand Villa was practically bigger than the lobby.

 

[CruznLexi]

we love KV and not having a CS is fine for us. If we want a qs we generally get that at the park or stop on the way back from the park. Rarely do we eat breakfast if we do it is cereal.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Jambo and Kidani are one resort in name only, they are pretty far apart when you are talking about something like the convenience of counter service. There's nothing convenient about having to walk 15 minutes with 3 little kids over to the Jambo house for a sandwich (and this might be after walking 15 minutes to get from your room at Kidani to the lobby). ....

Kind of like the villas at SSR or OKW. One counter service (though I think SSR is getting a small counter service at the Paddock pool and OKW does have the Turtle Shack for limited/seasonal offerings - kind of like the Kidani pool offerings) for the entire resort.

 

[erionm]

There's nothing convenient about having to walk 15 minutes with 3 little kids over to the Jambo house for a sandwich (and this might be after walking 15 minutes to get from your room at Kidani to the lobby).

Bell Services runs a shuttle between Jambo House and Kidani Village.

 

[mjc2003]

Kind of like the villas at SSR or OKW. One counter service (though I think SSR is getting a small counter service at the Paddock pool and OKW does have the Turtle Shack for limited/seasonal offerings - kind of like the Kidani pool offerings) for the entire resort.

Yes, but Kidani is one building whereas OKW and SSR are multiple, multiple buildings, so it'd be kind of impossible to have counter service in each. The setup of OKW and SSR makes it impossible. However, with Kidani being one building there is no reason they couldn't have planned an additional eating option. Of course many don't care, I am speaking from my perspective, with little kids having Sanaa as the only place for a meal just didn't work.

Bell Services runs a shuttle between Jambo House and Kidani Village.

Yes, my wife was quite tired (pregnant at the time) so I took my two daughters (6 & 3) over to Jambo to get food. We walked 10+ minutes to the lobby, then waited about 10 minutes for the shuttle. We got to Jambo, went to Mara and got some sandwiches and drinks (another 15 minutes), and, with 2 kids in tow I lugged everything back out to the front. Waited about 5-10 minutes for the shuttle, got back to Kidani and walked 10 minutes back to the room.
So about 50 minutes round trip for a sandwich. I know for some this is ok, for us it just seemed absurd. If I wasn't traveling with small kids I'd be less bothered, for sure, but that's not the case.

To each their own, we won't be back to AKV.

 

[LisaS]

So about 50 minutes round trip for a sandwich. I know for some this is ok, for us it just seemed absurd. If I wasn't traveling with small kids I'd be less bothered, for sure, but that's not the case.

To each their own, we won't be back to AKV.

With small kids in tow, I can see where it could be difficult heading over to Jambo House to get to The Mara to bring food back to Kidani. If you ever decide to return to AKV, consider booking Jambo House instead of Kidani so that you have everything you need right there.

DH and I don't have kids and we enjoy the walk over to Jambo to have breakfast at The Mara. We don't do it every day (we usually have breakfast in the room) but since we're not park commandos, we enjoy a leisurely trek to Jambo for breakfast in the morning. I really like how quiet and peaceful it is at Kidani Village and wonder if that would change if they added a busy CS restaurant. And at this point, it's not clear where they could put one even if they wanted to.

 

[WolfpackFan]

Doesn't seem like a big deal to me. I enjoyed the walk over to Jambo. I really can't see them building another CS restaurant at Kidani.

 

[Sammie]

No I don't think so, since it was not put in when it was built. I do agree with kids, staying at Jambo is a better idea for quick access to Mara.

 

[vicki_c]

That was the only downside to me about Kidani. We were only there a few days so it didn't really matter, but for a longer trip, I wouldn't want to be walking or shuttling over to Jambo to grab something to eat. I know they won't put a CS location in there though, so I just accept it as the way it is, and I'm sure we will stay there again because everything else was great.

(I was not impressed with OKW's food choices either in April - but loved everything else there too. For SSR, we like Artists' Palette. I could go on ... then there's Beach Club / BCV. I think with only a few exceptions, the deluxes and DVC don't have the greatest quick food choices but since that's where we normally stay, it is what it is. I thought POFQ had an amazing food selection the time we stayed there.)

 

[jarestel]

I don't know if they will implement/expand the CS option, but doing so would most certainly improve the quality of a stay at Kidani.

 

[bama106]

We love Kidani and that's where we stay most of the time. From the Lobby of Kidani to Jambo isn't but about a 7-9 minute walk. I understand that for some people with kids or people with health issues this could be a problem and I totally understand that aspect of it. You can always make a room request before hand and ask to be put on wing closest to Jambo house? We've done this before when we knew we'd be going over to Jambo a lot. If you're down on the far end of Kidani closest to Jambo it's only about a 3-4 minute walk at most. I know for me, I walk all day in the parks so a 3-4 minute walk over to get breakfast in the morning isn't nothing for me.

 

[daisyduck123]

We have ordered room service...they will deliver right to the Kidani pool. DS enjoyed his own pizza there last time while DH & I enjoyed sandwiches.

 

[CruznLexi]

These same issues came up when KV first opened people were mad that there was no QS. No bigie for us. If I had young kids I would not being staying at KV If it was an issue. You can always take a park bus, walk, shuttle to get there. F

 

[Deb & Bill]

I don't know if they will implement/expand the CS option, but doing so would most certainly improve the quality of a stay at Kidani.

Gosh, what do you folks do when you stay at OKW or SSR? Or have you never had the pleasure of staying there?

 

[jarestel]

Gosh, what do you folks do when you stay at OKW or SSR? Or have you never had the pleasure of staying there?

Have stayed at both multiple times, though that has nothing to do with this discussion. My point is that the more amenities a resort can offer, the better the resort will be. And yes Deb, though I know that ultimately "resistance is futile", I tend to be in favor of anything that enhances the resort experience.

 

[Alexander]

Kind of like the villas at SSR or OKW. One counter service (though I think SSR is getting a small counter service at the Paddock pool and OKW does have the Turtle Shack for limited/seasonal offerings - kind of like the Kidani pool offerings) for the entire resort.

Yep...The Paddock does have a limited CS selection. Also add to this BWV that really don't have anything much to offer. The Boardwalk Bakery has awesome sandwiches, but other than that the CS selections at the Boardwalk are few and far between. The BCV only added their market a few years ago. Prior to that the only CS was at Hurricane Hannah's poolside. And the CS at OKW is tiny and takes forever.

So, IMHO, no I don't ever see CS coming to Kidani especially since Jambo has a large CS option. Yes, it would be convenient and may improve the stay for some people, I don't think in the long run it is going to be justified to add a whole CS as the demand is not high enough. Yes, we would love to have one, but choose Jambo house for our AKV stays because of it.

 

[d-r]

I sure hope not.

it isn't really father from kidani to mara than it is from rooms at old key west or ssr to their counter service. BWV doesn't really have a counter service, and the beach club marketplace is sort of a joke. Every room has at least a mini fridge or a microwave, and it is a very, very short trip to publix if you have to have a snack in the room. Plus chickfila and all those things on 192 are right there. There just isn't the need for that sort of thing here, and it was never in the plans when we bought and there is no good place to put one.