Counter service at Kidani

[Simba's Mom]

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.

I was kind of wondering about that. Thanks! I know OKW has CS in Goods to Go, yet we've only been there twice in the last several visits, so I figured maybe not having CS at Kidani wasn't so bad.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

I personally don't think it's very likely, but never say never. SSR recently got a second QS when they refurbished the Paddock pool. Anything's possible.

 

[majortom1981]

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.

MY wifes parents home resort is saratoga springs and some of the villas at ssr can be far from counter service also. I dont understand why people complain about it with AKV and not SSR

 

[hakepb]

AP at SSR was running way over capacity, on the resort TV channel they used to tell guests to avoid breakfast between 8-10am. Waiting an hour in line to get food was not unusual at SSR. In my experience, Mara is no where that overwhelmed. (and is overall the best Deluxe CS I have experienced)

With DVCs in general I have learned to move most CS meals to parks (as a PP mentioned, values an moderates have better CS than any deluxe) but the lack of CS is why I would never choose to book a studio at Kidani. I might change if Saana at least offered a breakfast. (I heard they tried a basic continental cash breakfast but there was nothing on the menu to make a trip there worthwhile.

Mmmm ... now I'm thinking of eggs with the ?shaklacka (spicy stewed tomatoes on it) that you can get at Mara and Boma

 

[TagsMissy]

Required -- Disney isn't required to do anything in terms of a CS restaurant. Will they put one in? It's possible if they get enough complaints to warrant the cost.

now in saying that I doubt we'd see anything, at least not in the short term. it's not like it's a big secret there is no CS and you choose to stay there so that's a choice you are making. We loved Kidani and even with kids we loved the trek over to Jambo.

Same as BWV we fell in love with it on our last stay, CS or not.

 

[tjkraz]

Disney won't add another CS location unless its added business would justify the expenses.

Right now most people simply make alternate plans. Some walk over to Mara. Some "buy-up" to table service at Sanaa. Some dine in the theme parks. Some purchase groceries in the resort store. In all of those scenarios, Disney is still getting guests' money without the overhead of operating another dining establishment.

In order to justify another restaurant, they would have to conclude that capturing money lost to off-site dining or grocery delivery would make the new location profitable.

Before building new, simply offering breakfast at Sanaa would seem to be a logical first step. A limited menu with low-end dishes (waffles, breakfast burrito, egg platter) would help those looking for a cheap breakfast. But that hasn't even happened yet.

 

[DisDadMatt]

So BLT doesn't have it's own QS/Resturant however the walk over there to me was very easy and not a problem. We were on the 1st floor so going up to the walkway was faster than out the 1st floor into Contemporary and then up. So for there I would say it's fine. We had 2 little ones so it didn't bother me to walk over there for some food at night for my wife and I.

We are staying at kidani this year. I hope the Walk over is as comparable like BLT but I would think that Kidani could add some easy Market type stuff that could be sold in the shop? Not sure if it is already but with a restaurant at Sanna why couldn't they add some sort of QS options? Now we have a car so if the Walk is too much, I will most likely just drive over. However, I know this isn't possible for most people without cars.

 

[DebbieB]

So BLT doesn't have it's own QS/Resturant however the walk over there to me was very easy and not a problem. We were on the 1st floor so going up to the walkway was faster than out the 1st floor into Contemporary and then up. So for there I would say it's fine. We had 2 little ones so it didn't bother me to walk over there for some food at night for my wife and I.

We are staying at kidani this year. I hope the Walk over is as comparable like BLT but I would think that Kidani could add some easy Market type stuff that could be sold in the shop? Not sure if it is already but with a restaurant at Sanna why couldn't they add some sort of QS options? Now we have a car so if the Walk is too much, I will most likely just drive over. However, I know this isn't possible for most people without cars.

Kidani does have market stuff in their store. There's also a refillable mug station.

 

[DisDadMatt]

Kidani does have market stuff in their store. There's also a refillable mug station.

Oh perfect. Then that's a plus for sure. Again trying to compare to BLT, they didn't have any of that stuff available. Had to go to the contemporary for everything.

 

[CruznLexi]

We own at KV and know that there is no QS. We stay in a studio. Normally we do not eat breakfast. But if we did we go to JH. We normally stop at JH for lunch after several hours in the park. What I do not get is if you know there is no QS don't stay there. If you stay there you know there is not one. It is like going on a cruise and expect a large pool. It is not gonna happen. Don't let it run your vacation plan accordingly.

 

[DisDadMatt]

Besides the boards, maybe most people don't know about that?

Anyways qq for my own knowledge, and maybe others?

Has anyone stayed at both Bay Lake Tower and Kidani Village and would you you say the walk from BLT to Contempo Cafe is similar, less, or more from Kidani Village to Jambo and Mara?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Besides the boards, maybe most people don't know about that?

Anyways qq for my own knowledge, and maybe others?

Has anyone stayed at both Bay Lake Tower and Kidani Village and would you you say the walk from BLT to Contempo Cafe is similar, less, or more from Kidani Village to Jambo and Mara?

Generally I'd say the walk from Kidani to Mara is longer than from BLT to Contempo. 5 min from BLT to Contempo is my avg and 10 min from Kidani to Mara - I'm told I'm a fast walker - And that'll be 15 min if you are in the rooms furthest away at Kidani. But in both cases it will depend on where your room is located. My best guess is that if you are in one of the last rooms closest to Jambo compared to one of the last rooms in the north wing at BLT then the walk would be similar or possibly closer for Kidani.

 

[TagsMissy]

Besides the boards, maybe most people don't know about that?

Anyways qq for my own knowledge, and maybe others?

Has anyone stayed at both Bay Lake Tower and Kidani Village and would you you say the walk from BLT to Contempo Cafe is similar, less, or more from Kidani Village to Jambo and Mara?

the Kidani to Jambo walk is longer. the BLT to CR is very short.... BLT is small so no matter where your room is it's doesn't take you long to get to the sky bridge. Kidani on the other hand... depending on where your villa is can be quite a trek but I'd say lobby to lobby is 10 minutes, 15 if you stroll very slowly.

 

[mjc2003]

Our walk from Kidani was really closer to 20 exhausting minutes. We were in the 2nd to last building at Kidani, and with strollers, kids, backpacks, stepping over the skeletons of DVC'ers that never made it to their rooms in the last building, it seemed to take us 10 minutes to reach the lobby....then the walk over to Jambo was a good 10 minutes, at least. We took the shuttle back.

I found a like awhile ago to another discussion board where somebody claimed to have timed the walk from the last room to the lobby, and it was 7 minutes walking at a brisk pace with no encumbrances, i.e. strollers, kids, etc...

That might not sound like much but start a timer and let it run for 7 minutes. Now throw in a stroller, tired kids, a hungry wife, housekeeping carts to dodge, other guests to maneuver....and voila! You've arrived at the lobby !!!!!

 

[d-r]

Besides the boards, maybe most people don't know about that?

Anyways qq for my own knowledge, and maybe others?

Has anyone stayed at both Bay Lake Tower and Kidani Village and would you you say the walk from BLT to Contempo Cafe is similar, less, or more from Kidani Village to Jambo and Mara?

Kidani is a lot father from Jambo than blt is from tower.

Kidani is way bigger than blt.

Depending on your room location, it could honestly be farther from your room in kidani to the kidani lobby than it is from your room in blt to the cont. tower.

You could probably fit all of blt in one wing of kidani.

The walk from kidani to jambo is not really comparable to the walk from blt to the tower. Those buildings are basically connected. Kidani and Jambo are not and they are probably a 5 minute walk apart.

Or basically hop on a park bus to go from kidani to jambo and a downtown disney bus to come back.

The comparison is more like waking from a condo at ssr or okw to their central locations.

Kidani is more of a condo than a hotel room.

You will have a kitchen, if you really need quick snacks you should think about going to publix. I know a lot of people who fly in use that garden grocer thing, but I wouldn't wannt to stay at a condo-type resort (kidani, ssr, okw) without a car. But that's just me.

 

[kamik86]

My DH and I prefer staying at Jambo just for this reason. We really liked having Mara right there.

 

[missycj96]

Kidani is a fantastic resort for kids (great pool, community hall) but the food situation is a problem. There is no real breakfast to buy other than room service and sanaa isnt easy with a baby and young child. I find it very odd not to have counter service. Going to jambo regularly isnt realistic with kids. We made the best of it, but disney has to know its a problem for families.

 

[mybabesuz]

The only time I miss having a QS at Kidani is late at night coming home from the park.
When we stay at Jambo we run down to Mara and get a quick late night snack and fill our mugs.

So now we just try to remember to fill up at the park before we leave instead.

 

[DenLo]

The only time I miss having a QS at Kidani is late at night coming home from the park.
When we stay at Jambo we run down to Mara and get a quick late night snack and fill our mugs.

So now we just try to remember to fill up at the park before we leave instead.

I thought with the RFID mugs you can't fill up at the parks?

BTW, I know you can fill the mugs at the store, but does it close early?

 

[Deb & Bill]

The only time I miss having a QS at Kidani is late at night coming home from the park.
When we stay at Jambo we run down to Mara and get a quick late night snack and fill our mugs.

So now we just try to remember to fill up at the park before we leave instead.

You are using your refillable resort mugs at the theme parks? When did they start offering free refills with the resort mugs at the theme parks?