Enjoyed AKV (Kidani) - But Probably Not Again

[d-r]

Please forward your observations/concerns to the DVC Member Satisfaction Team. That is the only way that things can change.

dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com


Bill

Just asking - what do you want them to change? The length of the hallway? I think it is one of those luck of the draw things, it is what it is.

 

[magicaldisney]

Just asking - what do you want them to change? The length of the hallway? I think it is one of those luck of the draw things, it is what it is.

They can't change the hallways at Kidani, but if they know that it is a big enough issue, they could keep that in mind when building the next DVC. They might be able to change the lack of counter service at Kidani, but won't know there is an issue unless people let them know.

 

[disneynutz]

Just asking - what do you want them to change? The length of the hallway? I think it is one of those luck of the draw things, it is what it is.

Food and drink selections can certainly be improved. Length of hallways are the result of designing a building that provides the most animal viewing area from your room. Not much that can be done there.

Bill

 

[d-r]

I kind of like that there's not a counter service. I like roaring forks at the wilderness lodge. But I don't think the counter service at beach club is that great really. I mean you can get a good salad there. Boardwalk doesn't really have a counter service. I've never liked the counter service at old key west. I'm kind of glad that there isn't one. There always seems like so much chaos around a counter service. Just my opinion. I can't think of any way to "add" one that wouldn't be a loss of something. I'd much, much, much rather have the library or the community room than a counter service. There just really aren't that good anyway.

 

[MiaSRN62]

But while we did enjoy the stay, we found a few things became very frustrating as the week wore on. The hallways are CRAZY! It didn't seem like a big deal at first. But by about day 4 we were getting tired of the long walk to the room. We have stayed at the very last room in the hallway at BWV before. So we thought we knew what long hallways were. Not so! Compared to Kidani our room at BWV was just next door to the lobby. It just seemed that we would get to the lobby and realize that we needed something from the room. Another problem was the lack of food choices at Kidani. If you are enjoying the pool and want more than a turkey sandwich or a salad, you have to either order room service and pay $14 for a hamburger or walk a mile to Jambo House. At first it seemed like a minor issue. But by the last day I was getting very tired of all the walking and waiting for buses. The refillable mug offerings at Kidani are very limited. They didn't even have regular tea or lemonade. And there was only one diet choice. Over at Jambo House they had a great selection of drinks for your mug. So another long walk or bus ride if I wanted Sprite Zero or unsweetened tea. Finally, the wait for buses and the travel time to the parks was more than I expected. We stay at OKW a lot. So I thought it would be similar. But getting to the Magic Kingdom From Kidani took nearly 30 minutes from pick up to drop off. Now add in the 20+ minute wait for the bus. The wait at the parks for buses was brutal compared to OKW. We almost cried as we waited in the rain for a bus at DD. We saw 3 OKW buses go by before a AKV bus came. Funny, I read these types of complaints before and thought people were going a bit overboard or just weren't used to staying at a WDW or DVC resort. And at first we didn't think much of it. But by the the middle of the week I was tired of constantly walking to Jambo House to get a bite to eat. Of course, our room was on the furthest end from Jambo House.

So while we did have a great stay, I think that we will choose BCV or OKW next time.

Oh, another good thing...I lost weight on vacation from all the walking!

I loved Kidani for the same reasons you did. I also disliked for the same reasons. We had requested "close to lobby" and didn't even get close to this despite checking in at 9:45 am and the room not being ready until 3:50 pm. We used our car a lot to avoid the long hallways---which were REALLY long ! When we used our car, we parked in the Pumba part of the garage and took that elevator up to our room which was much closer. Unfortunately, not convenient AT ALL for refillable mug access from our room. Made it more of a hassle than it was worth. Will not get refillable mugs here again. We drove over to Mara a couple times. Staying here again in Aug and hoping for a room closer to the lobby this time.

 

[MelissathePooh]

I may be mistaken, but I think they are changing the rules so that "close to the lobby" can no longer be requested at Kidani.

I'm pretty sure that 99% percent of the reservations all have that request on them

 

[MiaSRN62]

I may be mistaken, but I think they are changing the rules so that "close to the lobby" can no longer be requested at Kidani.

I'm pretty sure that 99% percent of the reservations all have that request on them

ha ha....I am sure you are right on this. I think though, if this be the case, anyone too far from the lobby should receive a discount on the refillable mugs because they certainly don't get their use out of them !

 

[ToddyLu]

Yes the hallways can be very long and we have been on the third bead twice. We do not buy the refillable mugs because they are a pain to carry around. So we just drink while we are in the room, knowing that once we leave we will not drink anything until our destination. At least there is a nice bathroom off the Kidani lobby and you do not have to walk all the way back to the room. We decided to skip Sanaa from now on--too much spice. DH was ill for a whole day. Naan bread is always welcome though. I would like a couple more options on the in room menu--but not enough to contact member satisfaction.

I did get aggravated that people did not throw away their pool towels when they were done. You couldn't tell which chairs were in use and it was busy.

Having always stayed at Values before our DVC purchase, we appreciated the little touches like the covered bus area and benches to sit on.

I will never choose to stay at BLT, cause to me there is nothing about it appealing--the shape, the decor...even the location doesn't because that monorail track and parking lot are there in front.

It is so cool that Disney has something for everyone and most people are happy with one place or another. I enjoy reading everyone's opinions.

 

[eva]

It definitely does not take 30 minutes to get to MK from AKV in terms of actual travel time. It's actually about 15 minutes -- though I can see how it'd feel like 30 if you'd already been waiting 20.

We generally prefer Jambo to Kidani for the hallway and food option reasons you describe. Kidani's hallways are just poor design, or design that assumes everyone will be driving everywhere from beneath their room and not walking to the lobby

Sorry, but we timed it. Now it may not take that long normally. But it was definitely that long the day we took the bus to MK.

 

[eva]

Please forward your observations/concerns to the DVC Member Satisfaction Team. That is the only way that things can change.

dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com


Bill

I definitely did send them my thoughts. They even sent me a survey to fill out.

 

[Starr W.]

After reading this thread, DH now wants to try a stay at AKV.

Hmm, my kids (15/10) looked at the Saana menu and said let's try it.

 

[sean-1966]

I am so with the OP. We were in the second to last pod and at the end of the day it was a real pain walking to the room!! This place definitely needs a counter service. We did the private dining at the pool one day. Most expensive burger I've ever had. Also I think the pool is small. I'd hate to see it in March. I think they need another pool...

 

[dianeschlicht]

I guess I look at things a bit differently than the OP.

First of all...I do agree with the long hallways, BUT....We found it was much easier, faster and more convenient to take the nearest elevator down to the ground and walk outside. Things were closer from there, and much more scenic than walking indoors. I usually find very little reason to go to the check in area at ANY resort once I check in, so that isn't usually an issue for me. I did find I wanted to be down at the animal viewing area off the lobby though, because it was usually much better animal viewing than from our savanna view room.

Second, the lack of food service....I don't have much issue with the lack of counter service, since we just don't do "fast food" type things. One of the reasons we like DVC is the full kitchen where we can prepare food to our liking rather than always relying on the unhealthy options available at most establishments. As for Sanaa...I would love to eat there, but since nearly every item contains curry, and I am very allergic to curry, I haven't dared to try it. It really is no big deal to walk over to Jambo and enjoy Jiko. I walk a lot farther in the parks. It certainly doesn't warrant taking the bus.

Speaking of the bus...We found bus service at AKV in general to be excellent. In our trips there, we have only had one lengthy wait for a bus, and that was when a MK bus skipped AKV one morning. They had to send two extra buses to take up the slack from all of us waiting at the MK stop. Beyond that, we have always joked that they must keep a bus handy at all times, because we have rarely even waited 5 minutes for a bus from there. Oh, and MK IS NOT A HALF HOUR AWAY! I'd say it's more like 20 minutes from the time you leave until you are stepping off the bus at MK, and that includes the stop at Jambo.. The only bus we think takes too long is the one to DTD.

My complaints about AKV in general are that the bathrooms aren't light enough for old eyes to put on makeup. I also really dislike the way the kitchens are organized (or rather NOT organized). They certainly didn't consult a woman when they decided what went where in those kitchens! I also hate that you can't get a real pancake turner/spatula. They kept giving us a skimmer each time we called for one. I finally gave up and bought one at Publix and put it in my Owner's Locker along with the griddle. We also had to buy bigger cereal bowls than the ones provided there as well. In general, the AKV kitchens have me longing for our OKW home every time we have stayed at AKV.

 

[Tigger1]

Hard to believe its been over 10 years since the Dis meeet with OP, Hi Eva.

I have not stayed at Kadani but the children have. My Daughter refuses to stay again because of the Long Hallway. We requested a close to lobby room but that did not happen. Maybe they should restructor the points for long walks to use more points.

Our first AKL trip was at Jambo, so are the next two trips this year. Then back to OKW for spring.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

Good to know! We are booked at Jambo House, so your report made me glad I booked there instead of Kidani.

 

[Tigger1]

Seems like whatever hotel we are at, everywhere else has buses coming but ours. My children now choose the park to go to by which bus comes to hotel first. Takes decision making away and gets us to a park quicker.

 

[2binak]

I may be mistaken, but I think they are changing the rules so that "close to the lobby" can no longer be requested at Kidani.

I'm pretty sure that 99% percent of the reservations all have that request on them

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that we're the only ones who request "South Wing, close to Jambo". We have a rental car so we park close to the elevator & walk to Jambo when we want to eat over there. When we use the pool, we drive over to that end of AKV. Both times we've stayed there, we've gotten our request and been in the last bead in the South Wing (closest to Jambo).

 

[MiaSRN62]

I guess I look at things a bit differently than the OP.

First of all...I do agree with the long hallways, BUT....We found it was much easier, faster and more convenient to take the nearest elevator down to the ground and walk outside. Things were closer from there, and much more scenic than walking indoors. I usually find very little reason to go to the check in area at ANY resort once I check in, so that isn't usually an issue for me. I did find I wanted to be down at the animal viewing area off the lobby though, because it was usually much better animal viewing than from our savanna view room.

Second, the lack of food service....I don't have much issue with the lack of counter service, since we just don't do "fast food" type things. One of the reasons we like DVC is the full kitchen where we can prepare food to our liking rather than always relying on the unhealthy options available at most establishments. As for Sanaa...I would love to eat there, but since nearly every item contains curry, and I am very allergic to curry, I haven't dared to try it. It really is no big deal to walk over to Jambo and enjoy Jiko. I walk a lot farther in the parks. It certainly doesn't warrant taking the bus.

.

Respectfully, we were in the 2nd bead from the end. We did use the elevators but that was definitely not easier/closer to anything ? Not the pool....not the lobby gift shop/refillable mugs...not the busses....not the gym.......it WAS good for access to our car and that was it.

As for quick service....we had a studio. So we definitely relied more on having quick options. I believe some unofficial DIS surveys have shown that even with a full kitchen most DVC'ers rarely use them. It's nice to have for breakfasts but I'm not too big into major cooking on vacation. Once in awhile I'll make a full meal but it's rare. We love AKV and don't regret buying here, but it's because we love the savanna....the ambience of the resort. Food options get no "gold stars" from us....and the long hallways feel longer than they actually are when you're walking from your room at the end of the hallway chain to the pool or bus stop imho. And again, respectfully, we were on the OPPOSITE wing/horn/side from Jambo at the 2nd to the last bead from the end. It would have been a VERY long walk to Jiko/Boma from our perspective. I guess because we walk so much IN the parks, we want a bit more relaxation OUT of the parks ? I guess everyone perceives things differently and I seem to differ with Diane on several key issues. I do agree that the bathrooms are a bit dark Diane. It was a bit challenging for makeup/hair.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Just to put it in perspective.....
http://allears.net/acc/kidanimap1.jpg


When looking at the map, we were on the left wing, second bead from end (near elevator). We timed it as a 12 min walk to the Kidani lobby from here (at a moderate pace). I feel getting to Jiko/Boma/Mara would easily be 25-30 min total from our particular room if it was 12 min to the KV lobby. This is a hike for dinner or a quick meal as far as I am concerned. Not sure how others feel and I guess some would disagree ?

 

[gortman65]

We have a std view GV reserved at Kidani for our October 3-family, car-less vacation, so I know we will have a long walk between the room and bus stop/lobby. Since we plan to eat most of our meals in the room, a distant drink station and even more distant counter service isn't an issue for us.

And when I'm dragging my exhausted DD5 down the hallway after MNSSHP and wishing our room was right next to the bus stop, I'll just remind myself that I'm on vacation at the happiest place on earth. Hopefully that will help!