How much do you love Kidani?

[Iggipolka]

How was your stay at Kidani? Did you love it? We'll be there in March and cannot wait!

 

[kimberh]

I have a stay there in Oct. When we were at Jambo House in May, the people being picked up on the bus from Kidani were raving about the pool.

 

[Redbudlover]

Going to check it out next month for a few nites. Couldn't stand waiting until next year!

 

[Prinny27]

We just got home Monday night from a stay at Kidani and it was gorgeous. But I have to admit, I didn't *love* it. Not because it's far away from everything - that can be nice. But because it is so big, and your chance of getting a room far away from everything is so good. Our room was so far from the lobby (it was about as far as you can be, and we did online check in) that it was a five minute walk to the lobby and buses. We were actually closer to Jambo house. It made refilling our mugs and renting movies almost not worth the walk. And the pool was a ten minute walk - no exaggeration. There was no popping back to the room in case you needed something. Once you were at the pool, that's where you were for a few hours. It's definitely a beautiful resort, though. Very peaceful and you cannot beat the animals. Oh, and Sanaa was great! But I just don't think it'll be our first choice to stay at again.

 

[toniosmom]

How was your stay at Kidani? Did you love it? We'll be there in March and cannot wait!

We will be there in March too. Which week? We'll be there March 14-20, but may change to the week before. It depends on who is coming with us. (Trying to get answers from people.....their deadline is rapidly approaching!)

 

[rigsby25]

We just got home Monday night from a stay at Kidani and it was gorgeous. But I have to admit, I didn't *love* it. Not because it's far away from everything - that can be nice. But because it is so big, and your chance of getting a room far away from everything is so good. Our room was so far from the lobby (it was about as far as you can be, and we did online check in) that it was a five minute walk to the lobby and buses. We were actually closer to Jambo house. It made refilling our mugs and renting movies almost not worth the walk. And the pool was a ten minute walk - no exaggeration. There was no popping back to the room in case you needed something. Once you were at the pool, that's where you were for a few hours. It's definitely a beautiful resort, though. Very peaceful and you cannot beat the animals. Oh, and Sanaa was great! But I just don't think it'll be our first choice to stay at again.

Ahhh. Just what I was afraid of. We bought in right away because we used to go to Boma and anyone we took there raved about Animal Kingdom. But we stayed in a 1 BR and were disappointed at how small it was - and how the tub was just a tub, etc. But we were reserving judgement until we tried Kidani. I think we might be selling our AKV points.

 

[ToddyLu]

We purchased at AKV so DH could "walk around" with his camera. So far I am thrilled with our new home resort...would I have shaped it a little diferent for access to the lobby and pool...probably....but I knew what it was going in to the purchase. To me it is a walk getting to the monorail from BLT, but alas it is convient in other ways and I am excited for those that own at their prospective resorts. In Fact, I told MIL that it is about 1/2 mile from Kidani to Jambo

The good thing is we have only stayed at value resorts (except for one yr at POFQ)....so anything including studio is a step up. Just to have a fridge for drinks is awesome. Not having to walk to the ice machine then get there and have no ice so we can cool a drink in the room in an ice bucket. See, I guess it is all relative.

 

[Deb & Bill]

This is how we would feel if we had bought there.



We visited in June when we were staying at the BCV and didn't like the way it looked from the outside. We thought the pool was rather small and there is just so much parking lot getting in the way of the standard views. We thought it looked prison-like from the outside. Bad design - maybe not enough time taken to make sure it was really nice all round.

The lobby was pretty, the savanna needs to mature, but that won't help the first impression.

 

[colleen costello]

We had an overnight at Kidani on 6/28. Just wanted to try it out and that night was open; standard view was all I could get. Room location DOES make a difference in this sprawling resort. We were assigned to Rafiki (everyone request Rafiki!) and it was PERFECT. We were on the 3rd floor, just off the lobby. We got a handicapped 1-bedroom unit that looked out over the Handicapped parking near the entrance. We were right near the pool too -- it was great! Of course this is the kind of room I get when I am only there one night. When I go for a week, they usually put me in the next county.

Previous poster is correct -- far out rooms on the OTHER side of the lobby are closer to Jambo than Kidani's lobby and pool. It's luck of the draw. Despite this issue, I would stay here again. The resort is GORGEOUS -- much prettier than the original I think... More of a "cozy" feel. The rooms are spacious and cool with beautiful, rich colors. The grounds are beautiful. Perhaps because they are trying to quickly disguise a visible first floor parking garage, they have added tons of mature trees and bushes. And the animals! Even though we only had a "parking lot view" room, we saw the animals all the time -- they have added tons of great windows and porches from which to peek. We enjoyed watching them.

The pool area is really nice. The pool is not huge but the whole area is pretty and kids were really enjoying the spraygrounds and squirters. My son spent the whole time there battling other kids with giant water guns. Lots of fun. We also saw a basketball court, tennis courts, and grills for cooking out.

I would stay here again in a heartbeat, but it WOULD suck to be far out... Request Rafiki everyone! Timon would be my second choice... that is closest to the lobby on the other side.

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

I would stay here again in a heartbeat, but it WOULD suck to be far out... Request Rafiki everyone! Timon would be my second choice... that is closest to the lobby on the other side.

We were in Timon and it was a great location. I loved the resort. After waiting 2 years for them to finish building Kidani, I was more than satisfied.

 

[florep1]

We stayed in the Zazu section for 4 nights, 2-3 doors away from the end of the hallway and the location sucked but the room itself was great. We then moved to the Rafiki section for 3 nights and it was heaven on earth. It was a nice relaxing vacation as we were at BCV the week before and we did parks that week so our Kidani week, although we still went to the parks quite a bit, it was mostly for dinner and evening EMH. We spent the days relaxing and enjoying the amenities of the resort. It is a great destination by itself, but if you plan on going to the parks other than AK everyday, I would seriously question your sanity. We liked it enough to want to come back sometime in the future. but would I want to stay here every time? NO.

 

[toniosmom]

It is a great destination by itself, but if you plan on going to the parks other than AK everyday, I would seriously question your sanity. We liked it enough to want to come back sometime in the future. but would I want to stay here every time? NO.

Why???

 

[florep1]

AKL is a looong bus ride to the other parks. I realize I may be a bit biased as we were at BCV the week before and it is very convenient to Epcot and DHS, and even the bus ride to MK wasn't bad. The wait time itself isn't bad (except for a 45 min wait time for us on July 4th) it's the ride that could be nerve racking when you're tired. We stayed at Kidani so we always managed a seat on the bus, but there were numerous times when it was SRO by the time it got to Jambo house.

Incidentally, their CM were great. It's just not where I'd want to be every time I'm at WDW. We're fairly new in the DVC game as we've only stayed at SSR, BCV, and AKV and we're looking forward to trying all the resorts. Our next trip will be at our home resort, SSR . It's a matter of personal preference. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[toniosmom]

Thanks for your input. I feel as you do -- I'd like to stay at other resorts each time I make it to "the world" too.

We stayed at SSR and I had heard similar comments that it was "way out there" and that the bus ride was long to get to the parks. I'm curious if Kidani is much further away than SSR. We were OK with the length of our ride back and forth to SSR.

 

[florep1]

Thanks for your input. I feel as you do -- I'd like to stay at other resorts each time I make it to "the world" too.

We stayed at SSR and I had heard similar comments that it was "way out there" and that the bus ride was long to get to the parks. I'm curious if Kidani is much further away than SSR. We were OK with the length of our ride back and forth to SSR.

SSR isn't any closer to the parks, probably about the same distance but since the week before, we got spoiled by the closeness of BCV, it seemed that travel time to and from AKV was magnified.
Here is a WDW map to show resorts in relation to parks. http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/propertymap.htm

 

[bobbiwoz]

We only had one night after our DCL cruise. All together we had a savannah view 2 bedroom, a savannah view studio and a standard view studio (didn't visit that villa, so don't know the view).

The stay was an perfect success for everyone. Most of the group have never stayed at AKV/L and they were wowwed, both by Jambo and Kidani. Jambo's pool, playground, and the Mara were enjoyed by DS's family before the room at Kidani was ready. When our rooms were ready, the bus trip was easy enough, we had dropped off stuff at checkin.

DS's family had a 5PM ME bus, and spent the entire day at Kidani's pool. Between the excellent water features for the kids and the pool activities, the day flew by and the pictures taken as the family was waiting for ME would tell the whole story, just a great all around stay.

DDiL never before spent a whole WDW day at a pool. She had been hankering for one last popcorn box before she began a more serious training period, but it just wasn't meant to be. The DGC are 4,5 and 6 and each one was so very happy to be there!

Our next all-family Kidani visit will be before the DCL cruise in 2010!

Bobbi