Jambo House / Kidani Experts' Advice Needed

[get_us_to_WDW]

My husband and I want to get away with our 2 younger children (7 and 13) in August for a beach / family vacation. We were considering different east coast beach destinations but we have points left for 2015 so I keep thinking - why not just use our points and do Vero / Disney "no parks".

For the Disney portion of the trip I want to try AKL. We have never been there - although we are intrigued by the exotic theming and the savannah - we tend to shy away from the long bus ride to the parks. But since this is a no parks trip, and since we will have a car, I think it would be a perfect time to enjoy AKL.

I've done a lot of reading about AKL and Jambo vs. Kidani, but I have some questions for those who are familiar with the property and I want someone to check my reasoning.

So I am leaning towards Kidani for these reasons:
-7yo will enjoys pool / splash areas
-near sports courts for 13yo
-near community hall and arcade
-underground parking?

The down side seems to be that there are no quick service dining locations on the Kidani side? We don't plan to eat at any of the sit down restaurants at AKL. Are there any other down sides to picking Kidani over Jambo given our situation?

Can anyone give me a description of how the parking works at Kidani vs. Jambo? Is the parking at Kidani all underground and will it be generally near our unit? Looking at the map it seems the parking at Jambo will not be underground and will be further from our unit?

Would it be convenient to drive from Kidani to Jambo for quick service dining (i.e. morning coffee, breakfast items mostly) - or would that be silly?

Where are the villas located in Jambo house? Are they all relatively close to the lobby / pool or spread out? I ask because I am wondering if DVC units at Jambo are generally more conveniently located than at Kidani where some units can be very far from the pool / lobbly area.

All advice appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[katie424kali]

I haven't yet stayed at Jambo, so this response will only be based on my Kidani experience.

You are right that some of the rooms at Kidani are a far walk from the lobby. That's probably the thing we disliked the most about Kidani.

From what I could tell, parking was all under the resort except for the bit in front of the lobby, but I could be wrong about that. We were able to park near the elevator nearest our room most of the time.

The walk to Jambo was not very long, less than 10 minutes. You could also drive, although I don't know what parking at Jambo would be like. I do believe you can get coffee at Kidani though, so no need to drive or walk for that. They also have a mug station and some food items in the store near the lobby.

Hope this helps!

 

[ToddyLu]

Standard views at Jambo are all pool view, I believe.
Value rooms are only at Jambo.
Kidani has dedicated 2 bedrooms as well as lock offs ( a one bedroom and one studio connecting). The dedicated two bedrooms at Kidani have 3 bathrooms. A dedicated 2 bedroom has a king bed, two queens int he second bedroom with pull outs in the living area. A lock off has the king and one queen ( in the studio portion) with a pull out in the studio portion and in the living area of the one bedroom.
Jambo has lock off 2 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms.

So when I conserve points and get value studios I know I am always going to be a Jambo. That is the only place that has them.
When I know I only have enough points for standard view I want Jambo, because I will have a pool view.
If my BIL and MIL travel with us it would be nice to get a dedicated 2 bedroom at Kidani so DH and I have the king and our guests each get a bed and bathroom instead of a pull out and sharing a bathroom.

DH and I prefer Kidani's quiet vibe and homey atmosphere to Jambo's bustling marketplace vibe. But I like staying at Jambo when taking my parents because I can typically get closer to the lobby and eateries are right there for them.

I enjoy looking out over the pool at Jambo, it is harder to get that view at Kidani.

All DVC units at Jambo are on the 5th and 6th floors. They are a bit closer to the lobby and transportation. So both resorts are beautiful and wonderful in their own way.

The bus service is generally very good. You may have to wait on occasion but that is anywhere you go on a Disney bus. MK is more than likely a 20 min ride away even at BLT if you are taking the monorail on a rainy day. If you drive you still have to park, take the tram, then monorail or ferry to the gate. At least the bus takes you almost to the gate. AK is only five minutes from AKV. We just build the bus ride into the adventure for that day. Once we park, we park and do not use the car again unless we are headed out to eat. There is a van that transports guests back and forth between resorts. You can also use the regular bus system to travel between the two resorts, or you can walk, which is nice and clearly marked.

Both pools are lovely. I like them both equally as much. Kidani is a smaller and Jambo is much larger, both have games and pool parties and both have a small bar. There are plenty or chairs and towels. Both resorts have great activities for the kids. Get an activity sheet fromt he front desk and enjoy hearing the CMs from Africa talk about their homeland, hear a story around the campfire, night vision googles to see the animals, movies out by the pool ( be sure to bring Popcorn to pop in your microwave).

Johari is the much smaller store at Kidani but it has a good little selection of items.

 

[ToddyLu]

Another thing I love about AKV/AKL is being transported to another dark and mysterious continent...it is unlike any hotel anywhere else in my experience. I love that I am no longer in Florida when I am there.

 

[drusba]

Parking at Jambo is in a large lot across the roadway that is in front of the building. It can be long walk to room depending on where you get a spot and where your room is.

Parking at Kidani is not underground, it is under-building (with some parts just outside the building) on the first, ground floor. The first floor is the parking lot and also the restaurant (Sanaa). Kidani has two wings, north and south (front entrance faces west) and there are three elevators along each wing. The parking lot runs almost the entire length of the buidling and no matter where your room is,you can park fairly close to it and use the applicable elevator in the area.

The distances you have to go vary. The trip from Kidani to Jambo can range from about 1/4 mile if you are near the Zazu (last) elevator on the south wing, closest to Jambo, to a little short of a mile if you are in the end rooms of the north wing. It is about 1/2 mile from lobby to lobby. The Kidani building is extremely long. For example, a family of four with a 7 and 13 year old can easily take 6 to 7 minutes to walk from the lobby to their room if the room is near the end of the north wing and from that same room to Jambo can approach 20 minutes. If you plan to stay in Kidani, I suggest you make a location request like close to Community Hall (on the south wing) or close to the pool (on the north wing) so you can get fairly close to the lobby (do not request close to lobby; that is what most everyone who has stayed there now requestts with the result that many do not get their request and end up in the those end rooms on the wings).

As to driving within the resort, if you actually get a room near the end of one of the wings at Kidani, and have to go to the lobby for the store or soemthing else, then you might do what many do now: get in their car and drive to a limited-time (like 15 minutes) parking lot in front of the lobby. From those rooms you might also drive to Jambi but the problem with Jambo is that you have to park in that across-the-roadway lot and could still have a long walk to the lobby. You can take the park buses from Kidani to Jambo (which run Kidani to Jambo to the parks) and the Downtown Disney bus back (which runs Jambo to Kidani to DD). They also have a shuttle upon request between the lobbies. If you are on the south wing near the Zazu elevator then taking it to the ground floor and walking over to Jambo is actually the quickest way to get there.

The villas at Jambo occupy the fifth, and over the lobby, the sixth floor (the sixth floor exists only above the lobby). It has two main wings, Kudo and Zebra trails, which are long but half or less the length of the wings at Kidani. The value rooms are all in the front of the building, and standard rooms overlook the pool except for a small number of converted savanna view rooms. Savanna view runs all the along the two main wings and thus you can end up in rooms far from the lobby and very far from your car.

Some other issues to be aware of in choosing building. The Kidani pool is smaller than Jambo, has much fewer shady areas, but has the longest slide and the elaborate kids water play area, which actually has things ranging from what young kids would use to those more in the 10-12 year range. The Kidani store is much smaller than Jambo and has limited selections. Except for quick stuff at the pool, there is no quick food option and Sanna is open only for lunch and dinner. Sanaa is a very good restaurant but definitely for the sit down, table service group. There are a lot of activities for kids but that is true at both buildings.

The Jambo lobby is large, as is its well stocked store, The pool area has lots of areas to find shade. You have three rrestaurants, Jiko (expensive but good table service), Boma (one of the best buffet restaruants on site), and Mara (a counter service with a large seating area and additonal seating outside not far from pool). If getting a studio, rooms at both are near the same size. If getting 1BR, or 2BRthe Jambo rooms are close in size to SSR, BWV, BCV, and VWL, biut the the Kidani rooms are 100 sq ft larger and have an extra bathroom. If better, more spacious room is a key issue then Kidani 1BRs and 2BRs win by a large margin.

Jambo has three savannas, Arusha in the middle, Uzima to the east and Sunset, shared with Kidani, to the west. If you stay there and have savanna you should requesting Arusha savanna view, but do not request close to lobby or bus stop, because unlike Kidani, those rooms, do not have every good views. Eighty percent of Kidani's savanna views overlook Sunset savanna that runs the length of the entire building. Poems is a much smaller savanna on the northwestot north side of Kidani and has no giraffes or zebras and thus if you want those request Sunset savanna view.

Personally if I were going to do a non-park stay, i would likely choose Jambo for the larger pool with lots of places to find shade, three restaurants including counter service, and the much better store. Moreover, if you are just getting a studio you should also consider it as the lead choice. The Jambo studio has the shower and toilet in its own room, the Kidani has the shower, viewable, right next to the sink. However, if getting 1BR or 2BR, it is real hard to choose anywhere other than Kidani.

Though the bus service can have long trips to the parks (other than AK which is only eight minutes), it is usually better bus service than you find elsewhere including because it has only two stops, Kidani and Jambo, and does not share with any other resort.

 

[get_us_to_WDW]

Wow! Thanks for your great responses. This is exactly the information I needed!

 

[carlbarry]

I just stayed at Jambo for the third, this past January.
I much prefer Jambo to Kidani.
HOWEVER, in your situation, Kidani might be a better fit.
The splash area at the Kidani pool is much better than the play area at Jambo. The big downside I find at Jambo is that like at some other DVC resorts, the parking can be quite far from the building. That being said, I drive frequently between the two, and it is a very short trip. The variable is where you will be lucky or unlucky to find a space to park. I also walk, and while not a too long walk, there is really no trail to walk on, so it's either walking through parking lots or the road without sidewalks. And don't forget, there is always the bus.
I find that with the smaller Kidani pool, it can have virtually no seating remaining on days when there are plenty of space at the larger Jambo pool.