Jambo House vs. Kidani Village - 2BR

[Anjelica]

Looking at a May 1st-8th Vacation with friends. We will be booking a 2BR for a total of 8 people (4 adults, 4 small children). From what I have read the Kidani Village portion doesn't have a TS type restaurant. If we wanted TS type restaurant we would have to go to Jambo House - which some folks state can be a good walk. However, with that in mind, not sure if we should do Kidani or Jambo house and wanted to solicite the most knowledgeable folks on what they think.

I've been leaning towards the Kidani Village due to the Pool/"water park" portion.

We are also thinking about not renting a car as our previous trips to AKL have always provided us with great bus service to/from parks (unlike our other home resort VWL). Didn't know if the bus service was still good from AKL to the other resorts.

 

[5forDiz]

Looking at a May 1st-8th Vacation with friends. We will be booking a 2BR for a total of 8 people (4 adults, 4 small children). From what I have read the Kidani Village portion doesn't have a TS type restaurant. If we wanted TS type restaurant we would have to go to Jambo House - which some folks state can be a good walk. However, with that in mind, not sure if we should do Kidani or Jambo house and wanted to solicite the most knowledgeable folks on what they think.

I've been leaning towards the Kidani Village due to the Pool/"water park" portion.

We are also thinking about not renting a car as our previous trips to AKL have always provided us with great bus service to/from parks (unlike our other home resort VWL). Didn't know if the bus service was still good from AKL to the other resorts.

Kidani 2 bedroom villas sleep 9 ( there is pull out sleeper chair in living room that can sleep 1 person in addition to pull out sofa which sleeps 2 in living room) and there is additional full bathroom in living room so you would have a total of 3 full bathrooms at Kidani which may be very helpful.

Kidani pool has themed children't play/water feature area as well and community room with activities for kids, etc. and is convenient to bbq pavillion, tennis & sports courts. Also, you can order food (via in-room dining services iirc) and have it delivered poolside to Kidani pool in addition to pool bar offerings ( you might want to check over at allears.net and read Jack Spence's blog on Kidani where he reviews this)

Most posters have commented that Kidani is under 10 minute walk to Jambo but all theme park buses that stop at Kidan will then stop at Jambo House before leaving resort so getting to Jambo via bus should not amount to more than couple minutes as well (and to get to Kidani from Jambo via bus you'd take Downtown Disney bus).

Best wishes

 

[Lesia]

Kidani does have a TS - Sanaa. No CS though, except at the pool you can get some premade stuff or do in-room dining at the pool.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Both Jambo House and Kidani Village have Table Service dining - Boma, Jiko and Sanaa. Kidani does not have a counter service facility.

 

[Anjelica]

Ahhh - thanks for clearing up my confusion on the TS/CS. That's weird they don't have a CS available there.

 

[hellerjw]

Also, Kidani has dedicated 2BRs, Jambo does not. With a dedicated you get 2 queen beds in the 2nd bedroom where the lock-offs at Jambo have 1 queen bed and a pullout sofa in the 2nd bedroom. Depending on who will be in the 2nd bedroom the extra bed might be the deciding factor.

 

[Anjelica]

Also, Kidani has dedicated 2BRs, Jambo does not. With a dedicated you get 2 queen beds in the 2nd bedroom where the lock-offs at Jambo have 1 queen bed and a pullout sofa in the 2nd bedroom. Depending on who will be in the 2nd bedroom the extra bed might be the deciding factor.

Didn't realize that - sounds like Kidani Village it is...

 

[d-r]

They had burgers and chicken and stuff, that is premade?

 

[tink too]

They had burgers and chicken and stuff, that is premade?

No - there are a few options (like sandwiches) that are available to buy directly at the pool bar. Hot food items can be ordered as in-room dining from a phone by the pool bar and can be delivered out to the pool area for you.

 

[jodifla]

We're doing Jambo House to be near the kids clubs, the bars, the 3 restaurants, the stores, etc.

When we want to go to Kidani, we'll hike over there (or take the bus) but that would just be for the pool.

 

[Telcogirl]

Hot food items can be ordered as in-room dining from a phone by the pool bar and can be delivered out to the pool area for you.

Really? That is AWESOME!

 

[jodifla]

Really? That is AWESOME!

Problem is, it's a limited menu, and it comes with a delivery charge AND an 18 percent charge.

 

[LisaS]

I've been leaning towards the Kidani Village due to the Pool/"water park" portion.

I wouldn't call Kidani's pool area a "water park". The pool itself is a bit small for the size of the resort but it has a good slide that is much better than the one at the Jambo pool. There is a water play area for kids with water cannons, dragons and flowers that squirt water, buckets that fill and dump water, etc. To me a "mini water park" would mean it had a lazy river, a wave pool and a few slides. Kidani's pool area is really a pool and water play area, not a water park.

Having said that, we enjoyed the pool at Kidani very much. Kids of all ages enjoyed the slide so the line was long at times but worth the wait. The CMs played music and hosted pool games in the afternoon (Disney trivia, for example). Since just over half of the resort was open at the time it's hard to say how crowded it's going to get once the entire resort is open but for the number of guests they have at the moment, the pool area seems adequate.