Jambo or Kidani for my family?

[tmk0730]

I was hoping someone could give me some advice on Jambo vs Kidani for my family situation. We will be staying in a studio savanah view with 2 adults and two small children ages 1 & 4. My husband thinks Jambo so we will be closer to amenities but I read somewhere that the Kidani rooms are bigger?? What are the other pros and cons of each for a family with two small kids? Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!

 

[erionm]

When it comes down to Studios at AKV, there's only about 1 square foot difference between Jambo House and Kidani Village. The main difference in the Studio layout is with the bathroom. The Jambo House bath has two sinks, where Kidani Village only has one. Also, in the Jambo House bath the toilet and tub are seperate from the sink area. In Kidani Village, the tub is next to the sink.

 

[erionm]

Also, Kidani Village only has table service dining. The only quick service is the Mara which is located in Jambo House.

 

[tmk0730]

Thanks for the great info. I think I'm liking the bathroom layout for Jambo better for our family. Also with two little ones we do take advantage of the quick service. And it doesn't sound like there is that big of a space difference. Thanks! Any other thoughts?

How far is the walk from Jambo to Kidani? My 4 year old loves community hall!

 

[drusba]

Studio sizes are really the same and you will not notice the 1 sq ft difference (it is the 1BRs and thus 2BRs where Kidani is much larger). Jambo's advantages are three restaurants (table service, buffett and counter service), the larger, more elaborate lobby, and larger store. Kidani has the pool with larger slide and kid's play area but Jambo has a very good and larger pool. Kidani's sit-down restaurant, Sanaa is very good. With Kidani you can get lower floor which many prefer for direct site line to animals while at Jambo only 5th fl (or 6th for concierge). Both have good outside main viewing areas. Only Kidani has a community hall. The walk front door to front door from Jambo to Kidani is about 1/2 mile (there is a shuttle cart at times, and you can use bus)

Ultimately, if I were choosing: if just doing studio, take Jambo, if 1BR or larger go Kidani.

 

[wbl2745]

How far is the walk from Jambo to Kidani? My 4 year old loves community hall!

I walked from Jambo to Kidani in 6 minutes. There's a bus but you'll wait much longer for the bus than it takes to walk. With a small child it may take 10 minutes.

By the way I think that there are a lot of reasons to choose Jambo over Kidani.

 

[Nanajo1]

I've stayed at both and enjoyed them. With small children I'd opt for Jambo. The dining options fit a young family better.

 

[kansas_wazzu]

I stayed at Kidani a few weeks ago and for my children (3 & 5), the small slide and the water play area at Kidani easily trumped everything else. There is only one slide at Jambo (intermediate size - "too scary" for my kids), but Kidani has a kiddie slide that was very popular with the 5 and under crowd. Also, the splash area (water falling from buckets, mini water cannons, water squirting from the ground, etc.) at Kidani was also fun for them. We tried the Jambo pool, but they preferred the Kidani pool and splash area.

As for the quick service food being at Jambo only, that was not an issue for us. We ate a typical breakfast in the room (bananas, cold cereal, toast, etc.), lunch was often at a park and dinner seemed to work itself out. We walked to Jambo for a few quick service meals. It is less than a 10 minute walk.

Pools are the litmus test for my kids. Happy kids = good vacation!

 

[hbehrman]

I stayed at Kidani a few weeks ago and for my children (3 & 5), the small slide and the water play area at Kidani easily trumped everything else. There is only one slide at Jambo (intermediate size - "too scary" for my kids), but Kidani has a kiddie slide that was very popular with the 5 and under crowd. Also, the splash area (water falling from buckets, mini water cannons, water squirting from the ground, etc.) at Kidani was also fun for them. We tried the Jambo pool, but they preferred the Kidani pool and splash area.

As for the quick service food being at Jambo only, that was not an issue for us. We ate a typical breakfast in the room (bananas, cold cereal, toast, etc.), lunch was often at a park and dinner seemed to work itself out. We walked to Jambo for a few quick service meals. It is less than a 10 minute walk.

Pools are the litmus test for my kids. Happy kids = good vacation!

Agree 100%. Also Kidani has Sanaa which we prefer over Boma(we have not tried Jiko).

However you should be aware that Jambo house at Simba's Cubhouse (?) does offer scheduled activities for all ages during the day. When we were there we went there from Kidani to do pottery (was a little $). After pottery we went to Mara which was OK. I highly recommend the Caesar salad at Mara, if you like salads.

 

[jmb910]

Our biggest reason that we choose to stay at Kidani versus Jambo is the bus system since we have 2 little ones. We like that they pick up at Kidani first other than DTD. It's nice to be able to get a spot to sit on the bus with our little ones. Plus we have the stroller with us. We noticed that by the time we got to Jambo to pick up those guests, most of them had to stand and or couldn't get on with their strollers.

We also love the pool area. My 2 year old daughter loves it!

 

[shellspb]

I'm so glad I read this thread. I've been debating between the two myself for an upcoming trip. Thanks everyone for the feedback, I think Kidani will suite us better. I can't wait!!!

 

[alicat07]

We stayed a split stay last week, the first 5 at Kidani and the last 2 at Jambo. Our personal preference was Kidani hands down. Quieter, rooms are beautiful (not that they aren't in Jambo, but it was different). The splash park for the kids is awesome. Sanaa is a wonderful restaurant, and we did go to Boma 3-4 times for breakfast, and the trip over there was not a problem. We also had our 1 year old with us. We never walked over to Jambo, the shuttle van to take you was very quick and we never waited more than 5-7 minutes for it , and oftentimes we didn't wait more than 3 minutes for the shuttle (walking with a 1 year old would have been worse IMO). We just liked the atmosphere of Kidani much better, plus is you have your car (which we did) the underground parking was AWESOME. We could park under our room, which at Jambo we were far away from our room in the main parking lot.

These of course are personal preferences, so take it with a grain of salt ...have fun in your stay, the resort is beautiful nonetheless!!

 

[lucyem]

We have only stayed at Kidani once and only for a few nights. I can add just a little based on our experiences. We found we preferred the atmosphere of Kidani better. It was more quiet and we felt much more relaxed there. Walking into Jambo was like walking into a busy mall with the large gift shop and all the people and restaurants. The lack of counter service was not an issue for us at Kidani as we eat breakfast in the room and in the parks for other meals. At 5 & 8 my kids went through the water play area at Kidani once and never went back. At Kidani they both had a slide they could use (big slide & kiddie slide). My 5 yr old loved the large play area at Jambo. Both my boys enjoyed the community room at Kidani. When we go back we plan to go to Kidani.

 

[fabricmage]

Best thing about DVC! You can try them both! One trip go to Kidani, next trip go to Jambo. That's what we do - alternate and then decide for yourself! Remind yourself not to get too stressed about your choice and that you bought DVC for many years.

 

[tmk0730]

Thanks everyone for the great input! I really appreciate it! I feel like I'm leaning towards one way and then I read another response and lean the other way! so with that said this is my favorite advice!

Best thing about DVC! You can try them both! One trip go to Kidani, next trip go to Jambo. That's what we do - alternate and then decide for yourself! Remind yourself not to get too stressed about your choice and that you bought DVC for many years.

Thanks again everyone. I really had no idea what the differences were and this really helped.

 

[Jenna319]

Does anyone know how much they charge for simbas cubhouse daycare?

 

[kerri0616]

Not trying to hijack...are all Value rooms located in Jambo?

Kerri

 

[Simba's Mom]

Not trying to hijack...are all Value rooms located in Jambo?

Kerri

Yes, and IMO, a "best buy".

To the OP, I'd go for Jambo because of some of the activities in Simba's Cubhouse, like Ceramics Painting and the cookie decorating/making in Boma resturaunt.

 

[WiggleWorm]

We stayed at Jambo with our 2 year old this past summer. We loved it. We requested a room near the lobby to be close to the buses (and the path to Kidani) and they granted our request. It made it a lot easier to get to the bus stop, as well as the store, the Mara, the pool and playground. It took us about 10 min. to walk from Jambo to Kidani for the use of the water splash zone (which was great). IMO the pools at both are similar. The playground at Jambo was a huge hit with our son. As far as being the second stop for the buses - we actually liked that because then you just got to go right to the parks. But, really, I don't think you can go wrong either way!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[rhodymom]

Does anyone know how much they charge for simbas cubhouse daycare?

Here is the info:
Hours: 4:30 p.m. - Midnight
Price: $11.50 per hour for each child. Minimum 2 hours

Ages: Age limit is 4 to 12, must be potty trained (no pull-ups)


We have had great luck with KidsNiteOut which is an in room service.