Jambo or Kidani??? What say You?

[joannafruhauf]

Still undecided about where to stay, we are going to be renting points for a studio in July - Any suggestions as to where to stay?

 

[timandlesley]

Jambo! We just love it there. The reason we choose it over Kidani is the food options, just love having the food court, and Boma there as well as Jiko.
Lesley

 

[crys5]

i stayed at kidani less than 2 weeks ago...it was great....if you want to go to jambo to eat all you do is hop on any park bus and it drops you off at jambo, then to get back to kidani you can jump on downtown disney bus and it will drop you off at kidani...we did this and it was no problem at all...you can also walk from each to the other.

 

[magicaldisney]

We prefer Kidani because it is the first bus stop. We usually only eat breakfast at the resort and we do that right in our villa. If we want something from Mara's, the walk to Jambo is very easy.

 

[La2kw]

Kidani. It's more "DVC" than Jambo. Jambo is nice, but it feels like a huge hotel with some DVC rooms added as an after thought. Oh wait, that's exactly what it is! Kidani was purpose-built and feels quieter and calmer. I like Sanaa better than Boma or Jiko (though those are nice also). I like being the first bus stop. I like the soda refill being in the lobby. I like seeing the savanna and the animals from inside the lobby- I don't need to go outside unless I want to. I like parking under my room. I like the recreational facilities. I don't need a CS and last time we ate at Mara, the place was filthy!

 

[ToddyLu]

If you are doing this trip without the kids, I vote for Kidani.

 

[Mich Mouse]

The DVC rooms at Jambo are on the highest floors (5 and 6) and we much prefer being closer to the animals at Kidani on the lower floors.

 

[Brave teacher]

Kidani all the way! I feel the same as La2kw. We traveled with our two boys (6 and 2 at the time). They absolutely loved it! They actually told us they want to stay at Kidani every time...we're not allowed to stay anywhere else. Being the first bus stop is awesome. We never even missed not having a counter service at Kidani. We eat breakfast in the room, lunch at a counter service in the park, and dinner at a table service.

 

[spiceycat]

Kidani does not have value view - one of my favorite. Plus the standard view at Jambo is pool view. At Kidani it is parking lot, garden or pool view....

so until I try savannah view - it will be Jambo house.

oh this is just studios.

not 1 or 2 bedroom - then definitely Kidani - it is just that much bigger.

 

[CocosMeme]

We have stayed at both and Kidani wins "hands down"! It is awesome.

 

[Anal Annie]

We just tried Kidani over spring break and it didn't take us long to decide we liked Jambo a lot better. I thought the pool area was just OK. I was expecting MORE. And the water was freaking COLD. It did not feel heated or at least not heated MUCH. That won't be a problem in July of course. But we also didn't care for odd way we had to GET to the pool. It was a strange walk sort of across the parking lot. I thought they could've at least centered it better.

We stayed in a studio and I didn't care for the layout of the bathroom. The toilet had it's own room (it was a big room to only be housing a toilet) and then the tub was out with the sink area. Kinda odd. They sorta blew the whole privacy thing with that one. We just had a Std. view and with a Std. view at Kidani you are pretty much guaranteed a view of the parking lot. At least with Jambo you have a CHANCE for something else. We thought the lobby & store were WAAY too small for the size property. My kitchen is as big as that store. We went to Jambo to shop. The lobby was unimpressive compared to Jambo's. Sanaa was good but we missed having the Mara and we still prefer Boma as our fav. The biggest advantage to Kidani over Jambo is that it's the first bus stop.

We ultimately ranked Kidani at the bottom of our stays, just above OKW which is in last place for us. Our favs so far are VWL and BCV with SSR and Jambo somewhere inbetween. (Yet to try BWV & BLT) Good luck!!

 

[Castillo Mom]

I recommend Kidani. The rooms are beautiful and we didn't mind the smaller lobby. We also didn't have any issues with the pool being over crowded during our stay. The cast members are Kidani are wonderful and very proud knowledgeable of the resort.

 

[Nikisha421]

Jambo...all the way...I had a ten day split stay between Jambo and Kidani last summer...and really the transition wasn't easy....I much prefer Jambo!!!

 

[es45]

We stayed in a studio and I didn't care for the layout of the bathroom. The toilet had it's own room (it was a big room to only be housing a toilet) and then the tub was out with the sink area. Kinda odd. They sorta blew the whole privacy thing with that one.

Is this layout true for all Kidani studio bathrooms? I've looked at layouts and pics posted on this board but I haven't noticed this strange arrangement.

 

[Anal Annie]

Is this layout true for all Kidani studio bathrooms? I've looked at layouts and pics posted on this board but I haven't noticed this strange arrangement.

I believe so, yes. Our preference is for the tub & toilet to be in 1 room and the vanity area outside of that.

Also, I don't know if the kitchenette counter is EXACTLY like the same as the one in Jambo House but they couldn't have made it any smaller. I know Jambo's was small (we had a Value studio) but this seemed smaller still. There is the sink side with 1 cabinet underneath for a trash can and then immediately next to that is the under the counter frig. and the counter above that is NO BIGGER than the space it took for the frig. to fit in. It really seemed like the smallest kitchenette we've had so far out of any of the DVC properties. Especially compared to VWL or VB. If you lined everything up in a row, touching each other, it was just enough room for the ice bucket, the toaster and the coffee pot. No more, no less. Not an inch inbetween. Another 6" even would've been nice.

 

[DenLo]

Posted by AnalAnnie -

We stayed in a studio and I didn't care for the layout of the bathroom. The toilet had it's own room (it was a big room to only be housing a toilet) and then the tub was out with the sink area. Kinda odd. They sorta blew the whole privacy thing with that one.

That sounds so familiar. Oh yeah, our master bedroom bath. It works fine for us at home, but we don't share that bathroom with other family members or friends.