Just back from AKV-Kidani and won't want to stay there again.

[enigmaMN]

We stayed at Kidani at the end of Sept. for the first time. It's a beautiful resort, our 1 BR (not a savannah view) was spacious and incredibly clean, but we just felt something was missing. We've stayed numerous times at SSR and loved it. We've decided that a full week at Kidani was too much for us but for a quick trip we'd be perfectly fine. We still regret our add on at AKL, though.


Now.. don't even get me started on the little piece of hell called Jambo House. That was the most chaotic experience we've ever had at Disney. I wanted to leave literally 5 minutes after we left. There were people everywhere, kids running and screaming at the top of their lungs. Not for me. I couldn't enjoy the scenery, etc. as it was just too chaotic. I was actually grateful to be staying at Kidani after our one and only visit (hopefully ever) to Jambo House.

 

[stopher1]

We're here in Kidani right now in a 2BR lock-off SV. I'm torn because there are positives and negatives to BOTH Kidani and Jambo. I really like the more spacious room and the extra bathroom. I don't like the smaller lobby. I love the pool complex, but agree the location could be a bit better, but it is what it is. I am not decided yet as to whether or not a counter service is important here... I don't like Mara at all. We cook in our room, so it's not really a big deal for us - but perhaps after a few more days I'll say differently. We walked over to Boma for dinner tonight, and did not mind the walk at all. It really only took us about 10 minutes to get there. Not a bad walk at all IMO. I'm not totally thrilled with the long hallways, but short of building a highrise which would NOT fit in to the overall theme, you're going to have hallways. I do miss the bridge from Jambo though! I love that bridge.

None of these things will deter us from not returning to Kidani. We may switch it up and go back to Jambo next time, or maybe we'll be back here... no decision on that one yet, as I don't really know DW's opinion of it all yet. We'll see.

 

[MiaSRN62]

While we love Jambo/Kidani, I will admit Kidani overall setup is not the best. The lobby and gift shop are too small for the sheer amount of rooms there. And some rooms are entirely too far from everything. We enjoyed Sanaa but we're not the type of people who wish to constantly have ADR's for meals or even have sit down meals at the same restaurant more than a couple times during a week's stay. So lack of a counter service is a BIGGIE for us too. We love Mara (the convenience of running down for some African bread bowl stew or butternut squash soup !).

And I love the underground parking.....but also dislike the placement of the pool out front. I haven't been there since May. Have they done anything with the landscaping around the general pool area yet ?

Everything else we love about Kidani. The size of the rooms....THEMEING.....that's what grabbed us. As for the TV channels. I am always in dislike with what Disney offers guests no matter where we stay ! We've had trips over the years where someone became ill and we had to stay in the room a couple days in a row. Extremely dissatisfied with lack of programming. We now bring DVD's with us. The TV is the one thing that I much prefer my offsite timeshare over. My timeshare at Vistana down the road must have like 300 channels...lots of premium ones too. While I wouldn't expect that much from Disney, it would be nice to have at least a few more (geared to adults too) in the lineup.


Maria

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

KV rooms are georgeous, but we always book JH for the pool and Marra.

 

[kdzgon]

The TV's had the Disney channel last fall when we had 2 rooms at Kidani. It may be that someone deleted the channel from the TV and it needed to be added back in. ....

I *think* the OP is talking about different cartoons. The lobby tvs show the really old cartoons - they used to be on the room tvs as well ~3 years ago, but they/that channel has/have not been available in the rooms for quite a while now. Also, there used to be another cartoon channel available that during our last stay (OKW) at Christmas apparently either was no longer available or had changed its' programming lineup. Either way, it is not a Kidani issue - it is property-wide.

 

[christa112]

OP--No offense but you were unhappy with the Underground parking? You thought it was ugly? It is a parking lot. What exactly do you expect from it.

 

[Dean]

OP--No offense but you were unhappy with the Underground parking? You thought it was ugly? It is a parking lot. What exactly do you expect from it.

While it is parking, it is visible from outside the parking portion in many areas as well in areas where it does not need to be. They should do more creative concealing and possibly thing will be better as the vegetation ages.

 

[SamSam]

I love reading differing opinions on the different DVC's, it really shows how different people's taste's are. Thank goodness, there are so many different ones, so people can find which one works best for them.

DH and I used to be BCV people (still like the location), but we simply fell in love with AKV. First Jambo House, and now Kidani. We love Kidani and plan to have most of our visit's 'home' be there.

We're not water people, so the pool is not a big deal to us. We love walking, so the distance to Mara's isn't a problem for us. We enjoy the quieter atmosphere, the size of the rooms.....sitting out on the balcony enjoying a glass of wine and watching the animals.

We have an Owner's Locker, so we have salt, pepper, baggies, coffee filters, etc. to help with the little bit of meal preparing we might do.

 

[kayla87]

I was also not happy that all the Christmas stuff was still up everywhere. Yes, it loks pretty but I don't want it in all of my photo's from January.

last thing is that the maids were awesome ! Place was clean and nicely kept and when my DS got really sick they were quick to gt us many extra sheets so we could do a quick change. Also there was a recycling bin in the kitchen so we we recycled everything we could. I don't know what Disney recycles but we did, paper, plastic, and cans.

The Christmas decorations is a World complaint, since I know Kidani was either undecorated before you got there or immediately afterward.

I've never stayed somewhere the maids actually say hi in the hallway, so they are automatically great in my eyes! Although, the hallways seemed a little narrow so it's almost impossible to ignore someone. (Fair warning to families, you'll basically need to walk single file if you're passing someone, so be prepared. There is no need for someone to bump into me when my shoulder is already rubbing up against the wall. It's just common courtesy.)

Though I enjoyed my Kidani experience overall, I did learn something from your post! I didn't know we had a recycling bin. It must have been under the sink, and I just thought it was an extra trash can and never pulled it out. Since I couldn't find a trash room, I piled all our water bottles on the stove hoping the maid would know how to recycle them.

 

[cel_disney]

Hmm...around here Christmas Decorations are up from 12/15 - 1/15...I think I would have been disappointed if they were NOT up...to each his own for sure, but not sure its a reason to dislike AKL/Kidani!

Hope your next trip is more magical! I think that the weather alone is probably enough to write this one off completely - walking to Mara in 70 degrees is probably going to have a very different/relaxing feeling than it did while you were freezing your tushy off!!

 

[DebbieB]

OP--No offense but you were unhappy with the Underground parking? You thought it was ugly? It is a parking lot. What exactly do you expect from it.

It's not underground, it's actually on the first level. The lobby is on the second floor. The parking is one of the things I loved about Kidani when I stayed there last June. It was nice to be have covered parking (esp in June) and be able to get on the elevator straight up to the floor without going through the lobby. Our room was about in the middle of the south wing but it was quick access from the parking, no long walks others complained about.

I've stayed at both Jambo & Kidani, I really liked Kidani. The only downside was the lack of a counter service, we did drive over to Mara a couple of times. It was nice that the bus stopped at Kidani first, a couple of mornings there were people left at Jambo because the bus was full.

 

[vicki_c]

As for the Channel 96 cartoons thing, we had a few long posts in the Resorts board on this. The end result -- that channel is available on TVs in the majority of the resorts but Channel 96 is not always programmed into the TV, as Dean said. If it's not - you would have to go into the menu setups and add that channel back in to find it. So I plan on checking it out at Kidani this week myself!

 

[Skatetigger]

We stayed at Kidani in Dec and really enoyed it. We found it to be much less hectic than Jambo or even some of the other DVC resorts. The halls are a bit long but I don't believe any different than some of the other DVC resorts to be honest.

The only thing I didn't like about the parking was that there wasn't another entrance, I wish they had two entrances as it was kind of a pain in the butt to have to drive all the way through to get to our side.

I too thought the housekeeping staff was the friendliest I have ever seen. Our mousekeeper even gave us a couple towel animals to take home, she was great!!!!

I don't mind that there wasn't a counter service but I do wish in that there was a little stand that sold coffee or pastries in the morning. We usually bring our breakfast but one can only so much oatmeal/cereal so having a pastry cart would be nice.

We didn't find the walk to Jambo that bad and did it pretty much anytime we went there.

 

[Anal Annie]

we bought soe groceries but there are only so many things you can make in the villa wihtout havig the basics around to use and to either pack it or buy new, it can be a lot. Different seasonings and butter, all the things you use when you cook at home but just aren't there in the villa. Even things like tin foil and plastic bags. Or even Ketchup !

Or you buy things to eat (like sausage) and you pay for them and somehow they don't ever make it into your car or room ??? We emptied the grocery cart into the car but never saw the sausages after I put them up to pay, well except for the cost on my receipt....

Just wanted to say that some of these "little things" are the perfect kinds of things to keep in a Owners Locker! We only use studios so they're lacking even MORE things to "cook with" and yes, it would be a pain to pack & a waste to buy new. I stocked our Owners Locker with extra paper plates, silverware, a set of sharp knives, ice cube tray, wine glasses, plastic cups to take to the pool, can & bottle cozies (or huggies as some call them), an assortment of baggies, saran wrap & foil, plastic stacking bowls with lids that can be micowaved or used for cereal etc., salt, pepper, sugar & sweet & low. I have heard of other people storing griddles for pancakes (no stove in a studio tho). I have considered storing some of those plastic egg poacher things that can be microwaved too...but find we're usually OK with just toasting bagels & eating cereal for the week....But for now our OL is jammed packed full...so I'd have to give up something else like ponchos, umbrellas or flip flops!!

We are trying Kidani for the first time at the end of March...I know we will miss the convenience of having the Mara RIGHT THERE but I hope we can manage to schlep ourselves over there if we find we're in the need for a quick meal. I really think we will be out at the parks most of the time. When I would probably miss it is if we spend an afternoon at the pool...

Can anybody tell me if the Kidani to Mara walk is worse than going to HH or the main pool at OKW from say the furthest bldg. in the Miller's Road section at OKW???? If it is then I don't think I'd be inclined to do "take out" from the Mara. We'd probably just eat there.


(PS) I also don't think the Xmas decorations thing is a valid complaint...we went over MLK weekend once & I was so bummed to have missed them...

 

[bobbiwoz]

I just read Anal Annie's response, regarding the Christmas decorations, and I just had to chime in. I was happy they were still up. We had a 5 night stay in December, one night was at Jambo even, but we never got to Kidani, and I was thrilled that I got to see that tree. BLT's tree was up on the Wednesday, the day we got there, and I told my family that if you wanted to take pictures of it, do it that day, no guarantees that it would be there the next day. DSis arrived at the resort via ME around midnight, and got to witness the removal of the Christmas decorations. Having just seen the HGTV's special, she thought that was very neat.

So, again, lots of people were happy with seeing some decorations. I was especially surprised that they were playing Christmas music in the 3 parks we went to, AK was the one we never got to on this visit.

Here's hoping you have a better next DVC stay pyrxtc!

Bobbi

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

My thought about the Christmas decorations...was that Disney had its hands full with the landscaping. I was very understanding that the decorations were still up.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I always have to chuckle when people start complaining about no counter service at Kidani Village. There isn't a counter service at South Point at OKW, there isn't a counter service at Miller's Road at OKW, there isn't a counter service at the Carousel at SSR, there isn't a counter service at the Paddocks at SSR. Everyone in those areas has to walk, ride the bus or drive over to the resort dining facility if they want counter service. Why should KV be any different? KV did get a table service restaurant and store and a refill station.

 

[KirstenB]

I always have to chuckle when people start complaining about no counter service at Kidani Village. There isn't a counter service at South Point at OKW, there isn't a counter service at Miller's Road at OKW, there isn't a counter service at the Carousel at SSR, there isn't a counter service at the Paddocks at SSR. Everyone in those areas has to walk, ride the bus or drive over to the resort dining facility if they want counter service. Why should KV be any different? KV did get a table service restaurant and store and a refill station.

Well, I try to learn from my mistakes. Apparently, this isn't the case with food service management at DVC. It appears WDW is quite happy to be missing out on counter service revenue. If we have to travel to get food for our family, we'll be taking Sherberth Rd. out to the highway, and doing fast food there. Save some money in the effort too.

 

[drusba]

Can anybody tell me if the Kidani to Mara walk is worse than going to HH or the main pool at OKW from say the furthest bldg. in the Miller's Road section at OKW???? If it is then I don't think I'd be inclined to do "take out" from the Mara. We'd probably just eat there.

I don't know the OKW distances but for time it really depends on where you are in Kidani. If you are in the south wing toward the end, you can go down an elevator and get to walkway and it is only about 6 minutes to Jambo but if you are the end of the north wing, it is closer to 18 minutes (that is how long Kidani is -- if I was at the end of the south wing at Kidani and was told Mara was at the end of the north wing I would be extremely hesistant to even do that walk for a "take-out" and bring back because the distance is over 1/2 mile and is like walking from the base of the World of Nations at Epcot to the American Pavilion). Front door to front door about 12.

 

[zalansky]

We were in Jambo, concierge actually, last weekend also. I really think the weather played a big role in the bad experience? It was hard to enjoy being on vacation when it was so bitter cold outside. Although I will admit being in concierge did soften that blow! We had friends who were staying in kidani in a dedicated 2 bedroom at the same time so we walked over to check it out and visit. I think in nice weather this walk would be much different. Again in the cold that was last weekend there was no way anyone could find anything positive about it. The kidani room was amazing! Although I must admit we like staying in Jambo with the convenience of Mara and everything in the same building.

I was a little surprised to see the Xmas decorations still up too. But it didn't bother me. We watched them take the tree down from the lobby our last night there. I love the holidays at WDW but hearing Xmas music walking around the parks on January 8th was a little strange.

As for no counter service that would bug me a little too. But like someone mentioned its the same story at OKW and SSR. And also, IMO, at BWV. I don't consider the bakery counter service because the sandwiches there are not the greatest and they don't have standard QS fare.

I would think the tv stations would be the same across the board at all resorts?

Like someone mentioned the great thing about DVC is we all have different tastes so it fits the needs of all of us somewhere. I love all the resorts!