ZebraDomeCrazy
Silliness is one of my best qualities!
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2006
- Messages
- 843
Hi all! Well, we spent a week in a Savannah view studio at Kidani. There were four of us - the kids are 17 & 19, so basically four adults in the room. We are HUGE Jambo House fans, and were worried we would be dissapointed in Kidani, but we ALL LOVED IT! Just a quick review, then if anyone has questions, feel free to ask!
1. The room was nice. Fantastic animal viewing - saw different things all week. We had one queen and one pull out sofa (queen) that my DD and I shared. We left it open all week, and it wasn't terribly comfortable - so I would definitely prefer two queens. We used every bit of space for our clothes, including shelves in the bathroom. In Jambo there is a huge chest of drawers, which would have come in handy, but I believe that is in the space allotted for the Kitchennette. The bathroom, although it is a sort of strange layout, was nice, with lots of storage and drawer space. The only confusing thing is that there was very little hooks or bars for your towels!? This really didn't make sense to me, since this is a DVC and you don't get housekeeping daily, so you need to re-use your towels. The "toilet" room could easily have towel bars in it.
2. We did enjoy having the kitchenette, more than I thought I would. We brought our own coffee from home. It was nice enjoying "real" coffee every morning. We bought bagels, donuts, milk, soda etc at the gift shop, which really came in handy. Kidani does not have a quick service area, so it definitely helped in the mornings. Although we ended up with 6 leftover counter service meals on our plan.
3. DVC - This was our first DVC stay, as I rented points from a friend at work. I must admit I am still torn about the housekeeping service. Part of me enjoyed not having someone in the room every day. Usually we come back to the room mid-day, and in the past we would dread if they hadn't come yet or if they were in the room when we got there. Also, you don't feel like you have to put your personal things away. The only thing that I would say bothered me was the towels. Like I previously said there was so little room to hang and dry them! In Disney, we tend to shower twice a day, so it did affect things a bit.
4. Bus service - The buses were great! No problems at all. In fact I preferred being at Kidani, because we were the first stop (both ways) for all parks, except Downtown Disney - so you always had a seat. There were several times, when we got to Jambo's bus stop, there were so many people waiting, they didn't all fit on the bus, and then had to wait for another one!
5. Distance to Jambo House - was very worried about this before the trip. Well there is nothing to worry about. We spent one day at Jambo house pool, and also visited for a dinner and a breakfast at Boma. Once we walked, which was no big deal at all. A couple of times when we went to Jambo we just went ot our bus stop and got on the first bus that came, and we were dropped off in a minute, very simple. They also have a van shuttle service. This van runs back and forth all day between the two. Super easy! I don't believe it is "advertised" all that much, but we found this to be quick and efficient. I would choose this method to get back to Kidani, because to use the buses, you would have to get the Downtown bus only, as that is the only bus that goes to Jambo first, Kidani second. Anyway, we certainly felt as though this was just one big resort, not two separate ones. If this is a concern, as it was mine - worry no more!
6. Pool - Again, we love, love, love Jambo house pool. That being said, I must admit there were some aspects of Kidani's like we preferred. The kids water play area is amazing. Even my 17 & 19 year olds ended up in there, lol - having water cannon fights with little kids! The slide is really fun, and extra long! I went on that more times than I ever have in past trips. The pool bar and area is larger than Kidani, with lots of tables with umbrellas. They have food service that was very efficient. There were some items right at the bar - ceasar salad, sandwiches, fruit - or you could phone in an order, and they bring it right out to the pool area tables for you! We really enjoyed that! I suggest you pay oop for this, as they charge you on the Dining plan as if it was room service. The pool itself is smaller than Jambo, but nice and it didn't seem to get too crowded. They have all the same afternoon games, and evening movies, just like at Jambo. My only downgrade for this pool, was the surroundings are not as pretty, like Jambo. Kind of awkward location. From our room, it was easy to get to, but not pretty, as we walked through the parking garage to get there. You can walk from the lobby also, but from our room, the garage was shorter.
7. Sanaa - although we didn't eat a meal here, we heard everyone raving about it and definitely put it on our list of must-do's for next time. We did spend time at the lounge there. The bartenders were super nice, and we had appetizers there of a bread service - Wonderful! The restaurant and lounge itself are really pretty, and have amazing animal viewing from your tables.
8. Overall - Kidani is alot quieter than Jambo house, which was nice actually. There are tons of artwork and such, just like Jambo. Lots of viewing areas all over, and a lovely library where they tell stories and such. There is a arcade, but also a Community Room, because of DVC, which I really liked alot! In addition to smaller kids activities, there was a pool table, fooseball, WII, and other computer games. Also, every room has a dvd player and you can "rent" (free of charge) tons of movies for the room, great for rainy days. All activities in the community room are free of charge. There is only one laundry room, located next to the arcade and community room. There are only 4 washers and 8 dryers. I did laundry twice and had to wait for available machines each time, ugh. I guess most rooms have washers,dryers in them, but we were in a studio, so we had to use these. At the end of the week we were all torn between favorites and rankings, but we all decided Kidani and Jambo are both #1 and #2 resorts in all of Disney for us. We just can't decide which is 1 and which is 2 - Guess we will have to get back to do further research!!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! Back to work now, so my responses may be delayed, but I will get back to answer anyone, soon! Jane
1. The room was nice. Fantastic animal viewing - saw different things all week. We had one queen and one pull out sofa (queen) that my DD and I shared. We left it open all week, and it wasn't terribly comfortable - so I would definitely prefer two queens. We used every bit of space for our clothes, including shelves in the bathroom. In Jambo there is a huge chest of drawers, which would have come in handy, but I believe that is in the space allotted for the Kitchennette. The bathroom, although it is a sort of strange layout, was nice, with lots of storage and drawer space. The only confusing thing is that there was very little hooks or bars for your towels!? This really didn't make sense to me, since this is a DVC and you don't get housekeeping daily, so you need to re-use your towels. The "toilet" room could easily have towel bars in it.
2. We did enjoy having the kitchenette, more than I thought I would. We brought our own coffee from home. It was nice enjoying "real" coffee every morning. We bought bagels, donuts, milk, soda etc at the gift shop, which really came in handy. Kidani does not have a quick service area, so it definitely helped in the mornings. Although we ended up with 6 leftover counter service meals on our plan.
3. DVC - This was our first DVC stay, as I rented points from a friend at work. I must admit I am still torn about the housekeeping service. Part of me enjoyed not having someone in the room every day. Usually we come back to the room mid-day, and in the past we would dread if they hadn't come yet or if they were in the room when we got there. Also, you don't feel like you have to put your personal things away. The only thing that I would say bothered me was the towels. Like I previously said there was so little room to hang and dry them! In Disney, we tend to shower twice a day, so it did affect things a bit.
4. Bus service - The buses were great! No problems at all. In fact I preferred being at Kidani, because we were the first stop (both ways) for all parks, except Downtown Disney - so you always had a seat. There were several times, when we got to Jambo's bus stop, there were so many people waiting, they didn't all fit on the bus, and then had to wait for another one!
5. Distance to Jambo House - was very worried about this before the trip. Well there is nothing to worry about. We spent one day at Jambo house pool, and also visited for a dinner and a breakfast at Boma. Once we walked, which was no big deal at all. A couple of times when we went to Jambo we just went ot our bus stop and got on the first bus that came, and we were dropped off in a minute, very simple. They also have a van shuttle service. This van runs back and forth all day between the two. Super easy! I don't believe it is "advertised" all that much, but we found this to be quick and efficient. I would choose this method to get back to Kidani, because to use the buses, you would have to get the Downtown bus only, as that is the only bus that goes to Jambo first, Kidani second. Anyway, we certainly felt as though this was just one big resort, not two separate ones. If this is a concern, as it was mine - worry no more!
6. Pool - Again, we love, love, love Jambo house pool. That being said, I must admit there were some aspects of Kidani's like we preferred. The kids water play area is amazing. Even my 17 & 19 year olds ended up in there, lol - having water cannon fights with little kids! The slide is really fun, and extra long! I went on that more times than I ever have in past trips. The pool bar and area is larger than Kidani, with lots of tables with umbrellas. They have food service that was very efficient. There were some items right at the bar - ceasar salad, sandwiches, fruit - or you could phone in an order, and they bring it right out to the pool area tables for you! We really enjoyed that! I suggest you pay oop for this, as they charge you on the Dining plan as if it was room service. The pool itself is smaller than Jambo, but nice and it didn't seem to get too crowded. They have all the same afternoon games, and evening movies, just like at Jambo. My only downgrade for this pool, was the surroundings are not as pretty, like Jambo. Kind of awkward location. From our room, it was easy to get to, but not pretty, as we walked through the parking garage to get there. You can walk from the lobby also, but from our room, the garage was shorter.
7. Sanaa - although we didn't eat a meal here, we heard everyone raving about it and definitely put it on our list of must-do's for next time. We did spend time at the lounge there. The bartenders were super nice, and we had appetizers there of a bread service - Wonderful! The restaurant and lounge itself are really pretty, and have amazing animal viewing from your tables.
8. Overall - Kidani is alot quieter than Jambo house, which was nice actually. There are tons of artwork and such, just like Jambo. Lots of viewing areas all over, and a lovely library where they tell stories and such. There is a arcade, but also a Community Room, because of DVC, which I really liked alot! In addition to smaller kids activities, there was a pool table, fooseball, WII, and other computer games. Also, every room has a dvd player and you can "rent" (free of charge) tons of movies for the room, great for rainy days. All activities in the community room are free of charge. There is only one laundry room, located next to the arcade and community room. There are only 4 washers and 8 dryers. I did laundry twice and had to wait for available machines each time, ugh. I guess most rooms have washers,dryers in them, but we were in a studio, so we had to use these. At the end of the week we were all torn between favorites and rankings, but we all decided Kidani and Jambo are both #1 and #2 resorts in all of Disney for us. We just can't decide which is 1 and which is 2 - Guess we will have to get back to do further research!!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! Back to work now, so my responses may be delayed, but I will get back to answer anyone, soon! Jane
DW
rincess: DS (9) 
Did you take advantage of any of the storytelling? How were the animal viewing sites?
