Just got back from a Week at AK Kidani and it was a mess

[momof2crazyboys]

AK Kidani is our home resort. We have not been there in a little over 5 years. We were shocked at how run down it was. The carpets in the hallways were stained and worn, the ones in the rooms were not much better. Our unit was missing pots and pans, no broom, dishwasher was in rough shape missing so many dish supports the dishes would fall down and the entire unit pull out from the wall. I see so many DVC properties getting refurbishment, Poly for one, when will Kindani be getting an update. We were very very disappointed and for the first time wished we had a different home resort.

 

[erionm]

AKV received a soft good refurbishment in 2016. It will be due for a full refurbishment in 2023.

 

[OpieDoodle]

Disney seems to be going through all of their resorts doing refurbs so I'd assume it would hopefully in the next year or two. They have so many resorts they have to do them in phases I am sure. Plus they don't want too much construction at the same time because then they can't rent the rooms

 

[sndral]

It’s Kidani, there’s no ‘n,’ Kidani is the Swahili word for necklace - chosen because the Kidani building supposedly resembles a necklace.
Some people are such slobs, but to shorten the refurb timeline = higher MFs, so it’s a balancing act, would I prefer a pristine resort/villa or lower MFs?
I assume that next refurb will include those faux wood floors that other WDW resorts are getting which will help w/ the carpet staining issues. I just hope they don’t take away the spa tubs . I hope the refurb includes the Murphy pull down sofa beds because those sleeper sofas deserve to be jettisoned - they are so uncomfortable to sleep on!
Did you contact housekeeping about the ‘missing’ pots and pans, broom, etc.? We don’t really cook on vacation & I’m not sure what pots and pans should be there - but housekeeping most likely has spares if your villa is short. Housekeeping has always brought whatever our villa was missing in any DVC villa we’ve stayed at when we’ve used the housekeeping button on the phone - sometimes you have to try more than once, and I’ve been known to wander down the hall to find an actual housekeeper if need be.
Did you alert the front desk about the dishwasher? Sounds like maintenance needs to replace it, but someone needs to let them know about it for it to happen. Whenever there’s been a maintenance issue a visit to the front desk usually triggers a later visit from a maintenance guy to deal w/ the problem, but if no one knows then the problem doesn’t get fixed & the next guest inherits it.

 

[sethschroeder]

Maybe I am not as picky but Kidani was fairly nice when we were there in September '19. Sounds like you just got a specific rough room unfortunately or I got super lucky.

 

[momof2crazyboys]

It’s Kidani, there’s no ‘n,’ Kidani is the Swahili word for necklace - chosen because the Kidani building supposedly resembles a necklace.
Some people are such slobs, but to shorten the refurb timeline = higher MFs, so it’s a balancing act, would I prefer a pristine resort/villa or lower MFs?
I assume that next refurb will include those faux wood floors that other WDW resorts are getting which will help w/ the carpet staining issues. I just hope they don’t take away the spa tubs . I hope the refurb includes the Murphy pull down sofa beds because those sleeper sofas deserve to be jettisoned - they are so uncomfortable to sleep on!
Did you contact housekeeping about the ‘missing’ pots and pans, broom, etc.? We don’t really cook on vacation & I’m not sure what pots and pans should be there - but housekeeping most likely has spares if your villa is short. Housekeeping has always brought whatever our villa was missing in any DVC villa we’ve stayed at when we’ve used the housekeeping button on the phone - sometimes you have to try more than once, and I’ve been known to wander down the hall to find an actual housekeeper if need be.
Did you alert the front desk about the dishwasher? Sounds like maintenance needs to replace it, but someone needs to let them know about it for it to happen. Whenever there’s been a maintenance issue a visit to the front desk usually triggers a later visit from a maintenance guy to deal w/ the problem, but if no one knows then the problem doesn’t get fixed & the next guest inherits it.

You are absolutely right I completely misspelled the name. Kidani!!!! We contacted housekeeping several times and it took so long to get a response we just gave up. Staffing is low, we asked housekeeping in the halls told it would be taken care of an it was not. Like I said we have stayed here many times and have not had issues. We won't stay there again until a full refurbishment is done. I agree love the spa tubs use it every stay and the pull out sofa and sofa chair are awful my grown sons will agree!!! We did notify about the dishwasher on our way out and sent an email as well. The worst part was the buses which I did not mention in my original post. We waited more than 20 - 25 minutes for buses in most cases and when leaving Hollywood studios it was 50 minutes. I called after 35 minutes and they sent a transportation leader out and finally a bus arrived 15 minutes later. I am sure many of these issues are due to restaffing after the covid shutdown but the resort itself is in rough shape.

 

[sndral]

You are absolutely right I completely misspelled the name. Kidani!!!! We contacted housekeeping several times and it took so long to get a response we just gave up. Staffing is low, we asked housekeeping in the halls told it would be taken care of an it was not. Like I said we have stayed here many times and have not had issues. We won't stay there again until a full refurbishment is done. I agree love the spa tubs use it every stay and the pull out sofa and sofa chair are awful my grown sons will agree!!! We did notify about the dishwasher on our way out and sent an email as well. The worst part was the buses which I did not mention in my original post. We waited more than 20 - 25 minutes for buses in most cases and when leaving Hollywood studios it was 50 minutes. I called after 35 minutes and they sent a transportation leader out and finally a bus arrived 15 minutes later. I am sure many of these issues are due to restaffing after the covid shutdown but the resort itself is in rough shape.

Thanks for the info., we return in Dec. (Jambo this time) after skipping last year and I’ve been wondering how things will be, at least we won’t have to suffer from the sofa bed since I used our spare points to up us to a 2 br.!

 

[Brett Wyman]

Kidani is bargin basement DVC and gets rented out as cash rooms a lot too with heavy discounts. Not surprised its banged up. I love AKL, prefer the Jambo side though, but my wife refuses to stay at either due to these"issues".

 

[momof2crazyboys]

Thanks for the info., we return in Dec. (Jambo this time) after skipping last year and I’ve been wondering how things will be, at least we won’t have to suffer from the sofa bed since I used our spare points to up us to a 2 br.!

We had a 2 bedroom 1st floor miles from the lobby (lol). Unfortunately we had my niece and her husband with us so my boys had to brave the pull outs.

 

[jennyq87]

I have to agree with you. We stayed in a 1BR savanna view back in 2016 and then again in fall 2020, and the difference was significant. I remember feeling like it was one of my favorite rooms after our stay in 2016, and after 2020 I did not have that same feeling. We still really enjoyed our stay, it just didn't quite feel as magical and impressive as it did in 2016.

 

[momof2crazyboys]

Kidani is bargin basement DVC and gets rented out as cash rooms a lot too with heavy discounts. Not surprised its banged up. I love AKL, prefer the Jambo side though, but my wife refuses to stay at either due to these"issues".
[/QUOTE

I too prefer Jambo however the 3 full baths in Kidani are a must with larger groups.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Yikes! I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a resort villa to be in reasonable working condition. When we stayed there a few years ago, DH noted the chips in the wood, scratches, overall "Worn" condition. 2023 seems like a long wait.

 

[momof2crazyboys]

I have to agree with you. We stayed in a 1BR savanna view back in 2016 and then again in fall 2020, and the difference was significant. I remember feeling like it was one of my favorite rooms after our stay in 2016, and after 2020 I did not have that same feeling. We still really enjoyed our stay, it just didn't quite feel as magical and impressive as it did in 2016.

100 % agree We bought our contract many years ago when Kidani was new. Now that they’ve built more premium DVC properties they seem to be ignoring places like animal kingdom. If GF, Poly or WL had been an option back then we would have bought there.

 

[momof2crazyboys]

I have to agree with you. We stayed in a 1BR savanna view back in 2016 and then again in fall 2020, and the difference was significant. I remember feeling like it was one of my favorite rooms after our stay in 2016, and after 2020 I did not have that same feeling. We still really enjoyed our stay, it just didn't quite feel as magical and impressive as it did in 2016.

Kidani is bargin basement DVC and gets rented out as cash rooms a lot too with heavy discounts. Not surprised its banged up. I love AKL, prefer the Jambo side though, but my wife refuses to stay at either due to these"issues".

We bought when Kidani was new. If the more premium resorts had been and option (Poly, GF or even WL) we would have selected on if them.

 

[What-r-ya Goofy?]

Fourteen years between refurbishment for a hotel room is too long in my opinion. I would rather pay more in maintenance fees to stay in nice, or even just acceptable, accommodations.
When we go to Disney and pay high prices for almost everything, we want it to be an overall pleasant experience. I don't want to sit on the sofa with the mystery stain or have overworn and dated furnishings in my room. A ten year cycle for refurbishment is probably a more reasonable target, or a more aggressive program for fixing issues instead of just letting them go for years until the next scheduled refurb. My .02.

 

[momof2crazyboys]

Fourteen years between refurbishment for a hotel room is too long in my opinion. I would rather pay more in maintenance fees to stay in nice, or even just acceptable, accommodations.
When we go to Disney and pay high prices for almost everything, we want it to be an overall pleasant experience. I don't want to sit on the sofa with the mystery stain or have overworn and dated furnishings in my room. A ten year cycle for refurbishment is probably a more reasonable target, or a more aggressive program for fixing issues instead of just letting them go for years until the next scheduled refurb. My .02.

I absolutely agree. would rather pay more fees too. We really don't want to buy a new contract but have considered selling our contracts at AK and purchasing at one of the newer DVC resorts but that defeats the purpose of getting in early. They just need to remember there are owners who came before their newer premium properties.

 

[momof2crazyboys]

AKV received a soft good refurbishment in 2016. It will be due for a full refurbishment in 2023.

I remember when this soft refurbishment was done and in my opinion was not enough at that time.

 

[CarolynFH]

Fourteen years between refurbishment for a hotel room is too long in my opinion.

Believe it or not, when DVC started the plan was for full refurbs (appliances, furniture, etc.) every 24 years! DVC announced at the 2015 Condominium Association meeting that they had decided to accelerate it to every 14 years with soft goods refurbs roughly every 7 years. So it could be worse…. DVC News: 2015 Condo Association mtg.

 

[momof2crazyboys]

Believe it or not, when DVC started the plan was for full refurbs (appliances, furniture, etc.) every 24 years! DVC announced at the 2015 Condominium Association meeting that they had decided to accelerate it to every 14 years with soft goods refurbs roughly every 7 years. So it could be worse…. DVC News: 2015 Condo Association mtg.

Wow I would hate to see it after 24 years. Yikes. Why are the Poly bungalows getting a refurbishment the final phase was only completed in 2015.?

 

[CarolynFH]

Wow I would hate to see it after 24 years. Yikes. Why are the Poly bungalows getting a refurbishment the final phase was only completed in 2015.?

I wondered the same - probably in anticipation of the 50th, with Poly being one of the two resorts also celebrating its 50th anniversary.