Kidani or Jambo

[Gisclair Disney]

We are going home again next summer for a 5-night stay before a Disney Cruise. We're considering a two-bedroom at either Kidani Village or Jambo House. We've stayed in a "regular" room at Jambo prior to joining DVC, so we are familiar with themeing and we love the vibe. My question is, which is preferable, a 2-bedroom at Kidani Village or Jambo House; or are they essentially the same?

 

[Henwen88]

Go with Kidani. 3 full bathrooms. Jambo only gets two.

 

[sndral]

Are you booking standard or savanna view? The standard views at Jambo are either pool or partial savanna, thus IMO the views from the standard views at Jambo are generally better. At Jambo you’ll be on the 5th floor, so if you have a savanna view and want to be more eye level with the animals then Kidani is better since your villa can be on any floor.
Jambo has that beautiful lobby, the QS restaurant Mara, Boma, Jiko and Victoria Falls bar and a bigger gift shop and pool. Kidani has Sanaa (which I’ve read has QS breakfast items these days) and a better kids play area at the pool. If you drive you can park nearer your villa in the underground parking at Kidani. Kidani’s villas are bigger and have an additional bathroom. If you want a dedicated 2 br. (w/ 2 real beds in the second bedroom) you’ll need to book Kidani as all of the Jambo 2 br.s are lock offs (2nd bedroom has 1 real bed and a sofa hidabed.)
Park buses pick up and drop off at Kidani first, Jambo second, DS buses stop Jambo first then Kidani.
There’s a non stop shuttle between the lobbies or it’s a 10ish minute walk.
Thus which will suit you best depends on which of all of those variables are most important to you

 

[Deb & Bill]

Two bedroom at Jambo House will be a lockoff studio and one bedroom. The master bathroom is pretty much separated from the Master bedroom since those are just converted hotel rooms. And no stand alone shower in the master bath. Plus you lose out on the extra bathroom just off the entrance to the villa like they added to Kidani Village. I'd go for KV with more sq ft, extra bathroom, possible to get real beds instead of sleeper sofa in the second bedroom and real master bath. Plus underground parking at KV so your car isn't an oven when you head to it in the afternoon or late morning.

 

[herrmannpt]

We own at AKV and have stayed there many times. Kidani does have the extra bathroom in the 2 BR, which can be important. It also has the better water slides and kids spray ground. Still, i will always love Jambo the best. The lobby is just awesome! The pool seems to have more vegetation and is just more tranquil. Plus, it's great to have the Mara for snacks and drink refills.

 

[alldiz]

Unless u have young kids for the kidani spray pool area or large party to take advantage of 3rd bathroom.
Jambo all the way!!
Happy planning
Kerri

 

[gillep]

In general we prefer Jambo, but I am also a huge proponent of extra bathrooms on vacation so I would likely book Kidani. The two resorts are so close that I don't think you lose anything either way.

 

[DenLo]

We like them both. We usually rotate our stays between the two but we stay in studios. When we reserve a 2BR because family is traveling with us, we always reserve at Kidani Village. The third bathroom makes a difference IMO especially if teens are in the family group or another set of adults.

 

[kristenrice]

1BR or 2BR = Kidani
Studio or value 1BR's = Jambo

....but that's just my preference. We are a family of 4 and our daughters love having their own bathroom at Kidani. When we stay in a studio, the location of the standard view rooms (we don't waste points on savanna view anymore) at Jambo cannot be beat. If we get a "poor" location (which means we are far away from the front of the resort) it just means that we get a nice, "partial" savanna view.

We have a trip planned for October 2019 which will include myself and my two daughters (ages 14 and 16), my sister and her two daughters (ages 7 and 11) and my parents for a total of 8 people. We are staying in a 2BR and my dad said it HAS to be at Kidani because we will NEED that third bathroom with 7 girls. My parents are taking the master, my sister and her girls are taking the living room and me and my girls will be in the second bedroom. We just haven't decided if we want to do a lock-off or a dedicated yet. Me and my girls like to stay out later and so having our own entrance will be nice, but it means trading a bed for a sofa bed. My younger daughter says she is fine with sleeping on the floor so I guess maybe it won't matter anyways.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Summer travel by car with large group of teenagers - Kidani/covered parking for my car (terribly hot with I intermittent summer thunder storms) and 3 rd full bathroom( a wonderful thing to have when travelling w/ 3-4 young adults, grooming takes time) And you can still enjoy Jambo’s magnificent lobby and restaurant by resort van!

 

[Eeyore54 fred]

We have stayed in both and the bathrooms are nicer at Kidani, but we like being closer to the Mara so we tend to stay at Jambo. Plus I personally hate the underground parking at Kidani. Yes, it is closer but I just don't like the closed in feeling.

 

[suebeelin]

We prefer Jambo- easier transportation and access to food/main lobby. However, kidani 2bds are huge, so depends on your priority.

 

[KidaniZen]

Kidani all the way. And DBF and I love it there, the tranquility is everything!

 

[TexasChick123]

Kidani for the extra bathroom. That's all you need to know.