Kidani Village Grand Villa Photos - August 2010 trip

[TiaMaria]

Thanks for posting!

So is that sofa in the upstairs sitting area a pull-out sleeper also? In addition to the pull-out and chair in the living room?

What was your room number?

 

[CocosMeme]

I am a little disapointed in the size. We have one booked for next May and have 12 people staying - 6 adults & 6 kids. The GV on the DVC site is at Jambo and it appears to be a LOT bigger, especially the kitchen and dining area. I booked Kidani because of the pool area, community hall and other areas for the kids. I hope I did not make a mistake, but it is too late now. I don't understand why they would make the kitchen and living area so small in a villa, since it takes lots of points to get it. Is is just the angles of the pictures maybe? Did you feel crowded? How many people did you have in it?? I hope your trip was good. Thanks for posting the pictures.

 

[disney1474]

Nice photos and thanks for sharing!! We will be in a GV at Jambo in May and can't wait

 

[phyllisnnj]

Where is this exactly?

In the Master Bathroom. It was across from the tub. So you could watch TV while you relaxed in the tub.

 

[phyllisnnj]

50% of the counter dedicated to booze and a quart size Rose's, you are my kind of people!

Shhh... you guys weren't suppose to notice all the booze.

 

[vicki_c]

50% of the counter dedicated to booze and a quart size Rose's, you are my kind of people!

That's what I was thinking! The GV looks ginormous to me!

Kidani = 2201 sq ft
Jambo = 2349 sq ft
OKW = 2022 sq ft

From wdwinfo, just for comparison for those who thought it looked small

 

[phyllisnnj]

Thanks for sharing! I was surprised at how small it seems. It looks to me like the layout is much like the BLT GVs. Tiny kitchen and living room for that many people. I might be spoiled though, with the OKW GVs.

OKW GV definitely has more space in the living room and kitchen area. We loved our stay there as well.

However the Kidani GV room setup grew on me. I really liked having the upstairs sitting area. We hooked up the wii to the TV in the sitting area and the kids had their own hang out space. There was lots of additional storage space too. I also prefer the bathroom space in Kidani GV vs OKW GV.

 

[phyllisnnj]

Thanks for posting!

So is that sofa in the upstairs sitting area a pull-out sleeper also? In addition to the pull-out and chair in the living room?

What was your room number?

Yes, I believe so but we didn't use any of the sleeper sofa or chairs.
The room number was either 7420 or 7426 (we had the GV and a two bedroom). Sorry, I don't remember which room # was the Grand Villa.

 

[the donut]

This kid is so cute!

 

[phyllisnnj]

I am a little disapointed in the size. We have one booked for next May and have 12 people staying - 6 adults & 6 kids. The GV on the DVC site is at Jambo and it appears to be a LOT bigger, especially the kitchen and dining area. I booked Kidani because of the pool area, community hall and other areas for the kids. I hope I did not make a mistake, but it is too late now. I don't understand why they would make the kitchen and living area so small in a villa, since it takes lots of points to get it. Is is just the angles of the pictures maybe? Did you feel crowded? How many people did you have in it?? I hope your trip was good. Thanks for posting the pictures.

I think you'll be fine. I was little worried about the size after having stayed at the OKW GV during one of our previous DVC trips. We had a total of 13 (4 kids and 9 adults). Each family had their own bedroom (7 slept in the GV and 6 slept in the two bedroom) but everyone gathered in the GV. With extended family trips I prefer that everyone have their own private bedroom and bathroom so that the common areas are available for everyone to use and folks can have a place to escape. It also keeps the peace

During this visit we spent more time in the room than normal so I can say that our party of 13 was able to work with the space. The room setup allowed us to easily talk from the living room sofa, dining room table, stools or the kitchen. We just didn't have too many people in the kitchen at once. Since the dining room table is a little small. We sometimes had to use the kitchen counter space for the serving dishes but it wasn't a big deal. Sometime folks had to sit at the dining room table to watch TV (due to limited seating in the living room) but we didn't watch that much TV.

I was wondering if I would like Kidani since I'm a big Jambo house fan but we had a great time !! I would definitely stay here again .

We enjoyed the pool area (the children's pool/play area was closed off the day we went to the pool), the fitness center, arcade room and community hall. We didn't try the onsite restaurant. I was really concerned about the lack of dining options at Kidani Village. How can you have a family resort without a quick service restaurant for a burger or hotdog and fries? Thank goodness during this trip we ate almost all of our meals in our room.

Bus service was just ok. However we only spent one day at the park (MK) during our stay (a 1st for us) but our stay was totally relaxing and enjoyable.

The master bedroom is on the lower level and the other two bedrooms are on the upper level. The bedrooms on the upper level have two queen beds and are almost a complete mirrors of each other except one has its own thermostat (just like Master bedroom downstairs). There were two additional thermostats one for the lower level (in the living room) and one for the upper level (in the sitting area).


I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time.

 

[phyllisnnj]

This kid is so cute!

Thank you. Yes, I agree my three year old niece is simply adorable.

 

[AKV707]

Thanks for the pics! The GV looks incredible. I don't know if I will ever be able to stay in one, but I can dream.

 

[PHILCT]

Great Photos of the Grand Villa, Thank You for Sharing.

Also great snacks and soda on the kitchen counter, you are a great Host !

 

[elmonshea]

Thanks for sharing.. Great pictures!

 

[sjs314]

Nice pictures , not sure if I am a fan of the african pole - like room separaters, the grand villa pics I have seen of the ones in Jambo are more to my likeing especially the room with the pool table ,and the 3 separate semi-circle balconies. Surprises me they are so different but then the ones in Jambo are one level not two also

 

[twinklebug]

During this visit we spent more time in the room than normal so I can say that our party of 13 was able to work with the space. The room setup allowed us to easily talk from the living room sofa, dining room table, stools or the kitchen. We just didn't have too many people in the kitchen at once. Since the dining room table is a little small. We sometimes had to use the kitchen counter space for the serving dishes but it wasn't a big deal. Sometime folks had to sit at the dining room table to watch TV (due to limited seating in the living room) but we didn't watch that much TV.

I was wondering if I would like Kidani since I'm a big Jambo house fan but we had a great time !! I would definitely stay here again .

We enjoyed the pool area (the children's pool/play area was closed off the day we went to the pool), the fitness center, arcade room and community hall. We didn't try the onsite restaurant. I was really concerned about the lack of dining options at Kidani Village. How can you have a family resort without a quick service restaurant for a burger or hotdog and fries? Thank goodness during this trip we ate almost all of our meals in our room.

Bus service was just ok. However we only spent one day at the park (MK) during our stay (a 1st for us) but our stay was totally relaxing and enjoyable.

The master bedroom is on the lower level and the other two bedrooms are on the upper level. The bedrooms on the upper level have two queen beds and are almost a complete mirrors of each other except one has its own thermostat (just like Master bedroom downstairs). There were two additional thermostats one for the lower level (in the living room) and one for the upper level (in the sitting area).


I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time.

Great pics! Thanks We love Kidani too.

How close was the parking garage to your unit? Curious as with that amt of groceries walking the hall numerous times to the car could be exhausting. Does the garage extend the length of the building?

One (expensive) change I'd love to see them implement in the grand villas is the inclusion of more upscale kitchen appliances. The little 'ole stove and fridge you can find in any apartment takes away from the GV feel, and although not all guests will even be using the kitchen I think they should reflect the higher point usage it takes to book them.

Love your shopping selections.

 

[JenSop]

Thanks for posting your pics!

I have a few questions....

When did you book? Did you call at 9am exactly 11 months out? Did you have to walk your reservation? Did you choose Kidani, or was that what was available?

Sorry for all the questions, but we're planning to do a GV trip at AKV in 2012. My first choice is Jambo, though. And I'm trying to figure out if I need to walk the reservation.

Thanks!

 

[phyllisnnj]

How close was the parking garage to your unit? Curious as with that amt of groceries walking the hall numerous times to the car could be exhausting. Does the garage extend the length of the building?

There are several elevators from the parking garage. I believe each elevator is named after a Lion King character. We requested a room closest to the lobby. Our room was close to the Timon elevator. We had so much stuff that we asked to use the luggage carts so we could bring up the stuff ourselves. However according to bell services they couldn't give us the luggage carts. So we had to let them take it up for us.
Thanks goodness our room was close to the Timon elevators so we just made multiple trips to the car when it was time to checkout without using bell services.

Sorry, I don't know if the underground garage extends the entire length of the building.

 

[phyllisnnj]

Nice pictures , not sure if I am a fan of the african pole - like room separaters, the grand villa pics I have seen of the ones in Jambo are more to my likeing especially the room with the pool table ,and the 3 separate semi-circle balconies. Surprises me they are so different but then the ones in Jambo are one level not two also

I think they're so different due to the fact that Jambo GV was a conversion of the existing hotel suites vs a brand new resort built for DVC.

The AKL hotel suites were originally built with the semi-circle balconies. I'm assuming when they combined these hotel suites to create the grand villas, they just ended up having extra space. Placing a pool table in the extra space was a great idea.

With Kidani village, DVC had more flexibility since it was built from the ground up so they built the grand villa similar to the other two story DVC GVs along with some additional features like the "african pole - like room separater".

I actually like that the GVs are a little different. For each one, DVC decided to do something different with the extra space - Jambo got the pool table and Kidani got a separate sitting room upstairs that includes an additional sleeper sofa .

I hope to try the Jambo House GV one day. I've only stayed in the studio rooms at Jambo House.

JAMBO GV LAYOUT

KIDANI GV LAYOUT

 

[phyllisnnj]

Thanks for posting your pics!

I have a few questions....

When did you book? Did you call at 9am exactly 11 months out? Did you have to walk your reservation? Did you choose Kidani, or was that what was available?

Sorry for all the questions, but we're planning to do a GV trip at AKV in 2012. My first choice is Jambo, though. And I'm trying to figure out if I need to walk the reservation.

Thanks!

Hi Jen,

Don't apologize. Ask all the questions you need.

I'm not a AKL owner, so I called at the 7 month mark exactly at 9am Eastern. Jambo House wasn't available so I didn't have a choice. I think Jambo House may be more popular therefore if I were you I would walk the reservation.

In fact, at the 7 month mark I booked thinking I only wanted to stay 3 nights before we started on the second half of our Disney/Beach vacation. However a week later I changed my mind and tried to add on two extra nights but none of the AKV GVs were available. I had to book the SSR GV for the remaining two nights. Since I was short less 4 points I couldn't waitlist for the AKV GV, I had to keep calling in (I also couldn't transfer points because I had already used my one transfer allowance for the year). Everytime, I called I was told that an SSR GV was available for my entire length of stay but I really wanted to stay at the AKV GV and nothing freed up.
Well, after we hauled all of our stuff from the cars into Kidani everyone was dreading to have to move again for just two extra nights. I decided to try the front desk at Kidani to see if there was any way we could just stay put without having to haul all of our stuff to SSR. (NOTE: My extended family loves SSR too but we were all overwhelmed with the thought of packing and unpacking).

Well I got a bit of disney magic this trip.
The miracle of all miracles occurred for me during this trip . The Kidani room assigner was my Fairytale godmother during this trip and helped me get my wish. She not only made sure we stayed at Kidani, she made sure we didn't have to change rooms and she stayed on the line with me and DVC member services to make everything was cared for (cancelling out SSR and rebooking me at AKV).

After our 5 nights at AKV, we drove 2.5 hours to the new Marriott in West Palm Beach. I would recommend this resort for anyone looking for a quiet beach getaway. 11 out of my party of 13 did the beach trip. We shared two 2bbdrm oceanfront villas.
Here are my photos from our stay at Marriott's Oceana Palms resort - http://www.flickr.com/photos/40089311@N05/sets/72157624826339486/
Marriott's website - http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pbisn-marriotts-oceana-palms/