Kidani Village with/without car

[DVCcurious]

Hello there. We just bought a DVC at Animal Kingdom. We previously owned at BLT and VWL but sold them due to an expensive kitchen remodel. But really is there any other type of kitchen remodel than "an expensive kitchen remodel"?

We bought at AKL because we have a 11 year old girl and 9 year old boy and we want to have two bathrooms and we want them to not have to share a bed in a 1 bedroom as they get into their teenage years and our choices seemed to be BLT, OKW, and AKL for places with two sleeping options in the living room. BLT was more expensive and OKW has a short contract life and only 1 bathroom so we went for AKL.

We have stayed at AKL three times. I remember liking it the first time and then being kinda annoyed the next two times due to the distance from the lobby. But the thing is the first time we stayed there we also were far away from the lobby but we had rented a car so we just parked near the elevator that was close to our room and drove to the parks and it was wonderful.

So I'd like to know if you have stayed at Kidani with and without a car and you have noticed the times you had a car were much better vacations. I'm thinking it's probably worth it to rent a car because not only do you save the time walking to/from your room to/from the bus, you save the time waiting for the bus and the general bus annoyance factor. But is that worth the $400 or whatever it costs to rent a car for a week? I'm beginning to think it is worth the cost and I'd like to know what you think!

 

[MBTigger]

My one stay so far was without a car, with our room near the Raffiki elevator. My desire for a car would be a lot stronger if my room was farther down that hallway...

 

[limace]

We’ve stayed and didn’t have a car and had a wonderful trip. And since that stay in 2010 rideshare is a thing-our plan is to use that on our May trip.

 

[JETSDAD]

Having a car at Kidani is so nice. Being able to park close to the nearest elevator to your room is very convenient.

 

[CarolynFH]

I agree with @JETSDAD - being able to park close to the nearest elevator to your room, out of the rain and hot sun, is one of the best aspects of staying at Kidani. We've stayed with and without cars, and I'd rather have a car there.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

We always have a car because we like the flexibility it gives us. I think it's especially helpful at AKV. If you're used to having quick transport or being able to walk to the parks, having a car takes some of the sting out of being a little further out. Parking right next to the elevator and have it be a covered garage is awesome! I think its worth it every time.

 

[supersnoop]

I've stayed at Kidani with and without a car. I haven't found myself wanting a car when I didn't have one. Sure, there is the benefit of parking near your room, but buses have always been plentiful when I've been there. I seem to remember leaving the car parked more often than not.

 

[CarolynFH]

I've stayed at Kidani with and without a car. I haven't found myself wanting a car when I didn't have one. Sure, there is the benefit of parking near your room, but buses have always been plentiful when I've been there. I seem to remember leaving the car parked more often than not.

Your post made me remember that it was our stay at AKL that made DH and me realize how spoiled we are staying at BWV so much! We got tired of having to wait for a bus no matter which park we were going to (and no matter how long or short the wait). So we like having a car at Kidani and being able to drive to the parks on our schedule.

 

[clm10308]

The one time I stayed at Kidani, we had a car, but it did not leave the parking garage until we left to go home. I might feel different if we had little kids, but my kids have been walking to Disney transportation since they were out of the stroller (so 4-5 yrs old), and know not to complain about that because the other option is staying home.
On the other hand, I loved that the car could stay in covered parking the entire time we were there. It is no fun to get in a very hot car in July.

 

[Skywalker3]

We always drive to WDW, so we always have a car....but usually once we get to the resort, we park it, and it sits. we used Disney transportation for the majority of getting around. We might make one grocery run, or pizza run, the day of check in. We just had a wonderful stay over Thanksgiving at Kidani, and the car sat the whole time. If you have grocery delivery though, that won't matter as much. But if you have a car and do want to get out for supplies, off site food, etc. , it's very close to stores, restaurants, Target, etc. on 192. But, for getting around to parks, we use the buses. Our HS morning though was kinda pushing it. I had the keys just in case the bus was running late, or we weren't on the first one. I would say, buses to parks beside AK did not get us there as early as we hoped. We're rope droppers and like to be there well before opening. We LOVE Kidani. Stay there for the extra bathrooms, and the incredible animal watching. We had a wonderful room last stay on the southern end, just 2 buildings from the lobby. Time before that though, whew, we were AT THE END of the complex on the north side. That was a hike! Congrats on your Kidani buy!
And you'll have the chance to stay elsewhere too when there's availability, so a good split stay at BWV (our home) was perfect for the holiday week.

 

[princesscinderella]

We stayed there recently in the time of Covid and it was very difficult getting parking near our room at the end of the day with the parks closing so early. I think more people are driving right now and it was definitely noticed. We always have car but that’s because we live in driving distance. That said it’s definitely nice to park near an elevator closer to your room. We stayed at the very last room on the pumba side (which is an amazing spot and I’d ask for it every time), but we timed it and it’s a 6 minute walk to get to the lobby. So if you have refillable mugs that would get old quickly, especially after walking all day at the parks.

 

[gisele2]

People complain about the bus, but we had no problem with them. But the rides are long so after a long day , a car would have been nice.

 

[sethschroeder]

The #1 rule I have if you are going to own at AKV is that be prepared to have a rental car or pay for uber/lyft. Its the primary downside to that resort that otherwise is fairly nice.

The reason you can get AKV "inexpensive" is based on its location being so poor.

I would skip the rental though and go with Uber/Lyft for the week. That way in the morning you can grab a ride but in the afternoon you can simply ride the bus back.

 

[limace]

We were fine with the buses our first trip there-split trip between there and OKW and just really loved both. Were able to waitlist BWV last time and loved the walk to Epcot but probably preferred the overall experience at the other two resorts and did use Lyft routinely for AKV and MK while there. The vacations are so expensive a few bucks for Lyft was hardly a blip.

 

[scbruno]

We have done both once with a car and once without. The one time we have the car we only used it to visit friends staying in the area other than that we use the Disney transportation. It will be interesting to see what they or if they replace DME and if we need cars then.

 

[scbruno]

We have done both once with a car and once without. The one time we have the car we only used it to visit friends staying in the area other than that we use the Disney transportation. It will be interesting to see what they or if they replace DME and if we need cars then.

 

[IndyToThere]

For those who use their car, how is the typical experience with getting from the TTC to your parking spot at the end of the park day? The last time we used a car was for a 1-day spring break daytrip at MK (2016). We left when the fireworks ended at MK and went with the horde back to TTC. If I remember right, we made it to the lines for the parking trams at around 11:15 and didn't get to our car until around 12:45... yeah, we waited in the tram lines for 1.5 hours(!). Our line wasn't even that long... it just took the tram operators a really looooooong time before they would leave.

I'm a pretty patient guy most of the time, but it seemed like the tram operators were purposely waiting multiple minutes after every person was seated before they would do their final (and slow) check down the trams to see if everything was ready before finally departing. It was enough to make me wonder if staying offsite was ever a good deal and if bringing a car to MK/Epcot was worth it. Let's just say the crowd was starting to get rather upset by the end of our wait, and my blood was starting to boil.

 

[BillPA]

When we do have a car, not often, we never drive to MK. The bus is much easier. No waiting for the monorail, then the shuttle, then the traffic mess...

 

[ColonialMouse]

We've done both. If we have a car we'll drive to parks other than MK (always bus that). The buses really weren't that bad once they started running separate buses to Kidani and Jambo (not relevant now but maybe one day). I do prefer a car, but I've done a couple trips to AKV without one and they were fun, too.

Bruce

 

[CarolynFH]

When we stay onsite, yes, we take the bus to MK to avoid parking at the TTC, no matter which resort we’re staying at. From Kidani we would usually drive to the other parks, though.