Kidani

[Jets fan]

Hi

I have never stayed at Kidani before and I quite like the look of it. Does anybody know what the two bedroom suites are like, how far it is to walk to the bus stops and how frequent the buses are. Also what are the pools like as I will have a 10 and 7 year old with me and pools are all important at that age.

Stayed at the Poly in December and the buses were awful. I usually stay at OKW but fancy a change.

Many thanks
Tina

 

[DMKEDM]

Kidani is great...we've stayed at Jambo, but not at Kidani, but we've spent a fair amount of time over at Kidani...Their restaurant, Sanaa, is among our very favorites in all of WDW. The pool, kids splash area, and exercise complex are terrific.

Kidani is the first (of two) bus stops at AKV for buses that go to the parks (it's second for buses that go to Downtown Disney). It's quite close to the villas...Kidani is "sprawling"--probably runs 1/3 of a mile or so from end to end, but the bus stop is sort of "in the middle" (altho a bit closer to the side that's closest to Jambo)...so no matter where your villa is, you won't be far from the bus stop. We've never experienced any bus problems at all at AKL...buses come pretty quickly, both to the parks and from them.

Kidani has a pretty small gift shop in the lobby, with a refillable mug station and a small assortment of snacks & foods that can be prepared in the villa...it's about a 10-minute stroll over to Jambo, where Mara, the quick-serve eatery is.

Guests at Kidani have full access to amenities at Jambo (and visa versa), so your kids can go back and forth between the two if they want to experience the different pools, animal viewing activities, Community Halls, etc.

The villas themselves I can't give you any personal comments on, because we've only stayed at Jambo...but they do have an extra bathroom at Kidani which a lot of people really value.

AKL is very different from OKW ... the villas aren't as big and the decor is a bit darker...but I'd say the buses are better, if for no other reason than that there are five internal bus stops at OKW and only two at Kidani...

OKW beats Kidani, tho, in terms of "walkability"...OKW has so many options for just going for a walk (something I love to do, altho I know a lot of people think they get more than enough walking in the parks and in going to/from the various resort amenities)...I always feel just a tiny bit "trapped" at AKL...the only "real walk" is between Jambo & Kidani (and that's no more than 1/2 mile) and there's no safe, easy, pleasant way to walk outside the resort...at OKW you can take pretty (and long) walks within the resort, or head down the canal path to Downtown Disney and/or SSR...and both Downtown Disney and SSR offer interesting and pleasant walking opportunities, too...that's not an option at Kidani or Jambo.

Good luck in choosing. Both resorts are wonderful...I know I find whichever resort I choose, I love it and miss the ones I didn't choose!

 

[drusba]

2BRs are not as large as OKW but are significantly larger than BWV, VWL, SSR,BCV, and AKV Jambo. Thus, very spacious. There are 3 bathrooms in the the 2BR. African decor. Porches are not as large as OKW but larger than other WDW DVC resorts.

Kidani has two wings, north and south with the southern one running toward Jambo. The bus stop is just beyond the lobby along the south wing. The pool is north of the lobby along the north wing. Restaraunt and store and community hall are also near the lobby. Distance to bus stop can be short to longer than anything you can ever imagine depending on where room is. Suggest that you request close to lobby which puts you close to everything and has some of the best savanna view rooms if you have that view. Rooms at the end of the north wing which are farthest from lobby are about 1/3 mile from the lobby, giving you about a 6 to 7 minute walk to the bus stop. If you have a car, you park right under building and there are elevators along the wings and thus you can park fairly close to room regardless of where it is.

There is only one pool at Kidani; Jambo also has one; unlike other resorts there is no place to put a second pool because most of the land is savanna. Pool is nice although limited areas to find shade. Very long slide that is essentially hidden from view when at pool. There is an elaborate kids waterplay area that many kids find ideal.

Kidani and Jambo share busses. As anywhere there can be delays sometimes but personal view is that it is one of the best bus systems on site and way better than one like at Poly which has multiple resort stops. Park busses stop at Kidani first and DD bus at Jambo first. Trip to AK is only about 8 minutes, other parks twenty to twenty-five. Busses are frequent and somewhat more so during morning rush.

 

[Jets fan]

ooh, many thanks, think you two have sold me on Kidani

Tina

 

[sherreis]

Thanks for the great explanation of Kidani. I had just gotten off the phone with MS to book our 1st DVC vacation for 6/22. Staying in a 2 BR Kidani and I am super excited and looking forward to our first trip "home."

 

[Kidanifan08]

If you stay in a Kidani 1BR, you will have 2 full bathrooms with a jacuzzi tub in the master. A 2BR had 3 full bathrooms. Your kids would love the savanna view rooms, but if you need to conserve points and get a standard view, there are plenty of places to view the animals. The pool is great for kids your age. There is no counter service restaurant at Kidani. You will have to go to Jambo for that. We don't see that as a big problem, but there are some who don't like that aspect of Kidani. The bus system is great when you stay at Kidani. Since the park busses stop at Kidani first, the busses are empty. It's nice having a dedicated bus system that does not stop at other resorts. We have been fortunate to be close to the lobby when we have stayed there, but I do see a lot of posts complaining about the long walks.

Have a great time!

 

[kda]

We've stayed at Kidani twice and really enjoy it. The first room was a minute away from the lobby and the bus stop was a minute beyond that. The last time we were close to the end of the building and got VERY tired of walking......... and we just stayed one night!! So I'd strongly suggest you request a room near the lobby.
Hope you have a great trip!

 

[pennst8r]

We were the next to last room on our wing--long, long walk. My only complaint about Kidani 2 bdrms is that the door between the master and the living room is vented. So our thinking that we could sleep in while someone was in the living room turned out to be wrong. Still love it, tho.

 

[Mtnman44]

We loved Kidani. It is our family's favorite. One evening when we walked up to the entrance which was dimily lit with lanterns sitting in small cutouts in the wall resembling some kind of secluded African outpost type building, I realized that I loved the resort. This isn't just a hotel or resort, it is a Disney Resort. I guess that is the only way I can say it. Out in the backyard, the small campfire and quiet savanah viewing sealed the deal.

 

[Weluvdisny]

Do they have many dedicated 2 bedroom rooms compare to lock-offs? We are thinking about staying there next year and the 3rd bathroom would come in really handy with 6 adults and 2 kids. And do just the dedicated 2 bedrooms have the 3rd bathroom?

Just trying to justify to DH why we shouldn't stay at our home resort BWV. I've never stayed at AKL but visit Boma's every trip and just love the decor!

 

[CarpeDisney]

As for the layout of the 2BR villa, disney provides great views on the vacation club web site. They can be found here:
http://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/destinations/resorts/animal-kingdom-villas/
(I hope the link doesn't get pulled off the post)

Click on floor plans, and you'll see the options.

 

[drusba]

Do they have many dedicated 2 bedroom rooms compare to lock-offs? We are thinking about staying there next year and the 3rd bathroom would come in really handy with 6 adults and 2 kids. And do just the dedicated 2 bedrooms have the 3rd bathroom?

Just trying to justify to DH why we shouldn't stay at our home resort BWV. I've never stayed at AKL but visit Boma's every trip and just love the decor!

All Kidani 2BRs have 3 bathrooms. Don't have exact count but Kidani has about 140 2BR dedicated units (spread throughout resort) and somewhat more than that lock-offs. We also own at BWV and the Kidani 2BRs are much larger than the ones at BWV. Note if you go for Kidani savanna view recommend you put in a request for close to lobby.

 

[dawne98]

we just got home from a wonderful time at Kidani we had room 7528 on the 5th it was a walk but after 3 years of living in NYC walking is not big deal to us lol I have two DD's one 13 year old and one 3 year old and they LOVED the pool so much!!! We eat dinner at Sanaa also and the food was GREAT!!!! We can not wait to go back one day