KIDANI

[Dreamer24]

I have a 5 night stay in 1 Br Savanah view at KidAni this fall. I've never stayed at or visited AKL, either side. It seems to be the least talked about resort on these boards. It will be 2 and an almost 3 year old.

Does anyone have any suggestions, tips, things to see, etc for this resort. What do you love about kidani?

 

[robndani]

Everything!!! Great pool, awesome staff! It's so much fun to see the animals! We did take the quick, free shuttle to Jambo House quite a bit, but Kidani is nice and more relaxing.

You'll have a great time!!!!

 

[lfishe3]

Love this resort! There is a great splash pad for little ones at the pool.

 

[Granny]

You'll find a lot of information and resources on this thread: http://www.disboards.com/threads/the-official-akv-owners-and-lovers-thread-come-and-chat.1815576/

 

[LisaS]

We love Kidani. Whenever we stay at AKV, whether Jambo House or Kidani, and we're looking out over one of the savannas, it's hard to believe we're still in Florida.

There are two savannas at Kidani, Sunset and Pembe. Pembe is a small savanna with some unique animals (okapi, red river hogs) but it does not have giraffes or zebras. Because we really like watching the giraffes from our balcony we always give MS these two room location requests: Sunset Savanna, Low floor. The reason for the "low floor" request is that it puts us closer to the animals but we always list "Sunset Savanna" first because I would take a high floor room facing Sunset over a low floor room facing Pembe.

There are lots of animal viewing areas around both Kidani and Jambo House so be sure to do lots of exploring! Both buildings have extensive collections of African art, distributed all around both buildings (in the lobbies, in the areas around the elevators on every floor, etc.) so take a walk around the inside of the buildings as well as the outdoor areas.

There are activities for the kids and story telling around the fire pit. In Jambo House in the evening, some of the African cast members sing and play African drums. There are also cast members in some of the outdoor animal viewing areas who can tell you about the animals and will answer questions about their home countries. There are activity sheets available and also bulletin boards listing the activities going on that day/week.

AKV is a wonderful place, even more special if you like animals. As many times as we've stayed there, I still find it amazing to sit out on the balcony watching giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, etc. wandering around the grounds.

 

[KBoopaloo]

I always sort of poo-pooed AKL as a resort choice for me because it seemed dark and far away and while I enjoy animals, they are not a motivating factor for me in choosing a resort. Then I stayed there and everything changed. It was actually during our first stay at AKL that we decided to buy AKV and we bought at Kidani (we could see it being built from our resort room balcony during that stay.)

Both AKL and AKV Kidani totally transport you. Our first trip there was in August and it was blazing hot every day. We'd come home after a long, sweaty day at the parks and walk through the automatic doors into that cool, dark lobby and we absolutely felt a world away from the crowded, hot parks. It was truly a respite.

We've since taken a trip with 15 family members and stayed at Kidani and everyone loved it. We had two little ones with us and it was the perfect resort for them because even though they had to go back for midday naps and spend a good chunk of time back at the resort, it still felt like an adventure because of the setting.

My favorite breakfast in WDW (and possibly anywhere) is Boma in Jambo House and our entire 15 person party still talks about it (5 years later!). The pool area at Kidani is fantastic. One of the best afternoons of our family trip was spent there.

We are planning our next big family trip and Kidani is definitely in consideration again. You'll have a great time!

 

[Dreamer24]

Thank you all for the wonderful feedback!

 

[mousestruck]

AKV is our favorite resort! We fell in love immediately and bought into DVC when they built Kidani.

Jambo House and Kidani are both awesome. Jambo is more grand and has the convenience of more dining options, while Kidani is more intimate and relaxing - and also has a great pool area. When we get a 1-bedroom we always opt for Kidani because of the extra bathroom and larger kitchen. The accommodations really are incredible! We always get a savanna view, and I agree with Lisa's thoughts regarding room request... we also prefer the Sunset savanna/lower floor.

For my family, AKV is a magical oasis away from the hustle and bustle of the parks. Nothing beats watching the animals from your balcony with a cup of coffee... or a glass of wine. I hope you love the resort as much as we do!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Love this resort! There is a great splash pad for little ones at the pool.

I agree! Our young grandchildren loved it!

 

[suebeelin]

We aren't akl fans after our first stay at kidani, but everyone is different. We prefer near park resorts. It's still a very nice resort!

That being said, here's a few tips that would have helped us out if we had known:

1. Room request-- ask to be close to the elevator. We were on the last room of the longest hallway in the world. It took 15 min to walk from the elevator. Not fun with a tired toddler.

2. Have food ready to cook in your room, plan your adr's in advance (Sanaa boma and jiko are always unavailable without a reservation, at least when we were there in October 2011) or expect to eat at a very boring cafeteria all the way at Jambo house. Jambo is a 10-15min walk but, again, with my then-toddler it wasn't fun.

The room decor was dark but we loved that. Made it easy to put our child, who is particularly light sensitive, to sleep. The 1bd is REALLY HUGE (we actually had a 2bd lock-off for just the three of us- don't ask), and I loved the room itself. The master bath is awesome. And huge.

The pool is really nice, esp the zero entry part. They have a huge splash pad for little ones as well. Animal kingdom is our fave park, next to magic kingdom, so it was nice to be so close-- if only they had a walking path!

 

[DenLo]

There is also a great water play area for older kids and sometimes a parent or two joins them maning a water cannon. Sanaa is one of our favorite restaurants. It is a quiet resort. However there are lots of cultural activities for adults and children and the Community Hall has even more activities for children.

 

[bwang123]

2. Have food ready to cook in your room, plan your adr's in advance (Sanaa boma and jiko are always unavailable without a reservation, at least when we were there in October 2011) or expect to eat at a very boring cafeteria all the way at Jambo house. Jambo is a 10-15min walk but, again, with my then-toddler it wasn't fun.

Last May, we did all 3 of those restaurants without a reservation but I can see Boma dinner filling up. There is also a shuttle that can transport you back an forth between Jambo and Kidani, though we felt the 10min walk was minor.

 

[suebeelin]

Last May, we did all 3 of those restaurants without a reservation but I can see Boma dinner filling up. There is also a shuttle that can transport you back an forth between Jambo and Kidani, though we felt the 10min walk was minor.

I agree with the above post IF you don't have possibly difficult toddlers with you.

The 10min walk wouldn't have been that big of a deal IF we
1) didn't have an ADDITIONAL 10-15 min walk to our room at the end of the hall and
2) have a 3yr old who was 40lbs (99.98 percentile) at the time, hated the stroller with a passion, didn't walk very fast, and slept very poorly (did I mention he hated the stroller)? A 10min walk with a toddler can seem like eons, or take eons.

Note the OP has TWO toddlers.

So really, our walk was 20-25min. The shuttle took as long. It took 20-25 min just to go to the cafeteria, or to catch a bus to any of the parks. My toddler refused to nap unless in a dark room so returning from the parks mid day for a nap plus our super long walk to kidani wasn't very fun. It was an excruciating stay for us.

We couldn't get into boma Sanaa or jiko at 5-6pm. Anything later meant a screaming hungry toddler.... And then a screaming tired toddler after dinner. We went to the cafeteria instead.

Like I said, it's not a bad resort. If just wasn't for us, particularly given our difficult inflexible toddler. We also learned to plan ad nauseum after this trip.

If the OP has easy toddlers, then she's lucky lol. She may find a 10-25min walk with them just to get anywhere not a big deal. She may also have kids that don't have to eat at 5/5:30pm, naps only in a bed in a dark room, has to go to sleep at a certain time, etc.

Hopefully the OP has easy toddlers... But staying close to the lobby and making ADRs or having food in room can't hurt!

 

[Dreamer24]

I agree with the above post IF you don't have possibly difficult toddlers with you.

The 10min walk wouldn't have been that big of a deal IF we
1) didn't have an ADDITIONAL 10-15 min walk to our room at the end of the hall and
2) have a 3yr old who was 40lbs (99.98 percentile) at the time, hated the stroller with a passion, didn't walk very fast, and slept very poorly (did I mention he hated the stroller)? A 10min walk with a toddler can seem like eons, or take eons.

Note the OP has TWO toddlers.

So really, our walk was 20-25min. The shuttle took as long. It took 20-25 min just to go to the cafeteria, or to catch a bus to any of the parks. My toddler refused to nap unless in a dark room so returning from the parks mid day for a nap plus our super long walk to kidani wasn't very fun. It was an excruciating stay for us.

We couldn't get into boma Sanaa or jiko at 5-6pm. Anything later meant a screaming hungry toddler.... And then a screaming tired toddler after dinner. We went to the cafeteria instead.

Like I said, it's not a bad resort. If just wasn't for us, particularly given our difficult inflexible toddler. We also learned to plan ad nauseum after this trip.

If the OP has easy toddlers, then she's lucky lol. She may find a 10-25min walk with them just to get anywhere not a big deal. She may also have kids that don't have to eat at 5/5:30pm, naps only in a bed in a dark room, has to go to sleep at a certain time, etc.

Hopefully the OP has easy toddlers... But staying close to the lobby and making ADRs or having food in room can't hurt!

I really appreciate all of the replies, on both sides. My op was not very clear, it should have said 2 adults and one toddler who will be nearly 3.

We are planning to have groceries delivered to our room. We will eat at least one meal per day in room and one TS at the parks. The other meal will be in room if at the resort or QS at the park. The little one eats 3 meals a day but the adults usually do 2.

Our little one is normally very easy going and is very happy to be outside, walking, in stroller or in the carrier. Of course I'm not counting on him being easy going at that point.

Prior to having a child, we've stayes at pop, csr, poly, GF and bw. We have come to love staying near the parks. We are doing AKv because none of the near park resorts were available when we booked at 7 months and our little one loves animals. I'm nervous about the bus ride everywhere.

We're planning to request near the Timon elevators which I understand are the first set to the right of the elevators. I understand this is not guaranteed bUT if we're lucky, it seems it will minimize our walks to the pool, bus stops and jamboree if we decided we wanted qs.

Is there any other reason, other than cs, we'd want to go to jambo?

 

[bobbiwoz]

Kidani is the first bus stop, except for Disney Springs. With a child, I think that's in Kidani's favor.

 

[LisaS]

Is there any other reason, other than cs, we'd want to go to jambo?

The Jambo House lobby is amazing. Take a good look around (and up as well) at all of the African art and the light fixtures and carvings. I think the lobby is where we've seen the African cast members performing (drumming, singing, dancing) in the evening, but it might have been in the waiting area outside of Boma.

Arusha Rock, one of the animal viewing areas at Jambo House, is worth a visit. We've been there when the giraffes happened to be close by and it was wonderful to be so close to them. (You can also sometimes see giraffes up close from the viewing areas outside the lobby at Kidani too.) There is also a pond at Arusha Rock with pelicans.

I think the kid's cookie decorating activity is in Jambo House, assuming they still do that.

 

[Garbat98]

Kidani is our new favourite. Had stayed in PO Riverside (prior to DVC) and Bay Lake (multiple times) on our other vacations. Like many have said..

Watching the animals is addictive. Fun to just sit on your balcony at all hours.
Saana is a great restaurant.
Pool area is well set up and wasn't busy at all when we were there (July 2015) - we always went in the morning.
You can go down to the fire pit area at night and watch the animals through night-goggles - kids loved this.
I honestly didn't find the bus rides that bad (and we went to all of the parks a few times).

Going to Kidani again in summer 2016 and can't wait!! Enjoy your stay!!