Kidani

[tinkerbellybutton]

We booked a standard studio at Kidani for mid May today. It’s been many years since we stayed there, and we’ve only stayed once for a very short stay. Please give me all the tips, tricks and any advice you think could help make our stay great!

We’ve grown fond of Wilderness Lodge and Poly, and that’s where we have stayed the most in recent years. I’m excited for the trip but, a little worried Kidani might be a let down (simply because its not the poly or WL- i know I’m probably being ridiculous ) We got a deal we couldn't pass up from a DVC friend and kidani was all that was available for our dates. I want to be excited and have a great stay at this resort. Please get me excited!!!

 

[eticketplease]

Pack light!! The only time we have been in the studio there we noticed there was not much storage space but that might have been as we were put in an ADA room. We like being near the pool and taking the elevator to the garage and you are right there.

No matter what you are in a great resort and at Disney!!

 

[tgarre06]

My kids love doing crafts in the community room at Kidani during downtime. You have a view of the giraffes while doing crafts, it’s amazing!

And you have Sanaa and their delicious bread service!

 

[Simba's Mom]

And you have Sanaa and their delicious bread service!

And don't forget that Sanaa has mobile order. It's nice to mobile order from there, then sit in the library off the lobby and watch the animals.

 

[Lorana]

Kidani has some "secret savanna view" rooms in the standard category, as they are either partial views or overlook the staging areas / pens / feeding areas, so you might try your luck at requesting those.

The pool at Kidani really is fantastic, if the weather is nice enough to use it (which it should be, mid-May). And there is a shuttle to take you over to the Jambo side as well (or a 10-minute walk through the parking lots; sadly, it's not a nice view or walk between the resorts).

 

[tinkerbellybutton]

Kidani has some "secret savanna view" rooms in the standard category, as they are either partial views or overlook the staging areas / pens / feeding areas, so you might try your luck at requesting those.

The pool at Kidani really is fantastic, if the weather is nice enough to use it (which it should be, mid-May). And there is a shuttle to take you over to the Jambo side as well (or a 10-minute walk through the parking lots; sadly, it's not a nice view or walk between the resorts).

So do you just list that as a room request? “Obstructed Savanna View”?

 

[Donna M]

As far as it being a let down, think of it as a new adventure in a whole new world. If you don´t like it then you don´t have to go back, but do your best not to compare it with what you love.

Our favorite is OKW which is at the bottom of many people´s list, and our least is AKV, but we would still have a great vacation if we ended up at AKV. It is very unique with the animals.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

So do you just list that as a room request? “Obstructed Savanna View”?

No, it really won't work that way. If you have a standard view room, it's more likely luck of the draw on exactly what view you get. But, even it you can't see any parts of a savanna, there are so many places around the resort to view them - the viewing area outside Sanaa, behind the pool, and several others - and that's just Kidani. Keep in mind, you're staying at Kidani, but have access to the entire resort, including Jambo. The resort is absolutely amazing. Jambo is the original area of the resort and has the most spectacular lobby on property (our opinion, of course!). Kidani came later for DVC and has a much smaller, less impressive, but functional main lobby! We love Kidani parking, which is underground near the elevators you'll need to get to your room. It's a simple walk or ride to Jambo, where you'll have access to another pool, some of Disney's best restaurants, and an amazing gift shop. If you've enjoyed WL, you'll probably see some similarities. We absolutely love AKL, both Kidani and Jambo. Our favorite resort! It's unique and very peaceful for us. Hope you enjoy it and have a great trip.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

So do you just list that as a room request? “Obstructed Savanna View”?

Yes you can request a “partial Savanna view”. They’ll try their best to honor it

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I guess you can request most anything. Not sure they would have a list of rooms labeled partial sav view - but perhaps. Never hurts to ask.....

 

[tinkerbellybutton]

As far as it being a let down, think of it as a new adventure in a whole new world. If you don´t like it then you don´t have to go back, but do your best not to compare it with what you love.

Our favorite is OKW which is at the bottom of many people´s list, and our least is AKV, but we would still have a great vacation if we ended up at AKV. It is very unique with the animals.

Oh don't get me wrong I'm very grateful to be able to go to disney at all. And I'm not complaining at all, just hoping that other peoples love and excitement for this resort gets me more excited! We’ve stayed here before and we really did enjoyed it, its just been many years since that trip and it was just not at the top of our list of places to stay again.

No, it really won't work that way. If you have a standard view room, it's more likely luck of the draw on exactly what view you get. But, even it you can't see any parts of a savanna, there are so many places around the resort to view them - the viewing area outside Sanaa, behind the pool, and several others - and that's just Kidani. Keep in mind, you're staying at Kidani, but have access to the entire resort, including Jambo. The resort is absolutely amazing. Jambo is the original area of the resort and has the most spectacular lobby on property (our opinion, of course!). Kidani came later for DVC and has a much smaller, less impressive, but functional main lobby! We love Kidani parking, which is underground near the elevators you'll need to get to your room. It's a simple walk or ride to Jambo, where you'll have access to another pool, some of Disney's best restaurants, and an amazing gift shop. If you've enjoyed WL, you'll probably see some similarities. We absolutely love AKL, both Kidani and Jambo. Our favorite resort! It's unique and very peaceful for us. Hope you enjoy it and have a great trip.

We have stayed at both Kidani and Jambo in the past. So I’m pretty familiar with the layout of the two resorts. Although it has been years since our last stay at either. We do know we can see the savannahs in several different spots throughout the two resorts. Someone else mentioned that some standard view rooms have obstructed savanna views and we could request that, thats why i was asking. Obviously there are no guarantees with requests.

Just trying to get excited for this stay! I know it’s going to be great, it was just at the bottom of our list of places to stay for this trip.

 

[geargrinder]

Our favorite Kidani hack was the food at the pool bar. Decent, quick, and straight out of Sanaa.

 

[drusba]

Do not request partial or obstructed savanna view as that may be ignored by whomever looks at and if you do the request by phone or chat, you may be told that if you want savanna view you need to reserve it. The request to make, if you want a standard view room that has savanna view at Kidani, is for a room near the Pumbaa elevator. All the rooms on the west side of the two building units that elevator is between are classified standard view and have clear, not partial or obstructed, view of the Pembe savanna. Be aware, however, that it is a very long walk to the lobby and bus stop from those rooms (the Kidani building is about 2/3 mile long and those standard view rooms near the Pumbaa elevator are on the north wing far from the lobby, front entrance of the lobby faces west).

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Do not request partial or obstructed savanna view as that may be ignored by whomever looks at and if you do the request by phone or chat, you may be told that if you want savanna view you need to reserve it. The request to make, if you want a standard view room that has savanna view at Kidani, is for a room near the Pumbaa elevator. All the rooms on the west side of the two building units that elevator is between are classified standard view and have clear, not partial or obstructed, view of the Pembe savanna. Be aware, however, that it is a very long walk to the lobby and bus stop from those rooms (the Kidani building is about 2/3 mile long and those standard view rooms near the Pumbaa elevator are on the north wing far from the lobby, front entrance of the lobby faces west).

You can absolutely request a partial savanna room. They’ll know what you mean and they know what rooms they are. The more specific your request the less likely you’ll get it.

 

[Lorana]

So do you just list that as a room request? “Obstructed Savanna View”?

Partial Savanna View.
If you use the room finder on Touring Plans, you can get the room #s that have those views and request them specifically. They’re the standard view that face the savanna, and some of them are actually fairly decent views.

 

[tinkerbellybutton]

Do not request partial or obstructed savanna view as that may be ignored by whomever looks at and if you do the request by phone or chat, you may be told that if you want savanna view you need to reserve it. The request to make, if you want a standard view room that has savanna view at Kidani, is for a room near the Pumbaa elevator. All the rooms on the west side of the two building units that elevator is between are classified standard view and have clear, not partial or obstructed, view of the Pembe savanna. Be aware, however, that it is a very long walk to the lobby and bus stop from those rooms (the Kidani building is about 2/3 mile long and those standard view rooms near the Pumbaa elevator are on the north wing far from the lobby, front entrance of the lobby faces west).

Thank you! This is very helpful info! We would have booked savanna view if it had been available. And we are 100% OK without a savanna view since that’s not what we booked. But this is good info because I think I’d rather request closer to the lobby over this. Good info to know!

 

[JiminyCricketNJ]

As far as it being a let down, think of it as a new adventure in a whole new world. If you don´t like it then you don´t have to go back, but do your best not to compare it with what you love.

Our favorite is OKW which is at the bottom of many people´s list, and our least is AKV, but we would still have a great vacation if we ended up at AKV. It is very unique with the animals.

This is so true! We stayed at AKV and while it was not our favorite, it was a great experience to try another DVC. The best takeaway is not to compare it to your home/favorite resorts and just soak it all in!

 

[sndral]

You can absolutely request a partial savanna room. They’ll know what you mean and they know what rooms they are. The more specific your request the less likely you’ll get it.

Kidani has some "secret savanna view" rooms in the standard category, as they are either partial views or overlook the staging areas / pens / feeding areas, so you might try your luck at requesting those.

The pool at Kidani really is fantastic, if the weather is nice enough to use it (which it should be, mid-May). And there is a shuttle to take you over to the Jambo side as well (or a 10-minute walk through the parking lots; sadly, it's not a nice view or walk between the resorts).

I’m not sure what you mean by ‘staging areas’ - I’ve never seen one on my several behind the scenes safaris driving through the savannas at AKL/V. There are small sections fenced off between the savannas to accommodate certain species & the areas near the barns where you can see the animals as they enter/leave the barns in the a.m..
I‘ve never met a room assignor, so I don’t know if they know where in the building the few Kidani standard views that have a view of the small Pembe savanna view are located. I assume the front desk at Kidani knows where they are, but I don’t think they do the bulk of the room assigning .
I think many people confuse Jambo where many standard view villas do have ‘obstructed’ savanna views (reclassified to standard from savanna view because they overlook the people pens or have a ‘limited’ view of a savanna) w/ Kidani which has no people pens & no wings jutting into the savannas partially obstructing the views of the villas on the inner parts of the wings.
The only ‘partial’ savanna views classified as standard at Kidani are the group that overlook a portion of the very small Pembe savanna as described by @drusba above.
Pembe savanna at 4 acres does not have the number or variety of animals that 18 acre Sunset savanna has. AFAIK there are no standard views overlooking Sunset savanna at Kidani. Pembe does not have giraffes because its’ barn can’t accommodate them.
W/ Jambo you have a decent chance of getting a ‘partial’ savanna view since over half of the standards actually abut Sunset savanna or 11 acre Uzima savanna. W/ Kidani your chances of abutting a savanna w/ a standard view booking are much lower, most standard views at Kidani do not overlook a savanna instead they overlook the front of the building.
Here’s my rough rendering of where I believe the standard views at AKL/V are - the red highlights at Kidani & Jambo are standards not next to a savanna. The blue highlights are the standards abutting a savanna.

 

[drusba]

And the map on this page shows you where the Pumbaa elevator is at Kidani and the standard views that have savanna view are on the Pembe savanna side of the two buikding units that the Pumbaa elevator is between: https://www.disboards.com/threads/k...arked.3558443/#lg=_xfUid-1-1629905447&slide=0

Also, rather than close to lobby, which is the request made more often than any other and thus one has a higher chance of not getting it, you may want to request close to the Timon or Rafiki elevator. Those elevators are not real far from the lobby. The Rafiki elevator provides the shortest possible trip from the building to the pool (down that elevator to ground floor leads to a gated path to the pool), and Timon is near a door on the second floor (which is the same floor the lobby is on) that leads directly and quickly to the bus station.

 

[Shellyred8]

We always enjoy Kidani. I love the super short bus ride to AK.
There are outdoor viewing areas for the animals. Sometimes there will be keepers in that area that you can visit with. We always find these visits to be most enjoyable. We also enjoy sitting on the rocking chairs on the outdoor balconies in the common areas and just taking in the atmosphere and enjoying a beverage.