Kidani

[Rex1993]

Our first stay on property in Orlando ever was back in June at Kidani. We picked up a 1 bedroom standard view, four days prior to our arrival. Originally we were going to stay at Cape Canaveral before the cruise but decided we'd rather do a a few days at Animal Kingdom. Best decision ever! We didn't go in with high expectations and we were absolutely blown away. Our room faced the pool but if we wanted to see animals/savanna we just went across the hall and sat out in the chairs in the viewing area. Honestly, we all liked our time at Kidani/Animal Kingdom better than our Wish cruise.

 

[Lorana]

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.
View attachment 824952

Oh, I’m ashamed to admit that you’re right and I was confusing Kidani and Jambo in this instance!

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

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.

If there's space available in the Sanaa lounge, you can also order food from the Sanaa menu and eat in the lounge.

 

[Jillpie]

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.

This is very helpful for me. I just made my very first reservation at Kidani, after 20 yrs of BCV! So I did request "close to lobby", we have a savannah studio. I will be spending most of my time at the pool, but also would like to be close to the garage. Is the Rafiki elevator what I want? I know, thats alot, but really don't want to walk for miles to our room.

 

[CarolynFH]

This is very helpful for me. I just made my very first reservation at Kidani, after 20 yrs of BCV! So I did request "close to lobby", we have a savannah studio. I will be spending most of my time at the pool, but also would like to be close to the garage. Is the Rafiki elevator what I want? I know, thats alot, but really don't want to walk for miles to our room.

The garage at Kidani runs under the entire building, so you can park close to the elevator closest to your room. Very convenient! Unfortunately, “close to lobby” is the most frequent request at Kidani, so be prepared for it not to be granted. The Rafiki elevator is the one closest to the pool as well as near the lobby, so you might chat/email/call MS again and revise your request to “near Rafiki elevator” and it might improve your chances.

 

[drusba]

This is very helpful for me. I just made my very first reservation at Kidani, after 20 yrs of BCV! So I did request "close to lobby", we have a savannah studio. I will be spending most of my time at the pool, but also would like to be close to the garage. Is the Rafiki elevator what I want? I know, thats alot, but really don't want to walk for miles to our room.

See the map of Kidani showing elevator locations, and location of bus station and pool in post #4 in this thread www.disboards.com/threads/kidani-map-with-elevators-marked.3558443/#lg=_xfUid-1-1629905447&slide=0. The garage is on the first floor under the building (lobby is on 2d floor).

As you can see, the pool is on the north wing (lobby faces west) and the bus station on the south wing. Quickest trip to pool is via the Rafiki elevator. Down that elevator to garage floor leads to a walkway providing the shortest trip from the building to a pool gate. The Timon elevator provides shortest trip to bus station -- take that elevator to 2d floor and walk toward lobby the length of one building unit and there will be a door on the left leading directly to the bus station. Being near the Rafiki elevator means you will have some distance to get to the bus station, and being neat Timon elevator means you will have some distance to get to the pool. In other words, you cannot be close to both the pool and the bus station, but the walk is not overwhelming to either, like it is from an end room on the north wing to the bus station, or an end room on the south wing to the pool (the entire building, end to end, is close to 2/3 miles long)