Lots of walking at AK resort?

[MLC2002]

We are staying at AKV in June... we will be in one studio (with our 4 & 5 year old sons) and my mother-in-law in another. We have heard rave reviews of this resort.... the only crticism I have heard before today is the distance between the resort and the theme parks (and thus, the long bus rides).

Yesterday, my mother-in-law spoke to a friend who just stayed at AK (Kidani Village, she thinks). Her complaints were:

1) The resort required a LOT of walking... so much so that she got blisters. She has been to Disney before and was prepared for the walking at the theme parks. But, she was not pleased with the walking that was required at the resort.

Is this a problem? How long of a walk is it from the villas to main areas (pool, lobby, bus stops)? Give me the worst case scenario.

2) She didn't like having to walk through the lobby to get to the pool area.

Do you have to walk through the lobby area to get to the pool area at Kidani Village? If so, is this a problem?

I have been looking SO forward to staying at AKV... I think our sons will love it. However, my mother-in-law is now down on this resort... and it has me feeling unsure. Please help!

THANK YOU!

 

[drusba]

At Jambo, restaurants, store, pool access are all close to the lobby and the bus stop is a short walk outside from the lobby. At Kidani, it is the same although the pool is somewhat more to the north of the lobby and further away from the building.

In other words if you request close to lobby, you will not have a walking issue unless you decide to walk from one building to another (about 1/2 mile front door to front door) and you can take bus for that and they often have a shuttle.

Your real walking issue exists if you get far from lobby. The walk from lobby to end rooms at Jambo is very long, more than lobby elevator to end rooms at Boardwalk. However, Jambo is just a baby having a pleasant stroll in the park when compared to Kidani. There the walk from lobby to end rooms on the north wing is so long that you should consider taking supplies and camping overnight about halfway there and then finishing the arduous journey in the morning. It is literally the longest walk down an internal hotel hallway that you will ever take in any hotel anywhere in the world. One may think I am exaggerating, and perhaps I am a little, but it is well over 1/4 mile to end of north wing and about 1/4 mile to end of south wing from the lobby. Thus, particualrly for Kidani, it is wise to request a room close to lobby.

At Kidani you will need to walk through lobby to get to pool if you are on wing that does not have pool on it. The pool is off the north wing at Kidani and thus those on the north wing do not have to walk through lobby because they can actually go to ground floor at an elevator that is a ways short of lobby and walk over from there. Those on the south wing need to go through lobby or hit an elevator just before lobby and then walk outside in front of the main entrance to get to pool. At Jambo the pool is on the Zebra Trail, east side of the building, but the pool elevator is near the lobby and many either have to walk through the lobby or above it to get to the elevator. As far as being a problem going through lobby, having done it, I never thought of it as one.

As to the long bus rides to the parks, here is my other observation since I have now been there several times. The AKL bus service beats the snot out of all other DVC resorts, since it has only two internal stops, shares with no other resort, and delays are seldom. The trip to AK is only 8 minutes, to other parks in the 20 to 25 minute range. I am also a long-time owner at BWV. Its bus system sucks and the MK-BWV trip actually takes longer than the one to and from AKL.

 

[disneynutz]

IMO anywhere you stay can require that you walk. "A lot" is subjective, some may think a certain distance is far, others short. People don't seem to mind walking in the theme parks but walking at the resort is a problem.

To me walking is walking no matter where I do it.

Walking is the price you pay to vacation at WDW and it's a price that I will pay anytime.

Bill

 

[pditullio]

Your real walking issue exists if you get far from lobby. The walk from lobby to end rooms at Jambo is very long, more than lobby elevator to end rooms at Boardwalk. However, Jambo is just a baby having a pleasant stroll in the park when compared to Kidani. There the walk from lobby to end rooms on the north wing is so long that you should consider taking supplies and camping overnight about halfway there and then finishing the arduous journey in the morning. It is literally the longest walk down an internal hotel hallway that you will ever take in any hotel anywhere in the world. One may think I am exaggerating, and perhaps I am a little, but it is well over 1/4 mile to end of north wing and about 1/4 mile to end of south wing from the lobby.

LOL camping supplies!

I have never stayed at Kidani and so am not contradicting you at all, but I've seen this discussed so many times. I've often wondered whether it just feels longer because the layout of the continuous halls and change of scenery along the way. Or if it's really a longer walk than at other resorts.

For example, an average healthy adult can walk a quarter mile in 5 minutes, and I have stayed at the far end of BCV a few times, which is definitely a longer walk than 5 minutes to SAB. Do you think it is farther away than that?

 

[drusba]

LOL camping supplies!

I have never stayed at Kidani and so am not contradicting you at all, but I've seen this discussed so many times. I've often wondered whether it just feels longer because the layout of the continuous halls and change of scenery along the way. Or if it's really a longer walk than at other resorts.

For example, an average healthy adult can walk a quarter mile in 5 minutes, and I have stayed at the far end of BCV a few times, which is definitely a longer walk than 5 minutes to SAB. Do you think it is farther away than that?

Walk from lobby to end of north wing at Kidani is about 5 1/2 minutes for an adult, 8 to 9 if accompanied by small children, and, if returning from a day in a park, forever down a never-ending hallway to nowhere. As a BWV owner, I always thought the walk from lobby elevator to end rooms there was long. That walk is under two minutes for an adult.

 

[hopare]

We love Kidani, it is beautiful! However, we got a room at the very end and YES it was a long walk! My kids would run from window to window to make the time go quicker.

 

[disney1474]

We are staying at AKV in June... we will be in one studio (with our 4 & 5 year old sons) and my mother-in-law in another. We have heard rave reviews of this resort.... the only crticism I have heard before today is the distance between the resort and the theme parks (and thus, the long bus rides).

Yesterday, my mother-in-law spoke to a friend who just stayed at AK (Kidani Village, she thinks). Her complaints were:

1) The resort required a LOT of walking... so much so that she got blisters. She has been to Disney before and was prepared for the walking at the theme parks. But, she was not pleased with the walking that was required at the resort.

Is this a problem? How long of a walk is it from the villas to main areas (pool, lobby, bus stops)? Give me the worst case scenario.

2) She didn't like having to walk through the lobby to get to the pool area.

Do you have to walk through the lobby area to get to the pool area at Kidani Village? If so, is this a problem?

I have been looking SO forward to staying at AKV... I think our sons will love it. However, my mother-in-law is now down on this resort... and it has me feeling unsure. Please help!

THANK YOU!

I read you were "looking SO forward to staying at AKV". Go ahead with your plans, have a great time, and don't worry what others think

 

[pditullio]

Walk from lobby to end of north wing at Kidani is about 5 1/2 minutes for an adult, 8 to 9 if accompanied by small children, and, if returning from a day in a park, forever down a never-ending hallway to nowhere. As a BWV owner, I always thought the walk from lobby elevator to end rooms there was long. That walk is under two minutes for an adult.

I was honestly just asking if it was longer than the example I gave (which is also a hike with small kids in tow, as I recall), and just wondering aloud if it is the long hallway situation that makes it seem so tedious compared to other long stretches at other resorts.

I'm not minimizing how you feel about it. Or how grueling it can be to walk even another 10 feet at the end of a long park day. I get it.