WolfpackFan
Retired and loving every minute of it!!
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2000
- Messages
- 2,539
We just got back from a week at WDW where we spent 5 nights at AKV Jambo and 1 night at AKV Kidani Village. We had tried to get the entire time at Kidani and were on the waitlist for 7 months but the waitlist never came through. I just thought I'd post some random thoughts about our stay, so as to help others make a decision as to which section to stay at.
1) We had great room locations for both sections. At Jambo we were on 5th floor facing the Arushu Savannah down the left hand trail from the lobby. We were in the second "pod" of rooms right next to the elevator lobby. This made for easy access. At Kidani we were on the 2nd floor (lobby level) to the right of the lobby in the second pod also. Very easy walk to lobby and very easy walk to elevator down to parking level.
2) Our rooms were Studios (Savannah) both times. We preferred the layout of the Kidani room over Jambo. They are very similar except at Kidani you can close the door to the bathroom and it closes the entire bathroom not just the toilet and tub. This is great for us as I get up early but DW likes to sleep later. I can get up and take my shower, etc. and close the door and not disturb DW. While at Jambo, when you turn the light on above the sink area, it shines into the rest of the room. Plus you have the added noise. I always enjoy getting up first and going down to the lobby to drink my coffee and catch up on the world on my iPhone.
3) Speaking of morning coffee. This is one area where Jambo is better. I like to get up and go to Mara and get my coffee and then sit in the lobby. But at Kidani the coffee refill station is in the gift show and it doesn't open until 7:30. This would be a definite problem for me if we were staying the entire week at Kidani.
4) We did notice one other difference in the rooms. I really missed the neat wallpaper that Jambo rooms have that Kidani room's don't have. In fact, I found the decor of the Kidani rooms kind of bland. I always like that neat map they have on the walls in Jambo also.
5) We did the walk from Kidani and Jambo and back one evening to eat at Mara. It is a very easy walk. One hint though. Walk the inner sidewalk that is right next to the parking level instead of the outer walkway that cuts through the external parking area. It is just a little shorter. All told, I'd estimate it is 5 minutes lobby to lobby. Plus you always have the bus option.
6) We had one meal at Sanaa (lunch) and thought it was very good. I especially liked the tomato soup. Both DW and myself missed having a CS restaurant on site though. We always stay in Studios and don't do any cooking in our units, so this really effected us. Also as mentioned, if you're an early riser like me, you don't have access to the drink refills until 7:30.
7) The BIG plus to us though at Kidani was how close we felt to the animals (especially being on the 2nd floor). They seemed so much closer than at Jambo. One time we saw four giraffes all together. That was really cool.
8) Another plus for Kidani is the busses. Since the park busses stop at Kidani first, it is less crowded when you get one. Quite often when a bus gets to Jambo it is already full with people from Kidani.
9) We found Kidani much quieter than Jambo. Especially the lobby. In fact the entire resort seemed very quiet but supposedly it was fully booked. If you're the type that likes a lot of hustle and bustle this might be a factor to consider.
10) To summarize - I still don't know which section is my first choice. There are pluses and minus' for both. If they ever put in a CS option at Kidani, we'd probably choose Kidani all the time. But short of that, I'd probably just book whichever is available.
I hope this information helps some folks thinking about booking in the future.
1) We had great room locations for both sections. At Jambo we were on 5th floor facing the Arushu Savannah down the left hand trail from the lobby. We were in the second "pod" of rooms right next to the elevator lobby. This made for easy access. At Kidani we were on the 2nd floor (lobby level) to the right of the lobby in the second pod also. Very easy walk to lobby and very easy walk to elevator down to parking level.
2) Our rooms were Studios (Savannah) both times. We preferred the layout of the Kidani room over Jambo. They are very similar except at Kidani you can close the door to the bathroom and it closes the entire bathroom not just the toilet and tub. This is great for us as I get up early but DW likes to sleep later. I can get up and take my shower, etc. and close the door and not disturb DW. While at Jambo, when you turn the light on above the sink area, it shines into the rest of the room. Plus you have the added noise. I always enjoy getting up first and going down to the lobby to drink my coffee and catch up on the world on my iPhone.
3) Speaking of morning coffee. This is one area where Jambo is better. I like to get up and go to Mara and get my coffee and then sit in the lobby. But at Kidani the coffee refill station is in the gift show and it doesn't open until 7:30. This would be a definite problem for me if we were staying the entire week at Kidani.
4) We did notice one other difference in the rooms. I really missed the neat wallpaper that Jambo rooms have that Kidani room's don't have. In fact, I found the decor of the Kidani rooms kind of bland. I always like that neat map they have on the walls in Jambo also.
5) We did the walk from Kidani and Jambo and back one evening to eat at Mara. It is a very easy walk. One hint though. Walk the inner sidewalk that is right next to the parking level instead of the outer walkway that cuts through the external parking area. It is just a little shorter. All told, I'd estimate it is 5 minutes lobby to lobby. Plus you always have the bus option.
6) We had one meal at Sanaa (lunch) and thought it was very good. I especially liked the tomato soup. Both DW and myself missed having a CS restaurant on site though. We always stay in Studios and don't do any cooking in our units, so this really effected us. Also as mentioned, if you're an early riser like me, you don't have access to the drink refills until 7:30.
7) The BIG plus to us though at Kidani was how close we felt to the animals (especially being on the 2nd floor). They seemed so much closer than at Jambo. One time we saw four giraffes all together. That was really cool.
8) Another plus for Kidani is the busses. Since the park busses stop at Kidani first, it is less crowded when you get one. Quite often when a bus gets to Jambo it is already full with people from Kidani.
9) We found Kidani much quieter than Jambo. Especially the lobby. In fact the entire resort seemed very quiet but supposedly it was fully booked. If you're the type that likes a lot of hustle and bustle this might be a factor to consider.
10) To summarize - I still don't know which section is my first choice. There are pluses and minus' for both. If they ever put in a CS option at Kidani, we'd probably choose Kidani all the time. But short of that, I'd probably just book whichever is available.
I hope this information helps some folks thinking about booking in the future.
We'll be going to AKV - Kidani in Feb for our first 
