Somewhat disappointed with my first trip home to AKV

[pinnocchiosdad]

It was a short trip, Sun 8/12 to Tue 8/14. We stayed in a 1 bedroom at Jambo house. We had seen the Kidani 1BR model and I had forgotten that the rooms at Jambo were lets say less luxorious. My thoughts after this trip as on owner are that they didn't get this one right. Both Jambo and kidani have their pluses and minuses. Unfortunately if you could push the two resorts together you would have the ultimate DVC property. Jambo is georgeous. But, the rooms are smaller and some are showing there age. Kidani is also georgeous but the pool is to small and if your kids are older than 12, the are way to small for the interactive pool area. Kidani was pitched as having a pool to rival stormalong bay. It is not even close. The gift/food store at kidani is so small. It was a major disappointment. The walk from Jambo to Kidani is boring and unattractive. You are pretty much walking through the parking lot. It would have been better to put the pool on the Jambo side of Kidani. That would have made the walk alot shorter. I hate to say it but I wish my addon had been BLT. Remember this is JMHO.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Sorry your first trip home was not as magical as you hoped

You can always add on at BLT later. I too wish Jambo had the best of both worlds and my first stay there I was highly disappointed because we used points for a 1 bed Concierge over Christmas and got the villa without a tub. Talk about a meltdown!! It was totally not what I expected, after seeing the models.

We still enjoy AKV, but I have certain criteria now. If we are staying in a studio, we book Concierge, Savannah or Value @ Jambo to be closer to the needed amenities and avoid the whole combined tub @ Jambo 1bedroom/lockoff issue.

We may also use Jambo for the Grand Villas if we ever need one.

If we ever (have not yet) book a 1 bed it will be at Kidani and it will be a Savannah view. No 1 bed Jambo for me anymore.

Anything outside of that we will book the other DVC's.

It is alot to keep up with especially when you run into limited availability, but I love SSR and would much rather stay there than give up my separate tub and shower to stay at Jambo.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I'm not entirely on the same page with you. We loved our 1 bedroom at Jambo (haven't stayed at Kidani yet). Not sure what you mean by it not being "luxurious" ? Our stay at Jambo 1 bedroom was Aug 2008----rooms was in excellent shape ---seemed brand new. Has it gone down that much in the past 11 months ?

We feel the themeing is excellent---rooms, lobby, everything. That said, I was also a bit let-down by the KV pool area. It looks like it was just thrown out there in the parking lot area. Hope they build up around it with landscaping better than what is there now. So we much prefer the rooms over SSR, but the pool is just "ok" at KV.


Maria

 

[jbrowna]

It would have been better to put the pool on the Jambo side of Kidani. That would have made the walk alot shorter.

I have to disagree. Doing that would have wiped out a good portion of the Sunset Savannah! The walk would have been shorter, at the expense of eliminating a lot of Savannah View rooms at both Kidani and Jambo.

 

[gkrykewy]

I agree that the Kidani pool should have been on the Jambo side of the resort - we're staying in Kidani for the first time in August. Disagree on Jambo -- it's basically heaven

 

[florep1]

Samawati Springs Pool is where it belongs. It is a nice pool but it's not very big. If you made it too convenient for Jambo house guests to go there, it would be swarming with people.

 

[SandrainNC]

We were at Jambo in a 1 BR value (which is a little smaller) and loved it! The rooms were recently done so it's not like they are old. They were refurbished recently before Kidani was started when part of AKL was changed to DVC. We didn't think the walk down to Kidani was that bad. We did drive our car down one day to go to the pool because we knew we would be in a hurry to get to dinner after swimming so it saved 10 minutes. I will say that I didn't like the look of the outside of Kidani at all. Maybe it was the parking garage underneath or something. And walking into Kidani doesn't do it for me like walking into Jambo House. We enjoyed both pool areas. The kids had a ball at the water play area at Kidani. I am perfectly fine staying at Jambo House every time we stay at AKV.

Sandra

 

[Bouncin-Tigger]

Completly agree, rooms are smaller walks are long and boring and the pools do not have half as much space as needed.

 

[Grumpygrandpa]

I loved our recent stay at Kidani. I know the pool is a little small but it never seemed crowded while we were there in June. I think the water slide there is my favorite on property. Loved Sanaa! I know I may be in the minority but I even like the look of the property and my one bedroom was awesome! My only complaint would be the lack of a DDP counter service option.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

I'm not entirely on the same page with you. We loved our 1 bedroom at Jambo (haven't stayed at Kidani yet). Not sure what you mean by it not being "luxurious" ?

I was refering to the fact that the Kidani rooms are much larger. The kitchens are much bigger with much nicer granite tops and back splashes. The master bedrooms have large sunken whirlpool baths with a passway between the bedroom and bath.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We were at Jambo in a 1 BR value (which is a little smaller) and loved it! The rooms were recently done so it's not like they are old. They were refurbished recently before Kidani was started when part of AKL was changed to DVC. We didn't think the walk down to Kidani was that bad. We did drive our car down one day to go to the pool because we knew we would be in a hurry to get to dinner after swimming so it saved 10 minutes. I will say that I didn't like the look of the outside of Kidani at all. Maybe it was the parking garage underneath or something. And walking into Kidani doesn't do it for me like walking into Jambo House. We enjoyed both pool areas. The kids had a ball at the water play area at Kidani. I am perfectly fine staying at Jambo House every time we stay at AKV.

Sandra

We thought that Kidani Village had the appearance of a security compound or prison. Sorry to the fans of KV, but we didn't like it. So we won't take up any rooms there. We agree that the pool is way too small for the size of the resort. They should have spent the money on making a nice big standard pool (i.e. quiet pool) instead of that little themed pool.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I can understand a lot of what you are saying. I too was surprised by the size of the pool. There's a small community that has about as many people as Kidani will hold when complete (maybe less) which is close to my mother's home in MN. They just built a new pool that is much larger, has great slides and water play areas and is open for 3 months out of the year! I agree that the walk between Kidani and Jambo is very "industrial" and I also think they also blew it with not having counter service. Sanaa's location and view and the underground parking beat out Jambo facilities though. Luckily we really liked the Jambo 1BR's layout and will likely end up staying there the majority of the time we go to AKV.

In seeing pics of BLT I get the impression that they also messed up on the size of that pool as well. I guess only time will tell when they both are fully open.

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed concierge 1 bedroom last year and we didn't like the combo tub/shower, it was hard to get in and out of. It was pool view, we got moved to a savannah view the next day and got the handicapped room with no tub.

I stayed in a studio at Kidani last month and liked it. We didn't use the pool, I didn't even see it. The section with no standard views does look ugly, not sure why they did that. But I liked the rest. Loved the parking, loved the lounge with savannah view, loved our room. I wish they did have a counter service, we drove over to Mara one night for zebra domes.

 

[DVC Mary]

Kidani needs:

a better gift shop/grocery shop w/ merchandise specific to Kidani
a nicer walkway
to hide the garages somehow
a bigger regular pool b/c when the other 1/3 ? is finished & the place is packed that pool is going to be too small
counter service (possibly like BCV Marketplace or near the pool where they have room to build it)
more animals (we saw very few from our savannah view at any time of the day--they seemed to be only near the lobby area)

Kudos to Kidani:

the best Community Hall (probably due to CM Debbie)
wonderful lighting & music around the pool area--very noticeable at night
great activities
bigger rooms--feels more luxourious & plush
keeping the artwork & theming just as nice as Jambo--love proverbs on walls
great CMs

 

[gkrykewy]

Kidani needs:

a better gift shop/grocery shop w/ merchandise specific to Kidani
a nicer walkway
to hide the garages somehow
a bigger regular pool b/c when the other 1/3 ? is finished & the place is packed that pool is going to be too small
counter service (possibly like BCV Marketplace or near the pool where they have room to build it)
more animals (we saw very few from our savannah view at any time of the day--they seemed to be only near the lobby area)

I think this is a pretty solid list, and I think we'll probably get most of it in some form, with the pool probably being least likely. I hope guests continue to request QS dining in post-stay surveys.... and a spiffing up of the garage exterior look, if only to stop Deb & Bill's continuous "prison" posts

When Pembe Savanna opens, it appears that it will include a walkway between the savanna and the buildings for all guests to use (letting you get very close to the Okapi and other animals there). I think that will be a great amenity.

 

[wildernessDad]

The Jambo rooms are not that old. I don't see how they could be showing their age at this stage.

 

[eliza61]

Op, sorry you found AKV disappointing. I did have to smile though while reading it. DVC'ers have such a wide variety of taste. One of the things I love about the world is that it offers so many choices.

I love AKV, I haven't stayed in kidani but I'm looking forward to my stay in 19 days (hooray!!)

Here's hoping your next visit proves more magical.

 

[lagunn]

We stayed at Jambo last sept in a 1br value. We loved it..
The only thing i did'nt like was the shower in the bath but hey we managed with it.
Going back real soon asnd cant wait..

 

[DebbieB]

I think this is a pretty solid list, and I think we'll probably get most of it in some form, with the pool probably being least likely. I hope guests continue to request QS dining in post-stay surveys.... and a spiffing up of the garage exterior look, if only to stop Deb & Bill's continuous "prison" posts

When Pembe Savanna opens, it appears that it will include a walkway between the savanna and the buildings for all guests to use (letting you get very close to the Okapi and other animals there). I think that will be a great amenity.

I think there is some confusion about the "garage". Parking is on the first level only. Some people are thinking the area where there are no standard views at the south end of the resort is the garage. What they did is not put any standard views in that last area, when you walk down to the end of the hall, rooms are on the savannah side only. The other parts of the building have standard view balconies facing the open parking lots and the road. That part just has siding with a few windows, which is kind of boring. I wouldn't say it looks like a "prison". No resort is going to measure up to OKW for Deb & Bill.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'm thrilled with Kidani, amenities and the pool area and I've always been a fan of Jambo house. I am sorry that you are so disappointed. The landscaping at Kidani will grow and it will be even nicer...I'm not sure what to suggest to the OP, but there will be chances to change most of the time at 7 months.

I would give Kidani a chance before doing anything drastic like selling and purchasing at a different resort.

Bobbi