What is the difference betwee Jambo and Kidana

[jeanninepl]

I am trying to decide which one to book with a savannah view?

 

[Nikisha421]

Jambo House is a part of the main building while Kidani is farther away...I do believe the Kidani rooms are also a bit bigger...

 

[eporter66]

Jambo is the main building of the resort, which you will come to first once you get inside the gates. We stayed in Kidani (and will be again in October), and loved it. Jambo has a bigger pool area, but both had very nice savanna views.

If you want to be closer to the bigger restaurants and shops, then Jambo house is the place. Jambo House also has a very impressive lobby area, Kidani's lobby and store are pretty small.

We have not stayed in Jambo, so I cant compare room size, but we were pleased with the size and layout of the one bedroom in Kidani, and the under ground parking lot (if you rent a car) was fantastic - keeps the car nice and cool on those hot days!

 

[drusba]

Rooms: (a) at Jambo all DVC are on 5th fl (6th fl concierge right around the lobby); at Kidani DVC are on all floors and many like the lower fl direct sight line to animals better although high fl is also good; (b) studios are about the same size at each, 1BRs and thus 2BRs at Kidani are about 100 sq ft larger than those at Jambo and also have an extra bathroom.

Amenities: (a) Jambo has three restaurants including a counter service; Kidani has only a table service restaurant; (b) Jambo pool is larger and has lots of trees and shaded areas; Kidani has longer slide and elaborate kids water play area; (c) store at Jambo is much larger than Kidani; (d) lobby at Jambo is larger.

Buses: bus transportation is usually good. Park busses stop at Kidani first which means in early morning there is some chance at Jambo at not being able to get on an occassional bus. Downtown Disney busses stop at Jambo first.

Walk to room: walk to room can be long at Jambo if you get room toward end of wings (longer than walks at BWV); walk to rooms at Kidani can be forever and a day as end rooms are so far from the lobby (over 1/4 mile) that you will wish there was a shuttle service in the hallways.

Parking: if you have car, parking at Jambo is in lot across from front of resort; at Kidani parking is ideal, on ground floor under building and trhere are two elevators al;ong each wing and thus you can usually park close to room regardless of where room is.

 

[Sparkie]

Jambo is the main building of the resort, which you will come to first once you get inside the gates. We stayed in Kidani (and will be again in October), and loved it. Jambo has a bigger pool area, but both had very nice savanna views.

Maybe we will see you there!

We will be at Kadani on our first DVC stay.

To the OP from what the DVC reservationist told me the layout of the rooms is the same. Except as the above poster stated the rooms at Kadani are a little smaller than the ones at Jambo. I also think the 2 bedroom rooms at Jambo only have 2 bathrooms and the 2 bedroom rooms at Kadani have 3 bathrooms. I have been asking similar questions and from what I am gathering even if you are at the farthest end of Kadani, it really isnt that inconvient to get to Jambo or the theme parks. We are staying in a studio in October. When are you going? I could give you a report back.

 

[stopher1]

Jambo House rooms are converted hotel rooms. Kidani Village was built specifically as DVC villas. Both are nice for different reasons, sure.

The 1 BR's in Kidani all have 2 bathrooms, so a 2 BR has 3 bathrooms. In Jambo House they only have 1 bathroom in the 1 BR or 2 bathrooms in the 2 BR's.

The Grand Villas are single story in Jambo House. They are 2 story in Kidani Village.

Jambo House has the various restaurants right there inside the building - Boma and Jiko are downstairs, as well as The Mara. It also has a very sweeping grand lobby, and the shop is large. Plus the outside patio area/fire pit / animal viewing area is large and sprawling. The pool complex is nice but fairly basic, though it does have a zero entry aspect.

Kidani Village has one restaurant (Sanaa) and the pool bar. No counter service, which lots of people have concerns about. But it is home to the Community Hall, the bbq grills, the sports complex (baseketball, tennis, shuffle board) and the second best pool area in the World - Samawati Springs and Uwanga camp. The lobby is smaller and more intimate than Jambo, but that's okay in my book. The shop is smaller, but there is a beverage refill station there if you like the get the refillable mugs. And yes, there is parking located directly underneath the villas, wtih multiple elevators and stairs up to the villas throughout the garage.

The savannah views are great throughout Kidani if you are on the Sunset Savannah. The Pembe Savannah not as much, IMO. There are more savannah options in Jambo House due to the shape of the building.

We've stayed in both, and like both for various reasons. Our next visit will be back at Kidani. We don't mind the 5-7 min walk over to Jambo at all.

 

[DizGirl20]

walk to rooms at Kidani can be forever and a day as end rooms are so far from the lobby (over 1/4 mile) that you will wish there was a shuttle service in the hallways.

NO TRUER WORDS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN!

We ate at Boma in May and decided to make the hike over to Kidani. I was thinking "well this isn't so bad" as we entered Kidani at the closest entrance to Jambo... the furthest point away from the lobby! My kids kept asking "are we there yet?!"! That being said it was very clean and quiet. We booked Kidani for our next trip!

 

[rtomasello799]

When you make your reservation, request a top floor room. That way, you can see everything better from your room.

 

[TiaMaria]

When you make your reservation, request a top floor room. That way, you can see everything better from your room.

Not necessarily. The tree cover very often blocks out views of the animals on the 5th floor or higher.

 

[DenLo]

The savannah views are great throughout Kidani if you are on the Sunset Savannah. The Pembe Savannah not as much, IMO. There are more savannah options in Jambo House due to the shape of the building.

But there are more savanna rooms available at Kidani. Units per building: 134 Jambo House; 324 Kidani Village. If you are interested in a value room, they are only located at Jambo House. The studios are not much different in size at either resort. Kidani one and two BR villas are larger, but the GV at Jambo is larger. But there is more privacy in the two guest bedrooms at Kidani as they have a living room between whereas at Jambo House they share a wall.

I have not stayed at Jambo House in a DVC villa, but stayed there in a OCR room and was on the third floor. I do not want to be any higher as the view of the animals was superb. Even then I sometimes used our binoculars or our 300 mm camera lens to see the animals even closer. So our next reservation is booked at Kidani with a request for a villa on 2nd or 3rd floor.

For families with older children I think the extra bathroom off of the living room at Kidani is wonderful. For families with young children, the pool at Kidani is best, however the walk to Jambo House might be hard. But you can take any park bus from Kidani to Jambo House as the park buses always stop at Jambo after picking up guests at Kidani. The problem is that to ride back to Kidani, only a DTD bus will take you back to Kidani.

Here are the square footage per room type and location:

Grand Villa
AKV Kidani - 2201
Jambo - 2349

2 Bedroom
AKV Kidani - 1173
Jambo - 1075
Value - 945

1 Bedroom
AKV Kidani - 807
Jambo - 710
Value - 629

Studio
AKV Kidani - 366
Jambo - 365
Value - 316

 

[Deb & Bill]

Tub/showers are different. At Jambo house the shower is in the tub which does have jacuzzi jets in it for the one bedroom and larger. At Kidani, the shower is a stand alone shower and the tub is separate. I prefer the separate shower as I hate to step over the edge of the tub to get into the shower.

 

[LisaS]

When you make your reservation, request a top floor room. That way, you can see everything better from your room.

Some people like the more expansive view from the higher floors. It sounds like you are in that camp. I prefer to be on the lowest possible floor so that we are as close to the animals as possible. The best room I ever had at AKL was on the 2nd floor, Arusha Savanna. We were at eye level with the giraffes! It was a wonderful experience. Unfortunately with all of the DVC rooms in Jambo House on the 5th and 6th floors that is not an option.

This is the main reason why we prefer Kidani over Jambo House since Kidani offers at least the possibility of getting a room on a low floor.

 

[pointbroker]

Jambo is much more impressive when you walk in. However, being closer to the animals is nicer at Kidani. Truthfully, you can't go wrong either way. If you're taking someone for the first time though, I'd choose Jambo just for that "wow" factor.