I have stayed at both Kidani and Jambo. One thing I really like about both are the cultural immersion talks they do in the evenings. We have met different employees and learned about their homes in Africa. The cultural learnings are really impressive and very unique to AKL. There also are some tours of the resort that you can take and learn about the museum quality artifacts on display. These tours (when we have taken them) talked about the friendships and bonds that Disney Imagineers forged with tribes and people in Africa and how many of the unique, one of a kind pieces on display were given to an imagineer as a very personal and symbolic representation of those relationships.
So, if you are concerned about your spouse not liking AKL because it is far away, you may be surprised. Many of the value resorts are nearly just as far. But being immersed in the culture of Africa by learning about it if you take the time, made our stays here outstanding. I feel that every opportunity you have to be immersed in this culture could very well be a once in a lifetime learning event.
As a side note, I booked a couple days for some friends who had two young children. One night was at SSR and the other at Jambo. They came back telling me that there was so much to see and experience at Jambo, they decided to not even go to the parks for that day and the next.
I honestly can't say enough good things about Kidani and Jambo. But I do agree with the comments above. Jambo has an impressive lobby and Kidani is more laid back. But I think Kidani is impressive in its own way too.
I have been a
DVC member since 1999. I no longer feel I have to do the parks every day and all day. And now that I have that realization, I also realize all of what I have been missing from exploring the resorts themselves.
On a side note, one of the employees who talked about his situation at home described it in detail to us. I sat there stunned. The employee used to make bricks and bake them in the sun. He would then sell them until he had enough money saved up so that he could go to the university by where he lived. In order to make the bricks, he needed water which he would have to walk 90 minutes each way to get. He would pass all kinds of wildlife. He was able to describe to us how he would know when a lion would hunt or not and would have to pass several of them each way to get is water. He also told us about his hut and sleeping on the floor where rats were just a way of life. Then he told us about he had a cobra in his hut one evening that he trapped in the wall until he could take care of it in the morning.
