Kidani or WL?

[jglor]

We're heading to the Wine and Dine race and are planning on doing a split stay. First up is Caribbean Beach Resort for 4 nights from Sunday 10/28 to Thu 11/1. My understanding is that the construction will be done this summer.

After that, we are going to either stay at the Wilderness Lodge, or Kidani for 4 nights from 11/1 to Mon 11/5 (Race weekend). We tried renting points, but there were none available, but for some reason, Kidani is bookable through the Disney site. The rates for the two are almost exactly the same (WL is $2/night more).

My question is, which one? Kidani, or Wilderness Lodge. We've been twice before and stayed at Pop, POR and WL. Pop was OK (Good for a value, but boy was it crazy there). We liked POR and loved the Wilderness Lodge.
I know we will love WL again, but I'm not sure about Kidani. There are three of us, me, DW and DS (10 - will turn 11 during the trip!). We'd be in a standard studio at Kidani or a standard room at WL.
We are kind of picky eaters, and I don't think we will love the African cuisine at WL. We mostly do counter service, and buy groceries to make our own lunches, so we're not big foodies.

Any opinions? Thanks.

 

[hiroMYhero]

We're heading to the Wine and Dine race and are planning on doing a split stay. First up is Caribbean Beach Resort for 4 nights from Sunday 10/28 to Thu 11/1. My understanding is that the construction will be done this summer.

After that, we are going to either stay at the Wilderness Lodge, or Kidani for 4 nights from 11/1 to Mon 11/5 (Race weekend). We tried renting points, but there were none available, but for some reason, Kidani is bookable through the Disney site. The rates for the two are almost exactly the same (WL is $2/night more).

My question is, which one? Kidani, or Wilderness Lodge. We've been twice before and stayed at Pop, POR and WL. Pop was OK (Good for a value, but boy was it crazy there). We liked POR and loved the Wilderness Lodge.
I know we will love WL again, but I'm not sure about Kidani. There are three of us, me, DW and DS (10 - will turn 11 during the trip!). We'd be in a standard studio at Kidani or a standard room at WL.
We are kind of picky eaters, and I don't think we will love the African cuisine at WL. We mostly do counter service, and buy groceries to make our own lunches, so we're not big foodies.

Any opinions? Thanks.

You can “Report” your thread and ask that it be moved to the Resorts Board (Disney onsite properties), or, copy and paste your post on the Resorts Board:
https://www.disboards.com/forums/disney-resorts.12/

You’ll receive more replies over there. I’d choose WL because if you’re at Kidani, you’ll have to go to Jambo House (AKL) for counter service.

 

[FSU Girl]

I would only stay at AKL if I had a savanna view room. Since you're looking at standard views I would go with WL

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We're heading to the Wine and Dine race and are planning on doing a split stay. First up is Caribbean Beach Resort for 4 nights from Sunday 10/28 to Thu 11/1. My understanding is that the construction will be done this summer.

After that, we are going to either stay at the Wilderness Lodge, or Kidani for 4 nights from 11/1 to Mon 11/5 (Race weekend). We tried renting points, but there were none available, but for some reason, Kidani is bookable through the Disney site. The rates for the two are almost exactly the same (WL is $2/night more).

My question is, which one? Kidani, or Wilderness Lodge. We've been twice before and stayed at Pop, POR and WL. Pop was OK (Good for a value, but boy was it crazy there). We liked POR and loved the Wilderness Lodge.
I know we will love WL again, but I'm not sure about Kidani. There are three of us, me, DW and DS (10 - will turn 11 during the trip!). We'd be in a standard studio at Kidani or a standard room at WL.
We are kind of picky eaters, and I don't think we will love the African cuisine at WL. We mostly do counter service, and buy groceries to make our own lunches, so we're not big foodies.

Any opinions? Thanks.

I would do WL in a standard room. You will have two real beds instead of a bed and a pullout plus two great QS options that would probably appeal more than the Mara at AKL which is in the Jambo building and not very close to Kidani.

 

[gharter]

We have stayed at both and enjoy both. For us, the big draw at AKL is the Savanna view and the restaurants. If you aren't going to use either, then you probabaly would not enjoy AKL.
Therefore, I would pick WL.

 

[TyphoonLegume]

I'd also opt to return to the WL...

Kidani is lacking in any counter service options. You'd have to trek to Jambo House for the Mara. I've attached the menus below...

http://allears.net/dining/menu/mara/breakfast
http://allears.net/dining/menu/mara/lunch-dinner

Lunch at Sanaa though... is still one of my favorite meals on property. Two words my friend... BREAD. SERVICE.

Given the lack of Counter Service options (don't forget that the WL just recently opened Geyser Point Bar and Grill as another option to Roaring Forks)... and your DS (Happy Birthday!) being able to have an actual Queen sized bed as opposed to a pull out... I'd stick with the WL.

Kidani is a lovely resort though, and worthy of a visit to explore, seeing the animals from the public viewing areas at both resorts... and just eat bread... lots and lots of bread.