Kidani Room Question

[JDavis98]

Hey guys, going to be staying at Kidani Village, Deluxe Studio, Savanna View for the first time ever and I was just wondering about some of the talk of some of the rooms being so far away from things. Some people complaining about how far there room is from the pool, etc. Are there some people out there who have stayed in a room far from things, but still love the Resort? Is there a good floor to stay on? Thanks. I will be staying with my wife and two kids 7 and 9 years old.

 

[quandrea]

We love it. We've stayed at most of the resorts and it is consistently my first choice. I don't find the walks long. Truthfully, I think people are being a bit whiny about that. We always request a room near the Zazu elevator which puts us right near the end of the building, closest to Jambo, but farthest from the Kidani pool. The walk from the car is easy, the walk to Jambo is no more than two minutes (I have three year old twins in tow, so we are not moving fast), the walk to the buses, about three, the pool might be four. Again, all with three year olds in tow. For the amount of walking that one does at Disney, this is small potatoes.

The resort is gorgeous, the units are fresh, clean and inviting, no other resort seems to have the extra activities that Animal Kingdom has. My three kids adore Community Hall. there is room service and you can order right off Sanaa's menu and have it brought to the room. The pool is beautiful and large, rarely crowded.

Don't have a bad thing to say about the place.

 

[goofy4tink]

I love Kidani!! I've had both standard views and savanna views. Most of my villas have been fairly close to the elevators. BUT...there are some hefty walks in there. My friend and I wanted to see just how far it might be, from the main elevator bank to the end of the hall!! Wow, it was a looooong walk.
I would request a room closer to the elevator. Which floor isn't always an issue. If you have a savanna view, you will be fine no matter which floor you're on. I like the lower floors myself, others prefer the higher floors.

 

[smartdog]

We had a great time. This was our first outing via DVC. There were pluses and minuses. Unfortunately I was SICK for the majority of the vacation, but that's life.

Different Floor:

Doesn't really matter I think. the views are gorgeous for savannah view no matter what floor you get.

Walking:

We had a further room out from the main desk, almost the end building. Took us about 5 minutes to walk to the main desk, 6-7 minutes to the buses or pool. Not a big deal. Shorter than walking of the entrance of Epcot to France pavilion!

Pool:

Very nice. There is a separate 'water park' area for the kids to run around in. Was never crowded when we went. There are 2 hot tubs and also a nice water slide. there is also a separate animal viewing area staffed by CM's right at the pool. Pretty cool.


Animals:

There are various feeding stations (nearly invisible to the untrained eye) that they fill up every day causing the animals to roam for their food on the savannah. You will have LOTS of photo opportunites of the animals. We even had an ostrich that layed an egg right in front of our deck, two days in a row!!

Buses:

This is not well known, but the buses stop at Kidani FIRST then go to Jambo. That means that if you are staying at Kidani, you get dropped off first and picked up first!! Not a huge bonus, but nice we thought.


The minuses were:

** Some idiot had used the iron to make a grilled cheese sandwich and we ruined a pair of shorts.

** There was some black mold in some of the grout of the shower. (Stupid bathroom fan is motion activated and doesn't stay on so it is constantly damp in there unless you keep the bathroom door open)

** The mini fridge let our ice cream revert back to cream despite being at the coldest setting

** Mousekeeping was a little lax - they forgot to change our linen on the full clean day - oh well, they were having an off day

All in all, despite the above minuses, we really enjoyed Kidani. We're looking forward to going back but will probably stay in the standard view next time.

They have daily activities there including a savannah ride that you can sign up for - be sure to check that out as most of the activities are free!! Have a great trip and report back!

 

[quandrea]

We had a great time. This was our first outing via DVC. There were pluses and minuses. Unfortunately I was SICK for the majority of the vacation, but that's life.

Different Floor:

Doesn't really matter I think. the views are gorgeous for savannah view no matter what floor you get.

Walking:

We had a further room out from the main desk, almost the end building. Took us about 5 minutes to walk to the main desk, 6-7 minutes to the buses or pool. Not a big deal. Shorter than walking of the entrance of Epcot to France pavilion!

Pool:

Very nice. There is a separate 'water park' area for the kids to run around in. Was never crowded when we went. There are 2 hot tubs and also a nice water slide. there is also a separate animal viewing area staffed by CM's right at the pool. Pretty cool.


Animals:

There are various feeding stations (nearly invisible to the untrained eye) that they fill up every day causing the animals to roam for their food on the savannah. You will have LOTS of photo opportunites of the animals. We even had an ostrich that layed an egg right in front of our deck, two days in a row!!

Buses:

This is not well known, but the buses stop at Kidani FIRST then go to Jambo. That means that if you are staying at Kidani, you get dropped off first and picked up first!! Not a huge bonus, but nice we thought.


The minuses were:

** Some idiot had used the iron to make a grilled cheese sandwich and we ruined a pair of shorts.

** There was some black mold in some of the grout of the shower. (Stupid bathroom fan is motion activated and doesn't stay on so it is constantly damp in there unless you keep the bathroom door open)

** The mini fridge let our ice cream revert back to cream despite being at the coldest setting

** Mousekeeping was a little lax - they forgot to change our linen on the full clean day - oh well, they were having an off day

All in all, despite the above minuses, we really enjoyed Kidani. We're looking forward to going back but will probably stay in the standard view next time.

They have daily activities there including a savannah ride that you can sign up for - be sure to check that out as most of the activities are free!! Have a great trip and report back!

That grilled cheese story is something. Sorry to hear that. I find mousekeeping to be lax no matter where we stay. It's the one thing about Disney that really bugs me. I stay on them about things that should be done properly--like changing the sheets, putting out toiletries and cleaning the kitchen. They are always quick to respond I find.

 

[smartdog]

Yeah, next time on an extended stay I'll stay on top of it. Full linen change is what we were looking for. Oh well - no big!

Enjoy your trip and tell us what ya think!

 

[lovetotraveltx]

Our family has an inside joke cause the only rooms we ever get anywhere are far from the elevators. But, those at AKV are ridiculously long, if you are not near an elevator. So far, I won't go back to my room to get something I forgot. Just my opinion!

I request near the elevator now

 

[holula]

We have requested near elevator before and been so far from an elevator it was ridiculous.

 

[drusba]

Walk from lobby to room can be long, up to 1/3 mile. Requests to consider that avoid that and put you fairly close to amenities such as lobby, pool, bus stop, store, restaurant are: (a) close to lobby; (b) close to community hall (that one would also be close to bus stop); (c) close to Timon elevator (about the same as the community hall request) or (d) close to Rafiki elevator (shortest walk to pool). The first three of those requests automatically put you on Sunset savanna if savanna view, which is the largest savanna and has giraffes. The Rafiki elevator request should be accompanied by a Sunset savanna view request if you want on that savanna since some Pembe savanna rooms are also fairly close to that elevator.

Do not just request close to an elevator. That could put you anywhere in the building since there are 3 sets of elevators along each wing.

 

[JDavis98]

Thanks everyone. You were all a big help.

 

[Geomom]

When we stayed at Kidani, we were in the second to last section towards Jambo House (away from the pool.) Yes, it's a long walk down the hallway...but we've stayed at SSR and OKW far from the main areas and found those walks a lot longer. Our trip to AKV was a rainy trip...I much preferred walking a long way inside vs. having to walk outdoors. I also have to say that once we knew how far away our room was, the walk just didn't seem that long. There are enough areas to look out at the savanna as you walk down the hallway.

While at Kidani--make sure to take advantage of the various cultural activities (drumming, tours, games, etc.). Between those and the community hall being at Kidani--they saved our rainy trip from being a washout.

We also did room service (once for dinner and once for breakfast.) Room service comes from Sanaa--which is a great change from the usual room service menus.

 

[Simba's Mom]

We have requested near elevator before and been so far from an elevator it was ridiculous.

That happened to me over at Jambo too. And at check in, they said "Oh, I see you requested near elevator so we'll give you this room instead of that one." I wondered how far "that one" must have been!