AKL Kidani Villas - Opinions, Dining, Location, Distance to Jambo?

[stairstepmom]

We were looking offsite for late October but with the 40% discount offer we're now thinking of a 2 bedroom villa at AKL Kidani for late September - any experiences/opinions on those villas?

Is the walkway to Jambo House indoor or covered at all? How long of a walk is it? How frequently do the buses that take you to Jambo come through?

Does Kidani have anywhere you can just grab something small for breakfast (muffins, etc) or even just some basic snacks/juices or do you need to go over to Jambo to Mara for that?

And is it best to just request a villa closest to the lobby or are there other locations that are better?

Sorry for all the questions - Thanks!

 

[BNukem]

We were looking offsite for late October but with the 40% discount offer we're now thinking of a 2 bedroom villa at AKL Kidani for late September - any experiences/opinions on those villas?

Is the walkway to Jambo House indoor or covered at all? How long of a walk is it? How frequently do the buses that take you to Jambo come through?

Does Kidani have anywhere you can just grab something small for breakfast (muffins, etc) or even just some basic snacks/juices or do you need to go over to Jambo to Mara for that?

And is it best to just request a villa closest to the lobby or are there other locations that are better?

Sorry for all the questions - Thanks!

The walk to Jambo is outdoor and not covered, but not a bad walk.
Any bus going to a park will take you to Jambo. The park buses stop at Kidani first then go to Jambo.
There is a decent variety of things at the gift shop to eat, they also have a soda fountain machine there and at the pool in case you get the refillable mugs.
We got a villa close to the lobby, but that is our preference, I guess that depends on what you prefer.

 

[Jenna319]

Id also be interested in any Kidani info! Will be staying there in 4 weeks!

 

[jacksmommy]

We were there from September 25th-October 2nd, 2010.

The walk from Kidani to Jambo - you can walk the length of Kidani but there is a several minute walk - there is a walkway, that is uncovered between the resorts. I would say the walk is 10-15 minutes depending on where you are going to in Jambo House. We always walked it. The buses come at regular intervals - I think the longest we waited was 10 minutes for the bus we wanted to a specific park.

We brought breakfast groceries so can't answer that. However, we ate CS dinner a few nights and you have to go to the Mara for that.

We stayed close to the lobby and bus entrance - we loved that location with the two kids/strollers.

 

[Sherrynny]

When I stayed at Kidani, I requested close to elevator and bus transportation. If you request close to lobby, you might end up on the other side of the lobby, nearer the pool. People aren't kidding when they tell you the building is looong!!! Unless you have a car, you can add miles to your walk. The walk to Jambo for me was less than 10 minutes.

 

[anjalee6]

If being close to Jambo house is a something you prefer, you can ask to be on the side of the lobby closest to Jambo. I know someone that did this though and then thought it took forever to get to the pool since that is on the other side of the lobby. We say close to transportation. This way we always seem to be close to the lobby but still close to the pool. This works out best for us. This is what we will request again this year (we know however that requests are not always guaranteed). It is a very spread out resort because of its shape, but it's really nice. We bring our car so parking underneath is a wonderful advantage for us. Jumping in the car is so fast that sometimes we just skip the buses altogether.

The gift shop has a small assortment of foods (we got a breakfast sandwhich there, but they go really fast in the morning) and they have a mug station which is really nice. We go to the Mara at Jambo house the night before and get any breakfast things (cereal is almost always out, and fruit cups, yogurts) so that we don't have to make an extra trip in the morning. It works out best for us. The walk is about 10-15 minutes but can be longer if you are on the side farthest away from Jambo house.

We however, love the pool area. There is tons to do. We use to go to the water parks, but our kids are so little that playing at Kidani with the splash area is actually more fun for our kids since there is really more age appropriate stuff for them there.

We are going back in June and can't wait!