Confused about location of Sanna

tbssenterprises

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 3, 2008
Hello. We're looking to do something different, and decided to visit AKL and have dinner at Saana. However, I am now very confused as to where it is located. I am now reading that there is The AKL and also Kidani village. Is Kidani village the timeshare units? What would be the draw of eating at Saana? We wanted to see the Lodge and walk around. Should we book JIko instead?
 
Other than the excellent food at Saana, the biggest draw is the view. You can see the savannah from the dining room and can often see animals passing by during your meal. If you want to see the main building, I would book Jiko or Boma instead of Saana.
 
Hello. We're looking to do something different, and decided to visit AKL and have dinner at Saana. However, I am now very confused as to where it is located. I am now reading that there is The AKL and also Kidani village. Is Kidani village the timeshare units? What would be the draw of eating at Saana? We wanted to see the Lodge and walk around. Should we book JIko instead?

Kidani Village is the DVC (timeshare) building, yes. However, it's very close to the main AKL building - you can walk, but they also offer a shuttle van.

I would suggest keeping the Sanaa reservation but give yourself time either before or after to hang out in the main AKL building. Gives you a taste of both, pun intended.
 
Keep in mind, once the sun goes down you really can't see the animals while eating at Sanaa.

With that being said, Sanaa is our favorite TS, Boma is our favorite buffet and Jiko is our favorite Signature meal. You really can't go wrong with any of them, IMO. As it has been said Kidani and Jambo are a 10 minute walk or 1 minute shuttle ride door to door, so it is not really an inconvenience to eat at Sanaa and head over to check out Jambo House.
 


If you are taking a bus from a park to AKL, then Kidani Village would be the 2nd stop after AKL/Jambo House. If you are driving your own car, KV is the building farther from the entrance (or just follow the signs).
 
If it were me, I'd book dinner at Sanaa and just walk to Jambo House to check it out. You can get dropped off at the Kidani stop and when you're ready to leave, get on the bus at Jambo House. Or vice versa.
 


I would look at the menus for all the restaurants at AKL to see if you want to switch from Sanaa to the Boma buffet or the pricier and if you are on the dining plan double credit Jiko. AKL and Kidani are close enough for that not to be a reason to switch IMO. Also, you can view the animals from Kidani.
 
I believe this is backwards. Park buses stop at Kidani first, then Jambo. Buses from Disney Springs travel the reverse route - Jambo, then Kidani.

If the routing has changed from the long-standing practice, I apologize.

I was going to basically type the same thing, before I saw your post. I was there last June and we always stopped at Kidani before Jambo. I had to stop some people talking about going to Boma from getting off at Kidani.

Part of my family headed back to Jambo before my sister and I and they were not paying attention and got off at Kidani. I guess a whole lot of people did because the shuttle was so full they had to leave their stroller and have it brought over later that day.
 
I believe this is backwards. Park buses stop at Kidani first, then Jambo. Buses from Disney Springs travel the reverse route - Jambo, then Kidani.

If the routing has changed from the long-standing practice, I apologize.

You are correct. I was thinking Disney Springs and got it backwards.
 
Hello. We're looking to do something different, and decided to visit AKL and have dinner at Saana. However, I am now very confused as to where it is located. I am now reading that there is The AKL and also Kidani village. Is Kidani village the timeshare units? What would be the draw of eating at Saana? We wanted to see the Lodge and walk around. Should we book JIko instead?
When we had dinner at Sanaa in February 2014, we waited in their outdoor waiting area before dinner (which is on the savannah and has animal views). After dinner, we went back out to the outdoor waiting area, and looked at the animals using night vision goggles they lent us. They had a fire pit going there, too.
 
Hello. We're looking to do something different, and decided to visit AKL and have dinner at Saana. However, I am now very confused as to where it is located. I am now reading that there is The AKL and also Kidani village. Is Kidani village the timeshare units? What would be the draw of eating at Saana? We wanted to see the Lodge and walk around. Should we book JIko instead?
Jambo House (the main lodge) has a very grand lobby, but both Jambo and Kidani have great savanna views.
 
I haven’t been yet, but I did see online a free tour of Jiko, the lobby and Boma was offered by the hotel. My plan was to do the tour and then eat at Sanaa. I couldn’t decide between the three so that seemed like away to get a feel for it all. Since I haven’t done it, I can’t say how well it will go, but if you had the time, that might be something to look into.
 
No, not indoors.

I wouldn't walk between Jambo and Kidani Village. It is quite a long walk with nothing interesting to look at, i.e. parking lot.

There is a free shuttle van between the two. I would recommend using that.

thanks. mobility plus an tendency to overhead, ill take the shuttle :)
 

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