Jambo house vs Kidani village

[Robvilla123]

Hello I want to get some advice on my stay at animal kingdom. I currently have 3 nights at Kidani and 6 nights at Jambo. Is it a good idea changing rooms mid stay or should I try to schedule my whole stay at Jambo house. We are DVC members and we have a 6 month old and a 10 year old with us. We are looking to doing 3 hotel days and have some reservations at the restaurants. Is the process of moving rooms rough? Thank you.

 

[youngdeb12]

Are you going to need the room for naps for the 6 month old? On the day you switch, it's likely you will be without a room from check out to check in. The transfer process generally goes smoothly, but if you're staying at the same property and having to pack everything up and then unpack again is a pain IMO. I would try to have your entire stay in the same building.

 

[Robvilla123]

Are you going to need the room for naps for the 6 month old? On the day you switch, it's likely you will be without a room from check out to check in. The transfer process generally goes smoothly, but if you're staying at the same property and having to pack everything up and then unpack again is a pain IMO. I would try to have your entire stay in the same building.

Would you recommend staying at Jambo or Kidani?

 

[youngdeb12]

Would you recommend staying at Jambo or Kidani?

I haven't stayed at Kidani, only Jambo. I would likely choose Jambo, but we do the QS dining plan and aren't staying DVC this time. Both of the pools are great for kids and have slides. The pool at Kidani is smaller but has the kids splash pad and a longer slide. The Quick Service restaurant is at Jambo, which is super convenient for us. If you're going to prepare a lot of meals in your room, then this likely won't matter as much. There's a shuttle you can catch between Jambo and Kidani so you don't have to walk if you don't want to but we didn't find the walk between the two buildings that bad. The hallways at Kidani are longer which could mean a longer walk. We were about as far as we could get from the lobby at Jambo and that was a long enough walk for me! We were happy at Jambo, but maybe someone who's stayed at Kidani would have more of an argument to pick it over Jambo? I think the DVC rooms at Kidani are larger than those at Jambo, and the suites may have an extra bathroom.

 

[erionm]

Would you recommend staying at Jambo or Kidani?

Depends on room size.

For 1 bedrooms and larger villas, the ones in Kidani Village have more square footage and an additional bathroom.

For studios, I prefer the ones in Jambo House because of the bathroom layout. There is only 1 sq foot difference in studio sizes between Jambo House & Kidani Village (Values in JH are smaller).

 

[Shellyred8]

IMO, Kidani has the better pool. So, staying at Kidani will put you closer to that pool. Jambo has the Mara restaurant, so if you want to be closer to the quick serve restaurant, Jambo will be better for that.

My recommendation would be to book your entire stay in one or the other if possible. If not, it's not the end of the world to have to switch. You just have to plan accordingly for the move day.

Have a great trip!

 

[erionm]

Bell Services runs a shuttle between the two buildings which makes is easy to get from one to the other.

If you don't mind walking, it's maybe 15 minutes between the main entrances of each building.

 

[Lvdisfan]

Jambo has better choice of restaurants. Kidani has slightly bigger rooms but be aware of room locations. If you are at the end of the hall at Kidani, it's an absurdly long way (1/8 mile) each way. It's a lot longer when everybody is tired!

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you have a car, you park under the building at KV and in the parking lot at JH. There are multiple elevators up to the floors from the parking area under KV. So you may be very close to a parking space and your villa.

You may get better answers to your DVC questions by posting on the DVC Boards on the DIS.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

You will get so many opinions because different things bother different people! My take...

I've stayed at both and Jambo will be my pick forevermore. I stayed at Kidani knowing the halls were long but really I cannot express how long they were! Lol. I'm no wuss either, I do Disney commando style, ran a half marathon and 20 hours later was still up walking the parks but those kidani hallways nearly killed me this last trip!

I know I was comparing to Jambo and I loved Jambo so much that Kidani just couldn't compare for me. Some say the pool is better at Kidani, I prefer Jambo and again, another walk to the pool and you have to go out of the lobby to get to it. I found it strange but get why they had to put it out front because the savanna is in back.

Lobby is smaller at Kidani, gift shop smaller, no counter service restaurant (although I think you can get CS breakfast at Sanaa, we are rope droppers so I didnt check).

Bus service at Kidani gets a bonus point because nearly always they pick up kidani first so you always get a seat!

I LOVE AKL, it is my favorite resort, and you will have a fantastic time but I dont think it would be worth it to switch, I would just pick one and stay. The rooms are nearly the same, they both have great savanna's and the theming is amazing at both and the same for the most part.

 

[Paul Stupin]

What about the Savannah views? Are they better at Kidani or Jambo?