Kidani Village or Jamba House?

[Beaker74]

We have a 2 and 4 year old and decided to add a few days to the beginning of our Oct. trip and stay at AK, Savana View. I called yesterday to make the reservation and the DVC rep. suggested the Jamba House rather than Kidani Village. I could really use some input and would love to hear which location you all prefer. Also, I understand not all animals are in each savanas. Does anyone know which savanas definitely have giraffes, my DD's favorite. Thank in advance for all of your help!!

 

[ToddyLu]

I would have to agree that Jambo would be a better option with children. We stayed at Kidani and have no children. There are no restaurants at Kidani except Sanaa, Jambo has several including Mara their counter service place. Both have nice pools. Sunset savannah has giraffes and zebras. Jamob would just be easier to navigate with children. THe lobby at Jambo is much larger than Kidani and is alsways bustling with activity. Kidani is more intimate and homey. It is a fabulous resort...Have a great trip.

 

[ToddyLu]

The DVC rooms at Jambo are on the 5th and 6th floors only. Kidani is all DVC. THere have been reports that the 5th and 6th floors do not see the savannah as well because of the tree canopy that high up.

 

[daisyduck123]

We stayed in Kidani last summer....definitely has giraffes.

We've stayed in Jambo twice but did not have Savannah view rooms then, so I am not sure about the giraffes.

If you will be hanging by the pools at all, then Kidani is your better choice. The pool area there can't be beat for the kids!

 

[mikki.young]

We had the giraffes feeding right outside our room at Kidani. I agree the pool is much better there for kids as well.

 

[capecoddisneyfamily]

We had the giraffes feeding right outside our room at Kidani. I agree the pool is much better there for kids as well.

What section and floor? Thank you

 

[NewDCLGuy]

Both are great - I wouldn't stress about it either way. But if I had to choose, I'd take Kidani... both because you are more likely to have a view of a savanna with giraffes, and because they pool is better for kids (slide is better and there's a great splash zone.)

 

[goofy4tink]

Stayed in a savanah view studio at Jambo in Dec and a standard studio at Kidani later in that same trip. I have to say that I actually liked Jambo better. I love the pool and the feel of Kidani though. So, when I had to choose where to stay for our last 4 nights this summer, I really wanted to get AKL or Kidani. But, when I stopped to consider the things I didn't like at each resort, I opted for WL!!
I loved Jambo House....we had a great view of the giraffes in the morning....we were on the 5th floor facing towards the barns. I loved having the food court in the resort. I loved having Boma there as well....just love that restaurant. But, I hated being the second stop for the bus to the parks. And I hated having to either walk to the Kidani pool or take the DTD bus and get off at Kidani.
I loved the feel of Kidani. The room was very nice..had no animal views but it was standard view so I expected there to be none. I loved the pool area, but didn't like the walk to get there....along the front of the building, right past the bus stop and then front doors..nope, didn't like it at all.
And the hallway walks made the halls at BWV pale in comparison!! I thought I had some long walks at BWV...yikes, the walk at Kidani was nuts. We walked to the end of the building...just to see what it would be like to have a room that far out. Nope, not doing that again. I almost needed to stop in our villa to take a nap before hitting the parks!!
I love AKL...both Jambo and Kidani. I'm sure I'll stay there again. But it will be at a time of year when I won't want to go to the pool or worry about going back and forth between the resort and parks during the day.

 

[Leanne1977]

We have stayed at both and much prefer Kidani. We have two boys aged 9 and 7.

They really enjoyed the pool area and the CMs at the resort were great with the kids. We felt that Kidani was a lot more peaceful than Jambo and our balcony and view was excellent there. Wasn't so impressed with our savannah view at Jambo.
We loved Sanaa and never had a problem with regards to the counter service issue but then we have a car so its no worry for us.

But we would book at Kidani everytime now.

 

[DenLo]

I would think the Kidani pool would be better for a 2 and 4 year old, small slide and interactive water play area. If you plan on eating counter service meals at the resort, then your only options are at the pool at Kidani and Mara at Jambo House. You have to either take a park bus to Jambo House from Kidani (and return by the Downtown Disney bus) or walk to Jambo House. The walk from lobby front door to lobby door is 10 minutes (maybe a few minutes more for the short legs on your children). It's a concrete sidewalk all the way so you can use a stroller. IMHO, if I was planning on dining at Mara regularly, I'd stay at Jambo House. But we usually eat counter service at the parks and dine at a sit down at the resort so I'd stay at Kidani and have a larger room.

 

[billsfan]

We stayed at Kidani this past October with DFi best friend, her husband and their two kids 2 and 4. They loved the pool area of Kidani. We stayed with a view of the Sunset savana and saw giraffes everyday. Do not request the Pembre savana at Kidani there are no giraffes on that savana.

As for counter service at the Mara at Jambo, I picked up food three times there while everybody else was still at Kidani. I just got on the first theme park bus and took it over to Jambo. As soon as you start walking up the hill from the Jambo bus stop there is an entrence door into the Jambo resort on your right. You do not have to walk all of the way to the lobby. My room key from Kidani village opened the door. I cut across the resort and exited out a small single door right into the pool area and then right into the Mara. At the Mara there are large domed lids that fit on the plates by the fountian drink area and they will also give you a paper bag with reinforced handles on it at the registers. The lids snap onto the plates and the plates then can stack in the paper bag. All meals, even the kids meals you can get bottled drinks with and there are small containers to put the condiments in also. I then just walked back to Kidani after getting the meals since only the DTD bus runs from Jambo to Kidani. To keep cool, as soon as I got to the first section of Kidani I entered the building thru the Zazu elevator and walked down the halls. It took me around 25 to 30 minutes from the time I left our room until the time I returned each time.

 

[DisneyBuffinDE]

I would say Kidani over jambo. Kidani was much quieter an had less noise then Jambo. We went down in Feb and had to go down a day early so we stayed at Jambo for 1 night and Kidani for 7 nights. We really loved Kidani and the CM were great. The lobby was a lot less crowded and the CM got to know the kids.

 

[rance]

Does Kidani have the same number of activities for children as Jambo (arts and crafts etc.) Also was wondering if kidani has stories around the fire pit?THanks

 

[Ariel8676]

I have stayed in both sections.. i have 4 children 8,7,4 and 6 weeks ( although he hasn't had his 1st trip yet..lol) I'd have to say that athough i love AKL, Kidani is my choice. We stay in a 2 bdrm and having 3 full bathrooms are great..the pool/slide and sprayground area are awesome and with the busses being picked up first and dropped off first is great when you have kids.

 

[thelionqueen]

Having never stayed there, we chose Jambo after reading reviews on the DIS and asking my MS rep which he liked.

I'm curious about 2 things

Are the rooms @ Kidani bigger than Jambo?
How far is the Kidani pool from Jambo?
Is the Kidani pool better for older kids? (9 & tween)

Thanks!

 

[MrDisneyphile]

We stayed at the Jamba house last year and loved it. Our DD2 loved it. We requested a room on the Arusha Savannah on the Zebra Trail side of the lodge and got it. The location could not have been any better - we were close to the Mara and had a wonderful view of the savannah.

 

[MickeyLuvrLauren]

If you are choosing a studio and want to be real close to the cs and pool, I would definitely choose Jambo house. We've done the studio twice at Jambo and loved it. We got back two weeks ago. We stayed in 5421 on Zebra trail. We saw all of the animals. These rooms seem to overlook the area where they do night viewing. The zebra trail rooms are also very convenient to getting to the pool. We were originally on the sunset trail where the lady said we would see a lot of giraffes. I immediately changed rooms because the only view was a nighttime holding area. Also, this trail is pretty far from the pool and cs if that is an issue for you.

 

[4greatboys]

Having never stayed there, we chose Jambo after reading reviews on the DIS and asking my MS rep which he liked.

I'm curious about 2 things

Are the rooms @ Kidani bigger than Jambo?

Thanks!

I'm curious about the room size as well. I was told Kidani was bigger but they didn't say by how much.

 

[drusba]

Having never stayed there, we chose Jambo after reading reviews on the DIS and asking my MS rep which he liked.

I'm curious about 2 things

Are the rooms @ Kidani bigger than Jambo?
How far is the Kidani pool from Jambo?
Is the Kidani pool better for older kids? (9 & tween)

Thanks!

Studios at both are about the same size. The 1BRs (and thus the 2BRs) at Jambo are close to the same size as those at BWV, BCV, VWL, and SSR. The 1BRs at Kidani are about 100 sq ft larger than those at Jambo, which is a very noticeable and significant difference. The 1BRs at Kidani also have the extra bathroom.

Walk from Jambo to the Kidani pool would be just over 1/2 mile.

Jambo pool is much larger but has the smaller slide. Kidani has a fairly long slide and the more elaborate kids water play area. Jambo offers two hot tubs (Kidani one) and lots of trees and bushes making it easy to find shade (making my personal preference the Jambo pool). Kidani is still fairly stark (with younger bushes and trees) when it comes to finding shade.