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Next Summer will be our first trip to AKL. I'm told Jambo is the place to be. Any suggestions for rooms or buildings and floors I should request?
 
Next Summer will be our first trip to AKL. I'm told Jambo is the place to be. Any suggestions for rooms or buildings and floors I should request?
It all depends on what you like.

Do keep in mind that if you are staying at one, (Jambo or Kidani) you can also feel free to visit and use ALL the facilities at the other one. There is a shuttle that runs back and forth about every 10 minutes. Or you can walk. It is about 4/10ths of a mile between buildings.

* Both have great Savannah View rooms, depending on where you are. (If you have Savannah View, then request Sunset Savannah, or Arusha Savannah at Jambo, and Sunsent Savannah at Kidani).

* A lot of people prefer a lower floor, to be closer to the animals on the savannah (in Savannah View rooms) and see the animals better. Jambo has only hotel rooms on most floors and the DVC rooms are all only on the 5th and a few on the 6th floor. Kidani has DVC rooms from the 2nd floor (the lobby level, since 1st floor is parking) on up to the 5th floor.

* I can't say that it matters which elevator you are near, at Jambo. That depends on how far out you are from the lobby and in which wing. But at Kidani, the Rafiki Elevator is closer to the pool, and the Timon Elevator is closer to the Bus Stop. These are probably the two best elevators to request. (Yes, there are also elevators just off the lobby, but you are unlikely to get that close). The Zazu elevator is the one closest to the south, near Jambo house, if you plan to walk back and forth to Jambo, and the Pumba elevator is far to the north and should generally be avoided, in my opinion. Especially since, if you are near it, even with a Savannah View room, you might not get the Sunset Savannah, but get the Pembe Savannah, which isn't a great savannah. As well as the fact that it will probably give you a 10 minute walk to the lobby.

* Jambo has a much nicer, more impressive lobby than Kidani. Nothing wrong with Kidani, but the lobby is not made to impress. Still, it is nice.

* Kidani has better and somewhat more spacious rooms, especially if you are asking for a 1 Bedroom or 2 Bedroom unit, both of which have an EXTRA BATHROOM compared to Jambo. This doesn't matter so much on the Studios.

* Jambo has the Mara, which is the breakfast and quick service restaurant. But Sanaa at Kidani also serves breakfast and lunch.

* For sit down restaurants, Jambo has Jiko and Boma. I love the buffet at Boma. Kidani has Sanaa, which is an excellent African/Indian fusion restaurant. However, these discussions of restaurants are somewhat moot. Currently, Jambo HAS NO RESTAURANTS AT ALL OPEN (except for the pool bar, sometimes, on weekends), and so it is eat out, order in (Door Dash delivers good food options to both) or go to Sanaa for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Or feed yourself in your room with your full kitchen (IF you have a 1 or 2 bedroom unit).

* The Gift Shop/General Store is also larger at Jambo, but for now, during COVID, it isn't even open, so the only option is Kidani's Gift Shop.

* A lot of people like the pool at Jambo, Uzima Springs, but a lot of kids prefer the pool at Kidani.

* The Disney Springs bus stops first at Jambo, then Kidani. ALL THE OTHER BUSES, both coming and going, stop first at Kidani, then Jambo. This can be a problem because Jambo people sometimes go to get on the bus and find it is full. Currently, with COVID, they are putting about 15 people on a bus (or MAYBE 20 if they are in large families) so buses can fill up during busy times. Of course, you can take the shuttle to Kidani, and then catch the bus from there.

* Kidani is larger, so it is often easier to schedule there, and now, during COVID, I would definitely try to choose Kidani.

I have stayed at both, multiple times. One of my adult daughters kind of prefers Jambo, but I kind of prefer Kidani, during NORMAL times, and DEFINITELY Kidani for now.

But it depends on what you like and what is important to you.
 
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Thanks for the very complete reply. I'm told I should allow about an hour for bus transport to any of the theme parks (except AK). Does that sound right?
 
Can anyone tell me what the noise is like normally for rooms facing the pool in Jambo, especially after 9PM?
 


Thanks for the very complete reply. I'm told I should allow about an hour for bus transport to any of the theme parks (except AK). Does that sound right?
Buses run about every 20 minutes, but sometimes you will get a 40 min gap, then 2 or 3 buses within minutes of each other. Generally figure 20 mins. Though they probably try to add an extra bus or two to each park in the hour before opening, you can't depend on this.

Loading time is generally 2 minutes, unless you have people in ECVs, who will be the first on and the last off, and will add at least 3 minutes. If you are at Kidani, the bus will then go to Jambo, 2 to 3 minutes, spend an additional minute or two loading and then head to the parks.

Once you are loaded on the bus, transportation to parks is about 9 or 10 min to Animal Kingdom. 14 min to HS. 15 or 16 min to Epcot and 18 min to Magic Kingdom. These figures are pretty dependable, EXCEPT early in the morning, when buses might be very full, for those trying to get to park opening. This is especially true for Hollywood Studios. If it is important to you to get to a park at opening, DO estimate 1 hour, except for HS DO estimate 1 hour 30 mins, especially when you add in time to go through Temperature Screening (fast), Security (can be 20 mins at HS before opening) and ticket entry. It will usually take 2 or 3 buses to take everyone who is in line for the HS bus at 50 to 60 minutes out, before opening! Many people in line for buses at 60 mins WILL NOT make it to HS in time!

Sometimes, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings, Disney Springs buses have similar long wait times, because of the crowds.

Truthfully, if you are going to Hollywood Studios and want to get there in time to try for a Rise of the Resistance Boarding group, I would be at the bus stop 1 1/2 hours early. If you get out there with 1 hour before opening, do you self a favor and call an UBER immediately. It costs about $12 and is worth it. (Make sure you have the Uber or Lyft app set up on your phone BEFOREHAND.) The Uber/Lyft drivers generally arrive within 5 to 8 mins and can get you to the park in 15 mins. BUT THEN you will probably have to wait through security, so you can't just guess 45 minutes will be enough. One of our groups somehow got an Uber driver who misread their trip ticket and was trying to take them to Disney Springs. They got it straightened out after about a 10 minute detour, but made it to HS, and entered just 2 minutes too late. And they called the Uber 1 hour and 10 mins before park opening.

I also would NOT depend on catching a bus from Jambo, to HS, in time for the opening. Get up 1/2 hour earlier and take the shuttle to Kidani, and catch the bus to Hollywood Studios from there. My daughter who was at the bus stop from Kidani to HS 1 1/2 hours before opening made it there on time, multiple days. Once she got to HS 1/2 hour early, but it was better than being late.
 
Early this year before the world went to hell, I booked our Christmas trip at a value studio in Jambo. Usually we are never in our room so getting the smallest amount of space wasn’t a big deal. Now with the parks closing earlier and with food options being so minimal do you think there’s a chance we can get upgraded? I’ve heard some DVC members have been getting this and I wouldn’t mind the full kitchen to cook a proper Christmas dinner if it’s possible.

Anyone have any luck with this recently?
 
Has anyone stayed at Jambo since reopening and taken the busses to the parks? I have been reading the busses are backed up in the mornings at Kidani and if Jambo is a ghost town, I am worried they may not have very good bus service for our upcoming trip. Not sure if we should wait at the Jambo stop, walk to the Kidani bus stop, or drive ourselves.
 


We are driving for the first time and will have a car, staying at Kidani. I'm wondering what the best request on location is to make to access the parking garage. When we don't have a car I usually request close to lobby, but I'm thinking "close to elevator" would be smart assuming there are elevators down to the under-resort parking area? Thanks for any advice! We are planning on driving to and from the parks each day so hoping to reduce the long hallway walk a bit if possible.
 
Has anyone stayed at Jambo since reopening and taken the busses to the parks? I have been reading the busses are backed up in the mornings at Kidani and if Jambo is a ghost town, I am worried they may not have very good bus service for our upcoming trip. Not sure if we should wait at the Jambo stop, walk to the Kidani bus stop, or drive ourselves.

Interested to know as well, we check in Sunday at Jambo house for the week. I would "think" that they would be experiencing the same, because all of the busses in and out normally stop at both locations. However, you never know what they're up to/doing differently now.

Would love to hear anyone's experiences being at Jambo since the re-opening. With the parks being more crowded (than our July trip) and the weather looking more like our July trip, we would normally lean more on the resort...but since it's technically closed I'm a bit nervous and we're in a Value Studio. I'm hoping the common areas in the lobby are available to hang out in at least!

And the pool, it's open every day, right? I saw a post on FB somewhere that it was only open on the weekends, but I'm thinking that's not true. What about the pool bar at Jambo, is it open daily?
 
Early this year before the world went to hell, I booked our Christmas trip at a value studio in Jambo. Usually we are never in our room so getting the smallest amount of space wasn’t a big deal. Now with the parks closing earlier and with food options being so minimal do you think there’s a chance we can get upgraded? I’ve heard some DVC members have been getting this and I wouldn’t mind the full kitchen to cook a proper Christmas dinner if it’s possible.

Anyone have any luck with this recently?

I'm sorry to say I doubt you'll get an upgrade. DVC only moves people about if for some reason the room category booked is full and has an unexpected room out of service.

That said, if you book a club level room you'll be refunded the points between one of those rooms and a standard view, plus the sitting area and tables might be open for use. (No club level services though).
 
We are driving for the first time and will have a car, staying at Kidani. I'm wondering what the best request on location is to make to access the parking garage. When we don't have a car I usually request close to lobby, but I'm thinking "close to elevator" would be smart assuming there are elevators down to the under-resort parking area? Thanks for any advice! We are planning on driving to and from the parks each day so hoping to reduce the long hallway walk a bit if possible.

The parking garage runs almost throughout the entire first floor under the building. There are two wings, north and south, and along each are three elevator locations spread out throughout the wing. You do not need to request "close to elevator" because no matter where your room is in the building you will be fairly close to an elevator that will take you to the parking lot. In fact, if you just request "close to an elevator" that can result in your being placed in any room anywhere in Kidani.

What you should consider requesting is something that gets you both close to an elevator and not real far from pool, lobby or bus stop (if you ever want to take a bus, including one just to Jambo). Best request for closest to the pool and not real far from lobby and bus stop is for room "close to the Rafiki elevator." Best request for closest to bus stop and not real far from lobby and pool is for room "close to the Timon elevator."
 
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Has anyone stayed at Jambo since reopening and taken the busses to the parks? I have been reading the busses are backed up in the mornings at Kidani and if Jambo is a ghost town, I am worried they may not have very good bus service for our upcoming trip. Not sure if we should wait at the Jambo stop, walk to the Kidani bus stop, or drive ourselves.
We were there last week.
Since most buses start at kidani then go to Jambo, many Jambo guests walk to Kidani to get in line at that stop.
Expect big lines as far as 1.5 hours before park open at the bus stops.
For the first time ever we had an ECV in our party, and that could be an even bigger factor for you rparty.
At an 1.25 hours from park open, the socially distant lines extend all the way up to the upper level stairs near the lobby drive up.
Plan to go early, or go just after park open. Lyft/uber or drive if being there before park open is important to you and you don't want to wait in line at the resort.
We actually use Hollywood studios as a transfer site more than once(after DHS opened), and believe we got quicker times to park gates.
On the flip side, at park close, I saw some of the shortest lines ever to get back to the resort.

That was my experience with Hollywood studios on a holiday monday, Magic kingdom tuesday, Animal kingdom Wenesday, and Epcot Thursday.

With early park close, expect a line at the gift shop at kidani. Seriously a 20 minute wait.
Get groceries delivered by one of the many services. If you want prepared food it's tough at Kidani right now. Expect restaurant delivery to take 1.5 hours. So plan ahead.
Now more than ever, plan ahead and think ahead where you can.
 
We are driving for the first time and will have a car, staying at Kidani. I'm wondering what the best request on location is to make to access the parking garage. When we don't have a car I usually request close to lobby, but I'm thinking "close to elevator" would be smart assuming there are elevators down to the under-resort parking area? Thanks for any advice! We are planning on driving to and from the parks each day so hoping to reduce the long hallway walk a bit if possible.
The two best elevators for access to the parking garage are probably the TIMON elevator, which is the first main elevator to the south of the lobby area. Timon also allows you to walk out, go up the hill a bit, and be at the bus stop. Second would be the Rafiki elevator. It is the counterpart of the Timon, but is to the north. Rafiki has the advantage that it is close to the pool (comparable to Timon's closeness to the bus).

I would request one of these two, or anywhere in between, which would put you reasonable close to the lobby. We always make this request, "Sunset Savannah, Close to the Timon Elevator, or between the Timon and Rafiki elevators," and almost always get the next pod or so past TIMON, but closer to Timon than ZAZU.

ZAZU elevator is the farthest south. It's only real advantage is that it is pretty close to Jambo House, so if you are going to walk to Jambo, rather than take the shuttle bus from the entrance, it is nice.

The elevator to avoid, in my opinion is PUMBA. It is the counterpart to ZAZU but in the far north. PUMBA also carries the risk that you might get PEMBE SAVANNAH, which is not a bad choice if you have a standard view (they converted some of their savannah views in the Pembe area to Standard views, because the view was so bad). But I would try to avoid PUMBA to avoid Pembe Savannah. In addition, the PUMBA and ZAZU elevators are a good 8 to 10 minute walk from the lobby.

All four of these elevators, Timon, Rafiki, Zazu and Pumba have good access to the parking garage. So, if you are going to take a car, you hopefully will be able to park reasonably close to your closest elevator.
 
We are driving for the first time and will have a car, staying at Kidani. I'm wondering what the best request on location is to make to access the parking garage. When we don't have a car I usually request close to lobby, but I'm thinking "close to elevator" would be smart assuming there are elevators down to the under-resort parking area? Thanks for any advice! We are planning on driving to and from the parks each day so hoping to reduce the long hallway walk a bit if possible.

We requested close to the lobby and ended up close to the Rafiki elevator. Easy walk to the pool and the elevator. Very convenient!
 
Hello everyone! After years of WDW trips to my familiar resorts, mostly WL, we are now thinking that AKL, especially Kidani, would be a great choice for our granddaughter's first trip in early 2022. She will be 2.7 years old, and judging by her reaction when she saw a Kidani walk-through video yesterday, I think she will love it. I have always been partial to resorts with water transportation, which is why I always hesitated when my daughter kept suggesting it over the years. Well, now that we are in planning mode, I am getting really excited!
I will not ask all my questions at once, but start with the basics. As a non-DVC owner, I will do my usual routine of booking two rooms in the lodge whenever they become available and then trying to modify to a villa. How hard is it, usually, to get a cash 2BR villa? Our target date is first week of February 2022. Speaking of February, if it's cold, do the animals still roam around the savannahs?
We are thinking of a resort and granddaughter-centric trip, so any suggestions would be welcome! Also, I would like to avoid the experience we had at BWV with unending hallways just to get to an elevator, so suggestions about room location, even though it is so far off, would also be welcome. Any rumors about refurbishments?
OK, will stop now! TIA!!
 
Hello everyone! After years of WDW trips to my familiar resorts, mostly WL, we are now thinking that AKL, especially Kidani, would be a great choice for our granddaughter's first trip in early 2022. She will be 2.7 years old, and judging by her reaction when she saw a Kidani walk-through video yesterday, I think she will love it. I have always been partial to resorts with water transportation, which is why I always hesitated when my daughter kept suggesting it over the years. Well, now that we are in planning mode, I am getting really excited!
I will not ask all my questions at once, but start with the basics. As a non-DVC owner, I will do my usual routine of booking two rooms in the lodge whenever they become available and then trying to modify to a villa. How hard is it, usually, to get a cash 2BR villa? Our target date is first week of February 2022. Speaking of February, if it's cold, do the animals still roam around the savannahs?
We are thinking of a resort and granddaughter-centric trip, so any suggestions would be welcome! Also, I would like to avoid the experience we had at BWV with unending hallways just to get to an elevator, so suggestions about room location, even though it is so far off, would also be welcome. Any rumors about refurbishments?
OK, will stop now! TIA!!

Kids of all ages are wowed by the animals right off the balconies. :) Kidani is a great choice.

Some things to know, if you aren't aware yet: The hallways are very, very long. I'd argue they are the longest in all the Disney resorts. I've had that room near the end of one of the wings and could have listened to an entire podcast by the time I got to my room by foot. BUT the nice thing is that the parking area extends all the way down and there are elevators near all rooms, at most 2 beads away. For those mornings to MK we'd drive down toward the lobby, park and then take the bus to/from the park. Just remember that you've got your car nearby when rerturning or you may find yourself with double the walk to go fetch it :)

2br units are usually plentiful in february at Kidani. I agree, that renting points from an owner is the way to go, but after this pandemic and hearing about the pains owners and renters went though to cancel and return funds, I understand why you'd want to go through Disney. Hopefully we never experience anything like that again.

I don't know what the refurbishment schedule looks like, so no help there, but I've never had an issue at Kidani. I have encountered blocks on the room I wanted at Jambo though as they have the scarce categories of value and club.
 
HI all ! Just checking in. We will arrive December 12. Is the gift shop open @ Jambo? We are driving this time and so we can go to Walmart for groceries but I like browsing the gift shop every time we come back from the parks. It is our routine. If it is not open, we will have to figure out something else to do.

For those staying @ Jambo House.... tell me all your experiences. And, for those in the "know". Any news on more things opening at the resort? Jiko, Boma, MAra etc.
 
HI all ! Just checking in. We will arrive December 12. Is the gift shop open @ Jambo? We are driving this time and so we can go to Walmart for groceries but I like browsing the gift shop every time we come back from the parks. It is our routine. If it is not open, we will have to figure out something else to do.

For those staying @ Jambo House.... tell me all your experiences. And, for those in the "know". Any news on more things opening at the resort? Jiko, Boma, MAra etc.
The Jambo stores and dining locations are not expected to open until the hotel side of Jambo opens. For now Jambo is DVC only. I don't believe I've heard an opening date announced yet, the site still shows it all down for booking in 2021. The pool is open as are the lobby and walkways around the resort. It's sort of a ghost town.

There is a shuttle to take you from jambo over to Kidani where the small store is open as is Sanna, which also is doing take out from what I understand.
 
Kids of all ages are wowed by the animals right off the balconies. :) Kidani is a great choice.

Some things to know, if you aren't aware yet: The hallways are very, very long. I'd argue they are the longest in all the Disney resorts. I've had that room near the end of one of the wings and could have listened to an entire podcast by the time I got to my room by foot. BUT the nice thing is that the parking area extends all the way down and there are elevators near all rooms, at most 2 beads away. For those mornings to MK we'd drive down toward the lobby, park and then take the bus to/from the park. Just remember that you've got your car nearby when rerturning or you may find yourself with double the walk to go fetch it :)

2br units are usually plentiful in february at Kidani. I agree, that renting points from an owner is the way to go, but after this pandemic and hearing about the pains owners and renters went though to cancel and return funds, I understand why you'd want to go through Disney. Hopefully we never experience anything like that again.

I don't know what the refurbishment schedule looks like, so no help there, but I've never had an issue at Kidani. I have encountered blocks on the room I wanted at Jambo though as they have the scarce categories of value and club.
Thanks for your quick reply, VWL buddy!
The long hallways do concern me, but we aren't planning long park days, so maybe it won't bother me as much. Hopefully, if we request a good location it will work out OK. If worse comes to worst, I will rent an ECV.
I don't think we will have our car. Our family seems to be split on the flying v driving issue right now. But I will keep what you said in mind, and in my notes!
As far as renting points, I have considered it over the years but I just can't give up having a 5 day cancellation policy. I'd rather pay more than lose more, I guess. My parents are both in their 90's and I just don't feel comfortable not having an easy way to cancel if I have to.
Thanks for your quick and informative reply!
 

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