***The Official AKV Owners And Lovers Thread***. Come And Chat

[DizptchrAJ]

Hello everyone. Just an introduction. My family owns points at Kidani and love it. So unique! Cant wait til our next stay... just waiting to see when my vacation will be for work.

 

[bwbuddy5]

I'm not an owner, but definitely an AKL lover, so hopefully I can chat here. I'm retiring in 2018, and plan to take my extended family of 9 to a GV at AKL on rented points in June 2018 (already have an owner lined up for the rental points). We are 4 couples, ages 60, 57, 32, 32, 27, 27, 27, 27, plus one 4YO granddaughter. I'm leaning towards a Jambo GV, but would not be upset with Kidani. Which would you recommend for our party like ours? What other considerations should we consider? Our group of 9 actually vacations together quite often, with no arguments, so being couped up together for a week has never been an issue.

 

[erionm]

I'm not an owner, but definitely an AKL lover, so hopefully I can chat here. I'm retiring in 2018, and plan to take my extended family of 9 to a GV at AKL on rented points in June 2018 (already have an owner lined up for the rental points). We are 4 couples, ages 60, 57, 32, 32, 27, 27, 27, 27, plus one 4YO granddaughter. I'm leaning towards a Jambo GV, but would not be upset with Kidani. Which would you recommend for our party like ours? What other considerations should we consider? Our group of 9 actually vacations together quite often, with no arguments, so being couped up together for a week has never been an issue.

The Jambo House GVs are larger (2340 sq ft vs. 2201 sq ft) and are a single story.

Although they both officially sleep 12, the Kidani Village GVs have more beds.
Kidani Village GV: 1 king-size bed, 4 queen-size beds & 2 queen-size sleeper sofas
Jambo House GV: 1 king-size bed, 4 queen-size beds & 1 queen-size sleeper sofa

 

[mickeymom629]

Sorry if this is somewhere else, but can anyone tell me the number of standard view, dedicated 2 bdrm at Kidani? I'm curious as to my chances of booking.

 

[KangaFan]

Sorry if this is somewhere else, but can anyone tell me the number of standard view, dedicated 2 bdrm at Kidani? I'm curious as to my chances of booking.

A helpful AKV owner put up a helpful chart on easywdw. It says 27 dedicated standard 2 bedrooms and 60 lock-off. Here's a link to the complete chart in case you wanted other details: http://www.easywdw.com/forums/showthread.php?20457-DVC-Rooms-Charts-with-detailed-room-info

I'm not sure if this number includes some of the Savannah view rooms that have been reclassified as standard view, though. We stayed in a dedicated 2 bedroom in October that had a view of the narrow part of the Pembe savannah and we had booked a standard view.

Good luck!

 

[mickeymom629]

A helpful AKV owner put up a helpful chart on easywdw. It says 27 dedicated standard 2 bedrooms and 60 lock-off. Here's a link to the complete chart in case you wanted other details: http://www.easywdw.com/forums/showthread.php?20457-DVC-Rooms-Charts-with-detailed-room-info

I'm not sure if this number includes some of the Savannah view rooms that have been reclassified at standard view, though. We stayed in a dedicated 2 bedroom in October that had a view of the narrow part of the Pembe savannah and we had booked a standard view.

Good luck!

Thanks!!

 

[mickeymom629]

Do dedicated 2 bedrooms have a sleeper chair as well as the sleep sofa? I see the description on the DVC website says it does, but the floor plan doesn't depict the chair as opening up. And the video I've seen doesn't look like it shows a sleeper chair, but I am not positive.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Do dedicated 2 bedrooms have a sleeper chair as well as the sleep sofa? I see the description on the DVC website says it does, but the floor plan doesn't depict the chair as opening up. And the video I've seen doesn't look like it shows a sleeper chair, but I am not positive.

Yes they do.

 

[mickeymom629]

Yes they do.

Great! Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[cbtengwife]

Question on laundry room at Kidani. How many laundry rooms are located on each floor? Is there several washer & dryers in each? And cost?

 

[twinklebug]

Question on laundry room at Kidani. How many laundry rooms are located on each floor? Is there several washer & dryers in each? And cost?

There is one laundry room in Kidani, it is across from the community hall near the lobby. http://www.laundryview.com/disneyworld/ will show you the usage of the machines. (Choose AKL - Kidani Village, then in the drop down, choose Kidani Village again.) On a desktop browser it also shows the layout of the machines. Hovering over a unit in use will show the time remaining.

With 3 washers and 6 driers, I've never found the Kidani room to be overused, in fact quite the opposite. It's one of the cleanest, quietest rooms on Disney property and the community hall right next door makes it easy to stay occupied.

The machines are no charge, just as all DVC washer and driers are. Don't be fooled by the coin slots.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I stayed with friends in a 2-bedroom savanna view at Kidani this past September. At the time it was a bit of a maze at times to get to the room because of construction/refreshing on floors below us. I just booked my family in a 1-bedroom standard view for May. I'm curious if the construction/refreshing was completed? And, now that I think about it, what exactly were they doing to the rooms? Just a soft goods refresh? I remember seeing a cart loaded with ironing boards being carted out one day.

I'd also like to add that we are SUPER pumped about our upcoming stay. Obviously I like Kidani if I booked my family there. Great value for the space, for sure. (rented points)

Are they still serving breakfast at Sanaa?

 

[erionm]

I stayed with friends in a 2-bedroom savanna view at Kidani this past September. At the time it was a bit of a maze at times to get to the room because of construction/refreshing on floors below us. I just booked my family in a 1-bedroom standard view for May. I'm curious if the construction/refreshing was completed? And, now that I think about it, what exactly were they doing to the rooms? Just a soft goods refresh? I remember seeing a cart loaded with ironing boards being carted out one day.

It was a soft goods refurbishment and should be completed by now.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

It was a soft goods refurbishment and should be completed by now.

Ah. I suspected that. Thanks for the lightning fast reply.

 

[GoofyTraci]

Hello we are Dvc members and always book a 1BR but need to book a 2BR. What is the lockoff rooms?? Confused and need to book customer service is closed. Thank you

 

[drusba]

Hello we are Dvc members and always book a 1BR but need to book a 2BR. What is the lockoff rooms?? Confused and need to book customer service is closed. Thank you

A 2BR lock-off is a combined studio and 1BR. It becomes a two bedroom by opening doors that separate the two internally. A dedicated 2BR, referred to as just a 2BR in the online reservation system, is a room that can only be a 2BR and has only one entry door from the hallway.

If you are considering a 2BR at Kidani, you may want to consider the dedicated. It gives you two queens in the second bedroom rather than a queen and pull-out double like the studio portion of the lock-off. Particularly in relation to savanna view, the dedicated has one long balcony that runs across the the two bedrooms and the living room, allowing all to be together on the balcony with no blocked views. The lock-off has a barrier wall on the balcony between the studio and 1BR.

 

[Oswald's Fury]

My wife and I are staying at the Kidani Villas this September for a few nights and I wanted to ask AKL villa lovers what tips and/or activities we should make sure to follow when we visit! We will be there for four nights and we plan on mainly spending time at the resort, not the parks! Have always wanted to stay there and we decided to for our one year anniversary! Preceding our stay at the AKLV we are spending several nights at the BWV so I'm excited to juxtapose the two resorts, which to my understanding our wildly different (no pun intended...well maybe). Any advice and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

 

[mickeymom629]

My wife and I are staying at the Kidani Villas this September for a few nights and I wanted to ask AKL villa lovers what tips and/or activities we should make sure to follow when we visit! We will be there for four nights and we plan on mainly spending time at the resort, not the parks! Have always wanted to stay there and we decided to for our one year anniversary! Preceding our stay at the AKLV we are spending several nights at the BWV so I'm excited to juxtapose the two resorts, which to my understanding our wildly different (no pun intended...well maybe). Any advice and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

You will love it! DH and I had a 3 night stay last year (preceded and followed by other resorts). We had savanna view and we loved having coffee and snacks on the balcony watching the animals! There are also verandas with rockers to watch the animals. The pools at both Kidani and Jambo are beautiful! The one at Jambo is near the quick service restaurant, The Mara, and we enjoyed dining by the pool. We also enjoyed watching swimmers (it was too cold for us) at the Kidani pool and they have a snack bar there. That pool is zero entry and both are heated. There are fire pits to sit around. The CM's who are around the fire pits and look out points are very interesting to talk to - discussing the animals and themselves. There is a work out room if you are into that. We enjoyed walking from Kidani to Jambo to get exercise. There are tennis courts. At night, you can get night vision goggles to try to find animals. We dined at Sanaa, which was wonderful. If you dine there before dark, you might get a table by the window to view animals. When you check in, they will give you an itinerary of events. I'm pretty sure there's some sort of event with the chef of Sanaa. You can be sure to be at certain locations to watch animals eating and learn about them.

I'm sure there are more experts than I am on these boards who will respond.

You definitely did your vacation correctly - planning to relax at AKV after your BWV stay! You will love it! Enjoy!

 

[drusba]

My wife and I are staying at the Kidani Villas this September for a few nights and I wanted to ask AKL villa lovers what tips and/or activities we should make sure to follow when we visit! We will be there for four nights and we plan on mainly spending time at the resort, not the parks! Have always wanted to stay there and we decided to for our one year anniversary! Preceding our stay at the AKLV we are spending several nights at the BWV so I'm excited to juxtapose the two resorts, which to my understanding our wildly different (no pun intended...well maybe). Any advice and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

If you have savanna view make a request for Sunset savanna (the largest savanna that has giraffes), and, if want to be close to the pool, make a request for close to the pool or close to the Rafiki elevator (down that elevator to ground floor provides shortest possible walk to a gate to the pool area); if instead you want to be close to the bus stop request close to the Timon elevator or close to community hall. Make those requests through member services and then do not use the request boxes provided during online check-in.

For dinner try Boma, the buffet restaruant at Jambo and Sanaa, the table service at Kidani. Both have good atmosphere and food. Jiko, the table service at Jambo, is also very good (but very pricey).

Have the fact of your anniversary noted on the reservation so the hotel knows. May or may not result in being recognized but give it a try.

As it will be Sep, the temperatures will be very hot, meaning shade at the pool area is a must. fortunately we have found in Sep that the pool is usually not overly crowded during the day, and the concession/bar area is ideal as it has plenty of tables with seats under the roof overhang that provides shade and you have the ability to get those frozen alcoholic beverages mixed in a blender that you usually never touch while at home. Try to the night goggle viewing.

To go between Kidani and Jambo, you either need to walk or take a minivan that runs all day and evening front door to front door (can be a 15 minute wait just depending on where it is in the run when you exit the lobby.

 

[DenLo]

Sanaa Restaurant at Kidani Village nowwou service a quick service breakfast as well as regular lunch and dinner menu. The full breakfast is pretty reasonable for Disney and very good. And you get to watch the animals from windows at your table.