Review: Kidani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas

By Dave Shute

OVERVIEW: KIDANI VILLAGE AT DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM VILLAS FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

Note: guests at Kidani Village are eligible for Disney World’s Early Entry program, and have the ability to pre-book as early as  seven days before check-in Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass rides. They are also eligible for its Extended Evening Hours.

Kidani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas (a Disney Vacation Club resort) is a wonderful place for returning visitors to Walt Disney World to stay.

For typical first-time visitors, I don’t recommend the Disney Vacation Club resorts.

That said, these “DVC” resorts can be a great choice for first time visitors with large families, needing extra sleeping spaces, or looking for a more comfortable place to stay.

Among the Disney Vacation Club resorts, Kidani Village ranks second or third, depending on room type.

THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB RESORTS

You can have a spectacular visit at any Walt Disney World resort. However, this site recommends that typical first time visitors to Walt Disney World avoid the Disney Vacation Club resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. (You can find extensive detail on the DVC resorts here.)

This recommendation comes from the simple fact that the distinguishing feature of these resorts–extra space and full kitchens–will not be of much value to first-time visitors following one of the itineraries on this site, as they won’t be used much.

That said, the Disney Vacation Club resorts represent more than 10% of Walt Disney World’s total rooms, and are very appropriate for first time visitors with large families, needing extra sleeping spaces, or looking for a more comfortable place to stay.

Because of this, I’m providing a series of up-to-date reviews. I’ve stayed in six different villas and studios in Kidani Village, and this review is based on those stays. It includes:

• The summary page you are on now, plus more details:
• An overview of theming and accommodations at Kidani Village
• A three page photo tour of a Studio and a One Bedroom Villa (the two combined being a Two Bedroom Villa):
  • Photo tour of a Studio at Kidani Village
  • Photo tour of the Living/Dining/Kitchen Space in One and Two Bedroom Villas at Kidani Village
  • Photo tour of the Bath and Master Bedroom in One and Two Bedroom Villas at Kidani Village
• Amenities and Dining at Kidani Village
• The Pool at Kidani Village
• The Art of Kidani Village

ACCOMMODATIONS AT KIDANI VILLAGE

Kidani Village has four room types

• Studios, which sleep four in a space similar to a regular hotel room
• One Bedroom Villas, which sleep five in a two bay space, one bay a master suite with a king bed and the second bay offering another bath and living, dining and kitchen spaces, with fold-out beds for three
• Two Bedroom Villas, which sleep nine and essentially combine a One Bedroom Villa and a Studio
• Grand Villas, which sleep 12 in a two story space twice the size of a Two Bedroom Villa.

Resorts are ranked on this site for first time visitors based first on their kid appeal, and then on their convenience.

On this basis, Kidani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas comes in fifth overall of the Disney Vacation Club resorts.

(See this for resort rankings.)

However, there’s a little variability here depending on room type and family size.

• Studio rooms (right third of the floor plan): fifth-best, after Studios at the Polynesian Villas and Bungalows,  the Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, the Copper Creek Villas at the Wilderness Lodge, and the Jambo House Villas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• One-Bedroom Villas (left two thirds of the floor plan): third best, after the Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and the Copper Creek Villas at the Wilderness Lodge 
• Two-Bedroom Villas (all of the floor plan): for families that can fit into two two-person beds in one bedroom and a king in a second, fourth best after the Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and the Copper Creek Villas at the Wilderness Lodge and the Jambo House Villas.  For families that can’t, and thus also need to use the sleeper sofa and/or sleeper chair in the combined living/dining/kitchen space, Kidani Village is the second best of the DVC options, after Copper Creek
• Grand Villas: Third best after Copper Creek and Jambo House

That said, some unique room features make Kidani Village a better choice than Jambo House for some first time family visitors.

Kidani Village has a number of very strong positives.

• It is one of only a few Disney Vacation Club resorts that can fit 5 people in a One-Bedroom villa, or 9 into a Two-Bedroom.
• Along with Jambo House, it uniquely presents savanna views of animals roaming.
• Changes it reflects to the older layouts of the typical Disney Vacation Club villas makes it among the most livable of DVC one bedroom villas.
  • The kitchen/dining/living room area has been both widened and deepened.
  • This extra space has been used to add both a second full bath to One-Bedroom Villas, and enough living space in the living room that it can be used even if the fold-out sleeper sofa is being used.
  • (These features carry over to two bedroom villas as well.)

Much more on accommodations at Kidani Village begins here, including photo tours of all the major accommodation spaces.

DINING AT KIDANI VILLAGE

Dining at Kidani is wonderful, but for a hotel that can sleep almost 3,000 people, it is quite limited.

The principal venue is the wonderful Sanaa, with a quick service breakfast in the morning and table service lunch and dinner the rest of the day.

There’s also a few lunch-style items at the pool bar, and a reasonable stock of food for the 300+ full kitchens here in the gift shop.

There’s more options at Jambo House, but because of the architectural layout of Kidani–which is designed to maximize the number of rooms with savanna views–it can be more than a mile’s walk to the quick service eatery in the main Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House facility.

Besides walking, you can take one of the park buses–ask the driver if its next stop is Jambo–or the van shuttle available at the guest drop off outside the lobby.

For more on dining at Kidani Village, see the second half of this page.

THE POOL AT KIDANI VILLAGE

The pool at Kidani, Samawati Springs pool, is among the more fully featured and delightful of the Disney World pools.

Kidani guests can also use the pool at Jambo House.

There’s a detailed overview of Kidani Village’s pool here.

KID APPEAL AND CONVENIENCE AT KIDANI VILLAGE

Kid Appeal. Both of the Disney Vacation Club resorts at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge–Kidani Village and Jambo House–have stunning kid appeal based on the views of wild animals available from the balconies of rooms with savanna views, and from many public areas.

In addition, the Jambo House Villas have a jaw-dropping lobby.

Kidani Village has its own lobby.  While lovely and charming for adults, it simply does not compare to the kid impact of Jambo house. (The image is from one of my holiday visits; your Christmas decorations may vary…There’s a view of the lobby windows at the top right of this page.)

Convenience. Both of the Animal Kingdom Lodge DVC properties are incredibly convenient to the Animal Kingdom theme park.  (You cannot walk there, however–buses or driving are the only options.) They are distant from the other three Walt Disney World theme parks.

Just as Jambo House is more kid-appealing, it is more convenient for first-time visitors than Kidani Village. Kidani’s basic convenience problems are long walks and limited access to quick-service dining.

Kidani Village is a separate set of buildings on the Animal Kingdom Lodge campus, and does not have within it a permanent regular quick service dining establishment.

Kidani Village also has some distinctive negatives, mostly already noted—its distance from theme parks other than the Animal Kingdom, and its limited quick service dining.

BEST AND WORST ROOMS AT KIDANI VILLAGE

For those seeking an Animal Kingdom Lodge Disney Vacation Club experience, for most room types, Jambo House is a better choice than Kidani Village.

• Studio rooms: Prefer Jambo House, because of the stunning lobby and better access to quick service dining
• One-bedroom Villas: Prefer Kidani Village, for a much more livable floor plan, with extra size and a bath for each sleeping space
• Two-bedroom Villas:
  • Families that can fit into two beds in one bedroom, and a king in a second, should prefer Jambo House for its lobby and dining flexibility
  • Families that need to use the sleeper sofa and/or sleeper chair in the combined living/dining/kitchen space should prefer Kidani Village for its extra size and third bath
• Grand Villas: Prefer Jambo House for more square footage, the kid appeal of the lobby, and more convenient dining

If you do reserve Kidani Village, request a savanna view room on the third or fourth floor (these floors provides the best views).

• If quick service dining at Jambo is also an issue for you, ask for a savanna view room near the Jambo House. Specifically, ask for a room near the Zazu elevator.  (The best of these are even numbered rooms 7338-7346 on the third floor, and 7438-7452 on the fourth floor.)
• If quick service dining is not an issue, request a savanna view room between the lobby and the elevator most convenient to the pool–the Rafiki elevator.  Even numbered rooms 7614-7622 on the third floor, and 7814-7820 on the fourth floor, are the best of these.

The online check-in form will not let you get this specific, so you’ll need to call.

The map shows all of the Animal Kingdom Lodge complex–Kidani Village in on the left. Note how far the most distant Kidani rooms are from the center of Kidani. I get them as about a quarter mile away.

BEST FOR:

Larger families, families seeking a bit of extra privacy or more beds, families looking for a more comfortable place to stay, families looking for particularly kid-appealing space.

WORST FOR:

Families on a budget, families looking for a particularly convenient place to stay.

MORE ON THEMING AND ACCOMMODATIONS AT KIDANI VILLAGE

This review continues here!

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

RELATED STUFF

• d. Where to Stay at Walt Disney World
• q. Reviews
• w. Most Recent Stuff