Category — q. Reviews

(For the first page of this review of Kidani Village, see this.)

THE LIVING/DINING/KITCHEN SPACE AT KIDANI VILLAGE

The living/dining/kitchen area at Kidani Village is identical in both One and Two Bedroom Villas. Unlike other DVC villas except those at Bay Lake Tower, the living/kitchen/dining space has its own bath.

These spaces completed a refurb, with wall colors lightened, fabrics simplified, and more power points added, in 2017. This photo tour is of a refurbed villa.

Also like Bay Lake Tower, these villas are more livable than the group that immediately preceded them (Saratoga Springs, Beach Club Villas, Villas at the Wilderness Lodge, and the BoardWalk Villas) not only because of the extra bath, but also because of  the larger kitchen and a dining table and living room that each are larger and seat more.

You enter into a hall with a closet on one side and a bath on the other.

The hall closet has a bit of a clothes rod and the washer-dryer unit.

There’s a small full bath on the other side (there’s another bath in the master bedroom space).

Further in you’ll find the galley kitchen, larger and with more counter space than those in the four offerings noted above.

Outside the kitchen proper is this breakfast bar.

Inside the kitchen on one side is the fridge, range, and microwave…

…and on the other side the sink and some other small appliances.

As in all DVC kitchens, you’ll find this one stocked with all the basics you need to prep, cook and serve meals.

The refrigerator.

In the rest of the room, on one side you’ll find the dining area and part of the living space.

This side from the back.

The dining table, while bigger than most in DVC rooms, is still not large enough for the nine people a Two bedroom Villa can hold.

The living area includes a couch and a large easy chair, and seats four to five–more with chairs brought in from other areas of the villa.

The couch…

…converts into a bed that I measured as 60 inches wide by 75 inches long, on a four inch cushion. It was more comfortable than many other DVC couch beds.

The easy chair…

…converts into a bed that I measured as 30 inches by 75 inches, also with a four inch cushion–it’s more comfortable than the couch.

The presence of both these means that unlike many DVC villas, One Bedroom Villas at Kidani Village can sleep five, and Two bedroom Villas nine.

The design of the various connecting doors means that no one needs to walk through this area while it is  in use for sleeping to get to another room–not true of all DVC villas, and another feature making the design of this space more livable.

The final elements of this space are the balcony–which you can see between the beds above–and the dresser, with large TV above.

Four storage drawers in the dresser, when combined with the closet at the entry, provides plenty of storage for the three people this room will sleep.

As part of the refurb, the dresser got added power points at both sides. Each has two plugs and two USB chargers, for a total of eight power points.

THE MASTER BEDROOM AND BATH AT KIDANI VILLAGE

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(For the first page of this review of Kidani Village, see this.)

THE MASTER BEDROOM AND BATH AT KIDANI VILLAGE

The master bedroom and bath are the same in Two Bedroom and One Bedroom Villas at Kidani Village.

These rooms completed a refurb in 2017, with walls lightened, fabrics simplified, and more power points added. This photo tour is of a refurbed room.

Because unlike most DVC villas the living/kitchen/dining space has its own bath, the master bath is not meant to be shared, simplifying the design challenges and allowing for a much more spacious layout to the master bath.

You enter directly into the master bedroom from the living area, and find the bath on one side.

The bath has a central sink, with the other features on either side–note for example the toilet in a dedicated space to the right.

The closet is also on this side.

The other side has the largest DVC shower other than that at the Villas at the Grand Floridian.

Also on this side is the tub.

The master bedroom has a king bed and  easy chair on one side.

A closer view of the bed.

The bed side from the back.

Bedside tables on either side add storage.

…and power points.

The easy chair shares this side’s bedside table, lamp, and power points. .

The other side of the room has a TV/dresser combo, desk, and luggage rack.

This side from the back.

A closer view of the desk.

The dresser and TV. The TV is much smaller than the one in the living room. Note the power points on either side under the TV.

Dresser storage. There’s no shortage of storage in this room…

AMENITIES AND DINING AT KIDANI VILLAGE

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(For the first page of this review of Kidani Village, see this.)

AMENITIES AT KIDANI VILLAGE

Kidani Village is paired with nearby Jambo House and its services and amenities, but is so distant that it also functions as a stand-alone resort–more like Saratoga Springs than like the Beach Club Villas.

See the map (as always on this site, to enlarge it, click it).

Kidani’s layout maximizes views of the savanna, and there are no paths for guests through the savanna.  So those staying at the far end–marked with an orange “x”–have quite a hike to get to the great amenities and services at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Jambo House.

So Kidani was designed with its own drop off (see the top of the page), check-in lobby…

…with a cool view to the savannas beyond…

…and gift shop.

More, probably too much,  from the gift shop, with a focus on food and places to use your refillable mugs, given all the kitchens–and the weak counter service–at Kidani:

Back outside, there’s a bus stop.

Buses (except to Magic Kingdom) are shared with the stop at Jambo House–which means you can use them to get back and forth–just ask the driver or you may end up at Epcot.

Signs indicate the projected time of the next bus. There’s also a little shuttle van that goes back and forth between Jambo and Kidani–ask for it at the guest drop-off outside the lobby.

You can also walk (to Jambo, not Epcot), or of course drive–although the layout of parking at both facilities means that if you drive you’ll likely face a bit of walking anyway.

Across the street from Kidani is a little-noticed or used simple recreation area with shuffleboard, a basketball court, barbecue grills…

…and a pair of tennis courts.

DINING AT KIDANI VILLAGE

Downstairs from the lobby is the wonderful table-service restaurant Sanaa…

…and its bar.

Sanaa celebrates the African-Indian cuisine that’s been developing for centuries from Indian Ocean trading routes. Here’s the review from our book The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2019:

From many parts of Sanaa you can see the savanna and whatever animals may be at play there.

In late 2016, Sanaa began offering quick service breakfast from 7a to 10a. At first an experiment, this offering now seems quite official.  See this for a review of breakfast at Sanaa.

There’s more dining at Jambo House.

There’s also a path out to savanna viewing areas…

…and a firepit…

…not currently offering roast zebra.

And then there’s the great pool complex!

THE SAMAWATI SPRINGS POOL AT KIDANI VILLAGE

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(For the first page of this review of Kidani Village, see this.)

THE SAMAWATI SPRINGS POOL AT KIDANI VILLAGE

The Samawati Springs pool at Kidani Village is one of two pools at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge–the other is the Uzima Springs pool at the main Jambo House.

Guests at Kidani can use either.

Some prefer Uzima Springs, despite the distance, for being a little more verdant, or for having a broader range of quick-service dining available.

But Samawati Springs is a great pool, and of course much more convenient.

Samawati is not the kind of low-amenity quiet pool that you will find near some other DVC resorts, but rather comes with all  the pluses that you’ll find at any main pool.

My favorite feature, though, is simpler–it’s the vista from the zero entry side. I love the sky and trees…

Here’s the pool from another angle–this shows the smaller of the two slides here.

A couple of shots of the larger pool slide:

There’s also two hot tubs, one by the pool deck…

… and a more secluded one on an upper level:

Nearby is a water play area…

…the water play area at night…

…a playground for kids…

…and a ping pong table.

There’s also a bar. It has a real menu–albeit not with a lot of options. See the  bottom of the image (click it to enlarge it):

Near the bar is a refillable mug station.

Also in the pool area, in an upper level, is the spa.

Kidani guests are also welcome at the Uzima Springs pool at Jambo House, and can walk, take a theme park bus (check with the driver first to see if the bus is stopping at Jambo) or take the couretsy van at the guest drop-off point.

 THE ART OF KIDANI VILLAGE

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(For the first page of this review of Kidani Village, see this.)

THE ART OF KIDANI VILLAGE

The animals are the star at Kidani Village, and are covered on my page on Kidani Village theming here, but also a delight is the art of Kidani Village, in both its private and public spaces.

The rooms combine carved adventurous-looking furniture and fixtures with interesting textures in the floors and curtains, plus fun art on each side wall.

More art on the doors.

Outside the rooms there’s not as much scope as at sister resort Jambo House for public art, but I still find the light fixtures charming…

…these…

…and these.

There’s also original art here and there–not as much as in Jambo, but still fun.

More:

Kidani’s principal negatives are its distance from Walt Disney World theme parks other than the Animal Kingdom, its limited quick-service meal options, and the lack of drama of its lobby compared to that of Jambo House.

…although the lobby does gain grandeur in an evening storm.

Returning visitors will likely find Kidani Village to be a favorite. Its spaciousness is a delight, it is quieter and more serene than Jambo House, and then there’s those animals!!

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Sanaa, the great table service restaurant at Kidani Village, has been serving counter service breakfast for a couple for months now, and I had a chance to check it out in mid-November.

Kidani Village is a DVC property with much going for it, but until recently it was weak on dining options at lunch and especially at breakfast.

Until Sanaa opened for breakfast, morning options included

• Walking, taking the shuttle, or taking the bus to the dining options at the main Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Making breakfast in your room–studios have a mini fridge, coffee maker, toaster and microwave, and villas have full kitchens

The gift shop is pretty well stocked with food.

A couple of months ago, however, Sanaa opened up for breakfast in counter service style.

Basically, breakfast is a set of grab and go options plus some hot meals.  You can combine both, and eat them either in Sanaa or back in your room.

Here’s the menu for the hot items (click it to enlarge it):

You enter, and grab anything you want from the grab and go stations:

Bring these to the register…

…and at the register order any hot meals you want.

Pay, and you’ll get a numbered animal that you take with you to whatever open table you want. Your hot meals will then be delivered to your table, as identified by the number on your animal.

Both my visits were a little after 9a (breakfast is served 7a-10a) and at both most interior tables were empty, and about half of the windows tables were available:

Among the menu options, I tried the Savanna Platter…

…and the Safari Waffle.

Each was excellent. The Safari Waffle was out within six minutes, but a kitchen snafu (they had my ticket as number 0, not number 50) with the platter meant it took almost half an hour–it was fine when it did come out, though.

The set-up through ordering has more of an air of slapped-together than I’d really like, driven, I imagine, by the need to create a temporary grab and go and ordering area in the morning, and then having it disappear in time for the table-service lunch.

But once you are at your table, and have your food, all is well, and if you have a window table, you’ll get views like these:

Begun as a test, the breakfast offering seems to have been formalized, but in mid-December 2016 the breakfast menu was still not listed on Disney’s Sanaa webpage.

It is a great convenience however, making up for one of Kidani’s notable weaknesses, so if you are staying at Kidani, give it a try!

While on the topic of dining at Kidani, I should also note that I found the Samawati Springs pool food menu more expansive than at my last visit (or maybe I just didn’t notice it).

Here it is–click it to enlarge it!

Kidani used to have two major issues: weak breakfast and lunch counter service offerings, and long walks (up to a quarter of a mile each way) from its furthest rooms to its central services.

Sanaa breakfast, and the entree options on the pool menu, go a long way to fixing the first issue, so I hope the Sanaa breakfast continues!

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