Which is better for a young family? Jambo or Kidani?

[PorfertFamilyDVC]

We just bought in to the Dvc and our home resort is AKV. Which is better for a young family with 2 kids under the age of 3? Jambo or Kidani?

 

[DebbieB]

We just bought in to the Dvc and our home resort is AKV. Which is better for a young family with 2 kids under the age of 3? Jambo or Kidani?

If would go with Jambo. Studios are about the same size. 1 bedrooms and larger have more square footage at Kidani and the extra bathroom but young kids might not need that. If you have a car, parking is better at Kidani. Jambo has a full counter service.

 

[hakepb]

Kidani is the 1st bus stop, and has a better splash area at the pool.
But Kidani can have longer hallways, and you have to go to Jambo or a park for breakfast... It really depends on what ammenities/convienences you use in a resort.

 

[DenLo]

It depends on whether you plan to eat meals at the resort's restaurants. If you will eat breakfast, lunch or dinner at the Jambo House restaurants on a daily basis, I would recommend Jambo House. But otherwise I would recommend Kidani. Sure the hallways are long at Kidani, but not as long as walk from MK to the bus stop. Which you will probably do with toddlers. The the water play area, Uwanja Camp, at Kidani is definitely designed for children of all ages.

Here is the section for younger children.









And the section for older "kids".



And if you really want to go to Jambo House on occasion, you can take any Disney Park bus or there is a shuttle at the valet station that will transport you to and from the two resorts. The only Disney bus that goes from Jambo to Kidani is the DTD bus. Also the walk with small children is only 10 minutes, lobby to lobby. It's an walk pushing a stroller.

 

[PorfertFamilyDVC]

Thanks guys! That has been really helpful!!

 

[Kidanifan08]

Two under three --- I would do Kidani. The pool has a zero entry and the play area is awesome. As pointed out, it is easy to get to Jambo by bus or foot if needed. We love that the park buses stop at Kidani first and are virtually empty. We are finally finished with the stroller stage of our lives, but that was an awesome feature of Kidani.

 

[Main Street Matilda]

I'd go with Kidani for the pool/splash area. I do agree, however, that if being close to restaurants is important, the Jambo makes more sense.

 

[RachaelA]

We just have 1 toddler as of now, but for our upcoming trip (checking in on Saturday!) we choose Kidani because of the splash area and the extra bathroom in the 1 bedroom. We stick DD's PnP in the bathroom and then we have another bathroom to still use ourselves at night!

 

[pouncingpluto]

We just have 1 toddler as of now, but for our upcoming trip (checking in on Saturday!) we choose Kidani because of the splash area and the extra bathroom in the 1 bedroom. We stick DD's PnP in the bathroom and then we have another bathroom to still use ourselves at night!

Haha -- I love seeing someone else admit to doing this. Unfortunately, for our next trip, I think DD will be too big for a PnP.

It's a close call for us between Kidani and Jambo. I prefer the savanna views lower to the ground that you can get at Kidani, the parking, and the splash area. But we like the Jambo pool too, and MUCH prefer having a counter service restaurant available. This time, we're going with Kidani.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I prefer Kidany all the way, but for most people the defining factor is, "Will your stay be ruined by the lack of a food court?" If so, then you should pick Jambo! I don't eat qs so it doesn't affect me and the Kidani pool rest. serves our purposes very well!

I prefer Kidani for the following reasons:

the resort is a bit lighter in decor than Jambo
2bd has a 3rd bathroom!
Kidani has covered parking!
Sleeper Chair in the living room, can't remember if Jambo has them now too?
and I have alwys gottena partial view of the Penbeh savannah using standard points!

Jambo's best feature, that magnificent lobby!

 

[Shleedogg]

Having been in your position, my girls are 4 and 2, I would say Jambo. We own at BLT, but due to last minute planning have happily ended up at AKV at least 6 times in the last few years. 2 stays have been at Kidani. First time we had a one bedroom. Second was a studio and it was a food nightmare. One night we had a kid who went off the typical schedule and we missed our ADR. By the time she woke up, the other had fallen asleep. It was such a pain to truck to the other resort with a sleeping toddler and infant. We ended up buying bread, Pb & j in the gift shop and ate in the room.

The pool is great, for sure, but for us having a quick service is a better trade off.

 

[Shleedogg]

Having been in your position, my girls are 4 and 2, I would say Jambo. We own at BLT, but due to last minute planning have happily ended up at AKV at least 6 times in the last few years. 2 stays have been at Kidani. First time we had a one bedroom. Second was a studio and it was a food nightmare. One night we had a kid who went off the typical schedule and we missed our ADR. By the time she woke up, the other had fallen asleep. It was such a pain to truck to the other resort with a sleeping toddler and infant. We ended up buying bread, Pb & j in the gift shop and ate in the room.

The pool is great, for sure, but for us having a quick service is a better trade off.

Should add that the nightmare portion was just that at least in the one bedroom I could cook a little if we needed to - frozen pizza, etc. Not an option in a studio.

 

[rg35]

Just stayed in a Kidani 1BR with our three four year olds.

If you are getting a car (which I recommend given AKL's distance from most of the parks), you can park at an elevator close to your room location. Walking is only a big deal if you need to go to the lobby very often (which we didn't). You can also of course request a room near the lobby if you wish.

The splash and pool area at Kidani is great for little kids.

Saana was probably my favorite meals of the trip, but we didn't sample any of the Jambo house restaurants).

I went to Publix (it's about a 10 minute drive from AKL to the Publix on 192-W) on our first night to get groceries (bagels, frozen waffles, juice, milk, etc) and we ate breakfast in our room every morning. This was a huge time saver because we didn't have to wake up early to get to a restaurant for breakfast. Skipping a meal at a restaurant is also a good way to save a little money. Obviously this only works if you have a room larger than a studio.

 

[SamSam]

We just took 2 1/2 year old twin grandsons to Kidani and they loved it. (we always love it).
We did have a rental car, so we picked up easy meal items for breakfasts and snacks. The boys LOVED the water play area. We did it 3 days in a row and by the 3rd day they were giddy with excitement on the walk to it (and it was raining...lol).