Kidani Village vs Jamba House

So I did it. After years of the family trips at BLT theme park views we did a week at another resort. We stayed 4-11 May in 7880 the Grand Villa at the end of the resort.

The Room We aren’t a stranger to 3 bedrooms. So we thought the room layout was familiar to the one at BLT. The extended balcony on the lower floor was really nice since literally there are animals out passing you by. BLT is just a huge window and not much in the way of balcony space.

I will say that the placement of the washer and dryer was not ideal- because it is loud and right there at the main living room. BLT has a (much too large) laundry room but at least it conceals the noise.

Kitchen was well set up and the dining table was nice, especially with the buffet.

Like most rooms- there isn’t usually enough seating for a full party. We had 9 total guests. 5 adults 2 kids a toddler and an infant. So it didn’t matter too much.

I know the resort and rooms are scheduled for their refurbishment. They certainly need some updates. Resort hallways had peeling wall paper. The carpets are just plain worn or no longer able to be cleaned of stains. I will also comment that the lighting in the rooms is terrible. I was not prepared for the dim yellow lights everywhere hidden by the themed drum lamps. My wife had difficulty preparing herself in those conditions.

The Resort
Parking under the resort like at Vero Beach is great- but for those of us at the end of the resort past where the parking ends- we have a harder time finding spaces. Not really seeing a car for a week was great at building the resort feel we lack at BLT and the parking lot views.

Lobby is great fun and appropriated well. The animals are always a joy to visit and see.

Our room was 10 minutes from anywhere. 10 minutes to the lobby and buses. A bit longer to the pool. I know that it is sometimes based in the luck where you are- but that endless hallway was tiring. At least there are large windows to look out of at the end of each building unit.

Pool area at Kidani is enjoyable and we used it 2x. The splash pad and playground were of course a hit. The pool entertainment added to and didn’t detract from enjoyment. They didn’t feel the need to blare Disney Jr songs as if at the front row of a TSwift concert. Pool bar was adequate if a bit lacking in food options. Fitness center is serviceable.

dining
We did Sanaa for dinner. It was fine. Probably not worth the hype though for us. It was an enjoyable food but doesn’t need a repeat from us if we aren’t staying there.

We did Boma for dinner and breakfast. Always a good time for any party. We enjoyed breakfast more than dinner. I took jungle juice back to the room and made it an adult beverage.

We also went to Mara for diner one night. Despite never understanding what qualifies as a side from the coolers the meal was better than passable. The mural in the restaurant is detailed and fun. Food choices were more healthy in my opinion than not.

Transportation

We travelled during a slow time of the year. After spring breaks and before schools are out. So we were able to catch buses with ease to the parks each day at rope drop without many other people. At the bus depots the boarding locations were decent as well. Multiple marked boarding areas. Except for MK and EPCOT which share a bus stall. Our longest wait was about 24 minutes waiting for a return bus from Animal kingdom. The longest bus trip was to MK as is expected. In fact most all bus trips to the parks were expedient - probably better than BLT which has a terrible bus station. I think the fact that most of the roads to get anywhere are highways really helps.

We did walk between the resorts a few times but also took the inter resort shuttle. You may also be able to jump aboard a bus if they are also going to Jambo house but you need to ask since they don’t always.

cast and activities

We didn’t come across a bad cast member at all. Everyone was friendly, kind, sincere, and engaging. In fact I left multiple cast compliments.

The bead gathering activity was so much fun. We didn’t complete all of the activities so we will need to be back to gather them all. We were not aware of them until most of the way through our trip. If you have a resort day it’s a great activity.

Jambo and Kidani compliment each other well. If one resort is doing the movie by the pool the other is not. So you can flip between the two easily.

The community hall has a pool table and table ball there to enjoy. The arcade has a lot of choices at decent cost too.

Final thoughts

Savannah view matters more if you have a resort day or kids. It was obviously going to be a draw for us. The 10 minutes to get anywhere is only for folks in the far ends of the resort. Most people will have less. And honestly- you can spend the same going from floor 15 BLT to the bus depot.

We would certainly consider this resort ahead of others like SSR or OKW especially once the refurbishment is done.

We have a stay at Boulder Ridge later this year.

Hi all - I am on a waitlist for Jul 3-7 of this year for a deluxe studio Savannah view at Animal Kingdom Kidani.

When I was trying to book those dates initially it showed up as available, but minutes later it showed only partial availability.

What do you think the likelihood of getting this reservation is from the waitlist? Customer service was unable to tell me how many people are currently on the waitlist.

I know we can split our time between hotels, but would prefer to stay in one place for the entirety of the trip.

Looking for insight or advice. Are there any last minute DVC options for us? We have our home resort at Riviera. It’s just the two of us and we book the tower studio 11 months out. Our trip is next week. We decided a few weeks ago to elope on this trip and surprisingly got the whole thing planned out and ready. My question is are there any options for us to get a bigger room at least for one night? I’ve written to them a few times and no reply. Can we pay for an upgrade? Use points? Anything? It’s fine for a normal trip and for most of the nights on this trip, but with my dress and us both trying to get ready I was hoping for that one night we could buy a bigger room or upgrade so we have some extra space to get ready that day. Is that even possible or should I start to look for an alternative option? Any insight is appreciated!

Pretty excited to join the DVC community. Purchased a Saratoga 270pt contract yesterday, just waiting on Disneys ROFR. Hopefully it doesn’t take long so we can fit in a late 2024 trip with the points!

Good morning! I recently made a post asking about about the Kidani 1-bedroom pullout sleepers and found that many people had some really cool tips and things that are special to DVC members that I was not aware of. I did a quick search and did not see a direct post for this kind of thing, so I was wondering if people would put some cool things first timers might not know in the comments. The few that I have seen:

1. When you band into the parks you get a different, subtle check-in.

2. Epcot lounge!

3. A special gift at the front desk.

What else should a new, first time DVC visitor be on the lookout for?

We stayed in the Paddock area of SSR last year and fell in love. We stayed a second time at SSR in Congress Park (walk to DS? Yes please) and decided to look into DVC. Been watching the DVC resale boards and found a 300 pt contract for $94/pt. Dropped to $90/pt today and decided to put in an offer. Fingers crossed it's accepted!

Is there any must do this week in WDW? Anything special happening, beyond rain.

Had my offer accepted last night for BLT. 100 points at $125 per point. I felt like this was too good of a price to not add on to my 150 direct at riviera. Never stayed at BLT before only regular contemporary. Any downsides that any of you see to this?

Just got back from a two night stay in a studio at Copper Creek Villas at Wilderness Lodge. Having it connected to the main lobby is such a massive plus - not a coincidence I loved our stay so much since WL is my favorite themed resort.

Had such a fun time, made me want to add on points (I have a 300 pt SSR contract). The add-on-itis is real!

Family is heading to Kidani this Saturday for two weeks. Our kids are older and will be making use of the pullout bed and the sleeper chair. Do we need to plan to bring pillows and blankets for these beds? It's our first DVC trip as members so we are still learning. Thank you in advance for your time to read this and to offer advice.

Looking to buy a resale and looking at AKL and SS. How likely will I be able to get another resort at the 7 month.

Incredibly excited to get this process finalized. For those that have purchased on the Resale Market, how long did it take to get the points from Disney after the deed has been registered? DVC resale market states “within 30 days”, just wondering what the timeframe has been in reality.

Hi friends, We used David’s to rent points for Jan 2025 stay at the poly. Sorry if this is dumb, but is there a chance we will be placed in the new tower? I’m hoping for a room in one of the longhouses.

Is anyone else upset with the lack of 3bd suites? It seems like a real lost opportunity. The bungalows don’t seem to work for a number of reasons so to add more 2bd units that useable is great but then to make a third 2bd option that is a penthouse? Seems like it will get into the same situation with it costing too many points so it won’t get booked that easily. I don’t know. I wish they had opened up the options more.

I just signed up last month but I'll admit.... I don't know much. They got me at Aulani while my husband was dropping off the car rental at the airport. I got the Disneyland Villas because it's the closest park to me (a short plane ride) and it's a 50 year contract, which as I understand it, isn't always the case on the older places. Also, I didn't sign WITHOUT my husband, they just sold me so when he came I was practically foaming at the mouth lol

I got 200 points but some of the rooms are a bit more. I've rented points before from David's DVC rentals, but that was for the entire stay. If I want to stay at a room that's say 220 points, can I rent 20 points or can I pay the difference? I don't want to borrow points from myself, but I understand you can do this. Thank you!!!!

My wife and I have just finished up a 5 night stay at Disneyland and decided to check out DVC. It's our happy place but we wanted to get a little more direct feedback before pulling the trigger. We are looking to buy direct because we want all the flexibility that brings.

To that end, we would love to hear what you've been really happy with by being a member?

And also, what are you not happy with?

Would you do it again knowing what you know now?

I have 18% direct points and 82% resale points, all at PVB. I'm planning to make a 7 month booking at AKL soon. I'd like to borrow some of my resale points from next UY instead of using all of my points from current UY so that I can hang on to my direct points to try for a summer booking at the Fort Wilderness Cabins, which my resale points are no good for.

Anyone done something like this? Is there a simple mechanism for it that I'm missing, or if I call in can MS help? In my experience, I only get prompted to Borrow points when I'm actively making a reservation that has already used up all of my current UY points.

I was number 63 in line and got in the registration room and then kept receiving this error message until the event “sold out” 10 minutes later. Even if the event were super limited in capacity, any number less than 100 should guarantee admission to the event, should it not? The other thing is that this was for General Registration and not for Resort Guest reservation, which is what the message is implying. So perhaps a glitch? Currently still on the phone to speak with member services. The long wait makes me think we weren’t the only ones with this issue.

We took a tour during our recent stay at Riviera and got assigned a guide who has been very nice, we have no complaints about him. On that same trip, we stopped by Beach Club one evening to ask if we could see what the DVC rooms looked like there, and after we said we had already done the Riviera tour the person at the counter said oh sorry, the BC tour was only offered from 1:30-2:30 (which seemed weird, but sure...).

Were they blowing us off? Does the fact that we've done one tour and now have an assigned guide mean we can't tour anywhere else in the future? (like a dibs/commission system). We were not trying to double dip on the incentive offer, just wanted to see the rooms as we haven't been in many deluxe resorts and are considering all the options.

I am seeing some Disneyland Villa resale contracts which are tempting and at a much lower price per point than the resale at the Grand. What are the pros and cons of resale at Disneyland vs Grand vs direct Disneyland?

Who did you guys use for buying your resale contract? I have used the dvcforless.com and also have been in contact with dvcresalemarket.com who have been helpful I have just found some cheaper contracts elsewhere. Hey I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for but was wondering who all people have had success with. Thanks for any input.

After about a year of watching the market, I am almost certain I want to purchase a DVC resale contract for Beach Club Villas. I am trying to decide on the best way to form an enticing offer without offering too much or too little. The main issue that has me nervous is the expiration of 2042 and how that may affect the resale value (deterioration of the contract value when compared to other resorts). I am open to the possibility of other resorts, but BCV checks all of my boxes (proximity to Epcot and skyliner, best pool on property, and a general laid back vibe). The going market prices seem to be trending down a little the last couple of months, and it may be a good time to make a deal. I am looking at the 200 pts per year contracts. I would appreciate any input on a starting point pricewise, what a good deal would look like in this current year, pros/cons and general advice on BCV DVC in general for the foreseeable future.

https://www.youtube.com/live/vTfR6brJaa8?si=PzTGZ2MwCZ2FHy35

My DVC Points does a great recap each month. Below is a summary of that. Please like their video if below is at all interesting/useful to you.

ROFR has only impacted Poly last 2 months. Avg resale prices overall down (month-to-month resort avg resale price: 6 decreased, 4 increased, and 2 stayed the same). Boulder ridge had the biggest move - decrease of $13 in month-to-month avg price. 22 days is avg length of ROFR response.

Would be great if someone had this data like a typical daily stock graph. With volume of sales as bar graphs at the bottom, and can have a 7 day avg trendline on top. Feel like at this point we have the data to roughly equalize the variance in contract size and fixed week premiums. But id be happy with raw at this point :)

You heard it here first.

From my inside source: -Tiana guest previews will likely begin either memorial day weekend(less likely) or Juneteenth(more likely).Per my source, ride incursion testing has already completed and they believe recertification hours have been met, or will be met in the next few days. Really just waiting on the queue to be completed. -DVC Reflections Resort is back on the table to be built and there's already been some activity at the building site clearing debris that's built up since the project was abandoned.

As title said, we just bought an OKW contract direct from Disney. We wanted to be able to access the newer resorts so we went with direct and are ok with working around peak times so hoping that the 7 month vs 11 month booking period won't be too hard to work around (checked some availability for the villas at Disneyland hotel and it seemed ok). List price was $205 per point with a $30 per point developer credit. We used the option to sell back last year's points back to Disney for $20 per point effectively bringing our purchase price to $155 per point. I guess my main questions are how was the "deal" and any tips/advice on new contact holders? Thanks in advance!

My family and I are looking to rent points (DVC Rental or David’s) for a studio at Poly around Halloween, but currently there is no availability for our date.

Is there any point in waiting around to see if anything comes available on that date at the Poly or should I just look for other options?

Thanks for the advice and/or help.