Re: TR Kidani Village / Jiko

MajorWoody wrote:
Hello all,

We booked an opening night stay at AKLV for Friday night, back when the bookings first opened. We thought it would be a nice experience to be there on opening day, even though it was a large amount of points ( 52 for a 1br Savannah view). But that's why we own those points, to use as we please! I had also booked a dinner for Sanaa for 7pm, and after seeing the menu online a few weeks ago, booked a Boma ressie as a backup in case my wife didn't like it.

Due to my wife's schedule, we didn't arrive until about 4:30pm, after the grueling 11 mile drive from Kissimmee. I had visited Kidani last Tuesday for the CM Open Mouse tour, and it seemed to be pretty nice, and much larger than I had expected. One CM told me that the main Savannah is 18 acres, compared to 11 acres for the largest one at the original AKL. I loved the feeling at the original Lodge, especially the open lobby. AKL is one resort where I can feel like I'm in another country, more so than any other WDW resort. The huge lobby, very spacious gift shop, Victoria Falls bar overlooking Boma, a large outside viewing area, all add up to a resort I could spend an entire day without ever leaving or getting bored. Unfortunately, I don't get that feeling with Kidani.

When we arrived, I expected hordes of people, lines for valet parking, and lines for checking in. The drive to the resort takes you past the original AKL, but is a very bland drive scenery wise. The resort is on the right, and does not look as inspiring as the original in my opinion. The left side is pretty much open space, with some construction trailers and stuff. I would hope this is going to be addressed at some point. When we pulled up, we were one of only two cars under the overhang. The valet took my car, and we entered the lobby. Again, no lines at all. There was also nothing out of the ordinary going on. On the cast preview, they had some drummers seated outside the front doors, CM's greeting us, and just a general feeling that something special was going on. Other than the fact there were about 10 CM's behind the counter ( and no other guests checking in), it was very quiet. We had completed online checkin, so the actual checkin lasted about 1 minute. We were given a miniature baobob tree as a souvenir of the grand opening. I thought that there would be some entertainment, or at least some sort of acknowledgement that it was a grand opening, but there was nothing. I was really surprised how slow it was at the checkin counter, figuring that there were a lot of checkins today. The CM did say it had been steady all day, but never any real big surge.

We went up to our room, 7304, 3rd floor just off the lobby area one floor above. A very convenient room location. The room was very spacious, with the added benefit of a 2nd bathroom, something other 1br DVC rooms do not have. The balcony was also very large, as opposed to BW or BCV, where they are split into 2 separate balconies. Although the balcony was extremely long, there is still only two chairs and one small table. If you have a larger group, this might be an issue, but since there were just 2 of us, it wasn't a problem. We noticed an active wasp nest on the balcony, so we didn't really spend much time out there. We unpacked, and headed downstairs to explore. As has been posted on several websites and messages, the lobby is extremely small compared to Jambo House. The gift shop is also very small, and has a cramped feel if there are more than a half dozen people inside. There is not really a large selection of merchandise in my opinion, and while there is a soda refill station inside, I'm not sure what the store hours are, or if it would interefere with someone wanting a refill in the evening or early morning. The market supplies were very limited, and also overpriced ( $6.95 for a 12 oz pkg of cheese slices). Other than a few KV tshirts, there really was not much specific for KV. There was a KV DVC pin, limited to 300. It was the basic square AKL black background pin, with Kidani Village 2009 underneath. Very bland, and at $12.95, a bit overpriced. But I still bought one, albeit with my discount. The CM wanted to see my actual DVC card before allowing me to purchase the pin, even though my room card clearly stated DVC member. There were no other opening day pins or merchandise, at least according to the disinterested CM's working the shop.

We went downstairs to check out the Sanaa menu, and there was some sort of dance ceremony going on, involving about a half dozen girls in Indian dress, along with their families. As Sanaa has a small lobby area, and the bar is inside Sanaa, we were unable to access the lobby, or the bar. Nobody explained what the ceremony was, and we really couldn't hear the details, so we don't know what exactly they were doing. We did check the menu, and nothing really jumped out us, and that fact, coupled with Disney's exhorbitant wine prices, made us realize that we didn't want to experiment on a $120 dinner, so we decided we would go to Jambo House and hit Boma later.

We then went back to the room, changed into bathing suits, and headed to the pool. Since our room was close to the center part of the lodge, it was not too bad a walk. But if your room is towards the ends of the hallway, you will have a very, very long walk to hit the pool. The pool is actually reached by heading out through the lobby, and walking across. Then you enter the area, and down some stairs, past the fitness club. It's a nice area, but there are still construction walls up, and it does not seem like there is a lot of chair space, but that might change. The kids play area is large and very nicely themed. There are two spas, one on each side of the pool area. Unfortunately, the heaters were not working in either one, and a CM told us that work orders had been submitted. Both spas were being used as kiddie pools by families who left their little ones unattended, which is a bit annoying. We stopped by the pool bar for some refreshments, and I ordered a glass of wine for my wife, and a Mai Tai for myself. The bartender told me that they forgot to stock white wine, so they didn't have any. Now I can understand running out , but to not stock wine on opening day, and to still not have wine at 6pm? It's not like they couldn't make a phone call and have some brought outside to the bar, but I guess that wasn't her problem. I noticed when she poured the rum in my mai tai, that there was only a small amount left in the bottle, and she finished it up, and never opened another one. There was probably about a half ounce of rum in my drink, although they do pour a float of dark rum on the top of the mai tai. As with the gift shop, I got a feeling of a CM who really didn't seem to care, which is tough to say about a CM, since I'm one too. My wife ended up with a vodka & grapefruit, which was made with the proper amount. The total came to $15.50 for the 2 drinks. We settled in the hot ( or lukewarm) tub closest to the bar, along with a 3 adults ( including one man who thought it was OK to stretch out his arms along the length of the walls even though the tub was full), and 4 kiddies, including 2 doing jumps, and one snorkeling. Not a very relaxing time, but eventually the stretched out guy finally left, and two of the kids also left, opening up some space. Perhaps if the heaters were on, the kiddies would have gravitated to the kiddie area. I don't mind kids in the spa, but not in place of a swimming pool, and certainly not jumping or snorkeling. I then hit the pool for a short while, and it was nice, not too crowded. I did two trips on the slide, and was surprised at how fast it was, especially compared to other resorts. The slide is nice and long, but be prepared for the speed. I was told it might be because it's new, and has wax on the surface.

We then went back to the room, changed for dinner, and went downstairs. I notified the front desk about the wasp nest, and inquired if there were any openings at Jiko. I was told nothing was available. We headed to the bus stop, and boarded an Epcot bus with only a few people onboard. The bus then stopped at Jambo house, and dropped us off. It took under 5 minutes. There is also a walking path, but it does not appear to be very scenic and it is quite long, and we didn't want to get all sweaty before dinner.

Upon arriving at Jambo, we went downstairs, and I checked the podium at Jiko for openings. I was told we could have a table in about 30 minutes, so we put our names on the list, and cancelled our Boma ressies. We were given a pager, and headed upstairs to Victoria Falls bar, where I had a Bloody Mary, and the missus had a glass of Pinot Noir. The total came to $17 with the DDE discount. The Bloody Mary was excellent, and we sat at a little table overlooking Boma. Eventually the pager went off, after only about 15 minutes, so we walked downstairs, and were seated. Our waiter, Eduardo, made a sarcastic comment about our having already bought drinks ( we still had our drinks from the bar), plopped down menus , and walked off. Eventually he came back, we ordered two glasses of Pinot Noir ( $15 each), and he seemed upset that we didn't order a whole bottle. He never said anything to us regarding our selections, anything he would recommend, or actually anything outside of confirming our orders through the evening. I don't know if he was having a bad day, or it was just his personality, but he really had no business being a server in a high end restaurant with his attitude. I ordered the duck confit salad ($11), while my wife ordered the cauliflower soup ( $7). Both were excellent, at least my wife told me the soup was excellent, as I refuse to taste cauliflower soup. The duck salad was one of the best I have ever had, and could actually be done as an entree. We finished our course, then Eduardo plopped down our filets without a word, mine rare, my wife medium. At least that's what we had ordered. Mine was medium, and my wife's was well done. Plus mine had a huge piece of gristle in the middle. Not what I expect when paying $39 for a filet. At least mine was edible other than the gristle. My wife ate a few bites, and pushed the plate aside. We expected Eduardo to reappear and check how the steaks were, but no doubt he was in the back chugging down some lemonade to account for his sour disposition. He finally arrived after about 20 minutes, and asked my wife if she wanted a bag for the leftovers. She told him that she didn't care for it, as it was way overcooked, and he just said OK, and walked away. He then reappeared, and handed her a dessert menu without a word. She told him just bring the check, we've had enough. He then took about 10 minutes finding the check. The total came to $130 with DDE discount. Unfortunately, DDE also includes an 18% tip, which he would most certainly have not gotten if it wasn't included. We were both really disappointed in the experience, and felt it was a waste of money eating there. My wife went to let the manager know about our service, and the steaks, and to his credit, he did ask for our bill to take care of it. But we told him that we didn't want them to think we were trying to get a freebie, so we refused his offer. We just wanted him to be aware of how the server was.

We then went upstairs, and browsed Zawadi marketplace, but didn't end up buying anything. We then went to the bus stop, and waited about 5 minutes for a DTD bus, which took us back to Kidani. It was pretty simple, and not crowded at all.

Back at Kidani we stopped by the bar in Sanaa, and found out they now offer 1/2 bottles of wine in a carafe. This was perfect for us, as we did not want a full bottle. We ordered a halfbottle of King Estate Pinot Noir ( $29 with DDE) and went up to the room. I saw that the wasp nest had been removed while we were out. We sat on the balcony for awhile, enjoying the pleasant evening and the animals on the savannah. After a while we made use of the jacuzzi tub, then hit the sack for the night.

The next morning we were up and out by 9am, having to get home and navigate the long and treacherous 11 mile journey. All in all, while the rooms are better at Kidani, and the Savannah is much larger, I think in the future, I would stay at Jambo House on points, using the concierge level if available. I just find the original lodge more of a unique resort, and it is much more easy to navigate to the pool and restaurants. Kidani does not strike me as a resort where you want to laze around all day, other than the pool. The outside viewing area on the Savannah is smaller and not nearly as well designed as at Jambo, and the lobby and gift shop are too small for a resort that size. Sanaa does not appeal to us, and I have a feeling probably won't be appealing to many tourists with their bland tastes. We love Boma, and usually love Jiko, but Sanaa does not strike the same chord with us. We ended up spending $207 on food, beverage, and pin for our 1 night stay.

Pros- Nice pool area, kids play area, beautiful and spacious rooms, extra bathroom in 1br villas, large balconies.

Cons - Gift shop too small, lobby too small, not alot of space to hang out and explore, pool across from main building, somewhat exotic menu at Sanaa, bar is inside Sanaa, no wine at pool bar ( and no attempt to rectify it), disinterested CM's in shop and pool bar, no food court like Mara ( which would be a bit of an undertaking for a small meal), hot tubs not hot and used as kiddie pools with no oversight.

Feel free to comment or ask questions,

Take care,

Bill

Well that's not good news! We don't plop into our home
resort until October. The second savanah should be open
by then. I wonder what's going on... About Jiko, we
always ask for and usually get Nasser and have never been
disappointed with him. We have had other servers that
were just disinterested. Glad you told the manager!
Lisa
.

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