Re: TR Kidani Village / Jiko
- From: aksco33 <aksco33@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 8 May 2009 21:33:30 -0700 (PDT)
On May 4, 9:39�am, "MajorWoody" <tr...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 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 ...
read more �
Thanks for your review, I do believe from some of the other reports
the Kidani Village Wings are bigger than what most had expected. The
rooms do look nice and offer atleast one extra person in the one
bedroom or 2 bedroom--which is good for the family of 5 because they
could now stay in a one bedroom. The pool area looks great and I
could see spending a couple of hours and not worrying about hitting a
waterpark but It does seem like it is out of the way from the main
building--I can also see it being a problem with people trying to keep
track of their kids since it seems spreadout--I have seen people
complain about trying to keep track of their kids at Stormalong Bay.
I am alittle disappointed that they are not offering some "regular"
style food at the pool bar and it also seems alittle disappointed as
the store seems to be an after thought. Amy
.
- References:
- TR Kidani Village / Jiko
- From: MajorWoody
- TR Kidani Village / Jiko
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