Animal kingdom kidani village or Caribbean beach

NelleBelle

NelleBelle

Well-Known Member
We loved our stay at AKL. We have never considered CBR just due to sheer size and layout of that resort. It's just way to big and spread out. I don't want to walk forever to get to amenities. I'd rather pay more and have something like AKL, which is absolutely amazing.
 
nickys

nickys

Premium Member
NelleBelle said:
We loved our stay at AKL. We have never considered CBR just due to sheer size and layout of that resort. It's just way to big and spread out. I don't want to walk forever to get to amenities. I'd rather pay more and have something like AKL, which is absolutely amazing.
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To be fair you could be walking a long way to reach the amenities at AKL too, especially at Kidani. So anyone thinking CBR is too spread out could find the same to be true at AKL too.
 
C

crawale

Well-Known Member
Jakjak said:
Hi there! Getting ready for a trip to Disney in early April. I need a little advice or input into my resort choice. I can stay at Caribbean beach resort in the pirate themed room or animal kingdom kidani villas in a deluxe studio standard view room. I feel both have their pros and cons. For instance Caribbean beach has the skiliner but the pirate rooms have double beds and are a far walk to everything. At animal kingdom transportation is only via bus and there is definitely less food options. Any and all input is greatly appreciated.
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Having stayed in the Pirate room it is very small with less amenities. Kidani Village is far from anywhere and Sanaa is the only food option which is ridiculous for what is supposed to be a Deluxe resort. Neither would be my choice but if you choose Caribbean Beach at least get a regular room with Queen beds - pirate theming is just not worth being cramped.
 
aliceismad

aliceismad

Well-Known Member
Jakjak said:
I think I have decided to stay at Kidani Village, seeing that the two parks I would go to the least are HS and Epcot. I will just pack some food for the evening time seeing that a lot of resorts are lacking in the food availability area. I was able to obtain a reservation for a deluxe studio standard view. I really would like a studio with a savanna view but haven’t seen one available everyday when I check. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will pop up. Thanks for all the great tips, I’d liked to hear more if you have them.
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Just FYI, there are a very small number of "standard view" rooms on Kidani's north wing that face east or north (near the fences) at the Pembe Savannah. I requested one once and received it. We could see the okapi and various other animals from our balcony. (There are no giraffes or zebra on that savannah.) Certainly not as lovely as some of the true savannah views, but it was a great surprise for my small daughter. I've heard that if you have a request, you should make it about a month before your stay. You can find views from different rooms here: https://touringplans.com/hotel_maps/disneys-animal-kingdom-villas

Even if you don't have an animal view, however, there are many places to animal watch. Kidani's small lobby is lovely. I would suggest visiting Jambo House's grand lobby and animal viewing areas. It's an easy walk, or you can take the bus. The pool at Kidani has a zero entry area, which is great for kiddos, and a small splash area.

Sanaa is wonderful. Everyone talks about the bread service there. Not sure what the menu is like now, but I had a fabulous duck entree there.
 
CaptainAmerica

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
X-S Press Matt said:
The biggest downside is that it's a little far from everything.
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That's a myth. Yes, it's far from everything when you look at a map, but it's one left turn and a straight shot to get to the Magic Kingdom. Over the course of a week, visiting all parks roughly equally, you'll spend less time on Disney transportation staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge than you will staying at a monorail resort (with the exception of the Poly rooms that are right next to the TTC).
 
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CaptainAmerica

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
crawale said:
Having stayed in the Pirate room it is very small with less amenities. Kidani Village is far from anywhere and Sanaa is the only food option which is ridiculous for what is supposed to be a Deluxe resort. Neither would be my choice but if you choose Caribbean Beach at least get a regular room with Queen beds - pirate theming is just not worth being cramped.
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A Pirate room is not any smaller than a standard room at Caribbean Beach. And Kidani Village alone is not a "deluxe resort." Animal Kingdom Lodge is a deluxe resort and it includes Sanaa, The Mara, Boma, and Jiko.
 
J

Jakjak

New Member
Original Poster
Thanks for all the great input. I will keep checking for a deluxe studio savanna view room but in the meantime I will send in my requests for our standard view. Who knows maybe we will get a little view of the animals. Any suggestions for making the requests. Should I fax or call? Getting excited with less than a month to go.
 
aliceismad

aliceismad

Well-Known Member
Jakjak said:
Thanks for all the great input. I will keep checking for a deluxe studio savanna view room but in the meantime I will send in my requests for our standard view. Who knows maybe we will get a little view of the animals. Any suggestions for making the requests. Should I fax or call? Getting excited with less than a month to go.
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I've only requested rooms three times. All three times I did it via fax through touringplans. (I think you have to have a subscription for that, but I get one for every WDW trip because I really appreciate the wealth of info on the site.) Two of the three times I got what I asked for, and the third I did not (but I actually got a bit better than I asked for in retrospect). However, each of those stays was only there for a partial week, not a full week, and in less-busy times (January and May).
 
B

BASS

Well-Known Member
Agree with the sentiment of most of the other posts. Granted, I haven't been since skyliner was added nor am I familiar with the covid changes to either resort, but having been to both resorts before, it's not close . . . AKL. Last time I was at Caribbean Beach, the layout and walking time was somewhat aggravating.

Go to Jiko if it's open. It's different but excellent.
 
J

Jakjak

New Member
Original Poster
I think I will take the advice and send a request via fax. Does anyone know where to find the appropriate fax number for AKL kidani. Or does anyone have another way they have used to make requests that has worked?
Thanks
 
NelleBelle

NelleBelle

Well-Known Member
Jakjak said:
I don’t use a travel agent and I am not a subscriber to touringplans.com, so those options are out for me. Thank you for the suggestions though.
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I'm not a 100% but I don't know if you can't fax directly? I'm sure someone will chime in if you can though! 😉 I don't have a subscription to touring plans (although have thought about it for previous trips) but this trip bit the bullet and used a travel agent (they're free) since I didn't feel up to doing all the leg work this time (getting up at 3am to make dining reservations was the big one). I still had to come up with where I wanted to stay, where and what time I wanted to eat. I just didn't need to do the heavy lifting.
 
J

Jakjak

New Member
Original Poster
NelleBelle said:
I'm not a 100% but I don't know if you can't fax directly? I'm sure someone will chime in if you can though! 😉 I don't have a subscription to touring plans (although have thought about it for previous trips) but this trip bit the bullet and used a travel agent (they're free) since I didn't feel up to doing all the leg work this time (getting up at 3am to make dining reservations was the big one). I still had to come up with where I wanted to stay, where and what time I wanted to eat. I just didn't need to do the heavy lifting.
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I was fortunate and got the dining I wanted, which wasn’t much. I am traveling alone with my 8 year old son and we have been just last year so we picked a few sit down places and figured we will just do quick service at our leisure with the mobile ordering. I feel this trip will be a little more laid back not having to rush to make fast pass times and such. I really just wanted to have some sort of Savanna view if possible.
 
NelleBelle

NelleBelle

Well-Known Member
Jakjak said:
I was fortunate and got the dining I wanted, which wasn’t much. I am traveling alone with my 8 year old son and we have been just last year so we picked a few sit down places and figured we will just do quick service at our leisure with the mobile ordering. I feel this trip will be a little more laid back not having to rush to make fast pass times and such. I really just wanted to have some sort of Savanna view if possible.
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How fun to just have a trip with you and DS! I'd love to do a trip with just me and my 2 boys but DH would have a stroke if I suggested that! LOL. I think you can put a request in for a savannah view room (if that's what you booked) when you do "check-in" on you MDE. There is a place for you to make requests, IIRC. Then you don't have to worry about it.
 
Toodycat

Toodycat

Member
I have not stayed at the Caribbean, but our last WDW was at Kidani and it was extraordinary. The resort is just gorgeous, the CMs were delightful and the theming is brilliant. You can’t beat having the opportunity to watch the animals in the savanna after a day at the parks. We loved it so much that we’re returning in the fall. Kidani is incredible.
 

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