Honeymoon in October

[WondersOfLife]

Hey there! So I’m marrying my fiancée on October 15th and we plan on vacationing at WDW from the 16th to the 22nd. Now, I’ve only ever stayed at Pop Century, All-Star Movies/Music, and Art of Animation.

Obviously I’m looking at one of the really nice and fancy resorts (that I’ll probably never be able to book us again because money ).

So yesterday I got us reservations for “Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village.” Do y’all think this is a good option? What should we expect?

Obviously I wasnt Forking up $16,000 for a Savanah view. We have the basic $5,000 room package with 3 day park tickets.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Havent stayed there but it does consistently get great reviews. I'd say its a good choice. Honeymooning at Disney is a great way to start off your life together. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and best wishes for a long happy life together.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Admittedly I have not stayed there.
People seem to enjoy it but do tend to complain a fair amount about transportation... at least I've seen complaints about it.

If it were me I'd probably go with Port Orleans French Quarter as it seems like the most romantic resort and its a moderate price point.

If going the expensive route I'd do Contemporary/BLT or Poly.

 

[WondersOfLife]

Admittedly I have not stayed there.
People seem to enjoy it but do tend to complain a fair amount about transportation... at least I've seen complaints about it.

If it were me I'd probably go with Port Orleans French Quarter as it seems like the most romantic resort and its a moderate price point.

If going the expensive route I'd do Contemporary/BLT or Poly.

It’s less about the expense more about a mix of nicer resort & my fiancée’s interests. She’s an Animal lover so I’m sure the Savannah aspect will be awesome. And the first park we went to together was Animal Kingdom.

Was just mostly curious if anyone knew of any perks, Easter eggs, ect. at this place!

 

[MickeyCB]

It’s less about the expense more about a mix of nicer resort & my fiancée’s interests. She’s an Animal lover so I’m sure the Savannah aspect will be awesome. And the first park we went to together was Animal Kingdom.

Was just mostly curious if anyone knew of any perks, Easter eggs, ect. at this place!

We've stayed there several times. It is a fabulous resort. As said above, transportation wise it is out of the way. But, if you don't mind waiting there is obviously bus service, but we use uber a lot from there. I just build it into our budget.

I would keep an eye out for room discounts, because they pop up periodically and now with covid more frequently.
This might enable you to get that Savannah facing view which is really nice.

The other thing to consider is looking into DVC renting points where you might be able to get a deal on a studio or 1 bedroom.

The resort is beautiful and you are able to view the animals from several places from the hotel. We've not used the pool but I have heard it is really nice, and there is a quick service (you have to walk to from Kidani) and the property has at least 2 table service dining options (I think). All of this of course is considering what the situation will be in 21 from covid.

I like the theming of the rooms and resorts very much.

 

[WondersOfLife]

We've stayed there several times. It is a fabulous resort. As said above, transportation wise it is out of the way. But, if you don't mind waiting there is obviously bus service, but we use uber a lot from there. I just build it into our budget.

I would keep an eye out for room discounts, because they pop up periodically and now with covid more frequently.
This might enable you to get that Savannah facing view which is really nice.

The other thing to consider is looking into DVC renting points where you might be able to get a deal on a studio or 1 bedroom.

The resort is beautiful and you are able to view the animals from several places from the hotel. We've not used the pool but I have heard it is really nice, and there is a quick service (you have to walk to from Kidani) and the property has at least 2 table service dining options (I think). All of this of course is considering what the situation will be in 21 from covid.

I like the theming of the rooms and resorts very much.

It sounds pretty nice and relaxing!

Is the chaos from value resorts still present or is it a bit quieter? (It’s fine either way just wondering)

 

[MickeyCB]

It sounds pretty nice and relaxing!

Is the chaos from value resorts still present or is it a bit quieter? (It’s fine either way just wondering)

It is very nice for sure!

I've not stayed too often at the values, but one time it was very chaotic. We may have been there during one of the sport events and that contributed. I'm not sure.
I definitely don't feel that way about most of the deluxe/DVC resorts. You are still going to have kids doing the things they do in pool areas, the quick service dining areas, etc. but overall in my opinion quieter/calmer. Others here may have different experiences though.

 

[MMFanCipher]

Have a great time! We went to WDW for our Honeymoon 30 years ago! The Magic must work
because we're still married!!

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Congrats! I've only stayed there once, but I liked it and I'd stay there again. I didn't have a savannah view, but looking at the animals was so cool.

 

[Schweino]

The other thing to consider is looking into DVC renting points where you might be able to get a deal on a studio or 1 bedroom.

I echo this point! Renting DVC can almost cost half as much than booking through Disney direct. I imagine this could push you to do 5 nights even (if you were able to get the time off).

 

[Buck Wheelie]

Admittedly I have not stayed there.
People seem to enjoy it but do tend to complain a fair amount about transportation... at least I've seen complaints about it.

If it were me I'd probably go with Port Orleans French Quarter as it seems like the most romantic resort and its a moderate price point.

If going the expensive route I'd do Contemporary/BLT or Poly.

I agree. AK is beautiful but its farther away from most parks and DS. I like POFQ too and they have the boat transportation to DS which is a benefit.

 

[JillC LI]

Should be wonderful. Can you rent a car to get around the distance issue?

 

[wdwmagic]

Have a look at https://dvcrentalstore.com/confirmed-reservations/#confirmed-reservations-inventory/

They are a sponsor of ours and running some great deals on DVC reservations.

 

[wedenterprises]

Kidani is awesome and both buildings have fun pools. There's lots of great places around the hotel to see the animals too.

 

[Nottamus]

We own DVC at Kidani, although we always pick Jambo over Kidani, just because...

The theming in my opinion is the best there is...the music is relaxing, and turns out we got copies of the music and listen at home quite a bit!
Food options are better (again, in my opinion) at Jambo, but there's a shuttle bus running between the 2 every 10 minutes. Easy to get back and forth....hopefully by then, the restaurants at Jambo will be back open

That being said, pretty much the best steak I had so far on property was from Sanaa at Kidani...

The ride to any park isn't that bad, AKL is like 5 minutes and there.


Safari view room is never needed because of all the viewing areas all over both resorts.

Have a great trip! Enjoy!

 

[aliceismad]

Congratulations! Kidani is beautiful, and the Animal Kingdom restaurants are excellent. We loooove Sanaa. Jambo does have the bigger, more beautiful lobby, but we really liked the Kidani pool area. Seeing the animals at night through the goggles was a highlight of our trip, as was making smores by the pool and the drummers in the small room off the lobby.

Are you renting DVC points? When I stayed there is was cheaper to rent points than book through Disney.

There are some standard studios that have partial savannah views. It was amazing seeing the Okapi hanging out there. If you look at the Pembe Savannah, they are near the fence that separates the savannah area from the pool area. My understanding is that there is a column of rooms that used to be considered savannah view and were downgraded because people were upset about seeing the fence and not seeing giraffes. (Pembe is the smaller savannah and only has some types of animals.) If you make a kind request and mention the honeymoon, perhaps you could get one? Even if you can't get a view of a savannah, there are many places to see the animals, and the atmosphere is very dark and romantic. I love the dark woods and details.

We did not think the bus situation was that onerous. Maybe it would be different during very busy times of the year, but the busses were fine and the distance to Parks was not that big of a deal.