DisneyFan1979
03-11-2014, 12:46 PM
I'm just back from 4 nights as a new DVC member at a 1-bedroom at Kidani Village and 2 nights at the Beach Club!
DVC EXPERIENCE: This was my first time staying at Kidani, though I have stayed at Jambo House in a regular room twice. We found Kidani to be very quiet and relaxing! Overall, I was very impressed with the DVC experience. The room was fully stocked and perfectly made up upon our arrival--a few days worth of dishwasher packets, 2 extra rolls of paper towels, two packets of laundry detergent, etc. Everything was fully restocked when they came in to change towels after our 3rd night.
One thing I noticed more fully for the first time is how non-healthy the food items for sale in the gift shop and geared towards DVC members are--so many packaged donuts, high fat and sodium frozen meals, etc. I feel like Disney could make more of an effort to include a better variety of options. They are charging so much for everything anyway, I feel like they could mix in some higher-end frozen food items or perhaps, particularly at Kidani where there is no food marketplace, some fresh packaged sandwiches. We do rent a car and go to the grocery store, but one night after a big lunch at the park we found ourselves on the hunt for something light for dinner in our room and found ourselves struggling with the options at Kidani and didn't feel like walking/busing over to Jambo House because we wanted to relax and eat in our room. This may be the only resort where it's an issue, as everywhere else we would have been able to get something fresh on the go to bring back to the room from the resort's quick-service marketplace. The pool bar at Kidani is an option during the day, but doesn't stay open late.
MAGICBANDS: We loved them! We found them so convenient. It was great not to have to dig into a wallet or handbag at busy park locations to pay for food. We also found that we were less tired, as we didn't have to double-back in the parks a million times to pick up a Fastpass and then return later to go on a ride.
BE OUR GUEST: We ate lunch at Be Our Guest using Fastpass+. Beautiful inside and very good lunch food. I wouldn't recommend waiting in line for an hour though, unless you have a huge Beauty and the Beast fan in your traveling party. I am gluten-free due a wheat sensitivity and Be Our Guest was hands-down the easiest place to order gluten-free. The computerized ordering was simple and my gluten-free turkey sandwich came out as quickly as regular food. I wish it was as easy as that everywhere.
Great trip!
DVC EXPERIENCE: This was my first time staying at Kidani, though I have stayed at Jambo House in a regular room twice. We found Kidani to be very quiet and relaxing! Overall, I was very impressed with the DVC experience. The room was fully stocked and perfectly made up upon our arrival--a few days worth of dishwasher packets, 2 extra rolls of paper towels, two packets of laundry detergent, etc. Everything was fully restocked when they came in to change towels after our 3rd night.
One thing I noticed more fully for the first time is how non-healthy the food items for sale in the gift shop and geared towards DVC members are--so many packaged donuts, high fat and sodium frozen meals, etc. I feel like Disney could make more of an effort to include a better variety of options. They are charging so much for everything anyway, I feel like they could mix in some higher-end frozen food items or perhaps, particularly at Kidani where there is no food marketplace, some fresh packaged sandwiches. We do rent a car and go to the grocery store, but one night after a big lunch at the park we found ourselves on the hunt for something light for dinner in our room and found ourselves struggling with the options at Kidani and didn't feel like walking/busing over to Jambo House because we wanted to relax and eat in our room. This may be the only resort where it's an issue, as everywhere else we would have been able to get something fresh on the go to bring back to the room from the resort's quick-service marketplace. The pool bar at Kidani is an option during the day, but doesn't stay open late.
MAGICBANDS: We loved them! We found them so convenient. It was great not to have to dig into a wallet or handbag at busy park locations to pay for food. We also found that we were less tired, as we didn't have to double-back in the parks a million times to pick up a Fastpass and then return later to go on a ride.
BE OUR GUEST: We ate lunch at Be Our Guest using Fastpass+. Beautiful inside and very good lunch food. I wouldn't recommend waiting in line for an hour though, unless you have a huge Beauty and the Beast fan in your traveling party. I am gluten-free due a wheat sensitivity and Be Our Guest was hands-down the easiest place to order gluten-free. The computerized ordering was simple and my gluten-free turkey sandwich came out as quickly as regular food. I wish it was as easy as that everywhere.
Great trip!