My Stay At Walt Disney World Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani and Coronado Springs Resort
When I was at Disney World for the Princess Half Marathon I had the pleasure of staying at both Coronado Springs Resort for the first night and than 5 nights in a 1 bedroom savanna view villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village. When we originally booked I had planned on coming in on Friday, but due to an event in the area we needed to come in on Thursday. Kidani was booked so we decided we would stay at Coronado Springs that first night since the next morning the Princess Half Expo was there and I could just walk right over to it.
I have to say that I was VERY impressed with both resorts!
Coronado Springs is in the moderate resort category, which was the one category I had never stayed at before. The rooms were nicely decorated and very comfortable. The resort grounds are beautiful with hammocks around and large trees. The pool area is very large and even has a tiny baby pool with fountains. In the main building there is a quick service market with gelato, small food items, and coffee. We ate dinner that night at Pepper Market, which is set up in stations. You can find the menu here http://allears.net/menu/menu_pm.htm. The half roasted chicken was delicious and moist!
(A side note: allears.com has all the menus for all food at all Disneyland and Walt Disney World locations! Great resource).
After I went to the Expo in the morning we packed up and made our way to Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village. Kidani Village is made up of DVC villas. We are not DVC members, but probably should be! haha We prefer to stay at the villas though so we have a full kitchen and washer and dryer. With a toddler and staying for longer than a couple days, these things come in very handy. I often like to prepare my own food before running a half/full marathon and I have this ability with a full kitchen. My almost 3 year old is often a picky eater, so instead of only eating at restaurants where she will usually only eat pizza or a cheeseburger, I also get the option of cooking her healthy food that she will eat. In the long run it also saves us money not eating out all the time. With annual passholder, Florida Resident, or certain times of the year discounts the villas are often not much more than a regular hotel room.
Since we frequent Disney World we have certain resorts we have tried and loved. We have stayed at Old Key West, Boardwalk, Beach Club Villas and regular hotel room, Saratoga Springs, Bay Lake Tower, All Star Sports and now Coronado Springs and Kidani Village.
Kidani Village was AMAZING! We had a 1 bedroom villa with a savanna view. Giraffes, zebras, and countless other animals would just be wandering around all day. It was great because when we were sitting around our hotel room we were still seeing fun things! The pool at Kidani was also amazing. They have a great big water slide, but also a tiny water slide that my almost 3 year old could do all by herself. They have a splash and play area which was very nice for my little one too. Kidani has one sit down restaurant, but no quick service restaurant which for me was the only draw back, but again with a villa you have a kitchen so it wan’t that big of a deal.
The lay out of the Kidani 1 bedroom is very nice and spacious. The kitchen area is a little bigger than other villas and I like that the one bedroom has 2 bathrooms, so if people are sleeping on the sleeper sofa they have a restroom right there to use.
Here are some pictures I took right form our villa!
We will definitely be staying at both of these resorts again. 🙂
What is your favorite Walt Disney World Resort hotel?
Halley Prestage | 20th Mar 13
Hello! Love your post. We are trying to decide between Kidani (which we have booked) and Old Key West. We have four kids and will also have my in-laws with us. I would love to hear what you think of OKW. My hubbies wants to switch because there is a promo on OKW right now so it is about half the price of the Kidani that we have booked. Thanks!
thehalfcrazymama | 20th Mar 13
So OKW is great! The square food and floor plans of the villas there are larger. The boat to downtown Disney is fun. The buildings are spread out and you have lots of trees and a golf course that winds throughout. The pool is ok but nothing super exceptional by Disney standards. Are you all staying in the same villa or getting multiple villas. I love Kidani with a savanna view and the pool is amazing. If it was a standard view though I don’t know if I would choose it over OKW to be honest. It is really what you are prioritizing more pool? Ambience? Square footage? Kidani is built more like a hotel, you walk down hallways to your room. OKW is more like a condo. You walk outside when you go out your door.
Halley Prestage | 21st Mar 13
Thanks very much! It is nice to hear from someone who has been to both resorts. We are all staying in the same room so we have a two-bedroom savanna view booked right now. The kids like the idea of the animals but I am not sure we’ll be hanging around the hotel that much as we are going to a different theme park every day plus a day at Sea World and the water parks as well. I like the sound of the bonfire and smores at Kidani with the storytelling but I am not sure we’ll be around to take advantage of it. I have heard that OKW was recently renovated as well so that is nice since it’s quite a bit older. The savings to switch to OKW is $7,500 so it’s pretty substantial….Kidani would have to be a whole lot better to make it worthwhile to pay that much extra! Would you say it’s worth it for that price difference? Thanks again for your help! I appreciate the feedback.
thehalfcrazymama | 21st Mar 13
That is a very big price difference! The animals are very cool, but when it is dark you can’t see them so if you are gone all day that is a consideration. I believe OKW has bonfire and smores as well. Check on that if that is important to you. I know all the resorts do the outdoor movies and I remember a bonfire area at OKW. We even roasted marshmallows at Coronado when we were there which is a lower price point than the villas so I’m 90% sure all the villa resorts offer this. Since my daughter is only 3 and we go frequently we do spend a considerable time in our room which makes the savanna view great because we feel like we don’t need to go to Animal Kingdom Park since our fav thing there is the safari. On the flip side, if you stay at OKW you can do the safari at Animal Kingdom and see the animals. The Old Key West renovations definitely updated it. Granite and flat screen TVs. I don’t know if you have done this yet, but go to youtube and search 2 bedroom Kidani and 2 bedroom Old Key West. There are quite a lot video tours of the rooms to give you an idea of the different layouts. For example at OKW the dining table’s a big round table and at Kidani it is more breakfast nook style. I’m also not entirely positive on this, but might be important depending on how cozy everyone is traveling with you. I believe Kidani 2 bedroom has 3 bathrooms and that OKW has 2 bathrooms meaning if people are sleeping on sleeper sofa they would have to share with the master bathroom or go in the 2nd bedroom for their bathroom. I hope I’m helping! I definitely agree that $7500 is a HUGE price difference. You could eat a bunch of amazingly meals at all the best restaurants in WDW for that much money 🙂