While this should be firmly filed under the heading of "rumor", current information suggests that the Animal Kingdom Villas' Kidani Village is headed for an opening around April / May 2009.
Disney has yet to announce an opening date for Kidani Village, much less begin to take reservations for its units. But at present there are several pieces of information which suggest an opening in mid-April or May 2009.
First up is the scheduled closure of the resort's Sunset Savanna . A few weeks ago it was announced that there would be no animals populating the Sunset Savanna during periods in early 2009. DVC has confirmed these dates will run from January 15 to April 15, 2009.
Given the previously announced Kidani Village opening timeframe of "early 2009", one could conclude that the Sunset Savanna closure is related to Kidani Village's opening. It is likely that workers need additional access to the Savanna area in order to complete physical construction and/or landscaping on the first Kidani Village units.
Or from a different perspective, it seems unlikely that the resort would open Kidani Village either before or during the Sunset Savanna's scheduled closure.
Now today comes word that DVC has begun to sell units located within Kidani Village. And as part of the sale terms, dues for Kidani Village owners are being deferred until May 2009 (confirmed via DVCNews.com sources.) This would again suggest the mid-April to May opening as owners are normally not obligated to contribute to the resort's operating costs until their unit is ready for occupancy.
Those who have been following AKV development from the start may recall that Disney altered its booking dates a number of times for the initial Jambo House units. While the end date of the Sunset Savanna closure and the Kidani Village opening could certainly be accellerated, at this time it appears DVC is headed for a May '09 opening.
DVC has previously stated that members will be able to specify a room in either Jambo House or Kidani Village when reserving at Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas. As such, they will certainly hold off announcing an opening date until such time as they are confident construction schedules will not fall behind.
