Kidani's colorful railings are NOT being painted black

[LisaS]

Update: the color is coming back! See update below...

Kidani is being painted. The colorful railings are being painted BLACK! Given how plain the outer walls and balcony separators are, the multi-colored railings add badly needed color and theming to Kidani's exterior. It is so disappointing to witness what they are doing. The areas they painted today are just so bland and boring now, and look like a cheap apartment complex. Given the railings appear to be powder coated, and in good shape, I don't understand why they are doing this.

They are also painting the dark "log" poles a lighter color that matches the color of the "rope" that binds the logs together. It causes the rope detail to disappear, ruining another bit of theming.

I took some photos and will try to post them later.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Ugh! Sounds awful ...
Thx for posting pix later!

 

[Frederic Civish]

Boo Boo! Shame! Shame!

 

[aoconnor]

Hmmm.. hopefully they are just prepping that area to be repainted colorful again? This balcony painting project has been going on for many months (at least since December) so I hope they haven't switch directions now.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Oh my. When I first saw the Kidani building I definitely thought boring college dorm with the exception of the colors on the railings. It was the one non-boring part of the room sections of the building.

 

[zavandor]

I do understand why Disney is tuning down the theming in all the cash resorts, especially at those with a Convention center. People might want to go back to a room with less "in your face" Disney theming and the modern look would appeal more to conventioners. But DVC? We've committed to 50 years of Disney vacations because we like themeing, the more the better... And WE pay for those renovations, so it's not a budget problem either. It is just bad judgement.

 

[AyrshireGirl71]

We are staying for the first time in Kidani, Savannah view (our first as DVC members) in July. Should we be concerned regarding the painting of the balconies? We are looking forward to sitting on our balcony watching the animals, not someone painting my balcony.

 

[LisaS]

Finally, this morning they are covering the black paint with the usual balcony colors. Whew! After so many disappointing changes to the resorts over the years, it was easy for me to believe they were eliminating paint colors to save money on future maintenance. LOL.

It remains to be seen if the new pole color is permanent. I don't like it as much as the darker color because of the reduced contrast between the pole and the rope, making the rope less visible. Now that it's clear the balcony colors are here to stay, I have hope that the original dark brown will be back too. I will post updates on that.

Sorry for the confusion, and happy to be able to deliver better news.

I wanted to edit the title of this post, but cannot find the option to do that. It used to be under "More Options..." but I'm not seeing it. Edit: Found it, under "Thread Tools"!

 

[LisaS]

We are staying for the first time in Kidani, Savannah view (our first as DVC members) in July. Should we be concerned regarding the painting of the balconies? We are looking forward to sitting on our balcony watching the animals, not someone painting my balcony.

They are currently working on the section closest to Jambo House, on the savanna side. Given their current pace, they should be done with most/all of this entire end of the resort by July. They start work around 9am and finish by 5pm so guests who spend the day at the parks would not be inconvenienced, though all the equipment (8 cherry pickers, 4 porta-potties) takes away from the magic.

It's kind of interesting watching them work, until you find yourself face to face with someone in a cherry picker just off the corner of your balcony! It's noisy out on the balcony, but we don't hear them much at all from inside the room but we're one balcony off the edge of the work area. I'm sure we would hear them if we were in the middle of it, not to mention there would be people out on the balcony painting.

I don't know if they have already done the other end of the resort, or if that will be done next. Perhaps those who have been here in the recent past will post about that.

 

[AyrshireGirl71]

They are currently working on the section closest to Jambo House, on the savanna side. Given their current pace, they should be done with most/all of this entire end of the resort by July. They start work around 9am and finish by 5pm so guests who spend the day at the parks would not be inconvenienced, though all the equipment (8 cherry pickers, 4 porta-potties) takes away from the magic.

It's kind of interesting watching them work, until you find yourself face to face with someone in a cherry picker just off the corner of your balcony! It's noisy out on the balcony, but we don't hear them much at all from inside the room but we're one balcony off the edge of the work area. I'm sure we would hear them if we were in the middle of it, not to mention there would be people out on the balcony painting.

I don't know if they have already done the other end of the resort, or if that will be done next. Perhaps those who have been here in the recent past will post about that.

Thanks for your reply. So thats the area of rooms7254 to 7562. I'm hoping they started at the lobby area and worked their way along. We have only stayed in SSR. Our first time staying in Kidani. Do you have any room request recommendations?