I believe both buildings have the make-up mirror (at least in 1BRs and above). As far as lighting goes, they are comparable although neither is really that great. The problem: when Disney put in energy efficient lighting, it assumed that the wattage needed was the same as having incandescent bulbs when in reality an energy efficient bulb. such as 60 watt, was less illuminating than a incandescent 60 watt bulb. Kidani actually used to be much worse than Jambo for lighting. The fix done by Disney was not to change the lighting but to paint the walls at Kidani a lighter color, which improved lighting in Kidani.
Rooms at Kidani and Jambo are different. Studios are close to the same size but the Jambo tub/shower is in a separate room with the toilet while the Kidani tub/shower is next to the sink and thus anyone using the sink can see anyone else using the shower. The Kidani 1BR (and 2BR) is about 100 sq ft larger than than the Jambo 1BR (and 2BR). The Kidani 1BR is overall much nicer, with more closet space, two bathrooms and a large master bath with a separate tub and shower; Jambo 1BR has a combined tub and shower in the master (and only) bathroom and the tub requires a very high stepover which can be difficult for older people with any knee issues. If desire is better room, the Kidani 1BR wins by a large margin. If you are like many of us who have bought there, you begin with the belief that you will always want Jambo and then, as time progresses, turn into a firm believer that the only place to stay if you have a 1BR or 2BR is Kidani. One other thing to be aware of with Jambo rooms: for all of AKV, there is no problem booking 11 months out except for both value rooms and club level, both of which are only at Jambo. The value (smaller rooms) very often disappear before 11 months out (booked by someone with a start date just before yours) or within seconds ater 8 a.m. at 11 months out, and for club level rooms that is really an all year problem. It is more a problem for studios and 2BRs than for 1BRs but advice to follow is that you should not buy AKV with the desire to get, and belief that you will always be able to get, value or club level rooms at 11 months out.
Jambo's advantage is amenities. It has the much larger store and lobby, and three restaurants: Jiko, a rather expensive but good table service. Boma, one of the best buffets on site, and Mara, a good quick service restaurant which has lots of seating. Kidani has only one table-service restaurant, Sanaa, but it is very good. The Jambo pool is significantly larger than Kidani's and has a lot more areas to find shade. However, the Kidani pool has the much longer slide and an excellent kids (3 to 12) water play area. Kidani also has the better food/bar service area at the pool with a lot more seating under the roof in the shade. Kidani also has a community hall and Jambo deos not. If you have a car, Kidani is ideal with its under-building parking lot that runs almost the length of the entire building, and with three elevators along each of the two wings, one can usually find a parking space fairly clise to one's room regardless of where the room is. Jambo parking is in a large lot across the road that is in the front of the building and walk from car to room can run from not too bad to very long. Bus service from the two buildings is comparable. Buses stop at both resorts, but often during higher demand morning times, there are direct busses to MK from each building. Overall the service to the parks is somewhat better than other DVC resorts, with fewer delays (possibly because there are only two stops at the resort), but distance to parks other than AK (only 10 minutes) is longer.
Another big difference between Kidani and Jambo is the walk from room to lobby (or bus stop or pool). The two wings at the Jambo building are very long and the walk from end room to lobby or bus stop can be punishing. However, Jambo has nothing on Kidani, which has the longest walks down an internal hallway from end rooms to lobby of any hotel in the world (and I mean on the earth not just WDW). The Kidani buiding is greater than 2/3 mile long and walk from end rooms to lobby or bus stop can be over 1/3 mile (basically the walk from end room on the north wing to the bus stop is about the same as walking from the base of World Showcase at Epcot to Germany). The result has been that members often make room requests for Kidani that can put them closer to the lobby. For Jambo, that is not actually the best idea if you have savanna view because rooms closer to the lobby do not have as good views as rooms elesewhere.
