Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

Such an incredible resort. At every turn there’s something new and interesting. Staff is incredible. We had a valet that was a hero when my mobility scooter died. Jeff and Lo at Jiko were so fantastic with recommendations. Check in was a breeze. We loved the memory bead activity. Pool was a bit smaller than I envisioned but it’s pleasant. Life guards are SUPER vigilant. Plenty of towels. Transportation was great. Easy shuttle between resorts (not handicapped accessible unfortunately). Casey a bus driver made our day on the way to a park. His dad plays Indiana Jones. His mom worked for Disney. He’s keeping traditions and was a gem! Beds were very comfortable. Looking at the animals was priceless! Shower was phenomenal with hot water basically on demand in our room. We were grateful for two sinks. Fridge worked good. Plenty of coffee and fixings for the Kureig. Closet was ample and safe was large. Loved the art everywhere. Disney app and chat work flawlessly. Definitely wish to return! Read less

The bed was super comfortable, the Savanna view room was beautiful. We opted to pay a little more for the room for the Kilimanjaro Club level which was a great add on. Each time we went by the club we would grab a snack. What they serve at the club is not enough to fill you up. You WILL have to go purchase food at one of the restaurants or outside the lodge. The club just has snack size bites you can munch on when you are coming and going. I am relieved we had that perk or we would have constantly been having to purchase coffees, sodas, juices, snacks, cookies. Read less

We stayed for 1 night as there was an out of hours event at Epcot we wanted to go to, it was our first time staying at a Disney hotel. The hotel wasn’t cheap so I was expecting a decent stay. The truth is I was slightly disappointed, pros and cons Pros - Helpful polite staff Amazing smelling lobby Nice rooms and comfy beds Mickey waffles at the Mara are lush! Cons:- It’s a real long treck to your room.. everywhere seems far away Buses not frequent enough, I think approx every half an hour, I’d expect more buses to be on for a premium hotel The towels around the pool were… ok (we stayed at universal sapphire falls and they were a lot more luxurious and it’s a lower star resort) Smoking areas are miles away Long walk to any form of water or drinks machine, it’s 36 degrees today.. for a premium resort I’d expect more water stations or freestyle machines around the hotel I would stay again if it was half the price.. I don’t see where the premium part comes into it when comparing some of the Universal Hotels, no waited service round the pool (which I’d expect for premium resort) there isn’t anything that is premium about it.. it is a very nice hotel but I wouldn’t pay that price again to stay there, it is exceptionally overpriced for what amenities you get/don’t get Read less

First stayed here in 2012. It wasn’t great then but we returned out of pure nostalgia. Unfortunately, I have a list of negatives on staying here again. Our first room was miles away from reception and the bellhop basically threw the cases at me when they arrived to the room. We moved rooms and the new room appeared acceptable. The next bellhop couldn’t have been nicer. The view was good and we actually saw a lot of the animals this time around. However, there were a few things that truly disgusted me to my very core that became apparent rather quickly, Firstly, the re-use your towels and save the straw campaigns. On being greeted by a sign in the room shower asking guests to re-use towels, I knew then, that I was in for an unpleasant stay. Being directed to leave dirty towels on the floor if I didn’t want to re-use them was horrifying to see. Clean towels each day is expected. To be unsure if towels are changed throughout my stay was a constant burden, especially when visible brown and orange marks were present on some ‘new’ towels. Seeing the prompts for the save the straw campaign at my favourite spot in the whole hotel (the drinks station) was also very annoying. There was also hair in the bath and beds on check in. On reporting this, action was to be taken, however, on returning to the room later that night, the same hair I spotted in the bed was still present. On seeing this, it became clear that the beds were not being changed, the sheets were just being re-tucked. That is absolutely disgusting. I’ve never been more disgusted during a stay at any hotel. Changing the sheets is the very minimum of what is expected at any hotel. The fact that we reported the hair should have prompted a change of sheets at least. It was a joke. A joke that was met with a joke of a service. The leading negative of this hotel was definitely the general house keeping or lack thereof. Shameful. On doing a final check of the room, I also found a t-shirt from a previous guest in one of the drawers. Another failing of the house keeping staff or whoever directs them. The refurbishment of the reception area was also a constant annoyance. Once a favourite haunt of mine, different parts of the reception area were constantly being closed off for various renovations. This was work which should have been completed overnight, not throughout the day. The wood carving sessions in the corner of the reception area, next to the store were also pointless. No one would gather around to watch and the wood clippings would just be left in the corner of reception afterwards. What’s the point of that? There was also a push tray present at reception each morning where you could guess the animal droppings…what is the point of that? What about that feature says stay here? I also fondly remembered the bar, which once served coconut straws. This has now been absolutely ruined by an 11pm closing time and annoying staff who were more interested in singing and talking to each other than serving. We came back to the bar at 11:02 one night and the staff had already closed the till and refused to serve us. Disgusting. The need to show a passport, as well as a driving license to order a drink was also a complete and utter joke, given passports are left in the room. Additionally, there was no atmosphere whatsoever in the hotel. Whenever we would return from the parks, it would be a ghost town. That’s no fun. Finally, on check out, the female bellhop was nice enough but I’ve never seen such a deliberate wait for a tip in all my life. It was downright uncomfortable. She literally waited in the doorway, when the cases were all ready to go on the trolley, looked at me and said, “Ok Mr…..” Ok what? Ok give me my tip now?! The bellhops outside were also useless when leaving and waiting for a car. One was sat on a bench talking to a guest and the remaining staff were just walking away from us. We had to load the luggage into the car ourselves and once that was done, one staff member suddenly appeared and acted like he had helped us out! A very poor final impression to stamp a disappointing stay. Read less