Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

So greatful to the wonderful staff of Animal Kingdom Lodge who were able to accommodate us to ride out the latest hurricane. We had checked out out early in the morning but due to an airline problem we had to return as had no flights out and everything was booked out. The staff are calm and well organised. I am beyond greatful to their generosity in taking us in. The resort is stunning and very well maintained with restaurant and quick service meal options to suit every budget. Highly recommend and cannot wait to return Read less

Booked Animal Kingdom Lodge to relax and chill after two weeks at Pop century with our grown up children, their partners and our grandchildren. I booked a "resort view" as savannah view was an extra £100 a night extra and we couldn't quite stretch to that We were checked in by the lovely Claire, she was so great. She allocated room 3220 for us, not far from the lobby on 3rd floor with a partial savannah view- absolutely PERFECT for us. I have had a dream of waking up in Animal Kingdom Lodge and seeing a Giraffe from our balcony. That dream came true! The room was large, very well maintained and not "dated" at all. Everything worked, we had plenty of towels, housekeeping was daily, we honestly wanted for nothing. The beds and pillows were so comfortable, we slept so well. We had dinner at Boma twice- it was absolutely excellent. The Mara was ok, but after the first morning, we were freezing, so opted to grab our breakfast and sit outside. The pool was lovely- very warm and the animation team did really well with their quizzes and games. Everything was spotlessly clean. The staff were all so helpful and it was a very "slick" well organised operation. I honestly do not have a bad thing to say about Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had the best time there and we cannot wait to come back. I am even going to say that in my experience, it was BETTER than The Polynesian and Wilderness Lodge. LOVED it! Thankyou!!! Read less

This long awaited trip to Disney World with my five-year-old granddaughter was just perfect. Our visit included a 6 night, 7 day “vacation” with Animal Kindgom Lodge room accommodations; 4 day park passes; the meal plan package; and “memory maker”. I did use an “ Disney Specialist” Travel agent who made our trip as seamless as possible. She booked 6 months in advance and secured preferred hotel rooms; activity reservations, airport transfers to and from hotel and offered numerous suggestions to maximize our experience. Advantages of staying in a park hotel enabled us to have early access to the parks; evening perks; with the ability to book park rides and activities 7 days in advance. Using “ lightning lane passes” judiciously enabled the 5 of us to save time and see more attractions. Having a “magic band” eliminated carrying cash and credit cards which also expedited financial transactions and keyless entry to our hotel. I did book at the concierge level as it provided a full breakfast (which saved us money and time at a restaurant) snacks and beverages during the day and substantial hors d’oeuvres, beverages including wine and beer from 5-10 pm. We arrived on a Sunday and the evening selections were sufficient for dinner. I recommend taking the meal package (even though you may not use ALL of your credits) it will save you money as Disney restaurants (delicious!) are exorbitantly expensive! Because we had five full days; Monday through Friday we scheduled Monday (Magic Kingdom) and Tuesday (Epcot) in a park; Wednesday as a resort day (enabled us to unwind as the pace can be hectic and August was hot) And Thursday (Magic Kingdom again as we were traveling with a 5 year old) and reserved Friday for Animal Kingdom Park as it is a “less aggressive” itinerary as we were leaving early Saturday morning to return home. I do advise using a Disney specialist travel agent. Ours was very experienced; saved us a lot of money and eliminated a lot of stress that goes into planning a Disney experience. My agent is Donna Bickert. donna@hihovacations.com. Read less

From the breathtaking views of the grand lobby, delicious food in multiple restaurants and roaming of wild animals, this place has it all. We stayed in the Jambo House section and It was our first time staying in a deluxe Disney resort so we were excited to be staying here. It was also our first time ever in this resort so it was all new to us. After watching many videos and looking at photos, we were excited to be staying here. The resort is amazing with so many good things about it such as waking up to animals from our balcony (baring in mind we didn’t book a savanna view room) to the amazing and impressive grand lobby the moment you walk in. The scent of the lobby is amazing and just makes you feel like you’re not in a typical hotel but transported someplace else. The cast members were all friendly and very welcoming and will do anything to make your stay as pleasant and memorable as possible. The room we had was pretty basic with two queen sized beds, plenty of storage space, a mini refrigerator, two chairs and a table. The bathroom had two sinks and a shower/bath combo so although the hotel itself was nice, the bedroom was pretty standard but it was convenient and comfortable for us and we didn’t mind it. One of the things that the deluxe resorts have over the other style resorts is multiple sit down restaurants and a typical quick service restaurant. We felt the Mara (quick service) was decent but we had better meals in other resorts with more variety that suited us. Jiko was the standout restaurant for us. Although it’s expensive, the price was worth it. From the waitress serving us to the meals itself, everything was exceptional. Best steak I’ve had. Even before the meals the waitress sold us the menu before we ordered so we knew we were in good hands. You can tell she loved her job and believed the meals were good. Boma was also another good restaurant but we only visited during breakfast (which was really delicious) so can’t comment on the lunch and dinner options. Unlike other deluxe resorts where they have multiple transportation options, AKL only has bus transportation. Although it wasn’t too bad mid day, early opening and park closing hours it does get busy so chances are you may have to stand up on the transportation. It was only one time where we got stressed out because of the transportation in our two weeks stay, you will be fine as long as you know the opening and closing times of the parks so you can avoid the busy periods. If you will be visiting Magic Kingdom more than any other park, especially over Animal kingdom, add that to having only one transportation option, this resort may not be for you. We felt that we chose the wrong resort purely because we spent most of our time at Magic Kingdom and wish we booked to stay at Polynesian Village instead. This is because the bus transportation may take 30+ mins journey to get to MK. If you wanted to come back to your resort and go back in the evening, it will take a lot out of your park day. However, that’s not anything to do with the AKL resort itself, it’s that we didn’t research before we booked so we kind of regret staying here in that regard. We stayed at Caribbean Beach previously and they had refillable mug vending machines dotted around the resort. One of the things that we were let down at AKL was the fact the only areas you can get refillable mug vending machines was at Mara (which is on the ground floor) or pool bar. So if you are on the top floor, you will have to travel a few floors to fill up your mug. Even if you’re on the top floor of the furthers room away, you still have to travel 5mins plus to get to one of these stations. All in all, we had an amazing experience here and glad that we booked to stay. With Magic kingdom and Epcot being our favourite parks to visit, however, we probably will not be booking to stay here again. As I’ve mentioned before, that’s nothing to do with the resort itself, it’s just that Animal Kingdom park is our least favourite out of the four and there is better resort options for us as a family. Read less