capturing the essence of an African safari adventure this deluxe Resort is one of Disney's
most inspired creations that feels continents away from the Western world but depending on your
priorities you may also feel continents away from some of the main attractions within Disney World
so is it meeting expectations hi I'm the frugal Brit my mission is to review every Hotel Resort
within Disney World and Orlando and for this video which was requested by Christina Loftus
I will provide a breakdown of the good and their not so good things about Disney's Animal Kingdom
Lodge another um I've got some tips to help you get the best out of any vacation here but before
we get into that I will outline the key features of this stunning Resort don't forget to subscribe
if you're interested in future Orlando vacation content alright then so Disney's Animal Kingdom
Lodge is a huge Resort with over 1,000 rooms and villas located in Animal Kingdom the resort area
next to Animal Kingdom theme park I should expect so Animal Kingdom Lodge has two separate villages
you have the original Jambo house built in 2001 which is a horseshoe shaped building and then you
also have the Kidani village built in 2009 over to the west side of the lodge made up of Disney
Vacation Club villas it's about a 10-minute walk between the two both these areas which are modeled
after a traditional African village have very similar amenities on offer but they're scaled
down a bit over in Kidani village but that's certainly not to say that it's an inferior part
of the resort as a Disney World Resort Animal Kingdom Lodge guests get to use its extensive
bus transportation system which takes you around all the main attractions so with pricing this is
a deluxe Disney World Resort which puts it amongst iconic properties such as the Contemporary Resort
and Disney's Polynesian village so it shouldn't be surprising to know that a vacation at Animal
Kingdom Lodge it's gonna be quite expensive about 300 to 500 per night but depending on what time
of year you travel with some sales and discounts you can see prices fall below $300 on occasion if
you're bringing a car with you be sure to factor in the parking charge which is currently $24 per
night the main attraction of this Resort is of course the opportunity to view over 30 species of
African wildlife including animals such as zebras giraffes gazelles Domingos and many many more
within the four separate savannas these animals are viewable from the lobby the hallways and even
the rooms if you upgrade to a savanna view room on the east side of jumbo house you have the uzi meer
pool surrounded by palm trees and this provides towels and lifejackets as you enter this features
a zero entry section a medium sized waterslide a kid's pool a playground and a few hot tubs tucked
away in the foliage within this part of the resort you can order drinks from the Zuma Springs pool
bar heading west over in Cadorna village you have the Sumati springs pool which is slightly smaller
but benefits from having a much better slide and a super cool interactive water play area
called e1g camp which is essential if you have any children in your group and adults will get
a kick out of this as well your activities are certainly not limited to the pool areas so you
have these a haunting massage and fitness center an arcade room and Simba's activity center for
your shopping needs you have the gigantic Zawadi marketplace in jambo house where you can pick some
groceries toiletries and some really cool african themed gifts as you can see Animal Kingdom Lodge
is not in short supply when it comes to different activities on offer too many to mention here
but I'll provide a link in the description the standard rooms are pretty standard fare but they
include a refrigerator Keurig coffee maker safe all infused with authentic African decor and the
vast majority of which have balconies this resort features an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant
known as boma which contains both African and traditional American favorites for your
quick service needs you have Mara which serves grab-and-go options for your fine dining means
you have Chico with the cooking place which is the signature table service restaurant at this resort
to start the positives I've got to talk about the phenomenal theming at Animal Kingdom Lodge and
this is communicated most impressively when you enter the Jambo house lobby which I can safely
say without exaggeration is truly breathtaking and one of the best experiences you'll get at
this resort no doubt the most dazzling lobby in Disney World Animal Kingdom Lodge contains one of
the largest collections of African are outside of Africa which is prominently displayed throughout
this Lobby including a colorful and dominating 16-foot sculpture this resort has many cultural
representatives around us or traveling from various African countries and this adds a layer
of authenticity to the African experience the culturally rich theming presented by this Resort
is not a cartoon version of Africa which you might reasonably expect from Disney and whilst they do
use their Lion King IP in places this is done tastefully with an appreciation that the looks
resort guests are generally seeking a culturally authentic experience one of the most unique things
about this Resort is being able to wake up in the morning and viewing the animals with your
morning coffee an experience you just can't get at other resorts and even if you do decide not
to pay for this a panic view upgrade there's no shortage of places to view the animals moving
on to the food at Animal Kingdom this Resort is very well rounded in terms of the food on offer
and as detailed earlier you have two table service restaurants for each village and all-you-can-eat
buffet restaurant as well as a quick service restaurant so there's something for everyone which
is not something you can say about other resorts in this price range like Portland's French Quarter
for instance you could argue that Animal Kingdom Lodge has the best dining options in Disney World
another area where this resort is arguably on top in Disneyworld is the huge list of recreational
activities some of these are paid but the majority are free and it bears repeating that there's just
too many to mention but I did want to highlight the night vision animal viewing you trauma circle
lessons and of course learning about the animals from the cultural experts if you remove this
result away from Disney World and its theme parks it can still hold its own as an incredible holiday
destination before I start I should highlight that this Resort is very highly reviewed and
it compares really well with the likes at the contemporary and the Polynesian in this regard
so please do keep this in mind for this section whilst we're on the subject of reviews if you did
want removing this video with a like or a dislike it would be much appreciated so yeah despite the
high reviews of this resort when compared to pretty much all the other Disney World resorts
Animal Kingdom Lodge feels the most isolated door to door it will take you around 45 minutes to get
to Magic Kingdom and there's no other Disney parks nearby within walking distance not even the Animal
Kingdom theme park which is a shame there's plenty to do within this deluxe Disney World
Resort as mentioned earlier but given that it is a deluxe you're naturally gonna have to compare
it to the other Deluxe's on the monorail such as the contemporary just both walking distance and a
short monorail ride away from the Magic Kingdom and I'm walking oblige you pretty much reliant
on the Disney bus transportation rental car or taxis if it's within your budget that aren't many
compelling reasons why you shouldn't pick Animal Kingdom Lodge but the location is unfortunately
one of them and this is an area where expectations are not fully met for balance I should say that
you can't really have it all if this resort was built centrally it just wouldn't really
work mixing a sunset Savannah with Disneyworld fireworks oh yeah you're reliant on the boss
transportation which it has to be said it's not great for a deluxe resort some people found it to
be good but many considered it to be inefficient and crowded when busy especially for the buses
to and from Magic Kingdom no one wants to have to squeeze onto a bus without a seat especially with
young kids like I've said in previous videos the frustrating bush transportation could be forgiven
if it were not for the fact that they started charging resort guests $24 per night for parking
this is a huge sprawling resort which is both a strength and a weakness depending on where your
room is the amount of walking does frustrate some guests so the main attraction at this
resort is the Savannah's to enjoy the wildlife on display but if you don't plan to hang around map
and resolve there very long you might actually struggle to see the animals at certain times
and you may end up questioning whether this was the right the looks resort for you but if you're
patient and you have the time chances are this won't be an issue in terms of the rooms that
Animal Kingdom Lodge they're very much on par for a lower-end deluxe resort but for my online review
analysis I can safely say that the standard of housekeeping did not really match the price paid
which is kind of a common complaint with Disney World resorts if you want your bed sheets change
you're often I'm gonna need to ask for it also the worst one that fell out the bathrooms of
we're not as big as they should be and for the remaining rooms that do to be renovated the
TV's are looking quite dated and small my last bit of nitpicking is aimed at the pool area at
jumbo craps which lacks some of the creativity that you'll find out or the Disney World Resort
such as that Caribbean beach in particular this slide isn't anything to write home about
before I collapse my tips for this resort allow me to summarize very briefly unless you plan to
get the most of the on-site amenities at Animal Kingdom Lodge it's probably not the best resort
for you within this price range but if you do this culturally rich resort provides thematic
excellence for those looking for a more unique experience within disney world all right so my
first tip is for those staying in jumbo house so if you're hoping to spend a lot of time at
the pool I'd recommend taking advantage of the pool over at Kidani village whilst that
is smaller the theming and slide is better and you also have the really cool water play area
over there too for room selection as always have a think about what it is that's most
important to you if you're worried about long walks to the lobby be sure to highlight this
with the reception also it's a no-brainer to ask for a recently renovated room as I
understand that renovations are still ongoing and you don't wanna miss out on this I would
also recommend asking for a room that doesn't have one of those annoying adjoining doors
as noise will travel between these rooms with regards to a savanna Vee room I will
controversially advise that you can still have a great vacation at this resort without paying
the extra for this appreciate that this is budget dependent but my advice is that it's
not essential considering that there's just so many different places to view the animals
well that's it for this video thank you for watching be sure to check out my ranking of
the top 10 best restaurants in Disney springs as well as my other Disney World Resort reviews
and of course if you're interested in future Disney vacation content don't forget to subscribe