Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge — Hotel in Bay Lake

Animal Kingdom Lodge has two buildings. Jambo house, and Kidani village. Jambo house is considered the main hotel with a large lobby. Kidani village is the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) villa side, which you can only book with DVC points. Jambo house can be booked as a regular hotel, and they also have DVC villas which can be booked with DVC points. We booked Jambo house with renting DVC points from David’s DVC website. Let me start by saying the best part about staying here is seeing the animals, and the worst part about staying here is the busses transportation. We booked a savannah view room for 2 nights. The DVC rooms are only on the 5th floor. We specifically requested the zebra trail and close to the lobby, as that is what the internet said had the best animals and won’t be a long walk. Our request was granted, however since we were close to the lobby, we had a view of the savannah overlook from the lobby, which could be quite loud at times. So maybe we would sacrifice a longer walk to the room for more quiet. However we had a great view of the savannah and within the first few hours we were able to see all of the animals that were in the savannah. Giraffes, zebras, hornbills, cranes, waterbuck, eland, wildebeasts, pelican, antelopes. They refresh the hay and the hanging browse so the animals rotate around throughout the day and you will see them multiple times. Even when it was raining, hot and sunny, and even at midnight! There were animals out and about. The patio was not that deep, but it was long and wide. It came with 2 chairs and a small table. The patio door though had a lot of condensation and you could hear through it. Our room was ready one hour before check in time at 3pm, and we got the notification on the app after doing online check in. They do have bell services to hold your luggage if you wish, but we only had to wait about 30 minutes so we just hung out in the lobby and checked out the shop. The room had a small razor blade (like maintenance had been working on something in the room). So we threw that away promptly. We booked a studio villa. The toilet and shower are in the same room, with the double sink vanity separate. The shower had really poor water pressure and the shower handle never could turn all the way off completely so there was always a drip. Otherwise, the room was stocked and cleaned, and had the disney conservation fund coffee table book for in room reading. There was a table with 2 chairs, a small coffee table, a couch (a pull out), and a double bed. There is a closet with two opening doors, and a closet with one door with the ironing board and safe. There is lots of drawer space in the dresser under the TV. There are multiple mirrors. There was plenty of storage space. The room is themed very dark with the wooden tones, and the lighting is very dim, so you have to rely a lot on the daylight from the sliding door. The kitchenette part had a mini fridge, sink with soap/sponge/towel, microwave, toaster, and plastic silverware, plastic cups, and paper plates and bowls. The sign in the room said that there would be housekeeping service on the 4th day. But daily they came in to take out and replace the trash cans. There is a decently large shop in the lobby. There is also a lot of African art and photos to take a look at. There is one main savannah overlook if you go down the stairs at the end of the lobby. This is also where they have the nightly campfire. There are representatives here to ask questions and they can talk about the animals here. There are also a few other overlooks attached to or on the side of the lobby with indoor and outdoor seating. There are also stairs downstairs to get to Victoria falls lounge, and boma, and jiko. We have eaten at Jiko in the past. While delicious, it has a high price point and other steakhouses are cheaper and the same or better. We ate at Boma for breakfast and dinner. While everything was good. It reminded us of the quality of the buffet on a Disney cruise shop and not worth the price. Also, you can go outside to the pool, and the fitness center with a sauna is nearby. The Mara quick service is right out the doors. We had a bowl from here which was fine, but all of the prices are quite high for what you get here and the food is just okay. We got a reusable cup that you can refill here, or at any Disney resort for the length of your stay. They also have the simba clubhouse for kids to do activities just a little down the path as well. Every single cast member we encountered was welcoming and friendly and helpful. They have an internal shuttle that runs between Jambo house and Kidani village. They also have the bus system out front, which runs to all parks and Disney springs. Busses stop at Kidani village first, then Jambo, then to the destination. Be warned about the busses as they do not come as often as other resorts, and they have to make the extra stop at the other resort building. We did notice that at peak morning time they run a bus from each building individually, but that only lasts for a few hours and then it is back to combined. Since AKL is farther away from the parks, it takes a decent bus ride (15-20 minutes) to get to the parks. So factor in about 30 minutes or so in travel time alone, not including waiting 20 minutes for a bus to even come. This is true of the hotel stop and the park stop. The busses to and from here are not reliable and are quite crowded. We have seen two busses from each of the 3 all stars resorts come before even one of the AKL busses came. So if you are the kind who wants to take a mid day break at the hotel and then come back to the parks, it is a huge timesuck for all parks except maybe animal kingdom. Overall, we enjoyed our stay here, but would not stay again due to the...

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...

I’ve waited some time to experience AK Lodge. This is a real place - the African art collection, ambassadors, and animals are all real… how many hotels can you stay at that have a safari? Wouldn’t it be worth it to stay at one even if it wasn’t at a theme park?

It's almost unfair to judge this way, but the fact remains - this is a deluxe Disney World resort hotel. This is the only Deluxe hotel that doesn't offer transportation options besides infrequent and overcrowded busses. It is also isolated - ever hear the fun fact the Disney World is twice the size of Manhattan? Yeah, Magic Kingdom is two Manhattans away. You won’t be able to walk or jog anywhere here. If you’re choosing between the Yacht Club and Animal Kingdom Lodge for a rope drop to fireworks visit, The Yacht Club is your resort. .

The room views are Resort (Parking lot), water view (pool, +$100), and savanna (+$200 or more). There’s no reason to stay at this hotel in standard or pool view rooms. The rooms are small and sleep fewer guests than all of the other deluxe resorts. If you were hoping to charm an upgrade - Disney doesn’t accept room requests when booking directly and seemingly the front desk concierge staff has been replaced with people who just run through the digital check in process for you on iPhones.

I avoided digital check in to explain that it was my wife’s birthday, request a decent view, learn about the resort, and for the experience. That experience used to be giving a map highlighting the amenities, asking if there’s a celebration and offering a button, and trying to accommodate requests in the actual hotel room directory. That last part is optional, even if you paid double for a good view. None of these check in experience were offered - literally stated we were celebrating a birthday and had not stayed at this resort. We were neither offered a celebration button, or even a paper map.

We roamed the confusing layout looking for the restaurants and lounge (all closed during checkin hours).

We were relieved when our room was ready. I pulled our car up to get the luggage out and declined help, not realizing we would therefore be sent to an offsite 30 minute lot to unload. All the spots there were taken by cars with sun shields. Anywho, we parked back in the main lot and hauled our luggage up to the building, through the lobby, down an endless corridor to a single elevator, down another endless corridor to the end of the resort... further still - on the side of the building. No clear view of a savanna, directly over pig pen. This wasn’t the savanna room we paid for.

We took the trek back to the lobby and asked to speak to a supervisor. It seemed since we tapped our bands on the room door, we couldn’t change rooms. So because we saw the room we couldn't ask for what we paid for.

We were offered a $100 resort credit to deal with the pig pen room for three days, or we could be moved the next day with no credit. I asked why we wouldn't get a partial refund for staying one day in a cheaper room, things got snippy - "sometimes the animals go over there" and "I already offered you $50 to stay in that room one night" (not true). I'm not spoken to like that, and walked away.

Later I explained the situation to the manager who offered a better room the next day and $100 resort credit - less than the cost difference between what we received and what we paid for but I accepted this as the better solution. The room we got was a savanna view and was a nice experience... also was recently fumigated (smell said "hours, not days"). Still better. The manager was nice and all but it was too little too late to sway us - this resort hates their customers and it is palatable.

Also that infamous Disney Deluxe knock-on-your-$1000/night-door-at-8AM-to-persude-you-to-leave housekeeping ritual. When you switch rooms, it happens twice during your stay (and lose 4 hours of room time). Does Disney really wonder why they now need to discount hotels in July?

In my quest to stay at every Disney Hotel, I have finally found one worse than...