Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge - An Experience in Itself
By: Kelly RodriguezJune 20, 2017Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge is an experience in itself – and here's why you need to see for yourself! The most obvious reason is because how many people can say they have awakened to an African savanna full of animals. It's pretty amazing! My kids really enjoyed waking up every morning and going out onto the balcony and just watching the animals. On the non-park days we would come out onto the balcony throughout the day and just enjoy watching the animals. Make sure you schedule a day at the resort - it has so much to offer.Now let's talk about some less obvious reasons. First and foremost the food! Although we did not try Sanaa (which I've heard incredible things about), Boma won over our hearts and our stomachs. We ate BOTH breakfast and dinner there. Both meals are buffets and absolutely delicious. They had so many unique choices, which were endless. Breakfast had such a huge spread from omelets to Simba and Mickey waffles, pancakes, fruit, assorted bakery items to unique food like sweet plantains and corn beef hash. Don't forget to try the jungle juice for breakfast!Dinner was delicious and my favorite part was the zebra domes for dessert. But don't worry you can also get 4 zebra domes as a snack credit in the quick service location! Dinner at boma had a lot of different meat choices like ribs, turkey chicken, beef sirloin, pork shoulder and my favorite, salmon! The oxtail soup was outrageously good! They have lots of options for picky eaters, too.
Animal Kingdom Lodge's pool is a zero entry pool with a water slide with a red light/green light system. My 3 year old could easily navigate the water slide by herself so that my husband and I could stay in the pool and wait for her at the bottom of the slide. (We could see her the whole time.)Hot tubs at Animal Kingdom Lodge are kind of hidden which was nice and made it feel a little more private. Right next to the pool is a playground for kids. The pool also has a pool bar and a quick service location nearby. We stayed at Jambo house, and unlike some of Disney's properties, it was not very spread out at all! Our walks to the pool, restaurants or buses were very short!Some other highlights were that the resort holds nightly drumming in the lobby, which the kids loved and even got to join in on! The store had some unique options that you may not find in the other resorts stores. They only have 2 bus stops – both at Jambo House and Kidani Village. Animal Kingdom park is super close! The bus rides to the other 3 parks were maybe 15-20 minutes at most. You will not regret your stay at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, just make sure you add a day to hang out and just enjoy the resort and all it has to offer! Contact me for a free quote kellyr@wishesfamilytravel.com