24 Hours at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, 2023
Jambo House- Resort Layout & Rooms
With Frontier Airlines flights for $50/per person direct from Norfolk, we couldn’t resist a trip to Walt Disney World in Orland for our late November 3-day weekend. We booked two nights at the moderate-level Coronado Resort followed by one night at the deluxe tier Animal Kingdom Lodge. On Saturday, October 30 we open the day at Epcot, primarily to experience the International Food and Wine Festival and to see the World of Water inspired by Moana.
We’ve stayed and dined at Animal Kingdom Lodge on many of our previous trips, but the intention for this stay was to check in and stay on the property for a full 24 hours. There are two lodges on the property; Kidani Village (a Disney Vacation Club property with large 1-2 bedroom suites) and Jambo house (the epicenter of the resort with mostly non-DVC rooms).
Both lodges have their own savanna viewing areas and pools, and all amenities are available by booking a stay in either location. Non-resort guests can also book dining at any of the three table-service restaurants: Sanaa, Jiko and Boma. While opening our door to the savanna is always preferable, with just one night we couldn’t justify the $200+ price increase over the lower tier. We booked the standard view category, and were pleasantly surprised with our first floor zebra trail room that faced the pool. The patio was long and tucked into a garden; the only downside was that we could see people from our room (and they could see into ours). The location was just a few rooms away from Simba’s activity center, laundry, and the exit to the pool area. Just a floor above us was a savanna patio with binoculars.
Jambo House’s lobby is worth a visit, even if not staying at the resort. During our stay they offered an art walk at 11am daily of the extensive African art collection.
There are multiple spots to view wildlife, both from elevated patios and on outdoors at the ground level. The main Arusha Savanna overlook almost always had ambassadors sharing information about the animals.
Room sections branch out along “trails” and on this stay we were on the Zebra trail, which stretched to the pool area. On other stays we were very close to the lobby, on the Kudu trail.
Kidani Village
Kidani Village’s lobby and gift shop are smaller versions of Jambo house. We have also found the wildlife viewing from the lounges just outside the lobby more consistent than other savannas. The pool and fitness center are just across the street from the lobby. We could have used an internal shuttle to move between the two lodges, but I’ve always preferred the short 10 minute-ish walk.
Dining At Animal Kingdom Lodge
When clients ask me for dining recommendations for their trip, a stop at Animal Kingdom Lodge is always top of my list. Even when not staying at the resort, we have always loved the break from the busy parks at the lodge.
When not staying at AKL, a dining reservation has allowed us access to parking during our meal. When we haven’t had a car, we have either used buses and transferred at the parks or Disney Springs, or used a ride-share service to save time. to go directly from resort to resort.
Lunch at Sanaa
Gran Sanaa is one of my favorite restaurants at Walt Disney World, both for experience and cuisine. Like other visits, the signature bread service was the highlight, and splitting it with the vegetarian curry was plenty of food for lunch.
Dinner at Jiko
As one of the upscale Signature restaurants at Walt Disney World, Jiko’s menu offered many dishes centralized around the theme of its location. The menu has been different on our two visits; most recently the plant-based entree was Injera (a spongy flatbread) with an array of vegetarian stews.
Breakfast At Boma
This was our first time eating at Boma, a breakfast/dinner buffet restaurant on the first floor in Jambo house. The options were a mix of African-inspired dishes and standard American-style breakfast. As a vegetarian, I found multiple well-marked options. Like other WDW restaurants, Cast members were available to ask about ingredients for guests with special diets and food allergies. All tables were offered a signature fruit drink, and we could order additional non-alcoholic beverages from our server.
Pools and Recreation
Activity schedules were posted at both Lodges, including tours of the African art collection, crafts, video game tournaments, fire pits with s’mores, and more. We decided to treat our short stay like we were on a cruise, taking advantage of as many scheduled activities as we could, while also spending time relaxing at both pools.
At various locations throughout our stay we found education carts with hosted by African cast members who acted as cultural representatives from their home countries and shared information about wildlife that lives across the continent. AKL also offered a program for children to collect beads as they attended educational activities.
Activity schedules were posted in the lobby and poolside at each lodge. After lunch we spent the early afternoon at the Samawati Springs pool, where cast members entertained the children with games and trivia. (Guest looking for a more relaxed and quieter time would have preferred to avoid these scheduled programs.)
The Savannas
The biggest draw to the resort is, of course, the access to the wildlife of the Savana. Over thirty different species roam the grounds, most interacting with one another. The view is never the same, and range from herds of wildebeest grazing to zebra rolling in the dust. During this trip, both mornings at the Jambo house savanna were scarce on animals.
We learned from a cast member that animals are brought in for morning check-ups starting early morning at Kidani Village and then rotated through late morning at Jambo House. Around 11am they started emerging from an enclosure, and then for the rest of the day they were easy to find.
More Posts about Walt Disney World Resorts:
Proudly powered by WordPress
You May Also Like
Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World, January 2022
One Night-Stay at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort
