Animal Kingdom Lodge

[AKL fan]

I absolutely love the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I've been twice and I'm going again in May 2011. The atmosphere is relaxing and peaceful :snore:. The bedrooms that I have been in so far have been comfortable. Boma and Jiko are expensive but worth the customer service.
My favourite part of the lodge is seeing the animals strolling around in the savannahs.

 

[Mukta]

I have never stayed there, but I do love visiting on each trip.
I love Sanaa and Boma. I am looking foward to trying Jiko in September!

 

[NYwdwfan]

I absolutely love the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I've been twice and I'm going again in May 2011. The atmosphere is relaxing and peaceful :snore:. The bedrooms that I have been in so far have been comfortable. Boma and Jiko are expensive but worth the customer service.
My favourite part of the lodge is seeing the animals strolling around in the savannahs.

Are there really as many animals in plain view as the Samantha Brown specials would have you believe? I always felt like they promote the animals being there but it's only at a partcular time of day, or year, etc. I've always wondered if they're REALLY just there!

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Are there really as many animals in plain view as the Samantha Brown specials would have you believe? I always felt like they promote the animals being there but it's only at a partcular time of day, or year, etc. I've always wondered if they're REALLY just there!

Just like riding Kilimanjaro Safaris, it can all depend on a number of things. The Savanahs have a number of animals on them, but the weather and time of day play a big factor in how active they are. I stayed at Kidani Village for the first time last month, and one afternoon when the weather was in the 50's the animals were out and about (and as close to the observation area as they could get). During the summer one would imagine that they are more active in the morning and evening as opposed to the very hot afternoon.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Just like riding Kilimanjaro Safaris, it can all depend on a number of things. The Savanahs have a number of animals on them, but the weather and time of day play a big factor in how active they are. I stayed at Kidani Village for the first time last month, and one afternoon when the weather was in the 50's the animals were out and about (and as close to the observation area as they could get). During the summer one would imagine that they are more active in the morning and evening as opposed to the very hot afternoon.

Cool - good to know! I think my husband would really enjoy staying there...which may be my selling point for our next trip!!

 

[foreverbelle]

AKL actually has grown on us. I know when we were first looking at it, my husband and I had no interest in it, it just didn't seem like 'us'. But we decided to give it a try and stay there last year and boy did we change our minds. We actually really loved the place afterwards, and said how wrong we were. It is a great resort, one we plan to go back to. Its relaxing, and the animals are beautiful. Its a great place to call 'home.' during the time...

 

[disneygirl1]

AHHH!!!! We stayed there for the 1st time this past Dec and quickly fell in love with the place!

 

[Tiggerish]

Are there really as many animals in plain view as the Samantha Brown specials would have you believe? I always felt like they promote the animals being there but it's only at a partcular time of day, or year, etc. I've always wondered if they're REALLY just there!

Stayed there in November, and this crew was outside my window almost every time I opened the curtains:

You may notice that I was all the way at the end of the savannah, almost as far away from the main feeding/viewing area as you can possibly get.

This picture was taken at 7:20 am, and it's pretty much exactly where I saw them the previous evening, so they may have slept there!

That was our first time staying at AKL, and I liked it so much, I'm staying there again next month when I bring my mom for a visit.

 

[YankeeMouse]

The ankole cattle are our favorites! Most of tbe action takes place on Sunset Savanna which is considered a "less desirable" savanna as compared to Uzima which has a "prettier" view. But Sunset has the barn, so the animals congregate around there at feeding time in the morning. We have stayed at both of these savannas and much prefer Sunset due to the activity of the animals. And we saw the Samantha Brown special too, and immediately noted that she was looking out on Sunset.

 

[420WDW MONSTER]

can't wait to be there in late september!!first time to AKL. we don't have a savannah view though

 

[Pioneer Hall]

can't wait to be there in late september!!first time to AKL. we don't have a savannah view though

I didn't either, and I had a very nice time regardless. The only time that I feel that I would have really taken advantage of it was when I was having my breakfast in the morning, and that was because the weather was really nice that week. I enjoyed going to main viewing area at Kidani because you can really get right up close to the animals (and the rocking chairs are great). I think that the only time I would truly spring for a Savannah is if I went with a true first timer and they could get the wow factor when the look out the first time...otherwise it wasn't worth about 20 points more for me.

 

[TuffyCatt]

We've stayed at AKL twice, both times in Jambo house, and we absolutely love it. My mom likes the savannah view, so we've gotten in both times, but I can imagine that a stay there is fine without one - some of the best viewing areas are the public ones. However, it was pretty cool seeing giraffes right outside our room on several occasions. During our trip last month, the pelicans were always camped right outside our room; they were a lot of fun to watch.

Last month we also did the Wanyama safari which they offer at AKL. I will say that this is one of the greatest experiences I have EVER had at WDW. We were in a small group of about 10, got on an open air safari vehicle, and had two of the wonderful AKL keepers give us an amazing tour of all four of the savannahs. We got so much closer to the animals than you ever get on Kilamanjaro safaris (and I think Kilamanjaro safaris is great). Some of the animals even came right up to the vehicle, including a young giraffe and a very curious ostrich. It was a wonderful, personalized tour, and our guides were great. And the whole thing ends with a great, family style meal at Jiko. Just another great experience to add to our love for the AKL.

 

[ctosh]

We took the kids for their first trip in 2003 and stayed at the AKL for 13 days. We loved it!! We were upgraded to a Savana view and seen animals everytime we looked out.
We now call Kidani Village our home.. it was a no brainer for us when we bought our DVC membership.