Disney has an entire hotel dedicated to their Animal Kingdom park and the animals that live there.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is a beautiful Deluxe resort near Animal Kingdom. It’s themed for the safari of Africa and all the animals and culture found there. It is also a Disney Vacation Club location with villas for rent using club points. But we have a bit of bad news we thought we’d share about this African Savana hotel.
If you want to see a full tour of the entire Animal Kingdom Lodge watch as Quincy explores the hotel right after it re-opened in 2021!
What’s Missing
Several of Disney’s Deluxe hotels have been getting face-lifts, recently. Disney’s Grand Floridian, Beach Club, BoardWalk, and Polynesian Resorts have all been under refurbishment. Each has had room updates, re-themes, or just general updating.
But while this has been going on over at all these other up-scale hotels, Animal Kingdom Lodge hasn’t seen much love in this department. The rooms at the hotel, while nice, have been the exact same for quite some time. And as we’ve seen several other hotels add in Disney movies and characters (for example the Incredibles at Disney’s Contemporary Resort), the Animal Kingdom Lodge continues to be Disney character-free except in one section of Jambo House which is part of the Animal Kingdom Villas.
Animal Kingdom Lodge would be the PERFECT place to incorporate The Lion King (which was added to some Savana rooms in the Jambo house). The lobby and other many other parts of the hotel are missing any Disney characters and Disney theming. We would just love to see some updating and added Disney themes in this already beautiful resort.
But There’s Good News!
While it would be great to have some updates to this beloved hotel, we can’t help but look at the bright side. We genuinely love this resort as it’s a very unique location to stay at. There are too many other places to stay that features a view of a beautiful Savana with over 200 hoofed animals and birds that are able to freely roam near your hotel room.
The African-themed hotel also boasts some amazing dining options! Boma–Flavors of Africa and Sanaa are two of our favorite restaurants in all of Disney World. The bread service at Sanaa is reason alone to stay here. You can try flavors inspired by African and Indian flavors at both spots and dine in some of the best atmospheres at the theme parks.
Luckily, we didn’t have ALL bad news. We just hope this gorgeous resort gets to see some love in the future. It would be magical to add some more Disney elements and updates to this long-standing resort.
You can see our full review of Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Kidani Village below!
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Do you like staying at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge? Let us know in the comments!
I agree with the comments below. It is the authenticity and vibe that bring us back. I talk to people all the time about how amazing this hotel is. The “characters” are the animals. You get some Disney vibe in the kids club and the store. I think it just needs a room refresh.
I could not disagree more. What makes the AKL so great is it’s authenticity to Africa without Disney characters plastered everywhere. The Moana updates at the Poly take away from it’s authenticity and tribute to the Polynesian Islands. The Incredibles have nothing to do with Contemporary theming. The Incredibles the movie are actually a retro style of super heroes while the Contemporary is supposed to be a nod to a future with a better tomorrow. The Incredibles looks no better than a Rooms To Go and IKEA had a baby and cheapens the aesthetic of the hotel which is supposed to be an upscale hotel of the future and cosmopolitan. There are hotels in the lower categories that are themed with Disney IP that meet this need but the deluxe resorts need a feel of luxury. I could go on but I think I have made my point.
I just came back from a weeklong stay at Jambo House… and I couldn’t agree more.
My 1 Bedroom Villa was in extremely poor condition … worn furniture …non working power ports… rusty and dirty ventilation covers … moldy bathroom grout.
The Good News … my points were returned
For future use
I couldn’t disagree more. Not everything has to have IP. And there’s enough of it in the Parks that a least a few of the resorts should be free of it. We know we’re at Disney World.
Please don’t change this hotel. The others, which had fantastic theming, are all the same now. The Lobby and the rooms of AKL are a magnificent tribute to Africa and its creativity and beauty. I hope it is not ruined.