REVIEW: This Disney World Lounge is Hard to Get To, But It’s WORTH IT

We’re giving you the full scoop about one of the best hidden lounges at a Disney World hotel!

Here at AllEars, we know all the ins and outs of Disney restaurants — including where you should definitely eat, and where you should skip. We recently stopped by Victoria Falls Lounge at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort, and we are bringing you our FULL review!

Background

This gem of a lounge is tucked away within the heart of Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort’s Jambo House. Just past the stairs to the main lobby entrance, you’ll find this lounge floating just above the Boma Restaurant entrance.

Here’s what you need to know about dining at this restaurant.

Atmosphere

This lounge is fairly open and themed well to the be located in the side of the cascading waterfalls below. Here you’ll find African inspired flavors of small bites, cocktails, and beers as well as a few light bite options.

But catching this lounge open is the tricky part, as it’s only available through the late evening. But enough about that, what are we eating?!

Food & Drinks

First up, we grabbed the Braai Burger and Seasoned Chips for $22. This is made with Muenster, Chaka Jam, Green Tomato Pickle, and Pen Pen Aioli. This was incredibly tender and flavorful, and was also a thicker patty, which we appreciated.

We adored the Muenster cheese on this burger, and all the toppings worked very well together. However, if you’re a “just ketchup and mustard” person on your burger, we suggest only ordering this burger with the cheese, or asking for the other toppings on the side, as all the ingredients make this one more fit for adventurous eaters.

As for the chips on the side, these were seasoned very well and we weren’t disappointed in the slightest. They weren’t totally something incredible, but we’d eat them again happily!

We also grabbed the Spiced Goat Cheese Dip for $10 which is served with assorted breads. We got Pappadam, a thin, crispy chip, and then a second bread that is puffier and more resembles a pizza crust. Both of these were great, but we did find that the pappadam was too thin to really get a good amount of the dip on top.

There’s a LOT of cheese here, so this is a pretty hearty dish, but it’s such an incredible appetizer that we would honestly eat this dip with a fork even if we ran out of bread! We’d absolutely get it again, but we prefer the puffier bread over the pappadam.

We also grabbed the Cape Town Slap Chips for $13. This is made with Fried Potatoes, Arugula, Apricots, Sherry Vinegar, and Blue Cheese Crumbles. This is an appetizer that’s VERY good to share, as it’s quite a large portion, and it’s very filing.

The potatoes were fried to perfection, crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. We did have to dig around to find the apricots, so that’s not a very prominent flavor here, and the toppings overall here are very light, so you’ll mostly getting that potato flavor. With that being said, if you’re a fan of potatoes, this will be an appetizer you’ll likely love!

To drink, we picked up the Spiced Chai Colada for $16.50. This is made with SelvaRey Coconut Rum, Sōmrus Chai Cream Liqueur, DOLE® Pineapple Juice. If you’re a fan of White Russians, Piña Coladas, and/or Chai, this is 100% a drink for you. The Piña Colada flavor with the chai is very unique and complicated in a way, and you’ve really got to like coconut to enjoy this one. This is a really rich cocktail, so much so that it’s almost like a dessert drink, but we’re not complaining!

Our other drink was the Baobab 75 for $17.50, which is made with Bayab African Rose Gin, Graham Beck Brut Rosé, Lemon Juice, and Pure Cane Syrup.

This is Victoria Falls’ take on a French 75 cocktail, which is a champagne cocktail. The flavors here are very floral, and the first thing that hits your taste buds is that rose, and then there’s some lavender on the back end. The lemon juice gives it a nice acid, but it does have a mostly sweet, crisp flavor. If you’re a fan of rose, this will absolutely be a drink you’ll love, and it’s also very photogenic!

Magic or Tragic?

This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…

• You’re staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge or visiting the hotel
• You’re looking for some tasty, unique eats and drinks
• You want a tucked away, rarely crowded lounge

You should skip this Disney World spot if…

• You prefer to go to lounges earlier in the day, before about 4 PM
• You won’t be anywhere near Animal Kingdom Lodge
• You prefer restaurants and lounges with larger menus

We visited this lounge on a holiday weekend, and it was far from full. There was plenty of room to sit and enjoy our drinks and meal without feeling rushed or squished. Now, Animal Kingdom Lodge as a whole is pretty hard to get to since it’s so remote, so you’ll either need to take a bus from Disney Springs or one of the parks, which can be a bit of a hassle. You won’t be able to park your own car at the resort unless you’ve got a dining reservation here, so if you do have an evening reservation, perhaps you’ll want to arrive early to sit, grab a drink, and then head to your reservation.

In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disney World and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news and more!

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Have you eaten at this Disney World restaurant before? Tell us in the comments.

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