Disney's ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE Information & Questions

[Somnia]

I'm booked at the AK Lodge Villas (renting DVC points) and until today I assumed we would be in the Kidani Village. Anyway, I went on to customize our Magic Bands and saw we were in the Jambo House.

Not a huge deal either way, but I was curious what the differences are in the two pools? Do either/both have slides, hot tubs? poolside bars, etc? Also, can guests at the Jambo House use the Kidani Village Pool if they prefer?

Thanks!

I haven't been to Kidani before, but Jambo does have a slide, hot tubs and I'm pretty sure there is a bar also. So you should be good there! I would think you could use the Kidani Pool also, but I'm not positive on that.

Another question I had was since both villages have villas, can I expect the same typical shopping options on both sides? Bread, cereal, milk, sandwich meat, frozen meals, etc?

All of those shopping options are offered at Jambo house

 

[Somnia]

Our Magic Band's arrived today! Hype is getting to me, come on 24 days fly by!

It's been my Mom's dream since AKL opened to stay here, but we've just never really had a chance. I've basically got myself debt free (will be in March 17) and decided I'd go all out for her 60th birthday and make it happen. I think my excitement for staying here is higher than her's though lol

 

[RhodyChief]

Our Magic Band's arrived today! Hype is getting to me, come on 24 days fly by!

It's been my Mom's dream since AKL opened to stay here, but we've just never really had a chance. I've basically got myself debt free (will be in March 17) and decided I'd go all out for her 60th birthday and make it happen. I think my excitement for staying here is higher than her's though lol

Congrats! My wife and I stayed at AKL Villa last year (Kidani, Standard Studio) and it was incredible! We loved it so much we just booked for this coming January (renting points as well) and will be back in Kidani. Only thing different this time is we have a Savannah View (Value/Studio unavailable) so we're hopeful to see more of the "A-list" animals from our room this time, haha.

 

[parismeow]

Just got the room only discount for our stay in January! Managed to save $1300 on our two week save. Definitely makes me feel less guilty for staying in a deluxe!
Pretty excited now!!!!!!

 

[JohnDaleswife]

I got a pool view room with the discount for three nights in February. Really hoping to get a decent view of the pool. We will be arriving very early, probably around 8 am, so maybe that will help our chances. I really want to be able to get what I paid for.

 

[KLN112]

We are a little over 50 days away from our short holiday trip! I have lots of questions.

We are staying in a Savannah view with Bunk Bed room. When I did online check in, I requested 'Near the Lobby' - hoping to get a 3rd floor room. Was this a good idea? Should I request anything different? Honestly, I rarely get my requests anyway

Also, what is the earliest busses start running in the morning? I am hoping to make it to MK for the Welcome Show and assume this is the longest travel time.

I saw in a previous post that someone described the resort activities that are offered most days. Do children of all ages enjoy this activities? My DD is 5 and I'm debating a park day or a day at the resort since we only have 3 days and probably won't make it back to AKL.

Thanks!

 

[nursejackie]

We are staying at AKL kidani villas in December. There are four family members going and we've booked one savannah view deluxe studio and one standard view deluxe studio. That way we have saved money but can all enjoy the animals as we are always in each other's room anyway.

 

[nursejackie]

Has anyone eaten the quick service breakfast at Sanaa yet? We are staying at Kidani in December and I would love to try the banana bread one morning before heading off to the parks.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

We've booked a savannah room for Nov 15-18. (I haven't read the whole thread yet, but I will today, so maybe these questions will be answered in it, but if not....)
TIA:
What should we put under requests? First floor or higher up? Which trail (?) is best? Any room numbers that are particularly good? (need 2 beds)

 

[brnrss34]

Just got back from our stay. I loved it I never found the buses to be a long wait. I didn't even find the travel time to MK to be bad either. We were on the Kudu trail loved seeing the Starwars fireworks from our room. Oh and of course seeing the animals even if it was mostly at night.

 

[TreeFalls]

A few thoughts from our recent trip...

We returned 9 days ago. We had Savanna view bunk bed, and our only room request was to be near my parents, who were staying Savanna view CL. We were almost directly across the hall from them, 4th floor on the Kudu trail, about halfway from the lobby to the end. We loved it, because we could see Sunset and Arusha savannas from the two rooms.

Parents loved CL- my dad planned his day to be in the lounge for his favorite stuff.

Our other family member stayed in a standard room and was second floor right at the front of Jambo House. I was jealous of her easy walk to Mara and the pool. It was perfect for her because she is definitely a "room is only for sleeping" WDW visitor.

We were able to get a mini crib on wheels for the baby (they offered it without us asking). It looked comfier than a PnP. We wedged it in the corner between the window and the table (i.e. as far from the older kids as possible). I draped sheets from the edges so he couldn't see us from his crib. Not ideal, but the best you can get for 5 people in one smallish room.

The baby woke up at 5:45 the first morning, and I took him down to the lobby so the others could sleep. He crawled around and we played by the couches. It was very dim, quiet, and mostly deserted. Right around 7:00, it was very subtle, but the whole place "woke up"! It got brighter, busier, and they turned on the African music. It was cool, and I'm glad I got to be there for it.

If I did it again, I'd plan full day at the resort. We enjoyed pool time and some bead activities, but it felt like it had to be squeezed in after the parks. My older two could easily have spent a day at the pool.

Speaking of the pool (Jambo House pool), the temperature was great. I was worried it would be like bathwater. It was not cold, but not hot either. Refreshing!

Transportation- it worked out great; I was concerned going in because my parents are used to the Poly and therefore the monorail. Longest wait was about 15 min, none of the parks seemed too far. Disney Springs seems far, that was a long ride with tired kids. One night, three of us made a trip to HS for EMH, and we drove because we didn't want to catch a bus at park closing, but our car sat in the parking lot for the rest of the trip.

 

[star04]

Does anyone know if the October activity guide is available? Thanks.

 

[dansdad]

Does anyone know if the October activity guide is available? Thanks.

Yup.

http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/resorts/wdw/pdf/AKLCalendar.pdf

 

[vinotinto]

Anyone else planning to be at AKL during Hurricane Matthew? We're driving down tomorrow. If the parks close, we'll hang out at the lobby (as long as there is power)! I packed some games, cards, dominoes, just in case.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Also, what is the earliest busses start running in the morning? I am hoping to make it to MK for the Welcome Show and assume this is the longest travel time.

Buses usually start running from an hour before the first prepark meal reservation (8:05am) or an hour before park opens. When MK opened at 9am, we caught the bus at 7:55am and we were standing there, waiting for the morning show by 8:20am. As always, allow 90 minutes to get anywhere on property if it's really important to you to see the show.

 

[bareed]

52 Days away from our first stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge!!

We have always stayed at the Wilderness Lodge ( 7 times ) so we are moving out of our comfort zone due to the Disney dining plan for November 25 - Dec 4 only being available at the Animal Kingdom Lodge this trip.

We have reserved a standard room for the 4 of us and we are wondering if there were any specific rooms we could request in our standard room category that would be more picturesque as opposed to others.

Is there a certain area to request to be closer to the pool or flamingo pond area??

Thank you for such a great Animal Kingdom Lodge information board.

 

[RunningAriel]

Just booked our April trip with a pin code we got yesterday! So excited I can't sleep...well that and I'm at work. (they might frown on that ) We booked a savanna view and I requested a room in blocks 2517-2531 or 3517-3531. I realize it's just a request but a girl can hope, right?!?

 

[PolDisneyfam]

Hi all! I wondered if anyone has ever stayed in a Standard Room 1st floor, room numbers 1486-1483? According to Touring plans, these rooms seem like they overlook the hot tub area.

Do these rooms have a patio? Can you exit there and walk to the hot tub, pool, the MARA? They seem convenient if you could, but not sure if there is vegetation in the way or bars up so you cant exit the patio.

Any help on these rooms would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone has an room suggestions for a standard two queen room, please let me know. Thanks!

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Hi all! I wondered if anyone has ever stayed in a Standard Room 1st floor, room numbers 1486-1483? According to Touring plans, these rooms seem like they overlook the hot tub area.

Do these rooms have a patio? Can you exit there and walk to the hot tub, pool, the MARA? They seem convenient if you could, but not sure if there is vegetation in the way or bars up so you cant exit the patio.

Any help on these rooms would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone has an room suggestions for a standard two queen room, please let me know. Thanks!

Those standards rooms look great to me. If I had booked a standard room, that is one area that I would have no problem with being placed, on any of those floors. But I went ahead with a pool view, to guarantee a room in that general location or close by. We are going for a very short trip in February, so I am wanting a room that will won't be too far from everything and will have a good view.

 

[xlsm]

Booked my first stay at AKL for the first week of May with an email pin code...was already planning on those dates anyway, so it was perfect timing.
This trip will be just me and my mother-in-law, it will be her first trip ever. I figured AKL would give her the Disney wow factor for sure. We have a savanna view room, and I plan to call and add a request for 3rd floor in the zebra trail rooms.

I've stayed at the Wilderness Lodge several times, and we'll be at the Boardwalk in December, but I'm so, so, so excited to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's been on my "to do" list for a long time...Bring on the giraffes!