Active Advisories
After purchasing a ticket, the guest should visit www.StartYourDisneyExperience.com to create a profile (if you do not already have a profile), and, using the confirmation number that WestJet Vacations will provide, link the ticket to the profile and then make park reservations.
Overview
An entirely unique Disney experience for guests to enjoy just west of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. It’s the thrill of staying at a wildlife reserve with animals grazing just beyond their balcony. Rejuvenate both body and spirit in luxurious surroundings while sharing the grandeur of the African wilderness. The beauty of the savanna, the rhythm of tribal drums, exquisite cuisine in lush settings and the lure of authentic African treasures all come together to celebrate the beauty and wonder of this vast and untamed continent.
Resort type:
Deluxe
Check in
3 p.m.
Check out
11 a.m.
Rooms
1293
Inclusions
- Guests Magicband or Card allow guests to charge purchases to their room and purchases can be delivered directly to their room.
- Any guest celebrating a special occasion while staying at any Walt Disney World Resort hotel may request to receive a Disney Character voicemail message on their in-room phone. Occasions for Character calls can include birthdays, romantic celebrations or any other special event.
- All Disney resort transportation is included within the grounds, including motor coach, ferry, and tram.
- Extended Theme Park hours, known as Extra Magic hours
Rooms
- 2 queen beds, or 1 king bed
- Views of Rooftop or Parking area
- No more than 4 guests in the room
- 2 queen beds, or 1 king bed
- Views of Rooftop or Parking area
- Minimum 1 adult, maximum 4 adults
- Maximum 3 children
- No more than 4 guests in the room
- Balcony
- Ceiling fan
- Smoke-free
- A/C
- Alarm clock
- Coffee maker
- Crib (on request)
- Hair dryer
- Iron/Ironing board
- Room service
- Safe
- TV
- Pack 'n Play playard available upon request
- Fridges can be provided on a "request basis only" and will be based on need priority.
King bedded rooms allow a maximum of 3 people.
- 2 queen beds
- No more than 4 guests in the room
- 2 queen beds
- Minimum 1 adult, maximum 4 adults
- Maximum 3 children
- No more than 4 guests in the room
- Ceiling fan
- Smoke-free
- A/C
- Alarm clock
- Coffee maker
- Crib (on request)
- Hair dryer
- Iron/Ironing board
- Room service
- Safe
- TV
- Pack 'n Play playard available upon request
- Fridges can be provided on a "request basis only" and will be based on need priority.
- 2 queen beds
- View of one of the Savannahs at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
- No more than 4 guests in the room
- 2 queen beds
- View of one of the Savannahs at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Minimum 1 adult, maximum 4 adults
- Maximum 3 children
- No more than 4 guests in the room
- Balcony
- Ceiling fan
- Smoke-free
- A/C
- Alarm clock
- Coffee maker
- Crib (on request)
- Hair dryer
- Iron/Ironing board
- Room service
- Safe
- TV
- Pack 'n Play playard available upon request
- Fridges can be provided on a "request basis only" and will be based on need priority.
.
Amenities
Exterior
Lobby
Uzima Pool
Jiko - Dining Area
Giraffe
Location
Reviews
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
A Wonderful Stay at One of the Most Unique Resorts in the World
ColoradoKlutch (Colorado Springs, Colorado) on Dec 14, 2024
My wife, her sister and I arrived at Orlando International Airport an hour ahead of schedule. (Apparently, we had a really good tail wind.) I called Tiffany Town Car and they advised they saw I had arrived early and had a driver on his way. Shortly thereafter, my driver met me in the baggage claim area where he collected our luggage and led us to the car. The vehicle was a new Chevrolet Suburban with very comfortable leather seats. It was squeaky clean and in tip top condition. Our driver was clean, neat, polite, helpful and spoke very good English with only a slight accent. He loaded all our luggage and we were off. *Yes, this is a plug for Tiffany Town Car. I don’t benefit in any way from recommending this service, but for anyone flying into MCO, it’s the absolute best way to get to and from Walt Disney World, Universal and Port Canaveral cruise terminal. The cost is around $250 round trip plus tip, but I think it’s absolutely worth it not having to mess with busses, crowds or the hassles of renting a car. If you will be visiting multiple places during your Florida visit, a rental car makes sense, but if you’re going to and from one destination, Tiffany Town Car is the way to go. Oh, and if you advise them ahead of time, they will stop at a Publix grocery store allowing you to buy snacks and drinks. My wife really appreciates this since she does not like local Florida tap water and the first thing she wants to do is pick up a case of bottled water at grocery shore prices rather than theme park prices. After our grocery stop, we arrived at Animal Kingdom lodge where we were immediately greeted by Bell Services. Sure, they want to help you with your bags so they can get a tip. But I did need help with my bags so I appreciated the excellent service. The Bellman loaded our numerous bags onto a cart and gave me a ticket. He advised when my room was ready I should call bell services using the button on our room phone. I had stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge once previously in 2007. But every time I enter the concours/lobby area I am simply stunned at the beauty and creativity of this resort. It was early Monday afternoon and, luckily, the lobby area was not at all crowded. A massive Christmas tree towered at center stage with tasteful Christmas décor throughout. There is always music playing around Animal Kingdom Lodge and during the Christmas season they play an African-Inspired Christmas loop. One of the songs wasn’t my thing, but most of them were really good. And that’s a good thing because I heard that Christmas loop a lot over the next week. Disney offers online check-in and using your mobile phone to open your room door as well as access the parks. I opted not to use this. I’m old school and prefer a key card to open my room as well as enter the parks. There is also a Magic Band option, but those cost extra and I didn’t think they were worth the expense. As I headed over to the line to check in, I was greeted by a very friendly and polite cast member who pulled me aside and checked me in using a tablet. I was very impressed by this. Brooke was extremely efficient at finding my reservation, advising my room was ready and configuring three key cards for my group. She wrote our names on each individual key card and gave me a map of the resort with our room circled. She also gave me very clear instructions how to get to the room. This is important since Animal Kingdom Lodge can be a bit confusing to navigate at first. The lobby and entrance at ground level are on actually on the third floor. The pool and restaurants are on the first floor at the rear where the ground level is much lower than the front. Animal Kingdom Lodge is very large. Our room was pretty far from the lobby which was somewhat inconvenient when going to and from the restaurant and pool areas. If long walks to your room would be a problem, be sure to note this when you book your reservation and request a room close to the lobby. I had booked a Resort View room which means our view would be of the parking lot. While we most certainly appreciate seeing the animals in the savannahs, the Savannah View rooms are significantly more expensive. (I don’t like pool view rooms since there tends to be a lot of noise near pools.) To my surprise, we had received a free upgrade to a Savannah View room! Our balcony overlooked the Sunset Savannah where there was a small pond. During our stay this area had a lot of animals hanging out and walking through. At one point, multiple zebras, to include a few juveniles, and giraffes were literally running around. This was really cool! Every night around dusk, multiple large cranes hopped up on the rocks around the pond. Each crane returned to the same rock to sleep every night. Savannah cast members often hung leaves from a tree near to the pond where giraffes would trot over for breakfast. It was simply amazing to watch the giraffes take their time munching at this greenery. So yeah, the resort is beautiful and the restaurants are top notch, but this is why you stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge! If you don’t have a Savannah View room, it’s no big deal. There are many places througout the resort to see and watch animals. Since were visiting in early December, the savannahs were often dark when we returned to our room. But we still had plenty of opportunities to see the animals. We were assigned room 4341. Our room was very clean and in very good condition. We had two queen beds. During our previous stay, our room had carpet. The carpets have since been removed and replaced with vinyl plank flooring. (I don’t mind this at all since it’s just not possible to keep carpet clean in a hotel room.) The bathroom had a walk-in shower with a glass door. Sorry, no tub. This area also has the toilet with a sliding door separating the shower/toilet area from the sink area. We had two sinks and a suprisingly large counter. The sink area is separated from the room by another sliding door. These multiple bathroom areas worked perfectly for our group. One person could shower while two others were using the sink area. The room also had a small refrigerator and a Keurig coffe maker. Cups for coffee and tea were stocked in a drawer below the Keurig. I never used the Keurig, but my wife did using bottled water. She said the cofee was, “Okay”. I called Bell Services and about ten minutes later a bellman delivered our luggage. My wife immediately started unpacking and was very impressed when I pointed out the beds had enough clearance underneath to stow all our luggage. (The people in a room nearby had their luggage stored on their balcony. I guess they didn’t notice the room under the beds.) The closet had plenty of space, but my wife wanted more hangers. While she was unpacking, I went to explore the lobby and asked a cast member near the desk if we could get more hangers. She made a note on her tablet and when I returned to the room, someone from housekeeping had already delivered more hangers. Although our room was far from the lobby, there was an advantage to being away from the main corridor and elevelator. It was quiet. It was dead quiet. On one side of our room there was a service closet. I don’t know if someone was in the room on the other side of us, but I never heard anything beyond a muffled toilet flush during our entire stay. Our room was so comfy, quiet and cozy that we all commented we would be quite happy living there for a long while. After unpacking, we toured the lobby and nearby savannah areas to see animals of which there were many. My wife and her sister took endless pictures. The Christmas display included very large animals made from gingerbread; a giraffe, a zebra and a flamingo. A nearby placard listed the pounds of ingredients required to make these technically edible animals. I suggested the zebra might be missing an ear after I decided to take a bite. That evening we had reservations for dinner at Boma. We were seated right away and thoroughly enjoyed this buffet. Don’t miss Boma! Even if you are staying elsewhere, it’s worth the trip for breakfast or dinner at Boma. Tuesday was our first park day. We opted for Magic Kingdom since it was a Very Merry Christmas party day. We were not attending the Christmas party, but people tend to avoid Magic Kingdom on party days since it closes early. This means the crowds are much lighter. Early entry for Disney resort guests started at 7:30 AM. A Cast Member had advised the first bus would be around 6:30 AM. We dutifully arose early and headed down to the Mara counter service restaurant for breakfast at 6:00 only to learn it didn’t open until 6:30. We were the first people in the door at 6:30 only to learn they don’t start serving hot food until 7:00. I didn’t see this information listed anywhere and I was pretty annoyed. Mara does have a small pastry case where we grabbed muffins, bagels and banana bread. We also purchased refillable mugs. This was another disappointment. On our previous visit, the mugs were large and specific to Animal Kingdom Lodge. The new mugs are smaller and just say “Walt Disney World”. (Bad show!) The newer mugs also have some kind of RFID chip which is enabled by the cashier and allows the soda fountain to work. Of course, this technology is buggy and takes some fiddling while a computer voice barks at you at the soda fountain. I encountered yet another disappointment when I went to fill my mug with orange juice. There wasn’t any. A refillable mug offers only coffee, tea and soda fountain. No juice for you! I’m certain there were machines on my last visit, but no more. I had to buy a $5.00 bottle of orange juice. Yay. We made the best of the breakfast situation and trekked off to the bus area. One of the negative factors of Animal Kingdom Lodge is its remote location. It’s geographically close to Disney’s Animal Kingdom park, but you can’t walk there from the lodge. All the other parks are pretty far away with only bus service; no boats, Sky Liner or Monorail at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We really don’t mind this and prefer to be away from the hustle and bustle, but some people don’t like the longer bus rides. A Magic Kingdom bus pulled in shortly after we got to the bust stop. There were very few people at the bus area which meant we all got a seat for the ride. Park Experience Extra *Be aware getting to Magic Kingdom is unique. Any Disney bus will drop you directly at the entrance. However, if you drive or ride a non-Disney bus, you will have to go to the Transportation and Ticket Center to board a boat or Monorail to take you to the entrance. This will add significant time to your commute. Furthermore, if you arive at the Transportation and Ticket Center during a busy time, you will have to deal with a sea of humanity and long lines for the boats and Monorail. We discovered this situation on a previous Walt Disney World Trip when we stayed “off property”. Most non-Disney shuttles serve multiple parks which makes for even longer commutes. After experiencing all the transportation challenges, we resolved to always stay at a Disney Resort for future visits. Be sure to consider all this when you think staying at your nearby timeshare will be just perfect. Despite the breakfast delays, there were still not a lot of people at the Magic Kingdom gates when we arrived. However, we first had to go through security. Both my wife and her sister got flagged for a bag inspection. We soon learned Disney’s AI-enhanced scanners always alert on eyeglass cases. Security personnel told us to always hold eyeglass cases at an arms distance when going through the scanners. Over the next week, we learned this often worked, but not always. Of all the times we went through security only once did all three of us get through without getting sidelined for a bag inspection. It was all worth it. Once we were inside Magic Kingdom, all the rides were walk-ons. Unfortunately, the Seven Dwarfs Mine train was down. But we rode Tron Light Cycle Run, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World and Journey of the Little Mermaid with little or no lines before lunch. I had snagged a Virtual Queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure for around 2:00 PM. After lunch, we walked right onto Pirates of the Caribbean before Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and then hopped over to Epcot. Lessons learned; always get to the park early and do your best to visit when the crowds are lighter!
Must Stay Disney Resort
awinchester (Baltimore, Maryland) on Dec 06, 2024
We decided to stay at this resort for the second half of our thanksgiving vacation to Disney in November. This has been a resort on our bucket list for a while, but we’re apprehensive because the rooms hadn’t been updated until recently. All of the hotel rooms have been recently renovated and they are really nice! We paid for a Savannah room, which was so worth it! We were so spoiled sitting out on the balcony and watching Giraffes, Zebras and other wildlife wander by, we never fully got used to that. While it was nice to have a Savannah view, I would be okay if we didn’t pay for it considering that the resort has so many outlooks for guests to see the animals wandering throughout. The theming of this hotel was immaculate, and I felt like I was on a wildlife reserve in Kenya! The staff were extremely helpful and even though the resort is big, it never felt crowded. The quick service had a few interesting options, but aside from that it was the basic food provided across Disney World. We didn’t try the sit down options, but heard great things about them. We found the price to stay here affordable in comparison to other deluxe resorts. My son loved the pool and especially loved the water slide. The rooms were on the small side and would have felt cramped with four people (there is only 3 of us). One of the biggest complaints about this hotel is its proximity to the parks. We never used the bus system, because we had our car and didn’t find any of our drives to the parks to feel any longer than when we stayed at a resort like Saratoga Springs or Coronado. We can’t wait to stay here again one day!
Vacation Offers
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