Animal Kingdom Lodge has two buildings. Jambo house, and Kidani village. Jambo house is considered the main hotel with a large lobby. Kidani village is the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) villa side, which you can only book with DVC points. Jambo house can be booked as a regular hotel, and they also have DVC villas which can be booked with DVC points. We booked Jambo house with renting DVC points from David’s DVC website. Let me start by saying the best part about staying here is seeing the animals, and the worst part about staying here is the busses transportation. We booked a savannah view room for 2 nights. The DVC rooms are only on the 5th floor. We specifically requested the zebra trail and close to the lobby, as that is what the internet said had the best animals and won’t be a long walk. Our request was granted, however since we were close to the lobby, we had a view of the savannah overlook from the lobby, which could be quite loud at times. So maybe we would sacrifice a longer walk to the room for more quiet. However we had a great view of the savannah and within the first few hours we were able to see all of the animals that were in the savannah. Giraffes, zebras, hornbills, cranes, waterbuck, eland, wildebeasts, pelican, antelopes. They refresh the hay and the hanging browse so the animals rotate around throughout the day and you will see them multiple times. Even when it was raining, hot and sunny, and even at midnight! There were animals out and about. The patio was not that deep, but it was long and wide. It came with 2 chairs and a small table. The patio door though had a lot of condensation and you could hear through it. Our room was ready one hour before check in time at 3pm, and we got the notification on the app after doing online check in. They do have bell services to hold your luggage if you wish, but we only had to wait about 30 minutes so we just hung out in the lobby and checked out the shop. The room had a small razor blade (like maintenance had been working on something in the room). So we threw that away promptly. We booked a studio villa. The toilet and shower are in the same room, with the double sink vanity separate. The shower had really poor water pressure and the shower handle never could turn all the way off completely so there was always a drip. Otherwise, the room was stocked and cleaned, and had the disney conservation fund coffee table book for in room reading. There was a table with 2 chairs, a small coffee table, a couch (a pull out), and a double bed. There is a closet with two opening doors, and a closet with one door with the ironing board and safe. There is lots of drawer space in the dresser under the TV. There are multiple mirrors. There was plenty of storage space. The room is themed very dark with the wooden tones, and the lighting is very dim, so you have to rely a lot on the daylight from the sliding door. The kitchenette part had a mini fridge, sink with soap/sponge/towel, microwave, toaster, and plastic silverware, plastic cups, and paper plates and bowls. The sign in the room said that there would be housekeeping service on the 4th day. But daily they came in to take out and replace the trash cans. There is a decently large shop in the lobby. There is also a lot of African art and photos to take a look at. There is one main savannah overlook if you go down the stairs at the end of the lobby. This is also where they have the nightly campfire. There are representatives here to ask questions and they can talk about the animals here. There are also a few other overlooks attached to or on the side of the lobby with indoor and outdoor seating. There are also stairs downstairs to get to Victoria falls lounge, and boma, and jiko. We have eaten at Jiko in the past. While delicious, it has a high price point and other steakhouses are cheaper and the same or better. We ate at Boma for breakfast and dinner. While everything was good. It reminded us of the quality of the buffet on a Disney cruise shop and not worth the price. Also, you can go outside to the pool, and the fitness center with a sauna is nearby. The Mara quick service is right out the doors. We had a bowl from here which was fine, but all of the prices are quite high for what you get here and the food is just okay. We got a reusable cup that you can refill here, or at any Disney resort for the length of your stay. They also have the simba clubhouse for kids to do activities just a little down the path as well. Every single cast member we encountered was welcoming and friendly and helpful. They have an internal shuttle that runs between Jambo house and Kidani village. They also have the bus system out front, which runs to all parks and Disney springs. Busses stop at Kidani village first, then Jambo, then to the destination. Be warned about the busses as they do not come as often as other resorts, and they have to make the extra stop at the other resort building. We did notice that at peak morning time they run a bus from each building individually, but that only lasts for a few hours and then it is back to combined. Since AKL is farther away from the parks, it takes a decent bus ride (15-20 minutes) to get to the parks. So factor in about 30 minutes or so in travel time alone, not including waiting 20 minutes for a bus to even come. This is true of the hotel stop and the park stop. The busses to and from here are not reliable and are quite crowded. We have seen two busses from each of the 3 all stars resorts come before even one of the AKL busses came. So if you are the kind who wants to take a mid day break at the hotel and then come back to the parks, it is a huge timesuck for all parks except maybe animal kingdom. Overall, we enjoyed our stay here, but would not stay again due to the inconvenient location.
