Animal Kingdom Lodge Hotel Review

We stayed as a family of four at the Animal Kingdom Lodge hotel in Orlando, Florida in May 2022. As I found the huge array of different Disney resorts to choose from, a bit overwhelming with so many factors to consider and the sheer amount of choice – I thought I would post our experiences and opinions of staying with my family at the Animal Kingdom hotel, in one of their savannah bedrooms.

There was lots we loved about the Animal Kingdom Lodge hotel, a few things we didn’t and a few tips we picked up while being there, that I thought I’d share in my honest review of our stay…

What’s it Like Staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Hotel?

On arrival at the hotel, as you walk into the foyer it certainly has the wow factor. The lobby is vast, a magnificent towering hall, wood paneled, full of colour and intricate patterns, designed to emulate the savannas of Africa. There’s then a long reception desk running along one side, with the other focal point of the lobby, being an enormous fireplace, with lots of comfy seating areas dotted around. Throughout the lobby, there’s a large collection of traditional African art and artifacts displayed, as well as beautiful lighting fixtures overhead, that add to the dramatic atmosphere.

Overall, the lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge is a beautiful and welcoming space. During our stay, we spent quite a bit of time here, when coming in and out of the hotel. There was quite a few occasions when I’d need to make plans, nip in the shop or enquire at reception about something, and this was a great spot for everyone else to wait in – the kids watching old Disney on the traditional TV sets or a place for us all to play games in the aircon. (Which is also why everyone is sitting on the floor in this pic, as they are playing our favourite dice game, Pass the Pandas!)

When we arrived, you queue at the reception desk to get checked you in and are talked through all the resort facilites. There’s a lot to take in and after a long flight we were keen to get to our bedroom and then explore.

What are the Bedrooms like at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Hotel?

In comparison to the majestic lobby and immersive styling throughout the resort, I was pretty underwhelmed by our hotel bedroom to be honest. Not to say there was anything wrong with it, but in comparison it was pretty plain. It was a perfectly nice bedroom that worked well for our family of four with enough space, but for me it lacked the exceptional styling of the communal spaces at the Animal Lodge.

It was contemporary and the African style décor nice, but it lacked the wow factor of the rest of the resort. In our family room we had two big double beds, a bathroom, lots of wardrobe space (which were great to store all our stuff) and a unit with a coffee machine and fridge in too which came in handy.

Now onto the main reason we booked this hotel and what my daughter especially had been soooo excited about – the Savanah bedroom balcony…

Are the Savannah Bedrooms Worth it at the Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge?

When looking through the Disney hotels, the thought of staying in a hotel where we would be able to look out onto giraffes and zebras grazing outside our window, just sounded so amazing and such a different experience to anything we’d ever experienced, it was one of the main reasons we were swayed to try this resort.

Because of this we opted to book the savannah room option – these are bedrooms that have a balcony looking out directly onto the plains with the animals. There’s no denying having that view and access to the animals was pretty special and an experience we won’t forget. Whatever time of day it was, whenever we came into the bedroom, my daughter especially would go out onto the balcony to see what animals were nearby and what they were getting up to. There was always something going on with the wildlife outside – different group or species to spot and we felt lucky that they were very active near our balcony a lot of the time.

My only reservation I would say to others considering whether to book a savannah view bedroom is that for the extra cost, (which can be a lot) the size of the balcony was very small. I think in my head because we’d paid so much extra for it, I was imaging this vast outdoor space that we’d spend lots of time in enjoying the sunshine and view. In reality its a tiny table and chairs and you are in very close proximity to the other balconies. Despite that though, I have some special memories of spending time on that balcony with my little girl.

If you don’t go for a savannah bedroom there are still plenty of opportunities to see the wildlife with lots of communal balconies dotted around the resort too.

What’s the Swimming Pool Like for Kids at the Disney Animal Kingdom Hotel?

Moving onto the pool at the Animal Kingdom Lodge – the swimming pool facilities on any holiday for us as a family in particular, are super important. My kids absolutely love the water and its always very high on the priority list for my husband too. The pool at the Animal Kingdom Lodge did not disappoint. The children loved it and were in and out it multiple times each day.

The main pool at the resort is called the Uzima Pool and is 11,000 square foot. It has a shallow beach style entry area so you can walk right in, plus a 67-foot long slide, and a hot tub. All around the swimming pool there are lots of sun loungers and umbrellas and then at the side, a bar with tables and chairs, where you can get a drink, yet still see what’s going on in the pool. I quite often had a drink in the bar while my husband played with the kids – which was nice, although the drinks did feel a bit over priced for what they were and it could sometimes feel a bit of a hassle to get served, having to wait a while at the busy bar.

That said I’m not complaining – that little bit of time to myself was lovely at the end of the day, after the full on Disney park days all together. Only other thing to mention about the pool was that there were a few surface areas that were rough, so both my children got little cuts and scrapes after playing in the pool.

How Far is it to the Disney Parks From the Animal Kingdom Hotel?

Choosing which Disneyland hotel to stay at, is a big decision. One of the considerations for many is how far away they are from the different individual Disney Land parks. The Animal Kingdom Lodge is one of the few where you can’t actually walk to any of them from the resort. So as you need to rely on the Disney transport when staying there, I thought it was worth mentioning.

I’m glad to say all the transfers were super easy to navigate, with the hotel bus station just a couple of minutes walk from the main lobby. There’s a big board up that shows how long you will need to wait, until each one arrives and its sectioned into different bays to wait in for each different park. Its all free, we never had to wait that long and when we visited in mid May there was always lots of space on each of the buses to sit.

When staying at Disney hotels although everything you need is there, if you haven’t got a dinner reservation already booked or looking to try something different we found getting Ubers out of the resort to different places easy to do. Another website that is handy when deciding where to go is Restaurantji. They have restaurants listed by location, with a map and also reviews and ratings to help you choose.

For a bit more detail on our hotel stay and also our visit to the Disney Animal Kingdom park – you can read all about it in my mini Disney Diary about our afternoon at the hotel and evening family park trip.

All in all we loved our stay at the Lodge and would recommend it as a great place to choose if you are looking for an immersive themed hotel and love animals and wildlife.

Have you visited the Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge before? Or are planning a trip to Disney? – I’d love to know what you thought, or if there’s any questions you’d like to ask about our trip to Orlando pop them below in the comments.

Some great Disney Products I’ve found online, perfect for a Disney holiday…

You can also find out lots more about the rest of our Disney holiday over on my other UK family Disney blogs:

Our Disney Diary – a day at Epcot Eating our way around the World

Our Mini Disney Diary – Visiting the Animal Kingdom Park at Night