Are you planning a trip to Disney and trying to decide where to stay? I am going to share with you about our stay at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. We stayed in the Kidani Village of Animal Kingdom Lodge.
The Room
One of the greatest things about staying at a Disney Resort is the number of room selections from a typical hotel room to multiple bedroom suites. For this stay we were staying in a 2 Bedroom Safari View Suite. During this stay we had 3 adults and 3 children staying in the room. As with all things Disney in my opinion the room was beautiful with so many subtle Disney touches to just add to the character of the room.
This suite had a full kitchen with dining table, living room complete with a pull out sofa bed. There was a large patio door which overlooked the safari where the animals would be. One of the bedrooms had 2 queen size beds and its own bathroom. 
While the second bathroom had a king size bed again with its own bathroom including large jacuzzi style soaker tub.
The full kitchen was great for storing food. We had groceries delivered so they were there upon check in. This did cut down on food costs in the park because we could store food for breakfasts and dinners and pack snacks to take with us.
The Animals
This was probably the highlight for us. The animals were such a cool added experience to a hotel stay. We were staying in a safari view room so naturally we had easier access- but there were many areas where you could view the animals out on the safari. Disney Vacations are pretty busy when you are going to the parks and trying to get everything done you wanted to. We do try to intentionally plan some down time for everyone’s sanity. It was so cool to sit out on out patio drinking a coffee with giraffes in the background.
Though the kids did think the animals were really interesting to have right outside they didn’t spend as much time enjoying the view. They would kind of pop out and see if there were any new animals and then run back inside. Sitting on the patio enjoying the sights were more for the adults in our group.
Right through the main lobby of Kidani Village was also a viewing area that you could go and look at the animals. This was a different vantage point for us so that was really cool. There were also great areas that had nice chairs to sit and relax and enjoy the view.
The Pool
This was a huge highlight for our family. In our opinion Disney does not disappoint with their pools, each one has such unique features for the kids. The pool wasn’t overly large but it did have a toddler aged slide as well as the traditional larger Disney Hotel style slide. Our girls spent hours running up and down those stairs and going down the slide.
The really great part about this pool area was there was a really large splash pad area and playground. This was a bit away from the pool area so one of us always had to go over with the kids, which was totally fine. This was great because our baby at the time could crawl around and splash in the water.
On days that we spent extra time at the hotel it was easy to head over to Jambo house and try out their pool. The pool at Jambo house was much bigger so it was a lot of fun. It is great to have the option of more than one pool to keep the fun going.
The Food
For a lot of people the highlight of a Disney Stay is the food and I would have to say it is one of the highlights for us. During our stay we were at Kidani Village not the large Animal Kingdom Lodge. This did limit the amount of options for food at our particular location.
Within the main part of the building there was a small store that had drinks and snacks. This was great for our refillable Disney Mugs as well as getting a snack before bed. There weren’t any other options for food within this shop.
The pool has a great little pool bar quick service restaurant that serves your typical quick service Disney Style food. Our favorite was the Chili Cheese Dog- So GOOD!
Sanaa is a quick service breakfast option and there are also table service options for lunch and dinner. The food here was good but we did only eat here for breakfast.
Because of the limited food options at Kidani Village we were happy to have ordered groceries that we had in our hand for quick snacks and small meals.
Hotel Layout
The Animal Kingdom hotels are very big. Kidani Village was sort of a ‘W” shape meaning that the hall ways were long. This would be the one downside that I didn’t know before booking. Our party had a double stroller as well as someone using an electric scooter so going down the hallways a long ways was a bit of a challenge.
For where we were which was about halfway down the hallway there was only the one elevator option by our room.
The overall decor of this resort was just beautiful. One of our favorite things at Disney Resorts are the added pieces of Disney Magic that you can find around the resorts. The traditional African decor and ambiance was just beautiful at this resort.
Disney Buses
If you are heading to Disney one of the most important things to think about is transportation. Even if you have a car with you driving to the theme parks are not always an option and parking can be a nightmare. Before you arrive make sure to check out what type of complimentary Disney transportation is accessible at your resort. At Animal Kingdom the only option are the Disney Buses.
Now full disclosure, these get packed quickly so be aware and plan ahead. It is important to leave well before you planned park arrival time. In our experience staying at Animal Kingdom the buses came to Kidani Village before Jambo house, so it worked out for us that the buses weren’t as busy as they would be at the Jambo stop.
But be sure to plan, have the stroller folded, all the water bottles put in a bag to limit dropping anything as you are heading onto the bus.
I hope this helps you decide if you would like to try staying at Disney’s Animal Kingdom lodge. For more family travel tips and tricks check out Home – Together We Can Travel.
