Animal Kingdom Lodge is something special

Posted by Mark Chapman on January 30th, 2011 at 3:32 am

Bill Burke

Today we begin car­ry­ing Bill Burke’s col­umn ded­i­cated to fans of Walt Dis­ney World. Whether you are mak­ing your first foray to Dis­ney, or you are a reg­u­lar vis­i­tor, Bill’s columns can give you good advice. The col­umn will appear in Engle­wood Voices and in the Leisure sec­tion, and does not require a subscription.

By Bill Burke

Mouse­junkies

Q: We’re going to Walt Dis­ney World in a few months, and I am won­der­ing if we would be hap­pier stay­ing at the Ani­mal King­dom Lodge rather than the Tree House Vil­las. Can you offer any insight or thoughts?  — Karen Munt, Virginia

A: There are a lot of ele­ments to take into account when choos­ing where to lay your head at Walt Dis­ney World, but this is an easy one.

If you’ve got it nar­rowed down to the Ani­mal King­dom Lodge and the Tree­house Vil­las — which are tech­ni­cally part of the Saratoga Springs Resort — there’s only one answer: Choose Ani­mal King­dom Lodge.

Both resorts are nice, but offer totally dif­fer­ent expe­ri­ences. The Tree­house Vil­las are newly con­structed, octag­o­nal struc­tures ele­vated 10 feet off the ground that sleep up to nine peo­ple. They are won­der­fully appointed with top-notch fur­nish­ings and sit unob­tru­sively in nat­ural wooded sur­round­ings along the Sas­sagoula River near Down­town Disney.

Here’s the prob­lem: If you’re into people-watching or tak­ing part in any resort activ­i­ties, the Tree­house Vil­las are not the answer. They’re quiet, with no com­mu­nity feel, and they’re sit­u­ated pretty far away from the main build­ing at Saratoga Springs. The trans­porta­tion can be com­pli­cated. Tak­ing a shut­tle to a bus stop that will even­tu­ally get you to where you’re going is not my idea of effi­cient trans­port. For as much as $700 a night if you’re pay­ing cash, or a pile of points if you’re a mem­ber of Dis­ney Vaca­tion Club, this just isn’t a wise choice. Access to the Turf Club restau­rant or the Artist’s Palette quick-serve restau­rant is less than con­ve­nient. (Read: I’m not march­ing my butt half-way to Down­town Dis­ney in the crush­ing humid­ity for a break­fast pizza every morning.)

Ani­mal King­dom Lodge, how­ever, offers won­der­ful accom­mo­da­tions with con­ve­nience. As one of Disney’s most beau­ti­ful resorts, its mas­sive lobby trans­ports guests to Africa with breath­tak­ing décor, music and light­ing. Savanna-facing rooms pro­vide guests with the oppor­tu­nity to share their morn­ing cof­fee with giraffes, zebras, wilde­beests, ostriches and a clutch of other ani­mals. In this case, believe the mar­ket­ing hype: an African wildlife pre­serve sits just beyond your bal­cony. It’s an expe­ri­ence that’ll shape your entire vacation.

Cast Mem­bers from all over Africa tend to any needs you may have, and are always more than happy to talk to you about their home­land. On a warm fall after­noon recently our party parked our butts in the over­sized wooden rock­ing chairs over­look­ing the savanna and fired ques­tions at the Cast Mem­bers who rotated through our area every 20 min­utes. They were, with­out excep­tion, intel­li­gent, enthu­si­as­tic and enjoyed shar­ing their sto­ries with us.

Here’s an insider’s tip: There’s a bar­tender named Seth at the Kidani pool bar who pours with an excep­tion­ally heavy hand and will keep you enter­tained for hours.

Try that at the Tree­house Villas.

The resort offers African folk tales told around a camp­fire every night, craft activ­i­ties through­out the day, a pool dance party each after­noon, and an oppor­tu­nity to view the wildlife after dark through night-vision gog­gles. This is one resort I could stay at and never give a thought to the crowded theme parks just a bus ride away. Point me to the pool bar, put a frozen drink in my hand and I’ll be ask­ing “Mickey who?” within minutes.

That said, the only draw­back is that the Ani­mal King­dom Lodge is a lit­tle remote. While Disney’s inter­nal bus trans­porta­tion is nor­mally quite pre­dictable and con­ve­nient, it is a lit­tle bit of a longer ride to get any­where. When we stay at Ani­mal King­dom Lodge, we rent a car.

The Ani­mal King­dom Lodge also offers sev­eral din­ing options right on-site: There’s Boma, an African-inspired buf­fet; Jiko, an upscale restau­rant with a few more adven­tur­ous choices, and the Mara — a counter ser­vice option.

To book a room, call (407)-WDISNEY.

Bill Burke is the author of “Mouse­junkies: Tips, Tales and Tricks for a Dis­ney World Fix.” His follow-up guide to Walt Dis­ney World is due out this spring. Visit Mousejunkies.com.

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One response to “Animal Kingdom Lodge is something special”

1. Mousejunkies spotted in southwest Florida | Mousejunkies

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