Animal Kingdom Lodge
Photo Tour
Photos by Brian Bennett
The Main Building |
The Pool / Recreation Areas
| The Restaurants and
Lounges | The
Savannah
Animal Kingdom Lodge Navigation tips:
The lobby is on the third floor and the Arusha Rock savannah overlook
is on the second floor. The Uzima pool is located on the first
floor. The restaurants (Jiko, Boma, and the Mara) are all located
on the first floor (just inside the building from the pool) and Victoria
Falls is located on the second floor, suspended between Boma below and
the main lobby above.
Animal Kingdom Lodge is located, not surprisingly, down
in the South Western part of Walt Disney World near the Animal Kingdom
park. The theme of this lovely resort is central Africa.
As you walk up to the resort the outside layout is very
similar to that of Wilderness Lodge.
Themed guest room wings stretch to the right and left of
the central part of the building.
A series of terraced stairs take you up to the level of
the porte-cochere from the lower elevation of the parking lot.
The grass-thatched roof of the porte-cochere looks great
and sets the stage as you approach.
The inside details of that same roof are incredible!
The rough log framing supports the thatching material shown in the picture
above.
Inside, the lodge has a lobby that is also very reminiscent
of the one at Wilderness Lodge. This view is actually of the lobby
facing the front entrance. Unfortunately, the pictures I took of
the lobby looking in from the front doors didn't turn out well.
There is a huge glass wall (you'll see pictures of it shortly) that displays
the savannah behind the hotel from the lobby. The sunlight streaming
in that wall just washed out the pictures. It's too bad, because
to the naked eye, the view is spectacular!
The lobby stretches up a good five or six stories, has a
great set of chandeliers, and a criss-cross pattern of supports on the
ceiling.
Near the back of the lobby, a rope-suspended bridge provides
access for guests from one side to the other.
(Photograph provided by Sue Holland)
To the left, as you enter the lobby, the check- in area
is located under a much lower ceiling. With almost 1300 rooms, the
lodge is almost twice as big as Wilderness Lodge. The amount of
space set aside for check- in and guest services is huge! There
must be room for ten or more cast member stations to help guests.
Less than half of those stations were manned when we were there, but clearly
the resort is ready to handle big crowds if need be.
Immediately to the right from the main entrance, across
from the check- in area, is Zawadi Marketplace, the resort's shop.
It's much larger than the mercantile at Wilderness Lodge, but I would
guess that it is smaller than the combined shops at the Grand Floridian
or Contemporary Resorts. Even so, it's a very large amount of retail
space... it's just all collected in one place instead of being spread
out like in those other resorts.
Themed clothing...
...and other themed items are available for sale, as well
as the more typical resort wares.
The Main Building | The
Pool / Recreation Areas | The
Restaurants and Lounges | The
Savannah
Click here to return to the Animal Kingdom
Lodge "Fast Facts" Page.
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