We recently returned from a vacation celebrating six years of marriage! We did it up Disney style and stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was the first time either of us had been to one of Disney’s deluxe resorts and it did not disappoint! I’m in love with hotels in general so I have several posts planned to give you a tour of this impressive venue. So snuggle up in your gomesi, grab a bowl of potjiekos, and enjoy!
This is the main lobby. Beautiful and colorful!
On the left, a 16ft ljele mask on display in the lobby – the first of its kind to leave Nigeria. On the right, Matt gets us all checked in!
On the left, Matt is ready to get to the room! I have a little story about the photo on the right. You see.. I like to take photos of the hotel rooms that we stay in. So as soon as we unlocked the door, before we hit the “explode” button on our suitcases and cluttered up the room, I wanted to take photos. I ran into a little obstacle when I tried to take a photo of the bathroom. Matt was all hunched over in the doorway, having an argument with the ironing board he found in the closet. I told him if he didn’t move, I would take a picture of his butt and post it on the internet. He didn’t move, so.. yep. Afterwards, I walked over and folded up the ironing board in 0.04 seconds, which earned me a look of incredulity from my beloved.
I’m not big into gender roles, but there really are some things that men should just leave to the womenfolk. Dangerous, extremely difficult things.. like folding up an ironing board.
Then I forgot to take a photo of the bathroom. DRAT!
The bedroom. I think I had reserved a room with a King bed, but honestly, neither of us gave a hoot, so we didn’t bother complaining. The extra bed just gave us another surface to fill up with our junk!
Mickey towels were waiting for us on the bed!!
Little touches never let us forget that were were most definitely in the House of Mouse.
This was the view from our room. Animal Kingdom Lodge has several savannas where you can view various types of animals right outside of your window. I thought this was the coolest idea! See the giraffes?
The entire hotel is themed so well.. right down to the carpet, doors..
.. and light fixtures.
Tired from the trip, but so excited to have a week to ourselves!
Large windows pepper the hallways, with views of the savannas.
Gorgeous lighting near one of the banks of elevators. Our living room at home has a light African decor, so I wanted to rip these right off of the ceiling and install them over our couch!
I hear the hotel tends to frown on such behavior, however. Good to know. Good to know.
Another view from the lower level of the lobby.
Outside behind Jambo House (the main building with regular hotel rooms).
Another savanna. The property is absolutely sprawling, so most rooms have a fantastic view. Bring your walkin’ shoes, though. It took us several minutes to make the trek from the lobby to our room!
Another view of the back of Jambo House, from a savanna viewing area.
Lil’ ole me, and a view of the pool area. Stay tuned to a future post for more poolside photos. We definitely made good use of it!
The Zawadi Marketplace is near the front of Jambo House, just off of the main lobby. It is a huge gift shop, with a small convenience area near the back. I know this because I stumbled in there at 7am following a morning workout, desperate for Pepcid. Spicy, delicious African food from the night before (details on that in a future post) was causing a bonfire in my chest. Painful, and SO worth it.
We walked over to Kidani Village, which is the second phase of Animal Kingdom Lodge and contains condo-style accomodations with multiple bedrooms and kitchenettes.
This is the ceiling of the Kidani Village lobby.
Cozy guest lounge areas with savanna views.
We both got a giggle out of this sign at the Kidani pool. Yeah, I’d definitely call 0ft, 0m a bit shallow, and would discourage diving.
Stay tuned for some poolside photos!
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