I gave this hotel a rating of average for two reasons:

1 - the room was not clean, we found trash in the bin and half eaten grapes under the bed

2 - I recently stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and it is SO much better than Animal Kingdom

However, the hotel is fabulous in it's own right, having the animals is really the only reason the hotel costs so much. We didn't eat from the restaurants in house, we chose to eat at the parks, but the menus looked great. The bus service is awesome, we never had an issue with busses (unlike Pop Century) and while we stayed we encountered Hurricaine Jeanne and had to bunker down, the staff were excellent, gave us flashlights and free Disney movies all day while we had to stay in our rooms.

I probably wouldn't stay again because Wilderness lodge is the same price and so much nicer, with the lake and being so close to the Magic Kingdom, but I would recommend the hotel. The staff are nice and the surroundings amazing - you feel like you could be in Africa - the lobby is awesome. Just make sure your room is clean!

My 5 year old son and I just returned from the Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort and can't wait to go back. We were upgraded to a savannah room which was such a treat. The hotel really is nice dispite some reviews. I had no complaints about housekeeping or the darkness of the hotel. I do have to agree with some reviews that the lighting at the bathroom sink isn't the best but it is because of the light fixture covers. They are made of a paper type fabric and give off a golden glow...not the best when trying to get ready, but hardly worth grumbling about. Every staff member I came across went out of their way to be helpful but best of all, they were so friendly to my son...in fact, would call him by name when walking through the lobby or in the restaurants. One of the cast members actually gave him Disney buttons to take back to his class...he was thrilled. The grounds with the animals were beautiful. Watching the excitement on my son's face as he watched the animals from the balcony was awesome. That was one of the big highlights of his trip...being able to see all the animals. The activities at the hotel were great for the kids. My son was able to watch the animals at night with night goggles, paint a giraffe, make bead animals etc. The weather was perfect for swimming...I couldn't get my son out of the pool because he was having too much fun. The bus rides can be alittle long since the Animal Kingdom Lodge was the quite a distance from the parks but the bus service itself was great...no long waits at all. I am already planning our next vacation to Disney and hope to be able to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge again...my son is still talking about the animals.

The Animal Kingdom Lodge is a nice resort within WDW. To call it deluxe outside WDW is somewhat inadequate, but within the compound, it is still above some of the lower class hotels.

Transportation from the airport to the hotel via the Magical Express was as advertised, although I don't know why it took 3 1/2 hours for the luggage to arrive even when we arrived just before midnight with maybe 10 people on the bus.

The lack of Front Desk Staff (1) resulted in having to wait nearly an hour to have our accommodations (thanks to the man in front that needed to change everything). Did i mention one of my kid was sleeping in my arms?

The room was very nice and even if we paid standard price, we still got a good savannah view with views on numerous Giraffes, Zebras and miscellaneous other animal and birds. However, the room had some issues such as burned light bulbs, no lights on in the room when getting in (where the heck are the switches) and some of the beddings were quite dirty. Did we complain? Of course not, it would have meant another trip down to the lobby which was 3 wings out, one floor down and 2 more wings over. Otherwise, the amenities were fine with a nice balcony.

The hotel is quite dark due to the dark furnishing and colors to represent Africa (or so we think). A giraffe carcasse must have been left in the hallway one day because the smell was quite horrible (probably water leak on the carpet). The restaurant (The Boma) served excellent food with good choices for the kids. the other cafeteria style restaurant was also quite good. Did not try the classier restaurant since I don't think the kids would have enjoyed.

The pool area was great with a zero-entry pool and water-slide (too bad kids can go down with adults). 2 hot tubs, kiddie pool and playground. Too bad that the pool was way at the other end.

Overall, the Animal Kingdom lodge offers those interested in a different experience a chance to view some exotic animals within having to wait in line at the park. The problems with the front desk and room cleanliness detracted from a higher grading. But we still had lots of fun.

My husband and I stayed here in October 04 for our wedding... Yes, we married at the Disney Wedding Pavillion and we stayed a full 3 weeks in this hotel.

We have stayed in many other disney hotels over the years and are disney mad but this one is just the best. It feels like a home from home and has an atmosphere that you just want to go back to.

We visited again in 07 and stayed in the Caribean Beach - lovely but not the same, we went back for a memory trip and it is still the best ever.

I will be going back this year.. for definate