We found the rooms to be dark and a bit beat up in the Kidani 2 bedroom villa that cost around $1500 per night, with quality and comfort was equivalent to a 3 star hotel.

but the area with the toilet was dark and had zero decor, not a big deal but I was a little surprised, was like the bathroom area was overlooked.

but kind of dark because of the themed decor.

Absolutely loved Jambo   hated Kidani   Our room  was  no lie at least a mile from check in, dark gloomy hall ways , was in a back corner  I think like room 7655?

Unfortunately, this time of the year it gets dark early, so we had to catch them in the morning before heading to the parks.

It appeared a bit run down, the shower was terrible, the lighting in the bathroom was way too dark and overall, just did not feel Disney in quality.

Understanding the theme of the resort, I still found décor dark and very tired looking.

The African theme resulted in the rooms being dark and the necessity of taking buses everywhere was time consuming.

-night vision goggles for kids to look for animals after dark
-covered parking deck
-lots of dining options

CONS - 
-distance from Epcot, MK 
-bus-only transportation
-I can see where the layout is a bit more like Coronado (read: you can end up with quite a hike from your room to, say, the bus or lobby).

I think the rooms could stand a little updating as it was very dark and the carpet had a musty smell.

So they take a little to get going in the mornings after they are released and have breakfast and of course you aren't going to see them in dark from your room.

but very dark due to all the dark furniture.

It’s a little dark and there’s no view of the animals (as in the main dining room)

While the rooms in the past were a bit dark they have just undergone refurbishment and are now lighter.

It is not my preference because the overall tone is dark.

We asked if they were going to Kidani & they said no & since we had arrived in the dark in the morning we had no concept of how close they were.

My only complaint would be it was a bit dark for my taste, I know it was part of the African jungle theme

Just lamps, so in the dark may be hard to find the switch on the lamp coard.

Very nice pool with good kids area for younger ones.

The pool was very nice and my grandkids really enjoyed it.

Plus they brought all the African exchange members back and they fill the resort teaching classes on animals etc to the kids.

There was 2 adults and 2 teenagers (16&14) we all loved it! !

You feel so relaxed, They have pool games for kids.

While the Villas pool was very nice and family friendly, I felt it catered more to smaller children. 2.

My daughter has asthma and didn’t take long to need rescue inhaler… on top of that, it’s also near parking.

The rooms are well-appointed and the savannah views are wonderful for the kids.

My wife and son loved the savanna view and it's worth the upgrade if you can swing it.

He did extensive research & picked Kadini Village to take our daughter,and her babies.

The water play area was also fun for kids. 2.

My daughter loved going down the large slide.

Absolutely gorgeous, clean, wonderful wait staff (Laura was so sweet to us and our son!

They pool area is really nice, they have a slide for “big” kids and a tiny slide for babies.

Disney did a great job with Covid protocols and as we have two boys you can't beat all that this resort has to offer.

My daughter slept on the pull out couch which wasn’t very comfy.

I am sure this resort is great for families with children,

The views were nice to wake up to every morning, especially if you have kids that love animals.

We stayed for a week in a suite with our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

but switch to the Animal Kingdom Lodge because my boys love animals and we wanted to try something new.

Bus service between the lodges and parks was a breeze.. 

It's a beautiful lodge and the scenic views of the savanna are very nice too.

Loved our week stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Kadani Village.

We love this resort and are DVC vacation owners at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

A wonderful stay and we thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to "get in extra steps" each day by simply walking the grounds to Jambo House (which was basically closed at the time) or along the loooooooong lodge corridors.

We are planning on a trip in 2021 with a large number of family members and we will be staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, because of the customer service alone.

A shuttle connects this property to Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House so you can easily use the facilities the too.

Animal Kingdom Lodge and Kidani Village are beautiful properties.

From the minute you arrive at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, you start to get absorbed in the atmosphere of the place.

When we first entered the lobby, we weren't awe-stricken as if we had entered the great lobby of Animal Kingdom Lodge.

It is our honeymoon, and we received AWESOME service for our first half of our stay at Boulder Ridge Wilderness Lodge.

I love Jambo House (the main lodge in the Animal Kingdom) so as we started making the long trek to our room I was already creating negative expectations in own head.

Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village was awesome!

If you love the animals and wildlife.. then Animal Kingdom Lodge is the place for you.

This resort is often compared with Wilderness Lodge, as they both have a rustic feel.

At least for us this confirmed that the Animal Kingdom Lodge DVC options and some of the best.

The only fast food restaurant is the Mara, which is in the lodge which is a shuttle bus away or a considerable walk.

They have a very large pool and its shaded.

The decor is beautiful, Club rooms are on point as always and the pool areas are super fun!

There is the magnificent lobby, the great restaurants, the arcade, the pool area, great fitness area and a wonderful room.

Overall impression is that the hotel was pretty good - pool area was nice

The gym had everything we could ask for and the pool was a lot of fun with a big slide for the older kids and small slide for the toddlers.

There is another refillable station outside of pool area,

The pool was good and the staff at the pool bar was exceptional.

Pool was lovely and hot tub relaxing after a day in the parks.

Otherwise there are plenty of areas where you can see the animals from the lobby, restaurant and around the pool area.

The ladies at the Kidani pool bar were excellent mixologists, great conversationalists and overall nice people.

The Jambo house pool is much larger than the Kidani pool and it is open.

Very quiet (but we never made it to the pool).

First words from him, “This is terrible, why did we pay for this?”.

Had us wasting expensive time investigating credit cards, banks & Amazon account.

but when you have paid thousands for a time share membership and this happens it is inexcusable.

but a bit expensive especially as kids pay full$30 at age 10.

We got zero apology on, which was disappointing considering how much it costs to stay.

but the lack of full housekeeping service when Disney has taken away all social distancing seems to be more of a cost cutting measure.

but wow, what a puzzling way to speak to a guest, especially at the cost of being a DVC owner or paying cash to stay at this type of a resort, baffling to suggest traveling offsite to a McDonalds, by a manager?

Lyft drivers could not figure out how to enter the parking garage and drive to the nearest elevator where we would have been more than willing to meet them and pay for that transportation.

They need to pay attention to room numbers.

I probably would not have been happy if I would have paid $500 a night for the room.

though to have to pay to self park, feels like an opportunity to take more money.

The room itself was disappointing for the price.

My mistake for thinking I should try something different for about the same price as the Grand Floridian.

but having stayed before I know there are zebras, giraffes and cooler animals on the other side, so it was a bit of a disappointment for the price we were paying!

We asked to pay (in addition to the cost to paint the mugs) to have them mailed to us.

Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village

dark

price

pool

kid friendly

magic-kingdom-park

The dvc rooms are only a few minutes walk to the main lodge and the closest to the buses.

And, with the monitors near the buses estimating arrival times for other destinations, Disney has improved their transportation.

The bus stop was close by and the buses came regularly without much wait.

We found the walk to the buses to the resort and boat to Magic Kingdom very reasonable.

another thing that was great about the building location was how close it was to the busses.

They are also close to the bus transportation.

Taking the boat to Magic Kingdom was a huge bonus, and the villas were super close to the bus transportation as well.

We love the lodge and our villa was in close proximity to the bus depot (which I requested and they granted).

It is a long walk to the buses and dining areas,

The property is not large and spread out like Saratoga Springs or Old Key West so it was easy walking distance to the bus or boat transportation and back to the main building.

I have stayed at most of the Disney Deluxe Resorts and visited all of them, and in my opinion, Wilderness Lodge is perhaps the most beautiful of all; Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Jambo House lobby might be more impressive,

Asked for a room close to main lodge and we were not disappointed with 3rd floor room over looking the BR quiet pool.

We had arrived to the lodge after staying at a Marriott timeshare in Palm Beach which was has down so much better including the mattress in the pull out couch.

Boulder Ridge is a brilliant rendition and representation of National Park lodges and natural scenic areas in the western United States.

We didn't use the main pool, only the Boulder Ridge pool and the splash pad at the main lodge.

The Lodge was decorated for Christmas and the Thanksgiving dinner was out of this world!

We had a great view of the new pool area and the main lodge.

We also rented bikes and rode around the Lodge area and over to the campgrounds, and this was a nice break from fighting the crowds in the park.

This is such a great way to learn about the history of the lodge.

This was  our third resort stay It was really great having the pine trees and all the wood really felt like a lodge in Yellowstone.

The Lodge itself is awesome especially the tall foyer.

For example, to get to Animal Kingdom Lodge you would have to take a bus to AK, then another bus from AK to AKL.

Pros:
Family Friendly – The entire Wilderness Lodge resort including the Lodge, Copper Creek Villas and Boulder Ridge offer first class family friendly experience.

The look and he charm of the lodge has always been so comforting.

There is a quick-service restaurant in  the lower level of the main Lodge with super tuna sandwiches and flat bread pizzas.

Loved the theming of the room, the BR Building, and of course, always love visiting the main lodge (have done so many times).

Beautiful lodge, lobby, pools and as always amazing service.

It was very quiet, and a quick walk up to the busy main lodge lobby and restaurants.

We've stayed at all three of the properties at Wilderness Lodge, and the Villas are right up there with the Lodge and the Cabins.

The food options are amazing as well, even if they are a bit pricey, then again it is Disney.

Premium price and very outdated, poor quality accommodation.

The cost of this place did not match the accommodations.

Because of this, we paid 50% less than we would have paid if we tried to book this room through Disney's website, so, this was a great deal!

But for the pluses above, I’d rate it 1 star for this problem.

We had to pay for regular guest parking each night which honestly should be free like other hotels.

The cost wasn't astronomical and was all covered by our travel insurance - what service!

All in all the price we paid is insane $1,000.00 per night!!

That's ridiculous considering the rates and cost of food.

Now I must say it is very expensive, even with the discount we received it was expensive to the point of almost being too expensive.

Since you are using dining credits, you don't pay for this(and probably won't even notice)

The price for these villas are less than the more expensive (but newer) Copper Creek counterpart.

We decided to book the 2 bedroom villa for 5 adults when we say that it was comparable in price to just getting two rooms.

(We pay a lot of money, so why do we have to do their work)  I don't like to complain

My only complaint are outrageous prices Disney charges for accommodations and food.

but the entire platter between the burger and fries I would of expected to pay 15+ considering its Disney.

The food at Roaring Forks was great everyday for breakfast and we loved the drinks at Geyser Point.

Loved the chocolate croissant and wilderness bark coffee from roaring fork.

The roaring fork was good pretty standard quick service,

They didn’t even give any take out utensils.

Roaring Fork, Geyser Point and Whispering Canyon are the restaurants open right now.

Would just recommend a few healthier options on the Roaring Fork menu, otherwise it was wonderful!

The main lobby was beautiful and we loved Roaring Fork and all the places you can sit and eat, enjoy coffee or just people watch.

The room also had a kitchenette that had glassware, plates, bowls, coffee mugs, coffee pot, mini fridge, microwave and sink.

This hotel is not only visually stunning, there are more then three different places to eat including Whispering Canyon Cafe a sit down restaurant, Roaring Fork where you can grab a quick meal to go if you please and Geyser Point bar and grill located outside where you can order a meal or drink to have by the pool.

Roaring Fork, great for breakfast, we never got back in time to eat here any other time.

We enjoyed a decent amount of time at the resort with a 2nd stop at Geyser Point for drinks at night and an awesome view of the Electrical Water Pageant, breakfast at Roaring Fork and Whispering Canyon and of course taking the boat to/from Magic Kingdom.

Roaring Fork (quick serve) was kind of a walk for us

The Roaring Fork is an amazing place to eat.

The staff is friendly and very helpful, and the food is great- we ate at both the Whispering Canyon cafe for dinner (sit down meal) and the quick service restaurant, Roaring Forks, multiple times.

The food is good, we ate at the Whispering Canyon and the Roaring Fork.

although we mainly used the plates for snacks and the fridge for it's ample room.

Quick service has a lot of options, outside bar has even more, and the Roaring Fork doesn't disappoint (however we did not eat there this trip).

Roaring Forks, the resort's quick serve restaurant, was recently renovated and it's menu has been upscaled since we we visited.

Baths were large (though vanities were pretty cheap), grounds woodsy.

Our 3.5 year old loved the Murphy Bed and I loved the faucets in the bathroom and vanity area, the attention to detail here was astounding.

Standard bathroom with tub and shower over and separate vanity area with sink.

We had a 1 BR villa which had a separate living room / kitchen area with a pull out sofa along with a kind bedroom and very large bathroom with separate shower and tub along with 2 vanity areas.

Even for 2 people separate vanities was a nice luxury.

The villa came equipped with a full kitchen, living area, a small dining area, entry way closet, balcony, king bedroom, a bathroom with vanity and a large jacuzzi tub, walk-in closet, and another 3/4 bath.

There's also a jetted tub and vanity accessible from the master bedroom.

The bedroom featured a king-size bed, TV, and a great bathroom with a soaking tub, walk-in shower, two vanities, a walk-in closet, and a separate toilet room.

The bedrooms were quite large and each had it's own walk-in closet and large bathroom and vanity area.

There was a separate area in the bathroom for the large jetted tub and vanity.

- There's a seperate vanity area with 2 sinks.

We had a separate bedroom with a king-sized bed (hubby is quite tall), a separate bathroom area with vanity and whirlpool tub, a full kitchen (complete with dishes, cooking equipment and silverware), another bathroom with the toilet and large shower and a large living room with a table and two chairs, as well as a bar and two chairs.

The master suite had a king size bed, TV, it’s own balcony, and a whirlpool tub with a dressing area complete with a sink and vanity.

Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge

utensil

vanity-space

bus proximity

I think it's a beautiful experience if you have time to really enjoy the grounds at the Lodge

We drove in and went into the lodge snd fell in love with the lobby.

Lots of great spots to sit and relax around the lodge and outside to take in the scenery.

At the very end of our trip I had a huge transportation issue (not related to the lodge's buses or transportation) and this wonderful woman working in the valet area (I think her name was Ashley,

The lodge signature restaurant Yinkos is excellent experience exotic African cuisine.

From the moment I stepped into the lodge it was breathtaking with all the decor and relaxation.

This was a big family trip to Disney and we had four rooms at the Lodge.

I chose this resort because of the savanna view and enjoying the amenities in the lodge.

The elves decorated for Christmas while we slept, and the lodge was absolutely stunning!

We were able to enjoy some time at the Lodge before the medical issue.

The lodge inside the main lobby was beautiful with a very woodsy feel and live music playing

The rooms in the lodge have been remodeled and look great.

A fantastic lodge experience for the whole family.

but the best part of staying at the Jambo Lodge is the knowledge Africans on staff.

The lodge also sports a swimming pool (which we didn't use), animal viewing area,  a shop, guest laundry, restaurants and a spectacular African-themed lobby.

All in all this was my 3rd stay here and this hotel and the similar Wilderness Lodge remain my favorite.

The Lodge has a jungle decor, they have an excellent staff.

The Jambo House (the main Lodge) is a 5- to 10-minute walk or a short drive in the resort shuttle.

There are 3 restaurants to chose from , one being quick service , one a buffet and one sit down service , I can’t fault the food at all and plenty to choose from 
The pool area is great and plenty of sunbeds around, you’ll never go without one.

Great pool area and a good variety of places to eat.

but it's convenient for a lunch or snack if you're at the pool with kids.

The pools (and splash pads) at both Jambo and Kidani are must-dos for the little ones - we took a whole day and night "off" parks, and the children and we loved our pool day.

We were outside by the pool with a 3 year old for quite some time and were never given an all clear to return to our room.

The hotel retains its magic quality, the lobby and pool areas are stunning.

The pools have been so refreshing and our children have loved them!

The pool's water slide was one of the best rides during our stay in our kid's mind.

Our family stayed in a Savanna view room this year- last year was a pool view.

Pool was enjoyable as well as the arcade.

We only went to the Jambo pool which was great, the pool was warm and had three lifeguards on duty at all times which felt very safe.

The pool was great, my granddaughter must have gone on the side 30 times.We loved everything about it.

The pool is great, reception is breathtaking - themed for the African Savannah and the biggest bonus is the ON SITE safari and African animals.

Pools were great, very clean and lots of lifeguards on duty.

This resort suits all ages, there is a large pool, plenty of seating, a quick service restaurant and two amazing restaurants at Jambi House plus another at the adjoining Kidani Village.

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