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THE VILLAS AT DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE
by Cheryl Pendry, PassPorter Featured Columnist
If you've been keeping an eye on recent Disney
developments, you'll be aware that the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is expanding
at an amazing rate. The last year has seen announcements about new resorts,
which will include DVC villas at Disneyland California and in Hawaii, and has
also seen the debut of the latest addition to the offering to DVC members --
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas.
This new addition has included a number of firsts for a DVC resort. For
starters, the rooms are being split between two locations. Currently the only
ones open are those in the existing main building at Animal Kingdom Lodge, now
being referred to as Jambo House. By sometime in 2009, the remainder of the
rooms will be open at a new location at the resort that will be known as Kidani
Village. By the time work is finished, there will be 134 new villas in Jambo
House and 324 in Kidani Village, which will be surrounded by a brand new wild
animal savanah. Kidani Village will also be home to a new table service
restaurant, feature pool, and interactive water play area.
But let's stop
there. I'm getting ahead of myself. Right now, the only way DVC members are
going to be able to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas is by booking a room
in the main building, as Kidani Village is currently just a mass of cranes (and
I don't mean the birds!) in the distance. Well, that's exactly what we did. We
booked on June 6, 2007, which was the day bookings opened to those who hadn't
already purchased points at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Understandably, the new resort
was exceptionally popular with members and all I could get for our dates was a
one bedroom villa with a standard view. Sure, it's a shame we couldn't get a
savannah view, but I wanted to see what the new addition was like, so I took
what I could get.
Well, the verdict is that we are really impressed with
what they've created. I guess it helps when your room is literally only three
doors away from the main elevators and is overlooking the main Uzima pool.
Somehow, once we saw that, the lack of a savannah view didn't bother us that
much, as we still had some beautiful scenery to admire outside.
The first
thing that struck us as we opened the door to our one bedroom villa was the size
of it. For those who don't know, you can book a studio, which is essentially
very similar to the usual hotel rooms you're used to at Disney, albeit with a
kitchenette that includes a fridge, coffee maker and microwave. Then you can
also go for the one bedroom or two bedroom villas, the main difference being how
many people each will sleep. Both boast full size kitchens - and boy do I mean
full size! We couldn't think of anything that was missing from our kitchen, with
a stove, fridge, freezer, dishwasher, microwave and more storage space than I
think anyone could ever use on a Disney vacation! The other bonuses with the
villas are the washers and dryers you get, which make doing laundry so much
easier and the wonderful whirlpool baths.
With our room, we walked
straight into the kitchen and entrance area, which immediately opened out into
the living room, complete with flat screen TV, which is guaranteed to impress
anyone who enjoys new technology! The furniture is African in feel, as you'd
expect, and we loved the little touches, such as Simba designs on the back of
the chairs and elephants and zebras appearing on the storage units.
Turn
left and you're in a hallway that leads to the bathroom on the left and the main
bedroom on the right. I don't think I've ever seen such a huge bathroom area
before at Disney! The floor space in it was incredible, with my favorite spa
bath sitting there, under a beautiful tiled design of the African savannah at
night. There were two sinks, a separate toilet and even more storage space. I
really came away impressed with how much space they give you to put everything
away and I really want to meet the family who can fill up all that
space!
Across the hallway is the main bedroom, with its brightly colored
bedding, closet and set of drawers, along with another flat screen TV and a
table and chair, and the patio doors leading out on to the balcony
beyond.
The colors vary throughout the villa, from a fairly bright orange
in the bathroom to beiges elsewhere. The colors of the walls need to be light,
as all the furniture, without exception, is made of dark wood, which does darken
the rooms somewhat. That was really our only complaint during our stay -- not
only does this make the rooms appear dark, but there is a lack of lighting in
the rooms, particularly at night.
The place seemed huge for the two of us
and perhaps that's because these are the first one bedroom DVC villas that will
sleep up to five people. I could see that, even with five, there would probably
still be more than enough space to move around without treading on each other's
toes.
Despite the fact that we were overlooking the pool and, with the
doors to the balcony open, it was noisy at times, once they were shut, we never
heard a thing, which just goes to show how good the soundproofing is in these
rooms.
I'll be honest here. I wasn't a huge fan of the Animal Kingdom
Lodge before our most recent trip. I was certainly keen to see what the new DVC
rooms were like, but I wasn't expecting to be so impressed by them. They're a
great addition to the DVC range of resorts. Disney Vacation Club members should
definitely try out the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas at some point, as they don't
disappoint [Ed.- and they're a great choice for anyone interested in booking
villa-style acommodations at Walt Disney World]. Now I can't wait for 2009 to
see how the new Kidani Village looks. Perhaps that's the time to return for
another stay there. That's something I certainly wouldn't rule out in the
future.
Read
more reviews of the Animal Kingdom Lodge in PassPorter's Reviews & Ratings
area.
Related Links: Animal Kingdom Lodge: Perfect for Teens!
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Updated 10/27/08
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