A Quick Message...

We do not own any pictures on this blog. If you are unhappy with the use of a picture, please write so in a comment.

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Disney World: Animal Kingdom Lodge

I'm sorry that I haven't posted much at the moment, it's because I have just been on the best holiday ever to Orlando in America! I'd never been to America before so the trip was super special for me and Robbie (my brother). For part of our holiday we stayed at The Animal Kingdom Lodge and we certainly weren't disappointed. I've decided to review this hotel and tell the world how fabulous it is so everyone else can enjoy the fantastic experience too...


Theme
The whole of the Animal Kingdom Lodge is African themed. The picture on the right is the vast and incredible lobby, which is homely and exciting to be in. I found the theme of the whole hotel fun and enjoyable - probably because of the vibrant colours, the singing and dancing, the food and the themed decorations, such as the cool wallpaper in the rooms and the designs on the beds.

Food
We ate in three places throughout our (very short) stay at the Lodge. The first was at Boma, a delicious African buffet that guaranteed to leave you with full tummies and smiling faces. Every chef and waiter was very friendly and kind. Our meal was made even more enjoyable by their smiling and caring faces every time they walked past our table. What I thought was so clever about this buffet was that there was an extremely good mix of elaborate African treats for the more adventurous people and the simple everyday foods for children/fussy eaters. While I treated myself to "Jungle Juice," pasta curry salad, pita with sun-dried tomato hummus, yellow rice with sultanas, a bit of AMAZING sweet potato soup, salmon with olives and sweet, juicy melon etc, Robbie was feasting on pasta with sauce, rice, strawberry lemonade with lemon-lime froth and biscuits. The food was incredible and I didn't eat dessert as I had stuffed myself too much with the savoury foods! If you want to eat at Boma, you will probably have to book MONTHS in advance.
We also went to another restaurant right next to Boma. This also had delicious (possibly nicer) food but with less options. For children, the kid's menu covers just about everything. Adults will be spoilt for choice - everything sounds (and is) delicious! I had a children's salad and African bread with some amazing dips. It was truly incredible.
For breakfast, it is not an ordinary buffet. You pile your food onto trays and pay for them at the checkout. Make sure to try the raspberry smoothies - they are heavenly. Me and my dad had Mickey mouse waffles with syrups and a caramel and apple topping. They were yummy and the perfect start to the day. There were lots of options to choose from, and staff were happy to substitute vegetarian foods for meat ones. 
The Staff
Most people were very nice at this lodge. Everyone seemed genuine and happy to help. The chefs gave us a tour of the restaurant to show us everything and we were given free toys when Robbie bumped his head. People were willing to tell us facts about the animals and most people were responsible and efficient. I said most because of one annoying guy who lied to us about our luggage and prevented it from coming to our room for fourty minutes.
What To Do
There is so much to do at the lodge that you should leave at least half a day to spend there. The pool is massive and can keep you occupied for ages. It is open from 7am to 11pm so we swam at night, where the water temperature was bliss. It was beautiful, especially swimming backstroke under a full moon! There are lots of spas located around the lodge for children and adults to relax in. We went just after we came out of the pool and there could not have been a better way to end our day.
There is also a movie shown every night and an amazing game-room, which we didn't get to go in but looked fantastic. There are regular activities throughout the day which we didn't go to but sounded cool, such as African drumming and cookie decorating. As it is an Animal Kingdom Lodge, there has to be animals, and there are loads of them!
Night Watch is amazing - look at animals through night vision glasses in the dark and prepare to be amazed...
You can also walk around and see the flamingos and zebras.

Our Room
The room that we stayed in was small, but sufficient for our two night needs.There was a double bed for my parents and a bunk bed for me and Robbie. I liked the African wallpaper in our bathroom and the themed blankets. The only negative was the strange bathroom door with a mirror on. This meant you had to watch yourself "do your business" in the mirror or try and look away (very hard!) We had a big T.V with some good channels that we watched the Oscars on. The best part of our room was the balcony. We had a Savanna View room meaning that when you looked outside, there was a Savanna with lots of animals underneath you. It was brilliant and we just sat outside for ages and ages watching everything. We managed to take some great pictures.

Other Things
If you stay at this (or any other) Disney hotel, you get free parking in the Disney theme parks. This didn't make a difference to me, but my parents were delighted! If you are tired of waiting in line in Disney shops, there is a great shop at the Lodge full of lots of Disney souvenirs, plus food.

All of my family had a brilliant time at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and I give it **** 1/2


No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks For Commenting!