Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House could soon say “Jambo!” to the athletes of the NBA as they prepare to resume their season.
According to DVCNews.com, all rooms at Jambo House are unavailable on Disney Vacation Club’s reservation site through the end of the year, while all other DVC resorts have availability beginning June 22nd. They also noted that legally, Jambo House and Kidani Village are part of the same condominium association, therefore, Disney is not completely blocking access as long as DVC members would only have to relocate to Kidani Village to stay at the lodge.
The league is reportedly planning to resume its season in Orlando, likely at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, with a formal vote to approve the plan by team owners scheduled for Thursday. Walt Disney World’s resort hotels would act as dormitories for players, keeping them isolated from the public in an effort to contain any threat of COVID-19 infection.
There’s reason to celebrate at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, as two new baby animals have joined the family.
One animal is a baby sitatunga, a species of antelope also known as the marshbuck. Typically found in central Africa, the sitatunga is known to make its habitat in swampy, marshy areas with tall, dense vegetation.
Also joining the herd is a Hartmann’s mountain zebra foal. Hartmann’s mountain zebras are typically found in parts of Angola and Namibia in steep mountainous areas. They are considered a vulnerable species.
A Hartmann’s zebra was born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom back in January, and could be seen at Kilmanjaro Safaris. It is unknown whether this is a new foal, or that foal had been relocated to the nearby resort hotel.
Most guests know Sanaa for their amazing bread service, African-inspired cuisine and the incredible vies of the Sunset Savannah at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, but did you know that it now features a hearty breakfast menu? The Sanaa Kuamsha Breakfast is served from 7 to 10 am and transforms Sanaa into a casual quick-service restaurant with grab-and-go options as well as a few familiar dishes all while taking in the wonderful animals of the savannah.
At the counter you have a variety of grab-and-go items including yogurt parfaits, fruit plates, banana bread with house-made African chocolate-hazelnut spread, and more. If you would like a sit-down breakfast you can browse all the entrees on the menu which can be ordered at the counter and brought directly to your table!
For entrees you can find your favorite breakfast meals with African flavors including:
Eggs Benedict – two brown poached eggs, farmer’s ham, spice route hollandaise, arugula, and berries
Shahi Tukra French Toast with saffron-scented sultan raisins, whipped chai cream, and almonds
Enriching Grains and Fruit – a plant-based dish with mixed grains, seasonal fruit, South African rusk, and coconut milk yogurt
Boere Breakfast – two cage-free eggs, African home fries, house-made boerewors sausage, bacon, and a coconut drop biscuit
Kid’s Explorer Platter – one cage-free egg served any style, African home fries, bacon, and a coconut drop biscuit
Classic Mickey waffles and bacon
Sanaa is located in Kidani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and is open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Sanaa Kuamsha Breakfast is offered 7-10 am and reservations are not required. You have the chance to see the following animals on the savannah: gazelle, zebras, kudu, giraffes, ostriches, cranes, and more.
Disney launched the Mobile Order service within My Disney Experience for multiple quick service dining locations throughout the theme parks and Disney Springs over a year ago. The service allows guests to order and pay for their food from the app and then pick it up from the pickup window when it is ready.
It saves time waiting in line to order food so that the experience is more convenient for guests and their time in the parks.
Disney Parks Blog confirmed that the service will now be expanded to more restaurants at select Disney Resort hotels. The first restaurant additions include Everything POP Shopping & Dining at Disney’s Pop Century Resort, The Mara at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and Contempo Café at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
Guests are also able to use their Disney Dining Plan entitlements within the service, so it works great for guests one of the dining plans to easily order their meal.
Remember that you don’t need to be staying at a Disney Resort hotel in order to eat there, and the same goes for Mobile Order as well.
From Disney Parks Blog, “The mobile order service is yet another way we are improving the vacation experience for guests through the My Disney Experience app, especially at Disney Resort hotels, where select guests can streamline check in to start their vacation even faster, use their mobile device as a digital key, view bus times and much more.”
If you are staying on Disney property, deciding which resort to stay at can have a huge impact on your stay. Each resort has its own unique qualities that you need to take into account and factors which must be looked into to ensure you have the best time possible. Some of those factors are
cost
location
dining options
transportation options
party size/room size
amenities
Disney offers 3 types of resorts that while they have their own uniqueness, they are similar in a lot of ways.
Deluxe Resorts
The Disney World Deluxe Resort Hotels are the highest tier of on-site Disney hotels, and understandably so.
Aside from the luxury of the resorts themselves, distance to parks and ease in transportation is a huge benefit of the Disney deluxe resorts. A majority of them are significantly closer to one or more of the Disney parks. Also, there’s a wider variety of transportation options, from boats to monorails.
Contemporary Resort
Disney’s Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian Hotels are all just a monorail ride away to Magic Kingdom. The Polynesian and Grand Floridian also offer boat access to Magic Kingdom (Disney’s Wilderness Lodge too).
Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts and Disney’s Boardwalk Inn are within walking distance (or a boat ride) to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Animal Kingdom Lodge
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is the closest deluxe hotel to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Another great perk of the Disney deluxe resorts is that they offer both quick-service and table-service dining options. Many of the Disney World deluxe resorts even have character dining. For example, The Contemporary has Chef Mickey’s and the Grand Floridian has 1900 Park Fare where characters are constant.
The Disney deluxe resort hotels offer the most recreation options.
At the Magic Kingdom and Boardwalk hotels, boat rentals are a fun option for a relaxing day around the resort. Depending on which you choose, you’ll have a basketball, volleyball or tennis courts to play on — or a combination of the three!
Each of the Deluxe hotels has multiple, gorgeous pools and a hot tub for you to enjoy.
There are 8 Deluxe resorts;
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
Disney’s Beach Club Resort
Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
There are also 12 Deluxe Villa resorts;
Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
Disney’s Beach Club Villas
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
Disney’s Old Key West Resort
Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
Disney’s Riviera Resort
Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Moderate Resorts
Moderate Resorts tends to have more variety in terms of amenities, layout, dining, and transportation options in comparison to Value resorts, but certainly, don’t have all the bells and whistles of Deluxe resorts.
As the saying goes, “you get what you pay for.” Moderates resorts are a great middle-ground.
All Moderate resorts offer bus transportation to and from the theme parks. Unlike Value resorts, Moderates have multiple bus stops throughout each resort (with the exception of Port Orleans – French Quarter). This means that you won’t have to walk too far to catch a bus.
Port Orleans Riverside
Boat transportation is available at the following resorts: Fort Wilderness has a ferry to Magic Kingdom, while French Quarter and Riverside share ferry service to Disney Springs.
Moderates are some of the largest resorts at Disney World. Port Orleans – French Quarter is the one exception, as it is a relatively small resort by Disney World standards.
Each resort feels like its own world, spread out and away from the bustle of the park. It feels as though you are staying in an all-inclusive resort island; buildings/areas are separated from one other with walking trails and water features are found throughout the properties. Unlike most Disney World properties, you get more of a sense of tranquil isolation.
Cabins @ Fort Wilderness
One downside to the larger, spread-out Moderate resorts is that choosing a room location becomes an important factor. Rooms closer to the lobby, main pool, and dining areas are often more expensive and in higher demand. However, securing a better location means that you won’t have to walk as far to dine after a long day at the park.
Caribbean Beach
All Moderates have both a quick-service restaurant and a table-service restaurant. The one exception is Port Orleans French Quarter (no table service option). However, this isn’t really a problem because guests can easily walk to Boatwright’s Dining Hall (Port Orleans – Riverside).
Moderate resorts have a great selection of pools. Moderates have additional features like water slides and hot tubs.
There are 5 Moderate resorts;
Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter
Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
Value Resorts
Disney Value resorts are the most affordable, budget-friendly lodging on Disney World property.
Value Resorts are some of the furthest Walt Disney resorts from the parks.
All-Star Movies
The good news is the guests at Value resorts can easily access all of the Disney World theme parks via free Disney transportation. The downside is that the only transportation option available to Value resort guests is bus service (ie, no direct monorail or boat access).
However, buses operate through the day and transport guests directly to and from every Disney World theme park. Bus stops are conveniently located in the front of each resort.
As far as Disney World resorts go, Value Resorts are the most “Disney-ish,” kid-friendly resorts in the park. Each resort has its own overall theme, with each building/wing of a resort themed around a Disney movie, musical style, sport, decade, or some other specific element.
For example, All-Star Sports has a “surfing” wing, All-Star Movies has a “Toy Story” wing, and Art of Animation has a section of family suites themed after “Finding Nemo.” These themed areas and elements are lots of fun – for kids and adults alike!
Art of Animation Big Blue Pool
While the exterior of each building exudes a lot of character with fun themes and icons of Disney personalities, the interiors have minimal decor. For the most part, the rooms are basic and no-frills.
Standard room size at Pop Century and the 3 All-Star resorts are 260 square feet, while Art of Animation is 277 square feet. This compares with roughly 314 square feet at moderate resorts. Maximum occupancy is 4 people (plus one baby under age 3 in a crib).
While none of the Disney Value resorts have water slides, each has their own themed-pools.
Pools at Value resorts tend to be a little smaller than the pools at Moderate and Deluxe resorts. However, there is one notable exception: Art of Animation’s Big Blue Pool is the largest pool at Disney World.
Each of the 5 Disney Value resorts has their own food court. These meals count as Quick Service meals.
None of the Disney Value resorts offer Table Service meals.
