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Resort map
Introduction
FAQ
Pros
& Cons
Tips
Animals
Wildlife
Field Guide
Rooms
Room
rates
Concierge
Dining - Jiko,
Boma, Other dining
Recreation
Igbo
Ijele mask
Design
Art
Kid's
programs
Sunset
Safari
Reviews
Here, most balconies overlook a picturesque savanna where giraffe,
zebra and other exotic animals roam about a spacious wildlife reserve.
Only resort animals - not those at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme
Park - will be visible. Hand-crafted furnishings and African decor
welcome you to a world of comfort complete with all the beauty of
nature...and all the magic of Disney. This 1,293-room, five-story
resort will create the atmosphere of a 140-acre wildlife preserve
in southern Africa. It is located nearly a mile southwest of the
entrance to Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park.
Designed by Peter Dominick, of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge fame,
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge will follow the kraal African village
design, a semi-circle concept with a distinctive "theme" carried
throughout its architecture, landscape and interior designs.
"We’re trying to capture an image that is not only symbolic of
Africa but is culturally relevant," said project manager Jim Kwasnowski
of Walt Disney Imagineering. The visual treat will begin on arrival
as guests discover a rolling 33-acre plain unfolding before them
through one of the resort’s larger-than-life picture windows. Here
guests can walk along the elevated kopje, or rock outcropping, and
enjoy a nearly panoramic view of roaming animals and flowing streams.
Guests will enter the lobby of this five-storey, 800,000-square-foot
resort on the third floor. This large space will frame the central
pasture at the rear of the resort with a huge picture window. From
this window, guests will see the kopje (pronounced 'copy'), or large
rock formation, which will extend into the pasture. Guests will
be able to walk along this elevated kopje into a viewing area and
see animals on three sides. Although the guests will see the animals
up close, they won't be able to touch them.
Throughout the resort, guests will discover examples of authentic
African architecture and design, from thatched ceilings to rich
wood and golden tones. Features include a large mud fireplace in
the lobby and natural lighting fixtures designed to accentuate spectacular
sunrises and sunsets. At night, incandescent lighting will resemble
twinkling fire-flies and soft-glowing campfires.
Services/Facilities/Amenities
Baby-sitting and child services
Room service
Laundry or valet
Concierge
Non-smoking rooms
Rooms and facilities for guests with disabilities
Free parking
Pak-n-Play Crib available.
Landscaping
The landscape design of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge plays a critical
role in communicating the overall theme of the resort. In order
to illustrate the relationship between the land, animals and man,
landscape architects and horticultural experts needed to create
an environment that illustrated the beautiful and diverse elements
of the African landscape. It needed to be more formal in the residential
areas than the landscaping in Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park
and still convey a sense of the wild savannahs.
In the foreground, in order to hide the immense size of the lodge,
architects strategically graded the elevation of the land surrounding
the resort, providing only glimpses of the immense building. This
helps to build the excitement as you approach the resort. It gives
a hint of something wonderful ahead.
Following the grading, the first construction component of the
lodge was to install the vegetation -- planted and secured two years
before the lodge’s grand opening. Although some material may be
from environments other than Africa, the intent is to simulate the
landscape systems of the great continent: forested lands, river
systems, grasslands and the bush.
As guests approach the lodge, they become immersed deeper and deeper
into an African landscape designed to set the stage for their journey.
To accomplish this setting designers sprinkled within the landscape
large character canopy trees such as live oaks, ear trees and sweet
bay magnolias. Native Floridian palms and Mexican fan palms are
interspersed throughout, giving the resort a tropical look.
Out of the African landscape there is a dramatic moment as the
plantings clear for a spectacular reveal of the main building and
the porte cochier. Tall fan and Washingtonian palms give scale to
the lodge with additional shrubs, grasses and groundcovers such
as thryalis and pampas grass completing the entrance scene.
The main pool, Uzima Pool, is bordered with large, flowering canopy
trees and native Floridian palms providing some shade. Red and pink
hibiscus, bright clusters of red, orange and scarlet ixora, fragrant
white jasmine and green pygmy date palms give the surrounding landscape
a tropical accent and add vibrant colors to the earth-tone deck.
Behind the lodge on Arusha Rock kopje is the signature tree, a
Peltophorum dubium -- the copperpod. This is the canopy tree
most recognized as the one on the African plain.
Grown for its shade and its flowers, it is also called the yellow
flame tree. The bright yellow flowers appear in dense clusters.
The leaves fall during the dry season and are replaced with velvety-brown
flower buds with the new growth. The flowers continue to bloom after
the tree is fully leafed, creating a mixture of yellow and green.
Then masses of thin, flat, copper-colored pods appear, hence the
tree’s common name.
On the savannahs, varieties of shrubs such as vibirnum wax murtles
and razzleberry along with grasses like cord grass, bamboo and veltver
grass give the appearance of the grasslands of Africa. The shrub
Duranta repens, or golden dewdrop, with its clusters of bright blue
flowers and golden-yellow berries, edge areas of the pastures adding
color and definition. This plant also attracts butterflies, adding
movement and color to the natural gray-green grasslands.
Planted throughout is the canopy-shaped tree, Tipuana tipu,
with its large yellow flowers that resemble orchids. The sweet acacia
also has bright yellow flowers and is plentifully interspersed throughout
the pastures. Acacia is a main staple for the giraffe and is placed
next to the lodge, encouraging the animals to come closer to the
building.
Transport
All transport by bus.
Check
In/Check Out
3:00 pm / 11:00 am
Address/Telephone
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
2901 Osceola Parkway,
Bay Lake, FL 32830
Phone - 407-9383000
Fax - 407-9387102
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