Reviews of Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House (Deluxe Resort)
Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 06/17/2023
Rating: (10) Recommended
We absolutely loved staying here. My favorite resort so far. We booked a standard room, but saw giraffes, deer, and vultures daily from our balcony.
Food was great at Mara. Awesome quick service for a deluxe resort. Perfect for my picky eaters. Zebra domes! Boma buffet breakfast was outstanding.
Pool was beautiful too. Kids loved the slide.
Pros:
Animals, food, pool, Simba’s Cubhouse.Cons:
Far away from Magic Kingdom by bus.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 07/07/2022
Rating: (10) Recommended
If you regularly rope drop Kilimanjaro Safari, then this is the perfect resort for you. You are basically living inside the attraction. There is nothing quite like having a glass of wine on your balcony while watching a zebra chase the little goats around. You can find a lot of criticism of this resort directed at the distance the rooms are from the lobby, but that’s necessary if you want to be immersed in the savanna (and if you don’t then definitely stay somewhere else). AK is the most immersive resort on property. Truly magical.
Pros:
A perfectly constructed African fantasy world.Cons:
Busses. They send the same number of busses here as the other resorts but they take twice as long and there is ALWAYS a wait. They seriously need to have more allotted to this resort.Reviewed by Jfarring513 Review Date: 05/01/2021
Rating: (10) Recommended
There is nothing better than staying at Jambo house for part of or your whole disney stay. Pre-pandemic staying here was always a dream of mine and my partner and I went down for a long trip and booked 4 nights here. We went to the parks for dinner and fireworks one or two nights- but every other moment was spent at the hotel and we left feeling like we had accomplished half of what we wanted- just at a hotel!!!
Jambo house offers gorgeous views of multiple savannahs and even those staying in a room with a standard view can go out to the various porches and verandas to look at the animals and relax or read a book etc.
One thing not offered at the moment (pandemic) but is a MUST DO when it comes back is the art tours. 4pm every other day a cultural representative offers these special tours and goes through a fraction of the insane amount of art in the lobby and throughout the hallways. It was one of the most educational and fun things i’ve ever done at WDW and i visit 3-4 weeks a year. People tend to skip this tour and i IMPLORE you to take it. You’ll be the only ones there and have a private tour with someone who really loves what they do. The real best part is that it’s totally free!! They even teach traditional drums and allow you to practice in a special area off of the lobby.
The Wanayama Safari is a splurge but absolutely the best money to be spent on a tour. You get up close and personal with the animals on the savannah- a giraffe popped her head into our truck to say hello!! And its followed up with a 5 course tasting meal at Jiko which is just out of this world. Victoria Falls Lounge is one of the best bar/lounges on property in my opinion. They have a cheese dip with garlic that is out of this world. I really hope the entire resort re-opens soon and can get back to how things were!
Pros:
Everything! Best food on property everywhere All of the staff is so knowledgeable and always goes above and beyond for you Cultural representatives are so amazing and educate you on anything you would like to know Excellent tours and other activities you can do throughout the day Amazing pool with a gorgeous viewCons:
Only deluxe resort that requires busses to get to all 4 parks and disney springs Rooms at the ends of the hallways are FAR. Do your best to know the exits if you parked down below so you dont have to go to the lobby and back around. Bring your walking shoes for those hallways!Reviewed by Merwolf Review Date: 11/18/2020
Rating: (10) Recommended
Totally love this resort, and have stayed here a number of times because I love animals and by gosh they have them here. Favorite way to spend the morning was get some breakfast (best buffet on property, miss it now due to Covid) and then walk around to all the viewing areas to take pictures of the range of animals that live there. Bonus last time - baby zebras. The lobby is big and gorgeous, they have a good sized shop, and I agree with others here to spring for a savannah view room if you can. The restaurants, especially Jiko, are amazing. You do need a bit of an adventurous palate but adventure. It's delicious and worth every dime. A nice touch is the firepits inside and out, and the beautiful artwork on display.
Pros:
Animals. Lobby. Immersive. You can easily spend resort days here and not miss the parks (at least, I don't)Cons:
Depending on where your room is, you could be in for a long, long, walk to the bus station, or anywhere really. Only transportation option is bus, and AKL is near AK, and far away from the other three parks because animals.Reviewed by AnnaB Review Date: 05/11/2020
Rating: (10) Recommended
Perfect hotel with a mix of Disney-quality service and authentic African style
Pros:
the animals, good pool, amazing dining options, very nice roomsCons:
long walk to our room through the hallwaysReviewed by disneylover1209 Review Date: 04/06/2020
Rating: (10) Recommended
best memories are made here.
Pros:
the funnest hotel ever and pools are awesome, rooms are awesome.Cons:
a little expensiveReviewed by Melanie D Review Date: 10/01/2018
Rating: (10) Recommended
I loved this resort. It's so beautiful and the food choices are amazing.
Pros:
Covered walkways so you won't get wet walking to your room from the bus or restaurants. Lots of food choices for adventurous eaters.Cons:
It's really large.Reviewed by SophieR Review Date: 09/30/2018
Rating: (10) Recommended
My family and I have loved this resort! The lobby is amazing by day and night, the surroundings are amazing and the chance to view animals all day is incredible. We booked a standard room, but were upgraded to a savanna view with a bunk bed, which made my 6 years old son very happy. The room was large and clean, we had a good view of the animals from the balcony. Short distance to the restaurants, we ate at all of them, had a great dinner at Jiko and the best meal of my life at Sanaa; try the bread service! We enjoyed both pools, at Jambo and Kidani, but my son preferred the slide at the Kidani pool. Good bus service, never waited more than 10 minutes. We are going back in 2019, looking forward to it!
Pros:
View of the animals, Sanaa, Jiko, both pools at Kidani and Jambi House, nice gift shop.Cons:
Not so good wifi serviceReviewed by LindaHH Review Date: 09/30/2018
Rating: (10) Recommended
AKL Jambonis probably our favorite Disney resort, we just love it there! The lobby is spectacular, the hotel itself is almost like a mini museum with African artifacts scattered about and descriptions on the wall of what they are and are used for. There are several animal viewing areas scattered around the resort, which is great, especially if you don’t have a savanna view room.
The pool is lovely and the restaurants are among the best on Disney property. The gift shop is one of our favorites, too. There is no experience around, that I’m aware of, that is like sitting out on your savanna view balcony with a cup of coffee or glass of wine and watching the animals wander about the savanna just feet away. It’s really breathtaking! The only bad thing is that often times we get so wrapped up in this, we don’t want to leave to go to the parks.
Pros:
Restaurants, lobby, gift shop, pools, animals and animal viewing areas - pretty much everything.Cons:
The only form of transportation to the parks is via bus, unless you are driving your own car.Reviewed by Jennifer Stevens Review Date: 09/27/2018
Rating: (10) Recommended
Beautiful resort. Our stays have been . There is so much to do and see that you could spend most of your vacation just having fun at the resort. Rooms have always been clean and the front desk very accommodating. Every cast member was delightful.
