Hi there, Matthew, and welcome to planDisney!
Although
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is more than a hop, skip, and a jump away from many of the Disney Parks, it is one of my family’s favorite Resort hotels. The rooms are pinch-me gorgeous, especially if you have one with a Savanna View. I have watched the animals from my balcony for hours at a time—really. Also, the food at both Kidani Village and Jambo House are some of the best on property. Consider adding
Sanaa,
Jiko—The Cooking Place, or
Boma—Flavors of Africa to your itinerary; the cuisine is so flavorful.
When I stayed at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, I was surprised that the complimentary bus transportation didn’t take as long as I thought it would. The following times are straight from the timestamps in my camera roll. Here are the approximate travel times:
-To Animal Kingdom Theme Park: 10 minutes
-To Magic Kingdom Park: 20-25 minutes
-To Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 15 minutes
-To EPCOT: 20-25 minutes
If you’re staying on the Kidani Village side, you’ll have a brief stop at Jambo House on the way to the theme parks. If you’re staying at Jambo House, on the way back home, you’ll stop at the Kidani Village side. Regardless of where you’re staying, sometimes you may stop at another Resort hotel on the way back, but this has only happened to me one time. Always allow a bit of time on top of the estimated travel times that I listed above.
AN EXTRA GEM: I highly recommend checking out the
My Disney Experience App to see when the next bus arrives at the hotel’s bus stop. Find your Resort reservation in the app and select “See Bus Times.” A list of arrival times to each theme park will populate on the screen. I usually like to get to the bus stop 10 minutes or so before the listed times because they often come earlier than estimated.
If you’re driving from place to place via a personal vehicle, as I sometimes do as a local, I like to use a maps app on my phone for turn-by-turn directions. The travel times between locations using your vehicle or using a ride share option like the
Disney Minnie Van Service will be similar (maybe slightly less) than using bus transportation.
Matthew, feel free to
revisit us here at planDisney if you have any other questions about your upcoming visit to Walt Disney World Resort. I hope that you enjoy taking a walk on the wild side!
Magic always,
LeAndra