Hi Sherrie!
It has often been said that "if you can dream it, you can do it!" If staying at
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge is a dream of yours, I believe you can make that dream come true. I have a few suggestions that may help:
1. Travel during low season. There are busy times of the year and less busy times of the year at the theme parks. If you can schedule your visit during a less populated time (like late January, early February or early September), the nightly rate at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge will likely be more affordable.
2. Keep checking the Special Offers tab on the Walt Disney World Resort website. Wonderful discounts are periodically listed there.
3. Do a split stay. Stay the first few days of your vacation at a Value Resort Hotel and then conclude your stay with a few nights at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.
4. Rent points from a Disney Vacation Club Member so that you can stay in a 1-bedroom villa at
Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village. (Most 1-bedroom villas accommodate a family of five nicely.) You could rent from a Member you know and trust or rent points through a company that serves as an intermediary between Members and Guests who wish to rent points.
5. Book a room with a standard view instead of a savanna view.
In the short term, Sherrie, you could do what I do with my students. When I organize a school trip, it is not in the budget to stay at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. However, we dine at Sanaa and Boma and reserve spaces on the
Starlight Safari. It's the next best thing to staying there.
Sending best wishes and pixie dust,
Jill