Hi, Julie!
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge is one of my home resorts and definitely in the top three on my list of Disney resort favorites.
You can absolutely leave your luggage with bell services at your resort when you arrive. When your room is ready, you can call down to bell services and the bags will be delivered to your room. The amount of time it takes for them to get the bags to you may vary, but I have never personally waited longer than 30 minutes.
Did you know that you can do
online check-in before you ever arrive at your Walt Disney World resort? I love this option. We can arrive at the resort, leave our bags with bell services, and go head out to have some fun. When our resort room is ready, we get a text message to our cell phone with our resort room number. We don't even have to go to the front desk. I especially love it when our room is ready early and I get that message while I'm still on the road to Orlando.
If you opt not to do online check-in, you can still go to the front desk when you arrive and check in. You never know, your room might be ready early. If it's not, they'll text you as soon as it is.
Enjoy a wonderful trip home, Julie! Thanks so much for your question.