Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge ~ Our home for the week!

Eddie and I had been "planning" our first trip to Disney World with kids for a while...since before we had kids! We always wanted to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge where we could see the beautiful African animals in a natural savanna setting right outside our balcony.  We knew that this would drastically increase the price of our trip since Animal Kingdom Lodge is considered a "deluxe" resort and the savanna view rooms are the pricier rooms, but this trip was special.  We priced our trip online with airfare, a seven night stay in a savanna view room, park hopper tickets so we could enjoy all the parks at our leisure, and a quick service dining plan (which was wonderful by the way and well worth the money).  I had trouble getting the reservation booked online so I ended up having to call the representatives, and I am so glad I did.  They are able to give you additional specials and discounts not available online which saved over $500 (pretty much paying for the quick service dining plan).  Food at Disney is not cheap.  A breakfast would have cost our family of four about $30, lunch would have cost about $40 to $50, and dinner would have cost from $60 to over $100.  Our dining plan allowed us to eat at any restaurants in the parks and resorts with counter service (which is almost everywhere except the super fancy places where you would not want to take kids).  For breakfast, we could get a full breakfast platter or entree with sides and beverages.  For lunch and dinner, we enjoyed an entree with two sides, a drink, and dessert (yes, dessert every meal did get kind of crazy so I utilized many of mine to get Brody some yogurt or fruit).  We also all got snacks everyday which we usually utilized for some ice cream or cool treats by the pool.  Our hotel had a great family friendly dining option where we ate many meals.  The kids ate like champs all week, but unfortunately, Brody was spoiled by eating so many "big" people foods and will not go back to baby food.  Ha!  

Another great advantage of staying at a Disney resort is the transportation.  You can travel to and from any of the Disney parks on the Disney bus service.  Although we did get a little upset on a couple of occasions because it seemed like we had to wait a little longer than necessary for the bus to and from our resort, we definitely see the advantage of this mode of transportation.  It was so easy with children...even with a double stroller!  We also loved our sit and stand stroller that both Evan and Brody could ride.  It definitely helped keep the "whining" from a tired little boy to a minimum!  

And without further ado, here are some of our favorite pictures from our resort:

A Mickey towel on the bed.

My 3 boys in our room.

Mommy and her sweet boys enjoying the view outside our room.

A beautiful grazing zebra.

Don't you just love those stripes? 

This one is a mystery.  We think it is a Bontebok although it wasn't listed on our info sheet.

Brody enjoyed this view everyday. 

Ankole Cattle

The animals usually came out in the late afternoon when it was shady.  They stuck to the shady spots in the mornings.

East African Crowned Crane

Eland with a bunch of little Thomson's Gazelles, the smallest of the gazelles.

Ostrich ~ apparently it is a myth that they stick their heads in the sand when afraid.

This baby was just so happy here.

Reticulated Giraffe

Look how small the gazelle looks beside those big giraffes!

Brody's favorite spot ~ He loved this little pool that he could crawl around in. 

So happy in the water.  I am definitely going to have to watch this one closely around water!

Sweet baby

He loved the spouts where the water came out.

Evan enjoying a Mickey ice cream. 

Love that face.  Ha!

Daddy and Evan swimming together.  Evan is always the most cautious little boy so I expect he will not give up his arm floats until he is absolutely sure of himself!

Chasing Daddy.

Daddy chasing Evan.

Evan's favorite spot ~ the waterslide!

Coming out with big smiles.  He did this a million times.

Mommy and Brody playing in the pool.  This baby would put his face right into the water.

Our resort had lots of kid friendly activities like this marshmallow roast every evening.

He loved roasting marshmallows.

Yum!

A little marshmallow mustache.

Evan showing off our hotel.

Pelicans

Evan on the staircase inside the hotel lobby.

A pretty art sculpture on display.

The huge hotel lobby.