I have been wanting to try this lounge for quite some time. My wife and I talk about it all the…read moretime. We frequently come to Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast and they are not open yet, so we have not gotten the chance. We finally did! To get here you will need to head to Animal Kingdom resort, which Disney does not allow you to park at without a dining reservation. It can be tricky to get here, but I would recommend coming from a theme park or Disney Springs. The lounge is open from 4:0pm to 11:00pm and food service starts at 5:00pm.
My wife and I had dinner at one of their restaurants so we went here first, they do allow you to come park up to two hours before your reservation so it worked perfectly. We enjoyed it so much, we also came back to the lounge after our dinner for another drink.
The resort itself is all African, theming, decor, even some cast members. I love this resort for the feel especially since both my parents are from Africa. It is always enjoyable to run into a cast member from where my parents are from and get to talk to them. The lounge is almost in between two floors. You can get to off the lobby and it's a half level down. They sandwiched a lounge on the level and it is the only thing on that "level". You cannot get to it from an elevator, you need to go down the stairs. Im sure there is a ramp for strollers and wheelchairs but I did not locate it. It also over looks Boma, the buffet style restaurant. There are seats at the bar and then a few tables and couches around, but it is not overly large. We did notice most people stopped by for a drink and took it to go although there were a few people sitting. There were more sitting after our dinner. Their menu is slightly limited, especially with the wines, but they do have a full bar and then food as well.
We decided to only get one food item as we were going to dinner. We ordered the Spiced Goat Cheese Dip which was served with Assorted Breads, like pita and pepadew chips. Fantastic! It was absolutely delicious and something I would order over and over. This dip was not overly spicy, but had a little hint, it was very cheesy and creamy and then toasted on the top so you got a little crunch. It was also topped with a couple of peppers, where I think most of the "spice" came from. We were also wanting to get the burger, which we heard was delicious but we will get it next time.
We both ordered a couple of different cocktails. I ordered 2 different types of Old Fashioned. The first one had bourbon and the second one had tequila. Both of these were fantastic but I am preferring tequila old fashioned' s lately. I also order a classic Manhattan, which is another favorite and this one was delicious. I usually do not go for the specialty cocktails, since they are usually too sweet for me. All three of my drinks were very strong and I definitely recommend them!
My wife tried a couple of the specialty drinks and then an African wine. She first ordered the Cold Brew Martini which had Amarula Cream Liqueur, Kahlúa Liqueur, Crème de Cacao Dark Liqueur, Stoli Vanilla Vodka, and Joffrey' Cold Brew Coffee. It was a good creamy cold brew martini, not quite an espresso martini but still good and she mentioned she would get it again. She also tried the Prickly Pear Mule which had VUSA African Vodka, Belle de Brillet Pear Liqueur, Prickly Pear, and Lime topped with Ginger Beer. She loved this one but she is a huge fan of Prickly Pear. It was not overly sweet and had a slight fizz due to the ginger beer. The wine she chose was the Rustenberg Chardonnay. She would have preferred a Pinot Grigio or Moscato/Riesling but she say this was really good. It was not super sweet, just a slight sweetness, not too tart. It was a good glass of wine and a great portion.
This was a great lounge and one I could see us coming to for dinner when we dont feel like cooking. Food starts at 5 but they open at 4. I highly recommend checking it out! ACES!
