The Uzima Springs Pool at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
By Dave Shute
For the first page of this review of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, click here
THE UZIMA SPRINGS POOL AT DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE
Jambo House has one pool, Uzima Springs pool, one of my favorites at Disney World (there’s a second pool at sister resort Kidani Village).
Uzima is a large pool ringed by foliage and flowers.
Pool chairs ring the pool, but another set of chairs continues beyond the greenery, creating private spots, and many options for both sun and shade depending on the time of day.
Also in this outer ring are a playground, hot tubs, and animal viewing areas.
As a result, this pool is both large and intimate–intimate because many views are blocked by trees, etc. As a result it has its own map!
There’s a kids’ pool near The Mara…
…a playground…
…a nearby gym…
…two hot tubs…
…a bar…
…and an animal viewing area here.
Besides the normal pool play, cast members also do some nature games.
The more I stay here, the more Uzima Springs Pool becomes my personal favorite Disney World pool.
TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE
- Summary and overview of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Theming and accommodations at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- A photo tour of a standard room at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Amenities at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Dining at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- The Uzima Pool at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD
- Where to stay–the Basics
- Where first-timers should stay
- Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 160+ stays in them
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16 comments
We just left AKL on Saturday (4/30/16) and we are in serious withdrawl. Loved everything about it. My kids said they prefer this pool to Stormalong Bay. Their only request was a higher water slide. No complaints from us though. Loved the seating, pool bar, Mara, everything.
🙂 Chryssa!
Hi David, your site is very helpful to my planning. I am waiting for the 2017 plan book from Amazon too! We are a bit late in the game. Just booked the 11/25/16 – 12/3/16 trip. Not many hotel choice. We went with the AKL standard view room. The Savannah view gets too expensive for us. But then I realized that we might not see animal from the standard view room 🙁 Would it help if I choose “near the lobby” and “upper floor” preference, even though it is not guarantee? A family of four, including two little kiddos (will be 3.5 years and 15 months), so want it to be perfect. Thanks!
Jamie, there’s no request re a standard room that will make seeing the animals from your balcony more likely. However, there are lots of public viewing areas where you can sit and watch them–just not form your room.
Thanks Dave. I guess I am going in with low expectation and hope for the best. By the way, for the time that we are going, do we necessarily use fast pass and reserve dining? It is kind of hard to plan around little ones. I wonder if it would be long wait for the popular sites and restaurant, or whether we can decide and book it on the date when we are there.
Jamie, absolutely yes. Waiting til the date will shut you out of most dining and many rides.
Hi… My husband & I are planning a trip to WDW for July 2017 with our 3 kiddos (ages 3, 7, 10). We’ve been to WDW many times and stayed at almost all of the WDW resorts. We like to try a different WDW Resort each time we go. For our upcoming trip in July, we would like to stay at either AKL or Coronado Springs. Do you have any feedback in favor of one over the other? Thanks!
Miranda the two are so wildly different–especially in price and theming–that it’s hard to make a sensible comparison. I’d certainly pick a savanna view room at AKL if you can afford it.
HOWEVER, neither will book a family of 5*… so you might need to consider other options. I have full multipage reviews of all the options beginning here.
*You can book 5 into a one bedroom villa at AKL, but at an even higher price
Hi taking a trip to Disney for my 50th birthday, and will have my 86 year old mother with alzheimers and walker or wheelchair. Do you reccommend AKL or Polynesian?
Denise, the hotel with the least amount of walking is the Contemporary.* Of the two you mentioned, either could work well if you can get a room near the lobby, but the far rooms at each can be a hike. The Poly will be more convenient, especially for MK, but AKL is quite lovely and interesting.
*”Tower” rooms only–the “Garden Wing” involves longer walks.
Hi Dave
Got 2 weeks booked for October 18, just been informed of room refurbs from August and Uzima pool closed from then to December – should we be looking to change booking to other hotel? This is our 10th visit from uk and first to deluxe (previously 4 times to moderates) wanted this to be special but bit worried now. Any thoughts?ps thoight this may be useful update info for any would-be bookers….
Paul–thanks for the heads up–the pool will be closed August to December? That’s astonishing. There is another great pool at next-door Kidani Village, but though it is big, it’s not big enough to fully serve both areas. I think that if your vacation style includes near-daily pool time I would change.
Thanks Dave, yep, confirmed major room refurbs and main pool closed Aug thru Dec. Waiting to hear back from Virgin re options. Great site btw, always come back, even when not on a Disney year!
Thanks, Paul!!
So…apparently Disney dont see this as major issue, so have offered the following. Free switch to another luxury resort (except Floridian or Polynesian) – they arent able to specify which and if we proceed and dont like the switch we’ll lose our room at AK and may not be able to secure another one…think we’ll have to stay and hope it doesn’t ruin things. Thanks again Dave.
Paul, thanks for the update. Let me know how it goes…
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