Disney Animal Kingdom - Lodge | October 20, 2026

We spent last week in Florida going to Disney World and Epic Universal. Is it considered Disney World if you don't go to the actual Magic Kingdom park?

We stayed at the Disney Animal Kingdom that's part lodge and part theme park. The lodge has two main hotels - houses - with a giant savanna between the two. In the savanna there are animals from Africa and Asia. The coolest was the giraffes and zebras who are just hanging around.

At first I wasn't comfortable with staying at something that closely resembled a zoo. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but everything I read says Disney does a good job of animal conservation and taking care of their animals. They do this by being a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center that helps rescue and release hundreds of injured or orphaned animals each year.