Warning Issued at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Today

Guests hoping to soak in the magic of Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge are now alerted to a BIG closure starting immediately.

Animal Kingdom Lodge

Disney describes Animal Kingdom Lodge as "Step into the heart of Africa at this magnificent Resort hotel. Inspired by the traditional African kraal, the horseshoe-curved design provides spectacular views of 4 lush savannas that over 200 hoofed animals and birds call home."

Animal Kingdom Lodge is split into sister resorts: Jambo House and Kidani Village. Jambo is the larger "main building" of the resort. When Disney announced there would be a DVC resort here, Disney renamed the main building to Jambo.

Jambo has regular cash rooms as well as DVC accommodations, but not as many DVC rooms as Kidani Village.

Animal Kingdom Lodge Refurbishment

Another lounge has reopened at this Walt Disney World resort — Credit: Disney

The lobby at Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas-Kidani Village will undergo a BIG refurbishment beginning on August 17, 2026. The work will be completed in stages and hopefully end in early November (just in time for Christmas decorations in the lobby).

The main lobby and entrance will close for an extensive refurbishment beginning August 17, 2026, and hopefully finishing on October 9, 2026. During this closure, Guest check-in will move to the Palace Library.

This lobby refurbishment will close a portion of the lobby later this month rerouting Guest traffic. Find full details of this closure HERE.

Animal Kingdom Lodge Warning

This phased refurbishment now affects another popular Animal Kingdom Lodge location, The Mara. This quick-service location is very popular for Guests, but will now only offer mobile-order.

Disney warns, "From September 21 to 25, 2026, The Mara at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge will transition to mobile-order service only while the food court and sitting room close for maintenance."

The Mara now only offers mobile-order through September 25, 2026.

"Guests may place food orders through the My Disney Experience app during this time. Guests may also see or hear maintenance activity in the area during daytime hours."

What do you think of this unexpected closure? Share your thoughts with us and share this news with your Disney pals.

Donna Farmer

Donna has always loved Disney even at an early age. When she was younger her family would joke that she lived in "Donna Land". Even now as an adult, she loves to plan and make magical vacations come to life as she and her family travel "Home" to Walt DisneyWorld. Join her as she brings a little faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust to Disney planning.