Disney Debuts African Inspired Villas

“Oh give me a home, where the river hogs roam, where giraffes and the wildebeasts play.” Clearly, that’s not how the song goes, but don’t tell that to the folks at Disney.

Thousands of miles from the great plains of the Serengeti, Disney Vacation Club Members at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida are enjoying the best of Africa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas, billed as “a village alive with the spirit of the savanna.”

The vacation-ownership project builds on the success of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, a popular Walt Disney World Resort hotel that readers of Travel & Leisure Family magazine honored with the No. 4 spot on their list of the 50 greatest family resorts in the United States and Canada.

Located near Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, the Lodge immerses “explorers” in the vibrancy of African culture and the tranquility of an animal reserve (populated by such creatures as zebras, gazelles and those aforementioned river hogs, giraffes and wildebeests). Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas extends that experience further with a diverse celebration of Africa’s people, art and, yes, animals.

The first phase of villas opened recently on select floors of the existing resort building, now known as Jambo House (Jambo is Swahili for “welcome”), and crews are developing future phases that will create an adjacent string of vacation homes in a new area to be known as Kidani Village (Kidani is Swahili for “necklace,” a fitting name for a sweeping string of African inspired structures).

Disney Vacation Club Members and Guests are responding enthusiastically to the new accommodations, marveling at the hand-crafted African furnishings and discovering the “hidden” touches they’ve come to expect in all things Disney, from hidden Mickey heads among the carpet’s animal spots or carved animal legs holding up tables, to characters from the animated classic The Lion King hiding in everything from headboards and entertainment centers to curtains and tile work. Add an array of authentic works of African art and such modern luxuries as granite counter tops and flat-panel televisions, and the view inside is almost as good as the one out the window.

“We’re really excited about this project,” said Walt Disney Imagineer Joe Leger, one of the creative minds behind Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas. “This resort is so rich in detail and storytelling, and this gives us the opportunity to continue those stories in new and interesting ways.”

Much of that storytelling, of course, is rooted in the wild, and crews are working diligently to protect the welfare of their furry and feathered friends.

“We work in close collaboration with our partners at Disney’s Animal Programs to ensure that our construction activity doesn’t interfere with their world-class animal care,” Joe explained. “It’s one of the most fascinating aspects of the project from a construction standpoint. Animals don’t like surprises, so when we need to introduce new equipment to the project, we work closely with the Animal Care team to set the equipment away from the savannas and gradually move it closer so they become familiar with it. Also, the Animal Care Specialists won’t begin introducing new animals into the expanded savanna space until we’ve completed exterior construction of the new village.”

The new village, slated to open in phases beginning in spring 2009, is described by Imagineers as being, “a manmade structure that seems curiously at home in the natural world.” This blending of the human and animal worlds will be evident in the village’s overall layout, which, for some explorers, will evoke images of an African necklace, with vacation homes serving as “beads,” hallway connectors on the upper floors as “knots” and the intimately designed lobby as a central “jewel” (hence the aforementioned necklace-inspired name). Others may equate the organically curved layout to the shape of a Cape Buffalo’s horns, and the Porte Cochere to a butterfly with thatched wings.

That exterior construction involves more than just erecting walls and thatching roofs, as crews are designing a variety of outdoor-recreation areas, including a planned water-play “camp” that’ll be central to the village’s storyline.

“Kids will discover an old animal observation camp divided into three distinct planned areas for various age groups,” explained Imagineer Tim Warzecha. “Water jets will flow through everything from an iconic water tower to sculpted snakes and Venus flytraps, and kids will trigger the action by aiming hoses, stepping on pressure sensitive pads and more. We think this is going to be one of the most popular places in the village.”

Back on drier land, African artwork will continue the immersive experience. “The artwork in the existing Lodge is about man’s relationship to animals,” Tim said of the diverse pieces that comprise one of the largest collections of African art outside of Africa . “The art program for the new village shifts gears a bit and focuses more on expressions of the African people, which has been a lot of fun to explore.”

The focus on Africa’s people will extend to the village’s planned 150-seat restaurant, which will draw inspiration from spices cultivated in the continent’s eastern region. The menu will build on those flavors, presenting dishes that will be slow-cooked, grilled over a wood fire or roasted in a traditional Indian clay oven called a Tandoori.

Disney Vacation Club President Jim Lewis is pleased to see Members settling into the still-growing resort, saying, “We continue to see strong demand from families who want to build a lifetime of unforgettable memories by vacationing in ways they never dreamed possible, and I am delighted that our Members have yet another place to call home with Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas.”


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Courtesy of Perspective Magazine - subscribe free here to view the full color version in the March 2008 edition