As with all of the Disney hotels the Animal Kingdom Lodge welcomes visitors even if they are not guests.
When you first see the hotel from the outside, it appears to be part of an African village. The thatched roof and stucco siding tries to imitate the style of great ceremonial house. The main lobby of hotel displays the normal amount of care that Disney take to get the theme of their hotels correct. The dark wood contrasted against the bright tapestries. The African artwork is displayed everywhere, the staff all wear safari clothes, and the lighting is dim to try and capture the internal feel of an African lodge. There are many unique features and I think you could visit a number of time and still see something new.
The hotel lobby is actually on the third floor. You climb up steps or a slope to the main building from the car park but the building has bee built into part of a hill. This is becomes evident when you look through the far end of the lobby and see the huge windows which let you see the savannah overlook.
There are the normal themed shops and the African items on sale where very interesting. This was however the only disappointment in the visit as a friend collects African art and I want to buy a piece and asked what type of wood it was carved from but no one seemed to know. There are two main restaurant that I saw and we went in one which was down from the main lobby. This was called Boma and is a buffet style restaurant. As they don't want you to linger to long the views outside are nothing special. As with all this style of Disney restaurant they catering for the children with the normal chicken nuggets and chips type meals while trying to provide a more authentic style for the adults. I liked the desserts and of course you can have as many as you want. The banana bread pudding was especially nice as it gave a twist to ordinary dessert. If you feel like trying some African beer then you have a chance here.
If you eat a late lunch here make sure your free about 4:00pm and walk through the hotel to the back. The hotel is built in a C shape and they put out feed for the non- aggressive animals. There is a raised area leading out from the hotel where you can watch this for free and there are guides on hand to answer any questions you may have.
You can often see more animals up close at this time then you do on the safari ride.