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Disney, Family Travel, Sponsored
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge with Kids
- 10:34 am
- 0 comments
- by Adanna Dill
Welcome, Home! That was the greeting our family got as we walked into Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. We immediately felt good at our home away from home, we were scheduled to stay there for a week while on our Walt Disney World press trip back in June. As we got off Disney’s Magical Express from the airport and walked into the magnificent lobby we were greeted by staff dressed in traditional African clothing and the warm smiles. Everyone said “Welcome home!” with what seemed like genuine happiness to have us and it felt like visiting relatives. The Super Knight looked at me and questioned “Home?”….”Mommy, is this our new home?”

Photo Credit: Walt Disney World Resort | Lobby at Kidani Village

We stood in the lobby stunned by its beauty, the intricate woodwork, African art, and sculptures. In true Disney Magic, the African inspiration is brought to life in an incredible way with the largest collection of African art in the United States. Our room was ready so we were able to check in right away. The process was easy and we got our magic bands at that point. If you haven’t stayed at a Disney property before, the magic bands can also be used as room key in addition to entry to the park/rides/fast pass etc.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is divided int0 two buildings, Jambo House and a Kidani Village. The distance between the two is about a 15 minute walk but you can catch a complimentry 5 minute shuttle ride between the two. We stayed at Jamb0 House and had a room on the second floor with a savannah view. As we walked to our room the kids screamed with excitement as they started to spot different animals through the floor to ceiling windows in the hallways. There were also a few balconies for animal gazing with binoculars and the kids couldn’t wait to put their bags down and start to explore. When I told them there are over 200 animals and birds at the resort they tried counting.

Rooms

Keeping with the theme of the hotel, our room was decorated in earth tones with beautiful African art work. We had a savannah view room with two queen beds. I think what the kids loved most was our balcony. I don’t blame them because with 30 species of animals to spy on, there was always an animal in view. On the day we arrived it was raining and my son stood out there worrying about the two giraffes who were getting wet. I explained to him that the giraffes are fine and didn’t want to come inside with us. Since giraffes are his favorite animals he stayed outside a great deal trying to get their attention. Thankfully, the way the hotel is designed you can’t go into the savannah nor can the animals get close to your room.

Restaurants

The Animal Kingdom Lodge have several restaurants but we only got to try two during this trip for breakfast. The Mara is perfect for a quick bite to go, my husband got up early and went down to grab us food there one of the mornings before we went out to the park. We also had breakfast at Boma Flavors of Africa, a gorgeous restaurant with really good food. The Jungle Juice was so tasty that I couldn’t have enough of it and while breakfast was buffet style the food was just fantastic.

Photo credit: Walt Disney World Resorts

Pools

Just outside the Boma Flavors of Africa restaurant is the hotel’s beautiful pool area, there is a waterslide, hot tub as well as the Hakuna Matata Playground playground for the little ones. We were a bit bummed that we didn’t get to enjoy the pool but we had limited time, next time we go I would add an additional day to the trip just to take in the pool and all of the resort’s amenities.

Disney Transportation

There are shuttle buses that run about every 20 minutes from Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge to all of the Disney theme parks and Disney Springs. We found that the ride was comfortable and generally we were one of the few families on the buses except at night when the park was closing and the buses were full. The ride to Epcot and Disney Springs was about 15 minutes while the ride to the Animal Kingdom was only about 5 minutes away.

Photo Credit: Walt Disney World Resort

Kids Activities

There is also a kids club called Simba’s Cub House at the hotel and I chatted with another mom who told me that her kids loved it there. You can leave your kids ages 3-12 in the care of professional at the kids club to enjoy a little “me time” or a date night.We planned to enjoy the campfire activities on the last night but we were so tired from our fun time at the Animal Kingdom that we didn’t have the energy but I heard it’s really fun, you can roast marshmallows and some nights even enjoy a movie outdoors under the stars.

Gift Shop

The gift shop at this resort which is called Zawadi Marketplace is one of the best I’ve been to, there is an inventory of beautiful African arts and crafts and even African style clothing that would make you feel like you’re visiting a marketplace in the motherland. We were also able to purchase lovely Disney souvenirs as well as necessities like a case of water (which we get whenever we travel).

Would you stay at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge?
Baby, Motherhood, New Born, New Mom, Pregnancy, Sponsored
Pregnancy Decisions: Three Reasons I am Considering Cord Blood Banking
- 12:15 am
- 0 comments
- by Adanna Dill
This post is a sponsored post by CBR® but the contents and opinions expressed here are my own.

Motherhood is hard! It’s stressful and filled with so many unexpected twists and turns. I know because I’ve had so many experiences that were beyond my control like learning that my daughter had severe food allergies when she was only a year old to nursing her back to health from bad asthma attacks. Besides the fact that these experiences have made me into a much stronger woman, it’s also made me wiser and open to doing as much as I can to protect my family who I love dearly. That’s one of the reasons that I’ve been doing tons of research and considering cord blood banking with Cord Blood Registry® (CBR®). I believe that this would be a good option for our family at this time and I wanted to share three reasons that I am considering cord blood banking:

Cord Blood contains important stem cells

As I mentioned earlier, life is unpredictable and we have no idea what would happen, one of the main reasons I am considering cord blood banking is because cord blood contains very important stem cells that have successfully been used in the treatment of leukemia, sickle cell, blood disorders and many other diseases (more than 80). There are currently clinical trials with cord blood exploring it’s potential for the treatment of autism, cerebral palsy, pediatric stroke and hearing loss. Experts in the field are excited about what possibilities newborn stem cells hold such as potential treatment for diabetes, neurological disease and injury, transplant complications and more. A lot of this research is in the early stages, but you just don’t know what the future will hold when it comes to scientific advances! As I shared last summer, I visited a children’s hospital and seeing so many kids ill was heartbreaking. If I can do anything for the ones I love, I would do it.

It’s not as tough of a process as I thought

I am all about a low-key labor and delivery. After having my daughter taken away from me for way too long after I gave birth to her, I was concerned that by signing up for cord blood banking I would have to deal with that again. After doing my research, I learned that it only takes a few minutes to collect cord blood directly from the umbilical cord and doesn’t even alter your birth plan, which is comforting to me as a parent.

It can potentially benefit the family not just the baby

The beauty of cord blood banking is that it can be potentially used not only for the baby that I am having but for a matching member of our immediate family if need be based on the situation. As I read through the family usage of cord blood list on the CBR website, it was evident that many siblings were able to use their sibling’s cord blood as part of their treatment of leukemia, sickle cell, aplastic anemia and more illnesses. It is even possible that a parent may be able to use their child’s cord blood.

It’s really fantastic that we have the option to do something only minutes after our sweet babies enter the world to potentially help them or another family member in the future. You can learn more about cord blood banking over on the Cord Blood Registry® (CBR®) website.
Activities, Motherhood, Sponsored, Toddler
Learning to Swim at Goldfish Swim School
- 10:02 pm
- 0 comments
- by Adanna Dill
This post is in partnership with Goldfish Swim School, as usual all opinions expressed are my own.

So guess what the kids are doing this summer? They’re swimming, well learning to swim at Goldfish Swim School in Garden City. While I planned to do it before, life came up and this is my son’s first time taking swim classes while my daughter has been enrolled in classes (on and off) since she was two, she still doesn’t know how to swim although she really wants to learn so I thought it was time for a fresh start. Swimming is a life skill and after an experience that I am not emotionally able to blog about yet, it’s really important to me that they both know learn how to swim well.

The kids had two swimming lessons at Goldfish Swim School so far, the first day we got there in the midst of what felt like a monsoon. We got through the summer rain storm and was pleasantly greeted by the bright design of the school. They cater to kids 12 and under at this school and you can tell they went all out in designing it to make it a fun place where kids can feel comfortable. The kids were given key tags to swipe in at every visit which lets them know who their instructor will be as well as what lane they will be swimming in. This remained consistent for the two lessons so far which I am pleased with as they both liked their instructors from the first lesson and having the same instructor really helps them to feel more comfortable. We got a short tour of the school, there are individual changing rooms which I really like and makes life a bit easier when you have kids of different genders as I do. There is also a beauty station with blow dryers, swim suit dryers and tons of storage for the kids stuff.

My son was surprisingly very confident from his very first class, apparently he’s a natural goldfish. The student/instructor ratio at Goldfish Swim School is 4:1 which I love but my son’s class is only 2:1. With only two kids, his instructor is able to give him ample attention and I think that’s why he felt so confident from his first class. As I watch from the parent gallery, I can tell that he listens attentively to instructions from his instructor and is doing his very best. So far, she’s given some feedback that he needs to work on his hand movement but besides that doing well.

My daughter isn’t as comfortable in the water and I can tell that her instructor is doing a really great job at building up her confidence. She cheers her on when she is brave and encourages her to try even when she’s a little scared. I’m excited for my girl as her swim classes in the past were always about twice this size and I really believe the extra attention will help her.

Goldfish Swim School offers Family Swim program so we plan to take advantage of it since it’s inexpensive to take the kids regularly to build their confidence in the water. Usually, I would pass but with the pool at 90 degrees year round, I am excited to support them.

Anyway, that’s our experience so far, I will be sure to give you more updates as the kids take more lessons. Also, I’ve been sharing some video clips of them in the pool in my Instagram Stories so be sure to follow me there.

Are your kids taking swimming lessons?