Gift Guide

Ever
get the
strange
feeling
someone's
watching
you?

You won't be far off the mark if you're relaxing
in the outdoor hot-tub at Disney's Animal
Kingdom Lodge, the newest resort at the mega
theme park in Orlando.

BY SUSAN R. POLLACK

Have a wild time at Disney's Animal Kingdom -Lodge. -

Though you can't quite see THEM,
some very tall critters have a perfect,
giraffe's eye-view of YOU.
Glancing beyond some big red
boulders, guests emerging from the
resort's sunken tub or desert oasis-style
pool may see Miles, Zuke, Chloe or
other long-necked giraffes munching on
the leaves of acacia and thOrn trees.
Some members of the herd, along with
white-striped bongo and greater kudu,

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2001

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roam so close you can almost see the browns of
their big, lash-fringed eyes.
This is no animatronic Disney trick, but rather
a close encounter with real wildlife, some of the
more than 100 free-roaming hoofed animals and
120 exotic birds =including African spoonbills,
sacred ibis, flamingos and marabou storks — that
live on the 33-acre savanna surrounding three
sides of the hotel.
Here, at the closest thing to an African safari
this side of the Atlantic, guests feel as if they're

staying inside a zoo — and no ordinary zoo at
that. In typical Disney fashion, great care — and
attention to detail — has gone into replicating an
exotic safari experience by developing a deluxe
resort within a working wildlife reserve. No small
challenge. It's an adventure straight 'Out of
Africa' without the bother of passports, shots or
gastrointestinal distress.
•
"You feel like you're right there, a part of it,
not just a hotel guest," observes Sondra Shapiro,
of Worcester, Mass., executive editor of the publi-

