Jambo!

Consider this my final post in a 3 part Disney Half Marathon Weekend blog entry extravaganza. I promise, this is the last one and then it's back to current happenings.

I just couldn't conclude my postings without featuring our hotel. We stayed at the Jambo House, an African inspired hotel close to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Jambo means "hello" in Swahili. I promise, I already knew that thanks to three months of living with a Kenyan. I know this sounds so silly, but Kenya is just one of those places that I have heard so much about that I feel like I've been there.

The thing I love about all Disney hotels is their attention to detail. You can walk down the same hallways and sit in the same lobbies for days and not notice every decorative detail. 

Even though we are locals and have never lived further than an hour and a half away from Orlando, (well, I guess technically, I am not longer a local) the LaSelva family is no stranger to Diseny hotels. When I was a kid, and even in high school, one of our favorite family weekend getaways was to go camping at Disney's Fort Wilderness. We love that place, basically because it's more of a resort than a campground, complete with complimentary fresh baked cookies and lemonade at check-in. One of the coolest things about staying at the campground is that you get to use all of Disney's public transportation which made it really easy to pool hop from resort to resort.

Growing up, Disney was as familiar to me and my brothers as going to Grandma's house. In fact, once when I was in high school, we lived at Disney for almost a week. My family had to evacuate our home for a hurricane and we didn't have time to get to another state and my Dad's job at the electric company required him to stay behind anyway. Little known fact: Disney is one of the only places with their own generators, meaning they never lose power - making Disney a great evacuation option. Even now, years later, I remember how compassionate the staff was to our family and others who were evacuating. I am sure all of this is sounding pretty traumatic to any non Floridian readers, but I promise, hurricane evacuations were as normal to me as summer camp.

All of that to say, when my mom suggested we stay at a Disney hotel, we all had different opinions about exactly which one we chose. Finally, after much deliberation, we decided to try a hotel none of us had been to, the Jambo House. From what I knew about Africa, it all seemed pretty authentic, right down to the wallpaper in the bathroom that highlighted the Masai tribe, a tribe that a few of my friends have spent time with while in Kenya.

The coolest part about the hotel, and the part I wish I had more time to enjoy, was the animals. This was the view from our balcony. 

The whole hotel circles around a giant observatory where a host of African animals live. It's like waking up to an African safari right outside your door. I wish I had more time to just sit around and enjoy it. How awesome would it be to sit out on a rocking chair reading a book and look up to see this:

And with that, we conclude our 3 part mini series on the Disney Half Marathon Weekend - constant activity, little relaxation, and plenty of laughs - pretty typical LaSelva family weekend.