Lizzybear
03-26-2008, 10:24 AM
September 16th 2007 (Day 4)
I was up at 6am so I caught up with my diary until Steve got up at 7am. We got ready and headed to the food court for breakfast: Chocolate chip pancakes with bacon for me and french toast with eggs for Steve. We used 2 counter service credits and this meant we got 2 drinks each included which was really handy. We set off for Animal Kingdom, got there at 9 and headed straight to Expedition Everest which was awesome. I wish we'd gone on again but we just didn't end up getting round to it. We set off for Kali River Rapids next, with plenty of distractions along the way, since we'd done the 'big one' we figured we'd enjoy the little things:
http://a685.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/84/l_b51be698af58ffa28ebdcf46a8048414.jpg
Steve really enjoyed Animal Kingdom and though i've always been a bit on the fence about it in the past I did too. I felt that I really appreciated all the details in the theming this trip, the queuing area of Everest alone is just fantastic and so much thought has gone into it.
After getting suitably soaked on Kali (thankfully it was a scorcher of a day so we dried off fast) we went on the Kilimanjaro Safari, our driver Brandon was hilarious and really made the experience that bit more fun.
http://a872.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/80/l_87476a447f89ed674da7904c1419601f.jpg
My what big horns you have
http://a550.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/116/l_999321eb35d2ddf6710987e777b8578d.jpg
I LOVE the Thomson gazelles, they're so cute I so wanted to take one home with me!
http://a320.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/11/l_e435c5a1eb433ce1f0e09c79884442f7.jpg
The elephants are OK too I guess
After this we went on the Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur then joined the snaking queue for Finding Nemo The Musical. I'd definitely heed the advice about arriving 45 minutes prior, they were turning people away and it wasn't even a particularly busy day at the park. I won't spoil this for those of you who haven't seen it but I will say that if you like the Lion King show then you'll probably love this, we did! When the show was over I bought some pins and we went to Pizzafari for lunch. We both ordered cheese pizzas and frozen lemonades (one normal and one strawberry to share) The line for this place was ridiculous, I think a combination of not enough staff and dining plan confusion.
After lunch we went to watch the Lion King show which was fantastic as always and then the parade. It seemed most people had gone home as hardly anyone was watching it and we got a really good spot for pictures near the bridge.
http://a486.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/100/l_ee967cdcd6156128c0c781763b03add5.jpg
http://a573.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/88/l_40de5087457f1bc36c7fe203708d9c3c.jpg
http://a369.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/113/l_4e56808c051b93e4079145bc43273dc8.jpg
http://a507.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/75/l_81bdfab7621f6883609e09fdc335a9ba.jpg
Obviously not a parade picture but I wanted to include it *** it's cute!
http://a426.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/85/l_03bc19a6b7a1a3dff265ca2eafb95dd9.jpg
Theme park touring is hard work!
We decided to call it a day after the parade and drove over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for our Boma ADR.
(Continued)
We arrived at AKL with an hour to spare before our ADR time so we took the time to explore the resort and take some pictures:
http://a316.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/24/l_35d16296719467c170bc597071e9898b.jpg
http://a643.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/43/l_dfc03f1729a560eb2e1615f3b8c8608a.jpg
Wow! The lobby is truly magnificent
http://a371.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/45/l_ae0ec41c190e74ead1c19a2f303aa912.jpg
The only evidence of construction work we could see
http://a307.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/73/l_b7efe1fc3bc350918a2edb5fc1637d1a.jpg
I bet this is cosy when the campfire is going
http://a112.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/96/l_8b5cfbd347fec98a1b9c4ba9e62ef6b7.jpg
Spot the ducks!
http://a397.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/97/l_092eb8890308f7f36cc8906a00e23f84.jpg
http://a530.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/27/l_5087a0e0a258be0492ceb37af1b3ff59.jpg
Animals on the savannah
http://a12.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/39/l_9c23687ac512f0c247b66075519716e3.jpg
Chillaxing!
The resort is really beautiful and we really enjoyed walking around but, again, the location would put me off staying there.
It was soon time for our ADR and we were seated 5 minutes early. Our server was Kevin and he was excellent, he asked if Steve would like to see the chef to explain what he could eat on the buffet which he happily agreed to and Chef TJ arrived at our table in a matter of minutes. He really knew his stuff and even pointed out which of the soups contained meat stock, when Steve has asked this in some restaurants he's just got a blank look in response. Apparently on each 'pod' of the buffet the right side is vegetarian and the left is not, so now you know! We dutifully piled our plates with yummy food, particular favourites were the mushroom soup, falafel and fufu (Steve) and coconut curry pork, roasted veg and salads (me) We were about halfway through our food when out of nowhere Chef TJ appeared with a big grin on his face and a huge wok of vegetarian goodies:
http://a171.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/65/l_da0976cf52bba8883213d314a44ea21a.jpg
There was marinated tofu, deep fried mushrooms, deep fried tofu strips and tons of vegetables. When we'd picked our jaws up off the floor set about trying to eat it, it seriously would have been enough for both of us for dinner on it's own and i'm sad to say it defeated us. Chef TJ returned a bit later to check all was OK and of course we were full of praise and promised to return for dinner next time we go to WDW! (if i'm honest we'll probably return more than once next trip, we didn't get to try everything we wanted on the buffet!) We felt it would be rude not to at least have small portions of some of the legendary desserts so we did just that. Steve really enjoyed the famous zebra domes and I did too but I have to say the banana bread pudding with vanilla sauce was my favourite, so yummy! By now we were thinking we'd have to be rolled back to Port Orleans but little did we know that Chef TJ hadn't finished with us yet..! He returned again and this time with a bowl of deep fried oreos smothered in chocolate sauce:
http://a854.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/67/l_e01249add0f92cc0daeb46a67b24431d.jpg
Gobsmacked yet again it was all we could do to share one as we were just soo full so Kevin kindly brought us a box for them so we could take them back to our room. We tipped Kevin extra and sent our biggest and bestest compliments to the chef, we were just seriously overwhelmed as Steve is more used to getting fobbed off with pasta in tomato sauce as a vegetarian but at Boma he ate like a king. We just wish it was closer to home!
We drove back to the resort and had an early night as we were way too full to swim, we'll get to that pool at some point!
I was up at 6am so I caught up with my diary until Steve got up at 7am. We got ready and headed to the food court for breakfast: Chocolate chip pancakes with bacon for me and french toast with eggs for Steve. We used 2 counter service credits and this meant we got 2 drinks each included which was really handy. We set off for Animal Kingdom, got there at 9 and headed straight to Expedition Everest which was awesome. I wish we'd gone on again but we just didn't end up getting round to it. We set off for Kali River Rapids next, with plenty of distractions along the way, since we'd done the 'big one' we figured we'd enjoy the little things:
http://a685.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/84/l_b51be698af58ffa28ebdcf46a8048414.jpg
Steve really enjoyed Animal Kingdom and though i've always been a bit on the fence about it in the past I did too. I felt that I really appreciated all the details in the theming this trip, the queuing area of Everest alone is just fantastic and so much thought has gone into it.
After getting suitably soaked on Kali (thankfully it was a scorcher of a day so we dried off fast) we went on the Kilimanjaro Safari, our driver Brandon was hilarious and really made the experience that bit more fun.
http://a872.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/80/l_87476a447f89ed674da7904c1419601f.jpg
My what big horns you have
http://a550.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/116/l_999321eb35d2ddf6710987e777b8578d.jpg
I LOVE the Thomson gazelles, they're so cute I so wanted to take one home with me!
http://a320.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/11/l_e435c5a1eb433ce1f0e09c79884442f7.jpg
The elephants are OK too I guess
After this we went on the Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur then joined the snaking queue for Finding Nemo The Musical. I'd definitely heed the advice about arriving 45 minutes prior, they were turning people away and it wasn't even a particularly busy day at the park. I won't spoil this for those of you who haven't seen it but I will say that if you like the Lion King show then you'll probably love this, we did! When the show was over I bought some pins and we went to Pizzafari for lunch. We both ordered cheese pizzas and frozen lemonades (one normal and one strawberry to share) The line for this place was ridiculous, I think a combination of not enough staff and dining plan confusion.
After lunch we went to watch the Lion King show which was fantastic as always and then the parade. It seemed most people had gone home as hardly anyone was watching it and we got a really good spot for pictures near the bridge.
http://a486.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/100/l_ee967cdcd6156128c0c781763b03add5.jpg
http://a573.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/88/l_40de5087457f1bc36c7fe203708d9c3c.jpg
http://a369.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/113/l_4e56808c051b93e4079145bc43273dc8.jpg
http://a507.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/75/l_81bdfab7621f6883609e09fdc335a9ba.jpg
Obviously not a parade picture but I wanted to include it *** it's cute!
http://a426.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/85/l_03bc19a6b7a1a3dff265ca2eafb95dd9.jpg
Theme park touring is hard work!
We decided to call it a day after the parade and drove over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for our Boma ADR.
(Continued)
We arrived at AKL with an hour to spare before our ADR time so we took the time to explore the resort and take some pictures:
http://a316.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/24/l_35d16296719467c170bc597071e9898b.jpg
http://a643.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/43/l_dfc03f1729a560eb2e1615f3b8c8608a.jpg
Wow! The lobby is truly magnificent
http://a371.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/45/l_ae0ec41c190e74ead1c19a2f303aa912.jpg
The only evidence of construction work we could see
http://a307.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/73/l_b7efe1fc3bc350918a2edb5fc1637d1a.jpg
I bet this is cosy when the campfire is going
http://a112.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/96/l_8b5cfbd347fec98a1b9c4ba9e62ef6b7.jpg
Spot the ducks!
http://a397.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/97/l_092eb8890308f7f36cc8906a00e23f84.jpg
http://a530.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/27/l_5087a0e0a258be0492ceb37af1b3ff59.jpg
Animals on the savannah
http://a12.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/39/l_9c23687ac512f0c247b66075519716e3.jpg
Chillaxing!
The resort is really beautiful and we really enjoyed walking around but, again, the location would put me off staying there.
It was soon time for our ADR and we were seated 5 minutes early. Our server was Kevin and he was excellent, he asked if Steve would like to see the chef to explain what he could eat on the buffet which he happily agreed to and Chef TJ arrived at our table in a matter of minutes. He really knew his stuff and even pointed out which of the soups contained meat stock, when Steve has asked this in some restaurants he's just got a blank look in response. Apparently on each 'pod' of the buffet the right side is vegetarian and the left is not, so now you know! We dutifully piled our plates with yummy food, particular favourites were the mushroom soup, falafel and fufu (Steve) and coconut curry pork, roasted veg and salads (me) We were about halfway through our food when out of nowhere Chef TJ appeared with a big grin on his face and a huge wok of vegetarian goodies:
http://a171.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/65/l_da0976cf52bba8883213d314a44ea21a.jpg
There was marinated tofu, deep fried mushrooms, deep fried tofu strips and tons of vegetables. When we'd picked our jaws up off the floor set about trying to eat it, it seriously would have been enough for both of us for dinner on it's own and i'm sad to say it defeated us. Chef TJ returned a bit later to check all was OK and of course we were full of praise and promised to return for dinner next time we go to WDW! (if i'm honest we'll probably return more than once next trip, we didn't get to try everything we wanted on the buffet!) We felt it would be rude not to at least have small portions of some of the legendary desserts so we did just that. Steve really enjoyed the famous zebra domes and I did too but I have to say the banana bread pudding with vanilla sauce was my favourite, so yummy! By now we were thinking we'd have to be rolled back to Port Orleans but little did we know that Chef TJ hadn't finished with us yet..! He returned again and this time with a bowl of deep fried oreos smothered in chocolate sauce:
http://a854.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/67/l_e01249add0f92cc0daeb46a67b24431d.jpg
Gobsmacked yet again it was all we could do to share one as we were just soo full so Kevin kindly brought us a box for them so we could take them back to our room. We tipped Kevin extra and sent our biggest and bestest compliments to the chef, we were just seriously overwhelmed as Steve is more used to getting fobbed off with pasta in tomato sauce as a vegetarian but at Boma he ate like a king. We just wish it was closer to home!
We drove back to the resort and had an early night as we were way too full to swim, we'll get to that pool at some point!