GREEN APPLE. A November Anniversary TR with too many photos! *update 12/19*

FABULOUS photos! I have to show that AKL shot to my husband. We stayed there renting points in May for our honeymoon. Hubby is still in the beginning stages of taking pics with his DSLR since he really only uses it consistently during Disney. Over the past couple of trips though, I have seen his pics get better! But of course, most Disney photos are just AWESOME!
 
Hmm, well you went on the TTA. Does that count? And Small World. Because I think Rey is whimsical. And let's say Philharmagic.

Ok, I'll try to play along.......DUMBO, PEOPLE MOVER and Philharmagic! And I'm going over to FB now.......

My guess: People Mover, Peter Pan, and SSE???

You are going to keep guessing, you all only guessed the easy one b/c of my picture! :laughing: Peter Pan was a good guess b/c it's really my favorite, BUT...we didn't ride it (walked right by with a 5 minute wait, if you can believe that!) mostly because I get really teary on it and I knew I would get upset riding it without Savannah.

Uhhh... I looked at FB before I saw the challenge... pretty sure I would have guessed anyway though so it's probably more fair that I didn't play along. ;)

I am in love with your pics and also how you guys are off to such a fun start- I love the little moments when Robbie and I are on a trip alone. When we're just relaxed and anticipating our time together, joking around with each other, etc. :lovestruc

:goodvibes

FABULOUS photos! I have to show that AKL shot to my husband. We stayed there renting points in May for our honeymoon. Hubby is still in the beginning stages of taking pics with his DSLR since he really only uses it consistently during Disney. Over the past couple of trips though, I have seen his pics get better! But of course, most Disney photos are just AWESOME!

We rented points as well, and I believe we will again in the future too. We loved it so much! Disney is so much fun to shoot at! So many colors and things to capture! I will say though, it's hard to concentrate on my photography when I'm trying to enjoy so many other things!
 
So, we were on ME and headed to my Happy Place! I got a wide angle shot of us arriving, but you end up seeing more of the bus than the sign with this lens! (I learned pretty fast that this lens had a pretty big learning curve)

ReyKarenAKL039.jpg


We had a few stops first, but we were so excited, it actually added to the fun to see some of the other resorts. We went to AoA first, sorry, I didn't take any photos, I was slightly putoff by the lens at this point and just wanting to soak up Disney. AoA is just as impressive as the photos I have seen...maybe even more so. Something I knew but didn't register until I saw it was the size. It's MASSIVE. It really blew me away how large it was.

After that we headed to PoP! Yay! This is where we have stayed both times onsite, so it was like seeing home. :goodvibes As we turned onto PoP's drive, I looked to the right b/c it looked a little different and realized that the building right there was NOT part of PoP, but the Little Mermaid section of AoA!! :eek: I cannot convey to you how FAR the LM section looks from the main entrance of AoA! Wow! It actually had me changing some of my plans for our mother/daughter trip in February (more on that later).

Caribbean Beach was last, I had never been there, so that was nice! I took a shot of us and the only other family left on the bus who were also headed to AKL! Kinda cool having ME all to ourselves.

ReyKarenAKL041.jpg


We arrived at AKL and were Welcomed Home! :love: I had been there before to eat at Boma a couple times, so I knew what to expect, but it's still just breathtaking. Here's a lobby shot NOT taken at 4am but when we arrived! :lmao:

(OK, bizarre, but I've uploaded this shot of the lobby twice and it still will not show up...or at least I cannot see it?? Strange!)

ReyKarenAKL051.jpg


We checked in and headed to our room, which was off of the right hand wing, in the Uzima Savanna. The view from our balcony was breathtaking, I didn't think I would be that impressed with a savanna view, but I was. (more on that later and more shots of the room) AND, I could see EE!!! My all time favorite ride ever! It was nice to at least get to see it since we were skipping AK park all together on this trip!

ReyKarenAKL047.jpg


We had an ADR for 2:45 and it was already 2:45, so I put on my new dress and we headed downstairs to catch a shuttle. Waiting for the shuttle...to Kidani Village! Our ADR was for Sanaa.

ReyKarenAKL056.jpg


It took a little bit for the shuttle, but the weather was fantastic and I was so relaxed and happy! Rey was worried about being 15 minutes late, but I wasn't. It was 3 in the afternoon! That paid off too b/c there was only 1 other family in the whole restaurant! We had the place to ourselves!!! Of course this is exciting b/c it was like a little oasis and relaxation and romance...but people...it also means great photo opportunities! :laughing:

ReyKarenAKL058.jpg


ReyKarenAKL061.jpg


ReyKarenAKL118.jpg


ReyKarenAKL114.jpg


ReyKarenAKL070.jpg


The view from our table:
ReyKarenAKL089.jpg


ReyKarenAKL065.jpg


ReyKarenAKL087.jpg


Almost at my limit of shots for the post, so I will leave you with the first thing we ordered. Drinks naturally! Rey got some African beer and I got a African Mango Margarita. This this was the best drink I have had in a long time, maybe ever! SO GOOD! We enjoyed our drinks and our private restaurant while we decided what to order!
ReyKarenAKL086.jpg


ReyKarenAKL088.jpg


Up next...FOOD!!!!!!! Oh yes, I took food pics on this trip, who do you think you're dealing with here?!?! ;)


 
Are my pictures too big? They look HUGE (like take up nearly my whole monitor) when I'm on the page. I'm not sure why they are so big, probably b/c they are big files, but if people are having trouble with them, I might be able to resize.
 


You thought I was going to leave you hanging for another day for that food, didn't ya. ;) I would never do that! (that's a lie)

I knew I wanted the bread service, I had heard so much about it! It was hard choosing three from the list of breads and chutney/spreads they had. I may need to go look at the list to see what we got??? One was cucumber, one was the garlic/pickle and the last was a coriander chutney. We got 2 different kind of naan breads and some onion bread? Oh.my.word. Soooo good! Rey liked the cucumber the best, I loved the cucumber and the garlic/dill. With that, we got the appetizer trio. Cauliflower, lamb, and pea/potato samosas.

ReyKarenAKL105.jpg


Well, I didn't eat the lamb, Rey did, and he said it was good. I don't think he really cares for lamb. The cauliflower and samosas were so good...and spicy! Yum! Rey LOVED the samosa.

We ordered the trios for dinner. He thought the Butter Chicken sounded plain, but I insisted he get it, telling him I was told it was fantastic and not just butter and chicken! :lmao: He also got some spicy shrimp thing and then the rice that comes with it. I got the vegetarian sampler. I picked the paneer and a spicy chickpea/potato dish to go with my rice. It was superb! I love the spices in Indian food, so this was right up my alley!

Mine:
ReyKarenAKL111.jpg


Rey's:
ReyKarenAKL112.jpg


He LOVED the butter chicken. LOVED it. Score one for the wife who knows her stuff! ;)
ReyKarenAKL119.jpg


Such a wonderful meal to start out trip! I just soaked it in, it really didn't seem quite real. I got up to take some shots of the animals walking around outside, mainly this bird that came up to the window and was making all kinds of noise and puffing out his puffer thing! :p It was then that I realized I had made a very grave mistake...I forgot my zoom lens. I just was not thinking, focused on having this new rental lens and my prime lens. I really regretted it, the shots I could have gotten of the animals from our balcony make me want to cry...but, these things happen and I just had to let it go. So, I got right up in the window in this guys face, it's the closest animal shot I got the whole trip since I didn't have my zoom!

ReyKarenAKL109.jpg


I did get plenty of shots of wide angle views of the animals though! I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. I thought it might be more "zoo like" and I really don't love zoos, where animals are just pent up in small areas. This felt like I was really getting to see them free and in their own space. Like a fly on the wall, watching them in their natural habitat. I LOVED it! I know this sounds silly, but I've never really had a favorite animal, I love them all...this trip, at nearly 40, I finally have a favorite! Giraffes! I know, I'm a dork, that makes me feel like I'm 7.

ReyKarenAKL127.jpg


ReyKarenAKL128.jpg


ReyKarenAKL130.jpg


Edited to add: We did not get dessert, we were stuffed! Here is the price breakdown for those interested.
Kingfisher beer 7.25
Slow cooked (Rey's) 21.49

Margarita Malawi Mango 9.75
Veg Sampler 14.99

Appetizers:
App for two 14.99
Bread service 8.99

Subtotal: 77.46
tax: 5.04
Total: 82.50
Tip: 17.50

Grand Total: $100.00

I think it was worth it and more! :thumbsup2



Next up: after our fantastic dinner, we headed out to the viewing area, back to the room for a little bit (I had to change into another dress! LOL), and then to DTD for the evening!



 
I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU STARTED THE T.R. AND I MISSED THE SEND OFF AND EVERYTHING!!!! I hope you guys had a great trip. I can't wait to hear all about it!:cool1:
 
The food and drinks all look amazing! I was laughing to myself that you knew which meat dish Rey should get. :rotfl2: Also, very cool to have the restaurant practically to yourselves. pixiedust:

Too bad about the zoom lens but honestly, it would have been a pain to drag one more lens and worry about switching it out. You'd have been constantly wishing you had the other lens on because the best lens changes moment to moment not day to day, or even hour to hour. You'll have your zoom on another trip and having the wide angle for this trip was great for those savanna and 4 AM lobby shots. :thumbsup2

I'm glad you saw the LM section and issues with the walk now instead of getting there next spring and seeing it- now you can make a decision with all the facts (which I already saw on FB when you were chatting with MA, so I won't spill the beans). :p

I won't complain about waiting or demand more this time- but only because I'll see you this afternoon and pump you for all the good stuff then. :hyper:

Oh, and the pics are a little large. Not terribly but a little, I have to scroll a little on my laptop to see the bottom of them. I'm guessing that when photobucket updated it changed any settings you had back to default settings. :confused3
 


I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU STARTED THE T.R. AND I MISSED THE SEND OFF AND EVERYTHING!!!! I hope you guys had a great trip. I can't wait to hear all about it!:cool1:

Yay! Glad you are here!! :cool1:

The food and drinks all look amazing! I was laughing to myself that you knew which meat dish Rey should get. :rotfl2: Also, very cool to have the restaurant practically to yourselves. pixiedust:

Yup, but only b/c it's Disney related and I had read reviews on the Butter Chicken! :p

Too bad about the zoom lens but honestly, it would have been a pain to drag one more lens and worry about switching it out. You'd have been constantly wishing you had the other lens on because the best lens changes moment to moment not day to day, or even hour to hour. You'll have your zoom on another trip and having the wide angle for this trip was great for those savanna and 4 AM lobby shots. :thumbsup2

Oh but I DID go through that! I cannot imagine how worse it would be with THREE lenses, but I had the prime, so I was CONSTANTLY switching out and it started to drive both myself and Rey crazy! At one point I told him not to let me switch out and then 5 minutes later I begged him to hand me the lens b/c I just HAD to get a wider shot! :lmao:

I'm glad you saw the LM section and issues with the walk now instead of getting there next spring and seeing it- now you can make a decision with all the facts (which I already saw on FB when you were chatting with MA, so I won't spill the beans). :p

I won't complain about waiting or demand more this time- but only because I'll see you this afternoon and pump you for all the good stuff then. :hyper:

So looking forward to chatting you up! :goodvibes

Oh, and the pics are a little large. Not terribly but a little, I have to scroll a little on my laptop to see the bottom of them. I'm guessing that when photobucket updated it changed any settings you had back to default settings. :confused3

Hmmmm...I'll have to go see. Photobucket totally changed everything, so maybe they changed my size as well. I might not go back and change the ones I already posted if it's too much of a hassle, but I can change them from here on out!
 
Your pictures are amazing! I love AK Lodge. I've never stayed there, but we eat at Boma most trips and just love hanging out in the lobby and looking around the grounds. Can't wait to see more pics of your room. Did you find AK to be a bit remote? How was the bus service?

The food at Sanaa looks fabulous. Good you knew what to order. I love all your pics. Even your first one on ME was neat. I've never been able to get a shot of that Welcome sign.
 
Your pictures are amazing! I love AK Lodge. I've never stayed there, but we eat at Boma most trips and just love hanging out in the lobby and looking around the grounds. Can't wait to see more pics of your room. Did you find AK to be a bit remote? How was the bus service?

The food at Sanaa looks fabulous. Good you knew what to order. I love all your pics. Even your first one on ME was neat. I've never been able to get a shot of that Welcome sign.


We drove and stayed offsite on our first family trip with Rey's parents, so I have some pretty good shots of the entrance b/c we were in a car. It was nice to have a different perspective!

Sanaa is seriously on the top of my list now, my favorite WDW restaurant! :thumbsup2 We LOVED AKL, loved the room, loved the balcony...Rey didn't like the bus service. BUT...and it's a big one, he really hasn't dealt with the buses at all. In January when we stayed onsite, it was his first time onsite and we had a CAR! He rode the buses mid-day with the boys a handful of times, so he had no idea what solely depending on them meant. I'll give LOTS more detail on the buses, promise! :thumbsup2
 
I'm so glad you enjoyed Sanaa! It really is a great restaurant with unique flavors as compared to many of the other restaurants in the park. The bread service is the greatest. When I'm hungry back at home, I wish I had some bread to rip into and some dips to use!
 
Hey subbing on...:wave2: I love your TR title... Green Apple... It's also one of my favorite flavors...;)

You can't have too many pictures imho...

Wow... awesome picture of AKL and of Sanaa... hmmm... seriously changing our reservation from Yak & Yeti and considering going over there the day we go to Animal Kingdom...:scratchin...ate there once before and your pictures of the food are killing me...
 
I'm so glad you enjoyed Sanaa! It really is a great restaurant with unique flavors as compared to many of the other restaurants in the park. The bread service is the greatest. When I'm hungry back at home, I wish I had some bread to rip into and some dips to use!

We really love "exotic" flavors and less Americanized food, so it was right up our alley. I had wanted to go there last trip, but decided to take the kids to Boma because I thought they would like it more...but we will definitely go next time as well!

Hey subbing on...:wave2: I love your TR title... Green Apple... It's also one of my favorite flavors...;)

You can't have too many pictures imho...

Wow... awesome picture of AKL and of Sanaa... hmmm... seriously changing our reservation from Yak & Yeti and considering going over there the day we go to Animal Kingdom...:scratchin...ate there once before and your pictures of the food are killing me...

You have come to the right place if you think you can't have too many pictures! :rotfl:

It is TOTALLY worth it, and actually would be the perfect way to end an AK day. It's so relaxing and beautiful at AKL, feels worlds away from the parks, so serene and being able to see the animals right out the window is fantastic!
 
Lovin' it! Sanaa looks *amazing* and I can not WAIT for that to be our very first meal this trip!! And the savannah is gorgeous as always - ohhh I just can't wait! SO happy I was able to get a Savannah View for our upcoming trip!
 
Aww, that's such a cute picture of you in the People Mover, Karen! That's a funny picture of Rey with his mouth full of food! :laughing: Great pictures of Sanaa! The restaurant is beautiful and that Mango Margarita looks yummy! I love mangoes! Thank you for not leaving us hanging for the food! It looks delicious! The kids and I may have to go there. That's too bad about your zoom lens, but now you have an excuse to go back :lmao: The picture of that bird is so cool, though. It looks like you had a great start to your trip :goodvibes
 
LOVE the update!

You know what I would adore? A breakdown of costs - do you do that? I love when people do budget trips and break it down - tickets, food, lodging, presents for the kids...it is so inspiring! Also, I am so all about drink tallies! Yay drinks!
 
Lovin' it! Sanaa looks *amazing* and I can not WAIT for that to be our very first meal this trip!! And the savannah is gorgeous as always - ohhh I just can't wait! SO happy I was able to get a Savannah View for our upcoming trip!

You are going to LOVE it! :lovestruc

Aww, that's such a cute picture of you in the People Mover, Karen! That's a funny picture of Rey with his mouth full of food! :laughing: Great pictures of Sanaa! The restaurant is beautiful and that Mango Margarita looks yummy! I love mangoes! Thank you for not leaving us hanging for the food! It looks delicious! The kids and I may have to go there. That's too bad about your zoom lens, but now you have an excuse to go back :lmao: The picture of that bird is so cool, though. It looks like you had a great start to your trip :goodvibes

Erin, I need another trip like I need a kick in the head! ;) I actually have some guilt that I'm going back so soon, I feel like I'm overindulging. I'm sure I'll get over it. :) The margarita was fantastic, Rey found me another later on in the trip, too!

LOVE the update!

You know what I would adore? A breakdown of costs - do you do that? I love when people do budget trips and break it down - tickets, food, lodging, presents for the kids...it is so inspiring! Also, I am so all about drink tallies! Yay drinks!

That's a good idea! We did save ALL our receipts this time, too. I thought it would be a good idea and help me for future trips as well, in budgeting. I went back and added what we spent at Sanaa already. At the end of the TR, I will do a list of what we paid for each thing on the trip. :)
 
I left off with us very stuffed and finished with dinner. We passed on dessert because it was early yet and we knew we would get something sweet later!

We walked out to the overlook for Kidani and I took some photos. Again with the frustration of not being able to zoom. I messed around with some HDR shots. This just means I was taking three different exposures of stuff so I could put them together during editing. Most of them didn't come out b/c you need a tripod, but a few did.

Ugh, Photobucket has totally changed and I cannot figure out how to resize the upload size. I can resize each shot individually, but there are just too many, that would take me hours! Large pictures it is. :confused3

ReyKarenAKL138.jpg


ReyKarenAKL142.jpg


ReyKarenAKL147.jpg


ReyKarenAKL164.jpg


ReyKarenAKL158.jpg


We headed back to Jambo, I took a few shots of the Kidani lobby as we went out.

ReyKarenAKL167.jpg


ReyKarenAKL168.jpg


ReyKarenAKL170.jpg


We went back to the room so I could change. The new dress I got was just too low cut, I had pinned it, but it was still uncomfortable and I felt like I was falling out, so I changed into my OTHER new dress! ;) Here's a shot of the first dress, just for fun (Rey does not work my camera that well, however, so not the greatest quality shot!) :p As you can see, I tried to cover my exposure with my hair! :rotfl:
ReyKarenAKL239.jpg


This is the dress I put on, I liked it a lot more and got quite a few comments on it that night. So much so that I hung it up and wore it the following night when we went out!
ReyKarenAKL253.jpg


I know, I seem pretty vain posting pictures of myself, but, for those of you that don't know, I have lost quite a bit of weight this year and I'm just overjoyed to be comfortable in my own skin. I wish I had a comparison pic from our Jan trip, but I knew how to trick the camera and make my angles look better, so I don't have a lot of bad pictures of myself from before. I guess I could post one... this is a picture of me in January, right after I got my hair done for our Disney trip. I was 30 pounds heavier, but more important than the weight, I couldn't run at all and was feeling super unhealthy. I feel so much better now! Anyway, I thought this was a fantastic picture of me, so like I said, I don't have any "bad" pictures to share.
Karenpink005beforeface.jpg


OMG...I TOLD YOU that I can go off on rambles and tangents! :lmao:

So where was I? Oh yes, changed my dress and then I wanted to get a few shots of the room too! We LOVED our room. I thought having a couch would be the best part, but honestly, with the balcony and chairs, I only sat on the couch once or twice! I was always out on the balcony. PERFECT for me since I wake up so early too! I thought the bed was comfy, Rey thought it was too hard.

ReyKarenAKL206.jpg


ReyKarenAKL207.jpg


ReyKarenAKL209.jpg


ReyKarenAKL211.jpg


I loved how they gave you a paper with all the animals and their descriptions, so you could identify them! See the two guys down there? Those were Roan Antelope. It was really cool to not only see them, but to see them each day. You noticed their habits and felt like you "knew" them. Hard to explain!
ReyKarenAKL217.jpg


and of course, an attempt at catching EE in a shot WITHOUT A ZOOM LENS. :rolleyes:

ReyKarenAKL236.jpg


Off to DTD we headed! We walked up, I snapped this shot (AHHHHH...HOME!)

ReyKarenAKL272.jpg


and a bus to DTD pulled right up! What luck! Or not...hmmmm....




 
You look so great! It's too bad about the issues with the first dress because it's also super cute. Maybe a thin tank top would make it more comfortable?

Love all the pics of the room and also that they gave you descriptions of the animals. I'm so glad you enjoyed the balcony- I'm sure that would've been my favorite as well. :lovestruc
 
You look so great! It's too bad about the issues with the first dress because it's also super cute. Maybe a thin tank top would make it more comfortable?

Love all the pics of the room and also that they gave you descriptions of the animals. I'm so glad you enjoyed the balcony- I'm sure that would've been my favorite as well. :lovestruc

You wouldn't have wanted to leave the balcony! I know I didn't! We seriously could have gone and not hit the parks at all, the resort was that fabulous!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











facebook twitter
Top