akasleepingbeauty
My favorite place to run is Disney!!
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2000
Our Happy Group:
Me, 36, compulsive planner, hoping all goes perfect
DH, 44, good sport, in need of a good vacation
Teen DD, 15, excited but in a cool way
Youngest DD, 13 months, oblivious to goings-on, just her generally happy self
My parents and sister (25) were traveling in our group as well. This is the first time we have all traveled as a group and it went surprisingly well!!
I will warn you now - these daily reports are going to be long - really really really long (although this is one of the shortest days). So, if you don't like detailed reports go ahead and hit that back button now!!
I wrote this information as much for me as for all of you. I want to remember as much of it as possible - hence the ad nauseum detail.
Read, skim, or skip completely - whatever works for you!! I will post these by days and then add some general overviews on certain subjects. Please ask questions if you have them!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5/24 Leaving Home
We awoke early and tired since wed been up late the night before packing. The anticipation and excitement made it bearable though. We had a 1:15 flight on Delta and planned on leaving by 11:15. Well, the best laid plans .
We ended up leaving about 11:50 and had no time to spare once we arrived at the airport. We did the boarding scramble as we call it traveling with an infant makes air travel a whole new game!! The flight was generally uneventful and our little one was as good as could be expected. Thankfully, youngest DD had her own seat so we could bring our own car seat. She is used to staying in her car seat while in the car so she didnt expect to get out while on the plane. I would hate to hold a squirming 1-year old on my lap for 2 hours!!
We arrived in Orlando about 5:00. DH went to get the car while the rest of us gathered our mountain of luggage. Did some majorly creative packing to get all of the luggage in the minivan and headed out.
We had decided to stay just one night in the new Animal Kingdom Lodge. Since our future stays will be with DVC, we figured this would be one of our only chances to stay here. The AKL is absolutely stunning!! We had a savannah view room in the zebra area on the fourth floor room 4429.
We quickly went to our rooms and freshened up a bit and then headed out to Downtown Disney for a bit of shopping and something to eat. We had a 40-minute wait for a table at Rainforest Café and so took care of our shopping during that time. We bought a few pins and a Guest of Honor badge for our youngest DD (the rest of us already had them from previous visits), and a few Rolie Polie Olie toys for youngest DD. Dinner was fine decent food, mediocre service, nice atmosphere par for the course at RFC. After dinner, it was time to go back to AKL and get some rest.
Once back at the AKL, we set up the pack-n-play for the baby and put her to sleep. The other 3 of us sat out on the patio and shared 2 desserts while watching the animals. The artificial moonlight at the AKL makes it possible to see the animals even at night. We saw giraffes, zebras, ankole cattle, and various birds. It was amazing to see these animals so close and for extended periods of time.
We enjoyed everything about this hotel and wished we had more time to spend there. We passed by the pool and it is very lovely and all of the restaurants were inviting as well. We really love the Wilderness Lodge and found so many similarities here (due to the same designers etc.). The lobby is majestic but intimate with lovely seating areas and a stunning view through multi-story windows out onto the savannahs. The artifacts and artwork are beautiful and add a nice cultural element. I definitely recommend the AKL!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Links to other days of this trip reports:
Day 2: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45111
Day 3: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45112
Day 4: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45114
Day 5: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45116
Day 6: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45117
Day 7: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45119
Day 8: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45121
Day 9: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45122
Day 10: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45123
Me, 36, compulsive planner, hoping all goes perfect
DH, 44, good sport, in need of a good vacation
Teen DD, 15, excited but in a cool way
Youngest DD, 13 months, oblivious to goings-on, just her generally happy self
My parents and sister (25) were traveling in our group as well. This is the first time we have all traveled as a group and it went surprisingly well!!
I will warn you now - these daily reports are going to be long - really really really long (although this is one of the shortest days). So, if you don't like detailed reports go ahead and hit that back button now!!
I wrote this information as much for me as for all of you. I want to remember as much of it as possible - hence the ad nauseum detail.
Read, skim, or skip completely - whatever works for you!! I will post these by days and then add some general overviews on certain subjects. Please ask questions if you have them!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5/24 Leaving Home
We awoke early and tired since wed been up late the night before packing. The anticipation and excitement made it bearable though. We had a 1:15 flight on Delta and planned on leaving by 11:15. Well, the best laid plans .
We ended up leaving about 11:50 and had no time to spare once we arrived at the airport. We did the boarding scramble as we call it traveling with an infant makes air travel a whole new game!! The flight was generally uneventful and our little one was as good as could be expected. Thankfully, youngest DD had her own seat so we could bring our own car seat. She is used to staying in her car seat while in the car so she didnt expect to get out while on the plane. I would hate to hold a squirming 1-year old on my lap for 2 hours!!
We arrived in Orlando about 5:00. DH went to get the car while the rest of us gathered our mountain of luggage. Did some majorly creative packing to get all of the luggage in the minivan and headed out.
We had decided to stay just one night in the new Animal Kingdom Lodge. Since our future stays will be with DVC, we figured this would be one of our only chances to stay here. The AKL is absolutely stunning!! We had a savannah view room in the zebra area on the fourth floor room 4429.
We quickly went to our rooms and freshened up a bit and then headed out to Downtown Disney for a bit of shopping and something to eat. We had a 40-minute wait for a table at Rainforest Café and so took care of our shopping during that time. We bought a few pins and a Guest of Honor badge for our youngest DD (the rest of us already had them from previous visits), and a few Rolie Polie Olie toys for youngest DD. Dinner was fine decent food, mediocre service, nice atmosphere par for the course at RFC. After dinner, it was time to go back to AKL and get some rest.
Once back at the AKL, we set up the pack-n-play for the baby and put her to sleep. The other 3 of us sat out on the patio and shared 2 desserts while watching the animals. The artificial moonlight at the AKL makes it possible to see the animals even at night. We saw giraffes, zebras, ankole cattle, and various birds. It was amazing to see these animals so close and for extended periods of time.
We enjoyed everything about this hotel and wished we had more time to spend there. We passed by the pool and it is very lovely and all of the restaurants were inviting as well. We really love the Wilderness Lodge and found so many similarities here (due to the same designers etc.). The lobby is majestic but intimate with lovely seating areas and a stunning view through multi-story windows out onto the savannahs. The artifacts and artwork are beautiful and add a nice cultural element. I definitely recommend the AKL!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Links to other days of this trip reports:
Day 2: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45111
Day 3: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45112
Day 4: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45114
Day 5: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45116
Day 6: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45117
Day 7: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45119
Day 8: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45121
Day 9: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45122
Day 10: http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45123
