You know what I did when I was 12? I got a job! 1/31 update

[exwdwcm]

I am here and subscribed..........and will NOT being dropping like a fly! Can't wait to hear all about your adventure. The girls are too cute. I love the bra thing. They seem really excited!!!! I can't wait to hear how AKV was and see pics of the 2 bedroom.

 

[tlenzendorf]

Glad to see more of you here

 

[tlenzendorf]

We are all ready to get going to the airport, car all packed, kids all ready. They just want to tell the dogs and cats goodbye one more time. We are leaving right on schedule with our stop at the outlet mall so I can see if they have any raincoats at the Columbia outlet store for Ellie.

Dogs goodbye-check! Stormy cat goodbye-check! Bubba cat goodbye.... Where is Bubba???? We search the house hi and low! He likes to sneak out whenever possible and Brent had the door open on his way in and out doing luggage plus I did, too. We search outside, no cat, search inside, no cat! Crap! Now we have spent 30 minutes and need to actually go to make the airport on time. We ended up leaving without finding him and left the breezeway door open. Brent's brother is coming to watch the dogs, so he will look for him.

The drive to the airport was smooth and fairly easy. Thanks to the stupid cat we didn't have enough time to stop at the Johnson Creek Columbia outlet. Oh well. We would figure something out at WDW if need be. The Milwaukee airport is about 85 minutes away. There was a shuttle in the super saver lot($5/day, woooo!) right when we got there, we got our 6(!) suitcases and carryons on and were off to the SW stop in no time. Check in went very smoothly. We got thru the gate with about 45 minutes until takeoff. It was just a little after 12:00 and we needed some food!

We got burgers and fries at Johnny Rockets. It was ridiculous busy there! We got our food to go and went to eat at the gate. By the time we had our food we pretty much had to scarf it down to board the plane. 4 of us had burgers and fries, Alyssa had grilled cheese. It was ok. Not nearly as good as I was expecting. I was thinking the food would be more Culver's like. For those that don't know, Culver's is a midwest area burger place that is better than McD's, Burger King, etc. It was just meh.

After that we boarded the plane quite promptly and even departed a little before schedule, yay!

I just reviewed my photos and there are no obligatory plane photos! Our plane had 2 rows of 3 seats each. It was Alyssa by the window, Mariah and then Brent on the aisle. Ellie and I were across the aisle, it was an older lady who slept the whole way on the aisle, me in the middle and Ellie in the window. We had a very smooth flight. The girls were a little restless by the time we were landing, it's a 2.5 hour flight.

We landed a little before 6:00pm in Tampa. Our bags were some of the first out and we went over to get the car. We rented from Budget and we got over there and the line was loooooooooooong. Sigh. Finally it's our turn and they give us a Chevy Malibu. Now, I don't know about you and rental cars, but our rental agreement said Ford Taurus or similar, a Malibu is NOT similar! A Taurus is similar to an Impala, but they had none of those. Apparently it was a Malibu, a Hyundai something or another, or an upcharge for an SUV. Did you notice earlier when I said we had 6 suitcases??

We took the Malibu and Brent packed everything in that trunk God bless him! We made it work. We then got a call or text from Brent's brother. The dumb cat was sitting inside in the kitchen window meowing when he got there. When we had been calling him OVER and OVER and shaking the treat bag the little jerk was taking a nap somewhere and just didn't want to come out. Sigh. Then we were finally on the road! Off to Giordano's we went for pizza and then hit I-4 towards Orlando. Pulled into AKL right at 9:00, checked in, unpacked and went for a swim. I think we went back to the room around 10:45? We were pretty tired, everyone hit the hay pretty quick.

Next up: Who did we meet? What did we do our first day?

 

[msmith1026]

Ok, that bra thing is pretty funny!!!

We have a Johnny Rockets in our mall, and we go there on rare occasions for milkshakes and onion rings. Their onion rings used to be so amazing, but the last time I had one they were just so so. I think i just like that they come with ranch dressing to dip, honestly.

That's some pretty impressive packing by Brent to get all of your luggage to fit in your rental!!

 

[tlenzendorf]

That's some pretty impressive packing by Brent to get all of your luggage to fit in your rental!!

It seriously was, lol! He says he is part Oriental being able to fit so much into small places. He can be such a nerd sometimes!

 

[tlenzendorf]

Here is our rooms. It was very nice for 5 of us to have 2 bathrooms. Here are some room shots. These are from our departure morning REALLY early, so the room isn't all clean. Also they are from my iPhone, so not the clearest photos...

Main Room:5024(1 bedroom)
Room entry:

Kitchen

Kitchen/Dining/Living Room

Bathroom

Commode in it's own private room

Shower Mural

Master Bedroom

Laundry

Cont'd in next post

 

[tlenzendorf]

Girls' Room 2026(studio)

Kitchenette

Bed/Sleeper Sofa

Bathroom

Our view from both rooms!

What I loved about the rooms:
There was so much space! We had a 2 bedroom value villa with room for 8 I believe for sleeping. 2 in the master bedroom with king size bed, 2 in the 1 bedroom sleeper sofa, 2 in the studio queen size bed and 2 in the studio pull out couch. It was awesome having a living room to actually sit down and watch TV and a kitchen for storing food and drinks and stuff. We didn't do any actual cooking, we made some toast and had grab and go stuff for breakfasts. The iPod/iPhone docking station alarm clocks. Means no more bringing so many cords if we stay DVC again. Staying DVC has definitely spoiled us for future trips!

The resort itself was just beautiful. It felt like we were a world away from Disney which was a nice reprieve from being at the parks.

What I didn't like about the rooms/AKV in general:
The bussing. Utterly ridiculous. Way too long of waits and ridiculousness that Jambo and Kidani shared. I will be emailing Disney, nuff said.
The bathroom in the studio was tight, it was hard to get in and shut the door for me and the kids. It would have been very hard for Brent. You have to squeeze in and around the door or get into the shower to shut the door easily. It would have made more sense for them to have the door open the other way or the toilet on the other side.

If you are bussing it can be a long ride. We definitely learned the value of having a car this time!

 

[KatieCollette]

Pretty room! Did you use the washer/dryer at all?

 

[tinkmom2]

I agree the busses to Kidnai are crazy. We had dinner ressies there and the bus we got on didn't go there but the bus driver was nice enough to take us there. We also didn't know where to go to get the night vision goggles you can use to view the animals but I hear that's over at Jambo house. We didn't have any AK dinners this time but I love how you can watch the animals and eat at Sanaa.

The rooms look really beautiful!

 

[tlenzendorf]

Pretty room! Did you use the washer/dryer at all?

We used them EVERY DAY! lol I know some people hate doing laundry on vacation, but it was right there. It also meant I didn't have a whole ton of laundry to bring home at the end of the trip, it was done. We used the Purex laundry sheets.

I agree the busses to Kidnai are crazy. We had dinner ressies there and the bus we got on didn't go there but the bus driver was nice enough to take us there. We also didn't know where to go to get the night vision goggles you can use to view the animals but I hear that's over at Jambo house. We didn't have any AK dinners this time but I love how you can watch the animals and eat at Sanaa.

The rooms look really beautiful!

Ohhh those busses The bus should have dropped you off at Kidani first if you were coming from any park. If you were coming from DTD it should have dropped you off after stopping at Kidani. The night vision goggles are at Jambo. The CMs just stand outside with them out the main back entrance where the savannah is between certain hours. We totally forgot, so we went out once but it was too late.

The room was very beautiful. Definitely dark like I have seen people complain about, but if you turn on every light it isn't too bad.

 

[tlenzendorf]

***Breaking news***

Brent gave the ok! We are now planning a trip from 2/4-2/10!

 

[solana131]

***Breaking news***

Brent gave the ok! We are now planning a trip from 2/4-2/10!

Yay! Best time ever! Come to the Poly and join the cool kids

 

[ZehnJahren]

I'm in! Looks like a fun trip already! DBF and I are considering renting DVC for our next trip - that room looks GREAT!

I have people that keep dropping off my TR (to be fair, most of them come back ), but I'm determined to finish it if for no other reason than I want a good memory of the trip! I won't drop off yours - I like TRs too much - so keep writing!!

 

[tlenzendorf]

Yay! Best time ever! Come to the Poly and join the cool kids

Awww we are staying at the BW since that's where our friends are staying! Do I hear Dismeet?

I'm in! Looks like a fun trip already! DBF and I are considering renting DVC for our next trip - that room looks GREAT!

I have people that keep dropping off my TR (to be fair, most of them come back ), but I'm determined to finish it if for no other reason than I want a good memory of the trip! I won't drop off yours - I like TRs too much - so keep writing!!

Thanks for joining! DVC rental seriously saves some money if you are staying deluxe or sometimes even moderate. Our room was super awesome!

I'll come join up on your TR!

 

[tlenzendorf]

We had decided with lower crowd levels that we wouldn't push the kids to be up and moving every morning for rope drop. We would do more evening EMHs and sleep in a bit the next day.

Did that work for us? Stay tuned for further reviews....

I got a text at 7:10 from Carla(aka Parla) asking if we wanted some water and stuff they had left over as they were leaving that day. I went down and met her in the lobby around 7:30 and they were so kind to help carry it up to the room. Thanks! We really enjoyed the water, pop tarts and cereal bars over the next week. They were in a hurry to get to HS I believe for some last minute rides before they departed later that day.

Brent and I got ready and the girls were still sleeping. After I was done getting ready I woke them up around 8:15 to start getting ready while Brent was getting ready. We grabbed a quick bite and headed out to the car. We were running a little behind from about when I wanted to get there so we figured we would try out the car. It didn't work that well for driving to the MK, the bus probably would have been less time that day.

FINALLY we are HERE!!

On the tram

We still had to pick up our YES tickets at TTC, so we did that. I got mine and my girls' tickets plus a wrist gift card(seriously one of the best things ever!) but Brent's took a little bit longer. I said we were going in(meaning the TTC area) and I was going to take some pictures. He thought I meant leaving for the MK so he got a little crabby but realized what I meant when he came around the ticket booths.

We hopped on the ferry since the monorail was backed up. Here is our first view of my favorite place in the world!

After we got in we took in some sights of Main Street. It was around 9:45, we figured we had a few extra minutes so we ran to get Buzz Lightyear fast passes and then headed back for breakfast.

Who did we eat with and what yummy foods did we have? One of our favorites! Stay tuned!

 

[tlenzendorf]

After we got the Buzz fastpasses and while we were still marveling at just being in the park, we wondered over for breakfast. Brent and I had eaten there on our last trip to test it out and see if the kids would like it. It became a new favorite and a must do for sure! So where did we go? Does this give you a hint?

Silly old bear!

That's right, we were at Crystal Palace!

The girls really liked breakfast here.

Now what you've been waiting for, food pics! I only took pics of mine and Ellie's plates since the others were making fun of me already.

Sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, Pooh's puffed french toast, strawberries with whipped cream and a chocolate waffle.

Egg fritatta, chocolate croissant, Pooh's puffed french toast, potato casserole, sausage, egg frittata and breakfast potatoes.

Pineapple and grapes, salmon, biscuit and gravy, breakfast pizza and egg frittata.

As usual for the most part everything was super delicious! The bacon was typical Disney bacon, the chocolate Mickey waffle was dry and the salmon was gross, but I don't like salmon and the bacon and waffle issues were expected.

After our bellies were full we headed to the new and improved tiki room. I liked it a lot better than the under new management. Iago was way too much of an annoyance!

When we came out they were just starting the Pirate Tutorial. Ellie got to stand on the rope and be the anchor. She really learned the ropes, wuah wuah wuaaah

Mmmmmmmm who is that?

Why, it's yummy Cap'n Jack!

After that we headed over to grab a FP for Big Thunder and then came back to ride Pirates. This is where little miss attitude came in. That would be Ellie, the ride chicken! She cried almost the whole way thru the queue, quietly and under her hat so that if you weren't with us you wouldn't have known she was crying. Yes, I know, I am one of those mean parents who makes their kid ride "for their own good". By the time we got to the boat I was crabby and really hoping this wasn't going to be a sign of things to come for the rest of the trip. Ellie is the total ride chicken. We had the talk that I wouldn't make her go on anything too scary for her or that I knew she wouldn't like.

So what happened when we rode? I can tell you are dying to know... She loved it! Proclaimed it one of her favorite rides! Did riding Pirates help her overcome all her ride fears? Did we have any more queue tears?

What did we do after that! I don't know! I have to go search for our itinerary because I can't figure it out from the pictures

Stay tuned!

 

[tlenzendorf]

Is this thing on? Do we have any riders out there? Can I get a show of hands?

 

[ZehnJahren]

Is this thing on? Do we have any riders out there? Can I get a show of hands?

*waves hands wildly*

 

[KatieCollette]

*waves hands wildly*

seconds that ^

We did CP on our first breakfast and we love that place. It's our tradition to go to MK first park and that's our first breakfast!

 

[poofiesdream]

enjoying every post!