0 Sleeps until we leave, See Ya Real Soon Mickey! A March/April PTR! Jambo Friends!

[AlohaAnnie]

Jambo Friends!!!



Our Travel Party will be myself (Tina or AlohaAnnie) here on the DisBoards, My Loving Husband, Shawn, Our adorable Teen Boy, Aaron, and last but certainly not least our preteen Allison.

We are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge using our DVC points at AKV Jambo Club Level, we plan to go on the Sunrise Safari. We will be celebrating our 18th Wedding Anniversary and our son's future graduation from High School while at Disney World.


I hope you will join me for our plans, wishes, hopes, dreams, and of course everyday life.


Table of Contents:

Sleeps Countdown to Disney World

Triple Digits

114 Sleeps - We love Animal Kingdom Lodge!
113 Sleeps - Introductions
112 Sleeps - We are staying Club Level at AKV Jambo! & PhotoPass + voucher has arrived!
111 Sleeps - Just my Thoughts update!
110 Sleeps - Dining Plans!
109 Sleeps - It's Frozen! and the little tiny Disney Christmas Tree!
108 Sleeps - Our Pets
107 Sleeps - Jedi Mickey and Emperor Stitch
106 Sleeps - Excited about Flower & Garden!
105 Sleeps - Flower & Garden Butterfly House from our previous Spring Break trip in 2011 - Can't wait to visit again!
104 Sleeps - I made a reservation for Beaches & Cream.
103 Sleeps - Welcome to your Disney vacation package arrived and it had that cool light up flash drive with it!
102 Sleeps - Frozen was nominated for Best Animated Feature and "Let It Go" has been nominated for best original song at the Golden Globes!
101 Sleeps - Our Daily plans for Day 1-3 of 9 days! 3/28 - 3/29 - and Happy Anniversary 3/30!
100 Sleeps - Our plans at a glance for days 4-6 of 9 days!

Double Digits

99 Sleeps - Our Plans at a glance for days 6-9 of 9 days!
98 Sleeps - BOG Lunch FP Dilema!
97 Sleeps - Saving Mr. Banks
96 Sleeps - I made a FP+ Ticker!!
95, 94, 93, 92 Sleeps - Merry Christmas!!!!
91 Sleeps - I will Decorate that Magic Band!! Princess LIKE!
90 Sleeps - Our Daily Plans Simplified!!


89 Sleeps - Olives & Hummus - Spice Road Table Wish!!
88, 87, 86, 85, 84, 83, 82, 81, 80 Sleeps until Disney World - The Neglect Factor!!



79 Sleeps until Disney World - Changes!!
78 Sleeps until we leave for Disney World - Check out my June 2013 Dining Report
77 Sleeps until we leave for Disney World, we were married twice in one year. Our Story!!
76, 75, and 74 Sleeps until we leave for Disney World - BOG Obsessed!!!

73, 72, 71, 70, 69, 68, 67, 66 Sleeps, I got NoTHIN! HaHa! Life became too busy, so we will just skip these days. Pretty excited Frozen won a Golden Globe.

65, 64, 63, 62, 61, 60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52 and 51 sleeps until we leave for Disney World, these are the missing days!!


50 sleeps until we leave for Disney World, the long long update!!!

49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25 Sleeps, there was nothing much to report all these days, I ended up with a cold, a stomach bug, my son had all kinds of Band related things going on, but other than that a lot of waiting to get closer to time to go.


24 sleeps until Disney World! - We added a day at Wilderness Lodge and Our Magic Bands Arrived!!


23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14 sleeps until Disney World! Wow, we have 2 weeks left!! (organization & Packing lists)


13, 12, 11, 10 the lost days of being way to busy!


Single Digits!!!

9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and we are leaving today!!! See below!

and because I have to say it again to express my excitement! We are headed HOME! ToDay!

Today is the Day!!!

We are leaving Today!! 3/27/14! So excited!!

.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Jambo Friends!

We love Animal Kingdom Lodge. We have decided it is our favorite resort on property. We bought into DVC March 2010. Our contract states we own at Animal Kingdom Villas Kidani but we have the same DVC home privlages at Jambo or Kidani. Our first DVC stay was at AKV Kidani in a deluxe studio savanna view, June 2010. It was amazing!



Here is a photo of our two adorable children in 2010, I love these 2 adorable kids. They are my rock stars!



Love this photo of my rock stars checking out the savanna. I framed this photo and it is currently hanging in our Disney Hallway Hall of Fame!



While we were there a pop up heavy rain shower came about and we noticed this guy hiding under a tree. We decided to name him Eeyore. So now we call all Zebra, Eeyore. He looked so pitiful under that tree while it was raining.


Family Photo June 2010, Look at those Animals!






Our next stay at AKV was Christmas 2011 :santa, we actually went to Disney World the week between Christmas and New years! We decided to stay in a One Bedroom savanna view for the first time. Can I just say, SPOILED!!. Love the room we had and our view. The extra bathroom was awesome.



Look at our Christmas Table , So Adorable!

This was the year of the mean wildebeest chasing our precious Eeyores (Zebra) Bad little Wildebeest! I wanted to spank that Wildebeest!




And a family photo from Animal Kingdom Park. Love Expedition Everest in the back ground. Just adorable and such a beautiful picture.



Have you ever wanted to have this on your furniture at home?



Or this?



Just Adorable!

And this!



I love them! I wish I could a living room designed like AKV but how I want it! It would just be adorable.

Or Carpet like this?



Look at the detail on the curtains.



I just love AKV, definitely my favorite resort! We have stayed at other DVC resorts. So far, we really miss AKV no matter where we stay.

Up Next, Introductions and when we are going back home to AKV!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Today is 113 Sleeps until we leave for Disney World and our beloved Animal Kingdom Lodge!

I thought you might want to know a little about us.


I decided to start with ME!



Hello!

My name is Tina, I am very Disney Obsessed. I tried to deny it for a few years but it didn't work. I think my two favorite parks are Magic Kingdom and Epcot but honestly I also love Animal Kingdom. I have a love/like relationship with Hollywood Studios. I just can't explain the way I feel about DHS. I love somethings about DHS but also feel there are some things missing. I am just never sure what is missing. Oh Well!

I love Disney Resorts. I love to go to them and check out the theme, the atmosphere, the dining, and activities. I think each one is beautiful in it's own way and I love to visit.

I also love Disney Dining, I know it is a recurring theme with me love, love! I just can't help it. So I like to make Dining Reservations. I like character meals and I like to eat a bit too much but that is for a different message board.

I love all the princesses and characters but I have my favorites! Right now, it seems to be Merida and Mulan. Merida and Mulan, of all the princess. I love how strong and brave they both are. We met Merida during our June 2013 trip and I cried afterward. I was so overwhelmed. I have never cried because I met a character. I have cried watching my kiddos meet a character but never for myself. I felt kind of weird crying because we met Merida. My favorite characters at the moment are Mickey and Minnie. Love me some Mickey heads!

I have so many favorite rides, I won't get into that at the moment. Instead, I need to tell you a bit about my husband, Shawn.

Shawn was the original Disney lover who convinced me to go to Disney World in 2006 and convinced me to buy into DVC in 2010. Who would have know that I would have fallen in love with Disney World and our DVC membership.

I really think he loves Disney World more than I do. He is a fan of Donald Duck and enjoys the resorts, parks, and dining just as much as I do if not more.

Here he is playing a guard at Enchanted Tales with Belle. We tried to get our kids to volunteer but they wouldn't do it.




Finally, here are my two rock stars! Aaron (17) and Allison (12).



This photo is from our most recent trip in June 2013. They have grown so much since our first visit to Disney in 2006.

Aaron really likes Disney World but is at the age (17) he denies it. But he recently went on a trip with his Marching Band to California. While there he visited Universal for the first time and Disneyland and California Adventure. He said he prefers Disney over Universal any day and His favorite in the order, Disney World, Cars Land, and Disneyland. He is so adorable. He came home from California to say at 17 years old! Carsland is AWESOME!!! and I really like the family rides at Disney. What!?! It was an eye opener for me. He does like Disney, he just doesn't want us to know. His favorite character in the past has been Stitch. He really doesn't want to discuss Disney.

Allison is our princess who is no longer a princess. I miss those days when she would dress up and go to BBB. So if you are reading this and your daughters are young, take them to BBB and dress them up now! They grow out of it.



Here she is playing with ribbon in the smoking section by Aloha Isle! lol!



I miss those days! Anyway, She is our Disney Lover who is not in denial. She often says to me, I can't wait to go to Disney! She is so adorable. I enjoy every minute of life with her. Even when she FORGETS to tell me about her school project and we are scrambling at the last minute to finish it! lol! Yeah, this happened this morning.


But now that you have been introduced to us, let's get on with the plans!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

So as you probably already know we are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo which is the main house at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We decided to try for a Club Level stay on our DVC points and we were able to book it!

We are staying from March 28, 2014 through April 5, 2014 in a Deluxe Studio Club Level under DVC points. We debated for a while on whether or not we wanted to spend our DVC Points on this room and decided why not! So this will be our first stay Club Level!


We are so EXCITED!

We are returning to our beloved, AKV and we get to experience Club Level, which honestly. We never would have spent the money on any other way.

Oh how I love Thee! Animal Kingdom Lodge. We are looking forward to staying in the main house Jambo because our previous two stays were at Kidani.


Up next, More Plans!!! I have made A LOT!!!!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Following along!

Glad I have a reader, Thank you

 

[AlohaAnnie]

112 Sleeps until we leave!


So I order Photo Pass Plus on Thanksgiving Day.

Yesterday, the Disney PhotoPass + Voucher, Walt Disney World Gallery Disc and Voucher for Disney PhotoPass Archive Disc arrived. It is exciting to get Mickey Mail.



It looks different than the PhotoPass + that arrived for our June 2013 trip.



I also bought a Harvey's Seatbelt Bag. It is so adorable. Perfect to represent my love of Animal Kingdom Lodge and Minnie Mouse.



This beautiful bag is my Christmas Present. I am still debating wrapping it and making myself wait until Christmas to use it.

Look at the detail on this beauty!






A better Photo of my lovely new addition and the matching wallet!





I currently carry this 40th Dooney & Bourke Purse.



But I want a Disney Vera Bradley, I plan to buy that one while we are at the world as my take home Souvenir. I was going to buy one from the Disney Store online but they ran out. It kind of ticked me off and that is how I ended up with the Harvey's Seatbelt bag.


Hehe!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Today marks 111 Sleeps until we leave for Disney and We are full of snow here in our state.

My son is in the Jazz Band at school and they are going to play Christmas music at Target tonight and Saturday at the Airport.

It is nice that it is snowing before Christmas this year.




The forecast calls for an additional 3-5 inches by late evening.

Beautiful!

So we have been so busy we have next to Zero Christmas Decorations Up! Makes me sad, but I am hoping to fix that this coming weekend.

Happy 111th Sleeps everyone!!!! I can't wait to be back at the world again!

So I have been thinking about the whole PhotoPass switch to Magical Memories. I need more information before turning my photopass + into magical memories. I am going to wait to see what happens!

 

[Tasmen]

Reading on Love your pictures of AKL.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Reading on Love your pictures of AKL.

Thanks and glad to see you here

 

[AlohaAnnie]

110 Sleeps!!! until we leave

Here are our dining Plans:

3/28
Dinner The Plaza

3/29
Lunch Restaurantosaurus and Flame Tree BBQ
Dinner Boma

3/30 - Our 18th Wedding Anniversary!!!!
Sunrise Safari
Dinner Le Cellier

3/31
Lunch Via Napoli
Dinner Sanaa

4/1
Lunch Backlot Express
Dinner Beaches and Cream

4/2
Lunch The Plaza
Dinner Be Our Guest

4/3
Lunch Teppan Edo to Celebrate DS graduation from High School
Dinner Via Napoli

4/4
Lunch Be our Guest
Dinner Jiko

4/5
Breakfast Boma


Since we are staying CL we plan to have breakfast every day in the Kilimanjaro Club Lounge except out last day tradition of breakfast at Boma. I am looking forward to trying the offerings through out the day in CL also. So we plan to return to the lounge a few times to try things out and take it easy.

I wanted a FP for BOG lunch on 4/4 but since it is our 8th day it is not offered as an option on the BOG fastpass lunch website. So we may stand in line for that one or end up going somewhere else.

We are also TIW members so we do not use the dining plan. Instead, I buy Target gift cards to pay for our meals. 5% discount off my gift card purchase and 20% off for TIW it works out great. I usually save enough on Target gift cards to pay for one meal for us. We also used the TIW card for our 2 week trip this past June 2013. So that baby is already paid for and in pure discount mode.

We do not eat TS at DHS so it is counter service all day and we do not plan to leave DHS early that day. That is ok, I really like the buffalo nuggets from Backlot Express and I could eat them twice in one day, I just wish they ranch and blue cheese dressing for dipping. Update: We made a reservation for Beaches and Cream for after DHS closes. So dinner will be at Beaches and Cream this day.

New to us will be:

Sunrise Safari - I am absolutely thrilled about this one and I can't wait to attend this adventure. On top of that this is one of our actual anniversaries! It is great!!

Sanaa

Be Our Guest - even though I had 3 reservations at different times in June 2013, I cancelled all of them and we didn't attend lunch either while we were there. The only reason we are going now is because my husband insists.

Teppan Edo

and Jiko

Old favorites are:

The Plaza
Boma
Le Cellier
Via Napoli
So we are going to all of those twice except for Le Cellier.

This trip is our last trip for 2 years, DS will be graduating High School and we plan to get him settled at College and Graduation festivities instead of going on vacation, we are just going to bank our points and return for either Spring Break 2016 or Christmas 2016. We haven't decided.



Hope everyone has had an awesome day! I am waiting for DH & DS to finish with the Jazz Band at the airport and we are going out to dinner. I thought I would post and visit with all of you while I am waiting!

Happy 110 Sleeps Day!!! Yay!!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Happy 109 Sleeps Countdown until Disney, Friends!!

Our 109th day was Sunday, we went to see Frozen and put up our tiny Christmas Tree





Awesome Movie!! I really enjoyed the story line, a must see. I highly recommend it.

I ended up downloading the Frozen Soundtrack! It is wonderful.

I would love to see it again in theaters and I will be buying the DVD.

We also finally got our little Disney Tree up.



Isn't it adorable. Poor Little tree, we have 2 cats named Lilo & Stitch. We can't put up a larger tree because they play in it and knock it down. The cats names really fit them.

Happy 109 Sleeps Countdown!

 

[Tasmen]

We really loved Frozen as well. I loved the spin they put on the romance.

Your tree is cute We are also rocking a small tree mostly because our bigger one has burned out lights and I cannot figure out which light(s) is burned out to fix the problem. And well, cats too. Our baby cats aren't really baby cats anymore (1 year old), but they still have all the spunk and destructo-power of a kitten.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

We really loved Frozen as well. I loved the spin they put on the romance. Your tree is cute We are also rocking a small tree mostly because our bigger one has burned out lights and I cannot figure out which light(s) is burned out to fix the problem. And well, cats too. Our baby cats aren't really baby cats anymore (1 year old), but they still have all the spunk and destructo-power of a kitten.

I have listened to the Frozen soundtrack 3 times today!

Our Cats are 3 but still full of energy. We love those 2 fur balls so much. But they are a destructive force! One of them is similar to a ferret and gets everything she can to carry around and hide or give to our Golden Retrievers to eat. I have secured each ornament to the tree for fear she will run off with it. LOL!!!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Happy 108 Sleeps countdown to Disney world!!


So, I wanted to introduce everyone to our adorable pets. They are a huge part of our lives and we just adore each and everyone of them. We have a total of 4 pets. Which is more than enough, if not, too many!

We got all of our pets within 3 months of each other and they were all puppies or kittens, this was in 2010. They are all 3 years old now.

So here they are:



The two dogs are Buddy & Jasmine (is the sleeping one) or Aladdin and Jasmine. Buddy ended up with a nickname because as a puppy he would follow me around the yard. Do you remember that song about the boy doll My Buddy from back in the 80's? My Buddy, My Buddy, where ever I go he goes! Well, that is how he got his name. I would sing the song to him in the back yard. My neighbors think I am nuts! I just started calling him Buddy. Buddy is our disabled dog. He has doggie hip displasia in both hips and has since he was born. Both hips are out of socket. So he is treated extra special and has limited mobility. Jasmine is my little girl baby, she follows me every where. Such a sweet girl and she is scared of many things, the ceiling fan, the wind blowing the trees, gloves, and so much more.

The two cats are Lilo & Stitch, Lilo is gray and Stitch is black. Lilo is our ferret cat. She is always into everything. She takes anything she fits in her mouth and either plays with it and hides it or gives it to the dogs to chew up. She is also the mommy of the group, she cleans and takes care of all the other 3 pets. Stitch is a little more laid back but will help Lilo in her quest to give things to the dogs.

So that is our furbabies! We love them!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Happy 107 Sleeps countdown to Disney World!

Isn't this an adorable picture!



I got this off the Vinylmation Facebook Page. So cute for all the Starwars Weekend Fans out there in the Disworld!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Happy 106 Sleeps countdown to Disney World!!

So I love Flower & Garden at Epcot. We were able to attend and check out all the topiaries when we vent for a spring break visit in 2011.

I am really excited about future events and I can't wait to hear more information about what activities are available to explore and see.

I got this information off wdwinfo.com:




Not all the information about the 2014 Flower and Garden plans have been released. I am looking forward to learning more and I am looking forward to checking out Miss Piggy and Kermit!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Happy 105 Sleeps Countdown Day until Disney World!!

We have been during Spring Break, almost the same dates in 2011.

We had so much fun at Flower and Garden in 2011.
One of our favorites, is the butterfly house.
In 2011, Bambi was the theme for the butterfly house.

Allison had so much fun taking pictures in the butterfly house, we are looking forward to returning.

Here is a collage photo representing some of our photos from 2011.




Happy 105 Sleeps until Disney World Everyone! Thanks for joining me for my countdown and my plans!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Happy 104 Sleeps to Disney World!!

Did you know you can now make reservations for Beaches and Cream at Beach Club?


I decided to add a reservation to our DHS day for Dinner at Beaches and Cream for after the DHS closes at 8pm. Which is April 1st. So we now have a reservation for Beaches and Cream.

I had not planned on visiting the Epcot Resorts area but now I have a wonderful excuse to visit one of my favorite resort areas Boardwalk, BC/YC area. So glad and I think this is a great addition to our plans for that day.

Happy 104 Sleeps to Disney World!!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Happy 103 Sleeps until we leave for Disney World!!!

Friday we received our Welcome package or our vacation planning guide.




I have been wanting to see what this looks like so I decided to post some pics for those of you out there in disboards world that would like to see it.

I like the adorable Mickey head flash drive that comes with it. It lights up green and you can save information on it.


The white booklet is customized with your last name on the front, which I thought is adorable. When you open it, on the left hand side your reservation details are printed. Your resort confirmation number, your resort hotel, arrival date, package type are all listed. There is also a url for the help center and the telephone number for member services.

Pages 3-4
Introduction to My Magic + & Fast Pass + and a customized section with green check marks stating we have completed step 1 which is linking our reservations, we have completed step 2 which is to customize magic bands, and step three is make fastpass+ selections, which is unchecked.

Pages 5-6
Information about My Disney Experience.

Pages 7-8
Magic Band information





Pages 9-10
Disney FastPass+ information

Pages 11-12
Customized is customized to our stay. Welcome home to Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Jambo House! It tells the location and address of AKV-Jambo. It gives some information concerning our club level stay and some of the activities available at AKL.

Pages 13-14
Dining at your Disney Resort Hotel




Pages 15-16
Disney Resort Hotel Benefits

Pages 17-18
Introductions to Theme Park Magic

Pages 19-20
Magic Kingdom Information



Pages 21-22
Epcot

Pages 23-24
Hollywood Studios

Pages 25-26
Animal Kingdom Park



Pages 27-28
Downtown Disney

Pages 29-30
Water Park Information

Pages 31-32
Your Ticket Informaton

It talks about our Annual Passes and to link them to MDE which we have already done.

Pages 33-34
Information about Spas & Salons, Watersports, Disney Golf, and fishing excursions.

Pages 35-36
Disney PhotoPass Service

Page 37
Encourages you to visit MyDisneyExperience.com, to make dining reservations, and download the mobile app.

Page 38

A magnet with Dumbo on it gives you a date to book FastPass+, a date for online check-in, and the date your vacation begins at your resort.



I spent a lot of time this morning getting this explanation together. I hope someone else enjoys it besides me.

Happy 103 Sleeps to Disney World!