2 NYer's Head South - The Big Drive Down, Then Back Up Again (W/PICS!!) UPDATED 9/12!
- Thread starter ericafny
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luna99
Oh great. Now we've got a yeti. - Jamie from Mythb
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I'm loving the pics!!! Ohhh, I wish I was at the beach right now...
anyway... I went to south of the border as a kid once so you brought back memories for me too... and I might be wrong about this but I think the ben affleck movie there was called "forces of nature" with sandra bullock maybe???
can't wait to hear more!!!
anyway... I went to south of the border as a kid once so you brought back memories for me too... and I might be wrong about this but I think the ben affleck movie there was called "forces of nature" with sandra bullock maybe???
can't wait to hear more!!!
Steelersfan4life
Earning My Ears
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we are from East Islip, so have to subscribe!
kimisabella
<font color=red>I wonder if he/she is coming on th
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Hi Erica - I'm signing on and enjoying your TR so far, so nice to put a face w/the name, now if I see you around I will recognize you!!
ericafny
<font color=purple>OK, I am a real Harry Potter ge
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Hey ANdrea! You are back!! Glad you are enjoying the TR! Are you going to do one from your trip? HAHA yes if you see me around do say hi because I don't know what you look like!!
Another update coming tonight or tomorrow everyone. I was upstate for the past two days and wasn't able to get an update in.
kimisabella
<font color=red>I wonder if he/she is coming on th
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I don't know if I'm going to do one - there not too many pics from the first couple of days because of all the rain - we'll see.
Have a great holiday weekend!
ericafny
<font color=purple>OK, I am a real Harry Potter ge
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Day Four - Charleston, SC/Arrival at AKL
One of my very dearest friends that I went to college with lives in Charleston. She moved down there a few years ago and got married. I was unfortunately not able to make her wedding so I haden't seen her in over 5 years. I decided since we were going to have to drive right through Charleston to get back to 95 S that it would be a good idea to meet her for lunch on our way through. The original plan was to meet her and her hubby at this place called the Charleston Cafe for brunch. I had made the plan with her the night before that we would call her in the morning before we left Myrtle Beach and we were planning on timing it so that we arrived in Charleston between 11:15 - 11:30am. She told me where the restaurant was (on RT 17, which is the road we were taking to get from Myrtle Beach to 95 S).
That morning we got an early start, did some laundry at DBF's godfather's condo (we had accumulated quite a bit since the day we left and we still had a full Disney vacation ahead of us so it was definitly worth it to do it then) and headed on our way around 9:15am. I had called my friend right before we left and left her a voicemail explaining that we should arrive in Charleston right on time. The drive to Charleston was pretty smooth. The only downside was that a lot of the driving is through towns and the speed limit drops to 45 mph. Other than that it was nice. 17 takes you right through a national park/forest and all you see is trees for miles and miles. Very nice, especially for us Long Islander's where all we see are malls and super stop and shops! So as we approach Charleston I call my friend again and once again leave her a voicemail. After a few u-turns on 17 we finally found the restaurant. I still couldn't get in touch with her and we thought maybe she was just there waiting for us. There was a large crowd of people waiting outside this 'restaurant'. I am using quotations because it was literally 5 tables and they were all jam packed. I should have known this would be an issue at 11:30am on a Sunday morning!! I call her again, and again, and again....no answer! At this point me and DBF had wasted almost 30 min of precious driving time and we were 30 min further than arriving at our happy place so we made the decision to drive to the I-Hop around the corner and if she calls us back we will let her know where we were...
A little side note on my friend here - I love her to death but she is definitly not the swiftest tree in the forest. She is sweet and caring but sometimes makes poor choices that can affect the people around her...
OK back to the story. We get to I-Hop and there was a long wait there too. We decided since we had lost so much time that we would drive on and stop once we had made up some of the time. We began to drive towards the Charelston bridge (beautiful bridge by the way! I wish I had gotten a pic but I was so ticked off that I didn't even think of it) and she calls me. She tells me she is so sorry and that she just woke up and that she was on her way. I explained the whole long wait thing and how umm yeah we were kind of driving to FLORIDA and we had a time schedule to keep to. I think she got my point that I was upset but she said to meet her at this other place that we were going to pass by. We get to the place and she was already there, sitting at a table. This was a real southern diner. It was kind of funny because had we not met her we wouldn't of gotten to experience a place like this. Our waitress was very nice and the food wasn't bad either. I had eggs and pancakes and sweet tea (yum!). We spent about an hour and a half with her and it was way too short but she told me that her and her husband are thinking about moving back up north so I was really excited to hear about that! All in all it worked out in the end!! Here is a pic of us standing in front of the sign to the diner (we wanted to remember it forever...HAHA
)
So after lunch we got back on the road again...and we drove...and we drove...and we passed through Georgia...oh look there's Savanah...no time to stop and take pics...and we drove....and we drove...Yeah! We are at the Florida border...and we drove....and we drove...Hey, there's Jacksonville...and we drove...and we drove....Daytona Beach!....and we drove...and oh there's I-4!...and we drove....and we drove....I see signs, we must be getting close!...and we drove...and we drove...and ahhh we are in Disney!
So we pull up to AKL and we let the security guard know we are checking in. He looks for our name on the list and tells us 'Welcome Home'. We pull up to the valet because I think we were just so overwhelmed with everything and the valet does the whole spiel - are you DVC members? No - ok it's $10/day for valet...we agree...yadda yadda yadda....and then there is a man waiting with a packet and a bellhop. He asks who we were and said 'right this way' and hands us our keys and told us we were all checked in. I forgot to mention to everyone that we stayed concierge so I am pretty sure this is standard but there was a small little teensy detail our friend forgot to tell us -that we actually weren't fully checked in that we were supposed to go up to the concierge lounge after we got into our room - but we didn't realize this until afterwards when we went to pick up our park tickets I had ordered online (before the price increase!) and we asked them to put the tickets on our room key. The great man at the front desk - Wayne fully checked us in once he realized the mishap. OK, back to our friend here - so he takes us through the lobby pointing out some details and showing us where everything is...he was talking so fast and the resort is a little overwhelming at first that I honestly couldn't even take it all in. We get to the room and he unloads the bags, we gave him a very generous tip (even though he forgot to tell us that we still weren't fully checked in...grrr) and then opened our balcony curtains and whoa - there was the Savanah! You don't realize how amazing it is until you are actually there standing on your balcony and watching giraffes and zebras eat. It is truly breathtaking. Our beds were also turned down for our nightly turn down service. Every night they gave us a new card with a different African saying on it. I collected them and am going to make a collage and frame it and hang it in out living room. Here are some pics of our room and the savanah:
Art on wall near t.v.
Towel animals waiting for us
Savannah
(continued in next post)
One of my very dearest friends that I went to college with lives in Charleston. She moved down there a few years ago and got married. I was unfortunately not able to make her wedding so I haden't seen her in over 5 years. I decided since we were going to have to drive right through Charleston to get back to 95 S that it would be a good idea to meet her for lunch on our way through. The original plan was to meet her and her hubby at this place called the Charleston Cafe for brunch. I had made the plan with her the night before that we would call her in the morning before we left Myrtle Beach and we were planning on timing it so that we arrived in Charleston between 11:15 - 11:30am. She told me where the restaurant was (on RT 17, which is the road we were taking to get from Myrtle Beach to 95 S).
That morning we got an early start, did some laundry at DBF's godfather's condo (we had accumulated quite a bit since the day we left and we still had a full Disney vacation ahead of us so it was definitly worth it to do it then) and headed on our way around 9:15am. I had called my friend right before we left and left her a voicemail explaining that we should arrive in Charleston right on time. The drive to Charleston was pretty smooth. The only downside was that a lot of the driving is through towns and the speed limit drops to 45 mph. Other than that it was nice. 17 takes you right through a national park/forest and all you see is trees for miles and miles. Very nice, especially for us Long Islander's where all we see are malls and super stop and shops! So as we approach Charleston I call my friend again and once again leave her a voicemail. After a few u-turns on 17 we finally found the restaurant. I still couldn't get in touch with her and we thought maybe she was just there waiting for us. There was a large crowd of people waiting outside this 'restaurant'. I am using quotations because it was literally 5 tables and they were all jam packed. I should have known this would be an issue at 11:30am on a Sunday morning!! I call her again, and again, and again....no answer! At this point me and DBF had wasted almost 30 min of precious driving time and we were 30 min further than arriving at our happy place so we made the decision to drive to the I-Hop around the corner and if she calls us back we will let her know where we were...
A little side note on my friend here - I love her to death but she is definitly not the swiftest tree in the forest. She is sweet and caring but sometimes makes poor choices that can affect the people around her...
OK back to the story. We get to I-Hop and there was a long wait there too. We decided since we had lost so much time that we would drive on and stop once we had made up some of the time. We began to drive towards the Charelston bridge (beautiful bridge by the way! I wish I had gotten a pic but I was so ticked off that I didn't even think of it) and she calls me. She tells me she is so sorry and that she just woke up and that she was on her way. I explained the whole long wait thing and how umm yeah we were kind of driving to FLORIDA and we had a time schedule to keep to. I think she got my point that I was upset but she said to meet her at this other place that we were going to pass by. We get to the place and she was already there, sitting at a table. This was a real southern diner. It was kind of funny because had we not met her we wouldn't of gotten to experience a place like this. Our waitress was very nice and the food wasn't bad either. I had eggs and pancakes and sweet tea (yum!). We spent about an hour and a half with her and it was way too short but she told me that her and her husband are thinking about moving back up north so I was really excited to hear about that! All in all it worked out in the end!! Here is a pic of us standing in front of the sign to the diner (we wanted to remember it forever...HAHA
)
So after lunch we got back on the road again...and we drove...and we drove...and we passed through Georgia...oh look there's Savanah...no time to stop and take pics...and we drove....and we drove...Yeah! We are at the Florida border...and we drove....and we drove...Hey, there's Jacksonville...and we drove...and we drove....Daytona Beach!....and we drove...and oh there's I-4!...and we drove....and we drove....I see signs, we must be getting close!...and we drove...and we drove...and ahhh we are in Disney!
So we pull up to AKL and we let the security guard know we are checking in. He looks for our name on the list and tells us 'Welcome Home'. We pull up to the valet because I think we were just so overwhelmed with everything and the valet does the whole spiel - are you DVC members? No - ok it's $10/day for valet...we agree...yadda yadda yadda....and then there is a man waiting with a packet and a bellhop. He asks who we were and said 'right this way' and hands us our keys and told us we were all checked in. I forgot to mention to everyone that we stayed concierge so I am pretty sure this is standard but there was a small little teensy detail our friend forgot to tell us -that we actually weren't fully checked in that we were supposed to go up to the concierge lounge after we got into our room - but we didn't realize this until afterwards when we went to pick up our park tickets I had ordered online (before the price increase!) and we asked them to put the tickets on our room key. The great man at the front desk - Wayne fully checked us in once he realized the mishap. OK, back to our friend here - so he takes us through the lobby pointing out some details and showing us where everything is...he was talking so fast and the resort is a little overwhelming at first that I honestly couldn't even take it all in. We get to the room and he unloads the bags, we gave him a very generous tip (even though he forgot to tell us that we still weren't fully checked in...grrr) and then opened our balcony curtains and whoa - there was the Savanah! You don't realize how amazing it is until you are actually there standing on your balcony and watching giraffes and zebras eat. It is truly breathtaking. Our beds were also turned down for our nightly turn down service. Every night they gave us a new card with a different African saying on it. I collected them and am going to make a collage and frame it and hang it in out living room. Here are some pics of our room and the savanah:
Art on wall near t.v.
Towel animals waiting for us
Savannah
(continued in next post)
ericafny
<font color=purple>OK, I am a real Harry Potter ge
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Day Four - Continued
After the initial shock and overwhelmed feeling, and taking care of picking up the tickets, we went up to the concierge lounge to check it out. Our room was on the 4th floor - 4229 - Kudo Trail and it was a slight hike to the lounge. We found the best way to access the lounge from that side was to walk toward the lobby, walk around the walkway and to the stairs 2 flights up to the lounge. We also tried using the elevator but our keys only worked at the stairway gate, not in the elevator. I had told them in the lounge and they told me that its pretty common and they printed out new keys but it still didn't work. The elevators were much farther than the stairs so we just accessed the lounge that way. The lounge is very nice and the staff there are wonderful! I think we will stay conceriege at the AKL from here on out because it was honestly the best resort experience I have ever had. Here are some pics of the lobby taken from the lounge (I didn't think to take pics of the actual lounge itself):
The snack offerings that evening were not enough to satisfy our appetites so we decided to head down to the Mara to eat a small dinner. Now since all of you are as crazy about Disney as me and DBF are I know you will all understand our whacky decision to hit up MK for EMH this night. It was a real spur of the minute decision and once we got to Disney the bug bit us and we HAD to get to a park. MK was open until 12am with EMH until 2am. We had just driven 9+ hours from Myrtle Beach, but who cares right? We grabbed a light dinner at Mara, went back up to the room to freshen up and headed directly to the buses for MK. I should have known though - the bus line was out of control crazy...oh boy! Who cares I thought, even if we just catch some of Spectro or Wishes or get to stroll down Main Street I didn't care if we didn't get to experience any attractions. The bus ride there was smooth, although this is the longest ride from the AKL. The shortest is obviously AK and Epcot and HS fall somewhere in between. DTD is probably slightly closer than MK. The buses are as follows: MK, AK, and Epcot get their own buses. HS shares with BB and DTD shares with TL. Pretty standard. There is also only one bus stop at the AKL and it is right outside of the main lobby. I think once they finish DVC there will be a separate bus stop but I am not 100% sure (anyone know
).
We arrived at MK right at 10pm and I started to freak because Wishes had just started and I knew Main Street was going to be a nightmare
Not to worry though because I am a DISer and I know how to navigate my way through the crowds!! We decided to try to hit up some rides while Wishes was going on. SO we stayed to the left of main street, walked through the stores, crossed the bridge into Adventureland and hoped on Pirates - no wait! We then used the breezeway into Frontierland and headed towards Liberty Square to ride HM. We didn't get to ride this last year because it was getting re-habed. I thought the updates were nice, I especially like the bride with the - ax?!? Nice subtle touches though! After HM we headed over to Tomorrowland (via Fantasyland of course to avoid any 11pm parade traffic!) and saw the wait for SM was over 60 min. It was late, and we were tired. So we grabbed some ice cream, plopped ourselves down, and people watched and enjoyed our ice cream and the scenery for a bit. The park was EXTREMELY crowded this evening and I was hoping this wasn't a sign of things to come...we will see...After our ice cream we headed back 'home' and feel asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows. We knew this was going to be the beginning of a wonderful week in Disney!!
Up next MK day and Boma for dinner (with me being slightly tipsy!)
After the initial shock and overwhelmed feeling, and taking care of picking up the tickets, we went up to the concierge lounge to check it out. Our room was on the 4th floor - 4229 - Kudo Trail and it was a slight hike to the lounge. We found the best way to access the lounge from that side was to walk toward the lobby, walk around the walkway and to the stairs 2 flights up to the lounge. We also tried using the elevator but our keys only worked at the stairway gate, not in the elevator. I had told them in the lounge and they told me that its pretty common and they printed out new keys but it still didn't work. The elevators were much farther than the stairs so we just accessed the lounge that way. The lounge is very nice and the staff there are wonderful! I think we will stay conceriege at the AKL from here on out because it was honestly the best resort experience I have ever had. Here are some pics of the lobby taken from the lounge (I didn't think to take pics of the actual lounge itself):
The snack offerings that evening were not enough to satisfy our appetites so we decided to head down to the Mara to eat a small dinner. Now since all of you are as crazy about Disney as me and DBF are I know you will all understand our whacky decision to hit up MK for EMH this night. It was a real spur of the minute decision and once we got to Disney the bug bit us and we HAD to get to a park. MK was open until 12am with EMH until 2am. We had just driven 9+ hours from Myrtle Beach, but who cares right? We grabbed a light dinner at Mara, went back up to the room to freshen up and headed directly to the buses for MK. I should have known though - the bus line was out of control crazy...oh boy! Who cares I thought, even if we just catch some of Spectro or Wishes or get to stroll down Main Street I didn't care if we didn't get to experience any attractions. The bus ride there was smooth, although this is the longest ride from the AKL. The shortest is obviously AK and Epcot and HS fall somewhere in between. DTD is probably slightly closer than MK. The buses are as follows: MK, AK, and Epcot get their own buses. HS shares with BB and DTD shares with TL. Pretty standard. There is also only one bus stop at the AKL and it is right outside of the main lobby. I think once they finish DVC there will be a separate bus stop but I am not 100% sure (anyone know
).We arrived at MK right at 10pm and I started to freak because Wishes had just started and I knew Main Street was going to be a nightmare
Not to worry though because I am a DISer and I know how to navigate my way through the crowds!! We decided to try to hit up some rides while Wishes was going on. SO we stayed to the left of main street, walked through the stores, crossed the bridge into Adventureland and hoped on Pirates - no wait! We then used the breezeway into Frontierland and headed towards Liberty Square to ride HM. We didn't get to ride this last year because it was getting re-habed. I thought the updates were nice, I especially like the bride with the - ax?!? Nice subtle touches though! After HM we headed over to Tomorrowland (via Fantasyland of course to avoid any 11pm parade traffic!) and saw the wait for SM was over 60 min. It was late, and we were tired. So we grabbed some ice cream, plopped ourselves down, and people watched and enjoyed our ice cream and the scenery for a bit. The park was EXTREMELY crowded this evening and I was hoping this wasn't a sign of things to come...we will see...After our ice cream we headed back 'home' and feel asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows. We knew this was going to be the beginning of a wonderful week in Disney!!Up next MK day and Boma for dinner (with me being slightly tipsy!)
jmskinner
DIS Veteran
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Love the pics! I hope to get to stay at AKL sometime.
Sorry you had such a hard time with your friend, but glad you got to see her and you got food!
You will have to go back to Charleston sometime. It is a beautiful city, but due to humidity, I would recommend fall or spring.
One time we arrived during Spectromagic at MK and they had us walk behind all the buildings and ended up by Space Mountain. It felt really weird.
Looking forward to more!
Sorry you had such a hard time with your friend, but glad you got to see her and you got food!
You will have to go back to Charleston sometime. It is a beautiful city, but due to humidity, I would recommend fall or spring.
One time we arrived during Spectromagic at MK and they had us walk behind all the buildings and ended up by Space Mountain. It felt really weird.
Looking forward to more!
ericafny
<font color=purple>OK, I am a real Harry Potter ge
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That actually sounds kind of neat...did a cast member escort you?
jmskinner
DIS Veteran
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It was cool. Except it was our first night in the MK, so missed some of the Magic.
The CM's pointed us to the right there where the candy store is, sorry don't know the name of it. They had a gate open and you just walked around. There was a huge crowd, so you just basically followed the leader. One of those memories I will have forever. Sort of a Behind the Scenes tour without paying for it.
The CM's pointed us to the right there where the candy store is, sorry don't know the name of it. They had a gate open and you just walked around. There was a huge crowd, so you just basically followed the leader. One of those memories I will have forever. Sort of a Behind the Scenes tour without paying for it.
swankybeth
<font color=teal>Loves bubble tea!<br><font color=
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Enjoying your report so far. DH and I did the drive from LI to WDW this past January so it's nice to read about your experiences doing the same.
Looking forward to more!
Looking forward to more!
marianas00
Mouseketeer
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Great report1 Can't wait for more.
ericafny
<font color=purple>OK, I am a real Harry Potter ge
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Enjoying your report so far. DH and I did the drive from LI to WDW this past January so it's nice to read about your experiences doing the same.
Looking forward to more!
Glad you are enjoying it! I see you live in Rockville Centre, we live in Mineola - not too far!
Thanks! I will try to get another update in tomorrow or Wed.
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Legend
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Hey there, I just found your report and I am really enjoying it. 
Wasn't Maymont just lovely! I visited the park back when I lived in Virginia and fell in love with it.
Too funny about the old man in the woman's washroom, how embarrassing!
Loving the AKL pictures!
Wasn't Maymont just lovely! I visited the park back when I lived in Virginia and fell in love with it.
Too funny about the old man in the woman's washroom, how embarrassing!
Loving the AKL pictures!
ericafny
<font color=purple>OK, I am a real Harry Potter ge
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Yeah! So many LI people here! Where do you live?
Hey there, I just found your report and I am really enjoying it.
Wasn't Maymont just lovely! I visited the park back when I lived in Virginia and fell in love with it.
Too funny about the old man in the woman's washroom, how embarrassing!
Loving the AKL pictures!
Thanks! Yes Maymont is beautiful! It would be a nice place for a picnic or family gathering. Glad you are enjoying the TR and the pics!
ericafny
<font color=purple>OK, I am a real Harry Potter ge
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Day Five - MK/Boma/AK EMH
OK, so where were we...so today we were going to get up really early and get to MK for opening. Since we had experienced some attractions the night before (which by the way I forgot to mention we did Jungle Cruise the night before too...with a 5 min wait. I had never done it in the dark. Our skipper was HYSTERICAL!), we decided to 'sleep in' for a little while longer and get to the park at a slightly later time, but not too late so that we couldn't get FP's. We woke up at 8 and were in the concierge lounge for breakfast by a little before 9. The breakfast offerings there are really nice. Fresh fruit, cereal, bagels, pastries (the BEST chocolate croissants I have ever had!), fresh oatmeal, Quinoa (which apparently is the highest source of protein one can consume), coffee, juice, tea, something called an 'African Smoothie' to drink. DBF tried this and said it was good, but too heavy to drink every morning. I tried the Quinoa and it was a little bland, they had brown sugar and honey out to put on the oatmeal so I had some brown sugar and sliced banana in there and it wasn't so bad. The coffee there is also fresh brewed, not the nasty nescafe crap they usually serve. The staff are constantly bringing out more food so don't worry about running out of something, it didn't seem as if they ever would!
OK, so after breakfast we made it to the MK bus stop by 9:45 and we were at the park a little after 10am. Not bad I thought (the MK bus came right away as we got to the bus stop, otherwise it prob would have taken longer). Upon entering the park I noticed it was still kind of empty. The strategy of going to the park the day after EMH evening works very well with MK, I am not sure it works so well with the other parks as I learned later on in the trip. We walked over to Splash Mountain and were able to grab FP's for a return time of 11-12 (this was at 10:20am!). Not bad I thought, we then hoped on the stand by line for BTM. The posted wait time was 25 minutes but we probably waited only about 15 minutes. After that we took the train over to Mickey's Toontown Fair and walked to Tomorrowland. Here is a pic of us on the train:
Since it's just me and DBF we usually skip over this land. We figure we will spend plenty of time there once we have kids. We then were able to get a FP for SM with a 12-1 return time. I honestly was shocked that there were FP's available with such a short return time from the time it was. At this point it was past 11am and the park still wasn't that crowded! After we got our FP's for SM, I didn't want to use our FP's for Splash yet so we wandered into Fantasyland and did Mickey's Philharmagic. I love this show and of course I cried! It happens every time. There was a mother and daughter next to me that looked like they were experiencing this show for the first time and I also enjoyed hearing their reactions as Donald passes through the scenes. Here is a silly pic of me wearing my 3-D glasses waiting for the show to begin:
After that we walked over to Splash to use our FP's. I think the FP line was a little backed up because we waited for about 15 minutes or so. Obviously I will take that over the posted 60 minute wait any day! Here are some pics I snapped while on the ride:
Brer bear and Brer fox better not put Brer rabbit into that briar patch!!
Brer rabbit relaxing after he outsmarts that Brer bear and Brer fox
It's The Truth, It's Actual...Everything is Satisfactual...Zip A Dee Do Da!
After Splash we noticed the park was getting really crowded and it was getting VERY hot. So we went over to SM to use our FP's and then after that we grabbed a quick lunch at Cosmic Rays. I like eating there because they offer veggie burgers. The only problem with that place is that many first timer's and a lot of foreigners who may not understand english very well do not know that they have to go to a certain bay to order the food they want. I saw many people wait on line, get to the cashier, and then leave the line to go to another line. I think they need to explain the system better...don't you guys agree OK off of my mini-rant. We sat outside facing the side of the castle and part of the walkway to Fantasyland/Tomorrowland. I noticed there was a small show by the stand that sells the fruit drinks (Grove something or other??) with Belle. They were picking people out of the audience too. I thought I would mention it for anyone who has kids that love Belle (or any adults that love Belle too!)
On our way out of the park we ran into this:
It was very bizare, it kind of came out of nowhere and no one knew what was going on. We decided to high-tail it to the exit before it got crowded on Main St from this parade. Once back at AKL we decided to retrieve our car from valet so as to avoid the $10 fee. Self-parking at AKL is so close to the lobby entrance that it doesn't make sense to do valet for more than one day. As we were walking back to the lobby, DBF took this pic of me on the trail from the parking lot to the main lobby:
I also snapped these pics on our way in:
We then decided to walk around the resort because it is so vast and there is so much to take in. The detail that the imagineers put into this thing is unbeliveable. I didn't even have a chance to look at everything in the lobby. I took some pics of the Arusha Rock Savannah overlook while we were exploring:
Firepit
Signage
View of Savannah rooms from the overlook
Pelicans (I love these birds!)
We then walked down by the Uzima Springs Pool (we had not experience the pool yet) and I snapped this pic of the spring by Jiko
Continued in next post..
OK, so where were we...so today we were going to get up really early and get to MK for opening. Since we had experienced some attractions the night before (which by the way I forgot to mention we did Jungle Cruise the night before too...with a 5 min wait. I had never done it in the dark. Our skipper was HYSTERICAL!), we decided to 'sleep in' for a little while longer and get to the park at a slightly later time, but not too late so that we couldn't get FP's. We woke up at 8 and were in the concierge lounge for breakfast by a little before 9. The breakfast offerings there are really nice. Fresh fruit, cereal, bagels, pastries (the BEST chocolate croissants I have ever had!), fresh oatmeal, Quinoa (which apparently is the highest source of protein one can consume), coffee, juice, tea, something called an 'African Smoothie' to drink. DBF tried this and said it was good, but too heavy to drink every morning. I tried the Quinoa and it was a little bland, they had brown sugar and honey out to put on the oatmeal so I had some brown sugar and sliced banana in there and it wasn't so bad. The coffee there is also fresh brewed, not the nasty nescafe crap they usually serve. The staff are constantly bringing out more food so don't worry about running out of something, it didn't seem as if they ever would!
OK, so after breakfast we made it to the MK bus stop by 9:45 and we were at the park a little after 10am. Not bad I thought (the MK bus came right away as we got to the bus stop, otherwise it prob would have taken longer). Upon entering the park I noticed it was still kind of empty. The strategy of going to the park the day after EMH evening works very well with MK, I am not sure it works so well with the other parks as I learned later on in the trip. We walked over to Splash Mountain and were able to grab FP's for a return time of 11-12 (this was at 10:20am!). Not bad I thought, we then hoped on the stand by line for BTM. The posted wait time was 25 minutes but we probably waited only about 15 minutes. After that we took the train over to Mickey's Toontown Fair and walked to Tomorrowland. Here is a pic of us on the train:
Since it's just me and DBF we usually skip over this land. We figure we will spend plenty of time there once we have kids. We then were able to get a FP for SM with a 12-1 return time. I honestly was shocked that there were FP's available with such a short return time from the time it was. At this point it was past 11am and the park still wasn't that crowded! After we got our FP's for SM, I didn't want to use our FP's for Splash yet so we wandered into Fantasyland and did Mickey's Philharmagic. I love this show and of course I cried! It happens every time. There was a mother and daughter next to me that looked like they were experiencing this show for the first time and I also enjoyed hearing their reactions as Donald passes through the scenes. Here is a silly pic of me wearing my 3-D glasses waiting for the show to begin:
After that we walked over to Splash to use our FP's. I think the FP line was a little backed up because we waited for about 15 minutes or so. Obviously I will take that over the posted 60 minute wait any day! Here are some pics I snapped while on the ride:
Brer bear and Brer fox better not put Brer rabbit into that briar patch!!
Brer rabbit relaxing after he outsmarts that Brer bear and Brer fox
It's The Truth, It's Actual...Everything is Satisfactual...Zip A Dee Do Da!
After Splash we noticed the park was getting really crowded and it was getting VERY hot. So we went over to SM to use our FP's and then after that we grabbed a quick lunch at Cosmic Rays. I like eating there because they offer veggie burgers. The only problem with that place is that many first timer's and a lot of foreigners who may not understand english very well do not know that they have to go to a certain bay to order the food they want. I saw many people wait on line, get to the cashier, and then leave the line to go to another line. I think they need to explain the system better...don't you guys agree
OK off of my mini-rant. We sat outside facing the side of the castle and part of the walkway to Fantasyland/Tomorrowland. I noticed there was a small show by the stand that sells the fruit drinks (Grove something or other??) with Belle. They were picking people out of the audience too. I thought I would mention it for anyone who has kids that love Belle (or any adults that love Belle too!)On our way out of the park we ran into this:
It was very bizare, it kind of came out of nowhere and no one knew what was going on. We decided to high-tail it to the exit before it got crowded on Main St from this parade. Once back at AKL we decided to retrieve our car from valet so as to avoid the $10 fee. Self-parking at AKL is so close to the lobby entrance that it doesn't make sense to do valet for more than one day. As we were walking back to the lobby, DBF took this pic of me on the trail from the parking lot to the main lobby:
I also snapped these pics on our way in:
We then decided to walk around the resort because it is so vast and there is so much to take in. The detail that the imagineers put into this thing is unbeliveable. I didn't even have a chance to look at everything in the lobby. I took some pics of the Arusha Rock Savannah overlook while we were exploring:
Firepit
Signage
View of Savannah rooms from the overlook
Pelicans (I love these birds!)
We then walked down by the Uzima Springs Pool (we had not experience the pool yet) and I snapped this pic of the spring by Jiko
Continued in next post..
ericafny
<font color=purple>OK, I am a real Harry Potter ge
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2005
- Messages
- 1,375
Day Six Continued...
After we walked around we made a quick stop in the lounge to see what they were offering in the afternoon. I believe the snack service was done with and they had some pastries out for afternoon tea. We then headed to our room to get ready for dinner at Boma. Since we had a 6:30 ADR I thought we would go to Victorias Falls Bar for a drink before our ressie. We headed down to the bar around 5:30 and I ordered a South African Chardonay (not sure what the name was) and DBF tried the Tusker, African beer on the bartenders suggestion. This was one big glass of wine I had gotten because by the time I was done I was a little tipsy (yeah I'm a cheap date!). Needless to say we still had fun at dinner. We checked in at 6:20 and were called for our table exactly at 6:30. Our waiter was very nice and explained all the different stations. I really enjoyed this dinner, probably the best one we had! They have a very big vegetarian selection and the chefs are quick to answer all your questions. There is so much that is offered I can't possibly remember what they had but I know there is a menu up on this site and on allears so you can read it there. I highly recommend Boma, even for the kids because in addition to the African specialties they also have mac and cheese (I had to get some, it was sooo good!) and chicken fingers and pasta.
After dinner we headed to AK for EMH. BIG MISTAKE. What a waste of time. This park is really not a night park and they only have a few attractions open during EMH. Dinoland and Dinosaur are open, Everest, and It's Tough To Be A Bug. That's it. They do not turn on the FP machines so all of the wait times (except for ITTBAB) are over 60 minutes. We basically walked around, took in some scenary and then left. We decided to just head back to the resort and call it an early night. Tomorrow we head to DHS and we have to be there for opening to score some FP's for TSM!
Up next the craziness that is Pixar Place and spur of the moment lunch (which didn't turn out to be so good though..)
Sorry no pics in this post...I think the wine made me forget to take pics.
After we walked around we made a quick stop in the lounge to see what they were offering in the afternoon. I believe the snack service was done with and they had some pastries out for afternoon tea. We then headed to our room to get ready for dinner at Boma. Since we had a 6:30 ADR I thought we would go to Victorias Falls Bar for a drink before our ressie. We headed down to the bar around 5:30 and I ordered a South African Chardonay (not sure what the name was) and DBF tried the Tusker, African beer on the bartenders suggestion. This was one big glass of wine I had gotten because by the time I was done I was a little tipsy (yeah I'm a cheap date!). Needless to say we still had fun at dinner. We checked in at 6:20 and were called for our table exactly at 6:30. Our waiter was very nice and explained all the different stations. I really enjoyed this dinner, probably the best one we had! They have a very big vegetarian selection and the chefs are quick to answer all your questions. There is so much that is offered I can't possibly remember what they had but I know there is a menu up on this site and on allears so you can read it there. I highly recommend Boma, even for the kids because in addition to the African specialties they also have mac and cheese (I had to get some, it was sooo good!) and chicken fingers and pasta.
After dinner we headed to AK for EMH. BIG MISTAKE. What a waste of time. This park is really not a night park and they only have a few attractions open during EMH. Dinoland and Dinosaur are open, Everest, and It's Tough To Be A Bug. That's it. They do not turn on the FP machines so all of the wait times (except for ITTBAB) are over 60 minutes. We basically walked around, took in some scenary and then left. We decided to just head back to the resort and call it an early night. Tomorrow we head to DHS and we have to be there for opening to score some FP's for TSM!
Up next the craziness that is Pixar Place and spur of the moment lunch (which didn't turn out to be so good though..)
Sorry no pics in this post...I think the wine made me forget to take pics.
Villainess
Fantasy and reality often overlap - Walt Disney
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2004
- Messages
- 1,580
Hi! I'm joining in! AKL is so beautiful! I stayed there 1 night (surprised my parents and sister by joining them on a vacation that I wasn't scheduled to be on and needed a place to stay for 1 night).
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