Angrypenguin
Disney n00b!
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2007
- Messages
- 797
Hello! My names Kevin, and Im a Disaholic.
I figured that I should preface with that statement, although it seems Id be preaching to the choir considering the audience here on the DIS. My wife and I enjoyed a lovely trip at AKL the week after Thanksgiving, and I felt the need to document this great experience with you all. We saw lights, we saw trees, we saw Steven Curtis Chapman singing with tweens. We really needed this trip due to all the stressful events of life these past few months, but first a little background.
Cast:
My lovely DW, Julie (25). A wonderful woman by all accounts, shes put up with me and my incessant whining these past few months
.
Me:
An engineer by day, Batman by night, I slay evil doers in the heart of Texas with my fearsome scowl. I also love to take pictures. Seen here.
I think its my big teeth that strike terror into the hearts of men.
(By the way, wedding photos and our wedding trip report can be found in my signature. I know, Im a shameless self promoter. Dont hate me because Im nerdy.)
My wife and I are newlyweds, having married at everyones favorite place at the Wedding Pavilion at the GF back in March. Since then, are lives have taken an interesting turn. After being discouraged by the high real estate prices in beautiful and wondrous Southern California, we decided to do a 180 turn and take company transfers to try out Dallas, TX. Well, needless to say, we (and by we, I mean me) are having adjustment issues, and between leaving our home, moving, and buying a new house (HUGE! 4300 sq ft. house? Cant get that in SoCal), I booked us a trip semi-last minute (about 6 weeks in advance) to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for the week after Thanksgiving. We love the World so much that wed marry it if we could, but settled for getting married at it instead.
Wed never been to WDW during the holiday season, so we were eager to see all the lights and decorations and experience all the fun filled holiday events that Disney could offer.
We left Dallas on a stupidly cold Monday morning (11/30), and soon enough landed at MCO. I believe it was 28 degrees when we left. 28 degrees! I know, were originally from Michigan, so 28 shouldnt be a big deal, but the past five years in Southern California have thinned out my blood and turned me into a left-leaning-California-hippie-wimp, so Im still trying to get used to teeth chattering cold.
Anyways, being the Disney vets that we seem to have become, we glided through the terminals and found ourselves seated at the front of the ME bus with a heavily accented bus driver. Now, weve taken 4 trips in the past 2 ½ years to Disney, and I think 3 out of those 4 trips weve had bus drivers who hardly speak intelligible English. God Bless them, they try hard, but when I listen to them I spend half my time wondering if theyre asking people to cheer because were at WDW or if theyre informing us about undertaking safety precautions in case of catastrophe. So, not willing to take any chances, every time when the bus driver came on for an announcement, I cheered for Disney World while taking note of the exit doors and throwing myself on top of my wife to shield her from the bomb blasts that may or may not be happening.
Anyways, we arrived at AKL Jambo House without too much trouble, checked in, and took in the great view we had. When we booked, we had always wanted to stay at AKL but only if we got a Savannah View. Luckily, we got some good AP rates for the week after Christmas, and got bunk beds to boot.
Our view:
Our room:
It was still early afternoon, and the only thing we had planned for that evening was dinner at BOMA. So we grabbed a quick lunch at Mara and headed over to AK! A few pics:
Tree in front of the Animal Kingdom
Look how small the Tree of Life shrank! Its okay, Im used to shrinkage.
Ahh, the view.
Next installment: Ive ridden EE a bazillion times. Why this time was more terrifying than all the others.
I figured that I should preface with that statement, although it seems Id be preaching to the choir considering the audience here on the DIS. My wife and I enjoyed a lovely trip at AKL the week after Thanksgiving, and I felt the need to document this great experience with you all. We saw lights, we saw trees, we saw Steven Curtis Chapman singing with tweens. We really needed this trip due to all the stressful events of life these past few months, but first a little background.
Cast:
My lovely DW, Julie (25). A wonderful woman by all accounts, shes put up with me and my incessant whining these past few months
.
Me:
An engineer by day, Batman by night, I slay evil doers in the heart of Texas with my fearsome scowl. I also love to take pictures. Seen here.
I think its my big teeth that strike terror into the hearts of men.
(By the way, wedding photos and our wedding trip report can be found in my signature. I know, Im a shameless self promoter. Dont hate me because Im nerdy.)
My wife and I are newlyweds, having married at everyones favorite place at the Wedding Pavilion at the GF back in March. Since then, are lives have taken an interesting turn. After being discouraged by the high real estate prices in beautiful and wondrous Southern California, we decided to do a 180 turn and take company transfers to try out Dallas, TX. Well, needless to say, we (and by we, I mean me) are having adjustment issues, and between leaving our home, moving, and buying a new house (HUGE! 4300 sq ft. house? Cant get that in SoCal), I booked us a trip semi-last minute (about 6 weeks in advance) to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for the week after Thanksgiving. We love the World so much that wed marry it if we could, but settled for getting married at it instead.
Wed never been to WDW during the holiday season, so we were eager to see all the lights and decorations and experience all the fun filled holiday events that Disney could offer.
We left Dallas on a stupidly cold Monday morning (11/30), and soon enough landed at MCO. I believe it was 28 degrees when we left. 28 degrees! I know, were originally from Michigan, so 28 shouldnt be a big deal, but the past five years in Southern California have thinned out my blood and turned me into a left-leaning-California-hippie-wimp, so Im still trying to get used to teeth chattering cold.
Anyways, being the Disney vets that we seem to have become, we glided through the terminals and found ourselves seated at the front of the ME bus with a heavily accented bus driver. Now, weve taken 4 trips in the past 2 ½ years to Disney, and I think 3 out of those 4 trips weve had bus drivers who hardly speak intelligible English. God Bless them, they try hard, but when I listen to them I spend half my time wondering if theyre asking people to cheer because were at WDW or if theyre informing us about undertaking safety precautions in case of catastrophe. So, not willing to take any chances, every time when the bus driver came on for an announcement, I cheered for Disney World while taking note of the exit doors and throwing myself on top of my wife to shield her from the bomb blasts that may or may not be happening.
Anyways, we arrived at AKL Jambo House without too much trouble, checked in, and took in the great view we had. When we booked, we had always wanted to stay at AKL but only if we got a Savannah View. Luckily, we got some good AP rates for the week after Christmas, and got bunk beds to boot.
Our view:
Our room:
It was still early afternoon, and the only thing we had planned for that evening was dinner at BOMA. So we grabbed a quick lunch at Mara and headed over to AK! A few pics:
Tree in front of the Animal Kingdom
Look how small the Tree of Life shrank! Its okay, Im used to shrinkage.
Ahh, the view.
Next installment: Ive ridden EE a bazillion times. Why this time was more terrifying than all the others.
it's my favorite park!
