The Plan
Flight arrival 2:40pm in Orlando
Pick up own luggage, take magic express
Check in at AKL
Grab birthday gift card at park.
Dinner ADR at 5:45 at the park.
If you are doing the Math you will notice that I didnt leave a lot of time to get to the restaurant.
I was worried we wouldnt make it for dinner but when I made my ADRs this was the latest time I could get. I was worried sick about making it on time for months.
Anyhow, back to the Trip report, when I last left you Dh and I were on the Mears bus borrowed by magic express and we had just pulled up to AKL.
I was too busy working out a strategy with Dh to really enjoy my first glance at the resort. I took a picture of it but figured I would have time to enjoy the view later. However in hindsight a three-night stay at a WDW resort does not afford a lot of time for later. This lack of time was a re-occurring theme for the weekend. It upset both of us for different reasons. Me, because I wanted to do and see more and Dh because he felt there wasnt enough time to lounge around and be lazy.
Here's my picture of the Resort.
So you grab the luggage and Im going to run ahead to get in line to check us in I told him. I knew that there were four or five families getting off here and I wanted to be first in line.
I didnt do the Internet pre-check-in. I thought it would be nicer to chat with the CM on the desk and have everything explained to me since I hadnt been to AKL before. I thought how much time could it really save?
I crumpled a couple of dollars into Dhs hand as a tip for the driver. He gave me a puzzled look so I had to explain to him what it was for.
Youre kidding right? The guy moves my suitcase two feet and Im gonna give him money? He rolled his eyes.
My Vacation Honey. Remember? Youre here to go along for the ride. Were at a deluxe resort and we WILL tip. There was a veiled threat behind my words. He got it. He didnt like it but he got it.
I always tip. I just do it without Dh noticing. Maybe he does notice or maybe he doesnt. It doesnt really matter. Im not hiding it from him. I just know it is my job to tip and its best if I dont bring attention to it. Its just like when we go shopping and he walks away at the cash leaving me to pay the bills. The money all comes out of the same pockets but its just easier for Dh to enjoy being on vacation if he doesnt physically see the bills till later.
I hightail it to the check in. I beat everyone from my bus. Not that it was a race. But still I won.
There are already three families waiting in line. There is one person waiting at the online check in. There are two CMs serving the online registration people and one CM serving the in person check-in people. That just seemed wrong somehow to me.
The first time I look at my watch it reads 4:15.
It wasnt actually my watch. I borrowed Eeoyres (DS10). I was planning on using my Disney Birthday gift card to buy myself a new one.
Since I had some time to wait I started to look around the lobby. My first impressions were that it was very dark. Coming in from the bright sunlight made it seem even darker. It took some time for my eyes to adjust. It was a good thing that the signage for the check-in was yellow and easy to spot in the dark.
My eyes were immediately drawn to the ceiling of the lobby. It must be four stories tall. I thought the lobby was very majestic with the dark woods and the high ceilings and yet still very comfortable. Not stuffy like the Grand Floridian.
Dh hates the Grand Floridian. He feels on edge there. But he quite enjoyed AKL.
Speaking of Dh, he showed up with the luggage and waited in line with me for a while. After a few minutes he couldnt take it anymore and was chomping at the bit to start exploring. So he left.
He would check back in with me full of excitement saying, Wait till you see this or that. So it was clear he was fascinated and happy with our choice of lodging.
In the meantime I was getting pretty inpatient. I thought that once the online people had checked in that the CMs would turn their attention us in person registration people. I just assumed that would be the case. Of course you know the old saying about what happens when you assume. It makes an as* out of you and me.
I was wrong. The online CMs did not help us. They conferenced together. I suppose they could have been talking about work related items but since it was getting close to 4:30 now and my line hadnt moved at all I was getting frantic. There were still three families in front of me. If it took over 15 minutes to check one family in then I was never going to make my ADR on time.
I knew I needed to check in first to get my keys to the kingdom card so I could get into the park otherwise I would have just stored my stuff with luggage services and took off.
I know the Disney restaurants will still seat you late but how late? I was starting to worry.
I sent pleading messages with my eyes to conferencing CMs.
I sighed loud enough for all to hear me.
I resorted to toe tapping and checking my watch every few seconds.
Finally the CMs stopped their conference. They called over a family in the front of our line. Then another. My luck was turning. A new CM emerged from behind the wall. She took another family and then it was my turn.
It was 4:38.
I had waited 23 minutes.
I hoped it was going to be my longest wait this whole trip. Thank goodness I didnt have the kids running wild around me. I was impatient enough and the kids would have sent me over the edge.
I ended up with the original CM on the desk. In all this time she had only checked in just the one family. I wasnt feeling too hopeful about getting this process done quickly at this point.
Because I dont want to seem like a complainer I will just give you the facts. The CM was from New York State. She was chatty. I was to the point. I even mentioned I was in a hurry and that I had my ADR for less than an hour from now. She didnt register.
Hmm she said looking over my paperwork. She kept putting in numbers and repeating Hmm in a quizzical tone. She started to worry me.
Then she floored me.
She told me I was at the wrong Disney hotel on the wrong date.
Like I would make a mistake and book my trip on my birthday in the wrong month? I dont think so.
I told her to look again.
Hmm was her reaction. I wanted to strangle this woman every time she said that.
Could you possible made a mistake and booked the wrong date? She asked.
NO I said.
I can see if I can find you something now if you would like but you will need to pay in full.
Yes, I would like something now and I HAVE paid in full 45 days ago when I was supposed to. I replied.
It says here you have only paid the $200 deposit. She said.
You can imagine my stress level about now. It was a good thing that Dh was away from the desk at this point. He would not be feeling very magical.
At some point during the confusion the CM decided to actually plug in my reservation numbers instead of my name.
Voila! A current reservation paid in full popped up.
Here we are. She says.
Then another Hmm.
What name do you go by? she asks.
We finally get down to the problem.
The CM had been plugging in my
Travel Agent's name since her name was on the front of my envelope. My Travel Agent has the same first name as me so when the CM was calling me by my first name all seemed normal. My Travel Agent was planning a trip a few weeks from now and she was looking up her reservation not mine.
So I showed her my passport and all my reservation papers including the receipt that I was paid in full to Disney and got everything straightened out.
I said I wasnt going to complain but now that I think of it I should have made a call to her supervisor while I was there. Deep down I knew Disney would find a place for me even when she couldnt find me in the system since I had my paperwork with me but it was still quite stressful.
It was after 5pm when I left her. She had sucked up all my patience. I needed a drink. I didnt think I could be civil to her long enough to listen to her show me on the map where the food court and other things were. I barely let her tell me where my room was. I needed to break free of her.
She put my name on a birthday button for me and sent us on our way. I had wanted to get my birthday button with "Diamond" written on it but figured it wasn't worth the hassle to try and explain yet another name to her.
Oh I must mention Dhs surprise. He had talked to our travel agent about possible surprises for my birthday. She suggested he call the resort and request an upgraded room. So he did. Dh called Disney all on his own to request a water view. The stars were in alignment (they must have foreseen my lengthy check-in wait) and we were granted one. He was so pleased with himself. He practically bounced all the way to our room.
I tried to keep positive as we found our way to our assigned room. It was too hard to stay in a negative frame of mind anyway. There is something so exciting about entering your hotel room for the first time. Even a non-Disney hotel room. My Disney bubble started percolating again.
Here is a picture of the resort map. You can see that we were in the main building off to one side. It didn't take us long to get to the food court, the buses, or the pool. I was pretty please with our location.
We arrived at our room. Giraffe Trail room 4008. Both of us stood looking at the door for a few minutes blankly. Were so used to the kids fighting over who gets to open the door that we have become trained to stop and let someone else open it. We had a laugh over it.
I performed the honor of opening the door for the first time.
Here is our room.
We had a King bed and a lovely even though it was slightly obstructed by foliage view of the pool. I liked it obstructed like that. It made it seem more private.
Here is our balcony view.
The room was a good size but the bathroom was enormous. I think we must have had a wheelchair accessible suite. There were bars along the walls and the doors were wider than normal. Maybe all the AKL rooms are wheelchair assessable? I really didnt do much research on the actual resort. Surprising I know but I had been so busy with the actual planning of each day that I kept forgetting to look into AKL.
So as I said, the bathroom was huge but I must say the actual décor of the room and the size of the bedroom left me feeling let down. I guess I expected a bit more. Its nice and all but not overly nice. More of a moderate hotel feeling than a deluxe one in my opinion.
After running to check out the bathroom and the balcony I turned on Stacy and searched in my luggage for my coconut rum and cans of diet coke. I poured myself a drink (Dh had packed himself a couple of cans of beer and opened one too) and started to do a quick unpack.
Time was of the essence so I knew I couldnt do a full unpacking. I mostly just took out stuff Id need to turn in once we got back and stuff I needed to freshen up with to get ready for dinner. I wasnt going to my 40th dinner celebration without making myself look presentable and showering off any airplane residue.
Both Dh and I had a real quick shower and changed into our dinner wear. We were out the door in record time.
Where did we go? Heres your hint. Its in a park and Ive never eaten there before.
) and have caught up with your report. I am so glad you finally got to target. I wouldn't know what to do if I couldn't go to target when I wanted 
Can't wait to read more.
ready to fly to the palm trees. and YES I'll say it, my imaginary trip would have me going in the store so YES you went in the store! INTERESTING, you bet!! 
Shh! Don’t tell him.
I am so getting some on our way home from Buffalo!
