A Grand Dream of a Honeymoon - June 2011

[tinkgurl]

I just found your TR and loving it! Congrats on your wedding by the way! Reading all about your honeymoon has me excited for my own next year!

 

[splashmountainjaxson]

I can't wait to read more --- this is exactly how my DH and I would love to do a big anniversary some day , a Disney Cruise and the Grand. How lovely !!

Looking forward to your next update !

 

[anjalee6]

Emma,

Can't wait to hear more about your trip and glad that your wedding was wonderful! I like that you played games on your flight....sounds like fun!

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Hi Emma

Excellent start!! Loving it so far!! Can't wait to read more.

I get a pin at each resort we stay at and keep them in Ambers book. I think it is a really nice idea.

I really need to update my pre-trip report as I have BIG news!!

Hope you are settling well into married life.

Sara xx

 

[Sunstar]

Hi Emma! I'm joining in to read your honeymoon report. I'm so excited to see what you guys do on yours because I'm going on my honeymoon at Disney in just a month!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Kidani looks so nice! All of your pictures are making me want to stay at AKL again! Your view was amazing!!! Can't wait to hear all about the cruise!

 

[Mindy5767]

Hi Emma! I'm joining in to read your honeymoon report. I'm so excited to see what you guys do on yours because I'm going on my honeymoon at Disney in just a month!

Sunstar, when did you get married? I noticed that your Disneymoon isn't til August, but you have pics from your wedding in your signature line already! Did you have to wait to take your honeymoon? My DH and I had to wait. When we got married, we'd planned the date more than a year in advance, and didn't know he'd end up taking a summer school semester. We got married, then had to wait 3 weeks before we headed to our Hawaiian honeymoon. We just celebrated our 25th anniversary!

 

[ronnmel]

Sunstar, when did you get married? I noticed that your Disneymoon isn't til August, but you have pics from your wedding in your signature line already! Did you have to wait to take your honeymoon? My DH and I had to wait. When we got married, we'd planned the date more than a year in advance, and didn't know he'd end up taking a summer school semester. We got married, then had to wait 3 weeks before we headed to our Hawaiian honeymoon. We just celebrated our 25th anniversary!

I'm not sunstar, but I too am taking a Dsineymoon a little while after my wedding. We got married in May in Cuba. Since I'm a teacher I could not take more than one week off of school, so we decided to go on our honeymoon during the summer. Since we already had to wait, we might as well wait until the end of summer, to get somehow lower crowds and cheaper rates.

 

[disneybarbie]

congrats on your wedding! welcome back from your honeymoon! can't wait to read about your trip!!!

Hi! Thank you for reading along so far, more updates soon!

I'm here Emma! I am so glad that you started your TR!! Wow, the premium economy looks so nice! Everything from the lounge to the meal sounds first class! I can already tell that this is going to be one amazing trip! I can't wait to hear all about it!

Hi Courtney! I wouldn't normally write so much about the journey to Orlando, but flying PE really made a great start to our honeymoon

Hi, I'm here! After following your last TR, I ended up lurking your wedding journal and I'm back here for this one. Congrats on your wedding! Your Disneymoon sounds fantastic and I can't wait to hear all about it. Great start so far...looks like a nice travel experience! And AKL is such a nice resort to enjoy. And YUM to breakfast at Boma! Looking forward to hearing about your cruise too!

Hi! Thank you for reading - we really enjoyed AKL, nice to experience another resort; it felt like a separate vacation to the cruise and week at the Grand Floridian
I think it was your TR that inspired me to find out about airport lounges for this trip.. didn't you get to use one in December?!

Woohoo! You've started the TR of your Disneymoon.

Wow, that PE thing on the plane and the lounge look fabulous. Way to make the long trip enjoyable.

AKL is gorgeous. Would love to stay there one day.

Bud Light Lime is also one of the only beer I like.

Hi! Thank you for reading so far.. not long until your Disneymoon now

I'm in! I lurked on your PJ, but thought I'd join in for the TR! Can't wait to hear more!

Welcome! More updates coming soon

Great start Emma, sounds like a nice journey over and lovely start to the trip
Look forward to reading more

Thanks Sarah, it was a great start to the honeymoon; felt like VIPs with all the 'fast pass' lines through the airport, using a lounge and then getting to sit upstairs on the plane!

Couldn't possibly miss this TR! Can't wait to read about the cruise!!!

Thanks for reading.. will get to the cruise soon!

Hi Emma, I'm here..., wow... I've never gotten in when it was still on the first page. this is a first

AKL looks really lovely. I've only been there to eat at Sanaa. I would like to stay there someday, but I think if I did, I'd miss my "old" neighborhood... Saratoga. The VA plane looks really nice and so does PE. I've never heard of that level. Maybe American airlines don't have it.

Bud Lite Lime is also one of the only beers that I like. I'm excited to read about your honeymoon. You are such a beautiful couple!

I like that Minnie and Mickey call. I'll have to see if I can get that arranged for my Disneymoon couple (clients) that are getting married and going to AKL in November.

Hi Mindy! Thanks for reading so far.. I guess PE is a bit like business class - bigger seats, nicer meals & more perks - not quite as fancy as first class though hehe.

I had read about the voice mails from Disney characters (you can request them from the front desk) but we got one at AKL and then again the GF completely by surprise!

Woo Hooo!!

Hi Nikki... glad you're here!

Hi. I can't wait to read more about your trip report. on the great start.

Thank you for joining in! I'm looking forward to 'reliving' the trip by writing it up

Yay you started. Still reading your PTR update then back to catch up here

Ok all caught up, lovely start to your honeymoon. PE is just the best right and the bubble makes it all worthwhile

AKV looks gorgeous, glad you were able to sort the transfer problem. Love when Disney makes things happen and takes care of you

Hi Stefy! We enjoyed PE so much, if only we could fly in those seats every flight lol

I had been a little concerned that our transfers to & from port might be wrong, bit confusing that we were coming from one resort but back to another! But like you say Disney sorted everything out.. they could have left us on the phone to DCL but the CM wanted us to get on with our evening & relax!

Hi Emma! I'm joining in to hear all about your honeymoon!

Great start - I loved reading about the plane journey and how enjoyable it was. Your AKL room and view looks amazing- it must have been great waking up to that in the morning!

Just discovered and started reading your TR! Love it! Can't wait for more!


I love that VA gives you little ice creams on the flight!

Welcome! I really like the icecreams on VA flights, they always seem to hand them out at just the right time...4/5 hours into the flight!

Hi Emma!! Wow, that plane ride looks amazing!! I love to fly anyway, but that would have put me over the moon! Seems like it was the PERFECT splurge for your honeymoon! Can't wait for more

Hi! It really was a nice way to travel we used up a lot of our VA miles and bought the tickets using a 'miles plus money' option I like everything about flying.. except turbulence! I really don't like it.. my sister was cabin crew for a few years and explained to me that nothing is going to happen, it's just the air pressure... but I still get scared and grip onto the arms of the seat! but my fear of turbulence is outweighed by my love of Disney World - and it's the only way to ge there from here hehe.

Congratulations! It sounds like you planned an amazing trip. The Premium seats on the airplane seems like a great way to start your trip!

Thank you for reading so far!

Hi Emma!

Wanted to know, where did you get that countdown on your phone?! Is that an app or something already in the iPhone!?

Love what you have so far!

Hi! The countdown is an app for the iphone - search for 'wdw vacation countdown', I think it cost £0.69 so is probably $0.99 - the picture changes everytime you open the app and can send you a reminder once a day with the new countdown! You can also take a picture of the screen and post it to facebook/twitter or email it.

Fantastic start! I can't wait to hear all about it!

I just found your TR and loving it! Congrats on your wedding by the way! Reading all about your honeymoon has me excited for my own next year!

Thank you both for reading along so far! I better get writing more!

I can't wait to read more --- this is exactly how my DH and I would love to do a big anniversary some day , a Disney Cruise and the Grand. How lovely !!

Looking forward to your next update !

Thank you - I'd had the idea of a cruise and the GF as a honeymoon for ages - I was so pleased when Steve agreed to Disney for our honeymoon!

Emma,

Can't wait to hear more about your trip and glad that your wedding was wonderful! I like that you played games on your flight....sounds like fun!

Hi! more coming soon - it was really nice they did the Disney character competition on the plane for the kids; they obviously realised that 90% of the passengers were probably on their way to WDW! As we left the plane I noticed that they'd pinned all the drawings to a wall near the exit so other passengers could see!

Hi Emma

Excellent start!! Loving it so far!! Can't wait to read more.

I get a pin at each resort we stay at and keep them in Ambers book. I think it is a really nice idea.

I really need to update my pre-trip report as I have BIG news!!

Hope you are settling well into married life.

Sara xx

Hi Sara! Thanks for reading - looking forward to the update to your PTR soon!
Married life is going very well.. can't believe it's been over a month already still finding places that I need to change my surname, but I'll get there!

Hi Emma! I'm joining in to read your honeymoon report. I'm so excited to see what you guys do on yours because I'm going on my honeymoon at Disney in just a month!

Hi! Welcome and congrats on your trip... not long to go now!



Right.. next update coming soon!


Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

Tuesday 21st June 2011

Morning at Animal Kingdom Lodge

We both woke up at about 4am because of the jet lag – I always love waking up that first morning at Disney and thinking “we’re here!”
We slept a bit more than got up about 6am – I made some coffee and we went out on the balcony; there were a lot of animals on the savannah.

We liked in the room that there was an animal guide sheet, which you can tick off all the species of animal & bird you see on the savannah.

Steve also saw a rabbit – near the very subtle fencing that stops the animals getting too close to the hotel!

We saw the sunrise too…

I noticed the net curtains in our room had Lion King characters on them!

We got showered and packed up the bags, and attached the all important Disney Cruise Line tags to our luggage!

There was a knock on the door just before 8am, and a porter took out luggage – the next time we’d see it would be outside our stateroom door on the Dream!


We said goodbye to the room and walked over to Jambo House. Steve dropped his rucksack off at bell services (didn’t want to carry around his laptop and camera for the next few hours!) and we explored the resort a bit more.

We went outside and looked at the flamingos

We spoke to a cast member who was from Botswana – he described how each of the Savannahs around the resort were slightly different, and that most of the animals had gone for breakfast at this time of day so it was a bit quiet!



Another CM took our photo…

We had a look in the gift shop, and then went downstairs to Boma to check in for our breakfast.

We hadn’t eaten here before but I’d heard nothing but good things about the meals here. It didn’t disappoint – Steve said it was one of the best breakfasts he’d ever had!

Our server brought us coffee, tea and juice (orange, passionfruit & guava, I think).
I tried turkey bobote, cornbeef hash and scrambled eggs with goats cheese – then we had some fruit and pastries too.

After breakfast, we went outside and sat by the pool for a couple of hours – we read through our cruise documents and I caught up with writing my vacation diary! Originally I thought we’d spend the morning at Kidani Village, but it made sense to stay at Jambo House as this is where we were being picked up to go to Port Canaveral.

At 11.30, we went up to the lobby and collected Steve’s bag, then sat and waited.

Very soon, a CM approached us in a Cruise Line style costume; she said to us “are you on the cruise?” – then she ticked our names off a list, and told us that we’d start lining up for the buses very soon!
There must have been about 100 people taking the transfer bus from AKL to the ship – we all lined up in the lobby and then walked out to the DCL bus, lots of the AKL CMs waved to us as we left!
We got talking to a family behind us, they noticed my ‘Just Married’ badge and I noticed they were wearing Disney Dream inaugural cruise tshirts! They said they’d been on over 30 Disney cruises and this was their third time on the Dream.

Soon we were outside next to one of the lovely Disney Cruise Line buses!

....

 

[anjalee6]

I love how peaceful everything looks in the morning. Glad you were able to relax a little after your long flight. We are staying at AKL in Sept. for a little suprise get away for the kids and we can't wait. I love it there and you're right...the breakfast at Boma is one of my favorites.

 

[Tracy161]

Wow, that sunrise was amazing!!! Sounds like a great start to your honeymoon!

 

[ronnmel]

I didn't know they had a list of all the animals of the savannah, which you can check off as you see them. Very cool.

The sunrise is very pretty.

Hope you got over the jet lag eventually and were able to sleep in a little more.

 

[disneylovin24]

I love those Lion King curtains! I want those for my room at home

My family went to Boma a few years ago for dinner: I loved it, no one else did. The Breakfast looks really interesting/good!

Can't wait to read about the dream!

 

[carri5317]

Great Report so far! Can't wait to hear the rest!

 

[tinkgurl]

As crazy as it may sound, I actually love mornings at WDW. Everything is so peaceful and quiet before the crowds wake up. That sunrise is so pretty!

How cool there's a check list to mark off the animals you see! Do you remember how many animals there were all together on the list?

Aw, I bet it was sad to say goodbye to the room. I always have a hard time with leaving!

How fun you got to spend some time around the Resort with breakfast and exploring before getting on the bus.

 

[Leshaface]

Great update!

We'd love to try Boma sometime!

And to the family that's been on 30 cruises! That's so awesome! Because I was nosy, I decided to see when Disney Cruise Line got started, and it got started in July of 1998! That means this family did at least 2 cruises a year!

Can't wait for your next update!

 

[Joyciemc]

Hi Emma! Great start, your flight sounds like a mini vacation in itself!

I am so excited to read the rest of the report!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Love all the morning AKL pics! Looks like a great resort - can't wait to visit it.

Am glad you both enjoyed Boma for breakfast and can't wait to hear about the cruise

 

[Sunstar]

Sunstar, when did you get married? I noticed that your Disneymoon isn't til August, but you have pics from your wedding in your signature line already! Did you have to wait to take your honeymoon? My DH and I had to wait. When we got married, we'd planned the date more than a year in advance, and didn't know he'd end up taking a summer school semester. We got married, then had to wait 3 weeks before we headed to our Hawaiian honeymoon. We just celebrated our 25th anniversary!

We got married on May 1, but since the school year wasn't over then we had to wait to honeymoon. I love going to WDW at the end of August and then free dining came out so that cemented when we were going.