A Safari Christmas Goes Pop! (w/pics)

[njdisneyfreak]

I did this at first too. But the AKL continually beat out all of the others. Since we will spend quite a bit of time at the resort with the girls it just made since. There is so much to do just there at the lodge and plus the girls love animals soooooo much I can't wait to see it all decorated for Christmas.

I agree. That's one of the main reasons why we think the AKL is the best for that amount of money. We purposely set up our itinerary so we could spend a good amount of time at the resort, because it does have so much to experience and do right there. I can't wait to see it all decorated, too. Last year, when we toured the resorts, we saw the AKL decorated, but I know we didn't spend a lot of time there. We didn't have a lot of time to be there, so I am looking forward to checking out all the details. I know I'm going to take tons of pics.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Believe it or not, we still haven't gotten any of last year's pictures printed. We tend to take forever doing that, since we take so many and can see them on the computer any time we want. At some point, we want to get one or more of those digital frames to display them.

Anyway, we are going to go through the ones from the Disney Photopass CD we purchased, and decide which ones to print. We're not printing them all now. There are A LOT on that CD, but we are going to get some of them done. I'm so excited.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

One of my favorite things WDW offers is the Photopass. Any time we saw a photographer, in any of the parks, we stopped for a photo op. Why not, right? In fact, sometimes, we took the same shots more than once on different days. I realized today that I never shared any of these in my TR from last December's trip.

I thought you might want to see them. Don't worry! I won't post them all, but I just love sharing.

HERE WE ARE WITH A GOOD FRIEND OF OURS:

SOME FRIENDS WE MET FROM HAWAII:

ONE OF MY FAVORITE EPCOT SHOTS:

SMEE THOUGHT HE WAS LOOKING AT A TWIN (notice our hats):

EVERYONE NEEDS A PICTURE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE:

A PICTURE WITH ONE OF MY BEST GIRLFRIENDS:

HERE'S A TERRIFIC LOCATION IN THE GRAND FLORIDIAN:

YOU NEVER KNEW WHERE THIS LITTLE GUY WOULD POP UP:

YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT WE CAUGHT!

THIS IS THE FURRIEST BABY I'VE EVER SEEN:

WE ALMOST GOT ATTACKED!

A LITTLE TRIP TO PARIS:

OUR FRIENDS DRESSED UP FOR US:

SANTA!!!

THAT'S ALL FOLKS:

 

[bellasmommy0]

Great pics, I cant wait!!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Great pics, I cant wait!!

I can't either! It's going to be great.

 

[Raecheal]

Those are beautiful pictures!!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Those are beautiful pictures!!

Thank you. It truly pays to get all the Photopass pics you can get.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

One of the reasons we booked AKL is all that it has to offer. It's not just a place to sleep and maybe jump in the pool. We are looking forward to the activities they offer, too. That's one of the reasons we plan to spend quite a bit of time at our resort. In fact, on our first day, we probably will end up staying at the resort the whole day to enjoy the resort as much as possible, especially since we are not going to start using our park hopper till our first full day.

I found The All-New "unofficial" AKL/AKV's FAQ thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1633854 and am having so much fun reading all the information about this fabulous place where we get to stay!

There's a list of the activities on the first page. Here it is:
Updated AKL Activities as of Septmeber 9, 2006

-Horticulture Activity 9:00am Every Wednesday Arusha Rock
-Flamingo Activity Everyday 9:30am Flamingo Pond *Bead Activity
-Animal Tracking 11:00-1:30pm Everyday Arusha Rock * Bead Activity
-Arts and Crafts with Lifeguards 12:00pm Every Day Uzima Pool Deck
-Medallion Rubbing 12:30pm Everyday Lobby
-Cooking Decorating 1:00pm Everyday BOMA
-Garden Safari 2:00pm-4:30pm Everyday Flamingo Pond *Bead Activity
-Spirit of Africa Art Tour 2:30pm Everyday Ogun's Firepit
-African Games or Crafts 3:00pm Everyday Uzima Pool Deck
-Culinary Tour of Africa 4:00pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. 3:45pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Jiko Podium.
-Family Fun and Games 4:00pm and 6:00pm Everyday Contact Lifeguard for location
-Music of the Savannah 5:00pm Everyday Sunset Lounge *Bead Activity
-Wildlife Games 6:30pm Everydat Sunset Lounge *Bead Activity
-African Folktales 7:30pm Everyday Arusha Rock Firepit
-Primal Parade 7:50pm Everyday Zawadi Marketplace
-Cultural Safari 8:30pm Everyday Sunset Lounge
-Animal Viewing with Nightvision 9:00pm-11:00pm Uzima Savannah Overlook

However, if I remember correctly, the start times of some activities vary with sunset (especially the story telling). They put the specific time on the events list and the bulletin board, but it changes with the season.

The activities are free, I think for some you have to pay for the materials that are used, like the craft sessions.

We'll get to enjoy a bunch of those things on our first day. What we are most hoping to do are the Spirit of Africa Art Tour, the Jiko Culinary Tour of Africa, African Folktales by the firepit, Cultural Safari and the Nightvision Animal Viewing. We don't necessarily have to do all of these things the first day, but oh, man, there is so much to do!!!

The more I learn, the more excited I keep getting!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Yesterday, I noticed that they had posted the January hours. So, we re-evaluated our ADRs. We had already made some other minor changes here and there. Based on what we think, at this point, this is our current itinerary:

Here's my updated itinerary:

Tuesday, December 23rd
- We're arriving during the morning
- Lunch will be at Mara's, though we have a ressie for Wolfgang Puck Cafe, in case we want to go to DTD right away
- We'll probably explore the resort and possibly go swimming, but we may also go to Downtown for a while
- Dinner is at Boma. With so much to do at the resort, and wanting to get a decent night's sleep, we're staying local.

Wednesday, December 24th
- Quick yogurt or some like food from Mara's
- Head over to Epcot- Segway Tour from 7:45 to 9:45
- Late breakfast at Akershus
- Snack around the World as we enjoy Christmas festivities
- Dinner at Chef's de France
- Hollywood Studios to see the Osbourne Lights

Thursday, December 25th
- Head over to the MK for EMH and do a couple of rides, hopefully
- Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table
- Enjoy as much of the park as possible before it gets too crazy
- Lunch at Crystal Palace
- Head over to the Animal Kingdom
- Dinner at Jiko's

Friday, December 26th
- Breakfast at Boma's
- Go to Epcot
- Lunch at Marrakesh (We've never been, but I'm looking forward to this experience.)
- We may go back to resort for a little bit.
- Go to Disney's Hollywood Studios
- Dinner at Chef Mickey's
- Go to the Mk for EMH

Saturday, December 27th
- Head over to the AK
- Breakfast at Donald’s Safari Breakfast at Tusker House
- Lunch at either Flametree BBQ or Seasons, depending on if we're still in AK or if we've gone on to Epcot by lunch.
- We may make our way over to DHS at some point, or we may go back to the resort.
- Dinner at Boma

Sunday, December 28th
- Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare
- Go to the MK
- Lunch at Tony's Townsquare Restaurant
- Back to resort for a while
- Dinner at Narcoosee's (we'll also get to see and hear the MK fireworks)
- We may go back to MK for the EMH


Monday, December 29th
- Breakfast at Boma's
- Go to DHS
- Lunch at Sci-Fi
- Not sure if we'll break in between for resort time or not.
- Go to Epcot
- Dinner at the Coral Reef

Tuesday, December 30th
- Breakfast at Ohana
- Go to Downtown
- Lunch at maybe Earl of Sandwich, something light
- Resort time
- Dinner at 1900 Park Fare
- Go to MK for EMH

Wednesday, December 31st
- Breakfast at Boma
- Go to AK
- Lunch at Tusker House
- Back to resort to relax
- Go to DHS
- Dinner at Mama Melrose
- Enjoy the NYE festivities

Thursday, January 1st
- Breakfast at Boma
- Go to MK
- Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern
- We may break for resort time
- Head over to Epcot (EMH night)
- Dinner at Teppan Edo

Friday, January 2nd
- Go to MK
- Breakfast at Crystal Palace
- Lunch at either Liberty Tree Tavern which we have an ADR for or we may just decide to eat at the Plaza Restaurant, which has never been hard for us to get into
- Go to Epcot
- Dinner at Le Cellier
- If there's time and we're not exhausted, we may end our night at the MK

Saturday, January 3rd
- Return Home

So, that's our new itinerary. I think it's going to work. I can't wait to enjoy all that will be available to do, between the parks and our resort.

 

[Raecheal]

So, that's our new itinerary. I think it's going to work. I can't wait to enjoy all that will be available to do, between the parks and our resort.

Your itinerary looks great!!! : ) I wish i could tag along with yous..

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Your itinerary looks great!!! : ) I wish i could tag online with yous..

Thanks! You're going to have a pretty amazing trip yourself, and you have less time than me to wait, too! I can't wait to hear all about your trip.

 

[Mom2Kate-Anna]

The photopass pictures look great. I think I am going to give in and buy the cd before we go this time. I want to be able to finally get a family pictures after all these years of not having any from Disney. It sounds like a great deal!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

The photopass pictures look great. I think I am going to give in and buy the cd before we go this time. I want to be able to finally get a family pictures after all these years of not having any from Disney. It sounds like a great deal!

Thanks! They do a good job with the Photopass photos. You'll get a lot of great family photos using the Photopass. Don't be afraid to have them take as many pics as possible. You can do a lot with the Photopass, too. They give you options to put frames and signatures on a lot of them, such as you saw in some of my pics. You can order cool looking professionally done albums with the photos already put in for you. You can get them to put the pics into a video, on things like mugs, all sorts of things. Pretty neat.

 

[joelp]

Just checking out your revised itinerary - looks good! (more revisions to come ...? )

I would suspect the parks will be seriously crowded over the Christmas weekend, so you may want to check with a CM before you "hop" to another park to make sure it isn't "closed" (or on the verge of "closing" ... )

Restaurant Marrakesh is one of our favorites - good food and a great atmosphere.

I think they've also cancelled the Character lunches at LTT - so you may want to look into that ...

 

[DISNEY4XMAS]

Just checking out your revised itinerary - looks good! (more revisions to come ...? )

I would suspect the parks will be seriously crowded over the Christmas weekend, so you may want to check with a CM before you "hop" to another park to make sure it isn't "closed" (or on the verge of "closing" ... )

Restaurant Marrakesh is one of our favorites - good food and a great atmosphere.

I think they've also cancelled the Character lunches at LTT - so you may want to look into that ...

NJDISNEYFREAK and I were both there last year for christmas and we found the only park to close was MK. On several days they closed it after the holiday. I know (and I think she did this to) we did our visits to MK before the holiday and then spent the other days after the holiday in the other parks. I did spend Christmas day in MK but for most of the day we spent it in Adventureland and liberty square. Our dinner reservations where even at LTT. As for the characters for LTT at lunch I think your right they don't do them just for dinner.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Just checking out your revised itinerary - looks good! (more revisions to come ...? )

I would suspect the parks will be seriously crowded over the Christmas weekend, so you may want to check with a CM before you "hop" to another park to make sure it isn't "closed" (or on the verge of "closing" ... )

Restaurant Marrakesh is one of our favorites - good food and a great atmosphere.

I think they've also cancelled the Character lunches at LTT - so you may want to look into that ...

We are really looking forward to trying Marrakesh. I don't think they ever had characters at lunch. We aren't going for the characters. As for the parks Christmas weekend, see below. Thanks for the tips.

NJDISNEYFREAK and I were both there last year for christmas and we found the only park to close was MK. On several days they closed it after the holiday. I know (and I think she did this to) we did our visits to MK before the holiday and then spent the other days after the holiday in the other parks. I did spend Christmas day in MK but for most of the day we spent it in Adventureland and liberty square. Our dinner reservations where even at LTT. As for the characters for LTT at lunch I think your right they don't do them just for dinner.

You are right Disney4Xmas. Based on what we've learned from our last year trips, we discovered that as long as you begin at the MK on Christmas day, you're fine to park hop elsewhere. The MK is the only park to close people out, on Christmas Day, and it really only gets crowded in the afternoon. That's why, like last year, we're going to another park later in the day. But, like Disney4Xmas said, if you say in Adventureland and Liberty Square, it's not too bad. Yes, they only have characters at LTT for dinner. I believe that's always been the case.

The other days we're going to the MK, we'll be there early for breakfasts (or right after a Boma breakfast) or later on for late nights, so crowd levels should be good. Last year, learning what I did from TGM, the boards and our own experience, I think we've got a good itinerary.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Okay, I need your help here. I'm going to be ordering at least one pair and possibly two pairs of Crocs in about a week. I have decided that the Mary Jane shoes would work best for me. I will only have denim capris and regular length jeans. I will probably have a pair of khaki colored capris or pants, too. Based on that, which of these gets your vote?


I thought this pair might work, because they resemble sneaker color:

This pair is a possibility, because they're navy, and I wondered if that would be good with denim:

Then again, maybe I should get one pair of either brown or black Crocs, you know, neutral but darker than the white/pearl pair:

Any thoughts?

 

[DISNEY4XMAS]

MY VOTE is for the brown and the navy!!

 

[NYPDwife]

Definitely brown and black. They go with anything!

I'm waiting for the "Froc" stand in my mall to get the Mary Jane's since I can't afford the real ones from Croc!! Besides, I like to spend the difference between Frocs and Crocs on jibbitz!

 

[Mom2Kate-Anna]

I think my vote is also for navy and brown.. but I do like the black as well. I definately think that I would stick to the darker colors.