A Sister & Brother Return! The Trip Report! Updated 10/31--Page 23!

[MeMom]

David grabbed my arm and pulled me out of there, he was anxious for the AKL! Lets go!!

I do know what you mean about the heat. That day we were at Hollywood Studios watching the Star Wars parade it was close to unbearable.

It had to feel good to pull up to this sign and be able to call it home for a while.

I got my goodie package yesterday. The magnet is on the side of my refrigerator, and Minnie will be going to school with me. Thanks for the happiness!

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

You are too funny to name your fan. Those fans are amazing, I needed one too when we went in summer '04. No one loves the extreeme heat. Dole whip, Yummy!!! Love your shirts.

 

[troobabiee7]

I think I'm the only person in the world (or at least on the boards ) who hasn't had a Dole Whip! I definitely have to try one next summer. I loved your pictures from the MK, especially the Peter Pan ones. How cute that you can fight Captain Hook! I love all the interactive photo-ops they're adding on Photopass. Thanks for the update, I'm definitely looking forward to more!

 

[k_reile]

I think I'm the only person in the world (or at least on the boards ) who hasn't had a Dole Whip! I definitely have to try one next summer. I loved your pictures from the MK, especially the Peter Pan ones. How cute that you can fight Captain Hook! I love all the interactive photo-ops they're adding on Photopass. Thanks for the update, I'm definitely looking forward to more!

No you are not. I have never had one and nor will I try one because I do not like pineapple.

 

[troobabiee7]

No you are not. I have never had one and nor will I try one because I do not like pineapple.

At least I'm not alone! I love pineapple though so I definitely have to check it out

 

[Nicole786]

Great trip report!! Can't wait to read more.

Thanks for reading!!

That resort is way huge! I think we stayed around you, because we too were close to that fountain.

I am shocked that David did Everest AND you touched that snake... yuck!

Way cool that you met Jiminy Cricket. I have never seen him out!

He is at the conservation station in AKL! Must be nice in the AC! lol

I will be more excited after I call the doctor tomorrow.

Glad to see everything worked out okay, now you must be excited!

Hey, I just found your TR and went through the whole thing. I'm really enjoying it...sounds like you had a great trip! I like all your pictures and the videos.

I can't wait to hear about AKL...we stayed there in May for the first time and had a blast. Looking forward to more.

Thanks for reading!! AKL is coming up soon!

We are the same way!!! The littlest things make our day!



My favorite MK treat -- I love the idea of eating them in the POTC line -- I will have to remember that.



HURRAY! HURRAY! HURRAY!

This trip was all about the little things, especially the little things at AKL!! POTC is even better when there is no line and you eat the dole whip ON the ride! wahoo!

Too funny that you named your fan.

We kept referring to him as that the entire week! lol

Love that photo pass pic of you 2!

I can't wait to hear all about AKL but I am secretly jealous that you had no rain on the trip.

Oh we had rain, just wait and see....

Sounds like a rough morning! I bet AKL fixed that right up for you!

Can't wait to hear about your experience there.

AKL is coming right up!! I can't wait to share!

Akl!

YAY!

I hate heat.

great update and pics.

sounds like the morning was good for rides.

Can't wait to hear about AKL.

The heat makes me want to punch someone, it just makes you so so cranky, i hope to not go in the summer again!

You poor things! You could have melted faster than those dole whip floats (yummo). I hope your room was ready when you got to AKL! You both deserve a break! You got a ton done in the AM though, so be proud!

We did good in the AM! I'd love to see your secret plans though! We do alright, MK is very overwhelming to me because it seems the things I want to do are in the total opposite direction, so my plan is just get there early FP SOMETHING and randomly go through attractions

You have given me a great idea with the dole whip float. I can't wait to try that. I can't wait to hear about the AKL.

Its so good! YOU MUST TRY IT!

I do know what you mean about the heat. That day we were at Hollywood Studios watching the Star Wars parade it was close to unbearable.

It had to feel good to pull up to this sign and be able to call it home for a while.

I got my goodie package yesterday. The magnet is on the side of my refrigerator, and Minnie will be going to school with me. Thanks for the happiness!

David picked out the postcard, he said it was cool that it was a magnet! Glad you liked it and everything arrived good, its the least we can do!

You are too funny to name your fan. Those fans are amazing, I needed one too when we went in summer '04. No one loves the extreeme heat. Dole whip, Yummy!!! Love your shirts.

That fan saved our sanity!! I'll bring it on trips from now in, i'll get my money's worth! lol!

I think I'm the only person in the world (or at least on the boards ) who hasn't had a Dole Whip! I definitely have to try one next summer. I loved your pictures from the MK, especially the Peter Pan ones. How cute that you can fight Captain Hook! I love all the interactive photo-ops they're adding on Photopass. Thanks for the update, I'm definitely looking forward to more!

You need to try one, and you're right about all the new photopass pictures! they are a lot of fun, i've seen some new ones popping up with stitch

No you are not. I have never had one and nor will I try one because I do not like pineapple.

I don't like pineapple either!! Don't let this scare you away, it is delicious!

At least I'm not alone! I love pineapple though so I definitely have to check it out

You need to get one!

 

[Laneychris]

great pics

 

[Nicole786]

It was time for the AKL!!!! We were so beyond thrilled and excited when we pulled up and were welcomed home! You saw the first shots David took as we drove in, but we have so much more!! We parked the car and walked in and it was just breathtaking, it was such a great moment, we were giddy, excited...I have butterflies just remembering!

Here is a video I took of David in the lobby as we waited to check in. We told you, the kid loves his Dole Whips!!

Click here for video

Check in was a breeze, and guess what? A little bit of magic occurred!

Basically, I had requested to be close to the lobby when I made the reservation because we booked a standard room, and the resort is quite large, and I pretty much said to myself "well If I can't see the animals, i'd rather look at the parking lot as long as we were close to the lobby." So we checked in, and our room was ready!! yeah!! The woman checking us in said, "I notice you wanted to be close to the lobby" Which I was surprised at because i've never heard them mention any requests. She continued, "We tried our best to accommodate that" and I went yay! We would be pretty close! Than she said "The view is of construction as long as you dont mind" And like I said earlier, I didn't care what the view was, I knew it was standard, I just wanted to be close...So I said okay and she smiled and went great, We finished everything up, got our room number, keys and were on our way!!

So we got to our room, you won't believe this location!! (video in a later chapter) did I mention we were on the lobby floor?? no elevator!! And I immediately ran outside to see the view, I think its pretty much what everyone does. Well boy was I surprised when I went out there and we had a SAVANNAH VIEW!!!! I yelled for David, because not only did we have the view, we had animals people!!!

Oh and another kind of animal!

We were beyond excited!!! We couldn't believe how lucky we were!! We called for the luggage and it was there within minutes, and with that it was time to explore! We wanted to head to Mara to get our mugs, and do some brief exploring.

AKL was so awesome, I am now very spoiled by deluxe hotels!

We ended up at Mara and kind of just relaxed and soaked in while sitting there, it really is a cool place. The woman ringing us up took note of our key card and went "Oh you guys just got here! You'll definitely get use out of these" I KNOW!!! I was beaming. So was David!

So we retreated back to our room and just relaxed for a little while. I looked at the activity sheet and noticed that at 3PM "Kingpin" would be at the gift shop trading pins. I thought that might be cool and was just too excited to lay down. David wanted to relax but he gave in and we went to the gift shop to check it out...this was a lot of fun! Every day he would have a big turn out but he was just the sweetest guy!! I usually feel pretty weird trading pins at my age, but he was just so nice about everything and really encouraged the kids around him to trade with eachother, it was such a treat! I suggest if you're around the AKL at 3pm during a week day go check him out! (and don't tell your kids, but he's also a gift shop CM and really nice)

After that we decided to go to the top floor to some of the viewing areas that are around

Finally it was time to relax! We had dinner at Kona that night and Wishes at MK!! We needed our rest! We didn't have much time, but just laying down soaking it all in really helped.

 

[Nicole786]

When relaxing time was over, we took the bus to MK which didn't take long at all! Very good bus service at AKL

Once at MK we took the monorail to the Poly, this is always fun, how can you not love the monorail??

Finally it was time for Kona AKA to me, the best meal of the trip!

I couldn't get over this meal!! We started out with sticky wings, these were soooo good!!

The bread they give you is also to die for, it comes with macadamia honey butter, we couldn't get enough of it.

The bread rocked!

I ordered the pineapple teriyaki steak and david ordered the coconut almond chicken, both were DELICIOUS!! So so good, mine especially, it was AWESOME!!!

The chicken rocked!

David entertained himself by making a Mickey our of the soda cups!

They have the desserts on display so you can get up and go pick out what you want, I chose the volcano lava cake, and David chose the kona cone...Again, the pictures speak for themselves both desserts were delicious!!

Kona was my favorite meal of the trip and possibly my favorite meal at Disney!! So with our tummys filled, we decided to explore the Poly, and see...the gift shop!! I know i know, but I had an exchange to take care of so I had an excuse, plus I wanted to see if they had the same pin I still couldn't find from the Contemporary.

No such luck

After exploring a bit, we took the monorail to MK! Woohoo!

It was a relaxing night, so we took the train to frontierland and FP big thunder

We decided to walk over to tomorrowland and do a favorite of ours, monsters inc....I love this show, im one of those rare people that would actually like to be picked, but I don't fall into the proper age group for this show, so maybe one day!

After that it was time for David's favorite MK ride (another one he conquered not too long ago) Space Mountain!! We used our FP from earlier, and walked right on!

The sun was setting when we walked out and we slowly took our time to the other side of the park to use our BTMR FP. This ride was even more fun in the dark!

 

[Nicole786]

We made it across Frontierland just in time because Spectro was about to start on Main Street. David doesn't like Spectro (I know, right!) so we compromised and I promised him a dole whip with our almost expired snack credits from our CSR stay as we took our treats to a bridge that overlooked main street with an okay view of the parade...good enough for me, it was nice and quiet!!

dole whip.

From there we walked over to Main Street and spent time shopping in the gift shops!! Hooray my favorite past time!

We checked out a lot of the main street gift shops I had never been in until it was time for Wishes!!

I didn't take any pictures of Wishes because I just wanted to soak it all in, finally having a week long resting place, I felt very content and excited that the first day of the rest of the trip had begun!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I am LOVING all your photos of AKL!!! How many nights did you stay there?

What a great view from your room!!!

 

[troobabiee7]

Great pictures! Isn't that bridge on the top floor of the AKL the best?! I love just hanging out up there. And I'm so glad you liked the Kona Cafe! It was my favorite back in 2006 - the food coupled with the atmosphere is just AMAZING!! Great pictures from the MK. I'm glad you had a good time - your pictures of the princess statues are so pretty!

 

[MeMom]

Great update! Isn't the Zawadi gift shop just awesome? I love shopping there! I love shopping anywhere, but I enjoy shopping there for some of the unique things they have.

Yay for the rockin' bread and rockin' chicken. We have not tried Kona, but man, that steak looks so good. It was one of the places I was thinking we might go for our first evening kick-off meal.

I'm glad you got a good room. David looks pretty happy in the pictures.

I enjoy the video clips a lot. I am so glad that you are thoughtful enough to take those and share them with us.

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

Yum! Kona looks deeeelicious!!!!

Yay for an upgrade to Savannah View!

I love Dole Whips also. I plan on having quite a few in November!

 

[scottny]

Kona was my favorite last time too and in about 44 hours I will be there eating again.

great pics and on the room.

 

[KatGarcia]

I ate at kona as well this trip and it was great!!!!!

Awesome update, what great luck on the room!!!! I can't wait to see animal pics from your room!

 

[declansdad]

Great update Nicole! Love all the pictures and videos. I laughed a bit when I saw David come flying out of the slide at CSR.

You have to love when you get those unexpected room upgrades. That happened to us last year at the Poly (fantastic view of the entire lagoon from the concierge longhouse).

 

[MeMom]

You have to love when you get those unexpected room upgrades. That happened to us last year at the Poly (fantastic view of the entire lagoon from the concierge longhouse).

That is one awesome upgrade!

 

[Hedy]

I don;t like Spectro either.

 

[declansdad]

That is one awesome upgrade!

Yes it was but i would take the Savanah view without a complaint.

The problem with that upgrade is that some of us our now spoiled.