ADP Live From Universal & Disney World

[scarlett873]

Hi Everyone,

We are at the Kidani Village pool. The sun is in and out. We used the Kidani Village fitness center earlier. Later we plan to head to the Boardwalk.

Brandie, we are coming back on Sunday. Kim said you need to go tomorrow night for the both of you.

No way...lol

 

[ADP]

So you two had to shower together

One in each locker room. I should have clarified.

I like your Tiki.

Great report. The equipment looks great and what an empty gym.

The equipment is very new as you would imagine. It didn't look very used.

I think Disney security needs to do an inventory of the Tiki room before ADP leaves.

I know of no back entrance to the attraction....Just sayin'.

If you are having an unofficial meet somewhere just let me know. I can always find an excuse to visit the parks.

I'll let you know Kathy. I've got some phone calls to make so we can coordinate something. I'll send you a quick PM when we know for sure.

Count me in!! Just let me know when!

We'll call you Shelly and let you know.

No way...lol

Yes way!

 

[ADP]

Hi Everyone,

We had a change of plans tonight. Instead of heading to the Boardwalk Kim and Anna decided they wanted to see G-Force. So we headed to Downtown Disney. I had my eyes on a few things I needed to pick-up for our Labor Day meet in Indy. I picked up what I needed in the Marketplace.

Before we left for Downtown Disney we ate in the club lounge. The food offerings change each night, but are on a 7 day schedule. Here are some photos of the hot and cold food offerings served between 5:00 and 7:00PM.

Beer, pop, and milk are available in a small refrigerator around the corner. There is Bud Light, 2 African beer selections, and Heiniken.

One of the benefits of staying club level is daily maid service and evening turndown service. Even though DVC members are not supposed to get daily maid service and evening turndown service you get these benefits when you stay club level at AKV as a DVC member on points.

Here's our view from the 6th floor club lounge overlooking the AKL lobby.

I actually walked over to the West Side tonight. I had not been over there for a few years. It's changed a bit. During my walk from the Marketplace through Pleasure Island I saw a close-up of the new Characters in Flight balloon.

After the movie we caught the AKL bus from the Pleasure Island bus depot. When we got back to our room a package we had delivered from EPCOT yesterday was waiting for us. It was the poster we had made for Anna in the Kodak Imagination Labs.

Tomorrow morning we are headed over to the Animal Kingdom. We want to watch the Finding Nemo stage show and take a ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris. Tomorrow night Kim and I are headed to Narcoosees for dinner. Anna will be in the AKL kids club.

More to come!

Up Next:
Animal Kingdom
Photos in and around the Animal Kingdom Lodge
Dinner at Narcoosees

 

[A.Mickey]

All caught up!!

Where exactly is Sid's trivia in DHS? I have never heard of it!

Oh yes.....Napoleon's are the BEST!!

That is a pretty awesome Tiki!! I think you will have to get another ticket for the Tiki!

 

[tickledtink33]

Count me in for a meet. Just let me know when.

 

[katscradle]

Wow, that's a pretty nice prize to have won.
Love the tiki!
I am really enjoying your trip report.
Thank you!

 

[ADP]

All caught up!!

Where exactly is Sid's trivia in DHS? I have never heard of it!

Oh yes.....Napoleon's are the BEST!!

That is a pretty awesome Tiki!! I think you will have to get another ticket for the Tiki!

It's at the front entrance to the park. If you are facing the scorcer's hat Sid's is to your left hand side. It has a ton of famous star memoribillia you can purchase; like a pair of signed Fred Astair shoes, etc. It really is one of the coolest shops in all of Walt Disney World. The trivia board is near the entrance to the store.

Count me in for a meet. Just let me know when.

We'll be in touch Kim.

Wow, that's a pretty nice prize to have won.
Love the tiki!
I am really enjoying your trip report.
Thank you!

Thank you Katherine. Tell John I said hi.

 

[ADP]

Hi Everyone,

We are headed out the door for the Animal Kingdom. We hope to catch the Nemo show, ride the safari, and catch a ride on Expedition Everest.

I'll be back later with more.

 

[bigmoonmullen]

Hi Aaron:

Great Reports, as always.

Have a Great Day at AK.

Mark

 

[ADP]

Wednesday, August 5th

Hi Everyone,

We are back from our morning/afternoon at the Animal Kingdom. We were able to travel to Rafiki's Planet Watch, ride on Kilimanjaro Safari, and experience the Finding Nemo show.

Our day started in the AKL club lounge. We enjoyed our breakfast in the lounge. The offerings include oatmeal, Quinoa, fruit, pastries, bagels, cereal, and drinks. Here are some photos of the food offerings for breakfast.

We arrived at the Animal Kingdom around 9:30AM. The crowds weren't too bad, but you could tell things would get crowded quickly.

We tried out the new centralized fastpass system. It's located next to the entrance to "It's Tough to be a Bug". We got fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safari at the new fastpass station. Currently, you can only get Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, and Kilimanjaro Safari at the new fastpass station. There are signs telling you which attaction goes to which fastpass machine.
Here's a photo of the new centralized fastpass station.

After we got our fastpasses we headed back to Africa where we caught the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Anna wanted to see some characters and experience the petting zoo. One of the things you will see while on the train to Rafiki's is a lot of the backstage area of the animal holding areas.
Here is the holding area for the elephants.

We caught up with the characters at Conservation Station. Rafiki, Jimminy Cricket, and Poccohontis were out.

We made our way outside to the petting zoo where we saw something kind of strange, but amazing at the same time. Some of the goats had hidden Mickey's and Minnie's cut out of their fur.
Hidden Mickey

Hidden Minnie

We left Rafiki's and it was time to use our fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safari. Our wait was only 5 minutes.
During our safari we got very close to a few giraffes.

After the safari we walked over to the Theater in the Wild where the Finding Nemo show takes place. This show is worth the price of admission into the Animal Kingdom. It's very well done and very creative.
On our way over to the theater I snapped a photo of Expedition Everest in the distance.

After the Finding Nemo show it began to rain. We were planning on leaving the park anyway so we high-tailed it back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We made our way over to the club lounge where I was surprised to see how extensive the afternoon snack offerings were in the lounge. There were 2 kinds of warm cookies, rice krispy treats, potato chips, trail mix, goldfish crackers, dried fruit, and drinks. The lounge also offers something called an African Smoothie; which I must tell you is very, very, very sweet. It's so sweet I can't even drink it. If you want a quick sugar rush go have a glass, otherwise avoid it all together.
Here's a photo of the afternoon offerings at the club lounge.

We are now back in our room. Tonight Kim and I are headed to the Grand Floridian for dinner at Narcoosees. This will be the first time we've ever dined there. We are really looking forward to it. Anna is going to be spending this time in the Animal Kingdom Lodge kid's club called Simba's Clubhouse. I'll have more about our experience later.

More to come!

 

[georgemoe]

Great update Aaron! I hope Anna enjoys the club and you and Kim have a fabulous dinner.

 

[Dodie]

Be careful with that Tiki, Aaron!
Remember what happened to Greg and Peter!

 

[ADP]

Great update Aaron! I hope Anna enjoys the club and you and Kim have a fabulous dinner.

Thanks George! One of my missions tonight is to find out the right pronunciation of the restaurant.

Is it:
Nar-cu-sees

or

Nar-coo-sees

 

[wildfan1473]

Wow, that tiki is awesome!

As always, you have a terrific trip report. Keep it coming!

 

[jcb]

I may never stay concierge at the AKL (or AKV) but I have to ask, while I have the opportunity, is the food served there similar in flavor to the food at Boma?

 

[Cyrano]

Agree about the Finding Nemo show. It blew Festival of the Lion King away IMHO

 

[ADP]

I may never stay concierge at the AKL (or AKV) but I have to ask, while I have the opportunity, is the food served there similar in flavor to the food at Boma?

Yes, in fact the food comes from the same kitchen as Boma.

 

[aspen37]

Be careful with that Tiki, Aaron!
Remember what happened to Greg and Peter!

You might have to take it back Aaron.

What did you think of Narcoossee's?

 

[ADP]

Hi Everyone,

We are back from our evening at Narcoosees. We had an incredible evening. Let me just say there are certain things that can happen at Walt Disney World that you will never forget, and for us tonight was one of them.

We dropped Anna off at Simba's Clubhouse around 5:45PM. We headed for the AKL bus depot and took the bus to the Magic Kingdom. We decided it was such a nice night we would take the boat over to the Grand Floridian. While waiting for the boat I snapped this picture of the Grand Floridian from afar.

We took the boat over to the Grand Floridian where it dropped us off right by Narcoosees. Actually, it was Kim's idea to take the boat. It was a great idea and saved us a lot of time. We checked in 5 minutes before our ADR time and we were seated within 3 minutes. We had a seat right by the window with a beautiful view of the Contemporary, BLT, and the Magic Kingdom.

We both ordered a glass of house white Chardonay. We started with an appetizer of fried calamari. Narcoosees specializes in fish selections so the calamari didn't disappoint. It was delicious!

For our main dishes Kim ordered the free range chicken with mashed potatoes and spinach greens on the side. I ordered the filet mignon with scalloped potatoes and green beans.
Here's a photo of my entree.

After we finished our entree we decided we would split a dessert. We both agreed the strawberry shortcake sounded refreshing so we gave it a try.

We finished our dessert and received our bill. The total bill with the 20% Tables in Wonderland discount and 18% grauity came to $107. I felt the meal was worth the price; especially the company.

As we left Narcoosees Kim suggested we take the walking path from the Grand Floridian to the Polynesian. So we took a leisurly stroll along the walking path. Some of you may know along this walking path is Disney's Wedding Pavillion. We decided to stop along the way and look at the pavillion from the outside. We were surprised to see the gate was open so we decided to go inside the gate. We looked inside the main entrance and unbelievably the front door was open and the lights were on in the chapel. No one was there and the theme song to Beauty and the Beast was playing through the speakers. I was literally overwhelmed. Here we were inside Disney's wedding pavillion with no one there and great music in the background. We shared some words inside the pavillion I'll never say on these boards, but they were very special to us. It was something I'll never forget for the rest of my life.
Here are some photos from inside the wedding pavillion.

After we left the wedding pavillion we finished our walk to the Polynesian. We took the resort monorail to the Magic Kingdom where we caught the bus back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had a great night. I couldn't imagine a better setting for our evening.

Anna had a great time at Simba's Clubhouse. The best compliment I can make for Simba's Clubhouse is Anna wants to go back tomorrow. I don't think that will happen, but it was nice to hear she had such a good time.

Tomorrow we plan to head back to EPCOT later in the day. Tomorrow night we have an Illuminations Dessert party planned in the Italy pavillion. We are looking forward to seeing many of our friends there.

More to come!

Up Next:
EPCOT
Illumnations Dessert Party

 

[kpadalik]

Sounds like you had a great day! The wedding pavilion story is so sweet That moment was obviously meant to happen and one that won't be forgotten, for sure. I can hear the music now...