zummerzet66
Are we there yet?!
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2009
Thursday 10th April 2008
The Cast:
Me (Matt) 42, though young at heart!
DW (Claire) 41, and ditto
DS11 (Samuel), already a teenager!
DS9 (Tommy), daredevil coaster rider!
and Nanny!
No lie-in again today, as this time we have an ADR at Boma for breakfast. This one, along with tomorrow's evening meal, is at the top of my list of expectations food-wise, and it doesn't let me down.
We are blown away by the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Stunning, stunning place, though, much like the Poly yesterday, too dark for our camera to give us any decent pics of indoors. If you haven't been here, why not? Go. It is incredible. We are quarter of an hour early for our ADR, so we stroll outside and see a giraffe and a few zebra in the beautiful morning light. I could live here.......
The food is just amazing. So fresh and tasty, with the hot items being exactly that. Bacon, egg etc, fresh fruits, pastries and breads to die for, so much wonderful choice (Am I selling this to you?). We are served by Chaidan, a Chinese American actually from Orlando (most CMs seem to be from elsewhere in the States), and he is excellent - attentive without being intrusive, keeping us supplied with coffee and jungle juice (hmmm.....tastes like Um Bongo to me!). It comes in at around $80, so we leave $100 as we feel a decent tip is well deserved.
From the lodge we head straight into AK, where we have just missed opening (hey, we actually opened the place a couple of days ago, so we don't mind being a few minutes late for the party!). Kilimanjaro Safari is top of the agenda, as we've heard that first thing is the best time. All those Dibbers are not wrong, and we get plenty of animal activity, as well as an enthusiastic driver (the one two years ago was okay, but you could just tell that he was reading from a script). From here we head into ITTBAB, which is probably my favourite of the 3-D presentations, and on to The Festival Of The Lion King.
A superb show, so well presented by the performers who do it several times a day, every day, and never seem to lose any of their enthusiasm. It's capped off by DS11 being pulled out of the audience by one of the performers to join in with the finale.
After this, it's time to sit in the shade with ice creams before joining the queue for Khali River Rapids. I love the theming here as the queue makes its way through. Always something to look at, and not just a tedious wait to get to the front. Two years ago, I watched with glee as DW was drenched by a wall of water as we dropped down the slope. Revenge is a sweet dish! I am thoroughly wet, head to toe, but it's a nice warm day so I'm not too bothered.
It's decided that we should grab a couple of hours of pool time back at the Villa before going out for tea, so this we do before heading out to the 535 for Bahama Breeze. DW was so disappointed last time that we didn't go, so this one's for her (although we all thoroughly enjoy it!). Following a discussion with our server, who I think is called Andrew, we decide to go for a variety of the samplers to share amongst us instead of having entrees. We go for:
BBQ Chicken Flatbread (and a second once it runs out!)
West Indian Patties
Roasted Cuban Bread
Coconut Shrimp
Creole Baked Goat Cheese
It's all delicious, and not too badly-priced either at $100 including drinks and tip, especially as I cannot resist the Key Lime Pie afterwards, as well!
As we're in the area, we have a drive over to Premium Outlets, where DW and the kids all get themselves new trainers and/or sandals, and I get a watch and wallet from Fossil (these are my birthday present from DW). When we leave, we surprise the kids by not heading home, instead driving to MGM to see if we can get in for Fantasmic. Despite it being already quite full, we manage to get pretty good seats, and are all quite blown away by the show. It's not at all what we were expecting, with very few fireworks until the end, but it is a spectacular show, highly recommended!
From here to home and bed after a long day!
The Cast:
Me (Matt) 42, though young at heart!
DW (Claire) 41, and ditto
DS11 (Samuel), already a teenager!
DS9 (Tommy), daredevil coaster rider!
and Nanny!
No lie-in again today, as this time we have an ADR at Boma for breakfast. This one, along with tomorrow's evening meal, is at the top of my list of expectations food-wise, and it doesn't let me down.
We are blown away by the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Stunning, stunning place, though, much like the Poly yesterday, too dark for our camera to give us any decent pics of indoors. If you haven't been here, why not? Go. It is incredible. We are quarter of an hour early for our ADR, so we stroll outside and see a giraffe and a few zebra in the beautiful morning light. I could live here.......
The food is just amazing. So fresh and tasty, with the hot items being exactly that. Bacon, egg etc, fresh fruits, pastries and breads to die for, so much wonderful choice (Am I selling this to you?). We are served by Chaidan, a Chinese American actually from Orlando (most CMs seem to be from elsewhere in the States), and he is excellent - attentive without being intrusive, keeping us supplied with coffee and jungle juice (hmmm.....tastes like Um Bongo to me!). It comes in at around $80, so we leave $100 as we feel a decent tip is well deserved.
From the lodge we head straight into AK, where we have just missed opening (hey, we actually opened the place a couple of days ago, so we don't mind being a few minutes late for the party!). Kilimanjaro Safari is top of the agenda, as we've heard that first thing is the best time. All those Dibbers are not wrong, and we get plenty of animal activity, as well as an enthusiastic driver (the one two years ago was okay, but you could just tell that he was reading from a script). From here we head into ITTBAB, which is probably my favourite of the 3-D presentations, and on to The Festival Of The Lion King.
A superb show, so well presented by the performers who do it several times a day, every day, and never seem to lose any of their enthusiasm. It's capped off by DS11 being pulled out of the audience by one of the performers to join in with the finale.
After this, it's time to sit in the shade with ice creams before joining the queue for Khali River Rapids. I love the theming here as the queue makes its way through. Always something to look at, and not just a tedious wait to get to the front. Two years ago, I watched with glee as DW was drenched by a wall of water as we dropped down the slope. Revenge is a sweet dish! I am thoroughly wet, head to toe, but it's a nice warm day so I'm not too bothered.
It's decided that we should grab a couple of hours of pool time back at the Villa before going out for tea, so this we do before heading out to the 535 for Bahama Breeze. DW was so disappointed last time that we didn't go, so this one's for her (although we all thoroughly enjoy it!). Following a discussion with our server, who I think is called Andrew, we decide to go for a variety of the samplers to share amongst us instead of having entrees. We go for:
BBQ Chicken Flatbread (and a second once it runs out!)
West Indian Patties
Roasted Cuban Bread
Coconut Shrimp
Creole Baked Goat Cheese
It's all delicious, and not too badly-priced either at $100 including drinks and tip, especially as I cannot resist the Key Lime Pie afterwards, as well!
As we're in the area, we have a drive over to Premium Outlets, where DW and the kids all get themselves new trainers and/or sandals, and I get a watch and wallet from Fossil (these are my birthday present from DW). When we leave, we surprise the kids by not heading home, instead driving to MGM to see if we can get in for Fantasmic. Despite it being already quite full, we manage to get pretty good seats, and are all quite blown away by the show. It's not at all what we were expecting, with very few fireworks until the end, but it is a spectacular show, highly recommended!
From here to home and bed after a long day!
