Concierge Level Here We Come! - Index added

[magicmommy]

Great trip report! We were in room 6206 in April!

 

[TheresaNY]

Love your TR thus far and eagerly waiting for more ! Specifically interested in all the Concierge details as we leave in 24 days for our first ever Club level stay. Is valet also included in non DVC concierge stays? Can you take breakfast back to your room? Any specific spots in the Lodge not to miss ? I have cats too so I am getting very anxious for the kitty !! Hurry with the hopefully good news that all turned and well !!!

 

[Donald is #1]

Great trip report! We were in room 6206 in April!

Wow! What a small world!

Love your TR thus far and eagerly waiting for more ! Specifically interested in all the Concierge details as we leave in 24 days for our first ever Club level stay. Is valet also included in non DVC concierge stays? Can you take breakfast back to your room? Any specific spots in the Lodge not to miss ? I have cats too so I am getting very anxious for the kitty !! Hurry with the hopefully good news that all turned and well !!!

Thank you! Please feel free to ask any questions that I don't cover. I am not sure on the valet parking for non-DVC members.

Yes, you can take breakfast back to your room. However, you may want to see how far your room is from the lounge first because some of the people in the lounge were commenting on how far their walks were.

I would definitely check out all of the animal viewing areas including going to the end of the Kudo trail and almost the end of the Zebra trail and going out on their stairways/fire escapes. I will be posting photos from those spots tonight if my photos finish uploading.

 

[Donald is #1]

Once we got back to AKV, Marge decided that she wanted to go for a swim and I decided to shop in the gift shop and then go take some pictures around the lodge. First I decided to take some pictures from the concierge lounge into the lobby.

After I finished taking the lobby pictures, I put my tripod back in the room and headed off in search of animals. I first stopped by the entrance to the gift shop and spent 10-15 minutes talking with the CM there. I was looking for advice on viewing areas that I hadn't found yet. She directed me down the end of the Kudo trail to the fire escape/outdoor staircase. I'll be splitting the pictures up into 2 posts since I took so many.

 

[Donald is #1]

Once I got to the staircase, I of course checked the door to make sure that it wouldn't close on me. My goal was to find Kidani, the baby zebra. I was surprised to see that I wasn't the only person on the staircase. There was a family a floor below me and some mousekeepers above me watching the animals.

Are you ready??? Well here goes:

Finally, the baby zebra, Kidani! I had to go up the staircase to the 5th floor in order to see he/she and as soon as I took 2 pictures, it headed back into the barn.

 

[Donald is #1]

Next, I decided to head down to the Zebra trail to see if I could find a similar staircase in order to find the baby giraffe. Well, I ended up trying 2 different ones and was able to find the baby giraffe!

 

[SunnieRN]

Wow, I'm loving your trip report and your pictures are absolutely breathtaking! Can't wait to read/see more!
I have a dream to stay concierge level at AK when my grandsons are old enough to appreciate the sunrise savannah tour! Can't wait to hear about it!

 

[donaldtutter]

Unbelievable pictures!!! The baby zebra and baby giraffe are so cute!!

 

[themilesfamily]

Great photos!!!! These pics are making me even MORE excited to go to AKV. They are a good reminder, too, that there is A LOT to see and do at this resort -- and I need to build some substantial "hotel time" into our itinerary.

Can't wait to read more.

 

[MomsOf2boys]

I love the baby animal pictures! Awww... they will be a bit more grown before i see them. And as for the fireescape viewing... I would never have tried it thinking an alarm would go off when i opened the door or I would get locked out! Great to see your door bravery! Great report!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Great pictures! Especially the baby pix... too cute. Keep the installments coming. I'm curious to find out if you tried the night viewing using the night vision goggles...

 

[Donald is #1]

Wow, I'm loving your trip report and your pictures are absolutely breathtaking! Can't wait to read/see more!
I have a dream to stay concierge level at AK when my grandsons are old enough to appreciate the sunrise savannah tour! Can't wait to hear about it!

The sunrise savannah tour was great. Once I finally get to posting about Sunday, I will give you the details.

Unbelievable pictures!!! The baby zebra and baby giraffe are so cute!!

Thank you! I had seen posted pictures on the boards before I left. So I just had to go find them.

Great photos!!!! These pics are making me even MORE excited to go to AKV. They are a good reminder, too, that there is A LOT to see and do at this resort -- and I need to build some substantial "hotel time" into our itinerary.

Can't wait to read more.

Thanks! There is definitely plenty to do! In my 2 trips to AKL so far, I think that I have seen more animals in late afternoon than I have in the mornings. So when you go, look for the animals at different times of the day.

I love the baby animal pictures! Awww... they will be a bit more grown before i see them. And as for the fireescape viewing... I would never have tried it thinking an alarm would go off when i opened the door or I would get locked out! Great to see your door bravery! Great report!

I too was worried about going out on the fire escape. The last thing that I wanted to do was to set off an alarm. So I stopped to talk with one of the CMs in the lobby to make sure it was OK. Of course then I get out there and hear voices above and below me.

Great pictures! Especially the baby pix... too cute. Keep the installments coming. I'm curious to find out if you tried the night viewing using the night vision goggles...

Thank you! Yes, there is an installment to come (probably 2-3 installments away) on the night vision goggles.

 

[Donald is #1]

OK, after wandering around the resort taking pictures, I was getting rather hot and thirsty. Hmmm, what to do? Let's head to the concierge lounge! So I went back to my room, dropped my stuff off and headed out to the lounge. I found that one of the couches was empty so I settled down to enjoy a diet coke (I think -- it could have been a beer ). Anyways, without realizing it until about a week ago, ang38 and her husband are sitting across from me. We have both decided that we will need to bring our LGMH's to the lounges in the future so that we can recognize each other. Anyways, back to the story. So, I am sitting in the lounge and a man approaches me and asks if I am the woman with the camera. I say yes and he starts to ask me questions about camera lenses. I end up going to my room and getting my camera bag and we talk about Nikon lenses for a while. However, he did seem to go just on and on. Towards the end of the conversation, he mentions that his room is on the second floor. This really confuses me because all the posts that I had read on the DIS stated that the AKL concierge rooms were on the 4th floor. Now I get a little paraniod. Is he really who he says he is? It doesn't bother me too much this night, but the next night when I noticed that he spent almost the entire evening in the lounge downing beers makes me wonder.

Anyways, soon it is time for hors d'oeuvres so I get a snack since our dinner reservation isn't until 8:30. Probably about 5:30 or 6, Marge comes back from the pool and gets a snack herself. We ended up heading out to DTD early. We decided to take the bus and get to DTD at about 7. Since we are early, we get off at the Marketplace and decide to do some shopping. We stop at Goofy's candy where I pick up some candy for my oldest nephew and then head over to the pin station. At EPCOT on day 1, I saw that the big pin stations have little mystery packages that contain 2 random pins from a set of 5 for $10. I pick up a few packages but don't really do anything with them. Well, at DTD, I realize that there is a different series of pins for each park! Well I buy a few packages, maybe 4?, and open them up. Between the packages and trading, I was able to complete the entire DTD set in one shot. Please note this is very bad! This means that it must be easy to complete the sets right? Next I find out that they have a trading wall. Hmmm, apparently they have had it for a while. I just didn't ask about it my last trip. So, I wait my turn and make a few more trades. Marge then decides that she wants to trade for a pin on the wall. So she goes and buys one of the mystery packets and then trades one of the pins for a monorail pin.

After the pin station, we wander into WOD but don't buy anything and then head over to the Lego store where we play outside for a while. It is getting towards 8 and Marge is hungry. So we head over to Raglan Road. We check in and I mention that I am early but can we get seated? I also ask if we can be seated in the room with the band. The CM mentions that it may take longer. Marge then asks how much longer. However, Marge must have seen my face because she says nevermind we will wait. Marge was mentioning that she was very hungry and I am thinking " Didn't I mention that our reservation was for 8:30 tonight at least 3 times during the day. Can't someone in the 40's arrange their meals so that they are ready for dinner time?". Anyways, we get the buzzer thing and go outside to wait. Well we only had to wait for 5-10 minutes before we were seated. I had mentioned to Marge how good the desserts were. So we both skipped appertizers. Marge ordered the beef stew and I ordered the Paddy's Pork. Both dishes were incredible! Marge thought that her beef stew was the best that she had ever had. The pork was awesome. It was a pork loin stuffed with sausage. The pork was over 1 inch think and at least 3 inches in diameter. It was huge! The meal was stacked in a column: first mashed potatoes, then cabbage & butter leeks, and then topped with the pork. Everything was great but I wanted to save room for dessert. So I left about 1/3 of the pork.
Now, I got a bit confused. Marge had finished her stew and then asked "aren't you going to finish the pork?". I said no, that I was saving room for dessert. She then takes the remaining pork and finishes it. This really confused me. I am used to trying other peoples meals so that you can try what they have, but I am not accustomed to having someone finish my meals. She then says "I hate to see food not being eaten because an animal was killed for the food." I am now very confused. Anyways, by now it is getting close to the time for the band (9:00) and we order dessert. We decide to get 2 different things so that we can both try them. Marge orders the Ger's Bread & Butter Pudding and I ordered the Dunbrody Kiss. The bread & butter pudding was as incredible as I remembered from last year. The Dunbrody Kiss was awesome also! If you love chocolate, you definitely have to try it! It is not very big, about twice the size of a Zebra Dome, but is very rich. We stayed and listened to the band until about 10:30. If you like Irish music, the band there is great! They also have a dancer who will dance a step dance every few songs.

While we were there a large group of guys came in all dressed in drag. There were at least 5-8 guys dressed up. We never did figure out what the story was but they seemed to be having a great time. About 10:30, I was hitting my limit so we headed over to the bus stops to head back. This ended up being our longest wait. We just missed a bus and ended up waiting about 25-30 minutes.

So ends another day in the happy place, WDW.

 

[Donald is #1]

I should have also added that Raglan Road was our best meal all trip. It was definitely a 5 out of 5!

 

[mindondisney]

AKL is our next resort in 5/09 so I am really enjoying this! The animals pictures were wonderful.

 

[themilesfamily]

Marge had finished her stew and then asked "aren't you going to finish the pork?". I said no, that I was saving room for dessert. She then takes the remaining pork and finishes it. This really confused me. I am used to trying other peoples meals so that you can try what they have, but I am not accustomed to having someone finish my meals. She then says "I hate to see food not being eaten because an animal was killed for the food."

Okay, I have to ask it -- WHAT'S UP WITH MARGE? It seems like she's being kind of a pill. I know you said you'd traveled with her in the past. Is she always like this?

 

[MomsOf2boys]

Maybe she is a closet eater and since you had to share a closet she was starving!

Great report though. Take me next time!

 

[If U Had Wings]

I've never had a friend finish up my food, but I am used to family members doing it. I can't eat anything anymore without my nieces polishing most of it off!

 

[MyKidsMom1820]

I am really enjoying your Trip Report!

 

[John's Mom]

Thanks for another great update! Love your animal pics!