Dreams come true...WDW 8/30-9/16
- Thread starter jaycns
- Start date
MousekaMaddi
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interesting post, thanx for taking the time, Its nice to have new info on different hotels on site
Lifelong_Dreamer
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Up next...
Our time at Discovery Cove and our last night at AKL
I will have an updated posted tomorrow or Thursday at the latest!
Thank you all for sticking with me!!
I will be eagerly awaiting your next update!
kaysmommie
DIS Veteran
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- Feb 27, 2006
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I'm back from the Poly and all caught up with your wonderful trip report! We also ate at Le Cellier, I agree it was great. Loved your pics of Epcot & AK. My DS also got a Monkey from Miyuki, did she paint it's butt red and call it a baboon 
. Your photo looks the same as ours. We never did make it to Rafiki's (after 4 trips) but the boys look like they had a blast. It's a must for next trip. I 
can't wait to see and hear all about discovery cove . I really want to book it for next trip but not sure what DS would be able to do there 
. You take amazing trips. Would love 2 weeks in Disney so I would not have to rush and could have more down time at our resort. DD7 just started trading pins this trip and she loves it.
. Your photo looks the same as ours. We never did make it to Rafiki's (after 4 trips) but the boys look like they had a blast. It's a must for next trip. I can't wait to see and hear all about discovery cove . I really want to book it for next trip but not sure what DS would be able to do there . You take amazing trips. Would love 2 weeks in Disney so I would not have to rush and could have more down time at our resort. DD7 just started trading pins this trip and she loves it.
jaycns
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Day 9...Blizzard Beach and Discovery Cove-
This was an early morning for us. We were out the door by 8:30 AM. Dh dropped "Goofy" and I off at Discovery Cove and headed to Blizzard Beach.
Dh reports that they had a fabulous time on the slides. Everything "Stitch" was tall enough to ride, they did. From all I have heard, it sounds like they had one rockin' day at the water park. They reported very few, if any, lines and great weather. Being as I was talking to three males trying to get the details out of them, this is about a detailed as I can report.
However, on to the day that "Goofy" and I were spending at Discovery Cove. If I could only use two words they would be "pure bliss". Discovery Cove is not Disney, but it is beyond magical in it's very own way.
This day was what "Goofy" had asked for as far as a birthday gift. He wanted to go snorkeling. He had done a bit of snorkeling in Mexico and with sting rays on Castaway Cay last year and he was looking forward to doing it again. Lucky for us, Discovery Cove is a lot closer then Mexico to WDW so we were able to make it work.
We arrived a little after 9:00 AM, got our masks, vests and snorkels, deposited our stuff in a locker and waded right into DC's form of a lazy river. "Goofy" was loving it. We floated through a cave, under a waterfall, through an aviary (where birds were perched right next to the lazy river), past flowers and rocks, over "ruins" until we finally ended back up at the beach and climbed out looking for a mid morning snack.
Here our some pictures from our many floats around and around the lazy river.
In the cave:
Right before going under one of the waterfalls (they have two waterfalls on either end of the portion of the river that goes through the free flight aviary to keep the birds in).
On of the birds we floated by.
Some of the beauty that we floated past:
When you pay to get in at Discovery Cove, everything is included. Parking, towels, lockers, gear, a free photo of the entire party entering the park, lunch, snacks, drinks (including alcohol), lunch again if you want
, sunscreen and other toiletries and floats for use on the lazy river (think pool noddle type floats). So when "Goofy" told me he was hungry/thirsty we headed off in search of something to hit the spot. What we ended up with were huge fresh glasses of juice and frozen icee type desserts. That was just what we needed to cool down and refresh quickly on a hot day.
After our quick snack we headed over to the lazy river again and floated around to the area where you can climb out, walk a few steps and enter into the tropical reef. Here is where the real snorkeling took place! This one feature alone is worth the price of entering DC! It is amazing! Fish of so many colors and hues swim all around (and sometimes into) you, majestic sting rays (large and small) glide under you...it's sensory overload in a great way!
Here our some of our pictures from our many snorkels in the tropical reef area:
More pictures:
The fish were everywhere you looked. And the rays were also very much a presence. At first, I was worried that "Goofy" would chicken out. Some of the rays were longer then he was! But, he loved every minute of it and I was the one begging to get out (that water is colder then is usually within my comfort zone) for a break after we had spent about an hour and a half snorkeling and seeing one amazing thing after another.
When I was finally able to pull/drag "Goofy" out of the reef pool area we headed over to the sting ray lagoon. Here you could wade among the rays and they would glide right up to you and rub on your legs, splash you by flapping against the water's surface and swim lazily by you over and over again. There were also a few parrot fish swimming around with the sting rays. "Goofy" wondered why that was and I didn't have a good answer, so we asked one of the wading animal keepers and she told us that their is a small opening between the coral reef area and the sting ray lagoon. Smaller sized fish can swim back and forth between the areas at will. That was all she needed to share to answer our question, but she took the time to visit with us (mainly "Goofy" who was enraptured by her knowledge of sea creatures and couldn't stop grinning while she talked). She told us that we were standing on parrot fish poop. "Goofy" LOVED this.
Parrot fish eat coral. They chew it up and when they "go" they produce...SAND!! Almost all of the sand in the ocean was once coral that a parrot fish dined on, digested and then "dumped". This conversation went on for a good ten minutes. "Goofy" asked question after question and she stood answering the questions and asking him some of her own (sort of like a mini quiz). It was such a phenomenal interaction. In fact, it made "Goofy" change his totem from parrots to parrot fish. Not so sure that the whole point of a totem was to change it the next day...but...
The sting ray keeper also clued us in on when to come back to participate in the sting ray feeding. She was a great source of knowledge and friendliness. I guess Disney has not completely cornered the market on great employees!
Thanks to her tip, we were able to return to the sting ray lagoon later that afternoon and get to hand feed the sting rays! "Goofy" loved doing this. It reminded both of us of our time on Castaway Cay and feeding the sting rays there.
BUT...before we fed some sting rays, we stopped to feed ourselves. We headed over to the cafe and picked up a delicious lunch. I chose to have lobster salad (VERY GOOD), a hamburger (I was craving red meat), corn on the cob, french fries and a slice of carrot cake (good but I was too full to eat more then a bite or two). "Goofy" chose lobster salad (he is a huge fan of seafood like his mom), a hot dog (WHY did he have to eat that again?!), french fries, corn on the cob and a jello with gummy fish dessert.
After our early lunch we headed back out into the park and spent some time in the aviary. Then we hopped back into the lazy river and floated around a few times. One of the highlights of our afternoon was seeing two Florida Key Deer (so tiny!!) along the shores of the aviary area as we floated by. That was a really cool sight!
We took another long swim in the waters of the tropical reef and then headed over and fed the sting rays.
Feeding the sting rays reminded us that we were still hungry (HA HA HA...but we were). So we headed back to the cafe and got a second lunch (they don't keep track so you could eat plate after plate if you wanted). This time through I had the roasted chicken, rice pilaf, some more lobster salad and no dessert. "Goofy" chose lobster salad, corn on the cob and a slice of chocolate cherry cake. Before we sound too pig like, we didn't eat all of anything we took (other then the lobster salad...yum) but we did get to try some of the menu items we had passed on the first go round.
Following our second feeding frenzy we took one more circle around the lazy river and a last short dip in the tropical reef. Since I couldn't go into the men's locker room and he is too big to bring with me into the women's locker room we skipped showering and changing and laid out on a beach chair until we were at least "damp dry". We proceeded to the gift shop where I throughly enjoyed some quality shopping time! Hee hee hee.
Finally it was time to meet dh and the other boys for a ride back to AKL. As we started on the path to the front of the park, the skies opened up and we were soaked. We were as wet as if we had just hopped out of a pool. I am so glad we hadn't showered and changed into dry clothes!
This was such a special day for me. I rarely get to spend prolonged one on one time with any of the boys. It was as much of a treat for me to get a day with "Goofy" as it was for him to spend the day snorkeling. This day tops my favorite memories of a lifetime list. It was a relaxing day full of watching my very own little "Goof" take in so many things that can only be described as wondrous to an almost 8 year old little guy. He was so happy and holding his little hand in mine, I wished the day would never end.
Even though our time at Discovery Cove did end, we still had one last night of Animal Kingdom Lodge enjoyment ahead of us.
To be continued...
This was an early morning for us. We were out the door by 8:30 AM. Dh dropped "Goofy" and I off at Discovery Cove and headed to Blizzard Beach.
Dh reports that they had a fabulous time on the slides. Everything "Stitch" was tall enough to ride, they did. From all I have heard, it sounds like they had one rockin' day at the water park. They reported very few, if any, lines and great weather. Being as I was talking to three males trying to get the details out of them, this is about a detailed as I can report.
However, on to the day that "Goofy" and I were spending at Discovery Cove. If I could only use two words they would be "pure bliss". Discovery Cove is not Disney, but it is beyond magical in it's very own way.
This day was what "Goofy" had asked for as far as a birthday gift. He wanted to go snorkeling. He had done a bit of snorkeling in Mexico and with sting rays on Castaway Cay last year and he was looking forward to doing it again. Lucky for us, Discovery Cove is a lot closer then Mexico to WDW so we were able to make it work.
We arrived a little after 9:00 AM, got our masks, vests and snorkels, deposited our stuff in a locker and waded right into DC's form of a lazy river. "Goofy" was loving it. We floated through a cave, under a waterfall, through an aviary (where birds were perched right next to the lazy river), past flowers and rocks, over "ruins" until we finally ended back up at the beach and climbed out looking for a mid morning snack.
Here our some pictures from our many floats around and around the lazy river.
In the cave:
Right before going under one of the waterfalls (they have two waterfalls on either end of the portion of the river that goes through the free flight aviary to keep the birds in).
On of the birds we floated by.
Some of the beauty that we floated past:
When you pay to get in at Discovery Cove, everything is included. Parking, towels, lockers, gear, a free photo of the entire party entering the park, lunch, snacks, drinks (including alcohol), lunch again if you want
, sunscreen and other toiletries and floats for use on the lazy river (think pool noddle type floats). So when "Goofy" told me he was hungry/thirsty we headed off in search of something to hit the spot. What we ended up with were huge fresh glasses of juice and frozen icee type desserts. That was just what we needed to cool down and refresh quickly on a hot day. After our quick snack we headed over to the lazy river again and floated around to the area where you can climb out, walk a few steps and enter into the tropical reef. Here is where the real snorkeling took place! This one feature alone is worth the price of entering DC! It is amazing! Fish of so many colors and hues swim all around (and sometimes into) you, majestic sting rays (large and small) glide under you...it's sensory overload in a great way!
Here our some of our pictures from our many snorkels in the tropical reef area:
More pictures:
The fish were everywhere you looked. And the rays were also very much a presence. At first, I was worried that "Goofy" would chicken out. Some of the rays were longer then he was! But, he loved every minute of it and I was the one begging to get out (that water is colder then is usually within my comfort zone) for a break after we had spent about an hour and a half snorkeling and seeing one amazing thing after another.
When I was finally able to pull/drag "Goofy" out of the reef pool area we headed over to the sting ray lagoon. Here you could wade among the rays and they would glide right up to you and rub on your legs, splash you by flapping against the water's surface and swim lazily by you over and over again. There were also a few parrot fish swimming around with the sting rays. "Goofy" wondered why that was and I didn't have a good answer, so we asked one of the wading animal keepers and she told us that their is a small opening between the coral reef area and the sting ray lagoon. Smaller sized fish can swim back and forth between the areas at will. That was all she needed to share to answer our question, but she took the time to visit with us (mainly "Goofy" who was enraptured by her knowledge of sea creatures and couldn't stop grinning while she talked). She told us that we were standing on parrot fish poop. "Goofy" LOVED this.
Parrot fish eat coral. They chew it up and when they "go" they produce...SAND!! Almost all of the sand in the ocean was once coral that a parrot fish dined on, digested and then "dumped". This conversation went on for a good ten minutes. "Goofy" asked question after question and she stood answering the questions and asking him some of her own (sort of like a mini quiz). It was such a phenomenal interaction. In fact, it made "Goofy" change his totem from parrots to parrot fish. Not so sure that the whole point of a totem was to change it the next day...but... The sting ray keeper also clued us in on when to come back to participate in the sting ray feeding. She was a great source of knowledge and friendliness. I guess Disney has not completely cornered the market on great employees!
Thanks to her tip, we were able to return to the sting ray lagoon later that afternoon and get to hand feed the sting rays! "Goofy" loved doing this. It reminded both of us of our time on Castaway Cay and feeding the sting rays there.
BUT...before we fed some sting rays, we stopped to feed ourselves. We headed over to the cafe and picked up a delicious lunch. I chose to have lobster salad (VERY GOOD), a hamburger (I was craving red meat), corn on the cob, french fries and a slice of carrot cake (good but I was too full to eat more then a bite or two). "Goofy" chose lobster salad (he is a huge fan of seafood like his mom), a hot dog (WHY did he have to eat that again?!), french fries, corn on the cob and a jello with gummy fish dessert.
After our early lunch we headed back out into the park and spent some time in the aviary. Then we hopped back into the lazy river and floated around a few times. One of the highlights of our afternoon was seeing two Florida Key Deer (so tiny!!) along the shores of the aviary area as we floated by. That was a really cool sight!
We took another long swim in the waters of the tropical reef and then headed over and fed the sting rays.
Feeding the sting rays reminded us that we were still hungry (HA HA HA...but we were). So we headed back to the cafe and got a second lunch (they don't keep track so you could eat plate after plate if you wanted). This time through I had the roasted chicken, rice pilaf, some more lobster salad and no dessert. "Goofy" chose lobster salad, corn on the cob and a slice of chocolate cherry cake. Before we sound too pig like, we didn't eat all of anything we took (other then the lobster salad...yum) but we did get to try some of the menu items we had passed on the first go round.
Following our second feeding frenzy we took one more circle around the lazy river and a last short dip in the tropical reef. Since I couldn't go into the men's locker room and he is too big to bring with me into the women's locker room we skipped showering and changing and laid out on a beach chair until we were at least "damp dry". We proceeded to the gift shop where I throughly enjoyed some quality shopping time! Hee hee hee.
Finally it was time to meet dh and the other boys for a ride back to AKL. As we started on the path to the front of the park, the skies opened up and we were soaked. We were as wet as if we had just hopped out of a pool. I am so glad we hadn't showered and changed into dry clothes!
This was such a special day for me. I rarely get to spend prolonged one on one time with any of the boys. It was as much of a treat for me to get a day with "Goofy" as it was for him to spend the day snorkeling. This day tops my favorite memories of a lifetime list. It was a relaxing day full of watching my very own little "Goof" take in so many things that can only be described as wondrous to an almost 8 year old little guy. He was so happy and holding his little hand in mine, I wished the day would never end.
Even though our time at Discovery Cove did end, we still had one last night of Animal Kingdom Lodge enjoyment ahead of us.
To be continued...
Lifelong_Dreamer
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- Jan 10, 2007
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Sounds like you had a very special day with Goofy. DC sounds awesome!
Spartangirl
DIS Veteran
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Discovery Cove looks wonderful......wow! I'm so glad you got to spend such a magical day with Goofy! 
I'm so glad you got to spend such a magical day with Goofy!
jaycns
DIS Veteran
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- Messages
- 6,953
What a sweet family tradition! What a great idea!! Our pins are all on canvases. We let the boys each paint a canvas and then over the years we started on the outside and worked out way in toward the middle filling in the spaces with the pins. These hangs in our boys' rooms. They love them. I have one that I have been working on for a LONG time. About 5 years now. And I am almost finally "done". It was a huge canvas! When it's complete I am going to hang it in the kids' bathroom or in an upstairs hall. We love seeing our pins and talking about trading them and trying to guess which one is everyone else's favorite.When DD was really big into the trading (between ages 6 and 10), we'd use a new lanyard each trip. The way her lanyard was at the end of the trip, that's the way it's preserved today.Each is in its own ziplock, with the dates and resort (or, resorts for our split stays!) clearly marked. We have 8 or 9 of them (one was from a DCL cruise!) She's 14 now and into "other" things (looking out for "cute" boys at WDW!!
Thanks again for sharing that idea! It really is a great one and I bet someone who reads it might borrow that tradition as one of their very own! What a neat idea.Ha ha ha serious, yes...however, "Goofy" did change his from parrots to parrot fish.
That's one of my favorite things about reading trip reports. I love to hear about other resorts. I am a major trip report addict.interesting post, thanx for taking the time, Its nice to have new info on different hotels on site
What did you have at Le Cellier? YES, our monkey had a red rear!I'm back from the Poly and all caught up with your wonderful trip report! We also ate at Le Cellier, I agree it was great. Loved your pics of Epcot & AK. My DS also got a Monkey from Miyuki, did she paint it's butt red and call it a baboon
Yes, having long stretches at WDW does make for a very relaxing vacation! I think I have become addicted to the the "two weeker". Discovery Cove is such a wonderful and relaxing day...I highly recommend it!! Awww a new little pin trader! I am glad to hear she loves it. Just watch...it spreads...soon you will all be wearing lanyards and hunting for just the right pin. Our day was so very dear to me! And Discovery Cove is wonderful. It's a tropical paradise. I am lucky enough to have spent three days there over the past few years...and I hope to have the chance to spend many more there! It's peaceful, magical and blissful! I love the days spent at DC!!Discovery Cove looks wonderful......wow!
The last two summers, we've been doing two weeks for our trips too! Its the best way to really take your time and enjoy Disney!!! DD & I did Discovery Cove for the first time this summer - it was great! We thought the food was good too! We also swam with the dolphins - and DD had the best time!!! We are considering Discovery Cove for our trip next summer!
Great trip report!!!!!
Great trip report!!!!!
SoonerGirl
DIS Veteran
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- Nov 9, 2006
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- 4,850
Another great update! It sounds like you had an amazing day with Goofy at Discovery Cove. Thats on my list of things we want to do, but we've been waiting for both boys to be old enough to swim with the dolphins.
I got a chuckle out of your statement about trying to get details out of your other 3 men - prying details out of men is next to impossible
I got a chuckle out of your statement about trying to get details out of your other 3 men - prying details out of men is next to impossible
jaycns
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2005
- Messages
- 6,953
Day 9...Our final night at the lodge-
When we arrived back at AKL, I had a special surprise waiting for all of the boys (including dh). The concierge staff had been very helpful in arranging this special surprise. Now, I will admit, we were all on sugar overload already. We had two "half cakes" sitting in our room fridge and we had enough sweets with meals and in the concierge lounge to last us for months...BUT...I wanted to do something special for our last night at the lodge.
When we walked back into the room, we found this delicious platter waiting for us!
Sweet overload or not, that mighty cute piece of work was finished off within a few minutes. I seriously had to fight for one measly chocolate covered strawberry, the boys were all over them! The boys absolutely loved the chocolate dipped pretzels rods and the chocolate giraffes. "Goofy" dipped into the chocolate covered strawberries along with the pretzels rods and chocolate giraffes. He scooped four of them up before I even realized they had started to disappear. We broke that beautiful display apart and ate our sweet treat sitting out on the balconies of our room watching the animals down below.
When we were finally done gorging we showered, changed and made our way up to the concierge lounge for one final night of dinner time snacks. I know I have said it before, but we really enjoyed our time in the lounge. It was a peaceful place where you could relax and just take in the sights, sounds and smells of the lodge.
"Real food" in our stomachs we headed down to do a bit more exploring around the lodge. I wanted to take a few final pictures before our magical time at AKL was over. Here are some of the results of our photo safari.
As we made our way through the lounge we spotted the caricature artist sitting there with no wait for his services...so we let each of the boys get one made. I do have pictures of the drawings and I will get those posted, I just need to find the cords to upload the images to the computer.
Drawings made it was time to do some more exploring. This time we headed toward the outer reaches of the lodge. And then we took the elevator down to the lower level. It was then we walked past Simba's Clubhouse. This caused our boys to BEG to go back to Simba's Clubhouse for a few hours. When I peeked my head in to see if they had room for the boys an EMPTY (at least of children) room was what I found. I think the CMs who were working that night were happy to finally get some kids down there. And our boys were very excited to get to spend a few hours at Simba's Clubhouse vs. helping us pack up in the room.
This worked out very well for us as we had a BIG surprise up our sleeves. The boys knew about our upcoming Disney vacation this year. They knew we were going to stay at AKL for 9 days. What they didn't know was that we were going to spend another week at the Grand Floridian. The boys thought we were going to head home after our time at AKL. YES, it did take every fiber of self control in my entire body not to spill the beans early. So it really helped to have them out of our hair while we repacked our things. Dh and I could openly talk about what we wanted to bring in to the next resort and what could stay packed up in the van. It was also fun to make guesses as to what the boys' reactions would be the next afternoon when they found out we were not heading home but to the Grand Floridian!! For once packing wasn't quite so sad. It was still bitter sweet, we were having such fun at the lodge we weren't ready to go but we were also looking forward to trying out the Sugarloaf Concierge at the Grand Floridian.
After we gave them two full hours at Simba's Clubhouse and had packed, loaded some into the van and double checked on my dad we headed back down to pick them up.
Our boys were still the only ones at Simba's Clubhouse when we went back to pick them up but that didn't mean that they left willingly. When we got there I actually heard "Stitch" groan about us being back so soon! But since we are their legal guardians (and bigger then them too) we were able to convince them to leave with us.
We then headed over to Arusha Rock and participated (once again) in the night vision animal viewing. While we were doing that we once again encountered another great Animal Kingdom Lodge CM. We spent about 25 minutes talking to her about her home in South Africa. We learned a lot of interesting facts and walked away feeling as if we had made a new friend.
About this time we figured it was time to use at least a few of our counter service credits. We had LOADS of them left over (we had done mostly table service meals on this trip). So we started to walk over to The Mara for a very late dinner. Along the way we walked past the kiddie pool area. This late at night it was totally empty and the boys were able to do a little bit of wading.
After that refreshing pit stop we headed on to food (that seems to be the theme of our vacation ).
The food here was good. We really had a fun time just sitting around talking about how much fun we had on this vacation. I didn't say much actually because I was DYING to tell the boys about our plans for the next week...and I didn't want to accidentally spill the beans. So I just listened for the most part. Listening to them was wonderful though. I realized how very blessed I truly am. Our boys are such good little guys and they were so thankful for the vacation time that they had just had. Hearing them so appreciative made me even more excited that we were going to be able to give them another week of WDW fun.
When we finally finished eating (for the 811th time that day) we slowly walked back to the room and snuggled down for our last night of one of the most fantastic WDW stays ever. I know I feel asleep with a smile on my face that night and I am pretty sure the rest of the family did too.
When we arrived back at AKL, I had a special surprise waiting for all of the boys (including dh). The concierge staff had been very helpful in arranging this special surprise. Now, I will admit, we were all on sugar overload already. We had two "half cakes" sitting in our room fridge and we had enough sweets with meals and in the concierge lounge to last us for months...BUT...I wanted to do something special for our last night at the lodge.
When we walked back into the room, we found this delicious platter waiting for us!
Sweet overload or not, that mighty cute piece of work was finished off within a few minutes. I seriously had to fight for one measly chocolate covered strawberry, the boys were all over them!
The boys absolutely loved the chocolate dipped pretzels rods and the chocolate giraffes. "Goofy" dipped into the chocolate covered strawberries along with the pretzels rods and chocolate giraffes. He scooped four of them up before I even realized they had started to disappear. We broke that beautiful display apart and ate our sweet treat sitting out on the balconies of our room watching the animals down below.When we were finally done gorging we showered, changed and made our way up to the concierge lounge for one final night of dinner time snacks. I know I have said it before, but we really enjoyed our time in the lounge. It was a peaceful place where you could relax and just take in the sights, sounds and smells of the lodge.
"Real food" in our stomachs we headed down to do a bit more exploring around the lodge. I wanted to take a few final pictures before our magical time at AKL was over. Here are some of the results of our photo safari.
As we made our way through the lounge we spotted the caricature artist sitting there with no wait for his services...so we let each of the boys get one made. I do have pictures of the drawings and I will get those posted, I just need to find the cords to upload the images to the computer.
Drawings made it was time to do some more exploring. This time we headed toward the outer reaches of the lodge. And then we took the elevator down to the lower level. It was then we walked past Simba's Clubhouse. This caused our boys to BEG to go back to Simba's Clubhouse for a few hours. When I peeked my head in to see if they had room for the boys an EMPTY (at least of children) room was what I found. I think the CMs who were working that night were happy to finally get some kids down there. And our boys were very excited to get to spend a few hours at Simba's Clubhouse vs. helping us pack up in the room.
This worked out very well for us as we had a BIG surprise up our sleeves. The boys knew about our upcoming Disney vacation this year. They knew we were going to stay at AKL for 9 days. What they didn't know was that we were going to spend another week at the Grand Floridian. The boys thought we were going to head home after our time at AKL.
YES, it did take every fiber of self control in my entire body not to spill the beans early. So it really helped to have them out of our hair while we repacked our things. Dh and I could openly talk about what we wanted to bring in to the next resort and what could stay packed up in the van. It was also fun to make guesses as to what the boys' reactions would be the next afternoon when they found out we were not heading home but to the Grand Floridian!! For once packing wasn't quite so sad. It was still bitter sweet, we were having such fun at the lodge we weren't ready to go but we were also looking forward to trying out the Sugarloaf Concierge at the Grand Floridian. After we gave them two full hours at Simba's Clubhouse and had packed, loaded some into the van and double checked on my dad we headed back down to pick them up.
Our boys were still the only ones at Simba's Clubhouse when we went back to pick them up but that didn't mean that they left willingly. When we got there I actually heard "Stitch" groan about us being back so soon! But since we are their legal guardians (and bigger then them too)
we were able to convince them to leave with us.We then headed over to Arusha Rock and participated (once again) in the night vision animal viewing. While we were doing that we once again encountered another great Animal Kingdom Lodge CM. We spent about 25 minutes talking to her about her home in South Africa. We learned a lot of interesting facts and walked away feeling as if we had made a new friend.
About this time we figured it was time to use at least a few of our counter service credits. We had LOADS of them left over (we had done mostly table service meals on this trip). So we started to walk over to The Mara for a very late dinner. Along the way we walked past the kiddie pool area. This late at night it was totally empty and the boys were able to do a little bit of wading.
After that refreshing pit stop we headed on to food (that seems to be the theme of our vacation
). The food here was good. We really had a fun time just sitting around talking about how much fun we had on this vacation. I didn't say much actually because I was DYING to tell the boys about our plans for the next week...and I didn't want to accidentally
spill the beans. So I just listened for the most part. Listening to them was wonderful though. I realized how very blessed I truly am. Our boys are such good little guys and they were so thankful for the vacation time that they had just had. Hearing them so appreciative made me even more excited that we were going to be able to give them another week of WDW fun.
When we finally finished eating (for the 811th time that day) we slowly walked back to the room and snuggled down for our last night of one of the most fantastic WDW stays ever. I know I feel asleep with a smile on my face that night and I am pretty sure the rest of the family did too.
RachelTori
Missing my tags :'(
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2003
- Messages
- 14,374
I hope this is a "to be continued......"
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
- Messages
- 15,138
I can't wait to hear about how the boys reacted!
SoonerGirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2006
- Messages
- 4,850
How did I miss that you were spending a week at the GF after you left AKL???? Was that part of your pre-trippie???? Did I read it and just forget???? Can't wait to hear how the boys reacted to the news! 
you have another whole week to tell us about! 
you have another whole week to tell us about!
jaycns
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2005
- Messages
- 6,953
I guess it would NOT be the place for someone afraid of fish.Loved hearing about your oh-so-special day with Goofy. I loved (still love) those special days with my daughter and they are some of my best memories. Discovery Cove looks gorgeous but since I'm terrified of fishI think I'll skip that!!!
Although the lazy river, beach area, aviary and cafe/bar areas just might make it worthwhile if you did go with some fish lovers. Not long now until your trip!! Are you going out of your mind with excitement yet?I did the dolphin swim the first time I went to Discovery Cove and I loved it. However, this time my OB told me to skip swimming with mammals bigger then I was.
"Goofy" has already requested to return next year and he has also made his hopes of a dolphin swim known...so I think either dh or I will be getting to do it again next year! 
Even without the dolphin swim it's great (and cheaper!!).Another great update! It sounds like you had an amazing day with Goofy at Discovery Cove. Thats on my list of things we want to do, but we've been waiting for both boys to be old enough to swim with the dolphins.
I got a chuckle out of your statement about trying to get details out of your other 3 men - prying details out of men is next to impossible
I am glad you got a chuckle out of that...because it was SO true that it was funny to me as well. It's such a stereotype I know, but it is SO true in this case! It is!!I hope this is a "to be continued......"
TO BE CONTINUED... That and more in the next installment! Thanks for sticking with me!!
jaycns
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2005
- Messages
- 6,953
I think I may have mentioned itHow did I miss that you were spending a week at the GF after you left AKL???? Was that part of your pre-trippie???? Did I read it and just forget???? Can't wait to hear how the boys reacted to the news!
But I must admit, I was trying to be a bit sneaky about it. I am getting way too into this whole surprise thing! When I called to see if I could get our AKL ressie transfered to the free dining promotion earlier this year, I was unable to that (no AKL availability for our dates). I checked to see if we moved it back by a week if we could have free dining for our AKL stay but that was not available either so I asked what was...and then I couldn't help myself.
I found my mouth giving our credit card number out to charge a room deposit to. Then I found myself planning out our stay. I am so addicted to WDW it's not even funny! BUT...it really was a great addition, it was the perfect way to end an already great stay at AKL! If I hadn't had the GF to look forward to, I am sure they would have had to pull me out kicking and screaming. Share this page
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