DVC Madness: 12/6. Part 3 -- Artist’s Point. 12/7 -- Departure Day

[supersuperwendy]

Great pictures of the value studio..thanks! I rented some of my points to my friend and I booked her in a value studio at Jambo. I think she'll really enjoy it!

 

[twooley2]

The couch in the value would not fold out? What was wrong ?

 

[twooley2]

The couch in the value would not fold out? What was wrong ?

oops I misread it . Sorry

 

[wbl2745]

12/6. Part 1 -- Keys to the Kingdom Tour

So today is the last full day at WDW. We’ve been to each park once and we’ve bounced around to from a value 2-bedroom at Jambo House, to a standard 2-bedroom at Kidani Village, back to Jambo House in a value studio, and tonight we’ll be in a Savanna view 2-bedroom in Jambo House. This might seem obvious to those who have stayed at the Animal Kingdom Villas or who are owners there, but the Savanna View room was out of this world! I can’t really compare to the other DVC resorts at WDW since the only other DVC resort I’ve stayed at is the Villas at the Grand Californian, where we are owners, but having the savanna view was incredible! Don’t get me wrong, the other rooms were great, but I’d try and spring the points for the savanna view if we were going to stay there again.

OK, back to the narrative. One of my brothers wanted to take the Keys to the Kingdom Tour, primarily to see the Utilidors. Some friends had also taken this tour and really enjoyed it so I was looking forward to it. We scheduled the tour for 9:00 at the Magic Kingdom, so we packed up our stuff and took our luggage to DB2’s room since we were trading rooms again. Since we were moving earlier than usual I didn’t check us into our new room. We went out to catch the bus at about 8:10 and one was there soon. We got to the Magic Kingdom about 8:30 and got in to the City Hall where the tour started by about 8:45. Since lunch was included in the tour we had a choice of about six different items. I selected the breaded shrimp plate.

While we were waiting, DW admired the candy cane garlands around the waiting area. She liked them so much that DSIL1 made her one just like it for Christmas!

Our tour guide handed out receivers and earphones so that he could talk and we could hear him. I really liked that because I could wander around while he was talking and still hear him. Unfortunately, I think that I’ve forgotten his name, but I think it was “Greg.” If someone recognizes him and corrects me, I’ll come back and edit this posting with the corrected name.

Here’s a picture from the end of Main Street toward the castle. Love the garlands at Christmas. Still pretty crowded.

The tour was scheduled to take about five hours and included a fair amount of walking and standing. I’ll go over a lot of the tour, but I don’t have any pictures from backstage since they asked that we not take any pictures there.

Since we were on Main Street, some of our first stops were some of the windows. I’m sure that everyone knows that many, if not all, of the windows on Main Street refer to real people in some way related to the Disney Company or the Magic Kingdom. He didn’t go to every window, but here are some of the interesting ones.

These windows commemorate the original state of the WDW land. “M” “T” “Lott” Get it? The company names are some of those used to purchase the land.

This is a window dedicated to Card Walker, one of the earlier executives of the Disney Company. Walt was the dreamer and Roy was the down-to-earth money man. Card Walker was the one who would make peace between them. It’s hard to see, but one of his titles is “Justice of the Peace.”

And lastly here’s a window dedicated to Walt Disney himself as a graduate school of design and master planning.

By then we had reached the hub in the middle of the Magic Kingdom. Here’s a view looking back toward the train station. Wow, it is getting really crowded.

Looking at the Friends statue in the middle of the hub, Greg asked how did they figure out how big to make Mickey? The walk around characters are as big as a truck, to quote the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. So how come Mickey is smaller? Our guide said that the sculptor went to Fantasia to see how big Mickey was compared to Arturo Toscanini and used that as the guide for the relative sizes of Walt and Mickey. Makes you wonder how the animators of Fantastia made that decision? From my own perspective, Mickey’s size reminds me of a child and he does have many child-like qualities of innocence and happiness.

There are a couple of things on the statue that are hard to see unless you go looking for it. On Walt’s tie there are the initials of his private ranch that he loved to go to.

But the most interesting is the hidden Mickey on the statue. It is hard to see and I’ve tried to adjust the following picture so that you can see it, but the ring on Walt’s hand that is pointing to the other end of Main Street (where the statue of Roy Disney sits) has a Mickey on it. Hope you can see it. Next time you’re at the Magic Kingdom see if you can get a glimpse of it.

From this point we headed to the Jungle Cruise for the first attraction that we would ride on the tour. The tour isn’t a way to get on the big name attractions without waiting, but when we went to an attraction we went to the front of the line, in an unobtrusive way. Here's picture of Greg, or I really hope that was his name... My deepest and sincerest apologies if I'm wrong.

One of the things that I really like about Disney parks is the depth of the presentation. Just like the windows on Main Street, that many people march right on by, you need to spend a minute and look at the board at the exit from the boats.

On the Jungle Cruise itself, since we were a tour, the boat captain who would normally going through the presentation turned it over to Greg who was pointing out things that you might not notice. I actually “borrowed” the following picture from the Internet, since I didn’t get a shot of this, but the boats in the pigmy village are adaptations of (left to right) Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. Once it is pointed out, you can see it.

Later in the attraction there are a few natives on the left bank who are chanting. One of the says “I love disco,” which our guide indicated was a tribute to the DISney COmpany. I don’t know about that. But once you hear it, you’ll notice it every time.

After the Jungle Cruise, Greg stopped to talk about the show priorities, meaning the priorities of all of the shows at all of the parks. They are:

• Safety
• Courtesy
• Show Quality
• Cost Effectiveness

This makes you think about the problems they had at Disneyland under Paul Pressler where it appeared at least, and based on some tragic accidents, safety and show quality took a back seat to cost effectiveness.

He also pointed out that all cast members are expected to know a lot about everything that is going on in the park that day. For example, in the Utilidors (more on these later) all of the scheduled events for the day are posted on the walls. I’ve heard that the custodial people, particularly those who may be sweeping the streets, get more questions than any other cast members. I’m jumping ahead, but at the end of the tour we were all a little cold and wanted to get some hot chocolate. I stopped someone who was setting up the tape to mark off where people could stand for the parade and asked where we could find the hot chocolate. She knew exactly where to get it even though that wasn’t really related to her job.

Greg also talked about show quality standards. An example of this is that anything that a guest can touch needs to be real. If guests can’t touch it, it can be something different. For instance, the thatched roof at the Tikiroom is high enough that no one can touch it unless you stand on the bench. The thatch is metal, but looks like grass.

One difference between the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland is that the MK has a lot more room to make transitions between lands, using plants and buildings to block views that would create a mixed message.

From the Jungle Cruise we walked toward Frontierland and Splash Mountain. Right at the point that the transition takes place, there is a path that turns left to the backstage area. At this point we were asked to put our cameras away and not take any pictures in the backstage, so I don’t have any pictures. However, Google Maps does have pictures taken from the satellite, which is what is below. I’ll explain what we saw at each of the labeled areas.

A: This is the point that there’s a gate leading to the backstage. This is where the parade either comes from or goes to depending on the day. We had a funny thing happen. Greg was shepherding us through the gate and a family thought we were the line for Splash Mountain. It took some convincing to get them to go back.

B: At this point there’s a dotted line across the road. This is the point at which all characters and cast members need to be in character because from that point on guests and see them. There are a lot of places where there are indications that all cast members need to be in character at that point.

C: This is the show building for Pirates of the Caribbean. They have about 30 boats in the attraction and add or remove boats based on the length of the line.

D: This is the parade storage building. They had SpectroMagic, Main Street Electrical Parade, and other floats. There was a small bug float from one of the parades that was open to be viewed. The space for the driver was incredibly small. There was a fan and a fire extinquisher inside. The driver had to wear ear protection because of the noise. The bug was driven with two levers, one for straight ahead and one for spin. I’m sure you remember seeing this in the parades.

E: This is the reservoir for the water in Spalsh Mountain. Rather than using chlorine to keep the water clean they use bromine. All of the water from Splash Mountain flows into here when they shut the attraction down. From the back of Splash Mountain you can tell it is just a big building. The mountain itself is to the right of the E and the show building is to the left. The policy is that any time that the guests can see the attraction it needs to be “in character” too. That didn’t seem to be the case with Expedition Everest at the Animal Kingdom. From the parking lot, the mountain just stops and turns into a green building.

F: This is the vacuum system for the entire park. It seemed like a good idea when they build the MK, but they haven’t used it in any other parks.

G: This is the paint shed where they repaint items that are showing wear.

From this point we returned to the park and Greg pointed out some evacuation signs. There are three evacuation plans. “A” is a normal exiting of the park using Main Street and the turnstiles. “B” uses backstage areas to get people out more quickly. And “C” would use the Utilidors. They maintain that they can fit everyone who may be in the park into the Utilidors if need be, such as for a tornado. It would seem to me to be a little cramped.

Once we entered the park again, we headed towards Liberty Square and the Haunted Mansion, our second attraction. Greg pointed out that each land has its own patterns in the pavement. In Liberty Square there is a brown path that is in the middle of the pavement. The story here is that in colonial times there were no sewer systems, people just threw out the waste water (think about what that may mean...) into the middle of the street. This is what the brown path represents. Hmmm... Let’s not step on that, OK? He also pointed out that there are no bathrooms in Liberty Square, because they didn’t have any bathrooms in colonial times.

Next: Keys to the Kingdom Tour continued. Haunted Mansion, Lunch, and Utilidors

 

[appleorchard]

Really enjoying your report! Lots of great detail from an adult perspective, which is the way we usually tour WDW. Keep it up!

 

[Cee]

I don't usually invest the time to read lengthy TRs, but this one is exceptional. Thank you!

 

[kid-at-heart]

Truely, an awesome report. Great photos. Thank you!

 

[goemanb]

what were the highs/lows for temperature when you were there? We are going in 10 days and I am a little worried about the weather taking some of the fun out of our 1st trip to WDW....

 

[wbl2745]

what were the highs/lows for temperature when you were there? We are going in 10 days and I am a little worried about the weather taking some of the fun out of our 1st trip to WDW....

I don't think that it ever got to freezing, but at night it could get to the low 40s or high 30s. The problem was that with even a slight breeze and the humidity it felt very cold. The only time that I saw anyone in the pools at the AKV was some kids in the hot tub with parents wearing heavy coats supervising. (Kids! No matter what, they have to go swimming.)

I wouldn't let anything ruin your first WDW trip! Looking at the temperature report it looks like the highs may be in the low 70s and the lows in the 50s. Of course a lot can change between now and then.

If you're driving, I'd throw some warm clothes in the car. If you're flying think layers. That's what DW and I did. I had a wind breaker, a heavy sweater, a flannel shirt, and a couple of knit shirts. With that I could adjust based on what was needed. For the Illuminations Cruise, which was quite cold, I had everything on.

If it is cold, go get some hot chocolate and enjoy the warmth in your tummy. Cozy up to a fire if the place you're staying has one. For example, the AKV had a lovely fire to sit next to. If you find that you don't have the right clothing, go treat yourself to a new Disney jacket. If you look back at some of the pictures in the trip report, DB1 and DSIL1 are wearing very red flannel jackets that they purchased there.

If it rains, get out the rain ponchos and umbrellas and enjoy the park in a new way. At Disneyland (I'm more familiar with the DLR) everyone leaves when it rains. Granted Splash Mountain might not be at the top of your list, but I bet Space Mountain is a walk-on. Even though it was cold, we went on Kali River Rapids at the AK as the last thing and headed back to the hotel to change and warm up. Cluster the must-do attractions that are going to get you wet just before you leave the park either mid-day or at the end of the day.

Listen to the rain, watch it on the water, see the parks in a new way.
The kids will probably take your lead in how you react to the weather. If you're positive and see the up side, they will too.
You might even want to research some of the "hidden attractions" at the parks so you know what some alternatives are if it is wet or cold.

You'll have a great time!

 

[twooley2]

I noticed in the 2 bedroom value the view was one of a pool but I did not see a pool view in your pics. Could you see the pool? It looks like the roof of part of a building. Is that correct? Did you ever find out if it was just the handicapped rooms that lacked the island or all the 2 bedroom values?

 

[wbl2745]

I noticed in the 2 bedroom value the view was one of a pool but I did not see a pool view in your pics. Could you see the pool? It looks like the roof of part of a building. Is that correct? Did you ever find out if it was just the handicapped rooms that lacked the island or all the 2 bedroom values?

There actually was a picture of the pool, which I include again here. The blue that you can see through the trees is the pool. That was looking to the right. The roof "view" was looking to the left. Recall that this is a specific room, #5010-12. Other rooms have different (and some much better) views.

We didn't find out if that room was specifically a handicapped room, but given the space under the sink in the kitchen, the layout of the bathroom, and the rod for hanging clothes in the master bedroom was low, I believe this was in fact a handicapped room. Albeit, the other two bedrooms we had were were not a value unit (a standard view at Kidani Village and a Savanna View at Jambo House), both of those had the island in the kitchen.

 

[twooley2]

Thanks for the information. We have a 2 bedroom value booked for our upcoming trip and I am hoping not to get a handicap room. We kind of think the island ads to the room but with the point difference whos to complain

 

[RadioFanatic]

We were at AKL at the same time and you're right, the front desk was CRAZY!!!

We also used taxis to get to the parks bc we found the bus service to be lacking. For example, there was a HUGE line to go to Epcot. We waited a half hour and two buses came and went which were full already from Kidani. So we took a taxi instead. And this was about 10 am, not when the park first opened.

The woman Susan Lucci is from the soap All My Children which is on ABC. My mother would have loved to see her. She has been on it for like 20+ years and was the one who was nominated for an emmy a million times and never seemed to win it.

I LOVE the hat at DHS! I love that movie. I think it's perfect there.

My dh and I seem to be the only ones who were not fans of the KTTK tour. It seemed long and drawn out and we only road a few rides in the five hours. But I realize most love it.

Love reading your report!

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Thanks for your report, I am enjoying reading it

 

[ntikos]

Great report! Love the detail.

 

[wbl2745]

12/6. Part 2 -- Keys to the Kingdom Tour continued

Since we were in Library Square, the Haunted Mansion was our next stop and another one of the attractions that we would enjoy on the tour. Greg pointed out that the designer of the attraction exterior was an avid chess player and if you look at the turrets on the roof, they are chess pieces!

Haunted Mansion with its chess pieces on the roof.

Since we were on the tour we wouldn’t have to wait in line, which was a good thing since right as we arrived at the attraction a huge group from Argentina showed up. The line outside the gates to the attraction suddenly doubled. We were led to a door on the exit to the attraction labeled “Servants Quarters” which I guess refers to cast members since that is an entrance for them.

Servants Quarters entrance to the Haunted Mansion

Through this door is a narrow hallway with bells from the various rooms in the mansion. The bells worked, since I tried them. We waited for a few minutes while Greg went to see if the coast was clear. Once the previous group had entered the elevator, we went into the foyer just before the elevators. Oh, that’s right, at WDW the Haunted Mansion doesn’t use an elevator, they just have a stretching room. I’m more familiar with Disneyland than I am with WDW.

Bells to summon servants

Once the foyer was empty we entered and waited for the next stretching room to be available. From there we enjoyed the attraction. One thing that Greg shared with us, after the attraction was that the gargoyles in the stretching room whisper. If you hang back a little as everyone is leaving you can hear them. After a while they say “Get out!” to encourage you to leave.

Our next stop was lunch! At the beginning of the tour we had been handed a abbreviated menu from the Harbor House restaurant. I chose the breaded shrimp. It came with french fries, cole slaw, and a soft drink. On the second floor of the restaurant they had reserved a dining area just for us. The other areas in the restaurant we pretty crowded so it was nice to have a big area just for us. We had about a half an hour and time for a potty break. “What a minute! I though you said that there were no restrooms in Liberty Square!” Well, the Harbor House restaurant actually stretches into Fantasyland, and the restrooms are located in that part of the building.

Lunch in the Harbor House on the second floor

I should have taken better notes, but the pictures on the wall in this part of the restaurant tell a story of a ship wreck. I’ll have to go back and look at it again.

Once we were done with lunch we went out into Liberty Square and wandered about. This next picture is on the outside of a store in the Pennsylvania Dutch section. Kepple was Walt Disney’s grandfather (or great grandfather...).

One of Walt’s ancestors

From here we walked back towards the hub. Greg pointed out as we neared the hub that we could see the Contemporary Resort from here. He said that one of the reasons that you could see this resort was that its theming was consistent with Tomorrowland, so they enabled it to be visible.

The Contemporary Resort is visible from with the Magic Kingdom since its theming is consistent with Tomorrowland.

From the hub we turned into the backstage area again for our tour of the Utilidors. Again, in accordance with their request, I don’t have any pictures in the backstage area. Before going into the Utilidors, however, we looked at some things here. Just to the left off the satellite picture below is the backside of the Jungle Cruise. They have some boats that are being fixed. This is right next to where the “I love disco” jungle natives are found. You can hear it from there.

One of the second story buildings has brick, but only on part of the building. The reason for that is that part of the building is visible from the edge of the railroad platform on Main Street. Only the part that was visible to the guests was bricked, the rest wasn’t. That’s one of the interesting things about Disney, for the guests they bend over backwards to keep the illusion, but in the cast areas it is pretty “military.” They don’t really do a thing. This surprises me. I’ve been backstage at Disneyland too and it looks like an army base: no color, no design to the buildings, just boxes. You’d think they’d try a little harder.

Entrance to the backstage area and the utilidors

We entered the Utilidors at about the place shown on the picture above. I have to confess that I don’t really remember exactly where that was, but it was near there. We were at the back of one of the shops and there was an elevator and a stairwell. We took the stairwell down and now we were in the Utilidors. As I mentioned above, they are pretty dull in appearance.

Utilidors tour.

As you can see from the map above, we didn’t go that far into the system. As you would expect of any employer, there are notices on the wall about safety and serving the guests. As we were walking, every now and then a little electric car would come by. We stopped at a couple of locations, once to look down the long hallway under Fantasyland, another to look at glass cabinets with photos and mementos of Disney World. Ultimately we came out on the opposite side of Main Street from where we started in another parking lot.

This is apparently where big wigs can park since there were a number of reserved parking spaces. The manager of the Magic Kingdom has his office, and his parking space on this side. From here the tour was almost over. We re-entered the guest area of the Magic Kingdom through a door at the end of the short dead-end street on that side and wandered back to where the tour started.

I really enjoyed the tour and would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the back story of the Magic Kingdom. There are lots more tours and I’m looking forward to taking all of them some day.

An example of what Greg had talked about, knowing more than just your job, occurred almost immediately. It was quite cold so we wanted some hot chocolate. There were some cast members putting down tape to mark off where you could sit or stand for the parade, which was starting soon. I went to one, who turned out to be a manager and asked where we might find our hot chocolate. She confidently gave us directions down the street to the bakery. I guess this is just a little thing, but I’ve learned to rely on any Disney cast member to be able to help when needed.

It was early afternoon at this point and we had dinner reservations at Artist’s Point at the Wilderness Lodge at 7:00 PM. The Magic Kingdom was still pretty crowded, but not as bad as on the previous Saturday. DB1, DSIL1, DW, and I decided to give the Teacups a try and then go to Thunder Mountain. DB2 and DSIL2 went off to do something else. Sorry don’t remember what.

DB1 and DSIL1 on the Teacups. One of our favorite attractions.

The Teacups are one of our favorites. I don’t know if this is one of those things that memory is faulty on, but it seems to me that at both the Magic Kingdom and at Disneyland, the Teacups are getting slower. I thought I remembered that you could really get them spinning. Now they don’t seem to go that fast.

From there we hiked across the park to Thunder Mountain, but stopped first at the Liberty Bell. I really like this ride now. I didn’t used to like it as a kid, no thrills, but now its slow passage is very pleasant. I loved the juxtaposition of the riverside buildings and the Haunted Mansion. It looks very authentic.

The Liberty Bell seen through Tom Sawyer’s Island.

The Haunted Mansion seen from the Liberty Bell.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is one of our favorites. This is in my opinion an excellent example of Disney’s storytelling. There are no loops and corkscrews on the attraction, but it is still one of my favorites. Somewhere on the Internet is a video of Disneyland’s and the Magic Kingdom’s versions of the attraction played side-by-side, proving that the tracks are mirror images of each other.

I love the inside jokes! “Lytum & Hyde” get it? Huh? Get it?

Yours truly and DW on one of our favorite rides. One of the few roller coasters DW will go on.

How we decide to do a little shopping and make our way to the Grand Floridian to see the gingerbread house. The parade was just about to start and so it was really crowded! We didn’t really see what we were after in the stores, so we just moved on. Even though the parade was still on-going, the line for the monorail was huge. We were waiting with a couple from Florida who come to WDW this time of year because “there aren’t any crowds.” They were really surprised by the crowds, so it wasn’t just us. We got ourselves on the monorail after three trains came and left.

DW and I make gingerbread houses for Christmas and so were interested in all of the houses at the various resort hotels. The Grand Floridian’s is of course the biggest and most elaborate, although I think the one at the Boardwalk (see the earlier posting) is the most amusing.

We didn’t buy any of gingerbread they were selling since DW makes really good gingerbread herself.

Next: Dinner at Artist’s Point, pictures in the Wilderness Lodge, and a review of a two-bedroom savannah view at Jambo house.

 

[kid-at-heart]

Thank you for sharing. What great memories you have helped create for your family. Now I want to take the "Keys to the Kingdom Tour".

 

[wbl2745]

I use to be a hippie, now I am a middle-aged professor - oh my!

Love your signature. I'm not sure I was ever a hippie, but now I am a middle-aged librarian at a university. I would never have believed that would have happened.

 

[wbl2745]

12/6. Part 3 -- Artist’s Point. 12/7 -- Departure Day

Sorry to be so pokey getting the rest of this trip report out. I don’t suppose anyone is really waiting with bated breath, but I want to get this done so that I can move on to a trip report on the VGC at DLR in February.

From the Grand Californian we rode the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom and caught a boat to the Wilderness Lodge. Again, it was REALLY cold and we were sitting outside. I wish we had had spent more time wandering around the grounds of the Wilderness Lodge, but it was dark and cold. As it was we hung out in the lobby waiting for our table.

The architect for the Wilderness Lodge also did the Jambo House at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and our home resort, the Grand Californian at DLR. I’ve always loved all three of those resorts. I pointed out to my brother how it was modeled after the Yellowstone Lodge. We decided to have a group photo. The front row is yours truly, DB2, and DB1. The back row is DW, DSIL2, and DSIL1.

Artist’s Point at the Wilderness Lodge is one of my favorite restaurants at WDW. Several years back we had Thanksgiving dinner there. They offered the traditional turkey and everything else, but I chose the salmon on a cedar board, which I did again this time. The full meal was the Portobello Mushroom soup, which was outstanding (very creamy and mushroomy), the salmon broiled on a cedar plank with I believe a maple glaze with potatoes, and the berry cobbler with raspberry ice. This was the best meal of the trip. (Sorry, I just wasn’t that impressed with Le Cellier.)

After dinner it was so cold (38 degrees with wind chill), and the thought of going back to the Magic Kingdom to wait for a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, just didn’t seem that exciting. We took a taxi which cost $25 with tip.

This night we were staying in a two bedroom lock-off Savanna View at Jambo House. We were in rooms 5221 and 5223. We were used to the layout of the rooms by now (since this was the fourth room we’d been in for this 6 night trip!) but what was different was that this was the first time that we had view of a savanna.

Here’s a picture of the kitchen and living room. Note that in this unit we have a work island in the kitchen, which we did not have in the first room. One of my concerns about the table is that it is significantly smaller than those at the VGC. There you can seat at least 6 and 8 with a little cuddling up. Here the table is rounded and really can only seat 4 comfortably.

This is the view into the master suite. Again, since at Jambo House there is no bathroom for the kitchen and living room area, there’s a small hallway that extends between the bathroom, shared with those staying in the living room, and the master bedroom. That seems a waste of space to me. I really prefer the room layout of Kidani Village, which is very similar to that of the VGC since there is a third bathroom for whoever is sleeping in the living room.

Because of the hallway, the master bedroom is smaller than what you would have at Kidani Village or the VGC.

Of course the big attraction is the savanna, which is dimly lit at night. Honest, there’s some animal out there. Probably not one of the animals that are cared for by Disney, perhaps a bird. The string of bright lights at the top are from another wing of Jambo House.

Here are views taken the next day in the morning. This is looking to the left from our balcony.

Our DME was picking us up at about 1:00 so the original plans were to just make a shopping or park run. I decided that I really like my balcony and just sat there until mousekeeping threw me out at 11:00. Here’s my favorite scene.

The animal care givers are out stocking the feeding troughs and there’s a giraffe coming this way.

He sees that there’s something to be had at his trough at the top of the polls.

He spends a little while eating what’s been left for him at the high trough, but decides that the truck has better food, so he wanders over there and starts eating out of the back of the truck. The care givers pamper him for a bit and then drive off.

He decides to follow them.

I think that this is one of the reasons that I look forward to using our DVC membership, I don’t feel like I have to spend every minute “doing something.” I can sit and relax since I’ll be back.

I really had a great time just enjoying the balcony and watching the animals. Some people are asking about whether the Animal Kingdom Lodge and Villas are too far away from everything. Although I’m sure that there’s a lot of fun to be had at the Boardwalk and Bay Lake Towers, I think I could be very happy at the Animal Kingdom.

Well, mousekeeping showed up at about 10:00 and told them that I’d be out by 11:00, which is the official check out time. Right at 11:00, they were back, so fortunately everything was packed up and I moved our stuff down to the lobby. My DW and I spent the next two hours watching the animals from the view points.

DME showed up a little after 1:00 and we proceeded to Pop Century to pick up some more guests. In an attempt to save the landscaping, they had covered some of the plants, I’m guessing poinsettias.

We got to the airport at about 2:00. The plane left at about 4:00. We had to change planes in Atlanta since Delta had canceled the afternoon non-stop to Salt Lake City. We arrived in Salt Lake at about 10:00 and were home by 11:30. Sigh. It’s over.

Wrap Up.

Here are maps of Jambo House and Kidani Villiage with indications of where our rooms were and what we had as a view from our balcony.

Jambo House

Kidani Village

Here are some random thoughts.

Planning at Christmas. Rather than holding out for exactly what I wanted (2 bedroom value at AKV), I should have made a reservation for what was available and then try to change to something more to my liking. As much as we enjoyed the AKV, I think that it would have been less stressful to have just found a place and stayed there. That probably means that we would have been in Saratoga Springs, which would have been fine. The problem was that we were going after very desirable accommodations (AKV value) at a time of high demand.

AKV is great. OK, now I’m contradicting myself, but I really enjoyed AKV and really, really enjoyed the savanna view room. I’d go back to AKV any time, but we’ll probably stay somewhere else for our next trip just because I also want to experience the Wilderness Lodge, the Beach Club, and the Boardwalk.

Illuminations Cruise. We’d done this twice now and although it is a lot of fun, it is very, very expensive. I recommend it, but only if you want to spend that kind of money. If you’re doing this when it might be cold, bring lots of layers. They provide a blanket, but the first time we took the cruise it wasn’t enough. This time we had sweaters and jackets.

Candlelight Processional. This was the first time we’ve attended this and we thoroughly enjoyed it. This is well worth the effort. The Candlelight Processional Dinner Package was great. We enjoyed our meal at the Rose and Crown.

 

[appleorchard]

I'm enjoying your report whenever you get around to posting an update lol