E
erikthewise
Guest
Cast
Self (Richard): likes seafood, gets up too early, walks too fast. Thinks that entering a park after the scheduled opening is like walking in on a movie after its started. Can accurately estimate the duration of any sequence of activities.
DW (Julia): Family photographer. Hates seafood, likes to sleep in, walks too slow. Has no sense of time. Thinks its immoral if not illegal to arrive at a park before opening time.
DS9 (Jonathan): Tall enough to ride anything but doesnt like thrill rides. Loves computer games and arcades. Haven't told him about Disney Quest.
DS6 (Patrick): Fearless; will ride anything. Just barely tall enough to ride Space Mountain. Has the patience of a forest fire. Doesnt like anything that isnt a ride or a meal. Haven't told him about Tower of Terror.
We are staying 5 nights at Beach Club Villas in our first trip as members of Disney Vacation Club, followed by 3 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Also see restaurant report
http://www.disboards.com/showthread...threadid=303938
Thu Dec 12: And the rain rain rain came down down down
Today was moving day, when we checked out of Beach Club Villas and checked into Animal Kingdom Lodge. We managed to get on the road about 8:30 and drove to Magic Kingdom. No bus today as we didnt want to have to return to Beach Club; we had Disney transfer most of our luggage and took the rest with us. We parked in the MK parking lot, caught a tram right away, and then a monorail. We arrived shortly after 9:00, and the park was not at all crowded in spite of being open since 8:00 this was a Magic Hour day for MK.
We finally came up against our boys incompatibility; DS6 wanted to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain, and DS9 didnt. So I would take DS6 to ride his rides, and DW would go with DS9 to ride Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. We had our Motorola walkie-talkies to communicate when split up.
We rode the Railroad from Main Street to Frontierland, and then went our separate ways, agreeing to meet back at the rail station exit when done. Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain were both walk-ons; there were even a lot of empty boats on Splash Mountain! As a result DS6 and I were finished quickly. I tried to talk him into riding one of them again, but even though he really enjoyed them, he didnt want to; not his idea I guess. I tried calling DW on the walkie-talkie, and continued to try every couple minutes, but no response. We walked down to Adventureland but didnt find them, so had no choice but to go back to our meeting place and wait. Ten or fifteen minutes later they finally showed up. DW said she didnt plan to turn on the walkie-talkie unless we werent at the meeting point. (Now maybe you understand why we have such a hard time actually using them!)
DS6 now insisted on going on Space Mountain again. So we set out, leaving DW and DS9 in front of the Country Bear Jamboree and agreeing to meet on Tom Sawyer Island. Space Mountain was nearly a walk-on this morning; the difference between Sunday and Thursday was amazing. We thought about riding Buzz Lightyear, but instead headed back to Frontierland. Just as well since it turned out that DW and DS9 had not gone into Country Bear Jamboree after all, but were waiting for us on Tom Sawyer Island. We actually managed to communicate using the walkie-talkies and find out where on the island they were!
After we got off Tom Sawyer Island we were getting hungry, so ate lunch at Columbia Harbor House. DW wanted DS9 to see Hall of Presidents; its educational and he had been studying them in school. (As youve surely guessed, we took them out of school for this vacation.) I knew DS6 would be bored, so I gave him his choice of riding the railroad some more or going on the riverboat. He chose the Liberty Belle Riverboat. I have a certain weakness for this attraction; I always want to break into Old Man River from the musical Showboat. It would help if I knew more of the words. Dat Ole Man Ribbah, He jus keep rollin a-long! Also the narration more or less explains where Samuel Clemens came up with the name Mark Twain. I just love listening to that wonderful bass voice calling out the river depths. We had agreed to meet at the stockades in Liberty Square. We were all getting tired, so it was time to go check in at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
We arrived about 1:30, and our room was ready for us. Check-in went smoothly but took ten minutes to go through everything. The others relaxed in the spacious lobby while waiting. It turned out that we did not get the view I requested, but since we did get our requested view at BCV, I wasnt really worried about that. We also did not get bunk beds, which I was hoping for but had forgotten to include in our requests. We were on the north side of the Ostrich trail facing the Sunset savanna in room 5134.
Our one-bedroom suite at Beach Club Villas had been very spacious, about 700 square feet with a complete kitchen, washer and dryer, large bathroom, two TVs and a master bedroom. The size of rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge was not a surprise, but even still it was tough coming to a room that was less than half the size of the one we left that morning! There were two sinks in the bathroom, the theming was great, the two queen beds nice, but I had a hard time fighting the notion that we were in an ordinary hotel room. Samantha Brown, where were you when we needed you!
After bringing the remainder of our luggage up from our car, the boys and I explored the resort while DW chilled out in the room. It was starting to drizzle outside. We stopped in the lobby to talk to a CM from Africa who had a display of objects to tell the boys about. I tried unsuccessfully to get them to go out on the Arusha outlook to watch animals. So we went down to the first floor (two floors below the lobby) and investigated the pool, the playground, the fitness center, the restaurants, the Mara mini-food court, and Simbas Cubhouse. Due to weather and limited time, we only used the last two of these.
I had made a PS for Jiko this evening, but DW felt claustrophobic and wanted to get away. So we canceled our PS at Jiko (sigh! there goes my one meal at a fancy restaurant), put the boys in Simbas Cub House for a couple hours and headed toward Downtown Disney. She wanted to eat dinner there and then do some shopping.
We had a good dinner at House of Blues after being seated immediately. When we left the restaurant it was pouring rain! After running to the car, we decided to skip the shopping, and head back to AKL. It turned out that we got back almost exactly two hours after we left. The rain continued all that night.
I was pleased with the animals we saw from our balcony. There were four giraffes, four ostriches, some Ankole cattle (with very large horns), several bongos (large antelopes), and some impala and Thomsons gazelles. There were also some other types of birds. They give you an animal spotting guide in your check-in materials, so you can become an instant expert on whos who.
It is true that the rooms are dark. Ive heard that this is because of the animals. (How would you like bright lights from 200 rooms shining on you?) They use special 52-watt bulbs in the lamps, and there are five of them in the room (not counting the bathroom), 4 next to the beds and one floor lamp in the corner near the balcony. On a heavily clouded December day or after dark, the room is not well-lit. And if one of them burns out (ours did), its even worse until it gets replaced.
Self (Richard): likes seafood, gets up too early, walks too fast. Thinks that entering a park after the scheduled opening is like walking in on a movie after its started. Can accurately estimate the duration of any sequence of activities.
DW (Julia): Family photographer. Hates seafood, likes to sleep in, walks too slow. Has no sense of time. Thinks its immoral if not illegal to arrive at a park before opening time.
DS9 (Jonathan): Tall enough to ride anything but doesnt like thrill rides. Loves computer games and arcades. Haven't told him about Disney Quest.
DS6 (Patrick): Fearless; will ride anything. Just barely tall enough to ride Space Mountain. Has the patience of a forest fire. Doesnt like anything that isnt a ride or a meal. Haven't told him about Tower of Terror.
We are staying 5 nights at Beach Club Villas in our first trip as members of Disney Vacation Club, followed by 3 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Also see restaurant report
http://www.disboards.com/showthread...threadid=303938
Thu Dec 12: And the rain rain rain came down down down
Today was moving day, when we checked out of Beach Club Villas and checked into Animal Kingdom Lodge. We managed to get on the road about 8:30 and drove to Magic Kingdom. No bus today as we didnt want to have to return to Beach Club; we had Disney transfer most of our luggage and took the rest with us. We parked in the MK parking lot, caught a tram right away, and then a monorail. We arrived shortly after 9:00, and the park was not at all crowded in spite of being open since 8:00 this was a Magic Hour day for MK.
We finally came up against our boys incompatibility; DS6 wanted to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain, and DS9 didnt. So I would take DS6 to ride his rides, and DW would go with DS9 to ride Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. We had our Motorola walkie-talkies to communicate when split up.
We rode the Railroad from Main Street to Frontierland, and then went our separate ways, agreeing to meet back at the rail station exit when done. Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain were both walk-ons; there were even a lot of empty boats on Splash Mountain! As a result DS6 and I were finished quickly. I tried to talk him into riding one of them again, but even though he really enjoyed them, he didnt want to; not his idea I guess. I tried calling DW on the walkie-talkie, and continued to try every couple minutes, but no response. We walked down to Adventureland but didnt find them, so had no choice but to go back to our meeting place and wait. Ten or fifteen minutes later they finally showed up. DW said she didnt plan to turn on the walkie-talkie unless we werent at the meeting point. (Now maybe you understand why we have such a hard time actually using them!)
DS6 now insisted on going on Space Mountain again. So we set out, leaving DW and DS9 in front of the Country Bear Jamboree and agreeing to meet on Tom Sawyer Island. Space Mountain was nearly a walk-on this morning; the difference between Sunday and Thursday was amazing. We thought about riding Buzz Lightyear, but instead headed back to Frontierland. Just as well since it turned out that DW and DS9 had not gone into Country Bear Jamboree after all, but were waiting for us on Tom Sawyer Island. We actually managed to communicate using the walkie-talkies and find out where on the island they were!
After we got off Tom Sawyer Island we were getting hungry, so ate lunch at Columbia Harbor House. DW wanted DS9 to see Hall of Presidents; its educational and he had been studying them in school. (As youve surely guessed, we took them out of school for this vacation.) I knew DS6 would be bored, so I gave him his choice of riding the railroad some more or going on the riverboat. He chose the Liberty Belle Riverboat. I have a certain weakness for this attraction; I always want to break into Old Man River from the musical Showboat. It would help if I knew more of the words. Dat Ole Man Ribbah, He jus keep rollin a-long! Also the narration more or less explains where Samuel Clemens came up with the name Mark Twain. I just love listening to that wonderful bass voice calling out the river depths. We had agreed to meet at the stockades in Liberty Square. We were all getting tired, so it was time to go check in at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
We arrived about 1:30, and our room was ready for us. Check-in went smoothly but took ten minutes to go through everything. The others relaxed in the spacious lobby while waiting. It turned out that we did not get the view I requested, but since we did get our requested view at BCV, I wasnt really worried about that. We also did not get bunk beds, which I was hoping for but had forgotten to include in our requests. We were on the north side of the Ostrich trail facing the Sunset savanna in room 5134.
Our one-bedroom suite at Beach Club Villas had been very spacious, about 700 square feet with a complete kitchen, washer and dryer, large bathroom, two TVs and a master bedroom. The size of rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge was not a surprise, but even still it was tough coming to a room that was less than half the size of the one we left that morning! There were two sinks in the bathroom, the theming was great, the two queen beds nice, but I had a hard time fighting the notion that we were in an ordinary hotel room. Samantha Brown, where were you when we needed you!
After bringing the remainder of our luggage up from our car, the boys and I explored the resort while DW chilled out in the room. It was starting to drizzle outside. We stopped in the lobby to talk to a CM from Africa who had a display of objects to tell the boys about. I tried unsuccessfully to get them to go out on the Arusha outlook to watch animals. So we went down to the first floor (two floors below the lobby) and investigated the pool, the playground, the fitness center, the restaurants, the Mara mini-food court, and Simbas Cubhouse. Due to weather and limited time, we only used the last two of these.
I had made a PS for Jiko this evening, but DW felt claustrophobic and wanted to get away. So we canceled our PS at Jiko (sigh! there goes my one meal at a fancy restaurant), put the boys in Simbas Cub House for a couple hours and headed toward Downtown Disney. She wanted to eat dinner there and then do some shopping.
We had a good dinner at House of Blues after being seated immediately. When we left the restaurant it was pouring rain! After running to the car, we decided to skip the shopping, and head back to AKL. It turned out that we got back almost exactly two hours after we left. The rain continued all that night.
I was pleased with the animals we saw from our balcony. There were four giraffes, four ostriches, some Ankole cattle (with very large horns), several bongos (large antelopes), and some impala and Thomsons gazelles. There were also some other types of birds. They give you an animal spotting guide in your check-in materials, so you can become an instant expert on whos who.
It is true that the rooms are dark. Ive heard that this is because of the animals. (How would you like bright lights from 200 rooms shining on you?) They use special 52-watt bulbs in the lamps, and there are five of them in the room (not counting the bathroom), 4 next to the beds and one floor lamp in the corner near the balcony. On a heavily clouded December day or after dark, the room is not well-lit. And if one of them burns out (ours did), its even worse until it gets replaced.
