From Europe to Africa in America - A Sisters' Expedition

[johnsonet]

Yay for your update! I love that lobby so much too How exciting about your savanna view. Can't wait to see pics of it! And great location within the resort

Question - how do you feel about the bedspreads? For a deluxe, I've always thought they look a bit chintzy in the pictures. Maybe they are better in person. I agree they fit the theme, but I would like more luxury (like we had at BC). Just curious on your thoughts.

I agree that they don't look great in the pics but, as Flossbolna said, they look good in person. And I do think AKL has had some decor refurbs over the years. I know the shower curtains have changed. The bathroom wallpaper has not.Carpet has changed, at least in some places. I feel that I've had several different bedspreads but maybe that was b/w standard room, suite and back when the 5th and 6th floors were Deluxe rooms. Not positive...

Looking forward to more and I sure hope one of your dining reviews will be from Jiko

 

[Flossbolna]

Yay for your update! I love that lobby so much too How exciting about your savanna view. Can't wait to see pics of it! And great location within the resort

Pictures of the view will be included a few times I think...

I agree that they don't look great in the pics but, as Flossbolna said, they look good in person. And I do think AKL has had some decor refurbs over the years. I know the shower curtains have changed. The bathroom wallpaper has not.Carpet has changed, at least in some places. I feel that I've had several different bedspreads but maybe that was b/w standard room, suite and back when the 5th and 6th floors were Deluxe rooms. Not positive...

I am pretty sure that in 2007, 2008 and 2010 the bed spreads were the same and I think the same applies to the carpet, at least in the AKL part. But you are right, the shower curtain seems new! And the dresser with the TV has changed since it now has a flat scree TV. Also I think there used to be more drawers...

Looking forward to more and I sure hope one of your dining reviews will be from Jiko

There will be Jiko, but it will be on our last evening!

 

[John's Mom]

Enjoying your trip report and pictures!

Can't wait for your dining reviews!

 

[Flossbolna]

Enjoying your trip report and pictures!

Can't wait for your dining reviews!

First review coming up!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Hi everyone, this was supposed to be the first post of our dining review which we then decided to include here. Some of this is not new for you, but other info is. So I thought, I'd still include it here as well.

The Cast

Here is a brief introduction of the cast:

Flossbolna – known as Magdalene in real life

I am 38 years old and the „fan“ of the two of us (well, you would be able to tell that by my number of posts on the DIS as compared to nodnol's). This was my fifth trip to WDW since 2004. I wrote dining reviews for my last three trips, links are in the signatures if you want to check them out.

I am a picky but adventurous eater. Picky in the sense that there are certain things which I just hate and won't eat. The list used to be longer, but now I would say it is cilantro (hate this sooo much!!), shellfish (actually am probably slightly allergic to it), raw onions, braised meat. I just looked at my introduction in the previous reviews and realized that red peppers and cooked onions can be removed of the list of absolutely hated items! But I love all kind of different tastes and combinations. For example last week I ordered a dish for lunch which was described as noodles with fruit in a hot sauce (btw it was really good!) - so this is the adventurous part.

We are from a family which loves good food and cooking. We were also brought up that the cook is responsible for making a meal taste as it should. So, for example, we were not allowed to add any salt/pepper/ketchup etc. to a meal (ok, the ketchup had certain exceptions when it was used for its “proper” use). I think in a way I therefore expect any dish on the menu to “work” if it is a restaurant I trust. And I am usually pretty good to work out from the ingredients it it will then also “work” for me.

I also am not such a huge fan of sweet stuff. I find savoury dishes often more interesting, so I would rather order an appetizer than dessert. And last trip I had far too many crème brulees!

nodnol – known as Katharina in real life

I think I let her introduce herself:

I am 35 years old and a first timer to WDW. I like to cook and eat and to try new things. I love potatoes and potatoes and potatoes, but also lots of other stuff. There aren’t many things I don’t like (mussels, calamari, very spicy food), but lots of things I shouldn’t eat. About one year ago I found out that I might have quite some food intolerances, among others cows milk, tomatoes, raw onions, vinegar, some fruits ... except for the milk and tomatoes it depends a lot on how much of it there is in the food and what else is in there, lemon – sugar ratio etc.. I’m still experimenting but try to stay away from any milk products and tomatoes. I’m fine when I can cook for myself, because I’m quite an experienced adventurous cook and can “adjust” a lot of meals, but eating out is always a little bit difficult. I was very keen finding out how I would get along at WDW. Oh and maybe I should also mention that I don’t really enjoy most alcoholic beverages any more, most wines and beers make my nose clog up.


Our ADRs:

We spent a lot of time thinking about our ADRs and this was the final list we came up with:

1/28 10:20 am Tusker House Breakfast
1/29 7:15 pm California Grill Dinner
1/30 5:35 pm Flying Fish Dinner
1/31 5:00 pm Whispering Canyon Café Dinner
2/1 7:10 pm Boma Dinner
2/2 12:00 pm Sci Fi Dine-In Lunch
2/2 7:45 pm Artist Point Dinner
2/3 2:00 pm Garden View Tea Room Lunch/Tea (nodnol' birthday!)
2/3 7:30 pm Narcoossee’s Dinner (nodnol's birthday!)
2/4 7:15 pm Jiko Dinner
2/5 9:05 am Boma Breakfast

As you can see we had a large number of signature restaurants – actually 5 of our 7 dinners would be at signature restaurants. Reading reviews in the past we found that these were just the most interesting places. One of our goals was to try to eat food that we would not get at home (i.e. here in Germany), so Italian, French, Irish, British, German and even Asian food wasn't our first choice. We would be able to get African food here in Berlin, but since we were staying at AKL, we really wanted to eat at our hotel as well. And I think both Boma and Jiko have a pretty unique concept anyway.

The only two restaurants that were new for me were Sci Fi Dine-In and the Garden View Tea Room and I was really looking forward to them. Of course all of them were new for Katharina!

Back to the TR: Chapter 5: Dinner at Mara

 

[Flossbolna]

After that first inspection of the room, I think we quickly changed out of our travel clothes, or at least put on lighter shoes! And then we were off for a late evening snack (it was 9:30 pm now...) at the Mara. Getting there was really easy from our room, that's why I like Zebra trail!

After our 20-hour journey we had to get something to eat to tide us over until the next morning. From previous experience I knew that nothing is worse than waking up in the middle of the night and due to jet lag you are hungry and can't go back to sleep. So we had to take care of the hungry part and make sure that this did not happen.

Since 9 pm was 3 am for us, deciding on what we wanted to eat was a bit complicated.

Once we were ready to order, there was a nice CM at the warm food station of Mara and he checked what we wanted on a paper and then gave us a beeper. We could then take the paper to the cash register and pay and would be called once our food was ready. Katharina chose a shrimp platter (and I would get to share the fries that came with it):

It was a lot of food and I liked it a lot. Just the other day after work I was quite exhausted, wanted something comforting to eat but couldn’t be botherd to cook. DH asked me what I would like to eat and I thought of this shrimp platter and the whole trip.... Unfortunately the fries ware already a little bit cold. And the sweet and sour dipping sauce tasted different than I’m used to. But it was a great first meal!




When the beeper went of Katharina went to get our food and only returned with hers. It turned out that they had forgotten mine! So I had to wait even longer for my caesar's salad (without chicken):

The salad was very nice, freshly tossed and the dressing was flavourful. But it wasn't a gourmet salad. I love caesar's salads and we don't have them here in Germany, so this a bit of a treat for me. I also love it when salads are served tossed. For some strange reason if you order a salad in a German restaurant they arrange all the ingredients nicely on a plate and then pour the dressing on top. I hate it when you then end up with pieces with too much dressing as well as with ones without any dressing.

We also bought two refillable mugs (and had some hot tea with them right then) and a bottle of beer. The beer was in case we would be so over-tired that we could not fall asleep. It turned out that we did not need the beer and we never managed to drink it during the trip:

At the cash register it turned out that we could not charge the meal to the room as we intended since there were no charging privileges on our room keys. We would have to go to the front desk to get this sorted out. We decided that we would rather do that first thing next morning. Later we realized that the CM had charged us for two beers instead of one (two different ones even). But since she had forgotten to charge the second refillable mug, it worked to our advantage. If I had noticed it at the cash register I would have said something. But it felt stupid to go back and explain them what was wrong...

After dinner an unpacking and preparing for the next day we went off to bed. I think it was nearly 11 pm by now... And we set the alarm for 6:30 am the next morning – we really wanted to make sure to make it for rope drop at the AK!!

Up next: The story I have been waiting for to write about ever since it happened!!

Next: Chapter 6: The fun (or not) of jet-lag

 

[All7OfUs]

Lovely start, Ladies!! I am especially interested in Jiko and Cali and the Tea!!! Noodles, with fruit and spicy sauce. You have me very intrigued with that! Do you have a recipe??

YOu must have posted the 2nd installment just as I hit reply, and I didn't see it the first time.

I LOVE my salads already tossed too. I'm with ya, some piece drowning in sauce and some with nothing is icky!!! I'd have not taken any chances with the sleeplessness, and went ahead with the beer. Except that it was beer- EWWWW!

Odd how they messed up with the charges. But ok, that it was to your advantage.

 

[Flossbolna]

I love potatoes and potatoes and potatoes, but also lots of other stuff. There aren’t many things I don’t like (mussels, calamari, very spicy food), but lots of things I shouldn’t eat.

It is really interesting what you are writing in your introduction, I never thought that potatoes really were your favourite food (but then I am not surprised either ). And I would have thought that you would love calamari....

It was a lot of food and I liked it a lot. Just the other day after work I was quite exhausted, wanted something comforting to eat but couldn’t be botherd to cook. DH asked me what I would like to eat and I thought of this shrimp platter and the whole trip.... Unfortunately the fries ware already a little bit cold. And the sweet and sour dipping sauce tasted different than I’m used to. But it was a great first meal!

I am really glad you liked it so much!! I remember at that thinking that you were not liking it, since we only discussed the strange dipping sauce. But I guess that this was due to both of us just being very tired and not really being able to express much enthusiasm at that point!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Lovely start, Ladies!! I am especially interested in Jiko and Cali and the Tea!!! Noodles, with fruit and spicy sauce. You have me very intrigued with that! Do you have a recipe??

What are you doing here??? Isn't it like 4 am for you or something like that?? I hope all the nasty events don't keep you awake at night!

But thanks for the compliment! Sorry, no recipe, it was kind of a sweet and sour sauce but spicy instead of sour with rice noodles and lots of fruit (mango pinapple, apple).

 

[All7OfUs]

What are you doing here??? Isn't it like 4 am for you or something like that?? I hope all the nasty events don't keep you awake at night!

But thanks for the compliment! Sorry, no recipe, it was kind of a sweet and sour sauce but spicy instead of sour with rice noodles and lots of fruit (mango pinapple, apple).

Nope. Went from bad to worse. Now not only do we not have plumbing until tomorrow afternoon, but 2 of my family are barfing every 1/2 hour. No way to clean up or anywhere to toss the pots.

 

[Flossbolna]

Nope. Went from bad to worse. Now not only do we not have plumbing until tomorrow afternoon, but 2 of my family are barfing every 1/2 hour. No way to clean up or anywhere to toss the pots.

Sending lots of hugs eastwards!!

And wishes for a speedy recovery for the two who are sick!!

 

[All7OfUs]

Sending lots of hugs eastwards!!

And wishes for a speedy recovery for the two who are sick!!

Thanks so much. So far (and hopefully that will be it) it's Mike and Zachy. I think it must have been something we/they ate at the party last night.

 

[Flossbolna]

Lovely start, Ladies!! I am especially interested in Jiko and Cali and the Tea!!! Noodles, with fruit and spicy sauce. You have me very intrigued with that! Do you have a recipe??

YOu must have posted the 2nd installment just as I hit reply, and I didn't see it the first time.

I LOVE my salads already tossed too. I'm with ya, some piece drowning in sauce and some with nothing is icky!!! I'd have not taken any chances with the sleeplessness, and went ahead with the beer. Except that it was beer- EWWWW!

Odd how they messed up with the charges. But ok, that it was to your advantage.

And you are doing some sneaky ninja editing! I nearly missed your comments since I had already moved on...

It seemed like they did not really know what they were doing... Very friendly, but also soooo slow. Which seemed a common theme (but actually I find that nearly everywhere in the US life seems to be slower than in Europe).

 

[All7OfUs]

And you are doing some sneaky ninja editing! I nearly missed your comments since I had already moved on...

It seemed like they did not really know what they were doing... Very friendly, but also soooo slow. Which seemed a common theme (but actually I find that nearly everywhere in the US life seems to be slower than in Europe).

Yeah, that was sneaky! Sorry, but honestly, I just didn't see the 2nd part until I had already posted! Worked pretty good at confusing you, though, didn't it?

Ummmm.... I hate to say it, but that's called bona fide L.A.Z.I.N.E.S.S.

It's a disease that is crippling the States at an alarming rate.

Where did half the smilies go? that's the 2nd time in 20 minutes, one I've needed isn't there.

 

[klacey1]

Great update! The shrimp look yummy, but cold fries would annoy me. Glad you guys love AKL-- it's not exactly our type of hotel, but I can definitely see why it's so beloved/popular!

 

[tiggrbaby]

What a lovely start!

 

[Donald is #1]

We also bought two refillable mugs (and had some hot tea with them right then) and a bottle of beer. The beer was in case we would be so over-tired that we could not fall asleep. It turned out that we did not need the beer and we never managed to drink it during the trip:

You never tried the Casa? That was my favorite of the African beers at AKL.



I love your ADR list. I can't wait to read your reviews.

 

[swwake]

I think Disney just started to abandon the bed spreads rather recently at the Deluxe resorts. I remember seeing the first pictures of the rennovated BC rooms (wasn't that rennovation happening when you stayed there?) and being very excited that this was finally "real" bedding! Or perhaps the Contemporary refurb was the first? All refurbs at deluxes since have converted over to this more luxurious/modern look. But AKL hasn't had a decor refurb since it was opened up. I keep thinking that it must be on the list next since Poly and WL were refurbed rather recently.

But I must say that the bedspreads where in great shape, they looked very fresh and clean. And they add colour to the room.

Wow! I didn't mean to start a whole movement! We stayed at BC right after the refurb (or during) in '08 and we got a refurbished room. We had sheets and a duvet with cover (which is becoming the standard configuration in most upscale hotels in the US lately). We do the same at home, mainly because the duvet alone is often too hot (down here in Austin), but we still like to remain covered (with a sheet), so sometimes we will kick off the duvet and leave the sheet. I wonder if it would work to do a similar configuration somehow at AKL.

I don't hate the bedspreads there. They just seem like more of what you see at a 3-star hotel than maybe a 4-star. It sure won't keep me from staying there!

I agree that they don't look great in the pics but, as Flossbolna said, they look good in person. And I do think AKL has had some decor refurbs over the years. I know the shower curtains have changed. The bathroom wallpaper has not.Carpet has changed, at least in some places. I feel that I've had several different bedspreads but maybe that was b/w standard room, suite and back when the 5th and 6th floors were Deluxe rooms. Not positive...

Thanks for the info. We know what to expect. They probably haven't decided what or how to change about the bedspreads to make it more modern, yet keep with the theme. Glad to hear that they always seem clean and fresh.

Flossbona - love the start. You're making me hungry already! I can't wait to experience all that is AKL, including Mara, in September!

 

[Flossbolna]

Yeah, that was sneaky! Sorry, but honestly, I just didn't see the 2nd part until I had already posted! Worked pretty good at confusing you, though, didn't it?

Ummmm.... I hate to say it, but that's called bona fide L.A.Z.I.N.E.S.S.

It's a disease that is crippling the States at an alarming rate.

Where did half the smilies go? that's the 2nd time in 20 minutes, one I've needed isn't there.

It was quite funny - and I started to understand Glennbo's complaints about the ninjas on his thread...

I am not so sure it is laziness (part of it might be), it always seemed that the American customers were happy to wait while in Germany there would already be some muttering. Same with standing in lines, one reason why I prefer WDW over DLP as a destination is that It is much nicer to stand in lines with Americans than with Europeans (people from the UK are the exception, they are great at standing in lines - or rather queues).

Even here in Germany I always notice a difference in "speed of life" between rural areas and big cities. But with the exception of New York and San Francisco, I found every other place I visited, even big cities like Miami and Los Angeles to be "slow" compared to Germany.

Great update! The shrimp look yummy, but cold fries would annoy me. Glad you guys love AKL-- it's not exactly our type of hotel, but I can definitely see why it's so beloved/popular!

I think that's what I like about AKL, that is such a bold design, but I can absolutely understand why it isn't for everyone.

You never tried the Casa? That was my favorite of the African beers at AKL.

I love your ADR list. I can't wait to read your reviews.

Yes, I was a bit sad that I did not drink it... But we had it in the fridge together with some candy and I only ever thought about it when I got the candy out and that was never when I felt like having the beer...

Wow! I didn't mean to start a whole movement! We stayed at BC right after the refurb (or during) in '08 and we got a refurbished room. We had sheets and a duvet with cover (which is becoming the standard configuration in most upscale hotels in the US lately). We do the same at home, mainly because the duvet alone is often too hot (down here in Austin), but we still like to remain covered (with a sheet), so sometimes we will kick off the duvet and leave the sheet. I wonder if it would work to do a similar configuration somehow at AKL.

I don't hate the bedspreads there. They just seem like more of what you see at a 3-star hotel than maybe a 4-star. It sure won't keep me from staying there!

Thanks for the info. We know what to expect. They probably haven't decided what or how to change about the bedspreads to make it more modern, yet keep with the theme. Glad to hear that they always seem clean and fresh.

Flossbona - love the start. You're making me hungry already! I can't wait to experience all that is AKL, including Mara, in September!

I am glad that the bedspread won't keep you away from AKL! The combination of sheet and duvet sounds strange to me, but I can understand what you mean about warm nights. Most people here have different duvets for summer and winter.

And I agree that it might also be a design problem. The colourful bedspreads fit in much better with the AKL design. But I think If they took something like the set up at CSR with a small blanket and throw pillows or so in African design, it could still look like a safari lodge!

 

[nodnol]

It is really interesting what you are writing in your introduction, I never thought that potatoes really were your favourite food (but then I am not surprised either ). And I would have thought that you would love calamari....

potatoes are just the best food in the world

I am really glad you liked it so much!! I remember at that thinking that you were not liking it, since we only discussed the strange dipping sauce. But I guess that this was due to both of us just being very tired and not really being able to express much enthusiasm at that point!!

I think so , too. And I forgot to mention that they were huge!!!!

You never tried the Casa? That was my favorite of the African beers at AKL.

I was actually quite sorry we didn't tast it! But it just didn't work out...