JAMBO! The UN-official AKL Thread ~ UPDATED(short film/pg 8 & slideshow/pg 12) Part 2

[kimmar067]

Happy Friday Everyone!

It's A ZEBRA DOME FRIDAY PARTY!


Feel Free to Join IN

...WOOHOO!!!!

 

[kimmar067]

Thanks Angel!
I hope to have time to catch up with all that I have missed. It's been a busy summer! Not much computer time. No, we have never been to DL, although it is wayyyyy closer to our home in Western Canada! I have always had a penchant for the World! My daughters have an opportunity to dance at DL, with their studio, and of course, I can't let them go alone ....so I told hubby, darn, have to go to Disney again!!

Just found out that my sis and her family are planning their first trip to WDW as a whole family (there were there once before, several years ago, with only one of their four, the other three weren't born yet). I am excited to help her, and they have picked AKL for their chosen destination!!! I guess I sold them on it. I have given her this website, and encouraged her to start reading and posting!!

Nice to be back! I'll post more once I've had a chance to read up!

...oh boy, just what we need - another 'CONVERT'.... !

 

[Nik's Mom]

...it is located on the 3rd floor halfway down the corridor of the Kudu Trail....

Thanks, as always, Kimmar!

 

[Oh_the_anticipation!]

Hi everyone,
Just returned from AKL last night and had a wonderful week. The Lodge was beautiful! We were in Savannah view Room #3421. Perfect location - close to lobby, bar, etc. Gift shop had so much stuff. I brought back some African wines.

I'm sad to say that we didn't get to explore AKL as much as I would have liked. My friend and her children slept late and hence, me, too. I felt guilty waking them up. (Latin people are night owls!) I would start a pot of coffee in the dark, then sit on the balcony and watch the animals. (Someone posted earilier about bringing your own coffee...DO BRING YOUR OWN! Mousekeeping didn't refill the regular coffee packs on 2 occassions and so I had to drink decaf. Yuck! )

But once the kids got up....we were off and running! Spent most of our time in MK. It was hot while we were there, so we'd return to the hotel in the afternoon and swim, then return to the parks at night. The kids LOVED the pool and the jaccuzzi sure was a welcome spot for my friend and I. My legs have never been so sore! I even bought Ben Gay in the gift shop!!!

We ate at Mara for breakfast almost everyday and at Boma once for dinner. Boma was soooo good. I even got the recipe for carrot ginger soup and the banana bread pudding. We did the DDP and I found the CM's to be very flexible. They made it work for you. On our last day we had 2 counter service, 1 table service and 5 snacks remaining. I told the CM that it was our last morning so just please do whatever she could to figure it out. We had 3 full breakfasts, 5 snacks and 2 big chocolate milks and paid nothing. It was kind of a pain to try to figure it all out at first, but it was nice not having to take all that extra money and deal with gratuities, etc.

A note on the Dining Plan.....
If you have kids, be aware that the plan only includes the smaller "Mickey Milk". My friends children only like chocolate milk, so we ended up paying for the larger Nestle Quick milk. Also, unless you're eating/snacking at the lodge A LOT, I question getting the mug. On the DDP, a drink is included.

MY favorite part....the MNNSHP. FANTASTIC!!!! I'll go back again just for that.

In a nutshell, great hotel, great vacation. I know my friend and her children returned to Brasil with memories to last a lifetime!

 

[tinknme]

Welcome back! Glad to hear you all had a wonderful time. I can understand about the sleeping in. We tend to stay out late & sleep in. I don't think we have ever been to a park at opening

Hi everyone,
Just returned from AKL last night and had a wonderful week. The Lodge was beautiful! We were in Savannah view Room #3421. Perfect location - close to lobby, bar, etc. Gift shop had so much stuff. I brought back some African wines.

 

[Cass]

Welcome back Oh_the_anticipation!

Glad you had a nice time how were the buses?

 

[Oh_the_anticipation!]

Busses weren't too bad. The ME took about an hour from the time we first arrived at the ME welcome Center to check in at AKL. Dis member TiggerAllie was on the same bus! We waited a little bit for busses to arrive, but the only real long ride was from AKL to MK. At night it was OK, because I took a 20 minute cat nap! I think a lot of the bus wait has to do with timing. Some times we were lucky enough to get to the stop just as the bus was pulling in, other times, we just missed it.

 

[Cass]

thanks O-t-a! Are you going to do a trip report? can you tell us about good meals/bad meals?

 

[kimmar067]

Busses weren't too bad. The ME took about an hour from the time we first arrived at the ME welcome Center to check in at AKL. Dis member TiggerAllie was on the same bus! We waited a little bit for busses to arrive, but the only real long ride was from AKL to MK. At night it was OK, because I took a 20 minute cat nap! I think a lot of the bus wait has to do with timing. Some times we were lucky enough to get to the stop just as the bus was pulling in, other times, we just missed it.

...welcome back! [it seems like you JUST LEFT....]

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

O-T-A thanks for the mini report. Are those love bugs gone yet?

KarateJohnsMom - I will send that DVD out next week we had a death in the family and it slipped my mind until I saw it on the kitchen table this morning. So Sorry. I promise to send it out Monday.

 

[tiggrbaby]

I just noticed, my ticker is off by one day. We leave in 11 days for WDW...but I can pretend it's 10! lol

Best wishes for a magical wedding!

 

[Cass]

O-T-A thanks for the mini report. Are those love bugs gone yet?

Oh yeah, I hate those things!

 

[disneytraveler]

I thought the Akl buses were great also. And as for the love bugs, i wondered
what they were called and now i know!

 

[John's Mom]

Bumping!

 

[Oh_the_anticipation!]

Oh, those love bugs....they're not gone yet!

What a pain! Really only noticed them A LOT at AKL the most - balcony & pool. There were a few entangled in our bed's mosquito netting and in the balcony sheers. YUCK!

As for the meals - ALL GREAT! We did Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace ( You HAVE to try the Breakfast lasagne!), Sci-Fi Diner (STILL my favorite), San Angel Inn, Donald's Breakfast-o-saurus, Boma and CRT. And we even snuck in some of the goodies at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. Everything we had there was delicious as well. Mara was OK, but nothing special. I mean, scrambled eggs are scrambled eggs. Kinda hard to mess up! I am truly amazed at the massive quality of food Disney produces.

Can't wait to go back in Feb. - but not AKL. The group of cheerleaders either have to stay at the CB or All Star Music. Neither of which are my hotel choice, but at least I'm going to Disney again!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hello all

Has anyone used Simba's Club recently???

I'm thinking of actually having a dinner alone with DH at Jiko but I want to make sure that Simba's will be a good experience-since there is a wide age spread in my children...its a little difficult, my DS is on the low end of the accepted age range (4) and my daughter is on the older end (12)-she is a good sport though and actully loves younger kids...

Also the morning after our MVMCP, I was actually considering having a sleep in (which for us means about 8-8:30 instead of 6... ) and as a treat for all of us was thinking of ordering room service for breakfast-any experience with this either?

Finally I am going to bring some extra coffee.. .what size filters do I need-the little cone # 2s


Thanks...so much to decide and the time is starting to move....

 

[meloneyb21]

Does anyone have any pictures of a regular Savannah Room as opposed to a Deluxe Savannah Room? Also with the view?

 

[Oh_the_anticipation!]

Meloneyb21 - Just emailed you some photos of our room and view. Hope they help.

I loved our location! No elevator to wait for and right off the lobby and the last room in the first sections. After coming home at midnight, our room seemed far enough away. I can't imagine having to walk ALL the way to the last section of rooms. I don't think my legs could have carried me much further! Good luck planning!

 

[tinknme]

Here are the only pictures that turned out decent from the resort Most are our view from our standard savanna view room. The towel animals are a monkey & an alligator. The last few pictures are of my youngest ds in the parade through the lobby.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jlynne62/AnimalKingdomLodge/photo#s4986306770054479890

 

[brookelizabeth]

Best wishes for a magical wedding!

Thanks!

I'm single-digit dancing now!!