JAMBO! The UN-official AKL Thread ~ UPDATED(short film/pg 8 & slideshow/pg 12) Part 3

[Flossbolna]

Flossbolna,

Thanks again for all your hard work! I loved AKLGoofy's story. I can't imagine my husband doing anything like that. Still waiting for your last trip report.

Kathy

Flossbolna,

Thanks so much for the great job you did on the "Condensed" portion of this thread. It has been awesome looking through and the excitement is spilling over! I cannot believe we leave in 13 more days! Whoppie!

I remember when he was "planning" that trip, and some of us oldies were giving him tips and ideas!!!! It turned out to be an amazing trip! We all thought Susan was a very lucky girl indeed!!! It's a great
story to read.

Also, Thanks again Floss - you have done a wonderful thing putting all of that together!!!

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments! I hope everyone is bringing back many photos from their upcoming trips!!

 

[Flossbolna]

It looks like the first building of the Kidani chain of buildings is already quite finished. Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES_y7c0PjS4

After some nice shots of the "there is not a new DVC building at the Contemporary" it goes by the building site for Kidani. It looks like they are making good progress! I think this might actually be a great addition to the lodge with another restaurant and a second pool. It might make the lodge seem less secluded. I just hope it is not going to add too many bus stops to the route!!

 

[kimmar067]

7 days to go

Thank you for updating the pics, I can't wait to see them for myself

...wow, soooo you're doin' the "One-Week Wiggle".....

 

[mickiecake]

We're staying at AKL for our first ever trip to the World!! Me, DH, and twin boys (8) all LOVE animals, so it seems like the place for our "Magical" vacation.

I do have a question or two.. (or three)...

Does Mousekeeping at AKL do lots of towel animals? If they don't do them while we are there, is it impolite to ask them to? I've printed cute little tip envelopes for each day of our stay, and I just think the towel animals would be one more touch of Pixie Dust.

Thanks!

 

[d4est]

arggggggggg! I wish I was at the one week wiggle!

19 days 6 hours 44 minutes...

 

[RachelTori]

We're staying at AKL for our first ever trip to the World!! Me, DH, and twin boys (8) all LOVE animals, so it seems like the place for our "Magical" vacation.

I do have a question or two.. (or three)...

Does Mousekeeping at AKL do lots of towel animals? If they don't do them while we are there, is it impolite to ask them to? I've printed cute little tip envelopes for each day of our stay, and I just think the towel animals would be one more touch of Pixie Dust.

Thanks!

What a GREAT resort for your "first ever" trip to WDW!!

To answer your question: it's hit-or-miss where towel animals are concerned. If you're counting on them, you'll likely be disappointed. (on the other hand, you could very well get lucky, too, and have a Mousekeeper who loves to do them!) And it's certainly not impolite to request them.

Also, if you have some stuffed animals (plushes, dolls, etc.) along, the mousekeepers often like to get inventive with them. You might return to your room to see the animals/dolls cleverly posed!

 

[scoutsmom99]

Ok so I went to try and find the thread on the CB and had no luck (darn search) so are we back to this thread? So glad to see some familiar faces. Wendy girl I'm so glad to see ya How are things going for you? I promise to try and keep up better with the thread guys...I'm hoping to spend some time at AKL next December so I can see that gorgeous Christmas tree....till then I'm going to have to live through all of yous so make sure to share your pics

 

[mickiecake]

What a GREAT resort for your "first ever" trip to WDW!!

To answer your question: it's hit-or-miss where towel animals are concerned. If you're counting on them, you'll likely be disappointed. (on the other hand, you could very well get lucky, too, and have a Mousekeeper who loves to do them!) And it's certainly not impolite to request them.

Also, if you have some stuffed animals (plushes, dolls, etc.) along, the mousekeepers often like to get inventive with them. You might return to your room to see the animals/dolls cleverly posed!

Thank You!! I am soooo EXCITED!!!

 

[mickiecake]

Do I need to make ADRs for (early) Boma breakfast in Feb?? I would rather eat there than at Mara, but I don't want to *have* to eat bfast at a certain time. TIA!

 

[RachelTori]

Do I need to make ADRs for (early) Boma breakfast in Feb?? I would rather eat there than at Mara, but I don't want to *have* to eat bfast at a certain time. TIA!

You'll probably be OK for breakfast @ Boma without an ADR, but I'd make one anyway...... just in case!

If you want dinner @ Boma, you'll almost certainly need an ADR.

 

[RachelTori]

Ok so I went to try and find the thread on the CB and had no luck (darn search) so are we back to this thread? So glad to see some familiar faces. Wendy girl I'm so glad to see ya How are things going for you? I promise to try and keep up better with the thread guys...I'm hoping to spend some time at AKL next December so I can see that gorgeous Christmas tree....till then I'm going to have to live through all of yous so make sure to share your pics

Hey, Lisa! It's been pretty quiet on kimmar's CB thread. Here's the link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1636333

 

[Bronte]

27 days !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it ... we have kept this a secret from our dd's (14 and 12) for over 10 months ... Booked it way back at the end of January.
Finally ... we are almost there !!!!!!!!!!!

I have been reading this thread everyday and have got such great information from all of you ... Thanks

Does anyone know how people can send us mail/packages while we are at the AKL (we will be there for 11 days.) My sister and sister in law would like to mail the girls their gifts while we are down there but I am not sure what to tell them. We have a very common last name so I do not want the mail or packages to go to the wrong room.

Thanks for any help ....

 

[mickiecake]

You'll probably be OK for breakfast @ Boma without an ADR, but I'd make one anyway...... just in case!

If you want dinner @ Boma, you'll almost certainly need an ADR.

Thank you! I already have an ADR for dinner at Boma. We are on the Deluxe Dining Plan, and I tried to keep it at 2 ADRs a day. I don't really want to end up being a slave to our meals, and I have no idea how mornings are going to be for us. I mean, I like to sleep a little late (maybe 8 AM), but for all I know, we will all be so excited we will get up at the crack of dawn

I just don't want to end up having a lazy day, where we plan to sleep in or just hang out at the pool, and have to get up early for a 7 AM ADR. I tried to keep most of my reservations lunch or dinner, to leave our mornings flexible. It's so darn hard to plan like this for a place you've never been!!

 

[kimmar067]

UPDATE on Tusker House:

Opening Day at the Tusker House in Disney's Animal Kingdom
"Jambo Everyone! I just returned from Donald's Safari Breakfast in Harambe, Africa. I am going to start with the menus and general pictures while I work on a review and more pictures from my morning adventure with Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey.

The first change you will notice about Tusker House is that the entrance has been moved. The check-in podium is now next to the Dawa Bar and your host or hostess will escort you around the back of the building while explaining the story of the hotel and marketplace.

This is the Photo Op spot you pass while being escorted inside. The host or hostess gives the photographer your table number. Later, near the end of your meal, someone will come by with several photos in a lovely keepsake folder. I think there was one 5 x 7 and several smaller pictures as well as a 5 x 7 picture of Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Goofy. Cost $29.95. I am guessing that this is only done during the character breakfast but I could be wrong.

The Marketplace at Tusker House is where the locals serve food and sell African items in an effort to help the poor people of Harambe Village. For the record, there is no merchandise actually for sale, it's just part of the story.

A big thank you goes out to Neil (and Goofy) for spending so much time with me. While the kitchen changed the buffet from breakfast to lunch, I was one of the only people inside. I love moments like that. Neil (and Goofy) took me through the different dinning rooms as Neil explained the exciting back story of the Tusker House. By the way, there are 4 named dining rooms School/Training Room, Marketplace, Blue Room and the Artifacts Room. These rooms will hold approximately 350 tourists who are getting ready to go on safari. There is some outdoor seating that will be used for lunch and dinner as needed.

The former entry way when Tusker House was a quick service spot.

Connie, the cast member in the center was my server. She was fantastic!! It is not always easy waiting on me as I am running around taking pictures and asking a ton of questions. Connie was right there everytime a character stopped at my table to take a photo with my camera. As a solo dinner that is such a great Disney touch when cast members make that extra effort.

This is a very special tribute to Joe Rohde, which has been here since the park opened. The masks and beads in "his" shop are items he personally brought back from Africa.

Joe Rohde is a Vice President with Walt Disney Imagineering and is in charge of design and development for Animal Kingdom. Joe has led conceptualization, design, and production for Animal Kingdom since its inception in 1990."

Breakfast Menu

 

[wendypooh]

Wendy girl I'm so glad to see ya How are things going for you? I promise to try and keep up better with the thread guys...I'm hoping to spend some time at AKL next December so I can see that gorgeous Christmas tree....till then I'm going to have to live through all of yous so make sure to share your pics

Hey!!!!!!!!!!! We are good! How are you doing!!!

I cannot wait to get back to the lodge, I really miss it! We have about 70 or so days left!!! It's going way too slow for me!!!

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

 

[wendypooh]

Kimmar ~

Thanks for those pics of Tusker House!!! The JORODI pic was my fav. DH will love that when he see's it! He's a huge fan of Joe Rohde!

 

[Flossbolna]

We're staying at AKL for our first ever trip to the World!! Me, DH, and twin boys (8) all LOVE animals, so it seems like the place for our "Magical" vacation.

I do have a question or two.. (or three)...

Does Mousekeeping at AKL do lots of towel animals? If they don't do them while we are there, is it impolite to ask them to? I've printed cute little tip envelopes for each day of our stay, and I just think the towel animals would be one more touch of Pixie Dust.

Thanks!

Have a fantastic trip! AKL is the perfect place for animal lovers!

You really should check out all the different viewing locations: obvioulsy Arusha rock, but also the outlook over Uzima savannah behind the pool (this is where the night vision goggles are in the evenings) and the balcony of the Sunset room (on the side of the lobby where the check-in desk is). Besides that you can walk along the trails and there will be outlooks in between the different buildings along the trail. I think they are on the second floor. And finally I remember that people have reported that at the end of Kudu and Zebra trail there are outdoor stair where you can step outside and see the end of the savannah.

About towel animals, as someone else sad, it really depends on your housekeeper. If a note does not work, you might ask the front desk about them. I have read somewhere that someone mentioned (possibly from a different hotel) that they have a few there which they might give to people. It would not hurt to politely talk to them that you were hoping so much that you would get a towel animal...

 

[Flossbolna]

Ok so I went to try and find the thread on the CB and had no luck (darn search) so are we back to this thread? So glad to see some familiar faces. Wendy girl I'm so glad to see ya How are things going for you? I promise to try and keep up better with the thread guys...I'm hoping to spend some time at AKL next December so I can see that gorgeous Christmas tree....till then I'm going to have to live through all of yous so make sure to share your pics

Hi Lisa, when I was trying to get together all the pictures on the thread I noticed that yours don't show up (therefore I have not included them). Have you taken them from whatever site you used to host them? I remember that you had lots of really great pictures!! Are still available anywhere?

 

[Flossbolna]

Do I need to make ADRs for (early) Boma breakfast in Feb?? I would rather eat there than at Mara, but I don't want to *have* to eat bfast at a certain time. TIA!

What you might want to do is call WDW-Dine the day before to get an ADR. You can even get an ADR for a time that is shortly after your call, you don't have to get them before you start your trip. The evening before you will most likely know when you might want to eat breakfast, so give them a call, and see what times are available. In any case, getting an ADR will still put you in front of walk-ups!

Since you are on the Deluxe Plan, this is something that you should really keep in mind. It never hurts for any meal to give WDW-Dine a quick call and ask what is available for - let's say - a TS at MK within the next hour.

 

[scoutsmom99]

Hi Lisa, when I was trying to get together all the pictures on the thread I noticed that yours don't show up (therefore I have not included them). Have you taken them from whatever site you used to host them? I remember that you had lots of really great pictures!! Are still available anywhere?

I did have to move mine a few months ago I had some computer problems and then I also had so much stuff in PB it was on overload. I do still have the pics, but I don't have time to re-upload them now, but after New YearsI can probably do it.