Live from AKL!

[eagillinois]

How was LTT?

 

[Iggipolka]

Phew! What a fun and exhausting day! Sounds like a typical day at WDW.

But first, to answer the question about LTT dinner. It was ok, not great, not horrible. I doubt that we'll eat dinner there again, mostly because the food was unremarkable. The salad was fresh and crisp, but seemed to be missing dressing. The turkey was very moist and hot, but the pork and beef were both cold. I liked the mashed potatoes and didn't care for the mac-n-cheese, but my DW really liked the mac-n-cheese because it was hot and very creamy,so tastes vary. The gravy was very thick and somewhat congealed so didn't pour well. Our potions had obviously been sitting for a while before they got to us. The best part of the meal was the apple cobbler. We usually eat at LTT for lunch and love the lunch options, dinner was ...meh.

So, onto today. Why does 6am on vacation seem so much earlier than 6am at home? I could hardly believe it when that alarm went off. Our Keys to the Kingdom tour didn't start until 9am, but due to the road closures from the WDW Marathon, we had to make the 7:30am bus. The bus ride from ALK to MK usually takes 10-15 minutes, well with all of the detours, it took 30 minutes to get from ALK to the TTC. There were no buses directly to MK this morning. What was neat was that we arrived at the TTC, just as the main group of runners made it there! There were so many! I saw lots of lime green shirts running by!

We took the ferry over to MK and were the only two guests on the ferry, so we got our own private cruise. The monorail was jammed with people going from TTC to MK, so we felt quite fortunate by a little Disney Magic so early in the morning. Not to mention, people just being oblivious to the empty ferry!

Once we got over to MK, we scooted though a quick bag check and then onto Main Street where there were thousands of runners making their way up Main Street, around Tomorrow Land, back through the Castle and down towards Adventure Land. Loud techno music was blaring over the Main Street Speakers and the Mayor of Main Street was out to greet the runners as were the women Suffragettes. I was amazed at the number of runners that stopped for pictures with the Suffragettes!

I had planned on getting a cinnamon roll from the Main Street Bakery, but it was closed due to the runners being on that side of the street. Bummer. Thankfully Casey's was open and serving muffins, so I got a blueberry muffin and made the baby happy. It wasn't a cinnamon roll though!

We checked in for our tour and met our guide Megan, who was absolutely awesome. She was fun, informative, kind and absolutely full of energy. We also put in our lunch orders for Columbia Harbor House with Tracey, Lighthouse Sandwich for me (garlic hummus with broccoli slaw) and fish-n-chicken combo basket for DW.

It's too much to go through all of the stuff that we learned on the Keys to the Kingdom tour, but I do want to say that I highly recommend it. The Four Keys to the Kingdom are Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency. They are taught and listed in order of importance. Did you know that there are 60 thousand CM's on Disney Property? That's about 1/3rd of Orlando's population! Pretty impressive how many paychecks Mickey must write every couple weeks.

The Keys tour is about 5 hours long and well worth the inexpensive price. We learned about the history of both Disney parks and the names on the windows on Main Street. We rode three rides, Jungle Cruise, Pirates and the Haunted Mansion. The Jungle Cruise we rode without the regular talk and instead got the interesting tidbits about the ride, such as where some hidden Mickey's are (look on the downed airplane) and how deep the water is (4 feet).

We were walking past Pirates when Megan took a sudden turn and said that she couldn't pass up Pirates when there's a zero wait time! Again, she told us things to look out for, such as there are only 30 faces, but 60 characters in Pirates, so the faces repeat.

After Pirates, we had the first of two backstage stops and got to see where the SpectoMagic floats are kept, where the trash goes, where animals from the Jungle Cruise are fixed and some of the refurb of Splash Mountain.

After lunch, we rode the Haunted Mansion, again learning some interesting tidbits, like the hidden Donald on the chair in the endless hallway and that you are thrown out of the attic by the angry bride, so that's why you go down backwards to the graveyard. Megan also pointed out some more hidden Mickey's, one is being held by the Grim Reaper in the graveyard scene. It's hard to see, but it's there.

We went backstage again just by the First Aid station on Main Street and this time got to go down to the tunnels! Woo! We walked around quite a bit in the tunnels and saw a video about the laundry and computer system in the MK.

The tour ended again back on Main Street by City Hall. Again, I highly recommend this tour, just make sure that you wear really comfy walking shoes! We walked nearly continuously for five hours, so prepare your feet! We filled out CM Comment cards about how great Megan and Tracy were on the tour at City Hall. They really made this tour special.

I had planned on us heading back to AK after the tour for a rest, but DW wanted to drop off her marathon timing chip at Epcot. So, after getting an ice cream cone at the end of Main Street, we hopped on the monorail to Epcot and found the tents where the marathon ended in the parking lot. They were packing things up, but thankfully we got there in time to turn her chip in. We turned right around, walked back through the parking lot and back to the monorail to MK. She was relieved to have been able to turn that in, so that was good.

Back at MK, DW needed a haircut, so she headed over to the Barber shop. We had been planning on eating at Jiko tonight, but decided to stay at MK instead. So, while DW got her haircut, I watched the 3pm parade and tried to find a table service restaurant in MK that had availability tonight. The only place that was open was LTT and we didn't want to go there again. Thankfully, DW liked the CM who cut her hair and gave her a purple Mickey on the back of her head,so much, that she wanted to fill out a comment card on him too. While I was waiting on hold with Disney Dining, she got us a reservation at Plaza House. Woo!

We had some time, so we went on the People Mover! I love that ride. We also sang our way through the Carousel of Progress. It really is time to update that show!

Dinner at Plaza House was very tasty! We had an excellent server who honored a few special requests without any hesitations. I got the Reuben with extra sauerkraut and broccoli slaw. DW got a cheeseburger with cheddar cheese, onions and mushrooms, with extra homemade chips. Even though Plaza House has the best ice cream sundaes, since we had already had ice cream earlier in the day, we really didn't want ice cream for dessert. DW asked our server for some fresh fruit and we both got a large serving of apples, grapes, strawberries and bananas. Perfect!

I had heard about the new Fairy Meet-n-Greet at ToonTown and really wanted to see Tinkerbell. Oh! That reminds me! The Tinkerbell who flies from the castle right before wishes is most certainly female. She's 100lbs and between 4'8" and 5'0" tall, so super tiny. Just another thing we learned on the Keys Tour. Anyway, so I wanted to meet Tinkerbell and her friends and DW suggested that we ride the train over to Toon Town.

We caught the train at the end of Main Street and since we've took the Train Tour last year, we were curious as to what train engine we got. Our engine was Walter! We were in the last car and saw two children getting to stand on the platform where the conductor was standing. Well, we wanted to do that too! So, we rode the train for the Grand Circle Tour and once we got back to Main Street, we got to stand on the back too! Woohoo! It was quite fun being back there.

We rode around to Toon Town again and found where the Fairy's were hiding in the Exhibition Hall. There was a 15 minute wait to see the Princesses and a 75 minute wait to see the Fairy's! I guess that the Princesses have been bumped in importance! We skipped the Fairy's, that's just too long to wait.

It was getting close to 7pm and we were going to head over to ride Jungle Cruise again, but the long day caught up with us. We decided to head back to AKL and beat the crowds out of the park. We did so much walking today, but it was all fun. The baby in my belly is way tired as well and I need to drink lots more water than I did today.

Back to AKL and doing a load of laundry in our villa (Love DVC) while watching mindless TV and resting tired feet. Tomorrow, we check out of our one-bedroom savanna view and move to a one-bedroom on Club Level! DW's ears have really been bothering her, so we may make a visit to a local Urgent Care center as well. Flying home on Thursday with an untreated ear infection would be so painful.

So..will we go to Urgent Care? Will we sleep past check-out time? How tasty are the goodies up on Club Level? Stay tuned!

 

[west&east]

I am enjoying your trip report! I hope we get to see a pic of DW's haircut with the purple mickey! How much was the haircut? Do you just walk in?

 

[duncansnickers]

Yes, I am curious about the purple Mickey haircut! I want one! How do they do it? Is it for short haircuts..? I need a picture! Where is the barber shop, in the park?
I hope DW feels better, that stinks feeling ill on vacay!!!

 

[momatater]

I too am enjoying your report! Thanks for the info on the Keys to the Kingdom tour, I'm even more excited now! I also hope you show pics of DWs purple mickey!!

Happy move up to CL! We love it there!

 

[goterps1986]

We are going to the AKL on Saturday (1/17) using DVC points. We have a 2 bedroom savannah view and were told the animals were being moved! And there are no other 2 bedrooms available right now. This is very disappointing since we got the savannah view for our daughter and our 2 nephews (first trip). 2 questions-has anyone else encountered this yet and does that mean the construction will be bad as well? Any suggestions or ideas? Thanks.

 

[MarkinNM]

Very nice TR's, detailed!!!

Was the dinner at Boma really nice?? I am thinking of eating there in June, not on the DDP will just swing it....Please keep the TRs coming!!!

 

[Iggipolka]

Hi everyone!

Thanks everyone for reading along. I’ll start by answering some questions.

The animals are being moved from the Sunset Savannah on the 15th of January. They are being moved so that new animals can be brought in to the new Savannah over at Kidani without the competition of the animals at the Sunset Savannah. The construction noise is minimal, so I wouldn’t worry about that. There are lots of great places to view animals all throughout the resort.

Boma’s food is incredible. Boma is one place that we always make sure we’ve got at least one ADR for each trip, even when we’re not staying at AKL. It is that good. I could eat the soups and the hummus and be totally happy, but there are so many more great choices that it’s hard to stop!

I do have a picture of the purple Mickey on my DW’s head! The barber shop is in MK, right next to the fire station on Main Street. It’s $17 for an adult haircut, $8 for kids. They make the Mickey heads out of washable hair gel and they’ll sprinkle “pixie dust” (glitter) on for free! I’ve seen the Mickey heads on short hair and long hair, but I think it looks best on short hair. I do have a picture and I’ll post it once I get home and get my card reader set up.

Ok, on to today, Monday January 12th.


The beds at AKV are so comfy and the room is so dark and quiet, it is very hard to get up in the morning! I was ready to go at 8:30, but DW was not as excited about the dawn. However, I knew that we had a busy morning ahead of us, so we had to get moving.

DW was not feeling any better this morning and actually, her ear ache was worse. So, I knew that we were going to be visiting Centra Care urgent care center. We also needed to pack up our stuff, move out of our 1-bedroom savannah view villa and into a 1-bedroom villa on CL. Woohoo!

So, we packed up our stuff and then headed down to the Mara for breakfast. I brought cereal and stuff for breakfasts in our room, but we had some extra counter service credits because we got lunch as part of our Keys tour yesterday. We each got the Bounty Platter, which is the same breakfast platter served at every resort counter service, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, a biscuit, potatoes and two mini Mickey waffles. This is a heck of a lot of food for one person! We also had our first incidence of CM rudeness. DW asked for her waffles to be on a separate plate and the CM grabbed the waffle and slammed it down on the same plate as the other food! DW asked again for a separate plate and with a great deal of huffing and puffing, the CM grabbed a small plate and SLAMMED the waffles down on it. Wow. Someone needs to go on the Keys to the Kingdom tour! The food was cold, but thankfully there’s a microwave, so just a minute of being zapped and the food was nice and hot.

Then, there was the adventure of getting all of our luggage down from our room to bell services. We seemed to have acquired several more pieces of luggage in just a few days! We were going to call Bell Services, but they are always so busy in the morning that we figured it would be faster just to drag things down there ourselves. So, we made it to the very busy lobby, checked out of our room and got ready to check into our new room!

Morgan, from the CL came down and took us up to the 6th floor. We had a comfortable, easy quick check-in and were given our room keys. We also had a fed-ex package that absolutely had to get mailed out today and Morgan promised that she would take care of it for us. I looked over a print-out of our dining reservations and noticed that we have a Specialty Cruise booked on Tuesday! WOO! I had called ALK concierge and requested the Illuminations cruise, but had never heard back from them, so I figured I didn’t get it. Surprisingly enough, it was reserved for us, even without our leaving our CC # for a deposit. Too weird! We put down a deposit, so tomorrow we’re going on an Illuminations cruise! Woohoo!

15 minutes after being called, the free Centra Care shuttle arrived for the quick 10 minute trip to the facility. We had called our insurance company that morning and they said that if Centra Care billed them directly, they would pay them directly. Well, Centra Care said that they didn’t do direct billing to our insurance, so we would have to pay out of pocket and then get reimbursed by our insurance company. Okie Dokie. I wish this had been clearer prior to our arriving there, but we didn’t have many other options.

They told us on the phone that there was about an hour wait. Sure enough, we got there at 11:30 and DW was seen at 12:30. She was diagnosed with an ear infection, given antibiotics, a pain med and some OTC decongestants. They give you the medication right there, so there’s no need to go to a pharmacy. The shuttle dropped us off back at AKL and the entire trip took from 11:30 – 1:30, not bad for a walk-in clinic!

We went back to The Mara for lunch. I got another pita sandwich with a fruit cup for dessert. DW got a pepperoni pizza. Well, actually, she got the African stew, but she dropped it! Woops! She decided to try the pizza as its less spillable then the stew. The pizza is not typical WDW pizza. It’s very thin crust, almost flat bread like and looked quite good. The pita sandwich was tasty as always and the fruit fresh and juicy.

After lunch, we headed up to the CL to wait for our villa to be ready. I had just settled in with my book and a cookie, when the concierge came over to tell us our villa number. Yeay! We got into our villa at 2:30pm. Unfortunately, it isn’t a savannah view, but we have an interesting view of the human animals in the human tank. It is totally baffling to me that people will go swimming when it is 60 degrees out! Burrrrr!

While DW waited and read the paper, I scurried through the villa and wiped every surface, door handle, door knob, curtain pull, light switch, remote control, phone and the entire bathroom down with bleach wipes. It only takes me 15 minutes or so and I feel a lot better about it. I asked our Keys guide yesterday if she’d heard anything about Noro going through WDW and she said that no one had notified Guest Relations about an outbreak. Hopefully it’s settling down now, but I don’t want to take any chances.

We unpacked a little, but since we’re leaving on Thursday (BOO!), I didn’t unpack everything. DW was starting to feel tired and out of sorts again, so I left her to rest while I went over to Epcot. It had been cloudy, humid and in the upper 60’s all day, so the rain wasn’t a big surprise. It ended fairly soon after I arrived at Epcot.

I just love walking into Epcot or any park. There’s still that feeling of excitement and anticipation, every time I set foot into a park. Maybe it’s the music or the theming or just knowing how much fun I’m about to have.

Epcot was nearly empty today! Everything, except for Soarin’, was a walk-on. Soarin’ had a 45 minute wait. I rode Soarin’ and sat next to a lovely elderly gentleman from the UK. This was his first trip to WDW and he was here with his wife, their grown children and grandchildren. He and I chatted a bit before the ride and I explained to him what the ride was like. He said that it sounded like fun. Well, the poor guy. As soon as the ride lifted off, he started hyperventilating! I grabbed one of his hands and his wife grabbed the other and we both tried distracting him. I ended up narrating the entire ride to him, telling him what sequence was coming up next and getting him to slow his breathing down by smelling the oranges and pine scents. He did calm down a bit and by the time the ride was over, seemed to be enjoying it. Once he was safely down on the ground, he even said that he’d like to ride it again! I don’t think his wife will let him.

Since I was in The Land pavilion, I had to take a trip through the Greenhouse. DW and I took the walking tour, Behind the Seeds, a few years ago, which was excellent. It gives a much more detailed description of all of the botanical research that WDW is involved in. I managed to get seated in a boat with an entire Brazillion tour group. Oh Joy. They talked loudly through the entire ride and I don’t think that they were talking about plants. Why would you spend so much money to go to WDW and then not even pay attention to the attractions?

I was starting to feel a bit hungry, so I took a little detour to Norway for a goodie. I was going to get a sweet pretzel with almonds, but it was just too big. So, I got a School Bread instead. I have never had School Bread and was pleasantly surprised at how tasty it is! The coconut is perfect with the sweetness of the filling. It was more bready and less like a donut than I had expected. Quite good.

Feeling more energetic, I headed back to Future World to ride Figment..er..Imagination. While on the way, I stopped and asked a Photopass person to take a picture with my own camera. They never mind doing that, but I was surprised to have two whole families cut in front of me in line to get their photos taken and the Photopass person didn’t say a word. I guess that they figure that families are more likely to purchase photopass pictures than someone traveling alone? Annoying.

Figment was cute, but I miss the old Figment ride.

I had to find my buddy Nemo, so after Figment, I wandered over to the Living Seas. I have also decided that I no longer feel like a pregnant hippo, I feel like a manatee! Manatee’s eat 8 hours a day and that’s about how much I’m eating! I wish I could just float around like they do and not have to waddle around dealing with gravity.

Speaking of eating, it was getting towards dinner time, so I headed back to the World Showcase. I stopped in Canada and admired the gardens and saw the Canada movie. The waterfall on the walkway towards the movie was off! I was very surprised as I’ve never seen it not working. The walkway isn’t nearly as pretty without the waterfall.

England was about the only busy place in Epcot this evening. The Rose and Crown was quite full and there was a long line for fish-n-chips. It seemed like most people were hanging out in the UK enjoying the evening and a pint or two!

As I headed over the bridge to France, I heard a familiar song coming from Morocco! It’s a very popular belly dance song called One Thousand and One Nights, so I knew that the dancer was performing. I waddled as fast as I could over to Morocco and saw Mo’Rockin and the dancer on their new stage to the right of Morocco. The band has a bigger place to play, but the dancer’s space is smaller. I’m not quite sure that’s fair, but I guess it’s the band that is selling the CD’s, not the dancer. She’s quite good and there was a large crowd around her. I watched her and tried not to dance too obviously, which is so hard! The music is so compelling that it is hard to stand still.

After the dancer’s set was over, I got a chicken schwarma platter from the Tangierine Cafe, which was huge! There was a lot of chicken, a big scoop of hummas, tabouleh, and a big piece of pita bread. This platter is more than enough for two people and there was no way I could even come close to eating half of it.

After dinner, I reluctantly decided that it was time to head back to AKL. I love walking around Epcot after dark, it’s just so pretty and the air feels so comfortable and soft. It was still humid, but that nice skin rejuvenating humid that feels like walking through silk. It was a very pleasant walk back through England, Canada, Future World and out to the bus stop. The bus pulled up just as I reached the bus stop and I was back at AKL by 8:00pm.

The CL offers desserts starting at 8pm, so I was right on time for an oatmeal cookie and milk to end my day with.

Tomorrow, we have lunch at Tutto Italia and the Illuminations cruise! Woohoo! So, will DW feel up to some park touring tomorrow? Will our cruise get rained out? Will there still be food left at the CL by the time we get up for breakfast? All these questions, and more will be answered tomorrow night.

 

[west&east]

Congratulations on the Illuminations Cruise! We have one booked for our trip in a couple of weeks. The IPO does really work magic. Please share how you end up getting back to akl after your cruise. I really don't want to walk all the way back through Epcot when one big advantage of the cruise is avoiding the crowd. Also, can you check if they have blankets and see what kind of rain they go out in? Thank you in advance! And thanks for the info about the haircuts.
Your day sounded blissful. Enjoy club level. Are you going on the sunrise safari before you leave??

 

[duncansnickers]

Awesome report! I can't wait to try some schoolbread, glad you liked it.
Oh-I love the way you end your report--with questions, then saying "all these questions and more will be answered tomorrow." It totally reminds me of that old show "Soap"! Remember that one?
I hope your DW starts feeling better, once those meds kick in...maybe she can have some fun tomorrow!

 

[Flossbolna]

Great report again! I totally agree with you about Boma, it is a must visit for us and just as you, I could make a meal out of the soups and the salads!

I really hope your DW will feel better soon, it sounds like she is not having much fun.

 

[momatater]

Woo Hoo! An Illuminations Cruise!! We were also surprised we had gotten the Illuminations Cruise I had requested the Poly IPO to get us in Sept. I had no idea until they sent me our itinerary at the 30 day mark. I kept it a secret for my family and everyone was thrilled!! Enjoy!!!

I am sorry DW hasn't been feeling so good. I hope that her body reacts well to the meds and she can enjoy the rest of your trip!!

Thanks for the updates and keep 'em coming!!

 

[Iggipolka]

Good morning everyone! It's Tuesday January 13th and another beautiful day at WDW. I was up around 7:30 this morning and got up to let DW sleep some more. When I woke up, it was so foggy that I could hardly see the pool from our balcony! The lifeguards have been out doing practice drills all morning, which has provided some interesting entertainment. There's one lifeguard who cannot swim! They were doing laps and this one guy was lagging behind. Either he's just not into early morning swims, or someone needs to seriously re-evaluate the minimal requirements for being a life guard.

I was told that the Specialty cruises go out in "light rain" and that they are not Fireworks cruises as there is no guarantee that fireworks will happen that night. I would really hate to pay so much money and just cruise around the bay for 30 minutes. No blankets are provided and they recommend that you "dress for the weather".

Speaking of weather, it started out really chilly this morning, but it's now up to almost 70 and the sun is peeking out. Wunderground.com says that there's a 60% chance of rain from 10am - 4pm, but right now it's lovely out. I'm hoping that continues.

DW woke up and we got breakfast from the lounge. They have a few different kinds of cold cereal, oatmeal, quinoa, assorted pastries (including some really good mini-blueberry muffins), bagels, fresh fruit, yogurt, fresh juices, milk, coffee and tea. It's a very nice breakfast. DW went there in her Mickey Mouse PJ's, which was both cute and embarrassing.

So, the plan today is to have an easy morning, then head over to Epcot for lunch and to DHS for awhile before coming back to ALK to let DW rest up before the cruise tonight.

Oh..and btw: I love the show Soap.

So....will it rain all day today? Will DW feel up to some park touring? Will we actually see Illuminations during our Specialty Cruise? All these questions, and more, will be answered in the next post of this live trip report.

 

[RachelTori]

now that silly little theme song will be running through my head all day! It's even on the internet: http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-5238/themes (now it's REALLY stuck in my head!!! )

 

[suebedo]

Love the live trip report! can't wait to hear more.

 

[Iggipolka]

Hello everyone. It's the afternoon of Tuesday January 13th and we've had quite the fun day!

DW was feeling much better today, gotta love how fast antibiotics kick in! She was her normal happy, bouncy Disney self, which was just great to see. Our schedule changed quite a bit today from what was planned, so this was a good reminder of how flexibility is important both in a Disney vacation, but also a marriage.

DW's favorite game/ride is TSMM, so after breakfast we headed over to DHS. It was quite warm and humid and both of us were wishing we'd worn shorts instead of jeans and t-shirts. We got to DHS around 11:00 and headed directly for TSMM. The fastpass return time was already 4-5pm! Wow! Thankfully the standby line wasn't too long, at least not too long for dedicated TSMM fans! We both scored high enough to get the Cat! Woohoo!

After riding TSMM, we made it (barely) to the 11:30 Indiana Jones show. The park had been amazingly uncrowded as we were walking around. Well, I found out why, everyone was packed into the Indiana Jones theater! It was standing room only. We watched the opening sequence standing behind wheelchairs and left just before the Cairo marketplace scene. We said that we'd be back to see it when we could sit, but we never made it back to DHS today.

It was time to head over to Epcot anyway, so we waited a bit for the boat and then enjoyed the scenic ride along the waterway. We sat in the outside back part of the boat, which was lovely, but noisy with the motor being right below us.

Epcot was nearly totally empty. We were here for Food and Wine in October and Epcot was shoulder to shoulder people. It was amazing to be able to walk freely through the World Showcase and have room to run from one side of the path to the other, without having to watch out for anyone! Not that we did that, but we could have if we wanted to!

We took our time meandering through France, Morocco and America before getting to our lunch in Italy. We just missed the show in Italy, so now we have something else to come back and see sometime.

Then it was lunch at Tutto Italia, a place we've never eaten at before. All I can say is...wow. We will certainly be back. I wouldn't want to eat this heavy food in August, but in January, pasta is perfect. We had a gorgeous waiter whose name I've completely forgotten, but he was lovely to look at and provided very good service.

I had the Tagliatelle alla Primavera, which is tagliatelle egg pasta with zucchini, broccoli, peas, mushrooms, and tomatoes in a light cream sauce. DW had Bucatini Gratinati with Italian prosciutto ham, peas and parmesan cream. We also asked what the Chef's Side Dishes were for that day and it was roasted asparagus with roasted tomatoes. Yummy, so we got an order of that to share. OMG..I was in pasta heaven. Carbs and I are good friends and this was absolutely scrumptious. It was a large plate of pasta and I have to admit I ate nearly the whole thing. The asparagus was also roasted perfectly and still had a nice snap to it. Very, very good.

For dessert I had the Copetta Sotto Bosco - berries, zabaglione cream gelato and chocolate sauce and while I didn't think I'd be able to eat more than a couple bites, it was soooo tasty that I ate the whole thing! DW had cream filled puff pastry with hot chocolate sauce poured on top. Her dessert didn't last long either.

This was a meal that I was happy we were on the dining plan for because it was $124 for the two of us and that's without any wine! Wow! Yeay for the dining plan!

It had gotten really cloudy while we were eating and soon after we left the restaurant, it started pouring down rain. Thankfully we had wanted to see the American Adventure, so we just ducked next door to the American pavilion. We were in time to listen to the singers and then saw the show. This was something we haven't seen before, so it was quite special. I think that it glosses over some very negative periods of time in our American history, but since the rest of the countries in the World Showcase only focus on the positives, I guess we can too.

I had hope that it would have stopped raining by the time the show was over, but sadly it was raining harder. We took the Friendship boat across to the other side of the World Showcase and slogged our way to Future World. I was absolutely freezing in a light t-shirt, so we stopped at MouseGears and bought sweatshirts for both of us. I got a nice big fuzzy sweatshirt that felt soooo good.

As we were walking, DW said "Let's take the monorail over to MK!" I just looked at her a bit confused. I reminded her that it would be raining over at MK as well! It was pretty funny.

So..what will we do with our evening? I'll be back later to fill ya all in!

 

[Donald is #1]

Hmmm, a cliff-hanger!

 

[Iggipolka]

When I left ya all, we were walking out of Epcot in the rain. We headed back to AKL around 4:30pm and were so happy to get a nice warm dry bus. However, I think that the bus driver was new and got lost! It took us 30 minutes of driving around back roads to get back to AKL. It's usually a 10 minute trip!

Anyway, DW was back to feeling tired and was coughing a lot more than she had been. It was still raining and getting colder by the moment, so I had grave concerns about her being out on the water for the fireworks cruise. We sadly decided that we were going to have to cancel the cruise. I was/am pretty bummed about not going on the Illuminations cruise, but I wouldn't want to do it without my DW and she was in no condition to be out in the cold and rain. So, we talked with Carmen at the concierge and explained our situation. She understood completely and called the recreation department and was able to cancel the cruise without penalty. Phew! At least we won't get charged for a cruise that we didn't take! Yeay for Carmen! We'll just have to take the cruise another time. I know that we'll be back next year, so we can plan for it at that time.

Since we weren't going to be going out on the cruise, I had her check and see if we could get into Jiko tonight. A reservation for 2 wasn't available until 9pm, but a reservation for 3 people was available at 6pm! Guess which one we took?

Now, neither of us were all that hungry, haven eaten a massive quantity of pasta earlier in the day. However, I've always wanted to try Jiko and it was as good as everyone says it is. Our server's name was Jeff and while he was very nice, he was also very slow. I was happy that we weren't in a hurry and could just relax and enjoy the slow pace of the meal.

We shared the Pokanoket Farm Seared Ostrich Filet - with creamed sweet potatoes and pomegranate gastrique. I have no idea what a pomegranate gastrique is, but the Ostrich was amazingly good. It was tender, juicy and absolutely the best steak I've ever tasted. It was very hard to share this with DW.

For my entree, I had the Swahili Curry Shrimp - with East African Curry Sauce, Artichokes, and Coconut Rice. Mmm..I love curry and I love shrimp, so this was perfect for me. It was also a huge portion, so if you are looking for something to split, this would be ideal. It is spicy, but I love spicy, so I was happy. DW got the Nantucket Scallops - with Butternut Squash Gratin, Apple Slaw, and Apple Vinaigrette. I had no idea that there was a Nantucket in Africa! Regardless of where the scallops were from, they were also quite tasty. She got 4 large scallops on top of the squash with the apple slaw next to it. Quite the pretty presentation.

While we were eating, there was a father with two small children..maybe aged 4 and 6, sitting next to us. He was such a good dad! To keep his children entertained and not screaming or running around the table, like we witnessed another young, bored, over-tired kid doing, he told an elaborate story about a cheetah. He was such a good story teller that we found ourselves eavesdropping just to hear what happened next! The kids were spellbound and hung on to his every word, just as we were. I hope he writes his stories down in a book. I'd love to read it.

Even though we couldn't eat even 1/4 of our entrees, we had to have dessert. I had to try the passionfruit panna cotta with roasted pineapple, spiced caramel, and coconut-curry sorbet. I haven't ever even heard of a panna cotta before and curry ice cream sounded really interesting. It was actually quite good! the panna cotta was like a vanilla flan and got a lot of flavor from the curry ice cream. I love pineapple, so anything with sweet pineapple appeals to me. I would get this again, it was that good.

DW got the House-Made Meyer Lemon Curd - With pomegranate and blueberry compote, white chocolate biscotti, and sour cream ice cream. She liked the lemon curd, but didn't seem that thrilled with the sour cream ice cream. She said it was "an interesting mix of flavors".

We got done eating a little after 8pm and I wanted to go to Epcot to see Illuminations while DW went back to the villa to rest. I managed to get a bus right away and got to Epcot at around 8:20. Yeay! I'd be on time for Illuminations! When I got off the bus, I was surprised at the large number of people leaving the park just before Illuminations. Usually if people are in the park 30 minutes or so prior to the show, they stay.

I got though bag check and the turnstiles and started heading under Space Ship earth when I suddenly realized why everyone was leaving. The rain may have stopped, but it was so fricken cold! OMG! There was a bitter, very non-Floridian like wind that was cutting through my sweat shirt like I wasn't even wearing it. My ears were frozen and I realized that the only way I'd be able to make it the 30 minutes wait for Illuminations, plus the show, would be to buy a hat, gloves, scarf and a jacket. It was that cold! I learned later that there is a freeze warning out for tonight. Well, after shivering with indecision for a moment or two, I headed back out of the park and onto the nice warm bus. Darn-it. Ahh well, it's better than my getting sick as well as DW and I'm glad now that we canceled the cruise as my DW would have been miserable.

On the way back to AKL, the bus driver forgot that she was driving to the Lodge and instead drove to AK park! She came over the microphone and apologized for the detour and said "Please don't tell anyone". I thought it was funny. I wonder how often that happens.

Tomorrow is our last full day at WDW as we leave Thursday afternoon. The tentative plans are to go back to DHS in the morning and MK in the afternoon.

Will we ever find our favorite CM, Kimbee, at TSMM? Will it be sunny and warm tomorrow? How on earth are we going to eat 8 counter service meals in two days? Will we finally see Illuminations tomorrow night? Will DW's energy level continue to improve?

All these questions and more, will be answered in the next installment of this Live trip report!

 

[arielfan]

We just checked into AKL this evening, staying until January 15th and as usual, it's wonderful! I so love this resort. We're staying on DVC points and Jan 7-12 have a 1-bedroom, 5th floor savvannah view (Sunset Savvanah) and from the 12 - 15th go upstairs to CL.

The room is spotless, comfortable and super quiet. The animals are out on the savvanah and really fun to watch from the balcony. We had a great quick dinner at The Mara (fried shrimp for my DW and the African Stew for me), a lovely relaxing whirlpool bath and now are settling off to bed before a busy day tomorrow. Flying from California is an all day ordeal, so we're going to rest up to play tomorrow.

Woohoo! We're at WDW!

I hope you have a wonderful time. I have quick question is the 6th floor DVC or is it only CL??

Thank you for your reply.

 

[duncansnickers]

Oh my, I can't believe it's so cold! It sounds like the day started out warm and humid and then a cold front blew in at night! Yikes! I hope you can enjoy tomorrow more, I'm sending good thoughts out for you.
We have adr's at Jiko, and after reading your report I can't wait.
"sings SOAP intro song" while waiting to see these questions and more answered tomorrow! And thanks to the poster that provided the link for that song, NOW it's running through my head, AND I feel like watching an episode of Soap!