thewesterberg
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2007
- Messages
- 1,657
This is the next best thing to being there! Thanks for the live updates!!
Live Report from AKV
- Thread starter AZDisneyDan
- Start date
AZDisneyDan
<font color=darkorchid>Americans living in London<
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2006
- Messages
- 153
Jambo (I think that's what they say) everyone and good morning from Uzima Savanna where a couple of zebras and ankole cattle are lazing around enjoying the early morning sun. We had a very nice evening since my last update. Boma was fantastic!! We had to wait for about 30 minutes after we got there for some reason, which we think had to do with the small number of two top tables they have. It was odd that there were many empty tables around the restaurant with soo many people waiting. Just about everything we took from the buffet was somewhere between very good and fantastic. Our favorite was the coconut curry chicken soup and one of the two cous cous. Probably the best soup and cous cous we ever had. The roasted meat was very good and tasty as well with a really good mustard sauce.
After we stuffed ourselves to the point where walking was necessary in order to avoid a complete comotose state, we decided to head to downtown disney to check out the world of disney and maybe check out a movie. The reason behind this thinking was since we get a DVC discount at the world of disney and everytime we walk around the parks and resorts and see something we want to buy, we wonder if they have it at the world of disney. It makes sense to check out what they have down there and then we know what we can buy there but not elsewhere. We really noticed how the merchandise on property is very much the same just about everywhere you go, not much variety at the different resorts and parks. Well, it was very crowded at downtown disney and we had to park very far away and then were shoulder to shoulder with our favorite strangers.
The world of disney was huge and very crowded, we began to wonder if we made the right decision as we got to know too many people in ways you never want to but only can in such crowded cirumstances. We made all our mental notes deciding to buy after Tuesday when we switch resorts to SSR. We walked around the rest of the marketplace enjoying our favorite store, the art of Disney. We love to day dream about having some of the stunning art work on our walls at home, but the price of doing that would preclude us from taking trips to the parks and that is just not an option.
The tired gods began decending down on us, especially me, and we decided that the movies were going to be too busy. We really wanted to go to an American movie theater as the ones in the UK are just not as good and we love to get popocorn at the movies and the popcorn at every movie theater in the UK is aweful, so we have been craving this. We decided that we would try and see Bolt in 3D and get our popcorn fix on another day and head back to AKV. When we returned we decided to check out the night vision goggles back behind the pool area and there was not much too see, but it was cool none the less. Then it was back to the room for a few minutes of observing the cattle outside our window as they settled in for the night, they love to sleep and hang out in the area outside our room. One of them has an ear infection so he leans his head completely to one side and we feel very bad for the little bugger. I asked the very friendly CM at the night vision savanna about him and she said that he is being watched an taken care of and they decided to leave him out with the other while he is sick instead of keeping him in the animal hospital. Probably a good move, but he looks soo uncomfortable.
Today we are off to the Hollywood Studios for most of the day and look forward to our first ride on the new toy story mania. Here is to hoping for smaller crowds and the weather to hold. They are calling for strong thunderstorms and wind this afternoon and evening, so lets hope its not too bad.
BTW, Kidani is looking great, it appears they getting close to finishing most of the exterior and the majority of the work left will be on the grounds and the interior. We are booked there before the members cruise in September and can't wait to check it out!! Sorry about not adding photos, but I did not pack my USB plug so look forward to some photos added when we get back to London, which I don't want to think about.
Oh, and thank you everyone for the suggestion, we now have reservations for breakfast at Boma for Tuesday AM. Well, that's it for this morning and as always stay tuned for some more as we report on our day at the studios!!
After we stuffed ourselves to the point where walking was necessary in order to avoid a complete comotose state, we decided to head to downtown disney to check out the world of disney and maybe check out a movie. The reason behind this thinking was since we get a DVC discount at the world of disney and everytime we walk around the parks and resorts and see something we want to buy, we wonder if they have it at the world of disney. It makes sense to check out what they have down there and then we know what we can buy there but not elsewhere. We really noticed how the merchandise on property is very much the same just about everywhere you go, not much variety at the different resorts and parks. Well, it was very crowded at downtown disney and we had to park very far away and then were shoulder to shoulder with our favorite strangers.
The world of disney was huge and very crowded, we began to wonder if we made the right decision as we got to know too many people in ways you never want to but only can in such crowded cirumstances. We made all our mental notes deciding to buy after Tuesday when we switch resorts to SSR. We walked around the rest of the marketplace enjoying our favorite store, the art of Disney. We love to day dream about having some of the stunning art work on our walls at home, but the price of doing that would preclude us from taking trips to the parks and that is just not an option.
The tired gods began decending down on us, especially me, and we decided that the movies were going to be too busy. We really wanted to go to an American movie theater as the ones in the UK are just not as good and we love to get popocorn at the movies and the popcorn at every movie theater in the UK is aweful, so we have been craving this. We decided that we would try and see Bolt in 3D and get our popcorn fix on another day and head back to AKV. When we returned we decided to check out the night vision goggles back behind the pool area and there was not much too see, but it was cool none the less. Then it was back to the room for a few minutes of observing the cattle outside our window as they settled in for the night, they love to sleep and hang out in the area outside our room. One of them has an ear infection so he leans his head completely to one side and we feel very bad for the little bugger. I asked the very friendly CM at the night vision savanna about him and she said that he is being watched an taken care of and they decided to leave him out with the other while he is sick instead of keeping him in the animal hospital. Probably a good move, but he looks soo uncomfortable.
Today we are off to the Hollywood Studios for most of the day and look forward to our first ride on the new toy story mania. Here is to hoping for smaller crowds and the weather to hold. They are calling for strong thunderstorms and wind this afternoon and evening, so lets hope its not too bad.
BTW, Kidani is looking great, it appears they getting close to finishing most of the exterior and the majority of the work left will be on the grounds and the interior. We are booked there before the members cruise in September and can't wait to check it out!! Sorry about not adding photos, but I did not pack my USB plug so look forward to some photos added when we get back to London, which I don't want to think about.
Oh, and thank you everyone for the suggestion, we now have reservations for breakfast at Boma for Tuesday AM. Well, that's it for this morning and as always stay tuned for some more as we report on our day at the studios!!
Perdie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2005
- Messages
- 338
Hi! I'm AZDisneyDan's wife and I just wanted to add my two cents-I'm having a fantastic time!!! It is so wonderful here....Every step of this trip I look forward too. We're off to Studios right now and I have to go...but I wanted to say hi to everyone reading our TR! 
The funniest observation of being here-and only an American who has moved away and come back can appreciate this-but I feel really weird about free refills! In the UK and all of Europe you pay for one drink, you only get one drink. The first time I got a free refill-I was freaked out! A whole new drink?! I don't have to pay for it?!! I know it sounds weird....but it's crazy! I grew up in America! haha...
Anyway-I love being back in the US and especially at WDW!
Thanks for reading!
Hopefully we'll see some of you Friday at the Merry Mixer!
The funniest observation of being here-and only an American who has moved away and come back can appreciate this-but I feel really weird about free refills! In the UK and all of Europe you pay for one drink, you only get one drink. The first time I got a free refill-I was freaked out! A whole new drink?! I don't have to pay for it?!! I know it sounds weird....but it's crazy! I grew up in America! haha...
Anyway-I love being back in the US and especially at WDW!
Thanks for reading!
Hopefully we'll see some of you Friday at the Merry Mixer!
Tinkerbellcrafter
DH & DD getting tagged by Dreammakers after me!!
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2006
- Messages
- 606
This is great!! Keep it coming! We arrive on the 7th!!!! Love Boma!
mikeandkarla
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2007
- Messages
- 1,206
Thanks for the great TR. It's getting sooo excited. We will be there in 6 days How is AKV Christams decorations? Have a great trip!
How is AKV Christams decorations? Have a great trip!
AZDisneyDan
<font color=darkorchid>Americans living in London<
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2006
- Messages
- 153
Greetings from drenched WDW!!
Yes, that's right, we are back in the room as we got poured on like I have never had before. Of course as soon as we got back to the room it stopped.
To start the day we woke up to the very bad wake up call they have at the resorts now, it was disney music but only came on intermitently. What happened to Mickey Mouse telling me about the big doings going on today? Oh well, what are you going to do? After we took care of our daily observations of the savanna and we had some Mara brought to the the room (thanks DW), we got ready and drove off to the studios. They made us park way too far from the entrance and we hopped aboard the tram. We saw another amazing christmas tree at the entrance and as we worked our way through the turnstiles at about 30 minutes after park opening, we were both overcome again with excitement.
We quickly made our way up Hollywood Blvd and over to Pixar Place, where we focused on getting our first ever rides on Toy Story Midway Mania. We grabbed FP's and jumped in the line, about 45 minute wait at that point. The level of detail in that line was just outstanding, it really made the wait fly by as we were moving past and observing all the little touches the imagineers placed all over the place. The mr. potato head animatronic was really great to see up close, you just want to watch him all day, I really love the suttle movements of his lips as he talked. Great job!! Now the ride I had been cautiously anticipating as I heard both great and not so great reviews and I was not sure how I would find it. Well, we both walked out and thought how much we really loved the attraction. Another game or two would have made the length perfect, but it still was still very cool. The 3D effects were not very noticable, but I think were pefect as to not distract from playing the games. It is the perfect ride for everyone in the family as there are varying degrees of difficulty. We can't wait to get back on this later!!
After we walked around Pixar place a bit we walked over and "dropped" into TOT which was great as usual, a bit tamer than the one in Paris, but you have to love the 5th dimension. We encountered a couple slow CM's when we tried to get a soda and popcorn, but it was good to have real disney popcorn. The popcorn in Paris is sweet, which we enjoy, but it's nice to have what you grew up on. MMMMMMMM.
We grabbed FP's for Rock and Roller Coaster and watched Beauty and the Beast stage show, which we sang along to and observed how you really have to know the story as they leave a lot out in their attempt to squeeze the story into 25 minutes. Still a lot of fun. We next jumped in line for the Great Movie Ride, which I think could use a refurb and update to the script, but again a great classic with some really fun and detailed scenes. When we walked out of the exit to the ride we saw a whole bunch of people just standing in the covered exit area and we noticed the heavens had opened up and it was as if the atlantic ocean had been lifted and dumped onto the Studios. We stood there for a minute and decided to get some food at the ABC Commissary (two chicken curry's, ok, not a lot of flavor) and ran around the corner. Being outside for 30 seconds got us soooooo drenched we could barely get our ponchos off once inside.
After lunch, the rain had subsided a bit and we ventured out to use our Toy Story Mania FP, but when we got there it started to pour again and we realized we were sooo wet that we needed to get out of the park and dry off. I wanted to watch the Redskins football game (that's my team) and was hoping they would be on tv in the room, so this was the perfect time to head back. As we walked down Hollywood Blvd it started to come down so hard that it hurt and there was thunder everywhere and we just pushed through. We jumped on the tram where we had to sit like 6 cars apart by ourselves to just get on and it was pelting us as we sat on the end and the CM was telling everyone to keep their umbrellas closed and it just rained and rained and rained. We got off at our stop and realized we were at the end of the row and looked at each other and just started to laugh soooooo hard that we could not breathe as we ran down the road and ran into some people who could not find there car. Sucks for them. It was raining so hard that you could hardly hear anything but the rain and I think I might have seen Nemo at some point. Just keep swimming, Just keep Swimming!!
We jumped into the car and completely brought the ocean in with us and screetched away toward the AKV's. The rain started to subside be we were not comfortable, imagine jumping into a swimming pool fully clothed and then getting into a car for a ride. Not fun, but very funny.
We are now back at the resort and drying off and of course the game is not on, so we are resting and watching the animals. We plan on heading back to the studios for some more rides and then Osbourne Family Lights (first time ever) and Fantasmic. That's it for now......more to come soon...stay tuned!!
BTW, the christmas decorations at AKV are wonderful, with an African flare. The tree is the best one we have seen yet and is as grand as the lobby. Those coming in the next month will love it!!!
Yes, that's right, we are back in the room as we got poured on like I have never had before. Of course as soon as we got back to the room it stopped.
To start the day we woke up to the very bad wake up call they have at the resorts now, it was disney music but only came on intermitently. What happened to Mickey Mouse telling me about the big doings going on today? Oh well, what are you going to do? After we took care of our daily observations of the savanna and we had some Mara brought to the the room (thanks DW), we got ready and drove off to the studios. They made us park way too far from the entrance and we hopped aboard the tram. We saw another amazing christmas tree at the entrance and as we worked our way through the turnstiles at about 30 minutes after park opening, we were both overcome again with excitement.
We quickly made our way up Hollywood Blvd and over to Pixar Place, where we focused on getting our first ever rides on Toy Story Midway Mania. We grabbed FP's and jumped in the line, about 45 minute wait at that point. The level of detail in that line was just outstanding, it really made the wait fly by as we were moving past and observing all the little touches the imagineers placed all over the place. The mr. potato head animatronic was really great to see up close, you just want to watch him all day, I really love the suttle movements of his lips as he talked. Great job!! Now the ride I had been cautiously anticipating as I heard both great and not so great reviews and I was not sure how I would find it. Well, we both walked out and thought how much we really loved the attraction. Another game or two would have made the length perfect, but it still was still very cool. The 3D effects were not very noticable, but I think were pefect as to not distract from playing the games. It is the perfect ride for everyone in the family as there are varying degrees of difficulty. We can't wait to get back on this later!!
After we walked around Pixar place a bit we walked over and "dropped" into TOT which was great as usual, a bit tamer than the one in Paris, but you have to love the 5th dimension. We encountered a couple slow CM's when we tried to get a soda and popcorn, but it was good to have real disney popcorn. The popcorn in Paris is sweet, which we enjoy, but it's nice to have what you grew up on. MMMMMMMM.
We grabbed FP's for Rock and Roller Coaster and watched Beauty and the Beast stage show, which we sang along to and observed how you really have to know the story as they leave a lot out in their attempt to squeeze the story into 25 minutes. Still a lot of fun. We next jumped in line for the Great Movie Ride, which I think could use a refurb and update to the script, but again a great classic with some really fun and detailed scenes. When we walked out of the exit to the ride we saw a whole bunch of people just standing in the covered exit area and we noticed the heavens had opened up and it was as if the atlantic ocean had been lifted and dumped onto the Studios. We stood there for a minute and decided to get some food at the ABC Commissary (two chicken curry's, ok, not a lot of flavor) and ran around the corner. Being outside for 30 seconds got us soooooo drenched we could barely get our ponchos off once inside.
After lunch, the rain had subsided a bit and we ventured out to use our Toy Story Mania FP, but when we got there it started to pour again and we realized we were sooo wet that we needed to get out of the park and dry off. I wanted to watch the Redskins football game (that's my team) and was hoping they would be on tv in the room, so this was the perfect time to head back. As we walked down Hollywood Blvd it started to come down so hard that it hurt and there was thunder everywhere and we just pushed through. We jumped on the tram where we had to sit like 6 cars apart by ourselves to just get on and it was pelting us as we sat on the end and the CM was telling everyone to keep their umbrellas closed and it just rained and rained and rained. We got off at our stop and realized we were at the end of the row and looked at each other and just started to laugh soooooo hard that we could not breathe as we ran down the road and ran into some people who could not find there car. Sucks for them. It was raining so hard that you could hardly hear anything but the rain and I think I might have seen Nemo at some point. Just keep swimming, Just keep Swimming!!
We jumped into the car and completely brought the ocean in with us and screetched away toward the AKV's. The rain started to subside be we were not comfortable, imagine jumping into a swimming pool fully clothed and then getting into a car for a ride. Not fun, but very funny.
We are now back at the resort and drying off and of course the game is not on, so we are resting and watching the animals. We plan on heading back to the studios for some more rides and then Osbourne Family Lights (first time ever) and Fantasmic. That's it for now......more to come soon...stay tuned!!
BTW, the christmas decorations at AKV are wonderful, with an African flare. The tree is the best one we have seen yet and is as grand as the lobby. Those coming in the next month will love it!!!
dairyqueenmom
If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remembe
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2007
- Messages
- 1,117
Your trip report is awesome!! It is getting me very excited for my trip in Jan. Continue your amazing trip reports and have a magical rest of your trip.
disneycamelbackids
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2006
- Messages
- 60
I am enjoying your TR so much! The first time we took our kids in 2002 it poured and stormed on us one night at DS. We still talk about how scary and yet "alive" we felt running through the park that night. Thanks for bring back that memory
theostwalts
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2004
- Messages
- 2,078
Great trip reports!!!!!!!!!! Glad you guys are having fun!!!!!
Donald is #1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2006
- Messages
- 6,922
The funniest observation of being here-and only an American who has moved away and come back can appreciate this-but I feel really weird about free refills! In the UK and all of Europe you pay for one drink, you only get one drink. The first time I got a free refill-I was freaked out! A whole new drink?! I don't have to pay for it?!! I know it sounds weird....but it's crazy! I grew up in America! haha...
Anyway-I love being back in the US and especially at WDW!
Thanks for reading!
Hopefully we'll see some of you Friday at the Merry Mixer!
I guess that I am too spoiled.
When I was in Italy, it drove me crazy to pay 5 Euro for a can of diet coke and then have to buy a second can. 
vermontgirl
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 28, 2007
- Messages
- 241
I so know that feeling! How lucky we are to experience it! Love the live trip report! Keep up the good work! I'm waiting for more....
Jeanette
As we walked up main street, me snapping pictures and the DW taking video, we got what my DW and I refer to as magic in our belly. This refers to that intense feeling of Disney magic you get that makes you want to explode. Warning: This can happen just about anywhere on WDW property. The DW gets it anytime she walks up any Main Street at a Disney Park.
Jeanette
As we walked up main street, me snapping pictures and the DW taking video, we got what my DW and I refer to as magic in our belly. This refers to that intense feeling of Disney magic you get that makes you want to explode. Warning: This can happen just about anywhere on WDW property. The DW gets it anytime she walks up any Main Street at a Disney Park.
dairyqueenmom
If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remembe
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2007
- Messages
- 1,117
Me too, as soon as we start walking down Main St. towards the castle the tears start to well up.
Perdie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2005
- Messages
- 338
I guess that I am too spoiled.
I know what you mean-I was so mad when I first moved to the UK and found out about the no free refills....and then I got used to it....and now I LOVE free refills here! I think it's such a treat!
Perdie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2005
- Messages
- 338
I wanted to add my 2 cents about toy story mania-what a great ride!!!! The details are phenomenal! I love looking at all the old games....it reminds me of being a kid in the 80's ; )
Also-I have a bit of a competitive side abd I can never beat DH at Buzz Lightyear but I've beat him everytime at Toy Story Mania!!!!
Off to get ready for AK!!
Also-I have a bit of a competitive side abd I can never beat DH at Buzz Lightyear but I've beat him everytime at Toy Story Mania!!!!
Off to get ready for AK!!
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