DeeCee735
"How Do You Know of the Key?"
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2001
- Messages
- 3,889
Travelling, just me and DH.
Day One Sunday 4/20/08:
Got to AKV early in morning. We knew our room wouldnt be ready so early, and we were meeting friends from Tampa at the Lodge to spend the day with, so we checked our luggage with bell services and I changed into my bathing suit and we headed out to the pool. All of the CMs were very friendly and helpful. The resort is gorgeous (it has been my fav non DVC resort, now it ranks a very close second to our home resort of BWV), as always. We are always taken back when we walk into that gorgeous lobby. We spent the day hanging out by the pool, drinking some cocktails and enjoying our friends and the amazing weather. Had breakfast at Mara, paid cash for it because we were on the Deluxe DDP for this one night ressie and I didnt want to use a TBS credit at Mara. Breakfast was okay, no big deal. Used some snack credits during the day to hold us over for Bomas dinner reservation. We had a couple of beers and an appetizer at the lounge after our friends left, paid cash for that too.
Anyway, got our room at 4:00, havent gotten our room earlier than that in the last few vacations. I know thats the rule, but we were hoping to get lucky this time. No big deal. I requested close to the lobby, I got that request met for sure! Room was #5405, a one bedroom, standard view looking directly over the lushly landscaped pool area and it was a GORGEOUS view. Room brand spankin new and in immaculate condition. We spent some time socializing with our friends in the living room, they left and we decided to check out the grounds. We spent a lot of time at the viewing areas, and we were blown away by all the animals 50 feet away from us I got GREAT shots of the giraffe and will post the link to my pics asap. This was about 6 p.m. and ALL the animals were out on the grounds feeding. Zebra, gazelles, cattle - (dont remember exact name), flamingos, giraffe, etc. It was amazing and the highlight of our perfect day. We enjoyed dinner at Boma (enjoyed way toooo muchhhh). Food, as always was really good. Place was packed, even at our late dining time. After dinner we headed back to our villa and hung out on the balcony overlooking the full moon high in the sky and the gorgeous grounds. Id take this room anytime! Open the door to the hallway and we were literally overlooking the beautiful lobby! Perfection
Day Two Monday, April 21st:
Woke up early, (before DH) and made myself a wonderfully relaxing Jacuzzi bath! I love my jacquzzi tub! Had a quick bite on snack credits in Mara, checked out of AKV and head over to BWV for the next three nights. Just wanted to check in, drop the bags with bell services and activate our Basic DDP for those three nights, as we had sit down lunch ressies at Tusker House in AKP, (keeping the 4 TBS credits on Deluxe Plan for that evenings Yachtsman Steakhouse dinner yum). Got our welcome home at the gate ..I love hearing that! Im a cornball I know! Walking into BW was really like coming home into a place we will always love and hope to enjoy for many years to come. Place is in immaculate shape. Until Wednesday there was no scaffolding, or work anywhere to be seen. On Wednesday they put up scaffolding around the main tower over the lobby entrance, looks like painting. Anyway, we headed over to AKP because our list of must dos this trip was Pangani Trail, Flights of Wonder, and Maharajah Jungle Trek. What a day to do this park! Breezy and low humidity with a high of around 85 gorgeous with all that shade! We went straight to Pangani Trail, and were very very very happy with the Gorillas! I really wanted to be able to spend some time with them, and I was so not disappointed. At first the male (sorry I dont remember his name), was behind the glass, sleeping. Never having been here before I was alittle disappointed that there was glass felt too zoo like. Then the CM explained that there were open viewing areas further ahead, so we continued on. When we got there, there were two females hanging out right in front of us! Awesome! They quickly retreated however and I told my husband I wasnt leaving J. So we stayed for maybe 10 minutes and along came the male silverback walking up the path. He literally sat down directly in front of us, as if posing for pics (and, of course, checking us out), and hung around a bit before retreating himself. I was stunned plain and simple. Never thought Id be this close with no barrier between me and gorillas before! They are such magnificent beings and we were lucky to have such a great encounter! We will do this every trip from now on. We still had time before lunch, so we headed over to Asia, and just in time for a Flights of Wonder show to start. Weve seen this before, and it remains a favorite, so we enjoyed the show! Headed right back to Tusker House after this, and enjoyed a yummy buffet meal. Headed back to Asia to do the Maharajah Trek, (and to walk off all that food!), and again we were amazed and blown away by the tigers (and all the other beautiful animals bats, birds, deer, etc.). There were two tigers hanging around in the grass eating, and one playing in the water with a ball. Youll see the shots if I ever get them up and figure out how to post the link . Then, for the heck of it, we figured we see how long the line was to Expedition Everest. We decided to go the single rider route since it was only a 20 minute wait, and it was very worth it great ride. After that we caught some of the parade before heading back to BW to get settled in our room.
I requested close to the elevators and again we got our wish J. It is room 4074, standard view, one bedroom directly overlooking the slide/pool. This one bedroom differs slightly from the others Ive stayed in here. First of all, the closet off the Jacuzzi room is slightly smaller, and if I remember correctly there was a closet directly across from the Jacuzzi, just before the side door to the bathroom, that is not here in this room. Also, there is only one balcony off the living room area, and it is a studio size balcony, and just windows in the master. This is not a big deal for us, Im just mentioning it here in my trip report. The room itself looks brand new everything is in great shape clean and clean smelling (even the dishes). We are very happy with this room and would not mind a stay here in the future.
We got ourselves unpacked and rested up, then headed over to the Yacht Club for an amazing dinner at the steakhouse wow! We used the last two deluxe DDP sit down credits this meal cost more than the cost of the Deluxe Plan alone, add in the mugs and refills, snacks, and Boma dinner, we more than broke even, even with the snacks we paid cash for and less the tips. I like the Deluxe Plan and would purchase it again. This too was a late reservation, so we just headed back to our villa, I hopped in my Jacuzzi bath and DH got some work done online (still had to pay what a joke. We spent one night in a $50 hotel on the way down and internet was FREE I still dont get it! I know itll be here in a couple of weeks J)
Day Three Tuesday, April 22nd:
Ahhh, waking up at the BWV! How happy was I? VERY HAPPY! We took our time, knowing today was an Epcot day and being tired from the last couple of days (not to mention the drive from NY to get here J)
We totally skipped breakfast, except for the coffee I made in our villa. We were still stuffed from all the food we ate the day before. We walked into Epcot, again the weather was amazing, breezy, low humidity and about 84 degrees. It got pretty hot in the sun, Epcot is not the shadiest of parks but we managed just fine. We rode test track, and universe of energy (always been one of my favs), checked out Garden World in the pavilion next to universe it was pretty cool stopped to take pics of the sandcastle in front of it, checked out Club Cool (one of my husbands favorite little places, he likes to check out the different flavored sodas), walked through the butterfly garden, had a really good lunch at Sunshine, took some pics of the great topiaries and checked out the tea garden and the beatles band in the England pavilion (dont remember the name). I would have done Mission Space, but lines were long and my husband doesnt enjoy this ride, so Ill leave that for my October trip. It was a good day in Epcot, but we didnt linger because we had dinner ressies at Kona and a night planned there.
We headed back to relax. I took my jacquzzi bath J and we got ready to go out again jeez I dont think weve been this on the go since the last trip. We plunged on smiling and headed over to Kona at the Poly (another favorite resort). The place was PACKED! I dont think Ive ever seen the upstairs of this lobby so crowded, one could hardly walk through lots of people waiting on Ohana reservations. We waited about 15 minutes to be seated and had a very good meal. This was on the basic DDP and counted as one TBS credit per person.
I am posting my very strong opinion of DDP on the DDP portion of the boards, so Disney, if youre listening check it out.
After dinner we went out to the Poly beach and laid on lounge chairs to watch the water pageant go by and then an hour later Wishes. Great viewing area lots of families and little kids. The kids were adorable and loved watching all that was going on in and over the water. We both thought it was a great idea to make this our evening.
DAY FOUR Wednesday, April 23rd:
We decided to make this a non park day and enjoyed some resort hopping. We went over to the POR, had lunch at their CS and took the boat to POFQ. Did some shopping in the store there. Jumped back in the car and headed over to the GF. We rarely go to this resort so we thought it would be nice. We walked around and then took a monorail ride. KTV is HUGE, and looks like it will be under construction for awhile. Some people were asking the CM if it was definitely DVC and all he would say, like rehearsed, is that Disney has not made any official announcements and as of now it is just an addition to the resort. I told him I thought it was announced and did read an article in Orlando Sentinel. He said it has been leaked by others but Disney has not yet made any official announcements, sticking to his above story. Interesting We browsed some of the shops at the monorail hotel, and headed back to the BW. We were just hanging around so we decided to go to the Welcome Home Wednesday and it was a lot of fun. Everyone that attended got a DVC Member hat, and on the walk back toward the BW, we stopped and spoke to one of the CMS that was working at the door for the WHW presentation. We got to talking about pins, and hidden mickeys and he gave each one of us a not for sale hidden mickey pin! I guess the cms have them and hand them out sometimes! Went back to the room to get ready for dinner and then went over to Big River Grille and didnt wait too long, considering the crowd. We enjoyed a very good meal again too much dessert! After dinner we walked the BW, went into the bakery to get the sandwiches and snacks we had left on our DDP for the next days ride to Savannah/Hilton Head. We strolled the BW, which was packed, and enjoyed some of the strolling entertainment. Then we walked the peacefully quiet courtyard of the BW Inn their pool is still under refurbishment. Headed home for a good nights sleep, as we were driving to Savannah on Thursday.
Did day tour of Savannah on Thursday, it was very pretty and I hope to get back here again. Checked into Hilton Head DVC - I LOVE THIS RESORT! This is our 2nd time here and I have to say its PERFECT after a Disney vacation. Relaxation straight through the bones J We started by relaxing in our room, then had dinner in Guiseppes, then took a long walk on the beach. Weather is perfect, beach is gorgeous.
Of course, I had to take my Jacuzzi bath before getting to sleep for the night, as we were heading to Charleston for today!
Now, here in the Charleston Place, a beautiful hotel, which we were able to book on points (I think that ended January 31st). We walked around the city, shopped in the open air market and then we took a private horse drawn carriage ride around the city, and Im in love. Its beautiful here and I know we will be back. Tomorrow we will have breakfast in Palmetto Café in the garden courtyard at the hotel, then check out one of the plantation houses before heading home to NY! What an amazing week Im loving our DVC. Thanks for listening .I mean reading J
Day One Sunday 4/20/08:
Got to AKV early in morning. We knew our room wouldnt be ready so early, and we were meeting friends from Tampa at the Lodge to spend the day with, so we checked our luggage with bell services and I changed into my bathing suit and we headed out to the pool. All of the CMs were very friendly and helpful. The resort is gorgeous (it has been my fav non DVC resort, now it ranks a very close second to our home resort of BWV), as always. We are always taken back when we walk into that gorgeous lobby. We spent the day hanging out by the pool, drinking some cocktails and enjoying our friends and the amazing weather. Had breakfast at Mara, paid cash for it because we were on the Deluxe DDP for this one night ressie and I didnt want to use a TBS credit at Mara. Breakfast was okay, no big deal. Used some snack credits during the day to hold us over for Bomas dinner reservation. We had a couple of beers and an appetizer at the lounge after our friends left, paid cash for that too.
Anyway, got our room at 4:00, havent gotten our room earlier than that in the last few vacations. I know thats the rule, but we were hoping to get lucky this time. No big deal. I requested close to the lobby, I got that request met for sure! Room was #5405, a one bedroom, standard view looking directly over the lushly landscaped pool area and it was a GORGEOUS view. Room brand spankin new and in immaculate condition. We spent some time socializing with our friends in the living room, they left and we decided to check out the grounds. We spent a lot of time at the viewing areas, and we were blown away by all the animals 50 feet away from us I got GREAT shots of the giraffe and will post the link to my pics asap. This was about 6 p.m. and ALL the animals were out on the grounds feeding. Zebra, gazelles, cattle - (dont remember exact name), flamingos, giraffe, etc. It was amazing and the highlight of our perfect day. We enjoyed dinner at Boma (enjoyed way toooo muchhhh). Food, as always was really good. Place was packed, even at our late dining time. After dinner we headed back to our villa and hung out on the balcony overlooking the full moon high in the sky and the gorgeous grounds. Id take this room anytime! Open the door to the hallway and we were literally overlooking the beautiful lobby! Perfection
Day Two Monday, April 21st:
Woke up early, (before DH) and made myself a wonderfully relaxing Jacuzzi bath! I love my jacquzzi tub! Had a quick bite on snack credits in Mara, checked out of AKV and head over to BWV for the next three nights. Just wanted to check in, drop the bags with bell services and activate our Basic DDP for those three nights, as we had sit down lunch ressies at Tusker House in AKP, (keeping the 4 TBS credits on Deluxe Plan for that evenings Yachtsman Steakhouse dinner yum). Got our welcome home at the gate ..I love hearing that! Im a cornball I know! Walking into BW was really like coming home into a place we will always love and hope to enjoy for many years to come. Place is in immaculate shape. Until Wednesday there was no scaffolding, or work anywhere to be seen. On Wednesday they put up scaffolding around the main tower over the lobby entrance, looks like painting. Anyway, we headed over to AKP because our list of must dos this trip was Pangani Trail, Flights of Wonder, and Maharajah Jungle Trek. What a day to do this park! Breezy and low humidity with a high of around 85 gorgeous with all that shade! We went straight to Pangani Trail, and were very very very happy with the Gorillas! I really wanted to be able to spend some time with them, and I was so not disappointed. At first the male (sorry I dont remember his name), was behind the glass, sleeping. Never having been here before I was alittle disappointed that there was glass felt too zoo like. Then the CM explained that there were open viewing areas further ahead, so we continued on. When we got there, there were two females hanging out right in front of us! Awesome! They quickly retreated however and I told my husband I wasnt leaving J. So we stayed for maybe 10 minutes and along came the male silverback walking up the path. He literally sat down directly in front of us, as if posing for pics (and, of course, checking us out), and hung around a bit before retreating himself. I was stunned plain and simple. Never thought Id be this close with no barrier between me and gorillas before! They are such magnificent beings and we were lucky to have such a great encounter! We will do this every trip from now on. We still had time before lunch, so we headed over to Asia, and just in time for a Flights of Wonder show to start. Weve seen this before, and it remains a favorite, so we enjoyed the show! Headed right back to Tusker House after this, and enjoyed a yummy buffet meal. Headed back to Asia to do the Maharajah Trek, (and to walk off all that food!), and again we were amazed and blown away by the tigers (and all the other beautiful animals bats, birds, deer, etc.). There were two tigers hanging around in the grass eating, and one playing in the water with a ball. Youll see the shots if I ever get them up and figure out how to post the link . Then, for the heck of it, we figured we see how long the line was to Expedition Everest. We decided to go the single rider route since it was only a 20 minute wait, and it was very worth it great ride. After that we caught some of the parade before heading back to BW to get settled in our room.
I requested close to the elevators and again we got our wish J. It is room 4074, standard view, one bedroom directly overlooking the slide/pool. This one bedroom differs slightly from the others Ive stayed in here. First of all, the closet off the Jacuzzi room is slightly smaller, and if I remember correctly there was a closet directly across from the Jacuzzi, just before the side door to the bathroom, that is not here in this room. Also, there is only one balcony off the living room area, and it is a studio size balcony, and just windows in the master. This is not a big deal for us, Im just mentioning it here in my trip report. The room itself looks brand new everything is in great shape clean and clean smelling (even the dishes). We are very happy with this room and would not mind a stay here in the future.
We got ourselves unpacked and rested up, then headed over to the Yacht Club for an amazing dinner at the steakhouse wow! We used the last two deluxe DDP sit down credits this meal cost more than the cost of the Deluxe Plan alone, add in the mugs and refills, snacks, and Boma dinner, we more than broke even, even with the snacks we paid cash for and less the tips. I like the Deluxe Plan and would purchase it again. This too was a late reservation, so we just headed back to our villa, I hopped in my Jacuzzi bath and DH got some work done online (still had to pay what a joke. We spent one night in a $50 hotel on the way down and internet was FREE I still dont get it! I know itll be here in a couple of weeks J)
Day Three Tuesday, April 22nd:
Ahhh, waking up at the BWV! How happy was I? VERY HAPPY! We took our time, knowing today was an Epcot day and being tired from the last couple of days (not to mention the drive from NY to get here J)
We totally skipped breakfast, except for the coffee I made in our villa. We were still stuffed from all the food we ate the day before. We walked into Epcot, again the weather was amazing, breezy, low humidity and about 84 degrees. It got pretty hot in the sun, Epcot is not the shadiest of parks but we managed just fine. We rode test track, and universe of energy (always been one of my favs), checked out Garden World in the pavilion next to universe it was pretty cool stopped to take pics of the sandcastle in front of it, checked out Club Cool (one of my husbands favorite little places, he likes to check out the different flavored sodas), walked through the butterfly garden, had a really good lunch at Sunshine, took some pics of the great topiaries and checked out the tea garden and the beatles band in the England pavilion (dont remember the name). I would have done Mission Space, but lines were long and my husband doesnt enjoy this ride, so Ill leave that for my October trip. It was a good day in Epcot, but we didnt linger because we had dinner ressies at Kona and a night planned there.
We headed back to relax. I took my jacquzzi bath J and we got ready to go out again jeez I dont think weve been this on the go since the last trip. We plunged on smiling and headed over to Kona at the Poly (another favorite resort). The place was PACKED! I dont think Ive ever seen the upstairs of this lobby so crowded, one could hardly walk through lots of people waiting on Ohana reservations. We waited about 15 minutes to be seated and had a very good meal. This was on the basic DDP and counted as one TBS credit per person.
I am posting my very strong opinion of DDP on the DDP portion of the boards, so Disney, if youre listening check it out.
After dinner we went out to the Poly beach and laid on lounge chairs to watch the water pageant go by and then an hour later Wishes. Great viewing area lots of families and little kids. The kids were adorable and loved watching all that was going on in and over the water. We both thought it was a great idea to make this our evening.
DAY FOUR Wednesday, April 23rd:
We decided to make this a non park day and enjoyed some resort hopping. We went over to the POR, had lunch at their CS and took the boat to POFQ. Did some shopping in the store there. Jumped back in the car and headed over to the GF. We rarely go to this resort so we thought it would be nice. We walked around and then took a monorail ride. KTV is HUGE, and looks like it will be under construction for awhile. Some people were asking the CM if it was definitely DVC and all he would say, like rehearsed, is that Disney has not made any official announcements and as of now it is just an addition to the resort. I told him I thought it was announced and did read an article in Orlando Sentinel. He said it has been leaked by others but Disney has not yet made any official announcements, sticking to his above story. Interesting We browsed some of the shops at the monorail hotel, and headed back to the BW. We were just hanging around so we decided to go to the Welcome Home Wednesday and it was a lot of fun. Everyone that attended got a DVC Member hat, and on the walk back toward the BW, we stopped and spoke to one of the CMS that was working at the door for the WHW presentation. We got to talking about pins, and hidden mickeys and he gave each one of us a not for sale hidden mickey pin! I guess the cms have them and hand them out sometimes! Went back to the room to get ready for dinner and then went over to Big River Grille and didnt wait too long, considering the crowd. We enjoyed a very good meal again too much dessert! After dinner we walked the BW, went into the bakery to get the sandwiches and snacks we had left on our DDP for the next days ride to Savannah/Hilton Head. We strolled the BW, which was packed, and enjoyed some of the strolling entertainment. Then we walked the peacefully quiet courtyard of the BW Inn their pool is still under refurbishment. Headed home for a good nights sleep, as we were driving to Savannah on Thursday.
Did day tour of Savannah on Thursday, it was very pretty and I hope to get back here again. Checked into Hilton Head DVC - I LOVE THIS RESORT! This is our 2nd time here and I have to say its PERFECT after a Disney vacation. Relaxation straight through the bones J We started by relaxing in our room, then had dinner in Guiseppes, then took a long walk on the beach. Weather is perfect, beach is gorgeous.
Of course, I had to take my Jacuzzi bath before getting to sleep for the night, as we were heading to Charleston for today!
Now, here in the Charleston Place, a beautiful hotel, which we were able to book on points (I think that ended January 31st). We walked around the city, shopped in the open air market and then we took a private horse drawn carriage ride around the city, and Im in love. Its beautiful here and I know we will be back. Tomorrow we will have breakfast in Palmetto Café in the garden courtyard at the hotel, then check out one of the plantation houses before heading home to NY! What an amazing week Im loving our DVC. Thanks for listening .I mean reading J
Im really happy for you and can't wait until we go to AKV and someday HHI. Thanks for sharing.
Our last 4 
