L
lisa70
Guest
100 Years of Magic Trip Diary: May 3 May 10, 2002
Cast:
Lisa 30 something, Disney World Obsessed Mom and Wife; trip planning junkie whos afraid of heights
Chuck 30 something, Disney World Lover; Spouse and Dad
Kayla 2 wks shy of being 5 yr old; adorable princess daughter who loves Disney World
Day 6 Chef Mickeys, DTD, AKL
We were able to sleep in late this morning. This is the day I had planned as our down day since we wouldnt be going to any of the parks. Our PS for Chef Mickeys was 11:00 am. I walked down to Mara, the counter service restaurant at AKL, to refill our mugs. Mara has many different choices of food and drink. They even stock bottles of wine. I picked up a pack of chocolate doughnuts, some bananas, milk and yogurt and headed back to the room. We enjoyed our breakfast on our balcony watching the animals. It was really wonderful! I was so happy and relaxed and just enjoying every moment. I cant say enough how much we all enjoyed AKL. Our room was on the Kudu Trail, #4341. Kayla was in pure heaven. She loves animals!! At checkin, the CM gives you an animal guide with pictures and descriptions of all the different animals in the savannahs. During our stay, we were able to spot almost all of the animals on the guide. I was glad I had brought our binoculars because even though the animals do come pretty close to the rooms, the binoculars enhance the viewing. We ventured down by the lobby and walked out to Arusha Rock. There is a savannah right there and we met some of the Savannah Guides. It was great chatting with them and hearing stories about the animals and about their behaviors. I snapped some great photos of the giraffes here. It seemed like they were only 20 feet away.
We said goodbye to the animals and Arusha Rock and headed to Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary. I know that Disney transportation could have accommodated us but we felt like going for a drive today, so we took the rental car. When we arrived at the Contemporary, the guard at the gate stopped us. He checked his list for our name and we showed him a drivers license. The Contemporary is a neat resort. I loved riding the elevators and hearing Mickeys voice greet us. When we got to the restaurant, we had our photo taken. Then we sat down and took it all in. I had remembered to bring Kaylas Mickey Mouse ears and she wore them proudly the whole time. Every time shed get a glimpse of one of the characters, shed get so excited! She could hardly wait for them to stop by for a visit. The food was really fresh and delicous and we loved that Florida orange juice. I think the 11:00 seating must be the last seating for breakfast. We all had to have the Mickey Mouse waffles. The characters were fabulous. We loved all of them Chip, Dale, Minnie, Mickey and Pluto. Goofy stayed in the lobby except for a few times when he was dancing around with Pluto. Kayla enjoyed getting her Mickey ears tweaked when the characters stopped by. We got some great photos and video. There was a grampa, grandma and two kids at the table next to us. We took their photo with Minnie and they took ours for us. The CM brought the photos we had taken when we arrived and we decided to buy them because they had turned out so well. After breakfast, we went to the lobby to meet Goofy. Looking around, I realized that the restaurant had really cleared out. Not only was Goofy in the lobby, but so were Dale, Mickey and Pluto. I felt some more Disney magic coming upon us. We took Kaylas picture with Goofy and noticed a CM taking a familys picture with the whole gang. WOW! I asked the CM if shed take our photo. So, Chuck, Kayla and I posed with Mickey, Pluto, Dale and Goofy while the CM snapped away. I was amazed by our luck! The 11:00 PS turned out to be perfect.
We were on a high after our wonderful breakfast. We looked around at the nice gift shops in the hotel and decided to head to Downtown Disney. I had saved most of my souvenir shopping for this day. I remembered that with my Disney Club card, Id get a 10% discount at the World of Disney store. I believe its the largest Disney store in the world. The decorations and the storefront windows are fabulous. We took some cute photos of Kayla by the 101 Dalmations window. Shes in a Dalmatian obsession these days. Kayla camped out in the stuffed animal section with her Dad while I started shopping. This huge store is divided into many large rooms that have themes, like the stuffed animals, t-shirts, knick knacks, jewelry etc. While cruising around, I found a really nice photo album that has the 100 Years of Magic logo on the front. Picked up some packages of chocolate, pencils, pens etc for souvenirs to bring to coworkers and Kaylas preschool classmates. Then, I was off on a hunt for a shot glass. One of Chucks coworkers had asked him to bring one back. I saw a shot glass when I first walked in the store, but now I couldnt find it. I couldnt find Chuck and Kayla either. So, I cruised around and around the store several times, looking for shot glasses and my family. Hindsight tells me I should have asked a CM. I found my family and then sent Chuck on the hunt for the shot glass. Kayla was having fun with a very, large stuffed KAA the big snake from the Jungle Book. I was hoping she didnt think she needed to bring him home. Luckily, she picked out a medium sized Dalmatian and a small Pluto. The mini Pluto has a little metal button on his bottom foot that says Walt Disney World, 100 years of Magic with a Mickey head icon. I took a cute photo of her sitting on a Mad Hatter chair with hundreds of plutos behind her. Unlike my little adventure, Chuck found the shot glass and us quite easily. I picked out my shirt the choices are amazing. Chuck had seen a shirt he liked but it had a small stain on it. We went to a register to pay for our stuff and we asked the CMs if they had another shirt. In true Disney style, they called the Belle storage room and had one sent up for us. They told us it would take a few minutes. During the wait, they chatted with Kayla. They told her about some ducks that she could visit nearby. They told us about the campfire and the petting zoo at Fort Wilderness. They asked Kayla how old she was and about her upcoming birthday. Then all of sudden, the CM was on the phone to Goofy. She told us that Goofy was going to be singing Happy Birthday to Kayla on the phone. WOW!! I had to take a picture of her listening to Goofy on the phone. TAA DAA!!! Magically, Chucks shirt appeared right after the phone call.
We made our purchases and walked around outside the stores. Kayla found the Rainforest Café right away. The beautiful birds and the animatronic crocodile that are outside the restaurant kept her attention for quite some time. We were still stuffed from Chef Mickeys so we didnt stop there to eat and we passed on the Ghiradelli Chocolate place, too.
Swimming was next on our agenda, so we headed back to AKL. The Uzima Springs pool was very nice and tropical with a pool bar and a slide. I was a little picky about Kayla sliding. Chuck waited in the water at the bottom of the slide, while I went with her to the top. I wanted to make sure she didnt slide too close to the person in front of her. After the first slider was in the pool, Id tell her to go. She had a blast! We ordered some tropical drinks and sipped them by the pool, just like Ive always dreamed about. Delicious! Theres a savannah right by the pool and we walked over there to see more animals. We chatted with the savannah guide and learned more interesting tidbits. After we dried off from swimming, we put on some clothes and went to Zawadi Marketplace for some more shopping. This is the giftshop at AKL. It is awesome!! I bought some beach towels that Id forgotten to buy earlier at the World of Disney. I figured these towels would be great souvenirs. We needed new ones anyways. We bought a pink one with all the princesses, a green one with the Animal Kingdom, Tree of Life and a lot of characters, and a black one with the Animal Kingdom Lodge logo. Chuck picked out a nice AKL shirt and I got a beautiful watercolor print of the AKL with the savannah and the animals. It was my Mothers Day present. The CM's wrapped it very carefully so that it would be safe traveling back. Earlier that day, I lost one of the pin backs to my Magic Light Up pin. I asked the CM if I could buy an extra pin back. She gave me one of hers off her lanyard. How great is that?
It was time to get cleaned up and head out for the evening. Id made reservations for Kayla at Simbas Clubhouse and for us at Jiko, one of the restaurants at AKL. I felt a little guilty about taking her to Simbas Clubhouse while we went out to dinner. The Clubhouse is very spacious and has lots of fun things for the kids to do. She even got to choose what she wanted to eat for dinner there. Kicking back and watching a Disney movie was right up her alley that night. Meanwhile, we went to our dining experience at Jiko. This was in celebration of our upcoming anniversary and it turned out wonderful! The restaurant is beautiful and eclectic. Jiko translates to The Cooking Place. Some people were seated in front of the chefs to observe the meal preparation but we decided on a table towards the back. The room changes color with the lighting periodically. While we were there, it was yellow, orange, red and purple. Chuck tried a bottle of Zambezi beer from South Africa. We started with lamb millet flatbread. It was incredible. So many different flavors blending into perfection. Then we had our entrees. Chuck chose fresh Lake Victoria Falls Perch, flown in from South Africa and I had the Pan Roasted Monkfish. Our meals were pure heaven. We had no room for dessert. Dining at Jiko was an experience Ill never forget.
We picked up Kayla from Simbas Clubhouse and made our way back to our room. The next day was going to be our last and wed be heading to Animal Kingdom.
Cast:
Lisa 30 something, Disney World Obsessed Mom and Wife; trip planning junkie whos afraid of heights
Chuck 30 something, Disney World Lover; Spouse and Dad
Kayla 2 wks shy of being 5 yr old; adorable princess daughter who loves Disney World
Day 6 Chef Mickeys, DTD, AKL
We were able to sleep in late this morning. This is the day I had planned as our down day since we wouldnt be going to any of the parks. Our PS for Chef Mickeys was 11:00 am. I walked down to Mara, the counter service restaurant at AKL, to refill our mugs. Mara has many different choices of food and drink. They even stock bottles of wine. I picked up a pack of chocolate doughnuts, some bananas, milk and yogurt and headed back to the room. We enjoyed our breakfast on our balcony watching the animals. It was really wonderful! I was so happy and relaxed and just enjoying every moment. I cant say enough how much we all enjoyed AKL. Our room was on the Kudu Trail, #4341. Kayla was in pure heaven. She loves animals!! At checkin, the CM gives you an animal guide with pictures and descriptions of all the different animals in the savannahs. During our stay, we were able to spot almost all of the animals on the guide. I was glad I had brought our binoculars because even though the animals do come pretty close to the rooms, the binoculars enhance the viewing. We ventured down by the lobby and walked out to Arusha Rock. There is a savannah right there and we met some of the Savannah Guides. It was great chatting with them and hearing stories about the animals and about their behaviors. I snapped some great photos of the giraffes here. It seemed like they were only 20 feet away.
We said goodbye to the animals and Arusha Rock and headed to Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary. I know that Disney transportation could have accommodated us but we felt like going for a drive today, so we took the rental car. When we arrived at the Contemporary, the guard at the gate stopped us. He checked his list for our name and we showed him a drivers license. The Contemporary is a neat resort. I loved riding the elevators and hearing Mickeys voice greet us. When we got to the restaurant, we had our photo taken. Then we sat down and took it all in. I had remembered to bring Kaylas Mickey Mouse ears and she wore them proudly the whole time. Every time shed get a glimpse of one of the characters, shed get so excited! She could hardly wait for them to stop by for a visit. The food was really fresh and delicous and we loved that Florida orange juice. I think the 11:00 seating must be the last seating for breakfast. We all had to have the Mickey Mouse waffles. The characters were fabulous. We loved all of them Chip, Dale, Minnie, Mickey and Pluto. Goofy stayed in the lobby except for a few times when he was dancing around with Pluto. Kayla enjoyed getting her Mickey ears tweaked when the characters stopped by. We got some great photos and video. There was a grampa, grandma and two kids at the table next to us. We took their photo with Minnie and they took ours for us. The CM brought the photos we had taken when we arrived and we decided to buy them because they had turned out so well. After breakfast, we went to the lobby to meet Goofy. Looking around, I realized that the restaurant had really cleared out. Not only was Goofy in the lobby, but so were Dale, Mickey and Pluto. I felt some more Disney magic coming upon us. We took Kaylas picture with Goofy and noticed a CM taking a familys picture with the whole gang. WOW! I asked the CM if shed take our photo. So, Chuck, Kayla and I posed with Mickey, Pluto, Dale and Goofy while the CM snapped away. I was amazed by our luck! The 11:00 PS turned out to be perfect.
We were on a high after our wonderful breakfast. We looked around at the nice gift shops in the hotel and decided to head to Downtown Disney. I had saved most of my souvenir shopping for this day. I remembered that with my Disney Club card, Id get a 10% discount at the World of Disney store. I believe its the largest Disney store in the world. The decorations and the storefront windows are fabulous. We took some cute photos of Kayla by the 101 Dalmations window. Shes in a Dalmatian obsession these days. Kayla camped out in the stuffed animal section with her Dad while I started shopping. This huge store is divided into many large rooms that have themes, like the stuffed animals, t-shirts, knick knacks, jewelry etc. While cruising around, I found a really nice photo album that has the 100 Years of Magic logo on the front. Picked up some packages of chocolate, pencils, pens etc for souvenirs to bring to coworkers and Kaylas preschool classmates. Then, I was off on a hunt for a shot glass. One of Chucks coworkers had asked him to bring one back. I saw a shot glass when I first walked in the store, but now I couldnt find it. I couldnt find Chuck and Kayla either. So, I cruised around and around the store several times, looking for shot glasses and my family. Hindsight tells me I should have asked a CM. I found my family and then sent Chuck on the hunt for the shot glass. Kayla was having fun with a very, large stuffed KAA the big snake from the Jungle Book. I was hoping she didnt think she needed to bring him home. Luckily, she picked out a medium sized Dalmatian and a small Pluto. The mini Pluto has a little metal button on his bottom foot that says Walt Disney World, 100 years of Magic with a Mickey head icon. I took a cute photo of her sitting on a Mad Hatter chair with hundreds of plutos behind her. Unlike my little adventure, Chuck found the shot glass and us quite easily. I picked out my shirt the choices are amazing. Chuck had seen a shirt he liked but it had a small stain on it. We went to a register to pay for our stuff and we asked the CMs if they had another shirt. In true Disney style, they called the Belle storage room and had one sent up for us. They told us it would take a few minutes. During the wait, they chatted with Kayla. They told her about some ducks that she could visit nearby. They told us about the campfire and the petting zoo at Fort Wilderness. They asked Kayla how old she was and about her upcoming birthday. Then all of sudden, the CM was on the phone to Goofy. She told us that Goofy was going to be singing Happy Birthday to Kayla on the phone. WOW!! I had to take a picture of her listening to Goofy on the phone. TAA DAA!!! Magically, Chucks shirt appeared right after the phone call.
We made our purchases and walked around outside the stores. Kayla found the Rainforest Café right away. The beautiful birds and the animatronic crocodile that are outside the restaurant kept her attention for quite some time. We were still stuffed from Chef Mickeys so we didnt stop there to eat and we passed on the Ghiradelli Chocolate place, too.
Swimming was next on our agenda, so we headed back to AKL. The Uzima Springs pool was very nice and tropical with a pool bar and a slide. I was a little picky about Kayla sliding. Chuck waited in the water at the bottom of the slide, while I went with her to the top. I wanted to make sure she didnt slide too close to the person in front of her. After the first slider was in the pool, Id tell her to go. She had a blast! We ordered some tropical drinks and sipped them by the pool, just like Ive always dreamed about. Delicious! Theres a savannah right by the pool and we walked over there to see more animals. We chatted with the savannah guide and learned more interesting tidbits. After we dried off from swimming, we put on some clothes and went to Zawadi Marketplace for some more shopping. This is the giftshop at AKL. It is awesome!! I bought some beach towels that Id forgotten to buy earlier at the World of Disney. I figured these towels would be great souvenirs. We needed new ones anyways. We bought a pink one with all the princesses, a green one with the Animal Kingdom, Tree of Life and a lot of characters, and a black one with the Animal Kingdom Lodge logo. Chuck picked out a nice AKL shirt and I got a beautiful watercolor print of the AKL with the savannah and the animals. It was my Mothers Day present. The CM's wrapped it very carefully so that it would be safe traveling back. Earlier that day, I lost one of the pin backs to my Magic Light Up pin. I asked the CM if I could buy an extra pin back. She gave me one of hers off her lanyard. How great is that?
It was time to get cleaned up and head out for the evening. Id made reservations for Kayla at Simbas Clubhouse and for us at Jiko, one of the restaurants at AKL. I felt a little guilty about taking her to Simbas Clubhouse while we went out to dinner. The Clubhouse is very spacious and has lots of fun things for the kids to do. She even got to choose what she wanted to eat for dinner there. Kicking back and watching a Disney movie was right up her alley that night. Meanwhile, we went to our dining experience at Jiko. This was in celebration of our upcoming anniversary and it turned out wonderful! The restaurant is beautiful and eclectic. Jiko translates to The Cooking Place. Some people were seated in front of the chefs to observe the meal preparation but we decided on a table towards the back. The room changes color with the lighting periodically. While we were there, it was yellow, orange, red and purple. Chuck tried a bottle of Zambezi beer from South Africa. We started with lamb millet flatbread. It was incredible. So many different flavors blending into perfection. Then we had our entrees. Chuck chose fresh Lake Victoria Falls Perch, flown in from South Africa and I had the Pan Roasted Monkfish. Our meals were pure heaven. We had no room for dessert. Dining at Jiko was an experience Ill never forget.
We picked up Kayla from Simbas Clubhouse and made our way back to our room. The next day was going to be our last and wed be heading to Animal Kingdom.
