TammiMcMan
Ohana
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2002
- Messages
- 6,310
Cast of Characters: Tammi & Jim (mom-dad), Meg (16), Colin (12) and Casey (6). Our 13th trip to WDW
Wednesday 7/31: Okay, for anyone that's been following my trip report and notes the ages on our cast of characters, are you going to be surprised to learn that today was voted as another "free" day? I can understand Jim and the 2 older kids wanting to relax a bit after not getting in from e-night until 1:30am, but even Casey just wanted to go swimming. Don't know if I mentioned this before, but a few days before we left for WDW, Casey fell off her bike and broke her thumb. So she's sporting a lovely purple cast this trip. Even though the cast is fiberglass, the doctor told us not to get it wet. We purchased some sock thing that fits over her arm and then you pump the air out, making it watertight. She was so worried about getting it wet, that she would swim with 1 arm up in the air. She looked so silly (anyone at the GF pool last week that saw us?) and it didn't work anyway, so by today we were just letting her swim in the cast.
Had a nice breakfast in the concierge lounge again this morning. I love sitting there, reading the paper and watching the action below us in the main lobby. The concierge food service is not really anything that you could make a meal out of, but breakfast was different. You could have cereal, fruit, yogurt, bagels, pretty much what we eat at home anyway.
We found an empty cabana at the pool. Those are so nice by the way. They're big enough to hold 2 lounge chairs and a table. They have flaps around them, that you can close up during those quick rainshowers or a private nap. For those that can't leave home without the laptop, there is also electrical outlets so you can hook up. I stayed with the kids while Jim headed over to the spa for a workout. I'm sure he spent most of the time in the hot tub and steam room, but hey, it's his vacation too. Well the kids swam for almost 4 hours straight and by now my tummy was a rumbling. We convinced them, okay, we dragged them out of the pool and went to the Cafe for lunch.
My only complaint at the GF is that the Cafe closes at 3pm and no longer serves dinner. I thought it was a perfect in between restaurant for those wanting a bit more than Gasparilla's counter service and less than the more formal Citrico's or Narcoosees. We had changed after the pool and I even packed up the "park" bag figuring that following lunch, we'd make it over to MK and see the afternoon parade. Well we entered the Cafe and who do we see, but Izzy. He's been our server on 2 past visits to the GF and he is a treasure. After so much swimming, everyone cleaned their plates and I remembered my DisneyClub card, so we enjoyed free smoothies with lunch. By now the cafe was emptying out and Izzy came by to chat with us. It was another hour before we finally left the restaurant. We had such a nice time though, that nobody cared we had missed the parade.
Made it into MK at about 4pm. Colin had his heart set on seeing Alien Encounter again, so Jim brought Meg and him over to Tomorrowland while Casey and I got front row center for Cinderella's castle show. It was so cute and I love the assortment of characters. We scooted over to the right hand side as soon as the show ended and had our pictures taken with Mickey. I don't know if it's the same set-up each time, but Minnie was on the left hand side and assorted characters came down and stood around the center hub. Had just enough time to ride Jungle Cruise and the Magic Carpets before before heading back to the hotel and getting ready for dinner.
Jim and I drove over to AKL for our romantic dinner at Jiko's. I wanted to get there a little early so we could check out the hotel. It is just beautiful. The decor in the main lobby was amazing and we spent some time viewing the animals outside. We eventually made our way to the restaurant, boy are the hallways dimly lit or what! I guess it was keeping with the whole theme, but what a difference from the GF. Shellie was our server at Jiko's and very knowledgeable about the African wines and menu. After looking over the menu, we decided on one appetizer, the spicy beef rollup. We wanted to save room for dessert. Shellie informed us that this dish was meant to be finger food and no forks allowed. We eached scooped one and they were delicious. Onto the main course. I was still in a meat mood, so I picked the oak grilled tenderloin. It's served over mac and cheese, surrounded by a red sauce. I thought, mac and cheese, well I'll just push that to the side. Our steak is delivered and we can cut it with the butter knife. I'm embarassed to say, but I nearly licked the plate clean, mac and cheese and all. My mouth is watering as I'm writing about this. So now on to coffee and dessert. Jim went with a coffee drink, while I stayed with my decaf. It came in a french press and for once I didn't miss regular coffee. The flavor was rich and wonderful. I must say that I was a bit disappointed with the desserts. The table next to us was one course ahead of us, so we were comparing. Desserts ranged from being too rich, to a bit dull. I was thinking that we should have ordered the olive flatbread appetizer and skipped dessert. Oh well, live and learn. As we sat back and enjoyed our coffee, we started chatting with the couple sitting next to us. They were from the UK and were just ending a 2 week stay at the AKL. As was earlier in the day, we were having such a nice time that we took up poor Shellie's table for another hour and a half talking with these nice folks. We never would have done this if the restaurant was crowded, but it was quiet this evening and we made up for it in the tip I think. Okay, so final comments on Jiko's, I was very surprised to see that they didn't offer a view of the savannah. We overlooked the pathway to the pool. Jim did say something about watching the animals while we were eating meat, maybe that's why they nixxed the view.
Driving away from AKL, I was thinking that might be a nice place to stay next time. That's until we pulled back into the GF. Then all thoughts of staying anywhere else went right out of my head. The kids were all settled watching movies when we got up to the room. Wait a minute, I don't remember packing any video tapes. Colin informed me that they noticed the TV had a VCR, so he went down to the concierge staff to see if they had any movies. I guess they opened up a cabinet and let him pick what he wanted. As you can see, our children are not shy. Another enjoyable day and I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
Tammi
Wednesday 7/31: Okay, for anyone that's been following my trip report and notes the ages on our cast of characters, are you going to be surprised to learn that today was voted as another "free" day? I can understand Jim and the 2 older kids wanting to relax a bit after not getting in from e-night until 1:30am, but even Casey just wanted to go swimming. Don't know if I mentioned this before, but a few days before we left for WDW, Casey fell off her bike and broke her thumb. So she's sporting a lovely purple cast this trip. Even though the cast is fiberglass, the doctor told us not to get it wet. We purchased some sock thing that fits over her arm and then you pump the air out, making it watertight. She was so worried about getting it wet, that she would swim with 1 arm up in the air. She looked so silly (anyone at the GF pool last week that saw us?) and it didn't work anyway, so by today we were just letting her swim in the cast.
Had a nice breakfast in the concierge lounge again this morning. I love sitting there, reading the paper and watching the action below us in the main lobby. The concierge food service is not really anything that you could make a meal out of, but breakfast was different. You could have cereal, fruit, yogurt, bagels, pretty much what we eat at home anyway.
We found an empty cabana at the pool. Those are so nice by the way. They're big enough to hold 2 lounge chairs and a table. They have flaps around them, that you can close up during those quick rainshowers or a private nap. For those that can't leave home without the laptop, there is also electrical outlets so you can hook up. I stayed with the kids while Jim headed over to the spa for a workout. I'm sure he spent most of the time in the hot tub and steam room, but hey, it's his vacation too. Well the kids swam for almost 4 hours straight and by now my tummy was a rumbling. We convinced them, okay, we dragged them out of the pool and went to the Cafe for lunch.
My only complaint at the GF is that the Cafe closes at 3pm and no longer serves dinner. I thought it was a perfect in between restaurant for those wanting a bit more than Gasparilla's counter service and less than the more formal Citrico's or Narcoosees. We had changed after the pool and I even packed up the "park" bag figuring that following lunch, we'd make it over to MK and see the afternoon parade. Well we entered the Cafe and who do we see, but Izzy. He's been our server on 2 past visits to the GF and he is a treasure. After so much swimming, everyone cleaned their plates and I remembered my DisneyClub card, so we enjoyed free smoothies with lunch. By now the cafe was emptying out and Izzy came by to chat with us. It was another hour before we finally left the restaurant. We had such a nice time though, that nobody cared we had missed the parade.
Made it into MK at about 4pm. Colin had his heart set on seeing Alien Encounter again, so Jim brought Meg and him over to Tomorrowland while Casey and I got front row center for Cinderella's castle show. It was so cute and I love the assortment of characters. We scooted over to the right hand side as soon as the show ended and had our pictures taken with Mickey. I don't know if it's the same set-up each time, but Minnie was on the left hand side and assorted characters came down and stood around the center hub. Had just enough time to ride Jungle Cruise and the Magic Carpets before before heading back to the hotel and getting ready for dinner.
Jim and I drove over to AKL for our romantic dinner at Jiko's. I wanted to get there a little early so we could check out the hotel. It is just beautiful. The decor in the main lobby was amazing and we spent some time viewing the animals outside. We eventually made our way to the restaurant, boy are the hallways dimly lit or what! I guess it was keeping with the whole theme, but what a difference from the GF. Shellie was our server at Jiko's and very knowledgeable about the African wines and menu. After looking over the menu, we decided on one appetizer, the spicy beef rollup. We wanted to save room for dessert. Shellie informed us that this dish was meant to be finger food and no forks allowed. We eached scooped one and they were delicious. Onto the main course. I was still in a meat mood, so I picked the oak grilled tenderloin. It's served over mac and cheese, surrounded by a red sauce. I thought, mac and cheese, well I'll just push that to the side. Our steak is delivered and we can cut it with the butter knife. I'm embarassed to say, but I nearly licked the plate clean, mac and cheese and all. My mouth is watering as I'm writing about this. So now on to coffee and dessert. Jim went with a coffee drink, while I stayed with my decaf. It came in a french press and for once I didn't miss regular coffee. The flavor was rich and wonderful. I must say that I was a bit disappointed with the desserts. The table next to us was one course ahead of us, so we were comparing. Desserts ranged from being too rich, to a bit dull. I was thinking that we should have ordered the olive flatbread appetizer and skipped dessert. Oh well, live and learn. As we sat back and enjoyed our coffee, we started chatting with the couple sitting next to us. They were from the UK and were just ending a 2 week stay at the AKL. As was earlier in the day, we were having such a nice time that we took up poor Shellie's table for another hour and a half talking with these nice folks. We never would have done this if the restaurant was crowded, but it was quiet this evening and we made up for it in the tip I think. Okay, so final comments on Jiko's, I was very surprised to see that they didn't offer a view of the savannah. We overlooked the pathway to the pool. Jim did say something about watching the animals while we were eating meat, maybe that's why they nixxed the view.
Driving away from AKL, I was thinking that might be a nice place to stay next time. That's until we pulled back into the GF. Then all thoughts of staying anywhere else went right out of my head. The kids were all settled watching movies when we got up to the room. Wait a minute, I don't remember packing any video tapes. Colin informed me that they noticed the TV had a VCR, so he went down to the concierge staff to see if they had any movies. I guess they opened up a cabinet and let him pick what he wanted. As you can see, our children are not shy. Another enjoyable day and I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
Tammi
Krissy
