Poohshoney
<font color=6666CC>Ya-ya sister!<br><font color=gr
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2001
Carol (40, British) dangerously Disney obsessed.
Roland (35, German) puts up with me somehow.
Mickey our beanie, on his first trip `home´.
Friday 3 May 2002
I packed. Mickey, Moose and Figment wrote a last note to Judy G, thanking her for taking care of them. We had a last lingering stroll and then we left. Sigh.
We left the luggage in the car whilst we checked in at AKL. We weren't impressed by the check in staff at all. Roland stays in a lot of hotels and he said they were well under par. They were too busy gossiping to deal with guests and when they did, the smile didnt reach their eyes.
It was obvious that our letter had landed in the round filing cabinet on the floor as our original requests were still in the computer. I felt uncomfortable explaining this to her, like a child in front of the headmistress. As a former teacher this was a weird feeling! The only time the CM smiled genuinely was when I said wed looked round when we went to Boma and hoped wed get a view of the main savannah the one where Arusha Rock is. Her face lit up as she agreed with us that it was the best. And then the mystery commenced why did she try to make us take another savannah? She said wed been allocated a room and showed us the area - exactly where wed hoped for but then tried to talk us into somewhere else. I was so glad wed had a good reccy on our previous visits we knew that this savannah had a big enclosure for guests in case of fire and we didnt think the selection of animals was as good. And (even worse for us) there was a strong smell from the kitchens. Thats not as pleasant as it might sound even though we loved the food. First she pushed a second floor room at us and then a third floor one. I said no to both and she wasn't at all happy with me for doing so.
Our room (the one wed already been allocated) wasnt ready yet so she gave us housekeepings number. We wandered round for a bit and then tried ringing them. It was engaged so we drove the car up to the lobby and handed the luggage over to Bell Services. The man who took it was just awful. He hung sir or madam on the end of every sentence but his tone and demeanour were just so rude. Roland and I did the married bit again; an exchange of looks showed we were agreed - no tip! I'll tip indifferent service but I'm darned if I'm going to tip downright bad service.
Then we wandered round a little more we got some great animal photos from over by the pool and looked round the shop. Roland really liked a mug hed seen at Animal Kingdom so we were pleased to see AKL had it as well. Less hassle if we got it there.
I'd tried housekeeping a couple of times by then and it was always engaged. As we wanted to leave I asked at the desk if our room was ready. No. I asked if the tone I kept getting when I rang housekeeping meant it was engaged (different countries have different tones) and the girl looked at me as if I shouldnt be out walking the streets on my own. My lack of intelligence was obviously confirmed when I asked her what our reference code was it said on my piece of paper that I had to tell housekeeping it in order to be told our room number but that bit was a blank. The CM said, very slowly, that it was the last four digits of my phone number. And she wrote them down for me as I obviously hadnt got two brain cells to rub together and couldnt be expected to know them otherwise. I can't believe I didn't snarl at her but I didn't. I think I was too busy worrying what our room was going to be like. I certainly didn't have any faith left in the AKL staff. And then Roland made it all right again. As we were going to the bus stop he squeezed my hand and told me how proud he was of me. I was so surprised. He said theyd all been so awful and I'd dealt with them so well. So that was me floating on air again!
The buses at AKL were the best we had. Forget the fact that it's so far away from things it only has one bus stop so once you're on, you're there in no time. Even MK is less than quarter of an hour away. And there are far less bums trying to get seats so the buses are less crowded too.
It was going up to 12 when we arrived at the Animal Kingdom. Oh yes I almost forgot it was the record heat day today: in the hottest park. You just cant plan for some things, can you!
We headed for Flights of Wonder first. We like bird shows and we've seen some good ones. We werent disappointed though I have to say I thought the rats were the best! A cameo scene-stealer.
We went up to the safari for a FP but it was a walk on so thats just what we did. We decided we wouldn't take any photos this time so that we both got a good look at everything. We were very surprised by the number of animals out despite the mid-day heat. The CM was just as good if not better than last time but he didn't slow down for photo opportunities at all so I was glad I'd taken them last time. And do you know what Big Red and Little Red were captured AGAIN! By the same poachers! I thought an elephant never forgets .
When we were walking out at the end, one of the CMs pointed at our Mickey and shouted, Hey Mickey, wheres my pay check? I shouted back that he was a British Mickey and only paid in pounds. Thats ok, she shouted, Ours only pays peanuts!
We tried Tusker House for a quick bite this time very good idea! My chicken strips with potato wedges were excellent but we cant for the life of us remember what Roland had just that it was good! We liked the atmosphere as well. It was very cool and calming in there, perfect after all that heat.
But back into the heat we went, along the Pangani Trail. I WANT a naked mole rat! There was this one who was even cuter than the others he kept trying to get up his little burrow and slipping back. It took him ages but he managed ever seen a naked mole rat smile?
Then I saw the desert rat thingies and wanted them too. And then I saw the meerkats, took millions of photos and added them to my wish list. Purleeese Roland! Roland just smiled patiently; he knows I'll see sense eventually. And then he holds my hand in solace.
This is a nice walk with plenty to look at but we ended up saying the same thing as we had with the Maharajah Trek we really must come back earlier in the day next time, when its cooler. But there wasnt a next time on this holiday unfortunately.
There were a couple of gorillas out but they were quite a way away and in the shade (intelligent animals) so we didn't see much of them.
We did a few shops and then looked for a shady spot for the parade. Roland was wilting badly by this time so it needed to be as shady as possible. We passed lots of benches with two people on them. Invariably, the two people had spread themselves out so that they took up the whole bench. We fitted another three people on ours, no problem. A couple with a boy in a kind of wheelchair I'd never seen before (he was lying down) came and stood behind us. The man went off to get them chairs and came back carrying just one. He told his wife there was only one and then he sat down on it! Roland would NEVER have been so unchivalrous. His wife looked tiredly at him and then went off and eventually came back with one for herself. I was glad she'd found one but her husband didn't seem to care.
Mickeys Jammin' Jungle Parade turned out to be our favourite parade; it was so full of life and colour! It combined elements of the other three parks parades and it did it so well. I got some really good photos too. My favourite is from when we followed the end of the parade Mickeys waving right at me! Or maybe hes waving right at our Mickey . Whatever its a great photo!
Roland had had enough now so we made our way out - via as many shops as possible of course! And I got some of our best AK photos too - of the birds and animals lining the paths.
Back at AKL there was a long queue at the check in desks so I called housekeeping for our room number. Guess what? Do they take the phones off the hook or something? There was a man at the end of check in at a desk of his own and he wasn't doing anything. I cant remember what the sign in front of him said he was because I didn't really care any CM doing nothing's all right by me! We made a beeline for him we only needed our room number, could he possibly help? Course he could he was the nicest man there! We were still on the second floor (room 2501), just as the check in CM had said. That was good then.
Our hearts in our mouths, we moved down the corridor to our room. The first surprise is that we were near the lift. I'd never put two able-bodied adults by a lift; I'd save that for those who can't walk. Roland put the key in the door, we looked at each other, then he opened the door and it was perfect!
It had two beds, just like we really wanted and it had the best view! It was as if all the animals had come out to say welcome. There were giraffes, zebras, elands, gemsboks, ankole cattle, geese and wildebeest right there in front of us! I couldn't get the camera out quick enough. The giraffe took the best photo there was a feeding box on a tree (on almost every photo I took the giraffe has his head stuck in it it might as well be a stuffed animal for all the action going on!) We watched the animals for a while and then they slowly wandered away. They did this every evening around that time so we presume there was a reason. We grabbed the opportunity to get our act together in case they came back soon.
A spot of room exploration first top marks here. Spotless and very nicely done. I loved the lamps. I can see why people complained that it's too dark but we liked it; it added a definite flair. And we'd both rather have that wattage than the glaring light you get in some places. We didn't like the fact that the lights were only controlled from a centre panel it had been at CBR and Riverside as well but we'd hoped a deluxe would be better.
Roland thought the air conditioning was wonderful at first he couldnt imagine how anyone could have any trouble with it. But of course we did. We could never find the right temperature it swiftly became either too hot or too cold. Roland did a lot of cursing about the fact that it was in Fahrenheit. If anybody from the governments reading this, could you please change the system to Celsius as soon as poss. I like Roland to be kept happy.
I rang for Bell Services then the man arrived in about 60 seconds, or less - and then we couldnt get rid of him. He just wouldnt go; he moved right into the room, asked us where we were from, chatted about it, talked about the weather, tried to demonstrate the TV and find the German channel we told him wed already found it. And still he talked. Delivering our bags took all of ten seconds we were travelling light remember but he was still there several minutes later. It wouldnt have surprised us if hed sat down. Roland eventually shoved his money at him and that moved towards the door, which more or less worked. Was he just over-friendly or was he after a bigger tip? Well never know.
I unpacked what a surprise! I hate living out of suitcases. The animals were still awol so we dashed off to Goodings for emergency supplies (read this as wed run out of bagels and cream cheese). I bought a Dove chocolate bar purely for research purposes you understand. I wanted to be able to tell Nancy whether US Dove Chocolate and UK Galaxy chocolate, both made by Mars, taste the same. No they dont. The Dove was nice but we much prefer Galaxy. We wanted to do the same test on Ritter Sport chocolate but as it cost nearly SIX times what we pay here. Daylight robbery!
We rushed back with the goodies; the animals were just beginning to return so we nipped to Mara and got Roland a salad. Then we had a long and leisurely meal watching the beautiful animals from our own room. Bliss!
Dusk falls early in Florida so eventually we couldnt see the animals very well. Seemed a good opportunity to wander round the hotel again, taking lots of interior photos this time. We checked out the savannah the CM had been pushing and we were right it was just how we remembered. Roland told me again how pleased he was that I'd resisted the pressure. Happy wifey! But I cant take all the credit for our wonderful location. I reckon it was Elizas comments on our booking forms that helped our dream come true. Thanks Eliza!
We slept very well that night apart from one thing. Now I've never heard this mentioned anywhere else but as it was definitely the case for us I thought I'd mention it now the noise. We were worried people using the lifts would disturb us but that wasn't too bad. What woke me several times was the noise of the fans in the toilets and the flushing. As I said, I've never heard anyone else complain but as Roland heard it too it definitely wasn't my imagination. We were grateful for two things. Firstly, that we only had two neighbours and secondly, that we werent staying next to me.
Next, Day 14 Do you want a soda with that?
Roland (35, German) puts up with me somehow.
Mickey our beanie, on his first trip `home´.
Friday 3 May 2002
I packed. Mickey, Moose and Figment wrote a last note to Judy G, thanking her for taking care of them. We had a last lingering stroll and then we left. Sigh.
We left the luggage in the car whilst we checked in at AKL. We weren't impressed by the check in staff at all. Roland stays in a lot of hotels and he said they were well under par. They were too busy gossiping to deal with guests and when they did, the smile didnt reach their eyes.
It was obvious that our letter had landed in the round filing cabinet on the floor as our original requests were still in the computer. I felt uncomfortable explaining this to her, like a child in front of the headmistress. As a former teacher this was a weird feeling! The only time the CM smiled genuinely was when I said wed looked round when we went to Boma and hoped wed get a view of the main savannah the one where Arusha Rock is. Her face lit up as she agreed with us that it was the best. And then the mystery commenced why did she try to make us take another savannah? She said wed been allocated a room and showed us the area - exactly where wed hoped for but then tried to talk us into somewhere else. I was so glad wed had a good reccy on our previous visits we knew that this savannah had a big enclosure for guests in case of fire and we didnt think the selection of animals was as good. And (even worse for us) there was a strong smell from the kitchens. Thats not as pleasant as it might sound even though we loved the food. First she pushed a second floor room at us and then a third floor one. I said no to both and she wasn't at all happy with me for doing so.
Our room (the one wed already been allocated) wasnt ready yet so she gave us housekeepings number. We wandered round for a bit and then tried ringing them. It was engaged so we drove the car up to the lobby and handed the luggage over to Bell Services. The man who took it was just awful. He hung sir or madam on the end of every sentence but his tone and demeanour were just so rude. Roland and I did the married bit again; an exchange of looks showed we were agreed - no tip! I'll tip indifferent service but I'm darned if I'm going to tip downright bad service.
Then we wandered round a little more we got some great animal photos from over by the pool and looked round the shop. Roland really liked a mug hed seen at Animal Kingdom so we were pleased to see AKL had it as well. Less hassle if we got it there.
I'd tried housekeeping a couple of times by then and it was always engaged. As we wanted to leave I asked at the desk if our room was ready. No. I asked if the tone I kept getting when I rang housekeeping meant it was engaged (different countries have different tones) and the girl looked at me as if I shouldnt be out walking the streets on my own. My lack of intelligence was obviously confirmed when I asked her what our reference code was it said on my piece of paper that I had to tell housekeeping it in order to be told our room number but that bit was a blank. The CM said, very slowly, that it was the last four digits of my phone number. And she wrote them down for me as I obviously hadnt got two brain cells to rub together and couldnt be expected to know them otherwise. I can't believe I didn't snarl at her but I didn't. I think I was too busy worrying what our room was going to be like. I certainly didn't have any faith left in the AKL staff. And then Roland made it all right again. As we were going to the bus stop he squeezed my hand and told me how proud he was of me. I was so surprised. He said theyd all been so awful and I'd dealt with them so well. So that was me floating on air again!
The buses at AKL were the best we had. Forget the fact that it's so far away from things it only has one bus stop so once you're on, you're there in no time. Even MK is less than quarter of an hour away. And there are far less bums trying to get seats so the buses are less crowded too.
It was going up to 12 when we arrived at the Animal Kingdom. Oh yes I almost forgot it was the record heat day today: in the hottest park. You just cant plan for some things, can you!
We headed for Flights of Wonder first. We like bird shows and we've seen some good ones. We werent disappointed though I have to say I thought the rats were the best! A cameo scene-stealer.
We went up to the safari for a FP but it was a walk on so thats just what we did. We decided we wouldn't take any photos this time so that we both got a good look at everything. We were very surprised by the number of animals out despite the mid-day heat. The CM was just as good if not better than last time but he didn't slow down for photo opportunities at all so I was glad I'd taken them last time. And do you know what Big Red and Little Red were captured AGAIN! By the same poachers! I thought an elephant never forgets .
When we were walking out at the end, one of the CMs pointed at our Mickey and shouted, Hey Mickey, wheres my pay check? I shouted back that he was a British Mickey and only paid in pounds. Thats ok, she shouted, Ours only pays peanuts!
We tried Tusker House for a quick bite this time very good idea! My chicken strips with potato wedges were excellent but we cant for the life of us remember what Roland had just that it was good! We liked the atmosphere as well. It was very cool and calming in there, perfect after all that heat.
But back into the heat we went, along the Pangani Trail. I WANT a naked mole rat! There was this one who was even cuter than the others he kept trying to get up his little burrow and slipping back. It took him ages but he managed ever seen a naked mole rat smile?
Then I saw the desert rat thingies and wanted them too. And then I saw the meerkats, took millions of photos and added them to my wish list. Purleeese Roland! Roland just smiled patiently; he knows I'll see sense eventually. And then he holds my hand in solace.
This is a nice walk with plenty to look at but we ended up saying the same thing as we had with the Maharajah Trek we really must come back earlier in the day next time, when its cooler. But there wasnt a next time on this holiday unfortunately.
There were a couple of gorillas out but they were quite a way away and in the shade (intelligent animals) so we didn't see much of them.
We did a few shops and then looked for a shady spot for the parade. Roland was wilting badly by this time so it needed to be as shady as possible. We passed lots of benches with two people on them. Invariably, the two people had spread themselves out so that they took up the whole bench. We fitted another three people on ours, no problem. A couple with a boy in a kind of wheelchair I'd never seen before (he was lying down) came and stood behind us. The man went off to get them chairs and came back carrying just one. He told his wife there was only one and then he sat down on it! Roland would NEVER have been so unchivalrous. His wife looked tiredly at him and then went off and eventually came back with one for herself. I was glad she'd found one but her husband didn't seem to care.
Mickeys Jammin' Jungle Parade turned out to be our favourite parade; it was so full of life and colour! It combined elements of the other three parks parades and it did it so well. I got some really good photos too. My favourite is from when we followed the end of the parade Mickeys waving right at me! Or maybe hes waving right at our Mickey . Whatever its a great photo!
Roland had had enough now so we made our way out - via as many shops as possible of course! And I got some of our best AK photos too - of the birds and animals lining the paths.
Back at AKL there was a long queue at the check in desks so I called housekeeping for our room number. Guess what? Do they take the phones off the hook or something? There was a man at the end of check in at a desk of his own and he wasn't doing anything. I cant remember what the sign in front of him said he was because I didn't really care any CM doing nothing's all right by me! We made a beeline for him we only needed our room number, could he possibly help? Course he could he was the nicest man there! We were still on the second floor (room 2501), just as the check in CM had said. That was good then.
Our hearts in our mouths, we moved down the corridor to our room. The first surprise is that we were near the lift. I'd never put two able-bodied adults by a lift; I'd save that for those who can't walk. Roland put the key in the door, we looked at each other, then he opened the door and it was perfect!
It had two beds, just like we really wanted and it had the best view! It was as if all the animals had come out to say welcome. There were giraffes, zebras, elands, gemsboks, ankole cattle, geese and wildebeest right there in front of us! I couldn't get the camera out quick enough. The giraffe took the best photo there was a feeding box on a tree (on almost every photo I took the giraffe has his head stuck in it it might as well be a stuffed animal for all the action going on!) We watched the animals for a while and then they slowly wandered away. They did this every evening around that time so we presume there was a reason. We grabbed the opportunity to get our act together in case they came back soon.
A spot of room exploration first top marks here. Spotless and very nicely done. I loved the lamps. I can see why people complained that it's too dark but we liked it; it added a definite flair. And we'd both rather have that wattage than the glaring light you get in some places. We didn't like the fact that the lights were only controlled from a centre panel it had been at CBR and Riverside as well but we'd hoped a deluxe would be better.
Roland thought the air conditioning was wonderful at first he couldnt imagine how anyone could have any trouble with it. But of course we did. We could never find the right temperature it swiftly became either too hot or too cold. Roland did a lot of cursing about the fact that it was in Fahrenheit. If anybody from the governments reading this, could you please change the system to Celsius as soon as poss. I like Roland to be kept happy.
I rang for Bell Services then the man arrived in about 60 seconds, or less - and then we couldnt get rid of him. He just wouldnt go; he moved right into the room, asked us where we were from, chatted about it, talked about the weather, tried to demonstrate the TV and find the German channel we told him wed already found it. And still he talked. Delivering our bags took all of ten seconds we were travelling light remember but he was still there several minutes later. It wouldnt have surprised us if hed sat down. Roland eventually shoved his money at him and that moved towards the door, which more or less worked. Was he just over-friendly or was he after a bigger tip? Well never know.
I unpacked what a surprise! I hate living out of suitcases. The animals were still awol so we dashed off to Goodings for emergency supplies (read this as wed run out of bagels and cream cheese). I bought a Dove chocolate bar purely for research purposes you understand. I wanted to be able to tell Nancy whether US Dove Chocolate and UK Galaxy chocolate, both made by Mars, taste the same. No they dont. The Dove was nice but we much prefer Galaxy. We wanted to do the same test on Ritter Sport chocolate but as it cost nearly SIX times what we pay here. Daylight robbery!
We rushed back with the goodies; the animals were just beginning to return so we nipped to Mara and got Roland a salad. Then we had a long and leisurely meal watching the beautiful animals from our own room. Bliss!
Dusk falls early in Florida so eventually we couldnt see the animals very well. Seemed a good opportunity to wander round the hotel again, taking lots of interior photos this time. We checked out the savannah the CM had been pushing and we were right it was just how we remembered. Roland told me again how pleased he was that I'd resisted the pressure. Happy wifey! But I cant take all the credit for our wonderful location. I reckon it was Elizas comments on our booking forms that helped our dream come true. Thanks Eliza!
We slept very well that night apart from one thing. Now I've never heard this mentioned anywhere else but as it was definitely the case for us I thought I'd mention it now the noise. We were worried people using the lifts would disturb us but that wasn't too bad. What woke me several times was the noise of the fans in the toilets and the flushing. As I said, I've never heard anyone else complain but as Roland heard it too it definitely wasn't my imagination. We were grateful for two things. Firstly, that we only had two neighbours and secondly, that we werent staying next to me.
Next, Day 14 Do you want a soda with that?
)
). It really does sound wonderful!
