Mini TR: Diane escapes the blizzard!

[dianeschlicht]

We got out of Minnesota just in time yesterday, and today we hear that most of the schools at home are closed.

We are having WONDERFUL weather here at AKV Jambo concierge.

Last night we went to John's wine tasting event for Owner's Locker and enjoyed visiting with lots of other OL owners. The weather was perfect, as was the viewing of Illuminations afterwards. It was still in the 70's when we got back to our concierge studio.

Now for the studio.....Ah, eh,..Okay, well first of all, we are not "studio" people, and that is part of the problem, but SOMETHING has to be done about the inconvenience of the Jambo house DVC rooms...concierge or other wise. Each time we have stayed at AKV/Jambo I get more and more frustrated with the darkness of the rooms and the strange way things are set up. It was most noticeable in the kitchen of the 2 bedroom we had last trip, but stayinjg in this studio, I have been so frustrated with the lack of light. Sure there are lights on each side of the bed....NO WAY to turn them on from one side of the bed though! That means if the occupant on the side nearest the windows wants to read in bed, the person on the other side must turn the light on for them. D-U-M-B! Add to that the fact that the only light in the room itself comes from those two bed lights and the small ones around the mirror over the table, and I find I can't locate anything in the room! Of course, some of that can be directly related to my age, but still...

Don't even get me started on the bathroom area! the unit has lots of mirrors....every one of them unusable for makeup application! The one above the sink is too far away to be of use for those of us who are near-sighted. The others are all too dark.

The good thing is that we are in a savanna view, but the bad thing is it's the corner studio, so we can't see much around the roof except for the road. There was a greater Kudu sleeping in the same spot most of the time we were here yesterday though. Lots of ostrich too, and one giraffe.

This morning we are off to do the Wildlife Discovery Tour. We have decided to skip the Annual meeting at 2 and keep our dinner ressie at Teppan Edo at 3 instead. I'll just have to rely on Doc's report here, which I'm sure he'll post after the meeting.

See everyone tomorrow at the Mixer!

 

[dvc4life]

Diane - you are lucky to have gotten out of MN when you did. I am from Central Iowa and we are under a blizzard warning until 6:00 tonight. We have received anywhere from 9-16 inches of snow in the state and now the winds are causing havok outside. Most of the state is closed with no travel advised anywhere. In fact, they are starting to close interstate 35 in places. Not good.


I do have a question for you. I see you must be an owner of an Owner's Locker. We have just made arrangements to get one when we come down in January and I was wondering what you think of it. It looks like a really good thing for us to get because we are going down more and more all the time. What types of items do you leave in it? Are they usually waiting at your resort when you get there? And how do they come back to pick it up.

Thanks for your reply and have fun at WDW.

 

[podsnel]

Hi Diane!! So happy you are missing all of this weather while you're down on vacation. Here in NJ we are not getting the snow, just floods from the HUGE amounts of pouring rain! So dark and miserable out there. Blech!!

Diane - you are lucky to have gotten out of MN when you did. I am from Central Iowa and we are under a blizzard warning until 6:00 tonight. We have received anywhere from 9-16 inches of snow in the state and now the winds are causing havok outside. Most of the state is closed with no travel advised anywhere. In fact, they are starting to close interstate 35 in places. Not good.


I do have a question for you. I see you must be an owner of an Owner's Locker. We have just made arrangements to get one when we come down in January and I was wondering what you think of it. It looks like a really good thing for us to get because we are going down more and more all the time. What types of items do you leave in it? Are they usually waiting at your resort when you get there? And how do they come back to pick it up.

Thanks for your reply and have fun at WDW.

I just signed up for an OL last night!! I am so excited about it, thinking about all the things I'm going to put inside!! DH is not convinced, he keeps on saying "how much is it?" I think he'll be happier about it when we go next September to golf, and we don't have to pay for a "seat for our suitcase" because of the golf clubs, we'll be able to manage with carryons (we fly Continental and use their credit card to pay for the tickets, so we each get 1 piece of luggage checked for free- that would be our clubs). Also when there is vodka and wine awaiting his arrival!! There's a great list on the OL website of all the stuff people have thought to put in their's, you should have a look, Chris!

Sorry to hijack- can't wait to hear about all the Christmas lights and activities.

 

[vandy]

Wow that is great! I am from central Iowa also and so far we have 15 inches of snow, 40-50 mph winds and several parts of I-80, I-35 and Hwy 30 are closed! Be glad you got out when you did. I thought about a quick trip down to WDW to escape, but ended up being stuck at home. Looking forward to more posts from your trip.

 

[dvc4life]

Hi Diane!! So happy you are missing all of this weather while you're down on vacation. Here in NJ we are not getting the snow, just floods from the HUGE amounts of pouring rain! So dark and miserable out there. Blech!!



I just signed up for an OL last night!! I am so excited about it, thinking about all the things I'm going to put inside!! DH is not convinced, he keeps on saying "how much is it?" I think he'll be happier about it when we go next September to golf, and we don't have to pay for a "seat for our suitcase" because of the golf clubs, we'll be able to manage with carryons (we fly Continental and use their credit card to pay for the tickets, so we each get 1 piece of luggage checked for free- that would be our clubs). Also when there is vodka and wine awaiting his arrival!! There's a great list on the OL website of all the stuff people have thought to put in their's, you should have a look, Chris!

Sorry to hijack- can't wait to hear about all the Christmas lights and activities.

Thanks Ellen. I know I have been thinking about lots of things. We are very excited about it. It seems we have been going to Disney more and more and if we can keep stuff there we won't have to check a bag and just take carry-ons.

 

[jade1]

Happy for you yet..... Have fun.

 

[lugnut33]

Why didn't you take me along???

Instead, it took me over 3 hours to shovel my driveway, which during a normal snowfall only takes an hour. The 12" of snow we got was so heavy. There was so much water in it if you looked inside the footsteps it was actually a blue color. Around Madison WI they got over 18" of snow.

 

[disney1474]

We got out of Minnesota just in time yesterday, and today we hear that most of the schools at home are closed.

We are having WONDERFUL weather here at AKV Jambo concierge.

Last night we went to John's wine tasting event for Owner's Locker and enjoyed visiting with lots of other OL owners. The weather was perfect, as was the viewing of Illuminations afterwards. It was still in the 70's when we got back to our concierge studio.

Now for the studio.....Ah, eh,..Okay, well first of all, we are not "studio" people, and that is part of the problem, but SOMETHING has to be done about the inconvenience of the Jambo house DVC rooms...concierge or other wise. Each time we have stayed at AKV/Jambo I get more and more frustrated with the darkness of the rooms and the strange way things are set up. It was most noticeable in the kitchen of the 2 bedroom we had last trip, but stayinjg in this studio, I have been so frustrated with the lack of light. Sure there are lights on each side of the bed....NO WAY to turn them on from one side of the bed though! That means if the occupant on the side nearest the windows wants to read in bed, the person on the other side must turn the light on for them. D-U-M-B! Add to that the fact that the only light in the room itself comes from those two bed lights and the small ones around the mirror over the table, and I find I can't locate anything in the room! Of course, some of that can be directly related to my age, but still...

Don't even get me started on the bathroom area! the unit has lots of mirrors....every one of them unusable for makeup application! The one above the sink is too far away to be of use for those of us who are near-sighted. The others are all too dark.

The good thing is that we are in a savanna view, but the bad thing is it's the corner studio, so we can't see much around the roof except for the road. There was a greater Kudu sleeping in the same spot most of the time we were here yesterday though. Lots of ostrich too, and one giraffe.

This morning we are off to do the Wildlife Discovery Tour. We have decided to skip the Annual meeting at 2 and keep our dinner ressie at Teppan Edo at 3 instead. I'll just have to rely on Doc's report here, which I'm sure he'll post after the meeting.

See everyone tomorrow at the Mixer!

Have a great trip!! If you don't mind, can you report what type of food and drink offerings they are serving in concierge? I ask because not to long ago there was talk that they changed things and we will be there in April and was just wondering. Thanks!!!

 

[cosmos]

We got out of Minnesota just in time yesterday, and today we hear that most of the schools at home are closed.

We are having WONDERFUL weather here at AKV Jambo concierge.

Glad you were able to make it out of Minnesota before the big storm. From the southern part of the Twin Cities south it was pretty bad.

Enjoy the Florida weather and your trip.

 

[dgaston]

Just looked at jekjones thread, and it does look snowy in MN. Please post about the Wildlife Excursion -- we're back in Concierge in May, and I'm trying to figure out which trips to do. Who am I kidding? We'll probably do all of them.

As a MN expatriate in CT (Ole '72), I can't say I miss those cold prairie wind chills. We have snow here today, but it'll be 42 tomorrow and most of it will melt.

Have a great trip!

 

[magicaldisney]

Glad you are enjoying the warm weather!! I hope it gets better back here in Minnesota before you have to come back. Well, we all know it won't, but I wanted you to know I was HOPING it would be better.

I also wanted to join in with your feeling on AKV. We stayed for a week in July, Kidani, not Jambo, but had the same feeling. We have a grand gathering coming up next month that we had a grand villa at AKV reserved for, and after we were there for a week in July, I came home and changed it to SSR. The darkness was just too much for us. Putting that aside, please enjoy the warmth for the rest of us!!

 

[cosmos]

Diane - It's 5 below today with a wind chill much lower. Enjoy the Florida sun!

 

[jekjones1558]

I wonder if the dark decor at AKV Jambo affects those of us in the northern states more? Before DVC we only stayed once at AKL because the dark colors just weren't for us. We actually feel this way about VWL also. I guess that "beachy" is part of the reason we like Florida, so we favor resorts with lighter colors. We have a concierge room at AKV booked in Feb. so we can do the safari but we are actually not going to move out of our BWV room for that night.
Diane, I thought of you as we did 3 hours of shoveling yesterday. The only good thing was that I burned up a few of the excess calories I consumed while I was at WDW!

 

[Cyndibear]

Sounds like you are having a wonderful time! Enjoy the concierge level at AKV and make sure to have a chocolate croissant at breakfast. These were my favorite when we stayed in September!!!

Have fun!!

Cyndi

 

[Deb & Bill]

Glad you are having a good time at WDW. We're getting ready to depart for Yellowstone next week and loving seeing the temps at -20 degrees. We just want lots of snow and cold weather.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Glad you were able to make it out of Minnesota before the big storm. From the southern part of the Twin Cities south it was pretty bad.

Enjoy the Florida weather and your trip.

Yes, that's exactly where we live, and the dog sitter said we had close to a foot.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Just looked at jekjones thread, and it does look snowy in MN. Please post about the Wildlife Excursion -- we're back in Concierge in May, and I'm trying to figure out which trips to do. Who am I kidding? We'll probably do all of them.

As a MN expatriate in CT (Ole '72), I can't say I miss those cold prairie wind chills. We have snow here today, but it'll be 42 tomorrow and most of it will melt.

Have a great trip!

We enjoyed the Wildlife Discover Tour, but it wasn't exactly what I expected. As usual, I think alot of it depends on the docent, and our guide was not the best. The bus driver seemed to have much more information than she did. Since we have now done all the concierge safari offernings, I'd say the Sunrise and Wanyama are great, but I could have skipped this one.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I wonder if the dark decor at AKV Jambo affects those of us in the northern states more? Before DVC we only stayed once at AKL because the dark colors just weren't for us. We actually feel this way about VWL also. I guess that "beachy" is part of the reason we like Florida, so we favor resorts with lighter colors. We have a concierge room at AKV booked in Feb. so we can do the safari but we are actually not going to move out of our BWV room for that night.
Diane, I thought of you as we did 3 hours of shoveling yesterday. The only good thing was that I burned up a few of the excess calories I consumed while I was at WDW!

Jean, I think you are right about the dark and those of us from northern climes! I really WANT to love AKV, and I do love the lobby and atmosphere and restaurants and especially the savanna with its animals, but I find I can't do it for more than a few days at a time. I guess that's going to be the way we will always use our AKV points...a few days at the beginning or end of a trip. Now if we could just pick up an OKW 1 bedroom and plop it in front of that savanna...

 

[dianeschlicht]

I didn't get around to posting yesterday. We were too tired from a busy day at Disney to do anything but fall into bed!

We started the day Wednesday at AK for our Wildlife Discovery Tour. I wasn't really disappointed in it, but it isn't something I'd do again. It was not nearly what I Thought it would be

After the tour we had to decide if we were taking in Teppan Edo or the annual meeting, but Teppan won! We headed over to Epcot and managed to see two sets of Voices of Liberty before our dinner ressies. Then we used our fast passes for Soarin' (got top row for a change) and had dessert at Sunshine Seasons after doing the Listen to the Land boat ride.

Today (Thursday) was less busy, and a bit lazy, but not so nice weather wise. We left AKV this morning wearing the usual shorts. We did the Asia trek animals and then headed to the other side to get to the first Nemo show. Our intent was to go to Flights of Wonder after that, and we did, but they had to stop the show when it started raining. To say it got cold after the rain started would be an understatement. It felt like the temp dropped at least 15 degrees! We ducked into Yak and Yetti and had lunch hoping the rain would be done soon. Well, it was done while we were in the restaurant, but as soon as we came out it started again! We decided it was best to just go back to the room and put on warmer clothes before heading to the Mixer.

The line for the mixer was the longest I've ever seen for it! We spent time talking to Doc and John and Jay, but didn't stay more than an hour.

From there we went to the American Adventure and then watched the candle light processional and headed back to AKV early. Tonight we are just enjoying the concierge and the lodge. We have to pack up the OL tonight too, since we move to OKW tomorrow, and we have an early tour at Epcot. We have to be at Epcot by 8 AM for the Nature by Design Segway tour. We'll go to check in at OKW after the tour, and maybe do a bit of grocery shopping. We haven't needed anything like that up to now because of concierge.

For those who asked....concierge has been nice this time. We mostly only take advantage of the breakfast and desserts though. We aren't around for much else, and we aren't into hard drinks, so that part doesn't have any appeal to us.

LOL, tonight I tried to get the espresso to work. I was down there with two guys, and between the three of us, we never got a decent cup, so we gave up.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Today (Friday) we had the Nature Inspired Design segway tour. We have done all the available Segway tours at WDW, and this one was one of the best. Besides riding the Segways all over and getting to do some interesting moves with them, we did back stage tour areas with docents for the Land, Soarin' (which we got to ride as a group), and the seas. The filtration system for the seas aquarium was a very interesting presentation.

The morning was really early though, since we had to pack up and check out of AKV before our tour. We had to check into the tour at Epcot at 8AM, so we were rushed a bit this morning. We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon in Future world, and after our lunch and test track fast passes were used, we headed over to check into OKW. It was about 2:30 when we arrived, and our room was not ready. We had requested building 23, but they had us in 26 in a 1 bedroom under a GV, so we asked if there was anything upper floor, and we ended up in building 14...3rd floor.

The unit is nice and clean. I was surprised to see some of the original door handles still existed in this unit. Most of those have been replaced in other units. I'm kind of glad we are getting total rehabs here in the near future.

Tonight we had dinner with Bobbiwoz and her DH at Artist Point. It was fun getting to visit in person with someone I've known only here on the DIS for years.