My DSD came for a visit & didn't stay for our trip to WDW??? Update 1/13Kadani Villag

[irky416]

Great updates!

I agree the Terminator needs updated. I think I might have taken a nap through that show because I don't really remember it all that well!

The make-up show is awesome and if you make it back you should definitely go see it.

Glad your passes were working out for you!

 

[Finkelstein's Hubby]

Hey Melissa

Never realised thay had photo "issues" at Universal....maybe they think you'll steal the rides soul!!!!!

Good to hear Jonas was good to himself when it came to Whisky Sour time

I loved The Simpson's ride and was grinning from ear to ear after every ride on it. MIB is not so much a fave of mine but the kids love it, as does Diane. The Woody Woodpecker coaster is good fun too, kinda like Goofy's but always makes me smile.

Looking forward to your IOA experience

Gordon

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Melissa!

Seem to have missed loads! Sounds like you had a fun day and got to do loads! I just love the Simpsons, I think it's my favourite out of all the rides!

Shame about the photos, especially on Jaws!

Di x

 

[SimmerBaggins]

I’m sorry I don’t have a great picture of the front of Jambo house, where we stayed. Here’s a “scant” picture of it from the bus window…thereafter, we scurried to get where we were going…we were HUNGRY!

Now, this part is pretty cool. You’d expect that we would drag our bags in, go stand in line and check in, get a key, and go find our room. Right? There’s a lady standing on the outside mat who intercepts us as we are about to walk in. She stops us, which causes me a moment of annoyance (I get that way when I’m hungry) and asks us who we are…and that’s curious. At the mention of our names, she says, “You are staying in Concierge, correct?” Yes, we answer…and she promptly takes over at that point. She gets our bags checked in at the bell hop and takes us immediately to the elevator, and up to the 6th floor. Where low & behold, a gentlemen behind a desk proclaims as we round the corner, “Oh, this must be the Browns!”

And from that moment on for the next 24 hours, bliss.

They sit us down, feed us, check us in, get our old tickets put on our Key to the World, sell us Emily’s ticket, get the DDP set up (not started, yet) and answer our myriad of questions. Most of all, they feed us. We gobble snacks like crazy…cookies, snack mix, chips, a special smoothie just for those in Concierge, and gosh I can’t remember anything else…but it was good.

We lament we couldn’t get more than one night in Concierge. This is the shot above the desk and the kids' tv.

That’s when we learn that there are only 10 rooms in Concierge, they are all on the 6th floor and there are no other rooms like them in all of WDW.

Oh, and there are only the ones in Jambo house – none in Kadani, the newer DVC units. Oh, did I mention this was DVC?

 

[luckylady]

Oh my that smoothie they have is sooooo good. I wish I could remember all that was in it.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

SimmerBaggins- sounds like a great start to your vacation, wow

 

[SimmerBaggins]

Did you actually know the recipe for that smoothie, luckylady? I never even thought to ask!

It’s funny how excited we always are to get to our room, no matter what the vacation is. The first thing I’ll show you is the packet of services info that had our name on it…does everyone get their name on it??

I think these rooms were once handicapped rooms that were converted. The restroom was in two sections, and instead of regular doors, they were sliding doors. The shower was a walk-in shower. We knew that the DVC rooms in Jambo were all converted hotel rooms, and therefore, unlike Kadani rooms, only had one bathroom.

DH decided he had seen enough, and wanted to eat some more, so he grabbed some food and brought it back. The food was less than 20 feet away from our door.

And, here are some views from our balcony!

Did you see the animal?
Now, they told us that in less than an hour, there would be ribs and other hearty food put out for the dinner hours…we were hanging around for that!!

After eating, we are ready to explore…!

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

AKL concierge sounds lovely - what a treat! Sounds like a great start to your holiday!

Di x

 

[luckylady]

Sadly I don't have it anymore. Great pictures of the room. They have some good food up there.

 

[SimmerBaggins]

The girls wanted to go to the pool, but DH and I didn’t, so here are pics regarding what they did and the exploring I did! DH couldn’t wait to get a beer and relax….

There were two LARGE hot tubs, secluded away from the pool -- we did get to visit this one later.

This little area was off to the side of the pool:

And behind the little fence was this:

Am I correct that some friend of jmskinner's doesn't like birds? Sorry...

The second hot tub:

Then, later, we went to look around some more…hope this isn’t too boring.

Another bird...sorry.

This is a mailbox!

Later, we are going to Downtown Disney!

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Simmerbaggins,

AKL looks fabulous - it's one of our favourite resorts and we'd love the chance to stay there one day! Your photos are great, and not at all boring - keep them coming!

Di x

 

[JPFamilyMom]

I only dream right now of ever getting to stay at AKL, it is my dream to stay there one day. That resort looks amazing, GREAT pictures, not boring at all. Keep them coming, we love pictures, would we be here if we didn't, jmskinner loves taking pictures and we love looking at them. How else can we plan, learn, and enjoy Disney when we aren't there

 

[jmskinner]

Great updates

I have ridden E.T. in Universal Hollywood, so that sounds the same. Was Terminator like a show? I think that was the last new thing I did at the Hollywood Universal -at Hollywood studios its like a bugs life show but also has live actors in it too.

Did I see Panda Express on City Walk? I would go to city walk just for that I've so missed Panda since leaving Nevada- we didn't have any in NC and none here either

I can't believe you don't have Panda Express in TN. We have one in the Target parking lot. That was one at Citywalk, I think it opened up a couple of months ago from what I read on the Universal thread.

Yes, T2 was part movie and part live action. I did enjoy that part, made it a little different form other attractions.

Great updates!

I agree the Terminator needs updated. I think I might have taken a nap through that show because I don't really remember it all that well!

The make-up show is awesome and if you make it back you should definitely go see it.

Glad your passes were working out for you!

Oh, all I said was that we didn't see the make up show that day. More to come on it.

The passes were wonderful.

Hi Melissa!

Seem to have missed loads! Sounds like you had a fun day and got to do loads! I just love the Simpsons, I think it's my favourite out of all the rides!

Shame about the photos, especially on Jaws!

Di x

Can you tell I was getting really about the photos on rides? See, what I plan on eventually doing is a scrapbook with pages for each ride at WDW. Guess I won't be doing this for Universal.

Did you actually know the recipe for that smoothie, luckylady? I never even thought to ask!

It’s funny how excited we always are to get to our room, no matter what the vacation is. The first thing I’ll show you is the packet of services info that had our name on it…does everyone get their name on it??

I think these rooms were once handicapped rooms that were converted. The restroom was in two sections, and instead of regular doors, they were sliding doors. The shower was a walk-in shower. We knew that the DVC rooms in Jambo were all converted hotel rooms, and therefore, unlike Kadani rooms, only had one bathroom.

DH decided he had seen enough, and wanted to eat some more, so he grabbed some food and brought it back. The food was less than 20 feet away from our door.
And, here are some views from our balcony!
Did you see the animal?
Now, they told us that in less than an hour, there would be ribs and other hearty food put out for the dinner hours…we were hanging around for that!!
After eating, we are ready to explore…!

Great update Vickie. Love all the pics. I can see you about to snip at the lady meeting you at the bus.

Ok, the folks are in Florida. Suppose to meet them at Magic Kingdom tomorrow. I was feeling better yesterday, but after riding in their rental convertible last night, I feel bad today, so taking it easy. Nothing will stop me from MK and WCC tomorrow.!!! Going to do another update because Vickie is about a half day ahead of me. But that's ok, eventually we meet up.

 

[jmskinner]

Ok, so Vickie is just a little ahead of me in this TR. My previous post was the start of Wednesday morning, so we aren't too far apart.

By the way, I forgot to mention when the security guy checked my bag he started to stop me for my Mickey stuff on my bag. He said it wasn't allowed. Oops!

Here are some pics before the gate at IoA:

Once we made it through the gate Jacob pulls one those stunts he should know better than to do and as usual I snap a pic and then fuss at him.

We stopped at a bakery for some breakfast. There isn't a food court at the hotel and the only breakfast you can get is a buffet and if I remember correctly it is $14 an adult or more. We would rather save that money for Hard Rock Cafe. There is also a Cinnabon at Citywalk, but the entrance to IoA came first and we didn't want to have to walk further.

The bakery was a nice quick stop. Sorry, forgot about the food porn and didn't take any pics. Jonas and I both got coffee. He got a muffin I believe, Kara got a chocolate muffin and I got a cream horn. It was good, but must have been left over from the night before. It was hard and then the cream in the middle wasn't the cream on the outside like I expected. It was more like what you get in a Boston Creme donut, but maybe that is how all of them are made.

We finally head out of the bakers and decided to go to the right since everyone else seemed to be going left. First up was Suess Landing. What a great themed area.

And the first ride of course was:

A few from the que (sorry they are blurry, I was walking):

Of course, you end up in a store:

Cat in the Hat was fun. Luckily the employee told me I might want to hang on to my shades, because it spins. And spin it did. In fact, Kara had placed her shades in her lap and they went bye-bye.

Then it was time for:

This is like Dumbo or Aladdin's Carpet at WDW, but you may get wet. And you never know, because the fish around the ride randomly start squirting water. We all enjoyed it.

Next up, more of Seuss Landing!

 

[SimmerBaggins]

I thought I was the one who was behind! I'm glad all my hard work paid off --

I love the idea of a Dr. Seuss theme -- every kid can identify! I can also identify with losing shades, unfortunately.

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Its been Dis bliss this morning catching up on so many updates!!!!

Jmskinner:

Love the Universal pics. Those express passes seem to really make a difference. You got almost everything done. I am really enjoying all the photos. Emma also liked ET - she thought the ending was really cool too!

SimmerBaggins:

Loving your report so far! The resort looks gorgeous and how nice to be conceirge! You must feel really special staying there!!! The resort is somewhere I have always thought would be great to stay in so loving all the pics!

 

[Finkelstein's Hubby]

Hi Melissa

I love the pain au chocolate from that bakery at IOA, just delicious. Seuss is great fun for me, the kids love the rides and I love taking pics as its so wildly coloured and brilliantly designed.....One Fish Two Fish was a riot for our two on the last trip......they just loved to get wet, then more wet, then even more wet!

Gordon

 

[SimmerBaggins]

Thanks, ScotsMinnie! We were really spoiled by that great "Opening Act" of AKV!

Now, YAY -- I get to be the first to say this on the Dis Boards:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MELISSA!!! LOVE YOU, GIRL!!!!!

Heh, heh!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Happy Birthday Melissa!!!

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Happy Birthday!!! Hope you have a great day!!!!!