Next trip I'm booking a resort w/out a pool! *Pg 25 Final DxDP numbers & last update!

[AKL LOVER]

The food looks very good! The portions look really small though, but then again Im just not used to eating at fancy restaurants that have small portions

The portions do seem small, but they were actually perfect. We were full but not too full by the time we left.

I really enjoyed reading this TR...it was very informative

Thanks! Glad you are enjoying it. Sure has taken me long enough to write it! Geesh.

Oh that Nemo cupcake is adorable!!! All of the rest of the food looks yummy as well!

Sounds like you made good use of the EMH!

Turn down service with chocolate? How fancy!!! Mickey DOES really love you guys!

I'm thinking that Mickey probably really loves anyone who's willing to pay a little extra for CL...but I didn't tell DS that!

Joining in! I am loving your pictures of AKL - and am considering booking there when I take my girls for a quick trip in November. Not sure how it will work into the budget though. I am also enjoying your review of being on club level. That is something I would like to try as well. But budget and CL should probably not be in the same sentence

Your DH is reminding me of my daughter - who would always eat way too much and then be miserable for hours. Not that that would actually stop her from eating again. You should have seen her go through the world showcase in her attempt to eat around the world - while she was already full to bursting. She was miserable - and it was contagious

I think doing deluxe for a quick trip is a great idea. That way you aren't paying as much as you would if were staying deluxe for a whole week! Maybe look into getting a standard view at AKL--that way you aren't putting out a whole lot of extra $ for a savanna view. As you've probably see many other people comment, if your room doesn't have a savanna view it's no big deal. There are a ton of places to go throughout the resort where you can view the animals! I think if I had to choose b/t no AKL and an AKL standard view, I would definitely still stay at AKL. I just love the place that much I guess!

Sorry your entree wasn't too good. But the desserts look yummy! I have never tried Narcoossee's. But on the next trip we are trying Jiko!

Yay for Jiko!!!! Great choice

Your dessert at Narcoosee's was beautiful! It looks mighty tasty, too. Hmm, maybe I could justify going there if it was just for apps and desserts... I'll have to put that on the list...

I would definitely go back for appetizers and desserts...oh and the drinks. Can't forget the drinks!

 

[AKL LOVER]

Why do men not realize sooner that we know what we're talking about...glad your hubby enjoyed EMH in Epcot

Who knows...do you think they'll ever fully learn???

Sorry about Narcoossee's but at least the kids and Dh are finally starting to be more into the parks!

Yes, I was definitely happy about that!

Too bad the steak wasn't cooked right, but those desserts look amazing, all of them! So yummy! I am hoping we can hit a few evening EMH's maybe this trip with the kids being a bit older and having experienced it before, knowing what to expect. Make up for our afternoon's at the pool.

The apps and desserts definitely made up for the lack in steak quality.

What a perfect day! I'm glad you got to tour how you wanted to at AK and that the others were willing to spend less time at the pool. Everything at Narcoosee's looks great, except for the steak. That Nemo cupcake is so cool. I'm guessing that whatever Narcoosee's lacks in food quality is made up for by location. I love seeing the Castle during dinner.

I'm not surprised that lines for Soarin' and Test Track were still long during EMH. I once stayed out during evening EMHs til the very end, hoping to ride Soarin' repeatedly, but the line stayed over 60 minutes the whole time.

Ouch! You'd think the lines would die down a bit during EMH. Good thing we didn't try and wait the lines out--that would have been a waste of time!

i love Tusker house, but now must try it before the park opens. i'd love to be the first truck through the safari.
that's awesome that the cm passed an extra lovie out. that sort of thing is exactly why i skip a lot of those sort of games.
yak & yeti mahi mahi is one of my favorite disney meals ever! i wish i had some right now.
i'm glad you finally got them to EMH

I think that TH before park opening is the most requested ADR in my household.

That mahi mahi really was delicious. I was pleasantly surprised by Yak and Yeti--We can't wait to go back!

 

[AKL LOVER]

Day 6
Saturday May 7

Saturday was upon us and not very welcome as it was our last full day of vacation. That's always such a bummer--and usually about the time that I start secretly thinking about and planning our next trip! But don't tell my family I do that!

We had no breakfast ADRs today, so it was back up to the CL lounge to get some nosh before we hit Epcot. I may have already posted these pics in a previous update, but it can't hurt to post them again. I really should have taken more pics of the lounge.

View of the CL lounge:

View of the lobby from the lounge:

After a quick bite, we were off to catch a bus. We made it to Epcot a few minutes after RD.

Not too shabby for staying up late for EMH the night before! DH headed with the kids to TT and I headed with our KTTW cards to Soarin'. I scored 4 FP's for a 12:35 return time. A little later than we wanted, but at least it wasn't an evening time--you know how we never make it back to the parks in the evenings!

I hightailed it over to TT and we jumped in line. The standby time was listed as 30 minutes--we could handle that. Well after about 15 minutes of barely moving in line (and we were just inside the entrance to the building too!), it became obvious that the wait was longer than said 25 minutes. Oh well. We figured it couldn't be too much longer than 30, so we decided to stick it out. I spent time taking pictures of the cue (and the kids!).

Hidden Mickey! I found it all by myself and I didn't even cheat!

We've only ever riden TT with a FP, so the standby cue was a different view for us. However, you can only take so much of looking at car stuff when the line is barely moving. I have to admit, even I was getting bored. The kids did really well for waiting so long in line. Finally it was our turn. Here's our PP pic (I zoomed it in so you could see the 4 of us better):

Our final wait time ended up being 1 hour. YIKES! I can't believe I actually waited that long for a ride. Shame on me but since we wouldn't be back to Epcot I knew it was our last chance to ride and DS was SUPER excited about riding this for the first time. I'm so glad we did, because he really loved it--this is one of the few rides he still talks about riding 3 months later.

After TT, DH and DD wanted to ride Mission Space again (even though they had just ridden it last night). But the line was short (15 min) so it was no big deal. DS and I decide to get popcorn and a mango smoothie while we waited. The mango smoothie was very very good, especially since it was getting hot out! And of course we got bombarded by grackles because of our popcorn. So we sat to eat, drink and wait. And we waited...and waited...finally after 30 minutes, DH sent me a text that they weren't even on the ride yet and that they announced they were experiencing a unplanned delay but that they were so close to getting on that they were doing to wait it out. HAHAHAHA...I texted him back asking him if he knew what 'unplanned delay' was code for. Of course he didn't, but I'm positive that it meant someone had lost their lunch (or in this case, probably breakfast) while riding.

Finally they made it back from space and DS and I escaped the grackles without loss of limb...at this point it was 12:00 and we were never going to make it to France for our lunch ADR at Le Chef--too bad because I was looking forward to seeing Remy. But I was glad that I hadn't mentioned him to the kids beforehand, so they didn't know what they were missing.

So we decide to hit up something close--the Electric Umbrella. Why oh why did we stop here? The lines were crazy--we waited for ev er! And our food was just plain terrible. The burgers did not have much flavor and were dry. The only decent thing about our meal here were the fries--and you can't really screw up those. Note to self: NEVER eat here again.

After a disappointing lunch at least it was time to ride Soarin'! We headed over to the Land and got in line. I took a few pics to distract the kids from our short wait. You can see that DD is obviously over waiting in lines from these pictures. I think the hour wait for TT was a little too much for her!

DH resorted to doing other things to distract them from the wait:

Our wait was really only 15 minutes and we scored front row seats which was fabulous because it was DS's first time riding. He was so scared when the ride started going up. He clutched at my arm like there was no tomorrow!! He's not a big fan of heights. I should've taken a picture of his face. I think he was petrified for most of the ride, but when we got off he said it was super cool.

After Soarin' we got in line for Living with the Land--a ride that no trip to this pavillion is complete without IMO. I only took one picture on this ride:

You gotta have a picture of a fruit that's named after your child--this was a Jack Fruit. I had no idea they exsisted. And I don't ever remember seeing this before on living with the land; of course it may have always been there and I just never noticed the name of it

After getting a little edumacation on our trip, what was up next???

To pool or not to pool, that is the question....

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Yikes! One hour wait at Test Track and then a delay at Mission:Space followed by long lines for a not so yummy lunch, talk about bad mojo! At least it came back for your Soarin ride!

 

[AKL LOVER]

Yikes! One hour wait at Test Track and then a delay at Mission:Space followed by long lines for a not so yummy lunch, talk about bad mojo! At least it came back for your Soarin ride!

We did have some bad mojo that day! But it's all good...wait til you see why in my next update

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Oh man, I can't imagine waiting an hour for TT - that queue is so LOUD!!! That's good that you were able to ride in the end!

Looking forward to hearing about your afternoon...and if you end up back at the pool

 

[disneylovin24]

The wait time for TT always seems to be wrong for the stand by. I feel like that is a ride that we always end up waiting hours for and the time usually says something like 40 minutes It's one of my favorites though so I always find a way to tough it out.

On the flip side though, the single rider wait time always seems to be shorter then it says

 

[basketkat]

Good for you guys for getting up and going after staying out late! I must say...while we are at Disney I have no trouble getting up and going!

Good job finding the hidden mickey! Those always make waiting go a *little* faster!

Bummer your lunch was so yucky...I've made note to avoid it as well!

My daughter LOVES Soarin' yet hates heights...odd right??? She won't even go down a tall slide at the park! I am so glad she loves it though...because so do I! Isn't it so neat to experience things through your kids eyes???

Oh man...pool? No pool?????

 

[JessicaFaye508]

I just randomly clicked on your TR tonight.. and i just read through the whole thing! I am loving it!!

You are such a precious Disney mother. Good job putting up with all of these changes in plans! I got really sad for you when I heard about the Hoop Dee Doo cancellation. Ouch!! I would have been very pouty, myself!

I love all of your daughter's disney shirts!! They're too cute (I think I just want them for myself )

The South African CM sounds dreamy I love accents!! Especially when good looking men have them

I went to Jiko.. and I had an amazing server too! Her name was Shellie and she was a sweetheart just like stephanie sounds like! They all have a very nice vibe to them at Jiko.. it makes me happy!

All of the mishaps have had me chuckling... I hope you were happy with your trip in the end though! It sounds like you had a lot of fun!

 

[AKL LOVER]

Oh man, I can't imagine waiting an hour for TT - that queue is so LOUD!!! That's good that you were able to ride in the end!

Looking forward to hearing about your afternoon...and if you end up back at the pool

It is super loud in there. I haven't really noticed before having always gone through the FP line and gotten through very quickly.

The wait time for TT always seems to be wrong for the stand by. I feel like that is a ride that we always end up waiting hours for and the time usually says something like 40 minutes It's one of my favorites though so I always find a way to tough it out.

On the flip side though, the single rider wait time always seems to be shorter then it says

Why does that always happen with TT?? I couldn't believe how long we ended up waiting--it was a bummer. But we were glad to ride!

Good for you guys for getting up and going after staying out late! I must say...while we are at Disney I have no trouble getting up and going!

Good job finding the hidden mickey! Those always make waiting go a *little* faster!

Bummer your lunch was so yucky...I've made note to avoid it as well!

My daughter LOVES Soarin' yet hates heights...odd right??? She won't even go down a tall slide at the park! I am so glad she loves it though...because so do I! Isn't it so neat to experience things through your kids eyes???

Oh man...pool? No pool?????

I bet your daughter doesn't realize how high up she really is on Soarin'. That happened with my son when we rode ToT. He had no idea we were up so high because the whole ride is so dark! Even after we fell, I don't think he was able to make the connection since he's only 4. I think the only reason he noticed on Soarin' was because we were in the front row.

 

[AKL LOVER]

I just randomly clicked on your TR tonight.. and i just read through the whole thing! I am loving it!!

You are such a precious Disney mother. Good job putting up with all of these changes in plans! I got really sad for you when I heard about the Hoop Dee Doo cancellation. Ouch!! I would have been very pouty, myself!

I love all of your daughter's disney shirts!! They're too cute (I think I just want them for myself )

The South African CM sounds dreamy I love accents!! Especially when good looking men have them

I went to Jiko.. and I had an amazing server too! Her name was Shellie and she was a sweetheart just like stephanie sounds like! They all have a very nice vibe to them at Jiko.. it makes me happy!

All of the mishaps have had me chuckling... I hope you were happy with your trip in the end though! It sounds like you had a lot of fun!

Thanks so much for the compliments and for joining in! Despite all the kinks, I really did have a fabulous time on our trip. And I know that DH and the kids did since we spent so much time at the pool!

Of course it's a Disney vacation--how can you NOT have a fabulous time?!?

 

[AKL LOVER]

Perhaps some of you have noticed that I had a new ticker appear-- DH and I will be traveling to Negril without the kids to take a nice adults only vacation. We are super excited to spend time with just the 2 of us!!


And we are in the process of planning a lake vacation next summer with our extended family. Sadly, this means that our next Disney family vacation has been put on hold. But I'm also thinking that it will be nice to plan a trip for 2013 once the FL expansion is all done!


However, I do have a girls trip in the works for next June! Once my friends and I get dates worked out I will get my ticker going for that.


Is it bad that I don't feel too guilty about not having a family vacation to Disney planned at the moment because I have a girls' trip in the works??

 

[JessicaFaye508]

Thanks so much for the compliments and for joining in! Despite all the kinks, I really did have a fabulous time on our trip. And I know that DH and the kids did since we spent so much time at the pool!

Of course it's a Disney vacation--how can you NOT have a fabulous time?!?

You're welcome! And I agree... Disney is fantastic no matter what happens!!

Is it bad that I don't feel too guilty about not having a family vacation to Disney planned at the moment because I have a girls' trip in the works??

....not at all I would feel the same way

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

All the vacations you have lined up sound great.

 

[mrssmith06]

How awesome!! How long will this adults only trip be? I'm jealous!!!

And the girls Disney trip for next year sounds fun too!!!

 

[teachermommy78]

Am I going nuts? I could have sworn I subbed to this TR! Then I saw you on another TR and remembered I hadn't seen an update for awhile! I'm not going to blame The Dis. This happens to me way too much for it to be a system glitch!

I just read the entire report!!! I love how you are able to move on and still have fun. For many, those kinks may be vacation ruiners. Kudos to you!!! I think I've mentioned this before, but I always have to do a double take when I see your DS. He reminds me so much of my boys! GREAT TR! In a way, it's nice that I caught it at the end. I didn't have to wait between updates!

I think it's awesome that you are going on a girls trip. My DH is trying to convince me to take a trip with just the two of us next summer. I just can imagine the tears that will come with that and I think it will ruin my trip. We will see!

 

[PirateKate]

We were at Epcot that day, too. It was another great day, wasn't it?

I'm really hoping you all didn't go back to the pool. On the last day of a trip, it's nice to squeeze out every second of park time.

 

[lbuzz52]

we have had aN experience with test track being way way linger than the posted time also. When the line complained to the cm, the cm said well get a fastpass. She was quite the grump.

I'm glad your DS got to experience so many new things this morning! Hope the waits were shorter the rest of the day!

 

[AKL LOVER]

All the vacations you have lined up sound great.

Thanks!

How awesome!! How long will this adults only trip be? I'm jealous!!!

And the girls Disney trip for next year sounds fun too!!!

We leave on Tuesday and we'll be in Jamaica for a week I am so excited...even more so than when we went to Disney. But it's because we've never been to Jamaica before--can't wait to try out a new vacation spot!

Am I going nuts? I could have sworn I subbed to this TR! Then I saw you on another TR and remembered I hadn't seen an update for awhile! I'm not going to blame The Dis. This happens to me way too much for it to be a system glitch!

I just read the entire report!!! I love how you are able to move on and still have fun. For many, those kinks may be vacation ruiners. Kudos to you!!! I think I've mentioned this before, but I always have to do a double take when I see your DS. He reminds me so much of my boys! GREAT TR! In a way, it's nice that I caught it at the end. I didn't have to wait between updates!

I think it's awesome that you are going on a girls trip. My DH is trying to convince me to take a trip with just the two of us next summer. I just can imagine the tears that will come with that and I think it will ruin my trip. We will see!

I am going to head over and check out one of your TRs...I'm curious to see my DS' twin

And I know what you mean about not having to wait between updates--sometimes it's not so bad to come in on the end of a TR!!

As much as I love my kids, I plan on enjoying every second of our vacation with just the 2 of us. In fact, the only I plan on doing is when I'm leaving paradise...but don't tell my kids that!

We were at Epcot that day, too. It was another great day, wasn't it?

I'm really hoping you all didn't go back to the pool. On the last day of a trip, it's nice to squeeze out every second of park time.

Another person in the same park as me on the same day. I really wish I had run into more DISers while we were there!

we have had aN experience with test track being way way linger than the posted time also. When the line complained to the cm, the cm said well get a fastpass. She was quite the grump.

I'm glad your DS got to experience so many new things this morning! Hope the waits were shorter the rest of the day!

Wow--she was a grump! I can't believe that happens so often with the TT line. Now I know for next time to be a little leery if the wait says it's short. I think I'll stick to FPs for TT from now on!

 

[beebeeryan]

WOOHOO for a adults only trip, sounds heavenly and I hear you, love the kids, but so love going away without them. We've only ever done a 1 or 2 night alone weekend without the kids once or twice. A week on a real vacation would just be amazing! Have a blast!