No Day But Today- FINAL post on page 40!

[nan1217]

Loving the report Crystal but what did happen to your other finger in that picture? Bizarro!

Allyson

Having Allyson and Crystal in the same thread is like trip report writer heaven!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Loving the report Crystal but what did happen to your other finger in that picture? Bizarro!

Allyson

I've got some funky dancer hands going on there- the missing finger is bent in a little towards the palm. Normally, it would look like this:

Through the Magic of Disney, the photo caught it at just the right angle to make it disappear!

I think it's hilarious, though. Maybe I should invent a fantastical story about the day I lost a finger at tea.

Having Allyson and Crystal in the same thread is like trip report writer heaven!

 

[fizz13]

great updates crystal so happy for you that you got to see one of your heroes in the flesh,

 

[jodistar]

Plans are in the making for "Disneyween 2007". Right now I'm looking at Oct 27-Nov 2, but dates are still tentative. I mostly want an excuse to sew an awesome pirate costume and wear it to MNNSP, and to see the halloween shennanigans at the Adv Club!

Wow - sounds great! I wish I could sew, I learned a very long time ago but not enough to make my own costume.

 

[newholidayx2]

Ive walked the path from WL to FW a few times. If you start out by the bus stop its paved the entire way. The sandy part you saw does connect to the paved area also.

loved your pictures - thanks

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I decided to stop by the VWL one more time, too, before leaving my beloved Lodge behind.

How cute is the fireplace cover in the iron spike room?

This isn’t the best photo, but the only one I really have of the Iron Spike Room.

When I was done saying goodbye to the WL, I went down to the bus stop, not exactly sure of where I was going. It was 11am… a little bit too early to go check in at AKL, really. But not really early enough to go spend time in a park before checking in, either. I finally decided to just take the bus to AK, transfer to the AKL bus from there- I figured I could always eat some lunch or hang out and read to kill time until my room was ready!

I got really lucky- the bus I took to AK was going on to AKL from there, so I didn’t even have to switch busses- score!

Not the bus I was on, but I thought you guys might be missing the Disney busses. I know I do!

I noticed these new displays on some of the busses- I loved them! I don’t wear a watch, so having a clock on the bus was nice!

Welcome to Animal Kingdom Lodge!


I had a really amazing CM on check-in! I had requested Arusha savannah, 2nd floor, and she really worked to get me exactly what I wanted! As she found a good room, she’d hold it, and then keep looking through the list for a better one. She asked if I minded 3rd floor instead of 2nd, and that was fine with me, so she chose a room for me, and said it should be ready right at 3pm. Works for me!

It was about noon, so I had a lot of time to kill before my room would be ready. I started out by wandering around the Lodge for some photos!

All of my wandering around had killed a grand total of 45 minutes. Two hours to go. Hmm.

I stopped by the DVC desk in the lobby to see if maybe the demo room for the new AKL Villas was open yet, but no luck. I asked her a few questions about it, and we had a really nice conversation. She asked if I’d be interested in doing the DVC tour, and added that since I had a friend that was a member, I would get $100 for doing it as a referral.

Now, let’s do some math here, kids! I had two hours to kill. The tour was supposed to be around an hour. I’d get to peek into Saratoga Springs. And they would pay me to do it? I’m in!

She called a van to come pick me up, and we chatted a while more while I waited. She even gave me 2 DVC pins, and let me pick a pin from her lanyard! DVC, if you are trying to win me over with gifts…well… keep it up!

She also offered to snap a picture of me in front of the mask:

I went outside to meet my van, and it showed up within about 5 minutes. I had a great conversation with the lady driving it on our way over to SSR, and before I knew it, I was being dropped off at the DVC headquarters there!

I checked in with someone at a desk, and was sent from there into a room with snacks and drinks to wait. The other lady in the waiting room and I were fascinated by the painting overhead- it was so cool! It was a set of like 6 murals, and there was a little light that traveled between them, lighting up something in each painting. Hard to describe, but cool to watch! Here’s part of it:

Wow, who knew BCV was right next to the castle?

From that waiting room, I was sent into *another* waiting room, where I waited a few minutes before my CM came to greet me. (The tours/info sessions/whatever are one on one.) He asked how much I knew about DVC, and I gave him the basic idea of what I knew, and he led me back to another room with a TV to talk numbers.

Let me tell you guys, I don’t know if they put something in that free water, or if he was just convincing, but I was this close to signing up! The thing is, it makes sense for me- I’m there every year anyway. I was surprised to learn that I could even afford the payments. (Well, it would be a stretch, but possible.) And of course if I signed up today, I’d have all of those points to use this year! Oooh, another Disney trip? Where do I sign?

But wait, me! Wasn’t your goal this year to pay off all debt? Isn’t getting into NEW debt kind of contradictory to that?

But… Disney!

The highlight for me was getting to go see a studio, one bedroom, and Grand Vila at SSR.

A few pictures of my tour of SSR:

This was in the studio.

I think this was part of the Grand Villa?

And another bedroom!

The table set up in the Grand Villa.


Apparently not many people take photos during this, because the CM with me was like “Um, I’ll be giving you a DVD with a virtual tour of the resort on it…”

I think the main thing that gave me the reality check that I really didn’t need to be buying right now was when he told me that the IRS treats DVC as a second home. I think I should really buy a FIRST home first, ya know?

I think it broke the poor guy’s heart (or plans for spending the commission) when I finally said I couldn’t do it. I guess my enthusiasm had convinced him it was in the bag- and I admit it WAS tempting there for a while! But I really want to pay off my credit cards (and this trip!) and have more of a savings before I do something like DVC.

Now, if I happen to win $15,000 on a slot machine, I’ll sign right up! Until then, boring old responsible Crystal has to win out. Bah humbug!

After I disappointed the poor guy, he dropped me off in a room with free ice cream- hooray!- where I could wait for my van to take me back to AKL. If they had only broken out the free ice cream before, I would have totally signed up!

A quick van ride brought me back to AKL, about 80 minutes after I had left. I had a very nifty book about DVC, and $100 in Disney gift certificates- hooray! (I ended up applying the certificates to my room bill. Thanks, DVC!)

It was now a little after 3pm, so I called the # to find out my room number, and was glad to find that it was ready!

More about that soon! I need to do some house cleaning, and make some tea!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Okay, why the heck is the DIS censoring the word ** now? That's hilarious!

If you are trying to read my report and getting the stars, that word is a b followed ** a y! Two letters! But apparently scandalous!

 

[Philadisney]

Okay, why the heck is the DIS censoring the word ** now? That's hilarious!

If you are trying to read my report and getting the stars, that word is a b followed ** a y! Two letters! But apparently scandalous!

I noticed this too. How weird!! I can't think of any two letter words worth censoring, let alone that one.

Loved the detailed report on the DVC tour - I always wanted to take one but, being just a few years out of college and renting a shoebox-sized apartment, now isn't the time to join up. And I would feel so bad telling them "thanks but no thanks!" Oh well, someday right?!

 

[tubachick]

The hallways….

And elevator doors



Up next- a TON of post-tea photos!

I love the hidden mickeys.

Thanks for sharing,

 

[tubachick]

I love the hidden mickeys.

Thanks for sharing,

oops wrong pic but the hallway has a ton of hidden mickeys!!!

 

[newholidayx2]

thanks Crystal - did you take any of the AKL tours?

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

oops wrong pic but the hallway has a ton of hidden mickeys!!!

Oh good, I'm not crazy! I stared at that elevator pic for a few minutes wondering if I was missing something!

thanks Crystal - did you take any of the AKL tours?

I did! I did the lobby art tour- it will be coming up on day 6! (Which I'm working on writing!)

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I had a 3rd floor room, Zebra Trail, Arusha Savanah- almost exactly what I wanted! (I’d prefer 2nd floor, but 3rd was good, too!)

I noticed as I walked in that the floor was a little wet. I figured that they must have just cleaned the carpets, since that’s happened to me before. I had to remember to keep shoes on, though- I’d keep forgetting, and get a nasty surprise when I set foot on the carpet!

My room:

The door to my room- I heard on the Travel Channel that each shield is different- I tried to pay attention as I walked down the halls, and I think they are!

One of the chairs in the room

The painting in my room- titled something like “Monkey leaps only as far as he can reach.” I want to know where Monkey got the cool hat.


And here’s the balcony:

And parts of the view from the balcony!

And the handy reminder to keep your clothes on near the windows!


My room was #3577- almost ALL the way down the Zebra trail! I was lucky enough to have the water hole right outside my window, so it was a really great location!

I discovered the outdoor staircases on my last trip- if you go ALL of the way down any of the hallways, you can go outside on the staircases, and get some of the best animal viewing on property! One of the best things about my room was that it was very near a staircase, so I could see animals from my room, and then go out on the staircase to see what was up out there!

You know it’s the law to take a photo of SSE as you enter the park.

I stopped in the Art of Disney store to poke around a little. I actually think I went in to buy some postcards, but forgot them! I did find these two awesome paintings, though!

Love em!

The truth is that I didn’t really DO much at Epcot. I was there less than 2 hours, and basically just walked around the World Showcase, so there isn’t much story to tell! Instead, I’ll just share some photos from the night.

I started out in Canada…

I loved this window display at the tea shop in the UK!

Artist’s cart in France

Looking over towards Morocco


Bleh, I had a much nicer stopping point for this installment, but it had 27 photos, and the limit is 25, so I'll pause here instead!

 

[__disneygirl]

beautiful WS pictures & what a great room you had at the AKL!

 

[Belle Amy]

I discovered the outdoor staircases on my last trip- if you go ALL of the way down any of the hallways, you can go outside on the staircases, and get some of the best animal viewing on property! One of the best things about my room was that it was very near a staircase, so I could see animals from my room, and then go out on the staircase to see what was up out there!

This is one of my favorite little secrets of AKL. The first time my fiance took me to AKL, he showed me these, and we never miss them...there seem to always be a bunch of animals out there!!

Can't wait to hear more.

 

[newholidayx2]

DS14 and I stayed 3 nights at the AKL last Aug (btwn our VWL & BCV stays). We walked all over the AKL to check out all the "nooks n crannies". We also went up/down all the staircases. Its a beautiful resort

 

[Kristina]

Crystal! I have to say you write the most interesting trippies! I didn't have time to post regarding your Joe Rhode sighting but wow!! Well I'm loving every minute and checking for your updates first thing every morning, yes I am ! All the pictures, all the detail, and now a DVC tour as well. Gosh I wish I could buy in, and as I read I was chanting...buy it, buy it, buy it..but I guess you didn't hear me! You are a strong and no doubt wise woman! Keep up the good work and if you could drag it out a bit, because I for one do not want your trip to end !

 

[KatGarcia]

Yay! I'm all caught up and now addicted to your TR! U rock 'cause u like Rent AND Strongbad! LOL! Can't wait for more!

 

[pooksma]

Thanks for the great AKL shots. We will be staying for the first time and I love seeing pics.

 

[Shadoe1031]

(Quoth Anya from BTVS- "I tried being patient, but it took too long!")

Crystal -

I absolutely love your trip report. I've been sneaking onto the site to read it at work because I just can't not read it.

I was so excited when I saw you quoting BTVS. That is one of my favorite shows (My fiancee and I can't stop watching the DVD's. We even have the "Chosen Collection"!)

I'm glad you had such a fantastic time, and I love the pictures. You're a girl after my own heart. I'm really sorry to hear about your bil.......

I cannot wait for more, more, more...... (yes, I had coffee today...)