Part 26 - Without You
One thing I had to check out was the area at the very end of Kudu trail. If youre an avid trip report reader, you may know it as Fecal Flats! Id heard such bad things about it, I HAD to go see for myself! (I *am* from the Show-Me state!)
The deaded people pen view!
Now with added construction view!
You can see the red river hogs in this pic- they were really cute!
Im not sure if this is the area being turned into the new stable area, or expanded for the new DVC area!
I did have a really neat thing happen while I was out taking these pictures! I was out on the stairway, video taping a giraffe that was really close, when I noticed something:
There was a bongo RIGHT by the other staircase! I flew back into the building, down the hall, and out onto that one ASAP!
He was maybe 10 feet below me! Are they supposed to be able to get this close to the rooms? Over on my savannah, the animals cant get closer than maybe 12 feet away from the rooms. This guy was right below the rooms!
And there was another one right over by the people pen! (I do have some video of them, but havent really gotten much done with the videos yet other than the one from early today!)
I thought it was funny that my most up-close animal viewings came from the area with the worst view! I guess each area of the lodge really does have its own advantages! (Would I want to stay out here, though? No thanks! Ill stick with using the staircases!)
I got some video of the main part of the sunset savannah- I actually liked it quite a bit. You can also see the stable from there-
I think its interesting that its right out on view!
Around sunset, I went over to the Sunset Savannah overlook to see if I could, in fact, see the sunset from there. The answer? Not so much. But it is a nifty little room!
Is it just me, or does the table look like a Reeses peanut butter cup?
This sofa looks like it should be in the Adventurers Club!
A nifty display in the Sunset overlook room
but hey! Whats that book in there?
No way! Anyone remember what I was reading?
How cool! And then I discovered a WHOLE wall of photos taken by the Johnsons on their adventures!
How often do you wander into a mini-museum of the book youre reading? What a neat bit of synchronicity!
Around 8pm, I was hanging out in my room when my phone rang. Does the phone ever ring and you just know somethings wrong? I saw that it was my mom calling, so I knew it must be important for her to be calling that late. Being a cat mom, I have to admit that my first thought was I hope Tallulah is okay!. This is, of course, when I found out that my brother in law had passed away that night. He was only 39, so it was totally unexpected (heart attack.) I sat in my room alternating between total shock and crying- I felt bad that I couldnt be there for my sister, I felt bad for his two daughters (Hannah-9 and Alexandra-11)- I was 22 when I lost my dad, I cant imagine being that young! And now with the big ice/snowstorm that was shutting down flights to my airport, I wasnt sure if I would even be making it home for the funeral. I had a lot going on in my head, obviously. On one hand, I was devastated by the news, and wasnt sure what to do. On the other hand, I didnt want to spend the rest of my trip depressed. If nothing else, losing someone so young is a big reminder that any day could be your last, so we should enjoy the time we have. Not enjoying the days of vacation I had left would be going against the very title of this trip report.
This photo is a few years old, but the first one I could find to post
I decided to head out to Downtown Disney- partly because I had the need to go DO something and the parks were already closed, and part to pick up some gifts for Hannah & Alexandra. Yes, it was guilt shopping. I felt awful for being somewhere so wonderful while my family was in such sad circumstances at home. So, true to gender stereotypes- I shopped. I hit World of Disney, and did a little damage. Id been wanting to make a trip there to do my own shopping (love that 10% AP discount!), but had been planning it for late in the trip so I wouldnt have to lug all the stuff I buy around when changing resorts. My last resort change was coming up the next day, though, so I gave in. WOD was crazy busy tonight- there doesnt seem to be any time when it isnt busy! I didnt get as much shopping done as I had wanted, just because it was so hard to get around with all of the people, but I found some things for the kids (including, thankfully, a Hannah Montana DVD for Hannah, who is obsessed with her), and some things for myself (2 pairs of the Mickey earrings I love but keep losing!) My other stop was Once Upon a Toy to stuff a Mr. Potatohead box. Ill post some pictures of the things I bought at the end of the report
I didnt spend long at DD- I was exhausted, both mentally and physically. Even before the bad news, Id noticed I was more worn out from a day of just hanging out at the resort than on days I spent running around the parks! I guess that its the old thing of having more energy the more you do!
I must have been a little out of it, because out at the bus stop, I was having a conversation with the couple sitting on the bench next to me- they were DVC owners, and we were blah-blah-blah-ing.
After a while, the woman said So youre staying at SSR? and I said no, AKL. It was then that she pointed out that I was at the wrong bus stop. I had been sitting at the SSR bus stop for like 10 minutes, and had, of course, just missed the AKL bus. Doh!
After dropping off my bags in my room back at AKL, I went down to the Mara to grab some dinner. I was planning to get another flatbread pizza, but instead I decided I wanted to try something new. Vacation is not the time to eat the same thing every day! What did I end up with? Pita chips and hummus! Random, eh? Id never tried either one, so why not? And what better place to try new foods than WDW? If you like it, yay, and if you dont, just walk back downstairs and try something else! (And yes, I still got zebra domes for dessert! Some things are a standard for a reason!)
Tonights Dinner:
The verdict? The pita chips were yummy! The hummus was okit looks disgusting, but most foods do if you look at them too closely. I only ate about half of it, and it was pretty good, but I think that if Id eaten it all, it would have made me sick. Still, I was glad I tried something new!
And, of course:
The zebra domes seem a tiny bit different than I remember them- I think the white chocolate on the outside was different somehow? Not sure exactly what it was!
And so my loooong day at AKL comes to an end! There are just 2 full days left to write, and then the trip home! Coming up in Day 7- The big move over to BCV, and Crystal has a crush!