wendypooh
Cajun Tinkerbell Princess
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2003
- Messages
- 8,114
Our trip to AKL ~ WDW started on Sept. 3rd thru the 12th. It was me, DH and DS 6. So, we drove down to Daytona and stayed at my aunts house, then we headed over to AKL!! Of course the lodge was perfect as always, we were greeted with a "welcome home" from the bellhop who unloaded our car, ( cannot remember his name - sorry). Upon entering the lobby, the smells were amazing, it was fantastic! So, we walked right up to the desk, no waiting in line, and Alan checked us in, our room was ready, and much to our delight, we were complimentary upgraded AGAIN, to a deluxe savannah view room. 
We were on the 3rd floor which we prefer, since it's lobby level, we had the BEST view, we were just to the left of Arusha Rock on the Kudu trail. We had giraffe, zebra, ankole, pelicans, ducks, it was amazing. We could see Arusha rock IMMEDIATELY to our right and we could see the fire pit, so one night while we were in our room, we actually could hear the story from our balcony before we headed out again! About 5 minutes, literally, after we got to our room, the housekeeping manager came to our room, introduced himself and told us who our housekeeper was going to be and to let him know if we needed anything....... this was the first time this happened, but not the last, he came again about day 5 or 6 and asked if things were OK, if our room was satisfactory and if our housekeeper had been doing a good job!!! Again, this was something we'd never encountered before, and I must say, our room was impeccable everyday!! (Yes, we even got a cute towel animal). So, we unpacked, and headed over to downtown disney!!! The bus was empty, so we were very happy and hopeful that the whole trip would be this way........... HA!!!! So, we got to downtown disney and headed over to World of Disney to get DS his pirate hat. After that and some more shopping, we went to Rainforest Cafe for lunch, I have to tell you, I was somewhat apprehensive, due to reports about this place, but we were VERY happy with out meals. DH was very impressed with the fact that our waiter asked where we were from, and when he learned we were from La. he asked DH if he wanted his food "spicy", well, it was SO GOOD that DH is still raving about how good it was!!! A+ for Rainforest Cafe!!
* We had -
DH - Pastalaya - tea / A++/ $18.99 + 1.99
Me - Awesome Appetizer Adventure (we all shared, it was a lot of food) - diet coke / A+ / $15.00 + 1.99
DS - Python Pasta & light up drink / A+ / $5.99 +$1.99
Total = $45.95 Excludes tax and tip. (We left an additonal tip on all meals)
Then we headed over to Magic Kingdom - OMG was it crowded!!! It got even more crowded as the night went on, being the EMH day! We went to pirates first, and amazingly enough, only waited about 10 min. Then we headed over to Tomorrowland and Buzz, where the wait was considerably longer!!
We had dinner at Chef Mickey's that night and it was good as always! ( I will list what we had and the cost, even though we were on the free dining.)
* Chef Mickey's Buffet
DH - B/ $27.99
Me - B/ $27.99
DS - A/ $12.99
Total = $68.97 Excludes Tax & tip.
We headed back to the lodge at around midnight, and of course the bus was fairly empty. The wait time for the bus the entire stay was minimal to no wait at all, and on most occassions practically emtpy.
Day 2
We got a later start after getting in so late, we skipped breakfast and headed over to Animal Kingdom, it was labor day and beyond crowded!!! It was crazy!! We did Kilimanjaro Safari, the wait was about 25 min. it was a great ride as always. We headed over to it's tough to be a bug, and that was really fun, again, the wait was around 20 min. or so. then we headed to flametree for lunch, it was Amazing!! In our opinions this is the BEST bbq at all of WDW!!!
* We had
DH - Smoked 1/2 Chicken - chocolate cake - frozen lemonade / A+ / $7.99 + $2.79 + $2.99
Me - Smoked pork sandwich - key lime pie - diet coke / A+ / $7.29 + $2.79 + $2.39
DS - hot dog - chocolate cake - frozen lemonade / $3.99 (they did not charge for his cake).
Total = $30.23 excludes tax and tip.
Then DH headed to Everest, and it was CLOSED!!!! on a holiday, with HUGE crowds, it was closed -- NO he was not a happy camper!! Then we decided to go to dinoland, we did primeval whirl and triceratops spin, then we headed to dinosaur, YEP, you guessed it CLOSED!!!!!!! NOW, DH was getting really irritated, it was hot, crowded and the Major rides are Closed!!! Things were NOT looking too good for today!!! We decided to just head back to the room to get showers and ready for Cape May Clambake!!
We headed over to the beach club, which is a gorgeous resort!! We enjoyed the clambake buffet, the food was really good, we had hoped for more seafood choices though. We waited about 15 minutes for a table.
*We all had the buffet.
2 adult buffets $ 25.99 + child $11.99 + 2 diet coke, sprite and beer = $8.00 We'd give this a B rating, only because we'd hoped for more seafood choices.
Total = $71.97 excludes tax and tip.
After dinner we decided to head over to MK and it was really crowded too, we hoped that the rest of the week would make up for the last two days!!! So we went back to the lodge and went to Victoria Falls lounge, DH and I got frozen drinks, but I don't remember the names and DS got a shirley temple, then we went and let DS watch cartoons in the lobby while we enjoyed our drinks.
Day 3
Today we headed over to Epcot and it was EMPTY!!!! YEAH!!!! We pretty much walked onto all the rides, I did try out Mission Space, the "wimpy" one, it was fun, but I got a little queazy!!! We rode on Test track about 8 times in a row, in fact the first couple of times we didn't even have to get out of the car, we just stayed on!!! That was great!! DS loved this ride, it is really fun!! We did Soarin', it was great as always, we did turtle talk and DS loved this again. He didn't want to do the kidcot stations this time, so we skipped that, but he really enjoyed doing it on the last trip. We saw that they have a blue wall up for the new Nemo ride!! Can hardly wait for that!! After doing EVERYTHING in future world we headed to Sunshine Seasons for lunch, it was really good!!
* We got
( I do not remember the names of the entree's, but it was basically chinese food)
DH - Asian 2 sides - cheesecake - coke / B / $9.69 + $4.99 + $2.09
Me - Asian 1 side - flower cup dessert - diet coke / B / $7.69 + $4.99 + $2.09
DS - Mac n Cheese - carrot cake - sprite / $ 3.99 + $2.99 + $1.99
Total = $40.51 excludes tax and tip.
After that we headed to world showcase. We started in Mexico, since we were eating at Le Cellier for dinner, we thought we'd slowly work our way around to Canada. We finally rode the el rio del tiempo boat ride in Mexico, wow, we'd never done this and it's really neat!!! We enjoyed it! We each got a margarita, which were soooo good! We really took our time and explored each country, took tons of pictures and enjoyed the shops. DS picked a pearl for me in Japan, it is a gorgeous 7mm pearl, that I had put into a silver setting, I did not get the chain, as I have one already. The cost was $14.98 for the pearl, $18.00 for the setting. The prices vary a lot depending on what type of setting you want and if you choose a chain. We did the american adventure, it was really good, DS fell asleep as it started and we had to wake him up to leave. It was a good cat nap! Finally we made our way to Canada and checked in at Le Cellier about 20 min. early, we got in about 15 min. later!!! It was fantastic as always, however, the place was packed!!! We did NOT feel rushed or hurried in any way, and the service was excellent.
*We had
DH - Beef Kabob - 7oz. Filet - Whiskey Cake - beer-tea / A+ / $53.06
Me - Shrimp Cocktail - Mushroom Filet - Creme Brulee - diet coke/ A+ / $ $46.06
DS - hot dog - campfire smores - northern lights drink / A+/ $ 14.97
Total = $114.09 excludes tax and tip.
PICS Link!!!! Enjoy!!!
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v357/pgawidow/DisneySept06/
We were on the 3rd floor which we prefer, since it's lobby level, we had the BEST view, we were just to the left of Arusha Rock on the Kudu trail. We had giraffe, zebra, ankole, pelicans, ducks, it was amazing. We could see Arusha rock IMMEDIATELY to our right and we could see the fire pit, so one night while we were in our room, we actually could hear the story from our balcony before we headed out again! About 5 minutes, literally, after we got to our room, the housekeeping manager came to our room, introduced himself and told us who our housekeeper was going to be and to let him know if we needed anything....... this was the first time this happened, but not the last, he came again about day 5 or 6 and asked if things were OK, if our room was satisfactory and if our housekeeper had been doing a good job!!! Again, this was something we'd never encountered before, and I must say, our room was impeccable everyday!! (Yes, we even got a cute towel animal). So, we unpacked, and headed over to downtown disney!!! The bus was empty, so we were very happy and hopeful that the whole trip would be this way........... HA!!!! So, we got to downtown disney and headed over to World of Disney to get DS his pirate hat. After that and some more shopping, we went to Rainforest Cafe for lunch, I have to tell you, I was somewhat apprehensive, due to reports about this place, but we were VERY happy with out meals. DH was very impressed with the fact that our waiter asked where we were from, and when he learned we were from La. he asked DH if he wanted his food "spicy", well, it was SO GOOD that DH is still raving about how good it was!!! A+ for Rainforest Cafe!!* We had -
DH - Pastalaya - tea / A++/ $18.99 + 1.99
Me - Awesome Appetizer Adventure (we all shared, it was a lot of food) - diet coke / A+ / $15.00 + 1.99
DS - Python Pasta & light up drink / A+ / $5.99 +$1.99
Total = $45.95 Excludes tax and tip. (We left an additonal tip on all meals)
Then we headed over to Magic Kingdom - OMG was it crowded!!! It got even more crowded as the night went on, being the EMH day! We went to pirates first, and amazingly enough, only waited about 10 min. Then we headed over to Tomorrowland and Buzz, where the wait was considerably longer!!
We had dinner at Chef Mickey's that night and it was good as always! ( I will list what we had and the cost, even though we were on the free dining.)
* Chef Mickey's Buffet
DH - B/ $27.99
Me - B/ $27.99
DS - A/ $12.99
Total = $68.97 Excludes Tax & tip.
We headed back to the lodge at around midnight, and of course the bus was fairly empty. The wait time for the bus the entire stay was minimal to no wait at all, and on most occassions practically emtpy.
Day 2
We got a later start after getting in so late, we skipped breakfast and headed over to Animal Kingdom, it was labor day and beyond crowded!!! It was crazy!! We did Kilimanjaro Safari, the wait was about 25 min. it was a great ride as always. We headed over to it's tough to be a bug, and that was really fun, again, the wait was around 20 min. or so. then we headed to flametree for lunch, it was Amazing!! In our opinions this is the BEST bbq at all of WDW!!!
* We had
DH - Smoked 1/2 Chicken - chocolate cake - frozen lemonade / A+ / $7.99 + $2.79 + $2.99
Me - Smoked pork sandwich - key lime pie - diet coke / A+ / $7.29 + $2.79 + $2.39
DS - hot dog - chocolate cake - frozen lemonade / $3.99 (they did not charge for his cake).
Total = $30.23 excludes tax and tip.
Then DH headed to Everest, and it was CLOSED!!!! on a holiday, with HUGE crowds, it was closed -- NO he was not a happy camper!! Then we decided to go to dinoland, we did primeval whirl and triceratops spin, then we headed to dinosaur, YEP, you guessed it CLOSED!!!!!!! NOW, DH was getting really irritated, it was hot, crowded and the Major rides are Closed!!! Things were NOT looking too good for today!!! We decided to just head back to the room to get showers and ready for Cape May Clambake!!
We headed over to the beach club, which is a gorgeous resort!! We enjoyed the clambake buffet, the food was really good, we had hoped for more seafood choices though. We waited about 15 minutes for a table.
*We all had the buffet.
2 adult buffets $ 25.99 + child $11.99 + 2 diet coke, sprite and beer = $8.00 We'd give this a B rating, only because we'd hoped for more seafood choices.
Total = $71.97 excludes tax and tip.
After dinner we decided to head over to MK and it was really crowded too, we hoped that the rest of the week would make up for the last two days!!! So we went back to the lodge and went to Victoria Falls lounge, DH and I got frozen drinks, but I don't remember the names and DS got a shirley temple, then we went and let DS watch cartoons in the lobby while we enjoyed our drinks.
Day 3
Today we headed over to Epcot and it was EMPTY!!!! YEAH!!!! We pretty much walked onto all the rides, I did try out Mission Space, the "wimpy" one, it was fun, but I got a little queazy!!! We rode on Test track about 8 times in a row, in fact the first couple of times we didn't even have to get out of the car, we just stayed on!!! That was great!! DS loved this ride, it is really fun!! We did Soarin', it was great as always, we did turtle talk and DS loved this again. He didn't want to do the kidcot stations this time, so we skipped that, but he really enjoyed doing it on the last trip. We saw that they have a blue wall up for the new Nemo ride!! Can hardly wait for that!! After doing EVERYTHING in future world we headed to Sunshine Seasons for lunch, it was really good!!
* We got
( I do not remember the names of the entree's, but it was basically chinese food)
DH - Asian 2 sides - cheesecake - coke / B / $9.69 + $4.99 + $2.09
Me - Asian 1 side - flower cup dessert - diet coke / B / $7.69 + $4.99 + $2.09
DS - Mac n Cheese - carrot cake - sprite / $ 3.99 + $2.99 + $1.99
Total = $40.51 excludes tax and tip.
After that we headed to world showcase. We started in Mexico, since we were eating at Le Cellier for dinner, we thought we'd slowly work our way around to Canada. We finally rode the el rio del tiempo boat ride in Mexico, wow, we'd never done this and it's really neat!!! We enjoyed it! We each got a margarita, which were soooo good! We really took our time and explored each country, took tons of pictures and enjoyed the shops. DS picked a pearl for me in Japan, it is a gorgeous 7mm pearl, that I had put into a silver setting, I did not get the chain, as I have one already. The cost was $14.98 for the pearl, $18.00 for the setting. The prices vary a lot depending on what type of setting you want and if you choose a chain. We did the american adventure, it was really good, DS fell asleep as it started and we had to wake him up to leave. It was a good cat nap! Finally we made our way to Canada and checked in at Le Cellier about 20 min. early, we got in about 15 min. later!!! It was fantastic as always, however, the place was packed!!! We did NOT feel rushed or hurried in any way, and the service was excellent.
*We had
DH - Beef Kabob - 7oz. Filet - Whiskey Cake - beer-tea / A+ / $53.06
Me - Shrimp Cocktail - Mushroom Filet - Creme Brulee - diet coke/ A+ / $ $46.06
DS - hot dog - campfire smores - northern lights drink / A+/ $ 14.97
Total = $114.09 excludes tax and tip.
PICS Link!!!! Enjoy!!!
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v357/pgawidow/DisneySept06/
We decided to do the dining plan for the first time. I cant wait to see the pics and hear the rest. 
) ...too bad on Day 2 EE was closed...I'd be bummed, too! The Flametree BBQ sounds really good - we have never considered eating at AK - the only time we did was lunch at Tusker House (in which the chicken was AMAZING!!!) and breakfast there, too, after the Sunrise Safari, which was excellent, too.....
