MiJo
DIS member since 1999 and DDC Member #335
- Joined
- Sep 17, 1999
- Messages
- 1,698
The Cast: My DW (Zeni) and myself, 2 middle-aged WDW fans on our 3rd trip without our grown kids
Preface: Originally, we had made ressies for 5 nights at CBR and 1 night at DTD. We were then given the opportunity to take advantage of Disney's American Heroes Program so we decided to upgrade to a Deluxe, thinking we may never have the opportunity again. We changed our ressies to 6 nights at AKL, Standard View.
Our Trip Highlights:
Your Ride Transportation Co. was excellent! Thanks, Rabbit! Your Ride
The Animal Kingdom Lodge! Words and pictures cannot do this resort justice! It has to be seen to be appreciated. Although we had reserved a Standard View room, we were very pleasantly surprised to find that CRO had given us a complimentary upgrade to a 5th floor Zebra Trails room overlooking the Uzima Savanna! Actually we were more shocked than surprised! We enjoyed watching the giraffes, bongos, gazelles, impalas and various birds throughout our stay. If you cannot stay at AKL, make PS Ressies for Boma or Jiko so you can have a meal and tour the resort. We did not eat at Jiko, but Boma was excellent. At one meal, our server told us that it has been named the best restaurant on Disney property for the past 5 months and the local residents have discovered it. The restaurant is dimly lit and rather noisy (it fills up quickly) but the buffet is incredible. My DW has a wheat/gluten allergy and the Chef was extremely helpful, explaining every item on the buffet to us. This was also true at Trail's End Buffeteria at Fort Wilderness, which was also very good and had a very relaxing atmosphere.
While at AKL, we were given a resort tour by Jed, a CM who is a resident of South Africa. He explained all of the artifacts in the lobby and pointed out many of the unique features of the resort. We also managed to squeeze in a Hidden Mickeys Safari and received a certificate and nice gift for our efforts.
While at the Magic Kingdom we took the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. This is a 5-hour tour that covers Main Street, a "back stage" area and the "utilidors" under the MK. Our tour guide, Robin, was extremely friendly and full of knowledge. The tour also included rides on the Jungle Cruise and the Haunted Mansion with some nice insight provided by Robin, and lunch at the Columbia Harbor House where we received a very nice collectable pin.
At EPCOT we enjoyed the Flower and Garden Festival and made sure to catch Off Kilter during two of their performances. We did suffer a couple disappointments in this park: Test Track was down when we got there so we missed that (we have done it twice in the past, though) and our Illuminations dining experience at the Rose and Crown had its problems. We did not get an outdoor table but knew that was a possibility since there are only so many. Our server seemed to get lost for long periods of time and apparently mixed up several food and drink orders, including ours. We did not mind too much but the couple sitting next to us did. It may have just been a bad night, though. We had lunch at San Angel Inn and really enjoyed the atmosphere, food and a ride on the Rio del Tiempo. During another visit to EPCOT we walked over to Beaches and Cream at the Yacht and Beach Club. I have always wanted to try this ice cream shoppe and was not disappointed. I finished off a No Way Jose and my DW had a Banana Split. Both were excellent!
At Disney-MGM Studios , we did RnR and I did the ToT, both thrillers! We also managed to find the "Singin' in the Rain" umbrella. The tour of the artists' work area was interesting.
At The Animal Kingdom we enjoyed the Kali River Rapids, Majarajah Jungle Trek, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur!, and Rafiki's Planet Watch. The Lion King was SRO when we went so we missed this one due to tired legs. We also saw DeVine perform for the second time.
We even enjoyed a few hours at Typhoon Lagoon.
If you have any questions, I will be more than happy to try to answer them. Just post here or send me an email.
Mike
Preface: Originally, we had made ressies for 5 nights at CBR and 1 night at DTD. We were then given the opportunity to take advantage of Disney's American Heroes Program so we decided to upgrade to a Deluxe, thinking we may never have the opportunity again. We changed our ressies to 6 nights at AKL, Standard View.
Our Trip Highlights:
Your Ride Transportation Co. was excellent! Thanks, Rabbit! Your Ride
The Animal Kingdom Lodge! Words and pictures cannot do this resort justice! It has to be seen to be appreciated. Although we had reserved a Standard View room, we were very pleasantly surprised to find that CRO had given us a complimentary upgrade to a 5th floor Zebra Trails room overlooking the Uzima Savanna! Actually we were more shocked than surprised! We enjoyed watching the giraffes, bongos, gazelles, impalas and various birds throughout our stay. If you cannot stay at AKL, make PS Ressies for Boma or Jiko so you can have a meal and tour the resort. We did not eat at Jiko, but Boma was excellent. At one meal, our server told us that it has been named the best restaurant on Disney property for the past 5 months and the local residents have discovered it. The restaurant is dimly lit and rather noisy (it fills up quickly) but the buffet is incredible. My DW has a wheat/gluten allergy and the Chef was extremely helpful, explaining every item on the buffet to us. This was also true at Trail's End Buffeteria at Fort Wilderness, which was also very good and had a very relaxing atmosphere.
While at AKL, we were given a resort tour by Jed, a CM who is a resident of South Africa. He explained all of the artifacts in the lobby and pointed out many of the unique features of the resort. We also managed to squeeze in a Hidden Mickeys Safari and received a certificate and nice gift for our efforts.
While at the Magic Kingdom we took the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. This is a 5-hour tour that covers Main Street, a "back stage" area and the "utilidors" under the MK. Our tour guide, Robin, was extremely friendly and full of knowledge. The tour also included rides on the Jungle Cruise and the Haunted Mansion with some nice insight provided by Robin, and lunch at the Columbia Harbor House where we received a very nice collectable pin.
At EPCOT we enjoyed the Flower and Garden Festival and made sure to catch Off Kilter during two of their performances. We did suffer a couple disappointments in this park: Test Track was down when we got there so we missed that (we have done it twice in the past, though) and our Illuminations dining experience at the Rose and Crown had its problems. We did not get an outdoor table but knew that was a possibility since there are only so many. Our server seemed to get lost for long periods of time and apparently mixed up several food and drink orders, including ours. We did not mind too much but the couple sitting next to us did. It may have just been a bad night, though. We had lunch at San Angel Inn and really enjoyed the atmosphere, food and a ride on the Rio del Tiempo. During another visit to EPCOT we walked over to Beaches and Cream at the Yacht and Beach Club. I have always wanted to try this ice cream shoppe and was not disappointed. I finished off a No Way Jose and my DW had a Banana Split. Both were excellent!
At Disney-MGM Studios , we did RnR and I did the ToT, both thrillers! We also managed to find the "Singin' in the Rain" umbrella. The tour of the artists' work area was interesting.
At The Animal Kingdom we enjoyed the Kali River Rapids, Majarajah Jungle Trek, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur!, and Rafiki's Planet Watch. The Lion King was SRO when we went so we missed this one due to tired legs. We also saw DeVine perform for the second time.
We even enjoyed a few hours at Typhoon Lagoon.
If you have any questions, I will be more than happy to try to answer them. Just post here or send me an email.
Mike
Thanks for posting!
