Overdue and Overpacked II: The LaLas Take on the World: EPILOGUE ON PAGE 58

[Grammyof2]

La - this was a most excellent read. Love your style. It cracks me up.

I loved it as much as a pickled pigs foot. Good eats

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Okay you get points for the signs but did you punch buggy too because there is a volkswagon bug under those arches....That's what my kids would have done. But we are not allowed to hit hard just a tap or touch.

Loving your report...

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My kids would have been all over the punch buggy. Only they don't punch, just fight over who got it first.

Just looking at the picture of the Disney arches makes me gasp. I thought about when we drove through them. I looked in the back seat. DD4 was sound asleep and DD8 was wide awake, sporting bug eyes with a grin from ear to ear. Ahhh memories.

 

[IkeandMike]

Love the tale so far, having way too much fun reading it.
Also wanted to tell you that I refer to my four year old twins as "the boy" and "the girl". Mostly because when they were born family members would say, who am I holding, the boy or the girl, if I hadn't dressed them as per gender. Just kind of stuck with me to this day.

 

[MonorailPilot]

When I saw Overdue and Overpacked II on the Trip Reports Thread I got excited quick. I absolutely love your trip reports LaLa!

 

[nicolemarie]

Also: NM don't despair re: driving under the arches. You don't have to follow Disney's road signs. Irrational people may bicker about this, but you certainly are free to drive under the arch and then double back to the AKL.

See? This is yet another example of Disney manipulation at it's finest. I never even thought of that. Just a blind follower. Doing what they tell me to do. This is MY trip dadgummit!! And if I want to go under the arches then double back to the AKL, so be it.

But then there's that matter of being ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT to see our room. And get checked in. And all sitchuated. So what to do? Crap.

Then my mind shifted to the Dateline special on bedbugs and I instinctively scooted down in the bed a little bit because I forgot to rip the headboard from the wall to check for signs of bedbugs earlier that night. I meant to do it, I just never got around to it. Then I started thinking about bedbugs, which made me itch all over.

I saw that disgusting special. And I have checked every hotel bed we've been on since. Thankfully, I've never found the bugs. But if they're there, they won't sneak up on NM during the night.

DH was sawing some major logs in the bed next to us.

Figures.

My husband could sleep through a couple of bricks being dropped on his head (not that I’d ever do that) but I’m wide awake at the slightest shift in covers coming from our kid's rooms across the hall.

NM: Wow. That was a rough night last night. Little man could not stop coughing/crying/throwing up/calling for YOU.

DH: Are you serious? Why didn't you wake me up? I am so sorry. I didn't hear anything at all.

NM: (I say nothing here. I just give him the look. Because, really? What can you say to that?)

We’re at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Alright girl. Get going in double time, now. It's getting good and NM wants all the scoop. 12 days, baby. 12 more days.

It would be cliche for me to tell you how much I love your report, sweet friend. Looking forward to more!!

NM

 

[IkeandMike]

"Smack me three times" too funny. Kids can come out with the best things. I know have to try and find your first trip report, this one's too much fun.

 

[Nasus]

Subscribing...I really enjoyed Part one.
Susan

 

[Backstage_Gal]

LaLa, LOVE your report! Again. Since I also read your first one.

Looking forward to the rest.

 

[Disfan3]

LA! I love you. You know I am a fan for life. Your stories bring me much joy and happiness and 26 pgs on Word for me to read while I drive (ok my dh drives) to TN for Thanksgiving!!

Just wanted to say I miss you and love your TR!

AND YOUR HAIR!

 

[nebo]

But to him, that carpet just screams hotel room.

Hotel room just screams vacation. And vacation just screams fun.

A couple months after we had returned from our second trip to Mouseworld, my son walked up to me as I was starting a load of laundry. He stood there with his eyes closed, breathing deeply. As I was trying to figure out what was wrong with him, he said "Ah, smells like Disneyworld." The nickel hadn't totally dropped in for me yet when he said "Doesn't it smell like Dixie Landings dad?" Oh! Bleach. Chlorine. 'Ol man island pool. So we stood there like a couple of idiots breathing Disney Clorox.
To this day I still have a jar of instant nescafe at work because that's what you get in the rooms there, it tastes like crap but it also tastes like vacation.
Thanks for a great chapter La La, I love every word of it.
Or do I?

 

[LaLa]

NM: Lexmelinda and ahutton sound like they know what they're talking about in regards to the arches. Or do they? Of course they do. Anyway, I would tell you an alternate route too because I know you so want to drive under the arches. But I don't know any. That's why DH drives. Personally, I think I'd listen to ahutton. Cause when ahutton talks, everybody listens. Or is that E.F.? I don't remember.

Chappie: Consider yourself slapped five times. But your post made me laugh my way into some internal injuries. I'll be sending you the bill.

Disfan3:: So glad you decided to drop by! Thanks so much for the sweet comments. Have fun in TN and drink lots of sweet tea.

ZZUB: I'm so sorry to be the bearer of bad news but yes, LaQuinta really did have curved shower bars. Just like WL. They even had a shower curtain with a little window which the kids thought was cooler than ice cream. But if it makes you feel any better, of all the things LaQuinta is Spanish for, the following are not included: valet service, a fridge with two snack drawers, a waterfall source in the lobby, cool and quick elevators, a freakin geyser out back, honey mixed with fingernail polish scented air freshener, a view of the Electric Water Pageant, and a boatride to the MK. But I gotta admit Bring on da Puke, Bring on da Poop is pretty catchy. Maye I'll start changing my title from time to time and include that one in the rotation.

Nebo: Loved the story about your son and the chlorine. Isn't it funny how smells can take us back to a place? Some we wanna go to, others maybe not so much. Thanks for posting.

NAB: You know, we've never done Punch Buggy. Just the sign thing. Maybe there's a reason for that. Cause I can just see it now. The boy would punch his sister a little too hard accidentally on purpose, she would start screaming bloody murder and then what little sanity my husband and I have left would be thrown out the window before we bypass the arches. We just prefer to confuse them with math instead. It's in the genes.

Thanks to everybody that responded. I love reading all of your comments. We spent the weekend out of town in the Sock Capital of the World, no less. It was actually gorgeous there. Who knew? And we actually had fun. Not Disneyworld fun, but still, it was good. Anyway, I sad all that to say this. I'm about halfway finished with the next chapter so it'll be a few more days before I can get it up. So cool your jets Taskmaster NM. LY/MI.

Not played.

Thanks again everybody.

Yall rock!

 

[lexmelinda]

This belongs on page 1....

 

[AUDramaQueen]

We spent the weekend out of town in the Sock Capital of the World, no less. It was actually gorgeous there. Who knew? And we actually had fun.

So I guess you made sock puppets. Did you go up "the mountain" (as they call it in those parts) to Mentone or DeSoto State Park? If so then it is actually beautiful up there especially this time of year.

Well glad you had fun anyway. Can't wait for the rest of you report...

 

[ForKeeps]

LaLa,

I have to confess, I was craving a bit of Disney and caught Overdue & Overpacked II last week. Your trip report was just so good that when I noticed your linked to TR1 I just had to read it. I READ THE WHOLE THING!!! I couldn't focus on anything else until it was done. You know I have both a bachelors and masters in English and if half the things I read were as good as your writing maybe I would have done a phD.

It's just fantastic!!!! I can't wait for more.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[LaLa]

ForKeeps: Thanks so much for the sweet comments. I'm glad to know you enjoyed the other TR. It really was a lot of fun to write. Hope you weren't eatin' a bagel as you read it though.

AUDramaQueen: You might be pleased to know that we actually passed a lot of Auburn fans coming back from "the mountain" that weekend. And yes, we did see the state park and most of its waterfalls. It was gorgeous. Thanks for posting.

Minniespal: Good to "see" ya. Thanks for stopping by.

Okay, I've got the other one done, just gotta add some pics and then I'll have it up.

So hang tight.

 

[LaLa]

With the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky, we finally find our way in the Circle of Life.

Or at least the front door of the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We pull up with music blaring and hopes soaring.

Since this was our first experience staying at a deluxe, we were totally pumped and beyond ready to check out the resort. We were also pretty curious as to how much better this place could be as opposed to the moderates. Which we love.

In other words, since we dropped some extra cash to kick it up a notch, we were hoping to be blown away.

And we weren’t disappointed.

We case the joint and instead of immediately whipping into a parking place, we casually drive up to the valet. That’s right. You heard me. Okay, that’s wrong. Technically, you read me. But we did valet park our ride this trip. Not every time, but a good bit of the time. Much more than we did last year anyway.

When in Rome.

Anyway, we get a gander and are in total awe of this place.

One of the first things I notice is that the light fixtures hanging above us are seriously bigger than our minivan. Heck, those suckers are bigger than the kids’ bathroom at home. But they're so cool. I secretly vow to hang a couple of those suckers in my driveway once I hit it big and win the lottery.

Right after I actually play it.

Yeah, we’re rednecks. It doesn’t take a lot to impress us. Just hang some gigantic light fixtures above a forty foot tall covered driveway and you’ve got our attention.

We tell the valet that we are checking in. Since we’re arriving so early, we know that our room won’t be ready. So our gameplan is to park the van, check in, get our tickets, enjoy our day and come back to unpack the van once our room is ready later on that afternoon.

We inform the valet of The Gameplan and he (very courteously) directs us to the temporary parking area. It’s right beside the building and directly across from the handicapped spaces. Such a smart idea, that temporary parking. If they had temporary parking at POR, I don’t remember it. Of course I also don’t remember Plan B so take that with a grain of salt.

We smile as DH kicks it on in.

We honestly couldn’t have asked for better weather for our first day at Disney. It’s actually warming up very nicely. We hear birds chirping as we hop out and begin our extremely short walk towards the resort’s front doors. From temporary parking.

We’re feelin’ good.

Since it was a Saturday, there were tons of people milling around the resort that day. You might even call it bustling. Whatever that means. We smile at the other guests and greet them as we pass by.

“Hello. How are you? We’re not just coming for breakfast, you know. We belong here,” we tell them with our eyes.

“Who gives a rip?!” they yell at us with theirs.

From what I could tell, there were lots of people checking out right about the time we were checking in that day. They had their SUVs and minivans backed up and were doing the assembly line thing to get all their luggage and plastic Mickey Pants bags loaded. They were hard at it but every now and then, they’d take a break from their packing to look up and scream obscenities at us with their eyes.

Just their eyes.

Then they’d say “We don’t know you but don’t come bringing your dumb smiling faces and your sweet little Disney packet of confirmation junk and lame Tinkerbell luggage tags around me or I’m gonna take you down to Chinatown, you stinkin’ sorry newbies.”

What was that about?

Could it be that we were on the receiving end of some severe cases of Disneyfreude?

Surely not. That’s not supposed to come into play until we’re the ones packing up and leaving.

I have to say this was the first time we’d ever noticed people actually looking mean and nasty while they wheeled their luggage carts around and bid the Mouse farewell as were were preparing to tell him hello.

Of course, this was also the first trip we had made since ZZUB introduced the term Disneyfreude into our collective lexicon. Maybe we noticed it this time around because we were just now able to recognize the tell tale signs of it reflected in the green eyes of strangers. For the first time, we understood that we could actually be the people they loved to hate merely because our vacation was beginning and theirs was ending.

Or else they were all going into Zebra Dome withdrawals.

Come to think of it, that seems more likely.

Whatever the reason, I do know that we got lots of hostile stares and glares as we made our way into the AKL that morning. It was definitely a rough crowd. Undeterred, we throw them all the Loser sign, push our way past potential felons, and find ourselves standing in the cavernous lobby of the resort.

The awesome size and detail of this place just amazes us. We’re in agreement. This place is fine.

Plus they have really cool massive light fixtures in here as well. That's a plus. Just look at those suckers. They'd look so awesome in the living room.

Of our imaginary mansion.

Yes, it's definitely fine. And although the lights are gigantic, we notice that they give off little to no illumination at all.

In other words, it's surprisingly dark.

In fact, as we walk out of the blinding Florida sunlight and into the darkness of the cave that is AKL, our visibility immediately drops to zero.

We blink a few times to try to force our eyes to adjust to the lighting but it’s no use.

The kids bump into each other. I bump into a column and DH pretends he doesn’t know any of us.

We feel around behind us for some walls and are horrified to find there are none. We then decide the best plan of action is to drop down to our knees and crawl up to the front desk. On the way there, we bump into the Keeper of the Check In Line who helps us up, scolds us publicly, and directs us to the back of the line.

And then smiles really big and welcomes us to the Animal Kingdom. And here’s the kicker. He hopes we enjoy our stay.

That’s the thing about Disney CMs. Even when they’re getting onto you, they’re nice.

Unless you’re using flash photography on Stitch and then it’s a whole different ballgame.

After a few minutes, our eyes are able to adjust to the lighting and we’re good to go.

From the moment we walked through the front door, we had been taking in the smell of the place. No, not that smell. That one comes later. Don’t worry. I’ll warn ya. Or will I?

Anywho, if you’ve ever been to AKL, you know what I’m talking about.

There’s a sweet, woodsy smell that just emanates from the place. It’s absolutely wonderful and by the end of the week, it smelled like coming home to us. I actually asked one of the CMs in the gift shop one day if he could tell me what the smell was.

You have to be very specific when asking that question in Disneyworld.

I had read somewhere that they burned certain types of wood in the firepit and that was what gave off the aroma. I was curious as to which ones it was. Yes, I’m a full blown Disney geek. But I claim it. I own it. And don’t laugh too soon. Cause you’re reading this mess when you could be out for a run or something. So guess what? That means you’re one too.

Anyway, when I asked the little guy what the smell was, his response to me was “Dot de Disney Mogic”.

Translation: I have no idea what that smell is, lady. I just work here. Gimme a freakin’ break. Are you gonna buy that mug or are you just gonna stand there and look at it?

So as I stand in line and breathe in de Disney Mogic, my mind turns to the task at hand.

When we booked the room, we booked a standard view. Standard room, standard view. The jump in price from standard to savannah was pretty steep and since this was our first foray into the deluxe arena, we were just thrilled to even be there. Standard was beyond cool. Then one day my dear husband went to allearsnet and pulled up the pictures of the bunkbed savannah view rooms. The kids saw the pictures and immediately worked themselves into a bunkbed lovin’ frenzy just at the thought of it. They were drooling over those bunkbeds and talking about seeing animals in the backyard when they woke up in the morning.

They had gotten their hopes up.

So we have the talk with the kids.

We tell them to not expect bunkbeds in the room, and to definitely not expect to see animals from the balcony. We tell them we can always just walk out back to the overlooks to see them whenever we feel like it. The important thing is that we would be there. In Disney. Together. Whether we looked out onto a parking lot or had a room without bunkbeds didn’t matter. I reminded them that we should count our many blessings and just be happy to be there.

They quieted down for a minute and I was proud of us. We had given them food for thought. Their little wheels were turning, I could tell. We had passed along some sage advice to our children and they were taking it in like the little sponges that they are.

It wasn’t long before the boy piped up.

“Mom?”

“Yes, son?”

“Can I have the top bunk?”

So much for sage advice.

I remember reading some tips right before we left on our trip. One of the many good tips I read that day mentioned the fact that AKL is normally a pretty upgrade happy resort and that it wouldn’t hurt to ask for an upgrade at check in. In other words, although there were certainly no guarantees, there was a chance that we might be able to score a bunkbed room. Or possibly even a savannah view.

Dare we even allow ourselves to think it?

So as we stood in line and the kids practiced their sad faces (we told them to do that for effect) my husband and I worked out our (my) game plan.

As we round the corner and are waiting for the next CM to beckon us over, DH turns to me and says “Okay, La, you’re up. Look, work your magic. Offer ‘em cash. You’ve got free reign to flirt. Call in some backup if you need to. Whatever. Just get those kids some bunkbeds. Make it happen.”

Then he does his best Bela Karolyi impression and yells “You can DO IT!” and slaps me on the butt.

Oh, the pressure.

“Next”

We step up, tell them our name, and as if on autopilot, I throw out a sly “How YOU doin?” complete with head bob and half grin.

The two chicks at the counter ignore me.

One keeps typing stuff on her little computer while the other one tells her what to type. They seem awfully busy and I hate to interrupt the productive little teamwork thing they’ve got going on. DH nudges me. I open my mouth and dive head first into my prepared statement. Before I can even get to the word “bunk bed”, Fastest Fingers in the SouthEast tells us our room is ready.

Without even looking up.

Huh? That wasn’t supposed to happen.

I tell her that although she’s already assigned us a room and we’re thankful that it’s ready, the kids really have had their hearts set on a bunk bed room and if there’s any way possible we could get one, we would be eternally grateful.

“I’ve already upgraded you” she says.

“Excuse me?” I ponder.

“Yes maam. You’ve been upgraded to a Savannah view room with bunkbeds” she counters.

“And your room is ready,” the other one adds.

DH and I look at each other in amazement.

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about. She did it before I even asked!

Mama like.

She hand us our cards and various paperwork. She then circles our room on the map. We’re on the Kudu Trail overlooking the Sunset Savannah.

We grin big goofy grins and thank them profusely. Then we turn and do the chest bump thing. This time it was me and DH. Not the kids. The kids opted for the Cabbage Patch this time.

We decide since our room is already ready, we’ll get moved in, head over to the Mara for lunch and then hit Typhoon Lagoon after that.

We’re psyched and ready to get going.

My husband decides to go out and deal with the bellman and the luggage on his own and tells us to just hang out and explore the lobby while he’s gone. I agree quickly because even though we’ve been married for eleven years and have two kids together, he occasionally needs to be reminded what a foolish decision it was to marry an overpacker.

At any rate, I’m thankful for the offer because I don’t want to be anywhere near that poor bellman when he realizes how much crap we brought with us. In fact, I’m guessing DH told me to hang out inside just so he can drag my good name through the mud in privacy once the poor guy opens the hatch and goes into shock.

But it’s all good cause the kids and I get to explore while DH deals with the luggage.

Sucker.

We walk around the lobby and look at the firepit. Very nice.

We check out the funny looking statue made out of cloth and sticks. Very interesting.

We head into the gift shop and browse for a few minutes. Very expensive.

Okay, I didn't take a picture of the Zawadi Marketplace. So sue me. I didn't want to look like too much of a dork. Although considering the fact that I did take pictures of the food on my plate (as you'll soon find out), I think it's safe to say my feet are firmly planted in Dorkville, USA.

We stroll around a little longer. I wanted to wait for my husband before I let the kids get their first view of the animals. I didn’t want him to miss their reactions so we (I) decide to find a couch in the lobby and we cop a squat.

And wait.

While we were waiting, Bono found what he was looking for, Guns ‘n Roses ran out of patience, and the Baha Men finally figured out who let the dawgs out.

I start to get a little worried that maybe we’ve missed him. Maybe he had already come back in and I didn’t see him. It was entirely possible considering the fact that I could barely see my hand in front of my face. We (I) decide to head out front to check and see if he’s still out there.

Yep, he’s still out there. Still in the unloading zone.

I spot the van right off and we walk up to my husband.

It’s at this point that I catch my first glance of the bellman. Bless his heart. He looked to be a strapping man, tall and of sturdy build. But the man was sweating like you wouldn’t believe. He looked stressed for some unknown reason. I walked up right about the time that he shoved the last piece of luggage onto the cart and half expected to hear him complain. Like DH would have. But I was surprised that he immediately turned and took off inside as if our load was nothing but mere child’s play to him. You would have thought it was light as a feather and nothing out of the ordinary. The man was run walking with our feather light load and I think I even saw him half smile at one point. It was hard to tell under all the sweat but still, I was impressed.

Not even the first snide comment.

Uh oh. They were being too courteous. We were in trouble. I was starting to feel spoiled.

DH then tells me to go on up to the room with the kids and he will meet me once he’s gotten the car sitchated. He hands me the card key and a lil sumpm sumpm for the bellhop’s trouble. We knew we would need to tip him extra.

Good thing we had the foresight to bring a couple of our prize winning cattle and chickens from home for the occasion.

I follow Sweaty Boy inside and am surprised to see that he has wheeled our stuff to a little desk right inside the door.

He has abandoned it. Left it for the next schmuck. Passed the buck. Got the heck out of Dodge.

He tells me to go on up to the room and someone else will bring our luggage up. Okay, whatever. I hand him the reigns to the livestock and thank him for his help.

Then we head off to find our room.

We take off down the long hallway and follow the signs, looking for an elevator to take us up to the fourth floor.

The slightly curving hallway seems to be as long as a football field but we find plenty of distractions along the way to keep our minds off the walk. Ever so often, we come ujpon a large group of windows overlooking the savannah. Stationed at each section of windows is a very big and very comfortable animal print bench. Bench doesn’t seem like the right word to use for these things because they actually seemed more like armless couches. As we pass each strategically placed bench, the kids must touch each and every one with their hinies, if only for two seconds. They sit down on it then jump right back up and exclaim “This is the COOLEST HOTEL I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY WHOLE TIRE LIFE!” and giggle uncontrollably.

Then they run to the next section and repeat the scene all over again. The girl screams the boy’s name each time she spots something new and cool she likes.

They are completely enamoured of the place, needless to say. And so am I.

They had me at the light fixtures.

We finally locate the elevator. I push the up arrow because we want to go up and that’s how these things work. Or so I’ve been told. The elevator dings, the doors immediately open and we get our first glimpse of a group of people whose faces will soon become very familiar to us.

For reasons other than what you may be thinking.


Up Next: “So do you come here often?”

 

[mlill]

Animal Kingdom Lodge is awesome!!! I can't wait to read about your stay! Great pictures of the lobby! It's so hard to take a good one in there, it's either too light or too dark! LOL! I'm really enjoying your TR!

-Michelle

 

[lexmelinda]

I actually asked one of the CMs in the gift shop one day if he could tell me what the smell was.

Did it have anything to do with that long toot that ZZUB heard?

We step up, tell them our name, and as if on autopilot, I throw out a sly “How YOU doin?” complete with head bob and half grin.

“Yes maam. You’ve been upgraded to a Savannah view room with bunkbeds” she counters.
“And your room is ready,” the other one adds.

Now dot's de Disney Magic. What a blessing! Thanks for the fun read. I'm glad your feet are firmly planted in Dorkville, USA and you make me glad that mine are too.

 

[NAB]

Never been in AKL before so thanks for those pics. It almost looks like WL. With all the wood. We stayed there last Jan.

I think you would need a house the size of the lodge for those lights. Or a crane to hang it off of in your driveway.... They are cool though.



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