Growin'upDisney
<font color=blue>I've been to Disney since I was k
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2003
- Messages
- 964
Cast of Characters
Me = Tausha
DH = Chris aka Panda
DM = Julie (my mom)
DSF = Erick (my stepfather) aka Dude
At this point it had felt like we had been going non-stop the entire trip and we used the couple of hours before our dinner PS for some relaxing. This is what is so great about the Poly and the Hawaii building in particular. There are so many options for simple relaxation. There is the bed, of course, but there is also the porch, the beach, the hammocks, the pool, the concierge lounge, and more. Today we chose to sit on the porch and people and boat watch. It was a truly glorious day weatherwise. So we sat on the porch and soaked it all in. And we were quite enjoying ourselves until
the ducks and birds arrived.
I have never seen ducks come right up to humans like this before. Obviously these ducks are used to being around people but my goodness they were almost too friendly. I think one may even have been delswifes friendly duck from over at POR.
Me: Wow, look at how these ducks just come right up to you.
DH: I think they are animatronic.
ME: What?
DH: Yeah, I think Walt wanted to make friendly animals that people could interact with so he had the Imagineers develop animatronic animals for WDW.
ME: I think your weird.
DH: You married me.
ME: I know, dont remind me.
After everyone was all rested we changed, retrieved the car from valet, and headed to Animal Kingdom Lodge.
**Digression Ahead**
I will take a moment here to discuss a subject that is a matter of amusement to my family. My driving. I have a very distant cousin who was a pretty famous Indy car driver back in the 70s and 80s. My mom thinks I must have gotten some of his genes. I love to drive but I tend to drive fast. Couple that with the fact that I lived in San Francisco for several years during college and lets just say if the whole lawyer thing doesnt work out I would probably be a decent NY cabbie. I once backed up about 400 yards on a one-way street in San Francisco at night with traffic approaching. It was a completely safe move and there was never any danger thats my story and Im sticking to it!!
I was the designated driver on this trip so I did 97% of the driving. The last time I was at WDW mom and I rented a car as well. But for some reason we seemed to miss every turnoff and ended up having to circle back on several occasions. It was weird too, because I usually have a pretty good sense of direction. This time we were much better about getting to where we wanted to go. Mom just sat in back and kept her eyes closed until we arrived. She enjoys my driving much better that way.
**End of Digression**
After checking the car into valet at AKL we headed inside. This was my first time here as it was still being built the last time I was at WDW. All I can say is WOW. I loved this place. I love the lodge type atmosphere and the savannahs are awesome. We didnt see much of the animals since both times we visited the AKL was at night, but I definitely think our next trip might include a stay here.
We then headed down to Jiko for DHs birthday dinner. I picked Jiko for 2 reasons. One was the wine list. Remember DH is a wine connoisseur but is not all that familiar with South African wines. I thought he would like to broaden his horizons. The second reason was the filet mignon and mac and cheese. From the moment I first heard about it, I knew I had to try it.
Marty was our server and he was one of the best we had all week. He was very knowledgeable about wine and DH experienced some different varieties. Overall we loved this place. The filet was everything and more than we expected. For DHs birthday they brought out crème brulee, which is one of his favorites. It was a great birthday dinner.
Next we were off to Downtown Disney for some birthday shopping. We strolled through World of Disney, the Disney Sports store, and the Christmas store buying things in each store along the way. The coolest purchase of the night was our Guest of Honor badges engraved with our names. In the very back of the Christmas store is the personalization shop, which will embroider various things and has the machine to engrave the badges. For the past 5 years we have been trying to get these badges from Disneyland and every time the machine is broken.
After our whirlwind shopping adventure we headed back to the room. Unbeknownst to DH, Tinkerbell had spread some pixie dust in our room while we were out. When we entered the room the TV was on playing jazz music on the BET station, there were balloons, party hats, noisemakers, and a cake.
Needless to say he was very surprised and I was very impressed. I had asked the concierge about having a cake delivered and they said they had a complimentary one. I agreed to that and didnt expect much more than the cake. The decorations were fun and he said it really was the perfect ending to his birthday.
That is, until he opened his gift from mom and dude
Me = Tausha
DH = Chris aka Panda
DM = Julie (my mom)
DSF = Erick (my stepfather) aka Dude
At this point it had felt like we had been going non-stop the entire trip and we used the couple of hours before our dinner PS for some relaxing. This is what is so great about the Poly and the Hawaii building in particular. There are so many options for simple relaxation. There is the bed, of course, but there is also the porch, the beach, the hammocks, the pool, the concierge lounge, and more. Today we chose to sit on the porch and people and boat watch. It was a truly glorious day weatherwise. So we sat on the porch and soaked it all in. And we were quite enjoying ourselves until
the ducks and birds arrived.
I have never seen ducks come right up to humans like this before. Obviously these ducks are used to being around people but my goodness they were almost too friendly. I think one may even have been delswifes friendly duck from over at POR.
Me: Wow, look at how these ducks just come right up to you.
DH: I think they are animatronic.
ME: What?
DH: Yeah, I think Walt wanted to make friendly animals that people could interact with so he had the Imagineers develop animatronic animals for WDW.
ME: I think your weird.
DH: You married me.
ME: I know, dont remind me.
After everyone was all rested we changed, retrieved the car from valet, and headed to Animal Kingdom Lodge.
**Digression Ahead**
I will take a moment here to discuss a subject that is a matter of amusement to my family. My driving. I have a very distant cousin who was a pretty famous Indy car driver back in the 70s and 80s. My mom thinks I must have gotten some of his genes. I love to drive but I tend to drive fast. Couple that with the fact that I lived in San Francisco for several years during college and lets just say if the whole lawyer thing doesnt work out I would probably be a decent NY cabbie. I once backed up about 400 yards on a one-way street in San Francisco at night with traffic approaching. It was a completely safe move and there was never any danger thats my story and Im sticking to it!!
I was the designated driver on this trip so I did 97% of the driving. The last time I was at WDW mom and I rented a car as well. But for some reason we seemed to miss every turnoff and ended up having to circle back on several occasions. It was weird too, because I usually have a pretty good sense of direction. This time we were much better about getting to where we wanted to go. Mom just sat in back and kept her eyes closed until we arrived. She enjoys my driving much better that way.
**End of Digression**
After checking the car into valet at AKL we headed inside. This was my first time here as it was still being built the last time I was at WDW. All I can say is WOW. I loved this place. I love the lodge type atmosphere and the savannahs are awesome. We didnt see much of the animals since both times we visited the AKL was at night, but I definitely think our next trip might include a stay here.
We then headed down to Jiko for DHs birthday dinner. I picked Jiko for 2 reasons. One was the wine list. Remember DH is a wine connoisseur but is not all that familiar with South African wines. I thought he would like to broaden his horizons. The second reason was the filet mignon and mac and cheese. From the moment I first heard about it, I knew I had to try it.
Marty was our server and he was one of the best we had all week. He was very knowledgeable about wine and DH experienced some different varieties. Overall we loved this place. The filet was everything and more than we expected. For DHs birthday they brought out crème brulee, which is one of his favorites. It was a great birthday dinner.
Next we were off to Downtown Disney for some birthday shopping. We strolled through World of Disney, the Disney Sports store, and the Christmas store buying things in each store along the way. The coolest purchase of the night was our Guest of Honor badges engraved with our names. In the very back of the Christmas store is the personalization shop, which will embroider various things and has the machine to engrave the badges. For the past 5 years we have been trying to get these badges from Disneyland and every time the machine is broken.
After our whirlwind shopping adventure we headed back to the room. Unbeknownst to DH, Tinkerbell had spread some pixie dust in our room while we were out. When we entered the room the TV was on playing jazz music on the BET station, there were balloons, party hats, noisemakers, and a cake.
Needless to say he was very surprised and I was very impressed. I had asked the concierge about having a cake delivered and they said they had a complimentary one. I agreed to that and didnt expect much more than the cake. The decorations were fun and he said it really was the perfect ending to his birthday.
That is, until he opened his gift from mom and dude
wine hits monitor and starts dripping into keyboard.
