Some Firsts, Some Lasts -- Family Trip 5/12/2011-5/19/2011

[DEA]

I know that Disney's Animal Kingdom gets a lot of bad press: It's hot. There are too few major attractions. It's far away from everything. The Yeti is broken. The Beastly Kingdom never happened... why is there a dragon on the sign? The food is weird. It contains Dinoland. Some of these are valid, but I am a big fan, for the following major reasons:

1. Expedition Everest is fun even with the Yeti in B-mode. I am not great with heights, and the one time I rode in the right hand seat, it was... stressful. Otherwise, it was a great time.

2. I learn stuff when I go there.

3. The Finding Nemo musical

4. Tusker House

5. The Safari is good even the 12,000th time you have to hear about the safari being cut short.

6. Some hidden gems

7. My older daughter LOVES animals. She's the kind of kid who does this:

And one time, at a nature park, within two minutes she had rolled over a rock and picked up this salamander

So this park is right in her wheelhouse. And, really, it's fun for the whole family. So much so that we planned two days for AK this year. Day 1 had a focus on the Finding Nemo show in the afternoon.

Here's a little background information on this show if you aren't familiar with it. It follows the plot of the Finding Nemo movie, but with musical numbers, puppets, and some lovely sets. It was written my Robert Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez. You might recognize the name Robert Lopez from winning a few Tony awards for Avenue Q and Book of Mormon. Full disclosure: When my wife's sister got married, he was best man at their wedding. However, when I tell you that the show is great, you should believe me. The guy has won multiple Tony awards; he has serious talent.

Now, for one of my best hints for a Disney freebie: Make an ADR at Tusker House between 1pm and 1:45pm, and you get priority seating for the 3:15 Finding Nemo show. No lines, seats down in front, and you were going to eat lunch anyway, right? This quickly became a tradition for us a couple of years ago.

So, we had a 1pm lunch ADR at Tusker House. We went, for the first time, to see the Flights of Wonder show. With the exception of a large bird parting my hair on the way back down to the front of the amphitheater, it was a very interesting and informative show.

Between Asia and Africa, there is a small structure where you will normally find some foreign CMs doing some activity that is related to their homeland. Twice now, we have encountered CMs from Thailand. My DW's father has lived in Thailand, so there were an entreé into conversation based on that. They seem happy to chat with guests, or to show off the art or craft they are presenting. It's a little mini-Epcot World showcase type encounter, and if your kids have an assignment to do something educational at WDW, this might be an option.

We did the Pangani nature trail before heading over to lunch. Some people have referred to Tusker House as a "mini-Boma," but I like it better than Boma. In my mind, baklava > Zebra Dome. They also have some of the nicest CMs I've encountered at WDW. It speaks to good management. Also, they have the waiter with the loudest voice in the entire waitering profession. Listen the next time you go there. Actually, whether you listen or not, you will probably be able to hear him. Anyway, I find Tusker House to be one of the better 1TS restaurants at WDW.

Then, of course, knowing my kids, it was time to go shopping. I am pretty sure that we could go to WDW, meet a few Princesses, and then hit the retail establishments and the pool, and they would be perfectly happy. My younger daughter seems to have perfect retail recall. She walks through MK and recites the things she got at various stores on previous trips. And she's right. I continue to search for professions in which this will put her at the top of her field. I like the shopping at AK, as well. There are things there that are far from the generic theme park stuff purveyed elsewhere. One of our purchases this year was a djembe drum for my older daughter. Maybe getting a percussion instrument for a 6yo is a mistake. History will decide...

Finally, we headed back to the Theater in the Woods for the Finding Nemo show. I do enjoy this show: The performances, the puppetry, the puppets themselves, how true the language stays to the movie, and the set design. The priority seating gets you down on the right front. You don't want to be too close to the front, because some of the action (though not too much) takes place on the runway that extends past the priority seating area. The biggest win of the priority seating is not having to stand in line. The place can fill up, and rain is always a possibility in the afternoon, so avoiding a line outside can be a big plus.

And then we wrapped up our day, and headed out to dinner at my favorite 1TS restaurant at WDW: Sanaa.

 

[DEA]

It's a short trip from AK to the Animal Kingdom Lodge resort area. Sanaa is the only restaurant at the Kidani Village (DVC-only) section of the resort area. Compared to the soaring majesty of Jambo House, Kidani Village is more intimate and refined. It still has the Savannahs outside, and the long walkway running out into the Savannah, so your animal viewing needs can be met.

Sanaa beats out the Jambo House restaurants on one major score: You can watch animals while you eat. Or maybe they can watch you do things while they eat. I've seen both happen.

The menu is, primarily, Indian-inspired food, with some African elements present. Amazingly enough for a Disney restaurant, they added spicier food to their menu recently. One of the reasons why this is one of my favorite restaurants is because they seem to have an expectation of doing things right, and a license to push the envelope a little to deliver good food. Here's my favorite example: My younger daughter can be a little picky. She turned up her nose at a lot of the kids' pizza selections around WDW. When we got to Sanaa, though, she ate the pizza they had. I had to ask the chef if they did something different here, or if it was just chance. He told me that the pizza dough is actually the dough for the naan bread they server. The rest of the ingredients are put on the pizza, while a lot of WDW restaurants just take the whole pizza out of a freezer and heat it up. That says to me that while they could take the path of least resistance, they go above and beyond to create a quality product that may expand a kid's palate a bit.

We had a fantastic meal. I had lamb curry and the durban chicken, which were excellent. They serve rice with the meal at dinner, but they serve it with naan bread at lunch; I wish they did that with dinner, too. We did get the bread appetizer, which can include the naan bread if you so choose. We did. Both of our kids had the pizza, and it was well received again. As parents, my DW and I verified its quality.

After dinner, we went out to look at the animals, went back through the lobby, and then took a walk around the resort. On the way, the girls ended up in a drum circle they had for kids in one of the rooms off the lobby. It's a very nice touch, I think. On our walk around the grounds, it really hit me that we're AKL people much more than we're BLT people. The experience just seemed so much more relaxed and accepting at AKV than what we had at BLT, and the facilities and amenities were top-notch. I am pretty sold on the place. Apparently, though, it's a little more difficult to change DVC rooms across resorts than regular rooms... not that I made inquiries, or anything...

Next up: We leave the warm embrace of WDW...

 

[DEA]

Hi folks. Sorry for the interruption, but I was kidnapped and taken across the country to Disneyland by my wife for my birthday.

I will get another update up as soon as I can. Next up is our Sea World day, which also includes perhaps the best meal experience I have had at WDW, although that certainly did not happen at Sea World.

So, anyway, I thought I would pop in to keep the thread from getting archived and give a quick preview of a future Disneyland review: As much as I give it a hard time for having a tiny little castle, Disneyland has a lot to recommend it.

 

[heaven2dc]

Loved your review of AK! I love that park despite the heat and feeling claustrophobic and I love love love EE! We visited Dinoland last year for the first time and other than the Dinosaur ride, it didn't hold our interest. Seemed out of place compared to the rest of the park. We ate at Tusker House too and enjoyed it - my DS28 is a vegetarian so he had a lot to choose from. We did have dinner ressies that night at BOMA but backed out. It was SO hot that day - we had originally been scheduled to visit MK that day but the youngest 2 sons wanted to visit AK first (this was their first visit) and it was 88 degrees (this was in November ). Then our MK day it was in upper 50's and we were cold!

Love the girls' pics as they were munching on ice cream - too cute

 

[Donald Duck888]

I just wanted to say as a fellow Disney dad (although not officially on here as I have yet to figure out how to do that lol) I am enjoying reading your report.

We too have driven down in the past although we have to stay 1 overnight as it is a 22 hr drive for us if we drive straight. This year we are flying though as I had enough airline points saved up to fly free.

but I was kidnapped and taken across the country to Disneyland by my wife for my birthday

Surprise birthday trip to DL huh? Pretty sweet.

I look forward to hearing more about your trip.

 

[afwdwfan]

I just wanted to say as a fellow Disney dad (although not officially on here as I have yet to figure out how to do that lol) I am enjoying reading your report.

Just click here and introduce yourself!

Then, of course, knowing my kids, it was time to go shopping. I am pretty sure that we could go to WDW, meet a few Princesses, and then hit the retail establishments and the pool, and they would be perfectly happy.

I didn't think your daughters were quite old enough to have hit that shopping phase yet.

Sanaa beats out the Jambo House restaurants on one major score: You can watch animals while you eat. Or maybe they can watch you do things while they eat. I've seen both happen.

Never been there, but that would be really cool to watch the animals eat while they watch you eat while you're watching them.

I am pretty sold on the place. Apparently, though, it's a little more difficult to change DVC rooms across resorts than regular rooms... not that I made inquiries, or anything...

Not that anyone would blame you if you tried after your check-in experience.

Hi folks. Sorry for the interruption, but I was kidnapped and taken across the country to Disneyland by my wife for my birthday.

Your wife is awesome!

Have a great time over on the West Coast, and I look forward to seeing some pictures and reading a TR. We'll give you a pass on the Man Law about finishing a TR before your next trip since it was a surprise.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Some of these are valid, but I am a big fan, for the following major reasons:

1. Expedition Everest is fun even with the Yeti in B-mode. I am not great with heights, and the one time I rode in the right hand seat, it was... stressful. Otherwise, it was a great time.

2. I learn stuff when I go there.

3. The Finding Nemo musical

Haven't seen it yet.

4. Tusker House

5. The Safari is good even the 12,000th time you have to hear about the safari being cut short.

In fact, they could ditch the poacher story altogether and it would still be good!

6. Some hidden gems

Theming and trails!

7. My older daughter LOVES animals. She's the kind of kid who does this:

Now, for one of my best hints for a Disney freebie: Make an ADR at Tusker House between 1pm and 1:45pm, and you get priority seating for the 3:15 Finding Nemo show. No lines, seats down in front, and you were going to eat lunch anyway, right? This quickly became a tradition for us a couple of years ago.

(filing away for future use)

One of our purchases this year was a djembe drum for my older daughter. Maybe getting a percussion instrument for a 6yo is a mistake. History will decide...

How's recent history?

My younger daughter can be a little picky. She turned up her nose at a lot of the kids' pizza selections around WDW. When we got to Sanaa, though, she ate the pizza they had. I had to ask the chef if they did something different here, or if it was just chance. He told me that the pizza dough is actually the dough for the naan bread they server. The rest of the ingredients are put on the pizza, while a lot of WDW restaurants just take the whole pizza out of a freezer and heat it up. That says to me that while they could take the path of least resistance, they go above and beyond to create a quality product that may expand a kid's palate a bit.

I probably wouldn't go for the spicy food here as much, but the restaurant still gets a for this philosophy.

On our walk around the grounds, it really hit me that we're AKL people much more than we're BLT people. The experience just seemed so much more relaxed and accepting at AKV than what we had at BLT, and the facilities and amenities were top-notch. I am pretty sold on the place.

I think it's all about the theme. AKL really gives you a warm sense of place.

Hi folks. Sorry for the interruption, but I was kidnapped and taken across the country to Disneyland by my wife for my birthday.

Greatest. Kidnapping. Ever.

 

[DEA]

Loved your review of AK! I love that park despite the heat and feeling claustrophobic and I love love love EE! We visited Dinoland last year for the first time and other than the Dinosaur ride, it didn't hold our interest. Seemed out of place compared to the rest of the park. We ate at Tusker House too and enjoyed it - my DS28 is a vegetarian so he had a lot to choose from. We did have dinner ressies that night at BOMA but backed out. It was SO hot that day - we had originally been scheduled to visit MK that day but the youngest 2 sons wanted to visit AK first (this was their first visit) and it was 88 degrees (this was in November ). Then our MK day it was in upper 50's and we were cold!

Love the girls' pics as they were munching on ice cream - too cute

Dinoland has a carnival midway feel to it that just doesn't quite feel up to the usual Disney standards. The Dig Site play area is actually pretty great for our girls, and lets them run off a lot of energy in a fairly contained space. The rides, though, just aren't really doing the job for me.

I just wanted to say as a fellow Disney dad (although not officially on here as I have yet to figure out how to do that lol) I am enjoying reading your report.

We too have driven down in the past although we have to stay 1 overnight as it is a 22 hr drive for us if we drive straight. This year we are flying though as I had enough airline points saved up to fly free.

Well, sure, if you can fly free, you can deal with the airport hassle a lot easier.

And definitely stop by the DisDads subforum.

Surprise birthday trip to DL huh? Pretty sweet.

I look forward to hearing more about your trip.

The Disneyland trip is great. I have been an East Coast snob about the Disney parks, clearly, and it was a real eye-opener to see some of the fantastic stuff out here. I will work on that trip report after I get done with this one.

Just click here and introduce yourself!


I didn't think your daughters were quite old enough to have hit that shopping phase yet.


Never been there, but that would be really cool to watch the animals eat while they watch you eat while you're watching them.


Not that anyone would blame you if you tried after your check-in experience.


Your wife is awesome!

Have a great time over on the West Coast, and I look forward to seeing some pictures and reading a TR. We'll give you a pass on the Man Law about finishing a TR before your next trip since it was a surprise.

My wife is indeed awesome. It was quite the extravaganza she planned. We have also ridden California Screamin' (the big roller coaster) 6 times today.

Greatest. Kidnapping. Ever.

Yes. Yes it is.

 

[DEA]

Folks sometimes ask me, "Don't you guys do anything but Disney for vacation?"

To which I reply, "Well, one day we usually take the kids to Sea World..."

And then they seem to get exasperated.

So, Monday was our Sea World day. We wanted to get over there early so that the girls could feed the dolphins, which is apparently a hot ticket to get. We got good parking, headed inside, and then... discovered that the dolphin feeding station only takes cash. What is this? Medieval Europe?

So, I ran back out to the car to get the emergency $20 bill out of the car. They seem to want everybody who goes up near the dolphins to pay the cash, so we were still a dollar short, so off I ran again to find an ATM. By the time I got back, someone had loaned my wife $1 (because she said it would make a good story... I am grateful, regardless), so she and the girls were in line. At this point, I was both tired from running and a bit put out by the whole cash-only thing. So, I stood off to the side...

My, but that dolphin has a lot of teeth... who will be the first to offer a fish...

Fed and petted. Or, at least, an attempt was made to pet.

My overall thoughts on Sea World as as follows:

1. My kids love the interaction with the animals. Feeding dolphins and stingrays is an exciting thing for them, and gets them even more interested in animals and biology than they already are.

2. The food is not as good as WDW food, I've found. I have only done counter service at Sea World, but the CS offerings at WDW are a lot better and more varied.

3. The shows range from entertaining and silly to beautiful and awe-inspiring. There is some spectacle for just about everyone there.

4. The fact that my kids like it so much echoes my thoughts when I first visited WDW years ago and my parents took me over to Sea World. I would have enjoyed the trip much less had we not gone to Sea World.

5. I think that they are doing good work over there for the care and conservation of marine life. And, of course, in educating people about these incredible animals.

After Sea World and spending time with sea animals, we had some pool time, and then headed over to Flying Fish to eat some sea animals. I also serve fish when we have it at home on the girls' Little Mermaid plates. Because I am a little bit evil.

Flying Fish, on Disney's Boardwalk, is a more upscale dining establishment than those we usually visit with our girls. This year, though, we thought it would be a good workout for their table manners and a chance to experience some finer dining. There was a bit of fussing at the beginning of dinner, but the girls shaped right up when Bob showed up.

Bob was our server for the evening, and he is, hands-down, one of the best two or three servers we have ever had at WDW. He immediately focused his attention on the girls, treated them like little adults who were there to have a good time, and followed our cues when we tried to get the girls to remember their pleases and thank-yous. They were all his when he brought them Shirley Temples with extra cherries. He also endeared himself to my DW when, after I attempted to pour myself another glass of wine, said, "Sir, let me take care of that. I am just here to pour your wine and look at your wife, so it's the best and easiest job in the world."

We had a wonderful dinner. My older daughter balked at her dinner when she saw the Mac and Cheese that my younger daughter got, but Bob was quick to offer to bring another order of Mac and Cheese before it was even requested. In her defense, it did look pretty good.

At the end of the evening, after dessert, Bob sent the girls on their way with a take-out box of Swedish Fish procured from the shop next door. Well done, Bob.

After dinner, we went around the Boardwalk a little bit and took in the performers. I had not really seen this aspect of the Boardwalk despite our many trips to WDW, and it was very entertaining. The magic act and the "whistling guy" both kept the girls spellbound. Then back to the hotel for much-needed rest after a very full day.

 

[afwdwfan]

Looks like a fantastic day. Seems a bit odd that a place like Sea World would have something that is cash only these days, but I guess I can understand it if it is maybe not a permanent retail type thing. That's great that your daughters enjoy the animals and interacting with them so much. Maybe it will end up being their calling later on in life.

It looks like that was an excellent interaction with your server at Flying Fish. I always like seeing that kind of attention to detail from Disney employess.

 

[DEA]

Newly back from a surprise trip to Disneyworld, I realized I had left out some pictures from our Kidani Village evening.

This is my younger daughter. She is actually eating a food that is green, so I wanted to post this in case there was every any question that, amidst the mac and cheese and pizza that she normally lives on, she does indeed get some veggies:

And a couple from the drumming circle in the Kidani Village building. I know, I know, a bunch of kids with drums? Not relaxing. However, there were a couple of benfits: 1. It was not my house, and 2. I was not trying to take a nap on the couch.

That's me kneeling in my Perry the Platypus shirt on the right side of the frame.

And one where my younger daughter decided she would "help" the CM who was leading the circle:

To me, this is just another example of Disney getting it right at AKL/AKV. I always end up with a happy feeling about our time there.

 

[DEA]

The Magic Kingdom is still kind of a big deal for us. Although our 6yo is mostly done with the Princess-centered universe that began her Disney career, the 4yo is still exhilarated with her pink clothes and loves to play princess whenever possible. Rope Drop is also a fun event for us, and this was to be our morning for getting to MK early to see them open the park.

And we made it!

Some characters:

It used to be that the big draws at MK were things like Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean... but now, it's Rapunzel.

For the Rapunzel (of "Tangled" fame) meet-and-greet, there are a series of discrete "shows" which have some warm up, activity time, and, finally, a chance to meet and take pictures with Rapunzel (and, up until recently, Flynn Rider, as well). Because each show is capped for attendance, the line can get pretty long pretty fast, and you might be waiting for a couple of hours to get to the show.

My DW volunteered to hold a spot in line, and so the girls and I went to the greater Fantasyland area to get some rides in before the Rapunzel show. I was also trying to contact a fellow DisDad who was also in the park (say hello, theduck619).

After disembarking from Peter Pan's Flight with minutes to spare, we headed back to the Tangled "event," and eventually got to go in.

The kids got to color while the parents stood over against the wall and formed the line for the meet-and-greet portion of the show. It was actually a pretty good system. There was less fidgeting because the kids had something to do. When the stars of the show were announced, there was breathless anticipation...

But then, when it was time to take the picture, our 4yo got a little shy, and I had to go up with her.

Now, Flynn Rider has been deleted from this show, which is too bad, because my older daughter asked him if "the crown" from the movie was in the satchel. This turned out to be an excellent question...

After meeting up with those guys, we allegedly went to have my first DisDads meetup with theduck619 and his family, who are lovely people. I say allegedly because we, somehow, amidst lots of gadgets, neglected to take any pictures of the event. Apparently, as with all thing Internet, no pics means that it didn't happen. Which is too bad, because they were a really nice family.

At this point, my DW had a meetup with someone over at Downtown Disney, so we headed out to Earl of Sandwich for some lunch. I know the place has a lot of hype, but it seems to deliver every time for not a lot of money. Speaking of money, it's fun watching your child, who now has an allowance, making the connection between the price of goods (at, say, World of Disney) and the amount of money she has at her disposal. That said, both the daughters would be happy to spend the day shopping, I think.

The afternoon brought shopping and some more pool time, and then we headed over to The Grand Floridian for our 1900 Park Fare dinner.

This dinner was a must-do after our experience there last year. Even though we were seated somewhere near a drainage canal, the Stepsisters were incredibly amusing, even getting into a knock-down wrestling match near our table. Well worth the price of admission.

There Anastasia:

My daughters may be pretending to be dogs in that picture. It wouldn't be the first time...

There's Drusilla:

And, of course, their Mom:

Oh, and, of course, Cinderella and her Prince:

Yes, Cinderella, due to the reflection off her eyes, does indeed look like some sort of killer cyborg princess from the future, but I am going to assume it's some test marketing for Cinderella 4: Judgment Day.

Dinner was fine this time. I didn't feel the "we have to do this again" vibe coming from the family this time. There was definitely some good character interaction, though.

So this may not make the cut for our next vacation unless someone really campaigns for it. It's a guaranteed way to get to see Cinderella without the high price of Castle dining, but there are better meals to be had. The Stepsisters always put on a good show, though, and so seeing it once is a good idea just for their work.

Then, it was a ride around on the monorail back to BLT, and sleep...

 

[lbuzz52]

Hi!
we were there at the same time! so far i dont think our paths would have crossed though.
we were also affected when they delayed Phineaus and Ferb. Just a reason to go back though!
I love your girls' Naartjie- i'm not sure i've ever seen it on a trip report!

this is my favorite statement so far
I also serve fish when we have it at home on the girls' Little Mermaid plates. Because I am a little bit evil.

 

[DEA]

Hi!
we were there at the same time! so far i dont think our paths would have crossed though.
we were also affected when they delayed Phineaus and Ferb. Just a reason to go back though!
I love your girls' Naartjie- i'm not sure i've ever seen it on a trip report!

this is my favorite statement so far
I also serve fish when we have it at home on the girls' Little Mermaid plates. Because I am a little bit evil.

Although I am not the primary clothes shopper, I do know that Naartjie and Hannah Andersson are big hits for everyone.

I'm glad you liked the evilness. It also, I think, says something about the apple not falling far from the tree that they heartily enjoy eating the fish off those plates.

We may be running out of time for our paths to cross... stay tuned! I hope you had a good time.

 

[hmmurdock]

 

[ntikos]

I'm really enjoying your wit and humor!

I'll be taking my family to Flying Fish in 2 weeks - glad to hear you enjoyed it.

 

[DEA]

I'm really enjoying your wit and humor!

I'll be taking my family to Flying Fish in 2 weeks - glad to hear you enjoyed it.

It was really wonderful. It is amazing to me that an awesome server can really put a meal over the top in terms of relaxation and enjoyment. There are some stars out there, and Bob is one of them.

 

[heaven2dc]

Now, Flynn Rider has been deleted from this show, which is too bad, because my older daughter asked him if "the crown" from the movie was in the satchel. This turned out to be an excellent question...

How cute was that (and ingenious of your daughter!)!

Oh, and, of course, Cinderella and her Prince:

Yes, Cinderella, due to the reflection off her eyes, does indeed look like some sort of killer cyborg princess from the future, but I am going to assume it's some test marketing for Cinderella 4: Judgment Day.

oh...my...gosh you had me laughing so hard at your comment regarding Cinderella!! Great sense of humor

 

[afwdwfan]

The Magic Kingdom is still kind of a big deal for us.

It is still kind of a big deal for me too, despite the fact that you can't walk from one end to the other without bumping into a princess. On second thought, I guess maybe that is part of the appeal.

It used to be that the big draws at MK were things like Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean... but now, it's Rapunzel.

...and you might be waiting for a couple of hours to get to the show.

So glad we won't have to wait for that one. Unless DW wants to meet her. In that case she's on her own.

Dinner was fine this time. I didn't feel the "we have to do this again" vibe coming from the family this time. There was definitely some good character interaction, though.

Does that mean you "won't be back?"

 

[DEA]

As I have said, we love the Animal Kingdom area. The park, the hotels, the restaurants... and another first for us: Jiko's Wednesday Wine Tasting. First, though, the park:

Another first for our trip this year was a visit to Tusker House outside of lunch hours. We had heard good things about Donald's Safari Breakfast, and headed in early for a 9:30am reservation. I ran, er, walked ahead to get Kilamanjaro Safari FastPasses, and met the family again outside of Tusker House. They would not let us in quite yet, so the girls amused themselves with some music- and merry-making.

When the CMs stopped playing and dancing, they still were not ready for us, so the girls decided to take care of a little business before breakfast.

Finally, we get called up for the initial picture with Donald.

And then, inside for breakfast. They put out a very nice spread of food for breakfast. Mostly your standard breakfast fare, but everything tasted good to me. The real standout, though, was the juice. My younger daughter, noted juice connoisseur, had this review:

And then, of course, there were safari-themed characters, which the girls mostly enjoyed:

I found it interesting that Mickey seemed to be the least popular, at least based on facial expressions.

So, breakfast was a big hit, and I think we'll be heading back to Tusker House for breakfast in the future. It gets the My Family Seal of Approval.

And then, it was off to Safari. I feel compelled to ride this every time I come to the park, because you never know what you're going to get in terms of animal behavior. You might go through and have giraffes walking near the road, or they may be a football field away. Elephants could be standing still, or playing in the water. I'd rate our journey this time a little below par, mainly because the lions did not make an appearance. We did see plenty of other folks, though.

Following the Safari, we headed out to Rafiki's Planet Watch. I always hope that we'll be able to see the vets there checking out or otherwise caring for one of the animals; I think it would be great for my older daughter, who has, many times, expressed her interest in being a vet. No such luck today, though, but they did get a little interaction:

We grabbed some lunch when we got back. I tried out Flame Tree BBQ for the first time thumbsup2) while the XX chromosome folks headed over to Pizzafari, telling me to just find them inside.

This is before I realized that the inside of Pizzafari is roughly 43 acres of seating area. Eventually, my own safari to find them came to a happy end, and we had a nice meal together. This was our first shot at CS restaurants in AK, and I don't have anything bad to say about them. Except, of course, that I would still rather eat at Tusker House.

After this, we did various other things around the park. I very much look forward to the day that we all can and want to ride Expedition Everest, and, perhaps, a time when we just show up in bathing suits and shirts or dresses and do Kali River Rapids. For now, though, the main ride is Safari. The Dinoland Dig Site play area has moved up, though, as a destination in the park after this last trip.

And speaking of those XX chromosome people, here are a couple of pictures of them from that day, being all cute and stuff.

We bid a fond farewell to the parks and headed over to Jambo House. We had a full afternoon and evening booked there.

When the Jiko Wine Tastings were first announced, I consulted my then fairly complete park touring plan for the week. As it happened, I had us at AK on a Wednesday for our second AK day, and thought that it would segue nicely into an afternoon at the Jambo House resort, including the educational ( )wine tasting experience.

The folks at Jiko really made this easy. They arranged for the girls to sit at a table fairly close, but not right on top of us to color and read during the wine tasting. They both love to color, so breaking out the special coloring books that we had gotten for them was a fun thing for them.

When we entered Jiko, a little before 3pm, a table for 12 was already set up with three glasses of wine at each place. As we were to find out, they broke down as the following: One of the white wines was a Bukettraube, very dry and crisp, the other was a sweeter Chenin Blanc. The red was a Pinotage, which we were told is the signature grape of South Africa. All very very nice
wines, and each, I believe, sold for $39/bottle in the restaurant. The sommelier talked a bit about the history of the South African wine industry and the changes over time before having us start to taste the wines.

We started with the Bukettraube, and talked a bit about the tastes. The sommelier pointed us toward different notes than we might find in the wine, and generally gave us a crash course in critical evaluation of wine. As we finished up taking about the first wine, one of the Jiko chefs came out with an enormous plate of cheeses and fruits to try with the wines. He gave a brief rundown of the cheeses, which were all from the artisanal cheese plate at Jiko. This was a very nice touch, I thought.

The girls came over at this point to steal a little fruit, which we gave them. There was plenty; nobody went hungry at this wine tasting.

We worked our way through the other two wines, talked about differences, similarities, more South African wine history, and wrapped up the "formal" part of the presentation.

At which point, the sommelier asked us if we wanted to try any more of any of the wines, which he then poured. After a little more chatting, he put the bottles out on the table and encouraged us to drink up.

Among the 12 or so people at the table, six bottles of wine managed to get imbibed over the course of around an hour.

Some people say that there are no bargains at WDW. This, my friends, was a bargain at $25/person. Wine, cheese, a nice presentation, and getting to drink some wine with like-minded winos... excuse me, like-minded people. I would call it definitely worth it.

Following the wine tasting, we took advantage of another of my favorite WDW values: the Culinary Tour of Africa, where you get to visit Boma and Jiko, get a look at the items on offer, try one of the soups at Boma, and have the bread appetizer at Jiko, all for the low, low price of absolutely free. I would highly encourage you to do this if you find yourself at Jambo House at 4pm.

We got to kill a little time before our Boma reservation that evening by going outside to look at the animals. It's a better view that the Safari gives you, a lot of the times, and the focus is on the animals themselves, rather than plussing it up with a story of safaris and poachers and shaky bridges. Again, highly recommended. Jambo House is a beautiful resort, inside and out, and I love to walk around there. They also have excellent bathrooms on the main level, second only to the bathrooms outside of Sanaa as the best on WDW property. Aren't you glad that I do this research for you?

And then, it was on to Boma. Boma is actually my least favorite restaurant of the AKL resort slate. This visit was no exception. I think they turn out some good food, but they also make some weird choices. I am, though, going to speak out in their defense: Not all the food tastes like cinnamon. This seems to be a meme going around the Boards here, and I do not get it. Some of the food might have cinnamon involved, but it isn't like everything gets a dash of Pixie Dust and cinnamon on the way out to the buffet line.

Now, getting back to the weird choices: They have a small salad bar area, but all of the dressings on the night they were there were some sort of vinaigrette. I mean, I like that kind of dressing, but NO other choices? So odd. Other than that, and the fact that they did not have the Mushroom Soup, the dinner was good, but not as good as Jiko or Sanaa, and honestly, I'd enjoy food from The Mara for that price point more than the buffet meal at Boma at their price point. I think it speaks more to the strength of all the restaurants out there, though, that the worst meal there is a pretty good meal.

With a wistful sigh, we headed back to the din and bother of BLT, leaving behind the tranquil beauty of the AKL resorts for the last time on this trip. Every time I see the Animal Kingdom Lodge magnet on the refrigerator at our house, though, it warms my heart to know that we're going to be back there in less than a year.