The Drive, the Dream and DVC - A March 2011 Birthday Surprise TR(NEW 11/9 p. 32 END)

[wigdoutdismom]

First of all I'm going to say it's so nice to see all of your F&G pictures! When we were there in March with Harper, we didn't make it to the front of Epcot one time! We didn't ever get to see the front display!

Forgetting the P.J.s was a stroke of genius!
Perfect excuse to shop!

Wasn't the dolphin encounter fun? We sure enjoyed it!
Do you think it ended up being warmer than 70 on your CC day? Dave and the girls looked comfortable in the water!

So far it looks like the weather is good for your time back in the parks!
Looking forward to your next update!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Wow Epcot was crazy crowded! We have always had good luck with crowds, but I think this year might be different.

I'd love to see the F&GF. All the topiaries are so pretty! I've never seen the Daisy one. That one is very cute!

I hate you had those problems with your meal credits. I can't stand dealing with stuff like that on vacation. It ruins the laid back mood. Glad you got your food though, even if it wasn't wonderful.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

First of all I'm going to say it's so nice to see all of your F&G pictures! When we were there in March with Harper, we didn't make it to the front of Epcot one time! We didn't ever get to see the front display!

Forgetting the P.J.s was a stroke of genius!
Perfect excuse to shop!

Wasn't the dolphin encounter fun? We sure enjoyed it!
Do you think it ended up being warmer than 70 on your CC day? Dave and the girls looked comfortable in the water!

So far it looks like the weather is good for your time back in the parks!
Looking forward to your next update!

Oh, well, enjoy the pictures! I've got plenty!!! That front TS3 display was cool - it did smell like strawberries!

I wish I would have forgotten my shoes, handbag and some other things!
The dolphin encounter was BY FAR the coolest thing we ever did!!! We all agreed it was awesome!

I think the CC weather got warmer - the sun sure helped. The kids get used to the water and didn't mind as much as me!

We did have great weather for the parks part of our trip!

Wow Epcot was crazy crowded! We have always had good luck with crowds, but I think this year might be different.

I'd love to see the F&GF. All the topiaries are so pretty! I've never seen the Daisy one. That one is very cute!

I hate you had those problems with your meal credits. I can't stand dealing with stuff like that on vacation. It ruins the laid back mood. Glad you got your food though, even if it wasn't wonderful.

Yeah, Epcot was nuts. Never seen it like that before, but it was spring break and F&G... It was so beautiful! I just wandered around taking pictures!

That credit debacle was a mess, but thankfully it did not ruin my day, just a small part of it. What made it worse was I was hungry. Hungry and crabby don't mix well!


Has anyone been to Disneyland Paris???? It looks like our trip will actually happen in March!!! I'm a little nervous because this will be so different from our WDW trips, which I can plan blindfolded (almost).
We are planning to fly to London, spend about a week with our friends and then take the Eurostar to DLP and spend 4 or 5 nights there. We'll spend 2 of those days in Paris and 2 in DLP. Then we'll fly home from Paris. Should be quite an experience!!! We're watching airfare and while it is coming down a bit, it's still SO expensive!!! That's the bulk of the expense. But the good news is we get a free checked bag each on international flights!!! Whew!

 

[MeMom]

I guess later in the F&G they added Mater to this display. Of course, they were promoting Cars 2.



I'm a novice gardener and my boss and some co-workers are big gardeners, so I was really enjoying all the cool stuff. I wish I could incorporate more of this in my yard!
Did you guys see that My Backyard Goes Disney show? We toyed with the idea of a Mickey shaped flower bed in the back yard, but decided against it. I'm thinking I'll stick with some Disney statuary or something.

Lightning and Mater were both still up this past week.

Wouldn't a Disney yard be fun? If you do anything cool, you will have to share pictures with us and inspire us. I have not one shade of a green thumb, so putting out a Mickey head shaped with rocks would be more my speed.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

hey Sheree...I am pretty sure that Kathy (plutofan) goes to DLP..right? Oh, and go to the UK planning board and ask them about it..

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Lightning and Mater were both still up this past week.

Wouldn't a Disney yard be fun? If you do anything cool, you will have to share pictures with us and inspire us. I have not one shade of a green thumb, so putting out a Mickey head shaped with rocks would be more my speed.

I will! dH almost shaped a flower bed like a Mickey head , but we decided against it.

hey Sheree...I am pretty sure that Kathy (plutofan) goes to DLP..right? Oh, and go to the UK planning board and ask them about it..

Yes! She and I have chatted a bit. She's been really helpful! I've been perusing the DLP boards too. I should check out UK too.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I don't know a thing about DLP or anything else you mentioned, but I am sooo totally drooling over the thought of it all! It sounds awesome! You HAVE to do a TR for that trip! You just have to!

 

[jenseib]

Disneeat (Karin) goes to DLP every so often too. She lives in Austria and her and her brother usually go once a year.

 

[MEK]

Hey Sheree - just checking in to make sure I didn't miss any updates!

 

[MeMom]

I will! dH almost shaped a flower bed like a Mickey head , but we decided against it.

Aw, shucks! You should have done it!!!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Getting all caught up! Love your pictures of Flower and Garden. I really want to go there sometime for the festival. Our spring break got cut back next year so I guess I will have to wait for another year.

I didn't even know there was DVC merchandise you can buy. We may have to check OKW out in November.

I have been debating about whether or not we will like SSR at Thanksgiving. I may just have to call and see what (if any) other resorts might be available after your post. It looks lovely but it looked really big for our liking.

Can't to read about AKL. We just got back from there and loved it.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I was a little behind but I'm all caught up now Sheree. That Mexico CS mess would have had me stressed too. Ugh. I really hate dealing with junk like that. How embarrassing and just puts you in a funk. I'm glad it all got sorted out though!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I don't know a thing about DLP or anything else you mentioned, but I am sooo totally drooling over the thought of it all! It sounds awesome! You HAVE to do a TR for that trip! You just have to!

Count on it Rinky!!

Disneeat (Karin) goes to DLP every so often too. She lives in Austria and her and her brother usually go once a year.

Thanks! I could use all the help I can get!

Hey Sheree - just checking in to make sure I didn't miss any updates!

Not so far, but stick around, I'm feeling motivated for the weekend!!

Aw, shucks! You should have done it!!!

Well, you never know, it could still happen...

Getting all caught up! Love your pictures of Flower and Garden. I really want to go there sometime for the festival. Our spring break got cut back next year so I guess I will have to wait for another year.

I didn't even know there was DVC merchandise you can buy. We may have to check OKW out in November.

I have been debating about whether or not we will like SSR at Thanksgiving. I may just have to call and see what (if any) other resorts might be available after your post. It looks lovely but it looked really big for our liking.

Can't to read about AKL. We just got back from there and loved it.

Oh, yeah, there's DVC merchandise. I hear it's not as much as it used to be, with all the resort-specific stuff being scaled back, but we found some cute things. SSR had some stuff too.
Glad you loved AKL too!! Are you doing a TR? I'd love to read!

I was a little behind but I'm all caught up now Sheree. That Mexico CS mess would have had me stressed too. Ugh. I really hate dealing with junk like that. How embarrassing and just puts you in a funk. I'm glad it all got sorted out though!

Well, welcome back! You didn't miss much - I seem to go a week or more between updating! I get so caught up in other people's TRs that I don't do my own.
Stay tuned, I think I'll do an update this morning.
That Mexico thing was annoying, but what do you do? When I'm hot and hungry, I get crabby and just wanted food! I wasn't about to give up and leave. Thank goodness DH found a manager to get the ball rolling cause I was getting hot in more ways than one!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Bye Epcot!

We drove over to AKL and went to the check-in desk right away! We got our KTTW and I explained the QSDP credit debacle and made sure we were getting DDP for the next few nights. The CM was SUPER nice and checked it all out and she even printed a summary report with our credits on it. It included 4 extra snack credits!!! Not sure where they came from, but she said, go ahead and take them. So I did!

We were in Room 5455, a studio with savanna view. We were very happy with our location - not far from an elevator that would lead us to the pool and the Mara! It was very nice!

Room Pictures
There is a foldout couch that the girls slept on.

OOps, hit post too soon! I will continue in the next post! Lots more pictures to come!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

More room pictures
Kitchenette

Aren't those "drawings" cute?

bathroom vanity

It looks like there's another sink to the right, but that's a reflection. There's a full length mirror on the back of the door to the toilet/shower room.

I really like this decor, even though the first time I set foot in AKL I did not think it was for me! I still can't get over that! I think what makes me like certain resorts is the "feeling" I get from it, not just that I like the general theme, or colors. I mean, I really don't have any interest in traveling to Africa, but I still LOVE this place!!!

Our friendly "mousekeeping" greeter!

Cool mirror over our table filled with "stuff"

Ahh, the balcony....

Looking off in the distance...

Straight down in front of our window...

Who else did we see????

close up

I should mention that room 5455 is on the Zebra Trail and it's just past the elevator and on the wing that juts out to the right (on the map at least). It looks over the Uzima Savanna.
If I could figure out how to copy a map and circle the area, I would! Maybe I'll try later.

We got cleaned up and headed down to our dinner at Boma at 5:45. We loved it, even though DH's favorite ribs were not on the menu tonight. They must only do it on certain nights of the week. He still found plenty of meat to satisfy his carnivorous self! It was delicious and I do not have ANY pictures! I could show some pictures from last time ...

DH and the girls went swimming after dinner and I did laundry. We didn't have it in our room, but it was pretty close by, and free for DVC!!! (love those perks!). I went and watched at the pool.

We got back to the room around 8:45 and the kids got jammied up, watched some TV and DH and I ran down to poke around the gift shop for a few minutes. I had to scope out some potential souvenirs! I love the Zawadi Marketplace! I think it's one of the best resort gift shops ever!
And - side note - my SIL just found me an animal print Mickey head mug there (MEK enticed me!) - so I REALLY like it now!!!!

It appears that I still have to organize and upload some pictures to photobucket for the rest of the trip so I'll go do that and be back with more later!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Great pics Sheree!! I looove elephants and giraffes...so that is a + for staying there! I would never want to go to Africa either,..so I think that has been a negative for me considering staying there..but you are the 2nd person that I know personally that has stayed there this year and loooooved it!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great update Sheree!

I didn't get a great feeling for AKL/AKV when we visited it last year, but that room sure is beautiful and makes me want to stay there!! Great pictures!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I know what you mean, I have zero interest in traveling to Africa but I'm super excited to stay at AKL. What got me is when we went to Jiko in September, it reminds me a lot of the feeling I got staying at Wilderness Lodge, just cozy and relaxing.

I love the "drawings" by the sink, they are so super cute. I can't wait to show your pictures to my husband tonight, we are both so excited to stay at AKL!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Great pics Sheree!! I looove elephants and giraffes...so that is a + for staying there! I would never want to go to Africa either,..so I think that has been a negative for me considering staying there..but you are the 2nd person that I know personally that has stayed there this year and loooooved it!

I recommend AKL for lots of reasons. I'll try to point out all the cool things as I go. It is so unique even though all the resorts are awesome in some way, there's NOTHING like AKL.

Great update Sheree!

I didn't get a great feeling for AKL/AKV when we visited it last year, but that room sure is beautiful and makes me want to stay there!! Great pictures!

I think it has a top notch pool, CS, gift shop, 2 TS restaurants and some of the COOLEST activities! All the deluxes have fun kid activities around the pool etc., but when we stayed there in Dec 09, the kids made ornaments with ostrich egg shells! Where else could you do that? I think it gets overlooked or not considered b/c of it's location.

I know what you mean, I have zero interest in traveling to Africa but I'm super excited to stay at AKL. What got me is when we went to Jiko in September, it reminds me a lot of the feeling I got staying at Wilderness Lodge, just cozy and relaxing.

I love the "drawings" by the sink, they are so super cute. I can't wait to show your pictures to my husband tonight, we are both so excited to stay at AKL!!

I'll have more pictures LL!!! The day we left I just snapped away like crazy! (I didn't want to leave!) You and Marc will LOVE it!

Oh, just wait until you're sitting around the fire pit, or in a rocking chair, or hanging out in the pool!!! Very relaxing!!! Even the lobby is so open and spacious, that if there's a lot of people, it's still relaxing! It's an amazing place and I'm so happy we bought some DVC points there. I can't wait to have some $$$ to buy more...A few years away though.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Don't you just love looking out of you balcony and seeing the exotic animals? We sure enjoyed that when we stayed at Kidani a couple of years ago. We have decided that Jambo will be our final stay in our trip next June if we can get concierge level... We call for that before the end of the month!!!
I agree about the gift shop there, it's huge and has a great selection of merchandise!
Looking forward to more Jambo information!