The Golden Girls Do Disney! ~ FINISHED!!

[micandminforever]

The pictures of the CL were great. Everyone looked as if they were having a great time.

 

[Tink rules]

Thanks Elin! I always like to see what all of that looks like...

 

[Angel16]

Hi Elin, I finally got caught up. What a great T.R. I am so enjoying your photos and the joyful time the three of you had. Your photography is really good, quite a photographer you are. I sound like Yoda in that sentence, but I'm leaving it.

I love your early morning pictures, especially the sunrise. Makes me want to get up Early on our trip. But, we come from the west coast, that three hour time difference is a kick in the rear.

Thank you for sharing, we will all be here when you have the time and energy to work on your report. By the way, are we going to both be at the world together for F&W?



Angel16

 

[PNO4TE]

I'm back!

When last I left you we were turning in for the night because we had the Sunrise Safari booked for our last morning.

No problems getting up and getting going at all for the three of us. In fact, we were in very goofy moods!

We soon met our guides:

And discovered that Lindsay was to be "ours" for the day!

I was very impressed with the ease in handling our passes and security check. The club lounge computers were down so all tickets were taken with the promise that they would be returned at breakfast (they were). Having a security guard at the buses is also a time saver.

Soon our two buses were off for our backstage entrance into the AK. The barns for the animals are massive and the care that is given to all the animals on the savannas both at AK and at AKL is impressive. This is a state of the art zoological facility and the keepers are rightfully respected worldwide.

As for the safari... it was over and hour and half. We saw things and heard stories one never hears on the regular attraction. Learning about the care of the animals as well as why they are kept apart or taken into the barns at night and seeing them early in the morning is not to be missed. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

This guy was having a ball rolling in a mud pit!

Happily sleeping on their air-conditioned rocks!

We were too soon finished and left to go to breakfast. What a gorgeous morning we had already!

 

[PNO4TE]

We were hungry! I have never eaten any meal at Pizzafari so this would be something completely different to me too.

The tiles in the bathrooms at AK are just a small example of why we keep coming back to WDW. Disney thinks of everything, don't they??

And then there are the light fixtures (I am obsessed with them all over the World...)

And the murals on the wall in the dining room where we were eating:

When we arrived the chef came out to greet us and to tell us what all was being offered on the buffet.

Everything was delicious!

And we had photo ops:

This is a not to be missed tour. We were so impressed with the value ($65) that I came home and booked two rooms at AKL-CL for our annual family Christmas trip. I can't wait to show this to Bob and our daughters!

Next up... a morning at Disney's Animal Kingdom!

 

[PNO4TE]

After we finished breakfast we decided to see if we could make the next showing of "The Lion King" and we did! This show makes me cry every single time. It had the same effect on Ann.

I have to make a comment here about the affect of the economy on Disney World. I think we would all pretty much agree that it has hit them in many ways (I already mentioned the fewer lounge offerings this trip). We have noticed it during out Christmas trips in that the resorts no longer put gift bags on the door of every room and Epcot did not erect the beloved Lights of Winter. By far the biggest change I have seen in the past two years is at this show. I would estimate that there are half the performers that there used to be. The entrance of all the "animals" near the beginning of the show used to be so powerful, partly due to the music, but also because of the sheer numbers of characters that came onstage from the wings. That is not the case any more. I did ask Ann and Nackie if they had any thoughts on this and neither one seemed concerned, so to the casual guest it is apparently not an issue.

Onto another favorite!

And then some general exploring:

Next up on our jam-packed day... Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian!

 

[PNO4TE]

The three of us have tea together every month or so. We have two tea shops here in Fredericksburg that do a fine job with this activity. But no one can go to WDW and NOT do tea at the Grand!

 

[PNO4TE]

We decided to head back over to Epcot to catch some photos of the Flower and Garden Festival before we needed to leave for the MK and our Wishes Fireworks Dessert Buffet.

Check out the sky (cue foreboding music here...)

We decided to stop into the American Pavilion and see the show there. Again, it always makes me cry. And it got to Ann too. We were both soggy when we left!

 

[PNO4TE]

When we came out we started to have our doubts about our evening plans.

The wind picked up and sky kept getting darker and darker. We picked up the pace because I really didn't want to be caught in the middle of Epcot during a thunderstorm.

We didn't make it out! The lightning started and the rain came in sheets. We got soaked getting to the bus stop. We also knew we weren't going to make it to the Magic Kingdom that night.

We made lemonade, however, and stopped into Zawadi to finish our gift shopping. After drying off in our rooms we met back in the lounge for a snack and a drink and some last photos.

As we were talking to the Cast Members in the lounge they discovered that we had been unable to do the Dessert Buffet that evening. Imagine my delight when the concierge came over to our table with a receipt for the credit for the tickets! I had not expected that at all. What a nice surprise!

We needed to go back to our rooms to finish our packing. Before we did however, we determined that we will be back again next year. It will also be a longer trip. Nackie wants to close the school for a week while we go! Or, she wants me to plan a trip for the entire school. We have about 400 students. She thinks I am a miracle worker.

There is some discussion as to whether it will be at AKL (Nackie's vote) or a different resort (Ann's vote). The sunrise safari was amazing and the AKL CL staff is superb. If I could find another resort with all the perks we have at AKL I would book us there and present them with another view of what I love Walt Disney World so much. They did begin to understand that I don't come to ride the rides. I come because it is magical. Nackie tried to get me to book the Bounceback for our December trip. I told her I needed to check my calendar and the school calendar before I could really commit to dates and she pulled out her phone to check the calendar. She quickly told me that I should book from 12/17/10 through 12/26/10 and not worry about the school calendar and my recitals (remember... she is my boss! ). I didn't do it anyway. But I don't think I will ever have a problem taking time off for my WDW trips. As it turned out, our daughter Kristin checked two weeks later and there were no CL rooms available anyway. So I booked us at rack rate with every hope that there will be an AP discount available!!

I told you that Nackie loves giraffes. We decided that the best photo to end this TR with was of her in the giraffe shirt sitting on the giraffe carpet!

Thanks for reading along!!

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

No.....Thank You!!

Great trip report It's cool to really see the animals at AKL. I've visited AKL 2 times and NEVER saw 1 animal

 

[lissiesmum]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us! All I have to say is WOW on the sunrise safari...those are the most beautiful pictures ever Glad you had a great stay!

 

[PNO4TE]

No.....Thank You!!

Great trip report It's cool to really see the animals at AKL. I've visited AKL 2 times and NEVER saw 1 animal

Thank you for sharing your trip with us! All I have to say is WOW on the sunrise safari...those are the most beautiful pictures ever Glad you had a great stay!

Thanks, ladies!

KYCruiseCrazy... Did you ever go out the back doors and down onto the overlook? I have never NOT seen animals!

 

[swwake]

Great report and pics, Elin! I am now SO excited for our sunrise safari! Sorry you had to miss the dessert, but so glad to hear that you got a refund! That just means you have another reason to go back!

 

[John's Mom]

Another great trip report and awesome pics!

So when can we look forward to your next pre-trippie?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

You were very busy ladies on your last day!

The Sunrise Safari is fabulous. Tim was our guide 2 years ago, and Lindsay was our guide last year. No CL for us this year, so no safari.

I hadn't noticed the reduction in staff at the Lion King show, but we haven't seen it very many times overall. I think maybe 3 or 4 times in the past 6 years.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Thanks, ladies!

KYCruiseCrazy... Did you ever go out the back doors and down onto the overlook? I have never NOT seen animals!

I'm a Dad And yes, we went outside and found out, both times, they were cleaning or something like that. What ever it was the animals we NOT in there.

 

[micandminforever]

Great Report!! I loved all the pictures.

 

[PNO4TE]

KY Cruiser... my most sincere apologies! I should have looked more carefully at your signature and I would have known you were a dad!! I am so sorry that you have never seen animals while visiting the Lodge. Every Christmas morning after breakfast at Boma my husband spends about 30 miunutes sitting on a rocking chair at the lookout area just staring at the animals on the savanna. I hope the next trip to AKL you will also find those animals.

 

[Angel16]

Elin, Great trip report. I so enjoyed all your pictures and little details you shared.

I thought the Sunrise Safari breakfast would be back at Tusker House by now? Are they still working on that building? We did the SS 5-6 years ago. It was wonderful, but not as much detail of the animal barns and care of the animals. Just may have to do it on this next trip.

Giraffes are my favorite too, wonder where Nackie got her shirt?

Thank you for the wonderful TR. Looking forward to your next one.



Angel16

 

[PNO4TE]

Elin, Great trip report. I so enjoyed all your pictures and little details you shared.

I thought the Sunrise Safari breakfast would be back at Tusker House by now? Are they still working on that building? We did the SS 5-6 years ago. It was wonderful, but not as much detail of the animal barns and care of the animals. Just may have to do it on this next trip.

Giraffes are my favorite too, wonder where Nackie got her shirt?

Thank you for the wonderful TR. Looking forward to your next one.



Angel16

Thanks, Angel. I don't think there are any plans top move the Sunrise Safari breakfast back to Tusker House. Sadly, that restaurant has completely changed since they opened it as a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don't see how they could handle it anymore.