lenshanem
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2002
- Messages
- 8,930
Hello to everyone! Just got back from AKL this past Sunday, 7/27. This was my second trip to this resort, I booked the FTP and went with my mom and my two little girls. (I went with my husband in May with my girls.)
Our room location was better this trip. None of that human holding pit view with a giraffe a million miles away! LOL Instead we had a pool view and it was right next to the elevators, lobby level. Quick access to the Mara for mug refills and the pool. Room number was 3436. It was also right next to a large viewing window looking onto the main savannah, zebra trail.
Front desk was not quite as friendly it seemed, the three times I had to go there they were a little rude. Mom wondered where was that Disney service?!? I had planned a loose itinerary with some PSs, but it quickly went out the window from the start! LOL Oldest was a little more daring and rode the Haunted Mansion several times (discovered the wedding ring), along with Goofy's Barnstormer. Huge progress here. She even did Its Tough to be a Bug and thought it was funny! We couldnt get her to even go near that tree last attempt. Rained everyday, HUGE. Hot and crowded, but no surprise there. I thought the crowds got larger as the week went by.
Saturday Checked in (We stayed at a Holiday Inn the night before.) and then we went to Epcot. My mom hated it and we left after only a few hours. She said she was bored out of her mind. Thought it needed much improvement. Last trip she had to WDW was for New Years 1999/2000. Anyone know what is up with the empty tank in Living Seas? It was empty in May, too. We watched the fountains for awhile. Amazed at all the people walking past it and not giving it a second glance. Takes a lot to impress people these days I suppose? So we went back to AKL to swim and I missed trying out Mission Space even if given the chance. I think I'd get sick anyway. LOL
Sunday Early entry to MK. Good move! We breezed through all of Fantasyland and most of the park before the afternoon parade. Finally discovered the Dole Whip float. We ended up buying three between myself, Mom and my girls! Oh my!
We then left to swim.
Monday TL. Had a blast! Really enjoyed ourselves. Spent most of the day there, then headed back to AKL. As we were leaving they announced on the intercom that a huge storm was coming in 30 minutes! Good timing by us I guess. By this point we were already sick of the Mara so we called and got into WLs Canyon Cafe. It was a hit and my oldest got ketchup duty. Very fun, but I felt terrible! I had talked my husband out of buying VWL instead for BCV. I had forgotten how cool WL is. Felt like I made a HUGE mistake all night! Caught Spectro that night, too. Walked up last second and got a great spot near the exit. Quite lucky. Spectro is a fav of mine
Tuesday Too busy! My Dad flew down and joined us. We went to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. The characters were fab! Plus, gotta love that strawberry soup. I was happy to see it was on the breakfast buffet as well! Then off to MK (Finally a trip when Carousel of Progress was running again! Got a huge laugh out of the dad's eyes not working correctly on one scene!), then to BCV for Member Day. My mom and dad made me feel much better about our purchase. She liked BCV better than VWL, thought WL was too dark. Dad loved SAB. I still think we need to add on at VWL now, though! Got some lanyards from doing some member challenge card. Was quite a pain! It was very crowed cause I guess they thought it was going to rain so everything was inside BCV. Girls got to see Goofy and Donald, but then we left after touring the models. Just too crowded. We walked to Epcot and ate at Morocco. Bad waitress took forever
I think I have that curse or something. Youngest loved the belly dancer, though. Public bathrooms next to Morocco were the worst I have ever seen at WDW. Im guessing at least 15 stalls? None had toilet paper, several were clogged, no paper towels and trash piled on the floor from days ago? My mom and I were totally blown away. My dad hunted down a CM and they called for someone to come clean. What a mess! Very disappointing! Thank goodness IllumiNations lit back up my life! LOL Great, great show. It gives me the chills each time. Just love that music!
Wednesday Boma for breakfast. Hit with parents, oldest daughter broke out in hives! (She is allergic to peanuts and nuts.) We only ate what the chef said was safe, Im assuming it was a cross contamination problem. Luckily it was mild and Benadryl did the trick without any need for the EpiPen! We spent the day at AK, including the parade. Had a nice time and got to see the baby elephant on the safari. Noticed birdie isnt flying during the Lion King show? Anyone know about that? Tarzan impressed my parents big time. Then we went back to swim again. Oldest obsessed over the slide. I think she made a new record?
Thursday MGM. Had a nice time, ate lunch at Sci-Fi. Kids really love that place. Finally bought the glowing ice cubes. Long lunch, though. Took two hours for the whole experience. Did the Backstage tour. What is up with that? They should just give it up! LOL It gets lamer each year! Managed ToT fast pass with Dad. So much fun! Didnt catch the changes? Anyone? Dad had to catch flight soon after so we split. Went and got the girls those expensive temporary tattoos near Muppets. Such a simple thing, but so cool to them. (Luckily, I was able to talk them out of the hair wraps. I think next trip Ill have to give in.) Tried to stay for Fantasmic, but there was a lot of lightening and the girls were scared. Went back to AKL to sleep!
Friday BB. Crowded and not clean! Saw so much trash while riding the lazy river. I like TL so much better. (It has been years since Ive been to either and it was prekids.) BB had better kids slides, but TL just seemed so much nicer even if it is older. Saw a snake sliver into the lazy river while at BB. It was quite freaky! Everyone was screaming, but a man grabbed it and threw it out. How brave!
I was a little on edge after that! Family raft ride huge hit even with my 2 ½ year old. Fun! Went back to AKL and a HUGE storm hit. We finally did a kids activity at AKL. The girls collected cool beads for a necklace. As the rain cleared a bit we decided to try for Fantamic again. By the time we got to MGM it was pouring again. We opted for 50s Prime Time and finished off the meal with smores. Peanut free! Missed Fantasmic again, though!
Saturday Last day. Very sad. Longer trips are the way to go! We went to MK to ride our fav rides again and finally gave in and let my oldest eat the Mickey ice cream after reading the ingredients on it like ten times and asking every CM at an ice cream cart if it was safe for her to eat. After a couple CMs told me that they were trained to know which ones were peanut free I got brave and we all got one. It was HEAVEN. No problems and she loved it. Wow, the chocolate is wonderful! Went to Chef Mickeys for dinner. Chef was fab and walked through the whole buffet with me pointing out dishes my daughter should avoid. After we were STUFFED, we went back to AKL to swim. We didnt want to get out! We had put our swimsuits in a locker and once we finished swimming we headed out to a Holiday Inn. Very sad.
Never got to DTD. Really wanted to check out that Basin store. It is amazing how long we were there, but how little we got done. Looking forward to our Christmas trip at VWL!
Our room location was better this trip. None of that human holding pit view with a giraffe a million miles away! LOL Instead we had a pool view and it was right next to the elevators, lobby level. Quick access to the Mara for mug refills and the pool. Room number was 3436. It was also right next to a large viewing window looking onto the main savannah, zebra trail.
Front desk was not quite as friendly it seemed, the three times I had to go there they were a little rude. Mom wondered where was that Disney service?!? I had planned a loose itinerary with some PSs, but it quickly went out the window from the start! LOL Oldest was a little more daring and rode the Haunted Mansion several times (discovered the wedding ring), along with Goofy's Barnstormer. Huge progress here. She even did Its Tough to be a Bug and thought it was funny! We couldnt get her to even go near that tree last attempt. Rained everyday, HUGE. Hot and crowded, but no surprise there. I thought the crowds got larger as the week went by.
Saturday Checked in (We stayed at a Holiday Inn the night before.) and then we went to Epcot. My mom hated it and we left after only a few hours. She said she was bored out of her mind. Thought it needed much improvement. Last trip she had to WDW was for New Years 1999/2000. Anyone know what is up with the empty tank in Living Seas? It was empty in May, too. We watched the fountains for awhile. Amazed at all the people walking past it and not giving it a second glance. Takes a lot to impress people these days I suppose? So we went back to AKL to swim and I missed trying out Mission Space even if given the chance. I think I'd get sick anyway. LOL
Sunday Early entry to MK. Good move! We breezed through all of Fantasyland and most of the park before the afternoon parade. Finally discovered the Dole Whip float. We ended up buying three between myself, Mom and my girls! Oh my!
We then left to swim. Monday TL. Had a blast! Really enjoyed ourselves. Spent most of the day there, then headed back to AKL. As we were leaving they announced on the intercom that a huge storm was coming in 30 minutes! Good timing by us I guess. By this point we were already sick of the Mara so we called and got into WLs Canyon Cafe. It was a hit and my oldest got ketchup duty. Very fun, but I felt terrible! I had talked my husband out of buying VWL instead for BCV. I had forgotten how cool WL is. Felt like I made a HUGE mistake all night! Caught Spectro that night, too. Walked up last second and got a great spot near the exit. Quite lucky. Spectro is a fav of mine
Tuesday Too busy! My Dad flew down and joined us. We went to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. The characters were fab! Plus, gotta love that strawberry soup. I was happy to see it was on the breakfast buffet as well! Then off to MK (Finally a trip when Carousel of Progress was running again! Got a huge laugh out of the dad's eyes not working correctly on one scene!), then to BCV for Member Day. My mom and dad made me feel much better about our purchase. She liked BCV better than VWL, thought WL was too dark. Dad loved SAB. I still think we need to add on at VWL now, though!
Got some lanyards from doing some member challenge card. Was quite a pain! It was very crowed cause I guess they thought it was going to rain so everything was inside BCV. Girls got to see Goofy and Donald, but then we left after touring the models. Just too crowded. We walked to Epcot and ate at Morocco. Bad waitress took forever
I think I have that curse or something. Youngest loved the belly dancer, though. Public bathrooms next to Morocco were the worst I have ever seen at WDW. Im guessing at least 15 stalls? None had toilet paper, several were clogged, no paper towels and trash piled on the floor from days ago? My mom and I were totally blown away. My dad hunted down a CM and they called for someone to come clean. What a mess! Very disappointing! Thank goodness IllumiNations lit back up my life! LOL Great, great show. It gives me the chills each time. Just love that music!Wednesday Boma for breakfast. Hit with parents, oldest daughter broke out in hives! (She is allergic to peanuts and nuts.) We only ate what the chef said was safe, Im assuming it was a cross contamination problem. Luckily it was mild and Benadryl did the trick without any need for the EpiPen! We spent the day at AK, including the parade. Had a nice time and got to see the baby elephant on the safari. Noticed birdie isnt flying during the Lion King show? Anyone know about that? Tarzan impressed my parents big time. Then we went back to swim again. Oldest obsessed over the slide. I think she made a new record?
Thursday MGM. Had a nice time, ate lunch at Sci-Fi. Kids really love that place. Finally bought the glowing ice cubes. Long lunch, though. Took two hours for the whole experience. Did the Backstage tour. What is up with that? They should just give it up! LOL
It gets lamer each year! Managed ToT fast pass with Dad. So much fun! Didnt catch the changes? Anyone? Dad had to catch flight soon after so we split. Went and got the girls those expensive temporary tattoos near Muppets. Such a simple thing, but so cool to them. (Luckily, I was able to talk them out of the hair wraps. I think next trip Ill have to give in.) Tried to stay for Fantasmic, but there was a lot of lightening and the girls were scared. Went back to AKL to sleep!Friday BB. Crowded and not clean! Saw so much trash while riding the lazy river. I like TL so much better. (It has been years since Ive been to either and it was prekids.) BB had better kids slides, but TL just seemed so much nicer even if it is older. Saw a snake sliver into the lazy river while at BB. It was quite freaky! Everyone was screaming, but a man grabbed it and threw it out. How brave!
I was a little on edge after that! Family raft ride huge hit even with my 2 ½ year old. Fun! Went back to AKL and a HUGE storm hit. We finally did a kids activity at AKL. The girls collected cool beads for a necklace. As the rain cleared a bit we decided to try for Fantamic again. By the time we got to MGM it was pouring again. We opted for 50s Prime Time and finished off the meal with smores. Peanut free! Missed Fantasmic again, though! Saturday Last day. Very sad. Longer trips are the way to go! We went to MK to ride our fav rides again and finally gave in and let my oldest eat the Mickey ice cream after reading the ingredients on it like ten times and asking every CM at an ice cream cart if it was safe for her to eat. After a couple CMs told me that they were trained to know which ones were peanut free I got brave and we all got one. It was HEAVEN. No problems and she loved it. Wow, the chocolate is wonderful! Went to Chef Mickeys for dinner. Chef was fab and walked through the whole buffet with me pointing out dishes my daughter should avoid. After we were STUFFED, we went back to AKL to swim. We didnt want to get out! We had put our swimsuits in a locker and once we finished swimming we headed out to a Holiday Inn. Very sad.
Never got to DTD. Really wanted to check out that Basin store. It is amazing how long we were there, but how little we got done. Looking forward to our Christmas trip at VWL!
