Poohbr1965
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2001
- Messages
- 15
In case you missed the planning report...
Me (36) and mom (72), travelling with my friend from work and his 3 (now 2 ) friends. Three night Wonder cruise, then 6 nights at WDW. First Disney cruise for all...
Sunday, May 6
The drive from Port Canaveral was very nice and took about an hour. Arrived on Disney property about 10:15 and rode around a little. Got to the Animal Kingdom Lodge about 11:00. Valet parked and had our luggage stored. WOW! What an impressive resort! I was immediately blown away by the lobby, and so happy to be staying at this brand new resort (thanks to the DIS board). Walked right up to check in and CM Jonathan. He was very nice and helpful, which would turn out to be the norm for all the CMs here. He helped us find a great room...one where mom wouldn't have to walk too far and had a great view of the animals. Though everyone said Zebra Trail was the best view, he told me he had stayed in a room on Ostrich Trail a few weeks ago and thought the view here was even better. He got us all pre-booked. Made a Fantasmic dinner package PS at Brown Derby for Tuesday night (wanted Mama Melrose but it was all booked up). Also did a Boma dinner ressie for Wednesday night. I had already made all the other PS from home ages ago. We headed down to look at the pool...gorgeous (in my opinion, best pool on property next to YC/BC), restaurants, and to get our refillable mugs and first drinks at Mara. I think these mugs are the best deal on Disney property. Under $10, and even though we only ate lunch once at Mara, I got many sodas for by the pool and almost every night before bed. Probably had about 15 drinks in all. Mom loves coffee at night too, so she got one for that and drinks. We sat at the outside tables a bit looking at the hotel papers, then got the car from the valet and were off to the Marketplace.
Went to Wolfgang Pucks Express for pizzas (good, but I could only eat half of mine) and lemonade. I love lemonade, and this was the first one of the trip (none on cruise). No lemonade at AKL either...darn. Anyhow, after we ate (had to PAY for food) I went into the Christmas shop and looked around, then called about the room. It was ready (it was about 1:30). Stopped in a few more stores real quick and then headed to Goodings for bottled water and a few snacks. Wow...expensive store...
We valet parked again, and stopped at bell services for our luggage. We were in room 3134. The entrance/lobby (which looks very similar to Wilderness Lodge) is on the third floor, so we made the very first left as you come in the doors and went down the hall. The room was very nice. Now, you must know that mom was very apprehensive about staying here before we left. (This is the women who hated the Poly and thought the YC was just okay.) She thought it would be "too dark". Well, the bell person (who was from New Kensington PA...right outside of Pittsburgh...and the one valet was from Ellwood City...about an hour from here) showed us the room and I could tell she was impressed. The bathroom (with the outside sinks) was gorgeous, and the room was very pretty. It didn't seem small to me (but remember...we were coming from the ship...anything would look spacious). Went out on the balcony right away, and saw Bongo, Ankole cattle (and the 2 week old baby) and more. Cool...
We unpacked. Tom (my friend from work) called...they were checked in too. We made plans to visit the remaining 3 boys later. Right after I hung up, I was talking to mom, who was sitting in the chair. I glanced out the balcony door, and saw 2 giraffes practically staring in the room! Went out on the balcony, and one was eating, staring right at us. It was almost as if Disney had planned this. "Hey, giraffe...new people in room 3134...go say hi". She just stood and looked at us for the longest time. Giraffe are my favorites, so I was very excited. We saw them all the time from our room. Too cool.
I headed down to the pool for about an hour and a half (took my mug of course). It was a gorgeous day...sunny, but not too hot. This would be the norm for the entire week. We had a 5 minute drizzle one day, that was it. Much better weather than on the cruise. Oh well, can't win them all. The pool was great...not very crowded at all (never was the entire week), but as only about half the rooms were open at this time I suspect that will change. This was really an excellenct time to stay here. Layed out, swam, wrote my Wonder postcards (tee hee..."having a great time here on the ship") and looked at some of the other savannahs. Hit the hot tub too. HOT! I prefered the other one (the more secluded one behind the bar) the rest of the trip.
I made my first call to the kennel from the room. My Belle was doing fine (eating well and all), but wasn't really socializing with the other dogs. I knew that would happen. The little snob...she's more of a "people" dog.
Showered and left the room by 6:00. Drove right to 192...wow...it is close. Headed back in to Old Key West. The boys ahve a 2 bedroom suite...it was fabulous! From a tiny stateroom for 4 to 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, 3 tvs for 3 people. What a difference. They asked how mom liked AKL, and she said it was great! Wow...what a relief. She actually likes something at Disney! Mom more or less goes on these trips for me...she could take it or leave it. Don't get me wrong, she ends up enjoying herself, but can complain about things a lot. Sigh...
We rode them over to their dinner resort (they were eating at Narcosse's...mom and I were dining alone tonight), and headed over to the Poly. We went to the Kona Cafe. We had dinner here the last trip, and liked it (which seems to be the exception for mom and I at Disney). Had some kind of froo-froo tropical drink (yummy), steak terriyaki (and I only had to send it back once...a miracle for me), and mom and I split wonderful seafood pot stickers and a tangerine creme brulee for dessert. Everything was good. We took a round trip ride on the monorail just for fun, and saw some of the water pageant from the monorail (is this thing exactly the same as it was when I first saw it in 1972? I think so). Headed back around 9:30. Also looked at the new Poly pool...nice, but I like ours better.
Dropped mom off and just parked this time (got the first space right in front...excellent). We looked in the store, which has lots of cool stuff. The usual theme park items and sundries, but so much cool African art, clothing, and jewelry.. Different from most resort shops...I suggest you check it out. Headed down to Mara for our sodas and a snack for the room. Showered, wrote trip notes, and watched "The Practice". I was a little dissapointed with the view at night...I had heard so much about the artifical moonlight and how you could see the animals at night, but we couldn't see anything. Oh well, the daytime view made up for it. Headed to bed around midnight.
Tomorrow...EPCOT and dinner at Jiko...
Lynne
Me (36) and mom (72), travelling with my friend from work and his 3 (now 2 ) friends. Three night Wonder cruise, then 6 nights at WDW. First Disney cruise for all...
Sunday, May 6
The drive from Port Canaveral was very nice and took about an hour. Arrived on Disney property about 10:15 and rode around a little. Got to the Animal Kingdom Lodge about 11:00. Valet parked and had our luggage stored. WOW! What an impressive resort! I was immediately blown away by the lobby, and so happy to be staying at this brand new resort (thanks to the DIS board). Walked right up to check in and CM Jonathan. He was very nice and helpful, which would turn out to be the norm for all the CMs here. He helped us find a great room...one where mom wouldn't have to walk too far and had a great view of the animals. Though everyone said Zebra Trail was the best view, he told me he had stayed in a room on Ostrich Trail a few weeks ago and thought the view here was even better. He got us all pre-booked. Made a Fantasmic dinner package PS at Brown Derby for Tuesday night (wanted Mama Melrose but it was all booked up). Also did a Boma dinner ressie for Wednesday night. I had already made all the other PS from home ages ago. We headed down to look at the pool...gorgeous (in my opinion, best pool on property next to YC/BC), restaurants, and to get our refillable mugs and first drinks at Mara. I think these mugs are the best deal on Disney property. Under $10, and even though we only ate lunch once at Mara, I got many sodas for by the pool and almost every night before bed. Probably had about 15 drinks in all. Mom loves coffee at night too, so she got one for that and drinks. We sat at the outside tables a bit looking at the hotel papers, then got the car from the valet and were off to the Marketplace.
Went to Wolfgang Pucks Express for pizzas (good, but I could only eat half of mine) and lemonade. I love lemonade, and this was the first one of the trip (none on cruise). No lemonade at AKL either...darn. Anyhow, after we ate (had to PAY for food) I went into the Christmas shop and looked around, then called about the room. It was ready (it was about 1:30). Stopped in a few more stores real quick and then headed to Goodings for bottled water and a few snacks. Wow...expensive store...
We valet parked again, and stopped at bell services for our luggage. We were in room 3134. The entrance/lobby (which looks very similar to Wilderness Lodge) is on the third floor, so we made the very first left as you come in the doors and went down the hall. The room was very nice. Now, you must know that mom was very apprehensive about staying here before we left. (This is the women who hated the Poly and thought the YC was just okay.) She thought it would be "too dark". Well, the bell person (who was from New Kensington PA...right outside of Pittsburgh...and the one valet was from Ellwood City...about an hour from here) showed us the room and I could tell she was impressed. The bathroom (with the outside sinks) was gorgeous, and the room was very pretty. It didn't seem small to me (but remember...we were coming from the ship...anything would look spacious). Went out on the balcony right away, and saw Bongo, Ankole cattle (and the 2 week old baby) and more. Cool...
We unpacked. Tom (my friend from work) called...they were checked in too. We made plans to visit the remaining 3 boys later. Right after I hung up, I was talking to mom, who was sitting in the chair. I glanced out the balcony door, and saw 2 giraffes practically staring in the room! Went out on the balcony, and one was eating, staring right at us. It was almost as if Disney had planned this. "Hey, giraffe...new people in room 3134...go say hi". She just stood and looked at us for the longest time. Giraffe are my favorites, so I was very excited. We saw them all the time from our room. Too cool.
I headed down to the pool for about an hour and a half (took my mug of course). It was a gorgeous day...sunny, but not too hot. This would be the norm for the entire week. We had a 5 minute drizzle one day, that was it. Much better weather than on the cruise. Oh well, can't win them all. The pool was great...not very crowded at all (never was the entire week), but as only about half the rooms were open at this time I suspect that will change. This was really an excellenct time to stay here. Layed out, swam, wrote my Wonder postcards (tee hee..."having a great time here on the ship") and looked at some of the other savannahs. Hit the hot tub too. HOT! I prefered the other one (the more secluded one behind the bar) the rest of the trip.
I made my first call to the kennel from the room. My Belle was doing fine (eating well and all), but wasn't really socializing with the other dogs. I knew that would happen. The little snob...she's more of a "people" dog.
Showered and left the room by 6:00. Drove right to 192...wow...it is close. Headed back in to Old Key West. The boys ahve a 2 bedroom suite...it was fabulous! From a tiny stateroom for 4 to 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, 3 tvs for 3 people. What a difference. They asked how mom liked AKL, and she said it was great! Wow...what a relief. She actually likes something at Disney! Mom more or less goes on these trips for me...she could take it or leave it. Don't get me wrong, she ends up enjoying herself, but can complain about things a lot. Sigh...
We rode them over to their dinner resort (they were eating at Narcosse's...mom and I were dining alone tonight), and headed over to the Poly. We went to the Kona Cafe. We had dinner here the last trip, and liked it (which seems to be the exception for mom and I at Disney). Had some kind of froo-froo tropical drink (yummy), steak terriyaki (and I only had to send it back once...a miracle for me), and mom and I split wonderful seafood pot stickers and a tangerine creme brulee for dessert. Everything was good. We took a round trip ride on the monorail just for fun, and saw some of the water pageant from the monorail (is this thing exactly the same as it was when I first saw it in 1972? I think so). Headed back around 9:30. Also looked at the new Poly pool...nice, but I like ours better.
Dropped mom off and just parked this time (got the first space right in front...excellent). We looked in the store, which has lots of cool stuff. The usual theme park items and sundries, but so much cool African art, clothing, and jewelry.. Different from most resort shops...I suggest you check it out. Headed down to Mara for our sodas and a snack for the room. Showered, wrote trip notes, and watched "The Practice". I was a little dissapointed with the view at night...I had heard so much about the artifical moonlight and how you could see the animals at night, but we couldn't see anything. Oh well, the daytime view made up for it. Headed to bed around midnight.
Tomorrow...EPCOT and dinner at Jiko...
Lynne
