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DAY
7: Thursday,
May 8th |
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called bright and early to wake us up. Mel and Justin were leaving
today and Joe and I would be moving to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I
called Mel to make sure they were awake and had finished packing.
We planned to meet and take some photos around the resort. Mel is
an awesome photographer and I was excited to get some professional
shots done around this beautiful resort. We started over by the
Dig Site. The pool was closed, but we asked if we could sneak in a
take a few shots and the cast member said no problem. The water
wasn’t flowing down the pyramid yet and I kept hoping it
wouldn’t start while we were sitting there!! Mel took some shots
around the gardens and then we went to finish up at the lagoon
outside our room. |
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She
took a great picture of me in the hammock and got one of Joe doing
a GQ pose on a rock. (MEL – I’m still waiting for copies of
your pictures!!!!) We called for our bags to be picked up and
waited for the porter to arrive. We planned to say goodbye to Mel
and Justin in the lobby. They had to officially check out as they
were due a refund on the traveler’s checks they had deposited. |
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We
decided to call a cab to take us directly to AKL, I couldn’t
wait any longer to get there!! Our cab showed up before the
Tiffany driver, so we said goodbye and were off. Our luggage was
scheduled to arrive around 3:00, so I had packed a beach bag of
stuff for the morning. |
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| Animal
Kingdom Lodge |
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As
the cab pulled into the entrance to the lodge, it really looked
like we were going on a safari. The entrance to the lodge wasn’t
as big as I had imagined, but I remembered (from the travel
channel special) that this was actually the third floor of the
resort. We hopped out of the cab and right up to the front desk.
There was no line! The cast member called over to another desk and
we were shown up to the sixth floor for check-in with the
concierge. It was early (8:30 am) and the cast member helping us
didn’t appear to be totally awake yet. Our room wasn’t ready
and she had no idea what room we might get or when it would be
available? I got the feeling she wanted us to go away and come
back later. She gave us a package of material and since we had
UHPs for today still on our CSR cards, she would finish checking
us in later. I was really disappointed in the service and this was
supposed to be concierge! Joe and I grabbed some coffee and snacks
from the lounge for breakfast. We took a map from a table near the
desk and decided to explore the resort before heading to Blizzard
Beach. |
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We
took the elevators back down to the lobby and looked around. We
wanted a closer look at the pool, so we got back on the elevator
and went to the first floor. The layout of this place was going to
take some getting use to. The pool area was nice, but it seemed
really small. With only one pool I was expecting something larger.
The water looked really dirty, but Joe explained that it was meant
to look that way because of the color of the concrete. Oh, okay.
The tiki bar here was large and we stopped to see what specialty
drinks they offered. We went back inside to try to find our way to
Arusha Rock. We took the elevator up and then walked through the
lobby and down some stairs and outside. We passed the fire pit and
then out to the rock. There were no animals in sight, so we spent
a few minutes talking to one of the guides and she explained some
of the animal patterns to us. We spied a few zebras and “cows”
hanging out in the shade towards the back of the property. It was
too hot for us out here and I could only imagine how hot those
animals must have been. |
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Blizzard Beach |
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We
made our way back through the lobby in search of the bus stop. AKL
only has one bus stop, which is really nice. We waited about 15
minutes before our bus came. It was a very quick ride to Blizzard
Beach. The park had already opened so there was no line to get in.
We found a couple of lounge chairs and then decided we should
start off at the bar. It was early, but we were on vacation right?
The bartender here made my “top 5 cast members this trip”
list. There weren’t many customers, so she spent time just
chatting with us about Disney, Orlando, her job, etc. She had
worked at Disney for about 7 years, and it was really interesting
to hear her perspective of things. It was also nice that every
time she made a frozen drink and had a bit left over she would put
it in a cup for Joe and I! By the time we got up from the bar
stools I was sure I would drown if we went near the water. The
wave pool would be a safe place to start. |
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The
waves at Blizzard beach are much more relaxing that those at
Typhoon Lagoon. The park wasn’t very crowded, so we decided to
head for the slides. I love the racing slides. We had lunch and
then went back in the wave pool for a bit. |
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Our Room |
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At
2:00 we took the bus back to AKL. We returned to the concierge
desk to find two new cast members. Our room was ready! Yeah! Maybe
Thursday is a bad day up on the lounge, but we still were not
impressed at all with the staff here. Our room (5419) was on the
Zebra trail. The location was fantastic!! We opened the door and
were greeted by a strong African scent. I didn’t know if it was
from the guests prior to us, or what, but it made both Joe and I
really sick. I asked the bellman and he indicated that it was part
of the themeing at AKL. For the rest of our stay we had to keep
our slider open at all times to try to air out the place. |
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The
bathroom was gorgeous. I liked that it was private and separate
from the sleeping area. We had a queen bed, bunkbeds, and a pull
out couch. You could have slept 6 people in there, but all that
furniture was a bit excessive for just the two of us. It made the
room feel really claustrophobic. The lighting in the room was low,
but I liked the mood it created. The view from our balcony was
exactly what I had hoped for! We could see Arusha Rock and pretty
much the entire inner circle of the resort. We found the chart of
animals at the lodge and were able to pick out about 5 species
right away. |
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The
smell in our room was really making both Joe and I sick, so after
unpacking a little, we went down to the pool. It was about 4:00
and we stopped at Boma to ask if we should make PS for later that
night. We wanted to eat at around 7:30-8:00. The hostess said that
seating wouldn’t be a problem that late so we left without
making a reservation. |
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We
went outside and found that the pool area was mobbed. You could
walk around in the water, but there was no room to swim or float.
In most areas you couldn’t even put your arm out without hitting
someone. The bar was also crowded. AKL seems like a very family
friendly resort, but we really missed CSR. I couldn’t believe
that I was more impressed with a moderate over a deluxe!!
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BOMA |
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When
we returned to our room the smell had definitely gone down. I
climbed up to the top bunk and took a quick nap. I hadn’t slept
on a bunk bed in like 20 years! At 7:30 we got ready to head down
to dinner. The waiting area in front of Boma was really crowded. I
talked to the hostess and she said it would be a two-hour wait! I
reminded her that just a few hours ago she told me NOT to make a
PS and it would be no problem to eat at 8:00. She apologized, but
said that there was nothing she could do now. She gave us a beeper
and said to check back in around 9:00. We went to sit at the bar
overlooking Boma while we waited. I figured I could use a few
drinks at that point. |
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At
9:15 our buzzer still hadn’t gone off. We walked down to the
waiting area to find it empty. Since we didn’t have a PS we were
the last on the list for the night. Finally we were seated.
Thankfully it was a buffet, so we didn’t have to wait to order
food. Joe and I tried a little bit of everything. It was much
different than anything we had eaten before. I’m glad we tried
it, but we probably wouldn’t eat there again. |
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We
returned to our room and sat on the balcony and tried to spot the
animals in the dark. This balcony was the whole reason for staying
at AKL and I loved it.
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