KJSJpipe - September 19- 27, 2009 at Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House Room- 5331

Travel dates: September 19-27, 2009
Travel method: Southwest Airlines & DME
Resort: Animal Kingdom Lodge- Jambo House
Accommodations: Studio Room # 5331
Ages Represented in Group: 36 (me) & 37 (DH), 13 (DD), 10 (DS)
Experience Represented in Group: Experienced DVC members
Comments: We are celebrating Sarah’s 13th Birthday (9/20) and Our 16th Anniversary (9/25) on this trip.
Cast of characters: Me- Katrina, DH- Jimmy, DD- Sarah & DS- Jamie (aka the boy)

Planning the trip:
We have not told the kids when we are going. The only thing they know is that this year would have been an October trip except that we had to much going on that month. So they know we are going between now (July) and October. Sarah is positive that we will be going in September since I have said I would not go in the summer again-way too humid. She also knows that I can not take a vacation in November or December because of my job at The Disney Store She is hoping for her birthday, September 20. I plan to tell them when it is 60 days out from the trip.

So we are now under 60 days and the kids have finally been told when we are going. We gave Sarah a Minnie Mouse holding a Birthday Wand and the boy got a Perry the Platypus. At first they were not sure what it meant. So I asked DD if Minnie is going to wish you a Happy Birthday how would that happen? ….OH!!! Then they got it. They are both excited to be going in September! :D

We will be on the Basic Dinning Plan for this trip, it seems to have worked out pretty well for us in the past. Since in the eye’s of Disney I have two ‘adult’ children (ages 10 and 13) :eyeroll:, we all be ordering from the adult menu’s. I have gotten all the ressies we wanted and at pretty decent times although Le Cellier is a bit early (4:20pm) as is Yak & Yeti (4:30pm). We will probably have a CS breakfast and then a snack at lunch time and at the end of the night on those days. Since we tend to eat at the same places over and over we are trying to eat at places we have either never eaten at before or have not been to in a long time. All of our sit down meals are for dinner with the exception of Chef Mickey’s when we are doing breakfast on the day we go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party~ we will do a QS for dinner. On the last day we will do Boma for breakfast . We will do QS for lunch and snacks for breakfast most mornings. We are 4 TS credits over our allotment so we will probably end up paying for The 50’s Prime time Café out of pocket as that is the least expensive restaurant we are going to.


I have been running the numbers on how to get us to WDW. The airfare so far looks like it will be about $1100 round trip for the four of us, although it will hopefully go down before we leave. Driving would be about $800-900 including gas, food and lodging. It takes 15+ hours of driving time (plus meals, stops and sleeping) to get there so we would need to add an extra day at the front of the trip for travel. The auto train would be around $800 round trip. We have done this before and would do it again in a heart beat if we had a need for a car while there (side trips or what not). Driving time for that would be 3 hours from Philly to Lorton, VA and then 1 hour from Sanford to Orlando plus 18 hours (?) on the train . For the difference of $300 +/- we will be flying and saving us all the extra travel time. I booked our airline tickets today (7/31) it is $1120 round trip for the four of us. I am still hoping for a DING before we go. (we never got one)

This will be our first trip with just the four of us in several years. It should make everything much easier not having to wait on any one or worry about if they will like the plan for the day.

Day 1- Saturday September 19
Travel Day ~ Magic Kingdom after check in
ADR: Tony’s 7:05pm - DH & I went here 5 years ago when the kids were on the DCL with my parents. The kids have never been.

The Plan:
We are flying out of Philadelphia International Airport at 7:20 am, arriving in Orlando around 9:55 am. We will probably get up around 4am (if we sleep!).I plan to pack up the car the night before so it will be ready to go. With any luck all we will have to do is get ourselves together, throw last minute items in the carry on’s and head out. We have decided to self park at the long term lot at the Airport since it will actually be cheaper then a taxi. I am thinking I will drop the hubby and Sarah off with the luggage, park and then Jamie & I will meet them inside and then I will get us checked in. I am going to buy bagels/muffins to bring and eat once in the airport, buying drinks once we get there.
Once we get to the hotel we will check-in and either store our carry on’s or head up to the room if it’s ready. Depending on how hungry we are we will either eat at the QS in the hotel or head to the Magic Kingdom and eat something there. We plan to stay in the Magic Kingdom until closing at 9pm. That will depend a lot on if we can sleep on the plane and if we actually sleep the night before.
　
How it really happened:
I was up around 3am after going to sleep around 11pm. Every one else started getting up at 3:30-4:00am. We got ourselves ready and headed out to the airport at 4:50 am. We dropped Jimmy & Sarah off at the terminal with the luggage then headed to the parking lot. Once Jamie & I parked we waited for the bus that takes you to the terminal which arrived in about 10 minutes. The bus was pretty empty so the trip to our terminal only took about 10 minutes. Once we met up with Jimmy & Sarah we checked in with Southwest (another short line) and then headed to our gate. We got breakfast and ate while we waited for our flight. (somebody remind me next time that I realy don’t like the place we got food and we should go to the other place…you know the one I said we should go to this time but forgot?) We only had to wait about an hour before it was time to board. We Flew Southwest and used the new Early bird check in and ended up with A 20-23. It turned out to be a bit of waste as there were only people lined up from A 16, no business people in A1-15 and only about 3 people with blue sleeves (disabled).
Our flight was uneventful and we landed about 20 minutes early at 9:45am. Once at the airport we headed over to DME, letting them take care of the luggage. If you have your booklet and the yellow tags on your luggage you head straight for the bus lines. You only have to check in if you don’t have one of them. The bus was not overly crowed and we left the airport at about 10:15 am. The bus ride was not too bad ~ they stopped at Pop and Coronado Springs before we arrived at Animal Kingdom. We arrived at the hotel by 11:05 am. We lucked out and the bus stopped at Jambo House first. WELCOME HOME!!! :D We checked in and headed for our room, 5331. We got ourselves sorted out and rearranged the back packs from crry on’s to park bags. We were headed off to the busses and on our way to Magic Kingdom by 12:05pm.
Once at the Magic Kingdom we headed straight for lunch at Harbour House since we were all starving. Jimmy, Sarah & I had the Fish/Chicken basket while Jamie had the Chicken basket. Jimmy had an Apple Turn Over while the rest of us had Chocolate Cake. I think from here on out we are going to have the kids split a drink and get a bottle of water. I forgot that since they are both ‘adults’ now that they would get the giant soda instead of the kids size. This time we ended up getting two sodas and two waters.
Dinner at Tony’s was pretty good. I was worried about the bad reviews I had read. I had the NY Strip, Jimmy had the Linguini Diavilo, Sarah had the Spaghetti and Meatballs while Jamie had the Chicken Parm. The kids and I had the Ice Cream Bomb and Jimmy had the Pumpkin Cheesecake. The were all just OK, nothing special. We watched the Spectro Magic Parade from our table on the porch. What a great view! It amazes me how many people came and stood at the railing in front of the tables we were seated at. The actually have a CM who stands there and has to tell them to move, they all looked at her like “’huh? Why can’t we stand here?” Uh, cause you are blocking the view of everyone else?! I said to the CM who was telling them to move if she had drawn the ‘short stick’ to get the job of ‘bouncer’ and she said she was given it because she is from Brooklyn and people listen to her.

After dinner we headed to Guest Relations to get our MNSSHP tickets printed out. That was a bit time consuming but completely my fault since I did not have my confirmation page or the card I charged them on. The very helpful and patient CM was able to look it up using my DVC card since I used my DVC discount.

We headed to the hotel and went for a very short swim, took showers and off to bed.

Day 2 - Sunday September 20
EPCOT day and Sarah’s Birthday
ADR: Teppan Edo 6:10pm - New for us.

Plan: To spend the entire day in Epcot. Today is Sarah’s birthday and she will be getting the Birthday Fun Card ($79) since we already have Annual Passes and do not need free admission.

How it actually happened: Sarah spent her Fun Card mostly in Epcot today but ended up with some money left over for another day. Today we went on Test Track, Soarin’ and Ellen’s Universe of Energy . We walked around the countries a bit hitting Canada, England and Japan. We really enjoyed our dinner at Teppan Edo for Sarah’s Birthday Dinner. The food was very good and the Chef was a lot of fun. The people we sat with were OK. After dinner the staff brought out our desserts with a candle in our desserts for our anniversary and Sarah’s Birthday. Then they sang a song for Sarah‘s Birthday and gave her a paper Chef’s Toque. After we left Teppan Edo we headed down stairs so the kids could do the Pearl Station. Sarah got a very nice 7mm white pearl and Jamie got a 6 3/4mm silver blue pearl.

We headed out to make our way back to the hotel as every one was tired and we wanted to beat the Bus rush.

Day 3 - Monday September 21
Animal Kingdom in the am ~ Hollywood Studios in the pm
ADR: 50’s Prime Time Café 7:55 pm- we went here last year with the in-laws but it was the only thing available we were interested in.

The plan:
We are going to go to Animal Kingdom first thing in the morning and hit Expedition Everest and the Safari. Either before or after lunch we will head over to HS and go around the park until its time to go to dinner.

How it really happened:
We got to AK around 9:30am and went straight to Expedition Everest. After Everest we went to get some breakfast and then went to the Safari. The Safari had a 40 minute wait so we Fast Passed it and went over to Rafiki’s to kill time. Jimmy, Sarah and Jamie had their picture taken with Jiminy Cricket and we walked around a bit. It was time for our Safari so we headed back. Our ride on the Safari was pretty good, we saw a good amount of animals. We don’t generally spend a lot of time here and today was no different, we left around 12:30pm.
At HS we headed right to Pizza Planet for lunch, we love the pizza here! Jamie had plain the rest of us had Pepperoni. In HS the four of us went on Rockin’ Roller Coaster, Great Movie Ride, Star Tours, Muppets. Jamie and I went on Tower of Terror while Jimmy and Sarah walked around the shops. This was my first ride on ToT. It was pretty crazy!! I have not decided if I would go back on it again. I would rather go on a loopy, spiraling crazy roller coaster, the ups and downs just kills me (I ended up with a head ache after the ride).
Our dinner at Prime Time was very good. (We have over booked the amount of sit downs so we will pay for this one OP) Jimmy had the Fried Chicken, Sarah had Mac and Cheese, Jamie had chicken nuggets and I had the Steak. We also split and order of the onion rings with Horseradish sauce, very good! Our waitress was very nice, not to over the top. After dinner we took the boat to the Yacht Club and a bus to Downtown Disney. By the time we got there it was after 11pm so all the stores were closed but we made it to Ghirardelli’s for ice cream about 15 minutes before it closed. Yummy!! Jamie had a Chocolate Malt, Sarah had Mint Choc Chip with Dark Chocolate Fudge and Jimmy and I split a waffle bowl with Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Fudge, whip cream and a cherry.
We went back to the room and were in bed around 1am.

Day 4 - Tuesday September 22
MNSSHP ~Magic Kingdom after 4pm
ADR: Chef Mickey’s for Breakfast 9:15am- We were here two years ago.

Plan:
Today we will go to Breakfast and then either head to DtD or back to the hotel to swim. We will go back to the hotel by 2pm so we can get ready for the Halloween Party tonight. We will all be dressing up for it.
I am going as Mrs. Robinson from Meet the Robinson’s
DH is going as ?? Sarah is going as a Bobby Socker Jamie is going as The Ghost Rider.
We had a lot of fun the last time we did the party…even though it was the beginning of Hurricane Wilma! We were glad we got the pictures taken before it started raining.

How it really happened:
We got up at 7am to get our selves to the Contemporary for breakfast at Chef Mickey’s for breakfast. This time it was a bit disappointing. The waiter was not very good at all, we had to ask for drink refills and he took for ever to bring the check back after we gave him the Room Key. We did get to see all the Characters and the food was good as usual. So not a total loss but not high on the list this time.
So, I did not get any of the costumes done on time. :| I wore a t-shirt I bought here that is purple with Good Witch on the front and Bad Witch on the back with Tink on it, Jimmy & Jamie wore Pirate shirts they had and a Bandana and Sarah wore a Phillies Jersey. We had a good time at the party, this time we only went on four rides- Pirates, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain. Then we settled in at the Hub to watch the Villains show, Fireworks and Parade. The show was cute if a bit short. We all enjoyed the Fireworks very much, this is the first year we have seen them. I was very excited to finally see the Headless Horseman at the start of the parade, we always miss him! After the Parade we headed to HM for one last ride before leaving. While we were in line a lady ghost came out and sat on a bench on the little hill on the right side of the queue and talked to the people in line- very cool we have never seen anything like that before.
On our way out of the park we went in to the shops on Main Street looking for Party exclusive merchandise but did not find anything we wanted.
We went out to the bus stop and found a huge line waiting. There was one bus there loading two scooters with every one waiting and then a second bus pulled in next to it. We ended up on the first one since they loaded the second one while the scooters were being loaded on the first one. We made it home and in bed by 1 am.

Day 5 - Wednesday September 23
Magic Kingdom
ADR: Grand Floridian Café 7:35pm new for us

Plan:
Spend the day at MK and head over to the Grand Floridian for Dinner since the MK closes at 7pm for MNSSHP.

How it really happened:
We were all tired and slept in until about 8/8:30 and then headed down for a QS breakfast and ended up using snack credits to get four pastries and two drinks. When we were done our breakfast the kids and Jimmy headed to the pools and I headed off to do a load of laundry. (note to self, bring a jacket to the laundry room it was freezing!!) We left the pool about noon and went back to the room to shower, change and rest. We headed to the MK around 1:30/2 pm.
We stayed in the MK until about 6:30 pm and then took the boat to the Grand Floridian. We walked around the lobby and shops a little and then checked in for dinner about 20 minutes before our time. We ended up being seated a couple of minutes later. The food was pretty good, the kids both got a bowl of the cheese soup which was very good and I had a Crock of French Onion Soup which was very tasty as well. The kids both had the shrimp penne dinner with a cheese sauce on the side- Sarah had hers with the Chicken Sausage, Jamie had his with out. Jimmy had and I had . For dessert we had two of the samplers- each one served two and counted as two desserts. The sampler had a small portions of Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse, Key Lime Tart, Lemon Cheesecake and Tiramisu with a white and dark chocolate sign that had the Celebrate logo on it.
After dinner we went back to the room for bed.

Day 6 - Thursday September 24
Hollywood Studios am~ Animal Kingdom pm
ADR: Yak & Yeti 4:30 pm new to us

Plan:
To get to HS before opening and head straight for Toy Story to get FP’s and then ride if it’s not too long of a wait already. We will probably head to AK after lunch. Animal Kingdom closes at 7pm so we will most likely head to DtD after we are done there.

How it really happened:
So we were up and out early this morning and at HS about 30 minutes before opening. While in the queue the American Idol people came out and did some crowd shots and little skits with people in the queues. It was pretty cool. About 15 minutes before opening they let us in to wait for rope drop. Some how in all the trips we have done we have not done a rope drop before- it made DH very pissy having to be herded around the park to get where we wanted to be. We waited patiently (or not) until rope drop. Once the drop happened we were off with the rest of the heard for Toy Story Midway Mania. We went and got fast passes and decided against the standby line as it was pretty long already. So we killed the hour until our FP was ready by getting breakfast at a QS at the end of Sunset Blvd then worked our way back down the street going through the shops. We got back to TSMM just in time for our FP window to open. The FP line was pretty short and we were in the ride car in less then 10 minutes. We all had a blast, I wish we could get on more then once in a trip but it’s just too much work.
We also went on the Great Movie ride again, great ride and great air conditioning!
We watched the Indiana Jones show, we have not done this show in years and we really enjoyed it. The movies are a big hit in our house. We went through One Man’s Dream, the kids really appreciate this one more each year.
Sarah really wanted to do American Idol so we finally decided to give it a go with the idea that even if we were not impressed it would be air conditioned. We were more than pleasantly surprised with the talent of the three contestants. There was a woman and two men who all sang really well. The judges are a lot like the ones on TV- there was a woman that hand the same style/personality as Randy a woman that was kinda like Paula and an Englishman who was just like Simon. The woman who sang was pretty good and came in third I think. The two guys did really well and it was pretty tight between them. I think the man who won may have gotten a few votes swung his way since he was a National Guardsman on two weeks leave from Iraq. I wonder if there is a way to find out who won the final show of the night. Since dinner was kind of early we had a snack instead of lunch. We went to Min & Bills Dockside Diner where we had a hotdog in a pretzel, a knockwurst and sauerkraut in French bread a chocolate shake and frozen lemonade to share. It was good, we had never been there before. While we were sitting there enjoying our snack we had a beggar watch us through the fence.

I would now like to take this moment for a PSA---Please don’t feed the birds!!! The duck that watched us eat sat there the whole time begging like a dog. I also spoke to a CM at AK that said the birds are a bit viscous and will go after the guests for their food.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom at about 4pm and headed to the restaurant for dinner. We were seated shortly after we arrived and quickly found something for every one on the menu. For our starter we had the Prawn Crisps with Peanut sauce--sooo good! When they came out I realized I have eaten these before, we used to get them from a restaurant near our house. For dinner Jamie had the Honey Chicken, Sarah had the Duck, Jimmy had the Mahi Mahi and I had the Skirt Steak with Tempura Shrimp. We all enjoyed our meals very much and will definitely be back! For dessert Jimmy had the Mango pie, Sarah had the Fried Wontons and Jamie and I shared the Brownie Sundae for two. The desserts were all very good as well. Yak & Yeti will definitely be a place we return to! MMM!
After dinner we left the park as it was closed all ready.
　

Day 7 - Friday September 25
Epcot for the day, back to hotel in the late afternoon
Our 16th Anniversary
ADR: Jiko 7:55pm just for DH and I. QS for the kids.
　
Plan:
We will head to Epcot first thing and spend the day there. We will head back to the hotel at some point in the afternoon and hang out at the pool. We will get the kids dinner from the QS in the hotel. The kids will hang out in the room while Jimmy and I eat dinner at Jiko for our Anniversary.

What really happened:
We got up and headed to MK for breakfast on Main Street. We stopped at the Barber Shop first to get Jamie his do but it was not open yet so we went o breakfast first.
At the Bakery Jimmy Sarah and I each had the Ham, egg and cheese croissants. We love these things!! With the way the QS breakfast here works we were able to get one drink a pastry and the sandwich. We got two Cinnamon Buns and a Chocolate Croissant drinks for the three of us and then an extra drink for the boy. Jimmy and I split a Cinnamon Bun, Sarah had the Croissant and Jamie ate the other Bun. After breakfast Jamie and I headed for the Barber. He ended up getting a red, white and blue gel Mohawk and a Mickey head to match. It looked too cute, just about every CM we saw commented I it, asking if he knew he had a shark fin on his head! It took for ever to dry to the touch! At the end of the night it was a bit hard to get out but after 5 minutes under warm water and three rounds of shampoo it all came out. We headed back to the hotel around 6pm to get he kids settled in the room before our dinner. We went to Mara in the hotel to get the kids their dinner. Jamie had the Cheese Flatbread, a brownie and chocolate milk & Sarah had the Chicken Flatbread (and did not like it), a piece of cheesecake and a Perrier. We got them settled and headed down to Jiko at about 7:30. Our wait was pretty short and we were seated about 10 minutes later. As we were seated the Hostess have us an anniversary card. It was really cool, several of the staff signed it with best wishes in their native language! Since we were staying in the Hotel they gave a us an Amuse Bouche, carrot and ginger soup which was very tasty! For a starter we ordered the spring roll- very tasty! For dinner I had the swordfish, it has been very long time since I have had swordfish and this was sooo good. Jimmy had the Lamb Loin, he said it was very good. For dessert I had the Chocolate Cheesecake and a African Black Tea and Jimmy had “coffee and donuts” (coffee ice cream & spiced donuts). They were both very good! We cleaned all of our plates at each course and the waiter commented after each one that it was a shame that we did not like anything but that they use people like us to tweak the menu so that one day they can get it right. LOL! ;) :p :)
After we were done we headed back to the room to find both kids asleep and the room in one piece. Thank God!
　

Day 8 - Saturday September 26
Open day
ADR: Le Cellier 4:20pm - another one DH & I went to while the kids were on the DCL.


Plan: None!! We will probably use this as a “clean up” day hitting any last rides we want to do one more time. As long as we are in Epcot by around 3pm we are good!

How it really happened:
We headed out to EPCOT a bit late. Jamie wanted to do the Kim Possible Adventure so we stopped at the station right before the walk way to the Countries. We got an assignment to report to Norway to start our Mission. We started out in Mexico while we were waiting to start our Mission so we could do the boat ride but he line was super long so we skipped it. Then we hung around in the store in Norway while we waited to start the Mission.
Kim Possible was fun but not what I thought it would be. It took place completely in Norway and we were under the impression that it went all the way around the World in one mission not separate missions for each of the countries that participate. After our mission we walked to the Friendship Boat and took the boat back to the other side so we could start making our way to Canada for dinner. We walked over to Canada and checked in for our dinner. The wait was not bad and we were seated right around 4:20. While we were waiting two different people came in look for ressies tonight/tomorrow night. The looks on their faces when the host told them they were booked until December 25th…guess not every one reads boards like MP with all the great info it give us.
Dinner was very good. The waitress told us that there was a way around paying extra for the Cheese Soup since we were on the DDP. They have a meal at the top of the menu had a choice of starter, main course and dessert. The children both went with the Cheese Soup, Prime Rib and Chocolate Mousse. Jimmy had the Veal T-Bone and the Crème Brulee while I had the Mushroom Filet Mignon and the S’mores for dessert. Sarah actually wanted the S’mores but it was not a choice on her menu so we switched desserts. Jamie and Sarah had not had Prime Rib before. The boy likes his steak med-rare and was not happy with the Prime Rib, he said it was to squishy- I did not take into consideration that the meat is softer then he is used to and probably should have gotten it cooked medium. Sarah liked her Prime Rib. My dinner was very good, I really liked the Mushroom Risotto that came with it. Jimmy was very happy with his T-bone- he had never had Veal like htat before and was on the fence about getting it.
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After dinner I went to Guest Relations and checked in for our flight home while Jimmy and the kids walked around a bit. After we met up we went to the Leather Cart in Canada (for the second time this week) so Sarah could get two bracelets for her friends birthdays and Jamie wanted to get one for Aunt Jenny for her birthday. We walked our way around from Canada to Mexico stopping in Morroco and China to check out the shops. We bought a few presents in China for upcoming birthdays. We started heading out of the park around 8:30 to try and beat the rush.
Jimmy and Sarah got a bus back to the hotel and Jamie and I took the Monorail to Magic Kingdom to meet up with Sibil, a friend of mine from work. As we started out of the station it started to rain, a minute later it started to pour! By the time we got to the TTC the sky had completely opened up and it was coming down in buckets. Jamie and I made our way to the MK line through all the people waiting at the bottom of the ramp for the rain to stop. We made it to MK and the bag check was closed and the guards were checking bags at the turnstiles. The mass of people streaming out of the park was just about as heavy as the rain itself- you would have thought the place was burning down around them.:eek:
We swam up stream and made it to the porch at Tony’s to wait for Sibil and her family to be done dinner. Jamie and I were going to wander the shops a bit but the crowd of people on the side walk was to thick to get through so we just hung our on the porch. Also I did not really want to be in a place were the AC was cranking while I was soaking wet. The rain had finally stopped by the time we met up with Sibil and her gang. We walked down an almost empty Main Street and went to ride Haunted Mansion. We had about a two minute wait and then were ushered in with the 12 other people who were waiting. We all had a great time riding. Jamie rode in the buggy with Sibil’s twin boy’s and Sibil and I rode in another with her daughter and son. After we got off HM we walked over to Splash Mountain and got right on. Two of Sibil’s kids had not been on it before and were a bit nervous but ended up loving it. By the time we got off the ride the park was closed and we made our way out of the park. We all boarded the bus to AKL and headed home. Jamie and I got off at Jambo House and Sibil and her gang went on to Kidani Village. One of the funniest moments of the night was when we were looking at the picture of us on SM Jamie made a comment about the look on my face and Sibil’s son looked at the picture and said “which one is she”?…Sibil and I were both wearing the same shirt and our blond hair was slicked back from the rain and wind of the drop - he couldn’t tell us apart! Too funny! :D

　
　
Day 9 - Sunday September 27
Open day ~ Travel Day :0(
ADR: Boma Breakfast 7:40am -have not been here for breakfast before

Plan:
Up and at ‘em early. After we have breakfast we will go back to the room and get our selves together and check out. Once we are checked out we will store the luggage with Bell Services until it’s time to get out to the DME bus. Our flight home today is at 6:30pm getting us home around 9:00pm. We will most likely have a 3:30 pm pick up for DME which means we will probably swim or go to a park or Downtown Disney, returning to the hotel by 2pm and then hang out there till it’s time to go.

How it really happened:
We got up and started packing and then headed down to breakfast at 7:40 am. We were seated pretty quickly once we arrived down at Boma. We were seated and the waitress came by to introduce herself and poor us some of the Frunch which was very good. We all enjoyed the food very much, we will definitely come here again in the future.
After breakfast was done we went back to the room and finished packing. :crying:
At 10:30 am we had bell services pick up our bags and store them for us. Our DME bus is picking us up at 3:35 pm this afternoon. Being nervous about missing bus I like to be all ready and in the lobby an hour before departure. We had a few hours to kill so we headed down to the pool to hang out for the rest of our time here. After a couple hours Jimmy and Sarah decided to head to Downtown Disney to see if they could find a present for his mother. Jamie and I stayed at the pool for a while longer then got our showers and had Cheese Flatbread for lunch in the Mara QS Restaurant. We all met up in the lobby around 1:30 pm. We hung out in the TV area for awhile with a few trips to the gift shop for last minute finds. We needed to rearrange a few things in the suitcases before we left so we had the luggage brought out a half hour before the bus was to come. The bus was a bit late and ended up pulling out at about 3:45 pm. We were off to the airport. We were the last pick up so we did not have anymore stops. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to get through check in and security. Once up at the gate we hung out with our friends who had come down for the weekend for a wedding. Our fight was on time and mostly uneventful, we did have a bit of turbulence but nothing to crazy. We arrived in Philadelphia on time and headed down to pick up our luggage.
Here is were it went terribly wrong. In the Philadelphia Airport when you are leaving the Gate Areas and going back into the main part of the airport there are a series of doors. The first set is a huge set of glass doors that periodically open and close on their own. Some how as Jamie was walking through this set they started to close, so he jumped through. The doors slam shut and do not reopen. Behind him there are sets of walk through turnstiles with glass doors that swing up and away and then another set of solid doors that lead to the Main Area. We had never been through these types of doors before and did not know how to get to him. He quickly started to panic and get very upset. Seeing him upset made me upset and we were both crying. No one else new what to do to get the door to open so my friend went to find some one to help. While he was gone a couple of guys who have been through the doors before came up and told us that the big glass doors will not open again while he is standing there, he had to go though the turnstile and the solid doors. So I told him to go through and wait right outside the doors. Once he was through the doors opened and I was finally able to get through to him and my heart started beating again. The poor little guy was shaking and very upset but we all calmed down pretty quickly. I don’t know why there are no signs of any kind at these doors that let you know how they work incase of emergency. So that was the exciting end to our trip. :|

Closing thoughts:

Well the week was pretty hot but we had a good time doing a few things that were new to us just to get in the AC.
Our room and view was pretty good, we had a lot of trees and were able to see a few animals. We had Ankole Cattle that were always there. We saw a Greater Kudu, a bunch of African Spoonbills and a few Giraffes and Zebra’s.
Our favorite restaurants of the week were - Sarah~ Le Cellier, Jimmy and I ~ Jiko and Jamie liked the Grand Floridian the most.
Our favorite new thing was the American Idol Experience.
Sarah’s birthday was a pretty good day, we really enjoyed our dinner at Teppan Edo.
Our anniversary was very nice, we had a fabulous meal at Jiko. The card we received was a very nice touch.

Hi Katrina - great trip report, thanks for posting. Can I ask; was the September weather much more bearable than August? Can I also ask about the meal at Teppan Edo. Was the meat very spiced / flavoured and served mixed up with vegetables or was it quite plain and the veg served separately? Thanks! Scooby.

Hey Scooby!!
The weather was pretty warm and a bit humid. It was in the mid to high 90's most days. Locals were saying it was warmer and more humid than it usually has been in the past for this time of year.
Teppan Edo was very good. I don't know if you have been to a Hibachi Style restaurant before but they are very flexible. When we were there the Chef asked the kids if they wanted the veggies Jamie said no and it was not a problem- everyone else just got a little more. The veggies- onion, zucchini and mushrooms were cooked separately from the meats. They also serve noodles with the meal in addition to the white rice. The noodles had a bit of soy sauce and sesame seeds on them I think. The rice is completely plain, not stir fried and no sauce of any kind. Most of the meats had soy sauce or just oil/water to cook them. They serve the three sauces on the side and will tell you which one goes with what. They were all good and I used them interchangeably with the steak, shrimp, chicken and veggies. If you need any thing absolutely plain just tell him and the Chef will just use water or oil to cook and not use any type of sauce. The entire staff could not have been nicer!

Thanks for the information. Looks like Teppan Edo can be a 'yes' for us! Hurrrah :)

No problem! :)

Thanks so much for sharing. It sounds like a great trip was had by all.

Thanks again,
Ellen

Thanks for reading, I am glad you enjoyed it. :)

Great trip report, Katrina! :)

I have a question about your last day. How were you able to take showers after your swim if you were already checked out?

I was happy to read your good review for Teppan Edo.

And your breakfast at Boma- What is Frunch?

There are bathrooms near the pool that have showers/changing areas in them. They even had a hair dryer. I took the almost empty travel size shampoo/conditioner/soap and the scrubies we had used all week. When we were done we tossed the whole lot out in the trash. We put the wet stuff in bags and threw them in the suitcases before we left.

Frunch is a breakfast drink they have at Boma - West African Frunch (a combination of lemonade, pineapple juice, guava juice, orange juice, and papaya juice).
It was very tasty!!

well how about that we were at m.k.& epcot on the same days for birthday & anniv :D

Cool!:cool:

That's great they have showers by the pool.

Frunch sounds good. I wish they had it at dinner! :) (We're going there for dinner)

You should ask the server, you never know they might be able to get you some Frunch at dinner.

GREAT trip report. I cannot believe how similar our eating styles are. We ate at most of the same places you guys did!

Hugs--

T

Enjoyed your trip report. Just a mention on air flights. You're only 45 minutes from AC Airport. Why not fly out of there on Spirit. Our flight in Dec is $240 round trip for two people. We go to WDW 2 to 3 times a year and never pay more then $240. I even flew to Fla for a Penny but I think those days are gone. They have a 6 or 6:30 flight. Air Trans in now flying out of AC and I think there first flight is 7:30. It a no hassle airport. Parking is easy and there are little lines at security.