Trip Reports
02-20-2007, 03:37 PM
Sheila D'Agostino - July 2002 - Animal Kingdom Lodge
Time of Year: Summer
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: AKL
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Senior
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
Comments: Sheila and John enjoyed their stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. They took in this trip to WDW in a very laid-back style. Oh, one other neat detail about this trip is the time that the D'Agostino's spent over at Celebration just enjoying the small-town atmosphere (they had breakfast over there a couople times).
Sheila D'Agostino -- July 2002 -- Walt Disney World (AKL)
July 21-25, 2002
Our first trip to Walt Disney World was during our honeymoon in 1978. We have visited Disneyland during numerous trips to California. We had made several other trips to Walt Disney World in the 1980s and 1990s. The subject of this trip report is our fourth trip since last October.
Just after we returned from a 4th of July trip to Virginia, my husband asked me when we were going back to Disney World. I answered that we'd go whenever he wanted to. So he looked at the calendar and picked a date just a couple of weeks away. I got on the phone to the Disney World reservations folks, and spoke to a charming young lady who reserved three nights for us at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, at an excellent Annual Pass rate for a standard view room. We also got priority seating for dinner at Boma for the day of arrival.
We departed in our car from our home in southern South Carolina at 9:00 on Sunday morning and arrived at AKL about five hours later, mid-afternoon. A wonderful cast member named Laura assisted us at check in. I could scarcely believe our good fortune as she told us that "You don't want a view of the parking lot. We'll give you a savannah view room." I whispered to my husband that we were getting a double upgrade! We were delighted, naturally.
Our room was number 4526, overlooking the Uzima savannah. For the most part it was a very quiet room, which is important to us. It was large enough, and well laid out, with two queen beds. We liked the heavy, dark, African-inspired furniture. There was a portable crib folded up in the closet, and also an iron and ironing board. The vanity area was large, with two sinks. The lighting could have been brighter, but overall we were very pleased with the room. There were some minor maintenance and cleaning issues, such as a burned out light bulb that took two days to replace. Two maintenance men finally showed up with a new bulb. While they were in the room we jokingly asked them how many Disney maintenance men it takes to change a light bulb - they laughed and replied that one had to supervise the other.
The first time I took a shower I found a used damp shower cap hanging by the shower curtain. To be fair, it was in a spot easily overlooked. Also, there was no plastic bag inside the ice bucket when we checked in, but on the last day one had been supplied. The towels were clean and plentiful, but I was surprised by how worn and old looking they were, not plush like one would expect at a deluxe resort. The towels at the All Star Music Resort seemed nicer to us, in our recollection.
All that having been said, we loved staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. So much so that we asked to have our planned three-night stay extended by an additional night. Our request was granted, and we stayed a fourth night for the same very reasonable rate.
One of the first things we noticed when we first entered the room was the savannah beyond our balcony, where four giraffes and several different kinds of large birds were in view. After we got settled in, we relaxed with a couple of beers from our cooler, and watched the savannah as the giraffes left and four horned cattle appeared. There was a thunderstorm that afternoon, with great jagged snakes of lightening and torrents of rain, followed by a gentler rain, during which seven bongos showed up (I recognized those fat, striped, horned grazing animals from trips to the National Zoo in Washington, DC), along with the Giraffes which had returned. We were simply enchanted by the animals. Watching them from the balcony, or by simply looking out the glass doors, was interesting and relaxing.
In fact, because of the view of the animals, we found ourselves satisfied and content to spend far more time in our room than we would usually spend during a trip. We were as happy and interested in watching the various animals outside our room as we would have been at the parks. As it happened, we spent less time in the parks this trip than during any previous visit to Disney World, in great part because the AKL resort was so enjoyable.
Later on in the evening we saw several other types of animals and birds on our savannah, including Thomson's gazelles, greater kudus, impalas, East African crowned cranes, guinea hens, and several other large birds that we did not identify. During our several-day stay, we saw lots of animals of the types I've just mentioned on our savannah, but in order to see zebras or wildebeests, we had to explore other savannahs on other sides of the hotel. This was not a problem, and it made for interesting viewing all around the Lodge. There were times when there were no larger animals to see on our savannah, but then after awhile some giraffes or antelope would come walking in for a while before walking away again. At night the savannah was low-lit with "artificial moonlight," and the animals would feed, and then sit down to rest. A giraffe sitting down and then getting up again is an interesting sight, a marvel in dexterity. One evening one giraffe was sitting on the ground with his long neck wrapped around himself, an interesting position for sleep.
We had dinner Sunday evening at Boma. We enjoyed the various items on the buffet and sampled most of them.
Although I had no intention of trying to get up early, I requested a wake up call because I wanted us to hear Mickey's voice. But another character's voice was on the phone on Monday morning, though I'm not quite sure whose voice it was - perhaps Rafiki, but I just don't know. I didn't set the clock again.
We returned to Boma for breakfast Monday morning. We agreed that we like the breakfast buffet more than the dinner buffet, though both are good.
After breakfast we took the bus to Animal Kingdom. The AKL bus waiting area is very pleasant, with a roof to protect guests from the sun and rain, and benches to sit on. Laura, our check-in cast member, was directing the guests at the bus waiting area, so we spoke to her and thanked her for assigning us to such a wonderful room. She beamed back at us during our short chat. She is a superb Disney cast member.
When we arrived at the Animal Kingdom Park we purchased the pre-paid discounted ticket for a meal, drink, and ice cream or popcorn. It is an excellent value. We used our tickets for luscious ice cream bars and bottles of water, then a tasty early dinner at Tusker House, enjoyed just before we left the park, consisting of broiled chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, and large diet cokes.
While we were at Animal Kingdom we walked on to It's Tough to be a Bug, rode Dinosaur using fast pass, and took the Wildlife Express Train ride to Rafiki's Planet Watch. It's Tough to be a Bug was a repeat experience for us, and we enjoyed it as much as the first time. Dinosaur was new to us and we liked it. While we were waiting for our fast pass time for Dinosaur we wandered around the mid-way attractions and looked at Primeval Whirl and TriceraTop Spin, though we did not try either. We talked about trying Primeval Whirl during another visit; for this visit the line was long and we didn't want to wait. We admired Dino-Sue, the T-Rex skeleton, and discussed her archeological history with a very well-informed young lady cast member who was standing by her.
We certainly enjoyed Rafiki's Planet Watch. While we were not interested in petting any of the animals in the petting yard, we spent a lot of time at the Conservation Station, viewing the exhibits and discussing them with the knowledgeable cast members. At one window we saw three PhD scientists in deep discussion while an intern worked with scientific instruments at a table. A cast member talked to us about their research and work with the animals. She advised us of their study of and use of hormones to aid in animal reproduction. There were displays of large samples of elephant dung, which is used for the extraction of hormones. The cast member had preserved elephant dung samples that we were encouraged to touch and hold. While the specimens that we examined were dried, plastic coated and odorless, researchers fish around in fresh samples to extract hormones for testing. We were also advised that an elephant at the park is pregnant thanks in part to this research, since female and male elephants are kept apart, and indeed normally live apart in the wild. We were also advised that the young intern had been in charge of obtaining the required ingredient from the male elephant for his contribution to the pregnancy. We didn't ask the specifics of how she obtained it - perhaps she asked the male elephant politely.
Another exhibit showed the actual veterinary operating room for surgical procedures on animals. Pictures on display indicated that the facilities often had to be used to extract foreign objects that the animals had eaten. Usually the objects were removed by instruments inserted down their throats, and no actual cutting was required. Various objects, frequently plastic trash, have had to be removed from the stomachs of parrots, snakes and other small animals.
These were the highlights of the Conservation Station for us, but we also enjoyed looking at the other exhibits, as well. We thought the information was well-presented and the displays well done and educational. We came away feeling that we had learned something. It was more like a visit to a science museum than an amusement park, but we love museums.
After asking a cast member for directions, we found the temporary Annual Passholder's Lounge at Animal Kingdom. While it is a quiet place to get a cool drink of water, we were disappointed in its sparseness. We rested there for a short while, drank a cup or two of the water from the cooler, chatted briefly with the attending cast member, and left.
There was another afternoon thunderstorm on Monday, but it was much less severe than the storm on Sunday.
As in all of the parks, we were bothered by inconsiderate smokers who do not confine their smoking to the designated smoking areas. When we went to the Tusker house we had to walk through a wall of smoke created by two young men who were smoking right outside the doorway. Several times we found ourselves walking behind smokers, with their smoke wafting back at us. We sat on a bench to rest and enjoy our ice cream and ended up breathing second hand smoke from a woman with a cigarette nearby. While wandering around the Tree of Life, trying to enjoy the view of animal habitats along the Discovery Island Trails, we were inundated by smoke from a man's big, ugly cigar. We also suffered from second-hand smoke from another man's cigar while walking along another path. We never observed any cast member enforcing the smoking area rules. While enforcement of the smoking rules presents a difficult challenge, this is an area where Disney needs improvement.
Tuesday morning we decided to drive to Celebration, to see what that place is like. The first thing we did there was to have breakfast at the Market Street Café. My husband had a "Healthy Choice Omelet," which is an egg white omelet with broccoli, green pepper, tomatoes and mushrooms. I had a regular omelet with cheese. We both had dry whole wheat toast, a side order of grits, and coffee (decaf for him, regular for me). The food and service were excellent, the food well-cooked and the portions generous. The place was just our style, a great diner.
Then we proceeded to explore the town. We wandered around the downtown area, looking at the shops, admiring the lake and scenery. We went to the Celebration Hotel and were impressed with the beautiful lobby and facilities. We decided that we would enjoy staying there sometime soon, so we asked the concierge for some information on the hotel and the rooms. She generously offered to show us the rooms, and took us on a tour of the hotel, including an examination of every kind and size room available. The rooms and décor are beautiful, and we look forward to a visit there soon. The lady who provided the tour did tell us not to plan to visit during three weeks in August, since the entire hotel, including the restaurant, would be taken over by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team, who will be staying there during their pre-season training camp at the Disney sports facility.
After driving around the residential section of Celebration, looking at the homes both occupied and under construction, we left the town about noon and drove to the Contemporary hotel for a strawberry daiquiri. After relaxing for a while and finishing our frozen drink and some snacks, we drove to MGM, where we played Who Wants to be a Millionaire, while sitting in the fastest finger chairs on the floor (I actually got on the board once, to my great surprise), watched the Muppet 3D movie, then wandered around New York Street, found the umbrella on the lamppost with the rain, helped some kids take group pictures of themselves, and just admired the detail of the street where one side is British and one side is Chinatown. We enjoyed a beer at the Tune In Lounge while we watched scenes from old TV shows shown on vintage television sets. While we were there we talked about how we recall watching those shows when they were new, and also how the vintage décor of the lounge looked very much like rooms we used to live in not so long ago.
Later we had an early dinner at Hollywood and Vine. While we enjoyed the buffet meal, we agreed, as at Boma, that we prefer the breakfast buffet to the dinner buffet.
After our dinner we left MGM to return to the AKL. After relaxing for a while in our room, and watching the animals, of course, we wandered around the hotel admiring the various savannahs and enjoying the animal sightings. We walked over the bridge on the fifth floor of the hotel, spent some time in the gift shop buying trinkets, and then went to Mara to purchase an evening snack. We were somewhat disappointed in Mara. While we bought a package of good Pepperidge farm oatmeal raisin cookies to take back to the room, we noticed that several of the skim milk cartons had past "sell by" dates on them. We reached to the back and found two good cartons, but we were surprised at this oversight with outdated milk.
Wednesday morning we returned to Celebration for a late breakfast at the Market Street Café, intending to try their blueberry pancakes. However, we arrived just as their regular breakfast hours were ending, so we had to order from their shorter breakfast menu, which consists of scrambled egg sandwiches and various omelets. Since we had had omelets the previous day, we both ordered the scrambled egg sandwiches, which were absolutely delicious, with cheddar and bacon on Texas Toast (our cholesterol counts went up considerably that morning, no doubt). After enjoying a great breakfast with great coffee, we left and drove to Epcot.
At Epcot we went on the new Journey into the Imagination ride for the first time and also visited Ice Station Cool for a few sips of the soda samples. Ice Station Cool was particularly enjoyable considering the oppressive heat. During our entire stay the daily heat index hovered close to the century mark.
Next we went to The Land, where we got fast passes to a mobbed Living with the Land boat ride. Then we visited the Epcot annual passholders lounge for the first time. We were quite impressed with this lounge, especially after having seen the one at Animal Kingdom. The annual passholders lounge is comfortable and spacious, with machines to dispense soft drinks and coffee. We enjoyed relaxing in the lounge, watching part of a basketball game on a television, and drinking a diet coke. The windows look out on some of the scenes from Living with the Land, which I thought was interesting. While we were in the Lounge, Chip and Dale (wearing denim farmer's overalls and red bandanas around their necks) came in. They interacted with the children and adults alike, and Chip sat down with us and watched the game for a while, indicating with his hands that he was a real basketball fan. Their young lady handler rounded them up after a while and told them she had some walnuts downstairs for them, and they left.
When it was time for our fast passes to be in effect, we left and took the boat ride, which was interesting and pleasant. After leaving the Land pavilion we enjoyed an old favorite, Spaceship Earth, which was a walk on, prior to leaving Epcot and riding the monorails to the Magic Kingdom.
The Magic Kingdom was very crowded and it was very hot. Somehow it seemed hotter and the air felt closer in the Magic Kingdom than it had at Epcot. We got fast passes for Buzz Light Year, then rode Tomorrowland Transit Authority. After that we went to Columbia Harbour House where John had a big salad with chicken, pineapple and pecans in greens with vinaigrette, and I had a tuna salad sandwich. The salad and sandwich were both very fresh and tasty. Then it was time for our fast passes at Buzz Lightyear, at which John outdid me by a wide point margin, as usual. Since it was so hot and crowded, we decided to leave and go back to enjoy the serenity of our room at the AKL. We had left our car at the Epcot parking lot, so we road the monorails back, picked up our car, and returned to our temporary home for our last evening with the animals. We bought a few more small items from the gift shop, ate some of the oatmeal cookies with cold bottled water from the cooler, and started to pack up for the next morning's departure.
We had planned to go back to MGM Thursday morning for a character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. But we decided that we really wanted to try those blueberry pancakes at the café in Celebration instead. So we called and cancelled our priority seating, cleared out of the room, and drove to Celebration. On the advice of the waitress, we both ordered the short stack, which proved to be one very large pancake loaded generously with fresh blueberries. John had a side of bacon, and I had sausage patties. We both had coffee, of course, decaf for hubby, and regular for me. Breakfast was scrumptious, and we were glad that we had gone back to the charming diner. After breakfast we bought ice for the cooler from the small grocery store up the street and began our drive home.
Conclusion: The Animal Kingdom Lodge with the wonderful Savannah view made our trip a most enjoyable, relaxing and memorable experience. We also thoroughly enjoyed our leisurely breakfasts at the café in Celebration. The highlight of the parks for us this time was the Conservation Station in Rafiki's Planet Watch.
Sheila D'Agostino
Time of Year: Summer
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: AKL
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Senior
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
Comments: Sheila and John enjoyed their stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. They took in this trip to WDW in a very laid-back style. Oh, one other neat detail about this trip is the time that the D'Agostino's spent over at Celebration just enjoying the small-town atmosphere (they had breakfast over there a couople times).
Sheila D'Agostino -- July 2002 -- Walt Disney World (AKL)
July 21-25, 2002
Our first trip to Walt Disney World was during our honeymoon in 1978. We have visited Disneyland during numerous trips to California. We had made several other trips to Walt Disney World in the 1980s and 1990s. The subject of this trip report is our fourth trip since last October.
Just after we returned from a 4th of July trip to Virginia, my husband asked me when we were going back to Disney World. I answered that we'd go whenever he wanted to. So he looked at the calendar and picked a date just a couple of weeks away. I got on the phone to the Disney World reservations folks, and spoke to a charming young lady who reserved three nights for us at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, at an excellent Annual Pass rate for a standard view room. We also got priority seating for dinner at Boma for the day of arrival.
We departed in our car from our home in southern South Carolina at 9:00 on Sunday morning and arrived at AKL about five hours later, mid-afternoon. A wonderful cast member named Laura assisted us at check in. I could scarcely believe our good fortune as she told us that "You don't want a view of the parking lot. We'll give you a savannah view room." I whispered to my husband that we were getting a double upgrade! We were delighted, naturally.
Our room was number 4526, overlooking the Uzima savannah. For the most part it was a very quiet room, which is important to us. It was large enough, and well laid out, with two queen beds. We liked the heavy, dark, African-inspired furniture. There was a portable crib folded up in the closet, and also an iron and ironing board. The vanity area was large, with two sinks. The lighting could have been brighter, but overall we were very pleased with the room. There were some minor maintenance and cleaning issues, such as a burned out light bulb that took two days to replace. Two maintenance men finally showed up with a new bulb. While they were in the room we jokingly asked them how many Disney maintenance men it takes to change a light bulb - they laughed and replied that one had to supervise the other.
The first time I took a shower I found a used damp shower cap hanging by the shower curtain. To be fair, it was in a spot easily overlooked. Also, there was no plastic bag inside the ice bucket when we checked in, but on the last day one had been supplied. The towels were clean and plentiful, but I was surprised by how worn and old looking they were, not plush like one would expect at a deluxe resort. The towels at the All Star Music Resort seemed nicer to us, in our recollection.
All that having been said, we loved staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. So much so that we asked to have our planned three-night stay extended by an additional night. Our request was granted, and we stayed a fourth night for the same very reasonable rate.
One of the first things we noticed when we first entered the room was the savannah beyond our balcony, where four giraffes and several different kinds of large birds were in view. After we got settled in, we relaxed with a couple of beers from our cooler, and watched the savannah as the giraffes left and four horned cattle appeared. There was a thunderstorm that afternoon, with great jagged snakes of lightening and torrents of rain, followed by a gentler rain, during which seven bongos showed up (I recognized those fat, striped, horned grazing animals from trips to the National Zoo in Washington, DC), along with the Giraffes which had returned. We were simply enchanted by the animals. Watching them from the balcony, or by simply looking out the glass doors, was interesting and relaxing.
In fact, because of the view of the animals, we found ourselves satisfied and content to spend far more time in our room than we would usually spend during a trip. We were as happy and interested in watching the various animals outside our room as we would have been at the parks. As it happened, we spent less time in the parks this trip than during any previous visit to Disney World, in great part because the AKL resort was so enjoyable.
Later on in the evening we saw several other types of animals and birds on our savannah, including Thomson's gazelles, greater kudus, impalas, East African crowned cranes, guinea hens, and several other large birds that we did not identify. During our several-day stay, we saw lots of animals of the types I've just mentioned on our savannah, but in order to see zebras or wildebeests, we had to explore other savannahs on other sides of the hotel. This was not a problem, and it made for interesting viewing all around the Lodge. There were times when there were no larger animals to see on our savannah, but then after awhile some giraffes or antelope would come walking in for a while before walking away again. At night the savannah was low-lit with "artificial moonlight," and the animals would feed, and then sit down to rest. A giraffe sitting down and then getting up again is an interesting sight, a marvel in dexterity. One evening one giraffe was sitting on the ground with his long neck wrapped around himself, an interesting position for sleep.
We had dinner Sunday evening at Boma. We enjoyed the various items on the buffet and sampled most of them.
Although I had no intention of trying to get up early, I requested a wake up call because I wanted us to hear Mickey's voice. But another character's voice was on the phone on Monday morning, though I'm not quite sure whose voice it was - perhaps Rafiki, but I just don't know. I didn't set the clock again.
We returned to Boma for breakfast Monday morning. We agreed that we like the breakfast buffet more than the dinner buffet, though both are good.
After breakfast we took the bus to Animal Kingdom. The AKL bus waiting area is very pleasant, with a roof to protect guests from the sun and rain, and benches to sit on. Laura, our check-in cast member, was directing the guests at the bus waiting area, so we spoke to her and thanked her for assigning us to such a wonderful room. She beamed back at us during our short chat. She is a superb Disney cast member.
When we arrived at the Animal Kingdom Park we purchased the pre-paid discounted ticket for a meal, drink, and ice cream or popcorn. It is an excellent value. We used our tickets for luscious ice cream bars and bottles of water, then a tasty early dinner at Tusker House, enjoyed just before we left the park, consisting of broiled chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, and large diet cokes.
While we were at Animal Kingdom we walked on to It's Tough to be a Bug, rode Dinosaur using fast pass, and took the Wildlife Express Train ride to Rafiki's Planet Watch. It's Tough to be a Bug was a repeat experience for us, and we enjoyed it as much as the first time. Dinosaur was new to us and we liked it. While we were waiting for our fast pass time for Dinosaur we wandered around the mid-way attractions and looked at Primeval Whirl and TriceraTop Spin, though we did not try either. We talked about trying Primeval Whirl during another visit; for this visit the line was long and we didn't want to wait. We admired Dino-Sue, the T-Rex skeleton, and discussed her archeological history with a very well-informed young lady cast member who was standing by her.
We certainly enjoyed Rafiki's Planet Watch. While we were not interested in petting any of the animals in the petting yard, we spent a lot of time at the Conservation Station, viewing the exhibits and discussing them with the knowledgeable cast members. At one window we saw three PhD scientists in deep discussion while an intern worked with scientific instruments at a table. A cast member talked to us about their research and work with the animals. She advised us of their study of and use of hormones to aid in animal reproduction. There were displays of large samples of elephant dung, which is used for the extraction of hormones. The cast member had preserved elephant dung samples that we were encouraged to touch and hold. While the specimens that we examined were dried, plastic coated and odorless, researchers fish around in fresh samples to extract hormones for testing. We were also advised that an elephant at the park is pregnant thanks in part to this research, since female and male elephants are kept apart, and indeed normally live apart in the wild. We were also advised that the young intern had been in charge of obtaining the required ingredient from the male elephant for his contribution to the pregnancy. We didn't ask the specifics of how she obtained it - perhaps she asked the male elephant politely.
Another exhibit showed the actual veterinary operating room for surgical procedures on animals. Pictures on display indicated that the facilities often had to be used to extract foreign objects that the animals had eaten. Usually the objects were removed by instruments inserted down their throats, and no actual cutting was required. Various objects, frequently plastic trash, have had to be removed from the stomachs of parrots, snakes and other small animals.
These were the highlights of the Conservation Station for us, but we also enjoyed looking at the other exhibits, as well. We thought the information was well-presented and the displays well done and educational. We came away feeling that we had learned something. It was more like a visit to a science museum than an amusement park, but we love museums.
After asking a cast member for directions, we found the temporary Annual Passholder's Lounge at Animal Kingdom. While it is a quiet place to get a cool drink of water, we were disappointed in its sparseness. We rested there for a short while, drank a cup or two of the water from the cooler, chatted briefly with the attending cast member, and left.
There was another afternoon thunderstorm on Monday, but it was much less severe than the storm on Sunday.
As in all of the parks, we were bothered by inconsiderate smokers who do not confine their smoking to the designated smoking areas. When we went to the Tusker house we had to walk through a wall of smoke created by two young men who were smoking right outside the doorway. Several times we found ourselves walking behind smokers, with their smoke wafting back at us. We sat on a bench to rest and enjoy our ice cream and ended up breathing second hand smoke from a woman with a cigarette nearby. While wandering around the Tree of Life, trying to enjoy the view of animal habitats along the Discovery Island Trails, we were inundated by smoke from a man's big, ugly cigar. We also suffered from second-hand smoke from another man's cigar while walking along another path. We never observed any cast member enforcing the smoking area rules. While enforcement of the smoking rules presents a difficult challenge, this is an area where Disney needs improvement.
Tuesday morning we decided to drive to Celebration, to see what that place is like. The first thing we did there was to have breakfast at the Market Street Café. My husband had a "Healthy Choice Omelet," which is an egg white omelet with broccoli, green pepper, tomatoes and mushrooms. I had a regular omelet with cheese. We both had dry whole wheat toast, a side order of grits, and coffee (decaf for him, regular for me). The food and service were excellent, the food well-cooked and the portions generous. The place was just our style, a great diner.
Then we proceeded to explore the town. We wandered around the downtown area, looking at the shops, admiring the lake and scenery. We went to the Celebration Hotel and were impressed with the beautiful lobby and facilities. We decided that we would enjoy staying there sometime soon, so we asked the concierge for some information on the hotel and the rooms. She generously offered to show us the rooms, and took us on a tour of the hotel, including an examination of every kind and size room available. The rooms and décor are beautiful, and we look forward to a visit there soon. The lady who provided the tour did tell us not to plan to visit during three weeks in August, since the entire hotel, including the restaurant, would be taken over by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team, who will be staying there during their pre-season training camp at the Disney sports facility.
After driving around the residential section of Celebration, looking at the homes both occupied and under construction, we left the town about noon and drove to the Contemporary hotel for a strawberry daiquiri. After relaxing for a while and finishing our frozen drink and some snacks, we drove to MGM, where we played Who Wants to be a Millionaire, while sitting in the fastest finger chairs on the floor (I actually got on the board once, to my great surprise), watched the Muppet 3D movie, then wandered around New York Street, found the umbrella on the lamppost with the rain, helped some kids take group pictures of themselves, and just admired the detail of the street where one side is British and one side is Chinatown. We enjoyed a beer at the Tune In Lounge while we watched scenes from old TV shows shown on vintage television sets. While we were there we talked about how we recall watching those shows when they were new, and also how the vintage décor of the lounge looked very much like rooms we used to live in not so long ago.
Later we had an early dinner at Hollywood and Vine. While we enjoyed the buffet meal, we agreed, as at Boma, that we prefer the breakfast buffet to the dinner buffet.
After our dinner we left MGM to return to the AKL. After relaxing for a while in our room, and watching the animals, of course, we wandered around the hotel admiring the various savannahs and enjoying the animal sightings. We walked over the bridge on the fifth floor of the hotel, spent some time in the gift shop buying trinkets, and then went to Mara to purchase an evening snack. We were somewhat disappointed in Mara. While we bought a package of good Pepperidge farm oatmeal raisin cookies to take back to the room, we noticed that several of the skim milk cartons had past "sell by" dates on them. We reached to the back and found two good cartons, but we were surprised at this oversight with outdated milk.
Wednesday morning we returned to Celebration for a late breakfast at the Market Street Café, intending to try their blueberry pancakes. However, we arrived just as their regular breakfast hours were ending, so we had to order from their shorter breakfast menu, which consists of scrambled egg sandwiches and various omelets. Since we had had omelets the previous day, we both ordered the scrambled egg sandwiches, which were absolutely delicious, with cheddar and bacon on Texas Toast (our cholesterol counts went up considerably that morning, no doubt). After enjoying a great breakfast with great coffee, we left and drove to Epcot.
At Epcot we went on the new Journey into the Imagination ride for the first time and also visited Ice Station Cool for a few sips of the soda samples. Ice Station Cool was particularly enjoyable considering the oppressive heat. During our entire stay the daily heat index hovered close to the century mark.
Next we went to The Land, where we got fast passes to a mobbed Living with the Land boat ride. Then we visited the Epcot annual passholders lounge for the first time. We were quite impressed with this lounge, especially after having seen the one at Animal Kingdom. The annual passholders lounge is comfortable and spacious, with machines to dispense soft drinks and coffee. We enjoyed relaxing in the lounge, watching part of a basketball game on a television, and drinking a diet coke. The windows look out on some of the scenes from Living with the Land, which I thought was interesting. While we were in the Lounge, Chip and Dale (wearing denim farmer's overalls and red bandanas around their necks) came in. They interacted with the children and adults alike, and Chip sat down with us and watched the game for a while, indicating with his hands that he was a real basketball fan. Their young lady handler rounded them up after a while and told them she had some walnuts downstairs for them, and they left.
When it was time for our fast passes to be in effect, we left and took the boat ride, which was interesting and pleasant. After leaving the Land pavilion we enjoyed an old favorite, Spaceship Earth, which was a walk on, prior to leaving Epcot and riding the monorails to the Magic Kingdom.
The Magic Kingdom was very crowded and it was very hot. Somehow it seemed hotter and the air felt closer in the Magic Kingdom than it had at Epcot. We got fast passes for Buzz Light Year, then rode Tomorrowland Transit Authority. After that we went to Columbia Harbour House where John had a big salad with chicken, pineapple and pecans in greens with vinaigrette, and I had a tuna salad sandwich. The salad and sandwich were both very fresh and tasty. Then it was time for our fast passes at Buzz Lightyear, at which John outdid me by a wide point margin, as usual. Since it was so hot and crowded, we decided to leave and go back to enjoy the serenity of our room at the AKL. We had left our car at the Epcot parking lot, so we road the monorails back, picked up our car, and returned to our temporary home for our last evening with the animals. We bought a few more small items from the gift shop, ate some of the oatmeal cookies with cold bottled water from the cooler, and started to pack up for the next morning's departure.
We had planned to go back to MGM Thursday morning for a character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. But we decided that we really wanted to try those blueberry pancakes at the café in Celebration instead. So we called and cancelled our priority seating, cleared out of the room, and drove to Celebration. On the advice of the waitress, we both ordered the short stack, which proved to be one very large pancake loaded generously with fresh blueberries. John had a side of bacon, and I had sausage patties. We both had coffee, of course, decaf for hubby, and regular for me. Breakfast was scrumptious, and we were glad that we had gone back to the charming diner. After breakfast we bought ice for the cooler from the small grocery store up the street and began our drive home.
Conclusion: The Animal Kingdom Lodge with the wonderful Savannah view made our trip a most enjoyable, relaxing and memorable experience. We also thoroughly enjoyed our leisurely breakfasts at the café in Celebration. The highlight of the parks for us this time was the Conservation Station in Rafiki's Planet Watch.
Sheila D'Agostino