Hi everyone and welcome to Day 14 ~ Friday August 29th
Well today is the big day ~ we switch resorts. We had a long lie in this morning and in fact I did not get out of bed till 10:00am. I had had a fitful night with the after effects of my food poisoning incident
I woke Noel up at 10:15am and she pulled on a skirt and headed down the hall with major bed-head to get herself a donut before the lounge stopped serving breakfast. I did my last minute packing and had the bellman pick up our bags to transfer to Animal Kingdom Lodge - easy as that.
We said our goodbyes to the concierge staff and Art the greeter and took a quick cab ride over to the lodge.
As we pulled up in the drive at AKL I just was so overwhelmed and got a little teary eyed ~ it was like coming home, I absolutely love this resort and although the beach Club was great and I don't have a thing to complain about ~ this resort does something to me. The bellman opened the cab door for me and I told him were checking in concierge, he asked for my name and then took us inside where they had our welcome packet and keycards waiting. He escorted us straight to our room after we passed through the lobby ~ absolutely breathtaking.
Our room is 5505 on the Zebra trail, last time we were on the Kudu trail but the view is practically identical. Our room had a queen size bed, twin bunks & a day bed. I had requested bunks as Hayley and SuAnne are sharing this room with us for one night and going on the Sunrise Safari tommorrow. After visiting our room we went up to the "Kilamanjaro Club" to register and set up the credit charges on our cards.
We went down to the main lobby to wait for SuAnne & Hayley who would be arriving around 12:00pm - we sat outside on a bench near the bellmen. This is where I witnessed two interesting incidents. The first was a mom and two little girls maybe 3 & 5 years old coming off a bus and walking up the the hotel doors. The 2 little girls each had a big foil helium balloon of Minnie Mouse. I was thinking to myself that balloons are not allowed here at AKL because the pose a threat to the animals - also you will not find any straws or lids, but I wondered how strict they were about it.
A second later a bellman approached them and said he was very sorry but balloons were not allowed and he would have to check them in. The Mom was aghast, the kids were crying 'why does that man want to take our balloons" The mom kept arguing that they would be careful and not allow them outside but the bellman said "No, I'm sorry" The Mom was angry and was saying she spent good money on these inthe parks - why don't they tell people that they can't be taken to the resort. The bellman was being really nice, but he had to take the balloons away and came back with a reciept for them - saying they would get them back when they checked out. The Mom said she was going to see the management and get a refund for them and he could keep them. The older girl was saying "But Mommy, we don't want to kill a giraffe"
The other incident was a white WDW panel van pulled up and a concierge staff member got out (I recognized her) she opened the back doors of the van and the bellman loaded a whole pile of stuff on a cart. There was about 6 large bags from Pier One and a big DVD Player in a box.
The bellman asked her what she wanted done with the stuff and she said to get it up to the Presidential Suite right away. SuAnne and Hayley arrived a few minutes later and on our way up to the room which is just down from the Presidential and Vice P. suites... we saw a family of about 10 people being escorted by Concierge staff over to the suite. The "Main Guy" looked like a rap star or something... SuAnne said "Is it BoDiddily?" but I think she means "P Diddy" (the only rapping we do is with presents at Christmas)
Later we saw the family down at the pool sitting in a section with reserved chairs... so they must be very VIP. We tried to weasel out who it is from the concierge last night in the lounge but she told us she had to respect guests privacy and could not tell us anything. *sigh*
So now that SuAnne and Hayley had arrived, Noel had a ball showing Hayley the ropes. The Kilamanjaro Club is on the 6th floor and overlooks the lobby on the 3rd floor below. The view is stunning and the atmosphere peaceful. We all had drinks and some of the snacks that were out (except me - still suffering could not eat a thing). Our next stop was cookie decorating at Boma for the kids and they each made a giraffe creation.
Next was the pool - where the girls swam and SuAnne and I had a drink by the bar. SuAnne tried one of the specialty drinks "Victoria Falls Mist" and said it was wonderful. I had a tonic water hoping it would help my queasiness.
Later we joined the kids in the pool - what a great afternoon we had. Hayley and Noel were "starving" by 3:00pm so we got them a hotdog and pizza at Mara.
After Lunch there were 5 giraffes just a stones throw from the pool - not that we would throw stones
they were so close and we watched them for a while. Later, off our room balcony we saw zebra, Ankole Cattle & Giraffes - SuAnne is a diehard Wilderness Lodge fan, but after seeing all the animals and the resort I think we are converting her
We changed for dinner as we had resevations for Boma but decided only SuAnne and I would go and let the girls terrorize the AKL unsupervised for a couple of hours. Actually, Noel knows the hotel like the back of her hand as we stayed here 10 days last year - they thought this was the cats meow being able to tour around and visit the room or lounge as they please. We made sure they knew where we were eating and off they went.
We still had a little bit of time before dinner so we stopped by the lounge and they were serving the evening offerings which was chicken wings, chicken nuggets, salmon, flat breads, crackers and cheese, hummus, veggies and dip...etc... I had a cracke and was feeling a little better just prior to Boma, but one sip of the carrot ginger soup (which was delicious) my body started rejecting it.
SuAnne was really enjoying her salad selections and maincourse and basically I sipped my drink. We had a great time chatting about our past lives and lots of girl talk - don't feel bad for me - it was a fun evening despite not being able to eat anything.
After dinner the waiter arrived with a large tray of tuxedo chocolate covered strawberries and a chocolate AKL picture on a chocolate easel and a little chocolate elephant. He said it was sent from Amy at BC Concierge with her compliments... wow it was gorgeous and everyone was looking at us - I couldn't eat anything, so we carried it back to the room for the girls.
When we arrived at the room the girls were on the bed watching a DVD and giggling... who knows what they got up to while we were gone but they did make it to story telling by the firepit and Noel got to participate by wearing a zebra hat as one of the characters in the story.
They also had a hidden mickey safari clue sheet and found quite a few of them and we suspect they were playing tic tac toe in the giftshop where there is a table set up with Cheetahs and Giraffes. Speaking of Giraffes, we recieved a gift of a hand carved wooden giraffe in our room sent by the concierge staff. I recieved an identical one last year so Noel gave this one to Hayley who was thrilled.
It was now 9pm and desserts and liquers are served in the Kilamanjaro Club so we all headed up there... again I could not have a thing but the girls had some cookies and SuAnne had a cappucino with liquer in it and a chocolate truffle.
I knew that MikeJ from the DIS Boards was staying concierge here also and a saw a fellow walking in wearing a Tilly Endurable Hat... I also recognized him from the Hard Rock Hotel as I had seen him by the pool there there too - so I knew it had to be MikeJ.
Mike joined us for a chat and it turns out he had spotted Noel earlier inthe evening but was not 100% sure because she was with Hayley and he knew she was travelling alone with me. Turns out Mike and his family are from London, Ontario where SuAnne and Hayley are from too
After meeting MikeJ we went out the Arusha lookout and tried the night vision scopes - very cool! I did not get a chance to do that last year and as it was coming up for 11:00pm we went to bed.
Noel had the top bunk, hayley the bottom, I had the Queen and little SuAnne had the cozy day bed.. the girls were terrible for talking and giggling and I had to threaten them with death and then even threaten no new pin tomorrow if they would not shut up - finally about midnight we all fell asleep. We need our rest as we have the Concierge Sunrise Safari in the morning.
Until then... goodnight from Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Well today is the big day ~ we switch resorts. We had a long lie in this morning and in fact I did not get out of bed till 10:00am. I had had a fitful night with the after effects of my food poisoning incident
I woke Noel up at 10:15am and she pulled on a skirt and headed down the hall with major bed-head to get herself a donut before the lounge stopped serving breakfast. I did my last minute packing and had the bellman pick up our bags to transfer to Animal Kingdom Lodge - easy as that.
We said our goodbyes to the concierge staff and Art the greeter and took a quick cab ride over to the lodge.
As we pulled up in the drive at AKL I just was so overwhelmed and got a little teary eyed ~ it was like coming home, I absolutely love this resort and although the beach Club was great and I don't have a thing to complain about ~ this resort does something to me. The bellman opened the cab door for me and I told him were checking in concierge, he asked for my name and then took us inside where they had our welcome packet and keycards waiting. He escorted us straight to our room after we passed through the lobby ~ absolutely breathtaking.
Our room is 5505 on the Zebra trail, last time we were on the Kudu trail but the view is practically identical. Our room had a queen size bed, twin bunks & a day bed. I had requested bunks as Hayley and SuAnne are sharing this room with us for one night and going on the Sunrise Safari tommorrow. After visiting our room we went up to the "Kilamanjaro Club" to register and set up the credit charges on our cards.
We went down to the main lobby to wait for SuAnne & Hayley who would be arriving around 12:00pm - we sat outside on a bench near the bellmen. This is where I witnessed two interesting incidents. The first was a mom and two little girls maybe 3 & 5 years old coming off a bus and walking up the the hotel doors. The 2 little girls each had a big foil helium balloon of Minnie Mouse. I was thinking to myself that balloons are not allowed here at AKL because the pose a threat to the animals - also you will not find any straws or lids, but I wondered how strict they were about it.
A second later a bellman approached them and said he was very sorry but balloons were not allowed and he would have to check them in. The Mom was aghast, the kids were crying 'why does that man want to take our balloons" The mom kept arguing that they would be careful and not allow them outside but the bellman said "No, I'm sorry" The Mom was angry and was saying she spent good money on these inthe parks - why don't they tell people that they can't be taken to the resort. The bellman was being really nice, but he had to take the balloons away and came back with a reciept for them - saying they would get them back when they checked out. The Mom said she was going to see the management and get a refund for them and he could keep them. The older girl was saying "But Mommy, we don't want to kill a giraffe"
The other incident was a white WDW panel van pulled up and a concierge staff member got out (I recognized her) she opened the back doors of the van and the bellman loaded a whole pile of stuff on a cart. There was about 6 large bags from Pier One and a big DVD Player in a box.
The bellman asked her what she wanted done with the stuff and she said to get it up to the Presidential Suite right away. SuAnne and Hayley arrived a few minutes later and on our way up to the room which is just down from the Presidential and Vice P. suites... we saw a family of about 10 people being escorted by Concierge staff over to the suite. The "Main Guy" looked like a rap star or something... SuAnne said "Is it BoDiddily?" but I think she means "P Diddy" (the only rapping we do is with presents at Christmas)
Later we saw the family down at the pool sitting in a section with reserved chairs... so they must be very VIP. We tried to weasel out who it is from the concierge last night in the lounge but she told us she had to respect guests privacy and could not tell us anything. *sigh*
So now that SuAnne and Hayley had arrived, Noel had a ball showing Hayley the ropes. The Kilamanjaro Club is on the 6th floor and overlooks the lobby on the 3rd floor below. The view is stunning and the atmosphere peaceful. We all had drinks and some of the snacks that were out (except me - still suffering could not eat a thing). Our next stop was cookie decorating at Boma for the kids and they each made a giraffe creation.
Next was the pool - where the girls swam and SuAnne and I had a drink by the bar. SuAnne tried one of the specialty drinks "Victoria Falls Mist" and said it was wonderful. I had a tonic water hoping it would help my queasiness.
Later we joined the kids in the pool - what a great afternoon we had. Hayley and Noel were "starving" by 3:00pm so we got them a hotdog and pizza at Mara.
After Lunch there were 5 giraffes just a stones throw from the pool - not that we would throw stones
they were so close and we watched them for a while. Later, off our room balcony we saw zebra, Ankole Cattle & Giraffes - SuAnne is a diehard Wilderness Lodge fan, but after seeing all the animals and the resort I think we are converting her We changed for dinner as we had resevations for Boma but decided only SuAnne and I would go and let the girls terrorize the AKL unsupervised for a couple of hours. Actually, Noel knows the hotel like the back of her hand as we stayed here 10 days last year - they thought this was the cats meow being able to tour around and visit the room or lounge as they please. We made sure they knew where we were eating and off they went.
We still had a little bit of time before dinner so we stopped by the lounge and they were serving the evening offerings which was chicken wings, chicken nuggets, salmon, flat breads, crackers and cheese, hummus, veggies and dip...etc... I had a cracke and was feeling a little better just prior to Boma, but one sip of the carrot ginger soup (which was delicious) my body started rejecting it.
SuAnne was really enjoying her salad selections and maincourse and basically I sipped my drink. We had a great time chatting about our past lives and lots of girl talk - don't feel bad for me - it was a fun evening despite not being able to eat anything.
After dinner the waiter arrived with a large tray of tuxedo chocolate covered strawberries and a chocolate AKL picture on a chocolate easel and a little chocolate elephant. He said it was sent from Amy at BC Concierge with her compliments... wow it was gorgeous and everyone was looking at us - I couldn't eat anything, so we carried it back to the room for the girls.
When we arrived at the room the girls were on the bed watching a DVD and giggling... who knows what they got up to while we were gone but they did make it to story telling by the firepit and Noel got to participate by wearing a zebra hat as one of the characters in the story.
They also had a hidden mickey safari clue sheet and found quite a few of them and we suspect they were playing tic tac toe in the giftshop where there is a table set up with Cheetahs and Giraffes. Speaking of Giraffes, we recieved a gift of a hand carved wooden giraffe in our room sent by the concierge staff. I recieved an identical one last year so Noel gave this one to Hayley who was thrilled.
It was now 9pm and desserts and liquers are served in the Kilamanjaro Club so we all headed up there... again I could not have a thing but the girls had some cookies and SuAnne had a cappucino with liquer in it and a chocolate truffle.
I knew that MikeJ from the DIS Boards was staying concierge here also and a saw a fellow walking in wearing a Tilly Endurable Hat... I also recognized him from the Hard Rock Hotel as I had seen him by the pool there there too - so I knew it had to be MikeJ.
Mike joined us for a chat and it turns out he had spotted Noel earlier inthe evening but was not 100% sure because she was with Hayley and he knew she was travelling alone with me. Turns out Mike and his family are from London, Ontario where SuAnne and Hayley are from too
After meeting MikeJ we went out the Arusha lookout and tried the night vision scopes - very cool! I did not get a chance to do that last year and as it was coming up for 11:00pm we went to bed.
Noel had the top bunk, hayley the bottom, I had the Queen and little SuAnne had the cozy day bed.. the girls were terrible for talking and giggling and I had to threaten them with death and then even threaten no new pin tomorrow if they would not shut up - finally about midnight we all fell asleep. We need our rest as we have the Concierge Sunrise Safari in the morning.
Until then... goodnight from Animal Kingdom Lodge.
also, last night I was able to switch my reservation to a concierge room at AKL for October so I'm reading your posts 10 times each instead of just 5!!
