Well, we just returned from our 8 day, 7 night stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was my husband, our 4 year old daughter and myself. I am a former Cast member so I knew everything that I wanted to show them both, as first timers. What a blast we had!
At the AKL, we requested a Queen Bunk Room. When we arrived there was a mickey towel animal on the bed and the basket of ears, autograph book, pen and treats that we had ordered from Disney Florists. We arrived at 9:30 am and were allowed to check-in to our room right away. The room was spacious and had a nice view of the pool. We deicded right away that we could never stay anywhere else again!
We had the Dining Plan and found it super easy to use. Not so easy to use up though. We left with 2 remaining Quick Service credits and had to use 14 snack credits on treats to bring home. We agreed that the ease of its use still made it a must-do for our next vacation. We used our TS credits at Crystal Palace (dinner), Boma (breakfast), Jiko (dinner), Cinderella's Royal Table (dinner), and Le Cellier (dinner). Our QS credits went to Pizzafari (breakfast), Pizza Planet (lunch), China (lunch), Morocco (lunch), Casey's (lunch), The Mara (breakfast), and Pinnochio's Village Haus (lunch). We used some of our promotional $200 Gift Card to add meals at Chef Mickey's and O'Hana (both for breakfast) and Yak & Yeti (for dinner).
Our favorite meal was Boma. We actually went back our second to last day, we enjoyed it so much. We were celebrating an anniversary and they brough out a complimentary plate of fruits and dessets that was amazing. They had some traditional breakfast foods and some with some African flair. The turkey bobtie was soo good as well as the much talked about Frunch.
Our least favorite meal was probably CRT. The food was just ok. At those prices, it should be great. But we had read reviews that said the same and were expecting this. It is just nice to be in the castle for a meal. Our daughter was celbrating her 4th birthday this night. She thought she was really a princess. It was worth it for the experience, but we would not feel the need to do it again.
Wait times for the parks were not too bad. The first two days of our trip were in the 30's so the parks were empty. My husband was able to walk right onto Space Mtn! At Animal Kingdom, however, many of the animals were not out bc of the very low temps. Luckily, we were able to return a few days later and see them all. Our longest waits were for Toy Story Mania (100 min) but that is bc there were 2 Brazillian tour groups in the park that day and they had gotten all of the Fast Passes for the entire day by 10:30. It was a great ride though and the theming in the queue was great. The line to meet Tinkerbell was also about 90 min, although I do not know why. They said it was bc of the level of interaction but we found it to be the same as any other meet and greet experience.
There has been alot of complaints on this board about Fantasmic. They showed it twice on the Friday night that we were there. We got in line 2 hours before show time for the first show and had great seats. The show was packed but didn't close until about half an hour before. We had lost my husband during the push (and I mean that literally, peolple were shoving to get in!) so he was given a pass for readmittence to the second show. He went and rode Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster a few times. With the pass we were all able to attend the second show as well. The last section on each side of the theater was empty, so it would seem that this would be the better to attend.
I was sooo glad we did the 8 days as it allowed us to enjoy every bit of the parks. We did our first day at MK (arriving at about noon), second at AK, third at The Studios, fourth at MK, fifth at DTD, sixth at EPCOT, seventh at The Studios/AK and last at MK (leaving at about 3 pm). We were able to see all the shows and ride all of the rides (some more than once).
The Nemo show at AK is adorable. We cannot get those songs out of our heads! My husband is not one for musicals and he really enjoyed it. We also really enjoyed Philharmagic. I think it is my new favorite 3D show.
All in all, we had the most amazing trip. We each had some very magical moments. My husband and I were pulled out in Africa to recieve best wishes and a fertiltiy dance (good for 15 children, we were told!). My daughter was taken by Mulan (her favorite charecter) and Mushu to the marketplace of the China pavillion to color a mask together. They spent about 10 full minutes with just her. We got to see and do everything that we had wanted and are already looking forward to our next trip!
At the AKL, we requested a Queen Bunk Room. When we arrived there was a mickey towel animal on the bed and the basket of ears, autograph book, pen and treats that we had ordered from Disney Florists. We arrived at 9:30 am and were allowed to check-in to our room right away. The room was spacious and had a nice view of the pool. We deicded right away that we could never stay anywhere else again!
We had the Dining Plan and found it super easy to use. Not so easy to use up though. We left with 2 remaining Quick Service credits and had to use 14 snack credits on treats to bring home. We agreed that the ease of its use still made it a must-do for our next vacation. We used our TS credits at Crystal Palace (dinner), Boma (breakfast), Jiko (dinner), Cinderella's Royal Table (dinner), and Le Cellier (dinner). Our QS credits went to Pizzafari (breakfast), Pizza Planet (lunch), China (lunch), Morocco (lunch), Casey's (lunch), The Mara (breakfast), and Pinnochio's Village Haus (lunch). We used some of our promotional $200 Gift Card to add meals at Chef Mickey's and O'Hana (both for breakfast) and Yak & Yeti (for dinner).
Our favorite meal was Boma. We actually went back our second to last day, we enjoyed it so much. We were celebrating an anniversary and they brough out a complimentary plate of fruits and dessets that was amazing. They had some traditional breakfast foods and some with some African flair. The turkey bobtie was soo good as well as the much talked about Frunch.
Our least favorite meal was probably CRT. The food was just ok. At those prices, it should be great. But we had read reviews that said the same and were expecting this. It is just nice to be in the castle for a meal. Our daughter was celbrating her 4th birthday this night. She thought she was really a princess. It was worth it for the experience, but we would not feel the need to do it again.
Wait times for the parks were not too bad. The first two days of our trip were in the 30's so the parks were empty. My husband was able to walk right onto Space Mtn! At Animal Kingdom, however, many of the animals were not out bc of the very low temps. Luckily, we were able to return a few days later and see them all. Our longest waits were for Toy Story Mania (100 min) but that is bc there were 2 Brazillian tour groups in the park that day and they had gotten all of the Fast Passes for the entire day by 10:30. It was a great ride though and the theming in the queue was great. The line to meet Tinkerbell was also about 90 min, although I do not know why. They said it was bc of the level of interaction but we found it to be the same as any other meet and greet experience.
There has been alot of complaints on this board about Fantasmic. They showed it twice on the Friday night that we were there. We got in line 2 hours before show time for the first show and had great seats. The show was packed but didn't close until about half an hour before. We had lost my husband during the push (and I mean that literally, peolple were shoving to get in!) so he was given a pass for readmittence to the second show. He went and rode Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster a few times. With the pass we were all able to attend the second show as well. The last section on each side of the theater was empty, so it would seem that this would be the better to attend.
I was sooo glad we did the 8 days as it allowed us to enjoy every bit of the parks. We did our first day at MK (arriving at about noon), second at AK, third at The Studios, fourth at MK, fifth at DTD, sixth at EPCOT, seventh at The Studios/AK and last at MK (leaving at about 3 pm). We were able to see all the shows and ride all of the rides (some more than once).
The Nemo show at AK is adorable. We cannot get those songs out of our heads! My husband is not one for musicals and he really enjoyed it. We also really enjoyed Philharmagic. I think it is my new favorite 3D show.
All in all, we had the most amazing trip. We each had some very magical moments. My husband and I were pulled out in Africa to recieve best wishes and a fertiltiy dance (good for 15 children, we were told!). My daughter was taken by Mulan (her favorite charecter) and Mushu to the marketplace of the China pavillion to color a mask together. They spent about 10 full minutes with just her. We got to see and do everything that we had wanted and are already looking forward to our next trip!
But that just makes me look forward to my next trip even more.
But I think it'll be here before we know it!! :sohappy:
