My Animal Kingdom Lodge Grand Villa Vacation!! With a side trip to see Harry!

Yep! A grand villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge. :sohappy: No words can describe the awesomeness. Any other resort, no matter how deluxe, is going to be a letdown from here on out. In fact, my house was a bit of a disappointment when I got back. :lol:

Who: Us, the DVC members who were kind enough to use our points to take family. :D That's me Tammy- travel agent extraordinaire:lol:, dear hubby - air force officer extraordinaire who was wise enough to buy DVC two years ago, ds15 - our high school student/the quarterback who missed a football game for this trip and whose coach wasn't very happy with me :lookaroun and dd12 - who turned 13 today.:)

My in-laws whom you may recognize from my Mediterranean cruise report from May.

My brother in law and his family.

Here we are!

Photo0031.jpg


When: October 3-10. On my niece’s fall break. My kids flat out skipped school. :D

What: This was supposed to be a relaxing, enjoy our resort kind of trip. I think we succeeded. We took a lot of breaks. We also took advantage of our full kitchen. The in-laws loaded us up on groceries. We ate breakfast in the room every morning and came back for another meal most days. We were trying to cut down on the quantity of food we ate.

Disclaimers: First, I took a bazillion pictures and am working my way through them, but life gets in the way. This report may take a while, but I've got the first couple of days done. Second, I am not good at food pictures. I forget to take them and someone's usually eating before I get a chance.:lol: You'll have to go elsewhere for those. Third, I may offend some with my rather conservative opinions on Disney appropriate behavior. You may think me a prude and I don't mean to offend, lets just agree to disagree.:)
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Ooh, let's see. On the 8th we were at Magic Kingdom, the 9th we were at Epcot, and the 10th we were sad and on our way home.:cry:

We did MNSSHP on the 8th and we spent a little time at Epcot on the 9th so we could have passed each other :D

(waits to read the rest of the report)
 

eagles

Active Member
still loving it. love your dd with the wand, she did not look like a muggle.

i so can not wait to go to universal (i know i should not have typed that out loud :ROFLOL:)
 

deb4him40

Member
My cousin and I were there in Sept. when temps were in the 90's with 97% humidity. The frozen butterbeer was really good then. We liked it better than the regular. Your trip report is amazing....can't wait to read more!
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Excellent update, Tammy.

Hopefully you can clear something up for me. I know you have to place all things in a locker that don’t fit in your pockets for Forbidden Journey. Is this the case with all the rides and coasters at Universal/IOA now? I’m seriously debating whether or not I should leave the DSLR behind and just take a P&S (as much as it would pain me to do so :lol:).
 

tiaragirl

Well-Known Member
Tammy, are you kidding me? Are you freaking kidding me.. Holly finishes her TR just as you start yours.. HEAVEN for a Psyc major who has a deadly midterm tomorrow and needed a way to unwind!

I'm really thinking I need to convince the parents to go Deluxe on the accommodations at some point.. it'll never happen, but holy amazing place to stay on vacation. Maybe it's how I'll convince the BF to Disney with me - "well Cam, you know, there are some really nice hotels and I'm sure you could sleep in.. (while I go watch the animals, swim in the awesome pool, and ride TOT)". Ya?

Keep it coming!
 

madswithano

New Member
We decided to explore a little. Here’s the main savannah. We watched this guy all week. One horn was apparently so heavy it completely drug on the ground. Ouch!

IMG_4655071.jpg

if that's the one i think it is, it's actually deaf in one ear, and it's so disorienting for him that he tilts his head to the side without actually realizing. that's what we were told when we did the behind the scenes safari about two years ago when we were staying at AKL.
 

Billy6

Well-Known Member
This spider was scary big. Seriously:

IMG_4668084.jpg


I saw a spider like this at Kidani in June...It was hanging outside one of the hallway window sections that look out to the savannah...It was the biggest spider ever..Got a pic with my phone but its pretty blurry...
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
This spider was scary big. Seriously:

IMG_4668084.jpg


I saw a spider like this at Kidani in June...It was hanging outside one of the hallway window sections that look out to the savannah...It was the biggest spider ever..Got a pic with my phone but its pretty blurry...

That's a garden spider - and they're awesome to have in your garden (imagine that! :D)

But more importantly........ where is todays update?! Not that I'm stalking this thread or anything.......:lookaroun:lookaroun:lookaroun
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We did MNSSHP on the 8th and we spent a little time at Epcot on the 9th so we could have passed each other :D

(waits to read the rest of the report)

Ooh, we might have! You'll have to check out my pictures and see if you see yourself!

still loving it. love your dd with the wand, she did not look like a muggle.

i so can not wait to go to universal (i know i should not have typed that out loud :ROFLOL:)

It is a little dangerous to type that out, Louella!:lol:

My cousin and I were there in Sept. when temps were in the 90's with 97% humidity. The frozen butterbeer was really good then. We liked it better than the regular. Your trip report is amazing....can't wait to read more!

Thanks, Deb! My inlaws had the frozen butterbeer. We should have got one of each so we could try both.
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Excellent update, Tammy.

Hopefully you can clear something up for me. I know you have to place all things in a locker that don’t fit in your pockets for Forbidden Journey. Is this the case with all the rides and coasters at Universal/IOA now? I’m seriously debating whether or not I should leave the DSLR behind and just take a P&S (as much as it would pain me to do so :lol:).

That's a tough call, Holly. I don't like to ever leave mine but I did have to give it up a few times. We had to lock them up for Hulk. For Jurassic park there were lockers available, but they weren't free or required so we didn't use them. So many of the rides at Universal are wet rides that you don't want your DSLR anywhere near them!:lol:

Tammy, are you kidding me? Are you freaking kidding me.. Holly finishes her TR just as you start yours.. HEAVEN for a Psyc major who has a deadly midterm tomorrow and needed a way to unwind!

I'm really thinking I need to convince the parents to go Deluxe on the accommodations at some point.. it'll never happen, but holy amazing place to stay on vacation. Maybe it's how I'll convince the BF to Disney with me - "well Cam, you know, there are some really nice hotels and I'm sure you could sleep in.. (while I go watch the animals, swim in the awesome pool, and ride TOT)". Ya?

Keep it coming!

Are you back to studying yet? :) It was amazing!! I totally think BF would go for your plan.:lol:

if that's the one i think it is, it's actually deaf in one ear, and it's so disorienting for him that he tilts his head to the side without actually realizing. that's what we were told when we did the behind the scenes safari about two years ago when we were staying at AKL.

That's very interesting! That makes sense!
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This spider was scary big. Seriously:

IMG_4668084.jpg


I saw a spider like this at Kidani in June...It was hanging outside one of the hallway window sections that look out to the savannah...It was the biggest spider ever..Got a pic with my phone but its pretty blurry...

I did not like that spider.

That's a garden spider - and they're awesome to have in your garden (imagine that! :D)

But more importantly........ where is todays update?! Not that I'm stalking this thread or anything.......:lookaroun:lookaroun:lookaroun

I'd have to let my garden die. I did not like that spider.:lol:

I'm trying to get more up!! I'm photoshopping like crazy, but I just can't get caught up!
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
I did not like that spider.



I'd have to let my garden die. I did not like that spider.:lol:

I'm trying to get more up!! I'm photoshopping like crazy, but I just can't get caught up!

Note I said "great for YOUR garden" not "great for MY garden" :lol: In MY garden we have a spider relocation program. :D

I will be patient! Thanks again for sharing!
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Excellent! I like the spider relocation program. :D

If we had a spider like that in our garden I think I'd have a husband-relocation-program going on. He'll scream like a woman at spiders and palmetto bugs. :lol:

I'm trying so hard to be patient until the next update arrives. It's so hard to do sometimes! :D
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If we had a spider like that in our garden I think I'd have a husband-relocation-program going on. He'll scream like a woman at spiders and palmetto bugs. :lol:

I'm trying so hard to be patient until the next update arrives. It's so hard to do sometimes! :D

:lol:

oh i am so sad. no updates to read while drinking my tea. :cry:

I know! It's so sad! This op needs to get to work!:lol:
 

luvlifeinfl

New Member
Tammy,

Awesome trip report and truly enjoyed the pics. It has been a several yrs since we have been to Universal and I can say back then we were not impressed with the park.

That last time we stayed at AK was in 2006 and of course they did not have the villa built yet, we have tried to stay there though since then and when we call they have nothing available. Our home resort is SSR. Those Gvillas are awesome, I wish I could just move into one of them. They seem larger than my home.
 

Nicole220

Well-Known Member
I love the animal pictures! Nothing beats AKL...it's so perfect (except for the location. I wish it was closer to the parks!).

Tammy, where in Colorado are you? How long have you been there?
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tammy,

Awesome trip report and truly enjoyed the pics. It has been a several yrs since we have been to Universal and I can say back then we were not impressed with the park.

That last time we stayed at AK was in 2006 and of course they did not have the villa built yet, we have tried to stay there though since then and when we call they have nothing available. Our home resort is SSR. Those Gvillas are awesome, I wish I could just move into one of them. They seem larger than my home.

I would totally move into one! They are like 2400 square feet! Crazy! Thanks for reading luvinlife!

I love the animal pictures! Nothing beats AKL...it's so perfect (except for the location. I wish it was closer to the parks!).

Tammy, where in Colorado are you? How long have you been there?

It is perfect. If you like Animal Kingdom it's a great location. If you are spending most of your time at MK, then it's a long way.

We're in Colorado Springs! We've only been here 14 months and will probably leave next summer. We love it here though!
 

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