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. 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!

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

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.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I just moved back from 2 years in Colorado...I loved it there! (except for the cold and snow).


You guys are SO fun! I love it. I want to join you guys on a vacation. :lol:

I didn't know that, Nicole! We love it hear, but I do miss that LA weather something terrible!!

You can totally come on our vacations!! :lol:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Great update!

Love the pics. The TT photos are so funny! :lol:

Golly...those kids and their retro Wayfarers...I feel so old! I wonder how cool they'd still think they were if we showed 'em pics of Madonna back in the day (ala 'Desperately Seeking Susan') wearing them. LOL!

Kim Possible. Another thing to double-check on the list of stuff we've never done but should. Everyone seems to enjoy it so much.

LeCellier. My brother snagged us an ADR at LeCellier...table for 6...for Nov. 19th. I was surprised he found it. We haven't all made a firm decision yet but we were supposed to do Mama Melrose that night. So far, we're all in agreement we'd rather do Mama's. I dunno. I love the pretzel bread with the butter so much. The filet..eh..we have an upscale steak restaurant close to us that has a filet that's better than LeCell's. Their mushroom risotto isn't as good, admittedly. The dessert is way better, tho. We don't have any decent Italian. I have a feeling we'll be doing the unthinkable and ditching LeCellier. Are we nuts or what???

Mickey Crocs?! OMG! Off to go comb eBay now..... LOL!

Love seeing all the fun everyone is having. I hope a good sleep-in helped those teenagers. LOL! I wish Chandler was like that. If I don't get up by 7:30 during the week he comes in here fussing at me like I'm the kid. :lol:

Can't wait for moooooore, of course! :sohappy:

 

[disneygirl1]

Awesome report Tammy!!! You have such an adorable family!!! You're TR is getting me SOOOOO excited for our trip, only a month and 1 week to go now!!!

P.S. The Mickey crocs are too cute!!!

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

I'm loving all the resort pictures!! The Villas look amazing.
It looks like you had a wonderful trip!! Awesome TR-thanks for sharing it with us!

 

[tiaragirl]

Maybe it's cause I'm from 'da North, but I've never seen Crocs like those Mickey ones/your DS' anywhere! They're pretty cool (though, I'm too self-important to wear a pair of Crocs - 20s syndrome) and they look comfy. Mom's got sandals that she swears by.

Your pictures are supa amazinggg.. so jealous. I think I'll hire you to tag along on my next Disney vaca and take pictures - our May trip pictures would've been stellar with you! Hahaha. The one of your DS leaning on the lamp post is awesome - my first thought was 'FB profile pic, yo!'.

I'm so lame.

Keep 'er comin, Tammy =)

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Great update!

Love the pics. The TT photos are so funny! :lol:

Golly...those kids and their retro Wayfarers...I feel so old! I wonder how cool they'd still think they were if we showed 'em pics of Madonna back in the day (ala 'Desperately Seeking Susan') wearing them. LOL!

Kim Possible. Another thing to double-check on the list of stuff we've never done but should. Everyone seems to enjoy it so much.

LeCellier. My brother snagged us an ADR at LeCellier...table for 6...for Nov. 19th. I was surprised he found it. We haven't all made a firm decision yet but we were supposed to do Mama Melrose that night. So far, we're all in agreement we'd rather do Mama's. I dunno. I love the pretzel bread with the butter so much. The filet..eh..we have an upscale steak restaurant close to us that has a filet that's better than LeCell's. Their mushroom risotto isn't as good, admittedly. The dessert is way better, tho. We don't have any decent Italian. I have a feeling we'll be doing the unthinkable and ditching LeCellier. Are we nuts or what???

Mickey Crocs?! OMG! Off to go comb eBay now..... LOL!

Love seeing all the fun everyone is having. I hope a good sleep-in helped those teenagers. LOL! I wish Chandler was like that. If I don't get up by 7:30 during the week he comes in here fussing at me like I'm the kid. :lol:

Can't wait for moooooore, of course! :sohappy:

I know the wayfarers crack me up!

You do have to try Kim Possible. We do it every time. It's so well done.

I think you're nuts! But I know not everyone agrees with me these days.

I knew you'd like the Mickey crocs! Dd has been wearing them a lot!

I need to go with Chandler!:lol:

Awesome report Tammy!!! You have such an adorable family!!! You're TR is getting me SOOOOO excited for our trip, only a month and 1 week to go now!!!

P.S. The Mickey crocs are too cute!!!

Thank you disneygirl! You are going to have so much fun!

I'm loving all the resort pictures!! The Villas look amazing.
It looks like you had a wonderful trip!! Awesome TR-thanks for sharing it with us!

Thanks Disneyprincess!

Maybe it's cause I'm from 'da North, but I've never seen Crocs like those Mickey ones/your DS' anywhere! They're pretty cool (though, I'm too self-important to wear a pair of Crocs - 20s syndrome) and they look comfy. Mom's got sandals that she swears by.

Your pictures are supa amazinggg.. so jealous. I think I'll hire you to tag along on my next Disney vaca and take pictures - our May trip pictures would've been stellar with you! Hahaha. The one of your DS leaning on the lamp post is awesome - my first thought was 'FB profile pic, yo!'.

I'm so lame.

Keep 'er comin, Tammy =)

We had to order Ds' crocs. It's his second pair, he's growing like a weed. I hear you on crocs. They have such a bad rep from the super ugly ones. They are without a doubt the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn.

In the past I wore nice, expensive tennis shoes to Disney. There were still days where I wanted to cut my feet off my body at the end of the day. I wear flip flop crocs every day now and my feet have never felt better after all that walking.

I'm in! I'm the photographer on your next trip!!:sohappy:

You're not lame, I am always thinking new Facebook profile picture!:lol:

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Friday – October 8

Most everyone slept in, but not me! I was wide awake at 7:00! Shoot!

I went out on the balcony for some animal pics. Here’s one of the giant horn cattle thingies and his horns were straight!

Here they are together:

Some cranes:

The sky was full of hot air balloons! Super cool! They look tiny from here:

I took some more pics of my beloved balconies:

Dd on the balcony adding a little “action” to the shot:

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Now for another disclaimer. This was the saddest day of pictures for me. I took like 8 pictures all day at MK!! Okay not 8 but not much more, I really have no idea what I was thinking.

To make up for it, I have now included the funniest story of the trip:

When we left the resort that morning, my father in law saw the sign that says “Beware of Poachers”.

He was shocked. He said the following while we tried not to bust out laughing:

“I can NOT believe. That someone would come on to Disney property. To try to kill animals.”

Um. Well. Hmm. Wow. Or :lookaroun:ROFLOL::lookaroun

He fully bought into the theming I guess!

Tram pictures!!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Finally we were at Magic Kingdom.

We Fastpassed Space Mountain right away then went to ride Buzz. Now I know where the 100,000 point markers are, and I still can’t hit them!! I hit them 3 times and that was it.

Next it was a thrilling ride on the People Mover.

We went to the Laugh Floor next. I find it highly underrated. We were all cracking up.

We went back to Space to use our Fastpasses next. I won’t belabor this point, but Space Mountain at Disneyland is so so much better. It really makes me miss Disneyland.

We chose Columbia Harbor House for lunch and then rode Haunted Mansion.

Here’s a scary bride picture just for Sam, Jenn.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

By this time the park was really getting crowded. We fastpassed Big Thunder and almost got in line for Splash but it was a 40 minute wait. We could get new Fastpasses in 45 minutes so we decided to go ride something first.
We rode Pirates and then walked back to Fastpass Splash.

We took a little snack break here:

This shirt is both sad and true:

We rode Big Thunder.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Next we went to ride Jungle Cruise which had about a 30 minute wait. We had a great skipper which always makes me happy.

Next up was Dole Whip floats and Mickey Bars!

We rode Splash next, although I’ll admit I was lame and rode it with a rain poncho on.

Peter Pan had a 40 minute wait and no Fastpasses so we passed! We watched Philharmagic and then rode Snow White.

Ds passed on Snow White and went and got more Space Mountain Fastpasses.

Next up was a very short tour of Toontown.

The girls wanted to ride Stitch so we waited for them and then all rode Buzz together. I hit the targets 4 times this time. I told everyone where the targets were and my niece proceeded to hit them 8 times. Not right.:lol:

Finally the kids rode Space one more time.

We walked through the shops on Main Street.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Then we split up for the night. The kids went to the busses to go back to the resort. The adults went to California Grill.

We had a great meal again! We all changed for our meal and were a little irritated at the people there in shorts and tee shirts. :shrug:

No tripod, so I didn't get many pictures of the gorgeous view:

When we got back that night we spent quite a while debating what to do on our last day. Several voted for a day just enjoying our villa.

At one point most of us went to view the animals with the night vision goggles. If you ever stay at AKL, don't miss this!

Tomorrow is our last day.

 

[erstwo]

This shirt is both sad and true:

Oh! :lol:! AND I feel like I'm in on the joke since I got to read your cruise report! Thanks!

Can I just take a moment to say that I love how it looks like all 4 of the cousins get along so well. Especially the oldest 2. My niece and my son are about 14 months apart and are thick as thieves right now. Everyone tells us that as they get older the whole boy/ girl thing will change that, but I'm hoping they'll stay bff's forever (or at least get along well on family trips!)

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Oh! :lol:! AND I feel like I'm in on the joke since I got to read your cruise report! Thanks!

Can I just take a moment to say that I love how it looks like all 4 of the cousins get along so well. Especially the oldest 2. My niece and my son are about 14 months apart and are thick as thieves right now. Everyone tells us that as they get older the whole boy/ girl thing will change that, but I'm hoping they'll stay bff's forever (or at least get along well on family trips!)

:lol: I'm glad someone got the joke!!

It is so nice that they are at an age where they all have fun together. They have definitely been through stages where the boy was fed up with all the girl stuff going on, and the girls had no interest in the boy stuff. But now that they're all teenagers, or close to it, it's great.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Yay! :sohappy: Great update! I see you got a couple shots of the family, the castle, and the extra-magical crane. Isn't it great? LOL!

I totally agree with erstwo, I also took notice of how well the kids all get along. My oldest son & my brother's oldest daughter are 9 months apart in age and they get along super good like that, too. I just love seeing the pics of the cousins all having fun. You can't fake those smiles.

The Laugh Floor is totally underated! I love that show. The corniness of it is what makes it awesome. It's giggles that you can share with all generations. Not a thing wrong with that!

So funny that your FiL thought there really was an issue with poachers. :lol: Goes to show how good the theming is. But really, if there was poachers would they really see the sign and think, "Oh. Well, the sign says we can't poach here so let's go poach somewhere else." Makes the sign redundant, I would think. LOL!

Not the last day already! Why couldn't you have a longer trip, Tammy?! I wonder what the last day had in store for y'all.....



Oh! Quick P.s. here! Those Crocs arrived for Chandler today. Good timing after a bad orthodontist appointment. Anywhoo, he put them on, took 2 steps, and said "I can sooooo wear these at Disney." Yaaaaayyy!!!! Thanks again for raising a son with good fashion sense then posting his cool pics! :wave:

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

another wonderful update! and even though you only took 8 pictures at mk, they are all still amazing pictures! so sad that you are already up to your last day. and i've said it a million times along with everyone else, but last days at disney are always so sad. doesn't matter how often you go, the last day is a sad one.

 

[joanna71985]

Great TR! I love the pictures

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Yay! :sohappy: Great update! I see you got a couple shots of the family, the castle, and the extra-magical crane. Isn't it great? LOL!

I totally agree with erstwo, I also took notice of how well the kids all get along. My oldest son & my brother's oldest daughter are 9 months apart in age and they get along super good like that, too. I just love seeing the pics of the cousins all having fun. You can't fake those smiles.

The Laugh Floor is totally underated! I love that show. The corniness of it is what makes it awesome. It's giggles that you can share with all generations. Not a thing wrong with that!

So funny that your FiL thought there really was an issue with poachers. :lol: Goes to show how good the theming is. But really, if there was poachers would they really see the sign and think, "Oh. Well, the sign says we can't poach here so let's go poach somewhere else." Makes the sign redundant, I would think. LOL!

Not the last day already! Why couldn't you have a longer trip, Tammy?! I wonder what the last day had in store for y'all.....



Oh! Quick P.s. here! Those Crocs arrived for Chandler today. Good timing after a bad orthodontist appointment. Anywhoo, he put them on, took 2 steps, and said "I can sooooo wear these at Disney." Yaaaaayyy!!!! Thanks again for raising a son with good fashion sense then posting his cool pics! :wave:

That crane is so ugly!:lol: Worth it though, I guess.

I hadn't thought about the redundancy of the sign!:lol:

So glad he liked his crocs!! I'll tell my son that he was a good influence on someone!

another wonderful update! and even though you only took 8 pictures at mk, they are all still amazing pictures! so sad that you are already up to your last day. and i've said it a million times along with everyone else, but last days at disney are always so sad. doesn't matter how often you go, the last day is a sad one.

Thank you wishiwasatwdw!! I totally agree about the last day. I go all the time these days and I'm still sad when a big trip is over.

Great TR! I love the pictures

Thanks joanna!

 

[Shere_Khan]

We had a great meal again! We all changed for our meal and were a little irritated at the people there in shorts and tee shirts. :shrug:

We were there on the 4th of October. Before dinner we went back to our resort to change clothes and freshen up. I had wanted to wear flip flops with my long skirt since you could not really see my feet anyways, but I was so worried about not being dressed nicely enough that I wore dressier flats instead.
I was also REALLY irritated with the people who were dining there as well. There were several people in t-shirts with graphics on them, shorts, and tennis shoes. They also looked like they were fresh from the parks, sweaty, and tired. I thought it looked really tacky. Unfortunately we could never afford that restaurant unless it was for the dining plan and I am assuming those people were also on the free dining plan, but you can't make an effort to dress up just because it is something you are getting for free?

Your pictures are gorgeous!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

We were there on the 4th of October. Before dinner we went back to our resort to change clothes and freshen up. I had wanted to wear flip flops with my long skirt since you could not really see my feet anyways, but I was so worried about not being dressed nicely enough that I wore dressier flats instead.
I was also REALLY irritated with the people who were dining there as well. There were several people in t-shirts with graphics on them, shorts, and tennis shoes. They also looked like they were fresh from the parks, sweaty, and tired. I thought it looked really tacky. Unfortunately we could never afford that restaurant unless it was for the dining plan and I am assuming those people were also on the free dining plan, but you can't make an effort to dress up just because it is something you are getting for free?

Your pictures are gorgeous!

Thanks Shere Khan!
That's exactly what we saw people wearing. It just irritates me that I take the time to dress up after a day in the park, and they don't enforce the rule. I appreciate that about Palo on the cruise line. If you do not have on slacks and a collared shirt, they will ask you to go change. I've seen them do it. If you are going to have a rule, then enforce it!