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© Lisa Cubbon, 2001
Who: Andy and Lisa Cubbon (over 50, retired and no kids at home!)
When: July 27-31
Where: Animal Kingdom Lodge
Well, yes and no. It happened like this and I am sure you will agree it was too good to turn down.
Background: We decided to attend a dance competition in Tampa. We had not been there for four years and decided this year that we were ready to try again. The first and only other time we had participated in this one, it was a disaster. But we felt more confident this time. It just so happened that I had gotten a special promotional offer from Disney. Seems I could get a Savannah view room at Animal Kingdom Lodge for only $169 per night, subject to availability. When I mentioned it to Andy, he was game (get it game? Animal theme…) to do it. We both want to do a real safari someday and this might do for now. So I had the travel agent see if the offer was available and sure enough it was! And for three nights, so it was serendipitous. We had to do this! The dancing? Well, that was one way to get to Florida and made it seems less crazy to actually try this. The last time we were in Florida for the disaster competition, we went to Disney Market Place for dinner (it was only 60 minutes away) at the Porto Bello Yacht Club. When we opened the car doors, you could almost hear the tar bubbling. It was darn hot. How hot was it? Disney was giving away free water and had a ton of misters running to keep guests from frying when there was money to spend. OK so on with the show!
Friday, July 27th. We left our Marietta headquarters at 9am, pretty much on time. Andy was pretty chipper for so early in the morning too. We pretty much sailed through downtown and we arrived at the Hampton Inn in Temple Terrace at 4:30pm. The room was ready and nice. Somehow, I am getting assigned first floor rooms now and I don’t know why. They are non-smoking but I am not sure why the first floor. Anyway, Art and Mitzi Williams and Art’s sister, Alice, came by to get us for dinner. Art and Mitzie are dance buddies from England and they are dancing their last year of competition. That makes me sad since I always enjoy spending time with them. Art’s in his mid-70s and Mitzie’s younger but Art’s knees are totally shot and have been for years. I admire his determination there years. We had supper at a very nice Indian restaurant, Taj, and then called it a night.
Saturday, July 28th. Competition Day! Our events are not scheduled to start until after 2pm and I arranged a late check out of 12:30pm. The studio where the event was held is only five minutes away so after we went to Publix to get a sandwich, we were at the studio by 12:45pm. We were real happy to see that there were real (English trained) judges this time. Four years ago, the judging was horrific. Then it was hurry up and wait until 4pm when we finally had our moments in the sunshine. I got suited up way to early too and I then did not drink anything since I did not want to undress to go the bathroom. It’s just not worth it. The heats went well. The first heat was the Southern Star Challenge and since there were 10 people in the heat, it was a semi-final. We got 10 marks (the max) to go into the final. That was a first! We ended up 5th in that heat, 4th in the Adult B Novice and 2nd in both the Senior Novice and Pre-champ. We were very, very happy. The guy who won the two senior events is a local legend and once he dies we might do better. We did win the Fox Trot from which floored us! Fox Trot is so hard. We finished at 6:00pm, and stayed for the supper and conversation. We have so many friends from dancing and we seldom get to just sit and talk.
We left the studio around 7:30p and heading to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. YEAH! But first, we had to get past the rain and the major accident on I4. They had a couple of police cars, an ambulance and a fire and rescue truck and a big fire truck. We got to the resort around 9:00pm and check in went fine. As you walk into the resort lobby, the first thing that catches your eye is the huge five-story glass window onto Arusha Rock and the Savannah. It’s overwhelming. Disney poured lots of money (some of it mine!) into sculpting the surrounding landscape into what you might see in Africa. Since we have not been there I can’t say first hand but it sure looks like the National Geographic photos I have seen. They also have a wonderful art collection. One side lounge had lots of Asa Johnson photos and memorabilia from the early 1900s. One side of the lobby is reception and the other side is an indoor waterfall, bar, Boma and Jiko, two restaurants. We made dinner reservations at Jiko for Monday night. We proceeded to our Savannah view room and mama was not happy. Walking out onto our balcony, all I could see was the hot tub and a row of pool chairs under the balcony. So, I immediately called the front desk and got a very pleasant young man. I explained what happened and that I was not happy. He said that the only other rooms available that night were about the same and that they would be glad to move us to a different room tomorrow. He searched a found us “an almost perfect” room. I said I’d take it. Almost perfect was good enough for me. We were beat so it was off to sleepyland for us. The room was perfect for that!
Sunday, July 29th. When I finally woke up (at 7:30am, which is pretty late for me!). I opened the drapes and actually saw animals on the Savannah! That was exciting. Andy actually got up pretty quickly when I made that announcement. We packed up what little we had unpacked and called for bell services to come get the luggage. They would hold it for us until we could get into our new “almost perfect” room. We headed to Boma for breakfast. I have read many trip reports where people raved about this breakfast buffet. It was OK. I found that I liked Spoodles better. We are not big eaters so the idea of all you can eat does very little for us. I certainly don’t think we ate $40.00 worth of breakfast. After we finished, we headed to the bus stop and waited for the Animal Kingdom bus. You are strongly discouraged from walking to the park from the hotel. It’s a not a long way but there are no sideways and it’s HOT out. At the AK we headed to the Safari. We love that one and there was no line. Where are the people? This park did no feel crowded at all. We had less than a five-minute wait for our safari journey. The animals were around but not in abundance. Maybe they were hot too. We did see giraffes, and lots of elephants. The ostriches were in the shade. When we got to the Coppi, the two lions were out. The female was sleeping on a rock and the male was hunkered down under some shade. We then went into the Pagani Trail to see the gorillas. The keepers had strung a pink blanket on a tree on the family side and the youngsters were trying to get it out, swinging on it and tugging it. I suspect it was a half hearted effort since I do believe they could have gotten it if they tried a little harder. The keepers do try to keep them engaged in play. The bachelors were no where to be seen. Andy did see an empty gas can in their river so they may have been playing and just left. The bachelors are the ones to watch out for. They are all competing against the big silver back, and the calling and drumming can get quite loud sometimes. Recently one of the lesser males challenged the silver back and got bit. He eventually died from the wounds. All this did not happen in front of guests but it’s a part of life in the wilds. Then we went to see the Festival of the Lion King. I had heard that the lead male vocalist had changed and I wanted to see the show anyway. It’s indoors and they have fans. Did I mention it was hot? The show was quite good but the bird girl who twirls around was missing so the guy who supports her just sort of minced around the stage a bit. It was pretty funny especially if you knew what was supposed to happen. After that we snagged Fast Passes to It’s Tough to Be a Bug and went to share a pizza and salad lunch. They have pretty OK little pizzas and it was cool inside. Chip and Dale were walking along on the outside and raised a ruckus on the windows as they went by.
After lunch we went over to “Bug” and I enjoyed that attraction. We then decided to leave the park and go get settled into our “almost perfect” room. The walk to and from the buses at Animal Kingdom seems to be brightest entrance of all the parks. There are trees but mostly kind of puny palms and lots and lots of concrete all the way out to the bus kiosks. Our bus was there so we boarded and we were back at the resort in a few minutes.
I checked back in at the front desk, and was told that housekeeping was in the room and it should be ready in about 30-45 minutes. So we went wandering about. We were watching some animals when one of the housekeeping managers came by and talked with us about what we were seeing and offered to help. Little did I know I would need his help soon. After the 30-45minutes, I called and the front desk said not yet. I waited another couple of minutes and called again, this time from around where we knew the room would be. Nope, maid still there. I asked for Rob. He had gone home but they got Brandy for me. I explained the whole story to her. She said the maid is still in there. I said after one hour? So she came to us and was very, very helpful. She showed us one room, which was not “almost perfect”, and then another one that was “almost perfect” and we took it. I am just so happy that Brandy was the kind of Disney cast member that exceeds expectations. The room looked onto the Arusha Savannah and it was a just lovely. Since the resort only opened in April, everything still very fresh. The rooms are very nicely decorated and the wallpaper in the vanity area was specially designed for Disney. We know that because the inside of the compass has the Disney “D” in it! Andy noticed that little element. We unpacked a bit and rested up for our dinner at Jiko. And that was a fantastic meal! Nasser was our server. He had worked in the Morocco restaurant and had been with Disney for eight years. He did a great job. Jiko features a sort of African menu. We shared a flatbread pizza, salad and then Andy got sea bass, sauced with a mushroom and apple puree and asparagus then wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. It was scrumptious. I got a ash-baked papaya half with minced beef seasoned with Chinese five spices and fabo mashed potatoes. We each had a glass of South African red wine, which was also very good. For dessert we shared the cardamom candies. This was exquisite; bittersweet chocolate flavored with cardamom and then wrapped in philo and baked and served with raspberry and vanilla sauce. There were six of these lovely nuggets and Andy got four of them! OK, I let him have one of mine since I do share but he was looking sad…
After dinner, we waddled out to the bus and headed to the Magic Kingdom. I wanted to see the newly revamped Spectromagic Parade and the Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks. We had a private bus ride. No one was ready when Disney Transportation was. The driver even let us off closer than the designated bus stop for AKL. We walked right up to the gate and into the park. Where is the stroller brigade? Where are the thousands of whining kids? What’s happening to my shareholder value? I have to admit it was nice to be able to stroll around un-harrased. But still I did enjoy it. I was very stunned at the amount of refurbishment that was underway. I was extra chagrined that the bakery was closed since I was craving some of the wonderful banana bread! Oh well. Maybe next time. We went over and rode on TTA in Tomorrowland. There was barely a breeze blowing. Usually this little trip on through Tomorrowland will cool you down. After that, we walked over to the train station in Toontown and rode it over to Frontierland where the crowds (what crowds?) were all ready gathering for Spectro. We forged on ahead and walked on to Pirates of the Caribbean. We could compare it to the attraction at Disneyland Paris and I enjoyed both of them. We then headed to find a spot to watch the parade. We settled on the corner steps between Frontierland and Liberty Square. That turned out to a mistake. We were hearing the announcements and music from two zones! Very, very weird! After the parade we headed to the hub to watch the fireworks. We found a place to lean and Andy went in search of a couple waters. It was still very warm and no breeze at all. Still light crowds too. He returned unsuccessful. Other guests with exactly the same idea inundated the only vendor he found. Fantasy in the Sky was wonderful as usual. I am amazed at the consistent product that Disney produces day after day. We headed back to the AKL after the fireworks and even the mad rush down Main St. was tolerable. There was an AKL bus waiting and we hopped on and were home in 15 minutes. To go from the Magic Kingdom to AKL means you go from one end of the property to the other and it’s a big place!
Once at the hotel I took up my post on the balcony and waited for the animals to appear again. It’s almost magical how they just appear through the mist. It seems like they have a plan on where to be when. We could see the browse box for the giraffes and the planted tree boughs for the other hoofed stock so I guess the animals are encouraged to forage for food. One of the guides said that the animals are out all night and are only brought back into the barn area for two hours a day. They get checked over and fed and medicine if necessary. We kept the lights off in the room and just navigated using the vanity area light. The lighting is not particularly strong but we wanted to just see animals, not be seen. We had the radio on to classical music and it was really quite lovely.
Monday, July 30th. Today we (I mean I) decided to do breakfast in the room so I found my way to Mara and brought back a cereal, milk and juice. I was pretty stunned at the prices. If I had brought bowls from home, we would have eaten the cereal I had toted to Florida! GRRRRH… Anyway, after eating, we headed to MGM in our car. The first steps outside let us know that today would be a special day. It was hot and airless. The “felt like” temperature in 102 degrees! It had not rained in two whole days and you could tell. We parked at Boardwalk and walked to MGM. It’s not a bad walk and taking the boat meant a longer wait so nuts to that. Let’s keep moving. The crowds were missing from MGM too. We headed to Millionaire and they were hustling audience members into the studio. I really enjoyed watching the activities. Andy did all the questions and a young woman sitting next to us from Chicago actually got into the hot seat. The first woman chosen was from England and had a tough time with two of the questions since they were very specific to American culture. She did not know the name of the sitcom, which featured Archie, Edith, Gloria and Meathead. She used her “phone a perfect stranger” helpline for that one. He knew the answer and she got passed that one and then the next one was to name the holiday founded by a woman whose name I can’t recall. It was Father’s Day. Guess that’s not a biggie in England either. The young woman next to me did well. Her sister was one of the top 10 also. She did not know that fruite de mere was seafood. Their parents were with them so it was nice to see a whole family enjoying the game. Andy was in the top 10 for one segment. I think he would have been dumbfounded if he had won. We will do this one again in October at least once. The mini-Regis was a pretty good too. When the game was over we headed to the Backlot Tour. That’s been changed since February and instead of ConAir we got to see clips from the making of Pearly Harbor and the water tank show has been changed to a similar theme. Before, the water tank part was based on the voyage of the minnow and was pretty goofy but nice. This time it’s based on Pearl Harbor and some poor schmo from the audience got 8,000 gallons of water dumped on him (in good fun). He seemed clueless. Then they had three other guests do a bit on a Navy destroyer. That was funny. Andy was pretty amused at the swabbies who kept swabbing away while the planes were blasting away and water was spraying up on there. The Cast Member in charge of our presentation was not a good speaker and we could not understand her very well. Then we loaded onto the tram for Catastrophe Canyon. When the CM went though the spiel about getting wet, I thought the kid in our row was going to climb over Andy for the right outside spot. He was not amused and did not enjoy it even though it was as hot as hell’s ovens by then and very still. When that was over, we headed back to Boardwalk with the intention of walking into Epcot. The boat had just let so we walked again. We took a “short cut” thought the front of Boardwalk (which is all covered in scaffolding for the major painting that is going on). And we were in Epcot within 20 minutes and still no crowds. We headed to the Rose and Crown and were immediately seating. Lunch was fish and chips and salads. While we were finishing lunch we tried to decide what to do next. Andy was willing to do whatever I wanted. I finally succumbed to the heat and we went back to the resort to cool off and wait for sundown to go back to Epcot. The animals on our Savannah were in hiding too. We stayed around until 6:30p and they still were not very active so we headed back to Epcot again.
We decided on Margaritas and Mexican for dinner, so we marched over to the Cantina. While we were waiting to pick up our dinner, a woman asked the server how to get to Epcot and the look on the CMs face was priceless. She was Mexican so her English was not that good and she did not know what to say. Well, I stepped into conversation and reminded the woman that she is at Epcot (remember it’s darn hot out). She said yes she is but she wanted to get to MGM the fastest way so we discussed options and I think she settled on exiting at the International Gateway and taking the boat, exactly the way she got to Epcot. It was not cooling down but the crowds were picking up a bit. I guess people were tired of sitting in their rooms all day and needed out! We watched the Tapestry of Nations Parade from our dinner table and then headed to the back of World Showcase to see Blast! We were too early for that and too late for American Adventure so we headed down to France to see the film there. Andy stopped and watched the trains and noticed that the trolley had been in an accident and was off track but no one was there to fix it. When we got to France, we had a few minutes so I went perfume sampling and came out smelling like a French… well, bad, anyway. Andy says he likes Lisa smell and this was not that! After the film, we headed back to Blast! And it was wonderful! Blast is a marching band on steroids. Lots of lively music and the members come into the audience to perform and after the presentation, they come out and shake hands and thank people for coming. It was great. I even bought the CD. And that’s a rare event for me. We then headed to Norway for Rice Cream. Now I know it’s tricked up rice pudding but we really like it and this time I got my own. OK, I did give Andy about a quarter of it since I could not finish it but it was great. Then it was time to find a spot for Reflections of Earth. We settled just before Germany on the water and it was a very good spot expect the way the breeze (yeah sure) was blowing, all the ash came right at us! That was interesting. Sweaty and sooty all at once. We talked about going and getting coffee at the Boardwalk but it was too hot so we just headed back to the resort for our last night at AKL. We leave tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 31st. No alarms set and up we are at 7:30am. We breakfast in the room again, finish packing and head to the car around 10:00am. As we rounded the corner into Disney Market Place the rain started. I dug the umbrella out of the trunk and off we went to the World of Disney to see what we could buy which turned out to be not much. I did buy a Sorcerer Mickey throw blanket but that was about it. We headed over to Wolfgang Puck’s Express and picked up a Caesar Salad and a Caprese Salad for our road lunch and we headed home at 11:13am. The ride home was uneventful except for the steady rain up to Valdosta. We did stop for lunch and then for a small supper just outside of Atlanta and we home at 7:30pm after a stop at the grocery store, of course.
It was a short fun trip. Are we crazy for going to WDW in July? No. Crowds are light. Will we do it again? Well, if they have the dance comp again next July…
Andy’s got me keeping a list of things I want to do when we go back in October for a week. Yes, a week at the Boardwalk on the concierge level. Got a great deal on this and I can’t wait!