Friday 25 May,2001
The Cast:
Sean Yoda age 36
Pamela ‘meeko’ age 32 ½
Biscuit Meeko stuffed raccoon age 5 1/2
Brer Bunny (Biscuit’s stuffed buddy) age
1 ½
After a late night of laundry & swimming, Mickey managed to wake us at 7am. After showering & dressing, we rushed out the door for our breakfast meet with Zazu (Bruce). He met us in the entrance lobby of the hotel while Sean had wandered into the foodcourt looking for Bruce. Once we were all together, we were off to Animal Kingdom Lodge for a wonderful breakfast at Boma.
We drove up to AKL, and were waved through the gate, with our PS in hand. At the Lodge, it was just amazing at every way you looked. Something new caught our eye every second, and I found myself stopping every other step to take in something new. Just when you thought you had seen something you found something else amazing. The details that went into the lobby alone could keep you busy for hours!
We were hungry, so off to Boma first! We were seated within a few minutes and were asked if we would like to try the complimentary (with the buffet that is) juice that was just divine. We also ordered the coffee, which is served in a French press and I must say, that it was amazing & wonderfully tasty…. This, I should add, is coming from someone who wouldn’t know the difference between Columbian and Kenyan. Sean says the coffee served at Boma is a Kenyan AA and whatever, it’s excellent!!! =)
The buffet was wonderful. I can’t say how great it was. A perfect place for veggie & meat-eater alike. The fruit selection was great and I served myself up a plate of various melon slices, strawberries, and pineapple. The cinnamon roll I had was yummy… They also had cereals, grits, and other grain-based hot cereal. There was French Toast, scrambled eggs, omelets, breakfast pizza, breakfast potatoes, bacon, chicken-apple sausage, somewhat spicy lamb sausage, and of course, various pastries.
We had 2 pots of the coffee and several glasses of juice, so the first place on the Zazu AKL Grand Tour was the bathrooms. Sean came out & announced “Honey, you have to see this!” So I went in and it was very nice. I loved the light fixtures in each stall and the sinks of varying size. I shot off a couple photos and came back out. We then progressed through the lobby.
Our next stop was at the gift shop where Sean got me a new roll of film, as in our rush to meet Bruce, I forgot to throw in an extra roll of film. This is a mistake I will be working hard not to do again. It’s 6.99 for a 200 speed 24ex roll of Kodak Royal Gold, which isn’t bad for Disney I suppose. Still, I was bummed as I had 4 rolls back in our room.
I took photos of almost everything I saw… (ok not 'almost everything' that would take like 3 or 4 rolls at least!) The lion sculpture behind the checkout counter (last photo on my previous roll, so don’t know if it will come out) and the lights and the fixtures and seating in the lobby.
Outside the animals had retreated into the shadows, it being later in the morning and just too hot. Sean was able to video the great cows grazing under some trees further off in the Savanah. There were CMs aplenty to answer questions about anything and we did see some African Flamingoes, which wore a paler hue of pink streak on their wings. We walked around the pool and back into the resort to get to another viewing area.
Everywhere I continued to see the attention to detail afforded this beautiful place and the kindness & friendliness the CMs showed us. You could really feel that they loved their resort and their job and took pride in their role in AKL’s succuss. We met a lovely CM named Carol who transferred out to AKL from Vero Beach and just loves it here. She too, just got married on the 19th so that was a fun & wonderful coincidence. It did make me wonder, though I didn’t ask, why she was working when it might have been her honeymoon. She seemed so happy & content though with her move and it made me say,(not for the first time) that I wish I could move out to Florida and be a part of it all too! =) Sean won’t have that though.. <giggle>
Anyway, we went over to another viewing area where, during the morning hours, some of the animals & their babies might be viewed. There was a very nice CM from Zimbabwe who stood inside the balcony area answering questions and was very pleasant as well as informative. I wish I could remember everyone’s name as it was every CM we came into contact with was just the nicest folks anyone can meet. I really don’t mean to sound as if I am gushing. It’s quite true!
Well after we had viewed a good portion, and I had shot over a roll’s worth of film, <vbg> we headed back to the resort. On our way back, we passed the new Pop Century Resort, which is scheduled to open this December. I took about 2 or 3 photos and Sean videotaped some of it and then Bruce dropped us off near our quiet pool in PO-R/DxL.
It was a wonderful visit with Bruce and of course we will be returning the favor this December when we come down, Zazy! So you & Marta start thinking of a place! =)
Once back at the resort, we saw we had a message waiting for us and it turned out to be a package waiting for us at Guest Services. The wedding photos that Sean’s Dad had sent Fed Ex had arrived. We decided to get them in a little while, so we settled in for an afternoon rest. Sean & I worked on our trip reports and listened to the music of Channel 19 (WDW Today) and took turns taking short naps.
Eventually we did get up and headed over to the Lobby. We brought our mugs and sat at the Cotton Mill food court sipping soda and looking over the photos. They were all taken by Sean’s dad, so there were a few cute pix of Sean’s nephews & niece and a couple of us that I thought were very good… and should probably end up on the Wedding webpage we will eventually get online. We sure will have a lot of photos to develop though! 12 disposable cameras from the reception, the photos we took from our pre-wedding DCA visit, the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner, and of course our honeymoon WDW pix! Wow!
Moving on, we got our stuff together and headed over to Downtown Disney Marketplace where our wedding bands were waiting for us. The sky was looking rather overcast and it seemed rain was impending. We went right over to the ring/watch counter with a couple quick glances at shiny things along the way. The same CM was at the counter (and yes, I forgot her name! Eek!) and remembered us, anyway! She had the rings still and was surprised we hadn’t picked them up already. It was fun counting out all the Disney Dollars we used to get the rings. We did get a 10% discount with Sean’s Disney Club card, which was nice.
Afterwards we walked around the store doing some window shopping & pin trading. We chatted with some nice CMs including a fellow named Shaun (?) who was also from California. He had a ‘mystery’ pin on his lanyard, which we understand some of the park CMs and ‘Super Traders’ are doing. We went ahead and traded for the mystery pin, which turned out to be the Goofy (in a car) Flex Pin. So we now have both the flex pins and the Disney Travel Company pins. We chose Pin Trading Minnie to be the next ‘mystery pin’ and thought someone might like that. We sure liked trading for it a couple days before, so figured someone would want & need it. The sky was getting darker, so we escaped to the car as the first few drops were falling.
By the time we got on Vista, a summer thunderstorm was in full force. When we got to our parking area, Sean found a good spot close to the building, but it was raining very hard still. We sat for a couple minutes then ran under the protection of the building. Once in our room, Sean thought immediately to unplug his laptop. Not 2 minutes later, thunder & lightening sounded outside and it seemed a bolt had struck our building! The fire alarm went off and we went outside. The smell of smoke was in the air, but we weren’t sure if it was the lightening strike or the burning forest smell we smelled off & on all week. The fire alarm was going off in the entire building and folks were standing outside their rooms in various state of dress. An English Gentleman staying a few doors down had braved to call the front desk. (You should never pick up the phone during a thunderstorm!) They had let him know the fire department was on it’s way.
Sure enough, within a half hour firemen were spotted walking down, checking each room individually. A CM was on the first floor on radio contact with someone giving updates, and Sean heard her tell someone they would be going through each room. Somewhere a smoke alarm was going off and hopefully, that is where the lightening strike happened. Eventually the fire alarm was shut off and everyone was able to go back to their room.
Once we returned to our room, we started to relax and get ready for dinner. We would be joining Rob & Keith over at the Concourse Steakhouse (at the Contemporary Resort). The phone rang & we got a nice surprise! It was the Sorcerer’s Apprentice himself (ROB!) calling to find out if we were still interested in going out. The storm was between us and his house. We were game if they were, so we said we’d meet at the entrance and no problem if they were a few minutes late. It’s better to drive safe, you know.
Well we ended up driving over to the hotel, rather than take the bus. Parking near the Terrace Rooms we went into the resort and headed up the Concourse level. It was 730pm and we checked in. The PS was for 5 people it turns out, and we pondered for a second who the fifth person might be. They gave us a pager and we walked around doing a little pin trading and window shopping. I traded with a CM at a little kiosk for a AMEX white glove pin. The pin shows Peter Pan flying over the castle. I’ve never seen it before, and it’s only available through travel packages with AMEX. We then went through the VBG shop and looked at the salad tongs we’re needing and some of the other things when Rob came in! Hurray! Our five included ourselves, Keith, Rob & their friend Reedy Creek Joel.
Sitting down at our cozy booth in the Concourse Steakhouse we learned Joel is a fireman & Pyrotechnics master. He is also from Meeko’s year-long home of Sarasota. =) Well we had a wonderful visit, and we had some wonderful food. Sean & Rob split the ribs that came with garlic smashed potatoes. I had the mushroom pasta with a side of garlic smashed potatoes I shared with Sean. Keith had the salmon which looked good,(I don’t eat fish of any kind) and Joel had the porterhouse steak. The servings where great and the food tasted fantastic. The server we had, Jimmy was super friendly, but a bit slow serving. He took time to check on us but our dinner came late, and when it was time to pay, he seemed to linger elsewhere rather than helping us get out the door.
When we finally got out the door we sprinted (not really) over to MK and just missed Spectromagic at Main Street. We scampered through the crowd and got to Frontierland just as half the parade had passed. We had managed to catch the best part, according to Rob, the Fantasia section. I tried to shoot off a few photos, but we will need to see if they turn out! It was like coming late to a Mardi Gras parade. The people were 3 or 4 deep and you couldn’t get a good view of the entire float so I tried to snap off photos of the top of the float or close-ups of elements of the floats.
Afterwards we walked to the bridge near the hub and watched FitS (Fantasy in the Sky). I got some good shots there, but I feel spoiled after having seen “Believe” so many times at DL. This just didn’t have as much bang. It was beautiful though and it was fun being with people who enjoyed being there as much as us and having Joel there was a treat. He knew all about the shells they used in the DL and WDW shows. Cool.
The crush getting out of the park was just as we should have expected, and yet we were trapped by Casey’s Corner for about a half hour or so before we could finally make our way out the gate. A short walk over to the Contemp parking lot, and we were wishing each other all a good night.
Back at the Resort, we refilled our mugs and headed back to our room for some well-deserved rest.