It's The Magic That Can Happen When It's Autumn! - Animal Kingdom Lodge - Club Level

Katie! You're back with updates! Happy day!

I woke up at 7am, and began AKL appreciation day where I love to begin all of my Disney days.
Sat out on the balcony.

This sounds like a marvelous day, and such a good way to start it.

We arrived at 9:40am and it was SO busy.
There were loads of people waiting to check in and be seated.
If this was a reflection of the park crowds I was glad we were avoiding them!

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Woah! We've never seen it quite that busy to check in for breakfast! But it always seems to be much busier between 8:30-10am than when it first opens. When we've booked the first breakfast seating at 7:30 on days we want to get to the park early, it's been SO quiet and chill.

I only ate about half of all this because it was a bit too sugary for me first thing in the morning.

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No such thing as too much sugar for breakfast! Elf forever!

Overall this was a delicious breakfast!
I probably prefer dinner at Boma as it’s a very unique food experience, but this was also great for that classic Disney breakfast experience, plus a few specialty items!

Glad you got a chance to try Boma breakfast. We love both breakfast and dinner so much. I like them both pretty much equally, and for the different reasons you describe here, and my fiance (who's maybe a little less adventurous??) strongly prefers breakfast.

We called him Harry because Jamie dramatically told him,
“…You’re a lizard Harry…”

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Laughed out loud. Love this! But maybe this Harry would be sorted into slitherin'!

Alright, I was now getting a bit freaked out by my unexpected visit to lizarding school, I definitely got the feeling that one was about to jump on my face.

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I watched this on the weekend! I totally thought of Meredith's lizard aversion when you started talking about the lizard issue.

A bunch of characters were out in the lobby again!
I saw Mickey, Donald, Goofy, MAX (!) Stitch, Smee, Hook, Chip and Dale!!
And see this blurry figure?

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That’s GIDEON from Pinocchio!!

How cool is this!?? I've never met Max or Gideon or seen them anywhere on our trips!

So when I got out of the shower I told Jamie, “RIGHT! No more feeling sorry for me!!! I need to channel my inner Sally! Sally would be positive in this situation!”

It's so hard to be sick on vacation and so far from home, but I'm glad you could channel your Sally to make the most of the day! That's cute :)

Here it is!

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OMG, what a perfect combination this was.
Clearly this made me feel a bit better!

This looks amaze-balls! How yummy!

Your whole Jiko meal looked amazing. We'll have to try to get there someday.

I’m not sure you can really tell, but we got SO close to these giraffes!
They were right on the roadside!

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Oh my goodness amazing! I'd be having a time and a half - I'm SUCH a giraffe fan. <3

This safari was so much fun!
We had two very upbeat young women giving our tour and they were really funny.
We drove past one animal and one of them was like,
“These were discovered in 1901, the year Walt Disney was born… COINCIDENCE???”
:laughing:

Your tour sounds like it was a super experience and totally worth booking! Having good Disney tour guides can absolutely make a tour.
 
Really enjoyed reading about your appreciation day :-) With a long trip, it's almost necessary. Sounded nice and relaxing. Sorry you weren't feeling well - hope it didn't continue to the next day. I never considered going to Jiko but your dinner looks fabulous! Especially the mac and cheese. Interested to see how the crowds were the next day.
 
I've never set foot in AKL nor any of the restaurants there, and your trip report is making me super excited about our Sanaa dinner coming up in a few weeks! And the Characterpalooza is such a fab surprise!! I love rare characters :lovestruc
 


Hi there! :yay:

First time reading your trip report and I'm excited to tune in for the rest of it!! I love that you took a day to just enjoy AKL. I stayed there in 2015 and I truly regret not appreciating the resort as much as I should have but I'm glad to have vicariously done so through you! The Starlight Safari looks amazing too, definitely on my Disney Bucket list to accomplish someday ::yes::

Looking forward to the rest of your TR!
 
Great updates! So sorry you weren't feeling well but I do love your "Sally" way to snap out of it. :thumbsup2 We don't normally take a day off but on our last trip my husband told me next trip I need to schedule a rest day. I think yours sounded wonderful.
 


So glad I found your trip report!! I love reading them!!:goodvibes:thumbsup2

Yay I'm glad! :cool1: Thanks for reading! :goodvibes

I didn't know about the nighttime safari at AKL- very cool!! I think we are trying Jiko this January. It will be my first, and I'm so excited!

Jiko is a great choice, hope you have as good an experience as we did. My favourite things change every other day, but this is definitely one of my favourite signature meals!

Carb-a-palooza!!! I love it!

Hahah the only way to eat at Disney!

OMG!! I hope this stays as a regular occurence, we are going in August. Random character meets are the best!!

Yesss please let me know if they're still doing this! I can't come to a conclusion as to why it was happening..?! And eeeek August - that is NEXT MONTH :cool1:

Unexpected fireworks views ROCK!!! That was one sensational balcony you guys scored.

So good isn't it! The fireworks were completely unexpected. Plus we were very close to the lobby. 10/10 :goodvibes

It sounds like a lovely way to spend a non-park day, although I'm so sorry you weren't feeling well. It's not fun to be sick on vacation and away from home. The Starlight Safari looks fabulous - what a fun evening!

I considered myself lucky that I had never been sick at Disney before (2012, 2014 and 2015) ! It was about time to be honest! And at least we had planned to stay at the resort all day anyway so I could take it slow :goodvibes we made a good day out of it!

Lizards freak me out. I would have bailed way before that haha.

Oh believe me, I was ready to move after I saw the first one :laughing: I just don't know what they're thinking?? Does it want to jump on me?! :confused: ugh they're freaky.

Egypt is the real MVP

Offering me mac and cheese at his signature restaurant definitely = MVP :rotfl:

That looks AMAAAZING! Mac & Cheese is definitely the way to go.

It was sooooo good! Looking at those pictures makes me salivate :laughing:

This sounds like so much fun! Were the animals more active than the safari at AK?

Hmm I'm not sure about more active, I've seen some crazy elephants on the AK safari :laughing: but they got very close and it felt very creepy and unique to be out there with the animals in the pitch black of night. It was very cool!
 
My CP did end about a week and a half after that "staycation" happened (beginning of January), but thank you! It was absolutely amazing. I was actually working daily in MK when you visited. I'll probably talk about it because PDCPD :sad1:

You might be in the background of some of my photos :laughing: we probably/possibly crossed paths at some point! Oww it sounds like such a cool thing to do, I would be so sad when it ended. Do you think you'll ever go back to work for Disney again??!

The food at Jiko and Boma all looks sooooo good. That filet mignon with the mac n cheese is my new NEED. Hopefully I'll be back before they take it off the regular menu.

Yes you NEED that filet with mac and cheese. It's not a WANT it's a NEED for sure :thumbsup2 ugh its so delish :lovestruc

Ugh, I hate when those lizards do the thing with their necks. I'd see it all the time and... just EWWWWWW :scared: I'm dying at Jamie's HP references tho :laughing:

Lizards and snakes would be one of the few downsides of living in Florida for me :crazy2: freakyyy

I do the getting a pin for every resort I stay at as well as a pin AND shirt for every YEAR I'm in Disney. Both are difficult so I say proceed with caution when trying to embark upon those endeavors.

"proceed with caution when trying to embark upon those endeavors" :rotfl: :rotfl: thanks, I definitely needed this very professional advice before I throw all of my money at Disney :rotfl2:

Omg these characterpaloozas inside of AKL look fab! Character hunting is my thing and Max & Hook are at the top of my list so I'm high key jealous you were nearly able to meet them. If only I knew about AKL having surprise M&Gs, I actually would've gone back to visit (Kidani Village was the first Disney resort I ever stayed at and it was the newest at the time).

It was great but I'm still so confused as to why it was happening??! Like Jungle Book / Lion King characters would make some sense but... :confused: so weird, but so cool! Also I looove Kidani, we ate at Sanaa later on in the trip and it was sooo good, why don't I live there?? :confused3

We love the AKL - I especially love how their pool area is designed with so many nice seating areas tucked away in little nooks here and there. Though the lizards would have started freaking me out a bit too! :rotfl:

I've only been to Jiko once and it was years ago so I don't really remember the food that well. Glad to hear you really enjoyed it! We always go to Boma during every trip, even when we aren't staying at AKL. I think dinner is also my favorite, but the breakfast is so good too!

Sorry to hear that you started feeling under the weather. I hope that didn't get worse for you during the trip. I have gotten very sick the past two times we went to WDW. Once with about two days to go of our trip and the second time it was two days after I got home. :crazy2: Even so, I can't wait to go back!

The whole place has such amazing theming, I really love it! The pool area was lovely :lovestruc I hope you get to go back to Jiko some time! That filet with mac and cheese was amaaazing. I love Boma too, I'm struggling to decided where I would eat next time I'm at Disney because Jiko, Boma and Sanaa are three of my favourite restaurants now, but 3 trips to AKL might be a bit excessive?! Maybe I'll just have to stay there again to make it easier :thumbsup2 And thank you, I felt much better after a couple of days, but then Jamie got sick, then I got a little sick AGAIN (for one day) :confused3 ! But nothing too bad, this day was by far the worst, and even that was ok really :goodvibes That sucks that you've gotten sick on your last two trips :sad2: do you fly down? I'm very conscious of airplanes being a germ breeding ground..!! I always have hand sanitizer with me ::yes::

Ahh! I have never seen that many lizards gathered together I would've moved too.

I'm surprised I lasted so long to be honest :laughing:

Wow! I still have never seen this at AKL! Maybe we aren't in the lobby at the right time? Although we spent A LOT of time in the lobby on our last day and the day we checked in and still didn't see anything.

Weird! I still don't understand why it was happening!?

Aw I hope you felt better. I got a terrible cold/flu type thing last September during our trip, and was sick pretty much the whole time and for 2 weeks after too yikes.

That sucks soooo bad!! I was only sick for a couple of days, and it was nothing too terrible. I hope you managed to make the most of your time. Getting really sick in the Florida heat sounds awful :sick:

:rotfl: It is back I had it in May!

WOOO! No more awkward requests for mac and cheese in a posh restaurant :rotfl:

That looks so good! I had the Malava pudding too (well they brought it to me as a birthday treat) but it's something different now? Mine looked totally different and was made with different things and when I google it pictures of both this and that version show up but the one I had is on the Disney site now. Anyway this version looks way more delicious. Since I got a free dessert though I didn't bother to look at the dessert menu and order anything else.

Nice that you got it for free!! Wow I love Jiko so much.
 
That sucks that you've gotten sick on your last two trips :sad2: do you fly down? I'm very conscious of airplanes being a germ breeding ground..!! I always have hand sanitizer with me ::yes::

Yes, I fly from Colorado. I bring lots of hand sanitizer as well and try to be very careful not to touch handrails when in line, etc but somehow I've managed to get very sick the past two times. Maybe someday I will have a fully healthy trip!
 
Katie! You're back with updates! Happy day!

Yay yes I am! Hoping to update a bit more frequently now :laughing:

Woah! We've never seen it quite that busy to check in for breakfast! But it always seems to be much busier between 8:30-10am than when it first opens. When we've booked the first breakfast seating at 7:30 on days we want to get to the park early, it's been SO quiet and chill.

That sounds much nicer, although all of that Boma breakfast sugar at 7:30am might be a bit much for me :laughing: :crazy2:

Glad you got a chance to try Boma breakfast. We love both breakfast and dinner so much. I like them both pretty much equally, and for the different reasons you describe here, and my fiance (who's maybe a little less adventurous??) strongly prefers breakfast.

I'm really glad I've been able to try both, but dinner was so unique rather than just generic Disney buffet foods, I was very impressed! Although I can see it being a bit limited for picky eaters ::yes::

Laughed out loud. Love this! But maybe this Harry would be sorted into slitherin'!

:laughing: oh definitely! :rotfl:

How cool is this!?? I've never met Max or Gideon or seen them anywhere on our trips!

I think I might've seen Max before at one of those characterpaloozas at Epcot/Hollywood Studios, but Gideon was a great spot! I don't know why I didn't go get a better photo of him, but you can just about make him out :goodvibes

It's so hard to be sick on vacation and so far from home, but I'm glad you could channel your Sally to make the most of the day! That's cute :)

Haha yes I did! We had pre-planned this day as a resort day so it all worked out pretty well! I wouldn't have liked for that to have hit me while I was in a long line for something in the parks :sad2:

This looks amaze-balls! How yummy!

Your whole Jiko meal looked amazing. We'll have to try to get there someday.

Yes please do!! It's one of my favourite restaurants now! I really hope you can get there. :goodvibes

Really enjoyed reading about your appreciation day :-) With a long trip, it's almost necessary. Sounded nice and relaxing. Sorry you weren't feeling well - hope it didn't continue to the next day. I never considered going to Jiko but your dinner looks fabulous! Especially the mac and cheese. Interested to see how the crowds were the next day.

Thanks for reading I'm glad you enjoyed it! It was a really nice day, and I felt much better within a day or two - thanks! I definitely highly recommend Jiko, it was fantastic! It's now one of my favourties :goodvibes We spent the afternoon at Hollywood Studios the next day and it was pretty crowded but not unbearable - I can see from a photo that at 12:45pm Toy Story Mania was posted at a 70 minute wait - luckily we had fastpasses booked! :goodvibes

I've never set foot in AKL nor any of the restaurants there, and your trip report is making me super excited about our Sanaa dinner coming up in a few weeks! And the Characterpalooza is such a fab surprise!! I love rare characters :lovestruc

Omg yessss Sanaa was SO good when we went, hope you have a great meal! I hope you get a chance to visit Jambo House while you're over there too? :goodvibes I love seeing rare characters too! Gideon and Max were a real treat to spot :woohoo:

Great update! I love those hot rose scented towels at Jiko! So sorry you weren't feeling well. Hopefully the day off helped!!

Thank you! Yes I felt much better very quickly thanks, it was pure coincidence that we had scheduled a resort day on the day I got sick. I can't imagine that hitting me whilst in a long line for something in the Florida heat..! :sick:
 
Hi there! :yay:

First time reading your trip report and I'm excited to tune in for the rest of it!! I love that you took a day to just enjoy AKL. I stayed there in 2015 and I truly regret not appreciating the resort as much as I should have but I'm glad to have vicariously done so through you! The Starlight Safari looks amazing too, definitely on my Disney Bucket list to accomplish someday ::yes::

Looking forward to the rest of your TR!

Hello! :wave: :welcome: to the report, thanks for reading! I looove the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we had such a good time there. Hopefully one day you can take some time to explore and appreciate the resort! The safari is great, I think you can do a dinner at Jiko / safari combo which sounds like a fun option, although not for us since we had the dining plan :goodvibes

Great updates! So sorry you weren't feeling well but I do love your "Sally" way to snap out of it. :thumbsup2 We don't normally take a day off but on our last trip my husband told me next trip I need to schedule a rest day. I think yours sounded wonderful.

Thank you! I think when you're spending so much money on a resort (even value resorts are pricey in my opinion) it's such a good idea to make the most of it, I never want to feel like "I may as well have just stayed in a motel" :goodvibes

Loving your trip report!

Thank you! :hug:

Your AKL appreciation day sounds like a great relaxing way to spend the day!

It was a lot of fun! I'm a huge Disney resorts fan so I love to take a day out to appreciate them :goodvibes

What a nice, relaxing day! That Starlight Safari sounds like so much fun! :)

It was a really nice day, and I'm so glad we got to do the safari - that's something crossed off the bucket list :cool1:

First trip report I've actually clicked on to read since joining the boards, and what a treat! I'm tagging to watch for updates. :)

Yay thanks for reading! Glad you're enjoying it :goodvibes

Yes, I fly from Colorado. I bring lots of hand sanitizer as well and try to be very careful not to touch handrails when in line, etc but somehow I've managed to get very sick the past two times. Maybe someday I will have a fully healthy trip!

I really hope you manage to have a healthy trip soon! :flower1:
 
Day 5
Sunday 4th September 2016
Part 1 – Hollywood Studios!



I woke up at about 9am and I felt a little better after a good night’s sleep.
We were going to Hollywood Studios today!

Jamie got me some breakfast from the lounge because he is an angel.
He got me a bagel with cream cheese, two boiled eggs and a chocolate milk, then later he got me some fruit for a dose of vitamins :goodvibes

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The weather was lovely today!

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Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed :dancer:

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We had a relaxing morning and were ready to head out at midday.

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We called at the lounge to fill our water, and the snacks were out!
It all looked so good, we couldn’t help ourselves!
We grabbed some to take some back to our fridge, plus a couple of bites for now :thumbsup2

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Then we headed to Hollywood Studios!
We arrived at 12:20pm.

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As we entered the park the Star Wars show was on in front of the Chinese Theatre.
How we felt entering the park to the Star Wars soundtrack:

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We stopped and got a cute photopass on the way down.

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Then we joined the show!

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During the show the Storm Troopers shot fireworks from their guns! :eek:
It was a very cool effect.
It was a pretty fun show, although we skipped the end because it was SO INCREDIBLY HOT.
We were watching the Star Wars show like:

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I got a quick look at the new Star Wars Launch Bay
(RIP Animation Academy :sad: )
And we headed to our first fastpass of the day at Toy Story Mania!

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We did a good warm up.

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But Jamie won…
THIS TIME.
We were not prepared for how competitive we would get.
Neither of us even did well, but the effort made me even hotter than I was outside!

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I hope the new Toy Story Land is good!
I wonder how adult/kiddie the Slinky ride will be :scratchin
I think it will be more kiddie, but those two raised turns on the concept art below look like the vehicle almost goes completely sideways!

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We wandered out to the hub area and decided to ride Star Tours, even though we had a fastpass later on.
That show really got us in the galactic spirit.
...Or maybe there just isn't a lot to do at Hollywood Studios right now :laughing:

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This robot in the Star Tours line has a very familiar sounding voice… :scratchin
Being a robot in space, he must love to… SOAR…. :laughing:

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We got the new scene from The Force Awakens which was cool!
Then we got the underwater scene.
That scene freaks me out but I do think it’s the best one.
The glass smashing at the end it great!

I think this was the most enthusiastic bunch of people I’ve ever seen on Star Tours!
Everyone was cheering the whole time, just generally loving life, and everyone clapped at the end :laughing:

You will not be surprised to hear that I was once again NOT chosen as the rebel spy.
It was actually the guy right next to me!
He had a great big bushy beard

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so maybe that’s why he was picked.
* sigh *
I don’t think I’m that interesting to look at.
I guess I know what I have to do..

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So I'm still not allowed to buy this t shirt!

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Click for Day 5 - Part 2!
 
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Day 5
Sunday 4th September 2016
Part 2 – Hollywood Studios (continued)



After Star Tours we wandered around to the Muppet Courtyard.
Pizzerizzo was coming along nicely!

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Then we decided to do Muppet Vision 3D!
I don’t think we’ve seen this since 2012, even though I’m a big Muppets fan (especially Kermit).

At the entrance I stopped to see this fan-favourite secret for myself!

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We had to watch the pre-show for quite a while but it’s fine because we found it so funny!
We loved how Constantine says Muppets like “Maaa-petts” :laughing:

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The show is pretty fun.
I really love the Muppets.
I don’t like that Waldo 3D thingy though.
Upgrading this show to 4D would be so good, because no one is very impressed by this kind of 3D anymore.
They should definitely re-master is with wind and rain and smells and moving seats etc.

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I love the Muppets store, it is GREAT.
I could buy so much Muppets merch.

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Love you Kermit :lovestruc

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Now it was 2:20pm, so we went to use our fastpass at Tower of Terror!

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Tower time!
This is one of our favourite rides at Disney for sure!

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They were only allowing entry to the fastpass line which was strange.

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When we entered the lobby the little boy in front of us became absolutely terrified.
It reminded me of how petrified I was when I was little, but I always rode it anyway because I didn’t want my older cousins (who we travelled with) to think I was a chicken :laughing:
I’m pretty sure it gave me nightmares.
That’s the price you pay for being cool I guess :cool2:

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WOOO.

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We went to ride Rock n Roller Coaster next, but the wait was 110 minutes!
No thank you.

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So instead we sat out in the shade by the Jedi Training Academy and waited for our Star Tours fastpass at 3:10pm.

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It was soooo warm while we were waiting.
According to Snapchat it was 92 degrees.

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I was so glad when it was time to go inside.
Sometimes travelling in early September feels like you’re just running from air conditioned building to air conditioned building :laughing:

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On Star Tours we got the new Force Awakens scene again!
They probably just show that to everyone right now.
And in case you were wondering, I was not the rebel spy again.

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After Star Tours we headed out the park and back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge!



Click for Day 5 - Part 3!
 
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Day 5
Sunday 4th September 2016
Part 3 – Narcoossee’s!



When we got back to the Lodge I had a really good nap and Jamie went to the gym.
Then we got ready for our 8:05pm ADR at Narcoossee’s!

I wore this cute romper that has teacups and saucers on it.
I thought that was very appropriate for the Grand Floridian :goodvibes

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When we were getting ready it started POURING rain!
So once we were ready we ordered an Uber, and we waited for it out front.

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We had a really nice driver called Bradley who was from Barbados!
He was just so sweet.
I was sat in the back but he and Jamie really hit it off.
He was currently in nursing school and his fiancé lived in Dallas.
He had to go home to study after our ride because he wanted to take his exams early so that he could start making money for their wedding!
He was moving to Dallas soon, and Jamie had just been there a couple of months ago so they talked a lot about that.
We loved him.

At 7:40pm Bradley dropped us off at the doors to the Grand and we ran in through the rain.
It was great to be back in this magical place!

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We had some time before our ADR so we looked in Summer Lace, M. Mouse Mercantile, and of course - Basin!

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I want this flask!

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And this wall plaque!
It’s $125 though.

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Basin is amazin’.

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We also watched the band briefly.
They played Friend Like Me and Under The Sea!



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This might sound oddly specific, but it amused me enough to note it down :laughing:
There’s a bathroom near Citricos that has super tall doors on each stall.
The bag hook used to be right at the top of the door and it was ridiculously difficult to reach.
But, I went to use that bathroom, and I'm happy to report they’ve rectified this issue…
...By reinstalling the hook at about crotch height :laughing:
So now if you have a bag with a long strap like mine, when you hang it up, it’s just going to sit on the floor.
:rotfl:

We went back downstairs and Jamie was about to take a photo of me, when a kind stranger walking past offered to get one of both of us!
How nice of him.

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At 8pm we headed over to Narcoossee’s!
It was still pouring rain so we jogged and I put my cardigan over my head, but my feet still got soaked.
At least we didn’t slip, and we made it there in one piece!

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This was our first time ever dining at Narcoossee’s!

While we were waiting to be seated I noticed this amazing Finding Nemo sculpture, which turned out to be completely edible!
It's made of chocolate!

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Wow!

Soon we were shown to our table, and I could see the castle!
It's the little pink splodge out the window on the left!

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So cool!
(Although we didn’t end up sticking around for the fireworks at 10pm.)

Our server today was from Germany, and he was very knowledgeable about everything on the menu.
He handed us the paper menus, and he told us that they’re paper because they change so often!

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While we were deciding what to order Jamie and I were talking about servers, and Jamie said that Bev from the Yachtsman will be wondering where we are!
We ate at the Yachtsman in 2014, and when we returned in 2015 Bev remembered us!
We then said that although we missed Bev, and the dining plan feels like SO MUCH FOOD, without the dining plan we might not have ventured out to try new restaurants and meet new servers.
“Like…. Egypt… and… Germany…”
:laughing:
We're so bad with names.

Anyway, first Germany brought us some lovely bread and salted butter.

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Then we did a ridiculous thing and ordered smoothies for our DDP soft drink :confused3:laughing:
Jamie had chocolate and I had raspberry!

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It was good!
It was too sickly though.
It felt more like dessert to me, so I saved most of it until after my meal and stuck to water.

We were laughing at ourselves because there are a bunch of fancy featured wines that they recommend to go with each dish.
But NO, we MUST stick to the dining plan.
We just came to a signature restaurant and ordered smoothies.

:laughing:

Soon our food arrived!
I had the filet mignon and Jamie had two buttered lobster tails!
Unfortunately the surf and turf had been removed from the menu :sad2:
But I gave Jamie some steak and he gave me some lobster so we kind of made our own :thumbsup2
I don’t know why Disney thinks it can just change menus like that.
I will demand Jiko makes me filet with mac and cheese.
And I will create my own surf and turf at Narcoossee’s.

:laughing:

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Yum and wow!
After our entrees we ordered dessert!
I went for the Narcoossee’s candy bar and Jamie got the almond crusted cheesecake.

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This was AMAZING, but it was SO rich!
I barely got through half of it.

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We got a nice surprise as we ate our dessert...
The Electrical Water Pageant went by!

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This is still funny to me, it’s so random.

We finished up our delicious meals and headed back to the main building.
It was STILL raining, ugh!
Fortunately a cast member on a golf car appeared next to us to drop off a family at one of the outer buildings, and he asked if we wanted a ride back WOOO.
He was super nice and friendly.
We noticed that the previous family had tried to tip him and he told them he wasn’t supposed to accept tips.
So he was just being lovely because he can be. :goodvibes
He asked us where we were staying, and when we said "Animal Kingdom Lodge" he groaned!
Which I thought was because we didn’t say “here at the Grand Floridian”,
But then he said “kick me right in the heart, that’s my favourite place!”
It turned out he used to work there!
We had a great conversation with him.
When we got out of the golf cart Jamie said he loved how nice everyone is here.
I agreed, and said I couldn’t stand the thought of going home!
Thankfully we had a long time until that terrible day.

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We went up the stairs to catch the monorail, and I wanted a picture in front of the chandelier.
I got one last year, but it looked like my legs were way more tanned than the rest of me, and I thought I looked a bit orange and silly.
Well…

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It happened again!
Why are my legs so orange compared to my face and neck in these pictures?!
I would really like this picture otherwise, but oh well.

Time to catch the first monorail!
I miss monorailing around.

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We arrived at the Magic Kingdom and walked along to the bus stops to head home.

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Wishes started while we were waiting for a bus!

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We made it back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge at 10:30pm and packed up a small overnight bag.
We were off on an adventure tomorrow, and spending the night in hotel number 3...!

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Click for Day 6 - Part 1!
 
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Amazing shots of the Grand!! I am so contmeplating my CG reservation to Narcossee's just so I have an excuse to step foot in that gorgeous hotel.
I love your romper it's so cute, but also dressy, and I'm sure it's totally comfortable.
 

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