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Days 5 & 6
Jim and I wake up at a pretty early hour, since we fell asleep so early the night before. Today is our day to move to Animal Kingdom Lodge, so we pack
up the car and decide to head over to the outlets. I had seen a Sketchers outlet and what looked like an Aeropostale outlet, so I thought I could do a
bit of Christmas shopping for Brighid. We drove around a while and didn't find either outlet, and not being motivated enough to find a phone book, we
elected to head to AKL and see if our room was ready. We were checked in by a very nice man who was in training. My husband has a very dry wit, and no
matter what jokes he told, this guy was a serious as a train wreck. He handed us our room keys and said that there were no charging privileges on
the 3 year old's key, it was for a souvenir. Jim commented that this might be a problem when she went out looking for booze and cigarettes later on in
the evening. Then he handed us the paper to sign saying we will not feed or harass the animals, and Jim said, "Does this also mean no hunting?" To
which the guy just stared at him. Okay, moving on.
We were in the room by 11:30, and as soon as we walked in, we saw three zebras just a few yards from our window. We went out onto the balcony and
spent a good while just looking at the animals and the beauty of the savanna, and then we both realized we were starving. We headed down to The
Mara, the AKL food court. We ordered fish and chips and the shrimp platter, and I picked up a salad and fruit cup while we waited for it to cook. Oh my
the portions are HUGE. We ended up with the fruit in the fridge for later, and the salad got tossed the next day. We got a refillable mug,
mostly because Jim knew I was in love with this resort and would appreciate the souvenir. No way we were going to drink $12 worth of soda!!
We had not yet heard from our children, and I was feeling pretty badly about that. I wanted them here to enjoy the view and see how beautiful the room
was. Jim and I decided to just go back to the room and watch the animals and wait to hear from them. We had a PS at Boma for 8 that evening with his
parents, and I could hardly wait, but then when Brighid finally called at 4 PM, she told us that her grandfather had a meeting at 7 that night, and
wanted us to meet them at Sonny's BBQ for dinner at 5. I was disappointed, but the kids wanted the extra time with their grandparents. I even toyed
with the idea of making them just eat maybe a cup of soup or salad so we could still go to Boma, but once you are in Sonnyˇ¦s, with the delicious
smell of BBQ all around, a salad won't cut it.
After the dinner, we headed back to AKL, and the girls were completely amazed. Brighid LOVED the lobby, and made us sit and spend a few minutes on
one of the sofas. When we finally got to the room, everything else was overshadowed by the bunk beds. I almost asked for them to change the room
to queen beds, but Eilis was bowled over by having a bunk bed. We went out to the balcony, and the girls got to see the animals, and we spent much of
the evening sitting there.
Jim surprised us by ordering room service dessert while we were sitting outside, and by 8:30, we were enjoying some fabulous food. He then went
ahead and filled out the hang tag to get breakfast delivered the next morning at 7 so the kids could see the animals in the early morning. I
can't tell you how amazing it was to open my eyes and sit up, and see a giraffe almost right outside the window. When I opened the balcony door,
you could hear him chewing the leaves. There were the three zebras again, laying in a shady spot of soft dirt, and a few other wildebeest/antelope
looking creatures. I could have sat there all day, but this was our last day.
We finally pulled ourselves away from the animals at about 10, and we went to visit Islands of Adventure. We have never been, so it was a new
experience for us. We decided to splurge for preferred parking for $4, and it wasn't bad. It was a little closer than we had been the other day. We
also found out that for $8 with our annual pass, we could park at the valet. We may try that next time.
I was very impressed by the theming at this park. I loved the whole Dr. Seuss thing and the kids loved the rides. No wait anywhere, which was
phenomenal. They didn't miss anything. We got to meet Thing One and Thing Two; Sam I am with his green eggs and ham; the Cat in the Hat; and the
Grinch. We didn't do much in the other "lands", as much of it Eilis was too small for. She did ride a unicorn roller coaster and then we had a nice
lunch of BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, black beans and rice. We ended our day with souvenirs back in Seuss land and then a stop in at the Christmas
shop, where I got Max, the Grinch's dog so cute
We left for our overnight stop in South Carolina at about 2:30, before anyone was too tired to drive. It was a nice end to our always too short
vacation.
Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
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