From Europe to Africa in America - A Sisters' Expedition

[Poolrat]

Have to agree with Glenn That pix of the Tiger was awesome !! I usually get his backside shown to me

Last time I got the backside all right, with a little thrown in

Not a Germnan Holiday or an English but never the less a Happy one !!!!

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!!!!

 

[mom3sonstt]

Something really beautiful to get you all in the mood for Katharina's and mine trip to Disneyland Paris:

A Magical Day at Disneyland Paris

It's one of the tilt-shift videos they have been doing of some of the parks. And this one is truly beautiful!

Very cool!

 

[All7OfUs]

Lots of great stuff on your last day! I can imagine how excited you must have been to get to see the little monkey's first day out with Mama!!

You took so many great pictures- really a lot of fun ones of the theming!

The trails were one of my favorite things to do in AK! I couldn't believe how many cool animals were out to see. And since they are more contained, it's easier to get pictures of them.

Good call to leave before the rain hit! Retrieving those bags for dry clothes might have been impossible.

I've never set foot into R...osaurus. I may have to do that, just to see the clever theming myself.


If I don't post again here before you go,

HAVE A WONDERFUL trip to Paris!!!! I can't wait to hear all of your impressions and see your pictures!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Maybe it gave you an "idea"....but you wouldn't believe the real thing.

That's a great picture of the tiger in the fountain!

I never noticed how flat that bicycles tires were. I have a picture of that somewhere, I'll have to find it and see what it looked like when I was there.

That's cool that you saw the first time that the baby gibbon ventured out.

I am a bit afraid that we might experience a heat wave in OCtober, not keen on that at all!!

I like the tiger picture as well. I think one advantage of doind the trails multiple times is that you have better chances of seeing the animals. Just like the Safari ride is different each time you go int (well, besides the poachers...).

Let me know what you find out about the tires! I would think it is on purpose that they are flat?

the baby gibbon was very cute to see! Like an added bonus to the Wild by Design tour we had been on and where we were told about the baby to be born soon.

Oh and Glenn, did you ever see post #1045?

Wow! Lots to comment on here as I catch up...

First of all, great job finding the cheetah again! Looks like you found him just after he was shot by poachers. But I'm glad the animatronic lion was awake!

I agree about the path in Asia. Simply outstanding work done by the Imagineers there. I think we could have photographed the ruins all day long, and I love some of your shots. And I've never seen the tiger climbing on the fountain like that before!

Thanks! AK is so pretty and there is so much to take pictures of. DLP has a similar level of detail and I am really looking forward to going a bit crazy with my camera there...

Also agree that Restaurantosaurus is a good spot. We really like Flame Tree Barbecue, but my kids were thrilled with R--osaurus. Their food was served in beach-toy buckets, which went over very well.

kids meals in beach toy buckets sound fantastic! I guess they are of great use for the Dig Site afterwards?

I can't wait to hear all about DLP! Have a great time and I'll look forward to the TR!

Thanks! I guess I will come back with enough pictures to bore you all...

Pat, I do this too. It's such a great line...my wife and I quote it all the time!

It is such a funny line - especially from a foreigner's point of you. There is indeed quite some truth in it. I remember when we were in the US in 1992 during the Olympics and it seemed that all medals were won by athletes from the US. When we got home we found out that Germany had done extremely well during those games...

That video from DLP was so cool!! I LOVE those! So exciting that you will be there in just a few days!!

Seems like you had a great last day- I do hate for it to end, but I am looking forward to reading about DLP!!

I loved the video as well! I have watched it a few times now, it is so cute! We are leaving the day after tomorow for Paris, I am very excited!!

 

[Flossbolna]

WOW! Quite the updates ladies! Thanks for sharing. I'm sad you trip is over! But can't wait to read about your DLP adventures!

Sorry I didn't comment sooner we've been rather sick in our household as of late. DH has pneumonia! I'm going to the doctor later today. And everyone else is starting to get sick as well. Hopefully we will be on the mend soon!

If I'm not back before you leave to DLP have a wonderful time and take lots of pictures. You know I love pictures! (I hope you don't mind all the ones I've bombarded you with)

Hi Wendy, I was getting worried because I hadn't seen you around! I hope you are all getting well soon! Especially your DH!! This recalls bad memories from when Katharina's DH had pneumonia in December 2009.

We will bring back plenty of pictures from DLP and are really looking forward to share them with you all!

And I love all the pictures you send!!

Have to agree with Glenn That pix of the Tiger was awesome !! I usually get his backside shown to me

Not a Germnan Holiday or an English but never the less a Happy one !!!!

Thanks Rosie!! I don't know why the tiger was so nice to me, but I really liked the way he posed.

 

[Flossbolna]

Last time I got the backside all right, with a little thrown in


Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!!!!

I think it all depends on the animals' form of the day... That's why Walt Disney did go for animatronics on the Jungle Cruise: much more reliable performance!

Very cool!

I love the video as well!

 

[Flossbolna]

Lots of great stuff on your last day! I can imagine how excited you must have been to get to see the little monkey's first day out with Mama!!

You took so many great pictures- really a lot of fun ones of the theming!

The trails were one of my favorite things to do in AK! I couldn't believe how many cool animals were out to see. And since they are more contained, it's easier to get pictures of them.

Good call to leave before the rain hit! Retrieving those bags for dry clothes might have been impossible.

I've never set foot into R...osaurus. I may have to do that, just to see the clever theming myself.


If I don't post again here before you go,

HAVE A WONDERFUL trip to Paris!!!! I can't wait to hear all of your impressions and see your pictures!!

That morning at AK once again proved how wonderful that park is. There is so much to see and enjoy and feel that we could have spent even more time. But it was getting rather crowded as well. But I really want to return to Restorantosaurus to look at the theming even more. It's such a fun place and I am glad that we went there.

Thanks for the good wishes for Paris! We are leaving the day after tomorrow!!

 

[Flossbolna]

There it is: the last chapter of our trip report.

We left AK just before the rain started. And what a downpour it was. The water came down in buckets. Remember the deluge we had experienced that one morning at DHS: That was nothing compared to the rain that came down on this very last afternoon. Wow!

We were lucky, we had arrived back at AKL with still some time to spare. I used it for a last picture tour of the AKL Jambo House gift shop which I think is one of the best resort gift shops at WDW:

We also walked around the lobby a bit more, explored those hallways along the lobby on the higher floors:

And then it was time to get our bags from bell services, change into our travel clothes (no summer weather in Germany in February) and go outside and wait for the Magical Express bus:

The trip to the airport was uneventful, we got checked in without any larger problems. Since we knew from the flight to Florida, that there was a problem with our ticket numbers not being in the system, we could tell them at check in and they found our tickets without problems. We wandered around the airport for a bit and were amused by these carpets in the surf shop:

And then it was time to board the plane. Both of us managed to get quite a bit of sleep during the 9 hours flight. Having ear plugs helped quite a lot! We got to Frankfurt on time and on to the next plane to Berlin. Once there, Remy, Katharina's DH picked us up from the airport. And in the evening we headed to an Austrian restaurant in our neighborhood for some Viennese Schnitzel! Which was delicious, but Katharina and I were nearly too tired to enjoy it...

And that's the end of that trip to WDW. We will add one final chapter for final thoughts on the trip and then hope to see you all for our PTR for the next trip to WDW!

Next: Final Thoughts

 

[Flossbolna]

Here they are: Our final thoughts on the trip. I think the most important final thought goes without mentioning: We had a wonderful trip!!

Taking a First-Timer

It was really wonderful to share WDW, which I love, with someone, who I love and who gets WDW as well! But it also was a much less relaxing trip for me because I put myself under quite a bit of pressure to make the trip magical for Katharina. I think if I would ever take a first-timer again, I would try to be more relaxed about it. On the other hand, Katharina was an easy first-timer to have along. She had experience with other Disney Parks and was quite willing to become knowledgeable about WDW and take part in the planning of the trip. So I think we had a pretty good plan, which we followed for the most part. For me, that made things much easier.

My recommendation for others would be: Don't worry too much about making the trip magical for someone you take along. WDW is a wonderful place and people will enjoy it anyway, even if it isn't planned out in the last detail!


Being a First-Timer

I was very lucky to have such a wonderful guide for my first trip to WDW. In retrospect I think I was quite often overwhelmed and it was good to have a plan to stick to and to have someone with me, who always had a good suggestion. As I didn’t know during my trip, whether or when I would ever be back, there was always this little fear in the background of missing something, as I didn’t really know or couldn’t really imagine what else there is too see.

I’m really very grateful to Magdalene for making this trip happen!!!!


Restaurants

In hindsight I would say that I loved most of the signature restaurants, but was slightly disappointed by the normal table service restaurants. That is a trend that I noticed during all of my last trips. I think my strategy in the future might be more counter service and fewer table service, but these at the signatures. However, we have our eyes set on quite a few restaurants for October already, so we will see how that will work...


Overall I was very impressed by the service and offerings even for me with my crazy diet. But I have to agree with Magdalene, some of the standard table service restaurant didn’t impress me much. The food in the counter service restaurants on the other hand seemed much better thant what I’m used to here in Germany.


Animal Kingdom Lodge

Once again a beautiful hotel! Getting the upgrade to the savanna view room was lovely, especially because the view of a pool under renovation would not have been very pleasant. But I don't think that I need to pay for savanna view in the future. I love the pool view at AKL, so I will happily get that if available.

I still don't think that AKL is too far from everywhere. We had for the most part pretty good bus service. And since the bus goes direct after leaving Jambo, the trips were not too long either. I think WDW is so large that every hotel is bound to be far from something. Since our main focus of the trip wasn't the MK, the distance to there did not matter to us that much.


I’m really happy we picked AKL as our hotel. I loved the hotel, the animals, the restaurants and its proximity to AK. If I ever manage to persuade my DH to see WDW, I’d like to stay with him at AKL at least for some nights, he would love it, too.


Weather

I did not like the weather during that trip. You might have picked up on that when you read the TR. It was not only cold, but also miserable. But we also made the mistake of not wanting to believe how cold it was and did not dress appropriately.

I think we really had very bad luck with the weather. It does not fit the normal climate for Orlando for that time frame. So this will not deter me from taking a trip in late January/early February again. It is still one of the most uncrowded times of the year at WDW.

But I would encourage everyone who goes in the winter months: Be prepared that you won't have pool weather, bring your winter clothes and take them to the parks with you, even if you rather want to be on summer vacation!

 

[glennbo123]

Oh and Glenn, did you ever see post #1045?

From lovealldisney?

 

[glennbo123]

Thanks for all of the pictures of the AKL lobby. I love that place!

Nice summary of your final thoughts and reflections.

 

[Flossbolna]

From lovealldisney?

Sorry, got the numbers mixed up.... 1455 was the one I meant...

 

[Flossbolna]

Thanks for all of the pictures of the AKL lobby. I love that place!

Nice summary of your final thoughts and reflections.

I t is so pretty there... I am really a bit sad that I don't get to stay there in October. But I am also excited to try something new.

 

[glennbo123]

This post is a tribute to many TR writers, but mainly to Glenn!!

No, I didn't notice that! Great job!

I saw that Pat did a double-one (talk about impressive ) a couple of days ago and I meant to comment on it, but never did. Maybe she'll see this.

 

[Flossbolna]

No, I didn't notice that! Great job!

I saw that Pat did a double-one (talk about impressive ) a couple of days ago and I meant to comment on it, but never did. Maybe she'll see this.

Oh, she saw that and commented on it even. I am glad you finally saw it and it served its purpose: to amuse you!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Woohoo! More AKL photos!

You got some beautiful shots. Thanks for taking so many pictures--it makes me feel like I've stayed there! One of these days...

I'm glad it was a great trip, even despite the weather. I'm sure company made it worth whatever headaches came up! Looking forward to the next one!

 

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us! I loved hearing your tales.

Maybe I missed this, but did you already start your PTR? If so, can you provide the link again for those of us who missed it! (I might not have been paying close enough attention!) Thanks!

 

[Poolrat]

I saw that Pat did a double-one (talk about impressive ) a couple of days ago and I meant to comment on it, but never did. Maybe she'll see this.

Oh, she saw that and commented on it even. I am glad you finally saw it and it served its purpose: to amuse you!

What a way to wrap things up. The AKL lobby is beautiful and so is the gift shop. Maybe someday I can book a room only and just tour resorts. I would have to go without the AP and but no tickets though to keep me out of the parks.

Safe and happy travels. Enjoy DLP. We will wait here.

 

[dekkerdisneydreamer]

What a lovely trip report. I am so glad that the two of you were able to share this experience together. Knowing that you'll be back in October (I'll be there as well! October 16-21), what things would you both like to do that you didn't get to do this trip?

I look forward to you posting a PTR link for October!

 

[Flossbolna]

Woohoo! More AKL photos!

You got some beautiful shots. Thanks for taking so many pictures--it makes me feel like I've stayed there! One of these days...

I'm glad it was a great trip, even despite the weather. I'm sure company made it worth whatever headaches came up! Looking forward to the next one!

I remembered that you mentioned that you don't mind AKL pictures when I posted this update! I am sure you will be able to stay there at some point in the future.

The next one has the PTR started here.

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us! I loved hearing your tales.

Maybe I missed this, but did you already start your PTR? If so, can you provide the link again for those of us who missed it! (I might not have been paying close enough attention!) Thanks!

Thank you very much! The PTR just got started a few minutes ago. You can find it here.