~~ Sew the crowds in WDW were frightful, but the weather was so delightful ~~Nov 2015 COMPLETE! ~~

[dreamit]

Joining in...looking forward to hearing about your adventures!

 

[kittylady1972]

Sounds like fun...I'm in!

 

[rdkeim]

In!

 

[Llobal]

Joining in. I was there 11-8 thru 11-14. I was mad at myself for not getting a chance to meet you!! But sick child and sick husband overruled as they should. If youre ever down Alabama way or even in Atlanta give me a shout!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

YAY I'm here!! I am so excited to hear all about your trip!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

I am here too. Living on the West Coast gets you page 2.

 

[jandlinz]

Joining in!

 

[sunnysideup3]

I'm in! It all looked so fun on FB, I can't wait to hear details!

 

[Avery&Todd]

I'm here and ready!! I saw a few posts from FB and it looked great!!!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

I'm in and can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

So excited to for this trip report!

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

Following along.

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 1 ~ Wednesday, November 11, 2015

I was up at 1:45am, I did not sleep at all, even though I was so tired...

Coffee in hand - I took my first selfie for the trip... See... This is where I am going to lose all my readers - LOL - The very first picture I post is a not so flattering/half asleep/no make-up/hair a mess photo of me... So, if you can take this - you will likely be able to stomach the rest of the TR.

I got ready and packed up the remainder of my last minute belongings... At 4:30, I went upstairs to say goodbye to my beautiful, totally sleeping, girls... And I was off.

Note the date... When I book my trips - I try very hard to fly out early in the morning, so Josh can take me to the airport on his way to work... Then I try to fly in right around the time he is off of work - so he can pick me up easily... I was so happy that this trip was right within those pirameters. Hahaha... It wasn't until the night before - I realized I was flying out on Vetran's Day, and he was off of work this day. Oops... Poor Josh had to get up from his slumber, on his day off, to take me to the airport at 4:30am. At least he could go back home and go back to bed.

When we got to the airport, Josh took my checked bag right to the counter for me... Then pushed me away as he took the little post-it notes covers off of my ME tags, so I didn't see the resort. For those of you that didn't follow along in my PTR for this trip - this is how Suzi kept me from seeing where we were staying. Supa Smaat!

We said our good-byes and he left me to go through security. I was TSA pre-checked, so I breezed right through... I was flying out of our big airport - so I had quite a hike to the end of the terminal for my flight... So, I took a selfie... And when I stopped at the bathroom, I took another... I kind of like selfies...

I realized, as I was walking - I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before - and my stomach was starving... Typically - I do get a nervous stomach when I fly, so I am better off not eating much before a flight. Usually - once I get through security, I am fine though... To I stopped at one of the shops and grabbed myself a strawberry Chobani and a banana. I ate the Chobani while waiting for my flight... and I stuffed the banana in my carry on for later.

I boarded the plane at 6:40am, I had an aisle seat right over the wing. Our flight was quite full - but I took this selfie before anyone else boarded near me.

The flight was uneventful and boring... However, the lady next to me had her big black jacket over her head the entire flight... It was a bit awkward. :whatever:

I tried to sleep, because I was tired, but aside from dozing here and there, I really was too excited to sleep, so I took out my tablet for the last 30 minutes of the flight, and played Frozen Free Fall.

I landed 45 minutes early - the pilot came over the loudspeaker and said "we had one heck of a tailwind!" Cool! It's always good to start a trip with an early landing. I texted Suzi right away, and she also had a good tailwind, she was already on the ground waiting for me...

It took forever to deplane! First order of business - a biobreak... I also took off my jacket, because it was steamy in the airport...

Riding the fake-o-rail to the terminal...

I was dumped out of the fake-o-rail on the other side of the security check point, Suzi and Bradey were right there waiting for me!!! It was great to see them - big hugs all around! And I think both of us stifled back a couple of tears - I know I did anyways. Suzi is just one of my bestest friends - and it's so hard that we have to live so far away from eachother - it's always such a wonderful day when we get to see eachother again! She looked great - Bradey looked great! Eeep!!!

Off we went to ME... Eeek - I still had NO idea where we were staying! I almost didn't want to find out, because the anticipation for this trip was just the best! We got into the ME line, and Suzi told me where the sign was for the resort - she blocked my view of it, and of course, I didn't look.

Our first selfie together, of the trip...

We had to wait in the ME line for about 15 minutes before we could board the bus to our resort. As I was boarding the bus, the driver asked the family behind me where they were headed, and the guy said "Kidani"... So, the surprise was up... I knew we would be at AKL - and I was thrilled! In all honesty... AKL was on my list of possible resorts - very close to the top - I had narrowed it down to one of the Epcot resorts or AKL... But secretly - I was HOPING for AKL. Eeep!!!!!!

And there it is!!!!

CSR was dropped off first - then us.

Shortly before we saw this sign, the ME driver slammed on his breaks and my carry-on bag went flying off the seat, on to the floor, slid forward in front of the seat in front of me, and spilled the entire contents on to the floor... I barely had it all cleaned up in time to see this:

Again - I noted I was "starving"... Only having a yogert between lunch the day before and now...

We checked in... Our room wasn't ready - but she did tell us we were on the 5th floor and which hallway we would be down - with a pool view.

We organized our carry-on bags, took out what we thought we needed for the next few hours, and then we checked our bags with bell services.

We wanted to explore this gorgeous resort - having only ever been here once myself, for a rushed dinner reservation at Boma - I was so excited to see everything! Suzi couldn't have done a better job picking or planning this one - honestly!

Through out this TR, you will be getting various pictures from around AKL... It seems that every time I opened my eyes - I saw something new. This first day was kind of a blur for me, with the surprise came this child-like view of the resort, and I had a very hard time focusing on any one thing, it was all so beautiful - I wanted to see and do it all at once.

Link to Day 1 Part 2

D~​

 

[lovethattink]

Great start.

Your poor dh having to get up so early. At least he had a full day left to do what he wanted after he dropped you off.

Yay! Arrival to friends and Animal Kingdom.

 

[DisMom1981]

So so awesome!!! Can't wait to read more and especially hope for some of the holiday activity posts to give me some ideas for our trip.

 

[Terkina]

What a bummer that Josh had to get up early on his day of. AKL looks great. I can't wait to hear more about your trip.

 

[kittylady1972]

Aw what a great start. We really love AKL as well. Such a beautiful resort and just like a vacation within the vacation to be there.

 

[mdsouth]

Great trip report so far! Suzi did a wonderful job of keeping the resort a secret. I would love to visit the parks with a close friend.

PS I too enjoy playing Frozen Free Fall

 

[dreamit]

What a great start to your trip. Hurray for tailwinds! I've never experienced cutting that much time from a flight. Poor Josh having to wake up so early. Were the girls able to make the day special for him? I am so happy that the resort was the one for which you were hoping, and I look forward to hearing about your thoughts of the resort. Had Bradey stayed at AKL previously? Did he love the resort? I've never been, not even for a meal. A Chobani with a sprinkling of muesli is my default breakfast on work days, but at the airport I always find an indulgent coffee (aka mocha) and a breakfast sandwich--a favorite treat, especially if it's on a croissant! It must have been a unique experience having had Suzi do all the trip planning. I think it would be awesome since you knew you were in the hands of a pro. In that situation, I think it would be wonderful to give up control.

 

[cajunfan]

Am I the only one that can't see most of the pictures? The only one I can see is the first selfie of the trip (with you Suzi and Bradey)