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Tami Farmer -- June 2001 -- Walt Disney World (AKL)June 10-13, 2001 Preplanning:
Day One: Sunday June 10, 2001 Today's quote: "It's a boy. I think I'll call him Cletus." I set my alarm for 2:30am. Chris spent the night and Kim arrived around 3:00am. We pulled out of the driveway (in North Georgia) in Chris's car around 3:30 with me driving. After about 3 hours we stopped at a Cracker Barrel and ate breakfast. A bus had just arrived and the line for the bathroom was pretty long. Turns out almost no one in line for the bathroom actually had to use is. Believe it or not, most all those people were in line waiting to use the sink so they could brush their teeth. After weeding out who was there to brush and who was there to actually go, I was able to get right in. I have never seen so many people in a bathroom brushing their teeth ever. It was pretty funny. One lady even had her dentures out brushing them in the sink. Do busses just have toilets and no sinks or something??? After breakfast, I was wanting to sit back and nap or read magazines and let someone else drive for a while. I interviewed the sisters to see which one I would most trust my life on the interstate with. Turns out, neither. Chris does drive on the interstate, but very rarely. Kim has not drove on an interstate in 9 years. OK, looks like I will be driving the entire time this trip. Anyway, we get back on the interstate and it starts pouring rain off and on until we get to Orlando. At times, I could barely see out the windshield. (Sidenote: I am a firm believer in the Rain-X product which Chris does not use on her windshield. In fact, the Rain-X people should get me to do commercials for their products. LOL). We get to Orlando around 1 I think. First stop: Find a store that sells Rain-X. It took 3 store but we finally found it!!! Yeah. Going home we will be the after picture on the rain-x box, not the before. LOL After the scavenger hunt for Rain-X, we finally make it to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. This is now my favorite hotel. Just like people have said, every cast member there was extremely friendly and animals were around nearly every corner. Everything about it is incredibly detailed also. Each day I noticed something I had not noticed before. Example: The chair backs on the balcony are in the shape of zebra heads. It look me till right before we left to notice that one. I even liked the doors to the rooms. Each door had some sort of an African thing on it. To me, they looked like African surfboards on every room door. Surf's up in Africa. LOL. The elevators were kind of strange. The mirrors in them looked just like 2 way mirrors. Everytime we rode we're like, I wonder who's watching us. When we were first walking to our room, we passed people in the hallway looking at the carpet and yelling, "yellow mickey." We figured out the carpet is full of small brown mickey heads along with all the other assorted carpet designs. Anyway, every now and then instead of a brown mickey head, there would be yellow ones to look for. So now, we were walking to our room looking at the carpet yelling, "yellow mickey." The rooms are divided into pods. We were in the pod with all the royal stuff. Directions to our room: Turn right at the throne. Turn right at the royal staffs. Then go down till you come to the next to the last room. I've heard people say the rooms at AKL are kind of small, but it was just the right size for the 3 of us. Most of the time at least 1 or 2 people were always out on the balcony looking at the animals, and not in the actual room anyway. There must be lots of hidden cameras out on the savanna for the workers to watch the animals. There are signs posted that say to ensure your privacy while in your room, please pull your curtains closed. The first thing we saw when we looked out our balcony believe it or not: two impalias doing the "wild thing". There were also some big horned animals out. We would now refer to the big animals as the big horned animals and the impalias as the little "horney" animals. LOL. We also saw 1 giraffe. Turns out he always hung out by himself and didn't socialize with the other family of 4-5 giraffes that were around sometimes. We felt bad for him always being by himself and decided we should adopt and name him. Kim decided, "It's a boy. I think I'll call him Cletus." We unloaded, ate lunch and got our mugs at the Maya foodcourt, then Chris decided to take a nap while Kim and I went to Blizzard Beach. I like the lazy river at Typhoon Lagoon better than the one at Blizzard Beach, but I like all the slides at Blizzard Beach better, and the ski lift thing. We did the lazy river first and then hiked up to my favorite slide, the enclosed one (the dark and the lighting in the tube remind me of Space Mountain.) I usually only do this slide once because as much as I like the slide, I hate the hike to it. We then hiked up the mountain 2 more times to do both of the mat slides (this hike is easy). By this time the crowds had gone, lines were short, and Kim was already getting a blister. So we rode the chair lift 3 times up the mountain and did the family raft ride 3 times (my second favorite slide). We went back to the lazy river until they announced park was closing in 15min. I had to do one more slide, so although Kim was totally embarrassed, I hit the kiddie section for a while. I was the only adult in there doing the kiddie stuff, but I had fun!! Kim eventually entered with me and liked it also. (Story Time) The big slide at blizzard beach (128feet??) loads at what looks like a ski jump. However instead of going off the edge of the ski jump, there is a hole hidden halfway down the ski jump where the riders go through to continue down the big slide. Apparently, Kim had not noticed this. Our first trip up on the ski life, we go by the big slide. All of a sudden, Kim starts screaming, "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Turns out she saw the next rider at the top of the ski jump and though someone had accidentally fell or climbed onto it and was about to go shooting off the jump, fly across Blizzard Beach, and fall to their death. LOL. After Blizzard Beach, we headed back to the hotel for dinner there. Then we told Cletus good-night and put in the wake-up call early enough so we could arrive at MGM studios right at park opening. The diva in me declared a bed to myself. Kim and Chris could share the other one, especially since I'm the chauffeur :) Day Two: Monday June 11, 2001 Today's Quote: "I think I just got engaged to a bear." After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we arrived at MGM just in time for rope drop at 9:00. I only wanted to do two things at MGM (Millionaire and Rock n Roller Coaster). We headed to get a fastpass at rock n roller coaster first. For some reason the coaster wasn't open yet so everyone that would be in the coaster line was in the fast pass line. I'm not really patient when it comes to lines so I certainly wasn't going to wait in a line for my fast pass. Therefore, we went off to Millionaire. Millionaire was so cool. This is my new favorite thing at MGM studios. I could have spent the whole day just going to Millionaire shows. We decided to go to the next show, but first walked back to rock n roller coaster for a fastpass (Yeah, no line this time). I still don't understand why if the return time is one hour away and the standby line is 65min., why people actually get in the line and not get a fastpass?? Oh well, less people in line in front of me I guess. The second show of Millionaire I did so much better (this takes practice I guess). To get in the hot seat you have to be number one. At one time I was number 10 and at one time I was number 2. Never did make the hot seat though :( I wonder if anyone has won a trip to New York yet?? Our highest person made it to 32,000 points and then missed the question. No one I watched actually even used all 3 lifelines, but they would guess and miss it. I'm like if you don't know it, why would you not use all your lifelines first before resorting to guessing?? These people need me to coach them I think. It's funny at the beginning because they stress the fact no one will actually win any REAL money (they only say this in English though. I feel for the japanese person that actually makes it in the hot seat and thinks they are winning real yen. LOL. I'm sure they explain it to them eventually should that happen.) After Millionaire, we headed off to rock n roller coaster. Actually, just Kim and I headed there. Chris went to see Beauty and the Beast and take pictures. We agreed to meet at the wait time board at 1:00. Kim was a little nervous about rock n roller coaster. I noticed at the end, her eyes were closed in the picture. Turns out she closed her eyes as soon as they put the restraint down at the loading area and never opened them again until he was sure the ride was over. We got off the coaster and headed to the ice cream stand. They have chocolate/vanilla swirl again. Yeah. The last few times they've took away the swirls and just had vanilla with snickers pieces and some sort of funky chocolate coffee ice cream. We finished the ice cream and noticed we still had 45 min. until we had to meet Chris. What to do? Let's see here.............................Millionaire again? Ok. Don't have to twist my arm to get me there. On the way there, Pooh was out. He's Kim's favorite character so she got in line. When she got up to him, he immediately dropped down on one knee and proposed. I can't wait to see how the picture turns out. We arrived at Millionaire and noticed the girl who had been playing the stage manager, was now the host. The guy who was the host, was now the stage manager. Although I liked him (reminded me a lot of Regis), the girl did a much better job as the host. She was incredibly spunky, full of energy, and funny. She even told a story about how she got her picture made on Elvis's front porch in his hometown of Mississippi (Funny, I always though he was born and raised in Memphis.) My theory about getting better at each Millionaire show proved wrong. I did so bad this show. Never once made it to the top ten. :( We left there and met Chris who asked us what we've been doing. Kim's reply, " I think I just got engaged to a bear." We decided to head to Downtown Disney and get our shopping done. We ended up being there 3 hours. We ate at McD's, shopped, and took lots of pictures. Chris almost ended up staying there permanently. There is a giant lifeguard chair outside of the Rock and Roll Beach Club on Pleasure Island. Chris climbed up there to get her picture made and then couldn't figure out how to get back down. It was so funny. Eventually she made it down, and we headed back to the hotel to rest for about an hour before heading to Epcot. We got to Epcot in time to watch the first Tapestry of Nations parade. I usually always watch it in the United Kingdom. I thought it strange that no one was lined up along the parade route, but I sat on the curb anyway. Turns out that instead of having two parades like they did all last year (one on each side of the lake), they now only have one and it is on the other side of the lake. Oh well. Since we were in the United Kingdom, we headed to watch British Invasion. I like them because I can sing a long with all their songs! Chris then decided to head to the Magic Kingdom to watch Spectromagic while Kim and I headed to test track. We did the singles line and waited maybe 5-10min. The standby line was at around 55min. Then we headed to Innoventions so I could send my postcards. I thought it strange that the big fountain was completely drained. I later found out it was due to water restrictions. All the water things that the kids play with at Downtown Disney were also off and Donald's boat in toontown was closed. Mickey Mouse needs some rain!! Speaking of which, we had great weather and it only rained once for about 5min. the whole time we were there. We ate dinner at the fast food place by the fountain and then headed back to the hotel before the Illuminations crowd got out. One animal I never saw at our hotel that was supposed to be there was the Ostrich. I looked out the balcony and called Kim over because I was sure I had finally spotted an ostrich. "That's not an ostrich, he's a man." OK, I grab the binoculars. He is a man. Maybe I should wear my glasses like I'm supposed to more often?? Day Three: Tuesday June 12, 2001 and Final Today's Quote: "How come all the workers say Jumbo when I walk by? Do they think 'm fat or something?" This morning I went down to the foodcourt, filled up the mugs, and got us all breakfast to eat in the room while we watched the animals off the balcony. We then caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom. When we arrived, people were lined up on Main Street where they were watching a commercial being filmed. We wondered down to the hub and took pictures in front of the castle until it was time for rope drop. Since Pooh is Kim's favorite character, we rode the pooh ride first followed by Peter Pan with no wait for either. (my two favorite rides in Fantasyland). Next we headed over to Space Mountain to get our fastpasses. While we waited for our fastpass time, we rode peoplemover. Carousel of Progress wasn't open yet, so we walked over to Toontown and waited for rope drop there (10am). We warmed up for space mountain by riding Goofy's Barnstormer coaster. Then we toured Minnie's House and Mickey's house. We still had some time before our fastpass window, so we rode the train around one time. We got off briefly at splash mountain to see if we could get a fastpass there since we were now in our Space Mountain window and for all the computer knows, we already rode space mountain therefore we should be able to get another fastpass. I though the computer would let us get one, but Chris seemed to think we couldn't because it had not been 2 hours since our last fastpass. I kept explaining to her we can get a new fastpass if we had used the other one already or if it had been two hours (not both). Anyway, we weren't going to be around for when the return time was so I don't know if the computer would have let us get one or not (I still say it would have.) Kim eventually stepped in as a referee and got us to quit discussing the fastpass situation and we continued on to Space Mountain where all 3 of us rode (with everyone's eyes open this ride. LOL) We got off Space Mountain and got fastpasses for buzz lightyear. We decided on lunch and a show at the Golden Horseshoe Revue. This show last about an hour and is a great place to get inside away from the heat while you eat. Each show appears to be a little bit different also (same people, different acts, songs, etc.). I always love this show. Chris and Kim did also. They couldn't stop laughing. By the time we got out of there, we were to late to ride Buzz. We took a few more pictures then headed out to the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus stop. They were still filming the commercial on Main Street as we walked out. Now whenever I see a commercial for WDW on TV, I will be looking for myself walking in the background :) After lunch at the hotel, we all went our separate ways for a while. Chris took a nap. Kim decided she needed some sun so people would believe she went to Florida, so she laid out by the pool. I grabbed a couple of magazines and my fun noodle and headed out to the pool with Kim. I never did read the magazines, I just left them on the chair next to where Kim was laying and spent the whole time we were out there floating around in the pool on my fun noodle. People kept asking me where I got the fun noodle because they wanted one also. I'm like sorry, I packed it in my suitcase. Some lady remarked how she wished she would have remembered her fun noodle and her binoculars. Guess she doesn't read RAPD because I knew to pack both. <G> I dropped my fun noodle off at my chair and tried out both hot tubs for a while also. When they say hot, they mean hot. I didn't stay in them to long, but on a chilly nite they would be wonderful. I woke Kim up and grabbed my magazines to head back to the room. One of my magazines was missing. I though about wondering around the pool trying to find someone reading my magazine, but I was wanting to hurry up and go to Animal Kingdom. We woke Chris up and all headed to Animal Kingdom. This is the time of day when the tigers are the most active. They were all awake and walking around. This was the closest I've ever seen them in all my times at AK. Two of the tigers kept pacing right in front of one of the windows and looking up at us. If the glass hadn't of been there, I could have reached right out and scratched their ears. The hippos on the gorilla trail were also the most active I've ever seen them. Two of them were right in front of the window with their mouths wide open playing with each other. Of the family gorillas, only the big one was out and wasn't doing a whole lot. On the bachelor side though, three of the gorillas were playing hide and seek. They were pretty funny to watch. We kept trying to figure out which one was the murderer (I think it was last month 2 gorillas got in a fight and one died from the injuries. I never heard what happened to the other one or if he is even still around at AK???) We saved the safari for last. It was funny because at the AKL and now here, the workers kept saying Jumbo as we walked by. I knew Jumbo was swahili (sp?) for hello or something like that, but Kim didn't. Finally she turned to me and said, " "How come all the workers say Jumbo when I walk by? Do they think I'm fat or something?" I explained to her what it meant. The highlight of the safari was the hippos. There was a baby 1 week old hippo out of the water laying beside his mom. It was so cute. Kim and I headed back to the hotel for the evening to eat dinner and hang out on the balcony while Chris headed to Epcot. Wednesday June 13, 2001 We set the wake up call for 5:45, but for some reason it didn't go off. Luckily, I just happen to wake up on my own. Around 6:15 there was a knock on the door. It was someone from the front desk wanting to make sure we were awake because there was a request for a second wake up call from our room??? I explained to her we never got the first wake up call and she seemed surprised. I'm not sure what was going on, but I'm glad she did come up to make sure we were awake. The ride home it didn't even rain much. Never did get to really test the Rain-X. LOL. Overall a great trip, even if it was just 3 nights. 3 nights is better than no nights anyway. :) Tami Farmer Thekat8@aol.com Mail a Comment to Tami Farmer |
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