End of Summer Horrah! Day 1

[buzznwoodysmom]

Cast:
Me –Denise- 35
DS- Collin- 12
DS- Landon- 10
DMom- Sheila- 60

Saturday, July 28 –Day 1

I will call today Day 1 because it’s our first full day in WDW. Starting from where I left off, we spend last night at AKL Kidani.

I was up super early for some reason and decided to see what animals could be seen from our balcony. There weren’t many animals yesterday afternoon/evening. When I opened the door I saw around 7-10 zebras right in front of our room. Zebras are one of Landon’s favorite animals so I woke him up to see them. There were also these cattle like animals with huge horns on their head. We made coffee and spent some time on our balcony enjoying the wonderful view. It wasn’t long till the zebra moved on, but the cattle stayed for a while and we enjoyed watching them. One of them must have had an itch. He would use the other cattle’s horn to scratch himself, and then he would tilt his head to scratch his side with his own horn. He would even get close and use the other cattle’s horn to scratch inside his ear. Landon got a kick out of watching them. Collin, being the 12 year old that he is, was too busy sleeping to be bothered by animal watching.

After some animal viewing we knew it was time to pack up and move on. We packed the few bags we had, took the elevator down to the parking garage and were on our way quickly. I wish more resorts had the same underground parking garage as AKL. First we were able to take an elevator just a few doors down from our room which meant we didn’t have to tote our luggage through the lobby. Then even in the heat of July our car wasn’t hot at all since it hadn’t been sitting out in the sun and heat.

We drove around, parked in the front, and decided to spend a bit more time in the lobby area before we left. We went take one last look on the savannah, shopped for a few things in the gift shop, and just explored all the little viewing areas just off the lobby. We really enjoyed the one bedroom villa, and our view, but I think we’ll stick with other resorts. Even Jambo House suits us better. We really didn’t like that there was no place to get an easy QS meal, OK for one night, but not for a full week. The boys also wanted to stop by at Jambo House. They love it there. We took a few minutes to look on the Savannah and in the gift shop before heading to our next stop, CBR!

We arrived at CBR around 9am. We checked in using the online check in lane, which had no one in it. Within a few minutes we were checked in and were on our way. A little side note, we stayed in 5 resorts this trip (added another night at the end since we weren’t ready to leave) and each of our rooms were ready when we checked in! When I booked the room I requested ground floor in buildings 25 or 26 in Martinique. When I did online check in I was again able to request ground floor and Martinique. I am happy to say we were in a ground floor room in Martinique in building 25! We had a corner room which, in my opinion, makes the room so much brighter. This is our 3rd stay at CBR and we have always ended up with a corner room here. Our room location was perfect for us. We were really close to our car when we needed it. If we looked out the front window we could see one of the beaches and the lake. If we looked out the side window we could see building 26 and the umbrellas at the quiet pool (couldn’t see the pool itself). We were what felt like just a few steps to the quiet pool, as well as two different beaches. And the walk to Old Port Royal and the main pool was really, really short! We were also a very short walk to the Old Port Royal bus stop. We loved this location and would definitely ask for it again.

After settling in the room we drove to DTD to activate our military tickets. We spent some time shopping, got the tickets activated, and had lunch at Earl of Sandwich. Both my mom and I had the Hawaiian BBQ Chicken sandwich. It was really yummy, but not nearly as good as the Holiday sandwich I had last December. That was amazing! After an hour or two at DTD the heat was really picking up, and the boys started asking if we could go back to CBR to swim.

Back at CBR we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. This has been my boys’ favorite pool in the past. They enjoyed it this time, but it didn’t seem like they were as “wowed” by it as they were in the past. My mom and I found a quiet spot in a little side area of the pool to hang out. There were lots of adults in this area with their kids coming and going. While we were at the pool the “pool party” was going on. In the past my kids have adored these pool parties, but this time there were just little girls and much, much younger boys participating and my boys decided they were not interested. For the most part the noise from the party didn’t bother me, but there was one thing that happened that I thought could have been done different. So we are all hanging out, relaxing in the quieter part of the pool when where comes the “party leader” with her voice blaring through the microphone and a line of children following her. She stopped at this little section of pool we were in, filled with just adults enjoying the pool. She had the kids line up along the pool rim, basically causing the adults who were either sitting or leaning on the sides of the pool to have to move out of their way. They then threw buckets full of small toys and rubber ducks into the pool and had the children all jump in to get them. Now I am all for these parties and playing fun games with the kids, and I fully understand that there are several “quiet pools” at this resort. It just seemed rude to do this, making a group of adults either have to move from their spots or get bombarded by screaming, jumping, splashing kids. The pool here is huge and yet they did this in a tiny little side section of the pool. After they were done they packed up and moved over to another section of the pool. I just found it odd that they didn’t continue the games where they were before, and I still think it’s rude to make adults move out of the way for a little kid’s game. Seems like when she saw there was no room for 15 kids to line up along the sides she should have just moved on rather than tell them to line up anyway, causing lots of people to have to move out of their way. Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but it was annoying. We hung out at the pool till it was time to get ready for dinner at Ohanas.

Back in the room we got dressed, freshened up, and drove to the Poly for dinner. We were there early and decided to take a spin on the monorail after checking out the gift shops. We got on the monorail and just sat there waiting, and waiting, and waiting. There were a few announcements saying we were “waiting for traffic clearance”. Eventually we were told there was an issue at MK and they asked everyone to exit the monorail. The kids wanted to go walk on the beach so that’s what we did till it was time to check in. We were actually seated about 10 minutes early. I remember the days when you were lucky if you were seated less than 30 minutes after your ADR time. We had a wonderful meal! I often hear people say that Ohana’s is overrated, or that the food isn’t that great. This was probably our 15th time eating here and we’ve never had a bad meal. This time my boys did not participate in the games. I am noticing a pattern here; my little boys are growing up. Booo! When the games began I asked them if they were going to participate. They both said things like “No, we are hungry, no time for games, gotta eat”. Sigh, it was so fun when they were younger!

After our meal we headed back to the beach. We love this beach. It surprises me we haven’t stayed at the Poly more often since we really love it there. We walked the beach all the way to the end of the resort then took the path leading to the TTC. This is such a pleasant walk at night. We hopped on the monorail and did the MK/resort loop, got off at the Poly, and drove back to CBR, and called it a night!

Up next: Magic Kingdom!

[faline]

Those cattle like animals are cattle - Ankole Cattle actuallly.

What a relaxed beginning to your vacation you're having!

[SBETigg]

It is a little sad when they grow up and lose interest in some things. But it's also fun having older kids with you at WDW. You get used to it and enjoy the changes as they come. I love having some Polynesian time and dinner at 'Ohana, too. Sounds like a fun day!

[January-2007]

Thanks for reporting!

[LandFan]

I love the Ankole Cattle! They are my favorite animals at AKL next to the Giraffes... They are such a beautiful color and their hollow horns are an amazing cooling system for them.

Sounds like you had a great time so far!

[princessgirls]

Your vacation is off to a good start Denise...sans the annoying pool games!!

Love O'hana!!

Julie

[yourmagicalguide]

Sounded like a relaxing and fun first day

DH and I stayed in Martinique Building 24 on the ground level, and we loved it! It was close to everything - bus stop, parking lot, food court, pool. We would definitely stay there again.

Off to read Day 2

[T-Belle]

I know what you mean about the Holiday sandwich at Earl of Sandwich...yummy! I actually have dreams about it! Haha!

[Lindsey310]

Great report!! I love hearing other families day plans while at WDW!!!

12 days until we are there!!!

[Here we go again...]

I love that the animals were out and so close to the room. I have never stayed at alk and don't know if I ever will. I don't know why... Maybe one day.
I did not know that they had underground parking though... That is an added bonus. Hmmm

The pool thing is weird. It seems like they would use only one part of the pool for the games. And I know what you mean about the kids getting "too old" to participate. It killed me when Taylor thought she was too old to enjoy the magic.
I was happy when we brought a little 8 year old this past trip and Taylor resorted to the little girl in her. Bob Jackson helped bring the kids out of their shell.

I love earl of sandwich. I thought they put the holiday sandwich on the regular menu.... I remember Beth finding it when we went last year. Maybe it was temporary.

Off to read day 2!