18th Anniversary Trip. Day One...

[mamatedd]

We are back! That was a whirlwind & I can't believe DH is back at work already! A little "foreword" to my trip report- this is not meant to be a negative review, but several things went "wrong", even with months of planning. We still had an awesome trip...

Day 1: We arrived @ 11am @ AKL Jambo House. We gave our things to bell services, only to find our room was not ready. Apparently, I have been very spoiled with online check-in always accommodating my early check-in request. It didn't even occur to me to not check our things in with bell services until we knew our room was ready (yes, dumb on my part). The CM was not welcoming, gave us a speech about the rules of staying at AKL and told us how SHE was celebrating an anniversary also. Which sounds nice, but it was weird. Not sure how to convey it. She also professed that early check in is "almost unheard of"- I beg to differ.

We headed off to MK. My most anticipated FP+, 7DMT, was a bust because the ride was down.

Room was ready @ 4. We had a deluxe Studio Savanna room- very nice. Not exactly the one bedroom villa that I have been spoiled with, but a nice hotel room. I did not appreciate the view of everyone else's balcony/ room, but the animal view was awesome. Bed was super comfy & we super appreciated the kitchenette.

Bell services brought up our bags and made jerky/ unprofessional comments about the wine & beer we purchased @ Publix. DH still tipped him. I wanted to complain to a GM.

We headed to Sanaa for our ADR. This was our first experience with Kidani. Sanaa is lovely, but the tables for two are small. We were crowded just with our drinks on the table. The food was delicious, but the service was terrible. Our server was so nice, but he did not bring HALF of our order or ever come back to see if we needed anything (like our dinner- which we weren't charged for, btw). I ended up having one piece of naan and dips for dinner- all of which were delicious.

We ended the day with a glass of wine on our balcony, watching giraffes, Watusi, antelopes (nyala?), storks, & an ostrich. Very, very peaceful. Afterall, with all the little bumps,I was still in WDW with my best friend!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

A mixed day ... glad the room is good, but I wonder what the muck-up was with Saana?

[yjgirl32]

Sorry to hear about your rough start. Hope it gets better. Thanks for sharing.

[faline]

Wow! Not the best of starts. Clearly, you are someone who is able to go with the flow and enjoy the good moments even when everything around you seems to be conspiring against you!!

[mamatedd]

Thank you for reading my report!

[princessgirls]

whoa....one thing after the next for you two!

Hope your trip is smooth sailing from here out!!

Thanks for the report!
Julie

[Mickey'sGirl]

I'm sorry you missed your7DMT ride.

[KylesMom]

Oh how I wish your first day would have went better! A true shame that some of the CMs were less than stellar, and a real bummer that 7D was down. Shocking that you did not receive your dinner even.

I hope that Day 2 of your anniversary trip was more magical than your arrival day!

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[IloveJack]

What a bumpy start, but as you said, still my favorite place to be with my family.

[hauntedmansiongirl]

Kudos to you for making the most of some bad situations!!