A Post-Thanksgiving 2019 Mother/Daughter WDW TR * Completed 6/16 - New TR Link 7/23

Thanks for the room tour. I do like the refurbished look especially the bathroom. I looks really nice.
I hope you woke up to some cool animal šŸ¦’ sightings!
 
Thanks for the room tour. I do like the refurbished look especially the bathroom. I looks really nice.
I hope you woke up to some cool animal šŸ¦’ sightings!

It's such a fantastic design, they kept the magic of the resort while giving it a nice refresh! I was really hoping for some giraffe sightings, we were definitely nervous we wouldn't see much since we were in a sort of "corner" of the savanna.
 
Day Five - Part Four: Boma Dinner

We arrived at Boma around 7PM and were seated almost immediately.

Service was a bit slow, we were seated and waited about 10 minutes for a CM to take our drink order. However, it was fine since we were just taking everything in, itā€™s a beautiful space and we were so excited to be there!

Finally we were off to get in line for the buffet, itā€™s one-way traffic and there can be a bit of a line for the first couple of stations. You can easily pop in by the salads and desserts without getting in line unless itā€™s really busy. :thumbsup2

I started off with the famous butternut squash soup and some cornbread. This was really good!

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The soup is extremely thick, definitely not diet food! :hyper: I actually made this at home following our trip, apparently the secret is American cheese. Who would have thought! The cornbread was so good, I think I had a few more throughout the dinner.

I apologize in advance for a gross pictures of one of my (many) plates, I am a grazer at buffets since I want to try everything.

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I liked everything I tried, the shrimp are spicy so be careful! I asked the CM at the carving station for ā€œthe reddest steak heā€™s gotā€ which he thought was funny. Most people were asking for well-done, no thanks! :eek:

The pork shoulder was new to me, I thought this tasted like pork belly minus the fatty parts. Super tender and moist, 100% recommend! The tamarind barbecue sauce is excellent, basically itā€™s just fancy barbecue sauce and even my mom liked it.

The mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes were so indulgent, I think the secret to good potatoes is more butter than you would normally allow yourself at home. I didnā€™t think the soups/stews were anything to write home about, good but not too special.

I think I had one or two more plates to try as much as I could from the buffet. The CM at the carving station was so nice, he asked me how I liked my sirloin on my second trip! I tried some watermelon rind salad as well, which was very different. I thought I tasted ginger and so we looked up the menu and I was right! I had a lot of fun with this buffet since you can try more adventurous foods without committing to them. Even my mom tried some new things and enjoyed them!

Thereā€™s definitely some interesting people watching at Boma. An older gentleman at the table across from us had a full plate of mac and cheese and a bowl of cottage cheese. I guess he likes cheese! Another young woman next to us brought back an entire plate of corn dog nuggets, and only ate a few. Lots of wasted food, yikes! Also, my mom didnā€™t know what corn dog nuggets were...guess I need to take her to Caseyā€™s! :scratchin

We finally decided it was time to wind down for desserts, and we ended up making two trips to try more things of course!

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I think this was my second plate of desserts, the little lemon tart was excellent and my mom liked the Mickey thing more than I did, it had a coconut pudding that was just so-so to me. We both loved the malva pudding, which has the marshmallow meringue on top. Itā€™s hard to describe but it tastes like a caramel infused sponge cake! My momā€™s other favorite was the apple cake, and neither of us liked the zebra domes. They have some sort of liqueur in them which we are not fans of. There was an Oreo cheesecake bite thing as well that my mom liked, basically everything was good! :rotfl:

The CMs did a great job whisking away our many bowls and plates, and I donā€™t think they provide straws due to the animals, or maybe you have to ask for them. We were so incredibly full after this meal! There are plenty of options for picky eaters and I think it would be a great place to bring kids and encourage them to try a few new things. You can just take tiny scoops of stuff so you donā€™t waste much. There are definitely some ethnic choices but everything is pretty safe and like I said there are always things to fall back on like the sirloin and mashed potatoes. I will definitely be back even if Iā€™m not staying at AKL.

We rolled out of Boma and decided to tour the resort to avoid totally crashing! We had to get a picture in front of the tree of course, and there was a photopass CM standing there to take photos. He seemed really annoyed to take our picture, like we were inconveniencing him? He didn't say one word to us, just point click done. Whatever! :sad2:

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The tree is so grand, it is just as spectacular in person as it looks in photos!

I could have hung out in the lobby all day, it is especially lovely at night. It truly feels like a real lodge in the evening!

We checked out the shop, which is definitely one of the bigger resort shops we have been in. Lots of AK themed merch but we couldnā€™t find any cute AKL merch for a souvenir. We love getting Christmas ornaments but donā€™t like the cheesy ones, so our choices are usually pretty minimal. I wanted a Pooh Bear of course, no room in the luggage though!

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We took an elevator up to the 5th floor, which I think is all DVC rooms. There was a cool bridge across the lobby that you can access on this floor.

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This is totally the best spot for photos in front of the tree. We just were so in awe of this lobby, I know people say Wilderness Lodge is the best resort for Christmas but AKL is just so simple and majestic, Iā€™ll have to visit WL next time so I can judge for myself!

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Even the ceiling of the lodge is so beautiful, Disney does such a great job with the details.

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There were lounges around the lobby as well, lots of great places to rest before heading to the parks or your room. Lots of families were hanging out and letting their kids play around in the lounge, there are plenty of coffee tables as well if you want to bring board games. All of the people at this resort were so polite, no meltdowns or entitled attitudes at all! :thumbsup2

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Throughout the hallways there is a lot of artwork and other items that are labeled. You could spend quite a bit of time going around the resort to see everything. Iā€™m guessing there is different stuff on every floor, so if you have the time I think it would be neat to see what you can find.

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We headed back to our room and were able to spot a giraffe in the dark through the windows of one of the savanna overlooks. :magnify: The family across from our room was very loud, but we couldnā€™t hear them in our room, thank goodness!

The sixth Harry Potter movie was on TV, so we watched a bit of that before going to bed. Iā€™ve seen the first movie 100+ times, but havenā€™t seen the last few movies nearly as much so it was fun watching. We need to do another HP movie marathon! We are great at binge watching, we watched the entire MCU a few years ago in less than two weeks and were totally hooked. :hyper:

The beds were so comfy, we checked and the mattress was definitely the same as at Coronado. Someone let me know if they know what kind it is, my mom wants one!

16k steps for our ā€œrestā€ day, we are bad at taking it easy! This day has taken me forever to write about, thanks for sticking with me folks!


Continued in Day Six - Part One: An Animal Kingdom Morning
 
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Fun report, enjoying reading it on a rainy day here in Ohio. Boma is great for all the variety. We were in the world at the same time as you guys, but over at Wilderness Lodge. You will definitely have to check them out at the holidays too. Hint hint WL books up 11-12 months before with only 340 regular rooms and rest DVC
 


Fun report, enjoying reading it on a rainy day here in Ohio. Boma is great for all the variety. We were in the world at the same time as you guys, but over at Wilderness Lodge. You will definitely have to check them out at the holidays too. Hint hint WL books up 11-12 months before with only 340 regular rooms and rest DVC

Thanks for reading! I tried very hard but I think I only managed to try about half of the hot offerings. Wilderness Lodge is definitely on the top of my list to visit during the holidays, I've seen the rest of the MK resorts so it's definitely overdue! 340 rooms is a lot smaller than I expected, no wonder it books up!
 
Day One - Part Two: Coronado Springs Resort and Disney Springs on Black Friday (oops)

We did online check-in but didnā€™t get a room number, which I heard is pretty typical for CSR.

The check-in line looks long at GDT but it only took maybe five minutes.


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Red and green lights for Christmas!

The CM was very friendly and we were off to our room! We took a peek around the lower floor of the tower first, and saw the tree! :lovestruc

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Photos never do the trees justice at WDW, it was massive and very beautiful.


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We did not every try Barcelona lounge, but the drinks look great.
Itā€™s a bit smaller of an area than it looks in pictures.


We were on the top floor in Ranchos A, which is probably the closest Ranchos building to El Centro where the food court and bus stop is. The only room request I made was top floor during online check-in. I wished we could have gotten a tower room but the standard tower rooms book up really fast :sad1:.

It ended up being a six minute walk to the food court which was not bad at all, the new bridges make it a lot faster to get around the resort. I imagine it was not as ideal before the bridges were added this summer.

Now, excuse my terrible photography during this trip. The rooms were so nice, definitely the nicest of any resort we have stayed at. They look kinda drab in these pictures but they were very clean (especially the bathroom) and they look/feel brand new. It was a very spacious room and the TV was huge and you can cast from apps on your phone.


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We loved the huge desk area to put all of our stuff. Surprisingly no pen and paper even though this is the conference resort.

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Queen beds with pillow top mattresses. My mom has a bad back and said she has never slept as well on vacation as she did on this trip. Plenty of outlets and USB ports.

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The actual worst photo I took on this trip, my apologies.

The bathroom was very spacious and had so many cabinets and space to put your things. The shower/tub had a rainfall head which I will definitely require in my first home. :worship:

Iā€™d say my only complaint is the bathroom fan seemed to use a motion sensor and it was really loud. So at night I would immediately hit the button to turn it off. Not a big deal, but it was kind of annoying. We both use white noise machines at home and brought one with, and we did not have a single issue with neighbors during our four-night stay. :thumbsup2

We organized a bit and then headed off to Disney Springs for dinner. We had decided to try the Polite Pig since I heard it was the best QS in DS.

We went to the Ranchos bus stop, which is #3. There are four stops at CSR and the park buses go the opposite direction as the Disney Springs buses. The tower is the last stop on the way to the parks, and I believe it is the first stop on the way to Disney Springs.


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This was our only bus issue at CSR of the trip. We waited about 45 minutes for the bus unfortunately. The app did say it wasnā€™t coming for a while though so at least we knew we were in it for the long haul. :confused3

When the bus finally arrived, a couple people were complaining to the driver. Not sure what they can do at that point but whatever, we were in WDW and we were happy about that! :banana: It took a while to loop around the resort so that is the downfall of a resort with multiple bus stops. We were sitting though so no biggie.

(Side note: the CSR buses say ā€œBienvenidosā€ and my mom was like ā€œwhat does that mean?ā€ :sad2:)

The bus took forever to get to Disney Springs, which is when I realized it was Black Friday and prime late night shopping/dinner time. We didnā€™t get there until a little after 8PM due to the traffic, which is probably why it took so long to get a DS bus. They have a dedicated bus lane but it was still a total zoo.

I needed to activate my annual pass so we went to guest services, and they directed me to the ticket center close by. It took maybe 15 minutes of waiting and the activation was very smooth since I already had a magicband. The CM gave me my AP discount card and we were off to dinner!

Polite Pig was packed even at 8:30, a good sign. Mom found a table while I stood in line. It took about 20 minutes to order and 10 minutes to get our food (they give you a buzzer). It is QS but they have CMs that bring you your food/drinks and they deserve the tip they will ask you to add at the register. We shared a pint of my favorite Yuengling beer, which is harder to get in MN. :drinking1

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We shared the appetizer chicken wings with Polite dry rub, these were fantastic and had a lot of meat and very little fat. There were six wings and they have a little kick but nothing that my very Minnesotan mom couldnā€™t handle. They came with these very crunchy (pickled?) carrots that were weird but we ate them.

We also shared the 3 for $15 apps, and had the brussel sprouts, BBQ cauliflower, and sweet potato tots. I donā€™t have much to say other than RUN, donā€™t walk to Polite Pig. It totally lived up to the hype. :woohoo: The whiskey caramel brussel sprouts were basically dessert and were the crispiest Iā€™ve ever tasted. Mom was like ā€œI canā€™t believe Iā€™m eating brussel sprouts!ā€

This was more than enough food for us but we managed to be members of the clean plate club anyways. I hear there are really good sauces available, but we didnā€™t need any because the food was that good.

After we rolled out of Polite Pig, we popped into Uniqlo and quickly popped out because DS was such a madhouse. We figured weā€™d be back on our rest day and it would be a lot less busy later in the week. In hindsight, we probably should have avoided DS entirely, but Polite Pig was so good that we were glad we made the trip.

The bus came immediately (redemption after our first bus) and took about 24 minutes to get back to the tower at CSR. Not sure why, but I got some mint chip and dulce de lece gelato at Cafe Rix because my dessert stomach is separate. :rolleyes1 We got a bit lost finding our way back to our room since it was pretty dark and we took the wrong bridge. Oops!

Our bags were still not in our room (10:50) so we called bell services and they said they were at the resort delivering them. Our bags arrived 15 minutes later, but Iā€™m sure this was only because we called and asked for them.

We couldnā€™t get Netflix to cast on the TV, but YouTube TV worked just fine so we watched a few episodes of Schittā€™s Creek before turning in for the night.

Overall a very pleasant first night in WDW! The wait for the bus was probably the worst part of the day, but we didnā€™t have tired legs yet so it wasnā€™t so bad. At least there is plenty of seating at the CSR stops.

Day One Steps: 12k

Thank you for reading!

Continued in Day Two - Part One: Spaceship Earth and Breakfast in France
I liked polite pig at DS too! The whiskey Brussels sprouts are super good! Last time in March 2020 I went there and got the Brussels sprouts and a kids meal chicken tenders...:rolleyes1
 
Day Two - Part One: Spaceship Earth and Breakfast in France

Woohoo, onto the parks! We did Epcot for our first day last year (same time, the Saturday after Thanksgiving) and found the crowds very pleasant, so we decided to do that again this year.

We are slow risers and did not leave our room until around 9AM :confused3 . We took a leisurely walk to El Centro, soaking in the beautiful scenery of Coronado Springs. There isnā€™t very much lighting at night so it felt like we were at a different resort in the daylight!

The plan was to get breakfast in France for the first time, we typically eat quick service kids meals at the resort. We took the bus from El Centro (main building next to the tower) and were on around 9:20AM. We were at Epcot in under 10 minutes! A much better experience than the night before.

The security was a lot better than the year prior, I remember there being only a few long lines for bag check last time.


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So happy to be out of cold MN and in sunny FL!
Most of the weather was going to be cool this trip, so we soaked it in while we could.


Pluto was meeting near the entrance and the line wasnā€™t too long, so we decided to get our first picture with Pluto! It was a really pretty backdrop, one of my favorite pictures from the trip for sure.

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And of course, we had to do a quick picture in front of Spaceship Earth. Or as we loving call it, the Epcot golf ball!

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There are a ton of walls up around Epcot right now, but this spot is pretty good for photos. We were done with our photos by 10AM and had our first FP of the trip, Spaceship Earth of course. We try to minimize our walking back and forth so we almost always do SE first. :thumbsup2

Even at 10AM, standby was only 15 minutes and it was a walk on with our FP. Sometimes we have had to wait 10-15 even with FPs, so we took that as a good sign.

I let my mom pick our answers this time and we visited the Great Wall of China.


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My favorite part of the ride is going backwards in the dark room with all the lights. Itā€™s such a relaxing ride, Iā€™m hopeful that the refurb will enhance the ride. Iā€™m okay with change and I do believe rides should be updated with new technology, I just hope it doesnā€™t take too long since there are only so many rides my mom can handle!

We made our way to France next, very hungry at this point. On the way, we stopped to pick up my AP Chip and Dale magnets outside of Mouse Gear. It was very quick, they had half a dozen CMs ready to scan magicbands and distribute magnets.


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We finally arrived at Les Halles around 11, mom was so hangry at this point. :bitelip:

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One day Iā€™ll try one of those raspberry macarons...

There was plenty of seating available (another rare sight we thought) and we got a ham and cheese croissant and strawberry tart to share for $10.

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The croissant was so fresh and flaky, and the gruyere cheese was so deliciously salty and a nice size for the price. The tart is one of our favorites, the whipped cream is fresh and the whole thing just melts in your mouth. I want to try more things but we always get this tart because itā€™s that good!

We wandered a bit around World Showcase and ended up at Mitsukoshi in the Japan pavillion. I love this shop so much, itā€™s great for gifts or souvenirs.


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What even is this??? :rotfl2:

I love watching people do the pick a pearl, itā€™s so fun to watch.

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We had a Living with the Land FP next, and decided to try the Friendship boat for the first time to save our legs.

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This was such a great choice, we waited on the boat about five minutes and were off to the other side of the lagoon. It only took a few minutes and sure beats walking back and forth since Epcot is so huge!

Continued in Part Two: Living with the Land
Space ship earth ride is pretty spectacular for itself. The one thing I hate about it is the brutal seating
 


I liked polite pig at DS too! The whiskey Brussels sprouts are super good! Last time in March 2020 I went there and got the Brussels sprouts and a kids meal chicken tenders...:rolleyes1
I can definitely see myself ordering the exact same thing! Kids meals are the best value for sure, man itā€™s 11pm and now all I can think about is those sprouts :laughing:

Space ship earth ride is pretty spectacular for itself. The one thing I hate about it is the brutal seating
Itā€™s amazing to me that some of these rides were created so long ago! I wish they would put some effort into creating more classic dark rides without screens, Iā€™m not sure my mom will be able to ride runaway railway or ratatouille due to the motion effects which is disappointing. Those SE seats are so bad though, especially when the cart rotates to go backwards, I can just feel my spine creaking!
 
I liked polite pig at DS too! The whiskey Brussels sprouts are super good! Last time in March 2020 I went there and got the Brussels sprouts and a kids meal chicken tenders...:rolleyes1
I stayed at the Coronado springs drain tower with my family for Christmas/New Years time since we already had extended family Living in Florida. The one downside is the first morning we were supposed to go to MK my hotel room shower door exploded on my father and little brother. That created my mother not have a bright and shiny Disney day scared for my dad and brother. Bright side we got free gifts and hotel rooom stat for 4 nights. Some pixie dust to avoid lawsuit.:scared:
 
I stayed at the Coronado springs drain tower with my family for Christmas/New Years time since we already had extended family Living in Florida. The one downside is the first morning we were supposed to go to MK my hotel room shower door exploded on my father and little brother. That created my mother not have a bright and shiny Disney day scared for my dad and brother. Bright side we got free gifts and hotel rooom stat for 4 nights. Some pixie dust to avoid lawsuit.:scared:
I heard they had a really rough opening! No power or water either! Iā€™m glad Disney really makes it up to people (to avoid lawsuits as you said I suppose, ha!), and as long as no one is hurt thatā€™s a great outcome. I keep hoping something minor and not too traumatizing will happen to me so I can get a free stay :rotfl:I heard those people stuck on the skyliner got pretty nice compensation as well! Thanks so much for reading along, it makes me so happy that people are having fun reading about my trip :blush:.
 
I'm late to the party and just joining in but I just have to say I love your report! Your pics and descriptions are fantastic!
We have a trip planned on December and now, after your report, we're thinking of spending one day at Universal.
 
I'm late to the party and just joining in but I just have to say I love your report! Your pics and descriptions are fantastic!
We have a trip planned on December and now, after your report, we're thinking of spending one day at Universal.
Thank you so much for joining in! I still have two full park days left, and with the 10 photo limit itā€™ll probably take me a few more months to cover them at the rate Iā€™m going :laughing:. December is the best time in Disney, you will have a blast! I definitely recommend checking out Universal (even two days if youā€™re brand new to it), it offers a unique experience and a nice break from the Disney bubble. I miss the parks so much, TRs are helping keep the magic alive though :earsboy:.
 
Boma dinner sounds very good! We did dinner about 6 years ago and really enjoyed it.
The breakfast was one of my favorites! My sister and I did this last January when we stayed at AK. Very enjoyable!
The lodge is very beautiful and is one resort I feel like hanging out in the lobby area!
The fire pit area inside was so welcoming on cold days in January!
 
Really enjoying your mother/daughter trip! AKL looks really beautiful at night. My favorite resort is WL but we need to give AKL a try too. Your Boma meal sounds really good - love your detailed review. Hope someone can give you info on the mattresses šŸ™‚
 
Boma dinner sounds very good! We did dinner about 6 years ago and really enjoyed it.
The breakfast was one of my favorites! My sister and I did this last January when we stayed at AK. Very enjoyable!
The lodge is very beautiful and is one resort I feel like hanging out in the lobby area!
The fire pit area inside was so welcoming on cold days in January!
It was one of our favorite meals along with Cape May! I guess we are buffet people, we love having options :rotfl: Breakfast at Boma was my momā€™s #1 favorite of the trip (spoiler)! We did not see the fire pit going, we will have to look for it next time! Three nights went by so fast, we didnā€™t do any of the culinary tours our night tour. Oh well, just an excuse to go back!
 
Really enjoying your mother/daughter trip! AKL looks really beautiful at night. My favorite resort is WL but we need to give AKL a try too. Your Boma meal sounds really good - love your detailed review. Hope someone can give you info on the mattresses šŸ™‚
Yay, glad you are enjoying! It was such a grand but homey feeling resort, Iā€™m sure wilderness lodge is similar from what Iā€™ve seen! If we really wanted Iā€™m sure we could call about the mattresses, maybe in a few years when we are due for new ones we will do that :hyper:
 
Followed you over here from the DL trip report board, I'm really enjoying your report so far but haven't commented until now.

A few things I wanted to comment on:

My husband and I did the Behind the Seeds tour in 2010 and it was really cool. He used to have a Greenhouse/Nursery business so that stuff really interests him. I would definitely do it again. It is not really scripted, there are things they cover on all tours but the guides are usually college kids studying various related subjects so depending on your guide you might get more of whatever aspect they are more proficient in.

I can't wait to ride the Frozen ride because I love that movie but I am so sad that they took out the Maelstrom. So glad that we got to ride it on our last trip (in 2014) we actually got to ride it right at the end, I think it closed a day or 2 afterwards. I also miss the little movie they used to play at the end, I know a lot of people didn't like it and would skip it but I liked it, Norway is such a beautiful country. Fjords and huge mountains, waterfalls, etc. It means a lot more to me now because in the last couple of years I have rediscovered my love for the band, a-ha, ("Take on Me" ) they were really popular in the mid-late 80's and they are from Norway. I thought they were long gone until about 2 years ago when I found out they are still very much active. I actually just saw them in concert in Paris (and went to Disneyland Paris, too :love: ) I have plans to see them again in September in LA and go to Disneyland, too but now that is all up in the air due to the Covid stuff.

My Hubby and I took that 2014 trip with my Dad and I wanted to try lots of different places because we had been so many times (my Dad has been even more then me).

We went to Boma on our arrival day. We really enjoyed it. I remember really liking an African veggie soup they had there. And you hear so much about the Zebra Domes on here so much and they were good but not my favorite. I really liked these other things, I think they were called Kenyan coffee tarts. It was a coffee flavored mousse type stuff in a chocolate shell.

I really enjoyed the food at Via Napoli too but the service was REALLY slow.
 
Followed you over here from the DL trip report board, I'm really enjoying your report so far but haven't commented until now.
Thank you so much for taking the time to follow my TRs! :flower:

My husband and I did the Behind the Seeds tour in 2010 and it was really cool. He used to have a Greenhouse/Nursery business so that stuff really interests him. I would definitely do it again. It is not really scripted, there are things they cover on all tours but the guides are usually college kids studying various related subjects so depending on your guide you might get more of whatever aspect they are more proficient in.
We will definitely have to make time for this on our next trip. My mom is a huge gardener, I think she'd really get a kick out of some of the more unique methods they use!

I can't wait to ride the Frozen ride because I love that movie but I am so sad that they took out the Maelstrom. So glad that we got to ride it on our last trip (in 2014) we actually got to ride it right at the end, I think it closed a day or 2 afterwards. I also miss the little movie they used to play at the end, I know a lot of people didn't like it and would skip it but I liked it, Norway is such a beautiful country. Fjords and huge mountains, waterfalls, etc. It means a lot more to me now because in the last couple of years I have rediscovered my love for the band, a-ha, ("Take on Me" ) they were really popular in the mid-late 80's and they are from Norway. I thought they were long gone until about 2 years ago when I found out they are still very much active. I actually just saw them in concert in Paris (and went to Disneyland Paris, too :love: ) I have plans to see them again in September in LA and go to Disneyland, too but now that is all up in the air due to the Covid stuff.
I never did get a chance to ride Maelstrom! I'll have to watch a ride video so I can see what I was missing out on! I love the Noway pavilion, I recently took the time to go through the Gods of the Vikings exhibit, which was neat as I took a class on Scandinavian mythology in college. That song (Take on Me) gets to me, it was recently used for the show Magicians in a really sad scene, now I want to cry when I hear that song :sad:. It's so fun to rediscover bands, it's amazing that some stick together for decades! Definitely not a great time for the arts right now, I hope that we can find ways to navigate this new normal and still support them!

My Hubby and I took that 2014 trip with my Dad and I wanted to try lots of different places because we had been so many times (my Dad has been even more then me).
We definitely find ourselves doing a lot of the same things! We try to do a new experience/ride and restaurant each trip now, it makes the trips more memorable for sure! Of course we still do the same FPs pretty much every time though :hyper:

We went to Boma on our arrival day. We really enjoyed it. I remember really liking an African veggie soup they had there. And you hear so much about the Zebra Domes on here so much and they were good but not my favorite. I really liked these other things, I think they were called Kenyan coffee tarts. It was a coffee flavored mousse type stuff in a chocolate shell.
Zebra domes are definitely a love it or hate it! Coffee tarts sounds much more up my alley. I think my favorite dessert of the trip was still the little chocolate mickey mousse from Cape May, though I'm probably missing out on many desserts since we don't typically have room for them at non-buffets...

I really enjoyed the food at Via Napoli too but the service was REALLY slow.
They were pretty empty when we had lunch (taking walk-ups!) so I think we lucked out! But our one pizza took almost 20 minutes, so I imagine it would be so slow if you had a family with multiple pizzas. Kinda strange since those wood fire ovens are supposed to finish them off in just minutes! I'd like to go back and try a pizza with white sauce, maybe the one with prosciutto and melon :scratchin
 
Day Six - Part One: An Animal Kingdom Morning

Hello all! I took a few days off and am excited to have a five-day weekend. Somes stores here are reopening, but I will stick to online shopping for now. Pretty sure the FedEx guy is sick of all of my packages!

We woke up bright and early for our first morning at AKL. 8AM, so early (for us) :rotfl: ! We opened our curtains to this lovely view from our standard room.

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No giraffes in sight, but we did see some horned creatures and some ostriches.

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We headed down to the Mara for a quick breakfast, and shared a bounty platter along with some toast. To get to the Mara you actually go outside on a short covered pathway by the pool, so it can be quite chilly depending on the season!

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The breakfast was your standard resort QS fare, we love Mickey waffles and the bacon was much better than at Coronado. It came with the same grits (pap) with salsa (chakalaka) that they serve at Boma! Neither of us really like grits but I thought the chakalaka was interesting.

Funny thing about the toaster, I'm not used to this style so I plopped the bread in before checking what the temperature setting was. I could smell it burning, but couldnā€™t figure out a way to quickly eject it, so I had to just wait for it to finish toasting. :rolleyes1 Luckily my mom doesnā€™t mind partially burnt toast!

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We headed to the Animal Kingdom bus stop at around 9:25 and waited about five minutes for the bus, which arrived exactly when the app said it would!

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The bus stops at AKL are so nice, love that you can wait on a covered bench without having to stand in line, we always hated that you had to stand in line without any shelter/shade at Pop! We were on and off the bus at AK in under 10 minutes, hooray!

The puppets were magnificent, I do hope they bring them back again.

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Even the eyes blink, the kids were really enthralled with these puppets!

We had a safari FP and enjoyed the scenery as we made our way to the back of the park.

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AK is definitely the most beautiful park, itā€™s easy to find a quiet bench and just take everything in. Sometimes I wish things werenā€™t so spread out though, I definitely get my steps in at AK!

Side note, but we installed a security camera at home prior to leaving for this trip because our cat has health issues and we wanted to monitor her food while we were gone. We checked the live feed occasionally and noticed her sitting by the stairs, waiting for us to come home! :sad: This broke our hearts, leaving her is so hard for us because she is very nervous and hides when strangers are in the house.

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We called her name through the camera and she turned to look at it. :sad::sad:

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OMG, I wanted to book a flight home at this moment. Hopefully the safari would ease our minds!

Continued in next post.
 
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