June 13-18, 2012
Participants
• Steve –Me, my own self.
• Barb – The better half.
Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House
Day Three, June 15, 2012 –Barb gets here and what’s an Amarillo?
I’m awake at 4:18 and up at 5:00. Today we meet out front at 7:30 and
the same group is late again.
We rode our bus to the Animal Kingdom and entered the park normally – as
guests would who had an early breakfast reservation. We walked back to
Harambe and were led into our breakfast area. There’s an area that’s I
believe is just a place to sit and rest – across from the Tusker House
and near the shop. The entrance was curtained off for yet another
breakfast buffet with omelet station.
Most of us complained that 12 hours wasn’t enough time to work up an
appetite after last night’s gorge-fest so we went a bit lighter than
usual. As we were winding down, one of the African performers appeared
with a drum and proceeded to enlist audience members for an impromptu
jam session. Of course I was chosen to play the cowbell. I swear I heard
Christopher Walken in the back yelling, “I’ve got the fever! More
cowbell!” If it’s still up, you can get a quick video at:
http://yfrog.com/n5hmlmz
After breakfast, we were able to board Kilimanjaro Safari for the first
ride of the day. I was expecting the Sunrise Safari which actually
stops, lets the guest stand for photos, etc. This just went a little
slower but I did get pretty good shots of both the male and female
lions. I also noticed the Little Red story is now officially dead – the
guide now just mentions that poachers had used the broken gate.
Again, some of the group chose to stay in the parks while others headed
back to Jambo, me included. I bid farewell to Jack Spence as he was
headed home. I enjoyed spending time with Jack – he’s very knowledgeable
and has done tons of research for his articles so he’s loaded with lots
of little known facts about the World. That’s unlike some other writers
who tend to write off the top of their heads – or other body parts – and
shall remain nameless.
I caught the shuttle to Kidani and bought that DVC shirt. It was the
last one there in my size and I did score the AP discount of 10%. When
the CM asked what she could do for me, I replied that she could give me
the shirt as a birthday gift. She chuckled and continued with the
transaction while the other CM readied a Birthday button for me. I think
I broke her heart when I told her I was only kidding and it wasn’t my
birthday.
Back to Jambo and I found the room hadn’t yet been cleaned. I logged on
to Flightaware.com and found Barb’s plane is running an hour late.
That’s when I noticed earlier texts from Steph that said Barb was stuck
on the plane at the gate because of an equipment issue.
She did call when she landed and had made her way to Magical Express. I
waited a few minutes then went outside to wait for her bus. I had lots
of people trying to help me – I must look lost when I’m sitting on a
bench waiting. At one point, a young lady in African garb asked if she
could sit next to me. I said, “Sure” and soon regretted it when she
began drumming on her African bongo-type drum thing. It’s enjoyable from
a short distance – right next to me, not so much. Soon, she was accosted
by children for photos so I made room for them on the bench and used
that for my escape.
I saw Barb exit the bus so I crossed to meet her and take her one
carryon bag. As we approached the door, the “greeter” CM welcomed us as
“Mr. And Mrs. Russo”.
“How did you know who I am?”
“Mickey tells me everything.”
I’m certain she got the name from the Magical Express list, saw me
waiting for her and put 2 and 2 together but… suppose I was Javier, the
pool boy, and we were carrying on with an illicit affair?
We hit the room and unpacked her few things. Barb hadn’t eaten yet so we
decided to head to a park for lunch. We caught a bus to the Animal
Kingdom and decided on Pizzafari. We each had the personal pizza, Caesar
salad and water. They take TiW here so we got the 20% discount. It
always pays to ask.
We took in It’s Tough To Be a Bug. We were stopped at the CM station
just as the doors closed so we had to wait the full 8 minutes for the
next show. That wasn’t a long wait but it can get pretty claustrophobic
in that pre-show area – especially when it’s hot and sticky. Our show
was fairly crowded but everything was in good working order and we
enjoyed it.
We thought about sticking around for the 3:45 parade so we wandered back
to Harambe and found some seats in the Dawa bar. The parade started
somewhere over in Asia and we got tired of waiting and left before it
reached us.
We’re leaving Harambe and the parade is somewhere well behind us. The
CMs have a rope up preventing anyone from coming down the walkway into
Harambe until the parade passes. A woman, acting as the spokesperson for
her group, is giving a CM an earful because she’s not being allowed
past. “My choices are wait an hour for the parade or walk an hour in the
other direction?” My thoughts were: OK, lady. First, the parade won’t
take an hour to get here – more like 10 minutes. Second, it won’t take
you an hour to walk around the other way – more like 10-15 minutes.
Third, this happens every day. Would you like Disney to make an
exception just this once, for you, so you won’t be inconvenienced by
your lack of planning? Sheesh! She followed us out of Haramb and her
gums didn’t stop flapping the entire time. I pray to all that is good
and holy that, if she complained to Guest Services, they gave her
nothing more than an explanation.
Back to the room for a quick power nap. When we woke, we stepped out on
the balcony and saw several giraffe and zebra on the savanna. There was
this god-awful noise coming from somewhere off to our right. I expected
a sick T-rex or something. It turned out to be several idiots on their
balcony “roaring” at the animals – presumable trying to get their
attention. To what end, I have no idea – I’m betting they didn’t either.
I’d like to camp outside their room and at about 3:00 am, start making
those sounds for them.
We had a reservation at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater at 7:00 so we headed
out to DHS at 6:10. As we walked back to the restaurant, we noticed Star
Tours had a Standby wait listed at 10 minutes so in we went. That 10
minutes was really the time needed to walk through and be placed in line
for boarding. We both like this new version and rode 9 times back in
January. We were fairly certain we saw all the alternative scenes except
the opening seen with the probe droid (we saw Vader all 9 rides) and the
visit to the Wookie planet – we got both on this ride.
We checked in at Sci-Fi at 6:50 but weren’t seated until 7:15. Several
groups that came in after us were seated before we were and I was about
to mention this to the hostess when we were called in.
We were “hitchhikers” and sat behind a mom, grandmother and small child.
I’ve long been a proponent of the Sci-Fi, debating those who dislike the
food. “Stick to the basics” was my mantra and the food is fine. This
time, I thought it was less than good. Barb had a Turkey Sandwich on
multi-grain that was very good. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich
(with watercress, vine-ripened tomatoes, mayonnaise, and drizzled with
balsamic vinegar on a caraway salted bun) and we both had the cucumber
salad as a side. There was nothing wrong with my sandwich – it tasted
fine – but it was impossible to eat as a sandwich. The dressing had the
chicken sliding around on the bun so a bite would sometimes only yield
bun. And it’s too dark in the place to rearrange the sandwich. I finally
just took of the top bun and tried eating it open-faced with a fork and
knife. Unfortunately, it’s served in a wire basket so it difficult to
cut – and once I sliced into the paper bottom I was drizzling mayo and
balsamic dressing on to the table and basically making a mess. Next
time, I’ll stick to the burger.
Barb had a Vanilla shake while I learned they no longer offered the
raspberry iced tea so I went with Pomegranate Lemonade. Meh.
After dinner we rode Star Tours twice as a walk on. We saw the droid
both times and the Wookie planet once. We had thought about sticking
around for a Fantasmic! Show but we were both a little tired so we
decided to head back.
It’s funny but we’re so used to staying at the Boardwalk and walking
back from DHS that the bus stops are very unfamiliar to us. We found the
Animal Kingdom Lodge stop and a bus was along in just a few minutes. It
stopped at Blizzard Beach on the way. It was about 8:45 and the water
park had been closed for some time. There were no riders there so the
stop seemed a bit silly. I wonder if there isn’t some way they can
monitor the bus stops at the water parks to avoid this waste of time and
fuel?
We stopped and had a drink at the Victoria Falls lounge. Barb asked for
an Amaretto on the rocks and the bartender immediately asked,
“Disaronno?” A few minutes later, a woman walked up and what I heard
was, “An Amarillo, please.” A Texas liqueur? I was curious. The
bartender must have heard “Amaretto” because he again asked,
“Disaronno?” The woman was confused and repeated her order – the
bartender was confused and asked again. It wasn’t until the second
bartender stepped in with a bottle of Amarula – an African coffee crème
liqueur (think Bailey’s). I had never heard of it and, apparently,
neither did our bartender even though it was stocked there.
After one drink, we headed off to the room and bed.
Things I Think I Think – I think visiting in the summer means it’s very
hot and humid but… the restaurants and buses are very cold – almost too
cold in some cases. It’s silly to carry a jacket or sweater but they’re
needed in some locations. And, yes, I realize it’s not technically
summer yet but I think it qualifies. I think this short trip will
include very little park time and attractions – and probably more pool
time – than we’re used to. I think I enjoyed the media event immensely
(how could I not?) but I’m looking forward to a little relaxation and
down time.
--
Steve