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Sue's May AKV Club Level - Day 3 of 6
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Sue/WDW1972
May 27, 2022, 9:32:59 PM5/27/22
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DAY 3 – Friday 5/27/22
Who: Sue (63), DVC Member
Holli (57), friend
Chris (35), my son
Amanda (33), my daughter-in-law
Ari (5), my grandson
Plan: Pool, Concierge Lounge
Actual: It was another great night for sleeping – no noise at all. The studio is very comfortable and I like having the bed by the balcony. I was up by 5 again but today I went out and did about 30 minutes of walking the hallways. After that I returned to the studio, made my cappuccino and took it back to bed while I did online stuff.
Shortly after 7 I went out to the lounge to check the breakfast offerings. Today instead of turkey bobotie they had vegetable bobotie. They had the bacon again, and instead of bread pudding had sausage gravy & biscuits. They also had the multi-grain croissants rather than plain ones. I got some fruit & a multi-grain croissant (love those) & brought it back to the room. I also got some biscuit & gravy and a piece of bacon – the bacon was great but the biscuit & gravy was just ok (didn’t bother finishing that). It wasn’t the healthiest of breakfast – heavy on the carbs.
Around 8:15 I got up & finished getting ready for the pool. Before I went down I grabbed a bagel and some cream cheese to store in the studio in case I wanted to do half a bagel for lunch at some point. I was down outside the pool by 8:30 and took my usual chaise lounge. The sky was clear and sunny this morning, so it got warm more quickly than yesterday.
Once again they opened the pool area about 10 minutes earlier so I moved in there to the same chaise lounge as yesterday. Eventually Holli wandered down. We did some reading, she spent time in the pool, I cooled off frequently under the shower, and around 11:30 I went upstairs to shower and get dressed.
Chris had texted saying they weren’t able to cancel their park reservations for today, and asked if the concierge might be able to help. I went on the app and after fumbling around for a while was able to cancel them. Amanda should get an email notifying her of the cancelation. I also noticed they’d switched their Sunday reservations from Animal Kingdom to Hollywood Studios. Sunday was the one morning I was willing to join them in the park, but I have no interest in the Studios. I canceled my AK reservation and will enjoy the pool while they’re sweating through the park.
Housekeeping had done my full cleaning already, which is nice – I like when it’s early, while I’m out of the room. I took my shower and got dressed, then updated the report. I wasn’t hungry for part of the bagel, so didn’t bother with that – I did take a bite of the Gideon’s cookie before getting into the shower.
After getting dressed I puttered around a bit, then went out to the lounge. Holli was already out there enjoying a glass of wine. I ordered a sparkling wine and cut a strawberry to drop into the glass. Earlier they were talking about rain but I wasn’t seeing any sign of it. I checked the forecast and it’s not likely we’ll see any rain at all today.
When we finished our wine we went outside to do the scavenger hunt. Basically we had to find the 8 signs hidden around the property. As expected, we found 7 easily but had to make a second loop to find the elusive 8th sign. There’s no prize or award for completing it, and honestly I could have answered them all just from the clue (description of the attraction) but it was something to do. A few giraffe, including a youngster had come over to the viewing area by the pool. The flamingos were chattering amongst themselves in their area. Holli pointed out the feathers floating in the water – they’re either molting or having some level of aggression out there.
Chris texted to say they were on the road, with an ETA of 5:15! That’s great news, as we can spend the evening together. They’ll come straight here and be here for the Durbin chicken! I need to remember to tell them about the Mickey ice cream bars during dessert, too.
We went up to the lounge and Holli got a drink that has sangria and jungle juice. It’s supposed to be 2 distinct levels but it was kind of blurred together. I got another sparkling wine with a strawberry. I brought my laptop out to the lounge to update the report, trying to not fall behind. I guess I could just make stuff up and write the report before I get here, but I wouldn’t feel right about that <g>.
After updating the report I returned the laptop to my studio and got the tablet instead. Holli downloaded the mahjong game I had onto her tablet and we each played that for a while. We took a break from it around 4:30 and I put the tablets in my studio to save space on the table.
At 5 the food was set up – the special hot foods were durbin chicken over sweet corn pudding (delicious) and African seafood stew with coconut rice. The cheeses were back to the drunken goat and Toma, with the meat being salami. They also have smoked blue cheese every day, and a few other things (honeycomb, etc) but I don’t bother with any of that. On the cold side the special items were watermelon tomato feta salad and ham & cheese pinwheels.
The watermelon salad was excellent - so ripe & sweet and the feta contrasted nicely with that. The durbin chicken was also excellent - I had one with the sweet corn pudding and later another one with the rice instead. Both were great but everyone agreed the sweet corn pudding was really terrific (and different).
Chris’ family are staying at Kidani Village because the Saturday night wasn’t available anywhere at Jambo House at 7 months. I called DVC one day and sat on hold forever before speaking with an agent to request they be in a room at the Jambo House end of the hall. They get there and find they’re in the very last section of the resort at the opposite end – as far as you can possibly be from Jambo House.
They headed out walking and it was 11 minutes to get to the lobby, and then 7 more minutes to get to Jambo House. I had a key for Chris so he called me when he was in the lobby and I dropped it over the railing. Unfortunately, these key cards don’t have much weight to them and it blew back onto the 4th floor rather than falling to the floor in the lobby!
I went to the elevators and of course this is the time it takes forever to arrive. Once it did I went to the 4th floor but couldn’t find the card. Chris had gone up the stairs to get it and was already up on the 6th floor where the lounge is. He saw me looking, and called out to me – so I went back to the elevators and went up to the lounge.
Ari was happy to see me and I was glad to see him again. We enjoyed the food and company for the rest of the 5-7 period. It was pretty busy up there the whole time. For whatever reason the regular concierge cast were mostly absent, and several cast in a different costume were working – along with a couple of supervisor/manager type people helping out. They did a good job, but it was odd that clearly something hadn’t gone according to plan/schedule.
At 7 we decided to check out the animals so we started with the viewing area by the pool. A few giraffe were wandering and we saw pretty much everything but the ostrich out there. We moved over to the flamingos and it looked like one bigger one was mounting a slightly smaller one. It seemed consensual for a while, then the smaller one moved away. Some of the others were bickering among themselves – they’re certainly a noisy bunch!
From there we went out to Arusha Rock and saw some more animals, but all of a sudden 2 came running from across the savannah and then most of the others got up and followed them out of the area. We went back inside and sat by the fire in the lobby, and Ari received a bag of marshmallows. They sell them as part of s’mores kits but since there had been lightning earlier they didn’t light the campfire so they were giving away the bags of marshmallows in the lobby.
Just before 8 we went back up to the lounge for dessert. Dessert doesn’t vary much, which is fine. Ari loved the cake pops – we all did. The Kenyan coffee tarts were a hit, although Chris liked the passion fruit tart better. I never noticed before they have a freezer here now, and inside are Mickey ice cream sandwiches and Mickey ice cream bars! I got an ice cream bar for Ari and he loved it. It’s much better eating one here in the lounge vs having it melt all over the place in the parks! I had a couple bites and really liked it too, but I’d never eat a whole one.
Holli headed down to her studio and shortly after that I retreated to mine. I gave Chris & Amanda their Gideon’s cookies, which they’ll probably take home since they have access to all the lounge treats. They’re headed to Magic Kingdom in the morning so they’ll be here for breakfast at 7. Holli is flying up to Virginia tomorrow, so she’ll stash her stuff in my studio once she checks out.
Today was a delightful relaxing day – I just love being here! Tomorrow should be more of the same, which is exactly how I like it. Plus, I’ll get to enjoy the evening in the lounge with Chris, Amanda & Ari.
Sue/WDW1972
Who: Sue (63), DVC Member
Holli (57), friend
Chris (35), my son
Amanda (33), my daughter-in-law
Ari (5), my grandson
Plan: Pool, Concierge Lounge
Actual: It was another great night for sleeping – no noise at all. The studio is very comfortable and I like having the bed by the balcony. I was up by 5 again but today I went out and did about 30 minutes of walking the hallways. After that I returned to the studio, made my cappuccino and took it back to bed while I did online stuff.
Shortly after 7 I went out to the lounge to check the breakfast offerings. Today instead of turkey bobotie they had vegetable bobotie. They had the bacon again, and instead of bread pudding had sausage gravy & biscuits. They also had the multi-grain croissants rather than plain ones. I got some fruit & a multi-grain croissant (love those) & brought it back to the room. I also got some biscuit & gravy and a piece of bacon – the bacon was great but the biscuit & gravy was just ok (didn’t bother finishing that). It wasn’t the healthiest of breakfast – heavy on the carbs.
Around 8:15 I got up & finished getting ready for the pool. Before I went down I grabbed a bagel and some cream cheese to store in the studio in case I wanted to do half a bagel for lunch at some point. I was down outside the pool by 8:30 and took my usual chaise lounge. The sky was clear and sunny this morning, so it got warm more quickly than yesterday.
Once again they opened the pool area about 10 minutes earlier so I moved in there to the same chaise lounge as yesterday. Eventually Holli wandered down. We did some reading, she spent time in the pool, I cooled off frequently under the shower, and around 11:30 I went upstairs to shower and get dressed.
Chris had texted saying they weren’t able to cancel their park reservations for today, and asked if the concierge might be able to help. I went on the app and after fumbling around for a while was able to cancel them. Amanda should get an email notifying her of the cancelation. I also noticed they’d switched their Sunday reservations from Animal Kingdom to Hollywood Studios. Sunday was the one morning I was willing to join them in the park, but I have no interest in the Studios. I canceled my AK reservation and will enjoy the pool while they’re sweating through the park.
Housekeeping had done my full cleaning already, which is nice – I like when it’s early, while I’m out of the room. I took my shower and got dressed, then updated the report. I wasn’t hungry for part of the bagel, so didn’t bother with that – I did take a bite of the Gideon’s cookie before getting into the shower.
After getting dressed I puttered around a bit, then went out to the lounge. Holli was already out there enjoying a glass of wine. I ordered a sparkling wine and cut a strawberry to drop into the glass. Earlier they were talking about rain but I wasn’t seeing any sign of it. I checked the forecast and it’s not likely we’ll see any rain at all today.
When we finished our wine we went outside to do the scavenger hunt. Basically we had to find the 8 signs hidden around the property. As expected, we found 7 easily but had to make a second loop to find the elusive 8th sign. There’s no prize or award for completing it, and honestly I could have answered them all just from the clue (description of the attraction) but it was something to do. A few giraffe, including a youngster had come over to the viewing area by the pool. The flamingos were chattering amongst themselves in their area. Holli pointed out the feathers floating in the water – they’re either molting or having some level of aggression out there.
Chris texted to say they were on the road, with an ETA of 5:15! That’s great news, as we can spend the evening together. They’ll come straight here and be here for the Durbin chicken! I need to remember to tell them about the Mickey ice cream bars during dessert, too.
We went up to the lounge and Holli got a drink that has sangria and jungle juice. It’s supposed to be 2 distinct levels but it was kind of blurred together. I got another sparkling wine with a strawberry. I brought my laptop out to the lounge to update the report, trying to not fall behind. I guess I could just make stuff up and write the report before I get here, but I wouldn’t feel right about that <g>.
After updating the report I returned the laptop to my studio and got the tablet instead. Holli downloaded the mahjong game I had onto her tablet and we each played that for a while. We took a break from it around 4:30 and I put the tablets in my studio to save space on the table.
At 5 the food was set up – the special hot foods were durbin chicken over sweet corn pudding (delicious) and African seafood stew with coconut rice. The cheeses were back to the drunken goat and Toma, with the meat being salami. They also have smoked blue cheese every day, and a few other things (honeycomb, etc) but I don’t bother with any of that. On the cold side the special items were watermelon tomato feta salad and ham & cheese pinwheels.
The watermelon salad was excellent - so ripe & sweet and the feta contrasted nicely with that. The durbin chicken was also excellent - I had one with the sweet corn pudding and later another one with the rice instead. Both were great but everyone agreed the sweet corn pudding was really terrific (and different).
Chris’ family are staying at Kidani Village because the Saturday night wasn’t available anywhere at Jambo House at 7 months. I called DVC one day and sat on hold forever before speaking with an agent to request they be in a room at the Jambo House end of the hall. They get there and find they’re in the very last section of the resort at the opposite end – as far as you can possibly be from Jambo House.
They headed out walking and it was 11 minutes to get to the lobby, and then 7 more minutes to get to Jambo House. I had a key for Chris so he called me when he was in the lobby and I dropped it over the railing. Unfortunately, these key cards don’t have much weight to them and it blew back onto the 4th floor rather than falling to the floor in the lobby!
I went to the elevators and of course this is the time it takes forever to arrive. Once it did I went to the 4th floor but couldn’t find the card. Chris had gone up the stairs to get it and was already up on the 6th floor where the lounge is. He saw me looking, and called out to me – so I went back to the elevators and went up to the lounge.
Ari was happy to see me and I was glad to see him again. We enjoyed the food and company for the rest of the 5-7 period. It was pretty busy up there the whole time. For whatever reason the regular concierge cast were mostly absent, and several cast in a different costume were working – along with a couple of supervisor/manager type people helping out. They did a good job, but it was odd that clearly something hadn’t gone according to plan/schedule.
At 7 we decided to check out the animals so we started with the viewing area by the pool. A few giraffe were wandering and we saw pretty much everything but the ostrich out there. We moved over to the flamingos and it looked like one bigger one was mounting a slightly smaller one. It seemed consensual for a while, then the smaller one moved away. Some of the others were bickering among themselves – they’re certainly a noisy bunch!
From there we went out to Arusha Rock and saw some more animals, but all of a sudden 2 came running from across the savannah and then most of the others got up and followed them out of the area. We went back inside and sat by the fire in the lobby, and Ari received a bag of marshmallows. They sell them as part of s’mores kits but since there had been lightning earlier they didn’t light the campfire so they were giving away the bags of marshmallows in the lobby.
Just before 8 we went back up to the lounge for dessert. Dessert doesn’t vary much, which is fine. Ari loved the cake pops – we all did. The Kenyan coffee tarts were a hit, although Chris liked the passion fruit tart better. I never noticed before they have a freezer here now, and inside are Mickey ice cream sandwiches and Mickey ice cream bars! I got an ice cream bar for Ari and he loved it. It’s much better eating one here in the lounge vs having it melt all over the place in the parks! I had a couple bites and really liked it too, but I’d never eat a whole one.
Holli headed down to her studio and shortly after that I retreated to mine. I gave Chris & Amanda their Gideon’s cookies, which they’ll probably take home since they have access to all the lounge treats. They’re headed to Magic Kingdom in the morning so they’ll be here for breakfast at 7. Holli is flying up to Virginia tomorrow, so she’ll stash her stuff in my studio once she checks out.
Today was a delightful relaxing day – I just love being here! Tomorrow should be more of the same, which is exactly how I like it. Plus, I’ll get to enjoy the evening in the lounge with Chris, Amanda & Ari.
Sue/WDW1972
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