Who/When/Where:
Who: Sue (56), DVC Member
Gayle (56), college friend
Dates: November 14 16, 2014
Resort: Disneys Animal Kingdom Villas Resort Jambo House
Experience: Very Experienced 20th stay at the AKV resorts
INTRODUCTION:
Back in April I went to New England for a nieces wedding and was able to get together with several of my closest friends (and sorority sisters) from college. One in particular (Gayle) mentioned shed be attending a conference at the Gaylord Palms in November and she hoped we could spend the weekend together once the conference ended. I agreed, checked availability, and decided on Jambo House. I knew Gayle would appreciate the animals, and since we will not be visiting the theme parks we can spend time watching the animals. I like the Kidani Village rooms better, but like the Jambo House resort better overall.
Gayle is big into fitness, running marathons, cycling, etc. My only concern with Jambo House is the lack of running trails in this area, but we will be able to work around that. She was hoping Id run with her, but since Ive not been running for a while I will use that time to work on the trip report or read emails <g>. Shes planning an 8-mile run on Saturday. I really dont mind missing that, lol!
We have no dining reservations, so well take that as it comes. We may go see the Christmas party fireworks from the top of Bay Lake Tower. The only thing in the parks Id like her to see is Osborne Lights, and its not worth buying a 1-day ticket to spend an hour seeing that.
The plans so far are:
Friday 11/14: Work, Drive to WDW, Bay Lake Tower?
Saturday 11/15: Gayles Run, Resort Time, Downtown Disney?
Sunday 11/16: Breakfast, Drive to Gainesville
DAY 1 Friday 11/14/14
Who: Sue (56), DVC Member
Gayle (56), college friend
Plan: Work, Drive to WDW, Bay Lake Tower?
Actual: I worked until 1, leaving an hour later than usual since I just got back from a long vacation! After a quick stop at home I was on the road by 1:15 and pulled onto WDW property just after 3. Gayle & I had texted last night and I knew she was planning to swim today and do the 8-mile run tomorrow. Id gotten online to check out possible running trails, and the longest was 2.4 miles around the Epcot resorts. She stayed at Beach Club while attending her conference at Gaylord Palms, so I figured she probably already ran that (she did at lunch one day).
Years ago I used to bring rollerblades on vacation here, and I remembered skating from All Star Movies to Coronado Springs, and thought it was approximately 5 miles round trip. Instead of driving straight to Jambo House I entered All Star Resorts property (the car shuddered and choked just a bit, lol) and drove to where the path begins by Movies. I reset the odometer and learned it was exactly 1.0 mile to the light at McDonalds, and then another 1.2 miles to the end of the path across from the Coronado Springs entrance. I also know the path around the lake inside Coronado is probably about a mile, and running the outer edge of the parking lots should be greater than that. Satisfied I had a run for Gayle, I drove to Jambo House to check in.
A big yellow Mears bus with a Magical Express cardboard sign on the dash was unloading a bunch of people! Ugh I hate lines. I had parked in the parking lot and dragged my limited luggage up to the lobby, and was fast enough to bypass some of the new arrivals. Once I got inside I went to the online check-in area, which was busy and had a party or 2 waiting. The cast member holding a packet thought the woman in front of me was Rayford, but I piped up to say that was me. He told me my room was ready, gave me my packet & room number, and I was on my way with no wait at all!
The studio is on the Uzima savannah (I think) Ive never stayed in this wing before but I like it. Normally Im concierge when I stay at Jambo House. Id no sooner gotten unpacked when Gayle texted to say she was in the cab on her way from Gaylord. She arrived before I even got downstairs - $32 later! I couldnt believe the cab was that much, for such a short ride. I didnt ask if that was including tip or before tip.
She got her bag from bell services (Beach Club had sent it over), and we went up to the studio. Shed never been here before and really liked the resort. Seeing the animals on the savannah off our balcony was the icing on the cake, and she immediately took a couple pictures and sent them to her husband. We spent time on the balcony, then each had some work stuff to do. I also got the trip report started since I didnt do that before the trip.
I brought her downstairs to see the pool, and she said it would work fine for her swim. I declined the opportunity to join her in the pool its too cold outside for me! The water is heated, but lifeguards and parents watching swimming children were all in jackets or sweatshirts, lol! We stopped in Mara, where she got a bagel for some carbs in the morning before her run, then we went back up to the studio. She changed & went down for an hour-long swim omigod, I cant even imagine, lol! I used the time to have a cup of cappuccino and update the report, along with finishing reading email.
She got back earlier than planned (around 6:15) and after cleaning up we headed out to the bus stop and rode over to Magic Kingdom. From there we walked to the Contemporary and went up to Contempo Caf for dinner. I was shocked at the number of people heading TO the Magic Kingdom at 7pm on a party night. If Id bought a ticket to the party I would have been there at 4 when they start letting you in. But, maybe some of these people were just using MK as a transfer point like us.
Contempo Caf was very busy, as expected for this time of night. We had to wait in line for a machine to place our order, then waited in line to pay. They only had 2 cash registers open, when they should have had 3 or 4. Gayle graciously said she was paying for me, since I was providing the resort. I had the steakhouse salad, which is a little smaller than it used to be (little less meat, less pita) but still very good and still a little more than a person needs to consume at one time. Gayle had the mahi sandwich and said it was very good. We got the food to go and brought it with us.
We walked across the sky bridge to BLT and went down to the lobby to let them know we wanted to go up to Top of the World lounge. They scanned my band and brought us to the elevator for the ride up to the top floor. I showed Gayle the observation deck on our way in, and it was nice to see the castle had just lit up with the ice light. That makes it so much prettier! We went inside and took a high-top table by the window, knowing wed watch Holiday Wishes from there instead of standing outside. I did go out and take a couple pictures of the castle, then returned inside.
Our server recognized me from the past, and was fine with us having our food up there. I ordered a glass of wine with my dinner, but Gayle waited since she had a carton of silk. The food was very good! After eating we gathered up the stuff so I could put it in a trash can, and our server came over to take it. We told her we were ok disposing of it since we brought it in, but she said shes got a big trash can in the back. Gayle ordered a glass of wine, and we had a nice time sitting there chatting.
A little later we ordered the soft pretzel pieces and dips, then another round of wine. Holiday Wishes started at 9:30 and I took pictures from inside the lounge (through the window). Hopefully theyll turn out ok when theyre downloaded. The fireworks were terrific, and with the music/soundtrack it was just perfect. Gayle really liked them. When they ended we quickly settled the check (Gayles treat again) and got plastic wine glasses to take our wine with us. Almost everyone was huddled waiting for one set of elevators so we wisely went to the other side and hopped on one with no wait at all.
We rode down to the ground level and walked outside to the Contemporary, ended up along the railing in the quiet pool area. I thought the Electrical Water Pageant would begin at 10 but it was really 10:15. We had a great view, and Gayle remembered seeing this with me many years ago (decades). We finished our wine during the pageant, so once it ended we threw our plastic wine glasses in a trash can and walked back to Magic Kingdom. Our bus was waiting for us, and we were back at Jambo House by 11:10.
I didnt bother to update the report then, since I figured Id have time today. We pulled out the sleep sofa for Gayle and got her the pillows and blanket from the pouch in the wardrobe. We were in our beds, lights out by 11:30. It was a great start to the weekend, and Im glad that she really likes and appreciates the beauty of the resort and the quality of everything Disney does fireworks, the lounge, the food we had, etc.
DAY 2 Saturday 11/15/14
Who: Sue (56), DVC Member
Gayle (56), college friend
Plan: Gayles Run, Resort Time, Downtown Disney?
Actual: We both slept well I was very happy that despite this big connecting door across from the foot of my bed we heard not a single bit of noise. We must have reasonable, decent people next door! We were up shortly after 6:30. Id woken up before that and played on my kindle for a little bit, then Gayle got up while I was brushing my teeth. We folded the sleep sofa back up to make the room look nice, then she toasted her bagel. We both ate some of it, with peanut butter. Id never tried that before, and I like cream cheese better. She uses peanut butter for the little bit of protein.
By 7:30 we were out the door, and I dropped her off at the corner of the intersection by McDonalds. She was able to start her run on the path into All Stars, then would come back out and head to Coronado Springs for more running inside there. Shes doing another half marathon in 4 weeks. I drove back to the resort and parked in the short term parking area since Id be heading out again before long.
Back in the room I made my cappuccino and read emails. Gayle texted around 8:40 to say her estimated McDonalds return time was 9:15, so I confirmed that & said Id be there to pick her up. I left a little early, but sat in the McDs parking lot and talked to SB, then played suduko on my phone. Soon Gayle arrived and after she stretched out a bit we drove back to Jambo House. She enjoyed her run, and stopped to take some photos along the way.
At Jambo House we had breakfast in the studio microwave fried egg and slice of bacon for each of us. She also had some of my cappuccino, since she didnt want to make a pot of coffee for just her cup. Animals started appearing on the savannah slowly. After breakfast I took my shower, then while I was drying my hair she took her shower. The Disney hair dryer wouldnt switch onto the high speed this morning (worked last night), so I called down to housekeeping for a replacement. It didnt help this morning, but Gayle will have it for tomorrow morning.
We were all dressed and ready to go by 10:45 or so. We spent the next hour or so on various stairwells watching the animals, and then went to the viewing areas as we could see the animals going into those areas. I took a lot of photos hopefully theyll look good when I move them to the computer. Around noon we went back to the studio to pick up what we needed and then went to the bus stop.
There was a bit of a wait for the Downtown Disney bus, and it was aggravating seeing multiple buses for some of the other stops. Finally it arrived, and we were on our way. The line was way out the door at Wolfgang Puck Express, and also at Earl of Sandwich it was insane! Since it was so congested we cut over to the parking lot and walked to T-Rex, arriving to find a huge mob there as well. We had to stand in line to get to the podium to ask about a table, but from there it went very well for us.
Im a Landrys Select member, so I flashed the card and was told that even though the wait was 45+ minutes we would be seated in 15 minutes or less. Works for me! We were asked to stand off to the side, beyond the huge line of people whos names had been called & were waiting to be seated. Within 5 minutes they called my name, and took us around that long line and into the restaurant to our table. I noticed on our ticket it said VIP and that we were to be seated by 1:20 (15 minutes after we checked in).
Our server was fantastic, and the food we saw passing by all looked good. This restaurant is owned by the same company as Rainforest Caf, but seems better. We were next to a dinosaur that came to life every so often, and would move as if he was staring at me. That was entirely coincidental they didnt have someone operating it who could see into the restaurant.
For lunch I had a glass of wine and Gayle tried the strawberry lemonade. We both ordered the Footprints Flatbread appetizer for our lunch, and it was excellent! Its a thin flatbread with chicken, onions, balsamic vinegar, possibly goat cheese just really nice. The server had told us it was the single best thing on the menu, but Id already decided on that before he said anything.
I had a $25 birthday credit on my Landrys card so that covered all of mine and the little bit left over just brought Gayles portion down slightly. Im glad I was able to use it this year! Next year itll probably just lapse since our Food & Wine trip is in October. After lunch we wandered around a bit, going into a few shops before heading back to the resort. This time the bus arrived just after we did, which made up for earlier, lol! Unfortunately, we had the slowest bus driver in the world I dont think there was a single car on the road that didnt pass us.
Back at the resort we dropped off what we didnt need and went downstairs to Boma for the 3:45 culinary tour of Boma & Jiko. Our guide in Boma was a lovely young lady from Botswana, who gave us information on the restaurant but unfortunately spent time covering the many food items that would be on the buffet that night. Since they werent out on display it was kind of lacking, and since none of us were eating there tonight Im not sure it was entirely relevant. Some of it was good, from the standpoint of traditional African dishes we might not be familiar with.
The samples provided were a carrot ginger soup that I passed on but everyone else said was outstanding. We next had zebra domes, which I also passed on but I was able to get a small oatmeal raisin cookie instead! Everyone loved the zebra domes, but I just dont care for them at all. At this point our guide brought us to Jiko and passed us off to another young lady over there, who was thrilled with her job. She told us everything in Jiko is authentic to what she knows at home in Africa, and that really impressed her.
She toured us around Jiko, ending at the cooking table where samples of the different breads and sauces/dips were laid out for us to sample. They also provided menu cards so wed know what was in each one, and a copy of the Jiko menu. Gayle really enjoyed this activity, as did everyone else on the tour (possibly 10 people total).
We made a quick stop at the studio to drop off our papers, then walked over to Kidani Village. I showed Gayle the lobby, the Sanaa restrooms, then we went out to the animal viewing area. Several animals were out, and we spent the rest of the daylight hours out there watching them. Before leaving Kidani we stopped to see the tapestries with the names of the founding members and searched until we found my name. I can never remember which tapestry its on nevermind where exactly its located on the tapestry!
We walked back to Jambo House and stopped at Zawadi Marketplace for Gayle to do some shopping. She ended up buying nice AKL shirts for herself and her husband (not matching, lol). Back in the studio I downloaded the photos off the camera, then had Gayle scroll through them to select the ones she wanted. It was most of them, lol! She only had her phone with her, so with a 4x zoom she couldnt get the shots I could. This way she can use my photos to create an album from her trip!
Once that was done it was time to head back to Bay Lake Tower for the Top of the World lounge. At this point it was just after 7, so I was thinking we probably wouldnt get there until 8 or later. We went out to the bus stop and were dismayed to see a huge mob at the Magic Kingdom stop! Theres no way all those people would be getting on the bus, plus there were 2 scooters/wheelchairs waiting. This was going to take forever, so I quickly started thinking of a plan B.
An Animal Kingdom bus pulled in so we ran up there to verify it was returning to the park, and hopped on board. AK had closed at 7, so they were running many buses to get everyone out of that park. We were at Animal Kingdom within 5 minutes, but the bus was going to a value resort next so we were dropped off in the last (furthest) set of bus stops. Oh well, we can walk so we walked over to the regular bus stops and found the stop for Contemporary/Polynesian. That bus came very quickly, we got seats, and Contemporary was the first stop! We ended up arriving about 10 minutes before 8!
At Bay Lake Tower the lady working the dvc desk recognized me from late May, so she said she didnt need to scan my magic band. She took us to the elevator and sent us up. The tables by the window were mostly occupied, but we snagged the last one and settled in for the evening. Our server tonight was Bill, and he was excellent. The female server from last night stopped by to say hello too.
Tonight Gayle tried the banana martini, which was very nice (but strong). Shed asked Bill for a review of the martini and he said to wait just a minute and went over to a guest whod just ordered one to get the details. Based on the review, it sounded like a winner (not too sweet, nice flavor). I stuck with pinot grigio and Gayle had the rock shrimp appetizer. Shed asked Bill about that one and the beef sliders, and his descriptions were amazingly detailed, down to where the shrimp or beef came from, where the bun was baked, what spices were used, etc. The shrimp were from Key West and were served sort of ceviche style Gayle liked it a lot.
Tonight we did some reminiscing on our past, and Gayle pointed out that we met during orientation weekend at college back in 1976 so weve been friends for 38 years now. We can go years or even a decade or more without seeing each other or talking yet when we get back together its like no time has passed at all its like that for our entire group, which is very nice. Sadly, weve lost 2 of the group (to cancer), and 2 more of the group are cancer survivors, so at a recent group lunch (in Boston I was the lone absent member) they decided we need to book a reunion trip down here at WDW in April 2016! That will be our 40th friendship anniversary.
We ordered a second round of the drinks and an order of the soft pretzel pieces & spreads to share. Soon regular Wishes started and we once again enjoyed it from the comfort of our seats at our table. We got the check settled during the fireworks, so once they ended we were out the door and in an elevator. As soon as we got outside we could hear the Electric Water Pageant music starting, so we walked/ran over to the dock and watched it from the end over the water. We got there after the dragon was lit up, but we still got to see almost the whole show. Once it ended we turned around and walked over to Magic Kingdom to catch a bus back to the resort.
I expected crowds at the bus stop, because the park was closing at 11pm (with extra magic hours until 1am), and it was crazy! This is part of why I dont stay in the parks until near closing time, unless I can walk home. Our stop had a lengthy line, and a person in a wheelchair and a person in a scooter. I knew we wouldnt make it on the next bus, but I was pleased to see a 2nd bus arrive while the first one was loading. Unfortunately, we couldnt make it on that one either and then we had a more normal wait for the 3rd bus. When we boarded the forward-facing 2 person seat right behind the driver was available so I grabbed it, telling Gayle staring a wall beats having butts in our faces and bags hitting us!
After a stop at Kidani Village, we arrived back at Jambo House around 11:30. Its amazing how quickly the day passes here, even without going to the theme parks! It was a great day though we both wish we had more days for this trip.
DAY 3 Sunday 11/16/14
Who: Sue (56), DVC Member
Gayle (56), college friend
Plan: Breakfast, Drive to Gainesville
Actual: We both slept well last night, and once again I heard no noise at all from neighbors or the hall. I got up just after 6:30 and took my shower while Gayle got herself up. She took her shower next, and then I made breakfast for us (egg, bacon & cappuccino). I uploaded the photos to shutterfly, but waited until I got home to caption them. They can be found at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...ZNGTdm2bMWjJWA
Gayle enjoyed some final time on the balcony, and I joined her after a while. The 2 Somali wild ***** came out one at a time, and each one found a certain spot and laid down, then rolled over back and forth for a while. When that one got up and moved away, the next one came and did the same thing it was so funny to see!
We left the room shortly before 9 and as we left the building manager Jack is standing there. He looked at me and raised his hands up & said why didnt you tell me you were here?, lol! I was telling Gayle about him yesterday, and how I should have thought ahead of time to let him know, as we could have enjoyed the concierge lounge. But, while that would have been a LOT cheaper, lol it wouldnt have had fireworks! We chatted with Jack for a bit, then she waited at the Magical Express waiting area and I went to my car. I made a detour to the Hess station over by Boardwalk to fill up the gas tank, then drove back to Gainesville.
This has been a wonderful little trip, although very short! Gayle loved the resort, and had no idea there would be animals there, never mind visible from our room! She appreciated and enjoyed everything we did, and was a great roommate.
T-Rex was a very pleasant surprise, and Ill definitely be back especially with the Landry Select card making it so nice! I received an email from them thanking me for coming, before Id even gotten back to the resort, lol! The time spent in the Top of the World lounge was great fun, even with the travel to get there and back. The weather was great, we constantly had animals to watch, and it was a perfect weekend.
My next trip begins pretty soon December 3rd. That one will be 4 nights at Beach Club Villas, with SB coming for the first part. Well also spend time with my friend Lori, who will be there during the same time. After that I have three very short 2-night trips scheduled in January & February, with a HAL cruise mixed in there for good measure! Until then, thanks for reading.
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Sue (Holland) Rayford - Jambo House (no parks) Weekend, November 14-16, 2014
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