[ADP]

Thursday, July 30th

The Cast
Aaron - ADP
Kim - DW
Anna - (9) DD

Hi Everyone,


We've finished our 4 nights at the Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Studios. I wanted to pick up my trip report right here for the readers of Studioscentral.com since most of you would be interested in our Disney World experiences; especially at the Studios. So I will be posting right here each day until we leave WDW on August 9th. We plan on staying 8 nights here at AKV Jambo (2 nights in a standard room and 6 nights in the Kilamanjaro Club Level). Then 2 nights at the new Bay Lake Tower.

We've transitioned from Universal to Disney World. We checked into AKV Jambo a little while ago. The resort is still very beautiful. We are planning on heading down to the pool, and then later heading over to Downtown Disney for some shopping and dinner. On Saturday we are moving up to the Kilamanjaro Club Level. We are really looking forward to it.

We had some friends who live near us in Indy drive us from Universal to Disney World. They even made a stop for us at the nearby Wal-Mart on 535. We can't thank them enough!

Here are some photos I took as we transitioned between the resorts.
The RPR check-in check-out desk


The courtyard near the RPR lobby


The main entrance to the resort. A bridge lined with frogs welcoming you to the South Pacific


And finally, walking into the lobby of AKV for the first time. Nothing beats the feeling of walking into this resort lobby. The resort has a distinct smell that seems to welcome you and reminds you your on vacation.


I'll be back with more later from Downtown Disney and Raglan Road.

More to come!

[QuickGold]

Glad to hear you made it out of Universal alive

[ADP]

QuickGold, on Jul 30 2009, 12:05 PM, said:

Glad to hear you made it out of Universal alive

Just barely!

[ADP]

Hi Everyone,

We are back from Downtown Disney and dinner at Raglan Road. I helped boost the local Orlando economy by dropping a load at the new Disney store called TrenD. The store has some unique stuff different than you'll find in any of the other Disney theme park and resort stores.


Here's a shot of Anna as we left the store


After we left TrenD we made a stop over at the Lego store.


The heavens opened up so we ducked into T-Rex....:scared1: Yes, it was loud....Very loud! We were in there long enough to hear the meteor hit the earth about 2 times. :laughing:

We put our ponchos on and hit the ground running to Raglan Road. We had dinner reservations with some friends at 5:30. I've never dined at Raglan Road so I was pretty excited to try it.

We arrived a bit early and were seated before our ADR time. Funny thing, the restaurant was empty. When my firend made the ADR about a month ago there were no tables available at 6:00PM. At 6:00PM the restaurant was still empty. Something is definately not right with Disney's ADR system.


Here was our table at Raglan Road. We had a good time.


Before our meal our server brought us a bowl full of an oatmeal bread with a sweet dipping sauce. The bread was extremely heavy. All I could thing about was the feeling of a boat anchor in my stomach after eating a piece.
The menu is very traditional with Irish cuisine. I chose to eat the Fish & Chips. The fish & chips were $18.50. Pretty pricey for that type of entree so I was expecting something good.

My entree had a good portion of chips and one LARGE piece of fish. It was servied with tartar sauce, ketchup and malt vinegar. I was expecting something good and it didn't disappoint.


After our meal I decided to endulge a bit and have dessert. I chose the bread pudding because our server highly recommended it. Again, I was expecting something good. The dessert came out and it was pretty large. The bread pudding came in a large cup with a carmel and vanilla sauce to pour on top. I really loved it. It didn't disappoint.


The restaurant has a lot of decorative Irish flair. Here is the main seating area; however, there are several other seating areas throughout the restaurant. The restaurant is a lot larger than it appears from the outside.


Our total bill for 3 kids and 3 adults was $140. We did have alcohol and dessert. We saved 20% with our Tables in Wonderland card and the automatic 18% gratuity. A bit pricey, but I must say I thought the meal was worth it. I'd love to go back in the future and dine there again.

So that was pretty much our day. Tomorrow we plan on heading to the Animal Kingdom firth thing in the morning. Kim should be arriving at the Animal Kingdom Lodge at around 2:00PM. We will be back for her arrival. We can't wait to see her, we've missed her so much. Tomorrow night we plan on having dinner with some friends.

More to come!

Up Next:
Animal Kingdom
Pictures from the Animal Kingdom Lodge
Meeting Friends

[queenofthehouse]

I love your live reports. In case you want the good food of Raglan Road, but don't want to break the bank, you can go next door at the take out. I love the chicken there. I look forward to more of your report. Have a great time.

[ADP]

queenofthehouse, on Jul 30 2009, 11:43 PM, said:

I love your live reports. In case you want the good food of Raglan Road, but don't want to break the bank, you can go next door at the take out. I love the chicken there. I look forward to more of your report. Have a great time.

I didn't know that. I'll be sure to check it out next time. Sounds like a good option.

[ADP]

Good morning everyone,

We are headed out the door to the Animal Kingdom. The weather looks good and we should be able to get on most of what we want to experience.

Kim arrives around 2:00PM so we will be back for her arrival.

Later tonight we are headed for dinner with some friends. We can't wait to see them.

[ADP]

Friday, July 31st

We are back from our morning at the Animal Kingdom. The park wasn't very crowded this morning; however, as we left you could see the people pouring into the park. The sun was ducking in and out of the clouds so it wasn't oppresively hot.

We grabbed a quick breakfast at the Mara this morning before leaving for the park. The Mara is the Animal Kingdom Lodge's quick service restaurant. It was very crowded this morning. I'm glad we are moving to club level tomorrow so we can avoid having breakfast there. It's just too crowded.

We arrived at the Animal Kingdom just after the park opened. We caught the bus at the AKL bus depot. The bus to the Animal Kingdom leaves from zone 1 and you are reminded how to get over to Kidani Village.


It took us about 5 minutes to get over to the Animal Kingdom from the bus...A very short ride.
After a short walk we were at the front gate.


As we entered the park I was ready with my camera. The Animal Kingdom provides some great shots. I don't have the best camera in the world, but everytime we visit the Animal Kingdom I wish I had a Cannon T1i; AKA a nice camera.
Here are a couple of shots from the Animal Kingdom


Coming out the mountain and down the hill of Expedition Everest


Sometimes it can get so hot in the Animal Kingdom you can start seeing double.


When we first entered the park today we went to the fastpass machines at Expedition Everest. The time to come back and ride was posted between 11:00 and 12:00. We got fastpasses and went to Dinoland. Anna wanted to ride Primeval Whirl. We got spun into oblivian and moved on to the Festival of the Lion King show. This is my favorite show on property.

As we left the Lion King Show we made a stop to catch some characters.


It was our time to ride Expedition Everest. We jumped in the fastpass line at around 11:35 and waited for only 5 minutes. The standby time was posted as 45 minutes. Thank goodness for our fastpasses. The Yeti was in B mode again today. He only had the strobe lights on him as you passed underneath him. It's too bad they can't figure out how to get him to move properly. I hope they can figure it out someday.

After we rode Everst it was time for us to leave the park. The crowds were pouring in and the heat of the day was beginning to show up. On our way out of the park we saw Divine near the exit to the park. Unfortunately, this was not the same Divine we met on the plane from Indy to Orlando. Maybe we'll catch her next time.


We plan on coming back to the Animal Kingdom during out trip. I'm not sure which day we'll be there, but until then:


Right now we are headed down to the gift shop to pick up some items we had shipped and purchased from Downtown Disney last night. Kim should be arriving soon. Tonight we are dining off site in Celebration. We are really looking forward to it.

More to come!

[yulilin]

Nice reports so far...Did you know they're doing a gathering of characters at Camp Minnie-Mickey, I think it's called something Gathering Spot...From 10 to 1 Pocahontas comes out and tells a story to the kids, Chip Dale Koda Kenai and Meeko come and sit to listen to the story and then there's a DJ, kids dance and play with the characters. It ends August 8th, we're going on Thursday to check it out.

[TheInfrequentVisitor]

Good report! I loved your pics from Raglan Road. I love that place.

[ADP]

Hi Everyone,

We are getting ready to check out of our room and check back in to our new room on the Kilimanjaro club level. We are going to grab a quick breakfast and head to the Magic Kingdom. Hopefully, it's not "crazy" crowded today.

Kim is here and now I feel our vacation has "officially" started.

We had a great time at Celebration last night. It was a fabulous meal.

Here are a couple of photos I took while we were in Celebration.


Celebration Town Tavern


I had a bowl of lobster chowder which was very chunky. It was full of chunks of lobster, potatoes, and corn. It was very creamy, but delicious. I also had a side salad and an order of chips and salsa.

Kim had a grilled chicken platter. She enjoyed it. It came with a large portion of vegetables and a large baked potato.

Anna had a kids chicken fingers platter. She loves any type of chicken fingers, so it was a hit with her.

Thanks to everyone for a great evening. It was a lot of fun.

We are off to the MK. I'll be back with more later.

[ADP]

Saturday, August 1st

Hi Everyone,

We are back from our morning/afternoon at the Magic Kingdom. We had a great time. The park was not overly crowded at all. I like going on Saturday's to the Magic Kingdom. For some reason crowds don't seem to heavy on Saturdays. I think because a lot of families are transitioning vacations; who's leaving and who's coming. Saturday seems like a day a lot of people depart and come to Disney World. Also, I believe last night was Magic Kindgom EMH. Many families opt not to come back the next day after spending the night at the Magic Kingdom.

We checked into the club level at the lodge. It was really nice to grab a quick breakfast this morning before heading to the Magic Kingdom.

Our day started heading right down Main St. U.S.A. and a look at Cinderella Castle.


And of course the Main St. U.S.A. singers and dancers. I love seeing them; especially when arriving at the park. They bring a smile to everyone's face.


We decided to get fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain. We cut through Adventureland and I couldn't help to snap a picture of one of our favorite signs.


Also on our way to get fastpasses we ran into some characters and one of Jack Sparrow's assistants.




After we got our fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain we headed for the Hall of Presidents. I wanted to see the newly refurbished attraction with President Obama. It didn't disappoint. We really enjoyed it. I was a little surprised how short it was. It seemed to go by very quick. I'm a big fan of Morgan Friedman so I knew I was going to love the narration. For those who've never seen the Hall of Presidents definately plan to make a stop.

After the Hall of presidents we stopped over at the Haunted Mansion. As usual it was a great and spooky ride. We stopped for lunch over at Columbia Harbour House. We needed a rest so I told Kim and Anna we should go upstairs away from the crowd. The upstairs at Columbia Harbour House is rarely crowded because most people don't know its there. A nice secret spot to get away from the crowds.

After lunch we decided to head over to Toon Town because Anna wanted to see the new Pixie Hollow area with Tinker Bell and the fairies. When we arrived to the character tent the posted wait time was 30 minutes; however, it felt like we waited about 45 minutes. A little longer than I wanted to wait.
Here are a couple shots I took at Pixie Hollow




At about 2:30 we decided it was time to leave the Magic Kingdom and head back to AKL. Our room was ready so we needed to get our luggage. On our way out of the park we caught the Celebrate Dreams Come True parade


We made it back to AKL and went to our room. We had a chocolate surprise waiting for us from the club level staff.


And here is the view from our room looking at some ostriches


We are headed down to the Jambo House pool to catch some sun and fun. Later we may take in some night vision of the animals. The resort provides night vision goggles between 9:00 and 11:00PM so you can view the animals at night.

More to come!

[The Dark Lord of the Sith]

Great report. I love the pictures. Mrs. Sith really wants to try Raglan Road. It is on a short list of places to hit along with Cookes of Dublin. Looks like you're having a good time!

[queenofthehouse]

The Dark Lord of the Sith, on Aug 1 2009, 06:05 PM, said:

Great report. I love the pictures. Mrs. Sith really wants to try Raglan Road. It is on a short list of places to hit along with Cookes of Dublin. Looks like you're having a good time!

Oh yes, that's what it's called, Cookes of Dublin. I love going there. As our trip gets closer, I actually start to taste the chicken. mmmmmmm good.

[queenofthehouse]

ADP, on Aug 1 2009, 04:01 PM, said:

Saturday, August 1st

The park was not overly crowded at all. I like going on Saturday's to the Magic Kingdom. For some reason crowds don't seem to heavy on Saturdays. I think because a lot of families are transitioning vacations; who's leaving and who's coming. Saturday seems like a day a lot of people depart and come to Disney World. Also, I believe last night was Magic Kindgom EMH. Many families opt not to come back the next day after spending the night at the Magic Kingdom.

Well that's a very interesting observation. I never go on Saturdays because I thought it would the most crowded, especially since local people can just come for the day. I'll have to give the MK a try on Saturday, when I'm there. (soon, soon, soon, soon, can't wait)

[ADP]

Hi Everyone,

We are back from the pool and we took another trip to Downtown Disney. We also got to enjoy some of the hot foods served in the club level. Tonights hot foods included BBQ pork ribs, African meatballs, assortmants of cheese and crackers, PB&J, assortmants of beers and wines.

The pool was rather crowded late this afternoon. The water was very warm, probably in the upper 80 degree temperature. It felt great and the weather was wonderful; all day for that matter.


Here are a couple photos of the AKL pool slide at Jambo House




After we left the pool we headed up to the club lounge where we enjoyed some hot foods, beer, wine and other foods. There were also olive and vegetable assortmants as well tonight. I'll post more photos of the club offerings later in the week.


After we enjoyed our food we took the bus to Downtown Disney to specifically check out the Christmas store. We always try and purchase an ornament or two whenever we visit Walt Disney World. 150 more days until Christams; better start making out your list now.


Tomorrow we are planning on visiting Hollywood Studios in the morning. In the early afternoon we have plans or lunch at Backlot Express with some friends, and then later in the afternoon we have dinner plans with other friends. We have quite an action packed day planned tomorrow.

More to come!

Up Next:
Hollywood Studios
Lunch at Backlot Express
Dinner at Boma

[ADP]

Good Morning Everyone,

We are headed out the door to Hollywood Studios after we have breakfast in the club lounge. We're hopeful to get to ride Toy Story Mania as soon as the park opens.

We're also meeting some friends for lunch at the Backlot Express.

We're looking forward to checking out some of the Streetmosphere characters that roam around Hollywood Blvd.

I got a great run in this morning from Jambo House to Kidani Village. I ran the path that connects the two resorts twice. That is a approximate total of 2 miles. It wasn't terribly humid this morning so it was a pretty good run.

I'll have more later.

[ADP]

Hi Everyone,

We are back from our morning/afternoon from Hollywood Studios. We had a great time. We arrived at the park around 9:15 and headed immediately to get fastpasses for Toy Story Mania. The wait at the fastpass machines was about 10 minutes. Our return time was 11:20.

The crowd wasn't to bad when we arrived, it just seemed everyone wanted to get over to Pixar Place and get fastpasses or ride TSM.

The crowd on Hollywood Blvd this morning


Here was the line to get a fastpass at Toy Story Mania


We were able to experience Muppets 3-D, we saw the UP characters in the animation courtyard, Star Tours, Anna got her hair wrapped, we rode Toy Story Mania, and we had lunch at the Backlot Express.

It was kind of funny, but the rest of the park was really empty this morning. Here's proof of it. Hardly anyone was in the Streets of America around 10:00AM this morning. We felt like we had the park to ourselves.


While we were at the Animation area I found some hidden Mickey's on the floor while waiting for us to see the UP characters.


We eventually made it through the line and saw the UP characters.


Afterwards we had lunch at the Backlot Express with Matt and Glenn. I had a very good chicken salad. It was pretty large and had more chicken in it the last time I remember having it.
We had a nice time chatting with Matt and Glenn. Thanks for coming out guys. It was good seeing you again.


While we entered the Muppets 3-D attraction I snapped this photo of the ticket booth. The Muppets attraction has a ton of detail to it


Here's a shot of one of the robots inside the Star Tours attraction. Another great queue for details.


On our way out of the Studios we stopped at Sid's. If you answer the 5 questions on the chalk board you get a certificate.


We also caught a glimpse of some of the streetmosphere. Next time we visit the Studios I'm making it a point to see more streetmosphere.


Tonight we are headed downstairs to eat at Boma. I'll have more later on our meal.

[queenofthehouse]

ADP, on Aug 2 2009, 06:27 PM, said:

We also caught a glimpse of some of the streetmosphere. Next time we visit the Studios I'm making it a point to see more streetmosphere.

I like your spirit "more streetmosphere". I've never noticed this blue car before, but it looks like the white one. Hmmm I wonder if they just painted the white one blue?.

[queenofthehouse]

I hope you don't mind. I posted the link to your photo with LeRoy Small in the blue car on the Streetmosphere yahoo webgroup. I should have asked you first, but I got excited seeing something new.