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Many of you know I’m just terrible when it comes to Trip Reports and have a horrendous track record of finishing them.  I know it too, as evidenced by these unfinished classics…

We Ate Some Stuff -

This is Not a Trip Report - http://www.fortfiends.net/topic/8173-this-is-not-a-trip-report/          

That said, in honor of all you awesome Fiends that write fabulous TRs and spend time sharing your great photos and experiences, I’m going to take a whack at it again.  I’ll put in an honest effort, but no promises.  ;)

All that said, this wasn’t our usual annual trip to the Fort.  I didn’t even plan this one. This was my “tagalong” trip with my brother, sister-in-law and 7yo nephew.  It came about when they were starting to plan their first big family trip to Disney and were getting a bit overwhelmed with all the planning, wanting to make sure they got the most out of their week.  Conversations with me giving them tidbits of advice turned into “why don’t you just come with us??”  They were going to have a room anyway (and I was assured the 7yo doesn’t kick in his sleep) and offered to buy me a plane ticket, and I was going to get an AP, so… why not?!

Then things got interesting.  What started out as “we’re going to stay at Coronado Springs” (cool!) turned into “so… I snagged club level at the Beach Club for a couple of nights and the Poly for the rest of the week.”

WOWSA!! Not gonna lie – I squealed when I got that email, knowing the likelihood of me staying at the Poly anytime soon (if ever) was slim to none – never mind club level anywhere.

Adding to the fun, my nephew (nickname B ) had no idea this trip was happening. While his mom told him that “someday” they’d go, and they had fun looking at maps and videos, he really had no clue when he woke up that Saturday morning to go with Dad to “bring Mom and Tante Q (that’s me) to the airport for a business trip…” that he was really heading to Disney.  They told him at 5:30 that morning, presenting him with a book all about the trip that his Mom put together – agenda, maps, photos, the works.  My brother has the video (I need to snag it) of him figuring it out.  It’s adorable.  At some point he realizes it’s “TODAY?!?!” and shrieks.  Then they tell him “Tante Q is coming too” – and he shrieks again. Love that kid.  ;)

When he came running next door to my parents where I slept over we both had our mouse ears on and danced around the room…

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(ugh I take terrible selfies)

At the airport with his new Safari Mickey and “Tall” – his favorite stuffed animal.

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Ready for takeoff!

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;)  That was just a preview of how much this kid is related to me.  He “rode” the takeoff with his arms up!  Yep, that’s right.

 

 

Driving in from the airport…

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(cue wild squealing - from the kid too.  LOL)

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And of course the essentials of every 7yo’s Disney trip – goldfish and a penny book.  Yes, Tall is wearing a Magic Band (I had a spare). The penny book was actually one I’d started ages ago and never filled. I gave it to them when I knew they were planning this trip. We filled the last few slots the last night. 

Our room

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View from the balcony

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We could actually catch fireworks (some) from both Epcot and MK from our balcony.

While the others hit the pool, I took advantage of being so close to Epcot to zip over and get my Tables in Wonderland card so that I’d have it for the rest of the trip.  It was our day to settle in, use the pool, have a nice dinner and get ready to hit the ground running the next day.  We had no park plans that day.

Of course if you’re walking on by…

 

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Cool view on the way back

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We had some great pool time.  Seriously, that pool is awesome. I think it’s also the only pool left on Disney property that has some really deep parts.  And the slide is pretty darned fun – at least once you know where the part that dumps water in your face is.  ;)

Back to the room to get changed for dinner, and Mousekeeping had already come and turned down the beds.

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Dinner was at Flying Fish – which I haven’t been to in quite a few years.

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Since I’m so terrible at selfies, I let the 7yo take this one.

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(and you can see the early stages of my hair’s “Florida frizz”  LOL)

That drink was something delicious with gin in it.

So the other interesting twist on this trip is that my brother’s family did the deluxe dining plan (long story).  I was not on their package, and just had my trusty TIW card.  We all knew it was going to be a ton of food, so the plan all along was that I’d probably order something small, and share.  It worked out very well all around – they didn’t waste any food and I didn’t spend a fortune on dining.

My salad with figs and prosciutto.

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What we didn’t realize that night was that on the DxDDP they don’t differentiate between kid and adult credits. As B is a pretty picky eater, I got his entrée that night.  This is the kids’ shrimp and grits and it was delicious!

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After dinner, B really wanted to rent a Surry bike. Now a little side note about my nephew – he races BMX and has since he was 4.  He’s pretty darned good at it and very close to moving up to expert level in his class. He’s also a pretty intense, energetic kid, so this all works for him pretty well.

Cut to B and Dad in the front, Mom and I in the back, with me behind B trying to keep up with how fast he’s pedaling.  Dad is steering to avoid pedestrians (why do they rent these things out on a busy Saturday night?!?!), B is ringing the bell like he’s on his way to a fire, and Mom and I are almost falling off our seats laughing.

Racers ready!

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The boys dropped us off at the Beach Club, went back and swapped the 4 seater for a 2 seater and did another loop before taking the boat back.

Having been up before 5am, I think we were all snoring 2 minutes after our heads hit the pillow.


That's Day 1 in the books!  Next up - we go wild at Animal Kingdom.  :)

 

 

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Just goes to show ya.....you Dim Sum, you lose sum.  

Did you ever see anyone in or around the bungalows?  The times I've been near them, they always look deserted.  If i was paying that much to stay in one i would be perched on the deck all da

Hm... Dave does make some good points.  But I think this was a great TR for your first complete one.  I am hoping that this is a good sign for the upcoming trip.  I know that this level of pictures of

Looks like fun. You can never go wrong with food pics as far as I'm concerned. Seeing the fig and prosciutto salad set one of the weekend menu items for me. All I need are some figs. We have lots of shrimp in the freezer and there's always grits in the pantry so might make up a batch if those too.

As far as trip reports go. You are doing better than me. At least you start something. :lol:

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Thanks for joining in, everybody!

4 hours ago, WannaBeImagineer said:

Great start Mo!

It looks like a great trip!!!  I'm curious how you liked the concierge level?  Did you go get some "free" stuff?

WBI

Yes, mostly in the form of food and drink.  :)
We hit it up very regularly.  In the morning, my wonderful brother went and brought coffee back for all of us.  On days we didn't have a breakfast scheduled, there was always at least bagels, toast, pastries and fruits.  The Beach Club even had an espresso machine!

Beach Club offerings were terrific in general.  Lunch there were usually a variety of cold salads, meats, cheeses, and plenty of fresh bread and fixings for sandwiches.  We didn't hit that very often as we were usually out and about.

But we used the dinner spread a few times as appetizers before we headed out to a later dinner. At the Beach Club that meant a new selection of salads, some great cheese platters, and at least a couple of hot dishes - sometimes including soup. Some of the other things we had were scallops wrapped in prosciutto, Spanikopita, conch fritters...

Poly offerings were less in terms of options, but everything we had there was good as well.

Both always had out a rotating selection of juices, milk, and a fridge with canned sodas.

Both lounges offered alcohol in the evenings - several bottled beers, at least 3 kinds of wine, and cordials setup by the coffee.  Beach Club served you the beer and wine, Poly was self serve but with someone watching to make sure you weren't underage (they carded some people).  In both cases you could come back as often as you liked and bring whatever you wanted back to your room.

3 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I'm all in!

WBI already asked the same question I have- where's the photos of you eating and drinking the "free" stuff in the Club Level lounge?  I can't believe that would not have been a priority stop on day one!

It's awesome that you got to go along on your nephew's first visit.  What fun that must have been!

TCD

I'm afraid I slacked in the "photos of club level food" department.  I was too busy juggling plates and trying not to look like I didn't belong there.  LOL

It just so happens that the folks at Mousesteps stayed club level at the Beach Club shortly before my trip and took some good video...

2 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

You had to spend almost a week at the Poly??  Wow, that sucks.  It's too bad you don't like the sushi there.  Or the drinks.  Or anything.  Right?  

Seriously.  Worst. Resort. Evah.  ;)

I swear I really did squeal when I got that email from my SIL.  At first it was just a few nights - which was awesome - but by the time we left we were up to 6.  I should have bought a lottery ticket because I'm not sure I'll ever get that lucky again.

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OK, back to the fun.  Our first park day was Animal Kingdom.

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B loves animals (as evidenced by the 10 stuffies he packed to bring with him) so his Mom knew he’d love this park.

He loved the safari. The lighting on this is lousy, but it was really cool to see the lion draped across the top of the rocks.

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We also did the 2 trails to see the gorillas and tigers.

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The grown ups needed a beverage before the Festival of the Lion King.  These mojitos are delicious, and bonus - that stirrer is a hunk of sugar cane you can chew on if you want.

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B also loved the Lion King show and didn’t hesitate to join in on the action.

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Afterwards he claimed it was "embarrassing" being in the show.  I'm not buying it.  ;)

Here's the video...

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Lunch was at Yak and Yeti.  This is my Dim Sum basket.

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I'll be honest - it looked better than it was.  It was fine, but nothing I can't buy in the freezer dept at Trader Joe's.

Dad, B (aka Mr. Fearless) and I then rode Everest.  Verdict? “Awesome!”  (there was a lot of that this trip). On our way out through the gift shop B said “I need to get something to remember this!” and then spotted the stuffed snow leopards.  A squishy “aw… he needs me” and cue Tante Q breaking out the AP discount and getting suckered.  The snow leopard’s name is Everest.  ;)

We poked around Dinoland – and while B got to run his little head off in the Dig Site (oh to bottle that energy), Mom snagged B and I a FP for Kali.  Apparently the other grownups wanted to stay dry.  LOL

 

I’ve ridden Kali before, and usually a few people get soaked but the rest just get wet-ish.  Not this time!  Every single person in our raft got completely drowned!  B naturally thought it was hilarious.  Now that we were dripping wet (our clothes took 2 days hanging up in the bathroom to dry), it was time to head back to the resort to change for dinner. Waiting for the bus, we could see the progress on AVATARLAND.

 

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We headed back to the resort for a rest, changed into non-sweaty clothes (did I mention it was a bit hot for us Northern folks?) and then hopped in the rental car and headed to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Sanaa.

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Do you know what sound a giraffe makes?  I do now! And hearing a 7yo talk giraffe will give you the giggles for a solid 10 minutes. LOL

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If you haven't been out here yet, just go.  Even if it's not for dinner.  Everyone loved this resort and now my SIL has it high on her list of places to stay in the future. We didn't make it over to the main lobby as we ran out of time, but even the lobby in Kidani Village is gorgeous and there are lots of animals to see.  And if you haven't been Sanaa - even just to sit in the bar and get the bread service, you don't know what you're missing.

Even the sangria has Mickey ears.

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I took some food pics here but they came out really dark.  :(

So I'll just have to describe it to you.
THE BREAD SERVICE IS AMAZING!

Ok, there you go. That's all you need to know. I probably have an old pic of it somewhere I can dig up if you want to see it, as we order it every time we go here and we go here almost every trip.  :)

Since I knew we'd be getting one (with all the breads and all the dips - which BTW, counts as an appetizer on the DxDDP) I only ordered an appetizer for my meal, but it turned out to be a really yummy one! It's on the menu as this...

Oxtail Umngqusho
cracked Hominy and Beans with Braised Oxtail

Sounds a little weird (although I make oxtail at home from time to time), but it was very beefy and delicious, if a bit salty (which has become my standard Disney dining complaint these days). The hominy was cooked just right, with the texture of an al dente pasta.  As it turned out, the portion was plenty large enough to serve as an entree and it was very filling in general, even if I hadn't eaten my weight in bread and dips.  ;)

After dinner we went back out to the observation area - which is right near the restaurant - to use the night vision glasses.  There was a truck out feeding the animals, which meant they were very active.  I've never seen Ankole Cattle move that fast!

When the kiddo was done talking to the giraffes, we headed back for the night.  We had an early character breakfast scheduled and it was also the day we switched "homes" and moved to the Poly (YAY!!!) so we needed to pack up our stuff to move.

First park day in the books!

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Ok for those that haven't seen the bread service before - here's a pic from last fall.  We'd gotten it with all traditional Naan, but this trip we got the assortment of breads, all of which were delicious.

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The dips go from mild (upper right) to crazy spicy (upper left) and everything in between.  In general the consensus was that our favorites were all in the middle range.  I'm a huge fan of the green coriander chutney (tastes way better than it sounds).  All the bread is made fresh to order.  Here's the full description from the Disney site...

Quote

Choice of Five Breads - Traditional Naan, Garlic-Ginger Naan, Spiced Naan, Onion Kucha, or Paneer Paratha.

Accompaniments - Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mango Chutney, Tomato-Date Jam, Tamarind Chutney, Coriander Chuntey, Garlic Pickle, Red Chile Sambal, or Spicy Jalapeño-Lime Pickle

I just realized the dip listing is missing one - the mild, yogurt-based sauce in the upper right.  It's kind of like a tzatziki.

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20 hours ago, dvccamper said:

Great start! When were you there? We were just at the Poly a couple of weeks ago.

We were at the Poly 17th-23rd.

19 hours ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

So Mo,  did you like the sand bottom in the pool?

Loved it!  Only down side is that it does a number on toe nail polish.  LOL

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8 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

We were at the Poly 17th-23rd.

Aw, we missed you by a week. We stayed in the DVC studios and loved it. Wasn't sure how we would like it because I had read some negative things about it but we agreed we would definitely stay there again. Never got into Trader Sams so I guess we have to go back!

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