Day One - The Lodge and Other Stuff

Welcome Home! Thats what they always say when you arrive at a Disney Resort. Yeah cheesy isn't it? But It does feel like a second home to us here at WDW. They do a lot of this 'towel stuff' when you have kids too.



Yesterday when I got up I took a few photos of the hotel (The Animal Kingdom Lodge) while it was quiet and peaceful.
This is the corridor where our room is. You see the fire door at the end? That leads right out to the poolside.



This is the path from that door to the pool. Great room, similar to what we had last time we stayed. Some of the rooms are a good hike to the pool area, especially the ones where they look over the savannah.



Here are a couple of lobby photos. it's huge! As you walk in through the main entrance you can't help but be impressed. The detail, the colours, smell of the wood burning in the fire pit. It's also a fantastic place to people watch.



This is of the bar and Boma restaurant area. They do an african buffet meal here which is amazing. Even Alexander ate heartily last time. There is also another restaurant Jiko, which is said to be one of the finest in Disney. There are some pretty good restaurants too.



Here is one of the features of the lobby. The fire pit. Bet it feels great at Christmas when the big tree is decorated and the weather is colder.



There is also a fire pit outside, surrounded by carved rocking chairs where African cast members sit and tell stories of Africa at dusk. It's little things like this that makes Disney worth the extra money. I just had to do a book review on customer service for work and chose Disney's 'Be Our Guest' to do it on. One of the key themes is to make their guests 'experience' as many aspects as possible using all their senses. They do this very well. Having read that book, I am seeing Disney in a different light, looking at how they do things, what they say to guests, the details.....It's fascinating.



I also saw this bag in the shop....It may be coming home with me.....



So after a stroll around the hotel, we went out to Disney Hollywood Studios. We just drive there because the bus service goes round a few hotels and we often tend to go off to the shops etc afterwards. We did a couple of years early on without a car, couldn't imagine not having one now. Driving is so easy here, the cars are great and you can see so much more.
Hollywood Studio, or MGM as we still call it as always been one of the parks we enjoy. Not too big and has some good rides, like the Rockin' Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror. There is also The Indiana Jones show, The Great Movie Ride, Muppets 3D and The Terminator 3D. We may have seen them all a dozen times but they are still part of the trip.




This was a first though. We all went into the Animation Studio and was shown how to draw a Disney character. This was my 'Chip' from 'Chip and Dale'. Could have stayed in there all afternoon drawing things.


This is our lunch. As part of the dining plan you get to put on at least a stone in weight. Each person gets one snack, such as a drink, ice cream, cookie, fruit etc, One counter service meal...this is a picture of what we got in Pizza Planet. Yes, all of that is one counter service! and one table service meal, which is any main course, a dessert and a drink. That includes 16oz steaks and lobster if you want them. You have to time your meals well or you find you just aren't that hungry by the time you arrive for your evening meal. Of course you don't have to eat it all, but it's pretty hard to resist the multitude of dishes on offer. The saving grace of course is that you do an awful lot of walking!




So that's day one done. I am sitting in bed finishing this off before starting going out to collect ammunition for Day two blog. The lengths I have to go to, to keep my audience entertained. It's a hard life......