Dunn Family - July 2005

Dunn family trip report (no parks - pool hopping - for FREE!)
Sun Jul 10, 2005 2:00 pm

Hi Everyone,

I usually don't do trip reports, but I thought I would since we actually enjoyed Disney this past time without going to a park! Plus it was all "free" as we used our Disney reward dollars to pay for our trip. We had the *best* time and I thought y'all would enjoy.

Our fam consists of me (36), DH (31), DS (4) and DD (22 months). We had racked up enough Disney reward dollars to splurge on a two night trip to a Savannah View room at AKL. We were going to be at the beach with my family (my parents, sisters and kids) and we decided to cap off our trip with 2 nights at Disney.

I had read many things on this list on requesting different savannah view rooms, and I looked at maps but I wasn't sure which savannah to request so I didn't. We had stayed at a non-savannah view room at AKL previously and loved it so we were thrilled to be back.

Anyway - once we arrived we were told we were given an upgrade to a *Deluxe* Savannah View room. I was thrilled - we were assigned the Sunset Savannah, but then when I saw that was on the opposite side of the resort as the pool (and we wanted to go to the pool) I requested something on the other side. We were given a room on the 5th floor (top floor) overlooking the Arusha Savannah. My understanding is that the *Deluxe* savannah view room is closer to the main lodge, and a little bit larger. The non-deluxe views are out on the wings of the hotel.

Now that we have "officially" stayed in a savannah view room, I can give some advice to folks going to AKL. We checked in at 4:00 p.m. exactly, and there were *no* animals anywhere. I called to complain and they clearly had a "stock" answer, something about the animals being in the back of the resort because of all of the shade. So, I figured that the non-deluxe rooms (aside from being a much longer walk) wouldn't be too bad from an animal viewing perspective.

I also didn't realize that you can see "civilization" from the balcony! The resort is so out of the way and off into the woods that it always *felt* like we were in Africa - that was one of the reasons why we loved it so. However, our room looked *away* from the resort, not into the resort, and we were amazed at what we saw. Over what little animals we saw, we could see signs for McDonalds, Cracker Barrel, a traffic light, and a highway. It really, really detracted from the 'feeling' of being away from it all in Africa. I hate to say this, but I was a little disappointed. Next time we will definitely ask for a 3rd floor room.

I called and requested that we change to a view of the Zebras (looking into the resort) and was told that view was the most popular view and it was unavailable. So my advice - ASK FOR A VIEW OF THE ZEBRAS! Evidently those are the "rooms to have" if you are looking for the max animal view. Also, ask for the 3rd floor! You will be closer to the animals for better picture taking.

We did enjoy quite a bit of animal activity in the morning and saw zebras, and a bunch of exotic birds and different types of interesting horned animals. So we did get some 'bang for our buck' even though the golden arches were in the background.

After checking in and settling in the room, we left and met my husband's parents at Olivia's at Old Key West. We enjoyed our favorites - hubby had the cheeseburger (fantastic! It's NOT on the dinner menu; you have to ask for it but it is YUMMY) and I got my favorite penne with sundried tomatoes, fontina cheese and spinach with grilled chicken. The kids split one childs meal, and with the DDE card we got out light.

My inlaws had never "done Disney" without going to a park, so we showed them around. We took the boat to DTD and then changed the kids into swim trunks and they played in the fountains for quite a while. I shopped a bit (got some great frames at the Artists Palette) and we rode the boat back home. The kids were pooped and a fun time was had by all!

The next morning, hubby retrieved breakfast from the Mara (breakfast burritos) and we all ate in the room. We then donned our swim trunks for a fun filled day of pool hopping! We first started out at the AKL pool. It was zero entry and had a slide that was PERFECT for our soon-to-be 4 year old. We had him strapped in our battery of flotation devices (swim vest and water wings) and he ended up going on the slide over and over by himself! We wore everyone out, then decided to explore other pools.

Next was Caribbean Beach Resort. We stayed there when it first opened, but I hadn't been back (even to visit) since having kids. This resort is very designed towards those with younger kids, and I think we will choose to stay there next time we go. We really liked the atmosphere, and the "grab and go" food section (got grapes and cheese for the kids!) and hubby and I split a personal supreme pizza and a ceasar salad. The pool slide was great, and had a bridge over the pool. The pool also had a waterfall. I *really* liked the kiddie pool - it had 3 small fountains that came out of the wall which was VERY fun and more exciting than the boring "plain" kiddie pool at AKL. (Note that my opinion of the AKL pool changed as we visited more pools.)

Next we went to Contemporary. I remembered that Contemp had dancing fountains for the little kids to play in, so we wanted to go there. As we were walking up, BOOM - thunder and lightening everywhere. So, we went inside and shopped (I got a new watch!) and waited for the weather to get better. It didn't, so we decided to ride the monorail!

We had to wait for 2 monorails in order to get a front car. DH and DD *LOVED* being in the front so much that we rode it around twice. After the 2nd time, we got out at Poly, and decided to get a snack in Captain Cooks. Ate a snack of fruit and enjoyed a rest in the comfy booths. After that we went into the pool!

I did not realize that ALL THE DELUXE RESORTS ON THE MONORAIL HAVE THE FOUNTAINS! They are all slightly different, but fun all the same! Wore DD out playing in the fountain. DH tried the slide - but it was much much bigger and faster than the one at AKL and it was probably *too* fast. It wrapped around a volcano and was 'scary' for him. The pool was zero depth entry, and DD loved playing in this pool the most. Honestly, it was my favorite pool also just for the views of the GF and MK. I then saw a sign that said "for Poly guests only" and at that point I wondered if it was OK to pool hop?

Anyway - we debated whether to take a boat back to Contemp (would've had to gone via MK and WL) decided it would've been too long so we went back to the Monorail. Rode it around, and at the MK they EVACUATED us! Said that they smelled a bad smell so everyone had to go and they shut it down. This was a day after the London bombings, so I am thinking WDW was being *very* careful. So, we did the loooong walk back to Contemp (in wet bathing suits, oh how fun) and were approaching the car just in time for the 2nd downpour of the night. We decided to skip the Contemp pool and go back home. Stopped at Tony Roma's and got take out baby back ribs which we enjoyed on the way back to AKL.

Saturday we woke up, ate the breakfast buffet at BOMA (and yes, I smuggled out two entire bottles of Frunch!) and then skedaddled out of there as fast as possible to beat the hurricane. Weather was deteriorating by the minute, and our trip back was the worst one in recent memory. What normally takes us 8 hours (to Atlanta) took us nearly 10 because of the bad weather and horrible traffic. Thank goodness we had that Frunch to keep the kids happy.

Anyway - the COOL thing about this was that this Disney vacation was "FREE" as it was paid for by Disney Dollars. The kids had a fantastic time, and my DS (almost 4) is still talking about the waterslides and fountains. I am trying to scheme my hubby into agreeing to go back over Labor Day weekend - again, doing no parks, just doing the pool hop thing. That one probably won't be free though.

*sigh* Hope you enjoyed our trip report... .Of course, we can't wait to go back....!