"It's an adventure" Day 15: AKL and going home

wickesy

<font color=royalblue>Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love y
Joined
Apr 2, 2006
Wednesday 25th April

We were up at 7:45 today and as promised our bill was hanging on the outside of our door. Now we hadn’t charged anything to our room so I was quite surprised to see charges on it including charges for restaurants we hadn’t been to and valet parking which we hadn’t done! When I looked the bill was actually for room 4114 rather than our room – 4116. Dad took it out to see if room 4114 had our bill on their door but in fact they had a bill which was for their room number but had completely different details so he had to go down to reception where they confirmed that there was nothing for us to pay.

We got all our bits together and set off at 9:20 for Downtown Disney to drop our bags off as I had done online check-in after our meal last night. As we were in the queue a young boy in front of us turned to Dad and said “I know you don’t I?” It turned out to be the family that had sat opposite us at the gate in Gatwick two weeks earlier! We were told that at that point the flight was running 1 hour 20 minutes late and boarding would not start until 8:00.
We dropped our bags off and went round to Fantasia Gardens to play some miniature golf but as the course seemed to be out in the sun we abandoned the idea and decided to spend the rest of the day at Animal Kingdom Lodge instead to get a better feel of the place.

First stop was Mara where we had a drink each and we then went upstairs to one of the Savanna outlooks with the rocking chairs where we sat down and after a while the zebras came round to see us. We sat there for a while and around lunch time I began feeling peckish so we went back down to Mara for something to eat before going back up to our previous seats.

After a while it began getting quite warm so we went and sat in the lobby for a while and had a look round the shops. At around 3:00 we went back out side for one final look at the animals and at 3:25 we decided it was time to leave for the airport but vowed to come back and stay here next year.
We took the 417 back to the South entrance of the airport and arrived at 3:45. We dropped the car off with no problems and by 4:30 we were through security and making our way to the gate.

I bought some Duty Free and noticed that the early Gatwick flight was using Viriginia Plain so I didn’t hold out much hope for having games on the way home. Our flight was actually showing as being on time but at 6:30 we found out that it was actually going to be 3 hours late!

There was nothing we could do about the delay so we just sat at the gate waiting for our plane which eventually arrived at 8:30. By 9:45 we still hadn’t started boarding and we were told that there was “a delay in cleaning the plane” at which point I saw an empty stretcher being taken onto the plane. A few minutes later the stretcher came off again bearing what I think was one of the cleaners who had obviously been taken ill on the plane.

Boarding finally started at 10:00 and we took our seats in 80 H and K where I was surprised to see that we did in fact have the games system on board although I don’t know which plane we were on. The pilot informed us that the delay had been caused because our flight had come in from Manchester but had to go back to Gatwick for a maintenance check so the Manchester and Gatwick flights had to switch aircraft. That unfortunately had left us with the late incoming flight.

We sat back and enjoyed our pre-flight champagne before being told at 10:55 that there would be a further delay as one of the flight attendants had started being violently sick as the passengers started boarding so he had to be off-loaded and his bags had to be found.

We finally pushed back 3 hours and 20 minutes late at 11:00 and we were airborne by 11:15. Shortly after take-off meals were served and I chose to have the Smoked Mozzarella Ravioli while Dad had the Cajun Spiced Chicken Breast. As before it was the usual airline food although I still had no appetite so I didn’t have much at all. We both had a glass of wine and after dinner I had a Baileys while Dad had a brandy.

During the flight I watched A Night At The Museum which I enjoyed, had a bit of a snooze and then watched Flushed Away before snoozing on and off for a few hours and playing a few rounds of Millionaire. Around 10:00 breakfast was served which was the usual fruit salad and orange juice although Dad nearly missed his because he was asleep.

We landed at 12:04 and thanks to several new Immigration queues opening up just as we got there we were through quite quickly and into baggage claim where I had to rush off to the toilet again leaving Dad to collect the bags. Once I got back we went through Customs where there wasn’t a single Customs officer to be seen and we met up with our taxi driver who was waiting in arrivals for us.

We were out of the airport by 1:05 and home by 2:05 where I immediately started thinking about when we could book to go back.

And that was our trip – 2 weeks of great fun which hooked us both in and made us book to go back again next year. The title of the report was inspired by an American tourist who got on the double decker bus in Las Vegas when we were there last year. As she came upstairs she said “It’s an adventure” which became our quote for everything we did in Florida. Thanks to all those who have been reading and leaving comments saying how much they have enjoyed the reports. I have really enjoyed doing them and will hopefully do one next year.

Finally I have 9 official guide maps which I brought back from the four parks to send off to anybody who would like one. If you would like a set, or just a map for one park just PM me your details and I will send them out to you.
 
Great reports, I've loved reading them all :) , I'd love to stay in a resort hotel. And now I'm even more excited about our trip :banana: :banana:
 
David, thank you so much for these trip reports, I have really enjoyed reading them and cant wait for you to go back again next year and tell us all about AKL. Thank you:goodvibes :goodvibes
 
Thanks so very much for your reports. Have really enjoyed reading them and I too think you can't beat staying at a disney hotel. We hope to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas in a few years if we are lucky to get them with our DVC points.


Susan
 
Thanks for taking the time to re-live your trip for us David, am already looking forward to next years!

:surfweb:

Jodie
 
I have thoroughly enjoyed your trip reports. :) I'm sorry they have to end. Hope your tummy's feeling better.
 
Loved the reports, we stopped at AKL at Christmas its fantastic :thumbsup2

There's nothing better than coming back from a hard day in the parks and sitting on your balcony watching the animals :love:
 
Brilliant trip report , have spent the whole evening reading
Thanks for sharing great photos
glad to hear it was as magicial as your first trip

lovely to hear that you and your Dad get on so well

Great idea putting a link at the end of each report made it so much easier to get to the next one
 
David,
Feeling unwell didn't seem to slow you down too much. So glad you didn't miss your dinner at the CA Grill and that spectacular view of Wishes. Thank you so much for sharing your adventure. Your reports were well written and full of details that brought many scenes to life. Smiling to think you and your Dad are already planning for next year's trip. I would lobby for my beloved Wilderness Lodge, but understand the appeal of the Animal Kingdom Lodge and have to admit that if I weren't so tied to WL I'd book AKL myself--and probably will some day. Once again thanks to you and your Dad for taking us all along on your great adventure.
 
Thanks very much for sharing your trip reports with us, David. I have very much enjoyed reading them, and hope that you will write us another one after your next trip.

Laur's princess:
 
Great trip report David. Keep us posted on your plans for next year.
 
I enjoyed your trip report - it helps reading your report as I have 3 months to go and your report made me feel like I was already there:thumbsup2
 

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