We had the most amazing week in WDW! It really was a dream vacation! I thought I’d try my hand at a trip report since I loved reading them when I was planning and I also thought it may help me relive the magic. We spent a week at AKL Jambo House. It was myself, DH, DD6 and DD3. We absolutely loved AKL! It’s an absolutely beautiful, calming place. And we had no issues at all with the buses. We actually only waited for a bus once, on the way back to the resort from MK after the parade, and even then, it was about a 7 minute wait. Otherwise, our waits were all under 5 minutes. Most days we were lucky enough to walk (run) right onto the buses, both to and from the parks!
Saturday - Arrival Day!
We were coming from the east coast of Canada and had about a 5 1/2 hour flight to MCO. Our flight was about 45 minutes delayed and ended up landing about 2:35 pm. We got through customs relatively quickly and our bus was waiting when we got to the the ME line. AKL was the only stop (hooray!) and we got to the resort about 4:30 or so. The lobby is so beautiful and we were all in awe! Our room was ready and we were in room 3417. I had requested 3427 on our fax so I would definitely call it a win for the TP fax service! The room was exactly what I had asked for - quiet, two queen beds, a view of the Arusha savanna and about a 30 second walk to the lobby. Perfect! The girls wanted to check out the pool so we put on our suits (which we had in our carry ons) and hit the pool. The pool is beautiful and DD6 loved the slide.
Unfortunately I ended up losing track of time which lead to DD3’s only real meltdown of the trip. When I checked my watch, it was after 6 and we had a 6:30 reservation at Boma. DD3 did NOT want to leave the pool and didn’t yet understand that we’d be back, so she was not happy. I ended up carrying her back to the room, but after the long day we’d had she was not ready to settle quickly. I sent DH and DD6 on to dinner at Boma while I calmed DD3. She calmed down pretty quickly once all was quiet and was happy to sit on the balcony and watch the animals. About 20 minutes later, DH and DD6 showed up with food from the Mara and explained that the person at check in at Boma told them we could cancel our reservation (this one time) with no penalty, given the circumstances. I was so grateful that we could have our first meal of the trip together! I had debated making a reservation for our arrival day and I think I should have made our plan a bit more flexible. After we finished eating, the kids were exhausted and fell asleep early. DH and I enjoyed a glass on wine on the balcony as we watched the animals. Despite the minor hiccup, it was a great first day!
Next up AK!