DAY 1 – Thursday 5/27/21
Who: Sue (62), DVC Member
Holli (50’s), friend

Plan: Drive to WDW, Disney Springs, Faux Concierge Lounge

Actual: My dental appointment was 8:30 this morning (first appointment of the day), and I was out of there and on the road to Disney by 9. Last weekend I’d told Holli to park in the Orange garage, and whichever of us got there first would text the other to say what level we parked on. It makes it easier to start from the same area if she plans to follow me to Kidani Village. She texted me first, but she was at the resort and couldn’t find an orange garage <g>. I told her Disney Springs, and she headed over there.

I pulled into the Orange garage by noon and parked on level 3, row 12. I had put some stuff in my car vs a hot trunk for the 3-hour drive, so I moved it back to the trunk and then noticed Holli pulling into the spot next to mine. What are the odds in such a big place we’d park right next to each other?? It worked out great. We walked to the Disney Springs entry and neither of us set off the metal detector. The temperature checks are gone, thank goodness.

We decided to check Gideon’s to see if the virtual queue was opened before we did anything else. There was a pretty long line (almost to the corner) of people in the virtual queue who had been called. We went up to the other side and joined the queue, being told it was an 80-minute wait at this point. That was perfect for what we had planned!

We walked over to Planet Hollywood and took a high-top table in the bar area. We each had a glass of wine and we shared the chicken crunch. Holli liked them – the sweetness from the cereal and the spice of the mustard are good together. As we were finishing our wine I got the text it was our turn at Gideon’s (it had been almost an hour). Holli suggested I go join the queue while she settled the check, so I headed out.

To my surprise the virtual queue line was much shorter than before – maybe half the block. It moved quickly, and soon I was the first person in line. Holli had overshot Gideons and had to backtrack to find it, lol.. The cast member at Gideon’s had me sit on the wall up by the door, and when Holli showed up we went inside. She showed restraint and only got 1 cookie – the toffee pistachio chocolate chip. As soon as she got outside she tried it, and was impressed.

I bought 4 cookies – toffee pistachio chocolate chip and triple chocolate for me, peanut butter for Amanda and cookies & cream for Chris. We still hadn’t gotten the “room ready” text and it was after 2pm at this point so we decided to head to the resort to drop off one of the cars & then get Publix out of the way.

Not knowing where our room would be, I figured I’d just stop wherever there were 2 spots next to or near each other. That was tough, as the resort is sold out and evidently everyone drove here! We ended up way down the end, between Timon & Pumbaa! We moved the cooler from her car to mine, and went to Publix in her car.

We picked up the few things we needed and then headed back to the resort – still no text. We went up to the lobby to see what was going on, as now it was 3pm. When I did online check in I gave noon for my arrival time. The cast member was very nice, and said it looked like they were in there cleaning the room now. Hmm, I think I’ve heard that one before, but whatever – I’ll hope for the best. I was able to confirm my requests were met, and learned we’re by the Zazu elevator (the first one – way at the end by Jambo House, which is actually good for us), on the 3rd floor and Sunset Savannah. So, my requests were met! I asked about the pool, thinking it opened at 9am and was told both pools (Kidani & Jambo) are open 10am-11pm. That stinks – why would you wait until 10am on a hot holiday weekend to open the damn pool???????????????

Since the room wasn’t ready, we decided to head over to Jambo House and check things out for ourselves. A bus was at the bus stop so we rode over. There were a couple people in the lobby, but it’s pretty quiet. It’s so much prettier than Kidani, too. We went down to the pool and sure enough the posted opening time is 10. However, at Jambo House there are lots of chairs outside the gate so we can come here earlier but just can’t get into the pool area until 10. The towels are outside the gate, so that works. At Kidani you’d be out of luck, as everything is within the gated area.

While there we checked out the animal viewing areas and saw a few zebra, couple giraffe and some antelope. Before long we decided to head back to Kidani, still hoping to get that room ready text. We walked to Kidani, mostly inside the garage area. We moved our cars down to the Zazu end and then brought some of our stuff up to the 3rd floor. There are a couple benches near the elevator, and we could see the animals on the savannah. Holli went back down and got the rest of our stuff (2-3 more trips, lol) so we looked like a couple homeless people in the hallway.

Eventually it was 4pm and there was one housekeeping cart left in the hallway. I walked a ways in either direction to confirm there weren’t more still working, so it was a safe assumption that was our room. When it got to be a little after 4 I picked up the house phone and called to find out what’s going on. They said a manager would check and call me.

In about 5-10 minutes we saw a manager come off the elevator and he want into the room being worked on. Eventually he came back out and asked if we were us, lol – he apologized, and said the room was ready except for finishing the floor but we could move into the studio portion right now if we wanted. I went with him, since my magic band won’t work until the room is officially ready, and he opened both doors (this is a 2-br lockoff). The housekeeper was just leaving. The manager said today lots of people didn’t leave by 11am, and in fact 1 party didn’t leave until 5 minutes to 4! I told him those people need to be charged for another night or fined in some way – that’s not acceptable.

We got our stuff moved in, and quickly put away everything that belongs in the kitchen. I quickly unpacked most of my stuff in the bedroom, but can finish later. It was more important to get the report caught up so I didn’t have to deal with it later. I finished up around 5:30 and turned on wifi on my ipad to discover an update that needed to run. It was a long one, so it delayed our facetime with Fran.

Instead, we started the software update and prepared the faux concierge lounge food – several crackers, 4 different bellavitano cheeses, honey goat cheese, garlic herb cheese spread, salami and grapes. We also opened a Trader Joe’s buffalo chicken dip and had a bowl of pita chips to go along with that. Finally, we poured a chilled sauvignon blanc and had everything set up on the coffee table in the living room.

Everything was great, and we enjoyed the food & wine while the software update ran. Being on the 3rd floor, we have a great view of the savannah from the couch, and we’d occasionally get up to go see the various animals. Our villa is in a great location – looking around the entire area, the spot directly in front of our balcony is where the animals tend to gather! We had white bearded wildebeest, addax, ankole cattle, eland, cranes, and later some zebra and giraffe.

We facetimed with Fran around 6, and enjoyed catching up with her from her rental in NJ. She unfortunately messed up her knees in a fitness class and has surgery scheduled in June & July. We’re looking forward to our December cruise, when she should be fully recovered and hopefully walking miles around the promenade deck each day.

Eventually Holli & I moved to the balcony, which was really nice except for some exceedingly LOUD guests nearby. Thank goodness they went inside after a while, and then it was perfect out there. We had lots of animals, comfortable weather, and although we could see many others out on their balconies it was a nice quiet group of people. We ended up sitting out there chatting until nearly 11pm!

We finished cleaning up the kitchen (each time I’d come inside for anything I put some of it away) and then Holli set up the sleep sofa and I went to the master bedroom to finish up the report. I took a piece of the triple chocolate cookie with me – wow, was it delicious!

Today was a great start to the trip, ignoring the delay in getting the room.. Thankfully it all worked out and no harm was done. Our timing with the Gideon’s virtual queue and the light lunch at Planet Hollywood was excellent! The villa is in a great location – couldn’t be better, considering we plan to use the pool at Jambo House vs Kidani. We were more than pleased with all the animals visible right off our balcony – this is what savannah view is all about!

Tomorrow we’re heading over to Jambo House for a morning at their pool, followed by lunch at Boathouse and later seeing Chris/Amanda/Ari when they arrive to join us at the resort.

Sue/WDW1972

I've only tried Gideon's once and didn't like the mushy texture of the
cookie. It was more like raw dough than a baked cookie. How are yours?

Steve S.

On Friday, May 28, 2021 at 7:26:57 AM UTC-4, Steve Soares wrote:
> I've only tried Gideon's once and didn't like the mushy texture of the
> cookie. It was more like raw dough than a baked cookie. How are yours?
>
> Steve S.

Soft, and maybe slightly mushy. Definitely not raw though. But not crispy either - they're too big for that. They hold up well for days, which I guess is because they're kind of soft.

Sue/WDW1972

On 5/28/2021 7:15 PM, Sue/WDW1972 wrote:
> On Friday, May 28, 2021 at 7:26:57 AM UTC-4, Steve Soares wrote:
>> I've only tried Gideon's once and didn't like the mushy texture of the
>> cookie. It was more like raw dough than a baked cookie. How are yours?
>>
>> Steve S.
>
> Soft, and maybe slightly mushy. Definitely not raw though. But not crispy either - they're too big for that. They hold up well for days, which I guess is because they're kind of soft.
>
> Sue/WDW1972
>
Yeah, they're not for me. I like a cookie with a little crunch or even
chewy.

Steve S.

On 5/27/2021 10:33 PM, Sue/WDW1972 wrote:
>
> Actual: My dental appointment was 8:30 this morning (first
> appointment of the day), and I was out of there and on the road to
> Disney by 9. Last weekend I’d told Holli to park in the Orange
> garage, and whichever of us got there first would text the other to
> say what level we parked on. It makes it easier to start from the
> same area if she plans to follow me to Kidani Village. She texted me
> first, but she was at the resort and couldn’t find an orange garage
> <g>. I told her Disney Springs, and she headed over there.

LOL! I was also thinking you were meeting at the resort!

> I pulled into the Orange garage by noon and parked on level 3, row
> 12. I had put some stuff in my car vs a hot trunk for the 3-hour
> drive, so I moved it back to the trunk and then noticed Holli pulling
> into the spot next to mine. What are the odds in such a big place
> we’d park right next to each other?? It worked out great.

Nice!

> We walked to the Disney Springs entry and neither of us set off the
> metal detector. The temperature checks are gone, thank goodness.

I've never understood the temperature checks. When I had COVID, I never
ran a temperature. A few times I've been places that do the checks
(mostly my doctors' offices), I've been riding int he car with the top
down and walked in with a temp because of being out in the sun. To me,
it's just not a good indicator of anything because of too many false
positives and false negatives. I think it's sole purpose is like
security - to make timid people feel that "Something is being done."

> We picked up the few things we needed and then headed back to the
> resort – still no text. We went up to the lobby to see what was
> going on, as now it was 3pm. When I did online check in I gave noon
> for my arrival time. The cast member was very nice, and said it
> looked like they were in there cleaning the room now. Hmm, I think
> I’ve heard that one before, but whatever – I’ll hope for the best.

LOL! Yeah, I think that's their standard line.

> I asked about the pool, thinking it opened at 9am and was told both
> pools (Kidani & Jambo) are open 10am-11pm. That stinks – why would
> you wait until 10am on a hot holiday weekend to open the damn
> pool???????????????

I agree.

> Eventually it was 4pm and there was one housekeeping cart left in the
> hallway. I walked a ways in either direction to confirm there
> weren’t more still working, so it was a safe assumption that was our
> room. When it got to be a little after 4 I picked up the house phone
> and called to find out what’s going on. They said a manager would
> check and call me.
>
> In about 5-10 minutes we saw a manager come off the elevator and he
> want into the room being worked on. Eventually he came back out and
> asked if we were us, lol – he apologized, and said the room was ready
> except for finishing the floor but we could move into the studio
> portion right now if we wanted. I went with him, since my magic band
> won’t work until the room is officially ready, and he opened both
> doors (this is a 2-br lockoff). The housekeeper was just leaving.
> The manager said today lots of people didn’t leave by 11am, and in
> fact 1 party didn’t leave until 5 minutes to 4! I told him those
> people need to be charged for another night or fined in some way –
> that’s not acceptable.

Most people don't realize, but the same rules that apply to long-term
rentals (like needing a court order to evict) apply to hotels. They
literally can't throw someone out for staying beyond checkout. But like
you said - they can "fine" them. I know one time, I was on a work trip
and had to stay an extra night, but there was some sort of huge festival
going on and there were ZERO rooms available anywhere. I "refused
checkout" and they charged me their maximum rate for that night (which
was like 4x the rack rate). I didn't care - my company was the one
making the decision that I had to stay and paying the bill.

> We got our stuff moved in, and quickly put away everything that
> belongs in the kitchen. I quickly unpacked most of my stuff in the
> bedroom, but can finish later. It was more important to get the
> report caught up so I didn’t have to deal with it later.

Yes, the TR is THE most important thing about your vacation! :-P

> Everything was great, and we enjoyed the food & wine while the
> software update ran. Being on the 3rd floor, we have a great view of
> the savannah from the couch, and we’d occasionally get up to go see
> the various animals. Our villa is in a great location – looking
> around the entire area, the spot directly in front of our balcony is
> where the animals tend to gather! We had white bearded wildebeest,
> addax, ankole cattle, eland, cranes, and later some zebra and
> giraffe.

Very nice!

--

- RODNEY

Next WDW Vacation?
Who knows!

Need to know more about RADP (rec.arts.disney.parks)?

http://www.radp.org
http://allears.net/btp/radp_bk.htm
http://allears.net/tp/abrev.htm

Are you still accessing RADP via Google? Why?
Get instructions on how to access to the "real"
RADP Usenet Group here:

http://meets.radp.org/usenet.htm