[lopo]

Although I knew that I would be caught up in the craziness of reality once I returned, I didn't expect to be overwhelmed by it all (especially the back-to-school activities), and I realized that it's been nearly three weeks, my memories aren't as sharp and still no trip report. Well, Tah Dah! Here it is . . .

Day One: We arrived at MCO later than we had planned due to delayed flights, but we picked up our rental car and drove directly to Animal kingdom Lodge. Initially, as we drive up, we were not impressed with this resort. However, once we entered the lobby: Wow! (Review posted http://www.disneycentral.com/cgi-bin...amic-links=yeshere Our room was quite a distance from the lobby and amenties though. I asked the CM's advice regarding the room location when we checked in. He told me that the room (3317) was considered one of the best Savannah views. Perhaps that was true, but I think that a room closer to the amenities would have also had great views and I know that I would have appreciated the convenience. After checking out our balcony where we could see the spectacular Kudu Trail Savannah (zebras and cattle were grazing. We saw giraffes in the distance.), we got settled and relaxed for a while. We decided to have dinner at Boma and, since we didn't have PS, we went there to put in our name. We only had a 20-min. wait. We were seated at a table located a short distance from the buffet. Our waiter was very good: he provided us with some general info about the foods that were available, promptly served our beverages, and provided refills before we had to ask. Almost everything was dee-lish; we ate too much. We could barely walk all the way back to our room! I took my time so that I could enjoy the sites around me. Once we rested though, the three teens went off to swim and use the spa (aka whirlpool). I stayed in to comb over all of the guides and books and try to plan the next day's activities. When they came back, they were excited and reported taht the pool was 'wicked cool' and they encouraged me to use the spa.
Instead, we all got ready for bed because I wanted to be at a park early the next day. Nobody was ready to sleep though, so the kids spent some time going out and coming in from the balcony to watch the animals (Most of them were down for the night. They sleep in groups. There were kudu, cattle and zebras snoozing outside on "our" savannah. It was an incredibly tranquil scene. I think the four of us were asleep by midnight.

Day Two: Stopped by Mara (the counter service restaurant at AKL) to purchase our refillable mugs and grab a quick bite and headed off to MGM Studios. We didn't make it when the park opened, but we arrived by 10AM. It was crowded. We went right to Tower of Terror to get Fast Passes and then we walked over to the Aerosmith coaster. The wait was going to be 60 mins., but we got in line because our FPs would be current after. However, we were in line for only 5 mins. when we were the recipients of a random act of kindness. A woman offered me three FPs for the coaster, so I handed them to the teens and I went off to look around the gift shop and wait for them. Believe me! I didn't mind not going on the ride. I can still recall the high decibel noise I endured from the last time I rode.:D Once the kids were out, we all walked around Sunset Blvd. to browse 'til we could use our FPs. The Tower was lots of fun. Our elevator attendant was rally into playing his part. In fact, he gave me the creeps! My facial expression alerted him to ask me if I was well. I told him that I was, and he said something about I looked like I had seen a ghost "already". He was entertaining. Unfortuantely, we weren't able to consider buying a picture because, after the ride, we were told that the camera was broken so we couldn't even check out our frightened photo on the monitor as we left. I had never before encountered that particular problem on any of the rides that offer photos. Our next stop was across the park to pick up a FP for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and then back across the park to see the Beauty and the Beast stage show. Since it was more than ninety degrees, I was awestruck by the performers' stamina (esp. those in the extremely hot costumes such as Beast, Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, etc.) The show was wonderful (as usual) and packed. We also saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (my first time seeing this one. I enjoyed it, but my 14yo just thought it was "OK"), Indiana Jones' Stunt Spectacular (some parts of the show were cut because it was pouring and the rain interfered with the props) and, finally, Who Want to Be a Millionaire (Me! Me! Me! But, alas, it wasn't in the cards.) One of the contestants made it up to 64K. Another one lost on an easy (for me) 500 points question. The emcee had trouble pronouncing one of the words (I can't recall now.) and the hot seat contestant was given a second chance because of the mistake. We did go on several other rides, too. We skipped the Backlot Tour because the Catastrophe Canyon portion of it was closed for refurbishment. We also skipped the "Get Happy with ABC" show. It offered a 'first look at the new fall lineup of shows on ABC' and I wasn't in the mood to watch a 20minute commercial. The highlight of the day was definitely Fantasmic! It was the first time any of us had seen it. We had preferred seating because we did the dinner at Mama Melrose's (we ate about 4 PM) earlier. I definitely recommend that you make it a priority if you haven't seen it. It is a monumental production! Lots of lights, fireworks, characters, villians, and the star of the show is Mickey Mouse. BTW, we were a little early for the show, so I walked over to ToT with one of the kids and noticed that the wait was 15 minutes so we went on again. That was cool. Most of the lines were at least 60 mins. long (or more) all day and it was hot. The rain (that started while we were dining in MM) didn't do anything to cool things off. It stopped after a couple of hours so, although everything (seats, us) was wet, we weren't watching Fantasmic in the rain. We got bak to AKL about 10PM. We were very tired so we just changed into our jamas and went to bed.

[trishb]

Great report Lopo! Can you give me details (lots of details) about Mama Melrose's place?? Always wanted to eat there!

[mickey]

Lopo, sounds like a busy first day. Glad you had a great trip, and can't wait to hear more.

Trish, I really like Mama Melrose's. While it isn't my favorite in the park, it is a good alternative for lunch. I would suggest lunch because it is much cheaper than for dinner, and basically the same thing. We usually just get salads, flatbreads, etc.. rather than big meals there, and they are great. Nothing fancy as far as theming, but they have some good choices on the menu.

[Cinderellafifi]

What a great trip report and you have only done one day! Can't wait to read the rest, Lopo!:)

[Scanlonsgirl]

Lopo- Sounds like you had a great trip! I"m thinking that DH and I are going to have to try the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire game! It seems that people have a really good time being a part of that! Thanks for sharing!

Lisa

[lopo]

Trish, I recorded a detailed report on Mama Melrose's here

Overall, I was not impressed. We had dinner (as part of the Fantasmic! package) and I though that it was too expensive for the quality and quantity. The menu is fairly limited in selections, too. But, maybe if one follows Mickey's advice to try the lunch there, one might have a better opinion of the restaurant. Also, I know that some folks have very good opinions of the place, so my review may have just been based on one 'not-so-great' experience.

[Donna B]

Great report. Looking forward to hearing more.

[Dana]

Thanks for the trip report..I needed a little taste of Disney today. Bad morning, bad Monday..Thanks for making my day better. I have heard many people say MM wasnt up to their expectations. So far it sounds like an awesome trip. I can't wait ti hear what else you guys did.

[jgriff2388]

Lopo, sounds like a pretty good trip so far; looking forward to reading the rest of your report.

We did Mama Melrose's for lunch several years ago and it was fine. But I do recall you could get Sangria there and I remember that was very good. But Sangria is not food now is, unless you count the the fruit.:)

[lopo]

jgriff2388, thanks for the LOL! I don't know if MM still offers sangria because I didn't even consider any sort of libation since our dinner was so early (4). When I am already tired, a glass of wine could send me right off to dreamland! And, I had several more hours to roam in the Park . . . No doubt, sangria would have improved my meal!