Wednesday, October 31, 2012

2012: Day 2 Wanyama Safari

     Without question, the Wanyama Safari was one of the highlights of our trip.  It is only available to guests of the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the tour is also limited to 12 guests.  You start the tour with hors d'oeuvres at Jiko.  There were two other groups on our tour.  Two older (than us) couples from New Jersey and a Mom and her two kids (17 and 11) from Vancouver.  After a short wait, an African drummer paraded us through the lobby and out to the safari vehicle. 
     The safari begins on the far side of Kidani Village and winds it way through the four savanas.  Jeff, our tour guide for the first part of the tour, was a hoot!  He was also quite knowledgeable and gladly answered all of our questions.  You truly get within feet, even inches, of these animals. 
     Christopher took over as tour guide once we entered the Jambo House savana areas.  He was more reserved, but just as knowledgeable.  Shelby's loved the zebras, while Brent's favorite were the giraffes. 
     We spent about 2 hours out on the savana before returning to Jiko for our dinner at the chef's table.  Hands down, this was the best meal of our trip.  I had always heard Jiko was good, but I had no idea.  Oh, my word!  I was afraid Shelby would not have anything to eat as many of the selections were a bit more exotic than her typical diet.  However, she surprised me and not only tried everything, but enjoyed it. 
     Our server was excellent, but the only negative (and it isn't even that big of a deal) was the "chef."  I was under the impression that the head chef would be the one introducing each of our courses.  I could be wrong, but I do not think the young man who came to our table was anything more than a sous chef.  He spoke very quickly and introduced two courses at a time.  Given that a cocktail and a wine pairing with each course was included, it would have been nice if he could have come out and introduced each course individually...slowly.  Truly, though, the food was fabulous !
  



























































Thursday, October 25, 2012

2012: Day 2 Epcot, again!

Again, we arrived at Epcot around noon and headed straight to the World Showcase for Food & Wine Fest.  Our tastings today were from Hawaii, Greece, Canada, and Ireland.  We were supposed to stop back by the Desserts and Champagne booth on our way out, but we forgot.  Two more firsts for the day:  The World Showcase Players and Mouse Gear.




This picture was taken right after Brent surprised Shelby by calling the phone that is in that phone booth.  She was very confused!  Brent then spent the next 30 minutes calling unsuspeciting vacationers.  It was hilarious, but I think you had to be there.




2012: Day 1 Hollywood Studios

     We were arriving in the middle of the day and it wasn't a recommended park, so our expectations were low.  Our primary goal was to go see the Muppet show and shop.  Anything else was bonus.  Other than the Muppets, we only made it to Star Tours.  We did walk around a bit, but the three main attractions were all 45+ minute waits.  Since we knew we'd be back, we just weren't willing to wait.  It was about 6pm when we hopped on the bus back to Epcot where our car was parked. 
     We left Epcot and went to Giordano's, a local deep dish pizza joint.  It was good, but slow. After dinner, I dropped Brent and Shelby off at Downtown Disney, so they could go to Disney Quest.  Sadly, it would be the only time they made it there and it was only for about an hour and a half.  Meanwhile, I went to the nearest Wal-mart for a few supplies we needed. I picked them up a little after 11pm.  Exhausted, we returned to our cheap motel and hit the hay. More Epcot tomorrow.  More importantly, we check into the Animal Kingdom Lodge!!!








2012: Day 1 Epcot Food & Wine Festival

Today was the day I'd been waiting for for 10 months.  It wasn't as I had originally planned and there was still a lot of uncertainty facing us with the cruise, but we were all excited.  I am counting this as day one, though technically we arrived very late the night before.  We found a super cheap motel not far from WDW and stayed there until we checked into the Animal Kingdom Lodge on Day 3 (which was originally going to be Day 1).    


Driving under this sign is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world!


Our first stop in Epcot was Club Cool.  Gotta have that Beverly!




We arrived at Epcot right at lunch time and we were excited to get our first bites of the Food and Wine Fest.  I had every intention of taking pictures of everything we ate, but I forgot...a lot!  These are from Argentina. 




So precious!



The food selections below are from Mexico.





We'd never actually taken the Gran Fiesta Tour before.  It was cute, I guess.





Food from Norway.








Another thing we'd never done/seen is Mo Rockin'.  They were phenomenal.  Brent was fascinated by the precussion instrument.  




Shelby made her first purchase in China - a diablo.  It's like a yo-yo.




We made it to the International Gateway and decided to head to take the boat over to Hollywood Studios.  On to the next post...