Meet me at the Snuggly Duckling! A June 2018 TR. UPDATED 3/8

[amazingact21]

The shoes you bought at the mall are gorgeous! I love the color and bet they were great to wear around Disney.
Smart decision to save the 60 bucks and stay a little farther away from the airport. No matter what, you were still closer than had you stayed at home!

Cute kitties. I know where you're coming from with an animal's strict diet. My dog has pancreatitis and can only eat very specific foods. We always worry when we have to leave him that he'll sneak a bite of food he's not supposed to have!

 

[Dawn Streeter]

Love the photos..... Thank you for sharing

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Following along! We have out first AKL stay booked next year so especially looking forward to your resort report!

 

[earfulofmagic]

When we were driving into the parking lot a guy drove by on a motorcycle in a full Batman get-up. His helmet even had bat ears on it. It was hilarious and I wish I could have grabbed a photo. Trip report fail. I figured it would be best if I continued to drive though rather than risk life and limb to take a photo of this hilarious guy.

Absolutely hilarious!!

I was so nervous that they were going to get hit. They were crossing eight lanes of traffic! The traffic doesn't look too bad in the picture but there were a lot of cars zooming by and when people stopped and put their flashers on to let the geese pass others started honking and being obnoxious. Luckily this family of 21 by my count made it across the street safely. What a relief!

That is amazing. Love how they're so politely lined up, single file, kind of in a crosswalk zone (though I see one on the other side of the street they could've utilized!). Glad they were safe!

I had to remind her that when on vacation you are not allowed to eat until all food is photographed!

It's the most important rule!

Amber



Hobbes

such sweet kitties!!!

Excited to read the rest of your report!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hello, joining in! Sounds like it's going to be a fun trip! I'm sure you've heard this before, but you and your mom look like twins! Looking forward to the rest of the report!

Yes, we often hear how we look very much alike. I wish I had her ability to not get a double chin when smiling in photos!

I love your new sneakers! And that pic of the family of geese...so cute! When we were at Disneyland back in March, there were a couple of families of ducks that CMs kept watch over as the mama duck would march the babies over to the Rivers of America. It was so adorable.

LOVE your cat photos! 1 of our cats always sits in our open suitcases when we get them out, so your picture really cracked me up!

That is such a sweet story about the ducks. My workplace back when I was in University actually made it into one of our national newspapers for helping a family of ducks move from its nesting location on the university campus down to Lake Ontario. So I love hearing stories like yours.

The shoes you bought at the mall are gorgeous! I love the color and bet they were great to wear around Disney.
Smart decision to save the 60 bucks and stay a little farther away from the airport. No matter what, you were still closer than had you stayed at home!

Cute kitties. I know where you're coming from with an animal's strict diet. My dog has pancreatitis and can only eat very specific foods. We always worry when we have to leave him that he'll sneak a bite of food he's not supposed to have!

Awww, yeah, it is hard managing multiple pets when one is on a special diet. it's worth it though to help them stay healthy.

Love the photos..... Thank you for sharing

Thanks for commenting!

Following along! We have out first AKL stay booked next year so especially looking forward to your resort report!

You are going to love it! I'll make sure to post lots of info and photos.

It's the most important rule!



Excited to read the rest of your report!

It's a rule I had to remind her of a few more times.

Thanks for commenting! I'm excited to share my trip with all of you.

 

[missangelalexis]

Love the new sneakers! and that pic of the family of geese is awesome, hope they made it to their destination safely!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Love the new sneakers! and that pic of the family of geese is awesome, hope they made it to their destination safely!

They did make it safely and then to my disbelief when we went back out after dinner they had crossed the road again to where they were originally.

 

[Steppesister]

Reading along, Lessa. I'll try to comment as I can and find the time.

 

[buteraa]

following along!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Following!

The hotel was a quick 15 minute drive and on the way we encountered this life or death situation.



I was so nervous that they were going to get hit. They were crossing eight lanes of traffic! The traffic doesn't look too bad in the picture but there were a lot of cars zooming by and when people stopped and put their flashers on to let the geese pass others started honking and being obnoxious. Luckily this family of 21 by my count made it across the street safely. What a relief!

Oh boy! I’d be freaking out too! But I liked how they were responsible and put an adult at end too!

I had to remind her that when on vacation you are not allowed to eat until all food is photographed!

It took my sister a couple days to remember this. Eventually by the end I got her trained so she took photos herself and sent to me when we ate separately!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I'm here and following along! Great start to your travel! I love those shoes you got. Nike doesn't usually fit my feet well but the pink is so cute and they look comfy so I may need to give them a try. Did you fear they were going to get dirty though? I'm so scared of wearing light colored sneakers especially in Disney.

 

[petals]

Joining in.

 

[therealdisney01]

I'm joining in!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Reading along, Lessa. I'll try to comment as I can and find the time.

No worries Liesa. I'll be happy to see you whenever you are able to pop by.

following along!

Following!

Oh boy! I’d be freaking out too! But I liked how they were responsible and put an adult at end too!


It took my sister a couple days to remember this. Eventually by the end I got her trained so she took photos herself and sent to me when we ate separately!

I enjoyed that they had a adult at each end as well.

I never got that far in training mom with the food photos but good on you!

Following! Love the pics, your kitties are so cute, and Amber looks so delicate! Luckily only one of my dogs needs glucosamine daily and they can share the same food so far. Looking foward to the TR!

Amber is very delicate. She is getting to be an old lady now (14 at least) and she lost a lot of weight before her hyperthyroidism was diagnosed. She has also always been a smaller cat. Hobbes doesn't always understand that Amber doesn't always want to run around and play with him anymore. Poor boy.

I'm here and following along! Great start to your travel! I love those shoes you got. Nike doesn't usually fit my feet well but the pink is so cute and they look comfy so I may need to give them a try. Did you fear they were going to get dirty though? I'm so scared of wearing light colored sneakers especially in Disney.

I often have troubles with Nike as well, I typically wear ASICS. I tend to have wider set toes and Nikes often make them feel tight but I really liked the look of the Nikes which is why we made a stop at the mall for me to try them on instead of just ordering them online. They fit great so I was happy.

I didn't buy them with the purpose of wearing them in the parks although I did bring them along rather than leave them in the car so I would have the option. I was more afraid if I wore them in the parks that they would get soaked in a rain storm and then stink. I'm going to try my best to keep them clean as long as possible. Crossing my fingers.

Joining in.

I'm joining in!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

June 11th - Arrival Day

5:30am, time to wake up! I dragged my tired body out of bed. It was a good thing I was going to Disney as I don't think anything else could have gotten me out of bed at that moment in time.

Our flight was at 9:30 and because it is international and we need to clear through US Customs and Immigration in Toronto we need to be at the airport at least three hours ahead of time.

It didn't take too long for Mom and I to head out from the hotel as we had laid out our clothes ahead of time and everything was still packed.

The drive to the airport area was easy but then I got turned around. I had reserved a spot in the "value" parking garage which I have done in the past and so that was our destination. However, in the past we have approached from the highway and this time I was coming through the city and everything looked different. I ended up missing the road I needed to turn onto for the parking garage and so we had to do the loop around the arrivals terminal which was annoying as it was congested with taxis and people dropping passengers off.

I finally got myself reoriented and we arrived at the "value" parking garage. I scanned my barcode to get in and we followed the signs to the third level where the reserved parking spots are located. We got a spot close to the elevators which made it a bit easier with our bags. I double checked I didn't leave anything important in the car (I have a history of leaving behind charging cables, coats, shoes, etc).

We made our way to the elevators and went up one floor to the walkway which took us over to the airport link train (think monorail).

It is handy as there are two trains and there are screens on both sides that say how long until each train will arrive. We only had to wait about one minute.



The ride to the terminal only takes a few minutes. It is very convenient.

We tried to use the self check-in kiosk for Westjet but it wouldn't recognize Mom's passport for some reason so we ended up having to go to the desk to check-in. Not a big deal though as it was still really early so there wasn't much of a line. Also, unlike Air Canada, Westjet seems to staff their desks appropriately. I was surprised that the airline took our checked bag right there and that we didn't have to haul it through security and immigration with us. It was a nice surprise!

Last time we flew to the States (on dreaded Air Canada) the line to get through Security and US Immigration was a nightmare so Mom and I were fully prepared for at least an hour wait to get through. It was our lucky day, we breezed through in 20 minutes!!! I don't know if it was because we were flying Westjet which is in a better run Terminal or if Toronto Pearson has improved this process overall but this was a huge improvement over what we went through in December 2015.

Mom and I walked to the very end of Terminal 3 where our gate was located which was a bit a trek but it was worth it as our gate was in the renovated area so we had the nice tables and counters to sit at which had iPads and lots of plug-ins and USB ports to charge electronics. Such an improvement over the old style airport gate waiting areas.



We also had a Starbucks next to our gate so I stayed with the bags while Mom went to get a drink. Mom went through a name change by the time she came back and went from being Beth to Patt???? Not even remotely similar.



I then went for a bathroom break and to peruse the shops. I ended up buying a book "The Alice Network" and a Starbucks. I spelt my name out for them so my drink was labelled correctly. I was a little annoyed though as I wanted to get the Strawberry Acai refresher but they were all out. I settled for a caramel macchiato.

Back at the seats I sorted through my carry-ons to make sure that my ears were accessible and wouldn't get crushed up in the overhead bin. I also packed my purse away since I wouldn't need it for awhile.



We killed time reading the news on the iPads and we had a nice conversation with a lady from Cocoa Beach. She grew up there as both her parents worked for NASA (cool!). Turns out she was flying home after having a job interview in Nova Scotia. She got the job and will be working at a wildlife reserve. We told her about a family friend of ours that works at a Wildlife Rescue Centre in British Columbia that has a tv show on Animal Planet called "Wild Bear Rescue". It is hilarious when our family friend shows up on screen. On one of the episodes they filmed him having to go get a haircut so he would be presentable for the open house they were holding.

Anyways, finally it was time to board and Mom and I were in boarding group 1 as I had upgraded our seats to "westjet plus". It meant that we had more legroom, no middle seat, full meal on the plane, any beverages that we wanted including alcoholic and we got to board first.



When we boarded the plane we had Dasani water bottles waiting for us at our seats. This was nice as I always get super thirsty on flights and now I wouldn't have to wait for the flight attendant to come around with my thimble sized drink.

The plane was 20 minutes late leaving as it was waiting on some passengers. They were pretty lucky as I heard discussion from the flight crew that a few minutes longer and they would have been pulling the luggage from the plane and leaving without them.

View of Toronto as we took off



For the meal that we got as part of our upgraded seats I had wanted the Bistro Box which was a bunch of different cheeses and crackers with sunflower seed, cranberry and chocolate mix but they ran out of them as I guess everybody else wanted it as well. I got the chicken caesar wrap instead which was probably the better option anyways as it was huge and really filled me up. Mom got the same.



We were also given these snacks plus a bag of chips. No fear of going hungry! All the food was very good.



I connected to the in-flight entertainment on my phone and watched a movie which I remember enjoying but I can't for the life of me remember what I watched????? So strange.

The flight was just under three hours and it went by quickly.

I could tell when we were approaching Florida from the clouds and shoreline.





It was a smooth flight and despite leaving Toronto late we arrived on time.

Since we were seated at the front of the plane we were the first off and after just a few minutes we were on the train over to the main terminal.



Our luck continued and we did not have long to wait before the luggage from our flight came and our bag was the second one out on the baggage carousel.

It was then time for us to find the Magical Express. Despite our many visits to Disney this would be our first time taking the Magical Express. The rental car rates were horrendous so we decided to try out Disney transportation.

This went really smoothly as well! It was very easy to find and there was no line. They scanned the letter we got in the mail and then directed us to our queue. There was one family ahead of us.



After maybe five minutes at the most we were led outside to our bus.



Yep, we got a cruise line bus instead of the regular Magical Express.

I think we waited another 20 minutes for more people and then we were off. According to the time stamp on our photos from the time we got off the plane to pulling up at Animal Kingdom Lodge it was an hour and ten minutes. Not too bad especially as we had opted to collect our checked bag.

The ride was pleasant and we were the first stop. Mom was really paranoid that our bags would get unloaded at the wrong hotel or that somebody would take them so for her piece of mind it was good we were the first stop.





I was so excited getting off that bus and seeing the lodge again!!!



I had booked a standard view room so would one of these parking lot views be ours or would my room request be granted and we would get a partial savanna view??





Coming up next: We check-in and find out if our room request was granted.

 

[MickeyReeds]

Sounds like you are off to a good start! I would enjoy traveling with my mom sometime! Looking forward to reading more!

 

[earfulofmagic]

Our flight was at 9:30 and because it is international and we need to clear through US Customs and Immigration in Toronto we need to be at the airport at least three hours ahead of time.

As a Canadian, you can enroll in Nexus (I think it's $50) for expedited processing through customs into the US: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/nexus/benefits-nexus & https://www.torontopearson.com/Departing_to_usa.aspx#
It's only really worthwhile if you're doing a lot of traveling between US/Canada, of course, and it only took you 20 minutes to go through customs this time anyway. Just something to think about if you ever have a ton of Disney trips planned in a year

Back at the seats I sorted through my carry-ons to make sure that my ears were accessible and wouldn't get crushed up in the overhead bin. I also packed my purse away since I wouldn't need it for awhile.

love that kate spade purse off to the right!

Anyways, finally it was time to board and Mom and I were in boarding group 1 as I had upgraded our seats to "westjet plus". It meant that we had more legroom, no middle seat, full meal on the plane, any beverages that we wanted including alcoholic and we got to board first.

you had me at no middle seat + any alcoholic beverages. sounds awesome! also, you and your mom look so much alike!

I could tell when we were approaching Florida from the clouds and shoreline.

those clouds are always so recognizable

I was so excited getting off that bus and seeing the lodge again!!!

Hooray!!! Love AKL Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sounds like you are off to a good start! I would enjoy traveling with my mom sometime! Looking forward to reading more!

It was a great start to the trip. We just kept getting lucky 1)upgraded at pre-flight hotel 2)breezed through immigration 3)bags off the plane quickly 4)no crowds and waits at Magical Express 5)first stop on Magical Express. We couldn't believe our luck and wondered when it would stop.

As a Canadian, you can enroll in Nexus (I think it's $50) for expedited processing through customs into the US: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/nexus/benefits-nexus & https://www.torontopearson.com/Departing_to_usa.aspx#
It's only really worthwhile if you're doing a lot of traveling between US/Canada, of course, and it only took you 20 minutes to go through customs this time anyway. Just something to think about if you ever have a ton of Disney trips planned in a year

For some reason we have never looked into Nexus even though we go to the States several times a year due to our family in Ohio.

love that kate spade purse off to the right!

Thanks! I am a Kate Spade addict.

you had me at no middle seat + any alcoholic beverages. sounds awesome! also, you and your mom look so much alike!

It was pretty nice. I hate being pressed up next to somebody, let alone a stranger, when the middle seat is in play. What Westjet has done for the Plus seats is they have turned that middle seat into a table with cupholders. So the physical seat is still there but nobody can sit in it and it is a useful space that you can use during the flight.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Also, unlike Air Canada, Westjet seems to staff their desks appropriately. I was surprised that the airline took our checked bag right there and that we didn't have to haul it through security and immigration with us. It was a nice surprise!

So, even though I was born and raised (and now returned) in Los Angeles, I went to McGill for university (my family are all dual citizens). I think whenever I came home it'd be a 50-50 chance if they would take my bag at the check-in desk or if I had to take it thru immigration! It was always great when they took it directly. Of course, if I changed planes in Toronto, I'd always have to collect my bag, then go thru immigration, then re-drop off the bag! So annoying!

Anyways, finally it was time to board and Mom and I were in boarding group 1 as I had upgraded our seats to "westjet plus". It meant that we had more legroom, no middle seat, full meal on the plane, any beverages that we wanted including alcoholic and we got to board first.

Oooh, fancy!

Coming up next: We check-in and find out if our room request was granted.

Fingers crossed (for your trip...that happened last month...). I was assigned a room before I boarded my flight that had a partial savanna view. Then by the time I landed, they reassigned me to another room that had a parking lot view . At least it was close to transportation and provided a shortcut to the hot tub!