April 2001 Trip Report: Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge and "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire--Play It!"

Dates: April 16-23, 2001

Adventurers:

• Jennifer Watson: 32, Disney veteran and co-author of PassPorter Walt Disney World, on her umpteenth trip to Disney (from Ann Arbor, MI)
• Dave Marx, 46, Disney veteran and co-author of PassPorter (from Ann Arbor, MI)

Transportation: Southwest Airlines (from Detroit Metro Airport) and Tiffany Town Car

Resort: Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort

Parks: Disney's Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, Magic Kingdom, Pleasure Island

Restaurants/Eateries: Jiko, Boma, more to come later

Other: This is a research trip to check out the new resort and new attraction. Most of our time will be spent researching in great detail and thus will go outside the realm of the typical vacationer experience. Thus, this resort may not make for scintillating reading, but it should be full of great observations, facts, and information.

Today's report is very brief as we're packing our bags and getting ready to fly back home!

This morning we woke up to a breathtaking sunrise over the savannah. We'd left our balcony door open during the night so we could listen to the crickets and birds. We just love the view from this room (fifth floor deluxe) -- we thought our previous room was great, but this is even better.

Dave brought back some munchies to the room from the Kilimanjaro Club (concierge lounge). He says he saw Roy Disney and several other board members in the lounge. The food was fresh and good (bagels, fresh fruit, pastries, juices, and coffee).

Today we will do our last bit of research before taking Tiffany Town Car back to the airport at 1:00 pm. Dave has an interview with the Animal Curator (zookeeper) this morning, during which we hope to learn some new information about the animal care at the Lodge.

We feel that we've really gotten to know the Lodge well during our week's stay, and we look forward to providing you with more information in the weeks and months to come. If you have any questions about Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, please feel free to e-mail us!

Oh, and we'll be doing a joint article on the Lodge with Deb Wills in the All Ears Newsletter this Wednesday. Watch for it!

When we get home and have a chance to unpack and collect our thoughts, we'll post our Final Thoughts with tips, ideas, and suggestions for YOUR stay at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge!

Thanks for following along!

Next Report: Final Thoughts