Vacation 2010: Animal Kingdom Lodge

We had carefully planned where we were going to stay while staying at Disney World. We all agreed we had saved long and hard for this trip so we were going to do it as all out as possible. Besides we had the equivalent of $2500 in Disney Reward Points to use so we could afford to go a little more all out. In the end, we felt that Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge was the best choice for our family. We were right. :)

Animal Kingdom Lodge has it's own savannas with animals and the hotel is around these savannas. We were staying at the Sunset Savanna and it was just breathtaking. We were on the second floor so when the giraffe came around, we were almost eye to eye with them. They couldn't get to the actual balcony but I'd say they were 15 to 20 feet from us so you really couldn't get much closer. There were also Ankora cattle, cranes, various antelope, flamingos, storks, gazelle, okapi, Zebras, and various other birds and animals.

The first night we were there we walked out onto our balcony and were met with the following.



At one point in the evening we were met by five giraffes playing just 20 feet from our balcony and five Ankoras grazed right in front of us. Unfortunately, it was too dark to get decent pictures at this point.

I guess I got ahead of myself a bit here. The rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge were just beautiful and totally amazing. The coloring of the room was gorgeous deep red (almost the color I would love to have in my great room) and the bath area was really neat with a vanity fit for a queen. The lodge itself was also beautiful with rich African decor throughout and it was a true lesson in African history. It was truly beautiful.

Vacation 2010; Driving, Family, SC

Truly the trip of a lifetime!!!
Sorry it has taken me so long to get an update out here on our trip. I really should have done it as soon as possible so that there wasn't any opportunity for anyone to put a negative spin on the great trip. However, I will do my best to give a great accounting of it, without letting certain people's view cloud the wonderful time we had.


Anyway, we left home on Friday, July 30 heading for Lexington, South Carolina. We had a nice, fairly uneventful drive with beautiful scenery as we drove through the mountains. The fact it rained most of the way didn't bother us a bit other than the pictures we attempted to take didn't always turn out.


We stopped Friday night in Kentucky then continued to SC. We arrived in Lexington and were greeted my my husband's Aunts, Uncles, Grandma, and cousins. All of whom I have never met and he hasn't seen for a very long time. They had a glorious feast for us that night and we really enjoyed the bonding and conversation.


It was great to meet most of my husband's family for the first time. They were all very great and I loved talking with them. His Uncle Tim and Aunt Becky were so nice to let us stay there for a couple of days so that we could bond. I really wish we could have spent more time together for we all got along amazingly. It was like we had known each other and saw each other frequently our entire lives. We will definitely all have to get together again sometime soon. Maybe next time up in our area.

The beautiful, young lady on the right is my husband's cousin and was in diapers the last time my husband saw this part of his family... Now she's a Southern beauty Queen. ------------->



We left South Carolina on Monday, September 2 around midday and drove to Florida arriving at Animal Kingdom Lodge; Jambo House early afternoon.
The entire crew. Left to Right, top, middle, bottom: Amy (me), Jazer (my son), Aunt Becky, Tyler (cousin), Aunt Becky, Grandma Ester, Ellen (cousin), Uncle Tim, John (my hubby), and Travis (cousin), Not pictured David (cousin)