5/7: Prey for Dinner

[Al Lutz]

Kevin's photo tour/review of Animal Kingdom's new Vacation Club facilities, discuss it here...

DIRECT ARTICLE LINK: MiceAge.com - A different look at Disney...

[MarkTwain]

Looks awesome!

And...

HIDDEN MICKEY!!



Look along the right edge on the wall...

Does this make me one of the first people to find that?

[mikeland]

I too was shocked to see the pipes and all that in the covered parking. It's quite normal, but since when does Disney do anything normal? I guess I expected more from them. They should have at least painted them different colors or something.

[ni_teach]

I like the idea of a covered parking garage... I do not think that we should ding them too badly for not being themed.

[sediment]

Chef visiting a table during limited basis "testing phase" seems normal to me. That's what the testing phase is for.
I don't think this is something that would happen at full power, Scotty.
(Whoops, getting my Star Trek on a little early.)

[Athlonacon]

It would not be difficult to put some kind of roof covering over those pipes. They could theme it or paint it with decorations. Personally, I've always felt the Mickey and Friends parking structure suffers the same bland, non-Disney theming. Sure, it's "just a parking structure", but we are talking about a company that themes its TRASHCANS here. I want to see the different levels on Mickey and Friends to be themed to Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Pirates and Mickey Mouse. There should be a feeling that you just drove into some fantasy world right of the movies. The tram should be themed in much the same way.

It's these overlooked details that make Disney the company it is. Even just a parking structure deserves the royal theming treatment.

[sediment]

Originally Posted by Athlonacon

It would not be difficult to put some kind of roof covering over those pipes. They could theme it or paint it with decorations. Personally, I've always felt the Mickey and Friends parking structure suffers the same bland, non-Disney theming. Sure, it's "just a parking structure", but we are talking about a company that themes its TRASHCANS here. I want to see the different levels on Mickey and Friends to be themed to Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Pirates and Mickey Mouse. There should be a feeling that you just drove into some fantasy world right of the movies. The tram should be themed in much the same way.

It's these overlooked details that make Disney the company it is. Even just a parking structure deserves the royal theming treatment.

Yes. and if people weren't driving cars and getting distracted by the artwork and subsequently suing Disney for causing the accident, then I think the lawyers would approve.

[Ms. Daisy Duck]

Thanks for the awesome update!!! All the pictures want me even more to become a DVC member!!! The restaurant food looks great, a little different (as to be expected) but yummy.

I never thought about what Disney would do with a parking lot's theme. But seeing this makes me think they should have done something.... Like at the Mickey and Friends parking structure at Disneyland (the eighth wonder of the world), there is some decoration. Enough decoration to show that there was an effort put it, but it still looks like parking lot, and it looks fine.
It is disappointing to see the lack of decoration, but we are in an economy where everyone is saving in some way.

On the opposing side though, the decor in the actual hotel/house looks awesome!!!! So Disney made up for it there.

[Mikado]

Doesn't Disney's Vero Beach (DVC) Resort have covered parking? If so, how is the parking structure design/theming handled there?

While a wonderful concept perhaps, something about that totally unthemed parking 'garage' really bothers me. It would be alright if it were intended primarily as valet parking, never to be seen by guests, but it appears awfully jarring going from a well conceived (African) village to a typical American parking structure one story below - it would seem to spoil the illusion. Granted, I haven't seen it in person, but I don't think the existence of the amenity of covered parking should in any way excuse Disney from proper presentation ("telling a story") of all aspects of the resort.

Again, how is this handled at Vero Beach?

[danyoung]

Thanks for the review, Kevin - looks really interesting! A couple comments. You talked about your reservation phone call -

She then declared she would have to transfer me to a "specialist" to make the reservation--apparently not all of the dining reservation agents have the same capability?

I've experienced this a couple of times. Without any real knowledge on their procedures, it's my opinion that when a reservationist is confronted with a question that she cannot answer, she simply bumps you back into the queue to get another reservationist, who may or may not know the answer. It seems like kind of a cheesy way to get correct information, but it's worked pretty well in my case.

Also, when you mention the lamb balls, are these ... umm, how do I say this ... chunks of lamb meat pressed into a ball? Or are they similar to what we always referred to as rocky mountain oysters?

[KevinYee]

Dan, that's a good question on the lamb meat. I didn't ask it! But it's my term to call them balls, not theirs, so I think we're safe

[danyoung]

Originally Posted by KevinYee

Dan, that's a good question...

That's the only kind I ask!

[DVkid07]

The animals here are separate from the regular DAK herds (in fact, they are sometimes sent from place to place within the DAK/DAK Lodge community as a form of punishment or banishment for misbehavior, but at least they don't need to be quarantined as they move from place to place, since it's all the same "zoo").

My understanding of how this worked is more that certain animals (both specific animals and species) don't get along well with others. This dynamic changes over time and can even be affected by things like changes in weather. The various savannah's (including the two sides of the Kilimanjaro Safaris Harambe Wildlife Reserve) are used to keep control of that dynamic, not as much as a punishment as all of the savannahs offer extensive grazing area and the same feeding times/methods.

[Esdeebee]

It looks terrific!

I am happy that our home resort for DVC is AKL, now more than ever.