9 Days, 6 Parks, 3 resorts, and 1 "Villainous Arabian Night" SURPRISE Party! (updated 4/13)

[dizzy daisy]

What a fun TR! I've read it all tonight, sitting here with a glass (or 2) of wine while my DH has been doing the dishes, and keeping busy tucking our youngest in bed for the night

A few thoughts:

I love that you were locked out on your balcony because that's something that would happen to me, lol. I'm glad your story didn't include a trip to the ER (or the PD) after trying to climb across the roof because that would have likely been part of my story, lol jk! But seriously, I'd get the one room with the one funky door and get stuck.

That cake! WOW! Cave of Wonders - how cool was that?

The photo of your brother's GF with Mickey at GG is hysterical!

When I saw the first photo of your cute dress at AK I wondered to myself how hot a polo collar neck would get. Now I know

I hate that you had a few rude CM cross your path, but I love that you got the pixie dust at BOG!

I am SO buying a tiara next trip.

Looking forward to the next installment of your TR.

 

[TeamSy]

What a fun TR! I've read it all tonight, sitting here with a glass (or 2) of wine while my DH has been doing the dishes, and keeping busy tucking our youngest in bed for the night

A few thoughts:

I love that you were locked out on your balcony because that's something that would happen to me, lol. I'm glad your story didn't include a trip to the ER (or the PD) after trying to climb across the roof because that would have likely been part of my story, lol jk! But seriously, I'd get the one room with the one funky door and get stuck.

That cake! WOW! Cave of Wonders - how cool was that?

The photo of your brother's GF with Mickey at GG is hysterical!

When I saw the first photo of your cute dress at AK I wondered to myself how hot a polo collar neck would get. Now I know

I hate that you had a few rude CM cross your path, but I love that you got the pixie dust at BOG!

I am SO buying a tiara next trip.

Looking forward to the next installment of your TR.

HAHA! Thanks for following!! And yes, a polo collar neck does NOT work at a park on a hot day!! LOL!

 

[TeamSy]

A Little Update!! Our Disney Video!

Hi guys!!! OMG it's been so long since I updated!!! I still have so much more to share about the trip, and it's coming, I promise!!! In the meantime, check out our Disney video!!!

 

[mlegerto]

Cute video!!!!! Can't wait for your next update.

 

[dizzy daisy]

Sweet video! Thanks for sharing it with us

 

[ckmommy]

Great trip report so far. Awesome video! We just got back for 17 days in Africa with 17 days of GoPro video that I an dreading going though--your video is encouraging me to start making the highlight reel.
Can't wait to read more!

 

[TeamSy]

Great trip report so far. Awesome video! We just got back for 17 days in Africa with 17 days of GoPro video that I an dreading going though--your video is encouraging me to start making the highlight reel.
Can't wait to read more!

First of all, your trip sounds amazing!!! Secondly, I do not envy you with that much footage lol!!! So what I did, because maybe this will help, is separate the videos by day. Then, every day, I would convert the videos using the GoPro software (usually the "protune" setting is my favorite go to), and then merge all the footage from that day into one uncut file. So essentially, at the end, all your files will be condensed into 17 different ones (one per day). It will take you 17 days if you split it up like I do, but it's less cumbersome than doing it all at once. So after that, I use iMovie to put it all together and do my cuts in there. It certainly takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R, but it's a little less tedious and easier to manage when you split it up like that! Good luck, and definitely share when you're done!! I love looking at other people's videos and seeing what they did!

 

[felynn]

Great trip report I really want to buy a GoPro now and that cake was fabulous.

 

[TeamSy]

Great trip report I really want to buy a GoPro now and that cake was fabulous.

Thank you!! And yes! Get a GoPro!! I'm so obsessed with mine!!! We recently went away for the weekend and all I brought with me was my GoPro. Between the video and screen grabs you can easily take from it it's so versatile, not to mention tiny!!

 

[TeamSy]

Day 6: Blizzard Beach

OMG it's been so long since I updated last! Thanks so much for the compliments on my GoPro video! I worked really hard on it!

So last I left off we had a great day at Magic Kingdom, followed by a wonderful dinner at Be Our Guest. We watched the fireworks and then went on some more rides before calling it a night. We didn't arrive back at AKL until LATE. I don't know about you, but Magic Kingdom is exhausting. I love it, but holy tiredness! Doing a water park the next day was the perfect choice. My brother and his girlfriend picked us up at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and we all headed for Blizzard Beach.



We didn't reserve a cabana in advance like we did at Typhoon Lagoon, but enjoyed our cabana so much there, that we decided to get one here too. I tried to reserve one in the morning before we left AKL, but the concierge just couldn't do it, which was weird. Whatever. We were able to do it at the park, so it wasn't that big of a deal. There was something about not having to return to the crowded and cramped lockers that WE LOVED SO MUCH.

So you can see my pro's/con's list that I did for the cabana's at Typhoon Lagoon during Day 2, and here they were pretty much the same. Overall, we loved it, and I can't imagine going to a water park ever again and not renting one. The main differences between the ones here and at TL is 1) if it rains, you cannot use your cabana at BB for shelter like you can at TL, and 2) I really loved the structure here more so than the ones at TL. Rather than being in sand (which attracted ants), the ones at BB are built on wooden decks. However, I do much prefer the views of the ones at TL. There really was nothing like overlooking that wave pool!

Here is out BB cabana:



We had a view of the lazy river:



We had a bit of a magical moment at our cabana today, though! When we had our attendant go get us snacks, she would NOT take money from us and insisted they were "on Mickey," so that was a really fun and random surprise!



People always ask me which water park I like better, and I honestly can't answer. Josh for SURE prefers TL because of the wave pool. I'm pretty sure it's his most favorite thing IN THE WORLD. For me, I love them both. The wave pool is certainly unique, but the rapids at BB is fun too. BB definitely has a bigger kid area, and I dunno, but they both have some really fun slides. It's really hard for me to choose!



Obviously we went to both parks this time around, just because past trips we usually go in January and are unable to go to any water parks that time of year. In the future we will probably either just do TL for Josh, and then occasionally add in BB. I can't really see doing BOTH every trip, but who knows.

So we pretty much went on everything (except the kiddie stuff, obviously), although my brother and I did go on one of the little slides haha! Josh was the only one of us who went on Summit Plummet. He is a brave man!



And we both did Slush Gusher, although I wish I didn't because holy wedgie!



We left the park late afternoon to get ready for dinner, and it was seriously perfect timing because it started to POUR. We still had time before dinner (which is at Jiko tonight), so we got back to our room and relaxed, and that's what really sold me on the savannah view. It was like the rain was bringing the animals RIGHT TO US. SO AMAZING!!!! We had so much fun taking out the guide and animal spotting from our balcony!



Josh literally had to tear me away from watching this. I could sit for hours gawking at the animals. However, eventually we had to get ready for dinner. We showered, and finished in just enough time to visit the gift shop before our reservation. The gift shop at AKL is fantastic! VERY DIFFERENT than any of the other Disney gift shops I've seen! It was also really nice being able to NOT have to leave the hotel for dinner. Small things like that make it worth the cost of staying deluxe.

Up next, dinner at Jiko!

 

[TeamSy]

It's been about two months since I've updated. If you follow me on Instagram, you know what a horrible past couple of months this has been! We lost our dog, Davinci, to kidney failure. While he was losing weight for a while, and we were monitoring his condition, it feels like it happened so suddenly. We found out about his significant drop in numbers on a Friday, started him on SUBQ fluids, and by the following Thursday he was gone. It's been so devastating for us! He was (and still is, even though he's no longer with us) our baby! So there's a little life update before I continue with this trip, which I've sworn to myself I will finish, only 3 more days to go after this one!

Day 6: Dinner @ Jiko
We've wanted to eat at Jiko pretty much ever since it opened, but never have because let's face it, it's FAR. We've never wanted to leave a park to go here, or go straight from a park (especially without first showering after our park day), and we didn't want to bother going back to whatever Disney hotel we were staying at to then return to a park to take a bus to AKL. Even thinking about it is daunting. Yes, we know we could do the cab thing, but I seriously hate cabs more than anything (more on that in the next post), and one of the things about spending to stay on Disney property (for me) is to utilize the crap out of their transportation. Our loss though, as we've never eaten at Jiko. Until now.

I'll say this: It's worth the tedious buses or enduring a taxi, and coming from me that's saying a lot.

First, because this is always what gets me with Disney, is the theming! They NAILED IT, even down to the bathrooms!


I couldn't really capture this via photo, but if you've been here you know what I mean, and if you haven't, either go or look it up... The walls CHANGE COLOR, and eating here around the time of the sunset is FABULOUS, because you basically watch your very own SUNSET on the inside. It's a slow progression, but an amazing one at that!

Also, did you know one of the largest hidden Mickey's is here? I won't tell you where it is in case you try to find it, but our server was amazing and totally engaged us with fun details and such!



Most importantly though, the FOOD. I cannot even begin. I forgot to take a picture of our appetizer, but I believe (don't quote me, it was a while ago) that we got the wild boar. I just remember it being AMAZING, and as soon as I tried it I was SO EXCITED for my main course!! Josh got a chicken dish, which he LOVED, and I got the beef with this mac and cheese that was OUT OF THIS WORLD. Now wherever we go (ever since eating here) I get a mac and cheese side because this was SO GOOD, but nothing has come even close.





It was hands down one of my favorite Disney meals EVER, and while I know it's out of the way, and we're not staying at AKL next trip, I already know I'm going to be itching to return.

So after dinner we did the whole dessert thing, paid, and then our original plan was to head back upstairs and change for the pool. The pool is right there, so after dinner we went to just check it out, and I know this is going to sound bad, but hear me out.... I was bummed by the pool.

It's loved by SO MANY, and maybe that's why I was so eager and just expected MORE. Also, we were supposed to stay at AKL back in 2010, but got a letter stating that the pool was going to be closed, so we switched hotels. I think that has a lot to do with it too. I thought it was going to be WAY better. Based on pictures and everything, the pool just looked SO AMAZING. Heck, even in my pictures is looks great, but I dunno, I was just underwhelmed. To me, it's smaller in person and I just wasn't feeling it, which is probably because it had a lot of hype to live up to (5 years worth).



We also came from Stormalong Bay, which IMO is the best pool on Disney property, and we were moving hotels the next day to one that (also IMO) has one of the best pools in the World. We ultimately decided not to bother swimming tonight, and explored the grounds instead, talking with some of the animal experts, etc.



Because that's why you stay here, I've learned. For the animals. Not the pool. We also discovered how, if we do stay here again, we would request the same Savannah we were on, rather than the popular "main" one. We liked ours so much more!! It was a lot quieter and private! Hence, we didn't see people from our balcony, just animals, unlike these rooms...



We soon decided to head inside and back to our room, because the whole reason we were late to dinner to begin with was because of the animals from OUR balcony, so we wanted to sit out there and enjoy the peace and quiet.



So we sat on our balcony and watched...



Tomorrow we're changing hotels (again) and visiting the Magic Kingdom until 2am! Stay tuned, I promise I won't wait as long to post!

 

[mlegerto]

I am so sorry to hear about losing Davinci. That is terrible. I had to say goodbye to two of my fur-babies (within a few months of one another) a few years ago after nearly 22 years of love...still the hardest thing I've ever had to do so I feel for you two.

However, I am so glad that you are back! Sounds like such a lovely evening at Jiko, we'll have to give it a try on our next visit! Can't wait to hear about the next few days!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Loving your report so far! My husband & I are Josh and Lauren, too!

 

[TeamSy]

I am so sorry to hear about losing Davinci. That is terrible. I had to say goodbye to two of my fur-babies (within a few months of one another) a few years ago after nearly 22 years of love...still the hardest thing I've ever had to do so I feel for you two.

However, I am so glad that you are back! Sounds like such a lovely evening at Jiko, we'll have to give it a try on our next visit! Can't wait to hear about the next few days!

That's horrible to say goodbye so close together. I mean, it's horrible that it happens, period, but wow! I am so sorry for your loss! It sure is the hardest thing EVER. People ask if we're going to get another. We still have our other yorkie, Oliver, and I seriously cannot imagine going through it AGAIN.

Loving your report so far! My husband & I are Josh and Lauren, too!

No way! That is amazing!!! Love it!

 

[Alexsandra]

Wow, what a view. Never been to JIko but sounds amazing. Will try it next time. Great TR so far.

 

[Pesky]

That cake was AMAZING! Loving the TR so far, especially as we are doing a split stay with AKL and Poly in October, so your AKL perspective is fantastic to have.

 

[TeamSy]

That cake was AMAZING! Loving the TR so far, especially as we are doing a split stay with AKL and Poly in October, so your AKL perspective is fantastic to have.

Thanks for stopping by!! We're doing Poly in September (and beach club)!! So dying to go now that everything will be pretty much finished!! I feel like I've been waiting forever lol

 

[TeamSy]

Day 7: Checking Out Of AKL, Moving Offsite, Magic Kingdom Until 2AM

Today for basically the first time all trip we slept in, which was nice! We checked out of Animal Kingdom Lodge at 11:30am. It was prime check out time so the line was LONG. I waited while Josh went with our bags outside to greet our car service. Two things worth mentioning here:

1. Check Out AT AKL. If you remember, we had a long and tedious check in process (magic band issues, I think, ended up being the problem). There was a gentleman coming up to people on line saying if you have a credit card on file, etc, you can just go. I did not, and I owed the $30 per day for housekeeping (since we rented points). I had cash on me, so I waited. I got up to the counter and was shocked when the lady said I owed nothing. I told her that's not right, and she looked into it. Basically, she just smiled and said, 'have a magical day... I saw nothing, I heard nothing.' It was pretty funny. I gave her a questioning look and she explained how they had to re-book our reservation when we checked in, so while they still deducted the points from whoever we rented from, they made it a 'Disney' reservation vs DVC. Therefore, housekeeping became included. I mean, that's a small chunk of money I was not expecting on having still! I was so happy, and Josh was one happy husband after he found out.

2. We booked a private Mears SUV transfer to get to our next hotel, because I hate cabs and wasn't renting a car. Marriott offers shuttles to Disney, and we really were only going to Magic Kingdom tonight (and my brother and his girlfriend had a car) and then just planned on staying in the next day, so we didn't need a car ourselves. It was WONDERFUL. So the private Mears transfer was about $30 to take us from AKL-Jambo to our next hotel, which is the Marriott World Center Resort & Spa. They were prompt, and while yes, I'm SURE it would have been cheaper to do a taxi, I loved that this was paid for in advance (minus tip), prompt, and just overall wonderful. It was a PLEASURE and we will continue to utilize them again and again.

So we were off to the Marriott, where my brother and his girlfriend already were. While I do love staying onsite, if you read my intro, you know HOW MUCH I LOVE this place! The Marriott is truly home, and that's not even including the fact that this is where Josh and I got married in 2010! It's sad that we haven't been back until now!! We were SO HAPPY to finally be! You know that feeling people get when seeing the Disney sign/gate? I get that feeling a few miles earlier when I see this place.

Our room was just finishing up, like if we arrived in 10 minutes later it would've been good to go. We were hungry, so we said we'll just grab lunch and come back. We went to the Falls Pool Bar & Grill with my brother and his girlfriend, and boy has this place changed in the 5 1/2 years since we've been here!



Some changes I loved while others I hated. They definitely made it A LOT more kid-friendly, whereas before it was more adult-friendly. I get it - you have to compete with Disney, but ugh! I miss the more adult aspects! If we had kids this place would be perfect, but we don't. They took away a lot of our favorite water features to add in grass areas for kid things (like where we had our first look - waaaa!). This was a huge bummer. They also added three huge water slides, which is AWESOME, so I guess it's give and take.

The pool restaurant serves poolside (so you don't have to get off your lounger), or you can dine in the actual restaurant space. We weren't in our bathing suits yet, so we just went to the actual restaurant. This used to OVERLOOK the falls pool. Now it's on the same level as it. It makes sense, since the waitstaff had to use the stairs and stuff, but boy do I miss it's old location and that gorgeous view. I thought this new location was a step back. Also, you can hear the bar music and stuff at the pool whereas before it was all relaxing and tropical since the restaurant was high up. They definitely made it more of the "fun" pool, which is okay, as they have another big pool by the spa which is SO relaxing and adult only. The location where the old restaurant was is now an entire kids area.



So after lunch my brother and his girlfriend went to the pool, and Josh and I headed to our room to officially check in and change before meeting us there as well. There's a little story with this, as I was hoping to reserve the room we had for our wedding. I didn't. Because it was $3,000 a night. . I think they would've done something for us to get this room, but given the holiday weekend and there was a conference, I'm sure it was already booked. I ended up just booking a regular room under the spa package (so I got two treatments while there), but one of the ladies from our wedding did end up upgrading us to a suite, just not the over-the-top amazing one we had for our wedding. It was still really lovely and perfect though and a great surprise!



Continued...

 

[TeamSy]

Day 7: Checking Out Of AKL, Moving Offsite, Magic Kingdom Until 2AM (CONTINUED)

So before we changed into our suits, first things first - the view!! My favorite view in the whole entire world (I couldn't find all my pictures from today, so I stole this from the next day when it just finished raining so no one was in the pool)! So don't let this fool you, it was a holiday weekend and the pool was crowded.



So we changed and met up with my brother and his girlfriend by the pool. Since it was already late in the day they couldn't really get a good spot and it was SO CROWDED. Josh and I actually went ahead and reserved a cabana for tomorrow because we didn't want to deal with the crowd and wanted to have a prime spot waiting for us.

Today though, no one wanted to deal with the crowds, so we walked to the nearby spa pool.

And to this:



PERFECT!

We did, however, want to check out the water slides at the main pool! Everyone from my family (including my brother and his girlfriend) had already been here in the years since our wedding. Josh and I are the only ones who haven't, which is sort of funny.

We all set our stuff down and headed to the slides. It was SO HOT that we ended up walking across IN the falls pool to get there haha. The slides were AMAZING! Gosh, SO FUN!

So after that we made our way back and all hung out at the spa pool. We had it to ourselves, which was so fun. We couldn't believe the other pool was so crowded and this one was empty! We have friends who live in Orlando whom we had yet to see, so they ended up meeting us here. The guys ended up ordering drinks to the pool and stayed swimming while us girls headed to the spa.


The spa has it's own building not far from the spa pool, but they were undergoing this MASSIVE renovation, so they had a temporary spa location inside the hotel. We missed the renovated spa opening by a week, which is sort of sad, but I know we'll be back. I'm sure it's AMAZING and I can't wait to check it out.

Today I got a Swedish massage, and tomorrow will be a hot stone massage, and this is what says wonders about the spa here. Since it was being renovated it wasn't a typical spa experience at all - no sauna's, plunge pools, steam showers, etc, but oddly, that took away from nothing. My massage and the service was FANTASTIC. In fact, I requested the same therapist for the following day. I feel like that really says a lot about a place.

So we met the guys back at the pool and that's when I got a phone call, which needs a little backstory...
We had dinner reservations for the 6 of us at Mikado's tonight (me, Josh, my brother, his girlfriend, and our friends from Orlando). My brother and his girlfriend came down ahead of us, and are leaving tomorrow early am, while we are still here another day.

For dinner tomorrow, we had reservations at Hawk's Landing, which is where we had our next day breakfast. They also have an amazing filet with Bearnaise sauce that is out of this world. On top of that, since we couldn't bring home our wedding cake to eat on our one year anniversary, we were having them make a mini replica for dessert. Well... a few days ago I got a call from someone saying that Hawks Landing is closed for the weekend. Bummer, right? I had a feeling the conference bought them out. We were SUPER bummed, but it was what it was. The guy apologized profusely, but what are you gonna do

So this afternoon I'm at the pool when I get this call form a 407 number. It was a lady who was informed of what happened and felt horrible about it. She was seriously more upset over the fact that we were no longer having the dinner we wanted than we were. She said that this is a special place for us and she wants to keep it special. Doing nothing wasn’t good enough for Marriott. She was adamant. This had to have been the best customer service experience I have ever received, period. She insisted we let her do something for us during our time here. She said for us to let them give us a nice dinner with everyone tonight at Siro, and then the following night a really romantic dinner for the two of us. I mean, WOW. She said she'd put everything together, and that was that. I was pretty floored.

We stayed at the pool for a little bit longer before splitting up to get read for dinner.

Continued...

 

[TeamSy]

Day 7: Checking Out Of AKL, Moving Offsite, Magic Kingdom Until 2AM (CONTINUED)

So that night, for the first party of this experience this lady planned for us, they closed off an entire section of Siro Urban Italian Kitchen. For us. Just for us. The six of us felt like VIPs. They kept the drinks and food flowing.



When we arrived, there was champagne and platters of meats and cheeses on the table waiting for us.



We ordered wine and drinks, followed by apps, entree, and dessert.






I forgot to take pictures of the food until dessert.



And I mean, the meal and food was just an absolute ball. We laughed so hard we cried, but that's what happens when you have too much to drink. AMIRIGHT?! In fact, we were having so much fun that we missed our first FP at Magic Kingdom. We didn't really care at first, but soon, we wanted to get the heck over there!!!



We thought we were paying a pre-fixed price (which was UNBELIEVABLY inexpensive to begin with). We were waiting to pay and waiting to pay, which is what took so long, until the waitress said we could stay if we wanted to but there was no need. She came back, surprised to still see us there. We were confused. She told us it was all taken care of. That they usually just offer the pre-fixed prices, but end up comping it anyway. That's what we do for family, she said, and I just smiled. Because that's what Marriott is to us. Family. I've been coming here since I was 6 months old. THIS IS where I grew up. Still, we were FLOORED. Furthermore, our waitress wouldn’t even accept a tip. She INSISTED that it too was already taken care of, despite us basically shoving cash in her face. She would not take it!!

Disney Magic doesn’t just happen IN Disney World people, because here we were, mere MILES from the Disney gate, receiving the most amazing service of our lives. Amazing.

So since our friends from Orlando have an SUV, they offered to drive all of us (they were coming to the park too). Originally, Josh and I also booked a Mears SUV to take us back from the park, because we weren't sure how people would feel staying until 2am like we wanted to, but they insisted they wanted to, so we cancelled the car.

So the park was open until midnight, but 2am with EMH. What's so cool about this is that since Josh and I checked out of AKL this morning, we were still entitled to the EMH. They only ask to scan one magic band in your party, so Josh and I always just gave one of ours, and that was that! We were ALL good to go!

The monorail was down, which was annoying because we had to take the ferry, and we arrived just in time to catch Wishes. Literally the first firework went off when we were getting our bags checked, so we rushed in!



Continued...