"DIS meets galore!" - Oct 15-23, 2016 -Link to New TR added - March 2nd

[Imagineer5]

Just read through the TR! I found your point info very interesting from a price standpoint, and being able to book those value rooms is such a huge benefit of the DVC. I've always rented points, and would love to be able to book a standard view studio at BLT anytime I want, but that seems hard to get as well. The value room at Jambo you had was great, esp with the pool view!

Love the F&W booths too - did you guys do any of the other events? It's nice that your DD is old enough to be able to leave her in the room and you guys were able to head back out to the park. Did she ever venture to the pool or just veg? (my oldest is 4, so this is foreign territory for me!).

Adding - I laughed at the photo from Sci Fi - could your DD and the boy have sat any further apart in the car for lunch!!

 

[skier_pete]

Just read through the TR! I found your point info very interesting from a price standpoint, and being able to book those value rooms is such a huge benefit of the DVC. I've always rented points, and would love to be able to book a standard view studio at BLT anytime I want, but that seems hard to get as well. The value room at Jambo you had was great, esp with the pool view!

Love the F&W booths too - did you guys do any of the other events? It's nice that your DD is old enough to be able to leave her in the room and you guys were able to head back out to the park. Did she ever venture to the pool or just veg? (my oldest is 4, so this is foreign territory for me!).

Adding - I laughed at the photo from Sci Fi - could your DD and the boy have sat any further apart in the car for lunch!!

My view is there are three "Smart" buys in DVC - smart being from a cost perspective - none are really "smart":
1) SSR - "cheap points" and low maintenance fees. With the restructure there, there's now standard and preferred rooms - so you can really stay very cheap. Nothing stopping you from using points at all the better resorts. Only negative is if you travel at high DVC seasons, you have to be willing to stay there - and I don't care much for the resort.
2) AKV - I laid that out already.
3) BLT - Not as "cheap" a buy in, but still much lower than the other "prime" MK resorts. Owning there allows you to book those standard rooms that are almost impossible to get into otherwise, and the point values are very reasonable. If you can stand the weaker view from your room - it's really not a bad buy-in.

I want to get more points someday, and I am still not 100% set on which of these 3 choices I will make.

We didn't do any other F&W events. We really like the seminars, they are only like $14 a piece and a lot of fun - but they don't allow kids and they are in the middle of the day, so we chose not to do them. Many of the other events are very expensive, and we really didn't have the excess money to spend this trip.

DD favorite pasttime is sitting on her electronics. She would actually likely never read her room/bed on vacation if we didn't make her.

 

[skier_pete]

Hope everyone's holidays are going well...wanted to get another post out...

We gave ourselves a few hours to relax, but we had to head back to Epcot for the evening’s festivities. We were meeting the group for an illuminations cruise, but first we needed to get some dinner. None of us were super hungry, but DW really wanted to eat at Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie. She really loves the food here – and so since it was close to the international gateway, this is where we ate. I forgot at this stage exactly what every had. I had the long baguette sandwich, which I think was a ham and cheese. DW had the other sandwhich. DD said she wasn’t hungry but got the cheese roll and the cookie, but we took the cookie to go.



We headed out the back of Epcot, and actually ran into more of our group at the international gateway. We continued to gather folks as we went over to the Yacht Club. Eventually everyone arrived. We had had to book two boats. Each boat can hold 10 people, though that would be pretty crowded. I was hoping to get around 16-18 people for the trip, but we ended up with 15 people. Each boat costs about $375 to rent, so split amongst everyone, I think the cost was $49 per person with the number we had. If you have to pay for a full boat it’s a lot of money, but for 2 or 3 people it’s not so bad. We split up, with about 7-8 people on each boat.

Our boat:



The two kids actually decided to ride on the boat without their parents. They had the whole back of the boat to themselves. I think they liked having the little bit of freedom.



Here’s the front of the other boat:



And our boat again:




This is the second time we’ve done this cruise – we did it back in 2011. The route was very similar, and the driver told much of the same information as before.
We started out towards the Swan/Dolphin. As we went over there, you could see the Star Wars fireworks. This is our third vantage of these fireworks!







Eventually we made it down to the end near Hollywood Studios. The fireworks were still going off.



I couldn’t get a good shot of the Tower of Terror, this was the best



Here’s the other boat following us as we head back towards the Boardwalk





Good Ole Jellyrolls. I thought we were going there later in the evening, but everyone bailed on us – including DW.




A look back at the Beach Club




It’s a race to EPCOT!




Continued in next post

 

[skier_pete]

Here we are moving up along the France Pavillion



The boats all park just past the bridge between England and France. Our two boats were next to eachother. DD threw a bottle of water in our boat at one point, but I yelled at her about it. Too much FREEDOM!



Here’s the other boat next to us




I was hanging out on the back of the boat, looking up at all the people along the bridge.



Here’s our cast of characters again:




Then the show started. What a great view!






A wider shot showing our unobstructed view:







Before we knew it, it was over. I do have to say, watching Illuminations from this angle completely spoils you for pretty much ANY other viewing location. I seriously suggest to anyone doing this once. Best to get a group together, or join a share (there’s a thread on the DIS, which is how we did it the first time.) It’s definitely worth it.



This was the ONLY time of the trip that everyone was together at one time, so I asked the skippers to take a group photo of us.




Everyone was very pleased with the events, but we couldn’t convince anyone to go to Jellyroll’s after, so instead they just wanted to go to the Crew’s Cup Lounge. We hung around for maybe 45 more minutes, and then headed out to get a taxi back to our resort. We got back pretty late, probably like 10:30 PM, but it didn’t matter much since the next day was going to be a “relax” day, or at least as “relax” as you get at Disney!

Day 5 Summary:
# rides/attractions: 3 (TT, Soarin’, Character Spot)
Total through trip: 32
Waits in excess of 20 minutes: 0

Happy new year everyone!!

 

[rteetz]

I've always wanted to do an illuminations cruise. Now you've only made me want to do it more. Someday when I have a group I'll do it. The view looks great!

 

[franandaj]

Sounds like a great night! You had a fantastic view and being able to see both the DHS fireworks and Illuminations is a great bonus! Maybe someday we'll try it.

 

[khertz]

The Illuminations cruise looks so nice!! What a great vantage point for the fireworks. And fun that you got to do it all together as a group.

 

[Imagineer5]

The cruise sounds wonderful, one of the things we haven't done yet! When my littles get a bit bigger I'd like to do this

 

[skier_pete]

I've always wanted to do an illuminations cruise. Now you've only made me want to do it more. Someday when I have a group I'll do it. The view looks great!

I didn't mention it in the original post - but the one comment everyone had is that it totally spoils you from watching Illuminations any other way. I can't imagine a better location that doesn't require an hour of staking a spot.

Sounds like a great night! You had a fantastic view and being able to see both the DHS fireworks and Illuminations is a great bonus! Maybe someday we'll try it.

Too bad you couldn't join us, but I know you had a bunch of DISmeets to attend to.

The Illuminations cruise looks so nice!! What a great vantage point for the fireworks. And fun that you got to do it all together as a group.

That really was the best - they parked out two boats right next to eachother, so we could even feel like we were watching it as one big group!

The cruise sounds wonderful, one of the things we haven't done yet! When my littles get a bit bigger I'd like to do this

Yeah - it's definitely a fun one! The key is getting a full or near full boat, then the $375 price tag becomes much more reasonable on a per person basis.

 

[franandaj]

Too bad you couldn't join us, but I know you had a bunch of DISmeets to attend to.

Well it was just one meet, but the person we were meeting with was very special and it was the only day our trips overlapped. She had other folks booked in and we had a great time, but I wouldn't want to have missed meeting her after all our conversations. Turns s out we're meeting again in March, but we never would have known this until after November, and actually it was a bit after that before we figured things out!

 

[skier_pete]

Well it was just one meet, but the person we were meeting with was very special and it was the only day our trips overlapped. She had other folks booked in and we had a great time, but I wouldn't want to have missed meeting her after all our conversations. Turns s out we're meeting again in March, but we never would have known this until after November, and actually it was a bit after that before we figured things out!

Totally understand! We've been trying to get together with @khertz and her family for like 7 years and our trips keep almost overlapping. (This trip we were in Florida at the same time, but they were at Universal.) You gotta get the DISmeets in where you can! I was just very happy we found time to meet with you and Fran! We probably won't overlap trips to Disney too often, and we likely won't get out to DLR more than every 3-4 years...

 

[khertz]

Totally understand! We've been trying to get together with @khertz and her family for like 7 years and our trips keep almost overlapping. (This trip we were in Florida at the same time, but they were at Universal.) You gotta get the DISmeets in where you can! I was just very happy we found time to meet with you and Fran! We probably won't overlap trips to Disney too often, and we likely won't get out to DLR more than every 3-4 years...

One of these days we will manage!!!

 

[franandaj]

We probably won't overlap trips to Disney too often, and we likely won't get out to DLR more than every 3-4 years...

Well the good thing is that we can probably meet up in DL when you do get out here. Our next WDW trip will not be until 2018 unless something drastically changes.

 

[skier_pete]

Well the good thing is that we can probably meet up in DL when you do get out here. Our next WDW trip will not be until 2018 unless something drastically changes.

We maybe going 3 times in 2018 - but unless our F&W weekends overlap, even in 2018 it's doubtful we would be traveling there at the same.

I think I've mentioned it to you - we are thinking of coming out for D23 in 2019, so that's probably our next Disneyland trip. (I know - probably crazy to go to Disneyland at the same time as D23, but we would probably go a few days after D23 ended.)

 

[4GoofyCrew]

This looks amazing! I would love to do this for my birthday in March, but $375 would be a bit steep for 4 people. I just really want a great view of the show for my special night. The last time we were able to stay for the show (14 years ago - before kids), we had the perfect spot staked out. Then some people on el scooters came and we let them go in front of us so they could see. Turned out to be a FOOLISH gesture of kindness...once the show started they stood up and we couldn't see ANYTHING because the added 3-4" of their carts definitely made them taller than us. I want to SEE the show this time!

 

[skier_pete]

This looks amazing! I would love to do this for my birthday in March, but $375 would be a bit steep for 4 people. I just really want a great view of the show for my special night. The last time we were able to stay for the show (14 years ago - before kids), we had the perfect spot staked out. Then some people on el scooters came and we let them go in front of us so they could see. Turned out to be a FOOLISH gesture of kindness...once the show started they stood up and we couldn't see ANYTHING because the added 3-4" of their carts definitely made them taller than us. I want to SEE the show this time!

@4GoofyCrew There are shares here on the DIS. If you don't mind a boat ride with strangers, it's a good way to keep the costs down. Either book it yourself and use the thread to find some other people (might be too late for that for march) - or post on the thread and watch it to see if your dates come up. That's how we did it the first time. A full boat of 10 will only run about $38 per person. You don't need to be able to enter EPCOT to do the cruise - so you don't necessarily have to do it on an Epcot park day...

http://www.disboards.com/threads/illuminations-and-wishes-cruises-find-one-to-share.2069267/

 

[skier_pete]

Ugh - I am having an awful time with the fact that Photobucket is now blocked at work. I often use my lunch-time/break-time for working on my TR, but now I can't edit reports at work - or really even see them to be sure they are OK.

Anyways - here's a post for the first half of Day 6:

Today was truly a day off. We really tried to take it easy. In fact I have to say that we not only slept in, we pretty much lazed in until noon. I think DD did some of her homework that she had to do for make-up at school. We did some reading, watched some TV, just lazed about.
At noon, we had a reservation for lunch at one of our favorite on property restaurants…Sanaa. The nice thing about staying at Kidani, it was literally a 2-minute walk to the restaurant.

The great thing about Sanaa is that you get a view directly onto the Sunset Savannah. There were actually quite a few animals around while we were eating. While we were waiting to be seated, I went out and snapped a couple of quick pictures.






These last two are from inside the restaurant at our table.




Here’s some shots of the restaurant, which I always think is beautiful.





This is the view from our table





I started out with a Mango Lassi Smoothie which I just adore.(No picture though!)

Being Sanaa we couldn’t help but get the Naan bread service. This costs like $14 but it is HUGE.



You get 5 slices of Naan, and 9 different flavored sauces. We chose to try all 5 different types of Naan, but you can also mix and match if some flavors don’t appeal to you. I cannot recommend this enough. The biggest problem with it is that it’s too much food with a meal. We’ve decided that we are going to just come here and order one of these with some Samosa’s next-time.

Speaking of which DW insisted we order some Samosa’s. They only gave us two, but I was already getting too full, so I didn’t even eat mine.



Meanwhile, this African Crowned Crane was going all cray-cray outside our window. There were a couple of them there – so maybe this was a mating thing.





DW and I both ordered the Potjie – I got mine with the Butter Chicken and Spiced Lamb with Five- Grain Pilaf, DW got the - Paneer Tikka, Chickpea Wat and Basmati Rice. Neither of us could finish the meal. (I honestly didn’t much care for the Pilaf, next time I will order the rice. The butter chicken was amazing, and the spiced lamb was good as well. DWs wasn’t as good. She purposefully ordered different from me, but was sorry she didn’t order the butter chicken as well.





DD ordered the Tandoori shrimp, but didn’t care for the spices. However, she loved the Naan – almost as much as pot stickers!



Honestly the one negative of Sanaa is it’s not great for kids, nor for picky eaters – if you are a picky eater – please go elsewhere, but if you like unique and flavorful dining experiences, this place is the BEST.

A few last pictures from after the meal:









We took quite a bit of leftovers back to the room, but again it was just a 5-minute walk!

Next up - Disney Spring and Yeeha Bob!

 

[rteetz]

I really need to try Sanaa. I have never been and everyone seems to love it. You got some awesome photos too Pete!

 

[skier_pete]

I really need to try Sanaa. I have never been and everyone seems to love it. You got some awesome photos too Pete!

Thanks! It's definitely worth a visit - even if just for the bread service and all the different dipping sauces!

 

[Imagineer5]

YUM Sanaa is definitely a favorite, and gotta love staying right at the resort - what a nice relaxing start!

the naan bread service is SO SO worth it - we've definitely ordered extra Naan though, the sauces are too good to leave behind. As you mentioned, I like to just do the samosas and the naan. Absolutely fabulous! Plus they have some great drinks (south African wine flight too!).