A Darling Family Halloween Trip to Neverland (and Peter Pan Came Too)

[dismagiclover]

finally all caught up. Great photopass pics! I'm sorry the roaming characters were a dissapointment. It would have been great to get the magic picture with Hook, while you guys were all dressed up, especially Peter!
I also think the Boo to You parade is the best parade and parade music! Love the dancing grave diggers!
We actually watched the hallowishes from the Cali Grill once. It was absolutely one of the best memories ever.
Sorry to hijack. Great TR!
KIM

You definitely aren't hijacking! Just making some great comments to add to the discussion The magic picture with Hook would have been awesome, but I didn't notice a Photopass guy in those parts. If I had you know I would have been all over it! My kids are still a bit annoyed with me that I didn't buy the CD with the Halloween music. They loved the parade music and sang it for days.

 

[dismagiclover]

Our fast pass time had arrived so we hopped in line for the Safari. We always love this ride. The highlight this time was probably the elephants in the water with the baby elephant by the side. (I guess he can’t swim yet.) Here are a few shots.

It was around 1:30 by this point and I was feeling pretty crummy even though I was doing my best to not think about it. We still hadn’t received a text telling us our room was ready, but we decided to head back to the resort anyway. Since we were only going to be there one night we really wanted to spend most of our day there. On the way out we stopped for some delicious ice cream treats.

These really hit the spot. We meandered our way out of the park stopping for some PP shots (of course).

We also stopped to say goodbye to the parrots.

Though we were only there for a few hours we really enjoyed our time in Animal Kingdom this trip. The past couple of trips it had been way too hot there. The weather this day was great and it made me remember this really is a great park. We plan on spending more time there in January.

Next Up: Will we ever get in our room?

 

[Stefy]

All caught up. Sounds like you had a great time during the Halloween parade, bless Michael. Love that the CM was declaring everyone make a path for him

Yummy Kona breakfast, although sorry you weren't feeling so great. Nothing worse than being sick at Disney

Great AK day, loving all the photos. It's such a beautiful park isn't it

 

[dismagiclover]

All caught up. Sounds like you had a great time during the Halloween parade, bless Michael. Love that the CM was declaring everyone make a path for him

Yummy Kona breakfast, although sorry you weren't feeling so great. Nothing worse than being sick at Disney

Great AK day, loving all the photos. It's such a beautiful park isn't it

I'm sure that was quite the site as DH carried a screaming Michael through the Emporium with the CM clearing a path AK is a really lovely park, especially when it isn't hot outside!

 

[dismagiclover]

We headed back to the hotel and still no text. So we grabbed our bathing suits and headed to the pool. By this point I was really feeling not too hot so I just sat on a lounge chair and rested. No one seemed to mind though. This was a nice pool with a fun play area. Everyone had a great time. Here are a few shots of the pool area I borrowed from the Kidani picture thread.

We spent a couple hours at the pool. It was getting close to 4:00 and we still hadn’t received a text with our room number. So I sent DH to the lobby to ask if our room was ready. Well it was. We just never received a text. The same thing happened to us in June at OKW. A little annoying since all I wanted was a bed to crash in. So we headed up to our room. What did we think? We walked in and were all immediately in love with it. These rooms are really beautiful. Here are a few shots.

At this point I was feeling awful and all I wanted to do was lay down and take a nap. So that is what I did. DH and the kids on the other hand had a grand time exploring the resort. They went down to the community center for a while. When they came back they spent some time out on our balcony looking at the animals. In fact I was awoken by Michael running in from the balcony telling me about all the cool animals that were out there. He really was in heaven. Here are some shots from the balcony we took that evening.

We had a dinner ADR for Saana, but I really wasn’t feeling up to it so we decided to order room service instead. This is one thing I really wish I would have taken a picture of, but I was not feeling well. When I came out of the bedroom for dinner the table was beautifully set with an abundance of delicious food from Saana. We only ordered 3 meals because we had only planned to use 5 credits this meal. (We were on the DxDDP for the night.) We had to use 6, but it was worth it. There was plenty of food and it was actually more pleasant to eat in the comfort of our beautiful villa with the animals right outside. What I ate was tasty, but I didn’t eat much. DH loved it! It was a great mix of flavors and spices. We’d definitely eat at Saana again (though technically I guess we didn’t eat there.) After dinner everyone went out and did something else in the resort. While they were gone I took a bath in the incredible bathroom. Here is a shot of the tub.

Then I crawled into bed hopeful that I would feel better the next morning. Though I was under the weather I still loved this resort and couldn’t think of a better place to be.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Love the pics of your room....8 months and we're there too!! Can't wait!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I can see why ya'll immediately fell in love with the room. It was gorgeous. I especially love the chairs and the carvings on them.

Too bad you didn't feel well enough to watch all of the animals and go out to dinner. But, it sounds like room service was good and tasty. I sure hope that you were feeling better soon.

 

[jmskinner]

I didn't notice any Kangaroos. What and where are they? Gives me something to look for next time. That Photopass pic of the Headless Horseman was really cool.

You were probably busy looking at the tree and didn't see the Kangaroos. It's east to do. When you take that path and right before the base of the tree, the tree is on your left and the kangaroos are on your right. It's the area the large buzzards are also in.

So sorry you weren't feeling well. The room service sounds wonderful. Pics of the resort are fantastic. Hope you were feeling better the next day.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Great updates! I love all the AK pictures. How cool you got to see the elephants in the water. Awesome.

Kidani is such a great resort. I was kind of like Michael when we were there. It's just so neat being able to go out on your balcony and watch all the animals.

 

[dismagiclover]

Love the pics of your room....8 months and we're there too!! Can't wait!!

I'm so excited for you! Hope that 8 months fly by for you!

I can see why ya'll immediately fell in love with the room. It was gorgeous. I especially love the chairs and the carvings on them.

Too bad you didn't feel well enough to watch all of the animals and go out to dinner. But, it sounds like room service was good and tasty. I sure hope that you were feeling better soon.

The rooms were loaded with beautiful details. Luckily me being sick didn't really impact anyone else. They all still had a grand time!

You were probably busy looking at the tree and didn't see the Kangaroos. It's east to do. When you take that path and right before the base of the tree, the tree is on your left and the kangaroos are on your right. It's the area the large buzzards are also in.

So sorry you weren't feeling well. The room service sounds wonderful. Pics of the resort are fantastic. Hope you were feeling better the next day.

I'm going to find those kangaroos in January! The room service was great! I think we may try it at Boardwalk in January. I suspect after the marathon I will also want to just lay around so room service will be perfect!

Great updates! I love all the AK pictures. How cool you got to see the elephants in the water. Awesome.

Kidani is such a great resort. I was kind of like Michael when we were there. It's just so neat being able to go out on your balcony and watch all the animals.

The elephants in the water was a new thing! That is what is so fun about the Safari. It really is never the same ride twice (though I wish they would fix the bridge) Kidani is a great resort. It would be a great resort for a relaxing non commando trip.

 

[dismagiclover]

I have got to finish this puppy up so hopefully I can update more frequently! On to the update.

Morning came and I felt better! I was very glad the bug was so short lived. There were some animals out on the Savannah so the kids enjoyed watching them while we all got ready. Michael, especially was just in heaven at this resort. Here is a zebra shot someone took this morning. Didn’t turn out too great, but you get the idea. I really liked the 2nd floor room because we were much closer to the animals.

First thing scheduled for this morning was breakfast at Boma. We’d only been here for dinner so I was excited for breakfast. It was a short walk over to Jambo House and before we knew it we were enjoying the delicious buffet.

I really enjoyed this breakfast. Lots of variety with the food and it was all fresh. Plus we had more Jungle Juice. After breakfast DH wanted to go out and look at the pool. He remembered being impressed by it when we visited in 2008. He was disappointed when he saw it. He thought something was different, but couldn’t figure out what. Here is the pool shot I took.

I informed him it used to be a green color so it seemed more like an African watering hole. Now it has been painted a boring pool blue color. I guess people thought the water was dirty when it looked like a watering hole. We both agreed that it had really lost much of it ambience. Silly complainers.

We headed back to the Jambo lobby where I snapped this picture.

Then we walked back to Kidani where we stopped in the community center on the way back to the room. Everyone else had spent time here the day before, but it was new to me. It was a nice space. Not as big as some of the other community centers, but there was still plenty to do. The boys played pool.

Wendy and I played checkers for a bit and then she did a craft.

Check out time was rapidly approaching so we headed back to the room. It was almost 11:00 and there was some great animal viewing to be had so we spent a few more minutes watching the animals.

This was really a great resort for us. We loved the animal viewing. It made us want to spend time in our room. It is now hands down Michael’s favorite resort and I think I can guarantee that we will be back again sometime for a longer stay. For now though check out time was upon us, but our plane didn’t leave until early evening. Where did we head for the rest of the day?

 

[dismagiclover]

We hopped in our car and headed over to what always seems to be our last day park, Epcot. We knew it would be too late for Fastpasses so we just planned on spending a few leisurely hours enjoying the atmosphere and extras at Epcot and not worry about getting on any rides. Epcot is the best park for this. Though after spending a few hours just browsing around Animal Kingdom the day before it may give Epcot a run for its money. First stop after going through the turnstiles was of course the Photopass Photog. Here is what we got.

After we finished up the mini shoot the boys starting clamoring about meeting Duffy. For those of you that don’t know Disney recently introduced a new character in Epcot: Duffy the Disney Bear. He is Mickey’s teddy bear. I showed the boys a picture of Duffy before we left on the trip and it became top priority for my boys to meet him. So we meandered through Future World towards the World Showcase where Duffy’s meet ‘n greet is. It was Food and Wine so I snapped a picture of some of the decorations.

We found Duffy’s spot, but we had a few minutes to wait until he came out. So we plopped down on a bench and enjoyed the lovely day. Before we knew it Duffy came walking out. Here is the boys as they got their first look at him. Look how excited they are (especially Michael.)

Here are the pictures of the Meet ‘n Greet.

The boys just loved this. Here are some pictures I took right after when I asked them how they felt about meeting Duffy.

When I talk to the boys about this trip and ask them what they like best they both say “Duffy.” And of course we left Epcot that day with 2 new Teddy Bears. I guess this is Disney Marketing at its best. Anyway we had a yummy ADR scheduled. Any guesses on where it is?

 

[Stefy]

Looks like you guys really enjoyed Kidani and you took some great pictures.

I love the bathroom there, that scene on the wall always reminds me of this mug I used to have where when you put hot water in that exact picture showed up all around the mug

Cute Duffy photo's, he is quite a cute little bear isn't he and the boys certainly fell for him. Did you know there is a Duffy for every Pavilion in WS? http://mousetalestravel.com/2010/10/15/duffy-the-disney-bear/

 

[Queenofallthings]

So happy your bug was short lived....nothing worse than being sick at Disney

Isn't Boma just the best....I couldn eat every meal there and be perfectly happy! I love early morning breakfast though the best....yummy!!

The pics with Duffy are adorable...he is just the cutest!!!

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

Glad to hear that your bug was short-lived!

Loved your family pics in front of SE and what cute pictures of the kids at the Duffy meet and greet!

 

[Happy Elf]

the pictures of the boys after seeing Duffy. Too cute! Their excitement really shows!

 

[dismagiclover]

Looks like you guys really enjoyed Kidani and you took some great pictures.

I love the bathroom there, that scene on the wall always reminds me of this mug I used to have where when you put hot water in that exact picture showed up all around the mug

Cute Duffy photo's, he is quite a cute little bear isn't he and the boys certainly fell for him. Did you know there is a Duffy for every Pavilion in WS? http://mousetalestravel.com/2010/10/15/duffy-the-disney-bear/

I think the bathroom is the 2nd best part of Kidani. (The best part is the animals, of course.) I did know there is a Duffy outfit for every Pavilion. My boys want to collect all the outfits. Another example of Disney Marketing at its best

So happy your bug was short lived....nothing worse than being sick at Disney

Isn't Boma just the best....I couldn eat every meal there and be perfectly happy! I love early morning breakfast though the best....yummy!!

The pics with Duffy are adorable...he is just the cutest!!!

I was very lucky that the bug was so mild. Boma is really yummy! I'm sure we'll be back again!

Glad to hear that your bug was short-lived!

Loved your family pics in front of SE and what cute pictures of the kids at the Duffy meet and greet!

The Duffy pictures did turn out quite cute! The SE earth ones are my favorite family pictures from this trip. (Though my favorite overall picture is the ones of DH and the kids at the Halloween party.)

the pictures of the boys after seeing Duffy. Too cute! Their excitement really shows!

Those are great pictures of the boys! You can see the Magic in their faces. Those moments are the reason we keep going back

 

[Angies1274]

Your room pics are beautiful!!Wow! I'm glad you enjoyed your breakfast at Boma! We loved it...everything was so fresh and yummy!

Great photopass pics at Epcot! Oh and I love those pictures with Duffy! So cute!! The boys look like they had a great time.

 

[carissanboys]

Hey Jenny! Sorry to hear you were sick on the trip, but glad it was short lived.

Love those family photo pass pictures at Epcot - so pretty!

Are you ready for marathon weekend??

 

[dismagiclover]

Your room pics are beautiful!!Wow! I'm glad you enjoyed your breakfast at Boma! We loved it...everything was so fresh and yummy!

Great photopass pics at Epcot! Oh and I love those pictures with Duffy! So cute!! The boys look like they had a great time.

Kidani was beautiful! I'm sure we'll stay there again. The photopass pictures turned out well. You know me and Photopass. We take so many we are bound to get some good ones

Hey Jenny! Sorry to hear you were sick on the trip, but glad it was short lived.

Love those family photo pass pictures at Epcot - so pretty!

Are you ready for marathon weekend??

I can't complain about being sick for one day, especially when I think about how many days I'll be at Disney this year. As far as marathon weekend I'm still in training mode. I'll do my 20 miler either Saturday or Monday based on forecasts. I'm definitely tired of running at the moment. Believe it or not I never felt that way when I trained for halfs, but the whole is a new ballgame! Hoping it will all be worth it and I can check completing a marathon off the bucket list Sounds like your training is on track too! Can't wait to hear about your race. The first big one is always exciting! I'm hoping the weather warms ups down there and we can run in shorts.