A Halloween Adventure in Autism (11/7) Prayer Request for Catie (p.129)

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Happy New Year!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hope you & family are doing well Kathy!! Hope you find some time to make it back over here soon.

Happy New Year!

 

[eandesmom]

Happy New Year Kathy and family!

 

[mousescrapper]

Happy New Year Kathy and Family...hope you guys are all well and things are going good for you

Miss you!

and hey popcorn is one of my favorite foods

Scrappie J~

 

[KathyRN137]

Happy New Year!​

Hello, DIS-Friends!

I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday season and are all well! My #1 New Year's resolution is to get back to DISing and the completion of my trip report!

See you soon!

Love,

Kathy

 

[jcc0621]

Happy New Year Kathy. I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hi Kathy!! Glad to hear from you!! Hope you all had a nice holiday! Can't wait to have you back around here more often.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Happy New Year, Kathy!!! Looking forward to more of your trip report in 2010!!!

 

[irish dancer]

Happy New Year - Kathy and family!! Hope you have a GREAT 2010!

 

[kimmylaj]

happy new year. miss you. your resolution sounds good to me

 

[joy13]

Happy New Year!!

 

[All7OfUs]

Happy New Year to you too, Kathy! I love your resolution! It will be nice to have you back with us, when you can

 

[KathyRN137]

Chapter Five: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep…


October 30-31 2009
Midnight
Arrival at Kidani Village


Ah, what a relief it was to step off of the ME bus, knowing that we were finally “home!” In preparation for our trip I had poured over countless pictures and video clips of the new Kidani Village lobby, so I already knew what to expect visually. That, however, did not diminish the little thrill I felt passing through those doors for the first time, knowing that we had an entire week of Disney fun ahead of us.

Again, it was ridiculously late, so we were carrying our own bags. Ed and the kids collapsed into the luxurious seating while I checked us in. We were all yawning. True to form, Billy quickly sought out the little TV area and plopped himself in front of the screen to watch cartoons. The girls stretched out and I noticed that Tricia laid her head on her daddy’s shoulder and pretended to snore.

The good thing about checking in so late was that there was only one person ahead of me in line. The bad thing was that there was only one Cast Member at the desk! I closed my eyes and listened to the subtle background music of African drumming and melodic chanting. Soon it was my turn… I don’t know whether the on-line check-in I had done before we left helped at all, but everything went smoothly. Most importantly, the box containing our Halloween costumes had arrived safely. The bellman brought it out and placed our larger bags on the cart, telling us he would meet us at our room. We took our resort map, our carry-ons and the bags of ice-cold McDonald’s and set off toward the elevator, too tired to stop and admire all the beautiful African artwork surrounding us.

Note: Please accept my apologies; I was too tired to take any pictures at this point. Don’t worry… I more than made up for it later!

We got off on the second floor, turned right, and continued down the heavily themed hallway, looking for our room number. Each door was decorated with a shield and each one was slightly different. I loved the giraffe print on the hallway carpet and the light fixtures in the shape of native drums!

“Kidani” is Swahili for “necklace” and this portion of the resort is laid out as a series of “beads” containing several rooms connected by short hallways with floor-to-ceiling viewing windows that faced the savannah. Of course, it was too dark to see anything and I knew the animals were all in their sleeping quarters, anyway, but it was fun to imagine what sights we would be treated to come morning. Our one-bedroom villa was located in the third “bead” from the lobby and I was grateful that we didn’t have too far to walk. We could’ve been given a villa in the eighth bead, which was the furthest from the lobby… a very real concern of mine since we were checking in so late! I would come to find out that this was a perfect location for us since we were actually quite close to Samawati Springs Pool (once we discovered the “short cut”.)

We arrived at our room and lo and behold, the bellman was there at the door, waiting for us! “How did you beat us?” the girls demanded. He laughed and told them it was Disney Magic, in this case otherwise known as a service elevator. Ed got the door opened and we all stumbled in, followed by the cheerful bellman. It was the usual flurry of activity as each person took their bags and tried to get oriented as quickly as possible. Ed took care of the bellman and brought the big box of Halloween stuff into the master bedroom.

“Wow!” he said. “Now that’s what I call a bed!” A ginormous king bed dominated the room. And it was really high, too. Seriously. I’m 5’8’’ and I felt like I could’ve used a little stepstool to sit on it!

Okay, I know that you’re dying to see, so I will now “cheat” and insert some room pictures that were taken later in the trip…..

NOTE: Some pix are from Catie's camera and her date was obviously out of sync...

We quickly unpacked the bulk of our things and I had everyone wash up so that we could eat our midnight dinner. This is where having a kitchen with a microwave really came in handy! While I zapped the fast food, Ed ran down the hall to the soda machine and got drinks for everyone. (I had asked that our Garden Grocer order be delivered the next morning… remembering how I had waited and waited the last time for our groceries to be delivered so that I could finally get to bed!) After we had finished it was time to organize our toiletries in the bathrooms. Tricia and Catie settled into the smaller bathroom…they were thrilled to have “their own” bathroom, although I warned them that Billy would probably head to whichever bathroom was closest when nature called; they should get into the habit of locking the door if they were undressed. (Even though he’s eleven, I’m still working with him on the concept of knocking before flinging open the bathroom door!)

It was well past one in the morning when we finally settled into our beds. Tricia and her cousin shared the queen sleeper-sofa and Billy took the sleeper chair. As I kissed them goodnight, Billy just couldn’t stop giggling… I think he was tickled to be sleeping in the same room as the girls.

The only thing I had planned for the next day was a late breakfast at Boma. We were already up late this first night and tomorrow we would be up late again because of the MNSSHP. I wasn’t even going to attempt a park… it seemed best to do nothing but hang around the resort and swim a bit before getting ready for the party and it felt so good to know we didn’t have to get up early and rush off the next morning. Even our Boma breakfast could be re-scheduled if we were all too tired to make it. Billy never oversleeps, so I didn’t even bother to set an alarm. Normally, Ed likes to watch a little TV before bed, but even he was too tired to do much more than check the weather channel. I laid my head down on those big fluffy pillows and curled my toes happily. Ed turned out the light and we whispered our goodnights. Ahhh, vacation had begun! All was right with the world.


Kathy

 

[mrsksomeday]

YAY!!! You are posting again! I love the feeling of walking into the lobby knowing your whole vacation is in front of you.

The room looks fantastic. I loved Billy's smile, he looked so happy. I can't wait to see all of you in the Halloween costumes.

 

[eandesmom]

YAY you've made it! AND your costume box did too!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so happy you had a microwave to heat up your food. That is a gorgeous bed.

Looking forward to more and happy to see you posting again

 

[DisMomAmy]

Welcome back Kathy!! You left us hanging on the ME bus for so long I was wondering if you would ever get there...

The villa looks amazing - as always!!

 

[jcc0621]

Wow! AKV looks amazing. Glad your costume box arrived safely. AND I am glad you are able to start posting again

 

[kimmylaj]

woohoo an update. kidani looks awesome. cant wait for more

 

[irish dancer]

Yay!! An update!! Sounds like everything went smoothly that first evening. So glad your box arrived, phew one less worry! I too just love that feeling of walking into the resort on arrival day.

Billy was probably giggling over finally being in WDW too!

Can't wait to hear more, especially MNSSHP.......

 

[mousescrapper]

YAY! and update...

happy you arrived safely and found your room to be just right...and wonderful your costumes were waiting for you! Can't wait for more...this is gonna be a fun TR as always...even though we know the is on the way...

I laid my head down on those big fluffy pillows and curled my toes happily. Ed turned out the light and we whispered our goodnights. Ahhh, vacation had begun! All was right with the world.

sounds great...just pefect.

J~