Another great DVC vacation, with a touch of Disney Magic that I will mention.
We stayed in Kidani Village again, and had a great time. 1 Bedroom Room 7621.
Arrived Tuesday morning at AKV @ 11:45 and our room was immediately ready. You could tell the weather was cool for Florida standards with much of the help wearing heavy coats, but for us coming from the north - high 60's & low 70's are perfect for park hopping. We did a few of our last days at the pool as the weather crept back up into the 80's. Since the room was ready, I ran back out to do a little grocery shopping and then some relaxation before kicking our first night off with dinner at BOMA. Another really good meal, but as you will see over the rest of the report, we feel as if we may have gotten in a rut, and plan to branch out more next trip. We met friends for dinner and got back to our room around 10:00 and geared up for our first day in the parks on Wednesday.
We went to EPCOT, again in the 70's which for me was perfect park weather. Went and got fast passes for Soarin', and then hit them all - Spaceship Earth, Mission Space, Test Track, The Land. Outside of Soarin', wait times were very reasonable. Test Track can get high also, but we found if the estimate was 30/40 minutes, it was more like 20. We also found for the first time the free Coke station and enjoyed some of the international flavors. Then it was off to the F&W Fest. We had some favorites (Beef Empenada, Cheddar Cheese Soup - which were both great), and tried some new dishes - both taco's in Mexico (not that impressed), Jerk Chicken was good, but seemed to tone down the spice. I had the sausage in the pretzel roll which was good. Add a few beers from the Craft booth, and a time or two hearing Off Kilter and we had a great day! Our DD7, ran out of gas around 8:00, so we decided not to push it and left for the evening without seeing the fireworks.
Thursday was MK and MNSSHP. So, we relaxed at the pool during the day and made our way over to MK @ 4:00. Two things, this seems to work better for us than getting a pass, we do more of the rides, and more often, with less wait times, and still get a good 8 hours in at the park. We hit most rides 2 /3 times each, and they gave away really good candy for the Halloween party. We watched the late parade and then made our way back to hit the rides again 1 more time - a great day
Friday I planned on going to watch the PGA Golf tournament, but decided to change plans and hit the Animal Kingdom park instead. Ride times were decent - we got fast passes for Kilamanjaro and then did Dinosaur 3 times with waits only 5-10 minutes. We went back for the Safari ride at 12:00 then got fast pass for Everest. Timing for that was perfect too - Fastpass was for 3:30, so we did the first ride with the fastpass and as everyone cleared out to hit the parade (3:45) we rode two more times. We did all the nature trails and bird show, and really enjoyed the day.
Unfortunately friday night was a bit of a bummer as afterwards we headed to downtown disney and had some fun and dinner at T-Rex. I believe I got a minor case of food poisoning there (fish tacos - I question my choice now as well) and spent most of friday night / saturday morning sick and not too happy. I was feeling better Saturday afternoon, but down a few pegs and not really up for the parks. But - Disney Magic intervened - my wife went down to the front desk Saturday afternoon to see if we could get the no expiration put on our park tickets. When the front desk said it would not be worth the price, they asked why she wanted to do that and she explained the situation. Without any questions, the conciege gave her 3, 1 day park hopper passes with a 5 year expiration date. My wife was a little embarrased and said she was not looking to get a freebie, and they just smiled and said no worries.
How great is that???
Sunday we went to Hollywood Studios and of course Toy Story Mania was the first fast pass to get. It is amazing that by 10:00 the fast passes cant be used until 5:00. Anyway, kind of a bummer as Aerosmith still has a pretty good wait, everything else was a walk on, with TOT being usually 20/30 minutes. But we found a great new ride in Star Tours - and did that about 6 times throughout the day (park was open till midnight). So - we did rides in the morning, went to the stunt show and backlot tour, and then headed back to the hotel to hit the pool and relax. Went back and did Toy Story Mania and the other rides again. We skipped Fantasmic to get a couple go rounds at Aerosmith. Another great day!!!
Monday proved to be a great day as well. Beautiful 82 degree day, the wife & daughter hit the pool and I went over to Fort Wilderness to explore. What a cool place, we are even thinking of doing a day or two there on our next trip. Looked like a lot of great activities for the kids - and a lot of the sites were all decorated for Halloween. I parked the car and walked almost the whole place for the afternoon. I did make a trip to our home (Saratoga) to walk around as well. Then, I went back, picked up the girls and took them over to the boardwalk for our last evening. Grabbed some ice cream, caught all the shows (Brian is still the best on the boardwalk - that guy is great!). We caught a little movie (Dumbo) on the beach at the Beach Club and closed out another great vacation at WDW & DVC.
We are going to hit a new resort for our next trip, hard to say we are burned out on AKV, but we do want to try something different next time. I am suggesting a 2 day stay at Fort Wilderness and then who knows. What a blast, but as always all vacations must end, and now reality will slap me in the face tomorrow, but what great memories. I do have to say that everywhere I went I really noticed how the Cast Members make sure to wave, say hello etc... I am not sure how they get them and keep them all motivated to do those things, but they sure make a difference in making you feel welcome, appreciated, and wanting to keep coming back.
Eric
We stayed in Kidani Village again, and had a great time. 1 Bedroom Room 7621.
Arrived Tuesday morning at AKV @ 11:45 and our room was immediately ready. You could tell the weather was cool for Florida standards with much of the help wearing heavy coats, but for us coming from the north - high 60's & low 70's are perfect for park hopping. We did a few of our last days at the pool as the weather crept back up into the 80's. Since the room was ready, I ran back out to do a little grocery shopping and then some relaxation before kicking our first night off with dinner at BOMA. Another really good meal, but as you will see over the rest of the report, we feel as if we may have gotten in a rut, and plan to branch out more next trip. We met friends for dinner and got back to our room around 10:00 and geared up for our first day in the parks on Wednesday.
We went to EPCOT, again in the 70's which for me was perfect park weather. Went and got fast passes for Soarin', and then hit them all - Spaceship Earth, Mission Space, Test Track, The Land. Outside of Soarin', wait times were very reasonable. Test Track can get high also, but we found if the estimate was 30/40 minutes, it was more like 20. We also found for the first time the free Coke station and enjoyed some of the international flavors. Then it was off to the F&W Fest. We had some favorites (Beef Empenada, Cheddar Cheese Soup - which were both great), and tried some new dishes - both taco's in Mexico (not that impressed), Jerk Chicken was good, but seemed to tone down the spice. I had the sausage in the pretzel roll which was good. Add a few beers from the Craft booth, and a time or two hearing Off Kilter and we had a great day! Our DD7, ran out of gas around 8:00, so we decided not to push it and left for the evening without seeing the fireworks.
Thursday was MK and MNSSHP. So, we relaxed at the pool during the day and made our way over to MK @ 4:00. Two things, this seems to work better for us than getting a pass, we do more of the rides, and more often, with less wait times, and still get a good 8 hours in at the park. We hit most rides 2 /3 times each, and they gave away really good candy for the Halloween party. We watched the late parade and then made our way back to hit the rides again 1 more time - a great day
Friday I planned on going to watch the PGA Golf tournament, but decided to change plans and hit the Animal Kingdom park instead. Ride times were decent - we got fast passes for Kilamanjaro and then did Dinosaur 3 times with waits only 5-10 minutes. We went back for the Safari ride at 12:00 then got fast pass for Everest. Timing for that was perfect too - Fastpass was for 3:30, so we did the first ride with the fastpass and as everyone cleared out to hit the parade (3:45) we rode two more times. We did all the nature trails and bird show, and really enjoyed the day.
Unfortunately friday night was a bit of a bummer as afterwards we headed to downtown disney and had some fun and dinner at T-Rex. I believe I got a minor case of food poisoning there (fish tacos - I question my choice now as well) and spent most of friday night / saturday morning sick and not too happy. I was feeling better Saturday afternoon, but down a few pegs and not really up for the parks. But - Disney Magic intervened - my wife went down to the front desk Saturday afternoon to see if we could get the no expiration put on our park tickets. When the front desk said it would not be worth the price, they asked why she wanted to do that and she explained the situation. Without any questions, the conciege gave her 3, 1 day park hopper passes with a 5 year expiration date. My wife was a little embarrased and said she was not looking to get a freebie, and they just smiled and said no worries.
How great is that???Sunday we went to Hollywood Studios and of course Toy Story Mania was the first fast pass to get. It is amazing that by 10:00 the fast passes cant be used until 5:00. Anyway, kind of a bummer as Aerosmith still has a pretty good wait, everything else was a walk on, with TOT being usually 20/30 minutes. But we found a great new ride in Star Tours - and did that about 6 times throughout the day (park was open till midnight). So - we did rides in the morning, went to the stunt show and backlot tour, and then headed back to the hotel to hit the pool and relax. Went back and did Toy Story Mania and the other rides again. We skipped Fantasmic to get a couple go rounds at Aerosmith. Another great day!!!
Monday proved to be a great day as well. Beautiful 82 degree day, the wife & daughter hit the pool and I went over to Fort Wilderness to explore. What a cool place, we are even thinking of doing a day or two there on our next trip. Looked like a lot of great activities for the kids - and a lot of the sites were all decorated for Halloween. I parked the car and walked almost the whole place for the afternoon. I did make a trip to our home (Saratoga) to walk around as well. Then, I went back, picked up the girls and took them over to the boardwalk for our last evening. Grabbed some ice cream, caught all the shows (Brian is still the best on the boardwalk - that guy is great!). We caught a little movie (Dumbo) on the beach at the Beach Club and closed out another great vacation at WDW & DVC.
We are going to hit a new resort for our next trip, hard to say we are burned out on AKV, but we do want to try something different next time. I am suggesting a 2 day stay at Fort Wilderness and then who knows. What a blast, but as always all vacations must end, and now reality will slap me in the face tomorrow, but what great memories. I do have to say that everywhere I went I really noticed how the Cast Members make sure to wave, say hello etc... I am not sure how they get them and keep them all motivated to do those things, but they sure make a difference in making you feel welcome, appreciated, and wanting to keep coming back.
Eric
