Boardwalk/Kidani savanna stay with Riviera, Grand Floridian, Beach Club and Yacht Club visits

808blessing

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 5, 2020
First stay as a DVC member and 4th trip to WDW in past decade.

Day 1 Boardwalk check-in around 3. Greeted and sent to a room near the elevator but on a higher floor immediately. By 5:30 we toured the BW shops, received Amazon Fresh groceries, a wonderful hand me down DVC Locker (filled with goodies) and UberEats order from our very favorite Mexican restaurant El Patron. The artisan tacos kept really well.

Day 2 Hollywood Studios
We walked over- a bit farther than expected. Fog rolled in and I thought it was rain so we were decked out. Rope drop, which I usually do everytime was a bit of a waste bc the first ride (Minnie Railroad) broke down after 10 mins of standing in line. Went to Toy Story and came back later.

Slinky Dog Dash at day, dusk and eve was the highlight. My daughter overcame her fear of roller coasters which reaped dividends at Magic Kingdom. I also scored high (111000) on Toy Story bc I finally rode by myself. Had lunch at Mama’s. No such ROTR luck though I tried the tricks.Then opted for a 3pm break, husband napped and me/DD went to a semi-crowded but lively pool. Jacuzzi was not packed but periodically filled with 3 people.

Hopper in car for HS round 2 and met another family for blue Milk (one spiked, the other not) and Millenium. The order came up before the window even started and texts kept rolling in but I came at my chosen window. They had already cancelled it but made a new one upon request. We met with a friend at our room for his birthday nightcap while kids consumed media.

Day 3 Epcot
We had a quick walk, a first thru the international gate, and got the Spring sticker game for DD because we got two dishes as a reward. The other egg game just had a plastic egg reward so we skipped it and figured finding eggs was a bonus.

We scheduled two days of Epcot that we did completely different. I became a non-believer in rope drops and you will see why on the last day.

We headed back at 3pm after spending time doing all the rides in the Land and Frozen, we ate and all I remember was the tostada. Can you see the theme here? We don’t have any decent Mexican where we live and I took Spanish for years.

After a pool break, we took the skyliner to Riviera for a 6pm tour I had arranged. They looked surprised but obliged. The murals were amazing, the high rise sunset views too. The breakfast cafe turns into a wine bar at night and there was a library with old Walt memorabilia. A nice lady who was sitting there after dinner (not our tour guide) later gave us the free tour gift, the Mickey and Minnie. photo. She didn’t tell us it was free but I guess she knew we would appreciate it. We passed it on to friends who were staying down the hall. Later I got one at Beach Walk from an actual guide. Dinner was delicious and service was friendly. I had the salmon and it was soft but not slimy. I’m used to flaky border but it was great. We had the Instagram worthy and light pistachio mousse for dessert. Unfortunately, DD didn’t finish her rigatoni. She doesn’t have many options because she is picky but she was fine with the unending and exquisite bread basket. I got some great pics of the food so I can taste it with my eyes. We also took sunset pics on the terrace at day, dusk and evening. We stayed an hour and a half with reservations at 6:20.
We skylinered back to Epcot and finished off UK, the rest of Future World and met up with friends. Evening lines were still about 30-45 mins.


Day 4 Animal Kingdom
We carried our stuff to bell desk because I made a mistake and didn’t think about calling them until the instant before I wanted to leave. I didn’t want to wait forever in our room so I DIY. I wasn’t sure how much to tip for 3 small rollers, an owners locker and a cold grocery bag so I gave $5. I feel so chintzy now. I should have done way more, right? What do you do when you don’t have extra on you? We headed to AK to do the Safari as we always do first off. I don’t know why but we were suddenly hungry. Prob bc we didn’t do rope drop The animals were all out and moving around in the cool morning breeze. We got a check in room notice around 1230 but already made plans so we went to 3pm Yak and Yeti (always do that!). Food hit the spot and so relaxing. My favorite ride Kali was closed down. Headed to check-in before dark to see the animals and the pool. They were playing a Gimmee Gimmee game with a personal Safari tour prize. I didn’t care until I had a winning library card then commiserated with a stranger next to me that we weren’t allowed in on the action.

We were on the second floor in the middle of Kidani. It was just as wonderful as I imagined. The rooms were luxurious—I am into dark wood and was happy to see so many animals. It took a good 30 minutes to notice the invisible-ish barriers. The sunset lodge guide was very talkative and gave us an animal spotter guide. We barely used the binoculars because they were right there. I want to go back again!

Headed to the park for Pandora and Safari ride one more time.

pt. 2 below
 

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Part 2
Day 5 Animals came out at 10am for a feeding. It was amazing and was not disappointed. Rooms felt luxurious. I did wash using the laundry app the night before while having pool time so all was good.

Then we headed out leisurely late Kennedy Space Center. I have always been a type A rope drop kinda gal but being a new DVC owner, post-pandemic and many times returning I felt super chill. I had a Chase Rewards but forgot to print the actual voucher in the app (not the email) so that added another 10 mins. Quickly mapped an itinerary to hit all the scheduled things we could- Mission Control, Atlantis, Hubble, Forever Remembered, Journey to Mars. Planet Play, Mission Status. Cafe was packed but the salad was edible. Wish we brought takeout bento food from Sanaa. We will have to come back.

AK pool time and picked up a friend (from a neighboring Boardwalk room) for a sleepover. The animals came out again. Bread service was better than expected even as takeout, the dips and types of bread were unique and portions were plentiful for 2 adults and 2 kids as an evening snack.

We opened our surprise Owner’s Locker contents which were gifted to us from a DIS member who wanted a few things mailed to them. I decided to give the service a try myself because of the great DVC deal and was quite excited. It is a splurge expense but worth it for me for now because of the joy factor.
 
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Updated a little above.
Part 3


Day 6 Magic Kingdom
Lines were good. I really liked it, even without the Fast Passes and I'm an uber planned person. Not anymore. It was quite relaxing to meander and make decisions together as a family. Thrilled my daughter was willing to do the roller coasters (not Space Mountain) now that Slinky Dog broke her in.

We monorailed to lunch at Grand Floridian.We intended to stop at Bay Lake Tower on the way over but didn’t get out because we found out TOTW was closed. I wanted to see all the cool Easter Eggs. Took the glass/cage elevator up. We had been here before on a past visit during a monorail date and it was beautiful as I remember it. Just without the orchestra.
The host was going to put us in the back room since we were early but I preferred to be in main room so we waited and wandered the GF grounds. We were rewarded in the atrium (not sure if that is what it is called) with the Windows but away from windows. So ok. Server was attentive and we cleaned our plates. I had the plant based burger (didn’t miss the meat) and we enjoyed the key lime.

It was pretty mellow MK Visit for a weekend. I think everyone was at the pool. We braced ourselves for the worst being people who don’t subject themselves to more than 2 long waits a day but it was all not bad. Our long ones were Peter Pan, Splash Mountain. Dumbo and Big Thunder was super short. Things you learn when you don’t Rope Drop. But it was just slower than normal. Even Speedway at lunch Jungle Cruise in eve were pretty short. We saw the Traders “get the point” for the last time.
It was our first time to Carousel of Progress since we were meandering. Still haven’t ever tried the People Mover.
Seven Dwarves was wait was about 30-40 mins! Note: no food inside the inner queue so the Mickey bar was devoured accordingly. All other rides were usually half times listed.

Early evening, we ate at Pinnochio’s Village Haus overlooking It’s a Small World loading. Waved to people. My daughter had her dairy free pizza. It was our first time ever closing it down (we babied our daughter and would always get her to bed early) and so we stood and watched Minnie and Mickey up on railway in special white clothing waving bye to us and interacting with one another for quite a long while.

My husband and I are super compatible when it comes to Disney so when we both wanted to go to our favorite taco spot, El Patron-in person at 10 pm at night- and risk losing off site hotel with late check in, we were like Worth it!

Things you worry about when not staying at the Mouse House.

It was packed, DD crashed out on the table so we decided to wrap our food to go. It was less soggy when they packed it via Uber Eats to Boardwalk for some reason. Should have ate it there. Still so satisfying.
 
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Finishing up spring trip finally!
Day 7 Epcot
Since we wake up early, we took a BW boat to catch the peaceful Yacht Club vibe and a quick peek at Stormalong Bay. People lined up very early and we live in a place with water parks and features so I didn’t have an instant desire to jump in the water. The family stopped off for some waffles in the deli while I browsed the attached to the gift shop laden with New England themed Disney purchases. The
Beach Club had a distinct calm family vibe there. It is great if you have a crazy family adventure going or trip and just want to soothe yourself. But if you are basically a chill person or couple or family of 3, it might be a bit slow and would get antsy like me. That said, we are staying there for 3 nights on my next trip just to check it out once and for all. I heard there might be a BCV alligator so I’m keeping my eyes peeled.

Ready for the anti-rope drop? We don’t purposely go late to a park but this time we went after opening through the International Gateway and went counterclockwise. It was empty!!! It was calm!! We had France pavilion all to ourselves.
Ratatouille, here I come! It’s usually packed out but I can really appreciate the buildings, the aesthetics when I’m not dodging strollers and cameras. It was lovely. Yes, you miss the rides but that’s why it was perfect for Epcot 2.0.
It was the first time I went into the Garden expo! I didn’t realize they had a building for it and previously thought it was all about the topiaries and topping off my gut! Lots of pics, displays and a nice space to cool off. It was soo dark in there though. I guess it made it more event-like.

Heading back in the eve, we lingered on the Boardwalk chatting a bit and checking out the lights. In the morning the Easter display was up in the lobby. In all, a wonderful space and always a good time so we ended up securing additional DVC points within a week. I just committed to starting a podcast yesterday and will upload first episode this weekend.

Excited!! But even more excited for our next trip to Disney.
 
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Part 2

We opened our surprise Owner’s Locker contents which were gifted to us from a DIS member who wanted a few things mailed to them. I decided to give the service a try myself because of the great DVC deal and was quite excited. It is a splurge expense but worth it for me for now because of the joy factor.

We are new to DVC. Owner's Locker is what you leave at Disney, then they return to you on your next trips. What do people tend to keep in there? Is there a benefit? Sounds helpful, but is it cost effective?
 
I keep ears, rain coat, binoculars, mugs, disney dresses, slippers, toiletries, bags, first aid, art/journal, closet hook, drinks, misting fan, filtered water pitcher, non-perishables, popcorn bucket etc. There’s an Owners Locker thread here and most forums. I have been curious about OL for almost a decade since we rented my daughter’s stroller from their partner long ago. Then forgot all about them until I saw the “help wanted” from a Dis member.

It is a splurge for our family not a need but with the DVC deal it is pretty affordable. I am just one trip in and plan to try it out for a few years. For us, it’s like a little piece of Welcome Home magic! Company is very reputable and love the online inventory list. Now we will be going to Disneyland this year too so I’m probably going to pack some things from there to transport cross continent.
It is an enhancer and really not needed. I tend to be a saver so it was hard to make this decision. I finally figured, this is why I save…to treat myself to intentional little luxuries. Helps me say no to the frivolous, fleeting monthly things cause I got my locker expense. So you better believe I’m going to enjoy the heck out of the thing. Again, your mileage may vary!
 
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