IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!!!!! 
Seriously, all I can say is wow, wow, and in case I didn't make myself clear.....oh my goodness WOW! I will upload pix tomorrow, but for now I'll try to give some details of the weekend.
I guess I'll start by sharing that this was truly a weekend of firsts....opening weekend at Kidani, our first DVC trip (we bought last Oct.), and our first trip without the kids. That's right. I said it. Our first DVC stay was without the kids (I know....we're terrible parents)!! We have never flown anywhere without our children. We've done short weekend getaways without them a couple of times, but always somewhere relatively close to home. So needless to say this was a HUGE deal for us.
You see, we had $450 in Southwest credits that we were going to lose in early June. We tried to sell them, tried to even give them away at a steal, but no-one wanted them. No-one is travelling! At least not when we were trying to get rid of them. So a few months ago I started thinking... why not plan a getaway for our anniversary?? We haven't had much 'couple time' lately and we really needed to get away and reconnect. So with the airfare paid for, where to go?? Well hmmm.....we didn't want to spend much money, wanted somewhere warm and sunny, somewhere we could get away with not renting a car....wait a minute....hold the phone....EUREKA!!!
WE ARE DVC OWNERS! Why not a quick little get away to Disney?!
Yes, it felt a little wrong. Going to Disney without the kids. We felt more than a little guilt along the way as we planned our weekend.
But you know what, we also realized that we NEED this. We deserve this. And let's face it, our kids have been to Disney annually for the past 3 years straight. They're certainly not deprived children. So we did it. We booked it! And how exciting was it that the best weekend for us to do this was the weekend of our anniversary, and the weekend that Kidani was to open. Sooooooooooo exciting!! 
So off we went - flying into Orlando around 11:00a last Friday. Wow, how easy is flying without children?! We carried our bags on the plane with us, enjoyed a quiet flight down where we weren't entertaining kids, feeding snacks, taking anyone to the potty, mediating arguments. We just read our books, drank our bloody mary's (can't do that when flying with the kids), and let the relaxation begin.
ME service was pretty quick and we were on our way to Kidani in about 30 minutes. We had one quick stop at Coronado Springs, then it was our turn. Only problem....the bus driver didn't know where to go. She had never been to Kidani, so we had to figure it out with her (this was the first of about 3 or 4 drivers who didn't know where to go). We were quickly greeted by an adorable girl from South Africa who welcomed us home and showed us inside.
We were soon greeted with many more "Welcome Home(s)" as soon as we entered the beautiful lobby. The pictures I saw before leaving for Kidani were beautiful, but they just don't give you the true intimate feel that you get when walking into Kidani. It's very different from walking into Jambo House, but the decor and architecture is just so gorgeous that you get an equally impressive welcome. There were a TON of CM's there to greet us and get us checked in...they did a great job of making sure they were adequately staffed so that they were totally prepared.
We had done the online check in so our room was (obviously) ready and we were quickly given our welcome home packet, anniversary pins, a small gift (can't remember what it's called but I'll find the card that came with it and will report back later), and a map to find our room. I can't tell you how beautiful the whole resort is....from the lobby, to the hallways, to the artwork, even the elevators. It's all GORGEOUS!!!! Absolutely perfect in the execution of its theming. On the way to our room we were able to see our first animals on the sunset savannah - wildebeasts, cranes, giraffe and ostrich. So incredibly neat (for lack of a better word).
Because we didn't want to blow too many points, we booked a standard studio and it was truly perfect for us. I had requested a pool view and the request was granted. We were perfectly satisfied with our view. Yes, there were parking spots right below our balcony, and a view of the driveway, but they did such an AMAZING job with the landscaping that it really didn't bother us at all. And speaking of the landscaping....oh my gosh. It's so lush, and full, and beautiful. I was a little worried that it would look a little sparse since it's a new resort, but that is sooooo not the case. They did a FABULOUS job with making it look very well established and it truly lends itself to the overall theming as well.
We loved the room. The size, the decor, the set up. Everything was great! We were welcomed with a butterfly towel animal and a card with a little butterfly and an african proverb that said...."A family is like a forest, when you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree has it's place". And that's the first time I felt really bad that my kiddos weren't with us to experience this.
Anyway, it was a very sweet touch that I hope they continue. There are proverbs like this written/painted/carved all over the the resort and this was a nice continuation of that.
We quickly checked out the room and view and decided to change and hit the pool!!! The pool is AMAZING!!!!! (enter the second time I felt really bad that our kids were not with us) The splash area/playground is phenomenal and I can't wait until our children see it. They will got NUTS!!! The pool is not huge, but it is a nice size and it never felt overcrowded at anytime during the weekend. There are two nice sized hot tubs and the awesome slide. Best slide I have been on at any Disney resort....multiple twists and turns and it is long! DH and I spent a lot of time having fun on the slide this weekend.
Just like the rest of the resort, the pool has gorgeous landscaping so it feels very lush and very authentic. We grabbed a couple of lounge chairs and headed to the Maji bar for some lunch.....
continued in next post
Seriously, all I can say is wow, wow, and in case I didn't make myself clear.....oh my goodness WOW! I will upload pix tomorrow, but for now I'll try to give some details of the weekend.I guess I'll start by sharing that this was truly a weekend of firsts....opening weekend at Kidani, our first DVC trip (we bought last Oct.), and our first trip without the kids. That's right. I said it. Our first DVC stay was without the kids (I know....we're terrible parents)!! We have never flown anywhere without our children. We've done short weekend getaways without them a couple of times, but always somewhere relatively close to home. So needless to say this was a HUGE deal for us.
You see, we had $450 in Southwest credits that we were going to lose in early June. We tried to sell them, tried to even give them away at a steal, but no-one wanted them. No-one is travelling! At least not when we were trying to get rid of them. So a few months ago I started thinking... why not plan a getaway for our anniversary?? We haven't had much 'couple time' lately and we really needed to get away and reconnect. So with the airfare paid for, where to go?? Well hmmm.....we didn't want to spend much money, wanted somewhere warm and sunny, somewhere we could get away with not renting a car....wait a minute....hold the phone....EUREKA!!!
WE ARE DVC OWNERS! Why not a quick little get away to Disney?!Yes, it felt a little wrong. Going to Disney without the kids. We felt more than a little guilt along the way as we planned our weekend.
But you know what, we also realized that we NEED this. We deserve this. And let's face it, our kids have been to Disney annually for the past 3 years straight. They're certainly not deprived children. So we did it. We booked it! And how exciting was it that the best weekend for us to do this was the weekend of our anniversary, and the weekend that Kidani was to open. Sooooooooooo exciting!! So off we went - flying into Orlando around 11:00a last Friday. Wow, how easy is flying without children?! We carried our bags on the plane with us, enjoyed a quiet flight down where we weren't entertaining kids, feeding snacks, taking anyone to the potty, mediating arguments. We just read our books, drank our bloody mary's (can't do that when flying with the kids), and let the relaxation begin.
ME service was pretty quick and we were on our way to Kidani in about 30 minutes. We had one quick stop at Coronado Springs, then it was our turn. Only problem....the bus driver didn't know where to go. She had never been to Kidani, so we had to figure it out with her (this was the first of about 3 or 4 drivers who didn't know where to go). We were quickly greeted by an adorable girl from South Africa who welcomed us home
and showed us inside.We were soon greeted with many more "Welcome Home(s)" as soon as we entered the beautiful lobby. The pictures I saw before leaving for Kidani were beautiful, but they just don't give you the true intimate feel that you get when walking into Kidani. It's very different from walking into Jambo House, but the decor and architecture is just so gorgeous that you get an equally impressive welcome. There were a TON of CM's there to greet us and get us checked in...they did a great job of making sure they were adequately staffed so that they were totally prepared.
We had done the online check in so our room was (obviously) ready and we were quickly given our welcome home packet, anniversary pins, a small gift (can't remember what it's called but I'll find the card that came with it and will report back later), and a map to find our room. I can't tell you how beautiful the whole resort is....from the lobby, to the hallways, to the artwork, even the elevators. It's all GORGEOUS!!!! Absolutely perfect in the execution of its theming. On the way to our room we were able to see our first animals on the sunset savannah - wildebeasts, cranes, giraffe and ostrich. So incredibly neat (for lack of a better word).
Because we didn't want to blow too many points, we booked a standard studio and it was truly perfect for us. I had requested a pool view and the request was granted. We were perfectly satisfied with our view. Yes, there were parking spots right below our balcony, and a view of the driveway, but they did such an AMAZING job with the landscaping that it really didn't bother us at all. And speaking of the landscaping....oh my gosh. It's so lush, and full, and beautiful. I was a little worried that it would look a little sparse since it's a new resort, but that is sooooo not the case. They did a FABULOUS job with making it look very well established and it truly lends itself to the overall theming as well.
We loved the room. The size, the decor, the set up. Everything was great! We were welcomed with a butterfly towel animal and a card with a little butterfly and an african proverb that said...."A family is like a forest, when you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree has it's place". And that's the first time I felt really bad that my kiddos weren't with us to experience this.
Anyway, it was a very sweet touch that I hope they continue. There are proverbs like this written/painted/carved all over the the resort and this was a nice continuation of that.We quickly checked out the room and view and decided to change and hit the pool!!! The pool is AMAZING!!!!! (enter the second time I felt really bad that our kids were not with us) The splash area/playground is phenomenal and I can't wait until our children see it. They will got NUTS!!! The pool is not huge, but it is a nice size and it never felt overcrowded at anytime during the weekend. There are two nice sized hot tubs and the awesome slide. Best slide I have been on at any Disney resort....multiple twists and turns and it is long! DH and I spent a lot of time having fun on the slide this weekend.
Just like the rest of the resort, the pool has gorgeous landscaping so it feels very lush and very authentic. We grabbed a couple of lounge chairs and headed to the Maji bar for some lunch.....continued in next post
We politely complained to the bartender, who let us know that she had heard that from a number of people already that day (and this was around 12:45). So off we went to the Mara to get some food. 
Yeah, that didn't take long. We have stayed at WL, CR, Poly, GF....and I'd say we most definitely have a new favorite! 
this time. We have Disney without them once a couple years ago, and we have yet to hear the end of it. 
They were not impressed by the one over at the Jambo pool. 
