Girlstar30
One day my direct will come 🏰
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2025
- Messages
- 5,828
The trip that wasnt supposed to happen turned out to be the trip we really needed. FOMO hit hard when my Instagram was filled with posts about all of the things coming to Walt Disney World for Christmas and with only a month and a half before December, getting a reservation seemed impossible. With a little bit of faith, trust and pixie dust I was able to split stay 1 night at Poly, 2 nights at blt, 4 nights at akv, and 5 nights at ccv. Not ideal in the slightest, but we were going! This trip almost got cancelled over and over again (serious family illness, ourselves starting to get sick, etc) and i worried we were pushing it when it wasnt meant to be. Things continued getting worse before turning around for the better.
Our departing flight was delayed due to severe winter weather. The plane kept circling around on the ground, but never taking off. I decided to pass the time by playing the dvc slots! And then our luck did a 360! 2 nights before our four nights akv stay in the same room type popped up! And here i was praying as the plane circled around endlessly that the 7 dwarves, Rex or Olaf wouldnt make an appearance or this plane wouldnt take off as I was modifying this reservation
Modify successful! 2 nights blt became 6 nights akv. Now we just had the one night poly before and the ccv we were looking forward to and didnt want to change no matter what!
The idea of our first stay in a poly longhouse preferred view and watching the christmas fireworks from our room was starting to grow on me. Our room number came earlier and we weren't on the dreaded bottom floor. The excitement faded as I realized our flight may be cancelled altogether. Time passed and I knew we weren't going to make it to the firework show. The plane stopped circling, we were told the weather was too severe and we were stuck. What a waste of points! I should have booked a night in a studio at okw!
I called Disney stressed out about the situation and our flight possibly being cancelled. A very sympathetic manager from the back office who knew what was going on with the weather already, offered to change our Poly to Akv in the same room type but HA was all they had left for that night. Score! Upgrade! We will take it!!
When we finally got there at 2 am we were exhausted, but very pleased with what we saw in the room. The beautiful, wood carved furniture, the curious ostrich egg lamps, Simba and Nala on the headboard and kitchen, these were some unique rooms indeed! Discovering there was a jacuzzi tub was the icing on the cake! We were very satisfied! I was actually happy we got to stay before the refurbishment, I was very sad they were going to get rid of this beautiful furniture! (Or so I thought!)
Another score was that I got the exact room number I requested!! Full savannah view when paying for a resort view. How do they come up with these room types?? The room was FAR from the lobby, but I knew that when requesting it. The animals made up for it. We saw giraffes, zebras, and a variety of other animals I cant quite name We were some happy campers!
The honeymoon ended when it was time to take a bath and go to those condo meetings we decided to attend! I decided I wanted to test out this jacuzzi tub and when I turned it on a bunch of debris and hair came out
It was really nasty! Housekeeping manager came and inspected and told us she would do a full cleaning and she would need to clean the jets. Thats when we began chatting and she told me i wouldnt have to worry soon enough because the jacuzzi tubs will be gone at the refurb. My ears perked up and my days as a junior detective began! I extracted as much info as I could about the refurb to report to my Disboard family throughout the stay I was getting more and more excited!
The condo meeting info is on my Disboards thread already so I wont get into that. Back to the room, we had heating issues. The room was really cold and didnt heat up. This is an issue we have often with the dvc rooms. Apparently, sometimes they turn the heat off and dont turn it on until anyone says anything, which is always us, because im always freezing Maintenance came and said he fixed it, he didnt. It was a cold night, but I didnt have the energy to call again and would call tomorrow.
Next day, called for the heater again late at night. Was at the theme parks all day enjoying all the fun Christmas things! What a blast Jollywood nights was! I almost didnt book it because of so many complaints i've read over the years that it wasnt as good as the Osborne family lights. Well i never experienced that, but this was easily my new favorite after hours event! Tons of rare characters, photo ops, unique christmas shows and delicious food! The Kermit and Miss Piggy show had us laughing out loud, the nightmare before christmas show had us singing, and we had fun dancing with the characters and watching ice skaters and a fireworks show! This is def something I would want to attend every time we go for the season! I found myself wishing that MM held a candle to this event.
Anyways, back to the heater issue. The maintenance guy told us that for some reason the room we were in always had issues. Great. After tinkering around he said it was fixed and his temperature gun was reading 95 degrees! Thats... really hot! Oh well we could turn it down. Wrong. The temperate was stuck at a blazing hot temperature. I fell asleep before it got hotter and hotter. My wife woke me up concerned and woke me up, and I felt dizzy, confused and like I was going to faint. It was well over the 100s In there.
We moved to the dreaded Animal Kingdom living room pull out couch and I couldnt sleep all night. I was literally scared for my health and started googling heat exhaustion. Then I was just getting pissed. Here I paid for a one bedroom and im on the most uncomfortable pull out couch ever. I went to the front desk as soon as it was a decent hour, spoke to the manager and told him to please go into that room himself and thats all I have to say. Manager went, saw that the thermostat temperature couldnt be changed, told us it was way too hot, apologized profusely, refunded us the night and offered housekeeping. I did appreciate that very much, but this was a real health hazard and it did affect our trip. Epcot was planned for that day and I felt too faint and out of it to go on any rides. Thankfully, the issues ended after that, they put in a brand new thermostat, and we were able to move on without having to go to medical (even tho I probably should have) I am officially scared to complain about heating issues again
Animal Kingdom is one of those resorts that is so special during Christmas time (And all times really) The smell of Christmas pine filled the lobby, families were taking pictures in front of the majestic tree and admiring the Gingerbread animals, and the wreaths and garlands that adorned each floor were warm and glowing. All the food per usual was delicious. I found my new favorite Disney burger tucked away at the Victoria Falls Lounge (Who knew venison was so tasty?) Our first time at Boma for dinner was a new favorite buffett, and the Flatbread and chicken at the Mara were so unique and flavorful.
Despite the hiccups, I was never more confident that Animal Kingdom truly felt like home. I will miss the night time strolls past the lush plants and waters, chasing beads to complete our necklaces on resort day mornings, the African Christmas music playing throughout and the sounds of beating drums rising from below. With a little love and care that this resort is on the brink of receiving and desperatly needs, this Kingdom will return to its full glory and I cant wait to be there for it.
Our departing flight was delayed due to severe winter weather. The plane kept circling around on the ground, but never taking off. I decided to pass the time by playing the dvc slots! And then our luck did a 360! 2 nights before our four nights akv stay in the same room type popped up! And here i was praying as the plane circled around endlessly that the 7 dwarves, Rex or Olaf wouldnt make an appearance or this plane wouldnt take off as I was modifying this reservation
Modify successful! 2 nights blt became 6 nights akv. Now we just had the one night poly before and the ccv we were looking forward to and didnt want to change no matter what!The idea of our first stay in a poly longhouse preferred view and watching the christmas fireworks from our room was starting to grow on me. Our room number came earlier and we weren't on the dreaded bottom floor. The excitement faded as I realized our flight may be cancelled altogether. Time passed and I knew we weren't going to make it to the firework show. The plane stopped circling, we were told the weather was too severe and we were stuck. What a waste of points! I should have booked a night in a studio at okw!
I called Disney stressed out about the situation and our flight possibly being cancelled. A very sympathetic manager from the back office who knew what was going on with the weather already, offered to change our Poly to Akv in the same room type but HA was all they had left for that night. Score! Upgrade! We will take it!!
When we finally got there at 2 am we were exhausted, but very pleased with what we saw in the room. The beautiful, wood carved furniture, the curious ostrich egg lamps, Simba and Nala on the headboard and kitchen, these were some unique rooms indeed! Discovering there was a jacuzzi tub was the icing on the cake! We were very satisfied! I was actually happy we got to stay before the refurbishment, I was very sad they were going to get rid of this beautiful furniture! (Or so I thought!)
Another score was that I got the exact room number I requested!! Full savannah view when paying for a resort view. How do they come up with these room types?? The room was FAR from the lobby, but I knew that when requesting it. The animals made up for it. We saw giraffes, zebras, and a variety of other animals I cant quite name
We were some happy campers!The honeymoon ended when it was time to take a bath and go to those condo meetings we decided to attend! I decided I wanted to test out this jacuzzi tub and when I turned it on a bunch of debris and hair came out
It was really nasty! Housekeeping manager came and inspected and told us she would do a full cleaning and she would need to clean the jets. Thats when we began chatting and she told me i wouldnt have to worry soon enough because the jacuzzi tubs will be gone at the refurb. My ears perked up and my days as a junior detective began! I extracted as much info as I could about the refurb to report to my Disboard family throughout the stay I was getting more and more excited!The condo meeting info is on my Disboards thread already so I wont get into that. Back to the room, we had heating issues. The room was really cold and didnt heat up. This is an issue we have often with the dvc rooms. Apparently, sometimes they turn the heat off and dont turn it on until anyone says anything, which is always us, because im always freezing
Maintenance came and said he fixed it, he didnt. It was a cold night, but I didnt have the energy to call again and would call tomorrow.Next day, called for the heater again late at night. Was at the theme parks all day enjoying all the fun Christmas things! What a blast Jollywood nights was! I almost didnt book it because of so many complaints i've read over the years that it wasnt as good as the Osborne family lights. Well i never experienced that, but this was easily my new favorite after hours event! Tons of rare characters, photo ops, unique christmas shows and delicious food! The Kermit and Miss Piggy show had us laughing out loud, the nightmare before christmas show had us singing, and we had fun dancing with the characters and watching ice skaters and a fireworks show! This is def something I would want to attend every time we go for the season! I found myself wishing that MM held a candle to this event.
Anyways, back to the heater issue. The maintenance guy told us that for some reason the room we were in always had issues. Great. After tinkering around he said it was fixed and his temperature gun was reading 95 degrees! Thats... really hot! Oh well we could turn it down. Wrong. The temperate was stuck at a blazing hot temperature. I fell asleep before it got hotter and hotter. My wife woke me up concerned and woke me up, and I felt dizzy, confused and like I was going to faint. It was well over the 100s In there.
We moved to the dreaded Animal Kingdom living room pull out couch and I couldnt sleep all night. I was literally scared for my health and started googling heat exhaustion. Then I was just getting pissed. Here I paid for a one bedroom and im on the most uncomfortable pull out couch ever. I went to the front desk as soon as it was a decent hour, spoke to the manager and told him to please go into that room himself and thats all I have to say. Manager went, saw that the thermostat temperature couldnt be changed, told us it was way too hot, apologized profusely, refunded us the night and offered housekeeping. I did appreciate that very much, but this was a real health hazard and it did affect our trip. Epcot was planned for that day and I felt too faint and out of it to go on any rides. Thankfully, the issues ended after that, they put in a brand new thermostat, and we were able to move on without having to go to medical (even tho I probably should have) I am officially scared to complain about heating issues again
Animal Kingdom is one of those resorts that is so special during Christmas time (And all times really) The smell of Christmas pine filled the lobby, families were taking pictures in front of the majestic tree and admiring the Gingerbread animals, and the wreaths and garlands that adorned each floor were warm and glowing. All the food per usual was delicious. I found my new favorite Disney burger tucked away at the Victoria Falls Lounge (Who knew venison was so tasty?) Our first time at Boma for dinner was a new favorite buffett, and the Flatbread and chicken at the Mara were so unique and flavorful.
Despite the hiccups, I was never more confident that Animal Kingdom truly felt like home. I will miss the night time strolls past the lush plants and waters, chasing beads to complete our necklaces on resort day mornings, the African Christmas music playing throughout and the sounds of beating drums rising from below. With a little love and care that this resort is on the brink of receiving and desperatly needs, this Kingdom will return to its full glory and I cant wait to be there for it.
and take comfort in the fact knowing they have been handled every time. Was super happy that CCV and BLT went without a hitch, but akv is just long overdue for that refurb!
