DVC Madness: 12/6. Part 3 -- Artist’s Point. 12/7 -- Departure Day

[wbl2745]

Insane Trip to Animal Kingdom Villas with my brothers and our wives.

7 days, 6 nights, and 8 room reservations! Illuminations Cruise, Hoop-Dee-Do Review, Candlelight Processional, Le Cellier, and more!

Setting everything up!

My two brothers and our wives just got back from a trip to Walt Disney World (WDW). One brother hadn’t been to Disneyland since he was a teenager and had never been to WDW. About 9 months ago we were all having dinner together and decided, sort of out of the blue, that we all needed to go to WDW and show Bob what is is all about.

Being the Disney Nerd in the family, I was elected to make all of the arrangements. DW and I put together a list of things to do and got everyone on board. Given the 180 day (plus 10) for making reservations and the 7 month window for making DVC reservations (our home resort are the Villas at the Grand Californian at the Disneyland Resort), I launched.

In my trip reports, I like to include things that worked and things that didn’t work, as well as how I would change things.

At 7 months and 3 days, I started attempting to make reservations at the Animal Kingdom Villas (AKV) for a two-bedroom and a studio. I was hoping to get the value accommodations since it would use fewer points, not realizing that early December is a high occupancy time for DVC. (More about that later.) Without going into painful details, I was able to get about 1/2 of what I wanted, wait listed for the rest and started calling MS every day for the next seven months. The only wait lists that came through were single day wait lists. As time went by I started gathering whatever I could get. I’m glad I did that.

The big mistake here was being focused on the AKV. At 7 months I’m pretty sure that if I had said find me a two-bedroom and a studio at any resort for 12/1 through 12/7 I would have found it almost right at the start. But because I was focused almost entirely on the AKV and the value units, it was a mess from the beginning. The image below is what we eventually ended up with. The Deluxe Studio and the Value Two Bedroom reservations were actually two reservations that were merged. By the time that I decided this really wasn’t going to work there weren’t the rooms I needed at any of the resorts.

So I learned that if you’re going to use DVC at a popular time, more flexibility is needed. The good news is that I got to see a lot of different accommodations (pictures will be included) and have opinions on all of them.

The funny part about calling MS every day was that some cast members started to recognize me. They were always very polite and helpful, in so far as they could be. I didn’t ever find a CM who was rude. It turned out that bouncing around like we did was a little annoying, but not as bad as I thought. My brother and his wife who were sharing the two-bedroom with my wife and I were very patient.

Having started the room reservation process, I turned next to getting the advance dining reservations (ADR). It was interesting that right at the point that I was going to start making the reservations Disney instituted a new policy that people staying at the resort could make reservations 180 days plus the length of their stay, up to 10 days. Since we were staying for six nights, that meant that I could go on-line at 186 days. I discovered this almost by accident. A few days before the 180 day mark I looked at the dining reservation site and it was going to let me in! So, I made reservations for Le Cellier for lunch, the Prime Time Cafe for lunch, Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner, and Artist’s Point at the Wilderness Lodge for dinner, getting exactly the times I wanted. Not bad.

These message boards are interesting in that AFTER I had made my reservations (I’m no fool) I posted about that change in policy. It seemed that some posters were very angry, were sure that I was “cheating” and that I should cancel my reservations. Others were sure that it was a fluke and that my reservations would disappear when Disney caught the error. Well, the reservations held. More on that later.

The other reservations had to wait until 180 days. So at 4:00 AM at 180 days out (I was traveling on business in California) I called the reservation number to make reservations for the Illuminations Cruise and Hoop-Dee-Do Review. The 4:00 AM wasn’t needed for HDDR, but you have to call that early to get the Illuminations Cruise. The last reservation was for a Candlelight Processional Dinner Package, which Disney seemed to drag its feet on. Anyone who was monitoring the CPDP recalls that all of a sudden the date when they would accept reservations was announced. I tried to call first thing and didn’t get through. I kept calling and eventually got a 5:20 PM dinner at the Rose and Crown for the 8:15 performance. Lastly, I arranged a Keys of the Kingdom Tour because one of my brothers wanted to see the Utilidors.

So that’s the set up. Knowing when you can start your reservations is key to getting what you want. (Interestingly, Jim Lewis, the president of DVC said the same thing about getting the DVC reservations you want.) After I made all of the dining and tours reservations I was just calling daily to check on availability for DVC. I’m going to guess that with all of the DVC calling I spent 50 hours on set up. I don’t know what people do who just show up at WDW without any advance planning.

Next: December 1. Arrival, Check-in, and Adventures in a Brand New Resort Reservations System!

 

[twooley2]

Can't wait to hear more. With all the changes and someone who has been through the new experience.

 

[DisneyDreamerMom]

Wow - you are so diligent! I can't wait to read more.

 

[wbl2745]

12/1: Arrival, Check-in, and Adventures in a Brand New Resort Reservations System!

There are a couple of things that I forgot to mention in the first installment. At one point we were considering renting a car, but decided instead to use Disney’s Magical Express instead. This meant that we would not be going off-property (although I would have liked to have seen the Wizarding World of Harry Potter) but we had so much planned there just wasn’t any time to do that any way. The only difficulty was that I wanted to have breakfasts in the room most of the time. One of the reasons we like DVC is the full kitchen in the units (except studios which still have a refrigerator and a microwave). Although as you will see we spent a lot of money, breakfast always seems to be a chance for hotels to gouge you. I polled everyone on what sort of things we’d like for breakfast and placed an order with WeGoShop. We set up delivery for 6:30 PM on the day we arrived.

Our flight from Salt Lake to Orlando arrived at about 4:00 PM, which was on time. One of my brothers had checked luggage through DME and the rest of us carried our luggage on the plane. My heck! Planes are crowded! Due to airlines charging for luggage everyone is carrying on, including us. We found places for our luggage but some passengers had to check their luggage at the gate.

The flight was uneventful, except for a belligerent passenger who wouldn’t sit down as the plane was taxiing to the gate. They almost had him arrested, and then he decided that he’d rather get on with his trip than force the issue.

Not having used DME for a long time we wandered around a bit before we saw the buses. The last time I used it in 2000 you just walked up to the bus and got on. Of course now there’s a whole check-in process. We got into our line, which was empty, and I was worried that we’d just missed a bus and would have to wait a long time. In the end we were on the bus in about 15 minutes.

Here’s a plane landing in the sunset just as we were exiting the airport.

We’re on our way to Disney World now!

I always love to see the big entry signs to Disney World! They are a little fuzzy since the bus was moving, but it was still a happy moment.

The bus’s first stop was at Pop Century, which we’ve stayed at before and enjoyed. We then made that long trip across the park to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Our rooms were in Jambo House, which was the next stop. Don’t you love arriving at whatever your resort is going to be and knowing that you’re there at last? This was at about 5:30 PM.

The previous week I had tried to use the early on-line check-in for AKV, but was never successful. I finally called DVC member services and they said that despite the emails and web page statements, early check-in for DVC at AKV was not working. There wasn’t a long line at the front desk for regular check-in, but it took quite a while to get to the desk. Recall that on 12/1 DVC on-line member services was down due to a system upgrade. Well, that system upgrade was wrecking havoc on people trying to check-in.

The poor desk clerks were staring at the screens, punching buttons, and muttering to themselves. Since one of my brothers and his wife were sharing a 2-bedroom with my wife and I, I thought it would be useful for us to have our own credit cards on our room keys. BIG MISTAKE! At one point there were three desk clerks trying to figure out how to do this. Then they called a manager, who wasn’t any help. Then they took our information and promised that they would work on it. This took close to an hour. My other brother and his wife were staying in a studio so their check-in only took about 30 minutes! We’ll come back to that.

So it was about 6:30 PM. We went to the room number they had given us for the 2 bedroom and it was a studio. I had expected that the room number would be the 1 bedroom unit. Clearly, we had some confusion. I went next door and voila my card key worked and I opened the connecting door. I’ve seen others with the same confusion on this board. Since I was expecting WeGoShop at about then I went back to the lobby and called. They were already there and were about to call me. Interestingly, Disney requires them to be accompanied by a resort guest. They can’t go to the room themselves. We went back to the room, unpacked everything and paid up. The cost was a little high, but after all it was a lot cheaper than renting a car (more on that philosophy later) and it was delivered. They got everything we requested and it was all in order. I would highly recommend WeGoShop again!

I didn’t take as many pictures as I thought I had of the unit. Below is a view from the kitchen through the living room of room 5010, which is the one-bedroom part of the two-bedroom unit. This is a Value Two-Bedroom in Jambo House.

And here’s the view from the living room back towards the kitchen.

There are a couple of things to notice. First, this turns out to be a handicapped accessible unit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Disney makes the effort (probably because they have to) to have units that will accommodate people in wheelchairs and scooters. But there are some differences between this room and others. First, there is no island in the kitchen and no large dining table in the living room. I credit the lack of a large dining table to this being a value unit, which is smaller; however, I think that the lack of an island is an accommodation to being a handicapped room. We didn’t really miss it since we weren’t doing any heavy duty cooking, but if you were, you might want to make sure that it was there.

I don’t have any pictures of this, but the master bedroom was really small. Part of the problem was that the master bathroom had to be accessible to people who may be using the foldout couch in the living room, so there was a hallway between the master bedroom and the master bathroom.

Hallway between master bedroom and master bathroom. The washer and dryer were in a closet at the end. The master bedroom is to the right and the bathroom is to the left.

Looking from the bathroom through the hallway, into the master bedroom.

I haven’t been to any resorts other than the Villas at the Grand Californian and Jambo House and Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, so I don’t know if this hallway between the master bedroom and bathroom is common to other resorts. I found it annoying. There was a lack of privacy in the master suite that was not lacking in the second bedroom (the studio part of the two bedroom unit). Kidani Village (and the Grand Californian) both have a full bathroom as a part of the living room area, so anyone staying in that part has their own bathroom and doesn’t share with the master bedroom and bathroom. I much prefer having this third bathroom for the living room.

So back to the story, at this point (about 7:00 PM) I went looking for my brother who was staying in the studio unit. It turns out that his room had not been made up! It was a complete mess! I don’t know whether to blame this on the computer system change over (which would have had to tell housekeeping that the room was being vacated) or the housekeeping service itself. I’ve heard that Disney outsources housekeeping.

My brother had gone back to the front desk and they told him to call housekeeping. He called housekeeping and they said to talk to the front desk. That is the point that I got involved. I asked to talk to a manager and said that the finger pointing was unacceptable. She called housekeeping herself and had them send someone directly to my brother’s room. For the bother, she gave my brother’s account a cash credit for the cash price of a AKV Deluxe Studio! It was $400! For my bother they gave me $80, which was 10% of the cash price of our Value 2-bedroom.

So it’s about 8:00 PM and my brother’s luggage still hasn’t shown up from our 4:00 PM arrival. We decide to go to Mara for dinner to give them a little more time. Most of us got refillable mugs, which were $15 each, but the total bill for dinner for six was $120! Welcome to the Disney reality distortion field. Generously, my brother with the big credit bought all of us dinner! When we got back to his room at about 9:00 PM, still no luggage! I went down to the bell desk to chase this down and just as we got to the front of the line (why is there a line at the bell desk at 9:00 PM?) his wife called and said the luggage just arrived.

Whew! Five hours to get from the plane to being checked in at AKV. Seems a little long to me.

We decided to go to Downtown Disney (or the Disney Marketplace or whatever they call it) for shopping. I was so frazzled that I didn’t really have my heart in it.

I’m not sure what I could have done to make the evening’s events go smother. Disney won’t implement a new reservation system every day, and as I’ll discuss in future postings, the biggest problem in my mind was that the front desk staff had been insufficiently trained in how to use the system. Repeatedly we ran into cast members who didn’t understand how to do the simplest things. I’m not going to blame the cast members since it seemed like everyone was having trouble. I think that resort (and DVC?) management fell down on the job getting sufficient training to the people on the front lines.

Oh, one last thing, people like to see the views from the rooms so here are three shots from the balcony. Our room was a standard view and looked out on the pool area.

Views from room 5010/5012, Jambo House.

Next: December 2. Animal Kingdom, Boma, Why is it so Cold?

 

[RadioFanatic]

I was at AKV Jambo from 12/2-12/6 and we got stuck at check in as well. Took over an hour and they still couldn't print out cards. Then I had to get a separate card for the laundry room (we were in a studio) bc they couldn't figure outhow to combine it on one card. And it was cold!

Looking forward to the rest!

 

[benolathe]

Wow, that was a very generous credit that your brother got for the housekeeping issue. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip, sounds like you have lots of nice reservations planned.

 

[wbl2745]

Wow, that was a very generous credit that your brother got for the housekeeping issue. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip, sounds like you have lots of nice reservations planned.

There were so many problems that evening that I had the feeling they were handing out credits left and right. The next morning I was down in the store (Zawadi Marketplace) and overheard the people in front of me using a credit they received the previous day.

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Subscribing!

 

[wbl2745]

December 2. Animal Kingdom, Boma, Why is it so Cold?

I thought of something else that I should have mentioned regarding setting up the reservations. At one point it wasn’t clear to me that we were going to be able to get all of the days I needed between 12/1 and 12/7 so I made reservations at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Once I had DVC rooms for those dates I canceled the hotel reservations. The cast member asked why I was canceling (I suppose this is a standard question) and I told him that my DVC reservations had come through. He didn’t balk at this, saying that made sense, but I wonder if the hotel doesn’t like DVC people making backup reservations only to cancel them.

Another part of the planning that I forgot to mention was that early on we were talking about using one of my brothers’ time shares off property or staying at Pop Century. Since I wanted to show my one brother who had never been to WDW the full experience we decided to use 70 points banked from last year (our first year) and almost all of our points from 2010. I kept second guessing myself on this decision, but once we got to the Animal Kingdom Lodge everyone was very enthusiastic about that choice, even with all of the bouncing that was happening. I know that there are ongoing debates about on-property vs. off-property, but I’ve done both and when I go to WDW I much prefer to stay on-property.

I think I need to introduce the characters a little more. Bob is my oldest brother and he is the one who has not been to WDW before. Richard is the middle brother and I’m the baby.

This was our first real day at the parks! Since we were staying at the Animal Kingdom Villas, I decided to start us off at the Animal Kingdom. None of us really wanted this trip to be a take-no-prisoners kind of trip, so even though the Animal Kingdom opened at 9:00 AM, we were having breakfast at that point, having woken around 8:00 AM. It was nice to be able to have toast, jelly, peanut butter, scrambled eggs, yogurt and fruit for breakfast. Something for everyone. By the time that we cleaned up breakfast and got ourselves to the bus and to the park, it was 10:30. I think we waited about 10 minutes for the bus.

Several months back I had heard that the ticket prices for WDW were going up, so I purchased 6 day park-hoppers for all of us then. Our checking in process last night was such chaos and the line at the concierge desk was so long that I decided to not redeem the certificate for the passes the day we arrived. They were also having such trouble with our key cards that I wasn’t sure that I wanted them to put the tickets on the cards either. (They never did get the credit cards attached to our room keys.) So, when we got to the park I went to the will call window and got the tickets. I told the lady at the window that this was my brother’s first visit and that we were all family. She gave us six buttons proclaiming a family reunion and one button for Bob indicating that this was his first time. He didn’t want to wear it. He’ll loosen up.

Once we were in the park we noticed that the Festival of the Lion King was starting soon so we moved ourselves in that direction. This is one of my favorite shows. I love the tumble monkeys! Everyone was impressed with the performance and it was a good start to the day.

Our next stop was Kilimanjaro Safari, and we saw a baby giraffe and a baby elephant. (Sorry, I was on the wrong side of the vehicle to get pictures.) Then we walked through Pangani Trail. By now we were hungry and I suggested the Flame Tree BBQ, which is one of my favorites. I love how they have a huge sitting area down by the river. The BBQ is good, but the atmosphere is great. I had the ribs and my wife had the pulled pork sandwich. Both were really good.

After lunch I wanted to ride Expedition Everest (hmmm... is that wise?) and I got my Bob and his wife to go on it with me. DW had done this before and was not about to do it again. The wait was only about 10 minutes. Richard and his wife decided to go get a place for the parade and I went to do Expedition Everest again, and then again, this time in the front seat. After that the world was going around in circles so I thought I’d better stop.

Isn't this a great shot of Expedition Everest? We're on a bridge over the river.

We went through the Maharajah Jungle Trek and found a chatty guide. It was getting close to the time that the park was closing and even though it was REALLY cold I decided that I wanted to go on Kali River Rapids. DW and I were prepared with rain ponchos and shoes that could get wet, but Bob’s wife wasn’t. Bob didn’t want to have anything to do with wet, so he offered to hold all of our stuff. That meant that the plastic bag we carry in our backpack to product the backpack on wet rides wasn’t needed. We turned it into an impromptu poncho for Bob’s DW and off we went. Not surprisingly there was no line at all. (Really, it was so cold!)

I’ve always thought that Kali River Rapids at the Animal Kingdom and Grizzly River Run at California Adventure in California were equivalent, but that’s just not true. Grizzly has two significant drops and the scenery is much nicer. Kali has only one major drop and riding through a burned out rain forest isn’t a lot of fun.

Any way, we would have been drenched except for our preparations. Bob’s DW was a little wetter than DW and I, since there was no hood in the impromptu poncho, but it helped. I had put my heavy sweater in the backpack, so I changed shoes, and put the sweater back on and I was good to go. Really, it was so cold!

The parade was over and we tried to get everyone to gather at the Island Mercantile on the way out. DW found a purse that we’d been looking for at the DLR, which was good. We got to the bus, and back to Jambo House in about 20 minutes.

We had some time before going to Boma for dinner so I got this picture of the Christmas Tree in the lobby.

I love the decor of the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Boma was great, as usual. Everyone enjoyed trying all of the dishes. The Zebra Domes on the dessert were a big hit.

After dinner I was encouraging Bob and his DW to get something warmer for the next day since we had the Illuminations Cruise. We’d be out on the water with nothing to stop the wind. They got some bright red jackets. It was a good thing too.

By the way, I’m writing this while on a business trip in Washington DC where it is bitterly cold, and I hear that it is still cold in Florida. So much for warm, sunny, Florida.

Next: Epcot, Le Cellier, and IllumiNations Cruise

 

[wbl2745]

December 3. Epcot, Le Cellier, and IllumiNations Cruise

As I reported on the previous day, we’re moving a little late in the mornings, although it was 9:00 AM when we caught the bus to Epcot after a good breakfast in our room. It is really nice to be able to get everyone together before the day starts. Now for the first time Bob is getting a feel for how big WDW is.

Our first stop in Epcot was Soarin’ which is one of my favorite attractions at California Adventure. I hear that they are building one at the Disneyland Paris Resort. I can only hope that they will make a new film that will be brought to the Florida and California. Wouldn’t it be great to have “Soarin’ over the Alps” or “Soarin’ over the Loure Valley”? I’m just saying... The opening scene in Soarin’ is breathtaking, flying in the clouds and then the Golden Gate is right beneath you! Bob loved it! Because we were moving late there was already a significant wait for Soarin’. We headed for Test Track, but it was closed. Then we debated going on Mission: Space, but we decided that centrifuges were not on the agenda, so we went on the very sedate Energy with Ellen DeGeneris. By the time that was done Test Track had finally opened up and we did the stand-by line, which was about 20 minutes.

Since we really wanted to see the countries and their Christmas decorations we moved on, going first to Canada and the United Kingdom. By then it was time for our lunch reservations at Le Cellier.

A very pleasant young man from Britsh Columbia chatted with us while we were waiting.

Even though we had “reservations” we had to wait for about 20 minutes. Which gave us a chance to enjoy the gardens and chat with the cast members. I may get flamed here, but there were some problems with Le Cellier. DW loves salmon, so she ordered that and had the Filet Mignon. We both love cheddar cheese soup, so that was on the agenda. There were problems with both my wife’s dishes. First, who would have expected tabasco sauce in the soup? Albeit, there wasn’t much, but it really ruined the soup for her. But more surprising, there was cayenne pepper on the salmon! I can see a restaurant wanting to spice things up, but usually they make some indication on the menu that they are doing that. Well, at least the mashed potatoes with cream cheese were good. I enjoyed my steak, but it seemed on par with other high end steakhouses. I’m afraid we’re not going there again. (I can hear it now. “Good! More reservations for me!” from some reader.)

They post the menu for Le Cellier outside so that you can start drooling.

From that point we went clockwise around the lake visiting countries. My wife likes to shop in Mexico for her mother. At Norway I found her true character. We got all the way over to France and saw the movie, which I love and it was time to get moving to the Yacht Club Marina to meet up with our boat for the Illuminations Cruise. We noticed that as the day went on Epcot more and more crowded. As predicted it was also really cold. Rather than walk all the way to the Yacht Club (our feet were killing us) we waited for the boat that goes between the International Gateway and the hotels.

DW as Brunhilde. Her true character.

We got off at the Yacht Club and had about 30 minutes before we were to go, so everyone took off and went to the Beach Club to see the gingerbread carousel. I was hanging around talking with the boat captains. When it was time to check-in and pay the guy who was doing that asked some funny questions. First, he wanted to know how I got the reservation. Well the only way I know how to do that is to call Disney exactly 180 days from the requested date, exactly when they open. From everything I’ve heard on these boards, if you don’t do that, there’s a good chance you won’t get what you want. He also asked where we heard about the Illuminations Cruise. Well, again, I’ve only seen it discussed on boards, such as this one. I’m not even sure that it appears on the Disney World web site. They talk about private cruises, but they don’t specifically mention the Illuminations Cruise. I asked why they were getting this information and he said they wanted to market the cruises. Well, that seems odd since they are almost always sold out. Unless they were going to increase the cost to reduce demand or increase capacity with more boats, they are already at capacity.

Any way, everyone came back from the Beach Club and Mike, out boat captain, took us to the boat. It is a pontoon boat that seats 10. There’s a cover, but that was pulled back since it was night. These are the same boats you can rent for fishing in the lake between the Boardwalk and the Yacht and Beach Club Resorts. They provide soft drinks and munchies (chips, pretzels, pop corn) in the boat. Since it was so cold he also got blankets for us. Well, everyone snuggled up and off we went.

Our boat for the Illuminations Cruise. It seats 10.

Our boat captain, Mike in the blue, has a day job outside of Disney, but several times a week will take people on the Illuminations Cruise. He seems to really enjoy it!

View of the Boardwalk from across the lake at the Yacht Club Marina.

It was REALLY cold so we all had blankets.

Since there is about 45 minutes before Illuminations starts, they begin by boating down to the Disney Hollywood Studios, passing by the Boardwalk DVC units. We made a big pass around the end of the canal and then headed back up toward the Boardwalk, which we sailed by slowly so that Mike could give us information about the restaurants and stores.

The view of the Boardwalk as passed on our way back to Epcot.

At last we saled up to the International Gateway and parked underneath the bridge next to the Rose and Crown. There were three other boats there. My DSIL waved to everyone on the bridge who had likely been there for an hour and were freezing. We were a little cold too, but enjoying being together.

We were positioned under the bridge next to the England. Here’s waving at the people above us who didn’t have blankets!

By the way, you can pay to have the boat decorated, like to celebrate a birthday, or have hot food delivered to the boat. Some hot chocolate would have been nice! The ducks don't seem to care about the fireworks.

As you can imagine, viewing Illuminations from that point on the water just in front of the bridge is perfect. There’s nothing in front of you. Mike said that the only problem can be that the smoke from the fireworks can blow your way, but one advantage of it being cold is that tended not to happen. When the flames from the barges went up we could feel the heat. It was nice. It was funny to see ducks on the lake, more or less ignoring the whole thing. I guess when it happens every night they get used to it.

Did you know that Illuminations tells a story? It wasn’t obvious to me until it was pointed out. All the fire at the beginning is the creation of the earth. The globe shows different stages of the development of life, first in the seas, then plants on land, then animals, then the progress of man. Disney is always so upbeat. We were close enough to be able to see all of that on the globe.

After the show, we sailed back to the Yacht Club Marina and it was all done. Now we had a dilemma, how to get back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge? There was no way that we were going to walk all the way back to the front of Epcot from there. We also didn’t like the prospect of taking a bus to Downtown Disney only to wait for another bus to the AKL. In the end, this would have been a nice time to have had a car, but we decided to take a taxi instead. The valet desk at the Yacht Club called a 6 person taxi, which took about 10 minutes to get there. The cost to get back to the AKL was $15 with tip. Not bad. Again, a trade-off between renting a car and using (and paying for) public transportation. Everyone was exhausted so no chatting tonight.

Everyone was really cold after the drip. DB and DSIL were glad they bought those red jackets.

Next: The Magic Kingdom, Crowds, a Sea of Strollers, and my debut at the Hoop-Dee-Do Review

 

[wbl2745]

December 4--part 1. The Magic Kingdom, Crowds, a Sea of Strollers, and my debut at the Hoop-Dee-Do Review

Today is the last day that we have the 2-bedroom value unit at Jambo and will be transitioning to a 2-bedroom standard view at Kidani Village for one night. From here out the DVC madness of the title starts. DB1, me, and our wives will be moving to a different room every night for the next three nights until we leave. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, but more on that later.

I was up a little earlier than the others so I decided I’d see how far it was to walk over to Kidani Village or whether we need to take the bus. It turns out that the official word is that it takes 10 minutes to talk from lobby to lobby, but I did it in 6 minutes (at a good clip since it was cold). If you were going to the part of Kidani that is the closest to Jambo it would be a couple of minutes. They really aren’t that far apart. While I was at Kidani I checked in. I got our room keys and they were going to text us with our room number when it was ready. I’ve heard some complaints about this process not working, but every time I’ve used it at the VGC, the DLH, and during this trip it has worked like a charm.

Since this was the last day before beginning to bounce around we finished off the eggs and moved all of the other items that needed refrigeration (the yogurt, milk, jam, cheese sticks) were moved to DB2’s room, the deluxe studio that they didn’t need to move. We also stored all of our luggage in DB2’s room so we didn’t have to go through bell services.

The plans for today, a Saturday, are the Magic Kingdom and the Hoop-Dee-Do Review in the evening. Taking the bus from AKV, we arrived at the Magic Kingdom at about 10:00 and were really surprised at the crowds. It was really packed, even getting into the park. Later we found out that they were filming this year’s WDW Christmas Special, which explained some of the crowds, but for the rest of the trip we seemed to be running into major crowds.

Our first stop was Space Mountain for which Fast Passes were only about an hour later, so we got some. Then we went to Buzz Lightyear, which is a lot of fun. There’s a major difference between Buzz at WDW and at DL. At WDW the gun is mounted to the front of the car and at DL the gun free. I find it a lot easier to fire the gun at DL and consequently get a higher score, which of course is the reason why DW beat me! We then went on Stitch’s Great Escape. DW reminded me as we were being locked into our seats that we’ve done this before and didn’t like it. She was right. Actually I like the Alien Encounter better.

Since there was no line we also went on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. I really miss the PeopleMover at Disneyland. I can’t imagine what they are going to do with the track. It is obviously a mistake that winds its way all around Tomorrowland with nothing on it. Rocket Rods were a lot of fun, but I understand they were broken more than they were in service. Now the track just sits there.

Hard to see in this picture taken from the PeopleMover, but they were filming the Christmas special in front of the castle.

DW and the others wanted to go on the Carousel of Progress. Given the huge crowds I wanted to see about getting Fast Passes for Mickey’s PhilharMagic. Getting there was a real problem. Between the sea of strollers

and the sea of people

it took a while. When I got there I found that Mickey’s PhilharMagic doesn’t really need a Fast Pass anymore and their machines hand out Fast Passes for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh instead. Actually, they give you two Fast Passes, one for each of those attractions.

By the time I got back to the Carousel of Progress they were getting out and we decided to do a quick lunch of hot dogs. Honestly, it was packed, shoulder to shoulder. After lunch I ran over to Big Thunder Mountain to see about Fast Passes, but the return time was 6:00 PM (it was about 1:00 PM at that time) and the standby line was 80 minutes. Making an executive decision I got Fast Passes for Splash Mountain, which was curiously light. I wonder if the cold had something to do with it?

Once everyone caught up with me we decided to go to Country Bear Jamboree, which was packed! It is interesting how different attractions fare at WDW vs. Disneyland. I remember one of the last times I went to Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland my party was the only ones in the theater. I wonder if the crowds had something to do with how many people were in the attraction? They had no where else to go. I’ve also heard that Disneyland tends to serve a local crowd, which can tire of attractions.

Splash Mountain was fun. I thought that the Disneyland and WDW versions were identical but now I think that the DL version is a little longer. There are some scenes that didn’t seem to be at WDW. DB1 decided he didn’t want to get wet, so it was five of us. We had our rain ponchos with us, but chose not to get them out, seeing that the people coming out didn’t seem that wet. A bad decision. I got really wet, but unlike previous trips (September with 80 degree weather in 90% humidity) I actually dried fairly quickly.

The intrepid Splash Mountain explores. DW and I are in the first row. I got really wet at the bottom of this fall.

Our next stop was at the boat docks to take the boat to Fort Wilderness, so in passing Pirates of the Caribbean, we saw that the wait was about 30 minutes, so we jumped in. Boy was that a mistake. First, the wait was more like 60 minutes and the line for PoC was very claustrophobic! Seriously, those little hallways with nothing to look at! I’m not sure that DL is a whole lot better, but you aren’t trapped in hallways with nothing to look at. Sorry for you who love WDW, *** is just plain better at DL. The three water falls (two down and one up) and the start in the Blue Bayou are better. Whoa, I might get blasted on that one!

So after PoC the parade had started and we just walked through the stores toward the front gate and down to the boat dock. We had to wait a few minutes for the next boat and I talked to the CM there. I commented on how crowded it was in the MK and he said that’s why he works out there. As we were sailing over to Fort Wilderness we watched the sun go down and the lights come on around Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. We were still a little early so we actually just rode the boat back to the MK and then back to Fort Wilderness, only this time the parade had ended and the boat was packed.

Once we got back to Fort Wilderness we wandered around a bit. There were some RVs that had completely covered their front yards in lights. Soon we were in Pioneer Hall for the Hoop-Dee-Do Review. Our table was right in front by the Christmas tree.

Our table was right next to the Christmas tree in the front row. I’m taking the picture.

Pioneer Hall with Christmas decorations.

The food was good, as always. Simple but good. A salad and bread to start, then ribs, chicken, potatoes, baked beans, and strawberry shortcake. You can ask for seconds, which we did. Here’s the bucket of salad.

OK, the entertainment is fun, but sitting in the front row can be hazardous. Here DB2 received the attentions of Miss Dolly Drew.

I thought that was going to be the top of the evening, but I didn’t know what was coming. One of the cast members asked me if I’d participate in a skit. I should have said “no.” Four of us were brought on stage and introduced to the audience and then taken backstage. As we were standing there we could see various costumes that we would be wearing. I looked at one and said to the young woman standing next to me that I think we were in trouble.

Each of us “volunteers” were coached by one of the cast members in what we were to do on stage. My role was to be the “Angel of Davy Crockett”. Seriously, I don’t remember the skit at all, but at one point Davy dies. I was told that I was to pirouette on stage, throwing kisses to the audience, dressed, as you can see, in a pink tutu and angel wings that didn’t seem to want to stay where they belonged.

The CM told me this really fast and then repeated it. I don’t remember a thing. I don’t even remember seeing the audience, but I did as I was told. DB1, DSIL1, DB2, DSIL2, and DW were in hysterics. One of my daughters is in drama education. She was quite amused when I texted her the picture.

Here’s the certificate to prove I was there.

After I recovered the show was over with great memories, at least for the others in our party. It was nice that there were buses waiting to take people to the various resort hotels. On the bus I was congratulated on my acting ability by several people.

At about 4:00 PM the resort had texted us with our room number, #7825. We got of at Jambo House to get our luggage from DB2’s room and the four of us hiked over to Kidani Village. It was pretty cold. Thoughts and photos of our room will be in the next part.

Next: December 4--part 2. Kidani Village

 

[benolathe]

What an adorable photo of you as an 'angel'. I'm sure your daughter loved receiving that.

 

[Estella]

I'm enjoying your trip report. I agree the Pirates at Disneyland is better! I didn't know they took out the DL peoplemover for good. I haven't been in awhile and since I just rode in at WDW, it might have returned. Great pics - we've never been to the Hoop de doo - just might have to try it!

 

[RadioFanatic]

I'm really enjoying your report - I was there at the same time and for the last part of the trip was in AKV (Jambo - one room whole time thankfully), so I'm reliving my memories through your story. We went to MK 12/3 for the party and got in about 3:45 - WOW I had NEVER seen it so packed in my life! Then I went again on sunday and it really wasn't that bad.

I'm going to disneyland next year so can't wait to try their POC and HM!

 

[wbl2745]

December 4--part 2. Comparing Jambo House and Kidani Village

This is the second part of the trip report for 12/4. The first part covered our visit to the Magic Kingdom and my debut as a cast member in the Hoop-Dee-Do Review. When all of that was done we took the bus back from Fort Wilderness to Jambo House at AKV to pick up our luggage from DB2’s room where we had stored it. This is really the part where the DVC madness from the title begins.

Since the AKV is not our home resort (VGC is) and since unknown to me the first week of December is one of the highest demand times for DVC at WDW, I had a real mess of a reservation. DB2 and DSIL2 were in a deluxe studio at Jambo House for our whole stay, but DB1, DSIL2, DW, and I were about to start bouncing around. We had a 2-bedroom value unit for the first three nights, but for this night we were moving to a 2-bedroom standard view in Kidani Village for one night, then back to Jambo in two standard view value studios for one night, and finally a 2-bedroom Savanna view for one night. A lot of bouncing around.

The morning of 12/4 I went over to Kidani Village to check-in, which went smoothly, as opposed to checking in on 12/1, which took hours before everything was settled. The walk from the Jambo House lobby to Kidani Village lobby took about 6 minutes at a pretty good pace. At about 4:00 PM on 12/4 they sent a text message with our room number, #7825.

Here are two views of the livingroom.

You can just see the island in the kitchen area, which was not present in our value 2-bedroom at Jambo. It is possible that the island was missing at Jambo House since I believe our room was a handicapped accessible room. I’m sure that someone can verify the differences between the 2-bedroom value in Jambo House and the Kidani units. I know that the rooms in Kidani are larger, but it seemed they were wider, rather than longer. The kitchen was wider and the table was larger and could seat four people easily and more with a little crowding. This just wasn’t possible in the room at Jambo House.

In the corner you can see the foldout single bed. More on that in a minute.

Here you can see the table more clearly and the fold out double bed.

The room had a view of the swimming pool and would have excellent access to the pool. (Sorry no picture. I didn’t think about that.) I’ve mentioned how cold it was and this morning as I stood on the balcony I say a rain storm moving in. But right on schedule they turn on all of the water feature in the pool area. I couldn’t imagine that anyone would be going to the pool today. Over at Jambo House I never saw anyone in the pool. The pool was likely heated, but getting to and from the pool would have been a bit chilly. One time I saw some kids in the hot tub, with some very warmly dressed parent overseeing the operation.

Single foldout bed.

Someone asked about the single foldout bed. This is what it looks like when folded out. A little narrow, but doable for a child or an adult who was flexible. There was also a question about whether you could have both the single and the double foldout beds open at the same time. You’d have to swing the single bed around, but there is certainly enough room to do that.

BTW, in comparing this single bed to the one at the VGC in the DLR, this is larger, or at least longer. An average sized adult could sleep in this bed at AKV, but the single foldout at VGC is short. It is a Murphy bed that comes out of the TV stand and seems to be intended for either a child or a short adult, or as when we stayed there last April, an adult who likes to curl up.

Second bedroom. Here’s the second bedroom. Since this was a dedicated 2-bedroom there are two beds instead of a bed and a foldout couch.

Here is the master bedroom.

Again, because this was a standard 2-bedroom rather than a value 2-bedroom it was larger, but there is another issue. At Jambo there are two bathrooms for the entire 2-bedroom unit. That means that there’s a small hallway between the master bedroom and the bathroom on that side so that the people staying in the livingroom have access to the bathroom without going through the master bedroom. Probably a good idea, but that means that the width of that hallway (see the trip report for 12/2) is subtracted from the size of the master bedroom, which made it feel very small to me. At Kidani, since there are three bathrooms, you don’t have this problem and the master bedroom is larger because it is wider and because you don’t have that hallway.

There was another issue that I thought odd. There’s only one thermostat that serves both the livingroom, kitchen, and the master bedroom. This means that there’s a vent in the door between the master bedroom and the livingroom. This wasn’t a big problem since we were exhausted and everyone went to bed, but if someone were making noise in one of those rooms, it could be heard in the other. Humm...

Master bathroom.

The master bathroom has both a walk-in shower and a jetted tub. OK, having a nice large shower is nice, but what is the issue with the water pressure? So you’re standing in the middle of this big shower and the water pressure is just dribbling. If you’re going to have a shower that big I’d expect the water to be hot and fill the whole thing with spray. I ended up huddling next to the shower.

BTW, there’s been some recent talk about towel animals at AKV. Both in Jambo House and in Kidani Village we had towel animals in our rooms. A nice touch. Also, we got USA Today in Jambo House, but not in Kidani Village. Here are two animals that we had.

Towel butterfly from Kidani Village.

Towel mouse from Jambo House. DSIL1 really liked the mouse so she took it apart to see how to make one.

Here are some general observations about the differences between the value 2-bedroom at Jambo House and the standard view 2-bedroom at Kidani Village.

• There are only two thermostats in the whole unit, one in the master bedroom that serves both that room and the livingroom and kitchen, and one in the 2nd bedroom. It would have been nice to separately control the temperature in each room.
• The thermostats at Kidani don’t go as low as those in Jambo. We like to sleep in a cold bedroom, so we’ll lower the thermostat down to 65 or even lower. I think the one at Jambo went down to 65 and the one at Kidani only went down to 67. This trip that was easily solved by opening the door to the outside.
• This may have been a function of the actual rooms we had, but all of our rooms at Jambo were much quieter than the one at Kidani. I never heard anything outside of our room at Jambo, but at Kidani I could hear people in the next room and in the hall way. I asked DB2, who had the deluxe studio that was right on the atrium at Jambo House if they had any noise problems and he said that they never heard a thing, even the incessant drumming in the lobby.
• I mentioned this once above, but the water pressure at Kidani was terrible. It was much better at Jambo House.
• All of our rooms were dark. I understand that this is part of the ambiance of the AKL, but really, some light would be nice.

Next: Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Epcot and the Candlelight Processional

 

[CarolMN]

Really enjoying the report - so much detail! Thanks for doing it and I can't wait for the rest!

 

[wbl2745]

12/2 Revisited -- Cute pictures of animals from AK

I just got some picture from DSIL1 of the animals at the Animal Kindom. I wanted to share.

Here’s the whole group. From left to right DB2, DSIL2, DB1, DSIL2, me, DW. This was one of the Disney photopass pictures.

The Tree of Life is a great icon for the park, but it blends in so much that if you don’t have a really clear view of it, you don’t notice it. Unlike Cinderella’s Castle or Spaceship Earth, both of which are very clear. But that is probably also one of the attractions, at least for me, of the park itself, it isn’t as manicured as the other parks. It feels “wild” although I’m 100% sure that there are legions of gardeners that keep the park looking “wild.”

DeVine in the park. She blends in so well that I walked right past her. You can’t really see it well unless you see a video, such as here.

So on Kilimanjaro Safari my DSIL1 took these pictures of the animals.

Ankole cow. Look at those horns! What a headache.

This was a baby giraffe. It was kind of cute trying to reach up into the trees for food.

The next two are of a baby elephant. It was really cute.

Here’s a gorilla from Pangani Forest Exploration Trail...

and a tiger from the Maharajah Jungle Trek...

and a peacock and some Eld’s deer.

December 5.

At the end of the day we went on Kali River Rapids. DB1 didn’t want to get soaked so he stayed behind and got a picture of us in the raft. We’re at 6:00, 5:00, and 3:00 in the raft.

Afterwards. DW and I had brought our ponchos, and DSIL1 turned a (clean) trash bag into a poncho. We always bring a trash bag to put our stuff in so that it doesn’t get wet on these rides. Since DB1 didn’t go with us, he became the designed backpack guardian.

Lastly, this was the menu at Boma that evening.

The next episode will really be about the Studies and our attendance at the Candlelight Processional.

 

[supersuperwendy]

subscribing! I like how much detail you put into your TR! I though maybe I over crammed my TR with minute by minute details of the trip!

 

[wbl2745]

12/5: Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Epcot and the Candlelight Processional

We got a very late start today. That’s becoming a pattern isn’t it. Well, we were on vacation!

As I mentioned in the previous day’s report, we had a view of the swimming pool area at Kidani and right on schedule they turned on all of the water features. I thought that it had started to rain, so I went out on the balcony only to discover that it wasn’t raining, but that it appeared that a storm was on it’s way.

We’re moving again today, this time back to Jambo House where DB1, DSIL1, DW and I will be staying in two value studios. Everybody packed up, we’re getting good at this, and fortunately the rain had been just a little storm and was over. We hiked back to Jambo, which was about a 10 minute walk, really not that bad. I don’t know why you would ever wait for a bus, unless a bus was already there.

We stashed our luggage in DB2’s room and since we had put all of the remaining breakfast stuff in DB2’s fridge, we had breakfast. BTW, I may not have mentioned this, but his room, a deluxe studio, was right on the atrium at Jambo House and overlooked the pool.

We had a minute, so I decided to run downstairs and check us in for that evening. Well, the mess of 12/1 was still going on downstairs. The poor CM was trying to get us checked in and it took about 45 minutes, he was so embarrassed at this. He said that earlier in the week he was on duty to “break up fist fights in the lobby.” He was joking, but if it takes 45 minutes to check someone in, I can image the size of the lines. In fact, he offered to upgrade us for free to a grand villa at Kidani for that one night. OK, here’s a major tactical error on my part. I turned him down. I was so tired and frustrated that I just wanted to get what we had in the reservation. I didn’t want to have to hike back to Kidani in the evening. DW told me it was dumb to not take the grand villa. I suppose everyone here will agree. It would only have been for one night... Interestingly the CM told me when I was checking in that the Animal Kingdom Lodge, both DVC and hotel rooms was at 99% occupancy. I can believe it.

We decided to take a taxi to the Studios rather than wait for a bus. We’re spending about $15 a day on taxis. That’s not bad, particularly split between three couples. I’m beginning to think that using DME and the buses, then using a taxi and grocery delivery is not a bad idea.

We got to the Studios about 11:00. An aside about the last week (12/27 - 12/30). On Tuesday at the DLR they closed Disneyland to new entries at 10:00 AM! I’m not sure whether WDW gets to the point that they close entry to the parks, but at heavy times I suppose that taking a leisurely breakfast is not a good idea. We usually avoid, or at least try to avoid, peak times.

The iconic Sorcerer's Apprentice Hat. Not a very good icon in my opinion. From left to right we are: DSIL1, DB1, me, DW, DSIL2, DB2. By the way, I’m the youngest brother and the only one who isn’t retired of the entire bunch. This is also a Disney PhotoPass picture.

As soon as we got into the park I ran over to Toy Story Mania to get Fast Passes, but to my horror all of the Fast Passes for the day were gone and the standby line was 90 minutes. I’m sorry, but no Disney attraction is worth waiting in line for 90 minutes. Next, I ran over to the Tower of Terror and the wait time was 10 minutes, so all of us, including DW, went on this.

I think that the Tower of Terror at WDW is far better than the one in California Adventure at the DLR. First, the lobby is designed after the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

The old lobby (not currently used as such today) of the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

The lobby of the Tower of Terror at Disney Studios at WDW.

Ahoy! Spoilers ahead!

The lobby of the ToT at DCA in DLR does not have the arched roof, which may be minor, but shows that they were trying to save money. Next, and this is a big thing, the elevator in DCA does not leave the elevator shaft! At the Disney Studios, you get in the elevator and it immediately rises, and you see a couple of tableaus, I won’t go into detail. But on the third stop your elevator leaves the shaft and moves through the hotel into another elevator shaft. You’ve left the maintenance elevator shaft and have moved into the non-existent, pulled-into-the-Twilight-Zone shaft, where the fun begins. That is a great story. It is consistent and you understand why things are happening to you, you entered into the mysterious elevator shaft.

At DCA, you enter the elevator and it recedes backwards. Why? I suppose you could say that you’re making that same move, going from the maintenance elevator shaft that exists to the Twilight-Zone shaft, but it just isn’t as good a show. You see the same tableaus, but the WDW version is just better. I don’t know what they built at the Studios at Disneyland Paris or at Disney Sea at the Tokyo Disney Resort.

Spoilers Off.

At that point it was time for our reservations at the Prime Time Cafe. We got over there and there was a mob scene. I got to the front of the line to check-in and thought that we’d be standing there forever. Actually our table was ready in about 10 minutes. Given that we were also going to be eating at the Rose and Crown that evening as a part of the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package, DW and I decided to split a roast beef. I really like the Prime Time Cafe. If we hadn’t had plans that evening I would have enjoyed the meat loaf. When “mom” came to wait on us, she upbraided me and my brothers for not having set the table. She was really good. At the table next to us she was giving them grief about not having cleaned their plates before asking for dessert.

One of the guys next to us had some food allergies so “mom” brought out one of the chefs to talk things over. That’s one thing that I’ve found with Disney. If you don’t see what you want on the menu, ask. If you want something prepared differently, ask. On occasion we’ve just ordered an appetizer as a main disk. No problems.

After lunch we split up since people wanted to do different things. DB1 and I went to the Indian Jones Stunt Spectacular. Years ago they had a pre-show with Rosie. I’m sad that she’s gone. That was really funny. Some went to the Beauty and the Beast show, others went to the Little Mermaid. At one point DB2 and DSIL2 wanted to see the parade and the rest of us went to the Great Movie Ride. That was fun. Then we all went on the Back Lot Tour. At that point we had to hustle because we had less than a hour to get back to Epcot for our reservations at the Rose and Crown.

We decided to take the boat from the Studios back to the International Gateway entrance to Epcot. I really like taking the boats at Disney. It is so calm and relaxing. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for the boat.

Once we got back to Epcot and the Rose & Crown, we had to wait about 50 minutes for our table. They seated us outside, under an awning, but it was cold. They turned on some overhead heaters, but it wasn’t ideal. I can see why people would want to see Illuminations from the deck of the restaurant. I ordered the Scotch Egg, the Beef Filet, and Trifle for dessert. It was really good.

When we were done at the Rose and Crown we had about an hour and a half before the Candlelight Processional began, so we went to the movie at France. It was interesting, at the Canada, the China, and the Norway movies they kept saying “look at this, this is China (Canada, Norway). Isn’t this great?” At the French movie, they just show you the country, almost without commentary. Who needs commentary when you’re looking at France?

The brochure for the Christmas (notice they say “Holidays”) celebrations around Epcot. I pasted our ticket onto the front. You had to wear the ticket to get into the theater for the guaranteed seating.

When we got out of France, we noticed that there was a line coming from the direction of the American Gardens Theater. Hmmm, I wonder if we’re supposed to be in that line? It was in fact the line for the Candlelight Processional guaranteed seating! Whoa! That was a long line! Once it started moving, it moved fast and by the time we got into the theater the left side was completely filled. We moved over to the right side, which seemed to have a lot of room, and I noticed that down in front were a bunch of empty rows. I asked if they were available and they were so we went down there. As we sat down an usher took down a cord and we moved all the way into the center of the theater in the fourth row. Great seats! Even as they started there were still a lot of empty seats around us and at the back of the theater. I’m going to guess that due to the cold the crowds were less.

Christmas tree (or should I say “Holiday Tree”) on the left side of the theater.

The narrator was Susan Lucci, who none of us had heard of. She did a nice job. OK, I bet your wondering why the picture isn’t in color. Well, they understandably asked that no flashes be used. My camera attempted to take a picture with the ambient light and poor Susan came out completely orange. Given that she is a public personality, I assumed that it would be better to have a picture that looked half way decent rather than one that was not pretty at all.

The performance started with the choir marching in singing. They filled a series of risers that looked like a Christmas tree. Those choir members were wearing green robes. The rest of the risers were on either side. The picture isn’t the best, but I was having trouble getting good color.

The program is below. It was a really nice mix of old favorites and newer songs that were a little less familiar. The quality of the orchestra and choir was quite good.

The program lasted about an hour. Susan Lucci was wearing a very light dress with just straps. DW said she should have worn a sleeved velvet something or other. She looked so cold at the end of the performance. It seemed like she was gritting to keep it together until the performance was over. We decided that it was indeed very cold and that walking all they back to the entrance of Epcot was a bad idea, so we walked to the International Gateway and caught the boat (did I ever say that I really liked the boats?) to the Boardwalk, since we hadn’t seen the Christmas decorations there.

They had this really cute house with a fireplace. Daisy Duck is on the left and Stich was on the right. It looked like Donald was coming down the chimney, but someone had started a fire in the fireplace. Oops.

And here’s a side view.

And a view of the lobby. They had lovely Christmas trees and garlands all over.

We then caught another taxi home. Really, it was so cold that the thought of waiting for a bus was not a happy one. The ride from the Boardwalk to the AKL was $15 with tip.

12/3 Revisited.

Here are some pictures of the carousel at the Beach Club Resort. DSIL1 provided these pictures, and I wanted to include them for your viewing pleasure.

The horses are made out of chocolate!

Here are the particulars about the ingredients.

Next: 12/5 part 2. Some thoughts on the Value Studio at Jambo House.

 

[wbl2745]

12/5 part 2. Some thoughts on the Value Studio at Jambo House

On 12/5 we were making our second transfer to our third room at AKV. This time DB1, DSIL1, DW, and I were moving from a standard 2-bedroom at Kidani to two value studios at Jambo House. That morning, after bringing our luggage from Kidani back to Jambo House and stashing it in DB2’s room, I had spent 45 minutes trying to check in. The day, reported previously, had consisted of Disney Studios in the afternoon, returning to Epcot for dinner at the Rose and Crown and the Candlelight Processional as a part of the dinner packages.

Once the Candlelight Processional was over, we exited through the International Gateway and took the boat back to the Boardwalk to see their Christmas decorations and then took a taxi back to the AKV. I think we found a real balance between Disney transportation and taxis, which ultimately was a lot cheaper and more convenient than renting a car. I don’t think that we’ll ever rent a car again.

Earlier in the day we had been texted with the room number of our studio, 5018 in Jambo House. Here are some pictures.

This is the bed and couch, which would fold out. Note the Mickey made in towels on the bed.

This is the view looking the other direction with the entertainment center on the right and the bathroom on the left. The light in this room was a lot better than any of the previous rooms, including Kidani.

This is the toilet, bath, and shower. Thankfully the shower was a lot stronger here than in Kidani. Honestly, I don’t see the point of having a huge shower only to have a trickle come from the shower. This shower was great; hot and a strong stream.

Two sinks outside of the bath. This is necessary!

This is the mini-kitchen. In the cabinet were paper plates. Perfectly functional.

This is the view of the pool from the balcony. If this looks similar to the view from rooms 5010-12, that’s because we were just a few doors down.

The view going the other direction. There is a sign encouraging you to mind when the drapes should be closed. People can see.

A long shot at some flamingos that were visible from the deck.

The only downside to this room was that we could hear people in the next room, but it wasn’t bad. It’s hard to compare this room with the other 2-bedrooms since the size difference, but it was very comfortable. As I mentioned the light was better, much better than the other rooms. Also, the shower was better than the fancy shower in Kidani Village. I honestly don’t think that there’s that much difference in effective size. This would be a perfectly reasonable room for two, and perhaps a little crowded for three or four, but I’d say the same thing about the hotel rooms.

There are a number of nice hidden Mickeys in the room. Here’s one that was on the entertainment center. I checked in the next room we were in and it didn’t have this particular Mickey.

This one was in the carpet.

There’s no hidden Mickey here, but I like this wallpaper from the bathroom because it had Mt. Kilimanjaro on it, which my daughter had climbed the summer before last. There’s a real story on that. She spent 10 weeks in a village between Moshi and Arusha (both on the map) working in an orphanage.

We’re hitting the hay earlier and earlier as the trip goes on. We end up really getting exhausted each day. The next day we can’t be lazy because we are taking the Keys to the Kingdom Tour at 9:00 AM in the Magic Kingdom. We figure that we better be down to the bus area by 8:00 AM.

Next: 12/6 -- Keys to the Kingdom and Artist’s Point