I Paid Someone $5 for a Catchy Trip Report Title, and This is All I Got-Updated 12/29

[glennbo123]

Yeah, mine were sometimes at the pool, much more often at Community Hall. That was usually where we looked for them first.

I met your youngest son at Community Hall before I met you (in person). He and my son were playing on the Wii.

 

[rentayenta]

Great photos!


My memories of the Kidani pool are somewhat vague. We went right after buying DVC and all I remember is that there was water.

 

[jordanyosh]

It's funny how some of the best times at WDW are NOT at the theme parks. Seeing how much the kids had at the pool area and at Community Hall is a testament to Disney's attention to every detail both at the parks and at the resorts.

The detailing at Kidani is impressive as well.

 

[glennbo123]

Great photos!

Thanks.

My memories of the Kidani pool are somewhat vague. We went right after buying DVC and all I remember is that there was water.

I've read your trip report and you were soooo on after buying DVC....so I believe it.

It's funny how some of the best times at WDW are NOT at the theme parks. Seeing how much the kids had at the pool area and at Community Hall is a testament to Disney's attention to every detail both at the parks and at the resorts.

I agree, there's so much to do, which entered into our decision to buy into DVC -- we could see ourselves coming back time and time again.

The detailing at Kidani is impressive as well.

It's pretty cool. We love our home resort!

 

[glennbo123]

We interrupt this trip report to bring you…..Photopass pictures!

Our Photopass CD arrived so I’ll post all of the pictures that were taken on days already covered in the trip report, and then sprinkle the rest in where they belong as we go forward.

This was taken on our first day, soon after arriving at the Magic Kingdom (before the opening show). I don’t really like this one because it’s not level, and you can really tell with the train station as the horizon. I couldn’t figure out a way to fix it in the Photopass software. "Rotate" always spins them 90 degrees. Where's the rotate "tweak"?

Here’s another one of the same pose but, but zoomed in. I like it, but you can’t see the Mickey flower bed behind us well enough to really tell we’re at Disney.

This one was taken later in the morning, on the “hub” in front of the castle, near the bridge to Adventureland. The girls are showing off their Pirates of the Caribbean necklaces they had just purchased.

This one’s not a “keeper”, but I love Marlene’s face. The sun was hurting her eyes.

I think this one with Tinkerbell turned out great! I just wish James had taken his visor off so we could see his face. I think Lauren’s expression is perfect.

The Photopass photographer had me kiss Judy. I’m sure this is the “proper” border….

….but from Judy’s perspective, I think it should be this border.

Then on to the next day. Our first ride on Test Track.

After we walked to France and were sooo hot, and the sun was sooooo bright.

Our second ride on Test Track. Hamming it up a little more this time.

And that’s it for now. We didn’t get any at Disney Hollywood Studios with DSiL and DN. We were going strong trying to get a lot of rides in when we first got there, and then it rained later, so we missed out. The couple of spots were we got the most pictures are coming up -- at Animal Kingdom and at the Epcot Character Spot.

Thanks for letting me get the Photopass pics caught up. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.


Link to next installment

 

[dd50]

Great pics!

 

[aprilisis]

Great photos!!! I LOVE the Tink one- so cute!

 

[glennbo123]

Great pics!

Great photos!!! I LOVE the Tink one- so cute!

Thanks. This was the first time we'd done the Photopass CD.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

great pictures!!!!

Random question about the game room at the Villas...

How busy did you see them? I saw the room when I did my CM tour back in April and as they were not filled with everything yet they looked nice but I didn't know how much they were used. Did your kids have to wait a long time for the table games??

 

[winkers]

Marlene with the sun in her eyes is classic!

 

[glennbo123]

great pictures!!!!

Random question about the game room at the Villas...

How busy did you see them? I saw the room when I did my CM tour back in April and as they were not filled with everything yet they looked nice but I didn't know how much they were used. Did your kids have to wait a long time for the table games??

I assume you mean Community Hall (there was also an arcade across the hall -- I didn't take any pictures of it). Community Hall wasn't too bad. Sometimes they had to wait for the pool table, but there was usually something open, like foosball or playstation. I think the times the pool table was in use it was usually taken by off-duty lifeguards. I'm kinda torn on that -- I don't begrudge them their downtime, but when there are paying guests waiting.... I guess I'm okay with it as long as they don't monopolize it for a long time.

Marlene with the sun in her eyes is classic!

Thanks, I thought so too! I was just going to post the good ones, but that one was too funny to pass up.

 

[CW4DW]

Great updates & I love all the pictures of the animals and the photopass pics are great too! Can't wait for more...

 

[christa112]

Awesome pictures and great report!!!

 

[glennbo123]

Great updates & I love all the pictures of the animals and the photopass pics are great too! Can't wait for more...

Thanks. Glad to hear it. I know, I'm due for an update. Guess I'll have to get to writin' soon.

Awesome pictures and great report!!!

christa112. Thank you.

I see from your ticker that you'll be staying at AKV in a few months. Jambo or Kidani?

 

[glennbo123]

After seeing-off DSiL and DN we went back to our suite to begin working on dinner. (They have kitchens in those suites, you know.) We made pasta with sauce, steamed some broccoli, and made salads. James ate his leftover short ribs from Sanaa a couple of nights before. Tonight we’d be heading to the Contemporary to attend a “Vacation as You Wish” Disney Vacation Club event.

At about 5:00 we caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom. After one of the slowest bus rides I’ve experienced at WDW we arrived at MK at about 6:00. Thank goodness we had plenty of time before we needed to be at the Contemporary because the ride was driving me crazy! Since we (somehow!) still had some extra time we decided to step into the Magic Kingdom for a couple of minutes.

We walked up Main Street to get some photopass pics. I remember the photographer saying we had to hurry because a parade was coming.

We watched the parade -- it was the same one we had seen while walking out of the park a couple of days earlier, the “Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it” parade. This time we stopped to watch it and I took some pictures, which turned out better than the previous day when I was trying to walk through a crowd and take pictures of a moving parade at the same time.

We followed the parade back down Main Street and exited to the monorail. We got to the Contemporary at about 6:30 and registered. The event didn’t start until 7:00, but it was good we were early because at the end of the event we got a tour of the new Bay Lake Tower DVC suites, and our tour group was pretty much assigned by order of arrival, so we got a decently early tour. Upon check-in we (and the kids themselves) had to decide what they would do during the event. It was basically a sales-pitch to offer us more DVC points and we figured they’d be bored to tears. The DVC folks offered a room for kids to go to and we thought James would like that better than sitting through the event, but weren’t sure about which the girls would prefer. Eventually, they all decided to go to the kids’ room. They probably would have been better off with us -- they were bored there. The event was somewhat entertaining and they would have gotten freebies! Oh well.

At the event each audience member had a numeric keypad doohickey to register their response to various questions. First, they asked some demographic questions like how long you had belonged to DVC, etc. Then they asked questions around vacation preferences, like adventurous vacations vs. romantic vacations, and such. Then they showed how you can use your DVC points with Adventures by Disney or by trading through RCI to achieve those. (Funny how no matter how you answered, there was a “fit” for you!)

Periodically, they’d bring in the Wishmeister, who was a riot. He’s on the right in this picture. I don’t remember what was going on here, exactly. The woman is one of the two DVC sales people running the event. The singer was a member of a group of four singers, two men and two women, who sang a few songs at various times. I think maybe she was asked to close her eyes and think of her perfect vacation or something.

Here’s another shot of the Wishmeister. He came out whenever we were about to get freebies, so we really enjoyed seeing him. But he was hilarious. I remember he asked if it was anyone’s birthday, and someone raised their hand, and in talking with them they said their birthday was yesterday, and he said, “well, if we allow that we’ll be here all night!” Okay, that probably isn’t the funniest anecdote, but trust me, he was funny.

I’m trying to remember the free stuff we got. DVC luggage tags, little binoculars (they work, but they’re pretty cheap), and rice crispy treats. There might have been one more, but that’s what I remember.

The auditorium portion of the event ended, and switched gears to a reception in an adjacent ballroom. We rescued the kids from their pergatory and went to the ballroom. Characters were there, but it was very crowded and busy. Mickey for sure, but I don’t remember which others. Some were dancing with the crowd as a DJ played music. My kids were more interested in hitting the free food than seeing characters. (Makes me proud!) They had little finger sandwiches and ice cream treats.

I saw Marvin (marvali on the DIS) and went over to say hi. We had corresponded some before our trips, here on the DIS and on TGM, when we saw that we’d both be staying at Kidani at the same time. We also noticed that we’d both be at this event on the same night. His wife took our picture to prove we had a Dis-meet. My sticker is a "5", which = early tour Marvin's sticker is a "16", which = ....

He said that he was at the Magic Kingdom that morning (remember I had awoken to pouring rain) and that the rain stopped as he entered the park. They had a great time, walking onto every ride. I had thought when I was walking around Kidani late-morning, that it might have been a good day to go to the parks if you were brave enough to think that the rain might let up.

Our tour group got called and we gathered to go see the new DVC suites!

As we walked across the connecting bridge between the Contemporary and Bay Lake Tower I took a couple of shots of the Magic Kingdom. Sorry they're blurry.

Then we walked to another spot and looked down to see the pool. Our tour guide, Kara, was talking about “the zero-gravity pool” blah, blah, blah. My wife whispered to me, “what’s a zero-gravity pool?” Then someone else raised their hand and asked the question of Kara. She said, “that’s one where you can just walk in, like at the beach.” And we all said, “you mean a zero-entry pool, not a zero-gravity pool!” We thought Disney had come up with something really new and exciting! Then Kara said, “All right guys. I better not read about this on the DIS! ....Not that I ever go on there.” If I had any doubts I would write a trip report when I got back home, they were erased right then. I had to come back and write about that, since I had been told not to. And Kara, if you're reading this, Hi! We had a great time on the tour!

Then we went into a Grand Villa suite. Or should I say “sweet”. They are very nice. Again, kinda like SSR, I didn’t think I’d like them but…..mmmm, yeah, I could stay there. There was a TV in the master bathroom. And I remember the laundry room was bigger than our laundry “area” at home.

The “downstairs” rooms….

If you add-on DVC points your wife will look at you like the woman on the TV.

Notice James with a paddle-ball he had decorated at the kids’ room.

Kara told us that one of these would go for over $3,000 per night during Christmas on a cash basis. Now, I realize that that is the most expensive time, in the biggest suite, with a Magic Kingdom view, but wow, that's a lot of money!

The loft upstairs.

Continued in next post….

Link to next post

 

[glennbo123]

Art near the stairway.

The “upstairs” rooms….

From there our group was taken up to the Top of the World Lounge. Here’s a pic.

Kara left us to go get another tour group. We could hang out, or if we had any questions we could talk to a guide. We made our initial DVC purchase last year, so the time wasn’t right for an add-on....yet. But, we had spoken to some people on a bus the previous day who we noticed had DVC bags and had been to the event. They told us, “make sure you talk to a guide at the end of the tour because you’ll get VIP fastpasses.” So, I told the kids, “we have to come up with some questions.” The best they could come up with was, “why does it cost so much?” Um, that wasn’t what I was looking for.

While we waited, I took a picture of the Magic Kingdom from the observation deck.

A cast member asked if we’d like our picture taken. Of course we said yes. You can kind of see Cinderella’s Castle between me and Marlene. These kids don’t look like they’re racking their brains to come up with questions for the guide. (My girls are perpetually cold, even in Florida in June.)

Eventually our name was called, so I thought I’d ask about the incentives, how long they were good for, and about financing. That oughtta do it. Then, when we got to the desk to be assigned a guide to talk to, I saw the name of my actual guide, who I bought from last year, but had never met since we bought over the phone. They said he was available, so I got to meet my guide. We chit-chatted for a bit and he gave me a sheet with the incentives and told me how long they were available. Then he asked if we wanted to get back up to the roof to see the fireworks (probably a cue that he needed to get on to the next prospect) and we started back up. I had to come back because I had forgotten to claim my fastpasses, but I did get them!

We got to the roof just in time for the fireworks, I think it was 10:00. It was kind of crowded, but I was able to work my way to the edge (sorry to anyone I gently nudged) to hold my camera steady for some fireworks pictures.

This one looks like they blew up the castle.

After the fireworks we left to head back to Kidani. Judy took the kids back to the suite, but I wanted to take some night pictures around the resort. I started with the entrance as we walked up from the bus stop, but it didn’t turn out. I had put the camera on manual focus in order to take the fireworks pictures and forgot to change it back. I noticed it the next day, so I tried again later in the week. I’ll post that shot later in the TR, when it was eventually taken in focus.

I had seen these lanterns in this tree near the hot tub and thought it might make a good night picture.

The lobby entrance as you walk to it from the pool/fitness center.

Inside the lobby.

In the next installment: Yeti bribery

Link to next installment

 

[luckylady]

Great pictures of everything. BLT looks nice. i think if we weren't old we would buy.

 

[rentayenta]

Great update! How did you not add-on? I am afraid if I saw the whites of my guide's eyes, I would add on and kiss him on the mouth. Just kidding about the kiss.

Your photos are terrific. Eventually I would like to try BLT. The decor isn't my thang but the view and location to MK cannot be beat.

Thanks for the parade pics too. I am the only one in my family who likes the parades.

 

[winkers]

If you add on points I think you just might get more than a "look" from your wife....

Your pictures from the roof are awesome! I love how you can see all the other buildings lit up along with the castle.

 

[jordanyosh]

How late is the pool bar open at Kidani? How late is the fitness center open? How late is the pool open? How far is Kidani from AKL?

Those fireworks pix from the rooftop viewing area are awesome!