Just back from 22 day vacation, a few Do's & Dont's.

[john storey]

Just returned from mammoth 22 day vacation, & have a few comments on what we thought was a great vacation. Our itinerery was as follows, 4 nights SSR, 5 nights AKL, 7 nights Cruise (on Magic), 3 nights V Beach, & last stop 3 nights BWV.
SSR although very quiet when we arrived it filled up over the next few days, supperb 1bed suite, great food (breakfast flatbeds), cant wait to return.
AKL a bit dissappointing, room seemed very small & dark after SSR, also the hotel was very, very busy making the pool area almost a no go zone, also found the hotel remote from rest of WDW, we would not return.
Cruise, very enjoyable (once you know how Palo's reservation system works) lovely ship & crew + weather, very relaxing.
Vero Beach, nice hotel, still allot of work going on after last years hurricaines, a bit dissapointed with room, a lovely view of the carpark.
BWV, supperb laggoon view, very busy compared with Vero Beach, you really feel that you are smack in the middle of WDW.
Back in England, exhausted but happy to have had such a lovely time.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Thanks for the great trip report! Sounds like you had a wonderful time.

 

[bobbiwoz]

That was some vacation! You did so much! Someday we hope to go on a 7 night Disney cruise. We only stayed at AKL once, and had probably the worse room in the place, a very very long walk to our room overlooking a bus stop, but we would stay there again because of the animals, I love walking around outside and seeing them, and talking to the CM's who were from Africa.

Glad you have good memories!!

Bobbi

 

[DisBeliever]

John, sounds like you had a lovely time! But please tell me, what are breakfast flatbeds?

 

[MagikMom]

22 days! WOW!! I'm going for 16 days soon and I thought that was long! I'm staying 3 nights at All Star Sports, 8 nights at BCV and 4 nights at AKL. I have never stayed at AKL. I hope I have a better experience. Thanks for the info.

 

[T.E. Yeary]

I'm jealous, how I'd love a vacation like that, and I LIVE in Orlando. I love to read the trip reports and get different viewpoints on the vacation experiences.

Tom

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

Glad you had a wonderful time!!!!

Ms. Sparrow aka Allison

 

[jarestel]

Congratulations! I'm worn out after vacationing for 7 days, never mind 22 days. You are to be commended for your stamina! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.

 

[nickglover]

Let me guess, picked up a little sun, did you?

Thanks for your candid opinions.

 

[Lasrnw]

Sounds like a GREAT vacation but what is AKL?

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Sounds like a GREAT vacation but what is AKL?

Animal Kingdom Lodge.

john storey:

Sounds like a great trip. Similar to what jarestel said, I'm worn out after just reading about your trip. Wow.

HBC

 

[Nanajo1]

Sounds like a GREAT vacation but what is AKL?

Animal Kingdom Lodge = AKL

 

[maryisme]

Sounds like a wonderful vacation! Could you please post what you learned about making ressies at Palos?

Thanks!

 

[john storey]

Being 1st time cruisers we were a bit unsure on the reservation system regarding Palos, we thought that everyone booked 1 night + a brunch or afternoon tea. Wrong, it seems that almost everyone books as many reservations they can think of regardless of what there schedule is, & often with no contact with the rest of there party who are also frantically doing the same. When they then meet up & compare notes they find that they have double booked or booked when they are not even going to be on board. As a result cancelations appear. Solution, get on the wait list for everything, it's very likely you will then get in, Palos only seems to have a 1 table, 1 booking policy so when ever your reservation time is you will not feel under any pressure to hurry up to let the next party have your table.

 

[MJTinNH]

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. Thanks for posting.

 

[wdwstar]

Sounds like you had a great time, we have stayed at several dvc resorts during one stay, i finally decided that it was a lot to pack and move that many times but we enjoy the different themes of the resort, especially the poly. we stayed at VB during easter and yes there is a lot of rebuilding going on, we had one of those corner studios, it felt very small almost as small as the balcony, we did have an ocean view if VB would have cut down that big palm tree, . It was a garden view studio with a secret ocean view around the palm tree just like on the dcl that has those secret porthole staterooms. i hope the entrance for the beach was at least back in the middle of the resort for you, not at the other end of the property. Its funny that you said that you will not go back to AKL because its remotely by itself, DH says the samething and that is why we have not gone back either. i love those long vacations but it makes it harder to get back to the real world. im glad you enjoyed your trip