Just back from AKV Kidani/BLT split stay trip report

[dizfan]

DW and I made our first DVC trip. My mother has treated the family to WDW in the past so we were happy that DVC made it easy for us to take her along. In the future, we're already planning to treat nieces/nephews.

Dec 3-6 at Kidani (studio)
Dec 6-10 at BLT (1BR)

 

[auntsue]

I'd love to hear some details.

 

[dizfan]

Wd flew SWA from Milwaukee to Orlando. This was our first time flying SW and everything was great.

We then proceeded to ME. First told to board one bus, luggage loaded and everything. Then they realized we were going to Kidani and not Jambo, so they couldn't take us. No big deal, they unload our luggage and tell us to wait on a bench. About 15 minutes later, we're on another bus. First stop was CSR (based on the number of people at the ME bus area, there must have been a huge convention just ending). Next stop Kidani.

Checkin was great. We used online checkin. We decided to ask if they had any 1BR available (we tried over the phone, but hadn't had any luck), but they were booked. We proceeded to the room. We were given a room that only had 1 or 2 rooms furth down the walk. DM ran out of breath on the way so we took a break. Finally made it to the room. Room looked great, but we realized it was going to be extremely difficult for 77 year old DM to walk that every day.

Had it not been for DM's problems with the long walk, we would have been happy with the room. DW called the front desk and explains the situation. At first they said they didn't have anything, then the CM decided to check on something else. A few minutes later, they say were in luck. They transferred us to a main floor room near the lobby. When we arrive in the room, I realized this was a handicap accessible room. Sliding door on bathroom (similar to BLT's sliding door), normal door leading to balcony.

A huge thank you to the CM who modified our location.

We proceeded to the Merry Mixer. We chose to ride bus to DHS and then take the boat to YC. Made it to the Merry Mixer about 15 minutes before it finished. Despite the short time, we really enjoyed the event. CMs were great and told us about special event promotions so we scheduled a BLT tour. We purchased pins, all received an ornament, entered the drawing, received a free rice krispie treat, and watched the characters. DW even received a special BLT pin

After the Mixer we went to Epcot. We were a bit hungry so we went to the UK. Rose and Crown wouldn't take any walkups, so we went to the pub and had dinner. Food was good and we always enjoy the atmosphere. Toured the park for a bit, then headed back to the room to get some rest after the long travel day.

 

[dizfan]

We started the day with grocery delivery. Then we had bagels in the room.

Almost forgot to mention that the bus area at Kidani was still under construction, so the bus was right in front (where ME pickup/dropoff is).

Then we headed to DHS for the day. It was a cold and rainy day. We arrived around 11am and were very surprised how busy the park was. We headed for TSM right away and fast passes were all gone for the day. We knew the Christmas parade was supposed to be filming that day, so we didn't expect large crowds. After a few hours at the park, the rain had soaked through clothes. We headed back to the resort.

DW and DM decided to head to DTD for the rainy day. I spent the rest of the day on the balcony and exploring the resort.

Really loved our location. The giraffes and a zebra would eat near our balcony.

We stayed at Jambo in May (non-DVC room). To us, it seemed like the animals at Kidani are closer to the rooms then Jambo.

DW and DM ate at Wolfgang Puck Express and enjoyed it as usual. They brought back leftovers that I enjoyed heating up in the microwave and eating on the balcony.

 

[dizfan]

After being at the resort most of day 2, I was anxious to get to the parks. DW and DM slept in, while I headed to DHS for early entry. Rode Rock N Roller Coaster (walked right on as a single rider) and ToT (again, walked right into the library area).

DHS was much less busy than the previous day.

Headed back to the resort to meet up with DW and DM. Buses weren't running to AKL/AKV yet, so I had to take a bus to AK and transfer. After getting back to the room, I watched the animals while everyone got ready.

The three of us headed to AK for the rest of the day. Enjoyed the Safari (animals in our path so we had an extra long ride), Everest (10 minute wait), and Nemo.

For dinner, we headed to Boma's. Another very good meal there. Although, the zebra domes weren't as good as the ones we've had in the past.

 

[dizfan]

Here's some pictures from Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade on 12/05/09.

 

[dizfan]

We checked out of Kidani on day 4. We gave our bags to bell services and gave them a generous tip to transfer our bags to BLT.

We had a DVC van pickup scheduled for a BLT tour with the Merry Mixer promotion, but the van didn't arrive when we expected it. So we go to catch a bus to MK, but the buses aren't coming to the temporary bus stop up front. The manager is calling them and telling them to come back, but they don't. Turns out the new bus stops are supposed to go into effect at 11am, but the bus drivers are going there early. The greeter CM is told to spend the day guiding people to the now opened regular bus stops.

We eventually arrive at BLT and checkin. Then head over to BLT for our tour. Rooms look great and the guide RR explains the Merry Mixer incentives and takes us to the top even through the lounge is closed. The views from up there are spectacular.

Then we head to our room (7842).

View of Everest from the room

View of Epcot fireworks from the room

It's been 25+ years since I've stayed at a monorail resort (Polynesian). It's everything I remember and more.

After enjoying the views for a bit, we headed to Epcot. The monorail ride was great. While we don't mind buses, riding the monorail is one of our favorite things about Disney. Even when we stayed at other resorts, we always made a special trip just to ride the monorail.

Later that night, we headed to TOTWL for a light dinner of appetizers and beverages. We liked the flatbreads. Each one of us had a different favorite, so it worked out great. The lounge was very quite until a half hour before the fireworks.

After TOTWL fireworks, we head back to our room and watch the Epcot fireworks and Electric Water Pageant.

We called bell services and they brought up our luggage. After receiving the bags, we suddenly realize two of our bags are missing. After an hour or so dealing with managers, they haven't found our missing bags (wine purchased from Kidani store and groceries). The front desk manager came to our room and apologized in person. He also brought two bottles of wine to our room and said they would find the bags or compensate us. We felt this was fair of them and appreciated the manager going out of his way for the mixup. (Saga continues on future days).

Pictures from the top of Bay Lake Tower.

 

[pilgrimr]

Thank very much for the pictures of BLT view. They are great. We were not really planning on staying at BLT but the pictures are convincing me to stay once on the MK view.

 

[wdrl]

We really enjoy reading your trip report. FYI: My wife has been watching on eBay the BLT pin you got at the Merry Mixer. Its been going for as much as $40!

 

[dvc4life]

I'm really enjoying your report. And your photos are so neat. Thank you so much for sharing.

Can't wait to see if you get your missing luggage or not. I sure hope so!

 

[dizfan]

We purchased some groceries from the market at the Contemporary and made breakfast in the room. We see why everyone warns about staying in a 1BR. So much nicer than an ordinary hotel room (or even a studio).

The Disney Christmas parade had been rained out several days, they finally concluded it the previous day so we thought MK would be quiet. The park was not very busy and weather was great. We had a great day around MK. Headed back to the resort for awhile and enjoyed the pool. I may be old to many people, but I liked the slide. Only surprise was that there were about 10 kids in the hot tub and only a couple adults.

We decided to relax around the resort for the night. DM stayed in the room and relaxed. DW and I headed up to TOWTL. Very small crowd up there. I really feel sorry for the CMs working there. I suspect much of their pay is based on tips and this night there were very few people.
There was low cloud cover that night, so it wasn't a very good night to watch the fireworks.

After the fireworks, we went down to the lobby to talk with the front desk manager about our luggage. They still hadn't found the two bags. They sent someone to AKL to purchase our replacement bottles of wine and delivered them to our room. We also negotiated with the manager on fair compensation for the other items that Disney could not replace. Again, satisfied with Disney customer service. (The lost luggage saga continues on day 6).

View to the far right from our room...

View of Swan/Dolphin from room...

Epcot ball...

Pictures of fireworks, notice the clouds...

Pool view from TOTWL...

Activity on Bay Lake...

 

[dizfan]

Thank very much for the pictures of BLT view. They are great. We were not really planning on staying at BLT but the pictures are convincing me to stay once on the MK view.

Glad to post the report. It's fun reliving the stay.
Even if you don't have a MK view, BLT is great. At least for now, there's TOTWL which eliminates the need for MK view. We also enjoyed watching the fireworks from the skybridge.

FYI: My wife has been watching on eBay the BLT pin you got at the Merry Mixer. Its been going for as much as $40!

Yikes. We'll be putting it in a shadow box along with other pins. I think we're going to start our first shadow box of just DVC pins.

I'm really enjoying your report. And your photos are so neat. Thank you so much for sharing.

Can't wait to see if you get your missing luggage or not. I sure hope so!

Glad to share. Every time we thought the luggage situation was resolved, something else would come up. Day 7 it was finally resolved. More to come.

 

[franandaj]

Wow! So many people have said that BLT was more than they expected, but I've never seen photos like this, as someone else said, this makes me think I might want to stay there now! MK is not my favorite park since we live less than a half hour from DL and in so many respects we love DL more than MK (except for Mickey's Philharmagic, the Pooh ride, and well I guess I could go on), but these pictures really show why a few days stay at BLT would be really magical! Even if we only did the park for a few rides and stuff it sounds like the resort is nice and yes being on a monorail resort IS really great! Looking forward to more of your reports and especially finding out what happened to your luggage!

 

[Disney Princess]

Enjoying your report so far. I'm sorry to hear about the luggage saga - I'm so happy it was groceries and wine and not your actual luggage! (I mean, I'm not happy it happened, but at least it wasn't clothes, underwear, etc.). I'm also really happy to hear that you felt like management did a nice job of helping you.

 

[Disney Spaz]

Subscribing. I hope you get your luggage back. We are doing a split stay between AKV and BLT startig next week.

 

[wdrl]

Hi Dizfan,

When you booked your stay at Kidani, did you make any special room requests? I know you ended up changing rooms, but did your original room meet any of your requests? FYI: My wife says that the Merry Mixer Christmas ornament is on sale at eBay for $9.95. If you play your cards right, you might be able to recoup most of your trip expenses!!!

 

[dizfan]

As we're about to head out, we discover there's a message on our phone. I listen and bell services found our luggage. We didn't want to have to wait around for them, so we decided to talk with them later.

We headed to DHS to start the day. After riding the monorails for a couple days, the bus seemed like it took forever. I think the bus also stopped at the Polynesian.

We headed to TSM. We used one set of our DVC tour FPs to ride right away and also picked up a set using our park admission. We really like this ride, so we decided to use another DVC tour FPs to ride right away. The second time, DW had a gun that wasn't working correctly. She told the CM, they took the car out of service and put us on another car a couple minutes later.

After some shopping, we decided to leave the park. We had a set of 3 FPs for TSM from our park admissions. We asked a mother if there were three of them, she said yes so we gave them our 3 TSM FPs. They were very happy. This has become a tradition for us to do while at WDW.

After leaving DHS, we headed to BC/YC to see their Christmas decorations.
Always like their Carousel and the village setup with the train.

From there we headed to Epcot.
Anika Noni Rose (voice of Princess Tiana in last weekends hit movie) was at American Adventure signing autographs. We tried to have a Princess Tiana doll signed, but the line was too long.

DW and DM had the outdoor fish and chips at UK.
I waited to try something from the Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary. During the stay at BLT, I had tried the Contempo Cafe a couple times. I thought their sandwiches were decent. After getting used to the order process, I found it to be very easy and liked using the terminals.

Then, we rested up and prepared for MVMCP.

 

[dizfan]

Hi Dizfan,

When you booked your stay at Kidani, did you make any special room requests? I know you ended up changing rooms, but did your original room meet any of your requests?

Hi Wdrl,

We didn't put in any requests for Kidani. At the time, we didn't know much about Kidani, but really like Jambo when we stayed there in May.

When we were at Jambo in May, we were near the end of the hallway, but that seemed like a much smaller walk than Kidani. Might have been because Jambo had a walkout area about halfway to our May room that seemed to make the walk go quicker.

In hindsight, we never have a car, so I would always request a room near the lobby at Kidani. If we did have a car, it wouldn't be a big deal because the parking would be close to the room.

 

[dizfan]

We headed to MVMCP around 7pm. It's neat to see the snow flying on Main Street.

We stopped at watched the Dapper Dans performing Jingle Bells.
Here's a video of part of their performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWP34Wjln2U

From there, we headed to Tomorrowland for the show there. We stopped by the treat location on the way and had a sugar cookie and apple juice.

We watched a bit of the Tomorrowland show, but it was a bit too modern for our us. Guess we're getting old.

We did a few rides, they were walkons. Went to the comedy show in MK (I forget the name right now). We ended up on the screen a few times. They showed DW (with a subtitle, kissed a monster). Then they put me on the screen laughing. During the show, I was Mike. We had a lot of fun with it.

Headed over to frontierland because tomorrowland told us they were sold out of much of the party merchandise. We got stuck because the parade was going through there, so we watched the parade but didn't have a great view.

We picked up some event merchandise and then went to the castle area for the fireworks. We really liked the fireworks.

Then we watched the show at the castle area. We really liked this.

Then we went to Casey's so we could get a chair for DM for a bit. As the parade came around, we had a good location and watched most of it from there. DM became tired, so we started toward the exit. Made it out just as the parade was finishing. Walked right onto the monorail and were at the Contemporary in no time.

Last time I attended MVMCP was about 10 years ago. Not sure why, but it felt more like Christmas back then. This was the first time for DW and she really enjoyed it. We will go again in the future.

We went to talk to bell services about our luggage (from the message left for us in the morning). When we get there, we told them that we received a message that they had our lost luggage. They looked all over the place and couldn't find anything. We talked to several bell services CMs. They know nothing about our lost luggage. After 20 minutes, we tell them we're happy with the compensation and at this point we don't want to spend any more vacation time dealing with the luggage.

 

[dizfan]

We started the day by going to Kona's for breakfast. It's become one of our favorites and we go there almost every trip. The food was good as usual.

We always find the water and tropical plants very relaxing at the Polynesian.

From there, we went to GF to see their Christmas decorations.

From there, we went to Epcot. Used our last DVC tour FP set to ride Soaring. One of our favorite rides. Then, we toured the rest of Epcot, enjoying the countries.

We went back to BLT for the evening to relax for our final evening.

When we get back to the room there's another message that they found our lost luggage. DW calls them and this time they actually have it. They told her to keep everything they gave us for compensation. They just wanted to make sure we received what was ours. 10 minutes later it's in our room. Most of the items were spoiled at this point, so we tossed much of them out.
And so the lost luggage saga finally comes to a happy ending.

Then we enjoyed the resort area.

Outdoor movie from the skybridge

They were many people watching the fireworks from the skybridge (in fact, probably more than when we watched the fireworks from TOTWL on Dec 7).

Late night/early AM pictures of BLT pool area

Like many other nights, we went on the balcony and watched the Epcot fireworks and the Electric Water Pageant. Really miss watching them and hearing the applause from the Contemporary/BLT guests who watched them on their balcony.

Oh, almost forget to mention, we also saw the guests gathering for the Pirate cruise. Looked like the guests always had a good time with this.

I can see the newly announced beach firepit becoming a very popular way for people to relax at night. Reminds me of the great firepits at AKV.