Kick'n It at Kidani (aka Am I Becoming a Resort Snob?)Final Update 8/20 p.54

in.

Well one morning I booked CRT for just the girls before park opening. I warned everyone and happily everyone was up and we had a wonderful breakfast which ended right as the park opened. Well we rode so many rides in one hour and word quickly spread about how much you can get done if you actually get your body out of bed before lunch. :laughing:

We don't have problems anymore with sleepy heads. :rolleyes1

I wish this trick would work for me.! I do let the kids go off by themselves. I feel like its really safe in Disney. They also love going to the pool late at night by themselves. Last year I waited up for them. This year.....:cloud9:I snoozed!

I wonder if the mystery rash is the same one I got on vacation :sick:

I bet it is! :scared:

ACK! :scared1:

I have been anxiously awaiting the start of your TR and I'm already banished to page 3 :headache:

Well, I'm here now so try to keep me away :p

(Now I'm going back to actually read)

OK, a great start with lots of background and teasers! Can't wait for more

Yeah KSchafer is on board!!!!! So glad you are joining the party!
 
On D Day I woke up at 4am! :scared1:That would have been great if I had an early flight, but our flight was not until 1pm. :sad1:

I didn't really mind waking up at 4am. One of two things usually happens to me when I am excited about a trip:

1. I can't fall asleep! (I HATE this!)

2. I get up at the brink of dawn like at kid at christmas!

Personally, I prefer #2!

Of course, once my cats heard me stir they were all over me for food. So I got up, made coffee, fed the cats, and started doing my final preparations, which took all of, hmmmmm, two hours.

OK - now its 6am and I still have time to kill. So I dis'ed for awhile. I said goodbye to LL's and to Lurkyloo's TRs. I'm sure I checked Caitlin and Dawn's TR. I thought about CP, already at the AK. I regret that I didn't hop on CP's pretrippie until she was almost ready to leave. I would have gotten to know her alot better had I joined in sooner!

I also gave some thought to what type of "fun" photos I might take. I love all of LL's light fixtures and Lurkyloo did a montage of the Epcot water fountains. In one of Memom's posts she suggested hidden mickeys, drinks, and boats.

I liked the boat idea. Out of the three, that was clearly the easiest for me since boats are relatively easy to spot. So I decided to photograph all the boats I saw at Disney. I regret to say there aren't nearly as many boats as there are light fixtures, hidden Mickey's, and beverages. But I did my best and I will try to post each and every one!

So.... By 9am I was trying to wake the kids up. The operative word....TRYING! I knew that DS's friend would be arrving around 10am and I wanted my kids out of bed. It took awhile, but they finally got up. FINALLY!

We left for the airport around 10:20 and we were on the airport shuttle around 11:15. I called my SIL to tell her we would be at the airport in "5". I found myself really wishing that she did text messaging, but at least she keeps her cell phone on! (unlike my DH) :rotfl:

Just as we exited the shuttle, my nephew, (LJ from this point on) and his entire family emerged out of nowhere. They scared me a bit cause I kept thinking the 6 year old was going to get hit by a car. Plus I had no idea the entire family was going to show up for the grand depature. My brother even took the day off from work.

We did curbside check in and my brother's family walked us to security. They seemed surprised when I told them they couldn't go through security. Neither of them had flown post 911. They watched and watched and watched until we were completely out of sight. I felt bad, cause I knew they were all worried about LJ. But we had reached the point of no return and LJ was now completely under my Disney Spell. :wizard:

Or so I thought. After security (my DH did not leave his belt there this time - thank god :rolleyes1) we went to find our gate and get some food. I found out that LJ adhores chicken nuggets. Trust me, this was the first of many chicken nuggets on this trip.

Just as we are finishing our healthy, nutritious fast food lunch I look up to see my sister in law. Whaaaaaaaat? I am completely dumbfounded. How the heck did she get through security?????? Then I see the rest of the family emerge. What the.........? So much for my Disney clutches. I was hoping that LJ could make a clean break. He seemed totally cool with this trip and I was really worried his family was going to make him nervous.

So my SIL and brother tell me that they got visitor passes from security. :confused3 What the heck???? I didn't even know this was possible, but apparently it is. So here is this family with at least two ancy boys hanging out in the southwest terminal.

Now I really started to feel bad. Why you ask?.......well my 2nd oldest nephew, who is 7, looked so sad. He is a quiet kid to begin with and now he is just sitting in one of the chairs basically speechless. I know he had to be so disappointed that his brother and cousins were leaving without him. This just broke my heart. Early on in my trip planning I had mentioned to my DH that maybe we should have asked dear nephew,7. After all, he was 7. My DH said, "No. We are already taking two kids. That is enough". When he said it, he meant it. There was no negotiating. End of discussion.

But now I was completely second guessing myself. I was actually wondering whether I should even be taking LJ. Had I turned into the ultimate homewrecker?????

My nephew, 6, seemed to be handling the situation a bit better. That is because he was so fascinated with the airport and the myriad of planes sitting on the runway. Of course, I should mention that DN,6 called me every day for the week leading up to the trip, asking me if a 6 year old was old enough to go to Disney. :guilty: uggghhhhh! Imagine those phone calls!

So, our plane was due to depart at 1pm, but we actually didn't push off until 1:30. That's actually pretty good for PHL. If you have ever flown to or from PHL you know that it has one of the worst on time records!

Once you took off our flight was uneventful! LJ took his first flight in stride. Of course, it was "awesome", but he demonstrated no anxiety what so ever. He had the window seat, watched the take off and landing, and played DS in between. It was a quick 2 hour flight and we landed on time despite our late departure. I started getting into the book I was reading and I even dozed off for 10 or 15 minutes.

This is my DN,7.... See what I mean? Doesn't it just make you want to scoop him up and put him in your carry on?

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Here is my first official boat picture. I hope this counts. Sure, its not a Disney boat, but I did take it on the way to Disney. That should count for something. I love the skymall magazine.

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At 3:30 we arrived safe and sound in Orlando. I know all you moms can guess what the first thing I did was????? Of course, I had LJ call his mom to tell her we had arrived safe and sound.

We were basically the last ones off the plane. LJ, DH, and I weren't. But we might as well have been, since we had to wait for the dreaded teenages in the back of the plane. After we shuttled over to the main terminal I suggested DH go and pick up the van while we got the luggage. Unfortunately, our timing was a little off. We basically walked down in time to pull our luggage off the belt. I guess there are some advantages to sitting in the back of the plane...no wait for luggage! Who knew?

Once we had our luggage we decided it would be fruitless to wait for DH to pick us up, so we set off to find him. IMHO, DH actually got the better end of this deal. He carried no luggage while the rest of us struggled to get it over the rental car parking garage. Well, I struggled. The teens did just fine!

I didn't take a picture of our lovely rental van exterior, but I did take a few inside shots:

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Oh yeah.....I think these boys are ready for some florida fun!

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A photo of our trusty GPS, Ellie. It always take Ellie a few moments to get her satellite oriented after we get out of the parking garage. This always freaks out DH, "which way do I go???? which way do I go??????" I remind him that we have been traveling to Florida long before Ellie became part of our life.

So on the way to AKL we made to split second decision to do grocery shopping. My original intention had been to wait for the following day. But Ellie went on tracking mode and found us a Chik fi la (I always forget how to spell this) and an Albertson's grocery store. So while DH did the drive through thing, I did the fastest grocery shopping, EVER! I was out of that store in 10 minutes. I felt like someone wound me up and spit me out of a cannon. I found water, gatorade, ice tea, beer, breakfast foods, milk, fruit, and miscellaneous sundries in no time. There was a fast checker, a fast bagger, a quick scan of the credit card, and we were on the road.

Next stop....[B]ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE KIDANI VILLAGE[/B]

BUT NOT BEFORE WE PASS THROUGH THESE:

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AND FOLLOWED ELLIE PAST THIS SIGN:

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MORE, MORE, MORE!!!

Poor DN,7!!! He looks so adorable and sweet!! If you don't take him to Disney soon, we'll take him!! DH always wanted a son! I'm not having anymore kids so maybe we can get one for rental! :rotfl:.....but his parents would get left at the security gate! :lmao:
 
MORE, MORE, MORE!!!

Poor DN,7!!! He looks so adorable and sweet!! If you don't take him to Disney soon, we'll take him!! DH always wanted a son! I'm not having anymore kids so maybe we can get one for rental! :rotfl:.....but his parents would get left at the security gate! :lmao:

That just totally cracked me up. :lmao::rotfl::lmao: Isn't he the cutest! That seriously broke my heart. I felt like the worst aunt in the world for leaving him behind. If my brother doesn't take all his boys soon, I will just have to take them all! :rotfl: My SIL says the LJ still talks about his trip everyday!
 

Isn't it exciting when you see that Welcome sign for the first time each vacation?!
 
Now I really started to feel bad. Why you ask?.......well my 2nd oldest nephew, who is 7, looked so sad. He is a quiet kid to begin with and now he is just sitting in one of the chairs basically speechless. I know he had to be so disappointed that his brother and cousins were leaving without him. This just broke my heart.


Awww, that broke my heart too! :sad1: Poor little guy!

Wonderful when you finally drive under that sign, huh?! :yay:


Kathy
 
I regret that I didn't hop on CP's pretrippie until she was almost ready to leave. I would have gotten to know her alot better had I joined in sooner!

But now we do and that's what matters! :goodvibes

I found out that LJ adhores chicken nuggets. Trust me, this was the first of many chicken nuggets on this trip.

Oh, no! This does not bode well -- that's all Connor ever ordered off the kids' menus. :scared:

Just as we are finishing our healthy, nutritious fast food lunch I look up to see my sister in law. Whaaaaaaaat? I am completely dumbfounded. How the heck did she get through security?????? Then I see the rest of the family emerge. What the.........? So much for my Disney clutches. I was hoping that LJ could make a clean break. He seemed totally cool with this trip and I was really worried his family was going to make him nervous.

No. They. Did. Not. Sigh. I can kind of see how your SIL was feeling, but really, it was time to let LJ go off and have fun.

Now I really started to feel bad. Why you ask?.......well my 2nd oldest nephew, who is 7, looked so sad. He is a quiet kid to begin with and now he is just sitting in one of the chairs basically speechless. I know he had to be so disappointed that his brother and cousins were leaving without him. This just broke my heart.

Oh, this would have absolutely gutted me as well. Maybe another time, right?

Once we had our luggage we decided it would be fruitless to wait for DH to pick us up, so we set off to find him. IMHO, DH actually got the better end of this deal. He carried no luggage while the rest of us struggled to get it over the rental car parking garage. Well, I struggled. The teens did just fine!

Yep, DH did get the better end of the deal. I have no doubt about this. ;)

AND FOLLOWED ELLIE PAST THIS SIGN:

DisneyJune2009031.jpg

That's it! That's one of the signs I was obnoxiously pointing to!!! :rotfl:

Yes!!!!!!!!! Now if I could just get a steady, half decent picture of it!

You just didn't slow down enough. ;)
 
In minutes we were through security and winding our way to Kidani village.

It wasn't long before we pulled up to the main lobby. Sorry, I only shot the front of the lobby from an angle. But check out these trees growing through the roof! :laughing:

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Cool pottery along the outside walls of the front lobby:

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The lobby entrance:
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There was no one at check in other than myself. I could have had three cast members check me in! We were in the Timon 4 building. We got a map to show us how to get to the covered parking and the CM was quick to tell us only to park in the Timon 4 area. :confused3 I have no idea why, because on several occasions there was no parking in Timon 4.

I'm not sure how much I liked the garage parking. In theory it should be nice, but in reality it reminded me of any garage in any city. It was sometimes hard for my DH to get the van angeled in correctly and he was always yelling at me "don't hit the other car", when I opened the door. Ok Ok - I think I got that covered!

When there were no spots in Timon 4 we ended up driving all the way to the other side of the lobby. Although the walk to our room was indoors, it was long when Timon was full. I have to admit, this is one of the things I do prefer about SSR. I like parking outside in the lot in front of the entrance to my building.

Despite not being a big fan of the parking, which is so minor, the rest of the resort made up for this minor incovenience.

So here is our room...... Please remember that this photos do not begin to do the room justice......

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LJ's bed for the next 5 days:

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Teenagers doing what they do best:

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The MBR bed

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The cool tile in the MBR

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LJ's Bathroom...yeah, he had his own BR

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The ihomes

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I think I took these picture with natural light and perhaps I really needed a flash. They are terribly grainy. Like I said, imagine this place 10 times nicer.

Back soon with more photos
 
Hakuna Matata....

I never tire of looking at Kidani pictures, grainy or not!! :goodvibes

But there is just one thing about the villa that just BUGS me....

I always look at the kitchen pix and think, "They really need to put something up on that blank wall!!" :laughing:



Kathy
 
Glad you enjoyed the comments -- every now and then I have a flash of comedic something or other. :laughing:

You had a two-bedroom, right? Love all the lobby and room photos, although you might have gotten me on the parking situation. I hate having to look for a parking space. :scared: The night we went to DtD, we drove, and I thought I was going to lose it trying to find someplace to park -- I felt like I was trapped in a Seinfeld episode. :headache:
 
Only 6 more months from today until we leave for WDW which eventually will end up in a 2 bedroom at Kidani. Love your notes and photos, I am hooked!

I think I have a PTR in the works, too. You know it when you catch yourself taking photos of things you think your friends on Dis will enjoy! :lmao: Tonight it was the Zebra Dome cupcakes we made!!!

Looking forward to the rest of your TR. :goodvibes
 
Enjoying your TR, love the pictures of Kidani. I finally get to go home in Jan. I'm going to be taking my 13 yo DD and her bff in Jan. so I'm sure I'll be waiting hours for them to do their hair! :lmao: BTW she thinks your boys are HOT! The first TR she has wanted to read! :rotfl2:
When do you check in?

Only 6 more months from today until we leave for WDW which eventually will end up in a 2 bedroom at Kidani. Love your notes and photos, I am hooked!

I think I have a PTR in the works, too. You know it when you catch yourself taking photos of things you think your friends on Dis will enjoy! :lmao: Tonight it was the Zebra Dome cupcakes we made!!!

Looking forward to the rest of your TR. :goodvibes
What day do you check in?

We will check in to pop on jan 8th for 3 nights and then over to kidani for 7 nights.
Great Tr I cant wait to hear more. I am getting sooo excited. I have always wanted to stay here, but didnt really want to pay that price. Then I decovered dvc and that you could rent points from someone. I talk to my husband about it and he said ok. I then had changed my mind as I am such a tight wad and didnt want to even spend that much on there. I talk to my husband again and he said no that is where you really want to stay there for that is where we are staying. I love my hubby.
 
Hi Mary Ellen!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip. All of your various teasers and hints are very intriguing! popcorn:: Quite a group you are traveling with... I'm sure it makes for great stories! :upsidedow

Kidani looks absolutely beautiful! I so want to buy DVC. Someday. :cloud9:

Looking forward to more!! :hyper:
 
Hakuna Matata....

I never tire of looking at Kidani pictures, grainy or not!! :goodvibes

But there is just one thing about the villa that just BUGS me....

I always look at the kitchen pix and think, "They really need to put something up on that blank wall!!" :laughing:




Kathy

Kathy - I think you are right, although I hadn't really noticed that before. There were so many other cool pictures in the room, that I didn't notice. The countertop in the kitchen is very nice, the cabinets are fine, and the faucet fixtures are of good quality. The most impressive touch is the beautiful tiles on the floor and walls of the master bathroom. That bathroom is huge and its one of those things you just have to see for yourself.


Glad you enjoyed the comments -- every now and then I have a flash of comedic something or other. :laughing:

You had a two-bedroom, right? Love all the lobby and room photos, although you might have gotten me on the parking situation. I hate having to look for a parking space. :scared: The night we went to DtD, we drove, and I thought I was going to lose it trying to find someplace to park -- I felt like I was trapped in a Seinfeld episode. :headache:

:rotfl2::rotfl2: Since you are clearly the main driver in your house, I have to laugh at that! Your DH was probably reading or day dreaming while you were in a desperate search for a parking spot that wasn't across the street from DTD.

Seriously, I think the parking will be better when they open up the overflow lots. There was one there, outside of the Timon building, but there were bars up and we couldn't get through. I would have preferred to park outside, if it meant I was closer to my Timon 4 elevator. Really not a huge issue, but again, another reason why I have always liked the mod resorts and SSR. They have the easiest parking.

Yes...we had a dedicated 2BR which is huge. It's just so hard to photograph the actual spatial layout. The second BR is essentially like a regular hotel room, although I think its a bit bigger cause there were two big closets in that room.

Only 6 more months from today until we leave for WDW which eventually will end up in a 2 bedroom at Kidani. Love your notes and photos, I am hooked!

I think I have a PTR in the works, too. You know it when you catch yourself taking photos of things you think your friends on Dis will enjoy! :lmao: Tonight it was the Zebra Dome cupcakes we made!!!

Looking forward to the rest of your TR. :goodvibes

Welcome Pixieflip. You will love Kidani. 6 months will go by fast! Glad you like the photos. Many more to come. I'll look for your PTR! Zebra dome cupcakes - yum! You need to post a pic of that right here!!!!!


We will check in to pop on jan 8th for 3 nights and then over to kidani for 7 nights.
Great Tr I cant wait to hear more. I am getting sooo excited. I have always wanted to stay here, but didnt really want to pay that price. Then I decovered dvc and that you could rent points from someone. I talk to my husband about it and he said ok. I then had changed my mind as I am such a tight wad and didnt want to even spend that much on there. I talk to my husband again and he said no that is where you really want to stay there for that is where we are staying. I love my hubby.

Welcome Jen!

I think you made an excellent choice. I know what you mean about the money, though. I like to think of myself as frugal (although I am becoming less so in my old age). That's why the whole DVC thing works for me. Renting points from a coworker was how I got hooked on DVC. And that is a great way to take a Disney vacation, but I didn't want to worry about finding points to rent each year. I just prefer to have already paid for my membership and then take my vacations.

I'm glad your DH convinced you to go. Now make sure you take the DVC tour while you are there! ;)

Hi Mary Ellen!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip. All of your various teasers and hints are very intriguing! popcorn:: Quite a group you are traveling with... I'm sure it makes for great stories! :upsidedow

Kidani looks absolutely beautiful! I so want to buy DVC. Someday. :cloud9:

Looking forward to more!! :hyper:

Welcome Christine! so glad you are here. Yeah....we did have a bit of an eclectic group and I DO have some interesting stories to tell.

Regarding DVC: Everyone knows how I feel. I should be a salesperson for DVC because I am so happy I joined. No regrets, except I NEED MORE POINTS!

I HAVE LOTS OF DVC REFERRAL CARDS IF ANYONE WANTS ONE! PM ME. If you buy, we get some $. I also have the 10% annual pass discount cards that are good through 7/31, if anyone still needs one of those. It saved me $50 on my AP.
 
MEK! You are an updating fool! Your nephew is adorable and I can't believe his family got through security! I didn't think you could get through at all if you didn't have a boarding pass!

Your villa looks gorgeous, I will stay at AKL someday! :cloud9:
 
MEK! You are an updating fool! Your nephew is adorable and I can't believe his family got through security! I didn't think you could get through at all if you didn't have a boarding pass!

Your villa looks gorgeous, I will stay at AKL someday! :cloud9:

Morning LL!

Once I start updating I like to keep going! I get crazy if I drop to the second page (something you and CP will never have to worry about :rotfl:) I plan to post all weekend!!!!:thumbsup2

Thank you, LJ was the best!! He has spent the weekend at my house before, but I really got to know him on this trip! Seriously, I am still flabbergasted that my SIL and DB got through security. I almost choked on my BK french fries when I saw them. Leave it to my SIL. She is pretty assertive! I actually used to work with her. That's how she ended up meeting my DB. She was somebody you didn't want to cross, even innocently, in the work place. Yikes! Watch out if you did. :scared1:
 
Morning LL!

Once I start updating I like to keep going! I get crazy if I drop to the second page (something you and CP will never have to worry about :rotfl:) I plan to post all weekend!!!!:thumbsup2

Thank you, LJ was the best!! He has spent the weekend at my house before, but I really got to know him on this trip! Seriously, I am still flabbergasted that my SIL and DB got through security. I almost choked on my BK french fries when I saw them. Leave it to my SIL. She is pretty assertive! I actually used to work with her. That's how she ended up meeting my DB. She was somebody you didn't want to cross, even innocently, in the work place. Yikes! Watch out if you did. :scared1:

:lmao: about your SIL!

I just noticed your fall ticker. When are your dates?
 












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