Kidani Trip Report - The AP experiment

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Hello everyone:

Dh and I arrived at Kidani village yesterday, and are having a blast! A cold blast, but a blast just the same.

I've only got a few minutes before I head out for the day, but thought I would get the trip set up for you guys.

So here's the idea!

DH and I live about 8-9 hours from Disney, have a small DVC membership (100 points), and have annual passes.

We have continually talked about taking a spur of the moment trip to Disney on AP rates, and staying at a value resort with the perverbial loaf of bread and stick of baloney. The whole idea was to see if we could have an enjoyable trip really spur of the moment, and really cheap! IF we can pull this off...we will renew the APs. Yes, I understand if you can make 2 trips that the AP is technnically worth it, but what does it take for the APs to be of real value?

Back in late September, DH and I said...let's see what we can find for a Disney trip during Christmas. I was definitely thinking about November. DH reminded me that we had 30 2011 points that had not been used, and we could borrow 2012 points as early as February. Hmmm....

We called Member services and found that we could get 3 days, standard view studio at Kidani for 31 points. We jumped on it! 3 nights in Kidani for $15 for the extra point we needed. So far so good for being inexpensive. The CM was a real champ. I was surprised at how well he was able to look at availability over a couple of months.

The next step...we had to call CRO. We needed something for before or after Kidani. I had visions of Port Orleans Riverside and $99 dancing in my head. DH said..."wait...I've got the Christmas production at church from the 9th through 11th. We have to get rooms after our Kidani stay." Ok...let's see what we can get.

Turns out...Friday night, December 17th is both weekend and holiday rates!! That night alone at Riverside was $270!!! I wanted to cuss! DH insisted we stay Friday night. Our super cheap trip just got a lot more expensive!

Ok, DDP or no DDP? We decided to get it for our Kidani nights only. On our last trip...no dessert went untasted, I mean un-devoured. I still haven't lost my Disney weight from July. Arrrggh! I may not lose any weight on this trip, but I'm not adding to it! The other issue with DDP was the availability of ADRs.

We finally chose:

Wolfgang Puck Cafe (DDP)
Tusker House (DDP)
Kona (DDP)
Biergarten - CP Package
Raglan Road
The Plaza

We also got a walk up for Rose & Crown...but that's a cool story you will hear about in the next post.

I will update late tonight with pictures. Enjoy!

 

[walkdmc]

Oh this sounds fun! I can't wait to read along.

We stayed at Kidani in Nov. and had a great time. I'm so glad we got out of there before this huge temp. drop. We wore shorts!

 

[Nanajo1]

We were there last Feb when the temps dropped. We were still able to have a good time. Looking forward to your report.

 

[jakenjess]

We have our first visit to Kidani booked for February. Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

Jealous! Even if it is cold...I don't think there's anyplace that's warm...and there's no other place like Home. Enjoy!!

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

We are in.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

OK, I'm finally getting back. Needless to say, we have had a few fun packed days.

So let's get on with this trip report.

We got a better start Sunday morning than I had imagined. Actually, I didn't sleep at all the night before because I was "too excited." At 5am, I told Mr. Mickey's Apprentice that we were either getting up and rolling or I was sleeping for the next 5 hours. So, it turns out I was grumpy and sleepy all the way down and DH did all of the driving.

So...we were early!! Why is that important? We had planned to stop in Ocala on Sunday night. About lunch time, I mentioned that we might could get something in or around Disney for the night. DH had me call and check on availability at Disney.

Yes! I jumped on the opportunity! DH doesn't do anything spur of the moment! Remember, our spur of the moment trip was planned 2 1/2 months ago. Oh please let there be availability!

I call CRO and say don't laugh...do you have a value resort available for tonight? She comes back with AS Sports for $64 or preferred AS Movies for $76 AFTER TAX. Wow! After hearing those prices, I asked about a moderate...it wouldn't have been bad -- CSR for $120, but we wanted CHEAP.

I went for AS Movies!!!

Somebody must have figured out that DH loves Fantasia, and of course thinks of himself as Mickey's Apprentice. So there we were in the Fantasia building of AS Movies, with giant broomsticks, and the Mickey pool. I admit it was pretty cool.

Pixie Dust was flying.

After we got into the room, I slept hard for 1 hour. Surprisingly, I woke up able to function, and go off and have fun.

So, MK had MVMCP and DHS had late EMH until midnight. DH and I knew we couldn't hold out until midnight, so we headed to Epcot. We questioned our decision a bit, it seemed like nobody wanted to go to Epcot but us.



We got to Epcot, rode Spaceship Earth and headed to World Showcase to find dinner.

As we passed Rose & Crown, I stopped and asked about a possible table. We had tried to get a table at Rose & Crown but with our planning 2 months out, it and many other ADRs were unavailable. We were thrilled to hear that they had a table. Did I say we got a lot of pixie dust on Sunday??

I wondered what DH was thinking. I had just committed us to spending a wad of cash at Rose & Crown. Well, he was happy as a clam. He said..."I can't believe it. We got in at Rose & Crown." Whew!

Mr. and Mrs. Mickey's Apprentice have been married for 18 1/2 years. In some ways, we've got each other figured out pretty well. For our Rose & Crown night, there would be no appetizers, no desserts, and the entrees were going to be on the cheap side. That is just us. Our only real decision was whether to split a large entree or get 2 smaller ones.

Mr. Mickey's Apprentice said..."If you'll get the Fish & Chips, I'll get the Bangers and Mash." Now, that is code for...let's share! Trust me, there is no way that Mr. Mickey's Apprentice is going to suggest to me what I'm going to eat unless he is wanting to share with me. I'm kind of modern when it comes to that sort of thing.

It was good as usual. I must admit the Bangers & Mash was better than the Fish & Chips. I wish DH had wanted to share a bit more than we did.

Since we were seated inside, and it was still a little early, DH and I had to get up and look for an illuminations spot. Our favorite sport, if we aren't sitting in Rose & Crown is to sit next to Rose & Crown in the little area with tables and chairs. It was a little early so we got the seats we wanted. We bundled up and started waiting. It continued to get darker, and colder. Brrr.

Canada pavillion serves excellent hot chocolate, especially if your really, really cold. I'm just saying.

So, we had our excellent view of Illuminations. The Christmas tag at the end was very good. We really enjoyed it. It was a great end to a long day.

 

[alldiz]

Great start.....brrrr....boy did that cold go WAY down south.
Enjoy your spur of the moment "cheap" trip....
Kerri

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Thanks everybody!

I've uploaded a bunch of photos to photobucket so I should get pics soon. I'll go back and edit the last post to add pictures.

Cheap! That was our original intent...but we're having a good time.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Great trip report. Can't wait to see some photos

 

[LIFERBABE]

Great Report!! Our budget trip is always our December trip. Sure beats staying home and we dont feel like we are on a budget staying at our wonderful homes.

 

[Disney Princess]

Wonderful report so far. Can't wait to read more and see pictures. Sounds like everything worked in your favor that first day!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I noticed something else on Sunday night. There are a lot of Christmas trees in Epcot.

I know everybody complains that the Lights of Winter are gone...and I miss them too...but oh my there are a lot of Christmas trees in Epcot.

There are a lot more than these, but this will give you an idea.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

We checked in to Kidani Village early the next morning.

After checking in, we decided to have a little fun and play theme park bus roulette. This is a fun little game that we had not played before. It was our first day and our 1st ADR was at Downtown Disney...so why not?

The rules to theme park roulette is very simple. Go to the bus stop, and get on whatever bus shows up first!

So where did we go??

 

[Disney Princess]

We love Theme Park roulette - and you really won - MK as your first park is a jackpot score!

 

[kikiq]

Love your pictures! And yes, we too have played theme bus roulette, my DH feels it's one of the new pleasures of owning DVC and not having to be somewhere being a commando tourist. Now if I can just get him to play resort bus roulette coming back

 

[Havana]

Bus roulette. I need to do that sometime! Enjoying your pictures.

We are doing a split dining plan next time. Did you use or think about using Tables in Wonderland for the OOP meals? I think we are going to try it out on our next trip.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Sorry for the drop off. Been catching up on Christmas shopping, etc. Will continue TR after Christmas.

 

[PoohNFriends]

Sub'ing and eagerly awaiting the continuation of your TR after Christmas!

 

[Hootiss]

Enjoying your review, I have to say ASM lobby looked pretty nice. Hope the rest of your trip is great