Kidani Village Rocked! Our Trip Report

[Ratpack]

Excellent report so far, can't wait to read and see more. Really can't wait until we are at Kidani in just over a month.

 

[Greyhound22]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only goof who goes to the parks late at night by myself while everyone else is sleeping.

 

[MomsOf2boys]

Loved reading your report. I asked my kids DS12 and DS17 what they would think if my DP and I headed to Disney without them for a romantic getaway.

My youngest just had his jaw hanging low like we had just put him on restriction and my oldest said he would call the Maury show and try to go for abandonment. I'm thinking they are not as sweet as your kids!

I am also glad that I was able to read all of this in one night because it would have driven me crazy waiting for that picture!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats to the two of you on your anniversary and what a lovely couple you are!

 

[Fatalbie]

Thanks for sharing. Nice to read some of the EPCOT stuff. I have not really experienced what that park has to offer. We are going on an AO in Oct and plan on doing some exploring in EPCOT. Great photos and fun read.
Jim

 

[lugnut33]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only goof who goes to the parks late at night by myself while everyone else is sleeping.

That is a great time to be in the parks. And since I need considerably less sleep time than my wife, it works out good.

 

[lugnut33]

Loved reading your report. I asked my kids DS12 and DS17 what they would think if my DP and I headed to Disney without them for a romantic getaway.

My youngest just had his jaw hanging low like we had just put him on restriction and my oldest said he would call the Maury show and try to go for abandonment. I'm thinking they are not as sweet as your kids!

I am also glad that I was able to read all of this in one night because it would have driven me crazy waiting for that picture!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats to the two of you on your anniversary and what a lovely couple you are!

I was amazed, our kids never whined or cried about it once. Of course they gave us some grief, but they were great about it. We thought about not even telling them, but then one day I sat them down and told them about the trip and why we wanted to do that. They were cool about it. Of course it helps that we are going back in August with the whole family.

 

[RLRDA]

I was amazed, our kids never whined or cried about it once. Of course they gave us some grief, but they were great about it. We thought about not even telling them, but then one day I sat them down and told them about the trip and why we wanted to do that. They were cool about it. Of course it helps that we are going back in August with the whole family.

I think your daughters have a better understanding of romance! My older two boys got really upset at the prospect of us ever going to WDW without them . One of them started to get teary. I'd have to tell them that we wouldn't be setting foot inside a park but I don't think that would sway them! That being said, maybe we'll try for a long weekend trip next year for our 15th anniversary (since our 14th was yesterday I'll have an entire year to break it to them )

Sounds like a great trip, lugnut33! I've been thoroughly enjoying your TR

 

[lugnut33]

OK, it's time to finish up this trip report.

Check out time at Kidani is 11 a.m., but we had a breakfast ressie at Boma at 10:45. We woke up late and started packing everything up. One of the problems with bringing stuff in to eat and drink is there's always leftovers. Wound up leaving a bottle of wine and most of the Coronas I had bought. I've talked to the maid service before and was told they have to throw away all food and drink items no matter what, so I guess it just goes to waste.

Hauled all our stuff downstairs, threw it into the car and made the minute drive over to Jambo House. Of course there was no line at all for the buffet since we were eating so late. Boma is one of my favorite restaurants in all of Disney World. However, I was not that impressed with the breakfast. I did try anything that seemed strange, but wasn't blowaway with the taste of any of the foods. The best item up there was the french toast. It wasn't bad, but it just didn't live up to my expectations.

After breakfast we had about 5.5 hours to kill before we had to be back at the yucky airport. We figured hanging out in the warm Florida sun by the pool would be a great way to finish off our trip. We parked the car, grabbed out swiming suits and changed in the changing rooms by the pool. We had a nice relaxing afternoon at the pool. At one point while floating around I asked my wife, "Why don't we get some plane tickets for the kids and we can just stay here forever?" After some numbers crunching we figured we'd make it about another 1.5 weeks before we'd be completely broke. So, staying there at Kidani forever didn't appear to be an option.

I had an interesting conversation with one of the lifegaurds for about a half hour. He had come from Paris France and was a new hire. His accent was really thick, but he was very nice and interesting. He was disappointed that he could only stay for 6 months, but planned on heading to California afterwards. He also said that being French he made a lot more than his fellow American cast members. Not sure why that is?

At about 3:30 we decided we had about enough of the sun and we would get dressed and head to Downtown Disney for some shopping. We got a parking spot in the first row and went to my favorite store The Art Of Disney. We had one of the sketch artists draw us up a lovely Tinker Bell drawing for our youngest daughter and then we bought a trading pin to go with it. The artist did a really beautiful job, I loved it. A couple more stops and a couple more buys and it was time to go.

Once we dropped off the rental car we got inside the airport only to find out our plane was late again. At this point it was a half hour late, but it actually ended up departing almost 1.5 hours late. Is American Airlines always late?

In the end, my wife and I had an awesome vacation together. Part of the reason we did this was to decide if in the future this is something we want to do more when the kids are off to college. It was a test to see if we want to accumulate more points going forward and maybe move our planned every other year trips to every year (yes, even when the kids go off to college). My wife and I were both really happy with everything at WDW and we will probably end up buying another re-sale contract.

Glad everyone enjoyed this trip report. It's amazing that almost 10,000 people have looked at it. Thanks everyone for making these Dis Boards so much fun.

One last word of advice. If you have a trip coming up I hope you have a great time. Remember to go into it with an open mind and don't overplan.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Great report, I enjoyed reading it all! Thanks.
Bobbi

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I enjoyed your report. Its always nice to hear about "home" when we can't be there.

 

[MamaCrush]

OK, it's time to finish up this trip report.

I had an interesting conversation with one of the lifegaurds for about a half hour. He had come from Paris France and was a new hire. His accent was really thick, but he was very nice and interesting. He was disappointed that he could only stay for 6 months, but planned on heading to California afterwards. He also said that being French he made a lot more than his fellow American cast members. Not sure why that is?

Could it have something to do with the currency he's paid in and the exchange rate?


Glad everyone enjoyed this trip report. It's amazing that almost 10,000 people have looked at it. Thanks everyone for making these Dis Boards so much fun.

I think the reason so many people have embraced this TR is becuase it's a wonderful fantasy-- a trip to The World with just your dear spouse and no kids! I know it's mine!

Thanks again, lugnut, for letting us live vicariously through you and your DW!

 

[Disney Princess]

Good until the very end.

 

[jns]

Just found your report

Thank you for sharing

really enjoyed it

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

Awesome report - thanks so much! I can't wait to try out the pool in July.

Just a thought - maybe the French lifeguard is paid more for being bilingual?

Anyway, your posts have made us even more anxious for our trip

 

[BigMama]

ENJOYED YOUR REPORT ! THANKS ! IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL TIME. WE GO IN AUGUST CANT WAIT!

 

[manntra]

That was a really great report!! Loved all of your pictures and I got some good ideas from you too....leaving later in the day on the dreaded departure day and the pontoon boat sounded like fun too!
You are a great storyteller! Thanks for sharing!

 

[HGD24]

What a great trip report! I don't normally read them, but I got sucked in and had to read the whole thing! Great pics and great descriptions too. We're staying at Kidani in Nov and can't wait. Trip reports like yours make me want to be there right now!

Oh yeah - and Happy Anniversary!

 

[SteveS]

One last word of advice. If you have a trip coming up I hope you have a great time. Remember to go into it with an open mind and don't overplan.

Great report. It is easily one of the best I have seen.

Your last bit of advice is outstanding. I see far to many people that way overplan. They walk around the parks with a notebook looking more at their watch than anything else. When something doesn't go according to thier plan their trip is ruined.

The best vacations at WDW are those were we have a general idea of things we want to do but not a schedule and adjust to the moment.

Overplanning = Overstress

 

[firstmickey]

Thank you for the wonderful report.

 

[ACDSNY]

Thanks for the wonderful report I can't wait for our first trip to AKV. We're headed to Kidani in Nov and the first week will be 6 adults, then we'll have 22 (12 adults, 6 children, pretty good ratio) on a 4 night cruise, then it's back to WDW with 8 adults & 1 DGS for 2 nights in the THV. Even with a group this size I don't like to over plan. I may set up one or two dinners otherwise they're on their own. Of course, my grown kids want one day at Universal , so I'll keep DGS at WDW with me.