Kittylady Family does Kidani May '09 - updated 10/16 FINALLY

[jerseygal]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR THE AWESOME TR AND PICS!!!!!!!!!!

I've been searching for many of the Kidani Pool and interactive area, so these were GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!

Your family is ADORABLE!!!! YOUR CHILDREN LOOKED LIKE THEY HAD A BLAST!

Can't wait for Kidani, 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kittylady1972]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR THE AWESOME TR AND PICS!!!!!!!!!!

I've been searching for many of the Kidani Pool and interactive area, so these were GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!

Your family is ADORABLE!!!! YOUR CHILDREN LOOKED LIKE THEY HAD A BLAST!

Can't wait for Kidani, 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your are WELCOME! I am enjoying writing it and hoping to get it all done in the next few days.

Thanks for the comments on my kids too...and yes they did have fun. This was our first Disney vacation where we have been able to spend extra time at our resort and pool. Usually our trips are during times when it's not really hot enough to swim, and we make it to the pool ONCE to appease the kids. This time, we really looked forward to those afternoon pool breaks because of the hot sunny days!

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok, as a party of seven of which most of us, at least the adults, LOVE to eat, we look forward to the food at Disney as much as the rest of the trip. Yes, it's expensive but at least we don't have to cook or clean up and Disney has some really great restaurants. So we always make our Advanced Dining Reservations way in advance, and of course I always change them several times leading up to our trip.

We have some restaurants that we try to do every trip...like Chef Mickey's. Kona Cafe is another one that we love, and it USED to be you could practically walk into that one without an ADR. Well times they ARE a CHANGING I guess. Our ADR for Kona was set for 6:40pm but I thought HEY let's show up early, I'm sure they can seat us.

Um wrong. The place was PACKED when we checked in at just before 6pm, so they said they would seat us around our ADR time. That was the perfect excuse for the adults to hit the bar at O'Hana for a few pre-dinner drinks. Plus the kids needed food, so I got us a snack:

Man, I love these addictive little cheese crackers!

Finding a place to sit in the Polynesian area was no small task either, but I finally snagged a seat and settled in with my Cosmo:

The kids spent their time using my camera to snap photos like this one:

And this one:

We are called to our table right around our reservation time, if not a bit afterwards. DD6 Noelle has no interest in food as she's still complaining about her head hurting from that fall at the pool. I can't wait to try the Sticky Wings here and so I get those and am not disappointed! Of course, the main draw for us here is the Prime Rib, ordered by both DH and myself and it's EXCELLENT. I think the boys each got some food as well, since I seem to recall bribing them that they could get dessert if they ate their food. Once dessert time comes around, they bring dessert for all 3 kids, including the one that did not eat. Well it's vacation after all, so guess who was happy about that?

I am pretty sure I probably split a dessert with DH here as well, as that seemed to be our normal mode of operation. Yep we got the Kilauea Torte, which I believe was chocolate with ice cream, and we finished that off pretty easily. Afterwards it was back to the room.

 

[glennbo123]

Enjoying your trip report. We'll be checking into Kidani in a little over a month, and can't wait.

That's a great picture of Minnie grabbing your husband.

 

[kittylady1972]

Enjoying your trip report. We'll be checking into Kidani in a little over a month, and can't wait.

That's a great picture of Minnie grabbing your husband.

Thanks so much! I think everyone who loves animals but also loves a little smaller and homier feeling resort will really enjoy Kidani. It just seemed so peaceful to us. Then again, it's not all open quite yet, and it was opening week, so that may have been part of it. We loved it!

 

[scottny]

Hi,

Just found your tr and it is really great.

The resort looks so nice.

Great pics.

Looking forward to more.

 

[bhwhiz]

Loving this TR!!

 

[gamamalovesdisney]

If you don't mind me asking, what room numbers were you in?

Thanks

 

[kittylady1972]

Hi,

Just found your tr and it is really great.

The resort looks so nice.

Great pics.

Looking forward to more.

Thanks so much!

 

[kittylady1972]

If you don't mind me asking, what room numbers were you in?

Thanks

I believe it was 7718.

 

[MEK]

Love your most recent updates. Thanks for posting more pool pics. I especially love your cat pics. Thanks for those, too. Recently I have been thinking that I need to get new pics of my cats for my next TR. After all, they are part of the family and must be cared for while we are away.

Sorry your daughter hit her head. Ouch! I appreciate the warning because I don't want my nephew to have any injuries while we are there.

 

[pilferk]

Loving your TR. We're doing a group of 7 (Me, my DW, 3 kids, and MY mom and step-dad) coming up in September. It's interesting to read your perspective, especially on dining.

Quick question: Did you have ANY issues getting ADR's for your party of 7, anywhere?

That's my big concern...that since we're a large party, we might get "locked out" of some places. Add that to the fact we're going during "free dining" and I'm waking up in cold sweats at night over this.

 

[manntra]

Loving your trip report! Looks like you had a really great trip...that I can see so far!! I just love Jambo so I am sure I will be feeling the same about Kidani in October. I have to agree on Boma for dinner....I liked it...not loved it but I can't miss breakfast there! Yum! Anxious to see more!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[kittylady1972]

Loving your TR. We're doing a group of 7 (Me, my DW, 3 kids, and MY mom and step-dad) coming up in September. It's interesting to read your perspective, especially on dining.

Quick question: Did you have ANY issues getting ADR's for your party of 7, anywhere?

That's my big concern...that since we're a large party, we might get "locked out" of some places. Add that to the fact we're going during "free dining" and I'm waking up in cold sweats at night over this.

Most of my dining ressies were made at exactly the 90-day mark, except for Chef Mickey's which was 180 days out. I found that I was able to get most of them, even if I had to adjust my times. Sometimes I made the times later than I would have liked, thinking I could just show up earlier and still be seated. That didn't exactly work out for Kona though. Also, many times I was told they could put us at two tables, which I said was fine. However, that was for Kona Cafe as well as Tutto Italia and both times we ended up at one table and not two.

 

[kittylady1972]

Loving your trip report! Looks like you had a really great trip...that I can see so far!! I just love Jambo so I am sure I will be feeling the same about Kidani in October. I have to agree on Boma for dinner....I liked it...not loved it but I can't miss breakfast there! Yum! Anxious to see more!! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! It really was a great trip. I apologize for being a bit behind in my updates. I thought I'd get to more of the report during my vacation over the holiday weekend, but that didn't happen. I'm hoping to get more updates done this week, maybe even tonight! Finger crossed!

 

[kittylady1972]

So we were up early and my mission for the morning...I was having TONGA TOAST for breakfast! I didn't want to make a reservation at Kona for the morning because that would just be a long and expensive breakfast, so instead we planned to just head to Captain Cooks at the Poly where I heard you could get the Tonga Toast, and sure enough, it was TRUE! We drove over to the TTC, parked and then hopped the monorail over to the Polynesian, heading right to Captain Cooks. We failed to warn the in-laws about the size of the Tonga Toast, so while DH and I split a portion which was more than enough, they got one each and some other stuff and couldn't finish it. The kids had Mickey Waffles and pancakes I think and we sat in the tables right there and had our breakfast, even though we were at separate tables. It was soooo good! I wish I could have Tonga Toast here. I am so NOT a sweet breakfast person (give me meat for breakfast is my usual choice) but I love this stuff!

After breakfast, we hopped the monorail over to EPCOT for the day. The kids spotted Daisy immediately and wanted to meet her.

Once inside EPCOT, DH headed off to get Fastpasses for Soarin’ (about a 50 minute wait at 9:15am) and then I took the younger two over to the Butterfly Garden and Tinkerbell’s Play area where they

could run around, but it was already so hot out there we didn’t last long. The rest of the group rode Mission:Space and they were done quickly. The line for Test Track had then decreased from 40 or 50 minutes to 20

minutes, so we decided to get in line for that…and ended up waiting about 40 to 50 minutes before the riding, but it was cool inside so not too bad. Noah LOVED Test Track, his first time on it. After that, it was time for Soarin’ (another first for Noah and another 2 thumbs up from him) and then we hopped on The Land. Now it was about noon and since our dinner was at 4:45pm at 1900 Park Fare and we’d have to leave the park by 4pm, we just grabbed snacks for lunch. Soft pretzels and chips and drinks in the shade. We then hit Imagination followed by Honey I Shrunk the Audience which the kids were okay with. We headed into the Innoventions Pavillion to have our Disney Visa photo taken, then our last ride was Spaceship Earth and spending some time playing the games there.

Then back on the monorail and over to 1900 Park Fare for dinner which was nice. The stepmother and stepsisters were very entertaining. They introduced each character as they came out, like Prince Charming

and Cinderella. Noelle was disappointed there weren’t more princess. When the stepsisters and Lady Tremain came out, Noelle was sure she didn’t want anything to do with them. Lady Tremain put the first sister in timeout immediately and they were loud too. When Lady Tremain came to the table and said I think we shall all get a picture now, Noah (who had avoided photos with Prince Charming and Cinderella) got right up for Lady Tremain and had his photo done with them and the stepsisters.

Food was pretty good, prime rib not as good as Kona Café but the Coq au Vin Chicken was outstanding and the cute little desserts, especially the chocolate mousse cups, were good.

After that, it was back to the hotel as it was about 6:30pm and the heat had taken it’s toll on all of us that day. Nicolas did some homework and I was going to take the kids all over to Jambo House for the firepit storytelling and parade there, but Nicolas was not getting homework done and Noah was happy to just play with his new cars from Test Track.

I took Noelle over, we listened to the story and then she participated in the lobby parade which she really enjoyed. I was glad we made it for the storytime as that was something I had really wanted to do at least once.

 

[MEK]

Thanks for the tip about tonga toast. I thought you could only get it at Kona. I am soooooo trying it soon!

 

[pilferk]

Most of my dining ressies were made at exactly the 90-day mark, except for Chef Mickey's which was 180 days out. I found that I was able to get most of them, even if I had to adjust my times. Sometimes I made the times later than I would have liked, thinking I could just show up earlier and still be seated. That didn't exactly work out for Kona though. Also, many times I was told they could put us at two tables, which I said was fine. However, that was for Kona Cafe as well as Tutto Italia and both times we ended up at one table and not two.

Yeah, Chef Mickey's has since returned to a 90 day window.

We're waiting on June 18th..that's our "ADR day". Hopefully, luck runs our way!

 

[kittylady1972]

This was our original designated water park day, and of course it was the perfect day for it...as it had been all week. Have I mentioned the ninety-plus degree hot sunny days all week yet?

So we got up and had breakfast in the room and Nicolas worked on homework for a bit, and then we were off, arriving just before 11am at Typhoon Lagoon!

Now the great thing about this particular trip was the cost. For the five of us to enter the water, it cost me about $65. You may think that sounds pretty good, until I tell you that I only paid for TWO CHILDREN! You see, way back on one of our previous Disney trips (I think it was 2003 or 2004) we had purchased what were called Park Hopper Plus tickets at the time for two adults and one child (Nicolas) and that gave us park hopping at all four parks for our length of stay as well as TWO options per ticket to be used on either a water park or DisneyQuest or Pleasure Island. You should know that I save EVERYTHING and in this case I saved these because I knew we never had the chance to use any of those options...we only did the parks. Back then you did not have to purchase a non-expiration option so the tickets were good forever for the unused options. I had them scan our tickets the previous day at EPCOT just to check and sure enough there were two options on each ticket. So this means that I didn't pay for DH or myself to enter the park, and I didn't pay for Nicolas...just the little two kids. So yeah that $65 doesn't sound quite so good now for two kids? Oh yeah, we did save $3 each I think thanks to our Annual Passholder discount, but that cost was after the discount.

As you can imagine, after getting over the shock at the park entrance, I was even MORE thankful that I packed food for the day for us. We didn't buy anything at all in the park, which was great.

So we spent about four hours at the waterpark. The only slide I ended up doing was the one big family waterslide that was there, and that was an experience. The limit was four to a tube, so we split up with Dh taking the older two and I took Noah. The problem was the rafts...they were HEAVY...and you had to roll them up the steps to the launch area. Thankfully some poor souls behind me took pity and helped me roll the thing up the steps when I struggled, which was most of the time.

Frank had a good time with the kids. Noah and I really could take it or leave it.

We spent most of our time at the huge wave pool of course, and there were some smaller slides off the side that the kids really enjoyed, especially Noah.

The older two seemed to enjoy them:

We did wander over to the lazy river and floated around that for a while. It wasn't long before the older two were ready for some more excitement, so DH took off with them and headed to the other slides while I took DS4 Noah over to the smaller kids area where he enjoyed doing the little water slide they had there for the kids. He got to get in his own innertube and float down this little slide that was actually pretty nice. He loved it.

DH also did the snorkel with the sharks once, and tried to take DD6 Noelle over there to also try it, but unfortunately the mask was not tight enough for her face and they did not have any smaller ones so she wasn't able to participate.

After about four hours, and despite the sunscreen lathering, our delicate skin was starting to suffer so we headed back to the room to meet back up with DH's parents who had spent the day elsewhere. Both younger kids fell asleep on the short ride back, so we actually put them in the double-stroller we had rented and rolled them back to the room and they slept in that, in the room, for a short time.

We had ADRs for the Captain's Grill this night, but since we ate there earlier in our trip, we had no need to go back. I had this coupon printed out for the Boston Lobster Feast and all-u-can-eat seafood sounded great to us! DH and I ate at Boston Lobster Feast on a previous kid-free trip many years ago and remember enjoying it. This coupon I had was good only at the Florida Mall location, and since we didn't really know how far that was, we set off on our adventure.

Nearly one-hour later and lots of slow traffic and lights we were still not there. The kids were complaining loudly and getting impatient and just when we had decided to just turn around we realized we were coming up on the place...FINALLY! So we arrived at well past our 5:30pm reservation (we had called to make one) despite leaving around 4:45pm. This was definitely not the same place where DH and I had been years before, but it was still pretty good. They brought out lots of mac n'cheese for the kids, the lobster was good and most of the seafood was pretty good. The dessert buffet was laughable, but who comes to an all-you-can-eat seafood place for dessert anyway? Not seafood lovers like us!

Thankfully we took a much shorter route home that evening.

On the way back, we decided to hit Winter Summerland for some minigolf. We LOVE minigolf in this family and that's something we have not tried Disney-style. Well DH and I did on our last trip, but not this one. We played one round here and did enjoy the course, but I think we liked the Fantasia Gardens one much better. We'll do that one next time.

 

[kittylady1972]

We had not been able to do quite a few things at Magic Kingdom, so we decided this would be a good day to return there. We arrived early just after park opening and headed right to Peter Pan, a ride notorious for long waits later! We hadn't gotten around to breakfast before leaving, so we then backtracked to Main Street (since that was the only thing open this early) and went into the Main Street Bakery.

Why have we NEVER been here before?? This place is AWESOME!

The pastries were HUGE and OH SO GOOD! DH and I split a ham, egg and cheese croissant and a cherry turnover, which was also shared by Noah. Nicolas had a bowl of cereal AND part of a Cinnamon Roll which was also HUGE! The in-laws got some pastries also and everything was just so good. We sat outside at a table near main street to eat and relax for a bit. Then it was off to Tomorrowland.

We hit the Monster's Inc show first. During the show, they ended up spotlighting on Nicolas to ask him questions, which he and the other kids just LOVED! We then hopped on Buzz Lightyear and when we came out we noticed the big Stitch Show (NEW) was forming a bit of a crowd on the carpets in front of the stage, so we decided to check it out.

Well unfortunately the placement of the sun at about 11am is right above this stage and sitting out there offers almost NO protection from the hot, hot sun but we stuck it out. This is another interactive show with Stitch on the big screen interacting with some performers on the stage as well as the audience. It was cute enough, and it ends with dancing which I thought the kids would love but I think it was just too hot. We really couldn't leave fast enough.

We tried to head over to the "Rocket Ships" per Noah's request, but the line there was just too long so I promised him we'd come back another day and do that. Noelle wanted to drive the cars again, but we decided to try something new while we were here. This resulted in a MEGA-MELTDOWN by her and we practically had to drag her to our next selection...the Carousel of Progress. I don't think the kids have ever done this, though it's something DH and I try to do every trip. The poor cast member in charge there kept asking me if she needed to leave and warning me that we could NOT exit once it started, and I assured him she'd be fine. She was of course...and ended up LOVING it and asking to do it again later. Go figure.

After that we decided to ride Haunted Mansion again and then I was really feeling a need to hit Columbia Harbour House for lunch...I LOVE that place! I had my fish n'chips and the clam chowder as did DH while the kids mostly snacked a bit. At this point Noah was definitely looking a bit tired and so the decision was made to split up for the day. DH took DS4 Noah back to the room with his parents, so they headed back to the minivan to drive back and I stayed behind with the older two so we could do a few more rides together. We'd meet them back the room well before dinner...or so was the plan.

The kids and I walked over to Splash Mountain...and it was a 90-minute wait. BTMRR was listed as 20 minutes, so we FastPassed Splash and headed to BTMRR where it was pretty obvious from the line that they needed to update that wait time. We heard the CM at the front of the line mention 30-40 minutes as the real wait most likely, and sure enough that's about how long we waited. The kids were pretty good in the line though...thanks to the help of spray fans! When we got off the ride it was 2:45pm and our Fastpass time for Splash was 3:35pm, so we decided to take the boat over and explore Tom Sawyer Island, something again we've never taken the kids to do.

We walked through all of the caves, exploring the area around the island for a while, and then it was time to head back to the main land!


They LOVED the bridge:

We grabbed some snacks and then got right in line at 3:35pm exactly. It was so nice to breeze through the line after waiting 40 minutes for the last ride. I knew we'd have to get this one over quick since we would then have to hop a bus back to our room and get ready for our 5:45pm reservation at Tutto Italia in EPCOT.

So we get into our little boat, all 3 of us in the front seat, and we start out and go around the corner where really the ride has barely begun, but at one point we end up stopped just NEXT to the big drop. So a boat comes down the BIG BIG drop and SPLASH! is right...the splash from that boat COMPLETELY SOAKS all three of us! We ride the rest of the ride totally soaked and have no fear at all for the big drop since that doesn't get you NEARLY as wet as we already were! Anyway, you can see from the photo all three of us in front and already soaked:

We came off the road and hightailed it for the front of the park. We didn't have to wait too long for a bus, but once it arrived it sat there forever as the driver seemed to be working some instrument in the front of the bus. At least we arrived well ahead of the HUGE tour group that got in line next and waited for the next bus.

There was no time to shower before dinner and I had called ahead to DH who had clothes sitting out for everyone since we still had to at least put on dry clothing. The kids and I arrived, quickly changed in RECORD time, then all headed for the car for the drive to EPCOT. We really were moving pretty fast once at the park to the point that it was still 1/2 hour before dinner and we were already walking around World Showcase, so I told everybody to just SLOW DOWN we had plenty of time.

We were seated in Tutto Italia right away. The food here was pretty good, but not much of a selection for the kids. I was THRILLED to discover the kids' menu mentioned Cheese Sticks and Nicolas (DS9 the Picky Eater) LOVES Mozzarella Sticks so I got two orders for him. Ummm...big mistake. This was UNSALTED cheese so those of you with little ones be forewarned! They really had no taste to them, I didn't enjoy them and neither did Nicolas...I think we did get pizza for Noah and that had some real flavor so Nicolas shared that. We also ended up getting dessert, DH and I splitting that again, and it was all pretty good. I think we'd go back here again for a meal...we used to love Alfredo's.