More Adventures in WDW: June, November and December Trip Reports

[dawnbu40]

I understand the burn out. When you're ready to continue we'll be here to follow along

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Yay for finally getting to IOA.

I totally feel you on the burn-outness. I'm kind of struggling myself. I echo the chorus, I'll be here when you're feeling the urge again!

 

[meeko_33785]

Hey everyone. Remember me?

I know it's been months since I posted the intro to my December trip report, but I wanted to pop by and say that I haven't abandoned the report. I do intend on getting this report going, but because I really no longer have the time or drive to do the long, photo intensive reports like I have been doing, the December report, and likely any future reports I'll be doing, will be a bit shorter, more simplistic and deal more with the highlights and things that are new and unique to the trip rather than trying to document as much as possible. There will still be photos, just fewer of them. I don't know when I'll be able to get the first chapter up, but I'd like to have this thing (finally) started in the next week or so.

 

[Jennifer48]

Hi Meeko!

We are here when you are ready!

 

[jenseib]

Hey hi!!!!
I finally went on my trip and things again had changed. My DH ended up not being able to go,so my Mom took his place. I've been doing the long extensive TR too. LOL! But my desktop isn't working right, so I am on a break so to speak too. I am going to try and take it in this weekend and see how much it's gonna cost to get it fixed. UGH!
I'm still here when you do update!

 

[meeko_33785]

Hi Meeko!

We are here when you are ready!

Thanks. Hopefully I'll be ready soon. I've already got the photos ready for my first chapter, so I just have the writing left to do.

Hey hi!!!!
I finally went on my trip and things again had changed. My DH ended up not being able to go,so my Mom took his place. I've been doing the long extensive TR too. LOL! But my desktop isn't working right, so I am on a break so to speak too. I am going to try and take it in this weekend and see how much it's gonna cost to get it fixed. UGH!
I'm still here when you do update!

Hi! How terrible about your computer. I'll have to check out your trip report. I'm so behind on everyone's since I've been off the DIS.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Welcome back to the DIS Meeko.

 

[meeko_33785]

Welcome back to the DIS Meeko.

Thanks

 

[meeko_33785]

Welcome to Port Orleans Riverside! Buzz, Mom, Dad and I all arrived at the resort mid-afternoon ready for a family Christmas vacation. Since we were just a little early for check-in, only one of our rooms was ready, so they were only able to tell us the room number for Buzz and my room. They were able to tell us that both of our rooms would be adjoining so it wasn’t hard to figure out where Mom and Dad’s room would be. While we waited for the second room to be ready, we headed down to get some lunch at the Riverside Mill.

The Holiday season was definitely in full swing already. The lobby was filled with garland, wreaths and the giant Christmas tree.


For lunch, we went with one of our favorites at Port Orleans- the Muffaletta sandwich. I love that the food courts at Riverside and French Quarter have some Southern and New Orleans-inspired food on the menu. It breaks up the monotony of quick service burgers, chicken and pizza nicely. The weather was gorgeous with extremely pleasant temperatures so we got a table outside by the water where we could see the boats go by.

After lunch we did just a little bit of exploring before heading to our rooms.

By now, both of our rooms were ready, so we got our luggage and began to get settled in. This time around, we were in the Parterre Place area of Magnolia Bend which was a pretty short walk from the lobby area and the closest building in Riverside to the French Quarter, which would come in handy latter in the trip for our traditional beignets breakfast at the Floatworks food court. I decided not to post a lot of photos of them this time around since nothing was too different (If you really want to see room photos though, check out the ones in my report from last year. The rooms are pretty much the same). One interesting difference was the print on the wall. In the past, we’ve only had rooms with prints that had scenes from Disneyland’s New Orleans Square or Riverboat on it, but this time around, one of the prints was obviously of Walt Disney World, complete with Cinderella Castle and Liberty Square in the background.


We had a dinner reservation at Sanaa over at Kidani Village later that evening, so shortly after we were settled into our rooms, we began to get ready for our evening. After all, the sooner we were ready, the more time we would have to explore the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Before we left, Buzz and I spent some time taking pictures around Parterre Place. Notice anything about the design of the rod iron railing here?

The area around Parterre Place is gorgeous complete with rose gardens and fountains.

Once we were all ready, we headed to the main bus stop and took the bus to the Animal Kingdom and transferred onto a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. In all, it took about 45 minutes to get from Riverside to the Lodge, so it might have been quicker to go by car, but since this was supposed to be a more relaxing trip for us, it was nice to be able to enjoy the ride and let Disney do all the driving.

We decided to begin our visit with a trip to Jambo House to see the Christmas decorations and watch some of the animals at their savannah for a while. It had been years and years since we were here last, so it was nice to be back. We’re thinking we won’t wait very long before we come back again.

We spent a good amount of time watching the animals from the Arusha Rock viewing area.

Even though we wanted to stay longer, we knew we wanted to get to Kidani Village so we would have plenty of time to look around before our dinner reservation, especially since we hadn’t been there before.

After a quick stop in the gift shop and double-checking with a CM that we were going the right way, we were off to Kidani Village!



Next chapter: Christmas at Kidani Village and dinner at Sanaa

 

[dawnbu40]

I'm glad you're back

Nice update! I always enjoy your pictures and these are just lovely. My favorite is the one with the Mansion and the water

I'm looking forward to more!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Yay Welcome Back!

I love the fountain picture, you have such a great eye! I'm with you too. I could sit at Jambo house and watch the animals and relax any day!

 

[Jennifer48]

I stayed at POR for the first time in February and you are right, its amazing!

I could sit in the Jambo lobby and stare at the decor all day, every day!

Can't wait to hear about Sanaa!

 

[meeko_33785]

I'm glad you're back

Nice update! I always enjoy your pictures and these are just lovely. My favorite is the one with the Mansion and the water

I'm looking forward to more!

Thanks Dawn. It's nice to be back. Glad that you're enjoying the pictures.

Yay Welcome Back!

I love the fountain picture, you have such a great eye! I'm with you too. I could sit at Jambo house and watch the animals and relax any day!

Thanks Joanna. Wouldn't you know it that the picture with the fountain was the one picture I wasn't sure if I would post or not. Now I'm glad I did.

I stayed at POR for the first time in February and you are right, its amazing!

I could sit in the Jambo lobby and stare at the decor all day, every day!

Can't wait to hear about Sanaa!

Both Riverside and AK Lodge really are great- two of our family's favorites for sure. I'll start working on the report for Kidani and Sanaa soon.

 

[MeMom]

It's always good to see Disney resort pictures, and when they are decorated for Christmas, that adds to the fun. Last year was the first in several that we didn't get a holiday trip - we went in October and not again until February - so we missed seeing all the Christmas decorations. That will make them even more exciting when we go back this December.

Resort hopping is one of my favorite things to do. We have not had the chance to really explore Kidani, but that is on my list of things to do this summer. I look forward to your pictures of Kidani and Sanaa.

 

[meeko_33785]

It's always good to see Disney resort pictures, and when they are decorated for Christmas, that adds to the fun. Last year was the first in several that we didn't get a holiday trip - we went in October and not again until February - so we missed seeing all the Christmas decorations. That will make them even more exciting when we go back this December.

Resort hopping is one of my favorite things to do. We have not had the chance to really explore Kidani, but that is on my list of things to do this summer. I look forward to your pictures of Kidani and Sanaa.

We hadn't done a lot of resort hoping in the past few years (besides visiting sister resorts like French Quarter/ Riverside or All Star Movies/ All Star Music), so it was great to visit a number of resorts this time around, especially since they were all decorated for Christmas.

 

[meeko_33785]

We didn’t have too much trouble finding our way to Kidani Village. We just had to go back out the entrance of Jambo House and follow the signs to a sidewalk around the resort. Once we found the sidewalk, it was a scenic 10 minute walk to the lobby.

A glimpse of some of the villas as we passed by.

Kidani’s lobby didn’t have the same grandeur that Jambo House does, but the architecture, art and details were just as great.

Kidani had its own Christmas Tree.


Since it was getting dark, we decided to head out to the Savanah to see if we could see any animals. By now, most of the animals were pretty far away and many seemed to be leaving the Savanah for the night, so I didn’t manage to get any good photos. Still, we decided to use the time before our reservation at Sanaa to watch what we could and then relax in the rocking chairs around the now-lit fire pit.

Back inside, we checked out more of the details. Here’s one of the African sayings on the walls.

A closer look at some of the ornaments on the giant Christmas tree.

And on the back, a hidden Mickey!

We still had some time before our reservation at Sanaa, but we figured we could see if they could get a little early. It turned out they were ready for us right away so we headed right on in.

The decor was great- sort of an artistic representation of an outdoor African marketplace. There were also large windows that looked out onto the Savannah, but it was really too dark to see much of anything. I would imagine that it would be a fantastic view at lunch (which we may just have to try someday).

To begin the meal, we got the Indian Style Bread sampler, which includes your choice of three breads and a few different spreads. We had heard so many good things about this before the trip (as well as raves about it from the CM at Jambo House that gave us directions to Kidani), we knew we wanted to try it. I can’t remember what all the breads and spreads we picked were, but I do remember the Naan bread with Mango Chutney spread was my favorite. By the time the bread was gone, our meals came out. Most of us went the Tandoori route, but I just couldn’t decide between the chicken and shrimp, so I decided to try the Slow Cooked Sampler instead with the chicken with red curry sauce and shrimp in green curry sauce. The meal might be a bit much if you don’t like curry, but I really enjoyed it. Everyone else enjoyed their meals as well. On top of all this, our waiter was wonderful- extremely helpful and eager to talk about the restaurant and everything in it. All in all, it was a fantastic meal. I can definitely see us coming here again in the future (but perhaps for lunch to see those views of the savannah).


After dinner, we headed back outside to the savannah for one last look. To our surprise, there were a number of animals out in the faux “moonlight”. It was defiantly one of the “wow” moments of the trip. It was a beautiful night and seeing all the animals out like that was the icing on the cake.


After a while, we decided to head back to Riverside, so we took one last look around the lobby, browsed through the gift shop a little and went to the bus stop. The Animal Kingdom park was closed by now, so we couldn’t go back the way we came. Instead, we decided to take the bus to the Marketplace and take the boat back to Riverside. Once we arrived at the Marketplace, we looked around for a few minutes, not really going into any of the shops since we were planning on coming back the next evening for that.

You don’t see much of Quasimodo around Disney World anymore, but he’s still featured in one of the windows at Disney’s Days of Christmas.

Over by the pin shop, we spotted these snow people, complete with fake snow falling around them.


After a few minutes of looking at Christmas decorations, we headed to the boat dock to head back to the resort. It turned out that we got there about the time Illuminations had started, so by the time we were in the boat, we had a great view of fireworks from the finale and Holiday tag as we sailed away. I don't think we could have timed it much better if we tried.

Back at Riverside, Mom and Dad went back to their room while Buzz and I decided to do a little browsing through Fulton’s General Store. As usual, I spent more time getting pictures of the character displays than looking at the merchandise. Finally, it was time to call it a day, so we headed back to our room to rest up for the next day.



Next chapter It’s Day 2, but we’re not going to a theme park...

 

[Jennifer48]

Thanks for the tip about Sanaa. If I ever go, I'll be sure to book lunch or an early dinner ADR to catch the animals in the savannah!

 

[meeko_33785]

Thanks for the tip about Sanaa. If I ever go, I'll be sure to book lunch or an early dinner ADR to catch the animals in the savannah!

No problem. I really think we'll be doing the same if we go back (and it was good enough where chances are good that we will).

 

[meeko_33785]

Typically, the beginning of the second day means getting up before sunrise and heading to the parks before rope drop, but this time around, we decided to do something a little different. We had decided instead of hitting a theme park, we would spend the day enjoying some of the things Disney has to offer beyond the parks like miniature golf, resort hopping and Downtown Disney. So while the throngs of guests were gathering at the parks, we were sleeping in (a little- after all we were still at Disney!) and enjoying a relaxing breakfast in the room.


After a little while, we began to get ready for the day. Once I was set for the day, I was eager to do some exploring, so I decided to talk a walk around the resorts and check out some of the other mansions in Magnolia Bend.

We were a bit unsure about the weather. It had gotten much cooler overnight and the forecast was predicting there might be some morning showers to go along with it. Fortunately, we never had a drop of rain the entire day, and after a while, the clouds began to give way to another gorgeous blue sky.

Once everyone else was ready for the day, we made a quick trip off-property to do a little grocery shopping and picked up a few things for breakfast the next day and some cocoa and Christmas cookies for our evenings at the resort. Along the way, I also learned that the Orlando supermarkets are great places to go for cheaper Disney (though not official Walt Disney World) pins and autograph books. I knew local stores always sold discounted t-shirts and toys, but I guess I didn’t realize what an extensive selection of Disney souvenirs they had!

Back on property, we returned to Riverside, and after dropping off our groceries at the room, starting making our way to the bus stop. Since we weren’t in any rush today, We decided to take the long way around and talk a walk through the Alligator Bayou section of the resort. We’d never really done much exploring in this area since we always get put in one of the mansions, so it was nice to be able to check it out after all these years.


There was a bit of a crowd at the bus stop. I suppose that is what it’s always like in the morning when you don’t get to the bus stop over an hour before the park opens. The busses were running fairly frequently and without having to wait too long, we were on our way to our first Disney destination of the day- Winter Summerland Miniature Golf. Winter Summerland is located next to Blizzard Beach, which, at Riverside, shares a bus with the Animal Kingdom. While the day wasn’t anywhere near as cold as the freezing temperatures Florida saw later in the winter, it was still cold enough that most everybody was wearing jackets. Needless to say, we were the only people getting off at Blizzard Beach, and we got some strange looks from people who must have thought we were insane for going to a water park in that weather.

This was all of our first time visiting Winter Summerland. We were looking for something to do on this trip that was Christmassy and that we had never done before, and this seemed to be a good fit for us.

We only had to wait a few minutes before we were able to tee off, which was just enough time to take a quick look around the entrance area.

As nice as the Winter Course looked, the Summer Course was the one that really appealed to us. The theming was a lot of fun. Even the bumper stickers on the airstream trailers were just the type you’d expect an elf to have.

Elf essentials. Who knew they drank beer?

There certainly were lots of Christmassy puns.

I couldn’t get too close to this fish for a picture. If you’ve ever done this course, you know why.

The dreaded hole with the giant clams! I managed to hit my ball straight into the clam’s mouth like I thought the hints said to, but my ball never reappeared! Luckily, there were a few spare balls lying in the bushes nearby so I could play on.

The sand castle looked a little familiar.

Goofy and Donald “sand sculptures”.

A few of us managed to get in some hole-in-ones. Buzz managed to get one at this hole.

At the end of the course, we putted our balls into Santa’s computer- a “PC on Earth”, naturally. This was his computer mouse. After returning our clubs, we were given free candy canes (our first candy canes of the holiday season!) and limited edition Winter Summerland golf balls featuring Stitch. All in all, we had a fantastic time at Winter Summerland. My score wasn’t that good, but it didn’t matter. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and details all around us and had a great time doing something fun- and festive- as a family.


By now, it was getting close to lunch time, so we headed back to pick up a bus for our next destination, the Boardwalk. Just as were approaching the bus stop, we spotted the bus for the EPCOT Resorts leaving. Since we weren’t in too much of a hurry, we didn’t run to try to flag down the bus and figured that we’d just chill and wait for the next one. We were surprised when the bus pulled right up to us and the driver asked if we were going to the Boardwalk. The driver really didn’t have to do that, but we really appreciated that he did. In no time, we were on our way.



Next chapter: Exploring my favorite resort and Christmas around Crescent Lake.

 

[Jennifer48]

I love WinterSummerland!

As great as the parks are, its always nice to have a down day to explore