yaya74
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2006
- Messages
- 1,491
After loitering on Disboard for months and months absorbing all valuable info to plan for my trip, I am glad to finally have the chance to "give back" to the DIS community with this post of notes and observation from my trip. 
My kids are 8 and 4.
The drive North NJ <--> WDW
Left at 6am, arrived at Savanna GA close to 9pm. Bad Traffic in VA, north of Richmond. We skipped a lot of traffic by taking the express lane.
On the way back, we left WDW at 2pm and arrived at Smithfield NC at 11:30pm. That Best Western near the mall was awesome! So clean!!! Then the next day we left Smithfield at 9am, bad traffic between Richmond VA and Washington DC. Got home around 7pm.
Kids were trooper but were complaining. DH said he will not drive again next time.
Accommodation--AKL Jambo House
Weather
Weather this week has NOT, again NOT, been scorching hot like what I have read in the past. High was in high 80s. There were many moments of breezes throughout the day to make us feel comfortable. What bothers us more is the humidity. Weather back home in NJ was hotter than this. I am hoping for a hotter weather for the rest of the week for our time in the waterparks.
Transportation
We drove everywhere, including to MK. DH refuses to take the bus because we have a double stroller. We like the convenience of having our own car. Easier to manage our schedule.
THE PARKS
MK (Sunday 3-8pm, Mon 930a-3pm)
DHS
Jedi Training Academy sign up
We got there at 7:40am. Had PPO ADR at 8:30. I then changed it to 8:10 before going thru security. Was let in at 7:50am. went to JTA sign up first before breakfast. We were the second family in line. Got 10:10am show. ALL kids in that show fought Darth Vader.
Those without PPO ADR were let in at 8:30am to sign up (saw the mob ran across H&V at that time)
AK
My kids really enjoyed the Wilderness Explorer program. It was very educational. Unfortunately we got there too late. Most station closed at 7:15p. We will definitely make that a priority during our next trip.
AK is a very pretty park with all the plants and vegetations.
The tree of life show was charming. We caught it on the way out. Glad we did.
Waterparks--Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach
Both waterparks are awesome! Comping to Great Wolf Lodge and Khalahari in Poconos, PA, TL and BB are much much better!! We felt relax at the waterpark but not in the theme park. However both kids were worn out after 2-3 hours in the waterpark...
Disney Quest
Got tix from waterparks and more option. The place is outdated. However my kids were able to find games that they enjoyed playing..
Disney Visa Meet & Greet
Met Kylo Ren at DHS and Mickey and Goofy at Epcot. Both time were walk-on. No wait at all. Better character interaction. So highly recommended if you have one of these cards in ur wallet.
My kids are 8 and 4.The drive North NJ <--> WDW
Left at 6am, arrived at Savanna GA close to 9pm. Bad Traffic in VA, north of Richmond. We skipped a lot of traffic by taking the express lane.
On the way back, we left WDW at 2pm and arrived at Smithfield NC at 11:30pm. That Best Western near the mall was awesome! So clean!!! Then the next day we left Smithfield at 9am, bad traffic between Richmond VA and Washington DC. Got home around 7pm.
Kids were trooper but were complaining. DH said he will not drive again next time.
Accommodation--AKL Jambo House
- TouringPlan's room request fax worked! I booked a standard view room with a request to have a room with bunk bed and I got it! The room is on Kudu trail so I have a partial savanna view. Kids really enjoy it.
- I put down 11am as my arrival time on my online check-in. Room was ready at 10am.
- CMs are very friendly.
- Our room is away from the foot traffic to lobby and elevator. The location is very quiet. We don't mind the walk to Mara.
- In room safe can fit a laptop for sure.
- Laundry room is clean. $3 for one wash and $3 for a dryer. $1 for one-usage laundry detergent. 34 minutes for a wash and 60 minutes for the dryer. No laundry monitoring app. Pay with debit or credit only (no Amex).
Weather
Weather this week has NOT, again NOT, been scorching hot like what I have read in the past. High was in high 80s. There were many moments of breezes throughout the day to make us feel comfortable. What bothers us more is the humidity. Weather back home in NJ was hotter than this. I am hoping for a hotter weather for the rest of the week for our time in the waterparks.
Transportation
We drove everywhere, including to MK. DH refuses to take the bus because we have a double stroller. We like the convenience of having our own car. Easier to manage our schedule.
THE PARKS
MK (Sunday 3-8pm, Mon 930a-3pm)
- Sunday afternoon crowd was not too bad. Monday morning crowd was unpleasant . MK opened at 8am. We got through security at 930am. But I have all three FP in the morning starting at 930am so the crowd didn't bother us.
- Among the rides we did, Monster Laughing Floor was a gem.
- Love how I can manage my FP+ with MDX app on my phone. Line at FP kiosk was long. I managed to get same day FP for speedway 30 minutes before we rode it. The standby line was 60 minutes when we rode it.
- Future World needs some renovation for sure...
- Illumination-- we found a spot in front of Mexico at 8:15. I like that spot to see the show.
DHS
Jedi Training Academy sign up
We got there at 7:40am. Had PPO ADR at 8:30. I then changed it to 8:10 before going thru security. Was let in at 7:50am. went to JTA sign up first before breakfast. We were the second family in line. Got 10:10am show. ALL kids in that show fought Darth Vader.
Those without PPO ADR were let in at 8:30am to sign up (saw the mob ran across H&V at that time)
AK
My kids really enjoyed the Wilderness Explorer program. It was very educational. Unfortunately we got there too late. Most station closed at 7:15p. We will definitely make that a priority during our next trip.
AK is a very pretty park with all the plants and vegetations.
The tree of life show was charming. We caught it on the way out. Glad we did.
Waterparks--Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach
Both waterparks are awesome! Comping to Great Wolf Lodge and Khalahari in Poconos, PA, TL and BB are much much better!! We felt relax at the waterpark but not in the theme park. However both kids were worn out after 2-3 hours in the waterpark...
Disney Quest
Got tix from waterparks and more option. The place is outdated. However my kids were able to find games that they enjoyed playing..
Disney Visa Meet & Greet
Met Kylo Ren at DHS and Mickey and Goofy at Epcot. Both time were walk-on. No wait at all. Better character interaction. So highly recommended if you have one of these cards in ur wallet.
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