We are two adult couples traveling together that have been to the parks many times so our trip will be pretty relaxed. We toyed with doing
Jollywood Nights but my sis and I just don’t think our hubbies will enjoy it enough to make it worth the price. Plus, we are staying at AKL Kidani with a savannah view and Poly DVC so we want to enjoy the resorts. We’ve been at AKL Kidani before and the guys just love their balcony savannah time. Our plan is shaping up as follows:
Sun, 12/15: brunch at Homecomin’ and shopping/lounge hopping at DS; once our rooms are ready we will head to AKL Kidani, get settled, maybe take a quick swim, and then explore the resort savannahs and holiday decorations (Kidani and Jambo) and have drinks and food at the lounges (Sanaa if there is room at the bar, the one in front of Jiko, Victoria Falls).
Mon, 12/16: balcony savannah time in the morning; AK for the day. We love hanging out at Dawa Bar and listening to the African drummers in the morning. Then we will get QS from either Flame Tree BBQ or Satu’li Canteen for lunch, try to get into Nomad Lounge at some point, and if we’re up for a bigger dinner we will use my Landry’s card for a table at Yak & Yeti. If not, we will just grab some QS at the Mara when we get back to the hotel. I should note - I am going to try to book the Starlight Safari for either Sunday or Monday night but it will be a miracle if I get it… we will adjust our evening plans if we do.
Tue, 12/17: balcony savannah time in the morning and QS breakfast at Sanaa; resort check out and then Epcot for the day to enjoy the Festival of the Holidays. The guys like to spend time at the Rose & Crown Pub while sis and I run around the world doing some shopping, and we will all munch all day at the Festival food booths. At some point early evening, we will head over to the Poly to check in for our first stay there, which we are really excited about! We may take a dip in the pool, and definitely hit up Tambu Lounge and grab some late night bites at Capt. Cook’s. I need the pulled pork nachos!
Wed, 12/18: The guys are very excited that Tambu Lounge opens early so they’ll definitely want to grab a drink or two in the morning - LOL! We may do brunch at Kona Cafe, or hop on the monorail to eat at GF Cafe, which we all love. Then we will head to HS for the day, knowing that it will be an early evening due to the Jollywood Nights Party. We love the Christmas vibe in that park so much! We will definitely stay until it gets dark so we can see the show on ToT, which is a fave. We will most likely get a ressie for a drink at Oga’s Cantina, go to Baseline Tap House and/or Brown Derby Lounge, and just grab some QS or snacks somewhere as we get hungry. We will need to be out by 7 so we will spend the rest of the evening hanging out at the Poly, and we will try to get into Trader Sam’s that night (we will probably try the night before, too).
Thu, 12/19: more Tambu Lounge time in the morning; then we will head to Epcot for more Festival fun. If the weather is great we will head back late afternoon for some pool time (or we may rent a pontoon for an hour and take a zoom around Bay Lake if we feel like doing that) and then we’re hoping to get a later evening Narcoossee’s reservation. If we can’t get that one we will try for California Grill, Citrico’s, or Steakhouse 71.
Fri, 12/20: check out and luggage storage; then brunch at either Kona, GF Cafe, or Steakhouse 71, depending on previous ressies. Then we will have a little time to do some last minute shopping at the Poly store before we head to the airport around 12:30.
You probably see a theme that we like to have some cocktails (within reason!) and eat our way around! We definitely do rides and attractions too, but since we’ve been there a lot we don’t stress about hitting everything; we just go with the flow and enjoy what we can. I may buy the new LL passes for HS since lines always seem to be really long there, but other than that I think we will wing it.
