We just returned from our 5 day trip to WDW. We were there from 12/11-12/16. It was only dh and I. We chose to stay at AKL and use the free dining promotion. As always, we enjoyed ourselves immensly. There were some hits and some misses but the misses were more 'learning experiences than anything!
AKL
Hit: This is probably the most beautiful resort we have stayed at yet. Loved the theming, loved the atmosphere, CM's were very helpful.
Miss: We booked the Arusha view. We ended up on the 4th Floor on Kudo trail. It was the l o n g e s t walk ever to our room. The resort is truly spread out, so first time visitors like ourselves had no idea how long it could actually take to get to your room. Next time we will add a request to be on Zebra Trail Savannah view. And closer to the lobby!
In Between: Buses. We have stayed at several resorts over time (none of the Monorail resorts though) and honestly, if you are planning on going to AK the wait is short and buses come regularly. MK and DHS, not so much. Because of the distance from the other parks, the rides were fairly long at 15-20 minutes, nothing major but definitely those with smaller children would have to factor in to their touring plans.
Dining -
Hits: My dh Loved loved loved Yak and Yeti. I did not. We both enjoyed Boma for breakfast as usual and tried dinner this time, equally as enjoyable for us. My dh loved the salmon and went back for 3rds and skipped desert! All in all, we tried all new places to dine this time and nothing was terrible, but some were just o.k. in my book.
Miss: Definitely had to be San Angel Inn. Not for the food though. That was fine. Even enjoyable if you are one to like the spicer side. But, it was so darn dark in there dh and I had difficulty reading the menu. The eyes are the first to go as you get older folks, there is no possible way to clearly see what is even on your plates. However, every child in the place was sleeping. Not a single child was awake to eat. Dh and I both remarked how quiet it was and realized the sleeping children effect due to the darkness of the restaurant. Great place for the kids to nap that is FOR SURE!
Parks
Hits: We felt crowds were extremely doable, no park was so overcrowded we had to hop somewhere else. Unusual for dh, because he is the reason we get park hoppers. Crowds are not his thing! We didn't use fast pass once. None of the wait times were bad at all, but we do enjoy the ques so a 10 minute wait is nothing for us. One disclaimer though, we did not attempt to do Toy Story Mania on anyday but did notice at 11:30 on Monday it was a 60 minute wait and still fast pass available.
Miss: None that I can think of at all. We did notice a lot of school groups at Epcot one day. And other than a few rowdy middle schoolers, they were all well behaved and most seemed to have an adult close by.
A couple of side notes, Wild Africa Trek was AWESOME and we know we will be doing it again next year. Dh is currently trying to convince me to do it twice on the same trip. It was very informative and our guides were spectacular. If you can it is something not o be missed. I can't say enough good things about it. We also did the Wishes Dessert Party on our MVMCP night. Again, if you can, it was worth it for us and our type of touring. We arrived at the party close to 6 and did all the rides easily before we checked in at 8:30. Dh didn't care too much for all the sugary eats, but I was in heaven. The view..well, it was wonderful too. We did have a party of complainers at a table behind us in the mode 'we paid how much? This is stupid etc etc'. We were glad when they finally went to the railing and we couldn't hear anymore. Overall, the location gives you a great view of the castle and the ensuing show/fireworks.
We did have a bounceback offer for 35% off for Deluxes that we used to book our vacation next December with the kids. I think they will be doing the second Trek with dh because mom will use that day to shop in DTD if she has her way.
Again, another magical trip over too quickly. I can't think of a bad moment or anything that stood out as casting a damper on things. Any questions I will be glad to answer!
Kelly
AKL
Hit: This is probably the most beautiful resort we have stayed at yet. Loved the theming, loved the atmosphere, CM's were very helpful.
Miss: We booked the Arusha view. We ended up on the 4th Floor on Kudo trail. It was the l o n g e s t walk ever to our room. The resort is truly spread out, so first time visitors like ourselves had no idea how long it could actually take to get to your room. Next time we will add a request to be on Zebra Trail Savannah view. And closer to the lobby!
In Between: Buses. We have stayed at several resorts over time (none of the Monorail resorts though) and honestly, if you are planning on going to AK the wait is short and buses come regularly. MK and DHS, not so much. Because of the distance from the other parks, the rides were fairly long at 15-20 minutes, nothing major but definitely those with smaller children would have to factor in to their touring plans.
Dining -
Hits: My dh Loved loved loved Yak and Yeti. I did not. We both enjoyed Boma for breakfast as usual and tried dinner this time, equally as enjoyable for us. My dh loved the salmon and went back for 3rds and skipped desert! All in all, we tried all new places to dine this time and nothing was terrible, but some were just o.k. in my book.
Miss: Definitely had to be San Angel Inn. Not for the food though. That was fine. Even enjoyable if you are one to like the spicer side. But, it was so darn dark in there dh and I had difficulty reading the menu. The eyes are the first to go as you get older folks, there is no possible way to clearly see what is even on your plates. However, every child in the place was sleeping. Not a single child was awake to eat. Dh and I both remarked how quiet it was and realized the sleeping children effect due to the darkness of the restaurant. Great place for the kids to nap that is FOR SURE!
Parks
Hits: We felt crowds were extremely doable, no park was so overcrowded we had to hop somewhere else. Unusual for dh, because he is the reason we get park hoppers. Crowds are not his thing! We didn't use fast pass once. None of the wait times were bad at all, but we do enjoy the ques so a 10 minute wait is nothing for us. One disclaimer though, we did not attempt to do Toy Story Mania on anyday but did notice at 11:30 on Monday it was a 60 minute wait and still fast pass available.
Miss: None that I can think of at all. We did notice a lot of school groups at Epcot one day. And other than a few rowdy middle schoolers, they were all well behaved and most seemed to have an adult close by.
A couple of side notes, Wild Africa Trek was AWESOME and we know we will be doing it again next year. Dh is currently trying to convince me to do it twice on the same trip. It was very informative and our guides were spectacular. If you can it is something not o be missed. I can't say enough good things about it. We also did the Wishes Dessert Party on our MVMCP night. Again, if you can, it was worth it for us and our type of touring. We arrived at the party close to 6 and did all the rides easily before we checked in at 8:30. Dh didn't care too much for all the sugary eats, but I was in heaven. The view..well, it was wonderful too. We did have a party of complainers at a table behind us in the mode 'we paid how much? This is stupid etc etc'. We were glad when they finally went to the railing and we couldn't hear anymore. Overall, the location gives you a great view of the castle and the ensuing show/fireworks.
We did have a bounceback offer for 35% off for Deluxes that we used to book our vacation next December with the kids. I think they will be doing the second Trek with dh because mom will use that day to shop in DTD if she has her way.
Again, another magical trip over too quickly. I can't think of a bad moment or anything that stood out as casting a damper on things. Any questions I will be glad to answer!
Kelly
