Oh man. Going through serious withdrawal.
This year I shared villas with good friends from out west (family of 4 with 7th and 9th grade boys). We spent the first two nights at CBR (to avoid the weekend points); then 3 nights at AKV in a 2BR and then 3 nights at OKW in a 2BR. (I guess I should have participated in the poll on moving during a trip; the bell desks handled all the moves just great and we spent the days marching through the parks so we never missed a beat making the change, but none of us were counting on cooking in the room etc. so we were easy to move).
Our flights were delayed until the small hours of Saturday morning, so Saturday was a bit groggy wandering around Epcot (but great dinner at Tutto Italia). I spent very little time at CBR, but enough to go swimming and take advantage of the 80 degree weather (I can't believe it was 2 degrees here last night!)
Sunday morning we checked into a 2BR at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We were on the Sunset Savanna. Although I had been warned that the animals would be off the savanna, there were some animals on Monday (giraffe, ostrich, waterbuck, wildebeast and zebra). On Tuesday morning, we watched them herd the animals back out of the savanna (it is pretty funny to watch someone in a golf cart try to herd Ostriches), but they were back on Wednesday morning. So I guess the best I can say is that sometimes they were on display and other times they were off.
The new building looks nearly complete. The architecture reminds me of West Africa (which I traveled through what seems like a long time ago); I really like the design and look forward to staying there.
I stayed in a studio in Jambo House before, but not a 2BR. The two bedroom had a couple of issues I wasn't expecting. I definitely didn't realize that you have to cross a hallway to get from the master bedroom to the master bathroom and that there is no door on this hallway (it is open to the living room). Put differently, I very much regret the decision to leave my robe at home. I also miss the separate shower. The master bath has only the shower/jacuzzi combo and my legs were so dead tired from the daily disney death marches that I could barely lift them over the walls and into the tub.
On the other hand, I really liked the desk setup (with the plugs for computers and ethernet connections). I had to work one afternoon and it was really very convenient (however, I was hoping that there would be animals out the window to distract me from work; no such luck).
We had great meals at Boma (the weather had turned a little chilly so the potato and bacon soup really hit the spot). Even if it weren't that chilly, we were all too tired to make it to the pool.
Wednesday we checked into OKW. I requested something near the Hospitality House-we were in Building 12 on the second floor (despite my fears, I really did manage to make it up the stairs nightly). Once again, everyone is blown away by how spacious the rooms are and how relaxing it feels to stay here. We loved the great big living room, the 2 queen beds in the second bedroom, the full size washer and dryer and the wonderful balcony. What I didn't expect was an icemaker in the freezer (boy I wish we had that in AKV); I really like cold water in the middle of the night, but not enough to roam the halls at 3 in the morning. Unfortunately, its not as easy to connect to the internet here; no desk with power strip built in.
We had a few "counter service meals" at the Food to Go location and one dinner at Olivia's that was good. The best part was on the day I had to go home. I spent a couple of hours at Animal Kingdom (one last safari ride and a pep talk with the Okapi), and then returned to OKW for a last swim in the pool. It was warm enough outside and plenty warm enough in the pool, to make this a really relaxing way to spend the last hour before my pickup time for the Magical Express. I locked my clothes in the locker by the pool, picked up a towel and eased into the warm water and spent an hour pretending I would never have to return to work and snow and 2 degree weather. If only I could figure out a way to hide 2 large dogs in my carry-on bag and then hide out in a secret OWK villa . . .
The parks were crowded over President's Day weekend and moderately crowded through the whole week. We spent one day at Universal Studios and it was a ghost town (the wait times were still bad, but the lines were very short; they just didn't move). The Disney discounts may be fairly successful at keeping the crowds at Disney.
In theory my next trip will be in February of 2010. That's a long time to wait but maybe the economy can begin to make some improvement by then. I have fingers crossed.
This year I shared villas with good friends from out west (family of 4 with 7th and 9th grade boys). We spent the first two nights at CBR (to avoid the weekend points); then 3 nights at AKV in a 2BR and then 3 nights at OKW in a 2BR. (I guess I should have participated in the poll on moving during a trip; the bell desks handled all the moves just great and we spent the days marching through the parks so we never missed a beat making the change, but none of us were counting on cooking in the room etc. so we were easy to move).
Our flights were delayed until the small hours of Saturday morning, so Saturday was a bit groggy wandering around Epcot (but great dinner at Tutto Italia). I spent very little time at CBR, but enough to go swimming and take advantage of the 80 degree weather (I can't believe it was 2 degrees here last night!)
Sunday morning we checked into a 2BR at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We were on the Sunset Savanna. Although I had been warned that the animals would be off the savanna, there were some animals on Monday (giraffe, ostrich, waterbuck, wildebeast and zebra). On Tuesday morning, we watched them herd the animals back out of the savanna (it is pretty funny to watch someone in a golf cart try to herd Ostriches), but they were back on Wednesday morning. So I guess the best I can say is that sometimes they were on display and other times they were off.
The new building looks nearly complete. The architecture reminds me of West Africa (which I traveled through what seems like a long time ago); I really like the design and look forward to staying there.
I stayed in a studio in Jambo House before, but not a 2BR. The two bedroom had a couple of issues I wasn't expecting. I definitely didn't realize that you have to cross a hallway to get from the master bedroom to the master bathroom and that there is no door on this hallway (it is open to the living room). Put differently, I very much regret the decision to leave my robe at home. I also miss the separate shower. The master bath has only the shower/jacuzzi combo and my legs were so dead tired from the daily disney death marches that I could barely lift them over the walls and into the tub.
On the other hand, I really liked the desk setup (with the plugs for computers and ethernet connections). I had to work one afternoon and it was really very convenient (however, I was hoping that there would be animals out the window to distract me from work; no such luck).
We had great meals at Boma (the weather had turned a little chilly so the potato and bacon soup really hit the spot). Even if it weren't that chilly, we were all too tired to make it to the pool.
Wednesday we checked into OKW. I requested something near the Hospitality House-we were in Building 12 on the second floor (despite my fears, I really did manage to make it up the stairs nightly). Once again, everyone is blown away by how spacious the rooms are and how relaxing it feels to stay here. We loved the great big living room, the 2 queen beds in the second bedroom, the full size washer and dryer and the wonderful balcony. What I didn't expect was an icemaker in the freezer (boy I wish we had that in AKV); I really like cold water in the middle of the night, but not enough to roam the halls at 3 in the morning. Unfortunately, its not as easy to connect to the internet here; no desk with power strip built in.
We had a few "counter service meals" at the Food to Go location and one dinner at Olivia's that was good. The best part was on the day I had to go home. I spent a couple of hours at Animal Kingdom (one last safari ride and a pep talk with the Okapi), and then returned to OKW for a last swim in the pool. It was warm enough outside and plenty warm enough in the pool, to make this a really relaxing way to spend the last hour before my pickup time for the Magical Express. I locked my clothes in the locker by the pool, picked up a towel and eased into the warm water and spent an hour pretending I would never have to return to work and snow and 2 degree weather. If only I could figure out a way to hide 2 large dogs in my carry-on bag and then hide out in a secret OWK villa . . .
The parks were crowded over President's Day weekend and moderately crowded through the whole week. We spent one day at Universal Studios and it was a ghost town (the wait times were still bad, but the lines were very short; they just didn't move). The Disney discounts may be fairly successful at keeping the crowds at Disney.
In theory my next trip will be in February of 2010. That's a long time to wait but maybe the economy can begin to make some improvement by then. I have fingers crossed.
That is interesting to hear about the bathroom set up. I guess I didn't realize it - good to know in advance as I always leave by robe at home. 
I need room in my suitcase for SHOES!! 
