"So what do you want to do next?" An April '10 TR...final thoughts 8/2 p. 63

[jwwi]

Looks like your morning went well. Yum, Chick Fil A, but no pictures? I think it is funny that you enjoy stopping at all the resorts on ME, most people hate that.

The bowling pin pool was right outside our room when we stayed at Pop. The room was on the 3rd floor, right by the girls skirt in the picture from Mickey_Mom. It was cool, you could look out at the pool to the Left, and the lake to the Right. We could also see DHS fireworks (yep, it was a special event) from the stairs of our building. We could also see Epcot fireworks from the back of our building. I normally don't like to stay at the Values, but for this trip it worked out perfect. We would swim after getting back from the parks, at 11:00pm. Fun times....

You know with your AP and a really cheap flight you could take an extra trip if you stayed at a Value.

 

[Disneylove1228]

Wowwww! I am sorry to hear about your flight being delayed like that! Ugh! We are only 2 hrs away from Disney so we drive.... my husband takes forever to get up, so I always feel like my flight is being delayed!! HAHA!!

Love the ME pics.. I never get to see the airport and the whole check in process... I find it interesting!

The POP pool is really cute!! Very noisy at night though

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Bridora]

What a fun mini-tour of other resorts!

Can't wait to see your pics of Kidani!

 

[Cory's Gal]

Hi Sarah! I got all caught up this morning! Cool pics taken at Miller Park, sorry the Brew Crew lost! I can't wait to see your pics of Kidani Village! Must have been cool to have the bus all to yourselves!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE Chick-fil-A, especially those waffle fries!! Looking forward to more!!!

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Yay! You've arrived in Disney!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Just followed you from Jen's PTR/TR. I always like to read TRs from Kidani, since that's where we'll be staying! I understand your frustration about the plane being delayed. When we go, it will be the first time in 3 years, and even though we're not going to the parks that first day, I still want to get down there! How long did it take you to get from the airport to AKV with all those stops? Gotta say, the "majestic lodge" feel kinda gets ruined with the traffic lights. Makes me remember that we're not really in the middle of an African Savannah. Looking forward to more!

 

[jenbear123]

What a cliffhanger! Can't wait to see the room you got. That stinks about the whole plane annoyance. Funny how it happened to both of us on our travels.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Okay why did you not inform me that you started your TR?!?! Just kidding. I'm here now and will catch up!

haha, I'm sorry. Glad you found me without me not telling you.

I am a huge Tigers fan! I mean living in a state you sort of grow up with that loyalty to the hometeam and I have been going to games since I was young so the loyalty has been instilled in me

I can't even do the easy ones when I am fully awake so I still see it as in impressive

Nice! We actually went to one of the Brewers' exhibition games and they were playing the Tigers!

LOL, it took me a while to finally get the hang of it but once you do they're not too hard.

Looks like your morning went well. Yum, Chick Fil A, but no pictures? I think it is funny that you enjoy stopping at all the resorts on ME, most people hate that.

The bowling pin pool was right outside our room when we stayed at Pop. The room was on the 3rd floor, right by the girls skirt in the picture from Mickey_Mom. It was cool, you could look out at the pool to the Left, and the lake to the Right. We could also see DHS fireworks (yep, it was a special event) from the stairs of our building. We could also see Epcot fireworks from the back of our building. I normally don't like to stay at the Values, but for this trip it worked out perfect. We would swim after getting back from the parks, at 11:00pm. Fun times....

You know with your AP and a really cheap flight you could take an extra trip if you stayed at a Value.

Yes, I know, I said I was going to take pictures of food and never did.

haha, I really don't mind stopping at the other resorts. It is kind of fun!

Oooh, don't tempt me and don't let my sister see that or she will really start pushing for a summer trip.

Wowwww! I am sorry to hear about your flight being delayed like that! Ugh! We are only 2 hrs away from Disney so we drive.... my husband takes forever to get up, so I always feel like my flight is being delayed!! HAHA!!

Love the ME pics.. I never get to see the airport and the whole check in process... I find it interesting!

The POP pool is really cute!! Very noisy at night though

Can't wait to read more!!

Hey Disneylove, thanks for joining in. That must be awesome being so close. Part of me thinks it would be cool but part of me thinks I might start getting sick of it. And I always wonder how the locals feel about all the tourists.

Glad you liked the ME pictures.

What a fun mini-tour of other resorts!

Can't wait to see your pics of Kidani!

Ahh, everyone is so excited about the Kidani pictures...I hope everyone doesn't end up being disappointed! LOL.

Hi Sarah! I got all caught up this morning! Cool pics taken at Miller Park, sorry the Brew Crew lost! I can't wait to see your pics of Kidani Village! Must have been cool to have the bus all to yourselves!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE Chick-fil-A, especially those waffle fries!! Looking forward to more!!!

Thanks Beth. We are going to the game this Saturday so maybe they'll decide to win then. It was so funny that we were the only ones on the bus. That actually happened to us a lot on the resort buses too!

Yay! You've arrived in Disney!

YEAH!!! Always one of the best parts.

Just followed you from Jen's PTR/TR. I always like to read TRs from Kidani, since that's where we'll be staying! I understand your frustration about the plane being delayed. When we go, it will be the first time in 3 years, and even though we're not going to the parks that first day, I still want to get down there! How long did it take you to get from the airport to AKV with all those stops? Gotta say, the "majestic lodge" feel kinda gets ruined with the traffic lights. Makes me remember that we're not really in the middle of an African Savannah. Looking forward to more!

Thanks for joining in. Awesome you are going to be staying at Kidani too. I'm hopefully going to get the next update done soon so I can share some more about it.

Ooh, that is a good question. I'd say maybe an hour or so? We almost got like a mini tour of the whole property with that bus ride but honestly I didn't mind. It was kind of one of those things where I was like I'm really here again.

What a cliffhanger! Can't wait to see the room you got. That stinks about the whole plane annoyance. Funny how it happened to both of us on our travels.

Grrr, I know. So frustrating.

Stay tuned for more...

 

[nts4wdw]

I haven't been around the DIS much lately, but I was very excited to see a trip report from you! Loving it so far!! Can't wait to see Kidani.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 cont'd (part 3)

After our mini tour of the resorts, we finally made it to Kidani Village! WOOO!! I couldn't wait to get inside and see what it looked like. I have to apologize though, I don't have a lot of pictures right away! I was just excited about getting there and checking in. So I guess I'll just have to do my best at creating a picture for you.

When we got there a cast member greeted us with friendly "Jambo!" And I loved seeing the DVC "Welcome Home" right above the doorway. If you've ever been to the AKL you'll know that it has quite the impressive lobby. While the lobby at Kidani is nice it definitely doesn't compare to the one over at Jambo House. But inside you'll find African artwork and then a HUGE glass window that overlooked the main savannah. I couldn't WAIT to get out there and see the animals. We were able to check in right away. I don't know how I even remember this, but the CM's name was Lisa and I think her nametag said she was from Canada. She was really nice and gave us our welcome packet . It was then that we got our first surprise of the trip. She said that there was a note in our reservation that Dad and I were both celebrating our birthdays. Huh?! Both our birthdays are actually in March but apparently when Dad booked the room he mentioned that (which he said he even forgot about doing that ) so we both got one of the birthday buttons. So that was kind of cool. Maybe someday I'll get to celebrate my actual birthday in WDW.

Lisa then explained where our room was and we were off! Our room was kind of far away from the main lobby, in the fifth "bead" of the building. As you walk down the hallway, there are lots of big windows too that overlook the savannahs. Let me tell you, it was fun heading to and from the bus stops and looking out to see what animals might be roaming around. I also found myself staring at the carpet looking for hidden Mickeys since it seems like every resort does that. Sure enough, there were Mickeys in the carpets.

When we got to our room one of the first things I had to check out was our view. We did have a savannah view but it was one of the smaller ones (it was actually right near the pool too). So this is what we could look out to every day:

Since it was the middle of the afternoon though there weren't any animals out...I think they were all hiding in the shade. haha

Another thing that Lisa told us was that the rooms at Kidani are bigger than the ones at Jambo House which I would have to agree with. I do have one picture of our actual room:

And my birthday button. Yes, there were hidden Mickeys on the carpet in the room too...do you see any? (look near the table leg!).

But since it was still just early afternoon, there was fun to be had! Our first order of business though was to pick up my annual pass. We learned on our trip last August that you can't do that at the resorts...it has to be done at one of the parks. Any guesses as to what our first park was? Well, since we were already at the Animal Kingdom Lodge...it was only a short bus ride away to the Animal Kingdom. It was also going to be our first chance to see what the crowds were like. So we headed out to the bus stop for our first ride of the trip.

On the bus there was this one older lady who started talking to us and was saying how the parks were so crowded. She said that she and her husband usually come over the summer and she said it was so much worse and how it's never been that crowded. Hmmm...we'd just have to see about that. After just a few short minutes we arrived at our destination. YAY! Gotta love this sight...it was such a nice afternoon!

It also seemed like a lot more people were leaving at that point than coming. Good news for us! We made our way over to will call where I could pick up my pass. Took all of maybe two minutes. So with my brand spanking new AP in hand it was time for the Disney fun to begin!

up next: Jammin' in the Jungle and how long did we wait to ride Expedition Everest?

 

[wdwgirl03]

I haven't been around the DIS much lately, but I was very excited to see a trip report from you! Loving it so far!! Can't wait to see Kidani.

OMGosh, hi Lynn! How are you? It has been a while since I've "seen" you...I always enjoyed your TRs.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I agree with you when you say Kidani is nice but Jambo is nicer!!! It reminded me of your long walk when we stayed there in 2009. Our room was on the very end of one of the Jambo wings and it took a good 10/15 mins to walk from the room to the car. It was not very fun lol. We had a great view of the animals though so maybe it was worth it!!

I was going to comment on your ticker and you just got back but I have one now too!!! I'm going to go work but oh well, still going right!?

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

Can't blame you for being excited and in the moment and not taking pictures I think everyone feels that way when they first arrive!

Can't wait to see how the birthday buttons treat you!

I love that bedspread!

That carpet is really cool too!

Can't wait to read about your AK time!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Yay for finally arriving! Did you sleep on the sofa? Did you find it comfortable? I really like the rooms at AKL/AKV. At first I wasn't sure, but they are growing on me! We are also cheating with our birthdays, since we'll be there around the mid point between them. I'm so excited about the iHome in the room. I don't have one at home because they're just too expensive and I probably wouldn't use it anyway. But I'm excited to use it to wake up to Disney music every morning-no way are we getting a wake up call from Stitch! Finally, where is the will call window at AK? We have to go there to exchange my GAD voucher for the FP card, and I don't know where it is. It does look like it was a beautiful day!

ETA: What airline did you use this trip? I'm not sure if you said and I'm just really blind!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Hiya! I am going to tag along for the ride!

Off to a great start! I get motion sickness, so planes and I do not get along. I end up taking meds to get by. So, I am glad to hear the sickness did not last long.

Not much of a sports fan but I would like to be. I just can't get into it!

Chickfila! We love it, we have one here in Indy and enjoy it. Last year we drove to WDW and we stopped at Chickfila a lot and still enjoy it!

I must say, we are HP fans also and are looking forward to a future visit to the new park.

We are going to stay at Kidani on our upcoming trip! Glad to hear it was a wonderful place to stay.

Looking forward to more!

 

[Brave teacher]

Oh YAY! As you were describing Kidani, I was picturing every last detail in my mind. We actually really liked the smaller lobby. I found that the HUGE window overlooking the savannah made up for the smaller lobby...made it seem more grand. We felt that since DVC is more like your second home that the lobby made it feel more home-like. If you were on the 5th bead, you certainly were out there. We like to request close to the lobby for that reason.

I'm looking forward to hearing about your time at AK.

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Loving the update Sarah... How cool that you got the birthday buttons! That was a nice little surprise!!! We are actually checking into AKL on my birthday!!! I am so excited! I hope they show me some love too!

 

[MHTeacher]

I saw that Hidden Mickey in the carpet!

Well, your picture of heading into AK doesn't look too crowded, but I can't wait to see how you found it inside the park and how long it took for you to ride EE!

 

[stace208]

Yay for checking in! I know what you mean about that excitement of being there and wanting to get going. Kidani sounds so pretty!

We were in AK the afternoon before you. I'm curious to see what it was like for you.

Did your room have a sleeper sofa and sleeper chair?

 

[Mickey_Mom]

From Canada eh? Oh how I wish I worked at Disney. The commute would be rough but I'd suck it up.

Hmmmm, your buttons were your first surprise?

You have your AP now!