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

[tinkgurl]

Yay, an update!

Your view looks nice! Hopefully you got to see some animals sometime!

I see the hidden Mickey! The floor is so cute!! And the rest of your room is too!! Aren't WDW rooms so nice?!

Hopefully that lady was wrong about the crowds!

 

[wdwgirl03]

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!?

Yeah, when we stayed there in '08 we were close but had a crummy view in part because of the Kidani construction.

Yay for going back even if it is to work!

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!

All of the decor was really cool. Even the curtains had animals in them but it wasn't so obvious until you got up close.

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!

Yeah, I slept on the sofa. Dad said it was about time he got to sleep on the actual bed. It was fine for a few nights but definitely not as comfortable as a regular bed.

The will call window was just at one of the ticket booths right outside the park. If you look at the picture I posted of the entrance it might have been a little bit more to the right.

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!

Welcome AlohaAnnie! Love your username. It reminds me of the Polynesian, and in a strange way the Jungle Cruise because of the way they have those names for the boats! haha

Oh, we love our sports teams here even if they drive us nuts sometimes. Our mom is the only one who couldn't care less. Oh well.

Kidani was definitely a great resort. I know you will love it.

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.

Aww, glad you could picture your "home" as I was describing it. Our room was far out but luckily we don't have any small kids so it wasn't a huge deal.

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!

It was a fun surprise. Kind of like when we got our "1st Visit" buttons when we stayed at Saratoga Springs for the first time (aka our first visit home!!). That is so awesome you get to check in on your birthday. I'm sure you will get lots of surprises!

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!

You might be surprised at how long our EE wait was... More cliffhangers!

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?

It really was an amazing resort. My only regret is not exploring it more though that is kind of my fault. Oh well, more reason to go back, right?!

And the same goes for you, I wonder how the 2 afternoons compared. Hmmm.

No, our room had a queen-sized bed and the sleeper sofa (which might've been queen-sized too?).

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!

I hear ya on that! Sometimes I think I should just forget the whole teaching thing and go work for Disney. If only it were that easy to find a job.

Love my AP!

Yay, an update!

Your view looks nice! Hopefully you got to see some animals sometime!

I see the hidden Mickey! The floor is so cute!! And the rest of your room is too!! Aren't WDW rooms so nice?!

Hopefully that lady was wrong about the crowds!

Oh, we got to see PLENTY of animals and I have plenty of pictures to prove it.

I love WDW rooms. I don't know if they still do but a while ago Sears (I think it was Sears) carried Disney resort themed bedding and stuff. I so wanted to get some.

 

[jwwi]

Wow, I just love the colors in your room. I think your wait time for EE was 35 minutes, but can't wait to hear about everything you did while at AK.

 

[jenbear123]

Woohoo You finally got checked in! Cool how you got a CM from Canada. Who did you get on your AP? Mine has Pluto

Question for ya: Did you use Online Check-in? If you did, how was it? Did you make any room requests?

 

[RachelNinja]

I wonder if the Disney people giggle each time they add a Hidden Mickey to something! Because if I were one of them, I totally would!

I'll never be able to celebrate my actual birthday in Disney unless I stop being a teacher! Birthdays in September don't really work! I would love it, however, to go during September for some low crowd action!

 

[dismagiclover]

Love all of the Kidani stuff! We're so excited to stay there in October. I hope to hear you got to see lots of animals while you were there. What time of day did you see the most?

 

[meeko_33785]

Sounds like a nice start. You got some nice pictures of the signs at Coronado- really impressive for pics taken through a bus window. bravo.

Kidani sounds great. Haven't been over to AKL since it was built so I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

 

[wisblue]

Woohoo You finally got checked in! Cool how you got a CM from Canada. Who did you get on your AP? Mine has Pluto

Question for ya: Did you use Online Check-in? If you did, how was it? Did you make any room requests?

I'll have to answer that one because I was the business manager for the trip.

We did use Online Check In and it works well because they already have your credit card information on record. All you have to do is show an ID and you're all set. It probably didn't save us much time this trip because there wasn't any line at the check-in desk when we got there anyway. But, it has come in handy if you arrive with or just after a busload of people.

We also did NOT make any special room requests. We knew we would be getting some kind of savannah view because there are different DVC point charges for the different room views. Because we had never stayed at Kidani before I didn't really know what to ask for. Being closer to the lobby might have been nice but, like Sarah said, it was no big deal making that walk a couple of times a day, and it was fun looking out at the savannahs through the large windows along the way.

 

[MarieTheCat24]

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.

Oh my gosh. I totally know what you mean, girl! I feel like I take so few pictures on the first day. Then, later in the trip when I've documented my every move with photos, I regret not taking more the first day. It happens every trip. You'd think I would learn and make an effort to change that.

I can't wait to see more pictures from Kidani. The view from your balcony is awesome. I bet you got to see tons of animals from there. I'd love to stay at the AKL someday, but I'm such an MK resort girl that I don't know if I could give up staying over there.

 

[bellebookworm9]

I'll have to answer that one because I was the business manager for the trip.

We did use Online Check In and it works well because they already have your credit card information on record. All you have to do is show an ID and you're all set. It probably didn't save us much time this trip because there wasn't any line at the check-in desk when we got there anyway. But, it has come in handy if you arrive with or just after a busload of people.

We also did NOT make any special room requests. We knew we would be getting some kind of savannah view because there are different DVC point charges for the different room views. Because we had never stayed at Kidani before I didn't really know what to ask for. Being closer to the lobby might have been nice but, like Sarah said, it was no big deal making that walk a couple of times a day, and it was fun looking out at the savannahs through the large windows along the way.

Did you have to put in your credit card info? We won't be charging anything to the room.

Were there special request options for online check in?

 

[Angies1274]

YAY! for arriving, receiving a surprise birthday button and getting your AP!!

So cool about the Hidden Mickey's!!

Love the view from your room! I can't wait to see some animals!!

 

[Believeinfairytales]

I can't wait for the next update. You've got me curious about the crowds now!

 

[wisblue]

Did you have to put in your credit card info? We won't be charging anything to the room.

Were there special request options for online check in?

I don't remember if I HAD to give credit card info, but I always charge quite a few things to the room (such as quick service dining, etc.) so I don't have to bring a lot of cash. It also gives me a good record of what we spent for future reference.

I don't remember either if there were special request options with online checkin. When I make special requests I make them through DVC member services when I make and change the reservations.

This trip involved quite a few changes. Because it was a busy time, I made the reservation at our home resort (Saratoga Springs) as soon as the 11 month window opened up. When we go to SS we always request Congress Park because of the short walk to DD, and we have always been put there (except for once when they gave us a corner room at the extreme end of the Paddock, just across the street from the Congress Park bus stop. That room was even better than being in Congress Park.) I also didn't know last May how many of us would be going or exactly what days. I originally made the reservation for Monday to Sunday with 3 guests to give us some flexibility.

Once the 7 month window opened I called about switching resorts and was surprised that we had several options available to us for studios. We chose Kidani because we had never stayed there and Sarah especially loves the animals. Later, I tinkered with the dates when we found out about the Brewers opener on the Monday after Easter and the availabilty of a much lower airfare on Southwest if we came home on Monday instead of Sunday.

Because you can only do online checkin something like a week before you leave, it might be kind of late for special requests.

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Your room looked awesome.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Because you can only do online checkin something like a week before you leave, it might be kind of late for special requests.

OK, thanks. We did have our requests added to our reservation already but I didn't think it would hurt to add them again when we do the check in.

 

[wisblue]

OK, thanks. We did have our requests added to our reservation already but I didn't think it would hurt to add them again when we do the check in.

It couldn't hurt, but I don't remember a space for special requests.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Wow, I just love the colors in your room. I think your wait time for EE was 35 minutes, but can't wait to hear about everything you did while at AK.

It was a really nice room and I loved the little touches everywhere, including really cute little tiles in the shower with different animals on them!

I think everyone is going to be SHOCKED at how long we waited for Expedition Everest. hehe, you have no idea how badly I just want to say it right now. LOL!

Woohoo You finally got checked in! Cool how you got a CM from Canada. Who did you get on your AP? Mine has Pluto

Question for ya: Did you use Online Check-in? If you did, how was it? Did you make any room requests?

My AP has Goofy on it!

(see my dad's response...I purposely left that for him to answer, like he said he did the reservations and such!).

I wonder if the Disney people giggle each time they add a Hidden Mickey to something! Because if I were one of them, I totally would!

I'll never be able to celebrate my actual birthday in Disney unless I stop being a teacher! Birthdays in September don't really work! I would love it, however, to go during September for some low crowd action!

Aww yeah, I guess that wouldn't work out too well. Sometimes the teacher calendar is not so cool.

Love all of the Kidani stuff! We're so excited to stay there in October. I hope to hear you got to see lots of animals while you were there. What time of day did you see the most?

We got to see a lot of animals. I have a really cool story from one day that I can't wait to share. So stay tuned.

Sounds like a nice start. You got some nice pictures of the signs at Coronado- really impressive for pics taken through a bus window. bravo.

Kidani sounds great. Haven't been over to AKL since it was built so I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

The one of the main entrance sign I took while we were stopped at the stop light so that helped. LOL!

Oh my gosh. I totally know what you mean, girl! I feel like I take so few pictures on the first day. Then, later in the trip when I've documented my every move with photos, I regret not taking more the first day. It happens every trip. You'd think I would learn and make an effort to change that.

I can't wait to see more pictures from Kidani. The view from your balcony is awesome. I bet you got to see tons of animals from there. I'd love to stay at the AKL someday, but I'm such an MK resort girl that I don't know if I could give up staying over there.

That is part of my problem, I LOVE taking pictures but part of me doesn't want to because I don't want to feel like that's all I'm doing. Does that even make any sense?! I already take tons to begin with but then I see some TRs where they take 1000s! Thank god for digital cameras.

YAY! for arriving, receiving a surprise birthday button and getting your AP!!

So cool about the Hidden Mickey's!!

Love the view from your room! I can't wait to see some animals!!

Don't worry Angie, you will see plenty of animals!

I can't wait for the next update. You've got me curious about the crowds now!

haha, I'll try to get an update done soon so I don't leave you hanging too long.

Your room looked awesome.

It was great!

 

[lovealldisney]

I

think everyone is going to be SHOCKED at how long we waited for Expedition Everest. hehe, you have no idea how badly I just want to say it right now. LOL!

I'm going to say it was walk on no wait at all.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Heehee ... am I one of those with the 1000's of pictures? I love taking tons of pictures because I get to relive the moment every time I see it. I get this little rush of excitement knowing I captured the perfect (well, perfect to me ) shot. My pictures last much longer than my memories do.

 

[tinkgurl]

I love WDW rooms. I don't know if they still do but a while ago Sears (I think it was Sears) carried Disney resort themed bedding and stuff. I so wanted to get some.

I keep forgetting about that!