The Murphy's are LIVE from WDW and Kidani! March 21-28 and April 2-5

[TigrLvsPooh]

FYI, Downtown Disney is INSANE! Ugh that traffic trying to get into the parking garage is brutal!!!

 

[abk96]

How was DTD walking around? Have they made progress there? Last year we only stayed about an hour because of the construction.

You mentioned the Starbucks in AK, were you able to see the building or just walls?

Thanks for all the info. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

How was DTD walking around? Have they made progress there? Last year we only stayed about an hour because of the construction.

You mentioned the Starbucks in AK, were you able to see the building or just walls?

Thanks for all the info. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

We didn't go down to the Marketplace, we just parked in the garage and went into the movie. We sat at the traffic light trying to turn left for about 20-30 minutes. But I'm glad we didn't take the bus because when we came out of the movie we hopped right in the car and got out quickly.

I read somewhere that the new Starbucks was going into the old Creature Comforts building. We walked by and the windows are all covered up so you can't see inside, but the existing building is the same.

I think we're going to Universal today Need a little dose of Harry Potter!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Pics from yesterday finally finished uploading....

See the elephant???? He's reaching for something

Two month old babies

A pretty successful safari for mid-day No sign of the lions, and not many elephants in sight. But still fun as always.

 

[abk96]

Thanks Erika. That traffic sounds miserable.

Enjoy the day at Universal. I've never been because I can't rip myself away from Disney.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Thanks Erika. That traffic sounds miserable.

Enjoy the day at Universal. I've never been because I can't rip myself away from Disney.

Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade are worth the trip over. Even if you just walk around and see the amazing detail. I'm sure the crowd will be terrible today, we probably won't even get on a ride, but we'll soak in some of the atmosphere.

 

[momtwoboys]

following along with another super trip report!!! We are heading to Disney April 17th whooohoooo!!! I have always loved your reports, our boys are close to the same ages

 

[albertamom]

I'm quite new to the WDW side of the boards, but am hoping to break away from DL for our first trip to WDW sometime within the next year. I love that the 1-bedrooms at Kidani have two bathrooms and two separate sleeping areas in the living room. With a DS (17) and DD (15), both things are a must for us.

I'm loving your TR, and learning so much about the resort and the parks. Thank you!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I'm quite new to the WDW side of the boards, but am hoping to break away from DL for our first trip to WDW sometime within the next year. I love that the 1-bedrooms at Kidani have two bathrooms and two separate sleeping areas in the living room. With a DS (17) and DD (15), both things are a must for us.

I'm loving your TR, and learning so much about the resort and the parks. Thank you!

I'm so glad I could help These villas really are nice, I had to do some laundry today and it's soooooo wonderful not having to pack it all up and take it to the pool. Also it's great to have the extra space to really spread out and feel at home.

We are just back from a day at Universal! Surprisingly not very crowded, we only waited 30 minutes for Gringott's and Forbidden Journey was a walk-on. The traffic to and from Universal was horrendous! I honestly don't know if I could live here and deal with it every day. I'm so use to my lonely country roads.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Great day today at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!!

Of course the whole time we are there we're thinking in the back of our minds... we get to go back to Disney after this!!! One year we did a split stay and ended with Universal before going home and it was really sad. I much prefer to END with Disney when we eventually have to go home. I'm still trying to figure out a way to stay permanently.

 

[albertamom]

I'm so glad I could help These villas really are nice, I had to do some laundry today and it's soooooo wonderful not having to pack it all up and take it to the pool. Also it's great to have the extra space to really spread out and feel at home.

We are just back from a day at Universal! Surprisingly not very crowded, we only waited 30 minutes for Gringott's and Forbidden Journey was a walk-on. The traffic to and from Universal was horrendous! I honestly don't know if I could live here and deal with it every day. I'm so use to my lonely country roads.

I can't believe how lucky I am to have found your review! We will definitely combine our WDW trip with a Universal stay. Can't wait to see the Harry Potter attractions!

 

[rcraw45425]

Great day today at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!!

Of course the whole time we are there we're thinking in the back of our minds... we get to go back to Disney after this!!! One year we did a split stay and ended with Universal before going home and it was really sad. I much prefer to END with Disney when we eventually have to go home. I'm still trying to figure out a way to stay permanently.

We loved Gringotts! I booked us for July last year thinking that we'd be there a few weeks after the grand opening hoopla. No such luck, we were actually there for the grand opening! Definitely something to remember, our younger daughter was not going to let that pass her by, we were up by 4:30 and standing outside of the entrance to US at 5:20am. (thankfully we were at HRH). Hubby took one look at the crowd and said "have fun, I'm going back to the hotel and going back to bed!" They let us not the turnstiles at 5:45, we were inside the park by 6AM walking at a fast walk around the lake to the holding area. We were in the first group, held outside by the bus until 8:30am. We had ridden the ride and were inside the Leaky Caldron eating a bite of breakfast by 9:30am. Thankful we rode when we did as it started going down for extended times after that.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

We loved Gringotts! I booked us for July last year thinking that we'd be there a few weeks after the grand opening hoopla. No such luck, we were actually there for the grand opening! Definitely something to remember, our younger daughter was not going to let that pass her by, we were up by 4:30 and standing outside of the entrance to US at 5:20am. (thankfully we were at HRH). Hubby took one look at the crowd and said "have fun, I'm going back to the hotel and going back to bed!" They let us not the turnstiles at 5:45, we were inside the park by 6AM walking at a fast walk around the lake to the holding area. We were in the first group, held outside by the bus until 8:30am. We had ridden the ride and were inside the Leaky Caldron eating a bite of breakfast by 9:30am. Thankful we rode when we did as it started going down for extended times after that.

My oldest son and I did the same thing last July. We were staying at Royal Pacific, got up super early, went straight to Gringott's first, got right on the ride, then spent the rest of the morning playing in Diagon Alley while the rest of the family slept. It's funny now to see such a short wait times right in the middle of Spring Break. I think the longest line I saw today was the ice cream! LOL

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Last day! We are headed to Epcot, we've got fastpasses for Test Track, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth. Looking around this villa I am starting to panic as to how I'm going to pack everything up! Luckily with Southwest we can take extra luggage if we need it. The weather is getting ready to make a turn for the worse! Starting around the middle of the afternoon we've got rain and storms coming ahead of a major cold front. Low tomorrow night 47!!! These poor Floridians will have to break out their jackets! It won't last long though, by the time Mom and I come back to WDW later in the week it will be 90!

There's a crazy bird squawking outside the window so I better get going!

 

[ChristaMB]

Hi Erika! Love your TR! My lil family will be there on Tuesday (CSR) and I have been following along to get extra excited! I noticed it will be in the high 80s and low 90s when we are there as well...I am thrilled because it's actually snowing here in Ohio today! We are excited for our BOG lunch res, meeting A&E (fp+) and Snow White Mine Train (fp+)....it's been almost 10 years since my last time at the world!
4 days and counting!

Happy belated birthday by the way!!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

We had a great time at Epcot today We did the Easter Egg hunt all around the World Showcase! Every country has a different egg to find, you mark them on your map and at the end you get a prize!

Maps are $5

Some of them were easier to find than others

This was very exciting for us because we love anything new at WDW to make things exciting!

I won't show you all of them in case it spoils your fun!

At the end you redeem your completed map for a prize!

Fun day!!

Right as we finished the sky opened up with a horrible downpour of rain! We MISSED THE BUS just as it was pulling away so we jumped in a taxi back to Kidani.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Hi Erika! Love your TR! My lil family will be there on Tuesday (CSR) and I have been following along to get extra excited! I noticed it will be in the high 80s and low 90s when we are there as well...I am thrilled because it's actually snowing here in Ohio today! We are excited for our BOG lunch res, meeting A&E (fp+) and Snow White Mine Train (fp+)....it's been almost 10 years since my last time at the world!
4 days and counting!

Happy belated birthday by the way!!

Have a great trip! You've got the tough ones to get, YAY!

 

[BlvInMagic]

Loving your LIVE trip report!!! Always fun to follow along and see what's going on down in the "World!"

 

[RunnerMommyof4]

Oh the Easter Egg hunt looks so fun! What a neat thing to do! I hope our kids enjoy Epcot so we can hang around there and check everything out!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Oh the Easter Egg hunt looks so fun! What a neat thing to do! I hope our kids enjoy Epcot so we can hang around there and check everything out!

I think my boys love Epcot most of all. We were going to try and go back there tonight but it's been too rainy. So we ordered Giordano's Pizza and we're just hanging out here at AKL. The animals LOVE it when it rains! We probably had 20 different types in front of our balcony this evening just gathered around. Now I'm busy doing all the laundry and packing, I can't believe we check-out tomorrow! This week went so fast!! I'll keep this thread going next week to report back on any other interesting things we might do. I'm going to swing by Trader Sam's tomorrow and see if I can hit the soft opening.