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

[TigrLvsPooh]

Back to the room! We had a great night at MK! Now that I've got wifi I'll go back and post pics of our room:



The boys of course RAN to the room and were already comfy before I even got there.

As soon as I saw the coffee maker I remembered I had a brand new bag of Starbucks at home I was going to bring!!! Oh well, no big deal. We are going to the grocery tomorrow morning anyway.

My bed

I was really hoping we might have a view of the animals YAY!!!

View from windows near the elevators:

Isn't Kidani great? I remember the first time I stayed here back in 2011, I said it was the best room for the size and value at WDW.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

We had to get going shortly after bringing the luggage up so we could make our CP ADR. Here are some photos from a GREAT dinner! Also it was a pretty good bargain with the TIW card. For the 3 of us it was $130 including tip. And the boys definitely got their money's worth at the buffet. You know how teenagers are with their bottomless stomachs!

Our "water view" table

I'm not a fan of buffets but the butternut squash was pretty good, and the chicken wasn't bad either. Chocolate chip cookies might have been the best part.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

MK was pretty crowded, typical for this time of year. Here are some pictures....

My boys are insane, but those of you on the CL thread already know that.

My oldest, Nic, he thinks he's a comedian

I love the new location for Aloha Isle, no long line to wait in!!!!

Oh how I LOVE Tangled

Fireworks over Beast's castle....

I took those right before we entered Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.... and it ended up timing out PERFECTLY so that the grand finale of Wishes was during our ride.

I wish I could have somehow videotaped it, it was the most magical moment I've had at WDW in a long time... the final blast of fireworks finished just as we came through the last curve. It couldn't have been more perfectly timed.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I'm loving this "Disney Nature" channel in the room... is it new? Is it only at AKL?

 

[ddluvsdisney]

MK was pretty crowded, typical for this time of year. Here are some pictures....

My boys are insane, but those of you on the CL thread already know that.

My oldest, Nic, he thinks he's a comedian

I love the new location for Aloha Isle, no long line to wait in!!!!

Oh how I LOVE Tangled

Fireworks over Beast's castle....

I took those right before we entered Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.... and it ended up timing out PERFECTLY so that the grand finale of Wishes was during our ride.

I wish I could have somehow videotaped it, it was the most magical moment I've had at WDW in a long time... the final blast of fireworks finished just as we came through the last curve. It couldn't have been more perfectly timed.

Wow! That is so cool. We saw Wishes from BTMRR last year. I thought that was the best. I'm gonna try for 7D this year.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Booked standard view , nice surprise!

I was really hoping we might have a view of the animals YAY!!!

That is a really nice view, especially since you booked a standard view. You'll have to tell us how you like the villa compared to club level. We've stayed in villas four times now and I love them. We've never done club level and if I had the choice between a villa and club level, I think I'd choose the villa.

We had to get going shortly after bringing the luggage up so we could make our CP ADR. Here are some photos from a GREAT dinner! Also it was a pretty good bargain with the TIW card. For the 3 of us it was $130 including tip. And the boys definitely got their money's worth at the buffet. You know how teenagers are with their bottomless stomachs!

We bought the TiW card this year and started saving money before the first trip was over. It really pays when traveling with extended family.

I love buffets for the variety more than anything else. I really hate paying $29 for an entree and having nothing else come with it.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Wow! That is so cool. We saw Wishes from BTMRR last year. I thought that was the best. I'm gonna try for 7D this year.

The view from BTMRR doesn't even hold a candle to SDMT. The fireworks are literally going off directly over you and around you, I get chills just thinking about it!!!!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

That is a really nice view, especially since you booked a standard view. You'll have to tell us how you like the villa compared to club level. We've stayed in villas four times now and I love them. We've never done club level and if I had the choice between a villa and club level, I think I'd choose the villa.

We bought the TiW card this year and started saving money before the first trip was over. It really pays when traveling with extended family.

I love buffets for the variety more than anything else. I really hate paying $29 for an entree and having nothing else come with it.

Villas are great, and now that I've been to the grocery store (traffic was a nightmare this morning) we have plenty of breakfast foods, snacks, drinks, etc, to last the week. So it's kind of like having our own lounge.
Buffets are definitely great money savers for the teens. If they eat a $30 entree they are hungry an hour later. At the buffet they can get their fill.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Also wanted to mention, the wifi here at Kidani is AWESOME! Probably the best I've had at WDW.

 

[BuckeyeMickey]

I'm loving this "Disney Nature" channel in the room... is it new? Is it only at AKL?

Nature channel sounds awesome! Of course, in between rounds of Stacy LoL. I'm joining in your report, never read a "live" report before, sounds even more exciting!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Today we are headed to Epcot! We've got fastpasses for Soarin', Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth, then dinner at Hacienda followed by Illuminations. Should be fun!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Gorgeous day here at Epcot
Not too crowded, perfect weather.

We rode Soarin and shopped around the world.
Now just waiting for dinner time at Hacienda.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Snack anyone???

 

[LisaCM614]

Love Karmel Kuche. Can't stop there next week - 2 out of 3 kids in braces boo no caramel!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Snack anyone???

I have such a hard time choosing in there! What did you get?

 

[pixarmom]

I vote for the caramel pecan bar. Only problem is that it's so rich, so I need to transport it back to the resort and cut it into multiple pieces and eat a piece at a time over a few days. Wish they would sell it in quarters!

We love La Hacienda - hope you enjoy dinner!

The boys look really happy.

 

[JolllyHoliday]

Always fun to follow along on your live trip reports ! The villa at AK is beautiful. Looks like you all are having a fun time.

 

[NicoleLarson]

Sounds like your trip is off to a wonderful start. Room upgrade and extra fast passes!!! In response to what to do with your mom, there are two really good outlet malls. They both have character warehouses. I have found amazing deals here on WDW stuff (50% off and more). Many times, I see the same exact things at WDW for full price, it's a bit mind boggling to me but I'm not going to complain. There's also Mall at the Millenia (high end stuff) and the Florida Mall if you want something inside. Maybe a dinner show? We've been to a couple of these outside of WDW and the show tends to be pretty good, the food...not so much. La Nouba is very good and there's not really a bad seat in the house, so don't feel you need to be front and center. AP and TIW did have discounted rates, I'm not sure exactly what they are right now though. I know in December, you and your mom went to check out The Villages. Did you like it?

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Another fun filled day!

I've got lots of cute pics from F&G!

We had dinner tonight at Hacidenda.... and magically were given the BEST table!

Nic wanted this huge meal that "serves two"!!


After the sun went down I walked around to check out a few more topiaries

Was a great day!

After Epcot closed we came back to Kidani and jumped in the car for a run to Dunkin' Donuts. The boys were begging me to take them. I am loving our car, it's a Chevy Traverse. So much easier to drive than my Tahoe, but still has plenty of room for passengers and luggage.

Tomorrow is our Studios day. We've got TSM and Star Tours fastpasses along with Sci-fi for dinner. It's supposed to rain but maybe we'll get lucky and avoid it.

Thanks for joining along everyone!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Sounds like your trip is off to a wonderful start. Room upgrade and extra fast passes!!! In response to what to do with your mom, there are two really good outlet malls. They both have character warehouses. I have found amazing deals here on WDW stuff (50% off and more). Many times, I see the same exact things at WDW for full price, it's a bit mind boggling to me but I'm not going to complain. There's also Mall at the Millenia (high end stuff) and the Florida Mall if you want something inside. Maybe a dinner show? We've been to a couple of these outside of WDW and the show tends to be pretty good, the food...not so much. La Nouba is very good and there's not really a bad seat in the house, so don't feel you need to be front and center. AP and TIW did have discounted rates, I'm not sure exactly what they are right now though. I know in December, you and your mom went to check out The Villages. Did you like it?

My mother LOVES the villages. We are going back up there for a few days to meet with a realtor and see more houses. My Mom would like to move in the fall, after the worst heat of the summer is over. She's debating a permanent move versus keeping her home in KY and just going back and forth. Her husband died 3 years ago of ALS and she's alone, I would LOVE to see her move to the Villages and take advantage of all their groups and activities.
After a few days at the Villages we're going to go back to Orlando, probably do one day at Sea World, not sure what else. We have been to the outlet mall that's off Vineland near WDW. And we've been to Florida Mall. What dinner shows have you done? My Mom might enjoy something like that. She goes to Gatlinburg pretty often and enjoys the shows there, good idea!

No TIW, AP, or Disney Visa discount available at Hacienda tonight. I had forgotten they were one of those places that don't offer anything. But it wasn't too bad. $160 I think it was with the tip, and I had one margarita. I'm trying to keep control of our spending, otherwise our June trip is going to suffer the consequences!