TR Dec 2010:"Dad, you're such a Dork." A Disney Dad's trip with his DD. Complete 1/19

[Sonnyeclipse]

I mulled it over about a hundred times whether to do a trip report or not for my upcoming trip and finally decided to give in and take the plunge. This trip is going to be a little different as it will not involve the whole family. I took my DD (now 12) to Mousefest in 2007 and it was a great trip for her and I to bond. You see, she has twin brothers (now 8) and they tend to take away some attention so I thought it was a great idea for her and I to spend some alone time together. She is now approaching her teenage years so I thought , “Hey, let’s do this one more time before she enters the 4-5 year period where I’m an idiot and she doesn’t want anything to do with me…” So, I booked us a trip for this December.

I booked the trip for Dec 8 – 13 as that was when Mousefest used to be held. As this trip got closer, I realized that I am missing the WDWToday reunion and Pixelmania by several days so am sort of kicking myself (althought I’m not sure that DD would have enjoyed those events). I am trying to learn to use my DSLR that I bought a few years ago and am going to make a concerted effort this trip to get some good photos.

A little about us:

Colin (40, it still pains me to put that age down…..) – I have been an avid Disney fan since my first trip to WDW in 1977. I really started growing as a fan in 2005 when I was exposed to the internet communities and podcasts related to WDW. You see, I always thought I was alone in my love for WDW and realize now there are a lot of people out there just like me. I have started going to WDW a little more regularly over the past few years and have taken a few solo trips. We joined DVC last year and my Dec trip will be my 4th trip this year. I have also run the ½ marathon in Jan as well as the Wine and Dine event in Oct, despite the fact that I am about 20-30 lbs overweight.

Taylor (12) – great student and great all around kid. She loves WDW but I now see where she is starting to hide it a little. She is growing up and I think she is at the stage where she might be a little embarrased about it. We have always had a very close relationship and I can see it slowly changing as she is getting older. Don’t get me wrong. We still have a great relationship but she is growing up and is starting to enter the, “My Dad is a dork” stage.

I am a chronic planner when it comes to these trips and I obsess about planning every detail. The funny thing is, for all the planning I do, I tend to wing it a lot once I get there. With that being said, here are our tentative plans.

Hotels:
AKV – Kidani, Dec 8th and 9th
BWV – Dec 10th – 13th

I was a little hesitant about the split stay but want to try and experience all of the DVC resorts and we couldn’t get into BWV on the 8th and 9th.

Tentative plans:

Wed Dec 8th – should arrive to AKV by about 12:30pm. Plan to do AK as there are EMH that evening.
Thurs Dec 9th – MK all day, maybe HS in late afternoon
Fri Dec 10th – EP all day
Sat Dec 11th – HS in morning, MK in late afternoon/early evening
Sun Dec 12th – EP all day, maybe HS for EMH in the evening
Mon Dec 13th – AK in the morning and then leaving in afternoon

My goal is to stay as late as possible at the parks to try and catch some good night shots with little to no people in them.

ADRs:

Dec 8th – Yak and Yeti for dinner (first time trying this one)
Dec 9th – Kona Café for breakfast (mmmm Tonga toast.)
Dec 10th - Via Napoli for dinner (excited to try the pizza)
Dec 11th – Tony’s Town Square for dinner (haven’t read great things but DD wants to try it)
Dec 12th – Yachtsman’s for dinner (first time for this one too)

So, that is it. I’m excited to try the new restaurants, stay at different resorts, take some new photos and hang with my DD. I have also recently learned of the DIS Dad’s Club and am hoping to maybe meet up with a few members while I am down.

Stay tuned for the trip report in December. I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with everyone.

 

[Sonnyeclipse]

Links to Posts

Day Before Departure:Getting Ready to Go

Day1 - Getting there and a chilly day in Animal kingdom

Day 2 – Magic Kingdom to ourselves, a little shopping and meeting friends at Epcot

Day 3 – DVC Merry mixer, a trip down memory lane, and our new favorite place in Epcot



Day 4 – DD overcomes her fears, my worst Disney meal ever and a crazy night at MK


Day 5 –Magic Kingdom madness, my new favorite restaurant, a cold night at the Studios


Day 6 – First car on Everest, where are all the animals? and our trip comes to an end


Final Thoughts - likes and dislikes

 

[Emma's Dad]

Subscribed You've got a cutie there! And I think it's awesome you are taking a trip for just the two of you. This is something I think I'll try at least once when my DD gets a little older.

 

[Naively Occur]

Looking fwd to hearing more

 

[heaven2dc]

Father/daughter trips sound like so much fun - especially before the teen years! I hope you both have a great time and enjoy the holiday atmosphere. We will be there 11/28-12/3/10 and it will be my youngest two sons' first trip (they are 17 & 23). I am glad they are excited to go - I think mostly for the food though

 

[Goofy + 3]

Daddy-daughter trip. Brilliant. My cousin does this with each kid when they're 12 and I'll probably do the same thing. But for now, our daddy-daughter Disney stuff is Disney on Ice and the occasional touring stage show. Looks like I'll just miss you at BWV. I'm checking out the same day you're checking in.

Looking forward to the rest..

 

[dvczerfs]

im in!!!! dont worry,dd will come back around after a few years. great idea dad and daughter trip. i could never pull it off with my dw. theres no way she would allow us to go by ourselfs. dd and i have a few things planned like the back stage tour etc.. its funny dw always laughs because when were at wdw in the parks, dd and i walk side by side and dw gets pushed to the back some how. dw never complains.

 

[dvczerfs]

colin, ill be at mk on the 9th all day, keep in touch.

 

[Disney Commando]

Colin, Looks like the 8th, 9th & 10th we will be in the same spots

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Hi Colin! I'm with Dave - my wife would never let me take the kids to Disney without her! Depending on how long you stay at MK on the 9th, we might be there.
We'll be getting there around 4 or so for MVMCP.
I can't wait to see the pictures! Now that you're a member of the DDC, trip reports are mandatory!

 

[Sonnyeclipse]

Subscribed You've got a cutie there! And I think it's awesome you are taking a trip for just the two of you. This is something I think I'll try at least once when my DD gets a little older.

We had a lot of fun when we did it in 2007. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Looking fwd to hearing more

Thanks. I'll try to keep it interesting.

Father/daughter trips sound like so much fun - especially before the teen years! I hope you both have a great time and enjoy the holiday atmosphere. We will be there 11/28-12/3/10 and it will be my youngest two sons' first trip (they are 17 & 23). I am glad they are excited to go - I think mostly for the food though

I think it will be fun. I'm sure your sons will have a great time.

Daddy-daughter trip. Brilliant. My cousin does this with each kid when they're 12 and I'll probably do the same thing. But for now, our daddy-daughter Disney stuff is Disney on Ice and the occasional touring stage show. Looks like I'll just miss you at BWV. I'm checking out the same day you're checking in.

Looking forward to the rest..

Thanks. Too bad we'll miss each other.

colin, ill be at mk on the 9th all day, keep in touch.

Will do. It would be cool to meet up at some point.

Colin, Looks like the 8th, 9th & 10th we will be in the same spots

Good stuff. Maybe we can hook up even just to say hello.

Hi Colin! I'm with Dave - my wife would never let me take the kids to Disney without her! Depending on how long you stay at MK on the 9th, we might be there.
We'll be getting there around 4 or so for MVMCP.
I can't wait to see the pictures! Now that you're a member of the DDC, trip reports are mandatory!

Thanks. I'll do my best to live up the expectations set by the trip reporters before me.

My wife doesn't mind too much. She likes WDW but not near as much as me. Once every year or two is fine with her. Maybe I'll see you in the MK. We're thinking about MVMCP but haven't committed yet.

 

[Disney Commando]

Good stuff. Maybe we can hook up even just to say hello.

I'm sure we will meet up one of those days

 

[Krisscot]

Subbing. I wouldn't let my husband go without meet either hahaha

 

[Sonnyeclipse]

Well, the day is almost here. The bags are packed, online check in done, boarding passes printed and we leave for Disney at 6AM tomorrow. We have to change planes in DC as we’re flying on air miles and United does not fly direct out of Harrisburg. I’m going to miss that AirTran direct flight….

I feel a little bad leaving now as we recently had a flood in our basement and I feel like I’m leaving my wife at a time when I should be staying. She is great at dealing with people so has basically been talking to insurance herself anyway. I just feel bad. She also has to deal with my boys wrestling practices/meets, soccer clinic and lacrosse practice. I am typically the one who takes them to all of this so it will be a lot for her to deal with during the five days we are gone.

I think DD is getting excited now. I was starting to get worried she may think she is too “cool” for this but I think my worries were unnecessary. We have a bag of pennies and are going to start a pressed penny collection. She loves that kind of stuff so it will be something she can look forward to. She is starting to stress a little about the homework but I told her we will do some tonight and on the plane down and back. She is also really looking forward to the resorts. We are staying at Kidani for two nights and Boardwalk Villas for three nights. We were talking about the Boardwalk yesterday and she didn’t realize that we could walk to both Epcot and the Studios. I have never stayed at a resort that is that close to the parks so it will be a new experience for me too.

I’m a little bummed that the temps are going to be cool but you have to sort of expect that possibility when you travel down there this time of year. Swimming may not be in the cards for this trip. At least it won’t be like January when I ran the half marathon.

BRRRRR. THAT was cold.

I’ll never forget walking to the start line for the half and watching snow flurries fall.

Friends of the family are down there now and we will hopefully meet up with them Thursday at some point. As well, I have been in contact with several of the DisDads and hope to meet up with a few of them for photos and to say hello. We are still uncertain about MVMCP on the 9th and will probably wait until the day before to decide. I am excited that the hours for MK have changed to close at 1AM on the 11th. Now I can get those late night photos I have been dying to get when no one is around. I have a new lens for my Nikon as well as a tripod so I’m anxious to try them out.

Well, that is it. Our journey begins. Tomorrow we tackle Animal Kingdom where we’ll run from a Yeti and a Dinosaur, try the Yak and Yeti for the first time, and get to experience EMH in the evening.

I may post a few updates from down there but I’m definitely not making any promises. If it is anything like I expect, there will be late nights and early mornings. WDW, here we come!!!

 

[OhMari]

Hope you have a great vacation.
Maybe the big snow-storm this weekend, will get you stranded in Florida.
But sometimes when they predict something big, it does the opposite.

 

[Sonnyeclipse]

Our day began at 4:30AM. We were pretty much packed so all I had to do was shower and grab a bit to eat before heading to the airport. When we arrived at Harrisburg, there was virtually no line (I love this airport). We had checked in already so just had to leave our bag with United. We typically fly direct on Air Tran but I used air miles on this trip so we were connecting through Washington/Dulles.

Our flight was uneventful and we arrived in Dulles with plenty of time. We headed for our gate and people were already on line waiting to board. On a side note, I can’t stand the jockeying for carry on space that occurs now. People start crowding the boarding area well before boarding to ensure they get their carry on up top. I don’t fly Southwest a lot but I love the way they handle boarding. Hopefully that is one thing that will change with Air Tran when Southwest and Air Tran merge.

Our next flight was good and before we knew it, we were in Orlando and on our way to ME. We waited about 10 minutes and boarded our bus. We were staying at Kidani Village for the first two nights and the bus made stops at CBR, Pop, Jambo and then Kidani.

Upon entering the lobby, I was somewhat unimpressed as I was comparing it to Jambo and there is just no comparison. The lobby is very small but nice. I went to registration and our room was ready. We headed up to drop off our carry on bags and I grabbed my camera bag and tripod. We went out on the balcony to look at the Savannah and DD was very impressed that the Ankole cattle were feeding outside our room. We also saw two giraffes off in the distance.

She was loving this resort. We were heading to our first park, Animal Kingdom. I had chosen Animal Kingdom as I knew we would be arriving in the afternoon and they had EMH in the evening Knowing those two items, I had also booked us a ADR at Yak and Yeti as I have always wanted to try it..

We bundled up and headed for the bus stop. Yes, I said bundled up. As many of you know that were down there, the temperatures were unseasonably cold so we were wearing jeans and fairly heavy sweatshirts. We waited about 10 minutes and the bus showed up. As we left, I told DD that we would make a stop at Jambo. One of the reasons I chose Kidani over Jambo was when I stayed at Jambo in May, I realized that the buses dropped off and picked up and Kidani first (except to DTD). There were a few of us on the bus but a large number of people got on at Jambo and some even had to stand. DD was happy that I was such a dork now as my planning was paying off.

We arrived at the park and made a beeline for Everest. The wait time was only 20 minutes so we hit the stand by line. Can I tell you how much I really hate those bells in that stand by line? There were kids who were just constantly nailing those bells and parents were standing there laughing. I mean, hit the bell once or twice, but not twenty times in a row. I’m all for having fun at Disney but there are limits.

After that headache, the line seemed to pick up speed and we were on our way up Everest. DD was never much of a fan of this ride due to the backwards part, but is now becoming more of a fan. It was a great ride as always, despite the motionless Yeti….

I started walking around and snapping photos. DD is looking at me like I'm nuts as I'm taking pictures of signs, chairs, plants, all kinds of crazy stuff. I can hear her thoughts at this point, "is this guy for real???"

We then decided to go try our luck at the safari. Wait time said 30 minutes and we decided to wait. This was our first encounter with cheerleaders as there was a group behind us being loud and doing cheers in line. Very annoying but luckily we were a good distance ahead of them so we didn’t hear too much. I couldn’t imagine if they were right behind us. Ugh.

The safari was fun as usual although I wish they would put a new story line in. It seems like it would be simple to do. I got some pictures along the way and notice a few new structures that seemed out of place. I heard someone later remark that these were for the new Wild Africa trek. I’m not a fan of these buildings but I’ll reserve judgment for now.

As we were going, we made a turn and a rhino was right by the road. I don’t recall seeing a rhino in this area before and even the driver seemed a little surprised. I think the rhino wasn’t where it was supposed to be but I’m not real sure.

After the safari, it was around 4pm and we were starving as we had skipped lunch so we decided to head to Yak and Yeti to see if we could get in. I started receiving texts from one of the DisDads that was in the park and arranged to meet up with him after we ate.

Yak and Yeti did accommodate us early and we sat close to the window so were able to see the parade. Our server was fantastic and he took the time to take us through the menu and give us recommendations. Based on his recommendation, I ordered the ribs and DD ordered vegetable low mein. I tried to take pictures of most of my meals but usually was a few bites in before I remembered. Here is the low mein that DD had.

The food came extremely quickly. I mean he had barely put down our drinks and the food was delivered to our table. It obviously must have been pre-prepared as there is no way it could have come that quickly. I wasn’t a fan of that fact but the food did taste good. My chicken fried rice was especially flavorful and the ribs were pretty tasty. DD enjoyed her dinner as well.

We finished up and headed out to meet the DisDad I had been in contact with. The Disdads is a group on the boards that I just recently discovered and have been trying to participate in. A lot of them seem to have formed relationships so I was anxious to get involved as well.

We headed for Dinoland and couldn’t find him at first. I called home to check in and as soon as I hung up, there he was. We posed for a picture and the decided we would all head for Everest.

His son was a lot of fun and entertained us in line with his knowledge of dinosaurs. DD was getting a kick out of him and I was hoping he could help me get her on Dinosaur. You see, her two most hated attractions are Dinosaur and Tower of Terror. My goal was to get her on those at least once during this trip. We all rode Everest and had a great time.

We walked for a bit and chatted and started to realize we were pretty limited in what we could do. EMH had begun and there really aren’t many options at Animal Kingdom for attractions during EMH in the evening. I won’t start on my rant about how Animal Kingdom needs to be expanded, but Disney, PLEASE put some more into Animal Kingdom. The park has so much potential but needs more. Pay attention to that Australia rumor that is going around and maybe think about making it a reality.

Anyway, our next stop for lack of options was It’s Tough to be a Bug. I personally like this 3D show and it is actually one of my favorites. I remembered to lean forward for the stinger in the back but forgot about the bugs under my seat part. DD got a kick out of me jumping for that.

After that, the next plan was Dinosaur. Despite all the convincing, DD just would not do it so we parted ways and I headed to take some night shots of Everest and the Tree. I had scoped out the Flame Tree BBQ as a good place and it turned out it was. A few other people actually showed up to take pictures as well.

With nothing left to do, we decided to head back to Kidani.

We got back and decided to head over to the Mara as DD wanted to try Zebra Domes. We hopped on the next park bus and got over to Jambo to pick up a few things. I picked up a bag of chips but when I looked at the price, I almost fell down. It was almost $3 for a bag of “Disney” chips. I put them back down and decided I would not be eating chips tonight (probably a good idea anyway).

We decided to walk back and the walk really wasn’t too bad. I took a few pictures and while out back of Kidani, we witnessed someone proposing. DD was impressed that we actually overheard that and thought it was kind of neat.

We headed back to the room as we were tired from a long day. We ate a few Zebra Domes while watching Stacy with her “Must Do’s”. Watching Stacy has become a tradition ever since her original Top 7 must see’s which I think we saw back in 2005 or so. I must say that the versions get worse every time they update them. They have really toned her down. Some people find her annoying but I think she is hilarious, or at least she used to be. The must do’s leave a little bit to be desired to. It’s a Small World and Dumbo in the MK and not Space Mountain, Pirates, or Haunted Mansion? I realize kids love Dumbo but it stops being a must do around the age of 9.

DD was asleep in no time and I followed soon after. We had an early breakfast at Kona in the morning and I had a date with Tonga toast.

Next up…

Day 2 – Magic Kingdom to ourselves, a little shopping and meeting up with friends at Epcot

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Upon entering the lobby, I was somewhat unimpressed as I was comparing it to Jambo and there is just no comparison. The lobby is very small but nice.

I agree, to a point. Yes, the lobby is small, but really, how much time does one spend in the lobby?

We bundled up and headed for the bus stop. Yes, I said bundled up. As many of you know that were down there, the temperatures were unseasonably cold so we were wearing jeans and fairly heavy sweatshirts.

Hard to forget those temps.

After that headache, the line seemed to pick up speed and we were on our way up Everest. DD was never much of a fan of this ride due to the backwards part, but is now becoming more of a fan. It was a great ride as always, despite the motionless Yeti….

Yeah, but at least they have a strobe light on him.

We finished up and headed out to meet the DisDad I had been in contact with. The Disdads is a group on the boards that I just recently discovered and have been trying to participate in. A lot of them seem to have formed relationships so I was anxious to get involved as well.

We decided to walk back and the walk really wasn’t too bad. I took a few pictures and while out back of Kidani, we witnessed someone proposing. DD was impressed that we actually overheard that and thought it was kind of neat.

Well? Did she say yes?

We headed back to the room as we were tired from a long day. We ate a few Zebra Domes

You can just stop right there and it it would be an awesome day...

We had an early breakfast at Kona in the morning and I had a date with Tonga toast.

..but adding this makes it even better!

 

[Sonnyeclipse]

I agree, to a point. Yes, the lobby is small, but really, how much time does one spend in the lobby?

My relationship with a lobby is to check in, and then briskly walk through it on my way to the room so I'm with you. I guess is just shocked me a bit that it was so much smaller than Jambo. It had no real effect on how we felt about the resort.

 

[afwdwfan]

Great first day, and always nice to see a DIS Dads meet take place. I like your idea for a daughter/father trip before she gets to the age that she wants to completely ignore the fact she's related to you. Hope it was an enjoyable and memorable trip for the both of you. Look forward to seeing more!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Hey Colin,

I just stumbled in here and found your TR. Looking forward to more!

I like your pictures! You've got some very nice shots in here. What type of camera do you use?