Vacation Potpourri - Disney Dream, Kidani Village, and more! - Vacation Wrap-Up 4/24

[Bridora]

You are not the first person that I've heard say that the drive to Legoland seemed longer than it really was. Nor are you the first to say that it's geared more towards younger kids. It does look really cool though!

**Edited to add: Yay! for finding the tennis shoes! They were in a really really safe hiding place. LOL!

It was really cool to see all the things they had built using Legos. Especially if you're into Legos--there were Lego sculptures everywhere! I'm glad we went, but I don't think we'll be going back. Maybe if the kids were younger...

We were so excited to find those shoes! And yes, they were safe!

 

[Bridora]

May 31, Continued
Cypress Gardens​

Before it became Legoland, it was Cypress Gardens. While we never went while it was still Cypress Gardens, Legoland has left a portion of the beautiful grounds open for visitors to explore. And thats just what we did.

This pathway winds around through the beautiful gardens.

Words of wisdom

In Cypress Gardens, you can find Lego versions of the Southern Belles that used to walk around the Cypress Gardens Adventure Park.

Mickey is everywhere!

It was a fairly big area full of beautiful plants, but the kids were pretty bored by it, so we didnt get to stay long enough to appreciate it all.


Near the entrance to the Cypress Gardens area of the park is a water show arena. We watched a bit of what turned out to be ski practice, as for some reason there was no show that day. It's a pirate-themed show and they had more Lego guys near the arena entrance.


My treasures:

It was time for Miniland USA!


Miniland USA is just that - a miniature version of several different cities. You could spend so much time here because there is so much detail in these, the more you look, the more youll find!

I don't remember which this was, though...

Kennedy Space Center!

Sunken treasure

City of St. Augustine

San Francisco!

Other visitors enjoying Miniland

Mini mini-golf!

Washington, DC

...Continued in next post...

 

[Bridora]

...Continued from above...

New York!



We wandered around a bit more and decided to try our luck at the Coastersaurus one more time. Hopefully, it would be back up and running.


Sadly, when we arrived we found that they werent running the ride at the moment because, lightning had been spotted in the area. We hadnt noticed any, but Im sure they are taking every precaution to keep their guests safe. As we walked around we noticed that some other attractions also were not running. I dont remember exactly what time it was, but the park closed at 5:00 that day and it was close enough to it that we decided to call it day. We joked that the employees were also ready to call it a day and figured the lightning was good enough excuse to stop operating the whole place early.


We stopped for a few more photo ops on the way to the front of the park:

Darth Vader was there...

And Luke was just in time to meet Buddy before he had to go.

This guy was pretty excited to see R2-D2 he didn't even notice we were taking a picture!

See you later, Legoland!


Up next: Doing a check-out day tradition a day early...

 

[Bridora]

More of May 31, 2012​

After a very long drive back to WDW, we decided to head to Downtown Disney to purchase any last minute souvenirs and to also have our traditional departing meal at Wolfgang Puck Express. Usually, we save that for our checkout day and have lunch there before leaving. As much as I didnt want our vacation to be over, I knew that getting on the road that much earlier the next day would make it easier on Davis.

And of course, no visit to Downtown Disney would be complete without a stop at Ghirardelli for a free sample!

And a purchase!

(I took its picture back at Kidani Village later that night)



Im sure we made one last run through World of Disney before departing. *sniff*



But all wasnt over yet&we never had gotten our Dole Whips this vacation.



To the Polynesian!



By way of a quick visit to Bay Lake Tower. We needed to say hi!

We went up to the bridge connecting Bay Lake Tower to the Comtemporary.

I do miss that spectacular view!

Its so hard to not take 1,000,000 pictures of it!

We must have hopped a Monorail to the Poly at this point; cant forget those Dole Whips!

And again, with some Instagram love.

Success!

It was a beautiful evening&

...Continued below...

 

[Bridora]

...Continued from above...


It was a beautiful evening, and we were having so much fun

But eventually, we knew it was time to say goodbye. . .

See ya real soon, Poly!



Back at Kidani Village, while we were getting things packed and ready for the morning, I wondered if I had taken enough pictures of our 1 Bedroom.



I snapped a few, just in case:

Living room, from Kitchen, complete with suitcases being packed!

Bedroom

Bedroom, with stacks of pillows

Bathroom off the Bedroom.


We were all set for checkout in the morning, even if we didnt want to be.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Way to round out a Disney vacation....Wolfgang Puck, free chocolate, a little shopping and top that all off with a Dole Whip. That's my kind of evening!

 

[Bridora]

Vacation Wrap-Up​

And just like that, it was time to go back home. I'm fairly certain we were up and gone before the 11:00 check-out time. I have no pictures from that day; and no pictures = vacation over.



I thought I'd do a little Q&A with myself, about the vacation.




"You took your first cruise on this vacation; what are your thoughts on cruising and would you cruise again?"

I used to think we weren't cruise people, but after hearing my mother-in-law rave about cruises she's taken, I thought we could at least look into it. I can say we all enjoyed the cruise; even though it took away from spending time in the parks. Our 3 night cruise was jam-packed with fun and activities and relaxation. I can't pinpoint one favorite, but Castaway Cay is definitely at the top! I'm so glad we splurged for a verandah - I really enjoyed the time spent out there. I know the kids would have spent all their time at the Edge; they always had something fun going on in there. Also, just exploring the ship was so much fun! I can see another cruise in our future, although the next one looks more like an Alaskan cruise, I'm not opposed to doing another Caribbean one.




"And what about Kidani Village? It was also your first time staying there; did you like it?"

I loved Kidani Village. We knew we would be severely lacking in park time on this vacation and thought it would be a good time to stay at Kidani. While you're still on Disney property, it feels so secluded there. Kidani Village would be a great place to just escape to, without doing anything else! You've got a great restaurant (Sanaa), a nice pool and gym and you can take a nice little stroll over to AKL to visit Mara for good counter service food. And then there's all the animal viewing to be done and resort activities to take part in! Seriously, you wouldn't even have to leave to have a great vacation there!




"So, are you going back to Universal Studios or Legoland next time you're in Florida?"

No!

Nothing against those parks, but this year, it's all Disney! We did enjoy Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is something all Harry Potter fans should experience. We wanted to visit Legoland while Luke was still into Legos. The kids were excited to do something different for a change and we enjoyed Legoland too. But, those other parks are just not Disney - it's as simple as that. You all know what I'm talking about.




Overall, it was a great vacation filled with memories, and isn't that what it's all about?

I'm glad you guys stuck with me as I took some long breaks from updating! It's been fun looking at all the pictures again and trying to recall just exactly what we did (seems to be a recurring theme in my trip reports).

Thanks so much for reading along!

We've got another trip planned in just a few short weeks so be on the lookout for my PTR! I've got some ideas swirling around in my head about starting one, but I think I'll invest in a trip journal this year. Maybe that will be the key to a more organized Trip Report!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Just like you, we wondered if we were "cruise people". After that cruise, I would have said that we wouldn't ever go again. But, again, like you, we're looking into going on another one. I've also been researching Alaska. I 'm so afraid that we'd miss Disney though and we couldn't do both due to the cost.

I'm glad that ya'll went ahead and tried Legoland. Your kids were young enough that they enjoyed the park.

So, you think that it will be a while before ya'll venture off to Universal again?

Be sure to post the link when you start the pre-trip report. I'm such a dummy that I forget to look for links in people's signatures.

 

[Bridora]

Way to round out a Disney vacation....Wolfgang Puck, free chocolate, a little shopping and top that all off with a Dole Whip. That's my kind of evening!

It was a nice way to end the vacation, for sure! Laid-back, no rushing, just some Dole Whips and relaxation. I can't wait to do it all again!

 

[Bridora]

Just like you, we wondered if we were "cruise people". After that cruise, I would have said that we wouldn't ever go again. But, again, like you, we're looking into going on another one. I've also been researching Alaska. I 'm so afraid that we'd miss Disney though and we couldn't do both due to the cost.

I'm glad that ya'll went ahead and tried Legoland. Your kids were young enough that they enjoyed the park.

So, you think that it will be a while before ya'll venture off to Universal again?

Be sure to post the link when you start the pre-trip report. I'm such a dummy that I forget to look for links in people's signatures.

You ninja, you!

Yeah, an Alaskan cruise would definitely take the place of our regular Disney vacation, so I'm not sure that it will ever happen! It just wouldn't be the same without Disney!

I'm glad we visited Legoland, too! We did have a lot of fun there, but I don't think there's anything else for us there right now...well except for the Star Wars miniland they've added, but I don't see that requiring another visit with more lost Disney time!

Nope, no Universal this year for sure! Maybe once they've finished the Harry Potter expansion I've heard about, but I don't see us going back before.

I will post the link here when I get my PTR started!

 

[jenniferreich]

What a wonderful trip report! Thank you so much for sharing your story! I enjoyed reading it so much! I had a rare day with nothing I HAD to do, and it was such a treat to read about your trip! Happy planning for your next one! Jennifer

 

[wdwgirl03]

Nice final updates and wrap up. So jealous you got to do a cruise. One of these days I'll finally get to go on one...

Glad you enjoyed Kidani. I agree about the animal viewing!

YAY for another trip coming up soon!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Thanks so much for sharing. I really enjoyed reading along.

 

[Bridora]

What a wonderful trip report! Thank you so much for sharing your story! I enjoyed reading it so much! I had a rare day with nothing I HAD to do, and it was such a treat to read about your trip! Happy planning for your next one! Jennifer

Thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading about our trip!


Don't you just love days like that? They don't seem to come around often enough!

Nice final updates and wrap up. So jealous you got to do a cruise. One of these days I'll finally get to go on one...

Glad you enjoyed Kidani. I agree about the animal viewing!

YAY for another trip coming up soon!

Thanks!

You should shoot for a cruise sometime! I think you'd enjoy it!

It was so cool to just be able to look outside or to go outside and see the animals - and the night vision was cool too, even though I didn't see much!

Thanks so much for sharing. I really enjoyed reading along.

You're welcome! Thanks so much for reading!

I'm glad you liked it!