We spent 11 days at WDW arriving December 22nd and leaving January 2nd.
On the whole it was a great vacation with just a few negatives.
We stayed at Kidani Village, and as I had read a few negative comments about Kidani, I was a little apprehensive, however, the only negative comment I have to make is that the designated smoling area is between the bustop and hotel, so to get to the bus in the moring or to the hotel at night, you have to walk past the smokers. Hopefully, this will change.
Kidnai is beautiful, our room (1 bdrom Savannah View) was perfect. We were on the 5th floor, had a great view of the Savannah and the animals. we saw giraffes, zebra, ostricth, ankole cattle.
Jambo was a short walk away (or you could take the bus, but we couldn't understand why anyone did). The weather wasn't great so we didn't use the pool, but we did take a look and we can't wait to get back when it is warmer to be able to try out the slide.
We ate at Sanaa and loved it, the food was delicious and the service great.
The cast at Kidani were wonderful, each and everyone of the cast members we encountered were cheerful, friendly, informative and helpful.
Even though it was very busy at WDW, there was only one day when we had probloems with transportation, (can't remember which day but it was between Christmas and New Year). All other days, the longest we waited for a bus was about 15 minutes.
We had Christmas Dinner at Artist Point, the food was good, but the service wasn't and to be honest I was disappointed, as I expected better. I know it was a busy time, but we spent a lot of money in that restraunt and I do not expect to feel rushed the way that we did.
The next day we had reservations at Coral Reef, and again, the food was good, (though not great) the servoce was terrible. I asked our server what "Tile fish" is, his reply was "a type of fish" And that is just one example of what he said/did.
On two occasions we ate at Raglan Road, food and service was very good on both occasions.
We had breakfast in Tusker House on the morning of Christmas Eve, and as always, it was excellent, great food, great cast/service and lots of fun with the characters.
The best dining experience we had this trip was afternoon tea at Grand Floridian - EXCELLENT!
We ate at Tony's on New Year's Day and that was mediocre. One night we dined at the Captain's Grill at the Yacht Club, and that was good.
We had booked Marakesh for New Year's Eve, the last time we were there we had a great meal and great service. Unfortunately it was disappointing this time. The food was just not the same quality has it had been on other occasions.
I accept that the fact that it was Christmas/New Year and very busy, may have had some bearing on the dining experiences we had, BUT it shouldn;t have made a difference.
Parks
Yes, the parks were crowded, though not quite as bad as I had expected, we made the best use we could of Fast Passes and extra magic hours, and didn't try to ride everything.
The shows, parades and fireworks were great, the Magic Kingdom Fireworks on New Year's Eve (actually we saw them December 30th as they did them both nights) were the best I have ever seen. Epcot's on New Year's Eve were also very good, but not quite as good as Magic Kingdom's.
I have to commend the cast at all parks for the amazing job they did of remining cheerful while having to deal with so many people.
One thing we love to do as a family is the animation at academy at Hollywood Studios, we have been many times over the years, and always enjoy it, this time, we had a a great cast member that "taught" us to draw, his name was Ryan, he was funny, informative and gave us a choice of charcters to draw.
On the last night there, our daughter left her camera in a restraunt, and when we went back the restraunt was closed. A cast member in an adjoining store went above and beyond what we expected to try to find the camera. Then directed us to guest service, two cast members there were also very helpful and beyond kind and arranged a little Disney magic for our daughter.
The biggest disappointment about the whole vacation was the weather which was much colder than expected.
I have never before seen so many people in WDW wearing hats, scarves, gloves etc.
On the whole it was a great vacation with just a few negatives.
We stayed at Kidani Village, and as I had read a few negative comments about Kidani, I was a little apprehensive, however, the only negative comment I have to make is that the designated smoling area is between the bustop and hotel, so to get to the bus in the moring or to the hotel at night, you have to walk past the smokers. Hopefully, this will change.
Kidnai is beautiful, our room (1 bdrom Savannah View) was perfect. We were on the 5th floor, had a great view of the Savannah and the animals. we saw giraffes, zebra, ostricth, ankole cattle.
Jambo was a short walk away (or you could take the bus, but we couldn't understand why anyone did). The weather wasn't great so we didn't use the pool, but we did take a look and we can't wait to get back when it is warmer to be able to try out the slide.
We ate at Sanaa and loved it, the food was delicious and the service great.
The cast at Kidani were wonderful, each and everyone of the cast members we encountered were cheerful, friendly, informative and helpful.
Even though it was very busy at WDW, there was only one day when we had probloems with transportation, (can't remember which day but it was between Christmas and New Year). All other days, the longest we waited for a bus was about 15 minutes.
We had Christmas Dinner at Artist Point, the food was good, but the service wasn't and to be honest I was disappointed, as I expected better. I know it was a busy time, but we spent a lot of money in that restraunt and I do not expect to feel rushed the way that we did.
The next day we had reservations at Coral Reef, and again, the food was good, (though not great) the servoce was terrible. I asked our server what "Tile fish" is, his reply was "a type of fish" And that is just one example of what he said/did.
On two occasions we ate at Raglan Road, food and service was very good on both occasions.
We had breakfast in Tusker House on the morning of Christmas Eve, and as always, it was excellent, great food, great cast/service and lots of fun with the characters.
The best dining experience we had this trip was afternoon tea at Grand Floridian - EXCELLENT!
We ate at Tony's on New Year's Day and that was mediocre. One night we dined at the Captain's Grill at the Yacht Club, and that was good.
We had booked Marakesh for New Year's Eve, the last time we were there we had a great meal and great service. Unfortunately it was disappointing this time. The food was just not the same quality has it had been on other occasions.
I accept that the fact that it was Christmas/New Year and very busy, may have had some bearing on the dining experiences we had, BUT it shouldn;t have made a difference.
Parks
Yes, the parks were crowded, though not quite as bad as I had expected, we made the best use we could of Fast Passes and extra magic hours, and didn't try to ride everything.
The shows, parades and fireworks were great, the Magic Kingdom Fireworks on New Year's Eve (actually we saw them December 30th as they did them both nights) were the best I have ever seen. Epcot's on New Year's Eve were also very good, but not quite as good as Magic Kingdom's.
I have to commend the cast at all parks for the amazing job they did of remining cheerful while having to deal with so many people.
One thing we love to do as a family is the animation at academy at Hollywood Studios, we have been many times over the years, and always enjoy it, this time, we had a a great cast member that "taught" us to draw, his name was Ryan, he was funny, informative and gave us a choice of charcters to draw.
On the last night there, our daughter left her camera in a restraunt, and when we went back the restraunt was closed. A cast member in an adjoining store went above and beyond what we expected to try to find the camera. Then directed us to guest service, two cast members there were also very helpful and beyond kind and arranged a little Disney magic for our daughter.
The biggest disappointment about the whole vacation was the weather which was much colder than expected.
I have never before seen so many people in WDW wearing hats, scarves, gloves etc.
