WDW Boardwalk, Disney Dream Cruise, Animal Kingdom Villas an aliens report & photos

[MrsJobba1]

Trip report 2011

Ok so I’m now officially starting with the post Disney blues and I thought the only way to overcome them was to begin to write a trip report. Hopefully this will be beneficial for all!

Ok – my cast

Well there was just myself and my DH

Our trip summary

We are DVC members so stay on site. This year we had 5 nights at Boardwalk (our home resort). We then boarded the Disney Dream and did a 5 night Bahamas cruise where we stopped twice at Disney’s private island Castaway Cay. After the cruise we returned to Wdw and stayed at the Animal kingdom Villas – Kidani Village.

It was an amazing trip with so many special memories!

Wednesday 10th Aug – Off to the airport hotel.

We live in the North East and as we were flying virgin from Manchester we drove the night before to the airport hotel. We were staying at the Hilton, and doing the park and fly with them. We had booked via holiday extras for a double room, 2 weeks parking and 2 additional days. We had a 15% off voucher code and paid £98 in total.

We arrived at the Hilton around 8.30 pm and we were both tired and emotionally wrecked. It has been a very hard year for us and counting down and planning this holiday has been our only escape. We couldn’t believe it was finally upon us. We checked in and went to our room. It was very clean and presentable; it also had a lovely view of a brick wall! LOL not a problem though. We filled in the form about our car and went back to reception to hand our keys over. They said the shuttle to the airport would run every 15 mins in the morning and just show up when we wanted to go!

After handing over the info and keys we headed to the hotel bar. Drinks were a bit pricey but it was a hotel bar and to be expected. It was about 9pm and they were still doing food. We had eaten on the way down and just had liquid refreshment. The place was busy but we were able to get some comfy seats and sat down to people watch. There were a lot of air stewards checking in from different airlines and we laughed and made up imaginary stories about all the people. At around 10.30 we decided we couldn’t keep our eyes open and would head to bed.

 

[DISWolves]

A nice start to your holiday. A great price you got for the Hilton including parking!
Have you joined the Hilton loyalty club......hhonors?. It may be worth it if you stay at a Hilton in the future.

 

[MrsJobba1]

Thursday 11th Aug
Off we GO!!!

The alarm was set for 6.30 am but of course we didn’t need it. I was awake around 5.45am and lay and watched the clock for a while. DH can sleep on a washing line and normally nothing moves him before 7am, however 6.15 and even he was awake!

Our flight was at 11am and we had PE seats. We had checked in online the day before and had our printed boarding cards already. (Of course I had to print 3 of each – just in case). After a cup of coffee, showering and triple checking all the luggage and paper work we went downstairs to the lobby to get the shuttle. It was around 7.40am. I repeated my mantra (passport, tickets money) several times and of course checked my hand luggage – ok I admit I might have a touch of OCD.

We only waited 5 minutes or so before the shuttle arrived. There was another family of 3 but there was plenty room and we were at the airport terminal in no time.

Check in had opened early, there were several lines but the PE only had one family in front of us who were just finishing up. We checked in 3 bags – 2 cases and Dave’s big diving bag. However the virgin staff member said that the diving bag because it was soft, would have to be checked in to the place where they take all the buggies and pushchairs – there was a large line there. So off went our 2 cases while DH stood in the line to get rid of the other bag. Once that was done we headed through security and decided to get breakfast. The time at the airport passed really quickly, after breakfast I went to WH Smiths and bought a selection of magazines and a couple of books. Thanks to Wayne and his vouchers I saved over £8!

We went to the gate early, I always like to be early and I’m pleased we did. Boarding started 15 minutes early and the plane was actually taxi-ing to the runway at 10.45. It was one of the new virgin planes. I was wondering whether or not I would have preferred the old one as I did like going upstairs. However the seats were very comfy and I enjoyed screens and entertainment. Sitting with my glass of bubbly wine I could feel the tension leave my body! Now I don’t mind flying but I’m not too keen on the going up and coming down part! Although it was very smooth on this flight. I also liked the fact that I could go through and select what TV programmes and movies I would like to see and save them to a ‘favourites’ folder. Being able to pause the action and resume whenever was also a big plus.

This is the back of the seat showing the screen and the PE bit of the cabin

The only thing that I wasn’t keen on was the hand set; - I pulled it out and then spent 20 mins trying to get it re-attached to the seat. I chose to use the touch screen instead-however I was conscious not to press the touch screen to hard as I didn’t want to knock the seat inform of me.

Time passed really quickly – The food was fine, we got a 3 course meal and than a sandwich and dessert later on. Hagan Daz ice cream was also very welcomed. I watched Gnomeo & Juliet and Red Riding hood and soon we were landing a head of schedule!

Once we left the plane and were through immigration (very quick as left plane first) we headed straight for the carousel – our bags came out very quickly – yippee. We then lugged them onto the monorail rather than putting them on the other carousel. We were pleased we did as once off the monorail, we headed down to the 2nd floor to find our driver. We had a town car booked.

Straight ahead of us was a man holding my name!!!! He quickly showed us to the car and we were on our way in no time at all. Last time we used Disney’s magical express and although it was good, we had waited 20 mins on the coach, and then our hotel was the 4th drop off. Well we used Southern Elegance Limo (who we’ve used before) and this year paid $85 plus grat. It was worth it as in no time at all we were pulling up at the Boardwalk – our home!

We had check in online at home and were given our room straight away. We had a 1 bedroom villa with a boardwalk view – we had also requested to be high up and this was honoured.

Some pictures of our room (5051) and views

AT NIGHT – you could see Epcot’s Fireworks

Well we dumped our cases and decided to take a walk to the ESPN bar, for tea (ok supper).
We had the dining plan for the 5 nights at boardwalk – for the two of us it cost $459.90

Our first meal was ribs – I tried to be a bit healthy and had cucumber salad with mine, DH had fries – TBH we could have shared one meal when we saw the size- although we made a pretty good go! We took our dessert to go (Lemon merguine pie) and had them for breakfast!

After our meal we spent time walking along the boardwalk, enjoying the entertainers and the warm weather. We went into the bakery and purchased two of the refillable mugs. Finally the day was catching up; we headed back to the room and unpacked our cases. It wasn’t long before we were having Disney Dreams!!!



Continues soon ...

 

[MrsJobba1]

A nice start to your holiday. A great price you got for the Hilton including parking!
Have you joined the Hilton loyalty club......hhonors?. It may be worth it if you stay at a Hilton in the future.

Thanks I never though about the H honors - we just satyed there this time as we thought it was a good price. I'll look into it

 

[DISWolves]

Your photograph of the PE area, looks near to where we were sitting for our return journey home - just one week ago. We were in the middle row, 1 row back from the front. IFE was good, which made the time pass quickly.
We have yet to go in ESPN, so may give it a try next year!

 

[wickesy]

Great report so far. This time next week I'll be doing online check in for Boardwalk Villas, boardwalk view so I was wondering - did you get the option to request the high floor at that point or had you already requested it?

 

[MrsJobba1]

Great report so far. This time next week I'll be doing online check in for Boardwalk Villas, boardwalk view so I was wondering - did you get the option to request the high floor at that point or had you already requested it?

Hi
There's no where on the online checkin to make requests - I had made the request when I made the booking 11 month out. If you are a DVc member you could always email member services with your request.

 

[wickesy]

Thanks Helen. I knew there were only a few options for requests on OLCI but I couldn't remember exactly what they were. I wasn't going to bother with a request but after seeing the pictures of your view I've just fired off an email.

 

[MrsJobba1]

Friday 12th Aug

Epcot!!

We awoke early, very early 4am in fact (well it was 9am at home) – I finished unpacking whilst DH went for a jog around the boardwalk. Then at 6.30 we went to the bakery, got refills of coffee in our mugs and used 2 snack credits to get two small cartons of cereal. Returning to our room we had the cereal but fancied something else – oh yes we halved one of the lemon merguine pies.

After finishing breakfast we walked over to the guest relations booth and the international gateway between Epcot and the boardwalk. This year we did not buy any new tickets for WDW, instead we took all the old non-expiry tickets to try and use them up. (Now some of these date back to 1998). On previous trips the guest relations at boardwalk could swipe them and read what was left on them – however they recently put in a new system and only the guest relations at the parks can read very old tickets. The guest relations opened a little before 8am as it was EMH at Epcot that morning. We got our tickets read and headed straight to my favourite WDW ride.

We got there just at 8.15 and there was only a 10 min wait. Before going on we got fast passes so we could ride it again! The fast pass return time was between 9.30 and 10.30. After Soarin we spent a lot of time in the Living Seas. I noticed that there were now 3 dolphins in the Aquarium. Back in 2006 I had done the dolphin in depth behind the scenes tour at Epcot. They only had two dolphins at that time. Not sure when they introduced the new one.

At 11.35 we had our first ADR at Le Ceiller (Canada). I had booked then 180 days ago. For lunch Le Ceillier is only 1 table service, however for dinner in March they changed it to a signature service that requires 2 table service credits each. Whilst I love it there, I would not have dinner there as I don’t think it is ‘special’ enough. Anyway DH and I shared an appetizer, then we both had the New York strip steak – this was sooooooo good. In addition we ordered a side of asparagus as it only comes with mashed potatoes and my mam has always said you need some green veggies on your plate. We finished by having the maple syrup crème brulee. YUM.

We walked round Epcot till about 2.30, by which time we were starting to feel tired so we headed back to the pool at Boardwalk and crashed on some loungers. Around 5pm it started to rain heavy and I mean really heavy, we were back in our room at this point and were considering what to have for tea. We were going to walk back to Epcot and use a CS credit there, but the heavy rain (and thunder) lasted a good 2 hours and put pay to that idea. Instead we got a couple of sandwiches and dessert from the Bakery at Boardwalk. By 8pm our eyes were heavy and DH went to bed. Instead I had a Jacuzzi bath (one of the perks of a 1 bedroom) and sat on the balcony with a glass of wine watching the Illuminations from Epcot. I turned in around 10pm.

 

[Tink2312]

Great TR - looking forward to staying at BWV someday soon. Can't wait to read about your stay at Kidani - we're staying there for part of our Christmas trip.

 

[jockey]

Really enjoying your report, we stated at the BWV for the first time this year and we loved it so much we are going back for 18 nights . Will look forward to reading more

 

[Chilly]

Enjoying your report.

 

[MrsJobba1]

Great TR - looking forward to staying at BWV someday soon. Can't wait to read about your stay at Kidani - we're staying there for part of our Christmas trip.

Really enjoying your report, we stated at the BWV for the first time this year and we loved it so much we are going back for 18 nights . Will look forward to reading more

Enjoying your report.

Thank you for your encouragement - I will write some more tonight

WOW 18 nights lucky you

 

[MrsJobba1]

Saturday 13th Aug

DIS Meet!

Today we managed a lie in and didn’t get up until 6.30am. I don’t know why, or if it’s the same for you but day two in USA always seems to be hard. DH and I tend to feel a bit groggy and tired. So I’ve learnt from the 9 times we have been there to plan – nothing for this day! Well when I say nothing on my schedule it’s down as ‘chill day’. For DH this means going for a wander to DTD and for me it means only one thing – a good trashy novel, and a pool side lounger.

Well we walked to the Bakery and again used our snack credits to purchase some cereal and of course we got our coffee. After breakfast DH and I both went to the pool and got a couple of loungers. I’d packed my bag carefully with, sun cream, refillable mug, iPod, trashy novel and couple of magazine as I wasn’t planning on moving (except to actually get in the water). Needless to say at 8.30 the entire pool was empty apart from one other British family.

The weather was hot, even at 8.30 in the morning so chilling out by the pool was the place to be. DH managed to last 45 minutes before he became restless and decided to go for a wander. Before he left he walked to the bakery and got me another refill of pop. I was so pleased he did as I had thought the pool bar opened at 10am – (the time the life guards started) but it didn’t actually open till 11am!!!

DH decided to go to DTD for a look around, whilst I remained firmly attached to my novel and sun lounger. We agreed to meet back at the room at 12, to get some lunch. Well I don’t know whether it was because the book I was reading was really good or what, but the time flew. Before long I was back at the room deciding what to do for lunch. We decided to walk around the board walk and head over to the beach club market place as you could get a ‘make your own salad’ there as a CS option. It was a pleasant walk and there were slightly more CS options available. (EG some flatbread pizzas). We decided to each have a salad. The CM asked what you wanted as there were a lot of different bowls with ingredients. There were also different dried fruits and a selection of dressings to choose from. As part of the meal I also chose a piece of fruit for desert and a drink. We took our salads back to our room and enjoyed them sitting on the balcony.

Around 2.30pm we got changed and headed over to the Polynesian resort. We got a taxi which cost us $15. Once at the Poly we looked around and took some photos by the waterfall, at 3pm we were having a mini dis-meet with some of our fellow cruisers.

It was great meeting up with families who we’d corresponded to over the last year and a half and we had such a good time. I must admit though I am always really nervous before hand. We had a laugh, exchanged travel stories and shared plans for the cruise. It was soon 5pm and time for our ADR at Ohanas.

Ohanas is one of our favourite restaurants on Disney. We checked in at the desk and there was a huge line of people wanting to get walk up tables. This is another reservation I made 180 days out. I heard the CM saying there would be at least a wait of an hour. There was no way they were going to deal with the amount of people. We took our pager and got a couple of cocktails at the bar, the pager buzzed and we were seated 15 minutes after our ADR time.

For those who have not eaten at Ohanas before it is kind of a buffet, that is brought to you. Your server brings you some delicious warm 'Ohana Welcome Bread with Mixed greens with a honey-lime dressing.
Then you are delivered; Honey Coriander Chicken Wings and Pork fried dumplings. Next the servers bring Skewers that are Prepared over an oak fire – these include

Oak Grilled Chicken
Asian Barbecued Pork Loin
Marinated Sirloin Steak
Spicy Grilled Peel - n - Eat Shrimp

You can also ask for more! They also bring Egg Noodles tossed in a peanut sauce with pineapple and Stir fried vegetables,

Finally you have to save yourself for what I consider to be one of the best deserts on WDW 'Ohana bread pudding served a la mode with Bananas and Caramel Sauce –wow I love this.!

By the time we finished eating we were happily stuffed and it was also after 7.30pm. We walked for a while round the resort then we grabbed a cab back to the boardwalk. We finished our ‘chillin day’ by having the odd glass of wine and watching some TV – CSI seems even better when watching in America!

 

[DISWolves]

Friday 12th Aug

Epcot!!

Instead I had a Jacuzzi bath (one of the perks of a 1 bedroom) and sat on the balcony with a glass of wine watching the Illuminations from Epcot. I turned in around 10pm.

P R I C E L E S S !!!!!!!!

 

[disney_princess_85]

Loving your report!

 

[pix13dust]

Love your trip report! I am going in November and also booked Le cellier and O'hana, i really enjoyed your reviews! Can't wait for review of AKL, that's where we are staying

 

[tony64]

Great report, we're CSI fans as well.

 

[darthtatty]

fab start
we were on the same plane as you
I know exactly what you mean about your Disneyworld countdown being your escape.
cant wait to read more.xx

 

[ben1993]

Great so far, can't wait for you to get to AKV