We are back....

[tigger2on]

So this was our 1st real split trip. We started off at All Star Music in a Family Suite for 3 nights. Took advantage of the Free DDP but upgraded to Deluxe to try it out. Way too much food and time spent at restaurants. Happy with basic DDP next time.
Ate at O'hana, Hollywood Vine and Dine, and Storybook Princess in Norway for Breakfast, Crystal Palace & Sci Fi Dive in for lunch, and for dinner... All Star Music Food Court, Raglan Road, 1900 Park Fare and Marrakesh. Worst meal was O'hana for Breakfast and best meal was Raglan road.
Had a Pool view at Calypso but had to be moved due to incredible noise for pool side activities that ran from 2 - 10pm + every night. Nice hotel but no where close to DVC resorts by far.
Moved to AKL villas at Jambo House. Had a standard 2-bed pool view 5458/5460. Big room with lots of space. Note that the sofa beds don't accommodate bed rails due to mattress being sewn onto base.
Travelled with 3 other parties on our points. A standard studio pool view 5408 close to lobby but did not have a great view. Then 2 value studios. 5020 that had a great pool view! And 5026 that had a pool view but unfortunately was totally blocked by trees.
Used new pool and splash area at Kidani twice. Walked once for about 15 minutes in the humidity and it was tiring. Will walk through building next time. Drove car the second time and parked in underground parking right near pool. LOVED the new splash area for the kids... even my 1 yr old was kept busy for hours there. Slide is longer and faster than Jambo house. Crowds were small. They blow up inflatable animal pool toys that kids can take home. We got one for each child... a lion, zebra, giraffe and monkey. Also had tigers and elephants. Only saw them in the morning so I think it is 1st come 1st serve. Used pool at Jambo house every day... lots of late nigt swimmers but no noise issues.
Did DVC DDP and ate at Boma & Chef Mickey for Breakfast, Whispering Canyon Lodge for Lunch, and Raglan Road & O'hana for Dinner. We went to Mara, Cosmic Rays, Riverside food court and Wolfgang Pucks for counter service. Best meal was either O'hana or Raglan Road. Love Boma breakfasts. And Riverside was the best CS meal.
Did both MNSSHP and Pirates and Pals cruise and had a blast at both!!!

 

[toniosmom]

I agree with you that on the dining plan, you spend way too much time at restaurants. I didn't realize it until we stayed in our first 1BR with a full kitchen and cooked quick meals in the room all week. We had so much more time to enjoy the resort!

I'm interested in taking my son on the Pirates & Pals cruise. Is that the one with the fireworks or the one where the kids go without you?

Glad you enjoyed AKV -- we will be there in March!

 

[tigger2on]

It was the firework cruise one. Really enjoyed it. Saw Wishes from a different perspective and also got to see the Electrical Lights parade up close and personal. Character interaction was good and Patch, the cruise capt. is very funny. Did trivia and kids got prizes... but not all of the kids do. Peter Pan meets us at the dock and walks to groups to the end where he does character interaction, autographs and photos.
Worth every penny!

 

[Figment2]

What kind of desserts did they serve? We did this cruise twice. The first time the desserts were awesome. The second time we got prepackaged chips, pretzels, popocorn, some fruit, no way near what we had before.

Thanks

Cyn

 

[daisyduck123]

LOVED the new splash area for the kids... even my 1 yr old was kept busy for hours there. Slide is longer and faster than Jambo house. Crowds were small. They blow up inflatable animal pool toys that kids can take home. We got one for each child... a lion, zebra, giraffe and monkey. Also had tigers and elephants. Only saw them in the morning so I think it is 1st come 1st serve.

Sounds neat!

This must be something new. We stayed in Kidani in late July and they never did this. (and we were at the pool 9:30am-4pm some days).

 

[tigger2on]

It has been changed since it was just a Grand gathering event. They no longer do desserts, I think they now do that on just a Wishes cruise.
They had fresh fruit, canned pop, water, coffee, pretzels, smartfood, granola bars, cotton candy, trail mix, chocolate coins, cookies... all pre-packaged. We found it good because I was able to take a lot to go so the kids had snacks after. Plus we'd just had dinner and desserts at Raglan Road before the cruise... I'd already had enough calories for one evening.

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

Just wondering what made Ohana the worst breakfast meal? Was thinking of trying there with my grandkids first trip coming up in December. Hope it won't be disappointing! Thanks for taking the time to post your report! Sounds like a great trip
-mary

 

[tigger2on]

Found the food arrived cold and apart from a little bit of seasoning in the sausage, food was pretty tasteless. Character interaction was good... 1st time my kids saw Lilo and Stitch so it was worth it. We however cancelled it as our departing day meal though.