Pre-Trip J,K, and L's annual Week After Thanksgiving Trip!

Hello humans!

We are getting ready for our annual pilgrimage to WDW in just over three weeks, so I thought it would be a good time to go ahead and start our pre-trip report!

Who: Me (Katie), my husband of 10 years Jason, and our 2-year-old son, Lincoln

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When: Sunday, November 26th-Saturday, December 2nd

Where: Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village

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If you've been on the forums for a while, you may know that we travel to Disney (either coast) the week after Thanksgiving just about every year. We feel that it's the perfect week to go - you get an extra-long Thanksgiving break from work, Disney has all of the holiday decorations/trees up, and all of the holiday festivities are in full swing, without all of the insane Christmas Break crowds. I'm not ready to acknowledge that we'll have a kindergartener in three years, and our days of doing Disney while kids are in school are numbered. 😬

Since this will be our last WDW trip before we have to start buying tickets for L, we decided to splurge on the hotel for this trip. We rented DVC points through David's Vacation Rentals, and will be staying in a Savanna-view studio at Kidani Village. AKL was actually not our first choice - we wanted Wilderness Lodge (preferably the Copper Creek villas), but unsurprisingly, both Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge were already booked up when we booked in May. We are looking forward to staying at Kidani Village though, and we know Lincoln will love being able to see animals from our room!

We have four-day base tickets, and plan to take a "rest" (haha) day in the middle of the trip. We are excited to be going back after a year away, and I hope you all enjoy following along!
 
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k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This is just one of those years that if things can go wrong they will. I've accepted it but not happily LOL. I'll be experiencing all the fun thru your trip reports though! I had to wake up early this morning and make dining reservations for our rescheduled week now in January for my birthday. I couldn't even get half of the reservations I wanted and nothing that I was hoping for on my actual birthday lol. Even Toleda had no availability when we needed it. I'm going to have to rearrange all of my plans though. And on top of that, my dog isn't doing well today and I've been watching him closely. Even my husband doesn't think Pip is going to make it to Christmas :cry:
I’m so sorry your dog isn’t doing well, I hope you’re able to have at least one more Christmas with him.
 

LeighM

Well-Known Member
I’m so sorry your dog isn’t doing well, I hope you’re able to have at least one more Christmas with him.

As long as he still begs for a spaghetti noodle, I'll know there's still life left in him LOL. He prefers a noodle over a piece of beef. I just saw that JetBlue cancelled my flights for the January trip and rescheduled us on one that doesn't arrive until after 7:30PM, so we'll be losing a day. I looked into adding another night but the rooms still available are high. It makes no sense to go to CSR, to AoA, back to CSR and I can't rearrange the others to make it flow better. Maybe I just need to cancel the whole dang thing 🤣 You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to your trip report LOL. Things are just ridiculous where I am, bordering on the absurd.
 

k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
‘Twas the night before Disney,
And all through the house,
All the family were ready
to go see the Mouse

Mom’s Hyundai was crammed
To the brim with their stuff
For a six-night vacation,
They sure packed enough

And now as they lay
All snug in their beds,
Visions of zebra domes
Dance in their heads

You’ll hear us exclaim
As we drive out of sight…

WE’RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!

My alarm is set for six hours from now, so…

To all a good night!
 

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
Excited‘Twas the night before Disney,
And all through the house,
All the family were ready
to go see the Mouse

Mom’s Hyundai was crammed
To the brim with their stuff
For a six-night vacation,
They sure packed enough

And now as they lay
All snug in their beds,
Visions of zebra domes
Dance in their heads

You’ll hear us exclaim
As we drive out of sight…

WE’RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!

My alarm is set for six hours from now, so…

To all a good night!

Game Show Yes GIF by ABC Network


Safe travels and have an awesome trip!
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
See that’s the way to do it! My brother and his family (not early risers) left WDW yesterday at 9:45 am and did not arrive in Woodstock until 8:20 pm, with only one brief stop.

He said traffic was “brutal.”

Who woulda thought the Saturday after Thanksgiving, home game for U of FL/FSU, home game for Tech/UGA and the typical McDonough slowdown would be so bad? :cautious: :hilarious:
 

k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
See that’s the way to do it! My brother and his family (not early risers) left WDW yesterday at 9:45 am and did not arrive in Woodstock until 8:20 pm, with only one brief stop.

He said traffic was “brutal.”

Who woulda thought the Saturday after Thanksgiving, home game for U of FL/FSU, home game for Tech/UGA and the typical McDonough slowdown would be so bad? :cautious: :hilarious:
Agreed! We can nap when we get there, but we’ll never get back the time spent sitting in traffic.
 

k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day One is in the books, unfortunately not without some speed bumps. Traffic was horrible coming down I-75 in FL, so we got a much later start than planned. We were able to get settled into the room and have a quick dinner in Disney Springs. L is down for the count, and we’re crossing our fingers and toes that the sleep setup we brought with us works, and we can all get a restful nights’ sleep.

We’re headed to AK tomorrow. I’m far too busy wrangling a feral toddler to even attempt a live TR, but I’ll try to check in once or twice throughout the trip. I’ll for sure be posting a full TR after the trip though!

p.s. My one complaint about Kidani Village - where are all the dang hooks? There is one singular hook in the entire studio. Where are we supposed to hang our bags and hats? Where am I supposed to hang my toiletry bag? We can’t be the only ones that utilize the hooks in the standard hotel rooms.
 

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