And we had a completely spectacular time.
We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House. It was our first time staying at a deluxe resort and our first time ever seeing Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was out of this world. The pictures of it on the various websites don't do it justice. The design of the resort looked completely authentic and top notch. You can tell Disney spared no expense to get it right. And they did. Ad to that the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the lobby along with the rest of the Christmas decorations in the resort...well...lets just say we could have stayed there forever!
We did not have a savanna view but our room was very, very nice and comfortable. We took full advantage of the free viewing decks overlooking the savannas. Still amazed at how Disney can have real, live African animals on a resort like that. It was truly amazing and we spent a lot of time just looking over the savannas. Even walked to Kidani Village and looked spent time looking over thier savanna (We though Jambo House was the better resort in nearly all facets, but Kidani Village was very nice too).
Overall, we could not have asked for a better time at the resort. Our only regret is not having more time there. Our only complaint about AKL is that sometimes it seemed like the shuttles to and from the park were a little sparce as it seemed like other resort shuttle came a bit more frequently. Perhaps it was due to the remoteness of AKL. Otherwise, our stay at AKL bordered on perfection. Would highly recommend people staying there if budget allows.
One thing we wanted to do on this trip was visit the other deluxe resorts and see the other Christmas decs. On our list were the Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge and the Polynesian. We've seen the gingerbread house at the GF on television and various websites. Again, there's nothing like seeing it live. The detail and time that had to have gone into building it has to be mind blowing. Standing next to it is truly magnificent.
Wilderness Lodge was VERY well decorated for the holidays as well. Like AKL and GF, they had a humongous tree in their loby as well. It was probably our 2nd favorite resort, next to AKL, as far as architecture and decoration.
If you have the time, I would strongly recommend resort hoping and taking in some of the sites at the other resorts if your schedule allows. We took one day and did just that. But we fell in love with Animal Kingdom Lodge the minute we walked in.
Generally when we travel to the World we take A TON of pictures. But we noticed in all our albums that we never really focused on taking pictures with characters. Boy, did we make it a focus this time. We took A TON of pictures with the various characters. We didn't get them all. But we got a good percentage of them from Mickey to Mulan to Princess Aurora, to Lilo and Stitch to Brer Bear and on and on. It was truly fun getting our pictures taken with the various characters. One thing I noticed with a lot of people (particularly first time visitors to the World) is that they take alot of pictures of "stuff" but don't really get a lot of pictures of themselves at the World. So I tell 1st time visitor to make sure you take pictures of yourselves at the World too. Lots of them. But I'm going to go a step further and HIGHLY recommend taking the time to get your pictures taken with the various Disney characters as well. The lines to the characters may be long. Particularly the more popular ones like Mickey, Minnie, Donald, etc. But the memories and keepsakes are well worth the time.
Now...on to the park experience.
The crowds were generally lower than when we usually go. It was our first time visiting for the holiday season. Several of the rides that are typically pretty popular were like 5-10 minute waits. There were times when we would get off a ride and just turn around and hop back on. Tower of Terror was like that on our DHS day. Our Rockin Rollercoaster wait was about 25 minutes. But a lot of times when we go, our wait can go well north of 30 minutes. So that wasn't bad.
On our MK day, there was absolutely zero wait for Splash Mountain. We believe it was probably because it was a bit cool that night. And many didn't want to be cold and wet. But we took advantage and rode it many times.
It was our first time seeing Space Mountain since the makeover. The lines to Space Mountain were pretty short. So we could not really play the new interactive game that they installed. But it appeared to be a pretty neat addition. Along with the new picture that is taken while on the ride and such. The new displays they installed while riding the moving sidewalk off the ride is a nice improvement as well.
Seeing the castle covered in lights that resembled ice was truly amazing.
Now, this was our first time ever seeing the Mainstreet Electrical Parade live. It is a VERY nice parade and we enjoyed it a lot. It did feel a little short for whatever reason. But it was a nice, nightime parade. I still much prefer SpectroMagic. But the Mainstreet was very nice.
Wishes, as always, is spectacular. No matter how many times we see it, it never gets old.
At Animal Kingdom, again, lines were significantly shorter than when we normally go.
Now the yeti...First let me say that I saw the yeti fully functioning in all its glory way back when it was working. Those who have never seen him fully functioning, though no fault of their own, kind of missed out as he was truly a spectacle. I'm still very bothered that he's basically a very expensive albeit very detailed statue now. Having said that, he was a little more visible than I expected. Reading the various reports I went in thinking that I would barely be able to see him. But after riding it I felt the lighting was such that he was relatively visible (if you knew where and when to look for him).
One other thing, and I assumed it was a glitch, but as the day went on the lines to EE got really short. To the point where it was basically get off the ride then get right back on with now wait. But I noticed that the projection of the yeti on the wall that shows after you finish going backwards stopped working towards the latter parts of the day. My last 4-5 times on the ride the projection was not working like it had been earlier in the day. I assumed it was a glitch. But I cannot say for certain. Just a bit of an annoyance.
I don't know when or even if they ever will, but the ride needs to be fully repaired. That ride is too great of an idea to be allowed to stay in it's current condition. It's still a very fun ride and a great experience and worth the wait in line. But when the ride was new and fully functional there was nothing like it.
I know this report is going a bit long. My apologies. But I just want to finish by summing up that out of all our times at the World, this may have been our best. Still going through Disney Withdrawal. But hopefully we'll get the chance to return soon.
We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House. It was our first time staying at a deluxe resort and our first time ever seeing Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was out of this world. The pictures of it on the various websites don't do it justice. The design of the resort looked completely authentic and top notch. You can tell Disney spared no expense to get it right. And they did. Ad to that the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the lobby along with the rest of the Christmas decorations in the resort...well...lets just say we could have stayed there forever!
We did not have a savanna view but our room was very, very nice and comfortable. We took full advantage of the free viewing decks overlooking the savannas. Still amazed at how Disney can have real, live African animals on a resort like that. It was truly amazing and we spent a lot of time just looking over the savannas. Even walked to Kidani Village and looked spent time looking over thier savanna (We though Jambo House was the better resort in nearly all facets, but Kidani Village was very nice too).
Overall, we could not have asked for a better time at the resort. Our only regret is not having more time there. Our only complaint about AKL is that sometimes it seemed like the shuttles to and from the park were a little sparce as it seemed like other resort shuttle came a bit more frequently. Perhaps it was due to the remoteness of AKL. Otherwise, our stay at AKL bordered on perfection. Would highly recommend people staying there if budget allows.
One thing we wanted to do on this trip was visit the other deluxe resorts and see the other Christmas decs. On our list were the Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge and the Polynesian. We've seen the gingerbread house at the GF on television and various websites. Again, there's nothing like seeing it live. The detail and time that had to have gone into building it has to be mind blowing. Standing next to it is truly magnificent.
Wilderness Lodge was VERY well decorated for the holidays as well. Like AKL and GF, they had a humongous tree in their loby as well. It was probably our 2nd favorite resort, next to AKL, as far as architecture and decoration.
If you have the time, I would strongly recommend resort hoping and taking in some of the sites at the other resorts if your schedule allows. We took one day and did just that. But we fell in love with Animal Kingdom Lodge the minute we walked in.
Generally when we travel to the World we take A TON of pictures. But we noticed in all our albums that we never really focused on taking pictures with characters. Boy, did we make it a focus this time. We took A TON of pictures with the various characters. We didn't get them all. But we got a good percentage of them from Mickey to Mulan to Princess Aurora, to Lilo and Stitch to Brer Bear and on and on. It was truly fun getting our pictures taken with the various characters. One thing I noticed with a lot of people (particularly first time visitors to the World) is that they take alot of pictures of "stuff" but don't really get a lot of pictures of themselves at the World. So I tell 1st time visitor to make sure you take pictures of yourselves at the World too. Lots of them. But I'm going to go a step further and HIGHLY recommend taking the time to get your pictures taken with the various Disney characters as well. The lines to the characters may be long. Particularly the more popular ones like Mickey, Minnie, Donald, etc. But the memories and keepsakes are well worth the time.
Now...on to the park experience.
The crowds were generally lower than when we usually go. It was our first time visiting for the holiday season. Several of the rides that are typically pretty popular were like 5-10 minute waits. There were times when we would get off a ride and just turn around and hop back on. Tower of Terror was like that on our DHS day. Our Rockin Rollercoaster wait was about 25 minutes. But a lot of times when we go, our wait can go well north of 30 minutes. So that wasn't bad.
On our MK day, there was absolutely zero wait for Splash Mountain. We believe it was probably because it was a bit cool that night. And many didn't want to be cold and wet. But we took advantage and rode it many times.
It was our first time seeing Space Mountain since the makeover. The lines to Space Mountain were pretty short. So we could not really play the new interactive game that they installed. But it appeared to be a pretty neat addition. Along with the new picture that is taken while on the ride and such. The new displays they installed while riding the moving sidewalk off the ride is a nice improvement as well.
Seeing the castle covered in lights that resembled ice was truly amazing.
Now, this was our first time ever seeing the Mainstreet Electrical Parade live. It is a VERY nice parade and we enjoyed it a lot. It did feel a little short for whatever reason. But it was a nice, nightime parade. I still much prefer SpectroMagic. But the Mainstreet was very nice.
Wishes, as always, is spectacular. No matter how many times we see it, it never gets old.
At Animal Kingdom, again, lines were significantly shorter than when we normally go.
Now the yeti...First let me say that I saw the yeti fully functioning in all its glory way back when it was working. Those who have never seen him fully functioning, though no fault of their own, kind of missed out as he was truly a spectacle. I'm still very bothered that he's basically a very expensive albeit very detailed statue now. Having said that, he was a little more visible than I expected. Reading the various reports I went in thinking that I would barely be able to see him. But after riding it I felt the lighting was such that he was relatively visible (if you knew where and when to look for him).
One other thing, and I assumed it was a glitch, but as the day went on the lines to EE got really short. To the point where it was basically get off the ride then get right back on with now wait. But I noticed that the projection of the yeti on the wall that shows after you finish going backwards stopped working towards the latter parts of the day. My last 4-5 times on the ride the projection was not working like it had been earlier in the day. I assumed it was a glitch. But I cannot say for certain. Just a bit of an annoyance.
I don't know when or even if they ever will, but the ride needs to be fully repaired. That ride is too great of an idea to be allowed to stay in it's current condition. It's still a very fun ride and a great experience and worth the wait in line. But when the ride was new and fully functional there was nothing like it.
I know this report is going a bit long. My apologies. But I just want to finish by summing up that out of all our times at the World, this may have been our best. Still going through Disney Withdrawal. But hopefully we'll get the chance to return soon.
