This was our first stay at any of the DVC resorts, and we came away happy!
We had a 1BR Villa at Kidani for a week. The wife and I loved the privacy of having our own bedroom and the master bath was HUGE.
The kids loved sleeping on the sleeper sofa and being able to watch DVDs (Up) while we went on to bed.
I cant express what a great amenity having a washer and dryer in the room is! Especially with a 7, 4 and 2 y/o.......meals can sometimes leave more food on them than in them.
The savanna view was nice, but we saw very few giraffe inour savanna. Mosty zebra, ostrich and some big horned thingy's.
We arrived on Sunday, 11/8 and were able to get a walk-in table at Sanaa. The African bread service was a good appetizer...and the mango chutney and red bell pepper hummus paired with the Naan bread perfectly.
My wife chose the shrimp tandoori and I went with the chicken tandoori....both were very good.
As for the massiveness of the resort, everything you've heard is true. It's a HIKE and a half to get to anything. We were in the Zazu section, which is the building closest to Jambo house. It literally was quicker for us to walk to Jambo and use their bus service, than to walk to the Kidani bus stop.....which is still under construction. Presently, busses pick up and drop off right in front of the main entrance.
*PARKING* - I have read a lot of people bashing the resort for it's advertisement of underground parking, but only offering "one shaded row". This is not true.....there is only one row visible from the main road leading to the resort, but the underground parking runs nearly the entire length of the resort and offers quite a bit of parking underneath.....MULTIPLE rows. We actually found it quicker to drive to the other end of the resort when going to the pool and parking our car under the main house, than walking to it from our room.
There is a lot more parking under the resort than some reviews would lead you to believe.
The pool and water play area are AWESOME! The pool isn;t nearly as big as AKL's and isn't very shaded, but the Samwati water play area for kids is great! My kids loved the waterfalls, fountains and water cannons! It's one of the best pool areas I've experienced at WDW.
I think I would enjoy DVC accomodations again, but next time I'll try for Boardwalk or Beach Club to be a little closer to the action.
As for the parks:
MK:
I was very impressed with the new film at HoP. Picture was crystal clear compared to the old film and I think Morgan Freeman was a great choice for the narrarator. But, the AA of Obama looks horrible. Doesn;t look much like him, IMO.
While riding Barnstormer with my kids, I had an idea. If they're going to keep it and retheme it.....why not theme it around Tinkerbell? The theme now revolves around flight. Tink flies! Just my idea.
Epcot:
The new Remy roaming AA at Les Chefs De France is a great (and needed) family friendly touch to the restaurant. My kids were so excited when he came to our table.....TWICE!
DHS:
What's the reasoning behind such a samll number of FastPasses for TSM? It's seems crazy that on a light day in mid-November the attraction ran out of FP's by noon. The standby sign said 60 minutes, but we were on in 40. So, no complaints.
Also, and maybe I'm wrong here.....but, while excited about the MK Fantasyland expansion, I'd think that WDW would realize that DHS is the park that needs the most TLC and money thrown at it. There's simply not enough to do at this park, especially for a 4 and 2 year old. A big expansion of Pixar Place sure would go a long way in remedying this.
AK:
So, my 7 yr old is tall enough to ride Everest, but still 2.5 inches away from being able to ride Primeval Whirl......I dont understand the reasoning here. Must have to do with the height of the restraint system. :shrug:
Also, we took in La Nouba last Tuesday! We all really enjoyed it, and it was a far cry from the more "Artsy-fartsy" Cirque shows I had seen in Vegas. Even the kids loved it.
Some restaurants that stood out to us were:
1. Jiko - WOW! This dethroned Flying Fish as our new WDW favorite! The filet with mac and cheese and red wine reduction was AMAZING!
2. Raglan Road - A new twist on shepherd's pie.....very good. And the bread pudding at dessert is more than enough for 2 people to share!
3. Brown Derby - Was not impressed. I'm glad we chose to pay out of pocket and not burn our dining plan points for this one. :hurl:
4. Le Chefs De France - The new Remy is excellent and whatever they did to get my kids to eat all of their fish and green beans was nothing short of miraculous.
4. Extremely disappointed with the following eateries - Flying Fish (steaks were like shoe leather and wife's wasn't charcrusted like the menu says). San Angel Inn (I've had better Mexican locally than the high priced meal we got there....must be paying for the atmosphere)
We had a great time!
We had a 1BR Villa at Kidani for a week. The wife and I loved the privacy of having our own bedroom and the master bath was HUGE.
The kids loved sleeping on the sleeper sofa and being able to watch DVDs (Up) while we went on to bed.
I cant express what a great amenity having a washer and dryer in the room is! Especially with a 7, 4 and 2 y/o.......meals can sometimes leave more food on them than in them.
The savanna view was nice, but we saw very few giraffe inour savanna. Mosty zebra, ostrich and some big horned thingy's.
We arrived on Sunday, 11/8 and were able to get a walk-in table at Sanaa. The African bread service was a good appetizer...and the mango chutney and red bell pepper hummus paired with the Naan bread perfectly.
My wife chose the shrimp tandoori and I went with the chicken tandoori....both were very good.
As for the massiveness of the resort, everything you've heard is true. It's a HIKE and a half to get to anything. We were in the Zazu section, which is the building closest to Jambo house. It literally was quicker for us to walk to Jambo and use their bus service, than to walk to the Kidani bus stop.....which is still under construction. Presently, busses pick up and drop off right in front of the main entrance.
*PARKING* - I have read a lot of people bashing the resort for it's advertisement of underground parking, but only offering "one shaded row". This is not true.....there is only one row visible from the main road leading to the resort, but the underground parking runs nearly the entire length of the resort and offers quite a bit of parking underneath.....MULTIPLE rows. We actually found it quicker to drive to the other end of the resort when going to the pool and parking our car under the main house, than walking to it from our room.
There is a lot more parking under the resort than some reviews would lead you to believe.
The pool and water play area are AWESOME! The pool isn;t nearly as big as AKL's and isn't very shaded, but the Samwati water play area for kids is great! My kids loved the waterfalls, fountains and water cannons! It's one of the best pool areas I've experienced at WDW.
I think I would enjoy DVC accomodations again, but next time I'll try for Boardwalk or Beach Club to be a little closer to the action.
As for the parks:
MK:
I was very impressed with the new film at HoP. Picture was crystal clear compared to the old film and I think Morgan Freeman was a great choice for the narrarator. But, the AA of Obama looks horrible. Doesn;t look much like him, IMO.
While riding Barnstormer with my kids, I had an idea. If they're going to keep it and retheme it.....why not theme it around Tinkerbell? The theme now revolves around flight. Tink flies! Just my idea.
Epcot:
The new Remy roaming AA at Les Chefs De France is a great (and needed) family friendly touch to the restaurant. My kids were so excited when he came to our table.....TWICE!
DHS:
What's the reasoning behind such a samll number of FastPasses for TSM? It's seems crazy that on a light day in mid-November the attraction ran out of FP's by noon. The standby sign said 60 minutes, but we were on in 40. So, no complaints.
Also, and maybe I'm wrong here.....but, while excited about the MK Fantasyland expansion, I'd think that WDW would realize that DHS is the park that needs the most TLC and money thrown at it. There's simply not enough to do at this park, especially for a 4 and 2 year old. A big expansion of Pixar Place sure would go a long way in remedying this.
AK:
So, my 7 yr old is tall enough to ride Everest, but still 2.5 inches away from being able to ride Primeval Whirl......I dont understand the reasoning here. Must have to do with the height of the restraint system. :shrug:
Also, we took in La Nouba last Tuesday! We all really enjoyed it, and it was a far cry from the more "Artsy-fartsy" Cirque shows I had seen in Vegas. Even the kids loved it.
Some restaurants that stood out to us were:
1. Jiko - WOW! This dethroned Flying Fish as our new WDW favorite! The filet with mac and cheese and red wine reduction was AMAZING!
2. Raglan Road - A new twist on shepherd's pie.....very good. And the bread pudding at dessert is more than enough for 2 people to share!
3. Brown Derby - Was not impressed. I'm glad we chose to pay out of pocket and not burn our dining plan points for this one. :hurl:
4. Le Chefs De France - The new Remy is excellent and whatever they did to get my kids to eat all of their fish and green beans was nothing short of miraculous.
4. Extremely disappointed with the following eateries - Flying Fish (steaks were like shoe leather and wife's wasn't charcrusted like the menu says). San Angel Inn (I've had better Mexican locally than the high priced meal we got there....must be paying for the atmosphere)
We had a great time!
