Hello All! This is my first trip report, so please bear with me! I have loved reading all of your trip reports on here for a long time and may (just may) be slightly obsessed with them. So, here goes my crack at it.
I guess I'll start with the basics:
Who: Myself (Katie), my husband (Mike), and our 8 year old son (Ben). We are from Michigan and I am the major Disney fanatic in the family. Mike mostly just goes along for the ride to keep me happy, but he does enjoy it, too. And Ben of course loves our trips as well. This was his third trip so far, as we have been going every two years. I would love to go more often, but convincing Mike to do yearly trips hasn't happened yet. I mean, what's his problem?!
When: Dec 1st-Dec8th. We have historically gone the week before Thanksgiving, but decided to give the first week of December a try this time. I like going this time of year because of the cooler weather. I cannot handle walking around in the heat and humidity of Florida. I give major props to all those on this forum that go during the summer! Ben missed a week of school, but I'm ok with that. He's in 2nd grade right now and his teacher had given him a homework packet to do on the trip.
Where: Animal Kingdom Lodge-Kidani Village. Standard view studio. This was our first time staying at AKL. We decided to rent DVC points this year, which was also a first. We went through DVC Rental Store and it was a very easy and good experience. We ended up saving quite a bit on the room as compared to booking rack rate. However, it was still a bit pricey, so I opted for the studio room (1 Queen bed with pull out couch) with a standard view to save a little more money. Since there are only three of us, we don't really need that much room.
Also, I am a veterinary technician with a degree in zoology, so anything animal related is totally up my alley!!
Saturday, December 8th:
We left Detroit Metro airport around 10am on Saturday. The flight was uneventful and we landed at MCO a little ahead of schedule.
I had been debating prior to our trip about whether to have Magical Express take our luggage to the resort or just do it ourselves. I had packed our carry-ons with bathing suits and change of clothes, just in case we didn't have our main bags and wanted to go swimming when we got to the resort. We have had them handle our luggage in the past, but I know it can take a long time sometimes. However, on our way to the airport I suddenly remembered that I had left our ME luggage tags at the house. Mike asked if I wanted to turn around, but we were already on the freeway so I just figured we'd take our own bags after all.
When we got to the Magical Express area at MCO....IT.WAS.INSANE!!! Now, we have used ME many times in the past and we've never had the luxury of just walking onto a half full bus, and we have always had to wait in some sort of line before getting on the bus. In fact, I keep telling Mike that I read on here all the time about people just sauntering on to the ME bus, no lines, and he thinks I'm full of it
. I kept saying "Maybe we'll get lucky like the folks on my Disney blog"! Well, that was definitely not going to be the case today. I have never seen the line so long and crazy. It was stretched out way past the elevators and you couldn't even see the ME check point. CMs were trying to guide people into some sort of organized lines. It probably took a good hour before we were on the bus! Ben got on and wanted the very last seat on the bus. You know, the one directly next to the bathroom 
. But, soon we were on our way. We stopped at Coronado Springs first and then AKL Jambo House, and then AKL Kidani Village.
When I stepped off the bus, it was warm, overcast, and a little windy. As I waited for our bags from the bus, I just kept looking around like "Oh my god, I cannot believe I am finally here!". After so much time planning this trip, we were here! And the sounds and smells from AKL were so wonderful, I may have teared up just a little.
Here are some pics I took from the front of the lobby area
Light fixture for @Doc Disney !
I had received a text while on the ME that our room was ready. I was crossing my fingers for a partial savannah view room and had put in a room request as well, but I knew it was a long shot. No need to check in at the front desk, so we went directly to our room on the 5th floor. I knew as soon as I stepped off the elevator that I would not be getting my wish, but that's ok.
Our room was very nice. It had a balcony that faced the hotel entrance, so while there may not have been animals, it was at least good people watching! Our room had a queen bed, a pull out couch, a small kitchenette area with microwave, mini fridge, sink, and toaster. The bathroom was pretty standard, but nice. Everything was clean.
I guess I'll start with the basics:
Who: Myself (Katie), my husband (Mike), and our 8 year old son (Ben). We are from Michigan and I am the major Disney fanatic in the family. Mike mostly just goes along for the ride to keep me happy, but he does enjoy it, too. And Ben of course loves our trips as well. This was his third trip so far, as we have been going every two years. I would love to go more often, but convincing Mike to do yearly trips hasn't happened yet. I mean, what's his problem?!
When: Dec 1st-Dec8th. We have historically gone the week before Thanksgiving, but decided to give the first week of December a try this time. I like going this time of year because of the cooler weather. I cannot handle walking around in the heat and humidity of Florida. I give major props to all those on this forum that go during the summer! Ben missed a week of school, but I'm ok with that. He's in 2nd grade right now and his teacher had given him a homework packet to do on the trip.
Where: Animal Kingdom Lodge-Kidani Village. Standard view studio. This was our first time staying at AKL. We decided to rent DVC points this year, which was also a first. We went through DVC Rental Store and it was a very easy and good experience. We ended up saving quite a bit on the room as compared to booking rack rate. However, it was still a bit pricey, so I opted for the studio room (1 Queen bed with pull out couch) with a standard view to save a little more money. Since there are only three of us, we don't really need that much room.
Also, I am a veterinary technician with a degree in zoology, so anything animal related is totally up my alley!!
Saturday, December 8th:
We left Detroit Metro airport around 10am on Saturday. The flight was uneventful and we landed at MCO a little ahead of schedule.
I had been debating prior to our trip about whether to have Magical Express take our luggage to the resort or just do it ourselves. I had packed our carry-ons with bathing suits and change of clothes, just in case we didn't have our main bags and wanted to go swimming when we got to the resort. We have had them handle our luggage in the past, but I know it can take a long time sometimes. However, on our way to the airport I suddenly remembered that I had left our ME luggage tags at the house. Mike asked if I wanted to turn around, but we were already on the freeway so I just figured we'd take our own bags after all.
When we got to the Magical Express area at MCO....IT.WAS.INSANE!!! Now, we have used ME many times in the past and we've never had the luxury of just walking onto a half full bus, and we have always had to wait in some sort of line before getting on the bus. In fact, I keep telling Mike that I read on here all the time about people just sauntering on to the ME bus, no lines, and he thinks I'm full of it
. I kept saying "Maybe we'll get lucky like the folks on my Disney blog"! Well, that was definitely not going to be the case today. I have never seen the line so long and crazy. It was stretched out way past the elevators and you couldn't even see the ME check point. CMs were trying to guide people into some sort of organized lines. It probably took a good hour before we were on the bus! Ben got on and wanted the very last seat on the bus. You know, the one directly next to the bathroom . But, soon we were on our way. We stopped at Coronado Springs first and then AKL Jambo House, and then AKL Kidani Village.When I stepped off the bus, it was warm, overcast, and a little windy. As I waited for our bags from the bus, I just kept looking around like "Oh my god, I cannot believe I am finally here!". After so much time planning this trip, we were here! And the sounds and smells from AKL were so wonderful, I may have teared up just a little.
Here are some pics I took from the front of the lobby area
Light fixture for @Doc Disney !
I had received a text while on the ME that our room was ready. I was crossing my fingers for a partial savannah view room and had put in a room request as well, but I knew it was a long shot. No need to check in at the front desk, so we went directly to our room on the 5th floor. I knew as soon as I stepped off the elevator that I would not be getting my wish, but that's ok.
Our room was very nice. It had a balcony that faced the hotel entrance, so while there may not have been animals, it was at least good people watching! Our room had a queen bed, a pull out couch, a small kitchenette area with microwave, mini fridge, sink, and toaster. The bathroom was pretty standard, but nice. Everything was clean.
