NewfieFan's "I haven't done a TR in a while" TR!

Where have I been? That's a good question! We had two wonderful trips to the World last year and I didn't report those to you guys... I know, for shame! Life kind of got in the way a lot and well, mostly I was just slack!
I'll refresh your memory a little... we took a trip in Sept. '10 and we were smack in the middle of a building a house. You can read all about it here http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/newfiefans-long-overdue-sept-tr.725069/
It was on that trip when we bought into DVC. Well I'm happy to report it was a good decision for us. We used our points for two trips last year and stayed at Kidani Village both times. I picked Kidani mainly b/c it requires less points and we were trying to stretch them out over two trips. We ended up falling in love with Kidani and now I can't imagine staying anywhere else.
So this is actually our third time staying in Kidani and it did not disappoint!
Our trip began on April 15th. We tried a different flight this time around, we took an afternoon flight from St. John's which got us into Orlando around 11pm. We left our home at around 6:30 am to make the four and half hour drive to the airport. One car ride, two flights, and two stopovers, later we arrived in MCO! We arrived at Kidani and got to our room somewhere around 12:30am local time (which is actually 2am for us). So, if you're keeping track that was around 18hrs. of traveling. The bed at Kidani never looked so good! The kids however were surprisingly upbeat and asked if the pool was open. Ummmm, NO!

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Home SWEET home!

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We rented a studio standard view

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The kids begged to see the pool so I took them for a quick walk through the lobby and down to the pool.
An empty night time lobby...

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Needless to say it was bedtime at this point. I'm not even sure if we changed our clothes or just fell on the bed and crashed!
The next morning I woke refreshed and quite happy to be waking up in Kidani. We were a little bummed when we got our room assignment the night before b/c we were quite a distance from the lobby. The last two times we've been fairly lucky b/c our room hasn't been too far from the pool and lobby. I suppose I could have asked if they had anything closer but we were so tired that we just wanted to get to our room... wherever that may be. As mentioned we had standard view booked but when I threw open the curtains and stepped out on my balcony this is what I saw...
Hello Okapi!

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Here's the view we had of the Pembe Savannah...

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I guess because we were on the edge of the Savannah they don't consider it "savannah view" but yet we had an excellent view of the savannah! Before this trip I couldn't imagine why anyone would pay extra (either with points or money) for savannah view. There's lots of public areas off the lobby to view the animals and there's a lookout on the savannah as well. And who spends time in their room looking at animals? Well, apparently we do! If I was in the room I was on my balcony looking at animals and taking pictures. I would wake up early just to see what the animals were "up to"! So yeah, if you like viewing animals - savannah view is totally worth it!
After I dragged myself away from the balcony I started unpacking and getting the kids ready for breakfast. We took the lovely walk over to Jambo House and had breakfast at the Mara.

She was very insistant that Mickey Ears must be worn to breakfast...

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Mmmmm, Mickey Waffle! How I missed you!

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[PolynesianPrincess]

YAY a TR!!!

Kidani is such a beautiful place. Visited there for the first time last month for dinner and we fell in love. We are POSSIBLY going to be buying DVC from a friend of ours (she had 2 different contracts left to her in a will and she is selling them for a DEEP discount!) and Kidani is one of the top places on our list to stay, complete with a Savannah view!!

Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[Ariel484]

Woohoo Sarah! Love AKL. And a bonus savanna room?! Can't beat that.

So funny that the kids were ready to go swimming...I totally wold have done the same thing at that age. Now, not so much.

Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[ExtinctJenn]

Great so far... looking forward to more!

 

[NewfieFan]

After breakfast I promised the kids some pool time. While a lot of folks don't consider the pool an attraction... it is for us. We just don't get to swim very much at home because of the weather. It was a beautiful morning for swimming and as you'll see in the following pictures there was hardly anyone swimming (oh well, more pool for us).

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I like the pool better at Kidani, it's smaller than Jambo but never crowded, the water slide is much longer, and the kids play area at Kidani is the coolest (I surveyed one 8 year old).
Back to the room to get cleaned up and head out to Epcot.
Anna wanted her picture on the balcony with her new princess headband (the greeter at the door to the resort was giving these out - best. souvenir. ever)

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Let's take a bus shall we...

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Epcot - my most favorite of parks!

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First Photopass pic...

Photo0008FourBySix by NewfieFan, on Flickr

Some F&G Festival goodness...

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[lebeau]

Yay! Trip report! I'm in.

We stayed at AKL in 2003, but never in the DVC villas. Great resort. I love getting another look at it through your TR. We may stop by for dinner at Boma this fall.

 

[HollyBelle]

Oh how I love your family, Sarah!

Kidani really is fabulous - hooray for waking up to such a great "standard" view! And I have to agree about the pool... it has one of the best slides on property!

 

[Monty]

I noze deez peeplz!

 

[NewfieFan]

We told the kids they could have a treat or two before supper. We had given the kids a snack before we left the hotel room and we weren't planning on eating a proper lunch because we had ressies for supper. Side note - since buying into DVC and now having kitchens and kitchenettes all the time we have discovered Garden Grocer. We find them great since we don't rent a vehicle and have no way to buy groceries except for what they stock in the resort gift shops. Some folks have mentioned they're expensive but it's comparable to what I pay for groceries everyday so I can't comment on that.
Aidan wanted to head straight for Club Cool. We're those crazy parents that don't let our children have pop (soda as some of you refer to it) on a daily basis so it's a real treat for him to go here.

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Cheers!

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Next it was over to the Fountain View for some ice cream. I let the kids have a full bowl each (mom is really letting the kids go wild). They both had mint chocolate chip but Anna asked for Mickey sprinkles! Unfortunately our nice relaxing ice cream break wasn't that nice or relaxing. A pesky hornet showed up that seemed to be attacking Anna only. Well she was screaming like she was being beat to death. I had a small bag of wipes that I was using to swat the hornet away. By this time we had a few onlookers and I suppose it did look odd with Anna screaming and me hitting her with a Ziploc bag. Anyways, the hornet flew in her mouth... seriously in her mouth! It's a wonder the child didn't pass out. We took the rest of our ice cream and walked with it.
Here's the one pic before the "incident"...

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With no real plan of attack (this seems to be our new way to tour the parks) we headed towards World Showcase. The kids (and the husband) we're dying to get to Japan. They're a little (ok, a lot) obsessed with all things Japanese!
It was hard to get near the topiaries to take pictures because they were always so crowded. It blows my mind the number of people that hang out in front of them. Obviously people are lined up to take pictures. Take a moment to look and/or take a pic... then get out of the way. Sorry, that's my little rant!

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Monorail!

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Prettiness (I wish it looked like this all year long but then I suppose it wouldn't be special for the F&G Festival)

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I think a Friendship Boat is the way to go...

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Her doll was enjoying the ride...

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She's my dolly!

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[NewfieFan]

YAY a TR!!!

Kidani is such a beautiful place. Visited there for the first time last month for dinner and we fell in love. We are POSSIBLY going to be buying DVC from a friend of ours (she had 2 different contracts left to her in a will and she is selling them for a DEEP discount!) and Kidani is one of the top places on our list to stay, complete with a Savannah view!!

Can't wait to read more!!!

Thanks! Score on the DVC for a discount!!! That would be great! I do recommend Kidani with a savannah view. (Can I come too? )

Woohoo Sarah! Love AKL. And a bonus savanna room?! Can't beat that.

So funny that the kids were ready to go swimming...I totally wold have done the same thing at that age. Now, not so much.

Looking forward to the rest of your report!

I probably would have wanted to go swimming too when I was their age... however I probably would have drowned if I got in the water on that night!
Thanks!

Great so far... looking forward to more!

Thanks for reading!

 

[NewfieFan]

Yay! Trip report! I'm in.

We stayed at AKL in 2003, but never in the DVC villas. Great resort. I love getting another look at it through your TR. We may stop by for dinner at Boma this fall.

I know you mentioned in your preTR that it depends on how the family survives a full day at AK. Hopefully they'll be fine and you can convince them to go over to the Lodge afterwards. Tell your wife you'll buy her a box of Zebra Domes (they're better than cupcakes ). I would say switch Boma for Sanaa (it's amazing)!
Thanks for reading!

Oh how I love your family, Sarah!

Kidani really is fabulous - hooray for waking up to such a great "standard" view! And I have to agree about the pool... it has one of the best slides on property!

Thanks Holly! Maybe one day we'll meet at Kidani and my kids can babysit your little one!

I noze deez peeplz!

Hey, I noze ye too!

 

[NewfieFan]

We got off the boat and headed for Japan. I really do like the koi pond and surrounding area...

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I think this was our first time seeing the new counter service area refurbished (although we didn't eat there at all on this trip)...

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My hubby and his new addiction (kakigori)...

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Well the Japan pavillion can only mean one thing... Pokemon! I don't get the obsession but I'm also not under 10 yrs. old. The kids had some of their own spending money and it was burning a hole in their pockets.

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When we got to the check out the CM asked if the kids liked Pokemon - uh yeah! And then she gave them both an origami pikachu. How sweet! This is not the best pic of the origami (I'll have to see if one of the kids can find one for me and I'll take a better a pic) but they were so excited. It's the little things...

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Bye Japan! (I'm sure we'll see you again and again and...)

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Strolling along...

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My prince!

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We had an ADR at Garden Grill, it had been years since we've been here. I only booked it because the kids wanted a character meal and I couldn't really get what I wanted at the times I wanted. The Garden Grill didn't stand out in my mind... so either I remembered wrong or they have improved because it was one of the highlights of trip. The food, characters, and the service was all top notch!

 

[tehSAC]

I'm in! Loving it so far!

 

[bethymouse]

That's a GREAT standard view room! I'd like one like that when we stay @ AKL someday!
Your 2010 trip report is also wonderful! The picture w/ Bolt is terrific! I have never seen BOLT in the parks before! Also- same for MULAN! Wow!

 

[NewfieFan]

The characters immediately started coming to the table and Dale even took Anna by surprise. It still takes her a while to warm up to the characters so Aidan was doing most of the posing.

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She was quite happy when Mickey wrote "Princess" in her autograph book...

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He's getting so tall (time please stand still)...

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Chip bent in for a kiss...

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Chip turned out to be a little trouble maker. He kept taking Aidan's new Pokemon plush and hiding it. Then he would pretend he didn't know where it was to. At one point he took the Pokemon plush and took it on a little tour of the restaurant. Anyways, it had my son cracking up.

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This is where he brought the plush back after taking it on the little tour...

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Ok, now onto the food...
The best butter and rolls!

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Everything was so good...

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Isn't the kids dessert cute?

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Love for Pluto!

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[sweetpee_1993]

Sarah! OMG! Lovin it, woman! Lookit how big Anna & Aidan are getting! Can I just say that I love that Anna has to have her LaLa's along? You know me n my dolly love. LOL! And Aidan is really getting tall. Just you wait until he's bigger than you. Eep!

I know I've made no bones about being in no hurry to go back to WDW but I swear reading your report and seeing you & Pete could tempt me back. And during F&G! I think that's when Epcot really is at its finest. I miss you guys!

I know I owe you a major email. We're smack dab in the middle of the big move (moving truck is outside as I type) so it'll be forthcoming. Promise. Thank goodness for a restless night and my iPhone. I might not have seen your report! Hoping the getaway later in the month went off as awesome as it sounded. I was so tempted to crash that party! Lol!

And what is it with kids & Japan??? Both my boys went thru a "thing" for all things Japanese. Brian still says he'd like to spend a few years living in Tokyo someday. Whaaaa?!?! But when I gave them their choice of foreign language they chose German. I thought for sure they'd jump on Japanese. Lol!

I wish I'd known your kids dig Pokemon! When packing Brian's room we came across a ton of random Pokemon cards. He doesn't collect them. He does Yugi Oh. So he gave a bunch to his friend across the street. If Aiden would want any I can tell him to set aside anymore he finds. Lemme know!

I'll try to catch more of your report in the days to come. I have a feeling the next few days I'll be falling into bed each night already asleep. I'll try to keep up. I know, I'm terrible at this stuff nowadays!

Tell Pete we said "hey!"

 

[lebeau]

I know you mentioned in your preTR that it depends on how the family survives a full day at AK. Hopefully they'll be fine and you can convince them to go over to the Lodge afterwards. Tell your wife you'll buy her a box of Zebra Domes (they're better than cupcakes ). I would say switch Boma for Sanaa (it's amazing)!
Thanks for reading!

Mindy's actually not a fan of zebra domes. Not bland enough. Once she sets her mind on something, that's it.

OMG! If a hornet flew in Josie's mouth that would be the end! The other day, she had a panic attack because she saw a "daddy longlegger" and thought it was a spider. Words can not convey the hysterics. I told her to never, ever do that again unless she was missing a limb. Poor Anna. You didn't mention her getting stung so I assume it was just a scare.

Funny about the pop. Josie won't drink it. She likes the uncarbonated orange drink at Club Cool but won't drink soda at all. When Kara was an infant, she had a babysitter. This babysitter watched her until she was about 18 months. And she was great in most ways. But she used to let her drink pop against our wishes. We knew, because Kara started asking for it at home. Now, Kara will ask for it any time she sees it. But we don't let her have much.

Of course, Mindy is a Coke fiend. Some days, she doesn't drink a drop of water. So, Kara gets more pop than I would like.

 

[lebeau]

We had an ADR at Garden Grill, it had been years since we've been here. I only booked it because the kids wanted a character meal and I couldn't really get what I wanted at the times I wanted. The Garden Grill didn't stand out in my mind... so either I remembered wrong or they have improved because it was one of the highlights of trip. The food, characters, and the service was all top notch!

I have heard from others that the quality at GG fluctuates. But I find that to be true across property.

We tried GG for the first time in 2010 and loved it. By far, the best character interactions of any character meal we have ever experienced. Plus, Chip and Dale. Who's better than them? Mickey and Pluto. Can't beat them. Great atmosphere. Kids love that the restaurant rotates. And the food is at least as good as you'll get at any other character meal. Our one experience was a stand-out.

We wanted to revisit it this year. But we only have a half-day scheduled at Epcot and the princesses won out. But we will be back eventually.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

We love love love Garden Grille for the exact reason that is so obvious in your pictures... of any character dining experience we've ever done, you get more time with the characters there than anywhere. I think there are characters at your table more often than there are not half the time. I love that Mickey wrote "Princess" in your daughter's book... so sweet... she's adorable!

 

[NewfieFan]

I forgot to mention but before we made our way back to Future World and the Garden Grill the kids wanted to stop in Mexico (it's their second favorite pavilion). They love that ride!
After we finished supper we wanted to see what the wait time was like for Spaceship Earth (it had had a long wait earlier when we passed by), just as expected it was a walk-on at this point.

You just can't take a bad picture of this thing...

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We let the kids play one game in the post show area. They picked their favorite...

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I popped into The Art of Disney to see if they had the F&G Festival print... and they did! I've been to three F&G Festivals and I've bought the print all three years. The first two I gave to my mother because she loved them (she loves flowers, gardens,... and Epcot) but this one I'm keeping. It's "in your face" Disney but I like it. I love the mad Donald topiary and Spaceship Earth in the corner. It's a fun print. I haven't framed it yet but it's going in our homeschool room. (Every homeschool room needs a little Disney, right!?!)

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And when I get lots of disposable income I want this painting...

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We walked back to WS to find a spot for Illuminations and ended our night there.

The next morning had us up bright and early because Miss Anna had an appt. at the BBB. This was a gift for her birthday which had been a couple weeks before the trip. At first I didn't want to book it again, not that we didn't enjoy our first experience here but because it is a lot of money for something that is short-lived. Then I came to the realization that she's only going to be this age once and some day she's not going to be into Princesses and the such. *sniff, sniff* We bought her an Ariel dress for her birthday and when she opened it I told her she had an appt. at the BBB.
I was a little slack planning this trip and when I went to book the BBB I couldn't get into the one in the Castle so I had to take an appt. at the one in DTD. I really wanted one in the Castle because then she's right in the MK to take pictures and meet some Princesses. DTD was a little out of the way this morning because we had our day planned at the MK.
We just missed a bus to DTD (don't you hate when that happens) and we waited forever for the next one to come. I was sure we were going to be late, in fact my hubby had out the cell phone to call a cab.
Waiting...

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I love Florida mornings...

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But a bus pulled up and we got on it anyway. When we hit DTD I grabbed Anna and her took her running. I ended up only being 5 mins late - not sure how we managed that one!?! World of Disney wasn't even open except for the Princess section where BBB is located. When I checked in they smiled at Anna and asked her a couple of questions and then handed us a pager. They also told us if we had a dress already to put it on her now. We waited quite some time before we were called. It's marketing genius to have the BBB there in the Princess section. All the little girls get time to look at all the expensive pretty stuff. Anna surprisingly didn't ask for any of it, she was patiently waiting for that pager to go off. She did spy some Minnie stick-on earrings which I picked up for her. While we were checking out our pager went off. I went over to the podium and they told us to stand inside. Odd!?! Usually they escort you right to a chair and you meet your Fairy Godmother in training. As I looked around the room there wasn't one chair free. After a minute or so a Godmother walks us to a private room and shuts the door. Odd!?! She combs Anna's hair and asks her a few more questions. Then she says she has a surprise for her and leaves the room. This is all so odd!?! A few seconds later she throws open the door and announces that Anna is the Princess of the day and puts a "royal" cape on her. They parade her around the store and escort her to the front. She's getting done in the window seat for all to see! She has a Godmother waiting and her own Photopass photographer. Well, you couldn't smack the smile off the child's face (nor her mother's for that fact)! I don't know how many Princesses of the day they pick or how many girls get their hair done in the window seat but Anna thought it was great.

Here she is being escorted to her private chamber...

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Does this child look happy?

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I let her pick her own hairstyle, make-up, nail polish, etc...

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She was loving it!

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Pink hair! (Not my first choice)

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