Trip Report "Oh boy...It's good to be home*..."

Hey all...

One of the shining lights of the reopening is the chance to read all of the trip reports again and share our stories. There was a huge lull during the late spring early summer and it's great to see all of the new ones loaded up!

Soooo...I wanted to get in on the fun! It was good to be home...note the asterisk in the title, I am sure you all know why... Not going to complain about the changes, although throughout the report, I may advocate for a few to remain in place...as did my wife!!

On with the show... Me(Billy), Heather(no age, she'd kill me), Liam(6) and Kaiden(22mths)

Our annual September DVC visit with my family and the extended parents and sisters' families as well. Original plans were for my team to stay at Copper Creek, our home resort whilst waiting for my parent's window to pick there but they were limited to Kidani Village as their resort. Pre-shutdown, we had moved our reservation to Jambo House because we've stayed at KV a lot and wanted a different experience, but was closer to the rest of the family... Then after all the shutdowns and closures of Boma and Mara at Jambo and limited to DVC stays, we made the decision to move to Kidani with everyone else. I applauded that choice as we checked in as I prefer the size of the room and the bathroom set up is more desirable. We had a 1 BR all along so we enjoyed the week there, close to the Bus stop and only 1 section away from the elevators. Most know how crazy the walk to rooms can be there...

Saturday 9/26....ORD to MCO

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Shrouded.....

Very uneventful flight to MCO, got in about 20 minutes early. After the customary bathroom breaks, we headed to baggage and DME.

Liam was excited to sit in front of the APM...Our bags are just coming out on the carrousel when we came down the escalator, so collecting them took less than a minute. Heather had just come out of the elevator with the stroller and went no more than 2 feet and turned right around as she saw us coming with the bags, Score! A short walk to the buses and got right in line for AKL. Pretty much walked right up to the CM as she was letting guests out to the stop. Gave us our seat numbers and we were on our way. The wait to leave was very short as they capped the bus. Heather mentioned it was the shortest amount of time we spent in MCO between deplaning and pulling away from the airport, double score!

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Our stops would be Pop Century, Yacht Club and then Kidani...
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Took a quick shot of the Skyliner..last year we had left 2 days before opening and about 7 days before the mishap...We were excited to try it out!
 

Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
"next stop, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village"... Our room message came while at Pop, #7511 which was super exciting because it was close to elevators, right above the walkway to the bus stops. Once, we stayed in a room so far away, Heather timed it at 5 whole minutes from elevators to room...try that crap after a full day at Magic Kingdom...No thank you!!

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"Happy to be here"...
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Home for the week!!
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It was good to unpack right away instead of waiting for delivery of the bags, so it wasn't a bad trade off there. Heather ordered our groceries and we all got the room set up for the week...
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Not a bad view but no complaints from me...We came down later in the day on Saturday so it was getting time for dinner. Sanaa was the first table service restaurant to offer the mobile order ability so we took advantage of that. After traveling all day, it was good to just eat in room versus packing up and going to the pool bar or to Disney Springs.

A few shots while waiting for the order to be ready...

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Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Got some kids meals for everyone...very good for a quick dinner.

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I headed down after to get our grocery order and came back to unwind and clean up...

Liam began to bug us to head to the pool so we obliged and got ready for a night swim!!

He couldn't wait to hit the water slide as he is tall enough now and liked it better that CC/WL pool slide...

The rest of my family would be joining us on Sunday later in the day, so our first park day was Sunday at Hollywood Studios and our first chance to join the resistance! After a week long discussion with @Darstarr about boarding groups and the fact that crowds had been picking up significantly the week before, I opted to add another day there later in the week, to double our chances...

"Here we goooooo"- Peter Pan
 

Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ok where was we?....

Rumor had it that weekends were starting to pick up and become really busy, so I was in a rushing mood Sunday AM (9/27). Wanted to get down to the bus as quick as possible and get into DHS at the same pace. Sometimes with kids, that can be a chore but as Disney Pros, Heather and I tag teamed and got the kiddos up and running. Breakfast was quick and easy so we loaded up the bags and the stroller and headed down. First bus was due to arrive at 8:50ish, according to the CM stationed there and they we pretty spot on...
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Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Arrived about 9:15 as we didn't have to stop at JH. At DHS AK Kidani is Bus Stop 8, the very first one so that was good to be dropped off closest to screening and bag check. We were met with a mounting line but it quickly moved towards the entrance.


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Temp screen and bag checks completed, it was time to have some fun!!!

First stop was Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway...

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The line was manageable at this time, it was about 9:30, and by the time we entered the queue, I was ever mindful of the clock as the minutes ticked away to 10am... I kinda scanned the way the line moved and how it was laid out to see if I would still be outside around the witching hour(10)…I did some "slow walking" to buy an extra few seconds here and there but as we were nearing the entrance to the theater, I was getting a bit worried...it was 9:57 as we we were headed in...a little nail biting. So were a few other families. So, they and then I, did a Disney faux pa, and snuck out of line to the right of the doors...monkey see, monkey do, right? We were promptly scolded by a CM and asked to reenter the line... I think it bought us a few extra minutes of cellular signal, as I watched the second hand on my Apple watch sweep towards 10am, I was just inside the door...frantically started refreshing and BOOM!! did all the necessary clicks.....

THE FORCE WAS WITH US!!!
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I think my face lit up more that Liam's did, knowing we'd be able to get on!! One of the groups that got out of line with us, scored too...

Now I could relax and enjoy MMRR!!
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MinnieM123

Premium Member
Your sons are adorable! You and your wife have a lovely family. Looking forward to more fun activities during your vacation. By the way, I love the design atmosphere of AKL (Jambo), and also enjoy photos of the DVC building, Kidani, as well. (I'm not a member of DVC, but stayed at AKL years ago.)
 

Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Your sons are adorable! You and your wife have a lovely family. Looking forward to more fun activities during your vacation. By the way, I love the design atmosphere of AKL (Jambo), and also enjoy photos of the DVC building, Kidani, as well. (I'm not a member of DVC, but stayed at AKL years ago.)
Thank you! We wanted the different vibe, the restaurants and the grandness of the resort... maybe next time!
 

Billy6

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I really liked MMRRW...I know my kids and Heather did as well. I didn't watch a video for it prior to riding so I didn't know what to expect, but I think it was great.

Funny that I had over heard someone later in the week, coming out of the exit say "I've never ridden a Disney ride and came off and been so disappointed"... Shook my head. They can't hit home runs all of the time, can they? I thought it was family friendly in terms of you can enjoy with everyone and not just ones who like elevator drops or looping limousines...

Anyhoo...

We started getting our notifications for Rise while waiting to board so we gathered our land cruiser(stroller) and made our way over to the edge of the Galaxy. Liam was getting super excited and for good reason as he knew he might be riding twice, one with dad and then with mom. We scanned in our boarding passes and got rider swaps for Heather and headed in...

I was trying to take it all in so I didn't snap too many pictures on the way in... When we entered the base, I was 12 years old again(don't I wish) and was in awe of the details. True emersion for a life long Star Wars fan...

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He even had R2D2 socks on....He would also get an R2 hat out of me later on....


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Heather snapped me a picture while they were waiting....

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Please report to cell block 1138....

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