Trip Report Teaching our niece about #DDTRW!

To all that come to this happy trip report, welcome!

I will explain what #DDTRW is a bit later when it becomes a relevant part of the report. but first, a Quick back story: We, (my wife and I) have been to WDW dozens of times since we have been together. We have visited on joint trips with my family, her family and even both sides of the family at the same time. We have most often visited with just each other. But this trip was something we have been trying to do for several years now and it finally worked out! We have wanted to bring one of our nieces or nephews on a trip with just us. We love having them spend the night or an entire day with us when we are at home but we have never experienced WDW with them sans parents.

My sister and brother were always a bit nervous about sending one of their kids with us when they were younger and I cant blame them since we do not have kids and have not been through all the scenarios that could arise with a young one in tow. But now they are all over the age of 10. We originally asked my sister since her kids have AP's but she kept stalling on getting back to us, (she is still a bit overbearing with her kids). A week or so later I was speaking with my brother and he informed that they may be skipping their annual Disney trip due to his work and also having some major house projects done. We asked if we could take his daughter "C", who will be referred to as "C-Minor" in this TR since my wife is also C. He agreed without hesitation!

My parents had a trip planned and were bringing all the grand kids with them and I figured since she would be visiting again with us shortly after, that the best thing to do would be to get her Annual Pass rather than have my brother spend money on two separate park tickets. C and I decided we would pay for her AP since my brother had a lot to pay for with his house projects. Plus, this would allow us to bring her on future trips if all went with this trip! C-Minor was absolutely over the moon when she learned she would be returning to WDW just a few weeks after her recent trip. And soon after, the trip was upon us!!!

We headed out of Atlanta just before 6 am and were hoping to avoid traffic. As usual, I was up at 4 am and ready to leave at 5, but it somehow took C an extra hour to get ready

C-Minor just woke up, hopped in the car and promptly fell back asleep for the first few hours of the trip.

We did not encounter any Atlanta traffic and made excellent time on the road. We stopped in Gainseville (Fla.) to grab a quick bite at Maple Street Biscuit Company. C and her mom fell in love with this place on their last trip when they tried it. It was seriously good and highly recommend it. We ordered our food to go and hooped back into the car (with lots of napkins so we didnt make a mess).

We got back on the road and made a quick stop for my "go-go juice" at the Publix in Apopka.

Soon after we were under the arches!

A few minutes after that we were home!

Welcome to Jambo House at AKL!!

Up next, checking in to our room and heading to our first park!

Thanks for following along and sorry for the text heavy intro. Lots more pics to come!! Have a great day!

 

[Gurt]

Im in and not mega 5 pages in late for once!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

I'm in! Can't wait to read all about the trip in more detail. It looked like you guys had an awesome time.

 

[wdisney9000]

Im in and not mega 5 pages in late for once!

Haha, Thanks for following along!

I'm in! Can't wait to read all about the trip in more detail. It looked like you guys had an awesome time.

We really did have soooo much fun. Im looking forward to sharing all the crazy moments we had. The first two days will kinda be a recap of my semi-live report I was doing. My phone was giving me problems the last few days due to low physical memory but Im getting the pics on my computer now and there will be plenty of magical stories.

 

[PacNWTigger]

I'm looking forward to more of your escapades w/ C-minor in tow!

 

[LadyBelle]

 

[Fankle]

Great intro. Can’t wait to read more, especially about AKL.

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

Did you do DVC at Jambo? Do you have comparisons between Jambo and Kidani?

 

[LeighM]

That breakfast looks so good!

 

[Spash007]

Your live report was so much fun, I can't wait to hear more!

 

[wdisney9000]

I'm looking forward to more of your escapades w/ C-minor in tow!

Plenty of action and escapades are on the way!

Any fan of Kastanza is a friend of mine!

Great intro. Can’t wait to read more, especially about AKL.

Plenty about AKL!

Did you do DVC at Jambo? Do you have comparisons between Jambo and Kidani?

We only stayed at Jambo. @lostpro9het is a far more experienced AKL visitor than myself and he or the lovely @imahistorygeek could give you more insight on Kidani vs Jambo.

That breakfast looks so good!

It was! Definitely check it if you get the chance!

Your live report was so much fun, I can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! There is plenty more magic on the way!

 

[imahistorygeek]

Did you do DVC at Jambo? Do you have comparisons between Jambo and Kidani?

Originally posted by @lostpro9het
Pros and cons!
KIDANI:
Pros:
Covered parking under your area of the resort
First bus stop
Excellent TS service offering in Sanaa
Better pool
Better breakfast option in Sanaa
Larger/more bathrooms depending on the room
Community hall with many activities for the family

Cons:
No true QS offering for all day dining, but some grab and go items are available in the gift shop and pool as well as a drink machine.
Some folks don't care for the small lobby
some folks don't care for the small gift shop.

JAMBO:
Pros:
Huge beautiful lobby that smells magnificent.
Huge gift shop area
Dedicated all day QS offering
Probably one of the best TS offerings in Jiko.
Folks really seem to like Boma, but its not for me.
Value rooms to save on points

Cons:
Its the second bus stop
I think the pool is pretty "meh"

 

[Zipadeelady]

You know I'm here!

 

[Tuvalu]

It’s Costanza

Had to.

 

[Zipadeelady]

It’s Costanza

View attachment 296939

Had to.

Brilliant!

Tuvalu 1 Wdisney9000 0

 

[wdisney9000]

Day 1 contd...


It was appx 1:45 when we arrived and I had not received a text for our room being ready. I checked with the front desk while the two C's had the luggage unloaded. Despite not getting a text, our room was ready! 5th floor, Savana view. C-Minor was very excited to see a few giraffe outside the balcony when we walked in.

@MotherofaPrincessLover , our room was in Jambo house but we were pretty far down the corridor and you can see the main lobby building for Kidani Village from our balcony. Thought this picture may help give you some perspective of the layout in the two buildings (if you were not aware).

We unpacked, got the fridge stocked up, and freshened so we could get to the parks! We were heading straight to HS to check out Toy Story Land!

So many people complain about AKL being "in the middle of nowhere" and the bus rides take forever. Many people say they prefer the monorail resorts instead. I can only laugh at this because AKL is appx 3.5 miles from Hollywood Studios but Contemporary is appx 7 miles from HS and Poly is appx 5.5 miles from HS. Epcot is roughly the same distance from AKL that Poly and Contemporary are. Of course MK is closer to the monorail resorts but it is as far away from AK as you can get . And same goes for AKL being close to AK but far from MK, so that basically cancels out.

I timed our bus ride from AK to HS. From the moment we pulled out, it was appx 9 minutes until we reached HS. Hardly "forever" as many claim.

We had FP for Slinky Dog but first up was Star Tours

C was the Rebel Spy! They should offer a photo or something to the rider who gets chose. It would be cool to have a pic. We also got the new scenes from The Last Jedi. I think they are great! I really like the message from Poe Dameron and how he interacts with C-3PO. I was cracking up. And I like the homage they pay to the original version when Fin says "Star Tours, what are you doing here?"

After Star Tours e made our first (of many) stops at Baseline Taphouse.

C went with the Scrimshaw Pilsner and I had the Stone IPA. C-Minor ordered the strawberry lemonade and really loved that the used the shaker to mix it up and pump the strawberry into rather than just using a soda dispenser or minute maid lemonade. This instantly became her drink of choice whenever we were at HS during the trip. We all snacked on the pretzel and finished our rinks on the way over to TSL, which is coming up next!

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

Originally posted by @lostpro9het
Pros and cons!
KIDANI:
Pros:
Covered parking under your area of the resort
First bus stop
Excellent TS service offering in Sanaa
Better pool
Better breakfast option in Sanaa
Larger/more bathrooms depending on the room
Community hall with many activities for the family

Cons:
No true QS offering for all day dining, but some grab and go items are available in the gift shop and pool as well as a drink machine.
Some folks don't care for the small lobby
some folks don't care for the small gift shop.

JAMBO:
Pros:
Huge beautiful lobby that smells magnificent.
Huge gift shop area
Dedicated all day QS offering
Probably one of the best TS offerings in Jiko.
Folks really seem to like Boma, but its not for me.
Value rooms to save on points

Cons:
Its the second bus stop
I think the pool is pretty "meh"

Thanks. I'm planning another AKL stay next summer and I don't know which to choose. I've stayed at Kidani before and liked it but I'm wondering if I should give Jambo a try. Of course, it could all come down to availability. I'm planning on doing a savannah view. Do you think Kidani tends to have longer walks to the room than Jambo?

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

C was the Rebel Spy! They should offer a photo or something to the rider who gets chose. It would be cool to have a pic.

That would be really cool. My husband was the Rebel Spy last trip but we had to do rider switch because of my son so I didn't get to see it. My daughter was super excited to tell me about it when they got off the ride.

 

[LadyBelle]

I really like the message from Poe Dameron

I like him too.... The message! I meant the message......

 

[wdisney9000]

Day 1 contd....


After Baseline we made our way to Toy Story Land. It was definitely odd when we walked around the backside of TGMR and saw the old Pixar Place blocked off. As we made the right turn to enter Toy Story Land it was a pretty cool site. They made the entrance walkway very wide which is nice and the actual entrance is about 50 yards away and it allows for a nice build up as you approach the land (at leas thats how we felt), and you can hear all the sounds coming from within the land and see the big Woody to greet you.

We were all smiles! The entrance area with the sign was pretty crowded with people getting pics so we opted to move further down. I had forgot my sunglasses at the room and the sun was beaming down, hence my squinting. It is a very active land with lots of stuff going on on either side of you. We took it nice and slow to soak it all in. Slinky Dog Dash was bigger than I expected from seeing videos of it. It is not a huge land, but I feel the spread it out fairly well. One thing I did not like is the only beer selection is Bud Light (barf). But no time for a brewski, we had a date with Slinky Dog!

C-Minor was very excited and was snap chatting videos to her friends as we waited. The queue is very well done IMO. And soon we were up and the CM gave us the back row.

Always good to have @Longers status for your first experience on a new ride. The girls were pumped up!

We were beaming with smiles as we exited the ride. We really liked the coaster. I will take it over 7DMT because it has lots of twists and turns and several up and down areas that reach some pretty decent heights for a family coaster. I have seen several complaints that you can see ToT and Star Wars Land from the coaster and it ruins the "theme". We did not feel that way at all. If the theme is Andys backyard, then there is obviously the rest of the world outside of his yard and I would rather see SWL and ToT rather than the real world.

Being our first ride we did not know exactly were the camera was, lol but the pics came out ok. The lady next to me was vlogging or face timing somebody as we rode and she was non stop talking in Spanish. I didnt mind as I was too busy enjoying the ride and she was just as excited and we both where hollering the whole time. All in all, I would give SDD an A for an overall score considering its a family coaster and for the sights and sounds they included with it. And dont get me wrong,...by giving it an "A", I am not saying it is Disneys best work or up there with ToT or FoP in terms of wow factor, but for the land it is in and it is meant for children, It is definitely re-rideable and just as exciting, and yes, we do ride a few more times later in the trip!