US/WDW Sep/Oct 2016...All Finished

[dolphingirl47]

It was practically a personalized tour since only two of us were signed up this morning.

That is always a bonus. The tour looked really nice.

This is also where I first spotted Remy—I thought this hunt was going to be a piece of cake, but Hurricane Matthew would change that soon enough

I can confirm that even without a hurricane, this was not a piece of cake. When I did this last year, some of the Remy statues were extremely difficult to find.

Next on the map is China where gallery #3 is currently showcasing Shanghai Disney.

Oh, it is probably good that I did not know about this before our trip. It was hard enough not to go to Epcot this time round and this may just have tipped me over the edge.

He had VIP Illumination viewing passes for us and our family members. This viewing is to the right of the poles seen in the picture below. As a bonus, since my father wasn’t planning on using one of his 4 ticket days today, he also arranged for a complementary park ticket just for him. Ray = awesome!

That is amazing that he was able to sort this out for you.

Ray told us how all the beautiful craftsmanship is intentionally marred by the craftsmen because, from a religious perspective, only God can create perfection. The dents, scratches and missing tiles are all purposefully placed.

When I am in the Middle East, I have great fun finding the hidden flaws. This is a bit like hunting for Secret Mickeys.

were given FP+ for Soarin for our whole party (so I got three)

That is definitely a bonus.

This was the first time seeing the new Soarin—my impression: I liked the transitions better, the CGI contribution was definitely more obvious, sat in center so didn’t really see distortion.

I am glad that you enjoyed it.

Corinna

 

[Steppesister]

Happy New Year, Karilynn! Trying my hardest to catch up... well, everywhere. Been a crazy packed holiday season for me. Got myself pretty far behind, but am now completely caught up here on your TR.

I"m glad you could get out of the late fee on that WC. We didn't have such good luck on at least one of ours. Ah well...

Majorly adorbs! Super cute pic!

I had plans that evening to catch the Main Street Electrical Parade—would be my last opportunity to see it before its WDW retirement.

Wahhhh! The only thing good about this is that I get to see in March at DLR. I"m SOOO glad you got to see it one last time at WDW!

We were funneled down the main Street bypass and decided to eat dinner at the Plaza Inn. Three cheers for walk-ups.

Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah!! What a relief to find a good meal on a whim!

Hey, those are almost identical to mine! Aren't they super comfy? Love the color!

 

[Malia78]

The tour looked really nice.

It was really interesting and with only the two of us, it felt really personal.

can confirm that even without a hurricane, this was not a piece of cake.

When I did it in 2015, it wasn't too bad once you figured out the pattern. But with bringing Remy inside the shops, any semblance of pattern was out the window.

 

[Malia78]

That is amazing that he was able to sort this out for you.

He was a great guide--went above and beyond.

I"m glad you could get out of the late fee on that WC. We didn't have such good luck on at least one of ours.

I suppose we'll hear that story...

Wahhhh! The only thing good about this is that I get to see in March at DLR.

Yeah--still keeping my ears open for details on that weekend

Aren't they super comfy? Love the color!

They have been my favorite traveling shoes over the past year.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Happy New Year! What a fabulous tour and just two? Almost your own plaid! Your guide gave you some awseome treats and information.

How cool re the fireworks VIP seating and ticket for your Dad. Lunch yum love scotcheggs!

Your parents look like they had fun in Disney Springs! Cool Harley store.

Great photos in the evening sounds like an amazing day. Thanks for sharing.

 

[skier_pete]

That looks like a pretty fun tour - though I admit most of the stuff you mentioned I already knew about. It's still pretty cool to have a near private tour and those bonus FP and all. I am with you on Illuminations - I'm not a HUGE fan, and I really only want to watch it from the "foot" of World Showcase so I can beat the crowds out. I wouldn't have been real happy with that location. (Of course, I'm not sure I could've circled WS twice the way you did!)

(Also, the Monkey King is a Chinese fable, so I wouldn't think that the statue you see in Japan had anything to do with that.)

 

[Malia78]

How cool re the fireworks VIP seating and ticket for your Dad

After the way Ray arranged all that for us, I couldn't not take advantage of the opportunity even though it was a really long evening.

What a fabulous tour and just two

Seeing most of World Showcase empty and wandering backstage (seeing all the Illumination barges in their daytime storage location was pretty cool) are what makes the tour so fun and worth it to me.

pretty cool to have a near private tour and those bonus FP and all

Those extras and the people interaction are what it is all about for me--I can't even remember most of what Ray shared in terms of information...suppose these days, no information is really new anymore.

statue you see in Japan

Now that I pointed it out, maybe Ray will learn the real story...

 

[Malia78]

Wednesday 5 Oct

This was a relaxed morning-- we were transferring resorts to Kidani Village at AKL. Made the bag arrangements with bell services and all three of us hopped on a bus to Animal Kingdom.

Rafiki drive-by…

We rode Kali River Rapids first and got a good soaking. The ride broke down right by the exit and we had to stay seated with our seat belts fastened for about 15 minutes. I felt sorry for the folks who were stuck under a water feature for that length of time. The delay was cutting into our first FP+ time so I made an adjustment through the app--really do like the MDE app.

Since we now had the time, we spent a good long while gushing over the baby monkey playing around in the exhibit area.

Moved on to our Kilimanjaro Safari FP+. It was a good showing by the animals, lots of family groups: giraffes, elephants, white rhinos, wildebeest, and springbok. Only bummer was that I was in the middle of the vehicle so had to contend with this dude that at the last minute, kept sticking his head in the frame of my shot.

Hmmm... an animal new to the savannah…

Mid-morning snack…

Don’t think I’ve seen the females before…

Moving to the savanna

 

[Malia78]

Festival of the Lion King—we were in the elephant section.

Lunch at Tiffins—I wish I had explored the artwork more. One more reason in addition to the food to go back. We each ordered the Taste of Tiffins option—my two selections were the black-eyed pea fritters and crispy fried sustainable fish. Both delicious—the sauce with the fish was out of this world. Washed this down with a Vanilla Guava Ice Tea.

 

[Malia78]

It was about 2:00 when we finished lunch so we headed to back to the resort, hoping our room would be ready soon. Knowing the extensive length of the Kidani hallways and my father’s knees, I had made one request for a room close to the lobby. Our room wasn’t ready yet so we parked ourselves in the library and enjoyed the views off the balcony.

I could take animal pictures all day…check out those lashes.

At 3:45 my mom checked back in with the desk and they said our requested room wasn’t ready yet but there was one available 3 buildings down. My mom told them we would wait. At 4:00 I get a text for the room—as we head towards it I realize this is the room 3 buildings away. No—this wasn’t going to work. We went back down to the desk—he made some calls and magically found a room on the 5th floor right next to the lobby elevators. Funny how when the room deadline for DVC came up, they gave us the room that we had declined just to meet their “promised” timeline.

Here are some shots of our room and views.

How many animals can you spot in this shot?

That night we headed to Disney Springs for Cirque de Soleil’s La Nouba. Even my dad enjoyed the show which says something for keeping his interest besides football. It wasn’t super crowded and we had a great view of the stage without any heads in front of us.

One note on the room—we were in one of the newly soft goods refurbished rooms so it felt fresh. However the new sofa bed was already a problem—you couldn’t pull it out without straining your back. The front desk sent someone up pretty quickly and he could see that there was a problem when it was installed. He did some magic that supposedly fixed it but that sofa bed continued to be a pain to set up the rest of the trip.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

How nice to transfer to Kidani Village! I love this resort! I am glad they managed to get you a room eventually by the lobby. Those rooms can go back to All Stars...

Love,y room and views. Shame aboit the bed being heavy. That is going to get complaints!

How nice to go to AK. Did you see my cap on the rapids? Last time I rode the rapids ( years ago ) I lost my EE hat...

How awful those folks that were under the water fountain stuck on the ride! I bet they were not using MDE on their phones.l

The safafi yeah! Great photos. Tiffins looked nice.

Love Featival of The Lion King.

Looks like a great day and how neat you went to see Cirque Du Soleui isn't it fabulous. I adore the music. Glad your parents enjoyed it also.

 

[Steppesister]

Tiffins looks amazing. I probably should have put it in our lineup. Maybe next trip, I'll have to give it a try.

I'm the same way; I could watch giraffes all day long as well. LOVED our room at AKL! Bummer about the couch though. What a pain. Maybe it should come with automatic turn down service. LOL!

Ahhhh, Cirque. LOVED that show. I sat mesmerized the entire time and would totes go back in a heartbeat! I'm super glad your dad liked it. Expensive by completely worth it.

Wasn't that little baby monkey so cute?! We watched him/it? for a LONG time too.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Rafiki drive-by…

That was a find.

I felt sorry for the folks who were stuck under a water feature for that length of time.

That would not have been very pleasant at all. Those water features are freezing. I would hope that they would switch them off in such a scenario.

Lunch at Tiffins—I wish I had explored the artwork more. One more reason in addition to the food to go back. We each ordered the Taste of Tiffins option—my two selections were the black-eyed pea fritters and crispy fried sustainable fish. Both delicious—the sauce with the fish was out of this world. Washed this down with a Vanilla Guava Ice Tea.

I have heard nothing but good things about this place and your food looks delicious.

At 4:00 I get a text for the room—as we head towards it I realize this is the room 3 buildings away. No—this wasn’t going to work.

What a pain.

We went back down to the desk—he made some calls and magically found a room on the 5th floor right next to the lobby elevators.

I am glad that they managed to sort this out.

That night we headed to Disney Springs for Cirque de Soleil’s La Nouba. Even my dad enjoyed the show which says something for keeping his interest besides football. It wasn’t super crowded and we had a great view of the stage without any heads in front of us.

I am glad that you all enjoyed it.

Corinna

 

[franandaj]

I was two updates behind. There's no way I can do all that multi quoting and such, I'm lucky to catch up and comment!

What was the name of that tour you took in Epcot? I might really like to to try it someday! It sounds like you got a bunch of great knowledge and had some fun as well!

I'm not sure what we would do if we got VIP Illuminations viewing though, Fran doesn't care for the show at all, and I find it slightly dull as well.

The day at AK sounded nice, and I think I might enjoy trying Tiffins for lunch someday. Not so sure about dinner, as Fran was wary about their menu, but I thought it sounded rather nice!

Bummer about the pull out couch. I hope no one got hurt trying to prepare it!

 

[Malia78]

What was the name of that tour you took in Epcot?

It is the World Showcase DestiNations tour. I would even do it again.

I think I might enjoy trying Tiffins for lunch someday.

I would endorse it--think there enough options that aren't too weird

I hope no one got hurt trying to prepare it!

My dad usually made up the sofa bed so he could manhandle it-- the one night towards the end of the visit, my mom tried it and of course, tweaked her back. She wasn't up for much the next day. Sure hope they do more to fix those sofa beds

 

[Malia78]

Thursday 6 Oct/Friday 7 Oct

The ramifications of Hurricane Matthew will start showing up today and shut down the property tomorrow so this next post covers both days. There wasn’t much to do besides take pictures of the animals at AK—which was probably better entertainment than some of the other resorts in lock down. Consider that the warning---extreme animal photographs ahead.

Thursday morning we had a Boma reservation at 0830 but ran into a transportation comedy of errors. The shuttle between Kidani and Jambo wasn’t running yet so we thought we would try the walk. Taking my dad’s mobility into account, we then thought hey there’s a bus pulling up so let’s just catch the theme park bus which will stop at Jambo. The signs posted at the bus stations affirm this strategy.

So we hopped on the available bus which was headed for Hollywood Studios. Well, as we quickly learned, the inter-resort bus rule does not apply first thing in the morning. We zipped right past the Jambo entrance and were on our way to HS. Scramble time. The bus driver apologized, saying this happens multiple times a week. They talk to management about it all the time but no clarification in the signs. He offered to drop us off at Jambo on his way back so we stayed on the bus. However my WiFi wasn’t working to contact Boma and we were already 20 minutes late. When the bus pulled into Boardwalk, we decided to get off and switch gears. We stopped by concierge and she cancelled the Boma reservation so we wouldn’t incur the no show charge. I then logged on to MDE and booked Captain’s Grille for 9:25. We boarded the Friendship Boat to Yacht Club—breakfast saved.

I had my favorite entrée here...lemon ricotta hotcakes. They just melt in your mouth—no syrup needed.

It was at this meal that I received the message that the MNSSHP party I had tickets for tonight was canceled.

After breakfast, dad headed back to the resort while mom and I took a boat to Epcot. At the ticket office, I got a refund for the Halloween party as well as Club Villain for Friday night. She was able to confirm that the whole property would be closed on Friday.

Once inside, we turned right at the bridge and each ordered a Crème Brulee at the France kiosk.

The outside light fixtures in Morocco were already wrapped in plastic. Quick snack in Germany—caramel smore.

All the signs had been removed from the food kiosks and the Remy statues relocated inside.

We stopped in China to look at the Shanghai Disneyland exhibit. Mom grabbed a lamb meatball in New Zealand and we swung by the Annual Pass Holder area for her to pick up her free glass. Near the exit, I said one last goodbye to Daisy.

We reached our bus stop just as the clouds opened up—good timing!

It was back to the resort where we would be hanging out for the next 36 hours.

We were required to bring patio furniture indoors and all the trash bins were secured in the outside spaces.

There was rain and some wind but nothing too crazy—no trouble falling asleep.

------------------------

Oct 7

No hurry this morning since there wasn’t anywhere to go. Again some rain and wind but nothing too scary; the animals would begin showing up on the savanna before long.

Mom and I headed downstairs to start some laundry and get some water. We were pleasantly surprised by character meets in the lobby.

I practiced my thumping with Thumper.

When switching the laundry to the dryer, I overheard that Rafiki was coming out so I zipped over to his line next.

Very glad I was there for the early meets because the lines grew quickly as the morning went on.

Mom and I walked the length of Kidani and on our way back to the room, picked up some emergency Cheetos. The next few hours were spent in the room, alternating between animal viewing, weather channel watching and plain stir crazy boredom.

This shot reminds of the goat being used for T-Rex bait in Jurassic Park.

Glad we had the animals. My parents and I concluded that wildebeest are nutty creatures—they like to chase each other around as well as the little impalas and Ankole cattle. They would have these little battles among themselves where they get down on their front forelegs and bump heads.

Both the wildebeests and zebras loved rolling in the mud.

Snack time

 

[Malia78]

The giraffes, including the baby, came out about 2:30. They are wonderful creatures—feel so spoiled by this view.

Why did the giraffe cross the road?

To get to the food…

And just because one can’t have enough animal shots…

Received great news about 3 pm that with the weather improving, the curfews were being lessened. Disney Springs was opening at 5 for resort guests. A little later we learned that buses wouldn’t start running until 6:30. I didn’t feel like competing with the entire resort for a bus to limited Disney Spring offerings. Instead we chose to hop on the shuttle to Jambo and try walking in to the Boma buffet. They were honoring evening reservations at Boma but also seating walk-ins in the Jiko dining space—Jiko kitchen was not open.

Sorry no pics but I filled four plates of food—second time eating dinner at Boma and really enjoyed it. The menu changes slightly on various days of the week so some of my favorites from last time weren’t there, but I go to try some new things. There was the added excitement of juggling plates heaped with food (or in my case, carefully placed piles of food which I’m sure Alison would be proud of) across the two restaurants, dodging the unpredictable resort guest who threatened to upend your plate with any sudden moves.

Back to regularly scheduled vacation programming tomorrow.

 

[franandaj]

I remember you posting on FB that the store sold out of everything. Was the Mara or Sanaa open!

At least you had the animals to look at! I had another friend who was at one of the values and it sounded like that place was a zoo.

Nice that you had perfectly placed little piles of food from the buffet! I am proud of you!

 

[skier_pete]

I had gotten a little behind here. Nice to see the room you got at Kidani. We were on the main floor, in the opposite direction from the lobby but only about one "building" down. We had a standard view and the room was NOT refurbed. I definitely like the new furnishings better than the old. The old does feel very in style with the lodge, but the new furishings are much much brighter. (Our value room over at Jambo had the new furishings.)

I really want to do a Savannah View at Kidani, but right now we are in need to stretch our points - so value/standard it is for the next little while.

 

[dolphingirl47]

There wasn’t much to do besides take pictures of the animals at AK—which was probably better entertainment than some of the other resorts in lock down.

I think you definitely ended up with one of the better options. I can never get enough of watching the animals and I love all your animal photos.

So we hopped on the available bus which was headed for Hollywood Studios. Well, as we quickly learned, the inter-resort bus rule does not apply first thing in the morning. We zipped right past the Jambo entrance and were on our way to HS.

Oh, what a pain.

He offered to drop us off at Jambo on his way back so we stayed on the bus.

That was nice of him.

When the bus pulled into Boardwalk, we decided to get off and switch gears. We stopped by concierge and she cancelled the Boma reservation so we wouldn’t incur the no show charge. I then logged on to MDE and booked Captain’s Grille for 9:25. We boarded the Friendship Boat to Yacht Club—breakfast saved.

I am glad that you were able to regroup.

It was at this meal that I received the message that the MNSSHP party I had tickets for tonight was canceled.

What a shame, but totally understandable.

We reached our bus stop just as the clouds opened up—good timing!

That was perfect timing.

When switching the laundry to the dryer, I overheard that Rafiki was coming out so I zipped over to his line next.

That was nice that they offered meet and greets and even better that they were fairly rare characters.

Instead we chose to hop on the shuttle to Jambo and try walking in to the Boma buffet. They were honoring evening reservations at Boma but also seating walk-ins in the Jiko dining space—Jiko kitchen was not open.

That is nice that they added extra capacity.

Corinna