The Canceled Cruise that Turned Into Something Even Better May 4-11, 2019

DisneyDoesMyHair

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 26, 2016
I am excited to share our trip report from our very first family trip to Disney! We learned so much, and I can't wait to share with you all the amazing ups and downs of our trip! I am incredibly grateful to everyone on these boards for your help in planning, and I know our trip would not have been so amazing without your help! :thanks:First, a bit about us:
Family of four: DH, DD 11, DS 4, and one Disney obsessed mom. This was our first trip to Disney as a family. I am the only one who has been to Disney before, although it was when I was a child, and so much has changed.

The Fam

We had a split stay booked for 8 days/7 nights, with four days of tickets, the DDP, and Memory Maker. In addition to our four days of tickets, we had a couple of magical extras booked, Disney After Hours at Animal Kingdom and Early Morning Magic at Magic Kingdom. We started with a stay of two nights at AKL-Kidani standard, then one night Kidani Savannah, then on to Fort Wilderness for three nights in a cabin, and ending with one night at Boulder Ridge Villas. Before you say I’ve lost my mind, I know…it was a crazy choice to do so many splits. :crazy:

To explain the insanity: We had the beginning and end of our trip booked through David’s DVC, staying on rented points to start and end a cruise that we ultimately had to cancel…does the title make sense now? I was making the best of a less than ideal situation.
Follow along as I share our very first family trip to Disney…


Day 1, May 4, 2019 Flight and Arrival

We left home at 6 am for the drive to our airport. We were so excited the drive to the airport felt very short. Other than some nasty thunderstorms, our drive was smooth and uneventful. Unfortunately, upon arrival to the airport we quickly found out how much those same thunderstorms were going to affect the rest of our day. Our flight was delayed due to the weather, and when it finally arrived and we boarded, we were delayed again on the plane due to lightning. We finally were cleared to fly, and after a turbulent flight we arrived in sunny Orlando.

Upon arrival to the Orlando airport, we quickly navigated to the Magical Express area to await our bus to our resort. At this point, we were already nearly two hours behind our expected arrival. I had already received our room ready text, and I was excited to see our room at Kidani was near the lobby on the top floor, just as I had requested. We did online check-in several days before departure, and we utilized the touring plans room request fax form to request all of our rooms for the trip.

We arrived at Kidani about an hour after boarding our bus, after stops for drop off at Art of Animation, Coronado Springs, and Jambo House. I got exactly the type of room requested. We were close to the lobby, and on the top floor. We were the first room off of the elevator, and experienced no noise during our stay. We had a standard view booked for the first two nights, and I think we had a pretty decent view. I love to people watch, and we were overlooking the entrance to the lobby to Kidani so I got to watch lots of families leaving and arriving.

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Our "standard" view from our studio villa

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Views from a few of the many nooks of the resort. There are lots of little windows and viewing areas like this everywhere to see the animals.

The resort is gorgeous, warm, and inviting. The foliage is amazing, and we could tell Disney did an amazing job of landscaping to theme. From the African music, to the art in the lobby, the amazing smells of the food, the drumming of the CM’s at the entrance…we felt fully immersed immediately. I can not describe the feeling you get upon entering this resort, you just have to experience it for yourself. I could have easily spent 100% of my vacation time relaxing here, and never have stepped foot in a park. And I plan to do just that one day in the future.

We had a 6:45 ADR at Chef Mickey’s and we cut it really close for arrival due to the flight delays. This caused me a bit of anxiety, worrying about arriving late for our reservation. Lesson learned number 1: Do not book ADR’s for arrival day. We arrived about 30 minutes before our check-in time, and we were allowed to check in early. The food at Chef Mickey’s was okay, with typical buffet fare. My DH loved it, and said it was one of only two dining reservations he would do more than once. Granted, he is a big buffet lover. The dessert section was impressive; macarons, brownies, tarts, cupcakes, cobbler, pudding, and a soft-serve section and lots of toppings.

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For those who like to see costs...here is the damage. We were on DDP, and paid cash for all of our tips on this trip. I estimated the cost of tips for each of our meals prior to our trip, and made envelopes with tips for each meal to make it easier (for budgeting and for knowing how much cash to carry each day).

Our waitress, Chris, was amazing. I was a total rookie, and accidentally packed the kids’ autograph books in the carry-on, which had not arrived in the room yet. The kids were disappointed, and I felt terrible. I told them we would see the characters again at later times in our adventures and we would make sure to have the books. Somehow our quiet, little conversation was overheard by Chris or a character handler, and when the kids and I returned from filling our plates with food there were two cards filled with character signatures for each kid…along with first visit buttons and stickers! I nearly cried, and I thanked Chris over and over and over, and told her how special this was to us and how she really had made the day for my little ones. I will never forget that amazing moment, and it was at that moment that I realized why people who love Disney love it so passionately. This was just one of many magical moments of our trip, but it was my favorite because it was so unexpected.

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Chris, our amazing waitress and savior of the night!

After dinner we walked back to MK and caught the bus to our “Disney Home,” as my youngest loves to call it. Our first day at Disney was already off to an amazing start, and I could tell my family were absolutely enamored with the experience. Score one for Mommy!

For those who have never stayed Kidani, I can say it was so magical for me as an animal lover. I have included a short list of my pros and cons for this resort.

Pros and cons of AKL-Kidani:

Pros

Pool area is large, shaded, has a decent amount of lounges, has an awesome mom-tested water slide, and a kid-approved splash pad with an additional water slide for the littlest in your party. And the pool bar is not too shabby.

Beautiful, immersive theme throughout the resort

Secluded and quiet = max relaxation

Great food at Jambo and Kidani. Some of the best food of our entire trip.

Amazing views of the animals from savannah rooms or from dozens of spots around the resort. They did a great job of creating little pocket windows to snag views of the animals along the hallways, and the outdoor viewing areas are spacious and comfortable with rocking chairs.

Cons

LONG bus ride to all of the parks, except AK

The hallways at Kidani are long, and the walk to transportation, food and the lobby can be even longer for little legs. Request to be close to the lobby or elevators if walking is a concern for your party.

I honestly do not think any con I could list here would outweigh the pros of this resort. Just book here, just do it, you will love it!
 
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Great start so far! Can't wait to hear more about your adventure! Did you choose to cancel your cruise or was the cruise canceled by the cruise line?
:tigger:
 



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