The Wells Family Disney Adventures - Summer 2018

[Pluto80]

This is the first time I’ve done a trip report on here, so be gentle! I usually only post them on our holiday Facebook group, but thought I’d try posting on here also

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Pre-trip report


So, it’s almost that time again! The kids are off at a gymnastics day, so I’ve got a rare bit of peace and quiet to do some writing.


I warn you, my reports to tend to go on, and on, and on. So feel free to stop reading now, don’t worry, I won’t be offended


So, our cast of characters are

Anthony - also known as planner extraordinaire. The keeper of spreadsheets, planner of fast passes, bugeter of money, trawler of Disney related internet articles (sounds like a Game of Thrones character somewhat!)

Ben - age 11. Finished primary school last week and could not be more ready for secondary school. Huge Disney fan, loving all the new franchises they’ve bought as he loves all things Star Wars and Marvel. Typical boy and very much a sulky almost teenager!

Ava - age 7. The princess of the group. Been going to Disney since she was 6 months old, and knows almost as much about it as we do! Total thrill seeker and up for almost anything.

Vikki - that’d be me. Year two teacher (Ava was in my class this year). Love my job, love even more that it allows us nice long holidays, where we can spend the majority of the summer in Florida! Have an unhealthy obsession with buying way too much stuff from Target for my classroom!


So, anyone who read last year knows that we went for just over five weeks, this year we’re going for a little less time, only four weeks this time (haha), this is because we wanted a week before going to sort out everything Ben needs for starting secondary school, and also so we can come back early and get over the jet lag before returning to school.


Big change since we last went is that we’re now DVC owners. DVC is Disney’s version of a timeshare really. Basically, a night in a room costs a certain number of points, and the number of points it costs depends on the resort, room type, and time of year. We bought enough points so we could comfortably go for three weeks per year, in the summer, staying in a studio room. Since then we’ve actually found another DVC contract, but that’s still in progress, so can’t use those points yet. More on the hotels we’re staying at later. We bought our contract through the resale market, which meant that we saved a fortune on it. Unfortunately, buying resale locks you out of certain perks associated with DVC ownership. So, we decided to buy a very small contract direct with Disney. This means we get all the perks How much we’ll use these perks, I don’t know, but we thought it was useful to have the option.


We’re also travelling a little differently this time. We usually fly indirect, as it’s so much cheaper. However, we found a cracking deal for a direct flight with Norwegian, so decided to give them a go. The only disadvantage was that it’s from Gatwick. We’re not fans of Gatwick. We live in Lincolnshire so all airports are a bit of a drive, but Gatwick is just that bit too far, especially on the way back. So we decided that instead of driving, we’d take the train. With using Tesco clubcard vouchers, we managed to get first class train tickets. Bargain! No car parking to pay for, and no worrying about a tired drive home after a night flight. We may totally regret this decision, but we wanted to give it a try. We actually have a local train station a few minutes walk from where we live, but it was actually a bit of a pain to go from there. So we decided we’d go on Hull Trains, which takes us directly into London, then we just need to get the Gatwick express from there. It should be nice and easy......watch this space on that one!


I also said that if we were taking the train, I wanted to stay the night before at a hotel closer to the airport than our usual Travelodge. Anthony managed to find a good rate for the Bloc Hotel, which is actually in the airport, so you can’t get closer than that! Looks like a pretty cool place. From what I’ve seen, the rooms are teeny, yet functional. Suits us fine though. I just hope it has air conditioning. With the weather we’ve been having in the UK recently, a night in a muggy hotel room does not sound appealing. The kids are very excited at the prospect of everything in the room being controlled by a tablet, so it should definitely be interesting. Apparently the rooms have amazing showers though.....I’m a bit of a shower snob, so I’m looking forward to that!


The plan will then be that on the morning of the flight, we’ll check in, then go back to the room to have showers etc before the flight.


I’ll leave it there for now, next time, I’ll let you know about where we’re staying, and our general plans for the trip.


Well done if you’ve made it this far, like I said, if I bored you and you don’t want to read any more, I won’t be offended


We also have a Facebook page and YouTube channel with the same name as this hashtag, so feel free to join us there too

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Pre-trip part two


Can’t believe I failed to mention this, but I meant to say that we’re travelling down to Gatwick this coming Monday, and we fly on Tuesday morning.


So, on to our hotels. As I said we’re now DVC members, so we’re looking forward to trying some DVC villas. We’ve stayed at OKW and SSR before, so we know what the basic setup is like.


We decided to split our trip this year into three parts, a week at the beginning, a week at the end, and a fortnight in the middle. The reason for this is that you can book your ‘home’ resort at 11 months out, then if you wish, you can choose any of the other DVC resorts at 7 months out, if they’re available. So, the idea was to book everything at OKW to begin with, at 11 months, then when it got to 7 months, we’d switch the first and last weeks to other hotels. For all the hotels, we’ll be staying in a studio, as it offers us the best value for our points. I’d love to stay in a 1 bedroom at some point, but for now I’d rather save the points and stay longer!


We decided that during our first week, we wouldn’t be visiting any parks, as we’d just be buying the 21 day pass. For that reason we decided to book Animal Kingdom Lodge for our first week. We’d heard there’s loads to do around the resort, and it’d be a great place for a non park week. We also decided to spend a few extra points and book a savanna view room. Since we’ll be spending a lot of time there, the thought of seeing animals from our balcony was very appealing. We’ve booked to stay at Kidani. Even though both Animal Kingdom Lodge hotels have DVC rooms, Kidani is the only one with a DVC community room. The kids love the community room so Kidani seemed like the best choice for us. It was no problem to book this room at 7 months.


During this week, Anthony and Ben are actually going to be visiting Universal. They’re staying overnight there as well, so they can get access to Express Pass. Ava and I weren’t really interested in going, so we’re going to have a couple of girlie days together, which I’m really looking forward to. It’ll be really interesting to see what that first week is like. We’ve never not gone to the parks straight away.


The next fortnight will be spent at our home resort of Old Key West. We stayed here last year on a cash reservation, and absolutely love it. It’s such a beautiful resort. The rooms are in small buildings and I think they look so welcoming. The fact you can park right outside your room is a big perk too. We booked a room close to Hospitality House, which is the main area of the resort. This is where the big pool, and the community rooms are, and since we use these areas a lot, it made sense to book this area. The only downside is that it’s one of the areas that hasn’t had the refurbishment yet, but that doesn’t particularly bother us.


The final week was a bit of an issue. Originally we wanted to stay at the Polynesian. When we did the DVC tour last year we were shown the Polynesian studio room and loved it! The room was huge, and it also had a pull down bed as well as a sofa bed, meaning the children wouldn’t have to share a bed. Also, and this is my favourite thing, it has a massive bathroom with two showers. The bathroom is split in quite a clever way, which makes it much more user friendly for families. Unfortunately, when our 7 month booking window came around, it wasn’t available. We just put it down to experience and left it at that, we’d still be happy staying at OKW. However, as new members, we didn’t realise you can put in a waitlist for a resort. So, a couple of weeks ago we submitted a waitlist for the Polynesian, not really expecting it to come through, since it was so close to the trip. Amazingly, after a few days, we were notified that our waitlist had come through! So for the last week, we’re staying at the Polynesian after all!


We’ve a few other things booked for while we’re there too.


During the non park week, Disney are having one of their after hours events at Magic Kingdom. There was a decent DVC discount for this so we decided to go for it. So our non park week will have a little bit of park time haha!


For our wedding anniversary, Anthony booked for me to go and do a wine tasting event at the new Wine Bar George. He had to tell me as it came up on our booking. I know very little about wine so hoping it’ll be fun. This is also a DVC event. Anthony also booked me a massage for my birthday, at the Animal Kingdom Lodge spa, so that’ll be wonderful.


We’ve also managed to get tickets to the DVC Moonlight Magic event, which is at my favourite park, Epcot. These are free tickets, which you can only get if you own DVC points directly with Disney. Really looking forward to seeing what this will be like!


So all the extra things we’ve booked so far, we’ve taken advantage of with our DVC membership, so we’re making the best use of it we can!


Well, I think that’s it for the pre-trip portion of our blogs. Once again, congratulations if you’ve managed to read it all without falling asleep!


I’ll be back next on Monday night, after we’ve travelled down to Gatwick, hoping it’ll be an easy and straightforward process


Probably ought to start thinking about packing soon ;-)

 

[WDWFL2013]

Looking forward to following along - especially your stay at the Poly I hope to get a ressie there at 7 months for next August!

 

[Pluto80]

Looking forward to following along - especially your stay at the Poly I hope to get a ressie there at 7 months for next August!

I was so pleased we got it, really looking forward to staying there

 

[jane2073]

I am looking forward to more of your trip report!

 

[dbb727]

Excited to follow along! We will be staying on the DVC side of Poly in September with two young kids (4 and 2) and my husband. We visited the UK last year for a friend’s wedding in Newark, and Lincoln was one of my absolute favorite towns to visit! Love the castle and especially the cathedral

 

[Pluto80]

Excited to follow along! We will be staying on the DVC side of Poly in September with two young kids (4 and 2) and my husband. We visited the UK last year for a friend’s wedding in Newark, and Lincoln was one of my absolute favorite towns to visit! Love the castle and especially the cathedral

Small world! I was literally walking past the cathedral on Wednesday

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Travel days


This is actually two days, but thought it just as easy to do it as one.


I’d got all the packing done on Sunday whilst Anthony took the children to the cinema for a few hours. I always find this so much easier than people trying to ‘help’!


The taxi (also known as my dad), picked us up at about 9am on Monday morning and we arrived at Hull train station at around 10am for the 10.30am train. I’m so pleased we had pre booked seats as one of the carriages was out of action. I’m also very pleased we’d booked first class. It was sooooooo comfy! We also got hot drinks and breakfast included. Ben and Anthony both has sausage sandwiches, I had a bacon sandwich, and Ava had the healthy option of a fruit bowl. All were delicious!


The train ride was pretty uneventful and when we arrived in London, we walked across to St Pancras to catch our train to Gatwick Airport. This was just as straightforward, and we arrived pretty quickly. We’re definately going to do this again! It was so easy. There was no worrying about getting stuck in traffic, or finding the car park, or getting bus connections. It was brilliant. Then it got even easier. We walked through the airport check in area, straight to the Bloc hotel. Fortunately the check in desks for Norwegian were right next to the lifts to the hotel, perfect!


We checked into our room. It was absolutely tiny, but perfectly formed, just what we needed. We got ourselves a meal deal from Boots for tea, and after using the amazing shower, settled down for an early night.


The kids were up and buzzing at silly o’clock in the morning, so we went and got some breakfast, while I used the amazing shower again (I said I had a bit of a thing about showers).


We went downstairs at about 7am and it was literally a two minute walk to the check in desks. Unfortunately the automated machines wouldn’t check me in so we had to join the massive check in line, which was a bit of pain. Fortunately, all the desks were manned, so it only took 15 minutes to get checked in. I was really impressed!


We went back up to the room for a bit of a mooch, since it was so much comfier than the airport departure lounge. We went back down at about 8.30am. We’ll definately be staying here again! Security was a few steps away from the hotel lift, which was perfect. We headed for the family security area, and the very nice lady told us to go to the main one, as the family one only had 2 scanners and it was incredibly busy. So we went through the normal security area and it was fine. Ben got random,y selected (again), for the full body scanner, and I got randomly selected for the drugs swab tests at the gate.


Our flight had a very slight delay, just due to it being busy. The flight was thankfully uneventful. I absolutely hate flying, so the fact there was hardly any turbulence, and that take off and landing were very smooth, made me very happy indeed! The Dreamliner plane was wonderful! It was so quiet and I loved the ambient lighting, it really make you relax. We were fortunate enough to have booked seats behind the galley too, so had plenty of legroom. We had a meal included in our price, and it wasn’t half bad! The kids sausages and mash was lovely, as was my chicken, and Anthony said his beef was delicious. There was also a chicken mayo sandwich with a brownie and juice box just before we landed. The only thing is, it was such a long flight. I know that’s an obvious thing to say, but we’re used to flying indirect, so are rarely in the air for that long. However, as someone who hates flying, just going up and down once is definately preferable!


When pulling into the gate (which was delayed as there was a storm coming over), we noticed the Virgin Atlantic plane had also just landed. So we really hoped we made it to immigration before them! As soon as the doors opened we were off, as we were right next to them. Fortunately there were very few people in front of us when we arrived. Unfortunately there were only three desks open! One for cabin crew, one for Americans, and one for international. There were about a dozen families in front of us, and it still took a good hour to get through. We did get in before the Virgin flight, so those behind us, plus the Virgin customers, must have been there for hours! It really does make all the difference being quick off the plane, and not having any other plane come in just before you. They really need to open more desks though, that would solve a lot of the problems. One American man in the other line even apologised to everyone as this being such an appalling welcome to his country!


The benefit of immigration taking a while was that the cases were already off the belt and lined up for everyone. We were off to Magical Express in no time. Unfortunately we were the last drop off, but it really wasn’t a problem. It was the usual 4pm thunder storm while we were on the bus too, which had just about stopped when we arrived at Kidani.


We’ve visited Kidani before, but oh my goodness, what a beautiful place this is! We got the exact area we requested (via the DVC member services chat). As we arrived in our room there was literally a giraffe right outside! It was definately worth those extra points to have a savanna view. Not sure I would normally, but since this is a resort week, and we’ll be in he room a lot, it’s well worth it. We’re right at the end of the savanna as well, which is great, as we can’t see any other rooms from our balcony, just savanna.


We went for a bit of a wander of the resort, and walked over the Jambo house (the sister resort), to get something to eat. We were all starting to get pretty tired by then, so the kids had a bath and went to bed. A couple of friends were at the resort so Anthony went to see them for for a while. One of them was our DVC broker, Bee. She’s just wonderful. She knew we didn’t have a car yet, so brought us a massive fruit platter, some waters, crisps and Oreos to get us started before we go shopping tomorrow. She’s just wonderful, and it was much appreciated!


Suffice to say, it didn’t take us long to fall asleep!

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Signing up! I may try that hotel next to Gatwick next year!

 

[jchurch0409]

Following!

 

[cajunfan]

Following...Pictures, we need pictures!!!

 

[Pluto80]

Following...Pictures, we need pictures!!!

Will do!

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures

Day one

Well, in the great tradition of the first day in Florida, we’re all awake at silly o’clock. The one benefit however, was being able to watch the sun rise over the savanna. The view from our window really is incredible. We did wonder if it was worth spending the extra points on the savanna view, when there are so many look out points across the resort. We definately made the right decision though. Since we’re spending a lot of time at the resort, having this view whenever we want it is priceless. We literally opened the curtains and watched the sun rise while still laying in bed, can’t really beat that.

Bee had brought us some great goodies for breakfast, and they were much appreciated. After breakfast Ben was itching to go and find some Pokémon. Yes, I’m afraid he’s Pokemon obsessed, and is one of the few people that actually still plays Pokemon Go! We had a wander round Kidani, finding some Pokemon that I’ve no idea of the names of, but he seemed excited. We then walked over to Jambo as well. It really is a very short walk, and very pleasant in the early morning.

Last night we decided to buy a couple of refillable mugs. We only bought two, but that’s sufficient for our needs. They only last 2 weeks at a time, but the lady on the counter said that if we kept our receipt, after the two weeks were up, they’d reactivate them for us. Ben and I took them with us, and found the refill stations at the two resorts. Very handy to know for later. At Kidani, they’re at the pool and in the shop, and at Jambo we found one at the Mara quick service. There’s probably another one somewhere too.

On our return we decided to head to the pool. It was only about 10.30am so the pool was pretty empty. The kids loved the slide, and we spent a good hour or so splashing around. It was a fantastic time to be there. The pool was nicely shaded by the trees as well, so it wasn’t baking hot.

Back in the room, we all had showers and a snack. The plan was to go and collect the car, then stop for some lunch before going to Super Target! We were picking the car up from the Dolphin resort to got a bus to Animal Kingdom to transfer from there. There was a bus for the Yacht already waiting, so we decided to get on that instead and walk the short distance to the Dolphin.

We always collect the car from there and have always had great service. We’ve also found that every time we’ve hired a car from there, we’ve had an upgrade (even though we only book economy). Today was the exception to that rule! We actually got the economy car we booked. It’s nice enough though. What I do like is that it doesn’t have leather seats. Leather seats in this heat are a pain, so was quite glad to not have them.

So we thought we knew where Taco Bell was, but we went right past it and ended up at Super Target. We’re trying to use the studio kitchen in the room as much as we can, so we got a lot of things that we can microwave. We’d brought some microwave cooking things with us, so we’ll see how that goes. We don’t actually have a microwave at home, so this will be a bit of a learning curve! We also bought proper plates and cutlery as the room doesn’t have those.

It was a good job we had a snack as we ended up totally missing lunch, by the time we got back to the hotel we decided we’d just have an early tea instead. The kids had chosen some pizza pockets, so they gave those a try, and they were surprisingly good! Definately one to have again. Anthony and I had a bacon salad. We’d brought a microwave bacon cooker thing with us, and it worked really well! First proper meal in the studio was a success!

Whilst we were having tea, there was a massive thunder storm! It was amazing to watch from our balcony. Our owners locker arrived today too. Basically it’s a big box that you can fill up and leave in storage here. We thought it’d be a good idea to keep any cooking things and general holiday items in. The box is much bigger than I was expecting, and we get a DVC discount as well.

We headed to the community hall next as they were having a Disney trivia game. It was a lot of fun, and we won

After being up so early, Ava was starting to flag, so I took her back to the room to go to bed. Anthony and Ben stayed up to watch the movie for the evening, which was Black Panther. They didn’t stay until the end though, as they wanted a reasonably early night, what with the two of them heading off to Universal tomorrow.

A pretty chilled out day really, but that’s what this week is about

 

[Pluto80]

Just trying to figure out how to post photos.....

 

[fallonkendra]

Following along! I booked Animal Kingdom for our trip next May, it’ll be our first time there and I’m so excited! We also love Old Key West, it’s one of my favourite resorts on property!

A full week of relaxing at AKL sounds great!

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures

Day two

Up at the crack of dawn once again, not that I minded, watching the sun rise over the savanna is absolutely beautiful. Usually we’re settled into the time zone pretty quickly but not so much this time. I think it’s because we’re not in the parks. Usually these first few days we go full on in the parks and are so exhausted, we sleep really heavily. Since we’ve not been doing that, I think that’s why we’re still waking up pretty early. Not that it matters though, I’m loving just opening the curtains and watching the sun rise.

Ben was so excited this morning, as he was off with Anthony to Universal. I’m sure Anthony will add something when they get back about it, but for now, it’s just going to be what Ava and I got up to.

Ava had everything planned out for today, and was probably just as excited as Ben. Her basic plan was resort activities, crafts, games and pool. Every resort has a resort activity guide, and we chose Kidani especially for this as the two Animal Kingdom Lodge resorts seemed to have the most interesting activities.

After our success at the pool yesterday, we decided to head there first. Once again, it was practically empty. The temperature was perfect and the sun was just behind the trees. I did remember my sunglasses today though, which made it so much better. We spent a good hour or so in the pool, followed by some time in the water splash area, which was a lot of fun too.

Back at the room, we both had showers, and went down to the community hall. We did all sorts of beading and made about a million necklaces and bracelets. We also did some colouring and played pool for a while. Neither of us is particularly good at pool but we still had a lot of fun playing.

We went for some lunch in the room after that, just some sandwiches. We’d also got some mini red velvet cupcakes at Target, so had one of those too, they’re so good!

We walked down to Jambo house (the sister resort) next. We’ve figured out that there’s an exit near our room which makes the walk there all of about 5 minutes. Perfect!

The first thing we did was go down to Boma, and they were doing cookie decorating. There were several different shapes of cookies (all animals), with lots of different types of icing and toppings. It was a lot of fun, and of course you get to eat the cookie! After that, we walked down to the Mara area, as they were doing traditional African face painting. This is not the sort of face painting you’d get at home, this is the sort of face paint tribes would wear at celebrations. The lady doing it was from Kenya and absolutely lovely. Her and Ava had a good chat, and she told Ava all about her country, which was great.

We headed back to Kidani and back to the community hall. We got chatting to one of the staff in there, Skylar, who was wonderful. She was telling us all about what it’s like to work for Disney. She was one of those perfect cast members, someone who clearly loves their job. She also taught us how to play mancala, which is a traditional African game that they had out. We did get a little obsessed with it, although Ava beat me every single time! Skylar told us the craftsman at Jambo house makes them, so I might invest in one. It really is a great game, and I will beat Ava at some point!

They were doing cookie decorating at Kidani that afternoon too, so we decided to go and do that. It was fun, but not as good as the one at Jambo, their ingredients weren’t as good. Still worth doing though. By the way, all of these activities are for everyone, not just DVC members.

Back in the community room, Skylar put Sleeping Beauty on for Ava as she’d found out that was her favourite princess, and we spent another hour or so playing games and crafting.

We headed back to the room for some tea. Ava had some pasta, which worked surprisingly well in the microwave! The way she wolfed it down, I think she approved!

There was an African drumming workshop at 6.30pm, so we decided to give that a go. The guy leading it was wonderful. He told us about his country and the importance that drumming has there. He spent lots of time showing us what to do and he even had the youngest children getting a great rhythm going. Later on, some friends joined him and they put on a little performance for us. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone staying at Kidani, it was so much fun.

We had a little wander round the resort after that, visiting the campfire and the animal lookouts. Then of course, it was back to the community room for Ava to beat me at Mancala again......I beat her at pool though!

So, it was a pretty busy day! I had wondered if we’d manage to fill a whole day just with resort activities, but it wasn’t a problem at all. There was plenty to do, and we could have done so much more. The boys are staying at Universal overnight so there’ll be another day of just Ava and I tomorrow too. Not quite sure what we’ll be doing, but I’m sure we’ll be busy!

 

[Pluto80]

Having trouble uploading photos. Can anyone give me an idiot's guide?

 

[ariel_fan76]

Following along

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day three


Managed to sleep a bit longer this morning, but still awake in time for the sunrise, again, not that I mind. It’s so beautiful. Ava’s first request was the community hall this morning, so off we went to make a million more bead bracelets. Also did a bit of colouring and she beat me at Mandala once again. I’ve actually tweeted the @wdwtoday account to see if any of the African craftspeople around the resort make them. I’ve seen you can get them on Amazon, but I’d love an authentic one.


We decided to head to Disney Springs for a bit today. We got there with a few minutes to spare before the bus arrived, so perfect timing. The bus was already pretty full with people that had been picked up from Jambo house, but we managed to get a seat. I find it really irritating that you have to get a Disney Springs bus and change there to go to the water park. The bus was mainly people going to the water park as well. Just makes it a bit of a pain to get there.


Anyway, this was the first time we’d really used the bus from Kidani to get somewhere (I’m not counting picking the car up the other day), and the bus journey made me realise just how far Animal Kingdom Lodge is from anywhere. It’s not a problem for us this week, as we’re not visiting parks. However, I think a car would definitely be the better way to get around if you’re staying at this hotel.


We had a lovely time wandering round the shops at Disney Springs. We made the obvious trip to Ghirradelli so we could get a free piece of chocolate. They’re soooooo delicious! When we were on the dining plan last year we bought loads of bars from here with our snack credits. Won’t be doing that this year though, they’re pretty pricey.


We went into Basin, which I really like, but was disappointed to see it was under refurbishment. It was probably only a quarter of its usual size, and on weren’t able to do any of the testers like you usually can. I bought some sun repair body butter from there though, as it smelled so good! I usually use cocoa butter after being in the sun, so thought I’d give this a go. Managed to get a DVC discount as well, which was great!


The World Of Disney Store is also under refurbishment as well, and really is a shadow of its normal self. It was still fun to wander round, but it was so busy in there, we didn’t stay long. Ava found a cuddly toy she liked, and used her money to buy it. She has a huge collection of cuddly toys, and keeps saying she won’t buy any more, but always does! The kids save their own money from jobs around the house, birthday money etc, and change it into dollars to bring with them. We find it makes them much more thoughtful of what they’re buying if it’s their own money they’re using! Got a DVC discount on the toy though, which was great!


Even though we’re trying not to eat out much, Ava did make a request to go to Blaze Pizza, which I didn’t mind at all. It’s definitely my favourite pizza place. Ava and I shared one of the build your own pizzas between us and it was absolutely delicious. With a drink and DVC discount, it only came to $12, which I think is pretty good value, considering you can have as many toppings as you want.


I think having the heatwave in the UK before we left has definitely helped us adjust to the temperatures here. It’s as hot as it usually is, but it doesn’t feel as bad, since we pretty much got acclimatised before we left. Even wandering round Disney Springs at the hottest time of the day really wasn’t a problem.


We decided to head back and went to find our bus stop. Ours was next to the water park one and there were so many people there. The water park one used to be right at the front of the bus stops, whereas now they’ve moved it nearer to the back - which makes it even more annoying having to switch buses. There were so many people there that there were three buses come for the water park while we were waiting for ours. The people in front of us in the line were not at all happy. They said they’d been waiting for the bus for half an hour already. We were there for about 15 minutes before the bus came, so they’d been waiting ages. I often find the Disney Springs buses to be a bit haphazard. Our bus stop was next to the one for All Star Sports, and there were four buses for that resort while we waited for ours. At no point was anyone waiting for the bus at that stop though. Jambo was the first stop gong back and there were loads of people waiting to get on, it was standing room only. When we arrived round at Kidani there was the same. We were the only ones getting off, and there was no way everyone waiting was going to get on. Again, everyone getting on the bus looked like they were going to the water park, not Disney Springs.


After that, we spent the rest of our afternoon at the pool. There were lots of activities going on, a lot of them Winnie the Pooh themed, as the new Christoper Robin film is being released this week. By that time in the afternoon the pool felt as warm as a bath and was really lovely!


When we’d finished at the pool, the boys had returned from Universal with lots of stories to tell us about their time there. After some tea we went to have another go at the African drumming workshop. Unfortunately there was a wedding party in there who’d pretty much taken over the room, so the drummers weren’t able to set up as well as they’d done yesterday. We didn’t stay long as it just didn’t have the same atmosphere as yesterday.


We went out to the savanna instead, where they were doing a campfire. There were free s’mores to make, so we had to partake in that of course! We also spent some time talking to one of the guides. On the way back to the room, we stopped in the community hall for a while, and taught the boys how to play Madala.


Decided not to have too late a night as we’ve got the After Hours event at Magic Kingdom to look forward to tomorrow, which is going to be a very late night!

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day four


Today we decided we’d do some of the cultural activities. All resorts have activities but this one has some special ones. They have a big team of cultural representatives from Africa who lead activities about all sorts of things.


We started the day by heading over to Jambo house to learn about Flamingos. We were taught about their behaviours and then we had to observe them to see which behaviours they did. Whenever you do a cultural activity you get a special bead for a necklace. After that one, we played a game called bioblocks. Basically it’s about ecosystems. You’re taught about how ecosystems are built up, and Jenga blocks are used to illustrate it. Then they show how removing just one block from the ecosystem brings it all tumbling down. Very clever, and something I’ll be using in my class!


The @wdwtoday twitter page had got back to be as well, and told me they sold mancala boards at the Jambo House gift shop, so I went to find one. They were so beautifully made, I decided to get one. Maybe I’ll finally be able to beat everyone else at it!


Back at the room, we had some lunch and chilled out for a bit. I then headed back to Jambo House, as Anthony had booked me a massage for my birthday. It was absolutely wonderful, and so relaxing! The best bit was! They were running a promotion which meant DVC members got 40% off!


Anthony and the kids had done some more cultural activities while I’d been gone, and when I got back they were having a great time at the pool. They were playing a game where they had to throw a bean bag at a target, and if they hit it, a water balloon fell on someone’s head. It was a lot of fun, and both kids managed to get totally soaked!


We went back to the room to try and have a nap as it was a late night tonight. They both slept for a good couple of hours and I even had to wake Ben up! We had some tea, then headed out to Magic Kingdom. I can’t believe we’ve been here almost a week and this is our first visit to a park. We went to collect our lanyards, and when we went in, the turnstile light turned purple rather than green - apparently that happens with DVC members, love it!


Even though the party didn’t start until 10pm, we could get in any time from 7pm. I think we got there at about 8.30pm. It was pretty busy, and there were a lot of people waiting around for the fireworks. We decided to do a few things that wouldn’t have a wait. First up was the TTA, which I adore. I just love being on that train, whizzing round Tomorrowland, having a good people watch. Carousel of Progress was next, and after that we walked round to Storybook Circus, where we got a great view of the fireworks. If you want to just see the fireworks, and aren’t bothered about the castle projection, it’s a perfect place to go. Nobody else is ever there.


After the fireworks we went round to Dumbo as Ava wanted to go in the little playground. This is such a wonderful addition to the ride, as you have somewhere to play while you’re waiting for your turn. Unfortunately the playground area was actually shut, so we just went straight on the ride. The Barnstormer was next, and we even went round twice as there wasn’t anyone waiting to get on. A visit to Ariel was next. We always joke with Ava about meeting characters. She’s usually a real chatterbox, but when it comes to characters, she never says a word! The Little Mermaid ride was next, and by the time we’d finished that, the party had just started.


There were still a lot of day guests in the queues, so we decided to partake is some free ice cream and drinks while the park cleared out a bit. The first Mickey ice cream bar of the trip was a real treat, although Ava ended up with the majority of hers around her mouth!


We sat near Mine Train to have these and noticed that the day guests were in the normal line, but they were letting party guests through the fast pass line. So we decided to ride. We managed to get through the line in about 5 minutes, and we’re even sat at the back. I totally forgot how much fun this is in the dark. It was absolutely brilliant, and so fast!


We managed to get on so many rides in those three hours. Everything was a walk on, even Peter Pan. Don’t think I’ll ever see the queue for that as short! We did pretty much every ride and attraction in the park. We missed out things that were long, or things that had short day time waits. We also took a few breaks to have drinks and popcorn (all of which were included in the ticket price). We’ve definitely discovered a love of Disney popcorn now. Haven’t ever had it before, but it’s soooooo good. I think we may be buying some of that on normal park days.


Mid way through the party we decided to stop by the castle. There was literally nobody there, so managed to take some lovely photos. We didn’t have memory maker tonight, so didn’t use any of the photopass photographers.


I did notice it was busier than I expected. I’ve seen clogs and photos of these events before where the streets have been totally empty. This wasn’t the case tonight. We found out that this was the first of these events that’s actually sold out. However, the park didn’t feel at all busy, and we walked straight on to anything we wanted to do.


We decided our last ride would be Mine Train, and it was the only wait of the evening, all of five minutes! We got the front this time, which was great, as we’d done the front and the back now.


It actually felt quite busy walking out and the bus stops were all really busy. Fortunately it didn’t take long for our bus to arrive. You could definitely tell it was late though, as there was so little traffic. It certainly didn’t take any of us long to get to sleep!


I’d recommend this event to anyone. Even though ours was sold out, and busier than we expected, we went for the attractions, and we got to do everything we wanted. I’m not sure I’d do it if we had a normal park pass as well, but since this week has been a resort week, it was a great treat to go.