Just Back: 2/3/18 - 2/9/18

k2kten

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 25, 2017
Hello fellow Disney fans! I just returned home from a 6 day/night stay at Disney World! I posted a quick dining review on the dining thread but also wanted to summarize my trip to help anyone out interested in the things i enjoyed on my trip! It was my first trip since childhood and my husband's very first trip! We are in our early 30s and my husband isn't a huge Disney fan (he loves Avatar and Star Wars) so was a bit unsure of why i picked Disney for our big trip of the year. BUT I'm happy to report that he enjoyed it and said that we can return next year! Now, for my report:

We were lucky enough to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House. What a beautiful, amazing hotel! We had a standard room but were not disappointed since we could walk around the hotel and see animals whenever we wanted. We loved the hotel so much that my husband said he'd only want to stay there when we go back :)

We arrived Saturday night and headed straight to the Grand Floridian from the airport because it was on my list of resorts to check out. We walked around, grabbed drinks at Mizners, saw a little bit of Happily Ever After and ate dinner at GFC. While i liked the resort, i thought it was a little stuffy for me and definitely prefer the laid-back feel of AKL.

Sunday morning we got up bright and early and rope dropped Magic Kingdom. Rope dropping is the way to go! With rope dropping and fast passes, we were able to ride 7 Dwarves Mine Train (FYI - my husband can't bend his knee 90 degrees due to a tumor as a kid and unfortunately, he was not able to ride this one due to the tight knee space), Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Tea Cups, Little Mermaid, Mickey's Philharmagic, It's a Small World, grab a cinnamon roll from Gaston's, meet Gaston, and have lunch at Be Our Guest all before 1 PM. The park started to get crowded around lunch time so around 1:30, we hit up a few shops on Main Street and headed back to the hotel to rest up before having dinner (with a fireworks view) at Ohana.

Monday was Animal Kingdom day! We got up and rope dropped the park. While everyone ran to Pandora, we were one of the few that were rope dropping Dinosaur. It was pretty insane to watch thousands of people run towards Pandora before park opening while just a few of us were on the right side of the park. Since we had a fast pass for FOP, i wasn't concerned about rushing to Pandora. After Dinosaur, we explored the Gorillas then had a fast pass for the safaris. We shopped around, grabbed lunch and Yak and Yeti Cafe, rode Everest and saw the baby tigers. Then it was time for a few drinks at Nomad Lounge followed by FOP. It was my husband's favorite ride of the trip. I liked it but i'm not a huge Avatar fan so i just thought it was fine. I definitely would not wait in line 2 hours for it but honestly, i wouldn't wait that long for any ride. Fast Pass was the way to go. We skipped Navi River Journey since we had a FP for Friday. After FOP, we headed back to the hotel and ended the night with dinner at Sanaa - my new favorite restaurant!

Tuesday was EPCOT day. We got up and had breakfast at Boma at 8 AM and then went back to bed for a few hours because rope dropping two days in a row followed by not much sleep because i was so excited to be at Disney gets exhausting. We were at EPCOT by 1 PM and had fast passes for Spaceship Earth, Soarin, and Mission Space. After riding those, we headed over to walk around the world. We grabbed drinks in a few countries and dinner at Katsura Grill followed by a funnel cake in America and a wine flight at Tutto Gusto. EPCOT had extra hours that night and was open until 11. We left around 6:30 PM which is when the park started to get really crowded.

Wednesday was my favorite day! We did Wild Africa Trek at 9:30 AM and it was the BEST experience of the trip. Walking over the hippos and crocodiles was so cool and i could watch hippos, giraffes, basically all animals all day. the meal at the end was nice too. After the trek, we didnt hang around the park. We went back to the hotel and my husband went to the pool and i checked my work emails/rested. At 3:30 PM, we headed down to Jiko for the Wanyama Safari (Wednesday was a day of animals). The hotel safari was so nice and relaxing and the dinner at Jiko was amazing! The wines were really good and they were not stingy with the pours. There was so much food that we couldn't finish our plates.

Thursday was Hollywood Studios Day. We had lunch at Sanaa (I loved dinner on Monday so much that I needed to eat here one more time during my trip) and then headed to HS. We had fast passes for Indiana Jones, Toy Story and Tower of Terror. I also got a carrot cake cookie (A++++) and met Kylo Ren and Chewbacca. Then we had the Star Wars Dessert Party. The drinks/desserts were nice. I'm not sure I'd do it again just because i can't eat that many sweets and i don't typically drink fruity/sweet alcoholic drinks. I know they had beer/wine but i was too full for beer and wasn't in the mood for wine. the fireworks show was awesome, though!

Friday was departure day :( We left our bags with RAC and Bell Services and headed to Animal Kingdom one last time. We rope dropped Dinosaur again and then used fast passes to go meet Mickey and Minnie and ride the safaris. We walked around and saw the gorillas again then headed to Pandora. Unfortunately, our last fast pass was for Navi River Journey and the ride was closed. Since we had to be at the hotel for our bus to the airport by 1:20 and it was 11, we just headed back to the hotel to grab lunch since the park was getting crazy. We went to the pool bar and had a few drinks followed by lunch at the Mara. Then it was time for the Tragical Express :(

This trip was so, so fun and i'm so glad i was able to convince my husband for a return trip - same time, next year! My favorite rides were Dinosaur and Haunted Mansion.

Animal Kingdom was definitely the most crowded of all of the parks but was our favorite.

I found the bus system to be great! My husband rented an ECV for the week due to his knee and the bus drivers were always very nice and accommodating. We used uber a few times during the trip too and it worked out well.

The only thing that wasn't that great about the stay was Mousekeeping. It seemed like everyday, something was off. We tipped every day but still weren't impressed. The first day, they left us a giant coffee pod instead of the small pods which is the kind of pot that we had. It was weird because that large pod obviously wasn't going to fit our coffee pot. Then they wouldnt leave paper, to-go cups after the first day unless i wrote a note requesting it. Another time, they did not leave any extra toilet paper and we only had half of a roll left. But in the grand scheme of things, these aren't a big deal.

Also, i'd recommend packing your own shampoo/conditioner because the H2O products are horrible! My hair was so dry/frizzy/gross by the end of the trip that I was sooooo excited to wash my hair when i got home.

Thanks for reading my report!
 
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The only thing that wasn't that great about the stay was Mousekeeping. It seemed like everyday, something was off. We tipped every day but still weren't impressed. The first day, they left us a giant coffee pod instead of the small pods which is the kind of pot that we had. It was weird because that large pod obviously wasn't going to fit our coffee pot. Then they wouldnt leave paper, to-go cups after the first day unless i wrote a note requesting it. Another time, they did not leave any extra toilet paper and we only had half of a roll left. But in the grand scheme of things, these aren't a big deal.

We are just back, as well. Overall, great, but Mousekeeping was our one sore spot too! I just came here to look for posts about it, thinking they may have changed some policies or something.

We were in Saratoga and every day 1x-3x a day they were rapping loudly on our door wanting something, even with our "Do not disturb" sign on. I suspect the unit next to us had the same problem, as their sign was out the whole week, too. They even opened the door and tried to barge in a couple of times. o_O It was so weird!
 
We were there the same dates! I just started my TR on the other thread. We had the same issues with not getting to-go cups in our room beyond the first day. I had to call housekeeping and have some brought up. Other than that, our Mousekeeper was excellent. Restocked our toiletries and TP every day
 


We were there the same dates! I just started my TR on the other thread. We had the same issues with not getting to-go cups in our room beyond the first day. I had to call housekeeping and have some brought up. Other than that, our Mousekeeper was excellent. Restocked our toiletries and TP every day

Haha i'm glad you got toilet paper...no joke - i had to put the box of tissues in the bathroom that night because we ran out of TP in the middle of the night
 
We are just back, as well. Overall, great, but Mousekeeping was our one sore spot too! I just came here to look for posts about it, thinking they may have changed some policies or something.

We were in Saratoga and every day 1x-3x a day they were rapping loudly on our door wanting something, even with our "Do not disturb" sign on. I suspect the unit next to us had the same problem, as their sign was out the whole week, too. They even opened the door and tried to barge in a couple of times. o_O It was so weird!

I think that was the "security check" they do now. If you have the DND sign up, they take that as an invitation to knock to get in and check.
That's what I have read on multiple sights about this new policy. So, maybe that was it. Not happy with this at all.....
 
Thanks for the report! I'm going to read up on the Wild Africa Trek and Wanyama Safari you mentioned, because we are looking at AKL for our next trip.
 


I would like to thank you for posting a positive report!! There has been so much negativity on these boards, I am starting to get really bummed about my August trip.

I am glad to hear you loved AKL! It is gorgeous and the restaurants are wonderful!!
 
I would like to thank you for posting a positive report!! There has been so much negativity on these boards, I am starting to get really bummed about my August trip.

I am glad to hear you loved AKL! It is gorgeous and the restaurants are wonderful!!

No negativity here! I was so excited to be there :)
 

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