What a great week we had at WDW, and our first trip to SSR (our home) in quite some time. We have stayed at AKV - Kidani our last few trips, as our daughter loves the resort, and saved a bit on points.
This was a different vacation for us in a few ways. First off, upon our arrival in Florida we spent two days with my parents in their new home about 35 minutes outside Orlando. They purchased in a retirement community they had rented in the past few years, and went down this fall to make sure everything was ok for their eventual stay over the winter. It was nice to spend some time with them, play some golf and relax before the vacation got started. Saturday and Sunday were spent at their place, and had an interesting experience at a place called the Cherry Pocket Restaurant - where I tried Gator Nuggets for the first time (and liked them).
Day 1 - Monday we went to Hollywood studios. Outside of Toy Story Mania, the lines were not bad at all. ToT and Aerosmith had longer wait times early, but as the day went on they were manageable. We got fast passes for TSM first thing, and then did Star Tours 3x, and got three different versions. What a great ride that is, it has become a favorite for us. We hit all the big ones, doing TOT twice, and my daughter did Rock-n Roller Coaster for the first time. We were bummed that the Backlot Tour was down, but what can you do? We also watched the Indiana Jones live show, we had not done that in a few years. We met up with some friends who were on Vacation at the same time and spent half the day with them. We did the American Idol experience which we had not done before, pretty cool idea. We stayed at the park until 4:30 or so, and then went to check in. We were in the Paddock area of SSR, room 4734 - a 1 bedroom. Nice room, but one thing that I missed was having the two seperate bathrooms at AKV. SSR only has one toilet, and in Kidani we had two. Minor issue but all the same - it is nice to have the two bathrooms. I picked up a few items for the room. Having one. We had 1 park hopper pass, so we went over to EPCOT after check-in and had a few food samples for dinner and rode Soarin.
Day 2 - We spent the day swimming at the resort, as we had tickets for MNSSHP that evening. I walked over to DTD and had breakfast at the Earl, twice in one trip is a good thing!!
We love the Halloween party, it is a blast for the kids, tons of people dressed up, and the parade and fireworks. On top of that, the ride wait times are very reasonable. We had a blast, it was a beautiful night. One bonus was they had a dress rehearsal for part of the new area, and we got a preview ride of Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid. The area looks very impressive, but the walls were still up, and we only got a small preview.
Day 3 - EPCOT. The F&W Festival is one of the main reasons we go, and it did not dissappoint. We tried some new foods this year (Crispy Chicken Sushi / Kefta Pocket / Belgian Waffle / Jerk Spiced Drumstick), but had to go with our favorites as well (Cheddar Cheese Soup / Empanada). As an IPA guy, I must say I enjoyed both the Full Sail and Widmer Brothers Falconer IPA from the Craft Beer selection.
With Test Track Down, Soarin had a constant wait time of at least an hour. My parents met up with us for this day, so I got fast passes for them to ride Soarin with our daughter, and we got passes to go for ourselves later in the day. Everything else was fine, Mission Space was 10 -15, and Spaceship Earth was 5-10. We did Nemo, Crush, Livin with the Land (it had been a few years for this one - enjoyed it) and spent a little extra time in the Innovations sections. There is so much to see!!!
My wife loves Off Kilter, so we caught one show in full and part of another. Unfortunately on this day Air Supply was the Eat to the Beat concert, and I had no interest in seeing them. My wife however enjoyed the show. I walked on and sampled a few more offerings during this time. Later in the evening we walked over to the Boardwalk to watch the magic shows, and sat on the beach at the Beach club and watched a little of haunted mansion movie. We walked back to catch the fireworks, and headed home.
Day 4 - Animal Kingdom - I love this park, and although it seemed crowded people wise, the ride waits were very good. As we arrived, I went to the Safari to get fast passes and met my family at dinosaur. I rode twice and the rode 3x. On to Kali River Rapids....luckily we were in the dry seats! Then we used our fast pass for the safari which has changed, there was no radio announcer for the ride, and the ending is not the same where you save the elephant. We did Everest twice, walked both trails to see the animals. We skipped the train ride, and a few of the others to head back to the hotel for a swim - it was a hot day.
This was our last full day, so the girls went swimming as I walked around the resort taking in the sites and weather. We met up with a friend and had made reservations at the Turf Club Restaurant at SSR. The menu selection was limited, and the meal was just ok. We had the calamari appetizer, and then two pasta dishes and the salmon. We walked over to DTD and got ice cream at Ghirdelli's - very good.
Day 5 - Our flight was at 3:00, so we got our stuff together and I took the bags up for airline check-in and again walked the resort while my DW & DD spent more time at the pool. Sadly, we left around 1:00 to get to the airport and had a good flight home to rainy, grey New York.
SSR (good) - I love the layout of the resort. This is a beautiful resort to just take in, I walked it many times during the week. That was one of the drawbacks of AKV, there are no real walking areas. The Paddock pool is excellent, and I love taking the bridge from the Paddock area over to the Springs and then to the main house. The closeness to DTD is also a plus for us, we love just walking over to spend and hour or two, or just grab something to eat.
SSR (misses) - The 1 Bedroom having only 1 toilet, although no big deal, I must admit we got used to having two. SSR has two seperate areas, one with tub and one with shower, but having the two showers and two toilets at AKV made getting going in the morning a little faster. I also wish the Turf Club had a little more selection on the menu.
We had fantastic weather, and a great time. What a week - and I am sure as we get ready to plan next year, we will go in October again, and not sure about the resort yet, but was glad to get back to SSR!! The Sad part is it is always over much too soon.
This was a different vacation for us in a few ways. First off, upon our arrival in Florida we spent two days with my parents in their new home about 35 minutes outside Orlando. They purchased in a retirement community they had rented in the past few years, and went down this fall to make sure everything was ok for their eventual stay over the winter. It was nice to spend some time with them, play some golf and relax before the vacation got started. Saturday and Sunday were spent at their place, and had an interesting experience at a place called the Cherry Pocket Restaurant - where I tried Gator Nuggets for the first time (and liked them).
Day 1 - Monday we went to Hollywood studios. Outside of Toy Story Mania, the lines were not bad at all. ToT and Aerosmith had longer wait times early, but as the day went on they were manageable. We got fast passes for TSM first thing, and then did Star Tours 3x, and got three different versions. What a great ride that is, it has become a favorite for us. We hit all the big ones, doing TOT twice, and my daughter did Rock-n Roller Coaster for the first time. We were bummed that the Backlot Tour was down, but what can you do? We also watched the Indiana Jones live show, we had not done that in a few years. We met up with some friends who were on Vacation at the same time and spent half the day with them. We did the American Idol experience which we had not done before, pretty cool idea. We stayed at the park until 4:30 or so, and then went to check in. We were in the Paddock area of SSR, room 4734 - a 1 bedroom. Nice room, but one thing that I missed was having the two seperate bathrooms at AKV. SSR only has one toilet, and in Kidani we had two. Minor issue but all the same - it is nice to have the two bathrooms. I picked up a few items for the room. Having one. We had 1 park hopper pass, so we went over to EPCOT after check-in and had a few food samples for dinner and rode Soarin.
Day 2 - We spent the day swimming at the resort, as we had tickets for MNSSHP that evening. I walked over to DTD and had breakfast at the Earl, twice in one trip is a good thing!!
We love the Halloween party, it is a blast for the kids, tons of people dressed up, and the parade and fireworks. On top of that, the ride wait times are very reasonable. We had a blast, it was a beautiful night. One bonus was they had a dress rehearsal for part of the new area, and we got a preview ride of Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid. The area looks very impressive, but the walls were still up, and we only got a small preview.
Day 3 - EPCOT. The F&W Festival is one of the main reasons we go, and it did not dissappoint. We tried some new foods this year (Crispy Chicken Sushi / Kefta Pocket / Belgian Waffle / Jerk Spiced Drumstick), but had to go with our favorites as well (Cheddar Cheese Soup / Empanada). As an IPA guy, I must say I enjoyed both the Full Sail and Widmer Brothers Falconer IPA from the Craft Beer selection.
With Test Track Down, Soarin had a constant wait time of at least an hour. My parents met up with us for this day, so I got fast passes for them to ride Soarin with our daughter, and we got passes to go for ourselves later in the day. Everything else was fine, Mission Space was 10 -15, and Spaceship Earth was 5-10. We did Nemo, Crush, Livin with the Land (it had been a few years for this one - enjoyed it) and spent a little extra time in the Innovations sections. There is so much to see!!!
My wife loves Off Kilter, so we caught one show in full and part of another. Unfortunately on this day Air Supply was the Eat to the Beat concert, and I had no interest in seeing them. My wife however enjoyed the show. I walked on and sampled a few more offerings during this time. Later in the evening we walked over to the Boardwalk to watch the magic shows, and sat on the beach at the Beach club and watched a little of haunted mansion movie. We walked back to catch the fireworks, and headed home.
Day 4 - Animal Kingdom - I love this park, and although it seemed crowded people wise, the ride waits were very good. As we arrived, I went to the Safari to get fast passes and met my family at dinosaur. I rode twice and the rode 3x. On to Kali River Rapids....luckily we were in the dry seats! Then we used our fast pass for the safari which has changed, there was no radio announcer for the ride, and the ending is not the same where you save the elephant. We did Everest twice, walked both trails to see the animals. We skipped the train ride, and a few of the others to head back to the hotel for a swim - it was a hot day.
This was our last full day, so the girls went swimming as I walked around the resort taking in the sites and weather. We met up with a friend and had made reservations at the Turf Club Restaurant at SSR. The menu selection was limited, and the meal was just ok. We had the calamari appetizer, and then two pasta dishes and the salmon. We walked over to DTD and got ice cream at Ghirdelli's - very good.
Day 5 - Our flight was at 3:00, so we got our stuff together and I took the bags up for airline check-in and again walked the resort while my DW & DD spent more time at the pool. Sadly, we left around 1:00 to get to the airport and had a good flight home to rainy, grey New York.
SSR (good) - I love the layout of the resort. This is a beautiful resort to just take in, I walked it many times during the week. That was one of the drawbacks of AKV, there are no real walking areas. The Paddock pool is excellent, and I love taking the bridge from the Paddock area over to the Springs and then to the main house. The closeness to DTD is also a plus for us, we love just walking over to spend and hour or two, or just grab something to eat.
SSR (misses) - The 1 Bedroom having only 1 toilet, although no big deal, I must admit we got used to having two. SSR has two seperate areas, one with tub and one with shower, but having the two showers and two toilets at AKV made getting going in the morning a little faster. I also wish the Turf Club had a little more selection on the menu.
We had fantastic weather, and a great time. What a week - and I am sure as we get ready to plan next year, we will go in October again, and not sure about the resort yet, but was glad to get back to SSR!! The Sad part is it is always over much too soon.
