Disney Recap Part One

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I thought I'd do some Disney posts to first, let you know how our trip went, but second, help others NOT make the same mistakes I have!!!

We left for Disney on Friday at around 1pm. We drove to Savannah and spent the night at a Marriot Suites off I-95. Easy drive. The kids actually behaved and we even got a great deal on the room. So far, I'm not regretting driving instead of flying.

Saturday morning we got up, enjoyed our complimentary breakfast and headed to FL! My Dad decided to join us in FL so we picked him up at the airport on the way. As a retired military officer he was eligible for a free five day Disney pass for himself and was able to purchase five day park hopper passes for my family for $125 each. You read correctly...we saved over $450!!! Awesome Dad.

We arrived at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and check in was without a problem. I was expecting a room with a parking lot view because we had reserved a Disney Vacation Club "value" villa. This allowed us to get a two bedroom but is slightly smaller than a regular villa because it's a lock off. We were thrilled to learn, as we walked to our room, that we actually had a savannah view! The kids were absolutely over the moon. Giraffes, zebras, ostrich, etc.

The room was nice and big. Master bedroom small and the door had to remain completely open to allow passage through to the bed. Kind of a pain in the arse. The bathroom was huge and really nice. Family room/kitchen were lovely with the exception of the fridge. It was kind of el cheapo and moved every time the door closed. Eventually, it shimmied over close enough to the granite counter that the door wouldn't completely shut. Not good. The kids kept thinking it was closed but it really wasn't!

The second bedroom had a queen sized bed and a fold out couch. Plus, dad has his own kitchenette with a coffee maker, toaster, fridge, microwave, etc. He also had a good sized bathroom.

The family room had a fold out couch as well, so we had plenty of room. The view from the balcony was great...still some construction going on across the way with the Kidani Village villas that are almost complete, but there were enough trees on the savannah that we really didn't notice it.

The view from our room...





We ate in our room Saturday night and went to bed early! Sunday we went to the Animal Kingdom. Dad had never been and I think he had fun! He thought we were a little ridiculous wearing the ponchos on the Kilimanjaro water ride UNTIL everyone else got SOAKED and we didn't!
BabyGirl was slightly devastated that she wasn't quite tall enough to ride the Yeti rollercoaster. Wild child, that one! We ate at the Yak and Yeti restaurant and it was delicious. We made a very BAD choice and took BabyBoy on the Dinosaur ride. I had forgotten how scary and loud it is! He was terrified. That isn't even the right term. I actually thought he had passed out at one point. Paralyzed with fear. I felt SO BAD. BabyGirl, on the other hand, just buried her head in Daddy's arm and wasn't bothered a bit!

Saturday night we ate at Jiko and sent the kids to the Simba's Cubhouse childcare at the hotel. The restaurant was fantastic and the kids loved the cubhouse. They wanted to go back every night!

Monday we headed off to Epcot. I forgot to mention earlier that we did rent a double stroller each day. It was totally worth it to not have to listen to the kids whine about walking. Especially at Epcot, where there is a lot of walking.
I have to say that Epcot was a little disappointing this year. I think it was partly my fault...we didn't get there early enough (you really need to get there by 9am) and having a sit down lunch at noon sucked up a lot of time.

The kids loved Soarin' and Test Track but that was really about it. They also really liked the boat ride in the Land pavillion. Lunch at Restaurant Marakkesh was good, but we sat down at noon and the belly dancing wasn't until 1pm. We didn't realize this and just kept waiting and waiting. Finally, the show started but it was only one girl and the kids were UNDER impressed! A few pics from our day...






More to come!!!