Disney Vacations

[CraigSca]

Yeah, 3rd theater and it's now Soarin' Around the World instead of Soarin' (California). Also, they upgrade the projectors to HD.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Hopefully Disney will do the right thing here and give a large gift to support their new charitable foundation.

Family of 2-Year-Old Boy Killed by Alligator Will Not Sue Disney | WNEP.com

Also, it looks like Disney is basically doing what I had suggested earlier in the thread.

New Rock Barrier Being Added To Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa Shoreline — DISKINGDOM.com | News from Disney, Marvel & Star Wars

[flere-imsaho]

Honestly, those are two outcomes I really didn't expect. Maybe I'm getting cynical in my old age. Maybe Disney, as you said, can make it a trifecta and give a big donation.

[bob]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Hopefully Disney will do the right thing here and give a large gift to support their new charitable foundation.

Family of 2-Year-Old Boy Killed by Alligator Will Not Sue Disney | WNEP.com

Also, it looks like Disney is basically doing what I had suggested earlier in the thread.

New Rock Barrier Being Added To Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa Shoreline — DISKINGDOM.com | News from Disney, Marvel & Star Wars

My guess is Disney settled with them so lawsuit is unnecessary.

I am cynical.

[timmae]

An out of court settlement is very likely methinks. I'd want to mitigate damage also in this case. We all know Disney has the money. They've probably also taken a look at every square foot of their properties to verify how they are opening themselves up for future safety issues. They have a very large team of designers onsite and probably an even larger team of attorneys offsite.

Brighter news... I'm all signed up for a bunch of demos and lectures during Food and Wine this October. A whiskey tasting, signature dinner at Yachtsmans, secrets of flavor event and a manhattan class among them. Certainly looking forward to this!

[digamma]

Settlement, release, non-disparagement clause. Almost guaranteed.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by timmae

Brighter news... I'm all signed up for a bunch of demos and lectures during Food and Wine this October. A whiskey tasting, signature dinner at Yachtsmans, secrets of flavor event and a manhattan class among them. Certainly looking forward to this!

Very cool. Can't make it down this year, but definitely want to go to it again next fall.

[cougarfreak]

Brought the family for Christmas. Wow they do it up right. The last two days the crowds haven't been bad at all. I'm sure it will be crazy the next two, but it's been well worth it so far. If you've ever thought of coming here for Christmas I'd highly recommend it.

[CraigSca]

Originally Posted by cougarfreak

Brought the family for Christmas. Wow they do it up right. The last two days the crowds haven't been bad at all. I'm sure it will be crazy the next two, but it's been well worth it so far. If you've ever thought of coming here for Christmas I'd highly recommend it.

Wow - surprised. We went the weekend of the 10th and it was a madhouse. We were going to go for New Year's but decided against it (did it before and again, it was crazy).

Have a great time!

[bob]

So not exactly the place for this post, but I didn't want to start a new thread.

Have any of you been to the Harry Potter stuff at Universal? My oldest is really into Harry Potter, so here's what I'm looking to know:

- I know the HP stuff is spread across two parks. Genius on their part. If you can only go to one, which side / park is better?

- How many rides / attractions are there in the HP section? Looks like just a few then a ton of shops. How many days worth of activities are there really?

- How old do you need to be to really enjoy the rides?

Thanks in advance.

[Thomkal]

I have a couple sister-in-laws who love Disney and have been there several times. This is what one said in answer to your questions:

Prolly like 5 rides, tons of shops and interactive things... the park to park pass is the best and it's also the only way you can ride the hogwarts express I honestly can't decide which part is better though I love them both.. so fun for any age kid but you'd probably just have to look up height requirements for rides but I'm 29 and me and ryan had a blast so I dunno

[Butter]

Yes, we just went to HP this year over Spring Break, my boys were 16 and 14 at the time.

If I had to pick only one, I would probably pick the Islands of Adventure side. It has 2 coasters and a dark ride, along with the Ollivander's Wand show, King's Cross station, and a couple of good restaurants.

For theming, I feel like the Universal Studios side is better... Diagon Alley is outstanding, better than the Hogsmeade area in IoA. Plus, the Escape from Gringott's was my favorite ride, which is at Universal Studios.

They did a pretty good job with balancing the 2 sides of Harry Potter to me, but IoA has more rides. I didn't get the park-to-park, so can't comment on the Hogwart's Express.

[bob]

Thanks for the info. We typically hate the divide and conquer style of vacation, but sounds like it will be best if my wife takes my 10 years old to HP and I take the two younger ones to Magic Kingdom.

Is one day enough to see all the HP stuff assuming you have the park to park pass or do you need more than one?

[Butter]

Originally Posted by bob

Thanks for the info. We typically hate the divide and conquer style of vacation, but sounds like it will be best if my wife takes my 10 years old to HP and I take the two younger ones to Magic Kingdom.

Is one day enough to see all the HP stuff assuming you have the park to park pass or do you need more than one?

Yes, one day is enough provided you get there early enough to hit one of the two major rides right away (Escape from Gringott's or Forbidden Journey), because those lines will probably be at least an hour long all day.

Right after we got there Spring Break, the line for Gringott's was out of the whole Diagon Alley area, and seemed to stay pretty long all day.

Also, you need to review the requirements for the rides, as both Forbidden Journey and Dragon Challenge do not allow you to carry ANYTHING on the ride. As in, they do not even permit anything in pockets and have metal detectors to enforce it. They have free ride lockers outside, but it is a surprise to a lot of people when they get there.

[cougarfreak]

I'm back at Disney now. The new Pandora flight ride is fantastic. It may be my new favorite ride of all 4 parks. The River ride is good as well, but the flight is out of this world.

[digamma]

Any updated can't miss restaurant lists?

[EagleFan]

Going there in two weeks. Any recommendations?

[cougarfreak]

Originally Posted by digamma

Any updated can't miss restaurant lists?

For a quick service, the new Pandora restaurant is pretty darn good. Similar to Chipotle, and you get to sit down in a very nice area.

Some of the quicks are now allowing ordering ahead, and you can pick up your food when you get the restaurant, skipping the line. It was pretty seamless for us, you have to do it through the mydisney app.

[OldGiants]

Agree that Satu'li Canteen is good in Pandora. If you go to Disney Springs, The Polite Pig is quite good. Try the Crispy Brussel Sprouts there, amazing and so far and away the best sprouts I've ever eaten. My daughter and my wife did the Cake Decorating Experience at Amorette's and loved it. We enjoyed the cake that night. If you have folks who are into cake decorating, that is quite the treat. It is hard to get reservations, so be warned.

[Easy Mac]

It was 2 years ago, but we ate at Tiffins when it first opened and it was the best, most tender steak I've eaten. It also cost us like almost $300.

[EagleFan]

Any word if the Mayweather/McGregor fight will be shown in the ESPNZone?

[rjolley]

We're looking at going to DisneyWorld this August, but since it's a big cross country trip, I wanted to do it up big, hold off a year, and save to stay on the property. What are the good deals for places to stay? What is the advantage of staying at a Disney location vs a place in Orlando? Looking at their site, the best places appear to be nothing more than a room to stay in at a high price. What else is there?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by rjolley

We're looking at going to DisneyWorld this August, but since it's a big cross country trip, I wanted to do it up big, hold off a year, and save to stay on the property. What are the good deals for places to stay? What is the advantage of staying at a Disney location vs a place in Orlando? Looking at their site, the best places appear to be nothing more than a room to stay in at a high price. What else is there?

On-site adds, more than anything, the "feeling of being at Disney". I dunno if I can explain it better than that.

It also provides simpler access to the parks -- allowing you to avoid the madness of the TTC -- even better, easier (tho that's not the same as "easy") returns to the resort at the end of the day.

It also opens up options such as the dining plan (which can be a considerable benefit), extra magic hours, FastPass+, FP+ reservations starting 60 days out, dining reservations starting 180 days out, free magic bands, free package delivery to room.

I've done both on-site & off-site for lodging, there's really no comparison to the experience whatsoever IMO.

--

edit to add: as for deals, they probably aren't as good as they were a few years ago honestly. And the good/best deals go pretty quickly once they're officially released. I recommend following any of several fan-based message boards to stay on top of the deals, the windows they're available, etc. Disboards is the go-to of choice around here.

--

another edit for another addition: as for which resort is the best fit, that gets into what you're looking for, how you roll on a vacation like this, etc. I've stayed at most of the on-property ones at this point I think, it's a pretty wide swath that it cuts. Location, competition for buses/ferry boats, amenities are how to differentiate within a price tier.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by rjolley

We're looking at going to DisneyWorld this August, but since it's a big cross country trip, I wanted to do it up big, hold off a year, and save to stay on the property. What are the good deals for places to stay? What is the advantage of staying at a Disney location vs a place in Orlando? Looking at their site, the best places appear to be nothing more than a room to stay in at a high price. What else is there?

If staying on site, look into the deal on the meal plan. They usually have a decent deal in August.

[OldGiants]

Wow, have they changed the roads around WDW. Lots of new overpasses and unusual left turns. If you think you know where you are going, you probably do not. More new roads in the works, too. Be aware.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by rjolley

We're looking at going to DisneyWorld this August, but since it's a big cross country trip, I wanted to do it up big, hold off a year, and save to stay on the property. What are the good deals for places to stay? What is the advantage of staying at a Disney location vs a place in Orlando? Looking at their site, the best places appear to be nothing more than a room to stay in at a high price. What else is there?

Have some more time. I'll give you some of our experiences from last August.

First, expect hot and humid. Seriously hot and humid. Oppressive type of heat.

There are a lot of advantages to staying in a resort hotel:
- You get free transportation to and from the parks (don't have to worry about parking and traffic). This was also nice as many times we would come back to the room midway through the day to recharge a bit, the girls usually jumped in the pool during that time. Then hop back on the bus to return for the late afternoon/evening.
- The "feel" is worth it, it all just feels Disney. Hard to explain but for anyone who has done this I guarantee they get it.
- There are different levels of resorts so it depends on how much you want to spend and how much you expect from your resort. We have done the all-star resorts (value priced) when we have gone there. It's a basic room but it's not like the plan is to be in the room much.
- The resorts all have pools, place to eat, souvenir shops and other amenities (again it depends on which level you go to as to what extent).
- Staying at one of resorts opens up a 60 day window for reserving your fast passes; this is a good thing if you are trying to also plan out your trip ahead of time.
- Staying at the resort gets you extra "magic hours" at the parks.
- Staying at the resort also allows for delivered items (can have them delivered to your room, or resort when you buy something in a park). This was nice as I didn't have to be the pack mule when we bought things.
- You can have your bags brought to your resort when you arrive so you don't have to go to baggage claim. Just go right to the bus to get to your resort. Important to note that this could take a few hours before the bags show up so pack anything that you may want immediately in a carry on. I made the mistake of wearing jeans on the plane and not having shorts in my carry on; I paid for that big time as we went to the park that first afternoon, sweated my ass off.
- Also check out the meal plan deal they have for that time of year. They give you 1 meal and 1 snack per night per person and a refillable cup for at the resort but roll that into a discount on the other plans; we upped it to the quick serve plan. What is nice is that they give you a balance in terms of the number of meals and snacks so you can take more than or less than in any given day. They actually through a couple extra in for us as we had only 2 meals remaining when we had breakfast the day we were leaving but they let us slide for all four of us.

As for Disney in general (our kids are teens so we didn't do the character stuff):
- Take an evening to check out Disney Springs, nice shopping and places to eat.
- If you are going late in August (was the last week of August for us) look for the Halloween party and I highly recommend getting tickets for that. Less crowded and you get some trick or treating in. Special parades, fireworks and shows as well. It is an extra ticket (what at Disney isn't).
- We did a behind the scenes tour with the elephants in Animal Kingdom. The girls really liked it. Would recommend a behind the scenes tour of some sort if you are into that and if the cost is within budget (the elephant one wasn't bad but some of then are quite pricey).

[dfisher]

Another thing with staying on site is that most major airlines offer resort check-in. So when you go to Disney you check your bags at the airport, then just jump on magical express and the bags meet you at the room. When you are leaving, you can check your bags at the resort, jump on the magical express, and pick up your bags at your home airport. When navigating with kids, not having to deal with luggage is a huge convenience.

[rjolley]

Thanks for the info, guys. The resort we're looking at right now is The Grove, but this info gives us something to think about.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by dfisher

Another thing with staying on site is that most major airlines offer resort check-in. So when you go to Disney you check your bags at the airport, then just jump on magical express and the bags meet you at the room. When you are leaving, you can check your bags at the resort, jump on the magical express, and pick up your bags at your home airport. When navigating with kids, not having to deal with luggage is a huge convenience.

One of the greatest things was landing at our vacation destination and not having to go stand in line for baggage claim. May sound like something small but that was a huge thing for us (except the whole wearing jeans thing for me).

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'll throw a little water on that Magical Express deal though. Our recent trip started out as a huge c.f. as they: a) failed to provide the proper tags for our bags to be picked up, and b) were so understaffed with buses that the waits to get out of the airport & even started to your destination resort were approaching three hours.

It was pretty much the least Disney-quality thing I've ever dealt with over our many trips, a near 180 from our previous experiences with Magical Express.

So while it can be fine at times, there's definitely a chance it'll be less than "magical"

[CraigSca]

My family and I live in the area and are annual passholders, so I'll give my 2 cents regarding the resorts.

Magic Kingdom, when originally designed, was meant to be separate from society. To reinforce that intent, you therefore have to travel either by monorail or boat to actually get into the park.

There are a few resorts that reside directly on that monorail system that will therefore give you direct access to the parks (Grand Floridian, Polynesian and the Contemporary). Mind you, these monorail rides are also the main avenue for the masses (people who drove there for the day) to get to the park as well. We just stayed at the Wilderness Lodge this past weekend, and they have a small boat that goes directly to the Magic Kingdom. The only hotel that has a walking path from Magic Kingdom is the Contemporary.

Now, the monorail is a great mode of travel (and should be part of the "must-dos"), but when the parks close, all of humanity are trying to get on the monorail at the same time (as well as leave the park - they will actually open up a separate exit that runs parallel to Main street solely to get out of the park). The best thing to do is not leave right after the fireworks show (which is incredible). Either leave before, or leave an hour or two after (if the park is still open). Most people leave right after the fireworks but if you stay, you may find yourself in a nearly empty park with every ride open to you.

To get to Epcot, the monorail has a connection from the Magic Kingdom side to the Epcot side. This is the same junction where the Magic Kingdom parking lot resides. So, if you're at a Magic Kingdom resort (Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian) you take the monorail to Epcot via this junction by leaving the Magic Kingdom line and getting on the Epcot one (yes, you can take buses too, but the most "fun" route is the monorail).

There are also Epcot resorts - namely, The Boardwalk (excellent boardwalk on a lake with restaurants, magicians, ESPN the Zone, etc), The Beach Club (opposite side of the lake) and the Yacht Club (right next to the Beach Club). The Dolphin and the Swan also reside here (not Disney resorts, but they do have a lot of the same perks including magic hours). The cool thing about the Epcot resorts is that they are a short walk away from Epcot's International Gateway entrance (located between the UK and France in the back of the park). Why is this great - well, once done with Epcot, you don't have to face the huge groundswell of people leaving the park at the entrance, you literally can just walk back to your bedroom through the International Gateway (it's also a much shorter line to get into the park). Also note that any of the resorts in the Epcot area are easy access to the Boardwalk, so you may not necessarily stay there, but you can still have fun on the Boardwalk. Hollywood Studios also is a short boat ride from these resorts, or you can actually walk the route if you want to.

So, I've probably bored the heck out of you and given you lots of irrelevant info. I will say that we have only stayed on-site since we moved here over 6 years ago (mind you, we don't stay a week, usually 2 or 3 nights stays). Staying as a resident is a little different - we have never taken advantage of free dining (when available), but I do highly recommend the Tables in Wonderland card for frequent goers, as it gives you 20% off all meals and drinks at sit-down restaurants on Disney properties. If you come often throughout the year, it pays for itself.

My family loves Epcot, especially the Food and Wine Festival (in the fall), the Flower and Garden Festival (in the spring) and even now the Festival of the Arts in Jan/Feb. In November you also can't go wrong in general as they decorate the heck out of all the resorts and parks for Christmas - it's beautiful. In fact, the only time Epcot does NOT have extra pavilions up with different food/drink items is the busy period during the summer.

A couple last things, someone mentioned spending a day at Disney Springs. Could not agree more - it's changed a LOT the past couple years, especially from a food perspective. Incredible restaurants as well as food stands (highly recommend the poutine stand). It's like the Epcot Food and Wine Festival found a permanent home. Finally, there ARE a lot of great bars at Disney, especially themed ones. Trader Sams at Grog's Grotto (at the Polynesian) is a blast, the Geyser Point Bar and Grill at the Wilderness Lodge is an outdoor spot with really good food, Cava del Tequila has a huge tequila selection located in the Mexico pavilion of Epcot and there are some great new ones at the Springs (Enzo's Hideaway, which is made to look like a '20's speakeasy).

[CraigSca]

Originally Posted by rjolley

What are the good deals for places to stay? What is the advantage of staying at a Disney location vs a place in Orlando? Looking at their site, the best places appear to be nothing more than a room to stay in at a high price. What else is there?

Deals they will announce usually about 30-60 days ahead of time. One of the sites I used to check for resort deals: AllEars.Net - The Unofficial Disney Vacation Planning Guide - Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line

As far as cost is concerned, the difference between a value, moderate or luxury resort is typically based on amenities (for instance, value only has bus transportation to the parks, luxury would have bus as well as potentially monorail, boat, etc.), restaurants (luxury will typically have a couple of sit-down restaurants as well as fast-service where a value may have a single fast-service) and then theming, from pools to the building itself. Yes, it's typically really pricey to stay on-site.

The first two times we visited Disney when the kids were younger we stayed offsite and I knew very little about the resorts themselves. Later, I traveled to Orlando for work and a co-worker invited me to head with him to the Boardwalk for a night out after our conference. We drove up in our taxi and the doorman opened our door and said, "Welcome home." (this is standard modus operandi for all the resorts, but it was the first time I experienced it) We went down the staircase, and started up and down the Boardwalk, watched the various shows, enjoyed a margarita, people-watching, etc. I might be easy to impress, but the whole environment was alive and fun and I thought to myself, "holy-moley, the next time we go to Disney we HAVE to stay here." Mind you, I don't think we could afford to stay there a week or anything, but we've stayed there a few times for weekends over the years.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

Finally, there ARE a lot of great bars at Disney, especially themed ones. Trader Sams at Grog's Grotto (at the Polynesian) is a blast, the Geyser Point Bar and Grill at the Wilderness Lodge is an outdoor spot with really good food, Cava del Tequila has a huge tequila selection located in the Mexico pavilion of Epcot and there are some great new ones at the Springs (Enzo's Hideaway, which is made to look like a '20's speakeasy).

fwiw, most (if not all, by this point) of the bars & new DSprings attractions have been covered nicely on YT by either Pete Werner (DISUnplugged) or TheTimTracker.

(Tim in particular did a nice job hitting the newest ones quickly, in case anybody wants to take a gander)

[AnalBumCover]

We just booked our resort for summer vacation 2019.

5 nights at Polynesian using our DVC points (our Home Resort, I can book 11 months in advance).

The trip is still so far away, but I'm already excited about it.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

We just booked our resort for summer vacation 2019.

5 nights at Polynesian using our DVC points (our Home Resort, I can book 11 months in advance).

The trip is still so far away, but I'm already excited about it.

Kids are bored with Disney World. They are teenagers now but I think we are going to try next year (with or without those damn kids!).

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

We just booked our resort for summer vacation 2019.

5 nights at Polynesian using our DVC points (our Home Resort, I can book 11 months in advance).

The trip is still so far away, but I'm already excited about it.

So we're doing things a little differently this time. We're inviting my wife's best friend who only recently has experienced traveling for the first time in her life (at least for the first time in a long time). So it'll be me, wife, daughter and friend.

It'll be a balancing act between wanting to show our friend around WDW and wanting to just have a relaxing vacation at the Polynesian resort.

We have a 5 night stay, so that mean 4 full days and 2 travel days bookending the visit (flying to/from L.A. area).

Experience-wise, I've been to AK and HS, my wife can add Epcot to this, and my kid even got to visit MK with some extended family. I'm not sure how much of a Disney person our friend is, but I know for sure she loves Harry Potter.

So we'll plan to spend a day at Universal's Wizarding World. We'll purchase the Park-to-Park pass just so we can ride Hogwarts Express.

Another day at one of the WDW parks. Haven't decided which to do yet. I'm thinking Epcot or MK.

A third day reserved for "Day at the Resort" just so we can at least have that relaxing day poolside or whatnot. On this day, I want to do the Luau (Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show) at Poly.

The fourth day, I'm not sure yet. Maybe another park, or spend some time at Disney Springs, or another rest day. We're all big LEGO fans, so LEGOLAND might be an option, but we're not sure how similar it is to LEGOLAND California.

Any other suggestions?

[Lathum]

So we are doing Disney World in January. A girl I know is a Disney travel agent, so she is setting it up for us.

We are going with my In Laws and doing a 2 bedroom villa with a Savannah View at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village.

Anyone ever stay there? Thoughts?

[Gary Gorski]

Originally Posted by Lathum

So we are doing Disney World in January. A girl I know is a Disney travel agent, so she is setting it up for us.

We are going with my In Laws and doing a 2 bedroom villa with a Savannah View at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village.

Anyone ever stay there? Thoughts?

AKV is a beautiful resort - its truly amazing to go outside the resort building and see animals (or even see them from your balcony). Jiko is also a great dining location and many people rave about Boma as well but the foot there seemed a little more adventurous than we're used to.

There were two drawbacks to the resort though. One is that the way the buildings are setup (think like a giant horseshoe shape) you could potentially have a very long walk from the elevator to the room. The second is that its a long bus ride to things - AKV is one of the least expensive of the vacation club villas because its far away from the parks.

edit to add - Kidani Village is its own separate hotel building at the resort - you'll need to take an internal bus (unless you have a car) to get to the main resort building with the restaurants.

Those things aside though the resort itself is incredible. The theming is top notch and the animal viewing is really cool.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by Lathum

So we are doing Disney World in January. A girl I know is a Disney travel agent, so she is setting it up for us.

We are going with my In Laws and doing a 2 bedroom villa with a Savannah View at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village.

Anyone ever stay there? Thoughts?

As Gary said above, you might be in for a long walk to your room due to the shape of the building. When you do your online check-in, make sure you request your room "close to the lobby".

We dined at Sanaa, which I believe is the only dining option at Kidani Village. Loved it.

There is a walking path between Kidani Village and Jambo House, but it's about a 1/2 mile walk.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by Lathum

So we are doing Disney World in January. A girl I know is a Disney travel agent, so she is setting it up for us.

We are going with my In Laws and doing a 2 bedroom villa with a Savannah View at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village.

Anyone ever stay there? Thoughts?

Honestly, if your kids like animals at all, they will love it. It's such a unique opportunity.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by digamma

Honestly, if your kids like animals at all, they will love it. It's such a unique opportunity.

That’s why we picked that one. My son is bonkers over animals. Has wanted to be a zoo keeper since I can remember. My mother in law had a heart transplant several years back so I’m going to see what I can do about a close room. Thanks for the tip.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

Jiko is also a great dining location and many people rave about Boma as well but the foot there seemed a little more adventurous than we're used to.

fwiw, I agree about Boma being somewhat adventurous menu-wise BUT -- and I say this as someone in the 98th or 99th percentile of picky eaters in the country -- it's somewhere between excellent & outstanding IMO.

I don't do veggies aside from potatoes & corn.
I don't do weird salads.
I don't a lot of stuff.

And there's a quite a few things on the buffet that I don't recognize and certainly haven't encountered anywhere else ... yet I always leave Boma wishing I had room for more.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

fwiw, I agree about Boma being somewhat adventurous menu-wise BUT -- and I say this as someone in the 98th or 99th percentile of picky eaters in the country -- it's somewhere between excellent & outstanding IMO.

I don't do veggies aside from potatoes & corn.
I don't do weird salads.
I don't a lot of stuff.

And there's a quite a few things on the buffet that I don't recognize and certainly haven't encountered anywhere else ... yet I always leave Boma wishing I had room for more.

heh.

My wife, father in law, and daughter will eat literally anything. Me, my son, and Mother in Law are pretty to very picky. Should make for an interesting meal if we go there.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Lathum

heh.

My wife, father in law, and daughter will eat literally anything. Me, my son, and Mother in Law are pretty to very picky. Should make for an interesting meal if we go there.

I'd be pretty surprised if you didn't come away satisfied, based on my experiences with it anyhow. They do a really good job of toning down unfamiliar ingredients/dishes to something that is pretty palatable. You won't like everything of course but if you try a sample of, say, three things you're not sure about then I'd say odds are pretty strong you'll end up liking at least one of them well enough to go around twice with it.

That's been my thing pretty much each time I've been, I'm always shocked at what I find myself enjoying.

[cougarfreak]

Originally Posted by Lathum

So we are doing Disney World in January. A girl I know is a Disney travel agent, so she is setting it up for us.

We are going with my In Laws and doing a 2 bedroom villa with a Savannah View at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village.

Anyone ever stay there? Thoughts?

Kidani is my home base for DVC. It's my favorite resort because it is so secluded. It's quiet after a long day at the parks. Kidani has a great restaurant in the basement (Sanaa), and it now offers breakfast in the morning as well (as a quick meal). I've usually walked to Jambo if i need to get there (there's a shuttle as well). It's less than a 10 minute walk. The scenery at the resort is gorgeous. If you have any specific questions, PM me. Anytime.

[cougarfreak]

Originally Posted by Lathum

That’s why we picked that one. My son is bonkers over animals. Has wanted to be a zoo keeper since I can remember. My mother in law had a heart transplant several years back so I’m going to see what I can do about a close room. Thanks for the tip.

Didn't see this. If he wants to be a zoo keeper, he's in for a treat. There's night viewing with nighttime binoculars out by the campfire, and there are resort guides from Africa there all the time to talk to anybody about the animals and culture. And sitting on the patio from your room will be great for him with the savanna view.

[AnalBumCover]

Are there any good places for Saturday/Sunday Brunch outside of the parks, maybe at the various resorts? I'm not looking for a character dining experience, necessarily. But depending on the character list, we may consider it.

We hadn't decided whether to use a Dining Plan, but if the brunch is part of the dining plan, it might help with our decision.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

Are there any good places for Saturday/Sunday Brunch outside of the parks, maybe at the various resorts? I'm not looking for a character dining experience, necessarily. But depending on the character list, we may consider it.

We hadn't decided whether to use a Dining Plan, but if the brunch is part of the dining plan, it might help with our decision.

I've never necessarily done brunch as such on a WDW trip but there are several options that Google confirmed my vague recollections of. Several locations at Disney Springs have it (some accept dining plan, some don't), including Raglan Road which we enjoyed fairly well on our last trip. (it takes "some" dining plans). Unless they've recently changed their schedule, I believe Ft Wilderness has wknd bruch (on dining plan), ditto Chef Mickey's, while California Grill at Contemporary has it too (but no dining plan & $80/person according to an article I found).

re: dining plan in general: if you want a table service option every day (unless they've jacked it up in price since last year) then I definitely recommend it. I believe the tipping point for it is usually somewhere around half the days in a trip (+/- one day). We pretty much always do 1/day so it's basically a no-brainer for us.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

re: dining plan in general: if you want a table service option every day (unless they've jacked it up in price since last year) then I definitely recommend it. I believe the tipping point for it is usually somewhere around half the days in a trip (+/- one day). We pretty much always do 1/day so it's basically a no-brainer for us.

Since we're on the subject of dining plans: We want to do the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show/Luau which would cost 2 table-service (?) meals off of the dining plan. If we purchase the Regular Dining Plan which includes only 1 table-service per day, would going to the luau take from a table service credit of another day?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

Since we're on the subject of dining plans: We want to do the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show/Luau which would cost 2 table-service (?) meals off of the dining plan. If we purchase the Regular Dining Plan which includes only 1 table-service per day, would going to the luau take from a table service credit of another day?

Yes.

Basically, the DPlan creates a "pool" of table service credits. If you used a 2 credit lunch & a 2 credit dinner on the same day, you'd have burned 4 days worth.