Arrived at OKW this afternoon (around 1), w/"almost-daughter" (son's former nanny), her DH and her DD4 and DS16 months...their first time ever at WDW...oh how magical it is! DS and I have never stopped loving WDW, but it has become very familiar...seeing this family of four see it for the very first time is indescribably special...
So far it's been totally smooth..."the kids" studio was ready when we checked in (a very good thing, as the baby really needed his nap!); my studio--directly upstairs from them--took another 90 minutes...but we spent 60 of those minutes enjoying a lovely lunch at Olivia's so it was no big deal...Olivia's has their buttermilk chicken (w/mashed potatoes) back on the menu--they said by popular request from "their DVC members"...that was pretty cool.
Our rooms are in great shape...clean & lovely...we're at Turtle Pond, directly across the parking lot from one of the quiet pools, and about 1/2 block from the bus stop...we're very pleased...
We "did" EMH at Animal Kingdom from 4-ish til 8 or so...loved every hot sweaty minute! Hard to judge which of us enjoyed it more (except for the baby...he was just being his charming baby self...but the four-year-old and her parents were in heaven; it was SO cool to watch!)...
It's VERY hot & humid, but Disney does a great job even w/weather...there are many big, powerful fans at strategic spots throughout the park (at least at AK), some w/water mist, so while we all got very hot & sweaty, we did not get miserable...we did get the predictable t-storm around 3, but we were in our rooms at the time, and just waited for it to blow over before we headed out...
Tomorrow we go to MK...we have reservations at Cinderella's Table...our four-year-old princess loves the Disney princesses, and Cinderella is her favorite...so we're all very excited about that, too...
I'm still blown away by how wonderful Disney CMs are...here at OKW they're terrific...lots of "welcome home's" but mostly just taking that extra minute to make our kids feel welcome and special...
It's altogether grand!
I miss my DS ... it's my first Disney vacation w/out him (he's in his first week of classes at college and really could not break away to join us this trip)...and he misses not being here w/us, too...I think we're just a Disney family! But, DS (w/a gaggle of his college friends--and they are "allowing me" to join the party!) will come for T-giving, and then a double developer points "bonus" vacation in early January, so we'll have our time "later."
Oh...quite a few changes at AK! IN particular, the safari ride was quite different (loved the "geyser fields")...and I've never seen so many animals, so close by (and I've ridden that ride LOTS of times)...
EMH crowds at AK were really light; I was amazed...it was packed, mostly w/people leaving, when we arrived around 4:30...but by 5:30 it was almost like mid-January crowds...for example, Expedition Everest standby line was only 20 minutes! Amazing!
We'll see if it's like that the rest of our time here (we're here to Labor Day)...but it's been a phenomenal beginning...
Have I told you-all recently how much I love WDW and DVC???
So far it's been totally smooth..."the kids" studio was ready when we checked in (a very good thing, as the baby really needed his nap!); my studio--directly upstairs from them--took another 90 minutes...but we spent 60 of those minutes enjoying a lovely lunch at Olivia's so it was no big deal...Olivia's has their buttermilk chicken (w/mashed potatoes) back on the menu--they said by popular request from "their DVC members"...that was pretty cool.
Our rooms are in great shape...clean & lovely...we're at Turtle Pond, directly across the parking lot from one of the quiet pools, and about 1/2 block from the bus stop...we're very pleased...
We "did" EMH at Animal Kingdom from 4-ish til 8 or so...loved every hot sweaty minute! Hard to judge which of us enjoyed it more (except for the baby...he was just being his charming baby self...but the four-year-old and her parents were in heaven; it was SO cool to watch!)...
It's VERY hot & humid, but Disney does a great job even w/weather...there are many big, powerful fans at strategic spots throughout the park (at least at AK), some w/water mist, so while we all got very hot & sweaty, we did not get miserable...we did get the predictable t-storm around 3, but we were in our rooms at the time, and just waited for it to blow over before we headed out...
Tomorrow we go to MK...we have reservations at Cinderella's Table...our four-year-old princess loves the Disney princesses, and Cinderella is her favorite...so we're all very excited about that, too...
I'm still blown away by how wonderful Disney CMs are...here at OKW they're terrific...lots of "welcome home's" but mostly just taking that extra minute to make our kids feel welcome and special...
It's altogether grand!
I miss my DS ... it's my first Disney vacation w/out him (he's in his first week of classes at college and really could not break away to join us this trip)...and he misses not being here w/us, too...I think we're just a Disney family! But, DS (w/a gaggle of his college friends--and they are "allowing me" to join the party!) will come for T-giving, and then a double developer points "bonus" vacation in early January, so we'll have our time "later."
Oh...quite a few changes at AK! IN particular, the safari ride was quite different (loved the "geyser fields")...and I've never seen so many animals, so close by (and I've ridden that ride LOTS of times)...
EMH crowds at AK were really light; I was amazed...it was packed, mostly w/people leaving, when we arrived around 4:30...but by 5:30 it was almost like mid-January crowds...for example, Expedition Everest standby line was only 20 minutes! Amazing!
We'll see if it's like that the rest of our time here (we're here to Labor Day)...but it's been a phenomenal beginning...
Have I told you-all recently how much I love WDW and DVC???