Valeria Out Loud

Hey Everyone!

I’ve got the Disney bug pretty fierce this go around! -no, it’s really bad. Every free chance I get I am researching and pinning Disney related ideas trying to figuring out how to trump the Christmas present presentation from last time. Also, with life so hectically disrupted over the past month or more, I think it’s compounding my desire to escape into this trip!

… Or maybe it’s cause plainly put…I NEED A VACATION! Either way.

Just seeing my children’s expressions when they realize we are going again will be amazing. Oh, I cannot wait!

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Trip Details thus far: As the title of this post states the flights and resorts have been booked..and I’d like to say and PAID FOR! YES!

We booked our flights along with the resorts a month ago, and paid them off immediately.  JetBlue had great direct flight times, and the price was just right! Last week, we booked and paid for a town car to pick up/drop off each way!  The girls are going to be so excited! And we will be too, well relieved. Our biggest concern using a service is the car seats for the kids. We contacted this company who offered, without us asking, to use our girls’ car seats to the airport, they’ll store them for us during the trip, and set them up for the way back home.  Pheeew!

We are going for 11 days to really enjoy ourselves, and just as last time, we are splitting our time in half at two very different resorts.  The first is The Contemporary’s Bay Lake Towers (Park View) and the other is the Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jumbo House Savanna View).  Last Disney trip we split our time at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Port Orleans, French Quarter. Very different resorts, but we enjoyed them both for what they were.

The Animal Kingdom Lodge: Back during the Christmas holidays of 2003, my husband and I took a trip to Disney World where we stayed off property and rented a car. Since we had the car, he decided on our last day in Disney to venture and check out the newer resorts on Disney property. It was fun to see all the specific themed holiday decorations. I loved it. He took me to the Wilderness Lodge and then the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Both amazingly beautiful resorts, but when I walked in to the AKL I didn’t want to leave! The theme was executed perfectly, the attention to detail at these resorts is amazing.

When we planned our first family trip, I requested the AKL. Thank goodness I did, because it ended up a great resort for my family. Which led me to requesting it this time around for a longer stay. It is logical, the resort was such a treat for all of us, why not go back for longer?

The Jumbo House side restaurant, Boma, is a lot of fun. They set up buffet style, but there are a lot of foods that I never heard of (and a lot of staple foods too) that were delicious, AND they carry the wines I like-some South African white wines. We dined there for our first dinner at Disney.  The experience was great, and it was the same during that whole trip.  I am part of a family with two family members that have food allergies, my husband and oldest daughter, and even though while making the dining reservations we marked the reservations with allergies and so on, naturally, I was really apprehensive on how eating around Disney was going to go. No matter how many stories or things people tell you, the experience you have first hand is the experience.  But it was all amazing. Of course, it’s Disney!  The wait staff immediately talked to us about what dining in Disney with allergies is about, then within seconds the executive chef paid us a visit at our table to discuss the allergens and then took us on a tour of everything they were serving telling us what is safe or not.  Surprisingly enough, every restaurant we went to had the same mode of operation, and each chef was happy to talk with us and made us feel secure.  I mean, that is incredible right?  They must talk to at least 20 families a day or MORE, but yet, I still felt they were attentive and cared about our situation.  🙂

Back to the hotel. The hotel was just beautiful, and had a lot of places inside the hotel and outside for viewing animals. Plus, we had a great view from our hotel room too, and the grounds were so pretty during the day and lit up at night.  They have a fire pit set up outside with rocking chairs, and at night under the stars, it was so peaceful. They have another fireplace set up inside, which was great when it got chilly outside! They had night viewing safari which we all had a lot of fun with. My kids had a blast no matter what there, which surprised me cause it’s not as Disneyesque as the other themed resorts, but they had a lot of fun activities for them.

Port Orleans, French Quarter: After a lot of research, and recommendations, my husband and I ended up booking the second half of our trip here. We found the staff super nice and hilarious, and were at times a highlight of our mornings. Especially the older gentlemen opening our door. My daughters loved him, maybe cause for a high-five he would give them colored beads and coins? Maybe 😛

We had a wonderful time at this resort, a lot of memories were made. The girls loved skipping down the streets because they were themed after the ones you’d find in New Orleans..small, with the cast iron horse ties. They also loved the pool area, it has a giant reptile slide, where they mustered up their courage to slide down it alone. We loved the grounds, too, as we had a garden view, and could easily walk to the bus, resort’s dining area and the pool. On our last day we discovered we were also near the river. But, the resort was under renovations at the time, so some amenities were not accessible, which was sort of a bummer, but aside from that, it was a nice resort.  But even if they had the renovations going on, we didn’t spend all that much time at the resort because we just were out from morning till late night, just going to the resort to sleep and maybe swim in the morning. So, it was definitely ok.

The girls, also, loved both resorts, which was great; and I am crossing my fingers they think this for the Contemporary, too, because it is least themed resort. Not that they need a theme, but themed resorts are fun. Also, this resort was a choice of my husband’s that I couldn’t deny. He stayed there as a child, and feels nostalgic to go back; and, also because he wanted to be able to use the monorail more on this trip.

I’ve never been thrilled walking through the Contemporary, so I am slightly bummed- VERY SLIGHLTY. I think it’s beautiful, and am not opposed to seeing what it is all about because I have heard good things so far. It does have some great amenities for us, like one of our character meals will be there, then with the accessibility of the monorail, the walking distance to the Magic Kingdom, if we wanted to walk…and with the fireworks visible from our room. I am excited for that, especially the very first night after we land and have dinner, we can end it snuggled together on our balcony watching the show!

It’s all about making memories!

And boy, am I going to try to bat a thousand with them this time around!

Stay tuned for more info on our trip!

XOXOXO!

*****Oh, one more thing!! I missed good PORTABLE coffee on our last trip. YES, another reason why I am slightly more excited with this trip than before is, and, of course some of you knew I was going to bring this up. Starbucks is open at the Disney Parks! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS…espresso every morning like normal! (Did you hear that Chris?? STARBUCKS, not DD! Not even Disney wants to run on Dunkin’s! Yup, you lost this coffee wars officially.)