This trip was a mess but still a success!
I rented DVC points for the first time. 6 nights at ALK Jambo House. We were supposed to fly out from NY on Saturday 9/24. A important family event popped up on the 24th. My husband could no longer go. Ian was on the horizon. I definitely considered cancelling but I would have been out the DVC money. I decided what the hell lets do it. I moved my flight to Sunday and took my two boys leaving my husband behind
The room was great. Our first time staying deluxe. We booked a standard studio but still had a savanna view. My boys (ages 7 & 9) were in awww of the view.
Monday was Epcot. Our first time on figment and my youngest hated it. We rode a few rides (we had genie + and DAS). The longest line was for Les Halles for breakfast. We almost gave up but finally made it to the front. I felt bad because DS9 absolutely loves croissants and was excited to go but I didn’t realize they don’t have plain and he doesn’t eat chocolate. We spent too much but everything we had was great. We took a long afternoon break and went back in the evening. They didn’t want to do any more rides which I was a little bummed about. We did the Remy scavenger hunt which the kids loved despite all the rain. Most of the lines for Food & Wine were too long and the kids wouldn’t eat it most of it anyway so we skipped it and ended up eating at Connections (it was really good for what it was). DS7 has anxiety about fireworks so we booked it out of the park as soon as they started, It wasn’t my ideal Epcot visit but the boys had a great time which is all that matters.
Tues A/K & MNSSHP - we were supposed to be having a free morning before the party but I was worried about the hurricane so I moved our AK day. Went to Navii river first but it was down for a while. Youngest made it all the way up for Flights of and got scared. We waited outside in the hallway while older son rode. He then decided he could do it so the cast member let us back on. He loved it. I was shocked and so happy that he gave it a try. We did breakfast at Tusker House. It was family style and absolutely delicious. Preferable to a buffet. We were back at the AKL pool by noon.
While waiting online to get into MNSSHP a rumor spread that Disney was going to announce that they would be closing the parks for the next few days, I was stressed about the hurricane but still had fun at the party. It rained a lot. We did lots of trick or treating which I know is a waste but the kids liked it. My oldest rode most of the bigger rides alone while I waited with my younger. I felt bad but he didn’t seem to mind. We left before the parade or fireworks. I would say for me it was not worth it to buy the tickets for what we did but again the boys had a great time and loved the halloween ambiance. We got back to AKL right before the gift shop closed. I bought milk, cereal, turkey etc in case things shut down during the storm.
The Hurricane - I’m so glad this is the trip we decided to do deluxe and could wander the hotel and lobby during the shut down. The pool stayed open in the morning until 12. They made all the games in the arcade free to play. There were dance parties all day and characters showed up to visit (Mickey, Minnie, Timon, and Raffiki). The Mara and Boma stayed open the whole time. We bought a deck of cards and played go fish. The morning after the storm we were not allowed outside. We had to go through back staff only areas to get to the Mara. The kids were excited that we got to go the secret way. Later that afternoon we were allowed outside. Trees were down in the savanaa and on a walkway near the pool. We were able to walk over to Kidani and got a reservation for Sanaa. The butter chicken was a big hit with the boys. I pretty much ate the whole bread service myself. We were supposed to fly out friday but I moved my flight to Saturday. I added 1 more night in the hotel. They were offering 20% off rack rates. They also gave me a free park ticket to use.
Friday - HS
The park opened to on site guests in the morning and off site guests at 12. We got so much done! DS7 shocked me by asking to do Slinky Dog. this is the kid who is scared of everything. He loved it and was so proud of himself. It made this whole trip worth it.
Departure day-
Breakfast at Boma and a few hours by the pool. We took the sunshine flyer to the airport. The picked us up at 2pm for a 5:15 flight. Overall we had a great time and I’m glad we did it. The kids were excited to tell school about the hurricane. It does feel a little weird having fun on vacation while people nearby are are dealing with catastrophe.
Notes
- we absolutley did not need genie+ along with DAS (this may be different during a busier time of year)
- AKL was worth the price. Having a bigger fridge and microwave was great. My boys would stay there again without even going to the parks. They could spend all day spotting animals
- Sunshine Flyer- I would uber next time. It was a long wait outside in the heat to get on the bus and they had at least 3 stops before our resort. I could deal with that when it was free but not if I’m paying extra.
- The things that make a trip a success for me are not the same things for my kids. Even with minimal rides, no parades or fireworks my kids had the best time.
… Our resort day was wed (the day the hurricane hit) We were staying at CBR and the cast members took good care of us and we also saw they had characters for the kids and all kinds of activities going on… My son was ok with this till Cpt Hook came out and he wanted to go … lol … Thursday was supposed to be our AK day with breakfast at tusker … and Ohana for dinner in the evening … well that was scrapped … Friday was our Epcot day but we did a split to try to get to AK (none of us had ever been to AK) … it was rushed we did Flight and Navi (which is all we had time for) … then park hopped back to Epcot to see the fireworks … Sat we flew out … MCO was a madhouse with southwest luggage self-check – the line was miles long and when you thought it was the end, no it kept going past a couple other airlines … TSA lines were equally insane … we got lucky with them opening a new line right where we were sitting having a snack (the TSA agent was super nice and suggested we go thru even though our flight wasn’t for a couple hours ). My wife and I ended up with some kind of weird head cold after the hurricane (thankfully wasnt covid – we checked often) … still have a plugged ear from that… Not sure what the storm blew up but neither of our allergies wanted any part of it.