Getting down into the nitty gritty for our first ADR…
Looking at Narcoossee’s for a leisurely dinner on 5/30. Electrical Water Pageant goes by GF at 8:40pm? Or does the time change in summer?
Pros and cons of following 2 alternate plans…
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Eat dinner first (time? 6:30?) and then watch from the beach. (We plan to RD MK the next day so that would get us home sooner, I think.)
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Watch from Narcoosee’s and what reservation time would be best for that?
(Planning to have a 10am breakfast at Sanaa that morning and skipping lunch and just have a snack to tide us over until dinner if needed.)
I think I’d prefer plan #1. Especially with a late breakfast I’d be ready for dinner by 6:30 for sure. Plus, I would imagine you’d be able to hear the music from the EWP better from the beach than inside of the restaurant. And with a large group and peak dinner time with a later reservation it may be tricky to get seating next to the window to guarantee you get a good view onto the water.
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Okay, next topic is “how to eat all of the things and not injure yourself doing so.”
Last time we were on a 6 night dining plan and about hurt ourselves but we did enjoy it! (the one with 1 TS, 1 QS, and 2 snacks).
As long as we’re not at a “fixed price per person” place or doing a dish that’s “bottomless” (like the skillets at Whispering Canyon), splitting entrees is acceptable everywhere? (We did that a lot on the dining plan, actually.) Is this likely true for off-site restaurants as well?
And also any age can order off the kids menu? (There are a couple places those portion sizes might be preferable to an adult entree, I’m thinking.)
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We did both - split entrees and ordered from the kids menu. The three of us are not huge eaters (DD18, DD21). DD18 and I split a salad and a burger at Sci-Fi and they actually plated the salad separately for us and cut the burger in half. We also split entrees at 50’s prime time and shared appetizers at Sanaa. DD21 had a child’s meal at DB7. I think you won’t have any issues. We share all the time.
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Can someone explain the set-up at Geyser Point to me?
I was thinking we could leave MK about 1pm and ride the boat over for a late lunch.
It says QS but some of the reviews I’m reading are mentioning servers and waiting 40 min-1 hour for a table first come first serve? And there are separate lounge and lunch/dinner menus? Are those 2 separate locations there or…? (I’m more interested in the lounge menu.)
And there aren’t any security checks on Disney park-to-resort transpiration right? Only questioned if you arriving at a resort by car or Uber?
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WL/CC. No security issues once you transit via bus or boat. You are all set once you get off transportation
Geyser Point. No reservations. You walk up to a completely un-signed position. 2 kinds-of/sets-of people… Those just lining up for the walk-up-to-the-bar-for-a-take-away-drink group. Those lining up with absolutely no direction for a table/seating place.
No system, no direction, no help.
So line up, chat with fellow line-up peeps, figure out if those ahead of you are in-line for/registered-for a table/seating place for lunch. Don’t be shy. Commiserate and ask. Disney has no apparent/transparent system for getting on the waiting list for a table/seating. But there is one. You have to ask.
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You can order from either/both at lunch, and I think dinner
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That explains some of the confusion in the reviews. Not being shy is one of my strong suits. Ty!
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I have to say that I have been to Geyser Point a lot-I think the first time was the first month they opened. At times they also change everything they are doing (even pre-covid) and you need to decode how things are working “now”.
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I found someone that will be at AKL…me!!!
After our Airbnb fiasco that @sliddlenc_686656 99% rescued us from, we were still homeless that first night so I just splurged us 2 of these:
So that resolves the property access for breakfast issue.
But now I’m thinking we’ll also want to have dinner at Sanaa (‘cuz bread service!). What would be the latest time to have dinner that there will still be good animal viewing? Sunset that day is supposed to be 8:17pm.
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I’ve been wondering this too! I found an article that says about 5pm is the best time because that’s when they feed the animals. I’m worried by 8pm some or many would be in their enclosures.
Does the restaurant area have enclosures? When we had savanna views in 2005 and 2010, the animals were out there all night, I think?
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Next set of clueless questions.
With booking through David’s, can we still put in a TP room request or no? Is Sunset Savanna a better view than Pemba Savanna? Looks like the north building would be closer to the Kidani pool.
If we’re at Kidani Village, is that the only pool we’ll have access to? Or is the Jambo
House pool open and available to us? But that’s too far to walk from Kidani south building I think?
I’m assuming we can continue to use at least one of the pools on checkout day even after we checkout?
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I don’t know - I’ve never stayed before. I only referred to “enclosures” because @FOMOm_VA said there weren’t many animals out on her recent trip during early morning / late evening hours, so I can only assume they were somewhere else. 
Yes! From all reports I’ve read, you don’t need to bother sending a request to David’s. Just book one in TP. And don’t check any boxes when you do advance check-in on the app. You don’t want to inadvertently override your previous request.
I don’t know the answer to your other questions. I think you can use both pools though.
Who is the resident expert on AKL? @OBNurseNH? I know you do OKW primarily, but maybe you know who frequents AKL?
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Not sure about which savanna is best at Kidani. We were at Jambo on the Uzima Savanna and it was great. I think Sunset is the iconic one.
You can use both pools.
It’s about a 10 minute walk between Jambo and Kidani and there is a shuttle that runs between them too.
You have access to all resort amenities on day of checkout
The animals do go on for cares in the early morning. I was not surprised about @FOMOm_VA experience at all as it is in keeping with my own and what I’ve heard from others.
I don’t primarily stay at any one particular resort @Jeff_AZ. I own at OKW and this will be our second stay there come June. We (or I) have stayed at AKL and Poly as well as Pop, ASSports, ASMusic, AoA. Have never managed to stay moderate - need to rectify that.
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Sounds like a stay at Gran Destino is in order 
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I pulled out my 
and it looks like @DeepInTheHeartofTexas and @threeprincessesfourprinces have stayed at Kidani.
Do either of you have thoughts on room requests for two savanna view studios? Sunset Savanna vs Pembe Savanna? I’m thinking we’ll want north building to be closer to the pool. I don’t think there are any savanna view studios that connect. Or should we try to get ones across the hall from each other so we could see both savannas? 
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I can’t offer much advice for Savannah view except to say we got our requested 7855 (thanks TP for the recommendation and the fax!) which for a standard view had a pretty sweet view of the edge of one Savannah. It was view enough for me. The one thing that struck me about the resort was how LONG the wings are, felt like we walked forever to get to our room. So might look near to lobby if that matters to you. It’s a beautiful resort, enjoy!!
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I continue to realize I don’t even know enough to know the right questions to ask. 
So there are DVC rooms in Jambo House too? Are those being used right now?
My booking is for “Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas-Studio - Savanna View” and I assumed that meant Kidani but maybe not???
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A few, yes. Just on one floor of the lodge. When it get booked you choose which location. You could ask which one your reservation is for
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