One if By Land - TR by Coop/ChukkerB - Page 16 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Travel - road trip! We like driving and had our usual great time. The only problem was construction through Ohio and being overly tired to start the trip. But we were lucky and won't ever do that again. Full nights rest before starting out for us! We drove farther on the way down this time and stayed at Drury Inn, which we liked. On the way back we stayed at Holiday Inn Express and found that quite comfortable as well.
WDW stay - We stayed at AKL - Kidani which was a first for us. We were a bit disappointed with it. There were dirty dishes in the hallway for an excessive amount of time. There were dead leaves and trash around the walkways and the bus area. There weren't any Mickey Premium ice cream bars in the gift shop and the staff didn't seem to want to rectify that. While we liked the room and the savannah view, we really did not care for Kidani. I don't think we will be going back.
Food - well, what can I say? We always seem to eat VERY WELL while we are at Disney. A few of our favorites - Narcoossee's, Raglan Road, Boma and we can add Splitsville to this list as well. I found out I like crab legs thanks to Fulton's. We had dinner at BOG and thought that it is over rated. Sorry, just not our fav. New to us was Food and Wine. While we went there once before, we never actually ate. This time, we tried a lot! I think we hit almost every booth over the course of 3 days. Favorites - cronut, beef bourguignon from France, and I really liked the waffle with berry compote from Belgium and the corn cheesecake at Mexico and the 15 year Glenfidditch scotch from Scotland!
Extras - PP meets! Finally we got to meet Cam and Luke! They are great people and would have loved to have had more time with them. Maybe next time. And a second "semi meet" with Tracy A. in the middle of the gift shop. It was quick. Too quick. Maybe next time, we can do more than say "hi - don't I know you". Maybe a drink or something! And not to forget Heather - a brief hug while getting on EE isn't enough either. But she is another great hugger!
MNSSHP - we had fun dressing up and we were actually the only ones wearing Togas (that we saw anyway). And I think that's true because we had people yelling "Toga! Toga!" and asking for our picture. Love the parade and the Headless Horseman. We also stayed for the special fireworks. We didn't "trick or treat" - don't need that much candy!
F&WF - we did see a few "acts". Listened to Wilson Phillips and Dennis DeYoung during Eat to the Beat. We got "passports" and had them stamped while we went around the world.
Cruise - this was our first cruise. 4 days was short but just enough after the previous 10 days at WDW. We had a wonderful time making chocolate in Nassau and laying in a hammock on Castaway Cay. We dressed as Pirates for Pirate night and had fun after dinner up on deck watching a movie on tunnel vision. Then there was the Pirate party and fireworks. The cruise was a great way to "get our feet wet" so to speak. We just relaxed. We didn't do much "socializing" on board. There were decks we didn't even get to see/explore. We booked our next cruise while on board - a 7 night Western Caribbean!
Overall - It was a long, long vacation. Could have done without the cough/illness but I rode it out. I think it wore me down some though. Like anything, it had it's ups and downs. By the end, we were just getting on each others nerves. But overall - a relaxing, successful vacation with new experiences, old favorites and we did it together!
Up next - keep your eyes peeled for another PTR as we will be doing another WDW/Cruise in November.
Thanks for following along. Sorry for all the delays.
Until next time -
Tracy and Chuck
Coop and ChukkerB
Great final thoughts. Thanks for sharing the ups and the downs of your trip. Feeling ill on vacation is such a bummer. I'm glad the cruise was a success and congrats on booking a new one! I look forward to reading all about it!
Enjoyed the final thoughts! We definitely must meet again, so we can have a drink and a much longer conversation. Can't wait for the next PTR to begin.
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Great final thoughts Coop! So sorry that you were disappointed in your Kidani stay. The cruise sounds like it was the highlight of the trip though I'll look forward to reading your PTR for your next WDW/cruise in November!!!
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Great final thoughts. Thanks for sharing the ups and the downs of your trip. Feeling ill on vacation is such a bummer. I'm glad the cruise was a success and congrats on booking a new one! I look forward to reading all about it!
THanks! It just seems like FOREVER before our next cruise! But we will do a PTR before you know it!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great finish Coop! Thanks for taking us along for the ride!
THanks Marnie!
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Originally Posted by OhToodles!
So glad you enjoyed F&WF. Sorry Kidani didn't work out for you.
Thanks Kelly! We like AKL. It was just Kidani that we had some issues with. We've stayed at Jambo and really loved it.
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Enjoyed the final thoughts! We definitely must meet again, so we can have a drink and a much longer conversation. Can't wait for the next PTR to begin.
Thanks Cam! Definitely a longer meet is in order!
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Originally Posted by chezp
Great wrap up to this trip!
Thanks Cheryl!
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Originally Posted by lindawdw
Great final thoughts Coop! So sorry that you were disappointed in your Kidani stay. The cruise sounds like it was the highlight of the trip though I'll look forward to reading your PTR for your next WDW/cruise in November!!!
Thanks Linda! The cruise was really the icing on the cake! We are looking forward to a longer cruise!
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Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Great final thought! Bummer you didn't care for Kidani
Thanks Lisa! I love AKL - and we had a great stay at Jambo a few years ago. But Kidani just didn't do it for us.
What a great trip! Nice wrap up - sorry you weren't feeling 100%, but I appreciate your honest points of view and critiques. Every Disney trip isn't (and doesn't have to be) overflowing with magic. The fact that you got to do it together and have a good time was great! Heading over to your cruise part...
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Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
We definitely must meet again, so we can have a drink and a much longer conversation. 
PassPorter Guide Author
I'll look forward to reading your PTR for your next WDW/cruise in November!!!
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