Private Character Meet and Greet for Disney Visa Cardholders

There are many reasons why I love my Disney Premier Visa Card. I receive 0% financing for 6 months on every Disney vacation package or Disney Cruise Line vacation I book, I earn Disney Reward Dollars (like a Disney gift card), receive discounts at many dining and shopping locations, and the list goes on. I have to say that one of my favorite perks for being a card holder, is the private character meet and greet located at Epcot!

Every day, from 1pm - 7pm, in Innoventions West, a card holder can stop  by for their private meet and greet, and also receive a free 5X7 photo of your choice! Did you catch that I said EVERY DAY…..that’s right, if you visit Epcot 4 times in one trip, you can get 4 different free photos! This works great when you have a park hopper ticket. Here are the details:

First, you enter Innoventions West,

and just across from Where’s the Fire?,  you will find where to show your card and get in line.

My recommendation is to not go when it first opens, at 1:00, the line tends to be much longer at this time. As you see, I showed up a little later that afternoon, and did not have a wait at all!

Be prepared to show your credit or debit card, this is what gets you into the meet and greet.

The cast member will fill out a slip for you, and be sure to hang on to that slip.

This meet and greet is always the best. You do not have other families in a line watching you, and making you feel rushed. They only let one family in this room at the time. There will always be more than one character, but they will rotate the characters daily. The kids feel so special with the amount of time that is taken with them. I always hand my camera to one of the cast members, and let them take pictures with it, as well as the Disney photographer which is taking photos for us to choose from for our free 5X7. Here are just a few of the many photos that were taken with my camera. 

My youngest, at the time, 18 months, meeting the characters

My oldest getting sweet hugs from Minnie

Goofy, just being goofy...trying to eat the autograph book

...and then he pretended to eat the spaghetti in the photo on the wall

Minnie pretending she was going to leave with us

After we are all finished playing, hugging, and waving bye for several minutes, we head over to pick out our free photo. This is located in the Epcot Camera Center, just under Spaceship Earth at the front of the park. 

Remember that slip I wanted you to hang onto? You now give it to the cast member in the Camera Center. When they put your code in, you will have a computer screen all to yourself to choose which photo you want, and can also add special effects to it! 

Once you choose the one you want, they print it up right there and give it to you! 

If you have a Disney Visa card, but have never taken advantage of the private meet and greet, it is a must do! If you do not have a card, here is a link to all the perks of having one! 

Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Kilimanjaro Safaris is certainly one of the most popular attractions at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The most commonly asked question is WHEN to ride. Most people will tell you to ride first thing in the morning, just after the park opens due to the animals being most active. With that being said, many people go to this attraction first, which means exactly what you are thinking……a long wait time! My recommendation would be go there first, if the line is crazy long, get a FASTPASS! Mid afternoon tends to have the shorter lines, as everyone thinks the animals will not be moving around much. I have to say, as many times as I have been on this ride, I have never had a bad experience of not seeing many animals.

The line for the safari is outside, but in a nice, covered and shady area. There are many fans blowing to help during the hot times of the day. There are also several televisions that will be playing videos with information about the safari.

You will even see some great themed areas during your wait.

I always try to squeeze in a photo of one of my kids, here is my oldest when she was two. She is a little sweaty, but still pretty darn cute waiting in line!

At the end of the line, you will board an open aired, 32 passenger vehicle. So where should you sit? Of course if you sit on the outside seats, you will have better viewing, but everyone wants to know which side is the best. Honestly, there is not a great answer to this question. The reason for this is that the animals are free roaming. For example, I have sat on the right side and had a great view of the giraffes, but I have also sat on the driver side, and could have reached out and touched a giraffe it was so close to me once. My only recommendation for seating is to not sit too close to the very front where the driver is. If you sit in the first few rows, your views are slightly blocked by the front of the truck, whereas if you sit a little further back, I think the views are a little better. 

Here is a photo of the posted list of animals that you will likely see, this is in every truck:

And your journey begins.....

There are over 34 different species of animals that can be seen during your ride, but it is not likely you will see them all. Here is a list of some that I routinely see the most:

Antelope

Cheetah

Crocodile

Elephant

Flamingo

Gazelle

Giraffe

Hippopotamus

Kudu

Lion

Nyala

Okapi

Ostrich

Rhino

Wildebeest

Zebra

Termite Mounds

The total ride time varies every trip. The estimated time to drive through the 110 acre Harambe Wildlife Reserve is about 20 minutes, but that is with no stops. Your driver will stop several times to allow for viewing of the animals, and on some occasions, you will have to wait for animals to move out of the path of the truck.

The truck does not drive on a track, and therefor is quite a bumpy ride. Keep this in mind for those in your family that may have a bad back, heart problems, issues with motion sickness or that may be pregnant. Personally, I have motion sickness issues, but have not had any problems riding this, and I have also rode this while 20 weeks pregnant, although not advised! J I know that the kids will want to sit on the outside seats, but it is best to keep the small kids closer to the inside, or at least be able to keep your arms around them for those big bumps. 

We always enjoy the Kilimanjaro Safaris, our favorite in Animal Kingdom for sure! 

If you would like help planning your next vacation to Walt Disney World, we would love to help you! Contact us by email, facebook or 1-800-758-4173. 

Capt. Cook's at Disney's Polynesian Resort

Nestled in a quiet corner, on the first floor of the Polynesian Resort, is Capt Cook’s. This is an amazing quick service dining location. My family has always loved everything about the Polynesian Resort, and we are huge fans of ‘Ohana’s Character Breakfast as well. This location accepts the Disney Dining Plan, quick service and snack credits.

The atmosphere is so inviting, and there is even an outdoor patio where you can choose to dine as well.

Trying to decide what to order is difficult here, as everything we have had has been delicious. 

On our trip in May 2013, we went with the Cheese Flatbread, 

Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir Fry, which is my favorite,

And grilled cheese from the kid’s menu.

Drink and side selections:

There is a great selection of desserts here as well! 

  

Overall, this is a nice dining experience with unique options that have that Polynesian flare! 

If you would like more information, or would like help booking your next Disney vacation, you can email us, find us on facebook, or call us at 1-800-758-4173. 

Animal Kingdom Lodge

On our most recent visit to Walt Disney World, we decided to stay somewhere new again. Considering our kids were ages 4 and 1, we knew they would enjoy Animal Kingdom Lodge, we just did not know HOW MUCH they would love it!

First, my oldest daughter’s all time favorite place to stay (mine too) has always been the Contemporary Resort. She refers to it as the “Monorail Hotel”, since she thinks the fact that the monorail actually rides through the building is the coolest thing ever! When I told her we were going to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, at first she was not happy about it, but now, she is requesting to stay there again!

Now, there are two building that make up the resort, the Jambo House and Kidani Village. Jambo House is the main building, and Kidani is the newer addition to the resort. We stayed at Kidani Village, so that is what I will be reviewing today.

One difference that I really like about this resort than others we have stayed at, is the fact that they have a parking garage!! This made life very easy for us, since we always drive to Disney. The garage is divided into sections, we parked in the Rafiki parking deck. The elevator took us directly inside the building, and quite close to our room, might I add!

As we were walking into the front of Kidani to check in, we were amazed at how beautiful all the details were. This was the front of the building as we entered in.

We checked in, got our Key to the World Card, and started down the intricately themed hallways.

The room was simply awesome. We stayed in a Deluxe Studio, Standard View room, but we had a nice surprise waiting for us. Standard view in Disney basically means no view, for the most part, a view of a park lot. Our view had some of the fencing for the animals, but we could still see the savannah! We spent a good amount of time on our balcony watching the animals.

So back to the room……. The Deluxe Studio has a queen bed with a full size sleeper sofa, a wet bar, small fridge and microwave.

The bathroom was beautiful and had plenty of space.

Check out a close up of the carpet, can you see the hidden Mickey within the animal print?

Now let me explain WHY my daughter loves this place so much. I have to admit, this was pretty neat! Kidani Village has this outdoor patio just out the back of the building. Every night, they start a fire, and hand out night vision goggles to watch the animals with. And best of all, there is no charge for this activity. 

Here is a view of the back of the main building at Kidani.

There are rocking chair situated around the fire pit, which is perfectly for relaxing after a fun filled day in the parks. Here are my two girls enjoying the patio.

As soon as the sun sets, the line starts forming for everyone to have a turn with the night vision goggles. Luckily for us, there was only a few other people there that night, and we were first in line. 

 

Here is my oldest checking out the views with her goggles. 

To sum this experience up, this resort has a very comfy feel, beautiful detail, and the kids really love the animals!

 

If you would like more information on Animal Kingdom Lodge, or help planning your next Disney vacation, contact us by email, call us at 1-800-758-4173 or find us on facebook.