Animal Kingdom Villas Review

JMarsden92 January 4, 2012
[1] comment

We just returned from Disney World today.  We drove down the day after Christmas, and left Florida on the 3rd.  While we were there we stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Our room was located in Jambo House.  This is the original hotel location that got several floors upgraded for DVC member accommodations.  We stayed there once previously, but it was not in a DVC accommodation because they weren’t fully finished as of yet.

As we entered the building we were teased with the smells of African food from one of the restaurants.  Being that we were situated with our food we did not have a chance to dine in the restaurants this trip.  We have heard that the restaurants are good.

Staying in the Jambo House we have found that the rooms have great views.  The layout of the 1 bedroom is slightly different than we are used to in comparison to Old Key West.  There is no FULL size jacuzzi tub.  There is a couch bed, and a chair bed in addition to the master bed.  In general the room felt slightly smaller than the Old Key West rooms.  We were in a Savannah view room.  Stepping out your porch door and seeing giraffe, and more just seems to make it so much more worth it.

The downside to Jambo House is that there is very few smoking areas.  You either need to go the the front of the building, or to the pool area.  This has a lot to do with animal safety.  The room had carpeting, and the kitchen, and bath were tiled.  The one thing that we would really find to be a nice change would be for the rooms to have wood flooring like the alloc original laminate that we have seen in some other timeshares.  The buses seemed to take forever.  I am sure that this had a lot to do with the holidays.

The lodge had their Christmas tree up still when we got there.  Towards the end of our stay we noticed some of the decorations being removed.  Overall the lodge is very nice looking, and the accomodations are acceptable.

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Is A Disney Timeshare Worth The Money?

JMarsden92 October 20, 2011
[3] comments

YES!!!

Many years ago I asked this very question.  I had gone to many timeshare tours in Florida, and also Atlantic City.  I knew what kind of money I was spending by going to Disney World 1-2 times per year.  This was calculations based on 2 adults + 1 child in a “Value” resort.  We were spending on average $600-$700 in accomodations.  My mother and father came home one year and told us about the Disney Vacation Club.  Being we had done many timeshare tours in the past we basically tried to tell them what we didn’t want.

My parents showed me where the savings would be, and asked if we would just meet with the guide and see what she could offer.  We agreed to this as long as noone tried to pressure me.  We got there and met with Kelly.  She went over everything and at the end told us to call if we were interested.  My wife was very hesitant at first.  She said that we should just look into houses for rent when we go to Florida.

WAIT… She didn’t try to keep us at the table and sell us on the spot?  No.

After we got home and evaluated everything we called Kelly and told her that we were ready.  She said she would send us all the paperwork to finalize through the mail.  We were very pleasantly surprised at how easy everything went in comparison to the other timeshares that we saw.  Disney financing went through quick, and easy.

Disney Vacation Club accomodations have Studios, 1 Bedroom, 2 Bedroom, and Grand Villas.  Each accomodates a maximum amount.  Each also has a specific set of ammenities included.  The best part is that I get points, and those points can be used at any of the DVC resorts.  I am automatically part of an exchange program so I can go to other places that aren’t part of Disney.

Looking back at our decision I realize that it was one of the wisest things we could do.  We have already made our money back.

Would I do it again…?  Yes.  I would hope to get my hands on any of the original properties only because of the cost.  The cost of the DVC properties has gone up quite considerable since we bought.

Posted in Disney DVC | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Video Tapes Keep Piling Up

JMarsden92 June 21, 2011
[1] comment

Each year when we go to Disney, or the cruise we always take @3-4 tapes for our video camera.  Last year I started transferring all the tapes from our camcorders to dvd, or Blu-ray.  I am now looking at a pile of tapes that I am sure can be used a second time, but I also have had bad experiences with reusing tapes.  For some reason we lost a whole vacation because we video taped it on second run tapes that we had.  We now use one of many recording devices so that I don’t have as much work to do in transferring them to dvd, or blu-ray.  If you are going to purchase a camcorder try to find one that has a firewire port on it.  This is one of the best ways to transfer video for editing, and movie making.

Having multiple recording devices has helped us out.  We have 2 Flip cameras, and 1 DV camcorder.  On top of that we have multiple cameras that go with us to Disney.  Word to the wise… Bring a extra memory card for your cameras so that you don’t have to worry about downloading the camera each night while in Disney.

Usually I have extra memory cards, but for the most part I download the photos nightly into our laptop so that we can sort through them before the count gets out of hand.

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Disney’s Hilton Head Review

JMarsden92 May 22, 2011
[1] comment

During our last trip home from Florida after our cruise on the Disney Dream we stopped in Hilton Head for one night.  We tried to get a reservation for more than 1 night, but it was not possible.  We stayed at Disney’s Hilton Head Resort.  When you come into the area where Hilton Head is you will find it nestled behind a few other resorts.  You pull up to an unmanned gate, and get greeted by a voice.  Check in is at the building immediately in front of you.  Upon walking up the steps to the building you will find a dog house with a Disney name tag on it.

After we checked in we took a walk around the property while we waited for our room to come ready.  We found the walk through the resort to be very short.  Even though there looks to be a lot of room on the proerty the property is actually very small, but everything is well placed to not waste any area.  We got into our room.  It was on the 3rd floor.  Our room had a balcony that was quite private.

Later we went to the swimming pool area so that our little one could do some crafts, and we could get something to eat.  We took a walk on the fishing pier to see what could be spotted.  We noticed a large amount of fiddler crabs.  After this we took a break in the jacuzzi.  This seemed to help my sun poisoning a bit.

One of the last things we got to do while at the resort was that we went over to the beach club for Disney guests.  There is a private pool at the club, and a path that leads down to the beach.  To enter the club, or get off the beach you need a resort keycard.  Later that night before we left we took one more stroll around the property and saw the campfire that they have.

Hilton Head is a very quiet resort.  The employees are very nice.  I had figured that the employees would be a bit more laid back in comparison to the Disney World resorts, but all of the employees have full uniforms, even the housekeeping that I would have figured would have been wearing something like Dickies scrubs.

We will definitelly try to stay at the Hilton Head resort again.  We would have enjoyed it more if it was for more than 1 night.

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Easter In Disney

JMarsden92 March 5, 2011
[1] comment

For many years we have made a point of being in Disney World for Easter.  My daughter has enjoyed this holiday because of all the festivities that Disney has for the kids.  As DVC members we get to go to the Boardwalk Resort, and she gets together with hundreds of other kids in crafts, games, and grouped Easter candy gathering.

This year we won’t be able to partake in the fun because our school system changed our schedule so drastically, and we won’t be able to be there.  We are going on a cruise the week prior, and we have been trying to decide if we are going to order one of the Easter baskets for kids that Disney does offer.

Being that we are going to be home on Easter we are thinking that we will probably just leave the miscellanous expenses behind, and just leave it out because she is getting older, and probably won’t mind if she doesn’t get a huge basket.  We are not sure what we are doing for Easter yet, but more than likely we will just relax, and get some things done after @2 weeks of being away.

What do you do when you are away during holidays?

Posted in Holidays & Such | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment