The View from Scopa Towers

A few weeks ago I attended a media event sponsored by Walt Disney World. While covering the event I stayed at Kidani Village.

When I visited Kidani Village last year I did not come away very impressed with the resort…but then again I did not stay at the resort.

My first impression was that it took forever to get around the resort. The resort was built in a huge semi-circle, which did not offer any shortcuts to get from one side of the resort to the other.

I also visited Sanaa, the Kidani Village signature sit-down restaurant.

I did not care for the food at Sanaa because it just didn’t seem to do anything for me. I love spicy food, especially Indian food but on this particular night it wasn’t working for me. In fact I got the impression that the restaurant was shooting for an African-Indian cuisine but could not hit the mark.

I also was puzzled by how the resort was constructed. The parking area for the resort was underneath the building. This gave the building a not so authentic African look and I remember criticizing the design.

Of course the location was a huge issue with me. Why would anyone want to stay in the most remote resort on the Disney property?

Let’s flash forward to this year.

Some of my thoughts have changed and this turnaround is mostly due to my experience while staying at the resort.

First let me speak towards the room. I found the room décor to suit me very well. I like the warm colors and somewhat rustic look of the room décor. At the end of the day this décor helped me to unwind.

The Savannah view rooms are very nice and give you a chance to see the animals up close. I had a rare opportunity to watch some young zebras playing and running around one evening out in the Savanna…all from my balcony.

Now the parking. I now somewhat understand why the parking is like it is….the many elevators allow you to be fairly close to any elevator you need to get to your room.

Also, when looking out your window you cannot see a parking lot filled with cars….that was something that never crossed my mind last year.

The kiddie and adult pool area is very nice and for the children the kiddie area is almost like a Minnie water park with slides and all kinds of interesting things to do.

Since I am in training mode I made use of the Survival of the Fittest Training place. The state of the art training facility had treadmills bikes, elipticals, free weights and a complete circuit of fitness machines for anyone interested in keeping fit.

The accommodations may not be for everyone as some may feel the rooms are too dark for them and prefer the bright colors of let’s say Bay Lake Towers.

I myself like the warm colors and found that Kidani Village may be the suitable choice for those guests who prefer to have their room off the beaten path.

Having said that I must also point out that the Kidani Village is located in a remote part of Walt Disney World and with the exception of the Animal Kingdom, it is a good distance from the theme parks.

One evening I decided to ride the bus from the Magic Kingdom and it took 35 minutes to get to Kidani Village.

The big question is would I stay there again?

I would but I think my limit would be three days only because I prefer being centrally located while visiting Walt Disney World.

But at the end of the day if you are looking fro a quite respite from the hustle and bustle of the three parks then Kidani Village may be what you are looking for.

This experience has taught me not to ever again judge a resort from the outside in.

"I was a guest of Walt DisneyWorld during this media event. While my (accommodations) were paid for, this in no way influenced my opinions set forth in this blog."

Finally the day came when Carol could “legally” wear her “Happy Birthday” button.

We decided to try something different today so we went to the dock to take the Riverboat Cruise to Downtown Disney, as mentioned on the WDW Today channel in our hotel room.

The CM who was driving the boat asked us where we wanted to go. We actually wanted to go to Downtown Disney. He said, “Well obviously you didn’t read the schedule because the next boat that goes to Downtown Disney leaves in an hour. I’m going to Riverside.”

I almost said, “Well obviously you didn’t read the fine print in your Disney Employee’s Guide as to how to address guests but I’ll make sure that your supervisor won’t forget to remind you to refresh your memory on your customer skills.”

Of course I didn’t say that but would it have hurt him too much to say, “Well folks the next boat to Downtown Disney won’t be here for about an hour but I’d be happy to take you to Riverside.”

Not only that, you think with Carol wearing her birthday button he would have been a bit more dare I say, “cast memberlike?”

We decided to take the boat to Riverside and checked out the General Store.

We decided to walk back to POFQ and drive to Downtown Disney.

We were spending the morning doing our “official shopping” to get a few gifts for friends, and use our 10% discount from our Annual Passes.

We found a few things but not as much as we have in the past.

By the way, I’m amazed at the success of the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique.

Next month a second one will open in Cinderella Castle.

We finished our shopping and came back to POFQ to drop off our stuff and grab a little bite to eat. It was that time in the trip when all guests begin to say, “Y’know, I’m not that hungry, but I need a little something.”

After our quickie lunch we headed off to the Magic Kingdom.

We had not really hit Fantasyland yet on this trip so we headed straight for Peter Pan and walked right on thanks to some special Attraction Re-entry passes given to us by a friend.

It was another warm day so we were looking for any relief…and it came in the Carrousel of Progress.
Look for that abstract painting of Mickey as the Sorcerer’s apprentice in the last scene.

We rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority a few times and then checked out a few shops for some Disney Halloween pins. Carol likes to be the Disney pin teacher at her school and likes to wear a different Disney Halloween pin every year.

We were meeting friends…I’ll keep it a secret for now…at the Contemporary for dinner.

We took the monorail over to the resort and walked around.

Wow, things were happening.

Take a look at the activity we saw just beginning on the fourth floor.

Some new shops are going in and you may have seen the artist renditions in Jack Spence's report earlier this week.

We met up with our dear friends Steve and Vickie Barrett and had a wonderful dinner at the California Grill.

How’s this for a view of the sunset?

The California Grill folks came over and took our photo because of Carol's birthday.

The folks at CG also gave Carol a special birthday dessert.

We had some very high quality time with Steve and Vickie. We had hoped they could stay to watch Wishes with us both both had an early morning and they also had a fairly long drive home. See you at Mousefest guys, if not sooner.

Another view from the CG

We went out on the observation deck to watch Wishes.

The photos I took do not do Wishes justice simply because of the angle from which we watched the nighttime spectacular. Remember that during Wishes there are several sets of fireworks being fired….those around the castle and those from a barge well in the rear of Magic Kingdom. The best angle to watch Wishes is from directly in front of the castle on Main Street USA.

So Carol had a nice birthday.