"What are your family's favorite Disney Vacation Club® traditions, and what keeps you coming back year after year?"
We are a blended family, so we spend Christmas with the older kids every other year. Our family tradition is to spend that week at Walt Disney World and more specifically Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas. It was the first resort we stayed at on our first family visit and has become "our" family resort. The lodge is alive (literally!) and each time we stay, we discover new animal tidbits. Once, we were on the observation deck watching two young zebras scamper about. During their chase, one of them ran into the back leg of a giraffe who was minding it's own business. This started a mini stampede of sorts on the savanna! We then discovered (from a delightful South African Animal Specialist) that Scooby and Daphne were the newest members of the zebra herd and Scooby, in particular, was known for his antics! This 20 minutes ended up being the highlight of our stay. We all learned more about zebras, and had a fun personal encounter to boot! We now make it a point to talk with an Animal Specialist during each visit. We learn new things about the animals and meet awesome Cast Members.
Along with animal encounters, we are constantly on the search for adventurous food! We try to time our visits to the Epcot festivals because we love the Outdoor Kitchens. Besides heading back to our staples, we (kids to adults) always sample at least one new "country" and without fail, find our new favorite dish. The littles ask for the fresh potato pancake with smoked salmon (they call it "the not-sweet pancake!") every time we pass a station that even slightly resembles Scotland. Who knew that Epcot would help us develop little foodies? Also when we visit, we take a picture of the kids at the DVC sign at the Resort. We do it to have a picture reminder of the time our youngest daughter discovered her love of dried seaweed, or when our boys gobbled up paella. We hope to have a picture Disney growth chart by the time they are adults!
*Offerings vary by Resort, and some require an additional fee. Visit DisneyVacationClub.com to learn more about the specific offerings located at any one of our Beach Resorts.
Meet the Panelist: Rayna, Florida
Hi y'all! I'm Rayna: wife, mom, anesthesiologist, and long-time Disney enthusiast. I've lived all over the country, but these days life has my family of seven in Florida. We're fantastically close to the most magical place on earth, and as Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club members we couldn't be happier about it. We've visited almost every Disney Vacation Club resort, so I'm thrilled to be here doing what I do best: Helping plan magical vacations.
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