arieljasmine
11-04-2007, 01:32 PM
Laur’s and Andy’s Halloween Happiness Trip Day 7
Laur’s – 28
Andy – 29
Tuesday 25 September 2007
We woke up to our Alice Cooper wake up call at 8.15 am, and were disturbed a few minutes later by the front desk calling to ask if we’d got our wake up call! Hmm, shame the phone doesn’t have a snooze button!
We went down the hall to concierge for breakfast. We knew we were going to miss this! I had froot loops and melon and Andy had rice krispies and toast. We were off to the Polynesian today, so we went back to the room to finish packing and we checked out around 10.30 am. Andy called his parents and then we left the hotel about 10.50 am. I don’t know how it is possible to be so happy and so sad at the same time – the HRH is my favourite hotel so I hate leaving – but we were off to Disney!
We set off, stopping off at Walgreens at 11.30 am to pick up some junk food for lunch as we had an early ADR that evening. We got some cheddar and sour cream crisps, a large milky way and a bottle of cherry coke. We ate these in the car and then set off again at 11.50 am.
After the initial confusion of not knowing how we were going to get into the Poly, we arrived for check in at 12.15 pm. We got our yellow leis and were assigned to the Rapa Nui building on the third floor. It was, of course, the building furthest away, but this was a blessing in reality because it is the nearest building to the TTC making walking back very easy indeed.
There was some confusion with our tickets because we had originally booked 9 nights in the Pop Century and had changed our booking so we had 2 nights at the Poly before moving to the Pop. We had ordered ultimate tickets when we made our original booking – but these of course hadn’t been transferred to the Poly reservation. We were told we would have to go to the Magic Kingdom guest services to sort it out.
So, we went firstly to the room to drop off our cases and have a look round. The room was so gorgeous and very spacious – and I even remembered to take the pictures before we destroyed the place! I love the new toiletries too, they smell gorgeous, even if they aren’t as cute and kitsch as the old ones.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07058.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07059.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07060.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07062.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07063.jpg
On the way out to MK, we stopped at the concierge desk to pick up our tickets for the luau, I mean, Spirit of Aloha dinner show we had booked for that evening. The guy let us choose another lei each to wear to the show – I chose pink and Andy red. Who knew how itchy these were though? Mine ended up wrapped round my ponytail and Andy was wearing his Rambo-style.
We took the monorail to MK (ooo, the novelty) – I love the monorail, but why does it always smell like horse manure?! We went up to guest services to explain the situation and luckily ended up with a very patient cast member as it took her so long to sort out. You wouldn’t think it would be that difficult to give us the tickets – I had all the different paperwork and emails and confirmation numbers. Eventually we had our tickets in hand (plus our tickets for MNSSHP later in the week) and despite our best intentions of going straight back to the hotel, we sneaked into MK for a bit to soak up the magic.
We had a meander around and appreciated how nice it was to be here with no bags to carry and no need to rush around. We stopped for an ice cream on Main Street and I was thrilled to see cookie swirl had been reintroduced. We were both pretty hungry so I had a cup of that and Andy had a mint choc chip one. We had a look round the Emporium before heading back to the hotel. An aside comment, I was very disappointed with the shopping this year, very homogenized – we kept seeing the same things everywhere. Certainly not as much variety as usual.
When we got back to the Poly we got changed into our swim things and had a romantic walk along the beach and sat on the swing for a while. We went round to the quiet pool to dangle our feet in, but I ended up jumping in for a swim because it was so hot. I eventually persuaded Andy it wasn’t that cold in the water and we swam together for a while. All too soon it was time to go and get ready for the evening’s entertainment.
We hadn’t allowed much time for getting to Luau cove so we towelled off and changed quickly and arrived there at 5 pm. We got yet another lei each and had our photo taken on the way in. I was a little apprehensive about this after hearing such bad reports on the Dis podcast, but we both wanted to do it so we thought we’d give it a go. And loved it. So, obvious as it sounds, remember to try everything, because we don’t all like the same things.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/Poly20Sept071.jpg
We had third tier seating, but it was excellent, we were raised up and at the edge of the higher seating area so had a great view. My only complaint would be that the tables are a little close together so you are very close to the party next to you. However, I had visions of long tables like school so it was a relief to be on a table for two!
The starters were waiting on the table when we were seated – fresh pineapple, salad with mango poppyseed dressing and the most delicious pineapple and coconut bread which I could quite happily have eaten the whole lot and nothing else! There was also water on the table and our server came over to take our drinks orders. We had a Bud Lite each. Our server was excellent and kept us topped up with fresh drinks – we never once had to ask.
The main course was chicken, bbq ribs, rice and veggies, served like the starters on a leaf shaped dish. There was so much we could never have finished it, but we did pretty well, especially considering I don’t like ribs so it was up to Andy to put those away. I liked the rice best.
Dessert was a volcano each – pyramid shaped chocolate mousse with cake on the bottom and raspberry sauce poured down the side to look like lava.
We enjoyed the show too – the host Auntie Winni was very sweet, and the traditional dances were excellent. The little ones were invited on to the stage to do a dance, there was a special dance for those with birthdays, and then couples celebrating anniversaries, honeymoons or just being in love were invited to come to the front and dance. Andy took me up for a dance which was so sweet and unlike him to want to be the centre of attention, so I teased him that his Disney chip was put in when we checked in! The fire dancer of course was the best and quite rightly saved for the finale.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07066.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07068.jpg
The show finished at 7.30 pm and I was feeling a little merry from the two pints of beer I had (beer is another thing that goes straight to my head). We ran and danced up to the monorail to go over to MK to watch Wishes. As we were going into the park the security guy asked why we didn’t bring him anything from the Polynesian so I offered him one of my plethora of leis. He laughingly declined and told me to keep them to sell on Ebay and finance our next Disney trip!
We bought a sprite in Casey’s Corner and watched Wishes – back in the heart of the magic at last. We stopped in at the Emporium again so that I could buy the cute Jack Skellington candy collecting bucket I had spied earlier. And, no it couldn’t wait another day – what if they ran out?!
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07069.jpg
We took the monorail back to the hotel at 9.10 am, had baths and then went over to the Great Ceremonial House to look round the shops. We bought some drinks – diet coke, Bud, Bud Lite, and a Fuzzy navel flavoured beer (I love that it is flavoured beer rather than alcopop!) and a Peter Pan chocolate bar. We took our drinks back to the room for consumption and I ate my chocolate before collapsing into bed at 12.15 am.
Laur's princess:
Laur’s – 28
Andy – 29
Tuesday 25 September 2007
We woke up to our Alice Cooper wake up call at 8.15 am, and were disturbed a few minutes later by the front desk calling to ask if we’d got our wake up call! Hmm, shame the phone doesn’t have a snooze button!
We went down the hall to concierge for breakfast. We knew we were going to miss this! I had froot loops and melon and Andy had rice krispies and toast. We were off to the Polynesian today, so we went back to the room to finish packing and we checked out around 10.30 am. Andy called his parents and then we left the hotel about 10.50 am. I don’t know how it is possible to be so happy and so sad at the same time – the HRH is my favourite hotel so I hate leaving – but we were off to Disney!
We set off, stopping off at Walgreens at 11.30 am to pick up some junk food for lunch as we had an early ADR that evening. We got some cheddar and sour cream crisps, a large milky way and a bottle of cherry coke. We ate these in the car and then set off again at 11.50 am.
After the initial confusion of not knowing how we were going to get into the Poly, we arrived for check in at 12.15 pm. We got our yellow leis and were assigned to the Rapa Nui building on the third floor. It was, of course, the building furthest away, but this was a blessing in reality because it is the nearest building to the TTC making walking back very easy indeed.
There was some confusion with our tickets because we had originally booked 9 nights in the Pop Century and had changed our booking so we had 2 nights at the Poly before moving to the Pop. We had ordered ultimate tickets when we made our original booking – but these of course hadn’t been transferred to the Poly reservation. We were told we would have to go to the Magic Kingdom guest services to sort it out.
So, we went firstly to the room to drop off our cases and have a look round. The room was so gorgeous and very spacious – and I even remembered to take the pictures before we destroyed the place! I love the new toiletries too, they smell gorgeous, even if they aren’t as cute and kitsch as the old ones.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07058.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07059.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07060.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07062.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07063.jpg
On the way out to MK, we stopped at the concierge desk to pick up our tickets for the luau, I mean, Spirit of Aloha dinner show we had booked for that evening. The guy let us choose another lei each to wear to the show – I chose pink and Andy red. Who knew how itchy these were though? Mine ended up wrapped round my ponytail and Andy was wearing his Rambo-style.
We took the monorail to MK (ooo, the novelty) – I love the monorail, but why does it always smell like horse manure?! We went up to guest services to explain the situation and luckily ended up with a very patient cast member as it took her so long to sort out. You wouldn’t think it would be that difficult to give us the tickets – I had all the different paperwork and emails and confirmation numbers. Eventually we had our tickets in hand (plus our tickets for MNSSHP later in the week) and despite our best intentions of going straight back to the hotel, we sneaked into MK for a bit to soak up the magic.
We had a meander around and appreciated how nice it was to be here with no bags to carry and no need to rush around. We stopped for an ice cream on Main Street and I was thrilled to see cookie swirl had been reintroduced. We were both pretty hungry so I had a cup of that and Andy had a mint choc chip one. We had a look round the Emporium before heading back to the hotel. An aside comment, I was very disappointed with the shopping this year, very homogenized – we kept seeing the same things everywhere. Certainly not as much variety as usual.
When we got back to the Poly we got changed into our swim things and had a romantic walk along the beach and sat on the swing for a while. We went round to the quiet pool to dangle our feet in, but I ended up jumping in for a swim because it was so hot. I eventually persuaded Andy it wasn’t that cold in the water and we swam together for a while. All too soon it was time to go and get ready for the evening’s entertainment.
We hadn’t allowed much time for getting to Luau cove so we towelled off and changed quickly and arrived there at 5 pm. We got yet another lei each and had our photo taken on the way in. I was a little apprehensive about this after hearing such bad reports on the Dis podcast, but we both wanted to do it so we thought we’d give it a go. And loved it. So, obvious as it sounds, remember to try everything, because we don’t all like the same things.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/Poly20Sept071.jpg
We had third tier seating, but it was excellent, we were raised up and at the edge of the higher seating area so had a great view. My only complaint would be that the tables are a little close together so you are very close to the party next to you. However, I had visions of long tables like school so it was a relief to be on a table for two!
The starters were waiting on the table when we were seated – fresh pineapple, salad with mango poppyseed dressing and the most delicious pineapple and coconut bread which I could quite happily have eaten the whole lot and nothing else! There was also water on the table and our server came over to take our drinks orders. We had a Bud Lite each. Our server was excellent and kept us topped up with fresh drinks – we never once had to ask.
The main course was chicken, bbq ribs, rice and veggies, served like the starters on a leaf shaped dish. There was so much we could never have finished it, but we did pretty well, especially considering I don’t like ribs so it was up to Andy to put those away. I liked the rice best.
Dessert was a volcano each – pyramid shaped chocolate mousse with cake on the bottom and raspberry sauce poured down the side to look like lava.
We enjoyed the show too – the host Auntie Winni was very sweet, and the traditional dances were excellent. The little ones were invited on to the stage to do a dance, there was a special dance for those with birthdays, and then couples celebrating anniversaries, honeymoons or just being in love were invited to come to the front and dance. Andy took me up for a dance which was so sweet and unlike him to want to be the centre of attention, so I teased him that his Disney chip was put in when we checked in! The fire dancer of course was the best and quite rightly saved for the finale.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07066.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07068.jpg
The show finished at 7.30 pm and I was feeling a little merry from the two pints of beer I had (beer is another thing that goes straight to my head). We ran and danced up to the monorail to go over to MK to watch Wishes. As we were going into the park the security guy asked why we didn’t bring him anything from the Polynesian so I offered him one of my plethora of leis. He laughingly declined and told me to keep them to sell on Ebay and finance our next Disney trip!
We bought a sprite in Casey’s Corner and watched Wishes – back in the heart of the magic at last. We stopped in at the Emporium again so that I could buy the cute Jack Skellington candy collecting bucket I had spied earlier. And, no it couldn’t wait another day – what if they ran out?!
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/FloridaSept07069.jpg
We took the monorail back to the hotel at 9.10 am, had baths and then went over to the Great Ceremonial House to look round the shops. We bought some drinks – diet coke, Bud, Bud Lite, and a Fuzzy navel flavoured beer (I love that it is flavoured beer rather than alcopop!) and a Peter Pan chocolate bar. We took our drinks back to the room for consumption and I ate my chocolate before collapsing into bed at 12.15 am.
Laur's princess: