The Magic and the Misery ~ Updated 6/13: June Trip Report Started!

[cmp1111]

Very nice night, despite the rain and camera. I hope something worked out - that's such a bummer. We have a larger Canon that doesn't like damp at all - it's always fine once it dries out, but the lens goes crazy, not just if it gets wet, but if it's humid, which is a pain.

Can't wait to hear the next answers!

 

[cinderella crazy]

Thanks for reading. You're staying at the Poly on your trip? Lucky! We only got one night there, due to "fun with availability", but it was great! We totally agreed that our favorite place we stayed was the Poly. If it wasn't so darn pricey, we'd stay there all the time. We are tentatively planning to stay there in early December, though. 40% off helps.

Yes, we'll be staying at the Poly. So excited! We'll be gong for our 10 year anniversary. I'd love to stay there every time we go as well, but there is that little issue about price. But since it's for our anniversary, we decided it was worth the cost. I'm just ready to eat some Tonga Toast (it's my favorite!).

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Hi neighbor! Just popped in to say I'm reading along!
So sorry about the camera!

 

[Goofy442]

All caught up and jumping on board. Great TR love all the details. I should be packing and doing laundry or finishing my work before we leave on our trip to Beach Club Villas but having more fun reading. My DS will not leave our Daisy at home so she comes with us and stays in a kennel in WDW.

 

[Dugette]

Very nice night, despite the rain and camera. I hope something worked out - that's such a bummer. We have a larger Canon that doesn't like damp at all - it's always fine once it dries out, but the lens goes crazy, not just if it gets wet, but if it's humid, which is a pain.

Can't wait to hear the next answers!

Aren't cameras fun? Can't believe this happened on the first night of our trip! Forgot to mention in the report, but that incident is why the cool beach/castle picture we saw in the Poly gift shop earlier took on an ironic new meaning.

Yes, we'll be staying at the Poly. So excited! We'll be gong for our 10 year anniversary. I'd love to stay there every time we go as well, but there is that little issue about price. But since it's for our anniversary, we decided it was worth the cost. I'm just ready to eat some Tonga Toast (it's my favorite!).

Enjoy the Poly! And Happy Anniversary! Not to spoil anything, but there will be a picture of Tonga Toast (from Captain Cook's) in the next update. And, later, there will be a picture of some at Kona Cafe too.

Hi neighbor! Just popped in to say I'm reading along!
So sorry about the camera!

Thanks for coming over! Good to see you here, neighbor!

All caught up and jumping on board. Great TR love all the details. I should be packing and doing laundry or finishing my work before we leave on our trip to Beach Club Villas but having more fun reading. My DS will not leave our Daisy at home so she comes with us and stays in a kennel in WDW.

Thanks! We're pretty detailed people. I was writing some of this and thinking, "Do people really want to know this?" But, I figured, I would, so why not?

You're leaving for the Beach Club soon, huh? Very cool! We have a reservation at BCV for Food & Wine in November (bounceback-45% off). Really looking forward to it. We wandered through on this trip.

Trip reports are addicting, aren't they? Don't forget to pack!

Wow, you bring your dog? Do you drive or fly? I actually found myself wishing our dog was one of those little ones that you can carry on a plane with you, just so we could bring her and kennel her at Disney. It would save on the "burdening" of the relatives who agree to watch her. You have an adorable dog, by the way!

 

[E-Stop]

I made an ADR for Kona Cafe based solely on that one picture of the Pan Asian Noodle platter. Wow, that looks good!!!

 

[Dugette]

I made an ADR for Kona Cafe based solely on that one picture of the Pan Asian Noodle platter. Wow, that looks good!!!

Cool, I'm sure you will enjoy Kona! We had 3 meals there this trip (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and they were all excellent. I think they only have the Pan Asian Noodles at dinner, though. It's also just a nice environment to have a meal in...and not overly crowded. Enjoy!

 

[disneyaddicted]

Hi my name is Ty, I am totally hooked on your TR. My Dh and I are taking our first couples only vacation to Disney this September and I hope to take it easy and have a relaxing stay.

That's awful that Dug was diagnosed with emptigo hours before the trip but I guess it was better to learn before you go and have some kind of fix for it, but it still is sad that it happened at all.

I love the pictures you took of the Poly, they are gorgeous. The food sounds delicious and I love the idea of watching wishes from the beach. I sure hope you were able to remedy the camera situation.

I have heard the same thing about Disney postin glong wait times to deter people from gettin gin line right before closing, I have never tried to see if it was true, but hey thanks to you I will try that on my next trip.

I can't wait to read more, I hope another installment is up soon, looks like I am snowed in for a few days now and reading your TR would just be awesome.

 

[Goofy442]

Yes we do drive because my DS will not leave her behind and we are okay with this. She came with us when she was eight months old and stayed at AK kennels which worked out well for us because we were at AKV. They have a fenced in area for your dog to run in and it was right by where the characters came out. They would stop and play with her which was very funny.

 

[Dugette]

Hi my name is Ty, I am totally hooked on your TR. My Dh and I are taking our first couples only vacation to Disney this September and I hope to take it easy and have a relaxing stay.

Very cool, I hope you have a great time! Our previous trip was in September and it was a great time to be there. Super-low crowds, but with summer-like weather.

I have heard the same thing about Disney postin glong wait times to deter people from gettin gin line right before closing, I have never tried to see if it was true, but hey thanks to you I will try that on my next trip.

Yeah, it can't hurt to test this out. The 70=17 on Space was awesome. I can't recall details right now, but I think we took this gamble on another ride later in the trip and the line was approximately the length they showed it to be. So, you never know, but can't hurt to try...you can always get out of line if it's bad.

I can't wait to read more, I hope another installment is up soon, looks like I am snowed in for a few days now and reading your TR would just be awesome.

Thanks! I hope another installment will be coming soon. I don't have as much free time during the week to write. However, Dug has a meeting this evening, so that should give me some time to work on this while he's out. No promises, but I hope to get another update up tonight so you have something to do during your snowstorm

Yes we do drive because my DS will not leave her behind and we are okay with this. She came with us when she was eight months old and stayed at AK kennels which worked out well for us because we were at AKV. They have a fenced in area for your dog to run in and it was right by where the characters came out. They would stop and play with her which was very funny.

How cool is that: your doggy got a Disney vacation too! Complete with character interaction! For some reason, this has me daydreaming about how cool (yet completely crazy) it would be if Disney ever had a bring-your-pet-to-the-parks day! I can just picture Bailey sitting in the boat with us at Pirates of the Caribbean, enjoying the scenery and barking at the dog/cat/pig audio-animatronics!

 

[Dugette]

I just remembered we took this picture at Where's the Fire in Innoventions that day. It was emailed to us (once we enhanced it on their computers).

Another update is nearing completion. I'll get it posted soon!

 

[Dugette]

Well, after the late night we’d just had, we decided to sleep in this morning. After all, this weekend was supposed to be the most relaxing part of our trip. Dug got up first and headed down to the Great Ceremonial House. He wanted to pick up some souvenirs that we’d seen in the Boutiki the day before. He got a Disney glass for his mom (she’s a comical drinker, for instance, she once opened a wine cooler and said, “I think I’ll take this with me to bed” and headed off …we like to give her a hard time about this). He got a package of tropical-flavored Disney taffy for his co-workers. And, of course, how could he resist picking up some breakfast for himself while he was out? So, he swung by Captain Cook’s and came home with this:

Yes, the bargain version of Tonga Toast!

I was very excited about my breakfast too. Somehow, I’ve developed a constant craving for peanut butter/chocolate flavored things (foreshadowing a No Way Jose perhaps?) So, naturally, Reese’s Puffs are the perfect breakfast! I brought an entire bag with me and planned to eat them every day of the trip. So, here’s my yummy breakfast:

As we ate, we turned on Disney TV and watched Stacy :

Apparently we didn’t do a great job getting photos or video of our room at the Poly. All I can pull from video that’s not a blur of camera motion is this bed:

Dug did get a few shots of our patio view, though:

Since we had slept in, we were running a little later than we’d hoped. Check-out was at 11am, not leaving enough time to take a dip in the Volcano Pool. So, Dug decided to see how the Poly is about late check-outs. Turns out they’re very agreeable! We got our check-out time pushed back to 1pm, no charge!

We weren’t sure if impetigo and swimming were an okay combination, but we figured Dug would just try to keep his face out of the water. And hopefully the chlorine wouldn’t irritate his face. For the record, it was still in pretty much the same condition he described: alternately scabby and damp. Not fun. We needed some fun!

So, we got in our swimsuits and headed down to the Volcano Pool. It was a bit chilly out (maybe 70 degrees at most) and quite windy. However, the pool is heated (but I was still chilly, even in the water). There were not many people there at all. We wanted to try out the waterslide right away, so we headed up the stairs. A whole bunch of kids ran past us. I thought, “Wow, those kids are really excited to go down this waterslide again!” We got to the top and went down. It was pretty fun…a more substantial slide than I expected. It curves through the fake volcano a few times before you splash into the pool.

Well, we wanted to do it again, so we got out and headed to the stairs. Now I understood why the kids were running: they were freezing! Once you’ve gotten that wet, and you get out into that wind, yikes! We did the waterslide a couple more times, glided around in the pool, and sat in front of the pool jets a bit (our makeshift hot tub). Made Disney plans while sitting there. It was nice. Especially since you could see the castle from there. This is approximately the view we had:

After a bit, it was time to get out, as we had a Magic Kingdom day ahead of us. And it was pretty cold. Headed back to our room, wrapped up in towels for warmth.

Back in the room, we needed to take care of some more camera business. Dug called Panasonic just to see if there was any chance of the camera being covered under warranty, since it was so new. Turns out, until you send it in, you really can’t know. Although, if they determined that they won’t fix it under warranty, they do allow you to buy a new one at a discount. Good to know, but that wasn’t going to help on this trip. We had considered the Kodaks we saw on Main Street, but they were probably marked up quite a bit (it was Disney). And we hadn’t researched enough to know if we’d be happy with one of them.

Our other option: we found the same Panasonic Lumix on Amazon again (only cheaper than 5 months ago ). Plus, overnight shipping was only $17 (not bad for overnight). Plus, we already had all the accessories (case & extra battery) that we would need for this camera. The only catch was that today was Sunday and Monday was MLK Day, so it probably wouldn’t ship until Tuesday. So, we’d have to keep making due with the video camera and the iPhone for the next few days. All things considered, this option made the most sense.

Before ordering it, Dug called up Port Orleans Riverside to find out where we should have it shipped to. The woman there who helped us was super nice and helpful. And she empathized with the situation. I was impressed with the quality of customer service we were getting from Port Orleans before we even arrived!

After that call, Dug got the camera ordered and set up to ship to Port Orleans (and we’d pick up at the front desk there). I’m not sure when we found this out, but a good surprise was that it did ship Monday, even with the holiday. Of course, we would be out all day Tuesday (4 parks in one day attempt! ), so we wouldn’t be able to pick it up until late night Tuesday.

That completed, it was time to head out for the day. I believe it was around noon-12:30 by then. We called bell services to come pick up our luggage so it could be transferred to the Wilderness Lodge. Sat out on the patio and enjoyed it while we waited. A few minutes later, someone showed up to collect our bags. And we were off!

Snapped this iPhone photo of the Hidden Mickey carpet in the hallway of Tokelau:

Now here’s where it gets tricky. My notes say we took the monorail to the MK, but I see a picture that seems to indicate we were on a boat. So, we took some form of cool transportation to the MK! Once we passed bag check and entered, we had some important business to take care of:

Yes, Dug finally got his much-needed haircut. They’re pretty reasonably priced and there was no wait. While he was in there, I made a Peter Pan Fast Pass run. It’s quite a hike down Main Street, through Fantasyland, and back (at a brisk pace)! There was a show going on in front of the castle, so I went to the left to go around. I noticed that the moat was nearly dry and Cinderella was apparently having some work done on her castle with a large crane. Found my way right to Peter Pan, procured the Fast Passes (for 4:10pm or so, I think), and made my way back to the barbershop. Dug was just walking out. Here’s a random shot where you can see his new haircut:

He asked for no pixie dust or colored hair gel, but they do offer to add it for free!

We headed down Main Street and watched a few minutes of these guys performing:

We were heading to Fantasyland, as it was lunchtime and we wanted to try these legendary “Figaro Fries” we’d heard about on WDW Today Podcasts and on the Dis. On the way past the castle, I met this friendly bird. He actually came closer when I held my hand out:

Behind him was the castle. If you ever wanted to see the net of lights close-up, here’s a zoom:

Continued in next post...

 

[Dugette]

We walked around and here’s the crane I spoke of:

These women were entering Cinderella Castle through the upper level :

And we checked out the Cinderella Fountain. This is how it looks at the wrong angle:

This is how it looks when you’ve read the “Hidden Magic” book. See the crown sitting on top of her head?:

We arrived at Pinocchio Village Haus. Looked at the menu. Did not see any mention of the famed Figaro Fries. Asked the order-taker about them. Turns out that both the Figaro Fries and the Cannoli were taken off the menu about a year and a half ago! How did we miss this? Apparently, we are not the first to have asked about this. I think she was wishing they still had them too. Disney disappointment! Nothing else on the menu compelled us to stay, so we just left in search of better eating.

On the way out of Fantasyland, I noticed a large tour group lining up for It’s a Small World. My widescreen video was not wide enough to capture how far this line went:

Good thing we were taking it easy and not trying to ride too much today! It was crowded!

What’s a couple to do when they’re hungry in the Magic Kingdom?
Head to Pecos Bill’s, of course!

Apparently we forgot to take a picture of this one, but we made our own “Figaro Fries”. Ordered some Chili Cheese Fries and loaded stuff on from the fixins bar. It was a decent substitute!

After that lunch/snack thing, we headed to the nearby Pirates of the Caribbean. There was a line, but not terrible… maybe 10-15 minutes or so? Here’s the cannon the pirates use to shoot at people loading into the boats, I guess :

I actually took video of most of this ride (we were in the front row, so seemed a good opportunity). We were disappointed that the mist waterfall with Davy Jones wasn’t going (it wasn’t the whole trip). I love that this dog sings along with the Pirates:

The pirate on the bridge:

Next, we took the train from Frontierland over to Toontown. Saw the mining village from Big Thunder on the way:

Scenery along the way:

We stopped by the Barnstormer. Not to ride, but to check out the chickens. We’d read that the chickens react when the train goes by and that it was worth seeing. It was okay. We couldn’t see all that much. I think they just squeal as it goes by.

Want to know how the impetigo was doing? Here’s a still I grabbed from my footage of us walking into Tomorrowland:

We grabbed some fast passes for Space Mountain for later, then headed over to the TTA.

On the way, we saw the best gift shop roof ever:

I love these little guys! Every time we walked by them, I had Dug do his impression of, “Ohhhhhhhhhh…the claw……” So funny! I saw a talking/dancing stuffed animal of the little aliens in several gift shops, but they only had one thing they said, so I didn’t get one. If they had several sayings, I’d love that!

Rode the TTA and enjoyed. On a side note, when we rode the TTA at night, we could actually see the track for Space Mountain. During the day, we couldn’t. Maybe our eyes were just better adjusted to the dark at night.

After that, we decided we didn’t have time to stick around to use our Peter Pan Fast Passes. We decided to save them for that night. We had to get to the Wilderness Lodge, check in, and head over to Fort Wilderness for dinner at Trail’s End. Which Dug kept accidentally calling Happy Trails.

On our way out, we saw this dragon (and you can clearly see the dried up moat):

We wanted to take the boat over. Went down to the boat dock and found a cast member stationed there, specifically to explain to people that the boats were not running, due to the high winds. So, we headed over to the bus stops and got on a bus to Wilderness Lodge.

Soon, we arrived at Wilderness Lodge, our home for the next 24 hours!

Up next: Wilderness Lodge exploration and a trek to Trail’s End

 

[cmp1111]

Glad you found a solution for the camera! Sorry about the fries... I didn't know they were gone, either.

 

[my2disneyboys]

I'm in! I have enjoyed reading so far and can't wait to hear more. We just got back too!! We stayed at the Poly and our next trip is booked for WL so I am really excited to hear how you liked it!! I love all the pictures! What a shame about the video camera!!!

 

[donnajean17]

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Goofy442]

You two are braver than us three hotels in one stay. My DH says where ever we are we stay for the week. He will not change hotels while we are on vacation.

 

[Dugette]

Glad you found a solution for the camera! Sorry about the fries... I didn't know they were gone, either.

Yeah, from how popular they seemed to be, it seems very strange that they took the fries (and the cannoli) off the menu. And a year and a half ago...you'd think I'd have heard about that!

I'm in! I have enjoyed reading so far and can't wait to hear more. We just got back too!! We stayed at the Poly and our next trip is booked for WL so I am really excited to hear how you liked it!! I love all the pictures! What a shame about the video camera!!!

Welcome back! I just checked out your TR and I'll comment over there. I feel like we didn't get to spend as much time just enjoying the WL as we did with the Poly, but I'll post what we have soon. We definitely liked it!

Just to clarify, the video camera was fine, it was the regular camera that bit the dust (sand). All the pics from the next few days are either still frames from video or photos taken on an iPhone.

Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! Hope to get another update up in the next day or two!

You two are braver than us three hotels in one stay. My DH says where ever we are we stay for the week. He will not change hotels while we are on vacation.

You know, we were a bit apprehensive about the 3 changes in 3 days thing, but it all went seamlessly. I think the reasons it worked for us were:
1.) We were taking it easier those days, so taking the time to make resort changes didn't hurt any commando-style park touring plans we might have had otherwise.
2.) We had such short stays that it was easy to live out of a suitcase at the Poly and WL. No real desire to unpack for 1 night.
3.) It was kind-of nice to get golf-cart rides to rooms with our luggage! We did spend more money tipping because of all this, but it was a nice treat to experience all the different places.

Love your avatar picture, by the way! The blue icicle castle is so pretty!

 

[my2disneyboys]

oh I misunderstood!! I bet you were so glad to have the iphone with you huh??

 

[Dugette]

oh I misunderstood!! I bet you were so glad to have the iphone with you huh??

Yes, I actually found it kind-of amusing that, with the state of technology these days, we had three spare cameras: the video, the iPhone, and my (junky) cell phone. But nothing was as good as the real camera...and Dug loves to take pictures, so new one it was!