This is Literally The Best Trip Ever! *Complete 11-10*

[Jackiemarie21]

Hello and Welcome to my first ever Trip Report!​

You can read all about our plans for our trip in my PTR here. Its a really great story outlining how we went from a value resort to a deluxe resort with deluxe dining, with lots of movie nights and custom outfits, really its a fascinating read!

We had a fantastic trip and can not talk about anything other than ways to get back to WDW! I hope you read along and enjoy reliving the trip with me!

As far as the Title, I hope you all watch Parks and Recreation, (if you don't start now!) As I was sewing DD's outfits for the trip I watched the entire series and the whole time we were there we quoting the world's most annoying (in a good funny way) TV character Chris Traeger, who uses the word literally waaaay too much! Everything was literally the best, or literally the biggest, or literally the most fun, so the title for the TR was born!

So here are the details:

When: July 25- Aug1
Where: The Poly!!!!
Who:

Thats Me, Jackie a Stay at home mom. I love to sew, craft, cook, clean (I really do love it!), and plan Disney vacations! I have been obsessed with Disney since I was a little girl and when I grew up, I found a prince who is more than willing to share in the obsession with me!


Some of my favorites:
Disney Movie: I can't pick just one, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Tangled and Lilo and Stitch
Character: Minnie Mouse
Park: Magic Kingdom with MGM ( I hate calling it Hollywood Studios) a close second
Ride: Tower of Terror!
Disney Restaurant:'Ohana and Cinderella's Royal Table

Next up:

My DH Bob. He is a Social Studies teacher, department leader, Student Council sponsor, part time professor, and so much more! He loves sports, more specifically the St. Louis Cardinals. When I first meet him he thought Disney was silly and for kids but this trip, officially converted him into a Disney geek like me. As soon as we got home he was trying to find ways to save money to get back!

Some of his favorites:
Disney Movie:Lilo and Stitch
Character: Stitch
Park: EPCOT this guy loves drinking around the world!
Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road
Disney Restaurant:'Ohana

And last, but not least:

DD Charlotte who is two. She is a typical 2 year old, throwing fits, getting over stimulated and being too cute the whole time! I showed her lots of Disney movies to prepare her for the trip. I thought she liked the princesses, but I learned on this trip she actually liked their animal friends. She has no interest in the princesses themselves! She had so much fun in Disney, she did NOT want to come home. We both cried, it was cute, or maybe it wasn't...

Some of he favorites:
Disney Movie:Lilo and Stitch and Beauty and the Beast
Character: Stitch and the Beast
Park: Magic Kingdom
Ride: Goofy's Barnstormer
Disney Restaurant:'Ohana (breakfast)

So thats us! As you can see we really love Lilo and Stitch in our house! I think we watch one of the Stitch movies everyday, sometimes more than once

I really hope you read along! I will be back soon with Day 1

Table of Contents:

Intros
Day 1: Thursday July 25
Arrival
First Night at the Poly!
Day 2: Friday July 26
Happy Tears
From Mainstreet to Canada
Day 3: Saturday July 27
Things get a Little Bit Wild...
Dinner with a Few New Friends
Day 4: Sunday July 28
Breakfast With the Fab Five
A World Tour
Eat Up Its Goods For You
Day 5: Monday July 29
A Day of Rest
A Day of Rest Part 2
Day 6: Tuesday July 30
Hooray For Hollywood
So Much to Do With a Crabby Toddler
The Worst Night of the Best Trip Ever


Real Life Update 10/2
Day 7: Wednesday July 31
Royal Dining?
A Plan that Worked
A Magical Evening!
Day 8: Thursday Aug 1
The Last Day

Final Thoughts ​

 

[kthshh]

I'm following along. I read your pre-trip report. I can't wait to see the pictures of your daughter in all the cute outfits.

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[tiggerfan77]

Following along! I LOVE anything that involves the Poly!!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Day 1
Thursday July 25, 2013​

Okay, so I have to start by telling you two things about myself and my family... 1. We are NOT morning people, at all! We like to stay up late and sleep in, especially on vacation. I really pushed us with some of our morning ADR's and I will NEVER do that again. 2. We are always late. I wish that was not true, but sadly we just have a hard time getting out of the door on time. Somehow on this trip however, we were never late, not once! Most of the time we were early one time we cut it really close (but it was not our fault, we had a bus situation). WDW really is a magical place to make that happen!

Oh and I have a disappointing disclaimer... I did not take food pictures, well not many. I am really sorry and I hope you do not turn away from reading this. I have lots of other pictures, I promise! It was just so hard to keep an antsy toddler occupied and happy in a restaurant that taking pictures was not very convenient. I did however record what we all ordered and what we thought about it, so I hope that helps

Okay so with those details out of the way on to the trip report.

Our flight was leaving at 9:30am. My dad who works for the US Department of Defense near the airport was driving us to the airport on this glorious morning! Dad suggested we leave at 6:30. We only live about 30 minutes from the St. Louis airport, but the Highway to get to airport from where we live is super congested in the morning. (I am talking about 270 for anyone familiar with the STL area) So, earlier was better than later. I got up at 5:00 after not sleeping much at all, I was way to excited to sleep. When my alarm went off, I noticed DH was awake already. He was too excited to sleep too. I did my hair and make-up and realized my toenails need to be painted, so I gave them a quick paint job. After that, I did all the last minute packing, things that could not be packed until the morning. I got DD up at 6:00 got her dressed and we were all ready by 6:15. That is a first for us! We were going to eat breakfast in the airport so that did not need to be done yet. Dad showed up at 6:20. We loaded the car, we had lots of bags! And on the road by 6:35, pixie dust must of made its way up to STL that morning!

We got to the airport about 7:15, and checked our bags. We had five plus a stroller and car seat, too much to carry. We made two trips. After getting rid of our baggage we headed to security. We have been through the STL airport in the evening and security was awful! I have to say the morning crew had their act together and things went much more smoothly! Last time we went through security DD cried the entire time, this time she was happy and easy to deal with, score! We showed the first TSA agent our IDs and boarding passes and headed on through. They had to hand check the stroller and car seat since they would not fit through the scanner. For some reason the car seat did not pass (they did not tell us why, maybe goldfish crumbs are a security risk?) So they had to pat DH down and go though his carry on, but they let him and the car seat through after that. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts to get some breakfast. DH and I got bagel sandwiches and DD got munchkins. When I went to pay my drivers license was not in my wallet. So, I panicked and then started looking through everything. It was no where to be found! I continued to panic and cry a little bit, how would I get home? We went back to security and a very nice agent looked through all the bins, in the scanner and underneath with no luck. We asked him if I could get home, he said yes, but I would have to go through some additional screening, I was afraid to ask what that might be We settled in at our gate and I calmed down a bit and decided to search my stuff one more time. Low and behold, there was a pocket in my backpack I did not even notice and there it was. I guess in my panic I just missed it. I felt bad for stressing DH and the TSA agent out, but at least I found my drivers license.

Our plane arrived at our gate and DD was really excited to see it!

We got ready to board the plane. We were flying Southwest, so, DH purchased early bird check in for his ticket in hopes to get in the "A" boarding group, but he was in the "B" group. So, we boarded with families with young children right before the "B" group. We settled in row 8, because DH read that rows 1-10 have 2 extra inches of leg room and since he is so tall, every inch counts! Our flight left about 5 minutes late, but that was not a big deal because we were catching a tail wind and would still be landing 20 minutes early. The pixie dust just keeps coming folks! Our flight was very uneventful Charlotte colored and played with a etch a sketch, while DH and I read our books. After our last flight with DD, I did not think that would happen, but she was a perfect child on this flight, again more pixie dust!

I always avoided morning flights because like I said we are not morning people, but the morning flight went so much better for us, I am convinced flying in the morning is the way to go.

Anyway, we landed at 12:15, which was 25 minutes early! We hoped on the shuttle, and into the main terminal. Then we made a quick restroom and diaper change stop and headed to the ME! The walk to ME was quite possible one of the most exciting of my life. I could not believe we were actually there! We jumped into line 2 and got on the ME and it was almost full! We took the back row and waited about 15 minutes before actually leaving. Charlotte was so wound up on the ME. We had been telling her for months we were going to Mickey's House and she was pretty excited to actually be there. The movie was so good, I was tearing up the whole time!

DD and DH on the ME

We stopped at WL first, the CR next and then we made it to the poly! I was so excited to be there. It was a dream come true. It was so glorious! I was so happy we switched from the CR to the Poly, it just felt like home when we got there! We collected our things off the bus and headed inside to see this:

Seriously how beautiful is that?
I decided at the last minute to go a head and do online check-in. I could not wait any longer. So, we went to the online check-in counter. We were given leis and lots of info about the resort and then they told us we would be in Tokelau room 1916. That was the longhouse I requested and the first floor, so both of my requests were granted-perfect! We left the GCH and set out to find our room!

I am going to leave it there for now. I will be back later tonight to finish up day 1!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

I'm following along. I read your pre-trip report. I can't wait to see the pictures of your daughter in all the cute outfits.

So glad to have you along for the ride! She loved all her special outfits!

Following along!

Welcome! I am glad to have you reading along!

Following along! I LOVE anything that involves the Poly!!

Isn't the poly the greatest? I love it so much! Glad to have you along

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm in! I mean, how can I not follow a report of literally the best trip ever?!?!?!?

side note: CM Punk does a youtube series called Grammar Slam including an episode where he compares/contrasts Literally and Figuratively. It is a little profane but very funny



I am going to go back and read your pre-trip report since I am actually interested in seeing how you switched to going for a deluxe. I definitely want to stay at the Poly sometime as I love it whenever we go there for dinner. I have heard that a major renovation is planed and it may include a change or possible removal of the center waterfall piece - which I really hope doesn't happen

 

[STLMickeyMom]

I am literally so excited to read about your trip that I am literally about to jump out of my seat--literally!! Ok, so I love parks and rec, too! Sounds like pixie dust was following you all day! Can't wait to read more!

 

[mercydisney]

Great trip report, thank you for sharing.

 

[kellygreenjenny]

following along, thanks for sharing your trip

 

[Jackiemarie21]

I'm in! I mean, how can I not follow a report of literally the best trip ever?!?!?!?

side note: CM Punk does a youtube series called Grammar Slam including an episode where he compares/contrasts Literally and Figuratively. It is a little profane but very funny



I am going to go back and read your pre-trip report since I am actually interested in seeing how you switched to going for a deluxe. I definitely want to stay at the Poly sometime as I love it whenever we go there for dinner. I have heard that a major renovation is planed and it may include a change or possible removal of the center waterfall piece - which I really hope doesn't happen

I am so glad you are reading along! We really did have a fantastic trip! The poly is my favorite place on Disney Property, it is so perfect. I have heard some of those same rumors as well. It makes me sad to think they are going to change my version of heaven. However, it is Disney, so I have faith the change will be fabulous and I will still be in love!

I am literally so excited to read about your trip that I am literally about to jump out of my seat--literally!! Ok, so I love parks and rec, too! Sounds like pixie dust was following you all day! Can't wait to read more!

Yay! A fellow St. Louisain and Parks and Rec fan! How have we not met before? We had lots of pixie dust the whole week! I am so glad to have you along!

Great trip report, thank you for sharing.

Thank you for reading!

following along, thanks for sharing your trip

So glad to have you along! We had lots of fun, tons of great tales to share!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Alright so when I left off we were leaving the GCH with our map in hand. It was a little bit confusing but we eventually found ourselves on the right path and found this sign:

We entered and proceeded down the long hallway ending at our room. We walked in and it was perfect! I realized I better start taking some pics before we mess the room up so I did here they are:

As you can see DD makes herself at home right away!

After we got into our room I called my mom to let her know we arrived and to check on our fur babies who were staying with her. When I got off the phone we realized it was 3:00 already and we were hungry! So, we headed down to Captain Cooks to get a little food and our refillable mugs. We decided to split a QS meal and get a snack or two to go with it because we wanted to be hungry for our dinner! We split an order of pork nachos which I did get a picture of:

We also got a side salad, dole whip, milk and a rice krispy treat. The nachos were different than we expected, but so delicious. The side salad was just a salad, but gave us a little more balanced meal, and the dole whip was perfection in a cup! DD ate the rice krispy treat, it took her three days to finish it but, she ate all of it, so I am sure it was tasty! We also purchased an extra refillable mug for DD. She doesn't really drink soda (an occasional Sprite but thats it) however, I knew that DD would want our mugs if she didn't have her own. So most of the time we had to buy a bottle of water or juice to go inside the mug, but the $16.00 mug saved us lots of fights with a 2 year old. Worth. Every. Penny!

After our light, late lunch we went back to our room. The pack and play had been delivered so we decided to put Charlotte down for a nap. While she was sleeping, DH and I sat on the patio, relaxed and took that we were actually at the Poly! DH decided there that he would like to go on vacation to the Poly and just stay there the whole time, no parks! Our luggage was delivered about 4:30 by a very friendly cast member who was careful not to wake the sleeping toddler in the room. Charlotte got up about 5:30. She normally naps for about 2-3 hours so this was a little short, but the poor thing was just too excited to sleep! She was also starting to show signs of a cold, so that could be why she got up early.

While I got ready for dinner, Bob took Charlotte outside to sit in a hammock on the beach. She LOVED this! then, they came in a got ready.

Here is DD all ready.

We headed up the GCH and checked in at 'Ohana. We were about 20 minutes early. After only about 10 minutes our pager went off and we were at our table. Our cousin Debbie was our server. She was really nice and friendly but so sloooow! Tables around us with different servers had there noodles before we got our drinks. If it had just been DH and I this would not have been a problem, but with a restless toddler it was a pain! DD however, found a way to amuse herself:

She just picked up the whole loaf and started eating it. Not a big deal, I didn't want to fill up on bread anyway!

Everything was so good! Charlotte loved the noodles and shrimp, DH loved the meat and my favorite was the veggies. I know that is kind of weird people go there for the meat, but the new veggies were so fantastic I ate almost all of them myself! I also really like the steak and pot stickers. I am sure I would love the shrimp (one of my favorite foods ever!) but I was recently diagnosed with an shellfish allergy. Its not severe, I have no problems cutting up DD's shrimp or anything, but if I eat it I get hives, so I can't eat it anymore. After we stuffed our selves with meat, veggies, noodles, wings, pot stickers, etc. We had dessert. DD had ice cream. Funny side story about DD and ice cream. The first time she had cake and remembered it, was DH's birthday. He wanted a Dairy Queen ice cream cake which is all ice cream and no actual cake. So, she thinks ice cream is cake. The thing that adds to her confusion, is that every since the ice cream cake, anytime she has cake it also has ice cream with it, so she has no clue she is wrong! I keep telling her, but its hard to get through to a two year old when they form ideas like this. Hopefully, someday she will get this straight. So anyway, Debbie brings DD her own bowl of ice cream and she gets so excited and says "mmmmm cake!" Debbie started to tell DD there was no cake, but she realized DD was thrilled with her bowl of ice cream and just smiled and said "enjoy!" DH and I enjoyed the bread pudding. After dessert, we settled up the bill and rolled out of the restaurant. We were full and happy! DH and I both agree 'Ohana is our favorite restaurant, not just our favorite in Disney, but our favorite anywhere. We LOVE it! Here are some pics from our meal:

As you can see DD loved it as well! You can also see that DD used my white shirt as her napkin- not cool!

After we got done it was 9:00 and time for the movie on the beach to start. This evenings movie just happened to be Lilo and Stitch. Which if you remember is a family favorite so, we went down to the beach to watch it. We planned to watch the movie catch wishes and then go to bed. DD on the other hand was far to fascinated with the beach to even notice her favorite movie on the big screen.

She had sand everywhere! And then it started to rain. So, we decided to abandon our plan and just head to our room. We gave DD a bath and took showers ourselves. We put DD to bed and sat on the patio for about an hour before heading to bed ourselves. It was the perfect start to our wonderful trip!

Up next... Day 2 MK and Epcot!

 

[Denovagirl]

Joining in!!! Love it so far! Seems like a perfect first day

 

[tiggerfan77]

We love Ohana's too! I have eaten there before at breakfast so we tried dinner for the first time on our current trip and I thought the food was amazing! My picky eater son wasn't impressed but maybe next time, he can stay with Grandma and Grandpa

 

[TheMaxRebo]

We also purchased an extra refillable mug for DD. She doesn't really drink soda (an occasional Sprite but thats it) however, I knew that DD would want our mugs if she didn't have her own. So most of the time we had to buy a bottle of water or juice to go inside the mug, but the $16.00 mug saved us lots of fights with a 2 year old. Worth. Every. Penny!

As the parent of a 4 year old and a 20 month old I can tell you that $16 to save fights is an absolute bargain!

love the outfit

And then it started to rain. So, we decided to abandon our plan and just head to our room. We gave DD a bath and took showers ourselves. We put DD to bed and sat on the patio for about an hour before heading to bed ourselves. It was the perfect start to our wonderful trip!

sorry things didn't work out to watch wishes - we love watching the fireworks from the Poly beach. We did it after Ohana last trip and will be doing it our first night down there after eating at Kona this time. Glad you overall had a great day though!

 

[MotherofLandon]

Following along! Loving your trip report so far. We are doing the Poly next trip and I will also have a toddler in tow.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Oh my gosh! The poly and your room look awesome!! So exciting. We are going to 'Ohana for breakfast--I can't wait!
The nachos are really making me hungry!
And I love the pic of Charlotte in her ruffly skirt! If you have time, go check out my ptr again. I just posted a pic of a pettiskirt I made last night.
Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[TX Momof2]

Can't wait to read about your Poly stay!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Can't wait to read more!! The Poly looks amazing so far!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Joining in!!! Love it so far! Seems like a perfect first day

It was perfect! So glad to have you along!

We love Ohana's too! I have eaten there before at breakfast so we tried dinner for the first time on our current trip and I thought the food was amazing! My picky eater son wasn't impressed but maybe next time, he can stay with Grandma and Grandpa

'Ohanna is the best! We did dinner there twice and breakfast! It's seriously like a bit of Heaven here on earth

As the parent of a 4 year old and a 20 month old I can tell you that $16 to save fights is an absolute bargain!



love the outfit



sorry things didn't work out to watch wishes - we love watching the fireworks from the Poly beach. We did it after Ohana last trip and will be doing it our first night down there after eating at Kona this time. Glad you overall had a great day though!

You've got that right! Plus now that we are home it's the "special cup " that dd can have chocolate milk in after dinner if she sit through the whole meal...I am not above bribery!

Thank you! I made the skirtand embroidered the shirt.

Later in the trip we did get to watch the fireworks from the beach and it was amazing!!!!!! I planned on doing it more but it only worked out once.

Following along! Loving your trip report so far. We are doing the Poly next trip and I will also have a toddler in tow.

Oh my gosh! The poly and your room look awesome!! So exciting. We are going to 'Ohana for breakfast--I can't wait!
The nachos are really making me hungry!
And I love the pic of Charlotte in her ruffly skirt! If you have time, go check out my ptr again. I just posted a pic of a pettiskirt I made last night.
Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

Thank you! The skirt was my version of the pettiskirt. You will LOVE 'Ohana breakfast! I am not sure what they do to the eggs there, but they are soooo goods!

Can't wait to read about your Poly stay!

So glad to have you reading along!

Can't wait to read more!! The Poly looks amazing so far!

Glad to have you along! The Poly is amazing! I still can't believe I actually got to stay there!