POLY, BLT & THE DREAM, WITH A TEEN AND A TWEEN…APRIL 2016*COMPLETED 8/15**

ariane37 · Jul 22, 2016

Wow, CC looks so gorgeous and like half the members of my family would thoroughly enjoy it lol! And I'm with DD on seeing fish in the water; I don't swim pretty much ever, but if I do it's in a pool

I think it's great that both kids made friends on the cruise that they hung out with. Good friends of ours took a cruise last summer (not Disney). Their daughter had just turned 17 and the same thing happened; she met a bunch of kids and spent a good portion of the cruise with them. Coincidentally about half of them are from the next county over, so she's even gotten together with them a few times since the cruise!

I love pirate Minnie and I can't wait to hear about Pirate night pirate:

Oh, and congrats on the CC5k!

buzzrelly · Jul 23, 2016

ariane37 said:
Wow, CC looks so gorgeous and like half the members of my family would thoroughly enjoy it lol! And I'm with DD on seeing fish in the water; I don't swim pretty much ever, but if I do it's in a pool

I think it's great that both kids made friends on the cruise that they hung out with. Good friends of ours took a cruise last summer (not Disney). Their daughter had just turned 17 and the same thing happened; she met a bunch of kids and spent a good portion of the cruise with them. Coincidentally about half of them are from the next county over, so she's even gotten together with them a few times since the cruise!

I love pirate Minnie and I can't wait to hear about Pirate night

Oh, and congrats on the CC5k!

Thanks!

I'm a TERRIBLE swimmer and pretty much dog-paddled out to Pelican Plunge and back, but it was so worth it, if not just for the view alone. The beach where we were floating in in pretty much like a pool since you can still see your feet at the bottom, and they actually do have nets to keep sharks out . I think you would love it!

Unfortunately, one of DS best friends on the ship was from the Philippines , so I don't see them getting to gather any time soon! But they still text and SnapChat, etc.

buzzrelly · Jul 23, 2016

APRIL 13, 2016: PIRATES IN THE CARIBBEAN

This guy was waiting for us back in the room...

And he had some company

DM and I went up to deck 10 and got great seats to sit and wait for the party to start. Helpful tip…If you are facing the stage, sit on the left side so you can then see the fireworks after.

I recorded some of the party and fireworks on the GoPro…here are the links to the YouTube uploads…

Jack Sparrow comes out at about 3:57

Pirate Fireworks

It was really such a fun time, definitely one of the highlights of the trip

After the party, there's the Pirates in the Caribbean buffet…I was actually glad that I didn't like my dinner earlier because I didn't eat a lot and was hungry. Maybe DCL does this on purpose

I should have taken more pics, but Cabanas was very crowded and it was hard to get a clear shot. Plus, I was too busy stuffing my face

DM and I went back to the room shortly after, and I was falling asleep by the time the kids came in around midnight!

Up next, our "At Sea" day and our last cruise day

mickey2minnie1 · Jul 24, 2016

Enjoying your report! We love the Poly! We have never cruised, so it is great to see it through you and your family.

westcoastfldisneygirl · Jul 24, 2016

I love your updates! I just love the Bahamas. It never gets old. Loving all the photos. What a great trip!

basketlacey · Jul 24, 2016

Fantastic reviews so far! We're just back from a great stay at the Poly.

buzzrelly · Jul 25, 2016

mickey2minnie1 said:
Enjoying your report! We love the Poly! We have never cruised, so it is great to see it through you and your family.

Thanks! It looks like you've stayed at the Poly quite a bit! It is such a beautiful resort! It's time to add on a cruise and try it out! The 4 night would be a great way to start out!

westcoastfldisneygirl said:
I love your updates! I just love the Bahamas. It never gets old. Loving all the photos. What a great trip!

Thank you! I wish I was back there right now!

basketlacey said:
Fantastic reviews so far! We're just back from a great stay at the Poly.

Thank you! It's truly like heaven on earth!

buzzrelly · Jul 25, 2016

APRIL 14, 2016: BIBBITY-BOBBITY-BOO

Today was our last day of the cruise, and the only thing we had planned was for DD to try Bibbity-Bobbity_Boutique for the first time ever. Out of all of our trips to WDW, this was one of the things I just never felt like bothering with…I know…bad mommy ! But since DD was 12, this was her LAST chance to try it and she really wanted to so I make the reservation for her. I think it's kind of cute, but I am not a big fan of the hairstyles they do there (I'd get a serious headache if my hair was pulled that tight!!), and DD's hairstyle didn't even make it to the end of the day since she went swimming after getting it done. On our last cruise on the Magic in 2012, she had her hair braided and those suckers lasted a good month, so we definitely got our money's worth from them! So in general, It was kind of a waste for us, but at least DD got to check it off her bucket list!

So here she goes…this girl is truly a miracle worker…DD has the THICKEST and CURLIEST hair, I have NO idea how she even got a comb through it, God Bless Her

Before…

During…

And finally, After…

buzzrelly · Jul 25, 2016

APRIL 14, 2016: ROOM SERVICE

After DD was done, she went off to the vibe and DM and I went up to lay by the pool and relax. It was super crowded but we got a spot on the upper deck…I'm not sure why it never occurred to me to go to the adult pool…duh! I guess I'm always in 'mom mode," even when my kids aren't around!

While We were laying there, the Captain started playing some of the cool tunes from the ship's horns. I missed the first couple, but the I started recording on my phone. So here's the video, but I was really just trying to capture the horns so it's not an actual video of anything in particular…

DM and I headed into the lunch buffet after, which was so yummy. I only took this one pic...

After lunch DM and I had planned to go to see Zootopia in 3-D in the ship's theater. Before we went I wanted to go check out some of the ship's photos in Shutters and I told DM I would meet her at the theater after. Well, I went into the theater and looked and looked for DM but never found her. Finally the movie started and I just gave up and just ended up watching it by myself. On the way out of the theater after the movie, I saw DM walking out. She said she had gotten there just as the movie was starting and she couldn't find me in the dark but she had watched the movie. So I said, "okay, well here, I'll go put away your 3-D glasses," and she's like, "what 3-D glasses?" I said, "didn't you notice that the movie was all BLURRY??" That's Grammy for ya!

Anyway, after the movie she and I went back to the room to finish packing up since we had to leave all of our luggage by the door by like 9pm or so. We had the sliders open and I put on Lilo & Stitch and were just having such a lovely time relaxing in the room that when it was time to go to dinner at the MDR, neither one of us felt like leaving. So we just decided to call room-service and have dinner delivered. DD came in just then and she wanted room-service also, so that's what we did. And it was delicious…

BLTs...

Salads…DM had a Garden salad and I had a Greek salad…both were fresh and yummy…

DM got chicken noodle sup and I had tomato that I forgot to get a picture of. We both liked ours...

DD got pizza (of course!)...

And French Fries…

And, of course, Key Lime Pie for dessert!

Oh! And all that yummy food came with an AMAZING view!

Quite honestly, this was one of our favorite meals on the ship! Super relaxing and really good. I think I already said my piece about the MDRs, but seriously, next time I would skip them more and just go eat where we want when we want.

DD went back to the EDGE and DM and I went up on deck after and watched one of my all-time favorite movies...

Doesn't DM look so relaxed drinking her hot cocoa?

buzzrelly · Jul 26, 2016

APRIL 14, 2016: ZOMBIFIED

We headed back to our room to put our bags out for our stateroom hostess…such a sad sight…

She had already made up for room for the last time…

I miss this. I cannot understand why, in real life, nobody leaves me towel animals or chocolates ever night? Sigh.

Y'all are probably wondering what the heck DS had been up to all day. Well, so was I! Nah, he was in the VIBE all day and he and his friends were working very hard on this…

The VIBE kids make a movie on the ship and then invite everyone to see it on the last night. It was really campy and cheesy, but super cute.

DM and I headed back to the cabin shortly after, but the kids had BIG plans for this night. They were going to the Prem-ear at sea of the new movie, The Jungle Book. The movie was coming out on April 15th, so guess when they went to see it? April 15th, at 12:01 am! They were out until 2am!

Maybe that wasn't such a great idea, considering we had to be out of the room and at breakfast at 6:45am

DS was CLEARLY a tired grump this am! But don't worry…he definitely catches up on his sleep in the near future, at the worst possible time

Looks like DS was still in character for his movie, ZOMBIFIED!

And just like that, we were off the ship and through customs

But...on our way BACK to Walt Disney World!

Hundredacre · Jul 26, 2016

I love your report! Thanks for sharing!

buzzrelly · Jul 27, 2016

Hundredacre said:
I love your report! Thanks for sharing!

buzzrelly · Jul 27, 2016

APRIL 15, 2016: THERE HAS BEEN AN AWAKENING

We had hired FL Tours for both legs of our trip and when we were disembarking, the driver contacted me and told me where he would be. It was super easy as he was right there in the from waiting for us and after loading up our bags, we were heading back to WDW!

Grammy caught a (much-needed!) nap one the way!

And before long, we were seeing…..

I love it! Though I wish they would move that traffic sign that's blocking my girl, Minnie

After checking into BLT we went over to talk to the DVC rep to ask how we get our three, "anytime" FastPasses loaded onto our bands. If you go on the ship and get these, they might tell you that you have to go over to the Poly or main DVC center to do this, but you don't. The DVC guy at BLT just made a quick phone call and voila! Our room wasn't ready so we gave our bags to bell services and then DS and I had to go pick up our bibs for the Dark Side 10k the next day. DD and DM headed over to the MK and we told them we would catch up with them later.

Have you ever asked a CM a question and they don't know the answer so they blatantly give you WRONG information? Yeah, well…I asked at the BLT check-in counter where DS and I could catch a bus to get over to the ESPN center to get our bibs. She asked one other guy and he's like, "there are no busses there today." Oh well, total bummer, but we called a cab and headed over. I'm thinking it wouldn't cost more than $10-$15, but as we were driving, that meter kept flipping and flipping and flipping…you get the idea. It ended up costing about $25…for ONE WAY! Ouch! Oh well, so we got out and made our way over to all the different places we needed to check-in and get our bags, etc…

And they had some cute signs up. DS is a HUGE Star Wars fan and I kind of secretly love it too, though part of my fondness may be due to nostalgia and part due to loving anything that my kids love, but no matter. I was super excited to do this race with DS because of that and because he runs cross-country so I figured this would be a piece of cake for him. I myself had never run in any kind of race until that Castaway Cay 5K and I had been running all through last Winter and Spring to make sure I was ready. As it turns out, DS maybe wasn't quite as ready…BUT…you'll have to wait for that!

This sign was completely wrong, as I came to find out...

On our way out, I spotted Jeff Galloway speaking and I TOTALLY geeked out! He's the guy that I listen to on my app when I am running. He encourages people to do the run-walk-run method, and I SWEAR this is the only thing that has made me stick wth the whole running thing. I used to think if I couldn't continuously run 5 miles then I was a wimp or it wasn't really running. He's changed my whole way of thinking about that and I've now stuck with this running thing for at least 5 years. Anyway, DS was getting antsy and wanted to get to the MK so we didn't stay to listen. He was kind of wrapping it up anyway, but if I ever do another Disney race, I hope I get a chance to listen to him again!

As we were walking out, there were signs all over leading to the busses. Wait! Busses?? But the lady at BLT said there were none? However could that be? Well…there were busses, and PLENTY of them! We hopped on and were soon headed back to BLT! I was kicking myself for shelling out $25 for nothing, but chalk it up to "Live and Learn!"

westcoastfldisneygirl · Jul 27, 2016

I love the updates! What a great cruise. How fun that you got to go back to Disney!!!

buzzrelly · Jul 28, 2016

westcoastfldisneygirl said:
I love the updates! What a great cruise. How fun that you got to go back to Disney!!!

It was a great feeling ending the cruise but not ending the vacation! Takes the sting off!

buzzrelly · Jul 29, 2016

APRIL 15, 2016: ROOM 8120

DS and I were walking right down the middle of Main Street by noon.

We texted DD and met up with her and Grammy pretty quickly...

The parks were fairly busy, but I had made our FastPasses to start later in the day…

so we hit up some rides that didn't have a crazy long wait.

DS was exhausted (no kidding!) and decided to leave and go back to BLT. It was close to the time the room should have been ready anyway and he was just going to go sit by the pool. Right after he left us, however, I got the text that the room was ready so I texted him and told him he could just go straight there.

DD, DM and I stayed and went on our FastPass rides…

We were all kind of tired though and after we rode Splash, we went to The Plaza to see if there was any way we could check-in early for our reservation. They said they were actually running late and people that had earlier reservations were backed up and still waiting to be seated. They told us that we could cancel without penalty though, so we did and we left the MK by 4:45.

The text had said that we gotten Room 8120…

It was a beautiful, HUGE, 1-bedroom villa. It felt ESPECIALLY HUGE after being on the cruise ship for 4 nights! We had reserved a theme park view so I didn't make any special requests. We LOVED our room and we LOVED our VIEW…

More room pics in next post...

buzzrelly · Jul 29, 2016

APRIL 15, 2015: BUNCHES OF PICS FROM ROOM 8120

I'll just throw a bunch of room pics here for those who are interested. We love BLT and you cannot beat the space and layout that the 1 bedroom gives you!

Kitchen

Living room

Dining table

View from the living room

One of the two full baths

The other full bath

King size bed in bedroom

To be continued...

buzzrelly · Jul 29, 2016

APRIL 15, 2016: AND DID I MENTION THE VIEW?

We walked over to have dinner at Contempo Cafe and then just relaxed in the room for the rest of the night. This pic was taken around 8:30 pm, and DD was asleep before Wishes even started

I got everything ready for the morning since DS and I had to wake up at 3:30 am to catch the bus to our race

I was REALLY looking forward to the whole thing, but especially because it was something that DS and I could do together. As many of you moms know, as our boys get older, there are fewer and fewer things we can do together that we both enjoy…sniff, sniff

But with all the planning and preparation I had done for this trip, there was one thing that I just didn't plan on….

Hundredacre · Jul 29, 2016

buzzrelly said:
APRIL 15, 2016: AND DID I MENTION THE VIEW?

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We walked over to have dinner at Contempo Cafe and then just relaxed in the room for the rest of the night. This pic was taken around 8:30 pm, and DD was asleep before Wishes even started
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I got everything ready for the morning since DS and I had to wake up at 3:30 am to catch the bus to our race

I was REALLY looking forward to the whole thing, but especially because it was something that DS and I could do together. As many of you moms know, as our boys get older, there are fewer and fewer things we can do together that we both enjoy…sniff, sniff

But with all the planning and preparation I had done for this trip, there was one thing that I just didn't plan on….

Absolutely incredible room.

nenglim · Jul 29, 2016

I am back from WDW and all caught up again! We also stayed up to watch the Jungle Book, premiEAR. I didn't know about the 3 anytime FP. Was that given during the DVC presentation at the start of the cruise? We didn't show up for that but I went to one of the presentations during the cruise. I got a pin which i did not expect. That was nice.

POLY, BLT & THE DREAM, WITH A TEEN AND A TWEEN…APRIL 2016***COMPLETED 8/15****

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POLY, BLT & THE DREAM, WITH A TEEN AND A TWEEN…APRIL 2016*COMPLETED 8/15**