Dinner at 'OHANA and a Surprise Boat Ride!
So as we left we were making our way out of the Magic Kingdom and getting ready for our Dinner. The lights were coming on main street so I tried to snap a few shots while pushing Mattie in the stroller. Disney is a MASTER at the use of LED lighting. There are so many colors to see!
Looking down Main Street.
Yes... even LED lighted balloons!
Turned around and got shot of the new Christmas wreathes and mounting structures. I remember those debuted this year because of the taller Fantasy parade.
So we left the Magic Kingdom around 5:10. Our Reservation was for 6:10 IIRC. The monorail was there about 5 minutes after walking up to the monorail depot. We got inside. Nathan still had his stickers! I think at this point my feet were really starting to bark at me. This was third day at being a park warrior and at my weight I guess it was inevitable they would start hurting. I had been popping ibuprofen and Tylenol since the first night. The monorail ride was a welcome respite!
Mattie had fallen asleep on the walk out of MK. It is a good thing because even though she was not crabby all day I am certain this nice nap helped head off any possible melt downs in the evening.
The Poly was in the middle of the Lobby remodel when we were at Disney. Things were a little extra crowded on the floors. People were trying to get seated at Kona and shop at the makeshift relocated gift shops. We got to Ohana and got the call from Chad and Leslie that they were on the monorail to Poly from the MK. We waited in in the area near the stroller parking. Soon we were all there. Our boys and their boys immediately started exchanging stories. It was fun to eaves drop on their conversations. They both had soo much fun that day! Although JD and CJ preferred Hollywood Studios to the rides at MK. It wasn't long before we were lead to our table.
We walked by some good looking bread! At this point I became aware of how hungry I was! It seemed like we had just finished lunch!
Meat... yes MEAT was for dinner!
We were kind of around this location.... and we had a wonderful view of the castle. However I was sad I was missing Elsa light the castle.
Ok so we got our drink orders. Chad and Leslie don't drink very much but I have been known to partake. I am not a beer drinker nor do I enjoy wine all that much. My tastes lean towards the distilled spirits... I wanted a Lapu Lapu ever since I researched Ohana. So I got one of these things. However I am sad to state that while the taste was decent for a mixed drink and the pineapple is a nice touch that the $$ to ounces is WAY off kilter. Later Chad ordered one too...
We got the Welcome bread first and it was really good, but we were all so hungry that it didn't last. A second round appeared 2 minutes later! Then the appetizers came. The chicken wings and the dumplings were good.
Then came the meat. I really was only interested in the shrimp. It was very good. I had them line up about 15 shrimp and a small piece of the sirloin
The shrimp was well seasoned and had good flavor. The sirloin was a little tough but I choked it down.
The amazing thing was all of this happened in about 20 minutes... I wish I would have savored it a bit. However when you have a table of 6 kids with varying tastes you spend a little bit of time constantly asking the waiter for this and that
.
The entertainment came by the table for a quick serenade. I think I was digging through a bag at this moment looking for wipes for Matties hands
Photo of Michael and I! He enjoyed eating here VERY much and still talks about it today. He really wants to stay at Poly in 2017.
Leslie, Chad, and JD
Don't ask me what Nathan is doing... If I had seen it I would have been embarrassed
Mattie learning to do the Hula
He was great!
He called up any anniversary couples. Chad and Leslie had just celebrated 20 years a week before.
So we had a great time but it was time to go. Chad and Leslie were going to call it a night and do laundry at AoA. We were headed back to MK to catch Spectromagic, Wishes, and Celebrate the Magic.
On our way out this fellow was the source of much 8 to 12 year old male laughter in our group!
Jennifer stopped at the gift shop and got some Christmas Tree decorations for when we got back home. The gift shop was near the monorail doors. I noticed when we pulled up there were was a line back through the doors. I asked a couple if they had been waiting long and they said about 5 minutes. Well 5 more minutes passed and word filtered back the monorail was down and it might not be running for 30 more minutes... I knew you could walk from Poly to MK which I told Jen we were gonna need to do.
Not having planned for this I was not sure how to get to the pathway from the 2nd floor of the Poly. I knew we had to get to first floor so we got on the elevator after a major crush of people from the Monorail line. While I was in elevator a couple asked if we were walking. I explaiend I guessed we would. They said there was also a small boat that leaves the marina. That sounded REALLY good to my aching feet! So we followed them to the Marina. Halfway down that long marina dock I hear Nathan... "I have to go to the bathroom". When he says that he really means... "Father, even though I pee'd 2 times before we left Ohana my tiny bladder is about to explode!"
I look down at the dock and I don't see a boat and only about 5 people... I guess I had a look on my face because Jen said... I got him and they fast walked back to the Poly and apparently found a restroom (heck maybe it was a bush) because they got back to the dock 8 minutes later as the boat was coming in to dock! We boarded. The pilot was very funny... kind of like a River Boat Skipper but less cheese
Mattie was stoked about her boat ride! I realized after taking this photo Frozen was playing at the Poly.
Zoomed in on it best I could.
Michael was sweet. He said he loved getting to take 2 boat rides and 2 monorail rides today!
We made it back to MK.
Up next... Spectromagic or No Magic?
We are getting ready to head out on our Summer Beach Trip this weekend to Galveston through Thursday. I will post some pictures after the trip!
We decided to go to Dinner as we were starving. The island was still VERY much hopping from the weekend. We tried to go to Salsa's because when you go to the coast you should eat Tex Mex but the wait was 2 hours! Holy smokes the food must be good there! We decided to go to another location called Miller's Seawall Grill. We had a nice dinner. Jen and I had the Fried Shrimp platter. My kids all stuck to their normal items of burgers and chicken tenders and all with Fries.
! We stayed until 3:30PM. The kids and I built a sand castle and looked for seashells. There are none... what does wash ashore gets picked up by people or swept up in the beach cleaner. The water is also VERY murky... even for Texas. I suppose it is from the traffic in the Galveston Bay and the ships stirring up the sediment.
