zummerzet66
Are we there yet?!
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2009
Wednesday 9th April 2008
The Cast:
Me (Matt) 42, though young at heart!
DW (Claire) 41, and ditto
DS11 (Samuel), already a teenager!
DS9 (Tommy), daredevil coaster rider!
and Nanny!
We wake at 6:30, unable to lie in as we have a 7:30 ADR at Kona. Unbelievably, we have to wake MiL up, despite the time difference, and her going to bed at 8:30 last night. Must be an age thing
Disney "Happy Anniversary" badges in place, we set off for the Polynesian. As it's early, we take advantage of being able to get in and park at the TTC without paying the $11, and walk across to the Poly. This place is lovely, though unfortunately too dark for any decent pictures to come out! This is our first ADR of the holiday, booked 180 days ago, so it is with trepidation that we approach the counter to check in. Phew, they have our booking! though they don't start letting people in till 7:30 (it's now 7:15) so we have to sit and wait for a little while. Whilst waiting, we see all the guests arriving for breakfast at 'Ohana being given their flowery necklace things (leis), which gets us in the mood for own own trip here next week.
At 7:30 we're called to our table, though yet again I fail to catch our server's name (she's very good). Food is ordered:
Me: Big Kahuna
DW: Tonga Toast
Kids: Mickey Pancakes
Nanny: Fruit Plate
It's all delicious, especially my macadamia & pineapple pancakes, and it's all rounded off by a pair of profiterole-type cakes on a plate as an anniversary celebration! With drinks and tip it comes in at $65, which strikes us as being far better value than the $55 we spent at Friendly's yesterday, albeit for a different meal.
We've finished in time to make it for the MK opening ceremony, which is as good as ever, and gets Nanny in the mood! We head straight for the Mad Hatter's Teacups, followed by Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Philharmagic and It's A Small World (what is THAT all about?!). This is all a deliberate ploy to ease Nanny into things before trying something a little more daring. Mission accomplished, she's now ready for the Mountains, so we grab FPs for BTMR whilst queuing for Splash Mountain. In fairness to Nanny, she does take the total drenching she gets on SM in very good stead, before drying out a little at speed on BTMR!
Time to slow down again, so we take a train ride around the park, starting and ending at Main Street before heading to the bakery for a snack. Here we are served by a Chinese lady, who wins the runner up prize for the grumpiest CM of the holiday (the winner will be announced tomorrow)! Refueled, we take it in turns to hold on to a good spot on the pavement (sorry, sidewalk) outside the bakery, ready for the parade, whilst the rest of us wander the shops (no, no tee-shirt this time!).
3pm comes, and we enjoy the Disney Dreams Come True Parade, though it perhaps isn't quite as good as we'd hoped. Good, but something we can't quite place our finger on missing. Once it's over, we head over to Tomorrowland with the intention of seeing what we can get on without much queue, but there is no chance of anything except the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which never seems to have anything much of a queue. A shame really, because it's a good ride. No thrills and spills, but a good view of the Tomorrowland area of the park.
Having ridden TTA, we decide to head back to the Villa to freshen up because tonight we have a special ADR for our Anniversary. Fresh and clean, we head for the Contemporary for a date with Chef Mickey. This place is just fantastic! I don't go much for the look of the Contemporary as a hotel, but Chef Mickey's is superb. I have probably eaten slightly better food at one or two places this holiday but, as an overall experience, this place cannot be beaten. the character interaction is excellent, the staff are very attentive, even though it is a serve-yourself buffet, and we even get special treatment as it is our Anniversary. Songs are sung and napkins are twirled in our honour, and Goofy even bows down in awe when I tell him we've been married 14 years! Even Nanny is rather taken with it all. She claims she was unaware of Mickey's presence when the photo is taken - I'll let you decide!
It comes in $180, plus another $32 for the photo we had taken as we were waiting to be seated, which is considerably more than anywhere else all holiday, but boy is it worth it. Thoroughly recommended to anyone.
A bit of shopping in the new Fantasia shop in the hotel, and we're back off to the Villa. Nanny has done extremely well for her first full day, but she's flagging now so she has an earlyish night, and we're not far behind.
The Cast:
Me (Matt) 42, though young at heart!
DW (Claire) 41, and ditto
DS11 (Samuel), already a teenager!
DS9 (Tommy), daredevil coaster rider!
and Nanny!
We wake at 6:30, unable to lie in as we have a 7:30 ADR at Kona. Unbelievably, we have to wake MiL up, despite the time difference, and her going to bed at 8:30 last night. Must be an age thing
Disney "Happy Anniversary" badges in place, we set off for the Polynesian. As it's early, we take advantage of being able to get in and park at the TTC without paying the $11, and walk across to the Poly. This place is lovely, though unfortunately too dark for any decent pictures to come out! This is our first ADR of the holiday, booked 180 days ago, so it is with trepidation that we approach the counter to check in. Phew, they have our booking! though they don't start letting people in till 7:30 (it's now 7:15) so we have to sit and wait for a little while. Whilst waiting, we see all the guests arriving for breakfast at 'Ohana being given their flowery necklace things (leis), which gets us in the mood for own own trip here next week.
At 7:30 we're called to our table, though yet again I fail to catch our server's name (she's very good). Food is ordered:
Me: Big Kahuna
DW: Tonga Toast
Kids: Mickey Pancakes
Nanny: Fruit Plate
It's all delicious, especially my macadamia & pineapple pancakes, and it's all rounded off by a pair of profiterole-type cakes on a plate as an anniversary celebration! With drinks and tip it comes in at $65, which strikes us as being far better value than the $55 we spent at Friendly's yesterday, albeit for a different meal.
We've finished in time to make it for the MK opening ceremony, which is as good as ever, and gets Nanny in the mood! We head straight for the Mad Hatter's Teacups, followed by Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Philharmagic and It's A Small World (what is THAT all about?!). This is all a deliberate ploy to ease Nanny into things before trying something a little more daring. Mission accomplished, she's now ready for the Mountains, so we grab FPs for BTMR whilst queuing for Splash Mountain. In fairness to Nanny, she does take the total drenching she gets on SM in very good stead, before drying out a little at speed on BTMR!
Time to slow down again, so we take a train ride around the park, starting and ending at Main Street before heading to the bakery for a snack. Here we are served by a Chinese lady, who wins the runner up prize for the grumpiest CM of the holiday (the winner will be announced tomorrow)! Refueled, we take it in turns to hold on to a good spot on the pavement (sorry, sidewalk) outside the bakery, ready for the parade, whilst the rest of us wander the shops (no, no tee-shirt this time!).
3pm comes, and we enjoy the Disney Dreams Come True Parade, though it perhaps isn't quite as good as we'd hoped. Good, but something we can't quite place our finger on missing. Once it's over, we head over to Tomorrowland with the intention of seeing what we can get on without much queue, but there is no chance of anything except the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which never seems to have anything much of a queue. A shame really, because it's a good ride. No thrills and spills, but a good view of the Tomorrowland area of the park.
Having ridden TTA, we decide to head back to the Villa to freshen up because tonight we have a special ADR for our Anniversary. Fresh and clean, we head for the Contemporary for a date with Chef Mickey. This place is just fantastic! I don't go much for the look of the Contemporary as a hotel, but Chef Mickey's is superb. I have probably eaten slightly better food at one or two places this holiday but, as an overall experience, this place cannot be beaten. the character interaction is excellent, the staff are very attentive, even though it is a serve-yourself buffet, and we even get special treatment as it is our Anniversary. Songs are sung and napkins are twirled in our honour, and Goofy even bows down in awe when I tell him we've been married 14 years! Even Nanny is rather taken with it all. She claims she was unaware of Mickey's presence when the photo is taken - I'll let you decide!
It comes in $180, plus another $32 for the photo we had taken as we were waiting to be seated, which is considerably more than anywhere else all holiday, but boy is it worth it. Thoroughly recommended to anyone.
A bit of shopping in the new Fantasia shop in the hotel, and we're back off to the Villa. Nanny has done extremely well for her first full day, but she's flagging now so she has an earlyish night, and we're not far behind.
