Exclusive Baby Gorilla Photos! (plus bonus Trip Report) - June '15 - completed 10/23 - Page 31

[nilla]

Wow you had a crazy wait for the bus in the morning. I hope that isn't the norm. The food looked really good...sorry it didn't agree with Kristin's stomach but glad it was short lived. And wow...what amazing negotiation skills...I wish I could do that...never have the nerve. I can't believe how crowded the park looked...and here I thought March was bad...

June certainly is worse than May! Not more than we could handle, though.

Another great update. I'm really studying anything you write about the crowd levels and the weather. Crowds look big...weather looks nice. Was it super hot?

It got up to 97 one day, but it wasn't that humid most days, so it wasn't awful. We swam during most of the really hot times, though.

Kristin has some mad skills! She's awesome!

I agree!

I also found that 1/2 the time only 1 MB scanner was working....

Thats great that they let you have a free fastpass AND let you schedule a 4th. Amazing, A+ job Kristin.

She made a good case for it!

I am all caught up and enjoyed reading all of the updates!! I stayed at CBR once a few years ago. I enjoyed it but I didn't get to explore the whole resort as much as I wanted to. I love all of your pictures thought!! We have never stayed at Coronado but every time we drive by it, we always say we should stay there! I think a trip there may be in my near future!!

Do it!

We went to 50's PTC as well! We loved their fried chicken. I have never been to HDDR before, but I hear their food is awesome. If the chicken is anything like 50's, then we will enjoy it!!

It was very similar. Except at HDDR, it's unlimited.

I still think it is weird that they switched Aloha Isle and Sunshine Tree Terrace. It looks strange to me.

Not sure why they did it. Maybe to move the long line out of the main walk into Adventureland?

I can't wait to hear about the rest of your day and what you think about the mine train!

Coming soon!

Aw, Emily's note is TOO cute!
That's no good that Kristen started to feel sick, especially during the heat in June!!

Yeah, the heat doesn't help!

I'm glad that Disney worked with y'all on the fast passes for Splash. Funny story, when I was like 7 or 8 I was terrified of the big drop on Splash. I forced my dad to MAKE me ride it no matter how scared I was. When we reached the line and saw it was a 2+ hour wait, my dad tried to talk to me about skipping it but I refused. After standing in line for hours in the heat, I faced my fears! lol. Now we look back and think about how ridiculous it was to stand in line that long, and I could never imagine doing so again!!

It cured you of one fear, but gave you a different one

As always great update!!!!

Thanks!

could I borrow your wife the next time we go to disney? or at least have her on speed dial for any occasion when I might need to visit guest services? She seems to have the magic charm.

I'll have her PM you

Love the note Emily wrote. She should have left it. Perhaps they have different Mousekeepers in Aruba then they do in Trinidad South? Our kids animals were rearranged every day, and we never asked that they be. Both times we stayed there they did this.

I think it depends on the Mousekeeper. Anyway, if the DISboards rumor is true, there will be no more towel animals anywhere. What?

Um, where is that Haunted Mansion store? I have never seen it. Is it new? I need to stop there.

Across from Columbia Harbour House. Before HM, coming from Fantasyland. It's awesome, and a big upgrade from the merch cart from a few years back, and the "I'm sorry, there is no Haunted Mansion Merchandise" from before that.

Sorry Kristin wasn't feeling well and that you got there late and 7DMT was down. Glad you got a good ride on Splash!

It was a crazy day, but we tried to make the best of it!

Great TR so far Nilla. Not to inflate your ego but, your my first "Follow" ever on the Dis. Really getting me pumped up for our upcoming trip.

Nice! Thanks! The Ultraman avatar classes up this TR, anyway.

Ok, back to our story!

 

[nilla]

Emily's really excited about getting back to the resort, since she's all about the swimming. Kristin and Dylan like it, too, but are evidently more excited about taking naps today.

So I head to the pool with Emily for a quick swim. While I, once again, didn't take the camera, I did get it out for a few Aruba 55 beach shots afterwards:







You may recognize the first one from the Caribbean Beach thread over in "Disney Resorts" talk. Hey, speaking of Aruba 55:



And one more of Caribbean Beach!



Absolutely stunning!

 

[nilla]

Wait, that last one isn't Caribbean Beach! That's the Polynesian. As are these two photos of the baby vampire cocoons from "Van Helsing":





But hold on - how and when did we get to the Polynesian?

Rewind back to when Emily and I returned from swimming. We wake Kristin and Dylan up, I notice the wi-fi still doesn't work, and Kristin points out that Emily got up really early today and skipped a nap, which could spell disaster later. Let's hope not.

We called tech support again about the wi-fi. They'll be looking into it. At some point.

Fast forward through all the getting ready stuff, and it's back to the bus stop behind Aruba. The bus arrives much more quickly than before, and it's back to the Magic Kingdom around 5:00. Quick Monorail jump to the Poly, and here we are!

"Hi!"



Emily and I get a kick out of saying, "hi!" with Olaf-esque inflection, mostly due to the catchy "Olaf's Snow Jamz" bit on Disney Channel a little while back.

We get a kick out of this backpack because it's Duffy.



"I love you so much, cuddly Baby Ursula."



"Sup."



Dylan LOVES these shades, and I must admit, they look pretty good on him. But he has to spend his own money on them. Which he does.

BTW, that was all in the upstairs gift shop, whose name I don't feel like Googling right now. But it's upstairs. The one that DOESN'T have the Tiki guy looking in through the window from outside. Upstairs.

 

[nilla]

We check in early at 'Ohana (NOT "O'hana's"), and the older CM helping us out admits he really has no idea what he's doing. But at least he has a sense of humor about it.

Shortly after, our pager buzzes, and in we go! While being led to our seat by our host, who is explaining how all of this works, Dylan nudges me and says, "Eric."

What?

Again, "Eric."

I look to my right, and one table over from us is a recent Eagle Scout from Dylan's Boy Scout Troop, whom we had no idea was going to be in Disney this week. I talk a little to his parents, then down I sit. It's time to "strap on the feed bag!", as nilla TR frequent guest star Dan would say.

BTW, we didn't get to see Dan and Jeanette this year, sadly, since they were on a cruise. And we vacationed too late. Lots of things didn't work out there, which is sad

Anyway, back to the Poly, and the REAL reason we love 'Ohana:



Ok, not really. I mean, it's good. But that's not the main event. This is:



Wings! Pot stickers! So good!

Before I rushed into that, this was taken:



And this:



Notice Emily got mac & cheese. Again.

Oh, I also got this:



Fire Rock. Kona is the correct beer for this restaurant.

Polynesian is the theme of this restaurant.



Go figure.

Also fantastic are the noodles:



Plus, the veggies are great. Note my all-time favorite: tiny little corn.

Or not. I probably ate all of it before taking that photo. Sorry!

One of the problems we have at 'Ohana is that we love the appetizers so much, we don't save room for the skewers. Not this time, though. I'm forcing the skewers. Still eating too many appetizers, but forcing the skewers.





Glad I did, too! Everything is A+ tonight! So much that, after about 3 or 4 courses, my beer still looked like this:



The theming had not changed, either:



One thing that did change was the Polynesian Broom-and-Coconut Processional was underway, complete with ukelele music and people calling everyone "cousin". Emily participates, but we're seated outside the main room, so we can't see it.

Being in the secondary room doesn't prevent us from getting some entertainment, though:



Notice me still too bus eating to even smile. Lots of food is being consumed in this meal!

And mostly by me!

 

[nilla]

After all that, we're STILL ready for dessert. Well, sort of. I'm really full, and Kristin's started to feel bad again. Oh no.

We power through dessert, which is excellent as always, btw...





Bananas Foster. Sooooo good. Kids got bonus cupcakes, for I-forget-which-reason.

'Ohana was wonderful as always, and fills the void left when Kona went (sadly) somewhat downhill for us (bring back the Tuna Oscar!). Great meal, great service, great location, great entertainment! My favorite meal of the trip so far. But it's only Day 2.

Afterwards, we walk around the Polynesian some more.

Cool memorabilia!







Minnie agrees!



With Kristin still not feeling well, we head into the gift shop downstairs. Tiki guy gift shop. Sorry, no photo available of him

Besides this t-shirt:



And this artwork:



Ok, a few more things:

Or not. That's all we took in that shop. Out we go, into the refurbed lobby, now without the lifesized Amazon rain forest:



Hmmm. I like the statue, but it's...different. And change is scarp. This opens the place up, more, though, so that's good.

Oh, who am I kidding? We love it!

 

[nilla]

We head outside, snapping a shot of the on-site Dole Whip stand!



Another plus for the Poly!

We also love that it's called the "Lanai", for Golden Girls reference reasons.

Hold on - somebody stop those Caribbeaners! They're inside the pool fence!



Security was quite lax at the Poly pool that day, as you can tell. Alright, bye, Polynesian!



Sadly, I could not accept that man's gift of a fish-on-a-stick, but time was a-wastin' and we wanted to get back to the Magic Kingdom. Ok....just one more shot!

 

[nilla]

We got back to MK around 6:15, and headed inside. Hey, look who we spotted!



More interesting, however, are those clouds over the train station:



Ack. The guard at bag check said it looked like it might miss us, so there's hope.

If anyone is wondering exactly what we're getting ourselves into, here's some indication:



Sounds fun!

Ok, let's use these Mine Train FPs!

We duck into the Emporium briefly, where Emily reveals she wants nothing more than a stuffed Pluto. Um...what? Where did that come from?

Emily has never really said much of anything about Pluto before today. Plus, we know Duffy is tough to unseat at #1, and Emily's really a one-animal friend girl. So we discourage it. But she does have her own money. So we switch to plan B, which is "tell her we can get it cheaper at World of Disney, giving us time to stall and find another excuse to try to change her mind on the Pluto doll". She doesn't like that one, either, but too bad. We have to go!

We walk down Main Street, photoless, and then reach the New, Improved Hub (tm):









I like the new hub! We're no longer on an island, which opened it up a lot. Love the fountains, too. It will be really nice once it's all done.

Not loving these clouds, though:



It's not raining yet, amazingly enough...so we pause for another photo:



Then, it's through the Castle...



...stopping for a shot I don't normally get:



As I look at it again, it almost looks Wizard of Oz-ish to the left there, but the weather wasn't THAT bad. It just looked like it could get bad pretty soon. Alright, let's go through this Castle already.

Wait, another shot from the front!



Now through. And a shot of this:



And now the back.



I should be developing the text for Viewmaster discs. Or pointing out plants on the Jungle Cruise. Seriously. My talents are being wasted.

But wait - we're not in Andalasia anymore. We're going somewhere. Somewhere new. Somewhere where a million diamonds shine...




(next update)

 

[bigcrit]

Well done sir. Also cool that you knew who my avatar was. Loved that show as a kid. A little weird watching episodes now. The same kind of weird that Speed Racer is, all these years later.

 

[nilla]

Well done sir. Also cool that you knew who my avatar was. Loved that show as a kid. A little weird watching episodes now. The same kind of weird that Speed Racer is, all these years later.

Is it on Netflix? I'd love to check it out again. I'd imagine it aged a bit awkwardly, like the old Godzilla films

You leave in 4 days? Jealous!

 

[bigcrit]

Yes, it is on Netflix.

Yup, leaving in 4 days. We are very pumped about this trip. Your trip report has us pretty pumped.

 

[Britbrie]

Well, 'Ohana looks AMAZING!!! We've never eaten there, but I'm definitely going to have to check it out after seeing your pictures!
I hope you keep updating soon, because it is not nice to leave me hanging on the cliff hanger of 7DMT!!

 

[nilla]

Well, 'Ohana looks AMAZING!!! We've never eaten there, but I'm definitely going to have to check it out after seeing your pictures!

It is! We went there our first few years at WDW, then switched to Kona due to better entrees and the ability to get the potstickers and sticky wings as appetizers at Kona. Of course, we then missed out on the noodles and the tiny little corn.

The meat skewers might have been dry the first time we ate there, too, which further explains the split from 'Ohana. However, they've been great the last two years.

On top of all that, the place is fun and has a view of the Magic Kingdom. And it gives you an excuse to visit the Polynesian. Nothing wrong with that

I hope you keep updating soon, because it is not nice to leave me hanging on the cliff hanger of 7DMT!!

The standby line time for the next update is currently estimated at 12 hours, but could be significantly longer

 

[Britbrie]

The standby line time for the next update is currently estimated at 12 hours, but could be significantly longer

OMG! I can't deal. I need a FastPass!!!

 

[KathyM2]

Wow. The food at O'hana looks amazing. I want the shrimp. You got some amazing crowd free pics of the castle!! Very impressive. I like your strategy for avoiding stuffed Pluto. Gawd my kids have so many plush toys and they just gather dust. I get it because I used to have lots as a kid but...sigh...it's annoying!!

 

[ksromack]

We are missing O'hana this trip which leaves ME sad. Dh wasn't crazy about it the last time and we booked this trip inside the magical 180 day mark so it will be skipped this time around. No worries, though.....we ARE dining at Kona for dinner one evening and word is we can get the bread pudding for dessert there

 

[KatMark]

Okay...it took a bit, but I have caught up.

As always, I LOVE your storytelling Jon.

But no Olivia's? I should stop reading right now since you don't know what you missed out (just ask MEK!). And I still can't believe you didn't stay at CSR.

I am glad Dylan caught the dog.

I'm glad the flight wasn't too delayed.

I'm glad the second room also had a murphy bed (but sorry Em was a little scared of it) and that Kristin was able to get the rooms changed.

I'm glad you enjoyed 50's Prime Time. We went a couple of years ago for the first time in ages...unfortunately, we hit a bad night and were very unhappy with our food.

Yay for TOT...my favorite ride at Disney.

First full day at the World and you are at the MK...so appropriate. That's too bad that Mine Ride was down, but you got in some other great attractions. I've read that the FP+ line has been up to 1-1/2 hours for some rides. I love the new system, but it has some kinks.

The new Hub is gorgeous...I think it will look spectacular when finished.

It's funny how we all have different views of restaurants. We despised 'Ohana adn won't go back. We've eaten at Kona the last three years in a row (for breakfast AND dinner) and I'm eating there again next week and in October.

I'm not liking the sounds of Kristin not feeling well after every meal. I hope this doesn't last the whole trip.

I like the new lobby, but I MISS the old lobby at the Poly.

Okay...I'll try to stay caught up now. Who am I kidding? I leave for Disney on Friday and am here on the DIS less and less. But I will be back for your updates at some point...promise.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

Rewind back to when Emily and I returned from swimming. We wake Kristin and Dylan up, I notice the wi-fi still doesn't work, and Kristin points out that Emily got up really early today and skipped a nap, which could spell disaster later. Let's hope not.

More foreshadowing?.....

I look to my right, and one table over from us is a recent Eagle Scout from Dylan's Boy Scout Troop, whom we had no idea was going to be in Disney this week. I talk a little to his parents, then down I sit. It's time to "strap on the feed bag!", as nilla TR frequent guest star Dan would say.

It's always so surreal when you run into someone from back home when you are at Disney. Several years ago we spent the first part of a day at DHS and I saw a guy - just the profile - in the distance that looked like one of Steve's friends. I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure it was him. Well, later that day we were walking around World Showcase and we ran into that guy and his wife! I asked him if they were in DHS earlier that day and they were. Small world.

After all that, we're STILL ready for dessert. Well, sort of. I'm really full, and Kristin's started to feel bad again. Oh no.

Oh no! I hope the whole trip wasn't like this.

I like the new hub! We're no longer on an island, which opened it up a lot. Love the fountains, too. It will be really nice once it's all done.

I am so excited to see the new hub next month! And the Poly too! We'll be eating at Kona for breakfast one day and dinner on another day.


Steve & I took Emily to the airport today for her European trip. She's en route from Indianapolis to Atlanta now and I am tracking the flight on Delta's website - so cool!. Her flight to Barcelona leaves this evening. I'll be tracking that flight too! (Even though she lands at 2am Indianapolis time!)

 

[HollyM7813]

I love that you took a photo of this! The hubby bought me a print of the Alice one while we were there...and I didn't get a photo of it. It's not hung up yet though, I'm going to make a "Wonderland" themed frame for it.

 

[Clarf]

Excellent resort pics again! It's a very photogenic resort for sure.

And naps for Kristin and Dylan? Pssssh. Who has time for naps at Disney? Unless it's in a stroller, it ain't happening.

The Poly lobby is pretty, but I liked the old one better. That pond/fountain was amazing. Your dinner looked so good at O'hana. We really want to try dinner there sometime, but haven't been able to break the breakfast cycle there yet. My girls love Stitch, so it's always one of their top choices. When they get bored with it, we'll try dinner.

Sorry Kristin wasn't feeling so good after dinner again. She seemed to keep going though.

Why are you teasing us with your mine ride experience. WHY?

 

[KathyM2]

It's always so surreal when you run into someone from back home when you are at Disney

It's surreal but surprisingly it has happened to me a couple of times too. I think also it happens more now because of social media...I've been on FB while at Disney and seen that people I know are there too!! But what a co-incidence when you actually run into them somewhere...what are the odds lol