"I think I'm in love, and her name is Polynesia..." an Aug/Sept '15 TR (NEW TR link @ end!)

[NJlauren]

I was a little behind but all caught up now!

Bummer about the 2nd yes program being a bit of a letdown...

I am paying a lot of attention to your comments about the heat, we are considering a 2017 trip end of September, wondering if its better to go in Nov.... (ok i am considering DH doesn't know yet)

Beaches and Cream looks so fun, i think the kitchen sinks sounds amazing and gross all at the same time... DH would never go for it....

I guess with the heat its a it of a far walk from DHS to the Beach Club?

Oh 12 year olds, i am to old for this but let me color..... I hate to say it but I was totally that kid.... I am to old to color but i will play with my dolls for hours... or whatever... I have a feeling i am going to get some payback when DD is a little older..

 

[skier_pete]

Yes they do time the fireworks well. When we saw them in July we saw fantasmic and then went right out to view the fireworks.

Yes - I didn't realize they did this - It made for a rather large crowd on the streets. It does make sense though!

Glad your photos are back and working!!

I agree with you....SAB pool is amazing, it really is, but the huge plus to staying at the Beach Club is its proximity to EPCOT and being a back entrance makes it even sweeter IMHO. I love Beaches n Cream. It truly reminds me of my childhood and I always try to make a stop in there when we visit WDW. It is small, but I think that's part of the charm. I'm much like your DD, I always want my own, but once I start eating one, I'm usually glad we shared!

Can't wait to hear more!

Yes - the Epcot proximity is HUGE. It makes we want to consider a small DVC contract at Beach Club or Boardwalk. However, it makes little sense financially, especially Beach Club points are SO expensive relative to the contract, I can't see ever owning there. But I definitely would try and stay there again someday.

Beaches and Cream was very good - but I don't know that I would go out of my way for it. I get the "reminds me of my childhood" aspect to Disney though!

Your pictures *might* convince me to try B&C again. We ate there once and the food was pretty ordinary. The burger was overdone, the hot dog seemed like it had been heating up all day and the vegie pattie that DH had was barely edible. Your food looks great!

That's always too bad. Our meals were quite good, you would think with such a simple menu and a rather limited sized-location that they would be able to put out consistently good american comfort food. However, a bad meal at Disney gives good reason to steer clear from a location, that's for sure! There's plenty of other options.

I am paying a lot of attention to your comments about the heat, we are considering a 2017 trip end of September, wondering if its better to go in Nov.... (ok i am considering DH doesn't know yet)

We did a trip end of September in 2007. It was awful - in fact it was the hottest/rainiest trip we've ever had to Disney. Our two August trips were actually better. The last few days were OK though.

From what I've gathered, the weather in Florida "breaks" sometime around the end of September / beginning of October. Not that it cools off immediately, but the excess humidity and the afternoon rains pretty much stop. I've heard of people having decent trips around this time. Our experience though was very unpleasant. Personally, I would avoid any trip that has dates in September unless I didn't have another option. (Yes, I know this trip was August/September, but not wanting to take DD out of school left us without other options.) Late-September is also Love Bug season, which bothers some people.

Beaches and Cream looks so fun, i think the kitchen sinks sounds amazing and gross all at the same time... DH would never go for it....

It mostly sounds "gross" to me. While I love Ice Cream - I am a minimalist when it comes to sundaes, a little bit of toppings goes a long way in my book.

I guess with the heat its a it of a far walk from DHS to the Beach Club?

The walk from DHS to Beach Club is at a guess about a mile. I think it takes about 20 minutes - DW has done it but not I. Its not really a long walk and I would consider it under different weather circumstances.

Oh 12 year olds, i am to old for this but let me color..... I hate to say it but I was totally that kid.... I am to old to color but i will play with my dolls for hours... or whatever... I have a feeling i am going to get some payback when DD is a little older..

Yeah - it's an odd age, because they still have memories of having fun doing some "kid" things, even though many of them they've left behind. DD surprised us by wanting to go see "The Peanuts Movie" this weekend. We must be doing SOMETHING right raising her.

 

[disneyguy4life]

A great TR. Keep it up, brother!! I can't wait to hear more.

 

[tabrizia]

Love the pictures. B&C looks great, I kind of regret not doing it this trip after all, we thought about it, but figured the kids would want the kitchen sink and there is no way they are big enough to finish it yet.

I understand the firework thing, they aren't in our plans much for our upcoming trip and I am bringing the boys ear protectors (and probably the girl's too just since I will be bringing the boys). Mine like the look, but hate the sound, especially my eldest.

 

[skier_pete]

A great TR. Keep it up, brother!! I can't wait to hear more.

Thanks for joining in!

Love the pictures. B&C looks great, I kind of regret not doing it this trip after all, we thought about it, but figured the kids would want the kitchen sink and there is no way they are big enough to finish it yet.

I understand the firework thing, they aren't in our plans much for our upcoming trip and I am bringing the boys ear protectors (and probably the girl's too just since I will be bringing the boys). Mine like the look, but hate the sound, especially my eldest.

Yeah - I keep thinking she'll outgrow this "Not liking fireworks" thing. I suppose we should have gotten ear protectors when she was little and maybe she wouldn't mind them now. But even from the Poly - where it wasn't as loud - she wanted nothing to do with fireworks.

No one in our family was remotely interested in a kitchen sink.

 

[summerw]

Great report! Some of your DD's reactions remind me of my DS6, who's also an only child. I think with more kids, they get a bit of a "follow the herd" mentality that doesn't happen with only children and just their parents. And I can totally see DS wanting to go to a kids club to see a kid he met than ride rides. Sadly, we're not having to wait until 12 for the attitude. Just last night he lost bedtime stories due to snarkiness. We're staying at the Poly for our upcoming trip but BC was my target for a lot of the time before we made reservations. I can't wait to see that part of the report.

And I can see maybe enjoying some of the kitchen sink toppings, in smaller quantities, but I don't get sharing out of a big trough that inevitably becomes a big ice cream soup. I've been on the fence about Via Napoli and although your meal sounded good and the ovens seem fun, your visit's helping tip me into the category of not sacrificing it to enjoy more Flower & Garden booths and other WS snacks instead. Also, I've heard people mention it's very loud, which is not my thing at a meal (although your pics make it seem like it was pretty empty when you were there). And I changed the plan for Yachtsman to California Grill when we settled on the Poly since it's closer. "Butter steak" has me questioning that choice though.

 

[franandaj]

Those sundaes look delicious. We are definitely going to have to split and entree and a sundae when we go there next month.

 

[skier_pete]

Great report! Some of your DD's reactions remind me of my DS6, who's also an only child. I think with more kids, they get a bit of a "follow the herd" mentality that doesn't happen with only children and just their parents. And I can totally see DS wanting to go to a kids club to see a kid he met than ride rides. Sadly, we're not having to wait until 12 for the attitude. Just last night he lost bedtime stories due to snarkiness. We're staying at the Poly for our upcoming trip but BC was my target for a lot of the time before we made reservations. I can't wait to see that part of the report.

The Poly is not too far off now!!! I'm doing an update later today - but it might wait for the one after that. I try not to post too many photos at once. I have quite a few pictures of the DVC rooms. If you are not staying DVC though, it will look very different.

And I can see maybe enjoying some of the kitchen sink toppings, in smaller quantities, but I don't get sharing out of a big trough that inevitably becomes a big ice cream soup. I've been on the fence about Via Napoli and although your meal sounded good and the ovens seem fun, your visit's helping tip me into the category of not sacrificing it to enjoy more Flower & Garden booths and other WS snacks instead. Also, I've heard people mention it's very loud, which is not my thing at a meal (although your pics make it seem like it was pretty empty when you were there). And I changed the plan for Yachtsman to California Grill when we settled on the Poly since it's closer. "Butter steak" has me questioning that choice though.

California Grill is great too - you can't go wrong with either one! As far as Via Napoli, I would choose Flower and Garden booths over Via Napoli any day. We liked it and were not disappointed, but we LOVE food and wine - and would want to try the Flower and Garden version!! We both remember that it was fairly noisy in there as well - it's very high ceiling and open and it is Disney, so noisy is not a surprise.

Those sundaes look delicious. We are definitely going to have to split and entree and a sundae when we go there next month.

That's good way to go, especially with the Sundaes, they are definitely two person Sundaes if you can just agree on the toppings.

 

[skier_pete]

We are off on a weekend getaway, but it's pretty lazy so I thought I would post. Here's a Day 7 update!

Today was the transition day. We were moving from Beach Club to the Poly. The original plan had been to pack up and head to Typhoon Lagoon for the afternoon, and then maybe DTD in the evening. However, DD decided she didn’t want to go back to Typhoon Lagoon. (There was a good reason for this, but I won’t go into it in the TR.) So instead, we decided to just go to DTD and check out Disney Quest before heading to our new resort.

It took us a bit of time to pack up, but we were out of the room by about 10:30 with all our bags being transferred to our new resort. The trip to DTD was actually surprisingly fast and uneventful. WE started out in the marketplace end of DTD, checking out the Christmas shop and buying our traditional ornament. (We actually get an ornament from every vacation we take, not just Disney.)

I wanted to go to the Marketplace Co-Op, because I thought the sign shop there might have the Adventurer’s Club sign I wanted to buy. DW and DD bought a few prints at the Wonderland gallery, while I saw the following plates that I just could NOT resist.



We then went into once upon a toy. It was just before the big “Star Wars Day” toy event. DW is not a big Star Wars fan – but she saw THIS shirt – and of course didn’t buy it. (This will come up again don’t you know.)

Click link tp Amazon to see it.

We then went to World of Disney and DW and DD got some stuff (don’t ask me what – I wasn’t paying attention.)

We had spent much more time shopping than we had originally planned, so we were starting to get a bit hungry. We were passing by T-Rex when DD decided she wanted to eat there. In the past, she had always been afraid of eating here, but apparently surviving the Dinosaur ride the other day changed her point of view. I wasn’t sure if we would be able to get in, but had no problem at all getting a table.

For those that have never been – it’s basically Rain Forest Café with Dinosaurs. The Dinosaurs are animatronic and move a bit, while every 20 minutes an asteroid comes to destroy them and they get all excited.




The Octopus bar






The ICE room:







The atmosphere was good – but how about the food! Overall – pretty darn good! We were all very happy with our meals. DD had a shrimp and pasta meal that she liked a lot. Of course this is two of her favorite things!



DW had the lobster ravioli with a cream sauce. I didn’t try this, but it looked really good.



I was actually not all that hungry, so I ordered the chicked flatbread, which was still plenty big enough for a meal. It was very tasty!


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Overall, especially for a “spur of the moment” lunch at DTD, we really enjoyed our meal and dining experience. I though the food was better than what we’ve gotten in the past at Rainforest Café. We were happy we made the stop.

To be continued in next post.
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[skier_pete]

We then went to the Lego store, and even though DD hardly plays with Lego’s – she still suckered me into $100 worth of stuff. (Which isn’t really that much.) She even made LEGO figures of the 3 of us. On the way there, we also stopped for a photopass photo:




Then Stitch joined in on the fun. What a pain in the butt this guy is.




Once this was done we started heading to our final destination that we had originally started out for – Disney Quest. I had to stop and take a picture of Jock’s place, though. I’m a huge Indiana Jones fan and I can foresee me making a special trip down to DTD the next time we are there just to check this place out.


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We headed for Disney Quest. What a place! It just feels so…well..old and out of touch. We did the Pirates Gold game, and the Jungle Cruise raft ride. DW felt sick after this, so sat down. DD and I played a shoot-em-up game for about 20 minutes. We then went upstairs, and DD and DW wanted to do the drawing class. (Like they used to have at DHS.) I went and did the roller coaster simulator – which was fun and didn’t even get me sick. Then I went up another set of stairs to play some classic games. I tried out “Wreck-It Ralph” but it was really hard. Instead I played Donkey Kong Jr., which I totally sucked at. (Took me forever to get past the second screen! They had the game set really hard!)


I took a snap from the 3rd floor of them on the 2nd.





While they were drawing, I received a text from the Polynesian saying our room was ready. Once they were done drawing everyone had had enough of DQ – even DD. DW wanted to do even more shopping, so the two of us started heading back to the (new) hotel. We had to walk back across all of DTD. (We considered walking to the boat on the far end, but DD was willing to walk back, we took the “shortcut” bridge which cut out much of the marketplace. It was HOT by this point, and we were ready to be somewhere cool.


Overall, DTD is cleaning up nicely, but I still don’t feel much of a pull. Unique nightlife is what Disney is missing, and DTD still doesn’t have any of this. (May with the Edison / Neverland Tunnels that will change.)

Next update - Arrival at the POLY!!!

 

[Tinker326]

Adorable picture in DD- with Stitch! I've never seen that photopass before!

I actually like T-Rex too- more than Rainforest (which we have right by us at home). My kids all love it....... I can't believe how empty it looked for you..guess because that was the middle of the day!

I would have found Pac Man and sat myself down for the next 5 hours- did they have Pac Man? It's about the ONLY video game I like. Well, ok- maybe I like the original Super Mario Brothers as well... but that's it!

Can't wait for the update on Poly Villas! I head there in just a few months!

 

[rteetz]

Looks like a great transition day!

I haven't eaten at T-rex before but have eaten at Rainforest cafe which is owned by the same people.

Great pictures especially with stitch.

Can't wait to hear about the poly.

 

[Dentam]

We had a lunch reservation for T-Rex in September but I ended up getting sick a couple of days before and was sick for the remainder of our trip. So, I missed out on it! Glad to hear it was good - I'll have to make sure to try it next time we're there.

Can't wait to hear about the Poly - one of my favorite resorts!!

 

[mlegerto]

I couldn't agree with you more on making a special trip to DTD for jock Lindsey's. So excited to visit on our next trip!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Love the plates you got! I WANT!!!

Your day at DTD looks great. A wonderful way to spend on resort changeover day.
The meals at T-Rex looks great. I have to admit that I prefer Rainforest Cafe.

I'm with you on DQ. It just felt dated. And those attractions also made me feel a little queasy. But it was that Aladdin Magic Carpet simulator ride that totally made me feel ill. I had to head outside in the sunshine after that one.

 

[felynn]

I can't wait to hear about the Polly and I love those plates.

 

[jandlinz]

Looks like a fun time at DTD. I can't wait to see your Poly pictures.

 

[skier_pete]

Adorable picture in DD- with Stitch! I've never seen that photopass before!

I actually like T-Rex too- more than Rainforest (which we have right by us at home). My kids all love it....... I can't believe how empty it looked for you..guess because that was the middle of the day!

I would have found Pac Man and sat myself down for the next 5 hours- did they have Pac Man? It's about the ONLY video game I like. Well, ok- maybe I like the original Super Mario Brothers as well... but that's it!

Can't wait for the update on Poly Villas! I head there in just a few months!

They definitely had Pac-Man there. I actually played a round of Mrs. Pac Man, but got knocked out so quickly I couldn't believe it. 15 year old me would be really ashamed to know 45 year old me!

Agree I liked the food at T-Rex better than Rainforest, though I have to say it was pretty similar menu. It was VERY empty, but remember it was a mid-week lunch, I'm sure it is much harder to get in for dinner.

I don't think I'd seen that Stitch one before either. Maybe only a DTD one!

Looks like a great transition day!

I haven't eaten at T-rex before but have eaten at Rainforest cafe which is owned by the same people.

Great pictures especially with stitch.

Can't wait to hear about the poly.

We weren't told who was in the picture of course, but we could sort of figure out from what the guy said it was probably Stitch: "Look at the empty spot and look angry! Now look surprised!" What other Disney character would bring out those emotions!

As far as the Poly goes...Coming up...coming up!!

We had a lunch reservation for T-Rex in September but I ended up getting sick a couple of days before and was sick for the remainder of our trip. So, I missed out on it! Glad to hear it was good - I'll have to make sure to try it next time we're there.

Can't wait to hear about the Poly - one of my favorite resorts!!

Sorry to hear you were sick. T-Rex wasn't so good that you really missed a wonderful meal or anything, but I would definitely go again.

I couldn't agree with you more on making a special trip to DTD for jock Lindsey's. So excited to visit on our next trip!

Yeah - I'm a huge Indiana Jones nerd. I bought a Fedora from Disney and dressed as Indy for Halloween a couple years ago. I even recently bought a replica idol from Raiders. So Jock Lindsey's is definitely going to bring me back to DTD. Honestly since the closure of Pleasure Island, I don't really like even spending my money down there.

Love the plates you got! I WANT!!!

Your day at DTD looks great. A wonderful way to spend on resort changeover day.
The meals at T-Rex looks great. I have to admit that I prefer Rainforest Cafe.

I'm with you on DQ. It just felt dated. And those attractions also made me feel a little queasy. But it was that Aladdin Magic Carpet simulator ride that totally made me feel ill. I had to head outside in the sunshine after that one.

We skipped the Aladdin one. That was the WORST! I didn't think DW would like it at all.

My only disappointment in the plates was the size. They had two sizes, small and smaller. No dinner size plates, which I would've liked. They also had glasses that went with them, but we have way too many glasses! You can order these plates on the Disney Parks website, but I don't know about shipment to Australia.

Reading

Thanks for joining in!!!

Looks like a fun time at DTD. I can't wait to see your Poly pictures.

Here they come...next post!!!

 

[skier_pete]

And so we come to the Poly....my new love...

We got to the bus stop and considered hopping on a bus to the contemporary, but just as we got on that bus, a Poly / GF bus pulled up behind us. We rode to the Poly and were able to find our building based on the Text (Not Moorea - Oops - I meant Tokelau). We entered the resort and our room key worked the first time.

I have to say, after the underwhelming-ness of the BCV room – the rooms at the Poly are a complete WOW.





You had me a tiki birds!



The room was absolutely gorgeous. It was of course HUGE – though interestingly there was almost ZERO storage in the main part of the room. Outside of TWO drawers under the bed, there was nothing as far as storage in the main room area.


God of light, perhaps??



The TV cabinet folded down into a trundle bed. Along with the couch that was the fold out, that left three beds available in the room.



DD pretty much took this area as her own. I don’t think we ever closed off this bed.




Sort of the most amazing part of the room was the DUAL bathrooms!!! Yes, no kidding there are two of them. The one closest to the bedroom section simply had a sink and a fantastic rain shower.




The main bathroom was cavernous, and contained the toiler and a full size tub/shower:




There is also a small kitchenette area with sink and fridge and some more storage cabinets. More storage in the kitchen and bathrooms than in the main room. It was interesting that between this, the closet which was in the hall section outside the bathrooms, and the bathrooms themselves, there was probably less square feet in the bedroom itself than there was in the rest of the place.




To be continued in next post....

 

[skier_pete]

Maybe most impressive was the view. Though we had a balcony and a standard view room – if you looked to the left you saw the quite pool construction:



If you looked straight ahead you got a great view of another building:



But if you looked to the right….



Yup – the main street entrance, the castle could be seen out across the Bungalows/Lake.

For those that have followed me for a while know that I am a HUGE fan of the Enchanted Tiki Room, as well as the Adventurer’s Club. (Kungaloosh!) But, I have never really had any affinity for the Polynesian resort. In fact I’d only ever been here once, a dark and rainy night at ‘Ohana. I don’t know if it is that affinity that caused it, the locale, the quality of the room, but I fell instantly in love with the Polynesian. It’s good thing that Disney has made buying DVC way too rich for me, because I wanted to immediately buy into the Poly before I had even left the room.

However, we didn’t go off to explore the resort just yet. DW took about 2 more hours to come back, and by that point our luggage had all arrived. We started unpacking again. We really hadn’t had any plans for the rest of the day – the original plan had been water park in the morning, DTD in the evening, so with no DTD and no park ticket for today, we ended up just sticking around the resort.

Eventually – we took a walk down to the lobby to get some dinner. Unfortunately, the pool had been closed earlier by a thunderstorm, and it was still closed at this time. However, we took a walk down to the lobby to look around a bit.


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A Cast Member was nice enough to take a picture of us in front of the tiki.


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Eventually we went down to Captain Cook’s for some dinner. DD got the flatbread pizza. She really liked this. I have to say that Disney has significantly improved their pizza!



I had the Aloha Pork Sandwich - Pulled Pork on a Pineapple-Coconut Bun with Cheddar, Asian Slaw, Cucumbers, and Tomatoes. This was really really good. (Sorry for the picture quality – I only had my phone.)


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DW had the chicken and Waffles. This actually had a pretty spicy sauce on it, and DW thought it was just kind of OK.



I actually enjoyed this meal enough that I wanted to come back. As we were walking back to the room – we happened to see the Electric Water Pagent making it’s way by the resort. Though we had seen this before, never from so close, and never where we could here it too!


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DD was tired by this point and wanted to go back to the room. DW and I wanted to watch wishes from the beach, so we went and got a couple of towels and found a spot on the beach to sit. While there were some flaws to watching Wishes here –there’s a few outdoor speakers but you really can’t hear them well from the beach, so you can’t really hear the music with the fireworks – but overall it’s an amazing view of the fireworks. It was shortly after the show wrapped that I told my wife my quote for the title of this article "I think I'm in love, and her name is Polynesia". Fortunately for my wife I will never cheat on her, so hopefully she will be happy as long as we keep it a threesome.

Next update - Is it FINALLY time for Magic Kingdom???