Nov 2016 - Trip Report - WDW (Poly/OKW) and Universal - Golden Memories of trips gone by.

[gorkt]

Hi Everyone,

I decided to try writing a trip report this time. I am not the world's greatest writer by any stretch, but I want to put my latest trip out there for anyone else to enjoy.

Introductions first. I am Judi, the WDW freak of the family. I have been going since I was a child. Somewhere in my mom's picture collection is a picture of me, age 6 or 7, feeding seagulls off the balcony of a castle facing room at the contemporary - this would be around 1980. I went many times after that, one of the few perks of divorced parents. Double WDW vacations! I think I went once or twice with my dad and 3-4 times with my mother and stepfather.

Jeremy is the husband. His parents didn't really travel much when he was growing up, and he went to Florida once as a kid. It was apparently not a fun trip, so he didn't really understand my love of Disney until I took him there on our honeymoon in 1995. After that we went several more times before our kids came along. I love WDW but I am not an every year type of person. We go usually every 3-4 years, as you will see below.

Our children are Aurora and Orion, now ages 14 and 12. This will be our fourth trip, but hopefully not our last.

I will start with a few family pictures from our previous trip to catch you up.

The family on our very first trip in 2006. The kids were 4 and 2.

This was a great trip - at this age, Aurora thought all the princesses were real, and was a bit intimidated by them. Orion just was along for the ride, and remembers none of it. It really was a totally different experience, going with your own children. We stayed at All Star Music Suites and the Boardwalk. We used a double stroller and our son was still in diapers.

Our second trip in 2009. The kids were 7 and 5.

This was the first trip the kids both remembered. We stayed at the cabins at Fort Wilderness, and the Wilderness lodge. We only used one light stroller that the kids fought over when they got tired. We saw and did a lot more this time, went on some faster rides, and found out my daughter was a Jr. Foodie when she was gung-ho to try lots of stuff at the food and wine festival.

And our last trip in 2013. Ages 11 and 9.

This trip was amazing! The kids were able to go all day and didn't tire as easily as mom and dad. We went to Universal to see Harry Potter and the Simpsons stuff. We stayed at the Art of Animation.

Basically, to sum up our family dynamic, we are silly nerds. Big time. Aurora wasn't named after the princess, she was named after the northern lights. We love cartoons and sci-fi. We love fantasy. We are huge Futurama fans. Jeremy and Aurora love Anime. Orion is into Minecraft. We constantly quote Futurama and other silly cartoons and movies. We are sarcastic and try not to take anything too seriously.

Next up: Trip details!

 

[gorkt]

Since the kids aren't getting any older, and Aurora has reached those fun filled teenage years, we decided to book a trip for a year earlier than we originally planned to. I like to try different resorts every time. We like renting 1 bedroom villas for the extra room, so we decided to try Old Key West this time around, because we were looking for a laid back experience, something kind of near Epcot, and Disney Springs.

We chose the dates Nov 5th -14th because our school system has three days off that week for Veteran's day, election day plus an extra teacher day (no we aren't from Jersey). When I went to look for OKW points, we found that Nov 5th-7th was already booked due to it being half marathon weekend. So I decided to do a split stay at a resort I have been meaning to try for years - the Polynesian!

Here is our plan:

Day1/Arrival Day:
Nov 5th - Saturday
6am flight (gulp)
Land at MCO at 9am.
Magical Express to Poly by 11am.
Lunch at Poly (Kona or Captain Cooks)
Tour Magic Kingdom from 1-4
Back to resort to check in and rest
Dinner 6:30 1900 Park Fare
Back to MK if we aren't too tired for Wishes.

Day 2: Magic Kingdom - Rest afternoon
Nov 6th - Sunday
Tour MK AM
Lunch 11:30am - Liberty Tree
Back to resort to swim and rest at 2pm.
Ohana 7:30pm

Day 3: Check out Poly - Check in OKW - Epcot World Showcase
Nov 7th - Monday
Breakfast - Kona 9:30am
Pack and Check out
Head to Epcot
Tour Food and Wine Festival, World Showcase
Head to OKW around 5pm - check in
Back to Epcot?
Illuminations 9pm?

Day 4: MK Early morning - Animal Kingdom PM
Nov 8th - Tuesday
Aurora and I - EMM at MK (Aurora and I usually do some sort of traditional Mom-daughter breakfast on our trips)
Meet Jeremy and Orion at MK by 1pm
Yak and Yeti - 1:30pm
Tour AK until evening

Day 5: Universal Day 1
Nov 9th - Wednesday
Uber to Universal
PM - Olivia's for Dinner or Disney Springs

Day 6: Epcot EMH, HDDR
Nov 10th - Thursday
Head to Epcot for 8am EMM
Ride Soarin Rope drop
Tour Future World until 1-2pm
HDDR - 6:15pm

Day 7: Universal Day 2
Nov 11th - Friday
Uber to Universal
PM - Dinner at Olivia's or Disney Springs
OR Stop by HS to see Star Wars Fireworks plus EMH

Day 8: Hollywood Studios
Nov 12th - Saturday
Rope Drop RnRC (if off refurbishment)
12pm Sci-fi Dine in
Tour with a possible rest break
Return at 7pm for Star Wars Fireworks/Epcot Illuminations

Day 9: Animal Kingdom Morning - Open afternoon
Nov 13th - Sunday
Rope drop Safari
Tusker House 10:30am
Tour AK
Open afternoon and evening

Day 10: Depart
Nov 14th Monday
Check out
Visit a Park in the morning/leisurely breakfast?
ME to airport at 12:30pm
Flight at 3:30pm

As you can see, I have some hard ticket events and objectives, but I decided to leave a lot of flexibility in our touring plan this time. I have been enough times that seeing everything isn't really the goal anymore. I prefer to do 1/2 to 3/4 days at the parks combined with lots of pool time or chill time. We have park hoppers so we can go back to wherever we want whenever we want.

 

[ariane37]

Joining in! We're going a few days after you for our 2nd Thanksgiving trip, 11/19-11/26. I hope you enjoy OKW and the Poly, we've stayed at both although OKW was back in 2007 so I don't remember tons of details. It was our first on-site stay and I do remember having a fabulous trip and really loving Olivia's

 

[gorkt]

I want to try to link a video here - one of my favorite WDW memories from our 2009 trip. Orion was chosen to be in the Hoop-de-do Revue. He was only 5, and I was very surprised he agreed to do it.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1295280660891

 

[gorkt]

A few more memories:

 

[gorkt]

2009

 

[gorkt]

vs. 2013

 

[gorkt]

Arrival day thoughts:

I broke it to DH a few days ago that our flight left at 6am on a Saturday morning. He was less than thrilled.....but he will live. He pretty much gives me carte blanche to plan WDW the way I like, provided I don't bring him when it is too hot. He really suffers in the heat and always has. This is why we typically go in November because it is the sweet spot between being warm enough for the kids to swim and yet still cool enough to make touring comfortable for DH. Plus food and wine festival!!!!

If all goes well, we should land in Orlando a little after 9am and be at the Poly by 11am or so. I put in a request for an early arrival check in, but I am not counting on it. Possible options for that afternoon:

1) Arrive at Poly.

2) a) 11am - Check in if possible and rest for an hour or so
b) OR.. b) Find somewhere to eat
3) Places to eat
a) Take a boat to MK and eat at Skipper Canteen or a CS
b) Take a boat to MK, then to Fort Wilderness and eat Brunch at Trails end
c) Eat at Kona or Capt Cooks and hang out at the pool for awhile

3) 2pm Head to MK - use fastpasses for POTC, HM, Splash
4) Check in if not already in room and rest
5) 6pm - Head to GF for 1900 Park Fare Dinner at 6:20pm
6) 8pm - Head back to MK if not too tired (MK is open until 1am with EMH)

I will pack our swimsuits in the carry on just in case people want to swim. My daughter is 14 and I am curious how this trip will go seeing as she is fully autonomous as far as Disney is concerned.

 

[ariane37]

Ha, I love the "fully autonomous" line regarding your daughter. The same can definitely be said for my DS14, although he does get a tad excited about where we eat so at least I have that!
I hear you on the early flight, our flight next month leaves at 6:15 The only one in the family who actually likes getting up early (and is any good at it!) is DH, and we're going to have to leave the house by 4:15!!

 

[gorkt]

Yep, my daughter is stoked about the fact that we have park hoppers and she is planning to hit a lot of the EMH nights. I have a feeling that getting her up in the mornings might be tricky.....but I have a few late mornings planned, and she might be able to meet us at the park later on worse comes to worse.

 

[LEsherick]

Cool I will be in florida from November 11 to the 15 but only at disney on the 14-15 and MK on the 14th.

 

[gorkt]

Okay, I finally ordered the Universal Tickets. I am planning on Ubering over there from Old Key West - I have had good luck with Uber in the past so here is to hoping!

 

[ariane37]

Okay, I finally ordered the Universal Tickets. I am planning on Ubering over there from Old Key West - I have had good luck with Uber in the past so here is to hoping!

Nice! Do they do anything for Christmas and if they do, will it be up/going on when you're there? We've only been once since 2000 and it was in the summer.

 

[gorkt]

I don't know about Christmas stuff at Universal tbh. It is so weird to me that they have the Christmas stuff up at WDW so early, but if it were up to me, I would hold off on XMas decorations until after Thanksgiving.

I think I am leaning towards Kona cafe when we arrive because there is still lots of availability two days out. It is just much more low key, and everyone loved it the last time we went. My first fastpass at MK isn't until nearly 2pm so if we arrive at the Poly by 11am, that gives us 3 hours to do whatever, and it is likely the room won't be ready. So I envision that we get there, walk around the resort, eat lunch, and then take the boat to MK for our Fastpasses.

It's odd, but I feel the least prepared of any WDW trip to date, especially as it relates to daily plans. When the kids were little, I practically had each trip planned down to 30 minute segments. With our last trip, Fastpass + was in testing, so we were limited to three in total, but since 2/3 of people weren't using FP+, it didn't have much of an effect on standby lines so it was still easy to plan. I am interested to see how same day Fastpasses work out for us this time around, but it adds uncertainty. I also wonder how the crowds will be with election/Jersey week this year.

 

[gorkt]

I made my last impulse ADR (for now) this morning. I scored a 9:50am breakfast ADR for Garden Grill on our Epcot morning. I wanted this even though my husband is not a breakfast person because everyone else LOVES breakfast, the reviews from trip reports I read were good, and duh, sticky bun! It seemed like a nice break in an early EMH EPCOT morning. There is a bit of overlap since we have a test track FP at 9:25 and the ADR is 9:50, but we should be okay, maybe a few minutes late. I kind of wish I had made a Soarin' FP for that time instead, and I will keep checking, because now I will be crisscrossing the park. It is an EMH morning, and my hope is that I can hit Test Track first, then Soarin before EMH ends so I can stay on that side of the park. I usually avoid EMH but I wanted to give it a try at Epcot, thinking I might be able to get those rides out of the way early.

New plans for Epcot Day: Nov 10th

8am EMH - Arrive at Epcot at 7:30
Test Track 8am, Soarin 8:40am
(Repeat TT at 9:25am w/ FP?)
Garden Grill 9:50am STICKY BUN!
Living w/ the Land FP 11am
Nemo, Journey, Universe of Energy (whatever we can get done)
Spaceship Earth FP 12:55pm
Leave park around 2-3pm to rest at Resort
Travel to Fort Wilderness at 5pm
HDDR at 6:15pm

 

[ariane37]

You leave tomorrow!!! Have a wonderful trip and safe travels BTW we did GG breakfast last Nov and absolutely loved it; it was DS11's first request for this trip so we're doing it again in a couple weeks. Hope you enjoy the sticky bun and all the other breakfast goodness there!

 

[gorkt]

Okay! We are back! Overall, this was a fantastic trip. Are there things I would do differently? Yes. Travelling with a teenager made for a....challenging week. However, I think everyone had a great time with lots of good memories.

Day 1: Arrival Day! - TSA woes

As you can see from my pre-trip portion of the report, I had some stress over how this day would go. It ended up working out pretty well in the end, but it had a rough start.

My alarm went off at 3:30am. I had showered and packed the night before, so I just pulled my clothes on and threw my phone and chargers in my bag, ready to go. The kids were a little more discombobulated, but we managed to leave the house around 4am. We arrived at Logan airport Economy parking at around 4:30am, got the next shuttle, and ended up at the airport close to 5am. Our flight leaves at 6:05am. Cutting it a bit close.

TSA Fiasco #1: My husband has a lot of stress around the airport security line. See below picture:

He gets worked up, gets me worked up about it, get the kids freaked out about it etc... We get through the ID check no problem. I put my ID in my pocket (or so I thought) and start pulling out all our electronics, and we have a lot of them (two ipads, two laptops, four phones) in the plastic bins. As everything is going through, I walk through the metal detector, no sweat and proceed to pick up our stuff. We start looking for all our electronics, and two of our laptops are nowhere to be found. We wait, and wait and wait. Finally after about 10 minutes, and asking four different people, we find out that they pulled our laptops for further inspection. Well, it turns out that stacking two laptops on top of each other is a no-no for the TSA. (I can't keep up with the rules.) They were super rude about it, ("Do you have our laptops?" "Yes." "Any idea when we can get them back? Our plane is boarding soon." "No." ) but eventually gave them back. By this time, the plane was starting to board.

TSA Fiasco #2: I do a quick check for my ID, and....not in my pocket, not in my jacket pockets. Okay, don't panic. I check my wallet, thinking I forgot and put it back in there. Nope. I rifle through my carry on. Nothing. NOW I start to panic. I break it to DH that my ID is missing. He proceeds to FLIP out. That isn't helping. I tell the TSA that my ID has gone missing somewhere between the ID check and the metal detectors. They shrug at me. Eventually someone gives me permission to go back around to the beginning of the line. I was just imagining the look on the kids faces when I tell them we missed the flight because mommy lost her id. I walk back towards the metal detector without much hope. One of the techs sees me and says "Lose your license?" and hands me my ID. TRIP SAVED! It must have fallen out of my pocket somehow.

DH is still pissed.

We get to the gate and finally board the plane.

 

[MrsIncredibleNY]

Day 1: Arrival Day! - TSA woes

Oh wow. That sounds stressful!

Can't wait to read more.

 

[gorkt]

Day 1 (continued): Arrival Day - Flight and arrival at Poly Villas.

I boarded the plane and tried to wind down from the stress of the previous half hour. I am pretty spoiled in that I kind of insist on flying Jetblue. They have been really good to us in the past, so I reward them with my $$$$. I also usually buy the seats with the extra legroom since DH is 6'3" and really appreciates the space. The plane takes off without incident, and we have a relaxing flight. We get to see the sun rise out the windows. Soon enough, we approach Orlando.

We disembark, and for some reason, my son remembers the exact place where he bought Doritos at the airport three years ago....Go figure. We head down to the Magical express area, and hop on a bus immediately. Five minutes later we are on our way! Soon enough, this sign appears ahead of us:

We drive up to the Poly and we Ooh and Ahh at the entrance area. Heading inside, we are checked in and given our Leis. DH is finally starting to chill out a bit:

Much improved!

Everything went so fast and easily at the airport that we arrived at the Poly at a little after 10am which is about an hour and a half earlier than I expected. Since check in isn't until 4pm at the Poly Villas, we didn't count on having a room any time soon. After some high level discussions in the hotel lobby, we decided on eating lunch at Kona Cafe at noon, so I booked an ADR. We decided we would just hang around the hotel until then, maybe dip our feet in the pool.

Much to my surprise, we barely got to dip our toes in the volcano poll before we got the "Room Ready Text" at 10:30! Our room was in longhouse Tokelau #2928, which was one of the ones requested through the Touring plans room finder. Yay! It was right next to the elevator and stairs, and had a really great view of the gardens. If you craned your head to the left enough, you could see Space Mountain from the room.

A few pictures of the Poly Villa room before we trashed it:

My son really loved the box in the middle of the room.

We got to rest for an hour and recharge a bit before our lunch at Kona Cafe.

 

[MrsIncredibleNY]

Day 1 (continued): Arrival Day - Flight and arrival at Poly Villas.


Much to my surprise, we barely got to dip our toes in the volcano poll before we got the "Room Ready Text" at 10:30! Our room was in longhouse Tokelau #2928, which was one of the ones requested through the Touring plans room finder. Yay! It was right next to the elevator and stairs, and had a really great view of the gardens. If you craned your head to the left enough, you could see Space Mountain from the room.

I can't see any of your pictures. I even tried loading the page on my phone.

But I'm happy your room was ready so early! It's nice to feel settled as soon as you arrive.