The (Foodie)Force is Strong with Us...a Feb/Mar 2016 trip! THE END - NEW 9/13 Disneyland TR link!

[chunkymonkey]

Day 1 Part 3: More Disney Springs, Jock Lindsey's, and 'Ohana!

After lunch CS and I continued walking down Disney Springs. We hadn't seen many of the new stores that opened so I was excited to do so. DH decided he'll do his own exploring. I told him he had a park hopper so he could go wherever he wanted, so he decided to go to Animal Kingdom! Of course being the DH that he is...he took no pictures. So I can only take his word for it.

Meanwhile...somewhere in a galaxy far far away...

I had not been to the Star Wars Galactic Outpost yet so I was super excited!

Look at all the cool stuff!

I bought my baby nephew this t-shirt. It's so cute!!

I was looking to buy a couple of Star Wars art pieces by Jerrod Maruyama, and luckily I found them at the Galactic Outpost! They were sold out online so I could only buy them in-store. They are available now online though at the Shop Disney Parks app!

Here's me with one of them:

And here's the other one I bought:

I just love his artwork! I have a few other pieces at home, and I love them! They are so cute! I had a large hard-sided suitcase with me so I was able to bring the prints home with me in my luggage but they do ship for a fee.

Next door was Superhero Headquarters which was pretty cool too! Lots of Marvel merchandise!

We went to the jewelry store nearby and I channeled my inner @Elevationist!!

I didn't end up getting the tiara but I just thought I'd take a picture with one on my birthday! We then decided to turn around and head back. On the way we passed by the little food truck area. A lot of the stuff looked great! I'm gonna come back another time to try it!

As we were walking back...we passed by Jock Lindsey's again...and CS and I looked at each other and said, how about a drink!?! OK! We're doing this! Woohoo!

We walked in and there was plenty of people, already seated and having drinks. I was surprised how small it was because I think of the word hangar and I think of a large airplane depot but it was much smaller than I envisioned it. I guess it's a typical bar size. There were seats at the bar so we sat there.

Loved the decor and details inside.

We weren't hungry so we just had drinks. I ordered the Cool Headed Monkey: Starr African Rum, Van Der Hum Tangerine Liqueur, fresh Lime Juice, Watermelon, and Pineapple Juice. CS got the Singapore Sling: Plymouth Gin, Heering Cherry Liqueur, Bénédictine, Cointreau, fresh Lime Juice, Pineapple Juice, and Grenadine.

We liked our drinks a lot! They were a little strong, but i guess that's to be expected!

After our mid-afternoon libations, we headed back to the buses to the Poly. The walk was quite long so we were relieved the bus didn't take long to come and soon we were headed back to the Poly! OK so our room number completely escapes me now but we were in the Tokelau longhouse on the 2nd floor. It was very close to the outside staircase. I really liked the building as it was convenient to both the main Ceremonial house as well as the TTC.

Here's a pic of our room. Sorry it's a bit dark. The sun was streaming through the shades but if I used the blackout drapes the room was pitch black. That is one issue I have with these Poly rooms. They really needed more lamps or at least brighter bulbs! They had already brought our luggage to the room so excuse the mess!

The bathrooms were the best part! There were 2 baths - one was a sink and standing shower, and the other was a tub, sink and toilet. That bathroom was huge!

Loved the Poly-inspired artwork, including this one of a certain little mermaid...

We had a little kitchenette too. We didn't use it much except for the fridge but I did use the microwave once during the trip!

OK so here's the reveal of the birthday gift I bought myself at World of Disney...

Isn't it just gorgeous? And the best part is that it comes with the 2 little bangles so for the price of a watch I got a watch and 2 bracelets!! Woohoo!

I just love them! I love how one of the bangles has a little mickey head charm. It's all so sparkly and fabulous!!

We spent the last bit of the afternoon early evening unpacking all our stuff. DH finally came back to the room after his stint in AK. He said he rode the safari twice and went to Rafiki's Planet.

We got ready for our decadent dinner at 'Ohana after which DH and I would be headed to MK for the last few hours of my birthday so I could watch Wishes and take a picture in front of the castle! The only problem was that it was going to be COLD. The forecast was projecting it to be in the 40s!! Yikes! I've never been in Orlando when it's been cold! We just packed on the layers and hoped for the best!

We headed to Ohana to check in. I took this picture from the 2nd floor:

Soon we were called and seated!

Some pineapple bread:

The view from our table:

Our server took our drink orders and soon we were munching away!

Our salad:

Potstickers and wings:

Noodles and veggies:

I mainly focused my attention tonight on the shrimp. I honestly don't care for the other meats so I only got a small piece of everything else. But I ate a lot of shrimp!

I also split a lapu lapu with my sister! I'm not sure I really like this drink as much as the look of it. It's cool to be drinking out of a pineapple but it was mostly alcohol and not much flavor to me.

Happy and very FULL!

And finally the piece the resistance:

Yummy!! It was a great meal, as usual! I told our server to not bring me the birthday cupcake because I just wouldn't eat it.

After dinner we rolled out of there...DH and I headed to the monorail while CS sadly had to stay behind. She was planning to shop at the Poly and watch the water parade and wishes from the beach, then get ready for her really early wake up call the next morning at 3am!! Yikes. Goodbye CS! This is the last you'll see of her on the trip report.

Get ready for our cold cold night at MK!! Coming up!!
​

 

[bcwife76]

That's really nice that you and CS got to spend the afternoon together being girly on your birthday
The rooms look lovely - not overly ostentacious (I spelled that incorrectly apparently lol) and that bathroom.....wowza! Sweet!

Girl, I am loving that watch and bracelet combo, good for you!! So pretty!!

Looked like a lovely meal at Ohana - Oyuma....see what I did there? uh huh

 

[cajunfan]

Pretty sparkly things! Love the watch and bangles. (and well the tiara is awesome too!)

The drinks at Jock Lindseys sound yummy! I may have to try those if I am in the area!

The room looks amazing! I sooo want to stay at the Poly again.

And Ohana's...I could eat those pot stickers every day, they are so yummy! And the bread pudding....what else can be said...I need a personal chef to make me some of that every day!

Can't wait to hear and see more! Thanks for sharing!

 

[TigerTown]

Another great update! I love that you include so many pics. Did the Galactic Outpost have any exclusive items or was it the same stuff you can get in other areas of the park?

.... CS sadly had to stay behind. She was planning to shop at the Poly and watch the water parade and wishes from the beach, then get ready for her really early wake up call the next morning at 3am!! Yikes.
​

Awww...bye bye CS. Its been fun seeing your character photos

 

[Magnolia85]

Drool!! I love your birthday gift!

 

[Ngwira]

The (Foodie)Force is Strong with Us...
An Epic WDW Birthday Trip with Chunkymonkey and Chubbyhubby
Feb 27- March 5 2016

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my latest TR! This trip was an epic one because I turned 40 years old on the first day of our WDW vacation! We had already been celebrating for a week having come off a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy (with Star Wars Day at Sea!) - and we headed straight for Disney World to our favorite resort, the Polynesian Village! ALOHA! You can read more about our cruise on my Trip Report on the cruise line forum. I'm almost done with that TR, and let's just say it was nothing short of amazing...let's see what the land portion has in store for us!

Here's a picture from our cruise. We are obviously huge Star Wars fans!

Introductions:

On the left we have me, Su-Lynn, aka Chunkymonkey. I turned 40 years old on this trip. I work as a business analyst in IT. I'm the resident trip planner, cruise director, and trip report writer! I also write a travel blog on the side (mostly to Hawaii, but some Disney and other more exotic locales!). I love to eat and take pictures, so be prepared for a pretty food-heavy and picture-loving trip report! I have been to Disney many times and I love it so much! I'm also a big Star Wars fan, and loved Star Wars Launch Bay and the Symphony in the Stars Fireworks at DHS so much that we saw them three times on this trip! My favorite rides are Soarin', TSMM, 7DMT, BTMRR and the Peoplemover. My favorite character right now is Baymax, and my favorite princess is...I'm not sure, it always changes based on the interaction I have but we had an awesome Tiana on the cruise so I will say Tiana for now! My favorite restaurant at WDW is 'Ohana, but we ate at Victoria and Albert's on this trip which really blew us away!

On the right is my DH, Chubbyhubby, aka Steve, he's also 40 years old and works at a bank. He loves sports, movies, and like me, enjoys eating! He indulges me with all the Disney trips although he secretly enjoys them as well. DH and I are big Star Wars fans, so we were really excited when we heard about these SWDAS cruises last year while on the Magic (trip report here) - we booked it using an on-board discount last year and since the cruise was around my 40th birthday, it just made sense to make it a big birthday celebration and combine it with a week at Walt Disney World! He doesn't really have a favorite character or princess but his favorite rides are pretty much the same as me, although he can't quite understand my obsession with the Peoplemover. He's more of a ToT and EE guy, both of which I do not ride! He loves 'Ohana too although he has a soft spot for Garden Grill since he has a green thumb and is planting an organic garden at home.

We were in WDW for 7 nights staying in a DVC Studio in the Polynesian Village with rented DVC points! We had 7-day park hoppers, and no dining plan, meaning we could eat whatever we wanted! We had 9 ADRs, a STAR WARS dessert party, dinner at Victoria and Albert's, and the start of Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival...I hope you're in for some FOODIE fun!!

May the Foodie(Force) be with you!

​

I LOVE your trip reports. You da best!

 

[KathyM2]

I made an ADR for lunch at Morimoto Asia.

Do I vaguely remember you thinking about making this ADR in advance but didn't because you weren't sure you'd make it off the ship and wanted to not have to rush?? Looks awesome and I'm glad you made it there in any case. That dessert looked fantastic!

I mainly focused my attention tonight on the shrimp.

I want to have dinner there specifically for that shrimp! Everyone raves about it!

 

[Dentam]

We were in WDW for 7 nights staying in a DVC Studio in the Polynesian Village with rented DVC points! We had 7-day park hoppers, and no dining plan, meaning we could eat whatever we wanted! We had 9 ADRs, a STAR WARS dessert party, dinner at Victoria and Albert's, and the start of Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival...I hope you're in for some FOODIE fun!!

This is exactly my plan (well, minus Victoria and Albert's, but I bet that was amazing) to celebrate my birthday in March of next year!! We're renting DVC points for the Poly and planning to catch the opening days of the Flower and Garden Festival!

Okay, now back to page 1 to start reading your report. WOOHOO!!

 

[soniam]

Love your watch. That's a nice birthday gift

Is that one of the new studios at Poly? Does the sofa become a bed? I love Poly, but I haven't been able to justify the cost lately. You rented DVC points right? How did that work out? Plus, I really need to stay at different resorts each trip, if I want to say that I have stayed at all of them

I like that artist too. I was listening to an older interview with him on the DIS Disneyland podcast. I am glad you mentioned the shipping. I keep wanting to get something, but I am worried about it getting damaged. I saw some cool Star Wars stuff and some neat posters at Space Mountain. The food trucks looked intriguing to me too. I liked the Galactic Outpost too. I plan to look around a little more next time.

So, does the Ohana bread pudding have bananas in it, or are the bananas in the sauce? I ask, because we might eat there in July. Although, I haven't seen any availability, so that may not happen. DH hates bananas but likes bread pudding. He thought he could probably get the kids dessert if had to. We have never eaten there. It looks good, and I know we will have to try it at some point.

 

[chunkymonkey]

That's really nice that you and CS got to spend the afternoon together being girly on your birthday
The rooms look lovely - not overly ostentacious (I spelled that incorrectly apparently lol) and that bathroom.....wowza! Sweet!

Yeah it was nice to have a girly shopping afternoon since DH hates shopping!
The Poly DVC rooms are great! But I can't help but notice that the room itself is quite small but the bathroom and closet area were very large. Seems disproportionate but I guess the room really is just for sleeping so that's ok. I think the regular Poly rooms are bigger, probably because the bathroom area is smaller.

Girl, I am loving that watch and bracelet combo, good for you!! So pretty!!

Thank you!

Looked like a lovely meal at Ohana - Oyuma....see what I did there? uh huh

It's always awesome at Ohana-Oyuna! LOL

Pretty sparkly things! Love the watch and bangles. (and well the tiara is awesome too!)

Thank you!!!

The drinks at Jock Lindseys sound yummy! I may have to try those if I am in the area!

Definitely! It's a great spot for drinks. They had an extensive menu. Next time I'll try the food.

The room looks amazing! I sooo want to stay at the Poly again.

I love it! and the convenience!

And Ohana's...I could eat those pot stickers every day, they are so yummy! And the bread pudding....what else can be said...I need a personal chef to make me some of that every day!

Our all around favorite WDW meal! Just a lot of fun and the dessert is the best part!

Can't wait to hear and see more! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading Lynn!

Another great update! I love that you include so many pics. Did the Galactic Outpost have any exclusive items or was it the same stuff you can get in other areas of the park?

Thank you! I'm not sure they had exclusive items but that was the only place I could find the Jerrod Maruyama prints. The store is not that big but they had a LOT of stuff. movie posters and the like. I'm pretty sure they had some items which you can't find at the other Star Wars stores, including Wattos Grotto which is huge!

Awww...bye bye CS. Its been fun seeing your character photos

Yup! no more character pics for her. But I channeled my inner CS and got our own fair share of character pics!

Drool!! I love your birthday gift!

Thank you!!!

I LOVE your trip reports. You da best!

Aww THANK YOU!

Do I vaguely remember you thinking about making this ADR in advance but didn't because you weren't sure you'd make it off the ship and wanted to not have to rush?? Looks awesome and I'm glad you made it there in any case. That dessert looked fantastic!

Yup! I wanted to make sure we were going to make it in time after leaving the ship, and it turns out we would have made my original ADR anyways. But it was easy to make an on the spot ADR for the same day for lunch. It was a great meal!

I want to have dinner there specifically for that shrimp! Everyone raves about it!

It's delicious! Sometimes it's better than other times, ask for some fresh hot off the grill shrimp and that's when it's the best. Oh and don't forget about dessert!

This is exactly my plan (well, minus Victoria and Albert's, but I bet that was amazing) to celebrate my birthday in March of next year!! We're renting DVC points for the Poly and planning to catch the opening days of the Flower and Garden Festival!

Okay, now back to page 1 to start reading your report. WOOHOO!!

Sounds awesome!! It was a great time to go! We had a few cold evenings but the days were just glorious and the humidity was low. I finally had a good hair day at WDW!

Love your watch. That's a nice birthday gift

Thank you!!

Is that one of the new studios at Poly? Does the sofa become a bed? I love Poly, but I haven't been able to justify the cost lately. You rented DVC points right? How did that work out? Plus, I really need to stay at different resorts each trip, if I want to say that I have stayed at all of them

Yup it's a new studio. The sofa becomes a bed which is what CS slept on, and the console below the TV pulls out into a twin sized bed too. So it can technically sleep 5 people, albeit a bit squishy. I know what you mean, I want to try different resorts but it depends on price and stuff. Also the Poly is very convenient! Hard to beat!

I like that artist too. I was listening to an older interview with him on the DIS Disneyland podcast. I am glad you mentioned the shipping. I keep wanting to get something, but I am worried about it getting damaged. I saw some cool Star Wars stuff and some neat posters at Space Mountain. The food trucks looked intriguing to me too. I liked the Galactic Outpost too. I plan to look around a little more next time.[/quote[

I've gotten stuff shipped from the Marketplace Coop before. Sometimes if you order through the Disney Parks App they have free shipping. They ship the artwork very well, so there were no dents or bends in the pieces. Sure beats having to lug it home!

So, does the Ohana bread pudding have bananas in it, or are the bananas in the sauce? I ask, because we might eat there in July. Although, I haven't seen any availability, so that may not happen. DH hates bananas but likes bread pudding. He thought he could probably get the kids dessert if had to. We have never eaten there. It looks good, and I know we will have to try it at some point.

The bananas are only in the sauce. I usually request sauce on the side, or sometimes they just bring it on the side. I forgot to request it on the side this time so I guess they just poured it over. I tend to prefer it without sauce anyways but even with the sauce I'd still eat it because it's that good!

 

[amalone1013]

Enjoying this! I read through your cruise report and it looks so fun! I love all of your outfits and that watch! (And jm not usually much of a sparkly girl lol) I can't wait to hear more and I'm glad I'm jumping in from the beginning on this one!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Enjoying this! I read through your cruise report and it looks so fun! I love all of your outfits and that watch! (And jm not usually much of a sparkly girl lol) I can't wait to hear more and I'm glad I'm jumping in from the beginning on this one!

Thank you and welcome!!

 

[DisneyJo]

I'm in

 

[chunkymonkey]

Day 1 Part 4: Brrrthday Night at MK!

When we stepped outside to catch the monorail to MK, we realized then this wasn't going to be our typical night at MK, because it was COLD!! Usually we are in WDW in September/October and it's humid and hot then. This is the first time we've been here and it's been cold! Hopefully we could stay active enough that it wouldn't be a big deal.

We caught the monorail to MK and walked through security and through the gates...it was such ans awesome feeling to be using my Magic Band for the first time to enter a park on this trip!

Upon first sight of the castle, we had to take a picture (or a few)! First use of our memory maker!

Here's one from my iphone which I then posted to Facebook to thank my friends and family for posting Happy Birthday on my timeline!

What better way to celebrate your birthday than by coming to the one place I can act like a kid!!!

Our first FP+ that night was for 7DMT, so we headed over to Fantasyland

We still had some time to kill so we went to IASW because that was the only line that was short enough.

My annual can't-miss shot of the hula girls:

After IASW we headed over to use our first FP+ at 7DMT!

Then we headed over to BTMRR for our next FP+. It was really cold at this point so I couldn't take many pictures because my hands were in my pockets!

Soon it was time for wishes and we had our last FP+ here. I had never seen Wishes in a real decent location in front of the castle so this was a nice treat. We were situated in the nice grassy area in the hub, which I think is now being used for the new Wishes dessert party location. It's a great location and I think I'll do the dessert party one year, although probably not after we eat at Ohana!

Celebrate the Magic!

Now it was time for Wishes!

It was wonderful to see a classic nighttime show on my birthday!

The park was open until 11pm tonight so we still had an hour until closing. So we went on an old favorite:

The Jungle Cruise!

We then decided to go to Tomorrowland because I needed to ride the Peoplemover too! On the way, I snapped this:

And we got another PP pic too:

We saw there was a short wait for Buzz Lightyear so we went. Especially because we wanted to be someplace indoors at this point!

And now it was time for the Peoplemover! It was completely empty on that ride so we rode it twice!! It was cold up there!

Look at how cold DH looks!

I love MK at night!

As we left the park we relished the completely empty spots

Thankful to be spending my birthday at WDW!! Despite the cold it was a perfect night!

It was a wonderful brrrrrthday! Hope it warms up this week!

We headed back to the Poly and crashed - we didn't even hear CS as she left at 3am in the morning to board ME for her flight back home!

Coming up...does it warm up for tomorrow? Stay tuned!

​

 

[Dentam]

Brrr!! We went in Sept last year and after that experience with the heat and humidity I think I will welcome some cooler temps in March... but hopefully not too cold!

Looks like a fun birthday night!!

 

[cwiklamama]

Following! Love your reports, especially the food pics

 

[buteraa]

Awesome! Another trip report. I love reading about your adventures so thank you for taking the time to give such in-dept information and pictures.

 

[bcwife76]

You got some great photos in front of the castle! So pretty

A nearly empty park at the end of the night - a rarity! lol

 

[rndmr2]

Found your new TR so I am joining in! Happy Birthday!

Looks like it was a great day! I would love to go for my Birthday but mine is in July so it would be really HOT!! We were there for DH's B-day a few years ago and it was fun!

Nice lunch and dinner! Of course I am partial to the dinner since I really loved Ohana when we went on our last trip, but the new Morimoto looks really good too.

 

[KathyM2]

Look at how cold DH looks!

He does look cold! But at least the rides were empty!!