The "How Could You?" trips x2-the finale! 2/12

[mickeystoontown]

While I know that Discovery Cove cost a lot of money, it sounds like it was well worth the once in a lifetime opportunity.

Walking the Boardwalk is one of the things that I've always wanted to do but, for some reason, we never make it over there. I've heard nothing but good things about the evenings there.

Thanks so much for posting pictures of the CSR. As you know, we are a bit nervous about trying a new resort but these pictures are calming my nerves. It looks so lovely.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

While I know that Discovery Cove cost a lot of money, it sounds like it was well worth the once in a lifetime opportunity.

Walking the Boardwalk is one of the things that I've always wanted to do but, for some reason, we never make it over there. I've heard nothing but good things about the evenings there.

Thanks so much for posting pictures of the CSR. As you know, we are a bit nervous about trying a new resort but these pictures are calming my nerves. It looks so lovely.

You are most welcome for the photos. I love walking the resorts early in the morning taking pictures. It's so peaceful. You will enjoy the resort if you keep your ressie there. The pool is really nice.

The Boardwalk is great fun. You can get a whole pizza to share from a side restaurant. Not bad tasting either for pizza at Disney.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

While I know that Discovery Cove cost a lot of money, it sounds like it was well worth the once in a lifetime opportunity.

Walking the Boardwalk is one of the things that I've always wanted to do but, for some reason, we never make it over there. I've heard nothing but good things about the evenings there.

Thanks so much for posting pictures of the CSR. As you know, we are a bit nervous about trying a new resort but these pictures are calming my nerves. It looks so lovely.

glad I could help, and I know this is the second time I've replied to this post, but the Dis won't let me post again. Some kind of glitch.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

OK, now that I've moved on and posted twice to Lisa, we will resume our scheduled programming and I will try to retype what I had here yesterday before it went

We were finally out the door to head here about 12:30.

Now that you know where we were going....

We wandered to the turnstiles to enter using our DC passes and had no trouble getting in. Came across these little fellows:

Kids spied the Manta coaster first and wanted to ride. This coaster posts signs all over to have you empty your pockets and leave your bags in a locker. But do you think folks listen?

The nets catch everything falling out of people's pockets before it pummels the poor unsuspecting folks walking underneath. We saw cell phones, change galore, wallets, you name it. If it will fit in a pocket, it will fall out on that ride. Lines were not all that long so the kids wanted to hit it twice before moving on.

From there we went into the Clyde and Seamore show (the walrus and sea lions). We were late in entering and the theater was crowded, so I didn't get any photos, but we'd seen this show in 2005 in San Diego. It was suprisingly similar and, believe it or not, the kids remembered the storyline.

Around 2:00, we decided to go grab some lunch. We went to the Spice Mill. Sort of like a food court though all in one line you walk through picking up what you'd like to have along the way. Cheeseburger platter for $9.29. Club Sandwich for $8.29. Watermelon for $3.39. Large bowl of strawberries for $4.99. side ceasar sale for DD $3.49. one 8oz milk for 1.99 and 2 soft drinks for $5.38. All I wrote in my notes was "OK" so I guess it wasn't all that much to talk about. That is after the price list.

We wandered out of the mill (which is actually located right on the big lake and very pretty with some outdoor seating-too hot to sit there today) and over to check out the tanks of fish.

Don't the boys look thrilled to be here?

Time to move on to the Shark Tank!! Better post this before I lose it again as this was about where I was last time.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

As I am writing up this afternoon, I am noticing that it is sorely lacking in photos. I don't know if I just wasn't in a picture taking mood today or what the problem was. The park is cute. Lots of colorful photo ops in the different areas with the themed buildings. Looks like you are wandering around Key West.

We headed into the Shark Tunnels. Now you will never catch me knowingly enter any shark infested waters-even if I am inside a cage.

few fish-don't think I want to get too close to this one either.

Riding through the tunnel

About this time I think I overheard DS comment he "hoped it didn't spring a leak in there".

Da Dum Da Dum Da Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum

Sufficiently cooled off and done with the fishes, we decided it was time to wait out some rides. Lines still really weren't all that bad.

We were hoping to get a little wet, but really wasn't as great as we'd hoped. Definitely not Splash Mountain.

Moving on.........."Ello Beastie"

Fun ride, but Manta was the favorite here.

Had enough of the rides for a bit. Off to wander again. What's a visit to FL without a sighting of one of these?

I think I'll take mine this size, thank you.

About this time it was getting warm again, and an indoor movie seemed like a nice choice. We headed into Turtle Trek in 3D. It's a domed theater where you stand to view what it's like to start life as a Sea Turtle and make your way to the ocean just after hatching. Quite a cute show.

It was a little warm while we waited....

After the show, we checked in on some of the endangered species.

Love the sea turtles. I could stand there and watch them swim around all day.

One last look at the Manatees from the topside.

We were getting parked out by this time. Everyone was ready to head back. So after a quick stop into a dump shop of sorts for a pin purchase, and a viewing of some not so endangered species....

We headed off back to Disney. Where shall we go for dinner tonight?........

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Where to? Where to? The beauty of having a car at Disney is the ability to drive around deciding what you might want to do for dinner. We thought about going back to our resort to try the Pepper Market and then relax by the pool. But where is the fun in exploring what you've already explored? We've never stayed at, nor wandered around any Value Resorts, so how about one of those? POP has always intrigued me, so POP it is!! And then we can wander across to check out the new Art of Animation!

I wish I'd taken pictures inside Everything Pop! It was the coolest gift shop/food court I think I have ever encountered. No wonder so many people enjoy staying here. We ate the Chicken Penne Alfredo Pasta, Veggie Lasagna, and 2 had the fish of the day (salmon). Plenty to eat and it was all really good.

Time to go exploring. Come along.......

I loved how all the sidewalks along POP between the decades had signs along the way telling little facts and tidbits about that decade. I wish I had more time to read them all. Must go back!!

Hmmm. A look across the lake. Let's go check it out!

DUDE!!!

The Nemo Pool area is quite cool! Looks like great fun!

Let's head inside, shall we?

I LOVED this chandelier!

the halls are really cool, too. So much to look at.

Food court seating area-the Lion King section gives you the feel of sitting in the middle of the savannah.

Over in the Cars themed seating area...

Heading back outside. Here's one for Kathy and Mark!

On to explore the newly opened Cars area of the hotel!.......

 

[Tiggerrn2]

The Cars Land area of the hotel had just opened and there really weren't a lot of people around. We loved seemingly having the place to ourselves.

You really sort of feel like you've just stepped into a movie!

Better post before I am out of space.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

A guy must have his picture with the lady!

Time to head back across.

A look across the lake from the opposite direction.

We decided it was time to head back to CSR. DS really wanted a swim in the pool and DD and I wanted to relax by the pool and catch a movie.
It was a little cool, so we girls opted not to put suits on, and just grabbed towels to sit on the edge of the stairs across from the movie screen. They were showing "Hercules". I'd yet to see this movie all the way through, so I was sort of looking forward to it. DS donned his suit and went on in. You know what they say about the whole "no sense, no feeling"?!
Remember the size of the pool? Here, let me refresh your memory.....

The movie screen was set up by the Mayan statue and DD and I were sitting on the stairs on the opposite side.
One would think, with a pool this size, you could sit an enjoy a movie on one side of the pool while others enjoyed a swim and splash across the way. Well, about 30 minutes before the end of the movie, and just as the lifegaurds were calling it a night, a group of rowdy, unchaperoned teens, hit the pool. AND they felt, in their infinite wisdom, that having a "jumping off of one another's shoulders contest" directly in line with DD and I was a good idea, followed by screaming and splashing and obscenities. Well, after about 10 minutes of this, and trying to dodge the water all while trying to catch the end of the movie I'd just sat through the first 60 minutes of in peace, I'd had it. The parental unit in me just had to say something. Thankfully, they realized the error of their ways , and politely excused themselves to the other side of the pool.

We finished up our movie in peace and proceeded to call it a night. We had some packing up to do. Tomorrow morning we were moving! ..................Where to next?!

 

[iloverags2]

Sounds like a great way to spend the day. Sleeping in (or getting up early and taking a leisurely tour around the resort), unrushed day at a park, checking out new places at WDW, a little dinner, a movie at the pool. Ah! Life is good at WDW!

 

[KatMark]

I got a couple of updates behind...sorry.

LOVE your photos at CSR...I can't wait to be back there in 25 days (it's been over two years since we stayed there).

Well, love the pictures of the coaster at Sea World, but you wouldn't me dead on it. I really want to get back to Sea World one of these days (maybe we'll do it with the dolphin thing next year).

Mark really wants to stay at Arts of Animation for a night or two in April when we go for his business trip. I don't normally do values, but I might make an exception to make him happy this one time.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Sounds like a great way to spend the day. Sleeping in (or getting up early and taking a leisurely tour around the resort), unrushed day at a park, checking out new places at WDW, a little dinner, a movie at the pool. Ah! Life is good at WDW!

Life at WDW is, indeed, good!

I got a couple of updates behind...sorry.

LOVE your photos at CSR...I can't wait to be back there in 25 days (it's been over two years since we stayed there).

Well, love the pictures of the coaster at Sea World, but you wouldn't me dead on it. I really want to get back to Sea World one of these days (maybe we'll do it with the dolphin thing next year).

Mark really wants to stay at Arts of Animation for a night or two in April when we go for his business trip. I don't normally do values, but I might make an exception to make him happy this one time.

AofA looks like a great place to try. Kids really want to stay there. Only problem is, TLM section is often sold out and if I am spending the kind of money it takes in the suites sections, I am staying at least mod, if not deluxe.



Good morning friends!!! I finally have some time to myself to work on this report again. Loading photos to photobucket this morning and then we shall move on to Day 7 and moving day!!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

We were up early this morning. Finished our packing and out the door by 9:30. Finally getting a chance to stay at the one resort I had loved since the first time I visited WDW.

getting closer-so excited!

Ahhhhhhh! We are here, and not just for a meal or a visit! We are actually checking in!

I have so many photos from the Poly and DD took quite a few herself. I will try to place them in order, but they are all jumbled on photobucket. DD have the wrong date/time so just ignore that.

Oh, I planned to!!

This lobby is just gorgeous! The fountains and greenery. The smell!!! Fresh Bamboo (by the way, you can purchase these scent machines and air fresheners for use in your home-and I have!)

My MIL had a small version of this at home and spent years keeping it alive. It took a number of years, but it did finally flower. I never realized they grew this big!

Loved the theming all around the lobby.

In 2010, we did a Photopass photoshoot here at the Poly. I have some of my most treasured family photos from that day. We had a great time playing on the beach and in the hammocks while Alex took our photos. I will post a couple later.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

One last fountain area photo and then we need to check in.

When I made our reservation, I used the 30% off room rate code I had received in an email. Unfortunately, the code only applied to Standard rooms. I requested high floor with a balcony and a nice view. I really had no idea what to hope for. I only knew I didn't want a parking lot view.

At check-in, they gave us 20th Anniversary buttons (this day was our actual 20th Anniversary and the reason for our stay at the Poly. We'd gone to Hawaii for our honeymoon. However, 2 busy kids and 20 years of inflation do not make it easy to return to Hawaii-so the Poly was the next best thing! ), we also received nice flower leis and the CM explained all there was to do and that we'd get to use the GF fitness center if we so chose to work out. She gave us the map, said our room was ready and we set out to discover where our room would be. The bellman grabbed our bags and said he'd meet us there.

The resort is very big. Yet it doesn't seem to take too long to walk from one area to the next.

They were getting ready to open the pool slides for the day, so we stopped to watch a minute.

Better move on to the room....

around the quiet pool area-they played music here every afternoon.

more theming

Here we are

DH and DS decided the lobby area was a great place to have a seat!

Seriously? Come on...let's get to the room!

3rd floor......

Garden View!!! Looking straight off the balcony.

looking to the left we could see (and hear) the quiet pool

and looking to the right....

If you looked really hard to the right, you could just see the lake. And we could hear the boats!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

The room was quite large, largest one I've ever stayed in here in all my trips.

nice sized safe

only a single sink

toiletries over here..

and the bathroom was a little scrunchy

there was a nice sized bedside table

and this was the one and only towel animal we received the entire stay at the Poly

We haven't received many different ones of these since our first stay at AKL in 2004. That year, Mousekeeping was awesome. We had new friends every day.

After checking out our room, we decided it was time to get some breakfast.

off we go back this way...

to here

We had scrambled eggs, Mickey waffles with bacon, kids french toast sticks, a breakfast sandwich and fruit cup, milk and a biscuit. We filled our mugs and thanks to the Disney Visa Rewards, it was like having free dining!

continued in next post

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Everything was very good for counter service food. I found I really like Capt Cooks. After breakfast we headed inside to check out the rest of the Great Ceremonial House.
upstairs are all the restaurants and a couple of shops

time to head up to our room and change. We were going to spend the day enjoying the pool and relaxing. Dinner isn't until 8:15 tonight, so we had some time to enjoy ourselves.

heading back, kids decided to play around at the beach, so I decided to take some photos.

Missed these somehow when I posted the room photos.

We changed and headed down to the pool for the afternoon. DS met a little boy that he played with for the afternoon. His mom and aunt had brought him down for his first visit. They were both nurses and one had gone back to school to be a doctor. They were really nice to talk with. DH decided to change and go for a run using the path from Poly to GF. DD was enjoying the slide and just hanging on the beach.

Around 3:00 it started looking a little dark. It had been sprinkling off and on while we were at the pool, but the sun did keep peeking out, so we had waited it out hoping it would clear up for good. But we finally decided to give up and head on up to the room to shower. We thought we'd spend a little time at DTD.

After getting showered and ready to go, it looked like this outside.....

would we go?.......

 

[CJK]

Thoroughly enoying your report! Polynesian remains my favourite resort, and I only wish we could afford to stay there more often!! We're actually staying at CSR for our next trip, so I also loved seeing your pics for that one. Sounds like you're having a wonderful time! Thanks so much for allowing us to share in your trip!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

We did finally go ahead and go to DTD. The pouring rain lightened up and we headed out to the van to drive over to shop and maybe have a light snack.

We walked by the sign for

and offerred to leave the kids here! They enjoyed the kids club at the AKL in 2004. Somehow, coloring and watching movies don't have the same appeal at 12 and 14 that it did when they were 4 and 6.

Upon arriving at DTD it was still raining off and on so we grabbed the umbrellas and ponchos and headed off. We wandered in and out of a few shops. No photos, sorry. With the rain it was just too difficult to keep taking the camera in and out of the bag. We went into the Pin Trader shop. DD had been trying to complete a pin set-circle pin with dots (bubbles?) since last summer at Disneyland. She only had one left to find, and wouldn't you know it was there. She hadn't thought to grab her lanyard when we left the room, though. So I purchased a 2pk pin set for her to trade with. In that pack was an Orange Bird and one she didn't care for much and used as the trader to complete her set!! And then the Orange Bird set off a search for another whole new set! Isn't that what it's all about?!

We didn't find much else we wanted to buy and decided we weren't really all that eager to ruin our appetites by eating something, so we headed on back and were back at the resort around 7 to change for dinner.

I think I have this as a pin.

We met up with friends from home in the lobby of the Poly. They had just come in yesterday and were headed to the Luau for dinner. We visited with them for a bit while waiting to check in. They had asked us what our plans were for the next day. We were debating whether to go to Aquatica and use our passes from DC or use our old non-expiry passes from 2004 and go to Blizzard Beach. Turns out, they were going to BB the next day as well. The kids all wanted to hang out together at the water park, so that decided that. We were leaning that way anyway. At some point in our Sea World visit, we could see Aquatica, and it looked a little worn and we weren't sure that was such a good plan to begin with. So it all worked out for the best.

We checked in as soon as we were allowed for Ohana. Seemed we still had quite a long wait. Took this while I waited. See what boredom will do?

We wandered around and took a few other photos while we waited, and DS checked out out some Star Wars Vinylmations. He started our friends' son in on that trading experience and created quite a monster.

and we searched for Hidden Mickeys

Finally, after about 45 minutes, we were seated. We got a table facing the windows and had a view of Wishes during dinner. They stop the entertainment and dim the lights and pipe in the music for the show. It was a nice treat.

Dinner was good! Not as good as I remembered from my fall trip in 2009, but still good. I love the wings and noodles and the marinated meats are wonderful.

Kids enjoyed learning to Hula and did the coconut races.

We waited for desert! I LOVE this desert.

The cousin brought us out an extra desert as an anniversary suprise.

and DS enjoyed his own special desert-he just wanted ice cream.

About 11:30, we were full and tired and headed back off to our room, still hunting Hidden Mickeys.

Tomorrow was going to be a great day with friends!!!

 

[KatMark]

Oh....you are making me homesick for the Poly (Mark wanted to stay there next year for our 30th, but with the wedding it is way beyond what we can/want to pay). The pictures are absolutely beautiful.

Glad you had a good dinner and got to see the fireworks.

Can't wait to hear about your day with your friends.

 

[Bunchkin]

Great pics of the Poly! We've only been there to eat, many times, but have never stayed there. It's "on the list".

Looks like Kyle had gotten some sun on his cheeks from his time in the sun that day.

It looks like the Poly could do with an update on their bedding. From the pics it looks dated. I love the smell of it there too. What is this scent machine you bought? Buy it there?

 

[iloverags2]

Russ loves Polynesian for that very reason...the size of those rooms! Bummer you got one of the dinky bathrooms - in four stays there, we have always had a larger bathroom, thank goodness.

I cannot believe you did NOT get Tonga Toast from Capt Cook's...horrors!!! LOL Hopefully you at least got a Dole Whip at some point. (I think Capt Cook's might be my favorite resort counter service for those very two reasons.

So glad to see someone is into pin trading (it's an addiction, I tell ya! ).