We walked to the Great Ceremonial House for our Ohana ADR. I just love the Poly – have I mentioned that yet already? The lush grounds, the burning torches, the friendly CMs… I love it. It was very crowded in the Ohana waiting area, and we actually had a short wait even though we were on time for our ADR. Finally we were seated. Bill and Tom enjoyed Backscratchers (Bill was especially excited to bring the bamboo backscratcher home, since he likes to have his back scratched and it kind of gives me the heebie jeebies to do it). I decided Bill’s Glowtini was good enough the night before for me to order one tonight.
I love Ohana – I make sure to make an ADR for every trip… and hooray! Bill loved it too! Actually, Tom and Jen hadn’t been to Ohana for dinner before, either, and they liked it, too. The food was excellent. I hadn’t been since the menu changes, but everything was really good. I love the salad they serve (yeah, I know… all that good food and I like the salad!) and the potatoes were an addition that everyone loved. I don’t usually like bread pudding (does this sound familiar?) but the banana bread pudding dessert, served family-style, was actually really tasty… although we were all so full we could only manage a few bites. We used two table service credits here; the total for two adults (without alcohol) was $64.72.
The Ohana entertainment was good, as usual, as well… the hula hoop contests and coconut races CRACK me up. This time there was also a hula dance lesson, and there was this little girl seated near us who REALLY got into it. We were laughing along with the girl’s father at how serious she was taking the whole thing. Very cute.
They called all couples who were celebrating up to dance together, and Tom and Jen sort of forced Bill and me up, and vice versa (Jen doesn’t care to be the center of attention, even on her fifth wedding anniversary.) Anyway, the woman started going down the line of couples, asking for names… “And you are Mr. and Mrs….?” When she got to me, I exclaimed “Not yet!”. This delighted her. “Ladies and gentlemen, here are Mr. and Mrs. Not Yet!” I mean, really, what was I supposed to say? Hahaha…
One couple’s little boy came up to dance with them, and we heard the father say, “Just think, when you go back to school, you can tell your friends that you danced the hula next to Mr. and Mrs. Not Yet.”
When Wishes started, Bill and I were excited to actually HEAR the soundtrack that we got engaged to. We tried to figure out if he got the moment of the finale right to propose, but we couldn’t remember if we had actually seen any of the fireworks, haha. I guess the night before had been a bit more overwhelming than we had even thought!
In any case, I have a gripe here. I understand that parents want their children to be able to see the fireworks. Really. I get it. But when there are people, trying to eat their dinner, who happen to be sitting near the windows, PLEASE do not let your children run over and jump and climb all over said people when the fireworks start. The view really IS fine from even a few feet back from the window. And, furthermore, if your children start screaming and crying and tantrum-throwing, please do not let them continue to basically crowd in with these strangers at their dinner table. It ruins the show for everyone trying to see out the window from their own seats.
Gripe aside, the fireworks were beautiful, the dinner was fantastic, and the company was great. It was a wonderful experience.
And the best part was that it wasn’t over yet – we were headed to Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom to meet back up with Sean and his family!
We stopped at Tom and Jen’s room to drop off the all-important backscratchers (here’s suspense: would we get Bill’s back later in the week?) and then headed to the marina, since we thought it would be nice to take the water taxi to the MK. What a nice ride at night! We got to the MK, got our wrist bracelets, and were so happy to see huge crowds exiting the park as we were entering. Hurray!
We stopped for some photos in front of the castle,
and then went on some rides. Three of us (not Jen) were brave enough to try Splash Mountain, and, yes, we got drenched… Bill and I were especially wet, since we were in the front row and all.
After Splash, we met up with Sean and his family, and then headed to Big Thunder. There was quite a line here, and we caught up with Sean and his wife while winding through the switchbacks. Sean’s daughter, Deidre, who had taken an immediate liking to me when I met her in December, wanted me to sit with her on every ride, but I told her I had to sit with Bill sometimes, “since he bought me this diamond ring”.
Big Thunder was great, especially listening to Jen scream on the drops. After Big Thunder, we were all pretty much set to head back, except that Sean’s little son wanted to go on Pirates, so we headed in that direction and the wait was short enough, so on Pirates we went.
We said our goodbyes while walking out towards the busses, and Bill and I headed back to PO-R, pretty tired and happy from another magical WDW day.
I just happened upon your engagement story, and it is so sweet! Thanks for sharing your very special moment! You are a cute couple. I can't wait to read more.
How perfect is that?! 
Any luck on finding that reception hall?
Hope to hear from you soon!
