shannon47142
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2007
the treats look so yummy!!
In case I don't get back on before you leave, have a safe and fun trip
In case I don't get back on before you leave, have a safe and fun trip
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The "I'm sick, no I'm sick" May 2009 Polynesian Trip-O-Rama Report
- Thread starter ryansall
- Start date
ryansall
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2009
Well, I'm back from a quick weekend at the World! Left Friday afternoon and made it down for Wishes, then spent all day Saturday and half of Sunday there before driving back. It was amazing! 
My first solo trip, but I'll throw the TR in here rather than start a new thread. No camera with me, but I can write up the experiences. I'm going to try to finish the May TR and toss in this past weekend this week, so hopefully this will all be done soon.
My first solo trip, but I'll throw the TR in here rather than start a new thread. No camera with me, but I can write up the experiences. I'm going to try to finish the May TR and toss in this past weekend this week, so hopefully this will all be done soon.
ryansall
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2009
Yes, Friday, May 29 was our final day at WDW. We had a wedding to attend on Saturday night, so we had to drive home on Saturday to make it in time. But we saved the best for last!
I'm about to give away my favorite tip, but I don't think it's that big a secret. Traditionally, in our trips we aren't staying at the Poly, so we will have a designated "Do the MK right" day, and will begin with breakfast at Kona. Our tip is that we get to the MK parking lot early, like 7:15, park, then walk over to Kona, have breakfast, and monorail to the MK.
Since we were staying at the Poly, didn't have to get up and park, and had our breakfast at 8 a.m. instead of 7:30 or so. Of course, DW and I split this:
Tonga Toast!
It's too much sugar for me, so we also shared the egg breakfast.
Meanwhile, DS went with the ever favorite Mickey pancake:
Breakfast was great as always. I just love the Kona Cafe for breakfast, because of the great coffee, Tonga Toast and quiet atmosphere. It gets me a few moments of quiet before the hectic MK craziness.
With breakfast over, we hopped outside and onto the monorail. DD was very excited, as the MK is her favorite park:
Now, the second part of the "MK the right way" day, is to do the Death Star Run. No joke, that's what we call it. The Death Star run is to get in right after the Welcome Show, and sprint to Dumbo, followed by Pooh, then Pan, then Small World and Philharmagic. Get all of those done within an hour of opening, and it's a success. We make it more often than not. So, once the rope dropped, it was off to Dumbo!
That's DD and I in our Dumbo. She and I had never ridden together before, so I claimed a spot with her. That left DW with DS.
Dumbo was done in time, and we headed over to Pooh!
Finished Pooh in time and headed over to Peter Pan. Again, successful!
This was where we had our first derailment. DD was in love with the Carousel by now. She had begged to go back, and who can resist that cute little face!
Then, it was back to the plan, and time for Small World!
We actually passed on Philharmagic, because we had seen it earlier in the week, and headed off to Toontown. We were interested in Goofy's Barnstormer, since DD was tall enough to ride. Never too early to break the kids in for roller coasters, right? She was a little scared at first, but we made it.
When we got off, she was still shaking a bit, but DS asked if we could go again. I said sure, and left DD with DW, expecting her to not want to ride again. We walked in, and here they came, as DD didn't want to get left behind and was ready to ride again!
I got a picture of DW and DS this time. So, by around 10:30, we had done Dumbo, Pooh, Pan, Carousel, Small World and 2 rides on the Barnstormer. Woo-hoo!
Next up was our trek over to Tomorrowland. In our typical plan, we'd hit Buzz, TTA, Carousel of Progress and **** before taking a break then coming back in the afternoon for Splash, Pirates and the rest of that side of the park.
But, we bucked tradition and went for the Tea Cups! It's one of DW's favorites, so we had to do it.
Once we finished there, we were ready for Tomorrowland. As we passed the Speedway, DS gave me the puppy dog eyes. He loves the ride, but I hate it, because the line's always long and I just don't think it's very "Disney." But I gave in, and we headed in for a 20 min wait that turned out to be just about 15.
And with that done, we headed over to Tomorrowland. I grabbed Buzz FPs, and then it was snack time. Turkey leg!
I shared the turkey leg with the kids, and they enjoyed playing with the robot phone. Another of those great little details that most people don't notice. They played for the entire time until our Buzz pass was ready.
I challenged DS on Buzz and beat him, but just barely! He posed in the jail on the way out, as is our tradition. We could probably use those bars as his growth chart!
With that we headed over to Adventureland, to see if we could get on Pirates and the Jungle Cruise before lunchtime. The answer was no. So I got FPs for Splash, and we proceeded to lunch at El Pirata y El Perico, one of DW's favorites.
That's the veggie tacos. I had the taco salad:
By that point, we were getting ready for a break. I took DD back to the Poly to see if she'd take a nap, and DW and DS went to Splash to ride before meeting us back at the Poly for pool time and dinner at Ohana.
More to come...
I'm about to give away my favorite tip, but I don't think it's that big a secret. Traditionally, in our trips we aren't staying at the Poly, so we will have a designated "Do the MK right" day, and will begin with breakfast at Kona. Our tip is that we get to the MK parking lot early, like 7:15, park, then walk over to Kona, have breakfast, and monorail to the MK.
Since we were staying at the Poly, didn't have to get up and park, and had our breakfast at 8 a.m. instead of 7:30 or so. Of course, DW and I split this:
Tonga Toast!
It's too much sugar for me, so we also shared the egg breakfast.
Meanwhile, DS went with the ever favorite Mickey pancake:
Breakfast was great as always. I just love the Kona Cafe for breakfast, because of the great coffee, Tonga Toast and quiet atmosphere. It gets me a few moments of quiet before the hectic MK craziness.
With breakfast over, we hopped outside and onto the monorail. DD was very excited, as the MK is her favorite park:
Now, the second part of the "MK the right way" day, is to do the Death Star Run. No joke, that's what we call it. The Death Star run is to get in right after the Welcome Show, and sprint to Dumbo, followed by Pooh, then Pan, then Small World and Philharmagic. Get all of those done within an hour of opening, and it's a success. We make it more often than not. So, once the rope dropped, it was off to Dumbo!
That's DD and I in our Dumbo. She and I had never ridden together before, so I claimed a spot with her. That left DW with DS.
Dumbo was done in time, and we headed over to Pooh!
Finished Pooh in time and headed over to Peter Pan. Again, successful!
This was where we had our first derailment. DD was in love with the Carousel by now. She had begged to go back, and who can resist that cute little face!
Then, it was back to the plan, and time for Small World!
We actually passed on Philharmagic, because we had seen it earlier in the week, and headed off to Toontown. We were interested in Goofy's Barnstormer, since DD was tall enough to ride. Never too early to break the kids in for roller coasters, right? She was a little scared at first, but we made it.
When we got off, she was still shaking a bit, but DS asked if we could go again. I said sure, and left DD with DW, expecting her to not want to ride again. We walked in, and here they came, as DD didn't want to get left behind and was ready to ride again!
I got a picture of DW and DS this time. So, by around 10:30, we had done Dumbo, Pooh, Pan, Carousel, Small World and 2 rides on the Barnstormer. Woo-hoo!
Next up was our trek over to Tomorrowland. In our typical plan, we'd hit Buzz, TTA, Carousel of Progress and **** before taking a break then coming back in the afternoon for Splash, Pirates and the rest of that side of the park.
But, we bucked tradition and went for the Tea Cups! It's one of DW's favorites, so we had to do it.
Once we finished there, we were ready for Tomorrowland. As we passed the Speedway, DS gave me the puppy dog eyes. He loves the ride, but I hate it, because the line's always long and I just don't think it's very "Disney." But I gave in, and we headed in for a 20 min wait that turned out to be just about 15.
And with that done, we headed over to Tomorrowland. I grabbed Buzz FPs, and then it was snack time. Turkey leg!
I shared the turkey leg with the kids, and they enjoyed playing with the robot phone. Another of those great little details that most people don't notice. They played for the entire time until our Buzz pass was ready.
I challenged DS on Buzz and beat him, but just barely! He posed in the jail on the way out, as is our tradition. We could probably use those bars as his growth chart!
With that we headed over to Adventureland, to see if we could get on Pirates and the Jungle Cruise before lunchtime. The answer was no. So I got FPs for Splash, and we proceeded to lunch at El Pirata y El Perico, one of DW's favorites.
That's the veggie tacos. I had the taco salad:
By that point, we were getting ready for a break. I took DD back to the Poly to see if she'd take a nap, and DW and DS went to Splash to ride before meeting us back at the Poly for pool time and dinner at Ohana.
More to come...
shannon47142
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2007
ahhh, Tonga Toast
what a brave daughter for riding twice in a row!
what a brave daughter for riding twice in a row!
Villainess
Fantasy and reality often overlap - Walt Disney
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2004
Oooooo ... definitely need to get that Oreo chocolate thing - yum!
Just found your report today. Great job! I loved hearing about the Poly and seeing your pics. We will be staying there on New Year's Eve for the first time.
Its terrible being sick on vacation. DS was sick on our trip in May. He ended up getting sick allover me right before Cirque de Soliel was to start. Luckily, they let us come back another day. I wish I heard about the Minute Clinics; we ended up in Urgent Care with the worst bedside manner. We waited over 3 hours with a sick 2 year old DS. It was awful.
Can't wait to hear the rest of your trip!
Its terrible being sick on vacation. DS was sick on our trip in May. He ended up getting sick allover me right before Cirque de Soliel was to start. Luckily, they let us come back another day. I wish I heard about the Minute Clinics; we ended up in Urgent Care with the worst bedside manner. We waited over 3 hours with a sick 2 year old DS. It was awful.
Can't wait to hear the rest of your trip!
mousebymarriage
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2007
Great trip report.
So sorry to hear about the various illness, it is a bummer when someone gets sick in Disney because your time is so limited there, My DD12 got sick when we were there in Jan 2008. The morning after we arrived she woke up with a temp of 103, I called the front desk at POP and they said they had a van service that would take us to the urgent care center, thank God for that. My DD had strep and a double ear infection, she never complained until she woke up that morning, I was surprised that she got that sick so fast.
So sorry to hear about the various illness, it is a bummer when someone gets sick in Disney because your time is so limited there, My DD12 got sick when we were there in Jan 2008. The morning after we arrived she woke up with a temp of 103, I called the front desk at POP and they said they had a van service that would take us to the urgent care center, thank God for that. My DD had strep and a double ear infection, she never complained until she woke up that morning, I was surprised that she got that sick so fast.
ryansall
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2009
Ain't Tonga Toast the best? I was solo this past weekend, so I had breakfast at Kona, but I can't handle the sugar all alone, so I had the Big Kahuna instead. Macadamia nut butter is insanely good!
DD is the daredevil in the family, so it didn't surprise me. She is the one who climbs to the top of DS's bunk bed before he did!
It's divine. I had some of DW's, but got a better one this past weekend. I got a vanilla Oreo, dipped in milk chocolate, with peanuts on the side, white/dark chocolate chips on top and caramel drizzle. Then, I put it in the cooler in the car and ate it on the way home. It was so chocolatey and gooey and delicious!
Welcome aboard. Almost finished, but it's been fun to do. New Year's Eve at the Poly will be great. I'm jealous!
Yes, being sick at Disney is rough, but the minute clinics was a lifesaver. Definitely recommend it. Still a long wait, but they were very helpful. I've been to Disney's urgent care as well, and it's rough.
Wow, you had it way worse than we did. Sorry to hear that, but thanks for reading!
ryansall
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2009
Time to finish this bad boy off! So, DD and I went back to the hotel room, and before I could even say anything, she stripped off her clothes and was grabbing her "kini" to get dressed for the pool. I helped her into the swimsuit and we waited for DW and DS.
They arrived about an hour later, while we were watching TV. They had been absolutely soaked on Splash! Both times that DS and I had ridden Splash, we had gotten a little wet, but this time, they got soaked by the water cannons and the drop. I had to wring out his socks!
Soon, though, both kids were dressed and ready for the pool. They stopped at the water feature first, for a little playing around.
We had fun watching them mess around and then they got in the pool.
Now, neither of them can swim, despite me trying to teach DS repeatedly! So mainly they cling to the two of us and splash, but it's great fun anyway.
We played for quite some time, but had to get out and get showered for our evening at 'Ohana! We were really looking forward to this, because DW and I had not been here in about three years. We showered and changed, then headed over to the Great Ceremonial House to wait for our time.
I was sitting in one of the chairs, waiting, and looked over to see this:
Yes, once again, my son is meditating. I have no idea where he picked this up. Ohana lived up to the hype, though. It was great. The service was a bit slow, but the food was good. Forgot to take pictures, though, except this one:
We finished eating, stuffed to the gills, and hopped the monorail back over to the MK. I can't quite remember what we did, but I know we tried a couple of rides, then settled into the Tomorrowland Terrace for Wishes. It was great as well. I love fireworks, but DW doesn't. DS and I sat on the Terrace and were able to enjoy it, while DW and DD sat back.
Wishes ended, and we took a long, slow walk down Main Street USA. We grabbed some pastries from the Main Street Bakery to use up our last snacks on the DDP. DD was done at that point.
We got her on the monorail, and made it back to the Poly. I spent the next two hours packing, so we could hit the road first thing in the morning.
And that was that! Our trip in a very large nutshell.
I'll recap my solo weekend trip that I just returned from next time.
They arrived about an hour later, while we were watching TV. They had been absolutely soaked on Splash! Both times that DS and I had ridden Splash, we had gotten a little wet, but this time, they got soaked by the water cannons and the drop. I had to wring out his socks!
Soon, though, both kids were dressed and ready for the pool. They stopped at the water feature first, for a little playing around.
We had fun watching them mess around and then they got in the pool.
Now, neither of them can swim, despite me trying to teach DS repeatedly! So mainly they cling to the two of us and splash, but it's great fun anyway.
We played for quite some time, but had to get out and get showered for our evening at 'Ohana! We were really looking forward to this, because DW and I had not been here in about three years. We showered and changed, then headed over to the Great Ceremonial House to wait for our time.
I was sitting in one of the chairs, waiting, and looked over to see this:
Yes, once again, my son is meditating. I have no idea where he picked this up. Ohana lived up to the hype, though. It was great. The service was a bit slow, but the food was good. Forgot to take pictures, though, except this one:
We finished eating, stuffed to the gills, and hopped the monorail back over to the MK. I can't quite remember what we did, but I know we tried a couple of rides, then settled into the Tomorrowland Terrace for Wishes. It was great as well. I love fireworks, but DW doesn't. DS and I sat on the Terrace and were able to enjoy it, while DW and DD sat back.
Wishes ended, and we took a long, slow walk down Main Street USA. We grabbed some pastries from the Main Street Bakery to use up our last snacks on the DDP. DD was done at that point.
We got her on the monorail, and made it back to the Poly. I spent the next two hours packing, so we could hit the road first thing in the morning.
And that was that! Our trip in a very large nutshell.
I'll recap my solo weekend trip that I just returned from next time.
shannon47142
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2007
Your DD was one tired cookie!!
antree
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2006
I was sitting in one of the chairs, waiting, and looked over to see this:
Yes, once again, my son is meditating. I have no idea where he picked this up. Ohana lived up to the hype, though. It was great. The service was a bit slow, but the food was good. Forgot to take pictures, though, except this one:
It must be a boy thing my DS 7 has been doing that since he was 6 yrs old. It is too funny.
ryansall
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2009
Alright, no pictures for this one, since I was solo and the rule in our house is where the kids are, that's where the camera is. Gotta capture those cute moments, right?
It was Friday, July 24, and DW and DS and DD were headed out of town for a week. My AP was burning a hole in my pocket, and I wanted to go to Disney! I booked a hotel on Hotwire a couple weeks before, the HoJo Maingate East, for $21/nt. Why spend extra on just me?
We were refinancing our house, and the closing was at 2 p.m. on the 24th, and our office closes at 3 p.m., so I was able to hit the road at 2:15 from North of Atlanta. Before I left, I found out the MK was open until 11 p.m. If I made good time, I could get there in time for SpectroMagic!
I made it through Atlanta and past I-285 without much trouble, which if you know Atlanta, is quite a feat.
I made it all the way to I-475 in Macon before stopping, got gas and kept going. My original goal was to make it to Valdosta, GA by 7:00 p.m. If I did that, I would be able to make it to the MK by 10:30 and see Spectro.
But the farther along I got, the better time I was making - Valdosta by 6:15
, Lake City by 7:00 , Ocala by 8:15 
! I started thinking maybe I could make Wishes at 10 p.m.
Sure enough, despite some slowdowns on the Turnpike, I pulled into the MK parking lot at 9:35! I went straight to the front, parked on the front row, walked to the TTC, and hopped on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. I walked into the Magic Kingdom at 9:45, made a quick pit stop (I had not stopped since 7:00 at Lake City) and walked straight up to the hub, 2 minutes before Wishes started.
It was awesome! I couldn't believe that I had been at work that morning, then watching Wishes that night. Because of lightning, Tinkerbell wasn't out, but it didn't matter.
As soon as Wishes was over, I fought my way over to Adventureland. Pirates was a 5 minute wait, so I went in, and it was actually a walk on! Took in Pirates, then checked on Splash, which was more like 40 min (at 10:20 at night?) and then over to the Jungle Cruise instead. Taylor, my skipper, was amazing! He had jokes non-stop.
Finished up the Jungle Cruise at 10:55, and booked it back to Main Street to watch SpectroMagic. I was able to get a seat on the curb right in front of the tip board, and saw the entire parade. Wonderful!
My plan at that point was to get a treat from the Main Street Bakery and head to the hotel to check in, but I realized I had left my wallet in the car. Probably not a bad thing, because by the time I got to the hotel, it was 12:35, and I had to get up early the next day for more MK fun!
I'll stop there, and do my MK day next.
It was Friday, July 24, and DW and DS and DD were headed out of town for a week. My AP was burning a hole in my pocket, and I wanted to go to Disney! I booked a hotel on Hotwire a couple weeks before, the HoJo Maingate East, for $21/nt. Why spend extra on just me?
We were refinancing our house, and the closing was at 2 p.m. on the 24th, and our office closes at 3 p.m., so I was able to hit the road at 2:15 from North of Atlanta. Before I left, I found out the MK was open until 11 p.m. If I made good time, I could get there in time for SpectroMagic!
I made it through Atlanta and past I-285 without much trouble, which if you know Atlanta, is quite a feat.
I made it all the way to I-475 in Macon before stopping, got gas and kept going. My original goal was to make it to Valdosta, GA by 7:00 p.m. If I did that, I would be able to make it to the MK by 10:30 and see Spectro. But the farther along I got, the better time I was making - Valdosta by 6:15
, Lake City by 7:00 , Ocala by 8:15 ! I started thinking maybe I could make Wishes at 10 p.m. Sure enough, despite some slowdowns on the Turnpike, I pulled into the MK parking lot at 9:35! I went straight to the front, parked on the front row, walked to the TTC, and hopped on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. I walked into the Magic Kingdom at 9:45, made a quick pit stop (I had not stopped since 7:00 at Lake City) and walked straight up to the hub, 2 minutes before Wishes started.
It was awesome! I couldn't believe that I had been at work that morning, then watching Wishes that night. Because of lightning, Tinkerbell wasn't out, but it didn't matter.
As soon as Wishes was over, I fought my way over to Adventureland. Pirates was a 5 minute wait, so I went in, and it was actually a walk on!
Took in Pirates, then checked on Splash, which was more like 40 min (at 10:20 at night?) and then over to the Jungle Cruise instead. Taylor, my skipper, was amazing! He had jokes non-stop. Finished up the Jungle Cruise at 10:55, and booked it back to Main Street to watch SpectroMagic. I was able to get a seat on the curb right in front of the tip board, and saw the entire parade. Wonderful!
My plan at that point was to get a treat from the Main Street Bakery and head to the hotel to check in, but I realized I had left my wallet in the car. Probably not a bad thing, because by the time I got to the hotel, it was 12:35, and I had to get up early the next day for more MK fun!
I'll stop there, and do my MK day next.
heaven2dc
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 26, 2003
A solo trip, seeing Wishes & Spectromagic PLUS getting in 3 attractions - AMAZING!! All in under 9 hours Now I wish I lived closer to run to WDW last minute!!
Plus your room rate was fantastic - great idea esp if you are driving & going solo for a short trip!
Now I wish I lived closer to run to WDW last minute!!Plus your room rate was fantastic - great idea esp if you are driving & going solo for a short trip!
Villainess
Fantasy and reality often overlap - Walt Disney
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2004
Wow! Great night and start to a solo trip!
PracPerfPatricia
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
Hmmm...you're making me wish I booked a Kona breakfast...
I could still try to fit one in-the have that macadamia nut butter and the best coffee...
MK looks like it was a huge hit-but of course it would be......
Glad to see the "kini" got more use...
My 6 going to be 7 year old son does that same mediation move also...
...I don't know where they get it...My DS does karate...hm...also Star Wars maybe...I believe I've seen Yoda meditate like that...
let me know if you figure it out...
I could still try to fit one in-the have that macadamia nut butter and the best coffee...
MK looks like it was a huge hit-but of course it would be...
...Glad to see the "kini" got more use...
My 6 going to be 7 year old son does that same mediation move also...
...I don't know where they get it...My DS does karate...hm...also Star Wars maybe...I believe I've seen Yoda meditate like that...let me know if you figure it out...
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