2012 Polynesian Resort Trip Report

MarkDief86

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 12, 2010
Messages
34
I'm sad that financial issues I had this year made it impossible for my yearly Disney trip. I catch myself daydreaming and talking about my next trip to almost anyone who I surround myself with. I'm told I have a problem. :dance3:

I can't wait to go back! :hyper:

Here is my trip report from last year. (better late than never)

April 28, 2012
Left the house at 4am and headed towards Philadelphia International Airport. I was so excited the day finally arrived I'd be able to check staying at the Polynesian Resort off my bucket list.

We had a 7am flight straight to Orlando. I decided to treat ourselves with first class tickets and a limo service to get to the resort once arriving in Florida. I had never been in a limo before and was extremely excited to start off our trip with a new experience. I was a little disappointed once stepping inside the limo because it seemed like a very very old car with some tears in the seats and really old /stained flooring. It still was better than waiting in the lines for the Disney Magical Express busses.

We arrived at the Polynesian a few hours before check-in time but it didn't hurt to try anyway. As figured, the room wasn't ready. I did make sure that the Tuvalu longhouse I requested would be available. We were a bit tired from traveling and we decided just to walk around the resort for a while and check back in on our room.

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Wandering around for about an hour with a drink in hand we decided to check back and see if our room was ready. :bounce: ...and it was!

Our room was 3412 on the 3rd floor with a Magic Kingdom view in Tuvalu. I immediately dropped my bag and ran to the balcony. The view was great, but not perfect. It was partially blocked by the island in the lagoon. I didn't care as long as I could see the castle and Wishes at night. (I was so excited I forgot to take a picture upon seeing the view.)

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We quickly showered and hopped on the monorail(s) to head over to Epcot for our lunch dining reservation at Biergarten in Germany.

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I had the German Beer Flight while Robert had an Oktoberfest
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After lunch, I was a bit tipsy after the alcohol and really full after the buffet I just wanted to go back to the resort to relax on the balcony and look at the lagoon while Robert decided to take a nap before dinner.

Video from our balcony

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The not so perfect Magic Kingdom view.
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I let Robert sleep for a few hours (normally I'd be fine with an hour) before waking him up. We had dinner reservations for the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show at Luau Cove in our resort. It was literally a minute walk from our room. I reserved category 1 seating which was right up front by the stage.

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The story begins...
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Robert was asked to go on stage and dance.
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video here

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As the show came to an end, I could hear that Wishes had begun and I was anxiously awaiting to view them from the lagoon.

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I caught about half of Wishes, which was just fine with me! :woohoo:

The day seemed to have been longer than it really was and we felt like we did a ton of stuff. Even if we only had really ate Lunch at Epcot and walked around the resort a little bit, I felt like it was a good first day.
 
We woke up feeling quite refreshed since the day before wasn't very busy. Once we got ready we took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.

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Our friend Jason came down for a few days for a mini-vacation and met us at the park.

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That's Jason in the orange, Bob next to him, and me in the back with my hands in the air. :hyper:
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Bob, Jason, and I ate lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern
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Bob's friend Jen worked at one of the stables for horseback riding and decided to join us later that evening. While Bob and I didn't know how many people would be joining us we decided to at least make dinner reservations for ourselves at Tony's Town Square. It is one of my favorite places to eat in the whole world!
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Unfortunately, by the time the parade started we had already finished our meal, but here is a cool picture I took while eating outside.

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We eventually went back to the Polynesian and waited for the water parade and Wishes.

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We woke up and just relaxed on the balcony for quite a while.

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Avengers monorail

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I spotted this little guy swimming below

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The balcony was very peaceful since there wasn't a beach directly in front of our longhouse. The only sound we really heard was the boat whistle while it left the dock, and the ocasional bird flying by.

Let's head over to Animal Kingdom.

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video of Expedition Everest

We had a late lunch at the Rainforest Cafe
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After that we went to Hollywood Studios for a few hours and to grab dinner at SciFi Dine-In

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Wow! What a great TR!:cool1: Sorry you can't get back this year but hopefully writing the TR is therapeutic. There's nothing like reliving those wonderful memories. Sometimes there are even reminders of things you've forgotten.:yay:

All of your pics are amazing! The food pics have me drooling. The firework pics from the lagoon are beautiful. And the Spirit of Aloha pics feel like being there.

Looking forward to more!popcorn::
 
As I'm growing older I've started to love Epcot more and more. So today we headed to the monorail and on our way.

but first, a quick morning self shot on the balcony/ reflection of our window.
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We had a bit of a late start today so as soon as we arrived at Epcot we went straight to our lunch reservation at Coral Reef Restaurant, one of my favorite places.

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This was our view from the table, right next to the aquarium.
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Then we met up with Jason to walk around the world and have a margarita!
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Bob and Jason in Norway.
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Really Bob?
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Later in the evening all 3 of us had reservations for Tokyo Dining and we had a great table/view.
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Tokyo Sunset
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Assorted Tempura
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Fuji
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and here's why our view was fantastic!
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Back to Hollywood Studios
(I didn't take many pictures)

We immediately went over to Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster.
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Lunch was at Mama Melrose's
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and dinner was at 50's Prime Time Cafe (what an experience)
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We went back to the Polynesian for some drinks and to catch Wishes (again).

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Our room is on the top floor (first room from the left that has the bright lights on)
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Bob ruining what was supposed to be a good picture.
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an unfocused shot of the finale from the dock.
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Wow! What a great TR!:cool1: Sorry you can't get back this year but hopefully writing the TR is therapeutic. There's nothing like reliving those wonderful memories. Sometimes there are even reminders of things you've forgotten.:yay:

All of your pics are amazing! The food pics have me drooling. The firework pics from the lagoon are beautiful. And the Spirit of Aloha pics feel like being there.

Looking forward to more!popcorn::

Thanks! I always go through pictures from previous years. I recently started taking pictures of the food and menu because that's a big part of the trip. I'd forget half the new things I tried.:wave2:
 
Great TR! Fantastic Pics! :thumbsup2

We are staying at the Poly in November for the first time and can not wait! :banana:
 
Those pics from the dock are great. It shows what a beautiful night it was.

Thanks for including menu pics along with the food. It is interesting to see how menus change periodically and as you mentioned, as a memory aid. Dining has become a special part of our trips as well. I guess we have learned to savor the meals and rest time instead of rushing so much. Yum, your choices look great!
 















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