3 Generations! 2 Resorts! 10 Days! DxDp! 3000 Pictures! - Saying Good-Bye!

[DisneyDoc5]

Great pictures of AK. My DS12 and I really want to spend some time on the walking paths and see the animals, we never have given this park the time it deserves and with just the 2 of us, it should be easier!

I laugh at the comment about you and your sis riding attractions and being in the park by yourselves! We went to Cedar Point in Ohio every 4th of July for years growing up, and my BFF and I would go off on our own for the enitre day from the time we were about 10! The parents would give us some money and we were off, no cell phones, and a rough time to check back in! It was the most fun ever. I know as a parent I have to 'allow' for these freedoms with my children, I just can't imagine doing that now. I have read a few threads on the ages parents let their kids go off alone, I think it depends on the kids, the ages, etc. No parent is going to put the kids in harms way, I'm sure our parents thought that is was totally safe in the 80's to do that, and they trusted us, and we were fine and had a BLAST! But I'm not ready for that yet! Maybe when they turn 20!

 

[okw19]

Hi! Glad to have you follow along! Looks like you'll be able to make your ADRs in just a few days, right? Is this you first visit to OKW? Or are y'all DVC people? That resort is a possible contender for our June 2012 trip...not sure which resort we will choose

Hi! Yes, we will be making ours a week from tomorrow!! This is probably my 15th or 16th stay at OKW, but the last time I was down in '06 we stayed somewhere else for only the 2nd time in our WDW history. We stayed at the villas at WL. My grandparents were DVC owners in the 90's when it was more of a deal than it is now. We always stayed at OKW and I love it! We have stayed there every time since they sold their DVC as well (with the exception of VWL). I'd really recommend it. The rooms are much bigger and while the resort is big, it is sooo relaxing and nice! I know there are OKW haters on here, but I can't sing its praises enough. Let me know what you decide!

 

[jwwi]

Getting caught up with your trip report. Your meal at the top of CR looks so good, I just love the rice krispie sushi, so cute. The pirate adventure looks like so much fun. Your kids really looked like they enjoyed the experience. The meal at Yak and Yeti looks like it was full of some great food choices. The dim sum is interesting looking, I'll have to try it some time. What a fun trip you are having, thank you for sharing the experiences with all of us here on the DIS.

 

[hstrickland]

Great pictures of AK. My DS12 and I really want to spend some time on the walking paths and see the animals, we never have given this park the time it deserves and with just the 2 of us, it should be easier!

I laugh at the comment about you and your sis riding attractions and being in the park by yourselves! We went to Cedar Point in Ohio every 4th of July for years growing up, and my BFF and I would go off on our own for the enitre day from the time we were about 10! The parents would give us some money and we were off, no cell phones, and a rough time to check back in! It was the most fun ever. I know as a parent I have to 'allow' for these freedoms with my children, I just can't imagine doing that now. I have read a few threads on the ages parents let their kids go off alone, I think it depends on the kids, the ages, etc. No parent is going to put the kids in harms way, I'm sure our parents thought that is was totally safe in the 80's to do that, and they trusted us, and we were fine and had a BLAST! But I'm not ready for that yet! Maybe when they turn 20!

Times change! I just don't think I could let DS10 roam around MK by himself. WDW has changed, too...and this is why I say that...on one of our trips years ago, mom and dad went to the Poly for breakfast. They told Stephanie and me to grab some breakfast and gave us the room key...well...we did grab some breakfast...WITH the characters! Not sure Disney would allow 2 very young girls to dine without adults this day and time. WDW didn't bat an eye...they seated us and we ate...and charged it to the room! Nobody ever asked...'where are your parents?' Stephanie and I still laugh about that.

And you're right....20ish sounds like a good age!

Hi! Yes, we will be making ours a week from tomorrow!! This is probably my 15th or 16th stay at OKW, but the last time I was down in '06 we stayed somewhere else for only the 2nd time in our WDW history. We stayed at the villas at WL. My grandparents were DVC owners in the 90's when it was more of a deal than it is now. We always stayed at OKW and I love it! We have stayed there every time since they sold their DVC as well (with the exception of VWL). I'd really recommend it. The rooms are much bigger and while the resort is big, it is sooo relaxing and nice! I know there are OKW haters on here, but I can't sing its praises enough. Let me know what you decide!

WOW! You have stayed there a lot!!! I'ven heard that it is bigger than the other DVCs...more spacious. And it also seems to be a little less expensive than some of the others, too. I looked into renting points...that gives a bit of a discount. But if Disney offers its discount (% off room) then that would be better. Who knows?! Everyone tells us that once you stay in a villa, you will not want to go back to a room.

Happy Planning! You don't have long at all!!!

Getting caught up with your trip report. Your meal at the top of CR looks so good, I just love the rice krispie sushi, so cute. The pirate adventure looks like so much fun. Your kids really looked like they enjoyed the experience. The meal at Yak and Yeti looks like it was full of some great food choices. The dim sum is interesting looking, I'll have to try it some time. What a fun trip you are having, thank you for sharing the experiences with all of us here on the DIS.

Always a great time at WDW!!! Looks like you will be doing the Wine & Dine Half I finally got signed up for the Princess Half last week. Do you usually do Disney runs or is this your first?

Happy Training!

 

[okw19]

WOW! You have stayed there a lot!!! I'ven heard that it is bigger than the other DVCs...more spacious. And it also seems to be a little less expensive than some of the others, too. I looked into renting points...that gives a bit of a discount. But if Disney offers its discount (% off room) then that would be better. Who knows?! Everyone tells us that once you stay in a villa, you will not want to go back to a room.

Happy Planning! You don't have long at all!!!

Thanks!
I hope you love it!! Completely true about the villa thing. One time we tried a normal room at Port Orleans and we didn't enjoy it simply because we were used to the space at a villa.

 

[tinkerbell3747]

Y&Y is one of our fav's and must do's too! So glad you guys enjoyed it.

My kids really like the Kids menu here too and the waiters are really great about allowing the kids to substitute as well. Service has always been great for us to!

Love those Cream cheese wantons your so right they are to Die For!

 

[hstrickland]

Thanks!
I hope you love it!! Completely true about the villa thing. One time we tried a normal room at Port Orleans and we didn't enjoy it simply because we were used to the space at a villa.

This is what I'm afraid of!!

Y&Y is one of our fav's and must do's too! So glad you guys enjoyed it.

My kids really like the Kids menu here too and the waiters are really great about allowing the kids to substitute as well. Service has always been great for us to!

Love those Cream cheese wantons your so right they are to Die For!

Are you packing, yet?! Your trip is just around the corner! I hope y'all have a great time at your home away from home. I'll be interested to hear about your trip....get lots of good photos

 

[tinkerbell3747]

Are you packing, yet?! Your trip is just around the corner! I hope y'all have a great time at your home away from home. I'll be interested to hear about your trip....get lots of good photos

I started packing yesterday of course my kiddos don't know anything about the trip so in order to pack we told them we would be staying at a hotel on the 7 mile beach, but they don't know when or where exactly (sort of a stay-cation if you will). This allowed my son the freedom to choose his clothes (he hates when I pick his clothes for him). I have never done a TR before kind of intimidating when I spend so much time reading so many good TR's ..like yours....but I'll guess I could give it a shot....

 

[4forWDW]

Heather,
Thank you for taking the time to write such a great TR and to include such great photos
What caught my eye was the title.
A couple of my favorite memories of WDW include being around 3 generation families.
On one of our first visits, we did the Family Magic Tour. I can't remember the size limit of the group, but it was my 4 family members and the rest was a 3 generation family. It was so much fun. There were toddlers all the way to the grandparents.
On one trip I took my DS & DD by myself. (My DH couldn't get that week off for vacation - that happens when your first couple of vacation picks are for hunting season - lol). We were riding the boat from DHS. My DS (who is probably 5 or 6) starts talking to a little girl on the boat. I ended up sitting in the row in front of her father. He said they were from Oregon and every few years his mother and father arrange for his family and his brother's to go on a WDW trip - a cruise and then to the parks. I remember thinking - I want to be that Grandmother when I get older!!! What a wonderful thing to be able to do.
Also, I absolutely love your father's comments. It's great to get a Grand's view on the trip.
I hope you can post some of the pictures of your family from visits when you were younger. I love seeing how the magic started and how some of the parks have changed.
Thanks so much again-can't wait to read more
Amy

 

[hstrickland]

I started packing yesterday of course my kiddos don't know anything about the trip so in order to pack we told them we would be staying at a hotel on the 7 mile beach, but they don't know when or where exactly (sort of a stay-cation if you will). This allowed my son the freedom to choose his clothes (he hates when I pick his clothes for him). I have never done a TR before kind of intimidating when I spend so much time reading so many good TR's ..like yours....but I'll guess I could give it a shot....

How fun! A surprise!! We did that last year when we went to MNSSHP...put them in the car and DH said, "guess what? We're going to Disney!" They all looked at us and thought we were kidding Your kids will be sooooo excited. And if you decide to do a TR, just ask questions if you have trouble...that's basically how I learned to post pictures, links, etc. LOTS of people on the Dis helped me...it's not really hard at all...just time consuming

Heather,
Thank you for taking the time to write such a great TR and to include such great photos
What caught my eye was the title.
A couple of my favorite memories of WDW include being around 3 generation families.
On one of our first visits, we did the Family Magic Tour. I can't remember the size limit of the group, but it was my 4 family members and the rest was a 3 generation family. It was so much fun. There were toddlers all the way to the grandparents.
On one trip I took my DS & DD by myself. (My DH couldn't get that week off for vacation - that happens when your first couple of vacation picks are for hunting season - lol). We were riding the boat from DHS. My DS (who is probably 5 or 6) starts talking to a little girl on the boat. I ended up sitting in the row in front of her father. He said they were from Oregon and every few years his mother and father arrange for his family and his brother's to go on a WDW trip - a cruise and then to the parks. I remember thinking - I want to be that Grandmother when I get older!!! What a wonderful thing to be able to do.
Also, I absolutely love your father's comments. It's great to get a Grand's view on the trip.
I hope you can post some of the pictures of your family from visits when you were younger. I love seeing how the magic started and how some of the parks have changed.
Thanks so much again-can't wait to read more
Amy

Thanks so much, Amy...that's very nice. I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful husband and terrific parents. It's a great feeling to have everyone together. Hopefully I'll be able to be that grandparent, too.....I know what you mean about hunting season...my husband loves to hunt and fish. In fact, for Fall Break in October, our mini-trip revolves around fishing. I get to lay on the beach while DH and DS10 fish all day...works for me!

I have tons of pictures from our past trips...the 80s...at CR and River Country! Just have to figure out how to get them scanned and on Photobucket....I promise to post them....guess I should title it..."A Blast from the Past!"

Thanks again for your kind words!

Heather

 

[hstrickland]

Dinner at Ohana – Part 1
7:20pm Reservation
Day 6​

Once again it is time to eat! We had a very quick trip (once we got on the monorail) from the CR to the Poly…however, the line waiting for the monorail was horrendous! The ride was shorter than the wait…who knows?! We were VERY excited about returning to Ohana…last year we had a wonderful meal and exceptional service!

We arrived a little early…probably around 7pm. I was completely shocked to see that it was not chaos outside the hostess stand! The Poly actually moved the check-in stand away from the bar area…near the stairs. Much better for traffic control! While I made a bee-line for a Lapu Lapu, Pop was flashing more pictures. It felt sooooooo good to be back at the Poly!!! Some people hate the smell, but I love it…not quite sure how to describe it. While waiting on our drinks, I kept thinking…should we have stayed here again or not…no…..the CR is great and a nice change.

Not long after I got the Lapu Lapus, we were seated….not a big crowd at all!!!

These 2 pictures were taken from another website…but I wanted to show the restaurant minus people…very Polynesian…great atmosphere.

Prices
Adults $32.99
Children 3-9 $15.99

Ohana is open from 5:00pm to 10:00pm

Menu

Starters
Mixed greens with a honey-lime dressing

Appetizers
Pineapple-Coconut Bread
Mixed Greens with Mango-Poppy Seed Dressing
Honey Coriander Chicken Wings
Pork fried dumplings
Sweet Golden Pineapple

Main Course
Skewers Prepared over an oak fire
Oak Grilled Chicken
Asian Barbecued Pork Loin
Marinated Sirloin Steak
Spicy Grilled Peel - n - Eat Shrimp

Accompaniments
Egg Noodles tossed in a peanut sauce with pineapple
Stir fried vegetables

Dipping Sauces
House Made Peanut Sauce
Chimichurri Sauce
Pineapple Sweet and Sour Sauce

Dessert
'Ohana bread pudding served a la mode with Bananas and Caramel Sauce



When we ventured in, this is what I pass! As if I wasn’t hungry enough!

We were seated at a corner table with a great view…however, I would rather be seated in the main part of the dining room where all the ‘action’ takes place…but not a big deal at all.

For starters….

Who can go to the Poly and not get one of these!


Just to show you how empty the restaurant was….strange, huh? By the time we left, it had filled up…kind of. Usually there is a long wait, but tonight they were actually taking walk-ups.

Our waitress finally made it to the table… and let’s just say she was minus personality. It took her forever and a day to get back with the drinks…but…not too big a deal. We weren’t in a hurry, however a polite “How are you tonight?” or “Welcome to Ohana” would have been nice…we got neither. NOT a good way to start with your guest.


Very fresh salad with a great dressing! We all needed a little salad to offset the desserts we had consumed in 5 days!

These 2 things are soooo yummy! I could make a meal off of them…seriously! So much for the salad! I can only imagine how many calories we're consuming!!

Just some FYI…if you don’t like meat that is completely dried out, ask for the beef to be cooked medium rare…they can do it. Of course when we made this request to our waitress, she looked at us like we had two heads!

By this time, we were wanting some shrimp….hmmmm…where is our waitress?? When she finally came by, we politely told her that we had everything except shrimp…she just looked at us…apparently we still had two heads. We did eventually get some…and they were good.

We really did have a nice relaxing view…kind of out of the way from the other tables and people. Maybe that’s why we had such ridiculously poor service!...the table was too far away!

During dinner, this guy (forget his name but he was there last year, too) walks around playing the ukulele and singing. He calls up all the couples who are having anniversaries and plays a song while they dance…very sweet. We didn’t have a great view of this because of the location of our table.

Faith wanted all of us to put the umbrellas in our hair…and wear them….the whole night! Not very comfortable at all….but we appeased her…for a while.

The bartender had to put our Lapu Lapu in a dish…the bottom of the pineapple was warped…but who cares, right?!....it was still delish!

As we were chatting and enjoying our dinner, I look over and my DH has his face almost buried in the Lapu Lapu…he was clueless as I snapped a picture!...and notice his ‘bib’ that he’s wearing…he cracks me up!

Well….I’m going to leave you hanging until tomorrow! So far so good...with the food anyway....NOT the serivce More to come with Ohana and Wishes on the beach!

 

[disneylovin24]

I'm dying looking at the Ohana food pictures! One of my favorite restaurants in WDW, the food is just too amazing.

I can't believe how empty it is in there. I mean I have always been during the busy season but still it's weird to see Ohana so empty.

Can't wait to read more (but then again I don't know if I can take looking at any more food pics!)

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

oh I hate crappy service. Actually this was my celebratory dinner after the princess. I figured what the heck after running 13 miles I can eat 20lbs of meat. It was my favorite to date!!! We had the opposite problem though. We had so many waiters and the food came so quickly we could barely stuff it all in. I felt a bit rushed. So I think a happy medium between your service and my service would be good.

I was cracking up at dh's pic with the lapu lapu. Guess it was good down to the last drop.

I cant wait to hear more!!!!!

 

[hstrickland]

I'm dying looking at the Ohana food pictures! One of my favorite restaurants in WDW, the food is just too amazing.

I can't believe how empty it is in there. I mean I have always been during the busy season but still it's weird to see Ohana so empty.

Can't wait to read more (but then again I don't know if I can take looking at any more food pics!)

Isn't it good?!?! As I was working on the post this afternoon, the pictures were making me sooooo hungry! I could eat my weight in those dumplings and bread/butter. Funny though...there are people who hate Ohana's food But then, I guess that's with any restaurant. Do y'all go there on every trip?

oh I hate crappy service. Actually this was my celebratory dinner after the princess. I figured what the heck after running 13 miles I can eat 20lbs of meat. It was my favorite to date!!! We had the opposite problem though. We had so many waiters and the food came so quickly we could barely stuff it all in. I felt a bit rushed. So I think a happy medium between your service and my service would be good.

I was cracking up at dh's pic with the lapu lapu. Guess it was good down to the last drop.

I cant wait to hear more!!!!!

The waitress really was quite bad! Luckly the food compensated for some of her poor service. And yeah...why not celebrate with ALL you can eat after 13 miles! Hmmmm....I'll have to decide where I want to celebrate Maybe somewhere I haven't been....of course it will have to be after a long nap! You'll have to take your family there on y'alls next trip...do you think they would like it?

I'll finsh the other half of the review tomorrow

 

[amandaw]

Ed really wanted to try Ohana on our last trip but the only ADR that kept pulling up was for like 9:00. Way too late to eat dinner, especially with a 3 year old. But, it sounds delicious & we'll (hopefully) eat there one day. Sorry about the crappy service. But, at least it sounds like y'all were still able to enjoy y'alls dinner!

 

[sjs314]

We will be eating at 'Ohanas for the first time in October. When I showed DH pics of the skewers of meat, he wanted to go there. I can not wait since I love the Poly, went there one year for the Aloha dinner show.

 

[Yellowbellow]

This is Pop and Ma Hopie. We remember last year and the great service at Ohanas. Our waiter was so friendly and could not do enough for us. He brought more food to us than we could eat. But the Bread Pudding dessert is worth going to Ohanas for dinner. The more we think about the evening, we believe it is the worst service we have ever had at WDW.

The food was delicious and the view was great. As Heather said though, we were away from the activities which we enjoyed last year.

 

[Yellowbellow]

Heather,
Thank you for taking the time to write such a great TR and to include such great photos
What caught my eye was the title.
A couple of my favorite memories of WDW include being around 3 generation families.
On one of our first visits, we did the Family Magic Tour. I can't remember the size limit of the group, but it was my 4 family members and the rest was a 3 generation family. It was so much fun. There were toddlers all the way to the grandparents.
On one trip I took my DS & DD by myself. (My DH couldn't get that week off for vacation - that happens when your first couple of vacation picks are for hunting season - lol). We were riding the boat from DHS. My DS (who is probably 5 or 6) starts talking to a little girl on the boat. I ended up sitting in the row in front of her father. He said they were from Oregon and every few years his mother and father arrange for his family and his brother's to go on a WDW trip - a cruise and then to the parks. I remember thinking - I want to be that Grandmother when I get older!!! What a wonderful thing to be able to do.
Also, I absolutely love your father's comments. It's great to get a Grand's view on the trip.
I hope you can post some of the pictures of your family from visits when you were younger. I love seeing how the magic started and how some of the parks have changed.
Thanks so much again-can't wait to read more
Amy

Amy, this is Pop & Mahopi, we are blessed to the GrandParents and are priviledged to be the parents of Heather and her husband, Bill, (too cool for School) who want to share the magic of Disney with us and our Grands. It is nothing like seeing the excitement of your grandchild's face at WDW attractions.

 

[OThopeful35]

Amy, this is Pop & Mahopi, we are blessed to the GrandParents and are privlidged to be the parents of Heather and her husband, Bill, (too cool for School) who want to share the magic of Disney with us and our Grands. It is notheing like seeing the excitement of your grandchilds face at WDW attractions.

I thought it was awesome for you guys to join the family in the Disney World vacation! I can tell that everyone had lots of fun! Hopefully, my mom will join us next year when we return to The World!

 

[shan23877]

Thanks for your honesty. Hearing about your experience with the server makes me feel a little better about not being able to get the Ohana reservation