3 Performances + 4 Days at WDW=Total Exhaustion! Dreams Do Come True!

[LadyGracey]

We made it to the Poly around 6:00 (okay, I sped just a *little*) and went to the desk to get our keys--and found out that our keys were in our room, and so was Goofy, whose cellphone was mysteriously not working (this became a theme for quite a while, with all our phones). So the CM working the desk called our room to wake him up! We were then directed to the bell services desk, to wait on a golf cart to take us to our room. I thought we would get leis, but alas, there were to be none for us. I ended up buying a nice one later on in Boutiki, along with one of those flowered hair ties, that I wore most of the trip.

Our bellman was "Eric" and he was from Iran! He was very nice and helpful, and we talked most of the way from the GCH to our room--he is here studying to be a dentist!

Minnie on the cart to Rapa Nui.

The back of Eric's head on the way to our longhouse.

Our first views of the Polynesian.

He is happy to see us, too!

The outside of our longhouse.

The daybed in our room.

The most comfortable chair on the face of the earth!!!

New TVs and armoires. (Sorry, it's a little blurry--I was excited!)

These beds were comfy too!

View from our room, Rapa Nui #2116 (garden view, north side of longhouse):

Not a towel animal, but cool just the same:

Can you find the Hidden Mickey?

A Friendly Tiki God Gives Light!

Even the closets light up! Fancy! Whew!

The renovated bathrooms. We had the double sink in our room.

Way too much good food...don't you want to hear about it? Then keep reading!

 

[LadyGracey]

Here we are on the monorail to the GF:

I had never been to Narcoosee's, but heard the food was fantastic! We had a 7:20 reservation, but made it in plenty of time.

This was our first glimpse of the Magic Kingdom.

They had really good sourdough bread, which Goofy devoured within moments of its arrival. I don't blame him; we'd had an early lunch.

Minnie ordered the chef's selection fish, which I think was snapper. It was baked and had a wonderful citrusy sauce with it, and tiny potatoes that were all different colors. Goofy had the crab-crusted halibut, which was fantastic--it was breaded in cracker crumbs and bits of crabmeat, then pan-fried. It also came with the little potatoes. I was the carnivore and had the filet mignon. It was cooked just right, and came with a peppercorn-brandy sauce that was a perfect compliment to the meat. It was accompanied by a potato gratin (similar to 'Ohana, but even better) and fresh asparagus. We all splurged on dessert, Goofy and I getting the Key lime creme brulee (not too tart with a wonderful crispy top and accompanied by some little sugary cookies), and Minnie getting the almond-crusted cheesecake:

The paper behind it was stuck to the plate with something like corn syrup so it wouldn't slide around. Disney thinks of everything!

After all of that food, we were so full we pretty much rolled ourselves out of the restaurant. Actually, it was more like a penguin walk. Sort of a waddle. But it was worth it!

After dinner, we waddled over to see the Electrical Water Pageant from the GF, during its stop not far off at the Poly--then, I went over to the beach once we waddled to the monorail back to the Poly, to watch Wishes. Here, they even play the music, so you get the full effect.

Then, it was off to the MK for EMH. Instead of watching SpectroMagic, we headed over to Pirates, where we stopped for a bit of silliness:

Notice that there is no picture of me in silly hats! I'll get up onstage in front of hundreds of people and make a fool of myself, but I would not put on a giant sombrero! Well, if you paid me enough. A couple of days later, I got one of those Jack Sparrow Mickey ear hats...it has the POTC skull logo on it, and a maroon Jack Sparrow bandana with his dangly piece of eight hanging from the top.

The park was virtually uncrowded that night--a surprise for EMH nights that are usually packed until 1 AM. Between 11 and 2 we rode Pirates, Mad Tea Party, Buzz Lightyear, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain, with a few stops along the way. Thank goodness we enjoyed the lack of crowds while we could...that would change, QUICKLY.

Now, normally I won't ride Splash Mountain, unless I have an extra set of clothes. Some people go on this ride and never, ever get wet, but every time I set foot on that ride I come out soaked from the waist up. On this night, I forgot to give my Baggallini (which had my cell phone, camera, and assorted other things I did NOT want to get wet) to Minnie, who can't ride jolting attractions because of problems with her neck. So here I am, seated in the FRONT row, trying to shove my bag under the ledge in the front of the log and praying my camera won't come out soaked as we're going through the first part of the ride where you climb up into the mountain. We had just turned the corner where you go into the little wooden building thing (to the left of the big drop as you're looking at the mountain) when a log went down the chute, setting off the water cannons...right onto the front seat of our log. And, at this point, I had yet to sufficiently stuff my bag under the ledge, so I threw my body over it (rather like a scene from a war movie, come to think of it!) And guess what? I'm soaked...and so is the bag! So right at the really cute, enjoyable part of the ride, I'm digging through my bag to make sure stuff isn't ruined inside (which it wasn't...thank you reasonably waterproof Baggallini!) and missed most of it before I got it shoved under the ledge. Then, on the big drop, I get soaked. Again. At least the bag was dry, and we were heading back to the hotel so it wasn't so bad walking around wet for a few minutes.
Moral of the story: Never go on Splash Mountain with me unless you want to be absolutely drenched!

Next up: I Ate Mickey for Breakfast, Why is there no one at MGM? or They Don't Call It Tower of Terror for Nothing!

 

[OhMari]

LadyGracie, you can't let us hanging in the lurch and not tell us about your Big Dream.

 

[LauraAnn630]

Enjoying your trip report!