9 nights on Premium Plan @ Poly. Just Back w/ PICS! Done! pg.4!!

[DeterminedOne]

This report is about a husband and wife who spent nine
nights at the Polynesian using the Magic Your Way Premium plan.
September 24 through October 3rd. Our last trip to Disney was November
2004. Keep reading to learn what it's like for two adults spending quality
time in the parks and beyond. This report will be long. We did a lot in
nine days, including 17 dining reservations.

Day One ~ Part One
Sunday - September 24th
We flew into Orlando from Indiana. As a surprise to DH I arranged
town car service through Tiffany's. I told him as we exited the plane.
He was very pleased with his surprised and so was I! We met up
with the driver at baggage claim. As we made our way to the car
I saw something that I was not prepared for. The car was covered
with black bugs, what seemed like hundreds of them! We soon learned
about the infamous LOVE BUGS I'd read about here on the boards,
but had somehow forgotten about. I don't do bugs so I thought they
were creepy. Keep reading because I saw even creepier stuff than
that this trip.

Our first stop was the grocery store. Tiffany allowed a thirty-minute
stop but we were in and out a lot quicker than that.

We bought water, wine and beer - the essentials.

At the Polynesian we were greeted with lots of Alohas. Eager to settle
in, we took the first available room which faced a parking lot.

Not a good view except beyond the trees we could see the
monorail passing by. The Love Bugs had taken control of the patio
anyway so the view mattered very little to me.

We were in Rapa Nui room 2111. A big plus about this building is its close
proximity to the TTC. Huge plus!

We settled in then made our way to the marina for a speedboat.
Unlimited recreation is a perk of the Premium plan so we paid
nothing out of pocket for this excursion. We spent time playing
along Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. Cruising the water was
fun but it was very hot so we stayed out about 30 minutes. DH
realized that his prescription sunglasses were back at home.
We went to the gift shop for a pair of clip-ons. He hates clip on
sunglasses, but there was no way he could make it without some
protection for his eyes. He had trouble finding a pair that fit.
Since we were headed to Epcot he decided to wait and check there.

At Epcot we were eager to find our Leave a Legacy tile from 2004,
but the sunglasses issue was more pressing. We headed right to
Mousegears instead. No luck there either. Poor DH. I felt sorry for him.

We headed over to Innoventions West for the Disney Visa
character meet and greet. Up until this point I was still waiting to
get The Feeling. You know the excited feeling you get in
the pit of your stomach when you realize you're at Disney?
It usually happens at the airport, or when I see the
Welcome to Walt Disney World Resort sign. But for some
reason, The Feeling still hadn't come. That was until we
stepped behind the curtain of the meet and greet. Stay tuned for
pics of who we met there and how we spent the rest of the first day!

 

[MousekaMaddi]

looking forward to much more soon!!!!!!!!

 

[DeterminedOne]

Sunday - September 24th continued

They don't tell you what characters are at the meet and greet.
Therefore, I was completely shocked to see Mickey and Pluto!
The Feeling I had been waiting for ... it hit me like a ton of bricks!
It was an incredible Disney moment!

They took several shots and allowed us to take our own.
We got to choose our favorite pose in a free 8x10.
What a great perk for Disney Visa members? I am so glad
we took advantage of it!

By this time it was more than an hour before our reservation
at LeCellier. DH wanted to check if they could seat us early.
I told him it was doubtful, but he wanted to try anyway.
We're very competitive and both like to be right, so we bet on it.
I won the bet! As the winner I got to choose our next activity.
We headed over to the theatre and watched O'Canada - a great
way to escape the heat! As we exited the theatre,
the band Off Kilter was starting their show. I'd read good things
about their music here at Dis but never heard them play.
We listened to three songs and decided Dis was right.
Off Kilter is great!

We checked in a few minutes early for dinner and were
seated right at reservation time. I won't include the meal review
here because I am writing a separate dining report. What I will say
though is service at LeCellier is slooowww! I was worried
about time because our dinner reservation was at 6:10 and
we had to be at FW for a carriage ride by 8:45. 90 minutes
into dinner service we made the decision to skip dessert.
Not that dessert didn't look appetizing. We didn't have time to wait.

You know how it is catching a Disney bus. You have to allow
plenty of extra time 'cause anything can happen. We said SEE YA
to LeCellier and headed out to the bus stop. We took the FW
bus to what I thought would be a transfer to an
internal Settlement bus, but the driver dropped us off
right where we needed to be. Just a short walk to the
carriage ride loading area. We made it there with time to spare.
Better early than late. For me, spare time = shopping so
I poked around the Settlement Trading Post for a while. I bought a
few things including our first pressed penny and pressed penny book.

It was time for our carriage ride so we met up with Steve the driver
and his 1800- pound horse, Fritz.

The ride was relaxing but it was too dark and forested to see
anything. There was light on the carriage but it was only used
for crossing the road getting Fritz turned around. We saw glimpses
of the fireworks through the trees - truly the only way to tell that we
were still on Disney property. It was another one of the excursions
we didn't have to pay out of pocket for, so we weren't too
disappointed. However, next time I will schedule the ride
before nightfall.

When the ride ended it was close to 10:00 so headed back to Poly.
We hopped on the boat headed to the Contemporary and got
held up by the Electrical Water Pageant. When the barges are on
the water, the boat cannot go around it. We were held up for
about 20 minutes. I noticed a huge cockroach scurrying along
the deck and asked DH if it was indeed a cockroach.
He said it was then called my attention to the floor of the boat.
There were several of them running around not far from where
we sat. I freaked! Like I told you, I don't do bugs! Especially
not cockroaches and especially not cockroaches the size of a pressed pennies.

A scenario played out in my mind of a cockroach touching me ...
me freaking out ... flailing ... then falling over the edge of the
boat. I didn't want to freak out in front of a group of strangers
but knew that if a cockroach touched me a freak out would happen.
So I spent the rest of the time holding my feet off the floor
and praying that nothing touched me. DH thought it was funny
but to me it was no joke! When we got to the Contemporary, I nearly
broke my neck getting off that boat!

Next up - Day Two
Cinderella's Royal Table and the search for clip-on sunglasses continues.

 

[BeautyNBeast]

Great Start! I hate bugs as well, and would have been freaked out. Cockroaches, yuck Cannot wait to read more

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent start ~ Looking forward to more

 

[teentoddlermom]

I think they call those bugs palmetto bugs in the south. I think they really are roaches, but palmetto sounds better! Love your report so far....If you don't mind my asking, how much is the premium plan for 10 days? Sounds like you're maximizing your value, taking advantage of the marina and carriage rides! I agree, service is slow at LeCellier!

 

[redheaded mama]

This is fun. I'm with you on the bugs. EEEWWWWW and a big YUCK!!! Hopefully you can look past the bugs and enjoy the rest of your trip. I can't wait to hear the rest.

 

[jakenjess]

Great start! It sounds like a wonderful trip, and I'm looking forward to reading more about it!

 

[pumba]

you only held your feet off the bottom......I would of been sitting on them on MY SEAT.....once we saw one enormous one at Indiana Jones and I mean HUGE....it was so big that I freaked out and was louder then the show going on...some ladies near me said..oh its only a palmetto bug......and I said YAHHHHHHH.

Thanks for your report and I can hardly wait for my dinner at LE cellier.....we are ready to go again.....

 

[Lives4Disney]

I am enjoying your report and your pics!!

Can't wait to read on.

Thanks for sharing,

Lives4Disney

 

[nevertez]

I love your report great pics! Can't wait for day 2!!!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I don't normally read trip reports, but since I have an upcoming Poly trip, I waltzed on in.

Then I read about roaches! There are roaches on the boats!!!!???? Good thing I never saw one on the boat to the WL from the MK in March!

Like you, I would have gone overboard!

Roaches on the boats = best tip I've heard in a VERY long time!

Seriously, great report! Please post more pics of the hotel and reviews of it too!

 

[Marla Hellwig]

I will be checking back to see how your adventures are going

Thanks for posting!

 

[DeterminedOne]

I think they call those bugs palmetto bugs in the south. I think they really are roaches, but palmetto sounds better! Love your report so far....If you don't mind my asking, how much is the premium plan for 10 days? Sounds like you're maximizing your value, taking advantage of the marina and carriage rides! I agree, service is slow at LeCellier!

PM me.

 

[DeterminedOne]

Monday - September 25th

Thank goodness! No creepy insect nightmares. I woke up
in an extra chipper mood, excited about our 8:15 breakfast
with Cinderella. We did four character meals this trip and this
is the one I looked forward to the most. DH was not excited
about a princess meal but was a good sport because he loves me!

To the right and you can see the crane operator guy
He's taking down the decorations from the 50th celebration.
Boooooo!!! Hissssss!!!

The review for CRT will be a separate thread. But I'll tell you now
that the photo area where you meet Cinde is a little chaotic.
We waited 30 minutes but it was worth it to me. FOR THIS:

DH is such a good sport!

He fell in love with Jasmine.

All of a sudden princess meals aren't so bad.

We missed out on pictures with Snow White because both the
digital and mini dv failed. Apparently, the cool temps inside didn't
mix with the hot temps outside! A couple of days later it happened
again admist another pivotal photo moment.

After breakfast we crossed over to Sir Mickey's to look for
the dreaded clip- ons. DH wore his other, thicker lens glasses
thinking that would be the trick to get the clips to stay put.
He found a pair that worked and OH BOY we were excited!
As payment we used another one of our Disney Visa perks -
A Rewards card, with $315 dollars on it.
I love perks! Then I remembered another perk. One for resort guests.
Package Delivery!!
We sent the CRT photos to Poly and picked them up the next day.

The sunglasses fiasco behind us, we did Philharmagic, IASW,
HM, SM and POTC.All were walk-on. We were on our way to
ride JC when I realized my sunglasses were still on POTC. I ran
back through the queue, thinking I could locate them quickly since
I had just left them. The CM had somewhat of a Too Bad So Sad
attitude and told me to check with Town Hall at park closing.
Lucky for me, I don't wear prescription glasses and had two
pair of sunglasses back in the room. Second sunglasses fiasco averted,
we headed back to Jungle Cruise.
It was a 30-minute wait so we skipped it w/o getting a FP.

It was another hot day so we headed over to Main Street and
spent some time in the air- conditioned shops. After that we sat
down in the nook where they do the silhouettes. DH pointed
upwards. I looked up to see a skywriter plane spelling out
JESUS in the sky above Main Street. Then he wrote U + GOD = ...
Only I don't know what came after the = because we lost
sight of him. Very strange thing to witness along Main Street,
if you know what I mean.

To be continued ...

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I realized my sunglasses were still on POTC. I ran
back through the queue, thinking I could locate them quickly since
I had just left them. The CM had somewhat of a Too Bad So Sad
attitude and told me to check with Town Hall at park closing.
Lucky for me, I don't wear prescription glasses and had two
pair of sunglasses back in the room.

That ride captured my ex-DH's Maui Jim sunglasses. We think they went overboard though and never did find them.

Of course, it was my fault, because since I asked him for the camcorder, which he had strapped over his shoulder, they got knocked off.

He spent the rest of the trip squinting and had some really cool tan lines.

 

[NMAmy]

I LOVE a TR with lots of pictures! Makes me feel like I'm there. You folks have some bad luck with sunglasses! We always have issues with books at WDW but, then, we're a bit odd.

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

It was another hot day so we headed over to Main Street and
spent some time in the air- conditioned shops. After that we sat
down in the nook where they do the silhouettes. DH pointed
upwards. I looked up to see a skywriter plane spelling out
JESUS in the sky above Main Street. Then he wrote U + GOD = ...
Only I don't know what came after the = because we lost
sight of him. Very strange thing to witness along Main Street,
if you know what I mean.

To be continued ...

Ohhh... I saw this, too. Do you remember what day it was? I can't remember if we were on our way home on the ME or on a monorail.
We were also at the Poly 9/13- 9/18!

 

[DeterminedOne]

September 25th Continued

We walked over to Contemporary for lunch at Concourse.
Nice walk, even when it's 90 degrees. Of all the places we dined,
Concourse is the only place we had unfriendly service. After lunch
we went to the pool. The main pool was mobbed, which I expected
thanks to Dis. The quiet pool was less crowded so
we hung out there. I didn't get in the water because I was
busy flailing love bugs.

I don't have many pics of the rest of this day so I'll try and hurry
this along. We spent the rest of the evening at DD. We dined at a
favorite - Fulton's. It was delicious! Pleasure Island has changed
a lot since 2004. Looks like the end product will be nice, but until
they clean up some of the construction it will be difficult for guests to navigate.
The bottlenecks were kind of annoying.

The entrance to 8 Trax is now at the side of the building. This is
the seating area out front of what used to be the back. Difficult
to explain.

I should add that we shopped at two of my favorites -
World of Disney and Magnetron. I was a little disappointed with
the merchandise at both. Magnetron's selection of unique magnets
has dwindled. They don't carry the fried chicken magnets at
all anymore. Usually I buy at least three or four magnets here.
This time I walked away with one measly corn dog magnet.

Stay tuned because next up is Hidden Treasures of WS,
lunch at Coral Reef, dinner at Artist Point, and
the cockroach ... I mean palmetto bug boat from Wilderness Lodge.

 

[disneytraveler]

Oh how wonderful! You did the carriage ride. That is something i wanted to
do but never could fit it in! Or did not try harder lol


I saw the seating area to at DD and also thought it was odd.