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

[DaisyLynn]

I'm excited to read this one!! Subscribing so I can come back and read later after dinner is done!!!

 

[Adi12982]

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 ...

We saw this skywriter in August when we were at TL, except that time he wrote U + GOD =


Thanks for sharing, I am on to read your next day!

 

[mytwotinks]

Great trip report! Keep going!

My family and my sister's family were there about the same time! We stayed 8 nights (9/19-9/27) at the CR. My sister was at the Poly same time. We were actually in MK on the same day you were! How cool. My dd was really interested in the sky writing. He wrote something else a couple of days later and we were watching him write it. I don't think he ever finished either time. My sister overheard a tour guide telling her group that he would have to pay a big fine if her were caught because the air space over DW is protected.

You would have died if you had gotten to FL the day we did. I couldn't even beleive how many love bugs there were. They were soooooo thick that in small areas you couldn't really even see through them!!!! Yuck! By the time you got there we were commenting on how there were hardly any left! Compared to what we had seen it seemed like they were about gone. We were told that they last 2 weeks and that they show up every May and Sept. We have been in Sept before and it was the first time we ever saw them!

 

[tinkerbell87512]

im loving the report! Cant wait to read more!

 

[DeterminedOne]

Day Three - Tuesday, September 26

Another scorcher. September is hot! We arrived at
Epcot around 8:45 and met up with the
Hidden Treasures of World Showcase tour group
near Guest Relations. This tour focuses on the design
and construction of the 11 World Showcase pavilions.
We started in Mexico and ended in Canada 3 1/2 hours later.
Our guide was nice. She was knowledgeable and well traveled.
However, she lacked the charisma it takes keeping a tour like
this interesting. Along the way we lost four people. I don't
know if they were hot, bored or what. They just dropped out.
DH was bored and I was only mildly interested. My interests
peaked whenever she pointed out Hidden Mickeys.
Here's one of my favorites - The koi pond in Japan.

I don't mean to make the tour seem awful. We did learn
some stuff. Even a few secrets about Canada & France.
But again, it was hot ... And we were irritable. Thanks to
the Premium plan, this little adventure cost us zero OOP.

The tour ended but we were too hot to move so we
sat in the theatre and watched O' Canada again and again.
Just kidding! Actually ... we got FP's for Soarin'.
Wait was 35 minutes.
We stopped at the pin kiosk where I purchased Poly and GF pins.
Then we went to Mousegears to be in the AC.

Things were hoppin' at Coral Reef but they managed seat us in
ten. We didn't get a table by the tank but managed a nice view
from a table the next level up.

Couldn't get a decent pic of the tank from this view...

We left CR without even an idea that it rained. From the
looks of things it was a downpour. So glad we missed it!
The temperature dropped, too! Reprieve!

Rode Soarin' for the very first time and agreed -
it's a cool ride! BUT ... can someone explain why Soarin' is
in the same building as The Land, Circle of Life, Seasons, etc?
The traffic in that bldg. was CRAZY! I wish they would
put the FP distribution machines outside.

By this time we were getting tired of being at Epcot.
(Would give anything to be there right now, though)
We started to leave but remembered our Leave a Legacy tile
so we stopped to find it.

I look like a California raisin, but it's all good.

There was one more tile we needed to find. One I found
years ago, totally by accident.

Yes, my friends! It's the boy band, N'Sync.

Okay ... we're ready to go back to the Poly and I
I remember something. The water to our building was
shut off from 10:00 to 3:00.
(Maintenance problems. They left a note the day before.)
It was shortly after 3:00 and all I could do was cross my
fingers that whatever the problem was fixed and that we
had water. We did! Thank goodness!!

The next few hours we just lounged around the room. At about
6:45 we headed over to WL for an 8:00 ressie at Artist Point.
While we were waiting we had a caricature done.
It turned out great, but set us back $68.
Rewards card to the rescue!

Artist Point was okay - not bad, but not great either. I will do a dining report, but for now here's a look at the entrees

Hatfield Porkchop

Beef Tenderloin

The time came to get on the bug boat and I was scared.
DH wasn't having it, though. He went into a spiel about how
bugs are harmless - suck it up, - blah, blah, blah. I said fine!
But I warned that if anything happened I would not speak to him
the rest of the trip.

All of DAY 4 - Coming Soon!

 

[MariDisney]

We saw this skywriter in August when we were at TL, except that time he wrote U + GOD =


Thanks for sharing, I am on to read your next day!

Completely OT...but I just wanted to say thanks for posting the u + God = We were there 9/23-30 and saw the skywriter several times, but never were able to make our what was after the =.

This is an awesome trip report. My dream is to someday do Poly on the premium plan. I'm living vicariously through you now.

 

[First timer]

Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[disneytraveler]

Yes Soaring is in a funny location. I always remembe to just turn left and down stairs. Its great that you were able to find your legacy pictures. I just
found my folder about my photo last month. I must have did legacy when Disney had the Wishes package.

 

[serendipity]

"The time came to get on the bug boat and I was scared.
DH wasn't having it, though. He went into a spiel about how
bugs are harmless - suck it up, - blah, blah, blah. I said fine!
But I warned that if anything happened I would not speak to him
the rest of the trip"

let me just say that was one of the cutest things I have ever read on the disb oards. Ugh, I hate roaches. One time I thought I had roaches in my apartment but thank god it ended up just being a beetle that had a similarity to my unfamiliar eye (whew!). And as for palmetto bugs, my god I cannot even imagine. The disney premium plan is amazing. Do you have a rate based on one day?

 

[3princesses4us]

Loving your report! More, more!

 

[dogsmom]

Can't wait to read the rest of your report. You guys make a very photogenic couple!!

 

[tinkerbell87512]

haha its so funny that you found Nsync! i wonder how many other celebs have leave a legacy tiles?!?! Cant wait to read more!

 

[dolphinrescuegirl]

really good so far!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Love all your pics! Looking forward to the rest! (I was in Rapa Nui on my last Poly trip, too!)

 

[yearbook50]

I like this report. I was considering the premium for an upcoming trip.

 

[DeterminedOne]

Wednesday, September 27th

We were up really early for a 7:40 tee time at Osprey Ridge.
We got there at 7:00 - it wasn't even light out yet. While we
rented clubs and signed in, a CM asked if we wanted to choose
the pin placement on the 18th. It's called a "Magical Moment"
They do it every day for one lucky guest, or family.
We said yes! Of course! They picked us up in a cute little
Mickey cart and drove us to #18. DH is the
true golfer in the family so he was the one who chose
the placement. Here's where the camera acted up. Again!
Too much moisture from the rain the day before. Every single shot
flashed back.

The best of the worst, but I had to give you a visual!

Toward the end of the round the pro shop left us a message
that said: PLEASE VISIT THE PRO SHOP AFTER YOUR
ROUND TO TAKE HOME YOUR DISNEY GOLF MEMORY.

They presented us with a laminated Certificate of Congratulations
The experience was awesome! I only wish we had pictures.

The Osprey Ridge course sits among Ft Wilderness.
The surroundings are wooded and kind of swampy.
It's gorgeous, really. We saw lots of wildlife -
several kinds of birds, including an Osprey Eagle.
But the only pic I could get is of deer. Go figure!

We finished that round in 4 1/2 hours. Including club rental,
this excursion would have set us back $300 +.
Thanks, Premium plan!

This is one of two days in the itinerary where we didn't have
a lunch ressie. We decided to try Kona, with Earl of Sandwich
as plan B. We got in at Kona, no problem, and no wait. I ordered
a pot of Kona pressed pot coffee. Man, was it delicious!

While we waited for appetizers we read through our
Hidden Mickey book. By meals end, we'd learned
the location of just about every hidden Mickey at Poly.
The clue for this one intrigued me so much,
I left the table to find it!

You might have seen this one at Poly w/o even knowing it!

We searched for hidden Mickey's for nearly an hour.
Here's another favorite - On the lobby floor...near the fountain.

We rented a 17' Boston Whaler at the marina.
Those things are hard to steer! We cruised
Seven Seas and Bay Lake again. Hovering out front
of MK is neat!

After spending some time back in the room we went to Epcot.
We tried Turtle Talk but it was too crowded for me.
As you can see, this report is mainly my perspective. If DH has
something different to add I will include it.

Where was I? Oh, Turtle Talk. We went to Morocco instead.
It's now our favorite pavilion. Did you know that all the tile
there was hand laid?

We poked around WS just long enough to kill time prior to
an 8:00 ressie at Yachtsman. We walked to Yacht Club instead
of taking one of the Friendship boats.
The Boardwalk is stunning at night! I wanted a better pic
but this one will have to do.

Yachtsman was packed! BUT we were in within ten.
It was a favorite from 2004 and did not disappoint in 2006!

After dinner, we walked back to the International Gateway
for the monorail to Poly. Illuminations had ended and there
was question of whether they would let us through Epcot. The
guard questioned us about where we were going and
checked our bag thoroughly ... then she let us through!
Good thing! We were eager to get back to the room
to watch Barbara Walters' interview with Terry Irwin.

STAY TUNED! Day 5 was an exciting tour at Animal Kingdom,
A $140 lunch at Rainforest Cafe, and an impromptu search
for hidden Mickeys!!

 

[S.Poppins]

Great report and great pics. One day I want to stay at the Poly.

 

[DeterminedOne]

Day Five - Thursday, September 28th

On this day we were due at Animal Kingdom by 8:15 for the
Backstage Safari tour. We headed to the bus stop at 7:30
and met a man who was waiting for the Studios bus
since 7:00. We started to worry about making it to AK on time,
but arrived as scheduled. The buses were slow this trip.

The tour was great! We spent a lot of time in the AC - huge plus!
The guide for this tour was better than at Epcot.
We saw so many cool things I don't remember them all.

We got up close and personal with Spike, the white rhino.
We got a close up of Nadirah, the baby elephant born
last December. We learned how the elephants are trained.
Spent some time in the Nutrition Center and saw what
the animals eat. Saw what frozen rodents look like.
The most exciting part of the tour by far was seeing surgery
performed on a skunk. The poor little guy had a tumor removed.
We got to see the tumor when it came out, too! Sounds gross,
and it was ... kind of. But I couldn't take my eyes off it!
Is afraid of bugs, but can watch a skunk surgery. Hmmm!

I wish they allowed pictures in the backstage areas.
The only pic I got was during the Safari ride.
Another baby elephant. - Nila (sp?).

After the tour, we went to Expedition Everest. DH
had decided not to ride but agreed to stand in line with me.
The posted wait time was 30 mins, but we were on in 20.
At some point during the wait, DH decided he would ride. I was
relieved not to have to ride alone.
Random sign warning us: Yeti - BEWARE!

Expedition Everest rocks! It's not nearly as scary as I imagined.
Even the part where the ride goes backwards is fun! The queue is
almost as good as the ride itself. Even if you're chicken -
don't skip Everest! It's too awesome to miss!

After EE, it was time for our 1:00 at Rainforest Cafe -
a "Wild place to shop and eat." We were starved and
ordered appetizers, entrees, desserts - even specialty drinks.
Good thing we weren't paying as we managed to rack up a $140 bill.
Saving details for the dining review...

We went back to the room for a much-needed NAP.
Around 6:30 we headed to DD for an 8:00 ressie at Portobello.
We had time to spare and so began the search for hidden Mickeys,


After dinner, which by the way was delicious, the search
for Mickeys continued at the Marketplace. I don't know
how it happened that we got so addicted to this!

Some of the best hidden Mickey's are located inside the
World of Disney Store. We spent a bunch of time in there
that night! I won't give them all away, but here are
are a few favorites.
Side Profile of Mickey

Side Profile of Donald

The bus to Poly was standing room only. Poly shared a bus
w/ Contemporary. A wheelchair passenger on board needed
to get off, but the driver had trouble positioning the bus
to the curb and letting down the wheelchair ramp. It took 20 min.
I'm not exaggerating! I don't know who I felt sorry for more -
The passenger or the driver.

UP NEXT- Fun w/ Chef Mickey, more Magic Kingdom,
and a hootin', hollerin' good time at the Hoop Dee Doo Review!

 

[jakenjess]

Great updates! Sounds like you're really getting the most out of the premium plan. The golf cart was really neat! I really love the Poly; it's so relaxing. Looking forward to more of your report!

 

[teentoddlermom]

The more and more I read, the better the premium plan sounds! It sounds like if you add up all your benefits, you could actually get more value than it cost you! Loving your TR! Thanks.