A Dole Whip in my hand & my toes in the sand: CBR/Poly Split Stay – This Is The Life!

[lala3291]

Hi Shelly! Well, we are back! We had the most wonderful trip. We thoroughly enjoyed the GF, and the girls and I had such a magical time. This is our favorite time of year to visit WDW! Even the weather cooporated, no rain...not one drop!
I have loved reading your last couple of updates...they are making me miss WDW already!
Looking forward to reading about your Poly arrival.

 

[sjs314]

I can not get over all the visits to the lego store, they must know you by name.

I know you were happy you waited to find your size in the pink shirt, great find!

Not sure if we are going to head to DTD in March or not we have 2 free mornings so it will depend if we want to head back to maybe DHS or over to AK, maybe the pool if it is warm enough or DTD. I keep reading about how bad the bus service is for DTD, last time we were staying at OKW and it was a breeze taking the boat there and back.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hi Shelly! Well, we are back! We had the most wonderful trip. We thoroughly enjoyed the GF, and the girls and I had such a magical time. This is our favorite time of year to visit WDW! Even the weather cooporated, no rain...not one drop!
I have loved reading your last couple of updates...they are making me miss WDW already!
Looking forward to reading about your Poly arrival.

Welcome back Lauren!! So glad to see you here, but so sad that your trip is over.

I'm glad you and the girls had such a nice time. It is a very nice time of year to go. I've been sad the last few weeks because we were down there at the beginning of November the last 2 years!!

Glad you didn't get any rain!

I can not get over all the visits to the lego store, they must know you by name.

I know you were happy you waited to find your size in the pink shirt, great find!

Not sure if we are going to head to DTD in March or not we have 2 free mornings so it will depend if we want to head back to maybe DHS or over to AK, maybe the pool if it is warm enough or DTD. I keep reading about how bad the bus service is for DTD, last time we were staying at OKW and it was a breeze taking the boat there and back.

I know. And we weren't done there yet......

I'm glad I waited and was able to find the pink shirt in my size too!!

I hope you get at least a few hours in DTD in March.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I just have to say one more thing about the Disney Cruises. They are a lot more expensive than a trip to WDW. They are more expensive than other cruise lines.
BUT - They are WORTH EVERY PENNY!!! I thought the same thing when I saw the prices for a three and four day cruise were in the thousands! But wow, it is so much fun, you are treated like royalty, meals included, so much wonderful entertainment...I could go on but you get the idea. When we have gone we have added a few days at WDW, but you could certainly do that part cheaper, stay value or mod, etc...
I'm not one to tell other people what to do, or how to spend their money, and cruising is not for everyone, BUT, you will never suffer through a bad meal and not get taken care of. You will never be bored, your kids will be entertained and have a place to go where they won't want to leave (more adult time for you), and it is just the MOST beautiful ship!!! More relaxing than WDW (so it's nice to go after a WDW visit).

Okay, that was more than one thing, but I just hope people look at more than the $$ and see the VALUE.
I'm getting down from the soapbox now.

Glad you found that pink shirt on sale and in your size!!!
Can't go wrong with a snack from Goofy's!!

 

[marDgreen88]

Oh man! You just did not have good luck with food that day!
I'm glad yall had a good evening at DTD. Yay you found your pink shirt!
I need to go to Goofy's next trip... mmmm everything looks so good.
Can't wait to read about your move to the POLY!

 

[JoBird]

I'm a couple of posts behind, sorry. You're moving too fast for me I can't keep up.

I will say that:
1) your dress was adorable that you wore that night to Shutters.
2) Glad the boys had some time in the pool to play around. Teri is right-- they've come so far with their swimming abilities! Time for you to get a pool in the back yard~!!
3) The laundry room looked so clean--- I loved the coke machine. Wish I had one at my house.
4) Shutters looked...... That is all.
5) When you posted the tshirts at first I said "Pink! Get the pink!" and then I saw the blue and said "Wait-- get the blue. Er, maybe the purple. Not the green. Don't like the green. But wait, the pink is the best!" Glad you found one for cheaper at DTD in your size. That is a really good color on you.
6) More Legos?????????
7) Such a sweet dad to get a new game for the boys!
8) Nice ending to your day with Candy!!!!!
AND finally.......

yay for moooooooovin on up!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to read about it!!

 

[JoBird]

Welcome home Lauren!!! So glad you had a great trip----Tell us all about the GF and all the good stuff that happened!!!

 

[lala3291]

Welcome home Lauren!!! So glad you had a great trip----Tell us all about the GF and all the good stuff that happened!!!

Thanks for welcoming me back Shelly and Jo!
Our trip was just wonderful. We had so many highlights. We fell in love with the GF all over again! Sugarloaf was great, perfect for us! It was so easy just going down to get a bite to eat. The grounds are so pretty as well. The lobby is gorgeous as it is, but adding the Christmas decorations made it even more beautiful.
Our meals were great. Our surprise favorite was 1900 Park Fare. The characters were fantastic. We also had meals at Mama Melrose's, Le Cellier, The Plaza, and Tony's. We liked them all! Crowds were a bit heavier than I expected, but nothing too crazy. We did MVMCP twice and loved it both times!
We had a great trip filled with wonderful memories.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I just have to say one more thing about the Disney Cruises. They are a lot more expensive than a trip to WDW. They are more expensive than other cruise lines.
BUT - They are WORTH EVERY PENNY!!! I thought the same thing when I saw the prices for a three and four day cruise were in the thousands! But wow, it is so much fun, you are treated like royalty, meals included, so much wonderful entertainment...I could go on but you get the idea. When we have gone we have added a few days at WDW, but you could certainly do that part cheaper, stay value or mod, etc...
I'm not one to tell other people what to do, or how to spend their money, and cruising is not for everyone, BUT, you will never suffer through a bad meal and not get taken care of. You will never be bored, your kids will be entertained and have a place to go where they won't want to leave (more adult time for you), and it is just the MOST beautiful ship!!! More relaxing than WDW (so it's nice to go after a WDW visit).

Okay, that was more than one thing, but I just hope people look at more than the $$ and see the VALUE.
I'm getting down from the soapbox now.

Glad you found that pink shirt on sale and in your size!!!
Can't go wrong with a snack from Goofy's!!

Wow I guess you love Disney cruises huh???

I know what you mean. I am sure it is so very awesome and worth every penny. I'm just not sure I want to give up that many of my pennies!!

We usually only get one vacation a year, and I just want it to be as long as possible. And it would have to be considerably shorter for the price of the cruise. So I guess I just need to make up my mind if I can do it!!

We'll see.....lots of time to decide. If we don't do it we will always wonder about it, so we will probably end up giving it a try!

Oh man! You just did not have good luck with food that day!
I'm glad yall had a good evening at DTD. Yay you found your pink shirt!
I need to go to Goofy's next trip... mmmm everything looks so good.
Can't wait to read about your move to the POLY!

No we didn't!!

Everyone needs to stop into Goofy's sometime!

The Poly check in is coming up soon.

I'm a couple of posts behind, sorry. You're moving too fast for me I can't keep up.

I will say that:
1) your dress was adorable that you wore that night to Shutters.
2) Glad the boys had some time in the pool to play around. Teri is right-- they've come so far with their swimming abilities! Time for you to get a pool in the back yard~!!
3) The laundry room looked so clean--- I loved the coke machine. Wish I had one at my house.
4) Shutters looked...... That is all.
5) When you posted the tshirts at first I said "Pink! Get the pink!" and then I saw the blue and said "Wait-- get the blue. Er, maybe the purple. Not the green. Don't like the green. But wait, the pink is the best!" Glad you found one for cheaper at DTD in your size. That is a really good color on you.
6) More Legos?????????
7) Such a sweet dad to get a new game for the boys!
8) Nice ending to your day with Candy!!!!!
AND finally.......

yay for moooooooovin on up!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to read about it!!

Well I'm glad you are all caught up!!

1) Thank you!
2) They had so much fun swimming on this trip!
3) A Coke machine in your house
4)
5) I really liked all the shirt colors! I usually don't like green, but I even liked that. I'm so glad one color went on sale so I didn't have to make the decision!!
6) Yep. And there's more to come....
7) Oh yes.
8) Gotta love candy!! It was the only good food I had all day!


Movin' on up is coming up soon!!

Welcome home Lauren!!! So glad you had a great trip----Tell us all about the GF and all the good stuff that happened!!!

Yeah Lauren, tell us more..........

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Thanks for welcoming me back Shelly and Jo!
Our trip was just wonderful. We had so many highlights. We fell in love with the GF all over again! Sugarloaf was great, perfect for us! It was so easy just going down to get a bite to eat. The grounds are so pretty as well. The lobby is gorgeous as it is, but adding the Christmas decorations made it even more beautiful.
Our meals were great. Our surprise favorite was 1900 Park Fare. The characters were fantastic. We also had meals at Mama Melrose's, Le Cellier, The Plaza, and Tony's. We liked them all! Crowds were a bit heavier than I expected, but nothing too crazy. We did MVMCP twice and loved it both times!
We had a great trip filled with wonderful memories.

Sounds fantastic. I've got to try GF sugarloaf someday!!

Did you have breakfast or dinner and 1900 PF? We had dinner there once and loved the characters but not the food so much.

 

[lala3291]

Sounds fantastic. I've got to try GF sugarloaf someday!!

Did you have breakfast or dinner and 1900 PF? We had dinner there once and loved the characters but not the food so much.

We actually had breafast AND dinner there! The food was definitely better at breakfast than dinner, but the girls preferred the characters at dinner. They didn't rush at all, and they were hilarious!
And yes, you have to try sugarloaf! It is so wonderful.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hello everyone!! Is everyone as crazy busy as I am this week???

Things are only going to get more crazy from here on out so here's my (very likely) one and only update for the week:



Day 6 – Wednesday August 31


It was here! Today was the day! We were finally going to be checking into the Polynesian!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had planned to sleep in a bit and take our time getting ready and packed up and all that. No need to check into the Poly too early and risk our room not being ready. But of course I woke fairly early and laid there thinking about all the unknowns.....Would our move go smoothly? Would our room be ready? Would we be happy with our room location? Would we get a balcony? Would we get a nice view? Would the room be nice and clean? What would Club Level be like? And most of all – Would the Poly live up to all the hype???



So we got up and packed up our last minute things and called a cab. They met us right at the curb of our building, so no need to trek all our luggage to OPR or the Custom House!

We were surprised they sent a car. Last time we did a split stay they sent a van.

He crammed all our luggage in the trunk and away we went. DH sat up from with the driver and the kids and I were in the back. We asked him to make a stop at Hess because I wanted to run in and get some Mtn. Dew. I had brought some down with me but was running low. So he pulled into Hess and I went inside, only to find out that they don't sell Mtn Dew. No Pepsi products at all. Can you believe that??? I guess NO ONE on WDW property sells Pepsi products. Crazy!

So we weren't off to a good start. But pretty soon we were pulling into the Poly and the Mtn. Dew was all forgotten about!

We were greeted by a CM and we gave them our last name & told them we were staying CL, and they said that they would take our luggage and get us someone to take us to the Hawaii building. A CM came over shortly and said all the golf carts were out and she would walk us to Hawaii. We walked inside the ground floor of the Great Ceremonial House and were given leis and the kids thought that was just great!

Then we walked through the lobby and out the back door and to the Hawaii CL building.

We went inside the Hawaii CL lobby and got all checked in. There were 2 CM's there and we were the only guests. They were nice, but not super friendly. I had planned to ask if there were any upgrades available to a lagoon or castle view (we were booked in garden view) but chickened out!!

We were told that our room was ready and that our request of a top floor had been granted!! We were given our packet, our room keys, and some welcome buckets for the kids.

We booked a GV room and that's the side of the building we got. She said we were in room 3527. We took the elevator up to the third floor and went to our room. None of our room keys would work. We tried several times. So the kids and I stayed there at the door while DH went back down to the CL check in and told them that our keys didn't work. While we waited on him to come back up I pulled out my little list of CL GV room numbers and the views they each had that I had jotted down with info from the DIS before we left. 3527 was one that said it had a not so great view. Great. Well pretty soon DH comes back and says that's not our room, she wrote down the wrong number. Our room is actually 3522. So I quickly look at my list again and it says 3519, 3520, 3521 – very bad view of an ugly tree. And beside 3522 I had a question mark.....I had 3523-3526 as rooms with great views. So I had no idea what we were in for. We made our way to our new room and opened the door and I ran right over to the balcony and we had a half view of the ugly tree and a half view of the quiet pool. I was happy!!

DH called for our luggage and was told that it would be about 15-20 minutes. We were starving and wanted to go to the lounge and get something to eat, but we were stuck waiting on our luggage. So I took some room pics!

Continued in next post.....

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Continued.....

The room was simply gorgeous and we loved everything about it! It was spacious, clean, and beautiful. I was afraid it would be too dark for me – I usually prefer lighter woods – but it was fine and I loved it!

After about 20 minutes or so our luggage was delivered and we were off to the CL lounge to get some snacks.


Up Next: Club Level Lounge and our balcony & view

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Shelly - was there just the one bathroom sink or were there two separate ones that were facing each other? Seems strange that a deluxe would only have one!
I love the picture of your DS lounging!
Glad you got a room with a balcony and a decent view!!

 

[sjs314]

I feel silly even writing it but one of the things I think makes me want to stay at the Poly is checking in and getting a leis. It was nice that your room was ready, after the mix up with room numbers, I can only imagine your haste to go see the view from the balcony.

I wonder if you had requested IPO to get you Mt Dew if you would have had it? I have read some strange requests people make of IPO, Mt Dew sounds like one that might come up often. Next time you do CL

 

[JoBird]

Moving Day!!! Moving Day!!
Don't you just LOVE MOVING DAY?????

I'm so glad you loved the Poly. I feel like my work was done in getting you to try it. I hope it hasn't ruined you on all other resorts though. It is so beautiful and wonderful and lovely and relaxing and FUN.

Happy you got a good view and not an ugly tree view.
And a balcony.
That was always a worry.


Great pictures too---- the robe one---- thankyouverymuch--- had me !!!!!!!!! Did you laugh when you saw them hanging there???? I thought about you when I opened up the closet in the GF.


Thanks for posting this update--- I know your week is going to be crazy- so have a Happy, HAPPY Thanksgiving!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Shelly - was there just the one bathroom sink or were there two separate ones that were facing each other? Seems strange that a deluxe would only have one!
I love the picture of your DS lounging!
Glad you got a room with a balcony and a decent view!!

Yes, there was just one sink. Most of the buildings there only have one sink. I think the 2 newest buildings there have 2 sinks, maybe Tokelau and Tahiti....


We were so happy with our room & view!!

I feel silly even writing it but one of the things I think makes me want to stay at the Poly is checking in and getting a leis. It was nice that your room was ready, after the mix up with room numbers, I can only imagine your haste to go see the view from the balcony.

I wonder if you had requested IPO to get you Mt Dew if you would have had it? I have read some strange requests people make of IPO, Mt Dew sounds like one that might come up often. Next time you do CL

Actually when you visit the Poly if you walk in through the bottom floor of the GCH you just might get some leis!!

I had wondered that too about IPO and the Mtn Dew!! But it seems like Pepsi/Mtn Dew are bad words at Disney!

Moving Day!!! Moving Day!!
Don't you just LOVE MOVING DAY?????

I'm so glad you loved the Poly. I feel like my work was done in getting you to try it. I hope it hasn't ruined you on all other resorts though. It is so beautiful and wonderful and lovely and relaxing and FUN.

Happy you got a good view and not an ugly tree view.
And a balcony.
That was always a worry.


Great pictures too---- the robe one---- thankyouverymuch--- had me !!!!!!!!! Did you laugh when you saw them hanging there???? I thought about you when I opened up the closet in the GF.


Thanks for posting this update--- I know your week is going to be crazy- so have a Happy, HAPPY Thanksgiving!!

I love moving day when the move is to the POLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes the room, view, and balcony situation was a concern but all turned out for the best!

The robes!! Of course I thought of you when I saw them! And even more-so a few days later......but I will save that post for later....



Thank you - you have a Happy Thanksgiving too!

 

[lala3291]

Wow- your room looks so nice! We took a walk around the Poly this past trip, and now I definitely want to stay there- the girls do too! The grounds were beautiful!
If I don't post on here before Thursday, I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that everyone has a wonderful day with their families!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Wow- your room looks so nice! We took a walk around the Poly this past trip, and now I definitely want to stay there- the girls do too! The grounds were beautiful!
If I don't post on here before Thursday, I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that everyone has a wonderful day with their families!

It really is a wonderful place. You should definitely stay there sometime!!

Thanks so much, you have a very Happy Thanksgiving with your family too.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

If I don't get back on here before then --


I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!