A Magical Christmas at WDW & Universal - updated 1/5

[skiingwife]

Hi everyone, I don’t have the time or creativity to do a full trip report. But I do want to post some of the highlights (and maybe some lowlights) from our recent trip that might be of some interest or help to others.

When: December 15 – December 25
Where: Polynesian (3 nights), Hard Rock Hotel (1 night), Yacht Club (6 nights)
Who: me, DH, DS14, DS12, and DS8.

This is our 2nd trip to WDW. We went last year at the same time and stayed at the Polynesian and Yacht Club. I wanted to make this year’s trip a little different so we went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure to make thrill seeking DS14 and DS12 happy. They both love the scary roller coasters.

Here are the highlights:

Just before we left our home in Michigan Friday morning, our mail was delivered. There was a letter from Disney reservations. It confirmed our Polynesian resort stay – not in a garden view room anymore, but in a King Kamehameha room. I wasn’t exactly sure what this meant. At first I thought we were getting the huge King K. suite in the Tonga building, but I tried not to get too excited, because how likely was that? When we finally arrived at the Polynesian, 8 hours later, we check in a find that, YES, we had been upgraded! We were in the Hawaii building. FREE concierge upgrade! I was so excited. We had a garden view of the quiet pool area. It wasn’t the best view, but it was good, and I wasn’t going to complain.

We went to the lounge after getting settled in, and when we returned, there on the dresser was the infamous CHOCOLATE POSTCARD with a note from the staff welcoming us. It was awesome. It was all I could do to keep DH from breaking into it. I told him I at least needed to take a picture of it, and we might not even eat it at all. We might save it. He found that to be ridiculous. But we still haven’t eaten it, despite his frequent attempts.

We used the Polynesian concierge lounge to the fullest. We had drinks there every evening – my favorite was this yummy alcoholic punch that I can’t recall the name but it had guava juice, Grand Marinier and several other ingredients. If anyone has the recipe, please send it to me. The fancy desserts there were wonderful too – some kind of key lime tarts, strawberry and chocolate mousse tarts, cream puffs, brownies. Desserts were delicious. We had breakfast there each morning. Breakfast consisted of cereals, juice, fruit, bagels, pineapple bread, and pastries. We had snacks each afternoon, which consisted of pb&j Uncrustables, gold fish crackers, chips and salsa, mixed nuts. We had dinner there on two evenings, which included pulled pork, homemade rolls for the pork, sticky wings (same as served at ‘Ohana), cheese & crackers, veggies & dip, duck potstickers (same as served at Kona), and some other stuff that I’m forgetting.

Eating the food at the concierge lounge saved us a lot of money. In fact, we cancelled two breakfasts (one at Crystal Palace and one at Kona) and two dinners (Grand Floridian Café and Rose & Crown). I really wanted to eat at all of these places but DH persuaded me to eat at the lounge instead. I had to agree with him that it was hard to justify going out when we had all this delicious and free food available to us. We had plenty of days later in the week to eat at nice sit down restaurants.

Overall, I love the atmosphere at the Polynesian and love taking the monorail to MK and Epcot. I loved the offerings at the concierge lounge and would have a hard time staying here again and not being in the Hawaii building. However, I don’t think we will stay here again. DH doesn’t like that there is no hot tub and the pools were not real warm.

Next highlight:
The Hard Rock Hotel. This hotel was so nice. Some people on the DIS Universal board said that it beats any of WDW’s deluxe hotels, and I just might have to agree with them. The lobby was big and shiny. Our deluxe room (two queen beds and pullout sofa) was just remodeled and very pretty. The beds and pillows were so comfortable. All the staff were very nice. The fitness center was really nice with treadmills, elliptical machines, and several weight machines. And the pool area was fabulous. Huge pool, fun water slide, sandy play areas. Almost as good as Stormalong Bay. It was nice to have the music playing while we laid out at the pool. My DH and sons all wanted to stay longer than one night. If I had it to do over, I would have stayed here 3 nights and then went to the YC. We all agreed that we like HRH more than the Polynesian.

Next highlight:
The best rides of the trip were (in no particular order) Soarin’, Expedition Everest, Rockin’ Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, Test Track, Dueling Dragons, Incredible Hulk, and The Mummy. My family and I disagree on the order but DS14 and DS12 both liked Dueling Dragons (red side) and Hulk the best.

Next highlight:
The weather was beautiful; sunny and near 80 every day. Last year, we had a few rainy days and it never made it over 72. This year, we wore shorts and t-shirts every day and only needed a jacket one or two nights.

Next highlight:
Crowds were very manageable from December 16 until the 21st. On the 22nd, I noticed a big increase. On Thursday, 12/21, DS14 and I went by ourselves to Animal Kingdom. We were the only 2 people on our bus at 8:15 in the morning. The lines were not that long and we went to the far left turnstile and were 2nd in line behind one other family. The next day, Friday, all 5 of us went to AK again, and, after stopping at the Beach Club, the bus was packed at 8:15. The lines all the way back to the bag check area. Even the far left turnstile had a line.

Both days we were at the front of the rope on the long walk to Expedition Everest. We got fast passes and then rode standby. We rode Everest at least 3 times both days. It’s a really fun ride. First we rode in the front seats – the view of the World is awesome from the front seat. Then we rode in the very back seats. The ride is much faster in the back and that is our preferred spot. I highly recommend that you sit in the back.
More later.

 

[lexmelinda]

Great report! Bonus on the upgrade! Poly Concierge....aaahhhh....my dream trip. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more.

 

[klmall]

Good comparison of WDW deluxe hotels to Hard Rock. We've done Poly, Contemporary and WL and also Hard Rock (Club Level) and really loved Hard Rock, especially at Easter. Their rooms and service were outstanding and I agree with your report!

 

[MomofCKJ]

Poly Concierge sounds wonderful! Glad you scored the upgrade!

My dd9 and I were at AK on 12/21 too! We went early to Donald's for breakfast at 8am and my DH and little ones met us later. She and I were on the 2nd train to go out that day at EE. We probably crossed paths! Love that ride!

Thanks for sharing some of your thoughts!

Allyson

 

[skiingwife]

Something else I want to mention is the illnesses that hit us during the trip. First my DS8 came down with a bad cough. It seemed just like the cough I’d just seen my doctor for before we left. So I thought I would call our doctor to ask him to phone in a prescription for DS8. Our doctor knows us quite well and did not have a problem with doing this. So I asked Hawaii concierge for the nearest drug store. They told me that Turner Drugs would deliver right to the resort! I gave our doctor their number (407-828-8125) and then called Turner to tell them where we were staying. They wouldn’t bill our insurance, but gave me a receipt to submit for reimbursement. The Polynesian paid Turner Drugs and then billed it to our room. It was so convenient. It took about 3 hours to receive it, but that was fine with us.

Next DS14 came down with a worse cough plus fever and aches. Since he seemed much worse than DS8, we decided to get him checked by a doctor and asked Hawaii concierge for the nearest urgent care center and how to go about getting there. They told us about Centra Care. Centra Care provides free shuttle service from the resort to one of its three locations. They could also send a doctor right to our room. What a great idea! The cost for seeing a doctor at one of their locations was $160. The cost for having a doctor come to our room was $200. For the convenience of not having to spend the better part of a day going to them, we scheduled the doctor to come to us. I was pretty dumbfounded when the doctor told us that DS14 had the flu (I don’t know why this did not occur to me. He had all the classic symptoms.) but he did give us a prescription for the cough, which he had on hand, so no need to call the pharmacy to fill it. I’ve submitted all these bills to my insurance, so hopefully they will come through with payment.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a big thumbs up to Hawaii concierge for telling me about these options and helping me with phone numbers.

The other nice thing we discovered was the first aid stations at each of the parks. DS8’s cough went away, but while at MGM, we noticed that he felt a little warm. We asked at the first aid station if they could just check his temperature for us. No problem. He was a little high so they gave him some motrin – for free! How often does that happen? And they gave me some disposable thermometers so I could check it again later. We also used the first aid station at Animal Kingdom and Epcot for the same reason. They were all staffed with helpful nurses and gave us motrin or Tylenol if needed. We were very impressed.

Luckily everyone was better after just a few days, but it did make us slow down and take it easy, which was actually pretty nice.

Next up - our dining highlights.

 

[Cass]

Hi there, I am loving your report. We were at Disney at the same time and you're right, the weather was awesome.

We also are universal lovers, you have to love the 'front of the line' perk and w enjoyed our stays at Hard Rock & Royal Pacific.

Looking forward to hearing more, that was great that you were upgraded to concierge, sorry about your kids not feeling well though

 

[disneytraveler]

Great report so far! Sorry to hear that children were sick.

 

[skiingwife]

Dining Highlights:

I had so many ADR's for this trip. New places that I'd wanted to try. Unfortunately, since we got upgraded to concierge, we didn't make our planned meals at Crystal Palace, Grand Floridian Cafe, and Cosmic Rays. Maybe next time.

But we did eat at some really good places:

LeCellier - We had candle light processional package here on Christmas Eve. We ate here last year and my boys insisted we eat here again. It was our favorite last year and was just as good this year. For appetizers we had the wasabi shrimp cocktail, cheese soup, and beef kabobs. For entrees, I had the maple filet mignon, DH had the mushroom filet mignon, and two of my boys had the huge New York Strip. For desserts we had chocolate whiskey cake, creme brulee, smores, and blueberry buckle. I sampled everyones appetizer, steak and dessert. I thought the best of all of them was the shrimp cocktail, New York Strip and chocolate cake.

Kona Cafe - We ate here our first night. My older sons and I each had the teriyaki steak and we all liked it. But we were starving as we'd been traveling since 11:00 a.m. and didn't sit down to eat until about 8:30 p.m. DH had the mahi mahi and he thought it was just okay. We skipped desserts even though I think this restaurant has the best desserts in the World. But we could get free desserts at the concierge lounge so that's what we did.

Ohana - My two older sons didn't like Ohana last year, so I made the reservation just for 3 this time. Our ADR was for 8:20. We got there before 8 and were seated in about 10 minutes. Just long enough to order a lapu lapu and backscratcher in the Tambu Lounge. I love the lapu lapu. Let me just say that last year when we ate here, it was our first night at the World, and hubby was a little uptight about the food prices and didn't even order a drink. He wasn't crazy about the food, except for the shrimp. He didn't like the flavor of the meats, didn't like the wings, I don't think he even tried the potatoes or the dessert. This year was a completely different story. He lightened up a little bit after drinking the backscratcher. He even had a second backscratcher. We're sitting there eating and he's loving the food. The potatoes, the wings, the shrimp (3 bowls between the 2 of us), all the meats, even the dessert. He said he didn't remember the food being this good last year. I said, believe me, it was. You just didn't enjoy yourself and eat it. Before it was over, he said this was the best meal of the whole trip. To top it off, we had a great view of Wishes from our table. They dimmed the lights and piped in the music. Bread pudding with bananas foster sauce and Wishes! It doesn't get any better than that. Unfortunately DS Nicholas fell asleep after the wontons and didn't eat anything. I still had to pay for him, but oh well.

Let me just change topics here and say that on Saturday morning we had taken the bus from the Yacht Club to the Magic Kingdom, and then the monorail to the Grand Floridian. It took almost an hour! The bus ride itself wasn't that long, but then we had to the monorail, walk up the monorail ramp, and ride it all the way around to the GF. While on the monorail we got stopped for about 10 minutes at the Contemporary or TTC so they could put another car on. I was certain we would miss the reservation we were going to. Anyway, remembering this less than quick experience, I suggested to DH that we take a cab back to the YC. It was the best decision we made all week. For $15, including tip, we were at the YC in about 10 minutes and Nicholas slept the whole time.

Back to dining..

Another favorite of ours was 50's Primtime and Sci Fi. We ate lunch at Sci Fi and then dinner at 50's. DH and I split the reuben and onion rings at Sci Fi. It was plenty for both of us and didn't fill us so full that we wouldn't be hungry for 50's. At 50's, most of us had the fried chicken which we absolutely love. Our waiter was Cousin Jimmy. He was good.

DH and I had one night out by ourselves at Epcot and we ate at the Mexican Cantina. It was okay food. We ate it all. I think we each had some kind of combination plate. The best part about it was the yummy margaritas. We sat behind the building at a table right by the water. This would have been a perfect place to watch Illuminations. But we needed to get up and walk after stuffing ourselves. We ended up in the bakery in France, Boulangerie Patissiere or something like that. The boys asked us to bring them some snacks, so we ended up with ham and cheese croissants (a bargain I thought at $3.25), strawberry mousse, and chocolate cake. It was the first time I'd been here and I loved it. Definitely stop in there.

Actually, there wasn't any restaurant that we didn't like. The turkey sandwich on foccacia and strawberry shortcake at Sunshine Seasons were really good, especially the shortcake! The pizza and chicken ceasar salad at Pizzafari were really good. Oh, the breakfast at Tusker House was really good too. Also, the best burgers and ice cream are at Beaches and Cream. We went there 3 times. You've got to try the No Way Jose. It is the best sundae around.

One more thing, Captain Cook's at the Polynesian was really nice. The touch screens for ordering were pretty easy to use. The food was prepared quickly and I thought it was pretty reasonably priced. I took food back to our room on two nights when the boys weren't feeling up to going out. They really liked the flatbread pizza and the stir fry noodle dish.

That's about it for dining. Up next, the pirate cruise and other fun things.

 

[skiingwife]

I want to post some pictures - they're on my c: drive. Can someone tell me how to do that? I tried to just copy and paste and it didn't work.