Friday, July 18th
Hi everyone,
We are back from our morning and afternoon activiites. We visited The Wave this morning, checked into the Polynesian, and spent some time at the pool while our room was getting cleaned and ready.
We checked out of the Wilderness Lodge Villas and began the next segment of our trip at the Polynesian. Before we checked into the Polynesian we took the boat from the Wilderness Lodge dock to the Contemporary. We had a 9:45AM ADR at The Wave.
The restaurant is on the 1st floor and it replaced the Food & Fun Center. My
1st impression of this restaurant is adult oriented and somewhat upscale with a relaxed atmosphere. The bar area is very nice; however, the seating off the bar is unusual. It has a round sofa type seating. I took a walk through the bar and was surprised to see it was open at 10:00AM in the morning. I spoke to the bar tender who confirmed "Yes, the bar is open, can I help you?" LOL!
The staff at the restaurant went out of there way to be friendly. They even gave Anna a couple pins and a tinker bell light up figurine for her drink.
The menu has a healthy food type of appeal to it. There are several multigrain breads and cheeses which give you that impression. The prices are above average for breakfast; however, I will say the food is delicious and worth it in my opinion. If you order a multigrain or organic item from the menu it will cost you slightly more.
I had the fetta and spinach scrambled eggs with breakfast potatos and a biscuit. Kim had a ham and cheese omlette with breakfast potatos and a biscuit. As I mentioned earlier the food was prepared very well. My spinach was served on the side and not prepared in the omlette; which was probably a smart decision by the chef. I also ordered coffee. One thing you should know about the coffee at The Wave. It is not your typical Disney/Nescafe coffee. It is one of the few places on property that serve something other than Nescafe. It is an organic coffee from Columbia. I believe our server called it Joffers coffee. I noticed it right away when I took my first sipp it was something different. It was very good.
Our total bill came to $32.25 with our 20% DDE discount and automatic 18% gratuity. If you enjoy a nice quiet breakfast and ordering off a menu is your thing then you should try this restaurant. It is a different Disney dining experience. My impression is that this restaurant was built to appeal to convention goers at the Contemporary.
Here are some photos from our breakfast at the Wave.
Restaurant entrance located on the 1st floor in the back of the lobby.
A shot of inside the restaurant.
My breakfast; fetta and spinach scrambled eggs. Very tasty.
Here's a very new hidden mickey inside the bar's wine display. The bar has a very large south of the equator wine selection.
We left the restaurant and took the escalators up to the 4th floor to catch the monorail to the Polynesian.
While we were waiting for the monorail I snapped this picture of what used to be the Concourse Steakhouse. It will soon be a new counter service option on the Grand Canyon Concourse.
We rode the resort monorail around to the Polynesian and went down to the front desk to check-in. Before I officially checked in I asked the front desk to locate a friend of ours who had been helping us plan our trip. Her name was Allison and she works in the Itinerary Planning Office. She said to look her up when we arrived, so we did.
Here is a photo Anna and I took with her. If you are reading this Allison; Thank You Very Much for your kindness and hospitality.
After we checked in (our room was not ready yet) we decided to head out to the pool. Anna and Kim came to the Poly with their bathing suits on underneath their clothes. I had other ideas. I spent the time at the Barefoot pool bar. After a few drinks and a conversation with a nice gentleman from Scottland I walked around the pool and resort and snapped a few photos. The Polynesian is a beautiful resort with plenty of nice views.
The volcano at the Volcano pool. The pool slide winds through the inside.
Lobby beauty in the Great Ceremonial House.
Volcano Spring which heads towards the volcano pool.
A shot of the Volcano pool this afternoon.
Construction at the back of the Great Ceremonial House. Cast Members told me they were replacing windows. Not sure why.
After we left the pool we discovered our room was ready. We have a garden view room on the 3rd floor of Tokelau with a partial lagoon view. A great view of the Grand Floridian. Since we are on the 3rd floor we have a balcony. Rooms on the second floor do not have a balcony. I believe that is the case in most, if not all the longhouses here at the Polynesian.
Here is the view from our balcony. Sunset Point is just to the right out of view.
Earlier, when we were on the second floor of the Great Ceremonial House I stopped at the coffee/sushi bar. They were currently selling coffee and pastry. I asked the Cast Member about the sushi and she said the sushi bar would open at 5:00PM and close at 10:00PM. So, for those who wish to try it out those are the hours. I will grab a photo of the sushi bar sometime this weekend.
Later this afternoon we will be headed to the Magic Kingdom via the monorail. The Magic Kingdom is open until 11:00PM this evening with Extra Magic Hours until 2:00AM. We plan on stopping at Casey's Corner for dinner.
Before I sign off for now here are some photos I snapped this morning of the construciton at the Contemporary Villas or Bay Lake Tower.
Side view of the tower showing windows and other exterior going up.
Here is a shot showing some sort of observation tower being constructed at the top of the tower. Maybe for firework viewing, maybe not.
Here's a shot of the new pathway leading from the new tower to the current Contemporary tower.
. Loving all your pics!!!
