Everything You Do, CELEBRATE YOU! - Polynesian - Club Level - TPV

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 1
Tuesday 22nd September 2015
Part 1 – There’s a Neverland waiting for you, where all your happy dreams come true!

Good morning! Good morrrrrning!!
Itttt’s Diiiisney day, take 2!

After returning from my family trip to Disneyland Paris on Saturday evening, I had just Sunday and Monday to prepare to jet off to sunny Orlando Florida!

It was a busy couple of days, I spent a lot of time at my local shopping mall buying some last minute essentials (like make-up and Jaffa Cakes… Essentials).

I also spent some time seeing my best friend before she moves away for a while
It was fun though, because we were both super excited to chat about each other’s adventures!

Before I knew it, I was lying in bed on Monday night staring at the ceiling and counting down the hours until my alarm went off.
It finally chimed at 7am, and after not much sleep, I was up and raring to go!

Disney adrenaline should be studied for science.

I got ready and finished up packing.
I was too distracted/excited to even eat my morning toast, but my dog Stanley helped himself to it right off my plate, so I guess today is a great day for everybody.

Mother bear took us to the station for our 9:10am train to the airport.

We arrived nice and early at about 8:40am, and Jamie went into one of the stores to buy himself some hairspray.
If that’s not the perfect example of being a disorganised, last-minute kinda guy, I don’t know what is

We went out to the platform and it was reeealllly cold and rainy.
We were legit shivering.
After waiting no longer than 2 minutes out in the cold, Jamie dramatically threw his head back and proclaimed,

“THIS IS THE WORST HOLIDAY EVER!!!”



Oh boy, I was cracking up.
We needed to get to sunny Florida, ASAP!

Our train rolled up, we found our seats, and set off!
We’re a small step closer to Disney!

We took advantage of some free tea and shortbread… How British!
(Déjà vu from last year )

We also bonded with the people at the table next to us.
They were on our flight to Orlando! However they were continuing on to Nashville and doing a little USA tour.
What fun!

At 10:25am we were pulling into Manchester Airport!
WOO!
Terminal 2, let’s go go GO!

(We had 3 big suitcases. It was ridiculous.)
(…yes, two of them were mine.)

We found our terminal, checked in, sent off our bags, went through the security line and got to our gate within half an hour of arriving!
There’s nothing better than an efficient airport run

However, our flight wasn’t until 1:45pm, which meant we had over 2 hours to wait until boarding
We are such eager beavers.

We grabbed some lunch and browsed the shops to kill the time.
Jamie bought some socks.
See? Last minute.

Soon enough, we were back at our gate, waiting not-so-patiently to board!

At around 1pm they finally called our cabin!!
We were flying Premium Economy, so we had priority boarding.
And more importantly,
Unlimited free alcohol.
GO GO GO.

I was happy because I’d managed to book our favourite seats for both journeys
(Unlike Jamie, I AM organised )
They’re the same seats as last year, in the last row on the right hand side by the window.
Even though they’re at the back of the cabin, there’s plenty of room to recline as far as the seats will go, and no one behind me to kick my seat!

Here’s our view for the next few hours!

We settled in, and got ourselves some free bubbly!

I texted my Mum to tell her we had boarded, and she jokingly asked if Jamie was asleep yet…

I sent her this in reply…

SERIOUSLY.
We had been sat down for 10 minutes.
HOW DOES ONE FALL ASLEEP SO EASILY?

Thankfully the stewards noticed my despair at being used as a human pillow, and kept the vino flowing.

The Virgin Atlantic air stewards are FANTASTIC.
They can never do enough to help you, and they always have a smile on their face.
Today we had Daniel and David.
These guys would probably give you a foot massage if you asked them.
They're SO nice.
Later on I made friends with Daniel because I recognised him from our 2012 trip!

Anyway.
Check out this rain cloud.

Get me to Florida!!!
Where it’s probably just as stormy, but at least I can wear shorts.

Pretty soon we were heading to the runway!

Cue the Soarin' music in my head.

YAY.

The flight was relatively uneventful, especially with Sleeping Beauty sat next to me.

We had some food, I chose the chicken tikka.

David initially gave me vegetable moussaka by accident. I took the wrapper off and omg, it looked so bad

I’m so glad I managed to swap, the chicken tikka was definitely better.

We had some more wine and Amarula

I went to the bathroom and Jamie swapped all of our belongings over and made himself comfortable in the window seat
What a great travel companion.

The rest of the back row was empty, so I got up to stretch my legs a few times.

He’s a cute little bug really, isn’t he.

I watched Man Up, then Pitch Perfect 2, and when the stewards gave out Fab ice-lollies, I recreated a photo from last year.

Woo, we’re half way there people!

An 8-hour flight sounds very long, but breaking it up into two 4-hour flights makes it feel much shorter.
That probably makes no sense.
Oh well.

More food!
We had a chicken wrap, crisps, millionaire shortbread, a cup of tea, and MORE WINE.

The cups of tea are served in actual tea-cups.
You may think this sounds appropriate, but you are wrong.
Look how ridiculously small this cup is.

(When I’m at home I have mugs of tea that are the size of my head )
On these flights Jamie always gets a tea and gives it to me, bless him

I was trying to decide on a film to watch, when I saw the actress Mae Whitman was in a film called The Duff.
We know her as Ann from Arrested Development….
Jamie had headphones on, so I nudged him and pointed to her on my screen, and, with no volume control due to his headphones, he SHOUTED:

“EGG!!!!”

Omg, it was too funny.
I wonder what the people around us must’ve thought.

I decided to watch Spy, has anyone seen it?!
We saw it at the cinema, I find it so hilarious.

Pretty soon…

Meeeeeep!!
I got my window seat back and took in the scenery.

Hellooo Florida!!!

“Ahhh what a beautiful day! I can’t wait to soak up some sun!“

“Oh, ok then.”



Just kidding. We went through some pretty monstrous clouds on our descent, but it wasn’t so bad once we got closer to the ground.

Soon enough, we were landing at Orlando International at 5:25pm!

I’M HOME!!!!



(Travel video!)

Click for Day 1, Part 2!​

​

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 1
Tuesday 22nd September 2015
Part 2 – Aloha! Welcome home!

WE’RE HERE!
GOOD EVENING ORLANDO!

We exited the plane, went through immigration, got our luggage from the carousel, and went through a secondary inspection line.

At about 6:15pm we were waiting for everyone’s favourite fake-o-rail!!!
(Of course, it’s everyone’s favourite on day one, but it is the evilest form of torture on the last day.)

YAY!

Now that we’re in the main terminal, it’s time to find the Magical Express

By some miracle, we found it!
Orlando International is a jungle.

Since I’m the organised one, I’d packed our old Magic Bands in my carry-on, so we were well prepared for our first tapstile of the trip!
(They don't ship new bands to the UK.)

When we greeted the DME check-in lady, she asked,
“Katie and Jamie?”
…But she pronounced Jamie, like… High-Mee…?!
What the heck!?!?!
Neither of us had EVER heard this word/name before?!?
Sorry for our British ignorance, but is this how you pronounce Jamie in the Americas?!
I could be wrong, but I think it could be a Mexican/Spanish thing?
I wonder if any of you have been reading his name like this?!
(If you have, it’s JAY-Mee!!!)
We found this really funny, I still call him High-Mee to this day.
(And this wasn’t the only time someone pronounced it like this on this trip!!!)

Anyway, High-Mee and I found line number 2 and we waltzed straight through the doors and onto our beautiful Magical Express motor coach!

We waited about 5 minutes, then we were off!

Our first stop was our home for the next 2 weeks,
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort!!!
Let’s go!

We drove alongside the monorail for a while, which I got really unnecessarily excited about.

And we passed through the Magic Kingdom entrance!

At about 7:10pm, we were rolling into the Poly!!! WOO!!!

Right off the bus we were greeted by a lovely Hawaiian man who was a brand new cast member!

He was really friendly and smiley and he gave us a lei each!
He talked to us about the Poly’s dining options and their brand new pool while he was sorting out our details on his iPad.
Once he was done he brought us inside!

Our first look at the brand new lobby!!!!
We saw the old water feature in 2012, and we saw it completely boarded up and under construction last year, but THIS is by far my favourite of the three views!

Our Hawaiian friend introduced us to another CM who handled our luggage for us and took us straight over to our building.

In case you missed it in the intro,
We're staying club level!!!!
The King Kamehameha Club to be exact.
So we bypassed the front desk, and were taken straight over to the Hawaii longhouse

We didn’t even have to see anyone at the concierge desk in Hawaii, the CM just took us and our luggage straight to the elevator.

Now, this was the moment of truth…
If you’ve stayed at the Poly/know your resorts, you can probably guess why.
The Polynesian longhouses are three floors.
First floor rooms have a patio.
Third floor rooms have a balcony.
But the second floor rooms have nothing…
They have the big sliding doors, that just open up to nothingness.
(Well, there’s a fence there, of course. )

I’m not the type to kick up a fuss at Disney, but I really reallyyyy wanted that third floor balcony…!!!
It was the only thing I requested when I completed my online check in, and I even emailed the IPO (itinerary planning service that comes with club level) asking for a third floor room.

Well, we piled in the elevator….
The CM reached out to the buttons…
And he hit…

NUMBER 3!!!!!!

WE HAVE A BALCONY PEOPLE.



The smile on my face was so obnoxious.

We arrived upstairs and were taken about half way down the corridor to HERE.

Room 3510!!!

The CM told me to touch my band to the sensor, but I was confused because we hadn’t checked in or anything??
But hey-ho.
IT WORKED.
MAGIC!!!!

We thanked the CM and he left us to explore our room.

OMG, we were BLOWN AWAY.
I’d seen pictures of these rooms from every angle before coming here, and none of them will ever do justice to the real thing!
GAHHH it’s so beautiful.
And HUGE!

I had a bit of a scratchy throat last night when I was going to bed.
Luckily I was completely fine in the morning, but if I got super ill and had to stay in this room for the next two weeks, I wouldn’t even be mad.

This adorableness had been left on the bed, from the big man himself!

Thanks Mickey!!!
Here’s what the note says:

And here’s what’s in the box!

(Being the ridiculous Disney resorts fan that I am, I haven’t even eaten these chocolates, so I can’t tell you what they are The box and note are sat out in my bedroom though! …… I’m out of control.)

We’d had some turndown service, with these left on the beds

But the rest of the room can wait. I had to check out our view!!!

We had an UNBELIEVABLE theme park view room!!!

(This entire trip I was in a constant battle with the curtain pole. Here's where it all started.)

Once I made it onto the balcony I literally had tears in my eyes, and I’m not even ashamed.
I can’t believe a view like this actually exists in real life.
We stood outside for a while and took in the atmosphere.
There were speakers on the ground playing Hawaiian music, it was so relaxing!

MIND = BLOWN.

I also checked out he bathroom.
Wow, it is ginormous.
It’s a different layout to most Disney bathrooms, the sinks, bath/shower and toilet are all in one big room rather than separate.
I don’t necessarily prefer one layout to the other, although the one thing missing from the Poly rooms is a full-length mirror! Which the other resorts tend to have on the back of the bathroom doors, right?
Anyway, that was the only tiny issue, and it really didn’t affect us much at all.

Here’s our beautiful bathroom!
I love the turtle design on the wall

After a little unpacking we headed down to the concierge desk to get our new Magic Bands.
Now we have one of every colour! (Minus grey.)

The concierge CM was really nice and helpful, she really knew her stuff.
She also pulled out this button, since I’d been THAT GUY and noted my birthday on my reservation!

(Our last day was October 6th and my birthday is October 16th… Don’t judge I only wore it on two occasions.)

We went back to the room to do some more unpacking.
Sigh.
Seriously Disney, WHERE is your packing/unpacking service??!!
(In fact, hire me, I’ll do it. As long as I can spend every day in these amazing rooms )

Of course, even though we couldn’t be out having fun just yet, that doesn’t mean we can’t plan out our MUST-DOS with Queen Stacey.

HEY GIRL HEYYY.

She seems happy to see me.
(She follows me on Twitter, therefore, we’re BFFs.)

I tried my hardest to unpack, I really did.
But it’s so hard when this is right outside.

Click for Day 1, Part 3!
​

 

[OregonGirl]

my dog Stanley helped himself to it right off my plate, so I guess today is a great day for everybody.

Ha! Laughed out loud at that one.

At 10:25am we were pulling into Manchester Airport!

Manchester looks almost EXACTLY like Oregon. Clearly, I must come visit someday.

And more importantly,
Unlimited free alcohol.

Very important. And awesome.

The Virgin Atlantic air stewards are FANTASTIC.

Seriously, I need to fly Virgin Atlantic. The screens on the seats, the alcohol, the food - it all looks SO MUCH BETTER then practically any other airline I have flown.

When I’m at home I have mugs of tea that are the size of my head

Girl, I feel you. Just insert IV.

I still call him High-Mee to this day.

HAHA. My husband's name is Sterling and people get it wrong all. The. TIME. Which I then of course make fun of. To him, not the person getting it wrong. Because I am a loving wife like that. I hardly ever call him Sterling myself anyway. I call him Pookie. Which he might find embarrassing but he doesn't read the DIS the way I do, so tough luck buttercup!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 1
Tuesday 22nd September 2015
Part 3 – This is Halloween!

We finished unpacking and decided to check out the club level lounge!
This is on the second floor (above the concierge desk on the ground floor), with a balconied seating area upstairs on the third floor too.
So we walked along our corridor and came out here!

It was after 7pm so it was currently Aumoe (late evening service) with desserts and cheeses as well as some alcohol offerings.

How exciting!

We were real hungry though, and in need of an energy boost (our internal body clocks were past 1am) so we went to Captain Cook’s for something a bit more substantial.

Well, this plan was slightly flawed, because we were trying so hard to stay awake and adjust to the time zone, but the Hawaiian music was really taking its toll on our tiredness!!!!
We ordered our food and took a seat with our buzzer, and we listened to the soothing sounds.
Omg, I was nearly asleep with my head on the table.
We needed some matchsticks immediately!

Sleepy boy.

Our buzzer eventually buzzed and we took our food back to our room, stopping at the lounge on the way to get some Diet Coke, cookies and a carafe of water.

I had the grilled ham and cheese (with no cranberry sauce).
It was really good!

Jamie had the grilled chicken and bacon sandwich.
By the look on his face, I think he enjoyed it too.

(Also, I love that you can see the Contemporary right out the window!)

We decided to eat out on the balcony, because why not?!?!

Perfection!!!!

We finished our food and went to the lounge to get some milk to drink with our cookies (we’re children), and when we got back, the Electric Water Pageant music was playing SO LOUD through our open window!!!
It felt like a repeat of last year when I heard IllumiNations from the Beach Club on our first night!
I was scrambling through the mesh curtain, (and the curtain pole clunked me AGAIN )

But I made it out alive to find THIS!!!

Haha!
I just find this show the most random thing ever.
But it was REALLY cool seeing it from the Poly, I’ve never seen the floats look so HUGE before!
We decided this little guy was our favourite.
We love his innocent little smile

We sat and enjoyed the parade, and I went back inside to finish organising my stuff.

Then at 10pm, HalloWishes started!!!!
OMG you guys.
This was absolutely INCREDIBLE.
And as an unexpected bonus, there seemed to be a speaker on the ground right outside our room, so we could hear the entire show really clearly!!
It was absolutely magical!!!

"Move over old boy, and let Mr. Oogie kick it up a notch!"

I think the panoramic fireworks at the end can only be fully appreciated from the Poly!
They were all the way across the horizon!
Amazing!

When the show ended, everyone down our longhouse clapped and cheered!!!
This is definitely one of my top Disney experiences ever.
I’m so grateful I’ve had the opportunity to experience this!
All thanks to Jamie, and the Polynesian construction planners.


(In case you missed my pre-trip report – we originally booked a garden view room, but I was a little disappointed to learn that we’d be looking out on extensive construction work on that side of the longhouse.
I really couldn’t afford to spend any more money on this trip so I figured I’d just deal with it, but Jamie went ahead and upgraded us to theme park view himself!!! What an angel )

After the fireworks we were pretty exhausted.
I took some last pictures of the room to remember how tidy it was on the first day

I got ready for bed in the bathroom, and when I turned around I saw THIS at the door.

Yes, there is clouded window on the bathroom door.
Yes, it is creepy.



We finally went to sleep at around 10:30pm.
This was 3:30am to us!

My alarm was set for 7am!

Tomorrow we’re heading to the Magic Kingdom!!!!




(Disney's Polynesian video!)

Click for Day 2, Part 1!​

​

 

[Dentam]

Wow - your room was amazing!! For some reason a few of the pics aren't showing up for me, but the ones of the main part of your room and the view are awesome. I would love to stay there someday!

Can't wait to read more!

ETA: And... I just saw your post with the videos of the fireworks outside your room. WOW! I admit I am feeling a bit green with envy right now!!

 

[KathyM2]

Disney adrenaline should be studied for science.

Totally...always so hard to sleep before.

We had some food, I chose the chicken tikka.

I just can't imagine getting a choice of food on a plane!! Shocking!! I guess on a flight of 8 hours they HAVE to feed you something...but still a choice seems so luxurious lol

when the stewards gave out Fab lollies,

Lollies...is that as in...ice cream? Popsicle?? Or lollipop?? British term again, right? Looks good whatever it was lol

I decided to watch Spy, has anyone seen it?!

I loved that movie. LOL funny.

WE HAVE A BALCONY PEOPLE.

So awesome. You are so lucky to have stayed at the Poly.

 

[DisneyKates]

Hallowishes from the balcony?!?!? Shut.Up. That's amazing. I can live without club level, but this is totally on my bucket list now!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Enjoyed your "I Can Fly" flight video.

Wow, this is so exciting to read about! Looks like you had a perfect room at the Poly. Those chocolates on the pillow -- did they have pineapple filling, or was the pineapple just on the wrappers?

Americans usually do say "Jamie" the way you do, but I think "Jaime" is pronounced like "high-me".

BTW, only a couple more months until "Fuller House" starts. Have you seen the trailer?

 

[hbrc2125]

I've been quietly reading the last couple of updates but I just can't believe how beautiful that room is!

I have been nagging my boyfriend to take one more trip back before we do Disneyland and i'm bribing him with these pictures We promised ourselves we'd stay at the Poly next time we went.

So excited to read more, it's slowly getting easier and easier with my PDD.....

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

That room and view are amazing - and you got to stay there two whole weeks????

Your last TR is one of the reasons I've booked BC for my next trip - now you've got me thinking that I'll have to try and do the Poly too!

By the way I saw this and thought of you

 

[DisneyJo]

Wow your view is absolutely amazing and OMG you did well to stay awake

 

[jandlinz]

Yippee! You made it! Your videos were great. I love the water pageant. When I was a kid my family a
Ways stayed at Fort Wilderness and watched the parade. I haven't seen it in many years. I'm hoping to stay at a monorail resort just to give my kids the experience of watching it and the fireworks on the beach. The Poly is my dream resort to visit. I'm really looking forward to reading how your stay went.

 

[disneyguy4life]

WHAT A VIEW!!! I am so glad you guys got the chance to upgrade. If you ask me... WORTH IT!! It sounds like a tired but great first day. I can't wait to hear more about High-mee and your TR. High-mee LOL! Classic!

 

[TiffanyA]

When we greeted the DME check-in lady, she asked,
“Katie and Jamie?”
…But she pronounced Jamie, like… High-Mee…?!
What the heck!?!?!
Neither of us had EVER heard this word/name before?!?
Sorry for our British ignorance, but is this how you pronounce Jamie in the Americas?!
I could be wrong, but I think it could be a Mexican/Spanish thing?
I wonder if any of you have been reading his name like this?!
(If you have, it’s JAY-Mee!!!)
We found this really funny, I still call him High-Mee to this day.
(And this wasn’t the only time someone pronounced it like this on this trip!!!)
​

It is indeed a Spanish thing. There is a name, Jaime (notice the difference in spelling!), that is quite common at least in Florida. Since the "J" in Spanish is pronounced as an "H", it is "High-Meh". With just one letter difference in the spellings of Jaime and Jamie and the Spanish name common in Florida, it's easy to see why there might have been several mix-ups!

 

[pkondz]

Good morning! Good morrrrrning!!
Itttt’s Diiiisney day, take 2!

If only you were a little enthusiastic about it.
It'd make for a better TR.
Just sayin'.

After returning from my family trip to Disneyland Paris on Friday evening, I had just Saturday, Sunday and Monday to prepare to jet off to sunny Orlando Florida!

Oh, you poor thing! How ever did you manage?

(like make-up and Jaffa Cakes… Essentials).

Sure. Yup. Essentials.

Before I knew it, I was lying in bed on Monday night staring at the ceiling and counting down the hours until my alarm went off.

Ugh... I hate that. And there's nothing you can do about it.
Well... there is. But then you don't wake up in the morning.

Disney adrenaline should be studied for science.

Think of all the lives they could save!

I was too distracted/excited to even eat my morning toast, but my dog Stanley helped himself to it right off my plate,

Dogs. Always looking for that opportunity.

We arrived nice and early at about 8:40am, and Jamie went into one of the stores to buy himself some hairspray.
If that’s not the perfect example of being a disorganised, last-minute kinda guy, I don’t know what is

A real man steps out of the shower and doesn't even touch his hair.
(An old man does that too. But only because he doesn't have any.)

After waiting no longer than 2 minutes out in the cold, Jamie dramatically threw his head back and proclaimed,

“THIS IS THE WORST HOLIDAY EVER!!!”

Oh, no! The horror!

Love that gif.

We took advantage of some free tea and shortbread… How British!

Tea. Whatevs. But... did someone say SHORTBREAD!?!?!?!?!?

(We had 3 big suitcases. It was ridiculous.)
(…yes, two of them were mine.)

And Jamie gets to pull two of them.

However, our flight wasn’t until 1:45pm, which meant we had over 2 hours to wait until boarding

I'd much rather get through security and be settled and ready 2 hours ahead then be at security frantically checking the time.

Jamie bought some socks.

Oh, good grief!

You're plane's named Barbarella!

We were flying Premium Economy, so we had priority boarding.

Niiiice. And then you watch the riff raff board.
Please tell me you looked down upon them with contempt.

And more importantly,
Unlimited free alcohol.

Woot!

They’re the same seats as last year, in the last row on the right hand side by the window.

I didn't get the attraction (we try for the first row (more leg room)) until I read...

Even though they’re at the back of the cabin, there’s plenty of room to recline as far as the seats will go, and no one behind me to kick my seat!

...that.

Here’s our view for the next few hours!

Were the waters supplied? Or did you bring those?

I texted my Mum to tell her we had boarded, and she jokingly asked if Jamie was asleep yet…

I sent her this in reply…

Already?!?!?

We had been sat down for 10 minutes.
HOW DOES ONE FALL ASLEEP SO EASILY?

I don't know! But that's a pretty good skill to have!

These guys would probably give you a foot massage if you asked them.

Next time.... ask them.

Get me to Florida!!!
Where it’s probably just as stormy, but at least I can wear shorts.

We had some food, I chose the chicken tikka.

Exact same thing I would've picked.

Thank goodness for those pepper slices. Otherwise it might not look appetizing.

I went to the bathroom and Jamie had swapped all of our belongings over and made himself comfortable in the window seat
What a great travel companion.

Oh, Katie. You could do sooo much better.
Tell him that. He'll never steal your window seat again.

He’s a cute little bug really, isn’t he.

Awww... Don't you just want to pinch his cheek?

(Not saying which one.)

An 8-hour flight sounds very long, but breaking it up into two 4-hour flights makes it feel much shorter.

Sure. Makes total sense.
Do they let you stretch your legs out on the wing?

We had a chicken wrap, crisps, millionaire shortbread, a cup of tea, and MORE WINE.

SHORTBREAD!!!!!

The cups of tea are served in actual tea-cups.
You may think this sounds appropriate, but you are wrong.
Look how ridiculously small this cup is.

OMG! Look at your giant hand!!!

I decided to watch Spy, has anyone seen it?!

No. Good?

Aaahhhh! It's a giant eye! It probably belongs to that giant hand!

“Ahhh what a beautiful day! I can’t wait to soak up some sun!“

“Oh, ok then.”

Er....

(Travel video!)

Dang it! At work again. All those vids will just have to wait.

We exited the plane, went through immigration

Guess we're lucky. We get to clear in Canada so once we land we don't have to get in line for that at least.

(Of course, it’s everyone’s favourite on day one, but it is the evilest form of torture on the last day.)

True. So true.
It's just not fun the second time in a trip.

Now that we’re in the main terminal, it’s time to find the Magical Express

Same. Magical Depress on the way home.

(They don't ship new bands to the UK.)

Or anywhere outside the U.S.

…But she pronounced Jamie, like… High-Mee…?!

What? I saw @TiffanyA answer to this, so I guess it makes sense, but...
I immediately thought of Himey from Get Smart (movie or TV series.)

Sorry for our British ignorance, but is this how you pronounce Jamie in the Americas?!

No.

(If you have, it’s JAY-Mee!!!)

This is correct. You may continue to be involved with him.

We drove alongside the monorail for a while, which I got really unnecessarily excited about.

Of course! Who wouldn't!?!?

was really friendly and smiley and he gave us a lei each!

But the second floor rooms have nothing…
They have the big sliding doors, that just open up to nothingness.

I would hate that.
I would insist on not having a ground floor.
The sound of 2nd floor guests falling to their collective deaths would keep me up at night.

(Well, there’s a fence there, of course. )

Oh. Well, nevermind then.

The CM reached out to the buttons…
And he hit…

NUMBER 3!!!!!!

WE HAVE A BALCONY PEOPLE.

All right!!!

The smile on my face was so obnoxious.

We arrived upstairs and were taken about half way down the corridor to HERE.

Room 3510!!!

We then walked past it to our actual room, which was 3517.

but if I got super ill and had to stay in this room for the next two weeks, I wouldn’t even be mad.

Yes you would.

Being the ridiculous Disney resorts fan that I am, I haven’t even eaten these chocolates, so I can’t tell you what they are

Oh, I'd be the exact same way!
Well, almost the same.

Okay I'd eat them with one hand while I was putting my suitcase down with the other.
(Unless of course I had my hands full with two, like Himey. Then I'd just pounce on them, mouth first.)

We had an UNBELIEVABLE theme park view room!!!

Holy crap! What a great view!

Want!

(This entire trip I was in a constant battle with the curtain pole. Here's where it all started.)

Dang it!!!!

I await my release from work with bated breath.

(Our last day was October 6th and my birthday is October 16th… Don’t judge I only wore it on two occasions.)

Not judging at all. Soak it up.

(She follows me on Twitter, therefore, we’re BFFs.)

Knew that.
And... yes.

This is on the second floor (above the concierge desk on the ground floor), with a balconied seating area upstairs on the third floor too.
So we walked along our corridor and came out here!

No 2nd floor balcony there either, huh?

It was after 7pm so it was currently Aumoe (late evening service) with desserts and cheeses as well as some alcohol offerings.

Yumm! How does one sneak into there when one is staying at a lowly Value resort?

I had the grilled ham and cheese (with no cranberry sauce).

Mmmm.... Multi-grain bread.

By the look on his face, I think he enjoyed it too.

Or was he just happy he could close his eyes?

But I made it out alive to find THIS!!!

Nice way to start a vacation if you ask me!

Then at 10pm, HalloWishes started!!!!
OMG you guys.
This was absolutely INCREDIBLE.
And as an unexpected bonus, there seemed to be a speaker on the ground right outside our room, so we could hear the entire show really clearly!!
It was absolutely magical!!!

Love Hallowishes! And you got such great view!

Awesome shot!

When the show ended, everyone down our longhouse clapped and cheered!!!

I got ready for bed in the bathroom, and when I turned around I saw THIS at the door.

Agh! "Here's Johnny!"

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Disney adrenaline should be studied for science.

It really should. Scientists would have plenty of data to go through

(We had 3 big suitcases. It was ridiculous.)
(…yes, two of them were mine.)

Well what else are you going to take souvenirs back in?!

What a beautiful view!

Soon enough, we were landing at Orlando International at 5:25pm!

I’M HOME!!!!

Best feeling in the world!

I wonder if any of you have been reading his name like this?!
(If you have, it’s JAY-Mee!!!)

LOL, I was reading it the correct way! But yeah that's strange - that is usually the Spanish way to say it...

WE HAVE A BALCONY PEOPLE.

That day was just getting better and better for you! That is so great you were able to get a balcony!!!!

GAHHH it’s so beautiful.
And HUGE!

Gosh that room is beautiful! SO opnen but very cozy and just fantastic!!

This adorableness had been left on the bed, from the big man himself!

LOVE THIS

We had an UNBELIEVABLE theme park view room!!!

That view is absolutely spectacular.

HEY GIRL HEYYY.

(She follows me on Twitter, therefore, we’re BFFs.)

I remember you saying that in your PTR - you lucky duck! She is amazing.

And as an unexpected bonus, there seemed to be a speaker on the ground right outside our room, so we could hear the entire show really clearly!!
It was absolutely magical!!!

Gosh being able to see Hallowishes from your balcony just wounds incredible. How lucky you and Jamie were to be able to experience that!

This is definitely one of my top Disney experiences ever.
I’m so grateful I’ve had the opportunity to experience this!
All thanks to Jamie, and the Polynesian construction planners.

You are too cute

I love the video at the end - so much fun!!

Great first WDW update Katie, I can't wait to read about your first day in MK!!!

 

[MagentaMulan]

The view from your room is amazing!!!! If I ever stay at the Poly I want to book the same area!

 

[mlegerto]

So happy that you have a new TR to follow!

We stayed at the Poly in August/September in the DVC villas with an MK view. Such an amazing thing to come home to a lit up castle every night! Now I feel too spoiled and not sure I can stay anywhere else with a different view ever again! LOL

Can't wait for more!

 

[disneyjes]

You guys got to WDW right after we left. Hallowishes was so great!

Can't wait for more!

 

[orangecats2]

I'm here. GAH you have no idea how much I want to go to Paris!!! Paris and Disneyland are the two places on my bucket list! Bonus that there's a Disney Park outside of Paris! Have you ever walked around Hotel Santa Fe? Why is it more expensive to pay with dollars then Pounds? Anyhoo, I loved you mini TR on PDL, looking forward to WDW!