Canadians and Americans meeting in Hawaii! A multi family October 2011 Poly TR

[BreezysMom]

Aloha and welcome to our TR!

We started a PTR leading up to this trip but life and other things kept us from keeping it updated. To learn more about how our vacations came about.... check out our PTR here!

Despite our lack of attention as our trip approached to our PTR . We did all end up at the Poly in late October. The weather was fabulous, the Polynesian was wonderful and we had so much more fun than we could ever imagine!

I hope you follow along with us as we try to get over our Post Poly Depression Syndrome by sharing each or our families trip adventures and pictures

 

[BreezysMom]

OK, Well I will start. Hopefully my travel buddies will come along soon and contribute! As you will see, I like to add some past trip pics in my TR because it just astonishes me how quickly our kiddos grow up

We departed Chicago on Sunday 10/23. We had a 7am flight on Southwest. It was a first for us flying SW. I got a decent fare and I like the no baggage fees. Although, with each Disney trip I have learned that I usually bring way too much so I scaled down the packing considerably for this trip. Thankfully I had a full three days of not having to work prior to our departure so packing and getting the house in order was not too much of a hassle. As a matter of fact, I was a bit lackadaisical about it because I was not under pressure. Despite my laziness we were set and ready to go by 5pm Saturday night. I went and got a mani and pedi, picked up a pizza for dinner and we all were snug in bed by 9pm Thankfully we all slept well as I was a little nervous we would be too excited to sleep! It had been a long two years of waiting to return to Disney and the Poly

Breezy crossing off the last Mickey head

At 3:45am our alarm went off. We all hopped out of bed and started to get ready. We had a town car coming because I got a great deal on Groupon and I did not want to bother family to drive us to the airport at 5am! Of course even though I did not request a pick up until 5am he was in front of the house at 4:30 We were ready to go a bit before 5am so we headed off to the airport!

Our traditional airport pic!

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OK, it appears DH does not look so happy in the middle pic

The whole SW experience to Orlando was seamless and wonderful. I was very happy! We landed 15 minutes early and eagerly headed to ME. Our happiness was quickly squashed as we approached the ME boarding area . The place was MOBBED!!! How dare all these people be waiting to head to their resorts!

Being this was our first trip arriving at this time we were not used to ME being so crowded! The line for the Poly was three buses deep In past trips we have arrived either early on Sat or Sun evening or a weekday. But DH, Breezy and I waited (not so) patiently for our turn to get on our bus as we were so excited to get to the Poly!! Like I said, after they filled two buses. We were the first in line to get on the next bus...go figure

But we did finally get on ME and off to the Poly we headed! Once we were on the bus all our angst disappeared and I could tell we were all starting to feel the magic We were heading to the Poly and we were finally going to be able to meet our good friends from Canada in person as they were due to arrive shortly after us!!

After a quick stop at the WL we were dropped off at the Poly. It was a bit chaotic at the Poly entrance, but being Poly veterans we decided to just head to Hawaii ourselves and get checked in! We love that first walk back through the lobby anyways! Since it was only about noon, we did not expect our room to be ready so we planned to check in, store our carry on luggage and head to the Magic Kingdom....but we also did not expect a massive dose of Pixie Dust!


Coming up...We are finally back home at the Poly and it is better than ever!!

 

[haleofafamily]

I've been lurking on the Poly board and followed your link over to read about your trip. I can't wait to hear all about it! I will be staying at the Poly for the first time with my mom at the end of Feb. So I'm obssessed with finding out everything I can about it!

Merci

 

[swwake]

I'm subscribing. I followed you over from the Poly thread and we will be there in exactly 1 month! I am so excited, and can't wait to hear your details.

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Can't wait to here more. One day I will stay at the Poly.....hopefully.

 

[BreezysMom]

I've been lurking on the Poly board and followed your link over to read about your trip. I can't wait to hear all about it! I will be staying at the Poly for the first time with my mom at the end of Feb. So I'm obssessed with finding out everything I can about it!

Merci

I'm subscribing. I followed you over from the Poly thread and we will be there in exactly 1 month! I am so excited, and can't wait to hear your details.

Can't wait to here more. One day I will stay at the Poly.....hopefully.

friends! I hope we can keep you captivated! I hope to finish up arrival day later tonight

 

[BreezysMom]

So after making our way to the Hawaii Longhouse we walked in and were greeted with the standard Alohas! I sat down with Tom, a very friendly CM. He started chatting with us and we told him how excited we were to be back! After some more small talk he told us our room was not ready but he noticed we requested a third floor room. I confirmed this request and then he stated that he could possibly get us a room on the second floor on the lagoon side I looked at DH who had somewhat of a disappointed/confused look on his face. I know he enjoys his balcony, but we were being offered a upgrade to LV and balcony or no balcony, I was taking it! I knew he would get over not having a balcony the minute he walked into the room On a side note, when we walked into Hawaii to check in I ran into Woodkins from the DIS who was also checking in. Her DD and mine met and within minutes had hunkered down in the lounge snacking and watching the Disney channel!

As I suspected, the room was not ready. We were starving so we grabbed some snacks from the lounge and something to drink then we stored our stuff and headed to the Magic Kingdom for our traditional first walk down Main Street! They had told us that we would receive a text when our room was ready but after all these years on the DIS, I knew that the majority of the time, a text was never sent and true to form it never happened.

DH had to represent the Bears!
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We headed to the boat launch and enjoyed our ride over. The weather was magnificent! It was low 80s, not a cloud in the sky and zero humidity! While the weather was beautiful, we had received this magical upgrade I was so unsettled as we had no "home" yet. ME had half our luggage, bell services had the other part and we also had some of our things locked up in a safe deposit box at the front desk. Plus, we had been up so early, I was tired and a little cranky. But then I looked behind me as we were cruising across the lagoon and I felt happy again

Our goal was to at least ride SM and BTM. SM was closed on our last trip and DD had been dying to ride it. Of course, the mean Mom that I am made her stop to take our traditional arrival pics!

There is nothing like walking into the MK, rounding the center hub and taking that first walk down Main Street! I could go 100 times and still feel all misty eyed. We did get lots of Photopass pics taken and I will add those at a later date. I just could not wait until I received the disk to start the TR!

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So we headed to SM, got a fast pass and then high tailed it to BTM. There was hardly any wait for BTM so we jumped in line and BTM became our first official ride of our 2011 trip! After two rounds on BTM we headed for DD and mine's first ride on the new refurbed Space Mtn and DH first ride ever! Over the years he has been getting more into riding the coasters Everyone was really pleased with the ride but we were getting tired and hungry. We decided to get a snack and try and ride a couple more rides because the park was closing at 7pm for a party and I wanted to get back and find out where are room was and if our luggage arrived safely

In the meantime I received a text from Maiapapaya and Ambriel that they had arrived and were also at the MK! Finally after all these years we were going to be able to meet face to face and while we planned to just run into them in the Hawaii lounge we actually encountered them at the exit of Splash Mountain! I was so excited to see them I screamed and ran and hugged them! DH was convinced that they probably thought that I was a nut! After a few minutes of chatting we parted ways so they could do their thing and then we headed back to the Poly to unpack and then have a lite dinner in the lounge.

Leaving the MK after a fabulous first day in the parks! It really paid off getting an early flight! Another tradition is we buy a balloon on our first day to keep in the room. It helps keep the air conditioner running at night and as I found this trip...it helps to bring it in the bathroom when you shower as it keeps the fan running too It beats me whipping a towel from the inside of the shower to get the fan to flip back on which I am sure is quite a sight. Thankfully a sight that no human has ever witnessed

We entered the Hawaii building and I explained that I never received a text. They CM gave me our room number and we were off to see our room! I could not wait!!!

Just as I imagined, the view was fabulous. The room was a categorized as a LV because there were some palm trees but I could care less. I loved to be able to see the castle, hear the ferry whistle and watch the kids playing on the beach!

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While I unpacked I sent DH and DD off to explore the resort so I could have the room to myself and get our stuff unpacked, our room all set and organized so we could all finally relax together As I was unpacking I looked outside to this....

DH relaxing in a hammock and DD playing in the sand! I really felt like we were on vacation now!

After the room was all set we enjoyed the lounge offerings and DH and I enjoyed a beverage, or two and then we headed off to the beach for campfire and a movie.

We did indeed get to catch up with our Canadian friends in the lounge for a bit. It was wonderful because our girls hit it off quickly and became fast buddies!

It was a fabulous first day filled with good luck, fabulous surprises and new friends

Stay tuned for day two....

 

[TDluvsDaisy]

Wonderful!! I'm in!

 

[pas130]

I'm here I had a less then magical Poly check-in 2 weeks ago. And I grumpy DH as I moved us the next morning. We spent every day visiting his happy place. So I just changed dates today to Spring Break at the Poly This trip will be great, meanwhile I shall enjoy your TR