WDW Poly Princess
Needs a Disney Fix
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2000
- Messages
- 4,873
*once again, if you prefer the version with photos, go to www.lovemanythings.net/disney/2002index.html
Day 2- November 13, 2002
When I woke up at 6:30 the next morning, I stepped out on my balcony to find that it was quite windy and chilly, and we had definitely gotten some more rain overnight. There were tree branches all over the pathways, and it was generally a huge mess! There were maintenance CMs outside cleaning up the walkways- I felt bad for them being out there so early in the cold weather to make the resort beautiful for the guests. Thanks, guys!
I ordered Tonga Toast from room service, and took some time to get dressed while I waited for it arrived. Around 7:30, the lovely room service CM showed up with my breakfast, and set up the table in my room for me, complete with tablecloth
I had hoped for breakfast out on my balcony, but staying inside my nice warm room won out this time! I barely made it through half of my Tonga Toast before my stomach decided it was a bit too early for something so sweet. It took a while, but I finally finished it- I couldnt stand to waste so much of something that I had been looking forward to all year, not to mention that it was a $20 breakfast! (Tonga Toast is only $10, but by the time you add tax, service charge, milk, and tip, it was $18.78. Well worth it though!) After breakfast, the sun had come out, but it was still quite chilly, so I set out bundled up in my jeans and WDW sweatshirt. As I walked by Captain Cooks on my way to the bus stop, I noticed a big sign by the door saying that due to a sewer problem, Captain Cooks had been temporarily relocated to the area up next to Kona. I couldnt imagine how they had accomplished that, and made a note to check it out later.
Since the sun was out and the chill was tolerable, I decided on Animal Kingdom, thinking that the cooler temperatures would make the animals a bit more active. The DAK bus was already pulling away when I got to the bus stop, so I had about a 20 minute wait, and got the next bus at 8:40am. My plan was to hit the Safari first, and then wing it from there on. The lines to the entrances were already quite long, as the park wasnt open yet when I got there. I was having fun watching the talking palm tree that was roaming around the crowd, and even spotted the guy that was controlling it. It was absolutely hilarious when it started following some children, and they ran away screaming. (Poor kids are going to be explaining THAT one to their therapists in the future!)
Next came the incident that will go down in Disney trip history! Still waiting in line, I noticed a man go up to the CM at the turnstiles to ask a question. The man behind me started screaming at him, telling him that the end of the line Was about a half mile back that way!. The man ignored him at first, and finally came over to tell him that they had an early PS, and was just asking the CM about getting to it. The man behind me started absolutely SCREAMING at him, cussing him out, telling him to get the **** to the back of the line and such! The man kept telling him that he was not trying to cut in line, and to mind his own business. The next thing I knew, the two were RIGHT behind me, up in each others faces! One was encouraging the other to hit him, and I just knew that fists were going to start flying!
The guy who had been up asking the questions wife looked embarrassed, while Guuy Behind Mes wife was screaming obscenities right along with the men. I was tempted to turn around and tell them that there were children around, and that the 5-year olds with mouse ears were being much more mature than they were, as well as telling the guy behind me that we were already behind about four hundred people, so even if Question Guy had been trying to cut, Animal Kingdom would still be there when he arrived. However, Im pretty fond of surviving my Disney trips, and was afraid that I would either get hit, screamed at, or thrown out of the park. The security guards finally came over to break up the fight after it had been going on several minutes. All I could think was what a lovely trip the man behind mes family must be having traveling with him! (Later, I found out that Nate had also been in line to get into AK at the time, but he hadnt heard the fight. Poor Nate, missing out!)
Once inside the park, I took a moment to enjoy finally being away from the family behind me, and took a minute to laugh at what had just happened. I could NOT believe a real fight had broken out at Disney World!
I made it to the Safari, and got on one of the first tours of the day- yay! As much as I love seeing all of the animals, the Safari is starting to get a bit old for me. I really prefer the trails where you can take time to stop and really watch the animals you like, rather than just catching a glimpse of them as you drive by. After getting off the ride, a man turned around and asked me So which animals do you think were real and which do you think were fake? Before I could tell him that they are all real, he looked at me and said Oh, sorry, I thought you were my daughter!!. Oops!
I heard them discussing the animals, and deciding that the lion and the hippos werent real. I love listening to people at WDW!
My next stop was Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. I stopped to watch the naked mole rats for a few minutes- I love those guys! I also enjoyed watching the meerkats- (how do you spell that?) They always remind me of Timon from the Lion King. I think its neat that in the little area near their exhibit, there is always a CM talking about them, and also the skulls of all sorts of animals found on the trail. There was a meerkat skull right next to a warthog skull- a big Lion King shoutout there!
Next was my very favorite part of the trail- the gorillas! I got to watch one eating for a while, but then he walked off to the water. Everyone was assuming he was going over to drink, but next thing we knew, we all had front row seats to Mr Gorilla taking a potty break! I apologize to the gorilla for the fact that I took a picture of the event, but it really was a Kodac moment.
My next stop was to hop aboard the Wildlife Express to Conservation Station (Or is it Rafikis Planet Watch now? Disney needs to stop changing attraction names.) My mission was to go check the vet schedule for the daythe DAK vets post a schedule over at Conservation station that tells about the different procedures they will be doing that day that you can watch. (I had planed on being a vet for a long time, and am almost finished with a course Im taking to be a vet assistant, so getting to watch them work is one of my favorite things at DAK). Unfortunately, they didnt have anything on the schedule that day. I spent a few minutes looking around the rest of the building, and found out that they have the world record largest tarantula there! He wasnt on display, but some others were, and they were certainly large!
If youve never taken the Wildlife Express, I should mention that on the trip, you get to see some of the buildings that they house the animals in at night. I got a chance last year to explore them in person when I took the Backstage Safari tour. I also love the Wildlife Express station! The luggage, notes about poachers, etc. make it a fun place to explore!
I decided to go catch the next Festival of the Lion King show, and on my way, I saw DeVine! DeVine is a woman who dresses up on stilts as a plant, and generally remains completely still for a while, so that most people pass her completely by, and cant figure out what the others are giggling at. I overheard one of the people watching her say Ill bet her mother never expected her to grow up and do THAT!, and cracked up!
At Festival of the Lion King, the usual cast was all still there, which made me quite happy, as I love them all! This is by far my favorite show in all of WDW. The music and lights and dance are all combined into a fantastic show!
My final stop in AK for the day was the Flights of Wonder show. I always enjoy this one! Before the show, one of the CMs was out by the entrance with a beautiful owl. It was great to get to see one so close, and for everyone to get to ask the CM questions about it. Being a Harry Potter fan, I wanted to name it Hedwig and bring it home with me, but alas, I dont think Disney would have been very hot on that idea
Around 2, it was back over to the Polynesian for a mid-day break. I went up to Kona, and Captain Cooks had in fact been relocated to the area next to it. I had been in the mood for my beloved Polynesian French fries, but they didnt have any of their foods that required cooking up there (no fries, pizza, chicken, etc.) Pretty much all they had was a selection of fruit, chips, bagels, etc. Sadly, the cheesecake I had wanted the night before wasnt there
I asked them if they thought they would be back downstairs the next day, hoping for some Poly fries before I left, but the CM told me that they would probably be up there for two weeks! I settled for a pear and a bagel, and went back to my room to relax and eat.
I have no notes in my notebook after Animal Kingdom, so sorry if the rest of the day isnt very detailed!
I had a message on my cell phone from Nate saying that he was at MGM, and that we could meet up for Fantasmic that night, so I decided to go on over to MGM. I called him up, only to find that he had just left MGM so that he and his sister could catch a nap over at the Lodge. I was perfectly happy to explore MGM alone, so I went over to the Backlot Tour first, since I have never been on it before, and wanted to guarentee that I got to see it this time! There was a five to ten minute wait, and then a large group of us was let into a tiered area where we stood to watch the special effects show where they filmed scenes with extras from the audience, and then edited it with other footage to make a little movie. Very neat! When we boarded the trams, I ended up sitting with a woman named Helen, who it turns out was also traveling solo! We chatted for a bit about the ups and down of solo traveling while our tram took us through Catastrophe Canyon (SO very cool!), and the rest of the backlot. Afterwards, she said she was going to Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and asked if I wanted to join her. Id never seen that show, and was glad to have company for a while, so off we went! I have to admit that this show is cute, and some of the effects are fun, but far too often you can see the people that are operating the puppets, and I think it could be a lot better. I cant help but wonder how long it will be until this one is replaced, as it reminds me a bit of the recently departed Legend of the Lion King.
Helen and I parted ways, and I set off to Muppet Vision 3D (err, um, I think I did. Again, no notes.) Then, while I was in line for the Great Movie Ride, Nate called to say that he was back at MGM, and that he and his sister were going to try to ride TOT and Rockin Rollercoaster before Fantasmic. I wished them luck, and told them I would meet up with them after I got out of the Movie Ride. Given that the Great Movie Ride (can you believe its closing? I am so sad!) is around a half hour long, I was pretty sure they would get in at least one of the rides by the time I got out. As I walked towards the Tower of Terror/Rockin Rollercoaster area (or as another trip report author called it, Stop, Drop, and Roll), and tried calling Nate, but there was no answer, and my cell phone battery was dying! I managed to go into its phone book and scribble Nates number on my hand so that I could call him from the pay phone if I didnt find him. I stood at a spot near the exits to both TOT and RnRc, keeping an eye out, and finally spotted him! I was amazed that between the huge crowds from both rides and people seating for Fantasmic, we managed to find each other! We managed to get pretty good seats for Fantasmic, and his sister, who had never been to WDW couldnt believe that Fantasmic is often standing room only!
We had a great time trading stories of our adventures so far, and generally catching up since we hadnt seen each other in almost a year! As usual, The Wave broke out amongst the crowd, but soon it was time for the real show! We had a great time singing along and such, and really enjoyed the show. We all cracked up at the Prince Eric on the float with Ariel- instead of the suave, handsome prince we have all come to expect, Ariel had some overweight, middle-aged guy in an Eric costume! Poor Ariel! We joked about how Prince Eric had really let himself go over the years, and that Ariel should leave him for Prince Charming. What on earth was Disney thinking when they cast this guy?
After the show, we sat around for a while, letting the crowds clear out. When it was starting to look empty, we joined the huge crowd and parted ways at the bus stop, with plans to meet up for Illuminations and Spectromagic within the next few days. I enjoyed my last night at the Poly, and got ready for another early morning.
Day 2- November 13, 2002
When I woke up at 6:30 the next morning, I stepped out on my balcony to find that it was quite windy and chilly, and we had definitely gotten some more rain overnight. There were tree branches all over the pathways, and it was generally a huge mess! There were maintenance CMs outside cleaning up the walkways- I felt bad for them being out there so early in the cold weather to make the resort beautiful for the guests. Thanks, guys!
I ordered Tonga Toast from room service, and took some time to get dressed while I waited for it arrived. Around 7:30, the lovely room service CM showed up with my breakfast, and set up the table in my room for me, complete with tablecloth
I had hoped for breakfast out on my balcony, but staying inside my nice warm room won out this time! I barely made it through half of my Tonga Toast before my stomach decided it was a bit too early for something so sweet. It took a while, but I finally finished it- I couldnt stand to waste so much of something that I had been looking forward to all year, not to mention that it was a $20 breakfast! (Tonga Toast is only $10, but by the time you add tax, service charge, milk, and tip, it was $18.78. Well worth it though!) After breakfast, the sun had come out, but it was still quite chilly, so I set out bundled up in my jeans and WDW sweatshirt. As I walked by Captain Cooks on my way to the bus stop, I noticed a big sign by the door saying that due to a sewer problem, Captain Cooks had been temporarily relocated to the area up next to Kona. I couldnt imagine how they had accomplished that, and made a note to check it out later.Since the sun was out and the chill was tolerable, I decided on Animal Kingdom, thinking that the cooler temperatures would make the animals a bit more active. The DAK bus was already pulling away when I got to the bus stop, so I had about a 20 minute wait, and got the next bus at 8:40am. My plan was to hit the Safari first, and then wing it from there on. The lines to the entrances were already quite long, as the park wasnt open yet when I got there. I was having fun watching the talking palm tree that was roaming around the crowd, and even spotted the guy that was controlling it. It was absolutely hilarious when it started following some children, and they ran away screaming. (Poor kids are going to be explaining THAT one to their therapists in the future!)
Next came the incident that will go down in Disney trip history! Still waiting in line, I noticed a man go up to the CM at the turnstiles to ask a question. The man behind me started screaming at him, telling him that the end of the line Was about a half mile back that way!. The man ignored him at first, and finally came over to tell him that they had an early PS, and was just asking the CM about getting to it. The man behind me started absolutely SCREAMING at him, cussing him out, telling him to get the **** to the back of the line and such! The man kept telling him that he was not trying to cut in line, and to mind his own business. The next thing I knew, the two were RIGHT behind me, up in each others faces! One was encouraging the other to hit him, and I just knew that fists were going to start flying!
The guy who had been up asking the questions wife looked embarrassed, while Guuy Behind Mes wife was screaming obscenities right along with the men. I was tempted to turn around and tell them that there were children around, and that the 5-year olds with mouse ears were being much more mature than they were, as well as telling the guy behind me that we were already behind about four hundred people, so even if Question Guy had been trying to cut, Animal Kingdom would still be there when he arrived. However, Im pretty fond of surviving my Disney trips, and was afraid that I would either get hit, screamed at, or thrown out of the park. The security guards finally came over to break up the fight after it had been going on several minutes. All I could think was what a lovely trip the man behind mes family must be having traveling with him! (Later, I found out that Nate had also been in line to get into AK at the time, but he hadnt heard the fight. Poor Nate, missing out!) Once inside the park, I took a moment to enjoy finally being away from the family behind me, and took a minute to laugh at what had just happened. I could NOT believe a real fight had broken out at Disney World!
I made it to the Safari, and got on one of the first tours of the day- yay! As much as I love seeing all of the animals, the Safari is starting to get a bit old for me. I really prefer the trails where you can take time to stop and really watch the animals you like, rather than just catching a glimpse of them as you drive by. After getting off the ride, a man turned around and asked me So which animals do you think were real and which do you think were fake? Before I could tell him that they are all real, he looked at me and said Oh, sorry, I thought you were my daughter!!. Oops!
I heard them discussing the animals, and deciding that the lion and the hippos werent real. I love listening to people at WDW! My next stop was Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. I stopped to watch the naked mole rats for a few minutes- I love those guys! I also enjoyed watching the meerkats- (how do you spell that?) They always remind me of Timon from the Lion King. I think its neat that in the little area near their exhibit, there is always a CM talking about them, and also the skulls of all sorts of animals found on the trail. There was a meerkat skull right next to a warthog skull- a big Lion King shoutout there!
Next was my very favorite part of the trail- the gorillas! I got to watch one eating for a while, but then he walked off to the water. Everyone was assuming he was going over to drink, but next thing we knew, we all had front row seats to Mr Gorilla taking a potty break! I apologize to the gorilla for the fact that I took a picture of the event, but it really was a Kodac moment.
My next stop was to hop aboard the Wildlife Express to Conservation Station (Or is it Rafikis Planet Watch now? Disney needs to stop changing attraction names.) My mission was to go check the vet schedule for the daythe DAK vets post a schedule over at Conservation station that tells about the different procedures they will be doing that day that you can watch. (I had planed on being a vet for a long time, and am almost finished with a course Im taking to be a vet assistant, so getting to watch them work is one of my favorite things at DAK). Unfortunately, they didnt have anything on the schedule that day. I spent a few minutes looking around the rest of the building, and found out that they have the world record largest tarantula there! He wasnt on display, but some others were, and they were certainly large!
If youve never taken the Wildlife Express, I should mention that on the trip, you get to see some of the buildings that they house the animals in at night. I got a chance last year to explore them in person when I took the Backstage Safari tour. I also love the Wildlife Express station! The luggage, notes about poachers, etc. make it a fun place to explore!
I decided to go catch the next Festival of the Lion King show, and on my way, I saw DeVine! DeVine is a woman who dresses up on stilts as a plant, and generally remains completely still for a while, so that most people pass her completely by, and cant figure out what the others are giggling at. I overheard one of the people watching her say Ill bet her mother never expected her to grow up and do THAT!, and cracked up!
At Festival of the Lion King, the usual cast was all still there, which made me quite happy, as I love them all! This is by far my favorite show in all of WDW. The music and lights and dance are all combined into a fantastic show!
My final stop in AK for the day was the Flights of Wonder show. I always enjoy this one! Before the show, one of the CMs was out by the entrance with a beautiful owl. It was great to get to see one so close, and for everyone to get to ask the CM questions about it. Being a Harry Potter fan, I wanted to name it Hedwig and bring it home with me, but alas, I dont think Disney would have been very hot on that idea
Around 2, it was back over to the Polynesian for a mid-day break. I went up to Kona, and Captain Cooks had in fact been relocated to the area next to it. I had been in the mood for my beloved Polynesian French fries, but they didnt have any of their foods that required cooking up there (no fries, pizza, chicken, etc.) Pretty much all they had was a selection of fruit, chips, bagels, etc. Sadly, the cheesecake I had wanted the night before wasnt there
I asked them if they thought they would be back downstairs the next day, hoping for some Poly fries before I left, but the CM told me that they would probably be up there for two weeks! I settled for a pear and a bagel, and went back to my room to relax and eat.I have no notes in my notebook after Animal Kingdom, so sorry if the rest of the day isnt very detailed!
I had a message on my cell phone from Nate saying that he was at MGM, and that we could meet up for Fantasmic that night, so I decided to go on over to MGM. I called him up, only to find that he had just left MGM so that he and his sister could catch a nap over at the Lodge. I was perfectly happy to explore MGM alone, so I went over to the Backlot Tour first, since I have never been on it before, and wanted to guarentee that I got to see it this time! There was a five to ten minute wait, and then a large group of us was let into a tiered area where we stood to watch the special effects show where they filmed scenes with extras from the audience, and then edited it with other footage to make a little movie. Very neat! When we boarded the trams, I ended up sitting with a woman named Helen, who it turns out was also traveling solo! We chatted for a bit about the ups and down of solo traveling while our tram took us through Catastrophe Canyon (SO very cool!), and the rest of the backlot. Afterwards, she said she was going to Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and asked if I wanted to join her. Id never seen that show, and was glad to have company for a while, so off we went! I have to admit that this show is cute, and some of the effects are fun, but far too often you can see the people that are operating the puppets, and I think it could be a lot better. I cant help but wonder how long it will be until this one is replaced, as it reminds me a bit of the recently departed Legend of the Lion King.
Helen and I parted ways, and I set off to Muppet Vision 3D (err, um, I think I did. Again, no notes.) Then, while I was in line for the Great Movie Ride, Nate called to say that he was back at MGM, and that he and his sister were going to try to ride TOT and Rockin Rollercoaster before Fantasmic. I wished them luck, and told them I would meet up with them after I got out of the Movie Ride. Given that the Great Movie Ride (can you believe its closing? I am so sad!) is around a half hour long, I was pretty sure they would get in at least one of the rides by the time I got out. As I walked towards the Tower of Terror/Rockin Rollercoaster area (or as another trip report author called it, Stop, Drop, and Roll), and tried calling Nate, but there was no answer, and my cell phone battery was dying! I managed to go into its phone book and scribble Nates number on my hand so that I could call him from the pay phone if I didnt find him. I stood at a spot near the exits to both TOT and RnRc, keeping an eye out, and finally spotted him! I was amazed that between the huge crowds from both rides and people seating for Fantasmic, we managed to find each other! We managed to get pretty good seats for Fantasmic, and his sister, who had never been to WDW couldnt believe that Fantasmic is often standing room only!
We had a great time trading stories of our adventures so far, and generally catching up since we hadnt seen each other in almost a year! As usual, The Wave broke out amongst the crowd, but soon it was time for the real show! We had a great time singing along and such, and really enjoyed the show. We all cracked up at the Prince Eric on the float with Ariel- instead of the suave, handsome prince we have all come to expect, Ariel had some overweight, middle-aged guy in an Eric costume! Poor Ariel! We joked about how Prince Eric had really let himself go over the years, and that Ariel should leave him for Prince Charming. What on earth was Disney thinking when they cast this guy?
After the show, we sat around for a while, letting the crowds clear out. When it was starting to look empty, we joined the huge crowd and parted ways at the bus stop, with plans to meet up for Illuminations and Spectromagic within the next few days. I enjoyed my last night at the Poly, and got ready for another early morning.
