Day Six: The Day We Played at Pirates

[Miffy2003]

Monday 13th December

Today the girls are going on the Pirate Cruise from the Grand Floridian. We set off from All Star Movies in plenty of time, which is fortunate as we manage to drive right past the GF signs and end up in the MK parking lot. We soon get to the GF and find the self parking lot and make the (seemingly long) walk up to the hotel itself. We ask a CM for directions to the boat dock and find this with no problem. I stupidly ask Jon if he thinks we are in the right place and he looks at me like I am insane; I then realise that there are children running around everywhere wearing pirate hats with ears on. We check in and Amber and Erin soon don their own hats, and very cute they are too.

We sign a form agreeing that we will not hold Disney responsible in the event of death, drowning or dismemberment and I begin to wonder exactly what type of activities they have planned for this! Real cutlasses perhaps? The Pirate Captain CMs are totally into the adventure and get all the children “Arrrrrrrrrrrrr”ing at a very high level of decibels and I feel sympathy for the poor souls who paid for a view of the dock expecting peace and tranquillity. The children are all partnered up and off they sail, with “Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs” reverberating across the water; I suspect you could hear them from as far away as the Contemporary!

Jon and I have already decided that we will hotfoot it to the Polynesian as we are dieing to sample the fare at the Kona Café, specifically I know that there is a piece of Tonga Toast there with my name on it! We make our way through the GF, admiring the lobby and the incredible Christmas tree and Gingerbread House.

I have to say, although I found the GF very attractive, it simply did not appeal to me, and I’m afraid I found it lacked atmosphere. The décor, landscaping and buildings were lovely but they did not fill me with any enthusiasm to stay here. This must simply show that I don’t have expensive tastes

 

[Miffy2003]

...cont

We soon arrive at the Poly via the monorail and as we enter I am immediately struck by the immense themeing and level of detail here. I wonder round quite awe inspired and vow that I will stay here one day! I understand that there is criticism that this resort is very “seventies” and I suppose I can see that, but for me it all added to the appeal and the “South Seas” atmosphere.

I found the sights, sounds and smells here all extremely relaxing and it was almost enough to make me put on a grass skirt and dance. Well, maybe not quite that relaxing. Did I mention I am going to stay here some day?

I could have admired the lobby for quite some time but we didn’t have a huge amount of time so went into the Kona Café.

It is open plan here and I found this part of the appeal as I could gaze around at the artifacts and the great décor. There was a chocolate sculpture of Lilo & Stitch that probably even I could not eat a whole one of!

Ordering was not a challenge as I had long ago decided what I would have.

This was officially the best breakfast of the entire holiday. Wonderful! The Tonga Toast was lovely but somehow had less banana than I was expecting? The fruit smoothie was delicious and the fruit cup meant I could pretend at least a small part of breakfast was healthy.

 

[Miffy2003]

...cont

After a little more exploration of the Great Ceremonial House it was time to head back and collect Pirate Amber & Pirate Erin. Again, we could hear them all across the lake before we could see them and they seemed to have had a fantastic time; lunch had been provided and treasure found. They had sailed across the lagoon and visited the Contemporary and the Wilderness Lodge to find pieces of map which when put together showed the location of the treasure which they had a lot of fun digging up. The treasure included some attractive toys such as bloodshot eyeballs and stretchy lizards, and nobody appeared to have experienced any dismemberment.

I thoroughly recommend this excursion and the girls are keen to do it again in August; normally I would say this is too soon but Amber will be too old the year after so I may relent!

We decide to head off to WalMart on the 192 and get there quite quickly, barring some really nasty roadworks on the 192. We had a really good browse and spent $150 on various stuff including toys, clothes and some snacks and drink. Jon was impressed to find a crate of 24 Budweiser’s for $12.99. What’s that, about 30p per can?! We went the back way back to the resort, thus avoiding the roadworks.

It wasn’t terribly warm again today but the sun was shining and the girls were keen to swim so we decided to go to the pool. Julie & Derek were lying out here already (it must be said that the pool was almost deserted at this point). We reassured ourselves that although it was a bit chilly out, it would be warmer in the water. Well reader, I must tell you it was not! We swam about enthusiastically to warm up but after 15 minutes we weren’t yet warm. The lifeguard called Jon over to inform us that the pool heating was broken and maintenance had been called and “weren’t we cold?” Well, yes! Why didn’t you tell us when we looked like we were going to go in?! This was enough reason for me to get out and go to the children’s pool which was like a very warm bath. I did take the children with me too

We decided to head out to the 192 for tea and had a very nice meal in Perkins. We thought we would pop into Epcot on the way home as it was still early. Jon and I had a brief conversation about the need to get more petrol over the next few days. This turned into a full-scale panic from the seniors in the back of the car. We explained that we still had over a quarter of petrol in the tank and that there were a surfeit of gas stations in Disney and it was not a problem. Julie and Derek however would not be calmed and seemed to think we would grind to a halt at any moment. Happily we then arrived at Epcot which put paid to further discussion on this subject

We went on Spaceship Earth and as always I feel a sense of wonderment at the end of this ride. It really is quite a fantastic journey when you think about how ways of communicating have developed over the years. And anything from Jeremy Irons gets my vote! If I closed my eyes I can almost imagine he is whispering in my ears…oh, sorry. Anyway, Amber gave Spaceship Earth a big thumbs up – she had ridden it before but didn’t seem to remember. She is hugely interested in history and loved the first half of the ride in particular. She did start to hyperventilate at the top when the descent begins but I just quietly explained to her that it was very slow and she would not even notice us going down; luckily there is so much to look at on the way down she remained distracted and came off agreeing she would very much like to ride again. Phew!

We started to have a good browse in Mouse Ears (this is a fantastic shop, possibly my favourite) and I tried to find an Epcot top that I’ve been after for ages. They had lots of them, but all in Extra Small and it would only fit in my dreams Future World had by this time closed so we headed over to Mexico where the girls discovered their new favourite ride, El Rio Del Tiempo. And I thought it couldn’t get worse than It’s a Small World? How wrong I was. Though to be fair, it wasn’t quite as bad as I’d remembered it being. I’m happy to report though that we got away with only one ride – for today.

We wandered round as far as Germany with the girls enjoying the “Storytelling Around the World” scrolls. There is always something different to do here, even something as little as a board painted with Christmas traditions on keeps it all new and interesting. We walked back to the spot between Mexico and Future World and decided to watch Illuminations from here, with the hope of making a relatively quick getaway. It will be bliss if we can stay in the Boardwalk in August and just wander back to our room after this though!

As ever, Illuminations is fantastic, with everything coming together to give a magnificent show. If you’ve seen it, you will understand what I mean! There was an extra bit at the end for the holidays which made for a rather spectacular end. As we walked out, “Merry Christmas” in all the different languages (at least that’s what I think it was) of the World Showcase were lasered onto Spaceship Earth in huge blue writing. Very cool!

We arrived back at the car really quickly (we had been able to park right at the front due to the time we arrived) so we were in pole position to make our way home. Julie & Derek felt perhaps it would be a good idea to wait for the traffic to clear before we attempted to leave to avoid an accident. Bearing in mind we’d made it out vastly ahead of most of the other Epcot guests (who would be pouring out for ages) we felt this wasn’t a great idea and set off back to ASMo. They sat in the back and fretted about all the cars which was a bit distracting so we turned up the radio

Did I mention I am going to stay at the Poly one day?

 

[gilld]

.

Did I mention I am going to stay at the Poly one day?

Are you by any chance thinking of the Poly some day????? Hope you get there soon as you seem so smitten with it. We stayed there a few years back and didn't like it all - but then we LOVE the GF - we're all different.

 

[Miffy2003]

That's so true Gill. I think there's something special for everyone at WDW isn't there?

 

[FloridaSam]

A-hoy there!

Sorry .... Did I miss something? Something about the Poly ....!!!

Brilliant report, interesting to hear about your two little pirates and their adventure. Been thinking about this for my 8 and 10 year old boys.

Sam xx

 

[KayleeUK]

I want to stay at the Poly too I would like to stay at every resort once though!

Great report “Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"

 

[Scottish_Maleficent]

Pirate Cruise sounds good - think I'll investigate further for our trip in April!!!

Mouse Gear - Love it there too!!

 

[mandymouse]

'Arrrrrrrrr Jim-Lad'

What a great report

I'm glad I'm not the only one who isn't that impressed with the Grand Floridian, if I ever won the Lottery I would love to stay in the Contemporary Hotel

Keep up the hard work Karen

mandymouse "Disboards Disney TV Show Spotter Extraordinaire"

 

[MsPennieLane]

A great day - the pirates adventure for the girls sounded fun. I would love to eat at the Kona Cafe - it's on my list for October More more more reports and piccies please

Anz

 

[Disney owl]

I agree with your thoughts on the Grand Floridian. We went for breakfast at 1900 Park Fayre which we loved & would do again. But found the hotel beautiful but very quiet & staid. Not us at all !!!!!

Love the reports & great photos looking forward to the next ones.

Thanks for sharing

 

[SusanEllen]

What a spectacularly fun day the Goviers had--all three generations, all day. I'd even bet that Julie and Derek enjoyed fretting about the dangers of the EPCOT parking lot--pretty exciting stuff. Sounds like you and Jon have opened up the world to them--better yet, the World.

You live with the cutest pirates I've ever seen, this side of Captain Jack.

 

[Disney_Jedi_Jon]

Hi

I think the girls had a great time on the pirate cruise,they made some friends and found some really cool truesure.I highly recomend this if your childrun are the right age and Amber and Erin seemed to get a lot out of it.
I really enjoyed taking a look at the GF and the Poly plus it was great fun for Karen and I to go off on our own.I must agree with Karen one day I will stay at the Poly.Breakfast was fantastic at the Kona Cafe,great place with a great atmosphere.I have to restrain my self from taking a bite out of the choclate Lilo and stichopped with two eggs your way $9.99 .Which again is fantastic,Karen and I really want to return to Kona Cafe again perhaps when we return to Florida in August.The meal cost just over $40 including tax and tip and was worth every penny.We wonder around the lobby and do some shopping, I buy a Jessica Rabbit surf shack T shirt and karen buys some fluffy dice.After this we collect the children and go to Walmart,with the evening spent at Epcot.After watching Illuminations,Amber tells us she dosen't like the loud bangs(I'll bring some ear plugs next time!)We notice on the way out that merry christmas in different languages is displayed on Spaceship Earth,which looks very impressive.

Jon.

 

[SusanEllen]

one day I will stay at the Poly

Just a thought, Jon, as I always try to be helpful--since you want to stay at the Poly one day, and I know Karen does, too, why don't you go together!

 

[Miffy2003]

Just a thought, Jon, as I always try to be helpful--since you want to stay at the Poly one day, and I know Karen does, too, why don't you go together!

What, share a room with my husband? Unthinkable !

 

[SusanEllen]

Sharing a room would mean less money for hotel and more for souvenirs. Just close your eyes and think of England.

 

[Miffy2003]

Sharing a room would mean less money for hotel and more for souvenirs. Just close your eyes and think of England.

Susan, I make it a policy to never think of England when in Florida LOL

 

[SusanEllen]

Susan, I make it a policy to never think of England when in Florida LOL

I give up! Can't top that.

Home for Martin Luther King Day and able to keep an eye on the computer screen while doing chores is practically like being on Chat.

 

[allie5]

Another great report Karen, thanks!

Jessie would love to do that Pirate Cruise as well. Sounds fantastic!

Neil and I also improved our view of the Poly this year, though I dont know if we will ever stay here!! Fingers crossed you guys do one day!

 

[AlanUK]

Well done Karen another good write up

I don't know about everyone finding out more about the pirate cruise for their kids, I quite fancied it myself

Sadly it would have to be one amazing disguise for me to get away with being that young