Travelers: Me (40), DH (41), DS (6)
Disney Land/Sea Package 6/19/2003 thru 6/26/2003
Day 3: Pool Time / Disney Quest / BOMA
Since it was raining when we went to bed the night before, and still cloudy when we woke up we decided wed do a relaxed breakfast this morning and then maybe try out Disney Quest and Downtown Disney. We had breakfast at the Kona café. I had eggs, DH had French toast and DS had cereal 2 coffees, 2 juices $29 including tip (much nicer meal than we received for $26 at Captain Cooks the day before but obviously you can get in and out of Captain Cooks more quickly). As I took DS for a potty break I noticed .. the sun was coming out! By the time we finished breakfast, you could actually see the sun, and there were some patches of blue sky. Slight revision to the plans hit the pool for as long as the sun lasts! I think the Volcano pool area at the Polynesian is very nicely landscaped. The pool is free formed and is set right up against the beach. We placed our things on a couple lounge chairs on the beach, which is at the zero entry end of the pool. DS loved the pool and the waterfall After trying out the slide, DH decided that the slide would be too much for DS, so we didnt even suggest it to him. DS has now had two round of swimming lessons, but hes still not a swimmer and I didnt have the floaty wings with me so the zero entry was great. Once I had enough of being in the pool with him I pulled a lounge chair closer to the edge of pool and he could play in the shallow end while I watched him from the chair. DS also loved the fountain area they have a little spot where water sprays up from the ground randomly and the kids can splash around in it. Well, we had about 2-3 hours of pool time before the sky opened up and we were rained on again. Watch out if you stay here when its raining, the walkways by the pool get very slippery. Just before the rain came, DH had ordered a strawberry daiquiri from the pool bar. Un-wisely he tried to run back to the room when it began to rain. His feet came out from under him and he almost fell. He caught himself before he hit the ground, but the strawberry daiquiri went flying into the air and landed on his head (thank goodness for plastic cups!). Anyway . Back to the room to clean up and dry off. Decided to grab some lunch (Kona Café again) and then on to Disney Quest.
We only had to wait about 5 minutes for a Downtown Disney bus (Actually we had very good luck with the buses throughout our trip). Still raining when we arrived at Downtown Disney, and theres a bit of a walk to Disney Quest from the bus stop but we made good use of our ponchos (I had packed 2 adult ponchos from home, and we bought a child size Mickey poncho at the Polynesian for DS (I think we paid maybe $5 for it) These ponchos were absolutely essential for this trip). We stopped in at a couple of the shops along the way and looked around a bit, then went into Disney Quest. OK I should have known better . Disney Quest on a rainy day, 3-4 hours after it opened NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!! This place was a ZOO! It was really warm.. There were huge lines for all of the virtual reality games, and no open spaces on anything, anywhere Except of course in the area where you have to put extra money in to play the games which we did out of desperation but .. you have to stand in line to get a game card, then you play the games and get the little tickets that can be redeemed for the cheesy little prizes that DS NEEDS so badly!!! But you have to stand in line for one of the 2 functioning ticket collecting machines that will give you a receipt so you can stand in another line to get the prize. Since we only had enough tickets to get maybe a plastic ring or whistle we just told DS he could pick a better prize from one of the stores along the way and got out of there! Now, admission to Disney Quest was included in our park hopper passes (which were part of the vacation package) so I felt like I wasted time, but at least I hadnt wasted money. I would not have been happy if I had paid to go in there. So, my suggestion would be, if you really want to go to Disney Quest, be there when it opens and try to steer your children away from the pay for play game section.
After leaving Disney Quest we shopped around a bit, and then decided to get the next bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge and see if we could get an earlier seating (we had a PS at BOMA for 6:40). As we were walking to the parking lot, the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus was just pulling out so I figured we were going to have a good long wait, but happily another bus came along in about 10 minutes. The bus stopped at Typhoon lagoon, then on to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I thought the lobby of the hotel was beautiful (if a little dark). We walked around, looked through their gift shop and purchased some things for family at home, and then headed over to BOMA. It was around 5:30 at this time, and they were able to give us a table at 5:40. This turned out to be very lucky, since the waiting area was mobbed by 6:00. BOMA is a buffet restaurant with an African theme. The food is set up at various stations. There was a huge selection of foods (WDWIG.com has a menu that described most of what was available). Aside from the kids food, everything was pretty highly seasoned even the plain roasted/grilled meats were very flavorful. There was a large selection of dessert items, and what I liked about their desserts was that they were all small pieces, so you could sample a bunch of different things which we did! We really enjoyed this, and would definitely go again. (Buffet cost for 2 adults and 1 child, plus 2 strawberry daiquiris and 2 glasses of wine $89 cant remember if this was with or without tip..)
After dinner we took the bus to Magic Kingdom and then the monorail back to the Polynesian (couldnt convince DH to try to get some Magic Kingdom time in I think DQ sucked the life out of us today). Back to the room to pack for our transfer the next day to the Disney Wonder.
Remainder of report to follow on cruise board .
Disney Land/Sea Package 6/19/2003 thru 6/26/2003
Day 3: Pool Time / Disney Quest / BOMA
Since it was raining when we went to bed the night before, and still cloudy when we woke up we decided wed do a relaxed breakfast this morning and then maybe try out Disney Quest and Downtown Disney. We had breakfast at the Kona café. I had eggs, DH had French toast and DS had cereal 2 coffees, 2 juices $29 including tip (much nicer meal than we received for $26 at Captain Cooks the day before but obviously you can get in and out of Captain Cooks more quickly). As I took DS for a potty break I noticed .. the sun was coming out! By the time we finished breakfast, you could actually see the sun, and there were some patches of blue sky. Slight revision to the plans hit the pool for as long as the sun lasts! I think the Volcano pool area at the Polynesian is very nicely landscaped. The pool is free formed and is set right up against the beach. We placed our things on a couple lounge chairs on the beach, which is at the zero entry end of the pool. DS loved the pool and the waterfall After trying out the slide, DH decided that the slide would be too much for DS, so we didnt even suggest it to him. DS has now had two round of swimming lessons, but hes still not a swimmer and I didnt have the floaty wings with me so the zero entry was great. Once I had enough of being in the pool with him I pulled a lounge chair closer to the edge of pool and he could play in the shallow end while I watched him from the chair. DS also loved the fountain area they have a little spot where water sprays up from the ground randomly and the kids can splash around in it. Well, we had about 2-3 hours of pool time before the sky opened up and we were rained on again. Watch out if you stay here when its raining, the walkways by the pool get very slippery. Just before the rain came, DH had ordered a strawberry daiquiri from the pool bar. Un-wisely he tried to run back to the room when it began to rain. His feet came out from under him and he almost fell. He caught himself before he hit the ground, but the strawberry daiquiri went flying into the air and landed on his head (thank goodness for plastic cups!). Anyway . Back to the room to clean up and dry off. Decided to grab some lunch (Kona Café again) and then on to Disney Quest.
We only had to wait about 5 minutes for a Downtown Disney bus (Actually we had very good luck with the buses throughout our trip). Still raining when we arrived at Downtown Disney, and theres a bit of a walk to Disney Quest from the bus stop but we made good use of our ponchos (I had packed 2 adult ponchos from home, and we bought a child size Mickey poncho at the Polynesian for DS (I think we paid maybe $5 for it) These ponchos were absolutely essential for this trip). We stopped in at a couple of the shops along the way and looked around a bit, then went into Disney Quest. OK I should have known better . Disney Quest on a rainy day, 3-4 hours after it opened NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!! This place was a ZOO! It was really warm.. There were huge lines for all of the virtual reality games, and no open spaces on anything, anywhere Except of course in the area where you have to put extra money in to play the games which we did out of desperation but .. you have to stand in line to get a game card, then you play the games and get the little tickets that can be redeemed for the cheesy little prizes that DS NEEDS so badly!!! But you have to stand in line for one of the 2 functioning ticket collecting machines that will give you a receipt so you can stand in another line to get the prize. Since we only had enough tickets to get maybe a plastic ring or whistle we just told DS he could pick a better prize from one of the stores along the way and got out of there! Now, admission to Disney Quest was included in our park hopper passes (which were part of the vacation package) so I felt like I wasted time, but at least I hadnt wasted money. I would not have been happy if I had paid to go in there. So, my suggestion would be, if you really want to go to Disney Quest, be there when it opens and try to steer your children away from the pay for play game section.
After leaving Disney Quest we shopped around a bit, and then decided to get the next bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge and see if we could get an earlier seating (we had a PS at BOMA for 6:40). As we were walking to the parking lot, the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus was just pulling out so I figured we were going to have a good long wait, but happily another bus came along in about 10 minutes. The bus stopped at Typhoon lagoon, then on to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I thought the lobby of the hotel was beautiful (if a little dark). We walked around, looked through their gift shop and purchased some things for family at home, and then headed over to BOMA. It was around 5:30 at this time, and they were able to give us a table at 5:40. This turned out to be very lucky, since the waiting area was mobbed by 6:00. BOMA is a buffet restaurant with an African theme. The food is set up at various stations. There was a huge selection of foods (WDWIG.com has a menu that described most of what was available). Aside from the kids food, everything was pretty highly seasoned even the plain roasted/grilled meats were very flavorful. There was a large selection of dessert items, and what I liked about their desserts was that they were all small pieces, so you could sample a bunch of different things which we did! We really enjoyed this, and would definitely go again. (Buffet cost for 2 adults and 1 child, plus 2 strawberry daiquiris and 2 glasses of wine $89 cant remember if this was with or without tip..)
After dinner we took the bus to Magic Kingdom and then the monorail back to the Polynesian (couldnt convince DH to try to get some Magic Kingdom time in I think DQ sucked the life out of us today). Back to the room to pack for our transfer the next day to the Disney Wonder.
Remainder of report to follow on cruise board .
