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

[pkondz]

I have Katie as a friend on Snapchat and she has been posting regularly on her "My Story," so she seems to be alive and well as far as I know

Thanks so much for that! Tell her to get her butt over here (or my TR.... she's flippin in it for Pete's sake) and say hi!

 

[smchristy]

Katie hasn't posted on Instagram since November 1st.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Yes, Mollydolly334, please let Katie know we all miss her!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Thanks for checking, @pkondz! @Raeven has Instagram and said that she saw her there a month ago.

I have Katie as a friend on Snapchat and she has been posting regularly on her "My Story," so she seems to be alive and well as far as I know

Thanks for letting me know, Molly! Maybe she has the Disney blues combined with the holidays. I know that after previous trips and with no trip on the horizon, I was super Disney depressed and was off the DIS for many months.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Thanks so much for that! Tell her to get her butt over here (or my TR.... she's flippin in it for Pete's sake) and say hi!

@Mollydolly334, take a snapchat of the screen with her TR on it and then put in a sad face. And say @pkondz sent you.

 

[pkondz]

@Mollydolly334, take a snapchat of the screen with her TR on it and then put in a sad face. And say @pkondz sent you.

Totally okay with that!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Great news guys! I've been Snapchatting back and forth with Katie and she said that she has been really busy lately because she's looking for a new job! But she says that she misses the DIS and will be back soon!

 

[Dentam]

Great news guys! I've been Snapchatting back and forth with Katie and she said that she has been really busy lately because she's looking for a new job! But she says that she misses the DIS and will be back soon!

Thanks so much for the update! Glad to hear that Katie is okay.

 

[DVCGloria]

Wow, what a great trip report! Love all the pictures. The picture of you and your family with the Winnie the Pooh characters is amazing! Also, loved the picture of you with Mary Poppins. Looks like you had a fantastic trip! Thanks for sharing

 

[TwoLittlePrincesses]

Glad to hear all is well!! Can't wait to hear more about the trip--come back soon!

 

[amarie]

I just got done reading both of your trip reports! I'm hooked I'm in love with all of the memes and gifs lol! Can't wait to read more when you come back!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Hi Katie, we all still miss you. Happy New Year, and hoping to see you back here real soon.

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Wow, what a trip! I am normally more of a lurker where TRs are concerned, but I'm trying to make more of an effort to post replies I am insanely jealous of your time in DL Paris--it's always been a dream of mine to visit! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your magical trip!!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Real life update

Hello there
It’s been a while!

I'm not sure if anyone will still be here, but I want to finally write about my latest trip to Disney!!
However I have that overwhelming feeling of "unfinished business", so I'd like to quickly get this one finished first!

Sorry I didn't check in here for so long, and I appreciate your messages of concern!
Nothing to worry about over here, life is actually pretty great!

Before our September 2016 visit to WDW I wasn’t too happy with work, so I decided that after our trip I would dedicate all of my free time to finding a new job.
This website had the ability to eat up my entire evenings (clearly I lack any self control), so I logged out and committed myself to some real life happiness!

I got home late September, applied like crazy, and began interviewing in late November/early December.
As luck would have it, I landed the job that was number one on my list of applications!



I started on January 3rd, and was definitely thrown in at the deep end.
There’s been a lot to learn and it’s been busy, but I’m really enjoying it!

So that’s where I’ve been!
And now I’m back to finish this report, and start the next one!

I think what I’ll do is quickly write and post the rest of this trip,
Then post the start of the next one,
Then come back here to reply to old comments,
Then attempt to catch up on some of your threads!
Then reply to any new comments that may or may not come through.
I have no idea if anyone will still care about this, but like I said, I feel the need to finish it, if anything just for me to be able to look back on

Then I'll be able to focus on the new one!

If you want to head straight over to the new one, feel free to do so!
https://www.disboards.com/threads/jambo-akl-sv-cl-september-2016.3601408/
JAMBO! AKL (SV / CL) - September 2016​

YAY let’s do this!

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[TheLittleKatie]

Day 12
Saturday 3rd October 2015
Part 1 - Kona breakfast

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On October 3rd, Jamie asked me what day it was.

“It’s Kona Café day.”

We had an 8:45am breakfast ADR.
YAWN but YAY.

I am happy to report that our Kona breakfast was MUCH better than the bad Kona dinner we had on our first night.
It definitely partly redeemed itself.
And our server was NICE!
A Poly server being nice was unheard of for us so far this trip

I got a latte and Jamie had a mocha.
Then we both ordered the BIG KAHUNA!
And what a great decision that was.

It came with french toast, pancakes topped with pineapple sauce and macadamia nut butter, eggs, home-fried potatoes, ham, bacon, and sausage!

Aside from the potatoes being a bit salty, and the pineapple that I scraped off, this was really good.
Although I didn’t come close to finishing it.

The Big Kahuna is only $13 each and it’s very filling.
It’s very good value for money I think.

This sums up what I thought of the whole experience.
I call this shot, “Tired, But Worth It.”

We finished up at around 9:50am and took our food babies back to the room to relax.
It was a bit of a gloomy morning.

Can you guess where we’re having dinner tonight?
I’ll give you a clue…

We’re eating at the California Grill tonight!

After about an hour of relaxing we walked over to the TTC, and we arrived at Epcot at 11:15.

It was SO busy today.
Not only was it a Saturday, but it was the start of the Gartner Symposium.
As we exited the monorail we noticed cars being directed across the grass for extra parking!

Crazy.

We went straight to our fastpass at Spaceship Earth.

Then we went to use our fastpass at The Seas, but I’d got the times mixed up, and the CM girl was completely deadpan and miserable and said

“You’re 38 minutes early.”

Lol ok girl.

​

So instead we had our first ride on Sum of all Thrills!
The line was pretty long but I’m glad that we’ve done it now that it’s gone.

After the instruction video Jamie turned to me and said,
“I didn’t listen to a word of that.”

Good thing I moonlight as an engineer and could explain it to him.

We called our rollercoaster
THUNDER EAGLE.

I don’t know why we found that so amusing but we did.

It was kinda fun!
I’m glad we did it, but I’m not devastated that it’s gone.
The best part was watching the little video stream of Jamie’s head in the simulator compartment next to me.



Click for Day 12, Part 2!

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[TheLittleKatie]

Day 12
Saturday 3rd October 2015​

Part 2 - Epcot​

Next we went back to The Seas!

After going on the ride we joined the manatee presentation.
Oh look, they weigh the same as Jamie and I do after two weeks at Disney.

Then we did some underwater viewing at the aquarium.

And we took a sea quiz!
It was multiple choice and two out of four answers were joke answers, but we still only got 3 out of 5 correct

My favourite ugly fish

Then we left The Seas and found the condescending seahorse!
This is how the CM looked at me when I was “38 minutes early”…

​

Next we went to Club Cool.

It was pretty busy so Jamie said “let’s just get the two that sound the nicest, rather than trying them all.”

So of course I got him the Beverley.

He did not remember that little trick from last year.
PAY MORE ATTENTION BOY.

We tried a couple of other drinks, then went to use our Test Track fastpass.

Jamie was determined to get up on the leader board, but I reminded him that it was Saturday and there would be a lot of locals who do this all the time.

But that didn’t even matter because he totally messed it up anyway
He got 219 and the top was 228.

After the ride we designed some on the screens near the exit and he got it up to 226, which still wasn’t good enough!

And here’s one that I made, which had a terrible score but I don’t care because it looks COOL.
Please do not question how the wheels work, thanks.

After Test Track it was nearing 2:30pm so we decided to head over to Magic Kingdom to watch Festival of Fantasy.

We got a monorail to the TTC, only to discover they’d closed the MK monorail again!
The crowd waiting for the ferry was huge, so we just decided to see the parade on Monday.
So we just headed back to the Poly.

DISNEY BEE.

Ahh nice tidy room

Click for Day 12, part 3!

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[TheLittleKatie]

Day 12
Saturday 3rd October 2015​

Part 3 – California Grill​

Soon it was time to get ready for our meal at the California Grill!

This was our last ADR of the trip, and it was only 13 days until my birthday, so we decided to dress nice and fancy, and I wore my birthday button on my handbag.

In 2012 we had a late dinner at the California Grill that we really enjoyed, but it was closed for refurbishment in 2014 so we were excited to go back!

We got the monorail around to the Contemporary and checked in downstairs for our 5:45pm ADR.
The check in guy asked me if it was really my birthday and I said it was on the 16th, but we’re leaving soon, and he was very happy for me that I got to celebrate at Disney so close to my birthday
He also appreciated my honesty

We were shown to the elevator and escorted up to the 14th floor where the restaurant is.
As we walked in all of the staff said “happy birthday” to me – even though my birthday button was on my bag down by my hip.
They’re very observant.

We sat at the bar to wait for our table, but it was ready before we could order.
And it was covered in confetti!!!

We had a GREAT table.
It wasn’t a window table, but still a castle view, even while the blinds were halfway down.

Our waitress was called Shannon and she was fantastic!
We absolutely loved her.

First she brought us some yummy bread with sea salt butter.

Jamie ordered a beer and I had a sparkling rose wine.

I originally planned to just get an appetiser and a dessert at this meal because I can’t really eat a three-course meal, plus it’s very expensive…

…But that plan went out the window very quickly.

Here is Jamie’s.. “appetiser”…
The pork flatbread.

It was ginormous!
And my appetiser..
The three-meat meatballs.

These were both amazing and the meatballs were very flavourful, but it was very filling!

While we were waiting for our entrees Jamie made a Mickey Mouse out of the confetti.

For our main course we both had the beef filet, cooked medium-rare.
It came with risotto and corn.
It was amazing and cooked perfectly!

The meat was very tender which was good after such a filling appetiser.

After our mains, an older couple at the table next to us asked Jamie to take their picture, then they offered to take one of us.

They got this shot of us that I love!

The woman was so sweet and she said Jamie and I seemed very happy together!

At around 7ish they pulled the blinds all the way up around the restaurant.

Everyone wants to come to California Grill later on for the fireworks, but honestly, I LOVE it at dusk.
You get the most amazing views and the restaurant feels so magical.

DIS TIP: If you eat here earlier in the evening, you can actually come back later, show your receipt, and watch the fireworks from the observation deck!
We haven’t done this yet but it’s a nice option.

Anyway, after our main course we ordered a chocolate pudding dessert to share (remember when I said “I can’t really eat a three-course meal” LOL) and I went out to the observation deck to take some photos while we waited.

When I got back, Shannon was just setting down a free congratulatory crème brûlée, as well as the chocolate pudding..!!!!

I’m guessing this was for my birthday.
Congratulating me on another trip around the sun.
What a nice surprise!

The crème brûlée was amazing, it’s one of my favourite Disney desserts, especially after a big meal as it’s not too sickly.
This chocolate thing on the other hand…

It was tasty, but SO rich!!!
I honestly think I had about two bites of it.

We had such an amazing meal at the California Grill.
It’s such a great way to end a trip, it feels so special.
We both agreed we preferred it to the Yachtsman Steakhouse, which is saying something as that’s always a favourite of ours.

We settled the bill and both headed out to the observation deck.

Then we headed out of the restaurant, down the elevator and back to the monorail.

We were making a quick stop at the hotel to get changed, before heading straight back out…!


Click for Day 12, part 4!

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[TheLittleKatie]

Day 12
Saturday 3rd October 2015
Part 4 – Magic Kingdom EMH

We got back to the Poly, changed into some more comfortable clothes, and headed back out to the monorail.

It’s Magic Kingdom extra magic hours until 2am!!
Nothing makes me happier than late nights at the Magic Kingdom.

I have a really vivid memory of this monorail trip. A family got in our car, and grandma had to get out to let a scooter in, so she ended up going to the next car down because we were pretty full.
The little boy was really worried about her disappearance, and cried the whole way, screaming for his “Nay Nay”.
So I remember this journey really well, due to the constant (amusing) wailing of,
“NAYYYY NAYYYYY, NAAAAYYYY NAAAAAAY”

Bahaha poor little lamb.

Also, as we were exiting the monorail, a guy turned to me and said,
“Love the trip reports!”
GAHH!
YAY!
Amidst the jumble of people exiting the monorail it took a second to register so I was just like,
“OH! Thanks! That’s awesome!”
He also asked Jamie if he’d had success maxing out his score on Buzz this year, which Jamie loved!
He likes to be recognised as the hero that he is.


It was a fleeting interaction as we walked and there were a lot of people around. He wished us a good evening before I got the chance to catch his name.
But thanks for saying hi, kind Dis-er!
I wonder if you are also wondering if Nay-Nay ever reappeared from the Twilight Zone.

Anyway, we entered the Magic Kingdom and the Electric Parade was on so it was absolute chaos.
We got to walk down the little backstage route behind Main Street and took us straight to Tomorrowland, which was kinda cool.

Jamie really wanted to ride Dumbo!
We hadn’t done it yet this year.
So we headed over to Storybook Circus and walked straight onto Dumbo!

I enjoy this video.
Listen to how disappointed we are when the ride comes to an end

After Dumbo we had a look in Big Top Souvenirs.

Then we went to PhilharMagic!

The doors open AutoMagically.

What a great show.
It was nice to let our stomachs settle after a big meal, and the excitement that is Dumbo.

When we exited Philharmagic there was a huge leak coming from the Philharmagic wall?!?
It was gushing out and there was water ALL over Fantasyland!
How odd.

The fireworks were just starting so we decided to watch them from right there in Fantasyland, away from the puddles though.
I’d watched from here earlier in the trip and was excited for Jamie to experience it too.

After Wishes we rode It’s a Small World!

ANNYONG

We enjoyed these Hawaiian dolls, they jig so fast!!!

Jamie kept throwing in his It’s a Small World dance but I couldn’t catch it on camera
For anyone new – see this video from our 2014 trip!

After the ride we grabbed a spot for the 11pm Electrical Parade!
We sat on the curb in a great space right in front of the castle.

We saw a woman with a stroller walking past worrying she wouldn’t get a spot, so we scooted up and she sat down on the floor next to us with the stroller behind us.
She was so grateful, and she was really nice.
She lived in California about 30 minutes from Disneyland, and she said they go every week!
So cool!

She also told us that the stroller she’d rented from Disney that day had tipped over backwards and scratched her daughters face, so they had to go to first aid.
She said she didn’t want any compensation, but Disney had insisted, and they gave her a new stroller to keep, about 10 fastpasses, and let her daughter pick out two plush toys from the Emporium!!
The daughter in the stroller was so cute, she was eating something bright blue that was all over her face and she had crazy sugar eyes.

Just before the parade started we saw a proposal at the Partners statue just behind us!
YAY.

Then it was time for
THE MAINNN STREET ELECTRICALLL PARAAAADE.

After the parade we said goodbye to our new friend and headed over to Tomorrowland.
We wanted to ride Astro Orbiter as we’d never done it before.

Ugh it was horrible.
The line was so long and the seats were so tiny BLEH.
It was kind of cool to be high above the Magic Kingdom, but that’s it.
It’s no Dumbo, that’s for sure.

Then we rode Space Mountain and I was in the front!

Then we went to Big Thunder Mountain and we were in the front of that too!
WOO.

We went up to Enchanted Tales With Belle but they need 20 people to run the show and there were only 9 of us so we left after a few minutes.

I like this attention to detail:
​

It's 1:30am - Time for bed I think!

The lines for the boat and the monorail to the Poly were very long, so we got the ferry over to the TTC instead.
The walk to the Poly from the TTC is so short, it’s such a convenient hotel.

Goodnight MK!

We had a bit of a mini-drama back at the room, because we’d locked our safe with part of a wire sticking out, which had jammed it so it wouldn’t open.
It was past 2am now and we had to spend a while huddled around the safe with tweezers trying to push the wire back in.
We didn’t call the front desk because WE ARE PROBLEM SOLVERS so we fixed it eventually, but we were so exhausted going to bed. It was a very late night!!



Click for Day 13 - part 1!​

 

[Darth Pluto]

Long time reader, first time poster but I just wanted to say

YAY!!!!! She's back!!!

And congrats on the new job.

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 13
Sunday 4th October 2015
Part 1 – Men in Black showdown!

ONLY TWO FULL DAYS LEFT BOOOO.

We got up late today, after our safe/tweezer fiasco.
Jamie was watching some football (soccer) when I woke up – his team did well so he was very happy.

During the game I went to Captain Cooks and got us both a big kahuna sandwich each!

It was huge!

We had a lot of milk to drink in the next couple of days, so Jamie went to the lounge and got us 10 cookies
I managed to eat a couple of those too.

​

Yes we are a couple of twenty-somethings, at Disney World, eating cookies and drinking milk.
We’re not giant children I swear.
OK maybe we are.

At about 2pm we spontaneously decided to go to Universal!
So we went out to the front of the Poly and got an Uber.

We were aware that the studios park was closing at 5pm for Halloween Horror Nights, but we were both craving Universal a lot, especially because we were leaving in a couple of days!

We arrived at 2:30pm, and Jamie bought us both express passes for the day to try and get as much done as possible.
The woman who sold them to us looked at us like we were crazy

We went straight to ET as it was closed last time we were here.

We made great use of those express passes guys… Totally worth it.

Then we actually did put the express passes to good use and rode Men In Black 3 times in a row!
We love this game.
Jamie won the first, then I won the second, so we played best of 3… and I won!

Then we went to check out the line at Gringotts, but it was 45 minutes (and you can’t use the express passes here), so we decided to do something else.

We went to the Mummy instead but it was closed!
GAH!
That’s our favourite.

So we rode Twister instead...

…It was hilariously bad!
Jamie really likes cows (if you remember from our trips to Animal Kingdom), so he was really sad to see them flying around.

After Twister, we both confessed that we just really wanted to play more Men In Black.. so that’s where we went!

We rode four more times in a row!
Look how close this first game was!!
I was winning by miles the whole time, then Jamie got the 100,000 point bonus and ended up beating me by just 500 points!

Jamie got really annoyed on the last go because I nabbed the 100,000 bonus, and he would’ve had a great score if he got it.
Time to call it a day before we strangle each other

The girl at the front loved that we’d played 7 times in one hour.
She kept calling us Hufflepuff and Slytherin – referring to our lanyards.
I must’ve had at least 5 people make “YAY HUFFLEPUFF!” comments at me on this day!
There are a lot of secret Hufflepuffs out there

Click for Day 13, part 2!

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