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

[txdisneymama]

I just spent hours binge reading this! It's extra exciting to me because we were there at the same time, and also stayed at the Poly! Can't wait to read the rest of the trip report.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Hello again, I was a while catching up with your report.

But this is what it really looked like further down, at 8am...!!!

Hmmm…well, the sides of Main Street look lovely, but the hub, nope that’s just not right. I’ve only done an early ADR once in 2013 and it was not crowded at all. I hope this is not the new trend (but afraid it is).

Disney breakfasts are SO delicious. This was exactly the energy boost I needed.

I really enjoy breakfast buffets too, maybe more than I should. I have not done breakfast at Crystal Palace (did lunch there last trip) but it looks great. I keep hearing about how good the puffed French toast is.

He was very impressed by the kid’s room!

And is that saying something? Anything? No…OK, moving along.

After riding Pirates it was only 10am, but Jamie went back to the room because his eyelid was swelling up and it felt a bit painful.
He’d had this problem over the summer, so he knew that he just needed to do some heat compressions with a warm towel to ease the swelling.

Interesting. I’ve had the same problem a few times and treat it the same way.

Next I headed into Frontierland and went into the Briar Patch store.
If you look up you can see that Br’er Rabbit does indeed live in the Briar Patch

Cool! I love details like that, but I always seem to miss them. I can’t remember seeing Br’er Rabbits house. I also missed Willie the Giant peeking into the roof of Sir Mickey’s but really wish I had noticed.

continued on and decided to check out the Swiss Family Treehouse, since I’ve never done it before!
It was pretty cool actually!
I’m glad I did it.

I distinctly remember being fascinated by the tree house when I was 9 years old. I did it last trip with my youngest DD and still like it. She seemed to enjoy it. It may not be a thrill ride, but I think it has charm.

The views over the park are nice.
I wonder if there’s a place to watch Wishes from the treehouse?

I am sure I’ve read it in a TR (can’t remember whose) and yes, you can watch Wishes from the treehouse! I remember when I read that I thought (with Stacey’s voice in my head), yep, that’s a Disney Must-do!

You think Space Mountain is scary when you can’t see where you’re going…
Imagine riding it with the lights on…

Oh look, another DIS’er who has seen Space Mountain with the lights on. Am I the only one? I really want to be able to say I’ve seen that. And yes, it does look more terrifying with the lights on.

Then I went to the Hawaii longhouse, dropped my purchases in the room, then went back to the lounge to get some chocolate almonds and cookies!

Oh no they did not! Unlimited supply of chocolate almonds? That’s it, I’m going Club level and bringing my “big” pants.

 

[Leshaface]

So embarrassed.

I never even noticed the different colored buildings and how vibrant and gorgeous they are

Bear in mind that last year (also September) we entered the park later at 8:30am for our ADR, and THIS was the view…

What the devil?

Oh you’re correcting the lighting?
Great, thanks!
Now, just retake the shot, exactly as it looked before…
And…

About 95% of the time, our Photopass pics come out great. The other 5% i'm like, do you even know where the shutter button is?!?

Silly old bear.

Just curious, what's the ketchup for?

We left the restaurant at exactly 9am

Wow that was fast!

Like the loving girlfriend that I am, once he’d left I decided to go in search of hot boys.

Why is it, eyeliner makes guys so much better looking? DH 'dressed' up for Pirates night on our first Disney cruise and I put a little bit of eyeliner on him for more dramatic effect and I thought he looked surprisingly good!

This guy cracks me up.

(I’ll be back at Disney in a few weeks so add me if you like! - katiesaurus91)

Yay can't wait to see the fun snaps! I expect lots of shenanigans from both you and Hymie please

 

[pagek83]

Great updates! I added you on snapchat! Can't wait to follow along on your next trip.

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Ahh, that photo by the Polynesian pool looks like paradise Your trip seriously sounds so much fun! I hope that I will get to stay at WDW for 2 weeks at least once in my lifetime, the pace is so much more relaxed and you don't have to rush to get everything done!

I loooove that pool and its tropical music and you will be in just as much serenity soon at the Grand!!!!

I was surprised to learn that going for two weeks is a British thing, I guess it's the long flight maybe? Anyway you really should, it's so nice to know that you'll definitely get everything done. I bet if I just went for a few days in a year I would be going full commando-style!!! NO BATHROOM BREAKS WE HAVE TO GET T PETER PAN BY 09:13 SHARP.

So jealous of your food and wine noms. We are missing it by 5 days this year That Hawaiian Pork Slider looks amazing, and something else I've always wanted to try is the Frozen S'mores by the Dessert and Champagne booth!

We missed the Dessert and Champagne booth, thanks for reminding me it exists! It's a shame you're missing F&W but it's just an excuse to come back!!!

Those photo pass castle fails were hilarious Your use of gifs is prime That Wendy gif is one of my faves.

Haha seriously WHAT were those pictures. If this was my only Magic Kingdom day and they were my first/only Main Street shots I would be so mad!!!

Looking forward to another update! Eep, our trips are coming up so soon!!

GIRL we are so close now! It doesn't feel real

Love your updates!!

Thank you!!!!

Those scrambled eggs are so yellow and I am so buying a mini sully (whose eyes look very bizarre? And has no mouth) he is cute though.. I've added you on Snapchat - ready for your updates! But I reckon You should do live videos on periscope.. that would be so funny especially with m&g or on rides...

Haha! Yes they are! I have no idea how real these eggs are, but they are delicious and that's all that really matters
Ahh yes I've dabbled with periscope before, but never recorded anything. It's a pretty cool app!! I like being able to search on the map for videos all around the world It's probably too much effort for me to do on the go though, I'm lazy with social media!!!

Added you on snapchat! Can't wait to see your adventures!

Woooo I'll be back 7 weeks on Wednesday so look out!!

I agree. Every time I ride Space Mountain I slouch down as far as I can because I'm afraid I'll get decapitated. When the ride is over and I haven't been severely maimed then I can relax.

Hahah yessss, I know they have all the proper precautions, but I swear it seems like you could touch some of the structure at times!! I would not like to see it all around me with the lights on

 

[DopeyFan1]

Oh dear!!! That does not sound fun at all.... Did you at least get evacuated and get to see some backstage areas? That would be my only consolation for being stuck for 30 minutes

Errrrrm a Splash Mountain coffee cup sounds like a MUST BUY item! What's the design / where is it from?! I'll keep an eye out when I'm back in a few weeks! And thanks so much, thanks for reading!!

No, I wish we would have been evacuated! I love seeing backstage things like that. We did the Keys to the Kingdom tour last time and we loved it because of all the backstage stuff.



Here is one of the coffee cups. This one is on the the Disney Store website. The other one I saw was on the Disney Shop Parks app.

 

[chookie94]

Just read your report from the start and loving it! you know how to do disney with style. cant wait for the rest of your report.

 

[Sarahh1027]

This picture literally looks like it was taken as the photographer fell on their face.
WHAT EVEN.

Our pre-park, empty-photo-opportunity morning turned out to be a bust!

Oh well, it's fine, we're at Disney.

Here’s a picture that I took, as in someone who is not employed as a photographer.
I like how it turned out!

This made me laugh and laugh! My cat looked up from sleeping next to me and just gave me the look. you know, that "my owner's a nut" look haha
Your picture came out awesome atleast!

He looked so funny, he was slow-walking away with a little bob in his step.
We laughed so hard!

I'd love to see that!!!

Then we went back up to the buffet, and I got sausage, bacon and scrambled eggs!

This plate looks PERFECT

Or maybe he was scared of how much sausage and bacon I'd had.

hahahahaha probably that one!

But I still give the banana bread prize to my mother.
She makes an AMAZING banana bread.

Banana bread is my fav! My mom sometimes puts chocolate chips in hers, not a lot but just enough. I need banana bread..NOW!

After riding Pirates it was only 10am, but Jamie went back to the room because his eyelid was swelling up and it felt a bit painful.
He’d had this problem over the summer, so he knew that he just needed to do some heat compressions with a warm towel to ease the swelling.
So that’s what he went to do, bless his little heart.

Like the loving girlfriend that I am, once he’d left I decided to go in search of hot boys.

Well, at the time I labelled it as Disney-character-spotting.
It’s not my fault that all the ones I came across were good-looking men.

hahaha you go girl! oh and I will add, about 5 years ago in the summer my eyelid did some weird stuff like that too! I wear contacts so I had to wear glasses for awhile. It was horrible. But I had little bumps on the inside of my eyelids. Sooo painful!

Then I took some more pictures of the Tangled bathrooms because I am obsessed.

GIRL, SAME!

Next I headed into Frontierland and went into the Briar Patch store.
If you look up you can see that Br’er Rabbit does indeed live in the Briar Patch

WHAAAT!! WHERE IS THAT!? Is that the little shop you have to walk through after the ride? Or the one infront of the ride before you even go down those stairs to reach the ride? I MUST KNOW!

These are just phone pictures, but you can just about make out the castle and Space Mountain across the lagoon!
Perfection!!!

Are all your pictures phone pics? Or do you have a camera? Whichever it is, all your pictures are amazing!!!

(I’ll be back at Disney in a few weeks so add me if you like! - katiesaurus91)

 

[rachelrapunzel]

I'm enjoying your trip report so much! You're really funny and I love all your photos! I found that it was more crowded tan expected when i had a pre park opening breakfast, if your ever try it again, you should try making it for about 8:20 then waiting for the crowds to die down a little! Idk if this works all the times but I got some great photos last year!

 

[Raeven]

I've been following for awhile, but I think this is the first time I've commented!

But this is what it really looked like further down, at 8am...!!!

This happened to us too! Last year (so around the same time as you're trip) I booked a Crystal Palace ADR for before the park opened, and when we got there ugh there was so many people.

ALSO we waited ages in line for a photopass photographer, only to have a bunch of terrible pictures come out of it.

What even is this lighting.

Oh you’re correcting the lighting?
Great, thanks!
Now, just retake the shot, exactly as it looked before…
And…

This picture literally looks like it was taken as the photographer fell on their face.
WHAT EVEN.

Some of the Photopass photographers I don't even know what they're doing. We had one that took a bunch of pictures of us in front of the castle and cut out the castle! Then they made my boyfriend and I stand back to back with our arms crossed like sassy twins? We still laugh whenever we see those.

Here’s a picture that I took, as in someone who is not employed as a photographer.
I like how it turned out!

Much better!

Eeyore came along right away, and he really liked my bag!

So cute! I like your Eeyore bag. Crystal Palace breakfast is so amazing

The line at Peter Pan said 30 minutes, but we waited about 20.
Bless you inflated wait times.

I can't wait to go through the queue this year, we Fastpassed it last time.

Pirates of the Caribbean was open now, after being closed in Paris, Florida AND California!
So that’s where we went!

Pirates was still closed when we were there

Well, at the time I labelled it as Disney-character-spotting.
It’s not my fault that all the ones I came across were good-looking men.

​

​

I called in at the Emporium on my way out and I spotted MINI SULLEYS!
I bought one of these in 2012 because they are just so hilarious looking.

​

omg their faces

Tikiiii I’m hooome!

I'm so in love with the Poly. We're staying in December and I can't wait.

Here was the view in front of me:

And the view behind me!

While we sat by the pool I experimented with Snapchat!
I know, I’m ridiculously late to the party, but it’s fine.
I never bother to post pictures to Facebook or Instagram while I’m away, but Snapchat was a really quick and easy way to share a bit of Disney with people back home!

Here’s my first Snap!

(I’ll be back at Disney in a few weeks so add me if you like! - katiesaurus91)

I feel so old I don't get snapchat at all. I use insta mostly.

 

[tinkerbell1991]

Can't wait to read more - I love your reports

 

[TheLittleKatie]

This is his gift.... and his curse.

Reminds me of this advert..

I believe you!

My Dad always wanted to go to Nuremberg for the Christkindlesmarkt.
So in the fall of 2004 we did a trip, just the two of us.
We stayed in a Hotel/pension where the breakfast room had windows overlooking the market.
Best. Thing. Ever.

I am so happy you've done this! Sounds great.

GET OUT OF THE PARK, PEOPLE! NOW!!

Literally how I feel at a morning ADR.

We need a new plague that doesn't affect me.

Hahaha this reminds me, whenever the tiniest thing goes wrong for me and my friends we go to our whatsapp group and make plans to distribute a new plague and give only ourselves the vaccine. How DARK! but funny. "Someone spilled coffee on me.. Exterminate the planet!" "Some took the last chicken sandwich.. How's that vaccine coming along?" Maybe this isn't something I should be sharing.. MOVING ON.

I think that if that's the case, a lot of early morning ADRs are going to vanish.
What's the point?

Exactly. I told myself I wasn't doing a pre-park ADR this year but I just caved. It's for Be Our Guest on the 17th before I do my Keys to the Kingdom tour - so I'll let you know how it goes

"Oh! You're from England! Well, I'll make sure you feel right at home, then! Cloudy and gloomy setting, check!"

Yeah THANKS PAL.

ummm....
Okay.... Background out of focus, so wide open aperture.... but.... you'd think he'd increase the shutter speed to compensate... it looks like... I don't know what it looks like!
And... great shot of the rope and sign! Why?

WHY.

Is that a good thing? Or did you feel rushed?

It was good! Much better than waiting over an hour like the previous time.

That pain au chocolat looks like it's crying after seeing what you did to its friend the croissant.

I'm a monster.

What is it with Characters stealing your bag? First they want all your money, then all your possessions too??? Where will it end?!?!?!?

This is a serious problem that Disney really needs to address.

Your Mum and I need to have a banana bread bake off.

Yes, and I guess I'll take the burden of being the judge.

And? What did he think of it?

Hymie probably likes the queue more than the ride itself he never went to Disney as a kid so he doesn't really have that Peter Pan nostalgia.

Huh! Good eye! Did you know about that or spot it on your own?

I actually spotted it myself, but I think I had read about it before. But I didn't go in looking for it, does that make sense? No. Bye.

Ah, Jasmine. My second favourite princess.

Who is your first?

OMG! Katie! You're transparent!!

Bahahah

You're far ahead of me, though!
But you missed the opportunity for...

HAHA I've seen these before... (see response below)

OMG, they all look like hot dogs. my legs look more like marshmallows....

Hahaha me too!!! I'm so pale I have milk bottle-looking legs

 

[TheLittleKatie]

I just spent hours binge reading this! It's extra exciting to me because we were there at the same time, and also stayed at the Poly! Can't wait to read the rest of the trip report.

Oh wow that's crazy! Look out for yourself in the background of my photos Thanks for reading!

Hello again, I was a while catching up with your report.

That is quite alright! I've been a while catching up with everything! No rush around here

Hmmm…well, the sides of Main Street look lovely, but the hub, nope that’s just not right. I’ve only done an early ADR once in 2013 and it was not crowded at all. I hope this is not the new trend (but afraid it is).

Now that Be Our Guest is open for breakfasts too, I'm afraid it might be a trend..

And is that saying something? Anything? No…OK, moving along.

Interesting. I’ve had the same problem a few times and treat it the same way.

It gave him a lot of trouble last summer but thankfully it's been ok for a while now.

Cool! I love details like that, but I always seem to miss them. I can’t remember seeing Br’er Rabbits house. I also missed Willie the Giant peeking into the roof of Sir Mickey’s but really wish I had noticed.

See it as an excuse to go back!

I am sure I’ve read it in a TR (can’t remember whose) and yes, you can watch Wishes from the treehouse! I remember when I read that I thought (with Stacey’s voice in my head), yep, that’s a Disney Must-do!

That's awesome! It's closed while we're there this year, but... see comment above

Oh no they did not! Unlimited supply of chocolate almonds? That’s it, I’m going Club level and bringing my “big” pants.

Worth it!!!!!! I use this gif all the time, but it's just so fitting for Disney!

Also.... Enjoy your layover in London!!!!!!

So embarrassed.

I never even noticed the different colored buildings and how vibrant and gorgeous they are

Well you SHOULD be embarrassed.

I joke.

About 95% of the time, our Photopass pics come out great. The other 5% i'm like, do you even know where the shutter button is?!?

For reals! I feel bad for the kid who lost out on a DCP place because this goober is out on Main Street taking crappy pictures

Just curious, what's the ketchup for?

Errrrrrrrrm EVERYTHING. You don't have ketchup with sausage bacon and egg breakfast??!!

Come to think of it, I believe you were one of the people who called me out for having baked beans with my breakfast in my Disneyland Paris report...? STOP BREAKFAST SHAMING ME OK. All breakfasts are beautiful.

Why is it, eyeliner makes guys so much better looking? DH 'dressed' up for Pirates night on our first Disney cruise and I put a little bit of eyeliner on him for more dramatic effect and I thought he looked surprisingly good!

It must be from the emo stage we all went through!!! He even has the facial expression! I remember being into all that, still enjoy a bit of Blink now and again

Also you are adorable, teach me to be you please and thanks.

Yay can't wait to see the fun snaps! I expect lots of shenanigans from both you and Hymie please

I still don't know how to work it properly I think you can now add photos from your camera roll so that might be something I do when I inevitably forget to snap for days on end WAAA wish you were coming

Great updates! I added you on snapchat! Can't wait to follow along on your next trip.

Thank you!!! Gahh I can't wait to GO on my next trip, it's come around so fast!

No, I wish we would have been evacuated! I love seeing backstage things like that. We did the Keys to the Kingdom tour last time and we loved it because of all the backstage stuff.

OH I've booked Keys to the Kingdom this year!!! You enjoyed it yes? I think I'll love it.

Here is one of the coffee cups. This one is on the the Disney Store website. The other one I saw was on the Disney Shop Parks app.

I LOVE this. Our Disney Store is pretty bad here in the UK, but hopefully they do them/something similar in the parks

Just read your report from the start and loving it! you know how to do disney with style. cant wait for the rest of your report.

Hey thanks!! And thanks for reading! I need to get this TR moving because I'll be back in Florida soon! So you're about to be bombarded with updates over the next few weeks

 

[TheLittleKatie]

This made me laugh and laugh! My cat looked up from sleeping next to me and just gave me the look. you know, that "my owner's a nut" look haha
Your picture came out awesome atleast!

Bahaha I'm glad your cat thinks you're crazy

This plate looks PERFECT

RIGHT. I miss Disney food

Banana bread is my fav! My mom sometimes puts chocolate chips in hers, not a lot but just enough. I need banana bread..NOW!

Oh wow that sounds really good.. I shouldn't have got people talking about banana bread though because like you say, I need it like NOW.

hahaha you go girl! oh and I will add, about 5 years ago in the summer my eyelid did some weird stuff like that too! I wear contacts so I had to wear glasses for awhile. It was horrible. But I had little bumps on the inside of my eyelids. Sooo painful!

Thats does sound similar to what he had, it's all cleared up now though thankfully. Hope yours is too!

GIRL, SAME!

GIRL. I could sit there all day

WHAAAT!! WHERE IS THAT!? Is that the little shop you have to walk through after the ride? Or the one infront of the ride before you even go down those stairs to reach the ride? I MUST KNOW!

It's the shop in front of the ride before you go down the steps!!! Hahaha, as the biggest Splash Mountain fan, I understand how important this is

Are all your pictures phone pics? Or do you have a camera? Whichever it is, all your pictures are amazing!!!

I only use my phone by the pool, most of my photos are taken on a camera, but it's just a little point and shoot, nothing fancy! Thank you! I am actually impressed with how they come out for such a cheap little thing

I'm enjoying your trip report so much! You're really funny and I love all your photos! I found that it was more crowded tan expected when i had a pre park opening breakfast, if your ever try it again, you should try making it for about 8:20 then waiting for the crowds to die down a little! Idk if this works all the times but I got some great photos last year!

Thanks girl! Glad you had more success with the pre-park ADR than I did, I have Be Our Guest booked this year for a little later (8:35 I think) so maybe that will be better

I've been following for awhile, but I think this is the first time I've commented!

Well in that case !!!! Glad to have you here!

This happened to us too! Last year (so around the same time as you're trip) I booked a Crystal Palace ADR for before the park opened, and when we got there ugh there was so many people.

Ugh it's literally the only reason I book pre-park ADRs. The quiet empty pictures if it's going to be busy anyway we may as well sleep in!

Some of the Photopass photographers I don't even know what they're doing. We had one that took a bunch of pictures of us in front of the castle and cut out the castle! Then they made my boyfriend and I stand back to back with our arms crossed like sassy twins? We still laugh whenever we see those.

HAHA omg, this made me laugh! Like dude I just want a nice shot in front of the castle to get printed and framed, not sassy twin pictures I do like some of the quirky photographers though, I've had a couple of guys who were super into it and seemed to love their job, they made me laugh at least!!

I can't wait to go through the queue this year, we Fastpassed it last time.

It's worth the wait!!!

omg their faces

They look so funny

I'm so in love with the Poly. We're staying in December and I can't wait.

Omg!!! Lucky!! That will be amazing, I'd love to see the Poly at Christmas. Not long for you!

Hhaha best reaction gif ever, he is adorable.

Also - you can buy that sweater at Universal!! I look at it every time, I think I should just get it. I definitely would if my name began with R... (...RAEVEN)

I feel so old I don't get snapchat at all. I use insta mostly.

I hardly use it either, we can be old together I'll probably use it more at Disney though because I can never be bothered to post anywhere else while I'm away. At least Snapchat is pretty quick and ..snappy..

Can't wait to read more - I love your reports

Hey, thank you!! More coming soon, I really need to get this going/finished ! Thanks for reading!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 9
Wednesday 30th September 2015
Part 3 – Hollywood Studios

We sat out by the pool for a couple of hours.
It was getting soooo hot though.
I felt like my skin was completely saturated with sunscreen... I had to keep topping it up, and it was not rubbing in at all!
Eventually we went to enjoy the warmth of outside on the shade of our balcony

Back at it again with the Snapchatting…

In the words of Carrie Bradshaw:

Later on we got ready to go to Hollywood Studios!

I snapped this from the bus:

We arrived at 4pm and went straight to Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage!

We got really good seats for the show.
We were right in the center, and right behind the control booth.
We could see all of the equipment, but we had a perfect view of the stage.

For anyone who is short, or has ever had the regular view of the back of somebody's head in this theatre, you’ll appreciate how delighted I was with this spot!

I know a good friend of Gaston’s from Instagram, so I was looking forward to this

We looooved the show!
I like the soundtrack, and Jamie finds synchronised dancing “oddly satisfying”

From the show we went straight to Tower, and it was practically a walk on!

I struck a princess pose for the picture
I’m basic and I love my life leave me alone.

YAY.
I always love to walk onto my favourites.

Then we went to the fastpass kiosk and found a Rock n Roller Coaster pass for RIGHT NOW!​

We were asleep for the photo!
It’s very difficult to do when you're accelerating from 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds, so we always feel very accomplished seeing the photo afterwards.
We really are succeeding in the important parts of life.

(Also, holy tan line Batman!)

It was 5:30pm when we exited, and we had a little time before we had to leave the park for our 7pm ADR, so we went to ride the Great Movie Ride.

We stopped at another photographer on the way.

They did this to our picture, which Jamie LOVED!
Baymax is his favourite, he’s even his phone background.​

To the Great Movie Ride!
It was difficult manoeuvring the crowds but we made it in the end.
LOL.

We got the gangster track today!

Did you know you can have your wedding reception in the Wizard of Oz room?!
Like seriously.

After the ride we headed out of the park.
It was now 6pm, and we were doing some resort dining!
Goodbye Hollywood Studios

Click for Day 9, Part 4!​

​

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 9
Wednesday 30th September 2015
Part 4 – The Wilderness Lodge and Whispering Canyon

We’re going for dinner at the Wilderness Lodge! Yay!

The last time I was at the Wilderness Lodge I looked like this:

(Yes my Uncle Pocahontas-stamped my face.)

Needless to say, it’s been a while!!!!

WELL.

I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by this resort.
I know I tend to exaggerate, and I seem to have a new favourite thing every day.
But pictures of this resort have never really captivated me.
Before this trip I would’ve said this was my least favourite deluxe.
But since visiting in person,
And if they get a nice new room design…
This would probably be one of my favourite resorts.
I DON’T KNOW EITHER.

I do change my mind about my favourites a lot.
Maybe I’ll change my mind again next time I’m in Disney.
But yum and wow, this resort is so amazing.

I think I know why I like it so much too.
Back when I would visit through the 90s/early 00s, we always stayed at Port Orleans Riverside (then Dixie Landings), and every time but one, we stayed in the Alligator Bayou buildings.

BASICALLY to me, with the whole rustic, wooden thing going on, the Wilderness Lodge feels like a deluxified Dixie Landings.
That’s all I could think as we walked around.
This is like Dixie, BUT CRANKED UP A NOTCH.

Anyway, let’s go explore!

This little bridge and stream are INSIDE.

We wandered outside the main lobby and onto this wooden deck with rocking chairs, how peaceful.

And THIS was the view.

We followed the stream down through the courtyard and spotted…

OH MY GAAAAD.
Could this resort be any more perfect and wildernessy???

We walked past the pool and all the way down to Bay Lake.

THERE ARE HOOF TRACKS IN THE CONCRETE.

Then we walked back up to the lobby.

WILDERNESS LODGE DOOR MAT.

WILDERNESS LODGE LIGHT.

WILDERNESS LODGE.

We went in the mercantile and they had such great stuff.
I really wanted that grey hoodie on the right but they didn’t have my size, boooo.

The bottom of the Wilderness Lodge totem pole is where I belong in life.

We were eating at Whispering Canyon Café this evening!
We checked in at 6:45pm and got a pager, so we went to sit in the big chairs.

Terrible lighting but I don’t care because I LOVE THIS PLACE.

Soon we were buzzing!
Let’s go!

OK, I’ll just tell you this now.
- Not including super-fancy signature meals -
(They’re in a different league and not really comparable)
This was one of THE BEST meals that I’ve EVER had at Disney.
That probably sounds crazy.
I might be the only person to have ever said that.
But we LOVED Whispering Canyon!

We followed our waitress into this little extension room connected to the back of the restaurant.
The two dining rooms are half-separated by the big fireplace that you see in the lobby.
It was a quiet, dimly lit room with elegant tables and chairs (unlike the main room )

When I booked Whispering Canyon I was looking forward to the rowdiness, but we were both really glad they seated us in that back room!
The main room was SO loud and busy and there were kids running around everywhere

It turned out to be greatness.
The pony races still come through, and you can still do the ketchup thing, but it’s only a small room so it’s much less frequent, and generally more low-key.
I thought it was perfect for a childless couple like us, and I will definitely be requesting that back room on our next visit!

You also get a little card for your table that indicates whether you want to participate in the fun or not.
Ummm… Of course we do!
It’s nice that they give people that option though.

Our waitress was called Monica and she was a hoot!!!

She brought out our water, a Magical Star cocktail for me, and a beer for Jamie.
She set down our drinks, then pretended to sneeze, and as she did, she THREW STRAWS ALL OVER THE TABLE.

She then told me I could keep the glow cube that was in my cocktail.
Jamie said, “She already has loads of them!”
To which Monica leaned in to me and said,

“He's being polite, but he’s trying to tell me that you have a drinking problem…"


She was so much fun, we both absolutely loved her.

Jar of water.

We both ordered the All-You-Care-To-Enjoy Skillet.

First Monica brought us some cornbread and a salad.

The salad had lettuce, tomato, apple, blue cheese and candied pecans (and maybe a couple of other things) topped with an apple vinaigrette.

Oh my LIFE.
This was the best salad I have EVER tasted.
I kid you not.
THE BEST.
SALAD.
EVER.
I didn’t know salad could taste this delicious.
YUM AND WOWEEEEEEEE.

Jamie was loving the cornbread too. He ended up eating most of that while I ate most of the salad.
That worked out well!!!
I was not willing to share this amazing concoction.

Then came the skillet.
This contained beefsteak, smoked pork ribs, BBQ pulled pork, sausage, roasted chicken, mash, corn on the cob, green beans, and baked beans…

As total carnivores, we were in heaven. Everything was soooo good.
Even the mash and baked beans had pieces of pulled pork in them, you can’t get much better than that.

In this next photo you can see how pretty and calm this back room is.
And the tables and chairs are much nicer than those in the main room.

We were obsessed with getting the pulled pork, mash and baked beans all together on one forkful. It was so delicious.
As those three items started running low we were left fighting over the scraps, but Monica came back and asked if she could get us any more of anything!

Errrrrm. YES PLEASE.

After our breakfast at Crystal Palace this morning, I had to let my snap-friends know what life was like in Disney…

The salad, cornbread and skillet are all-you-care-to-enjoy and it’s $30 per person.
I don’t know about you but I think that’s very reasonable!

I’ve booked this meal again for our 2016 trip so I hope I can add “consistent” to its glowing review!

When we were finishing up, we were comparing our last three table service meals: Whispering Canyon, 1900 Park Fare and Boma.
Jamie immediately said that 1900 Park Fare was his favourite, because his new girlfriend Drizella lives there.



But we both agreed the food was better at Boma and Whispering Canyon.
Then we said that we liked the fact that at Whispering Canyon the food is brought out to you, whereas we waited in some fairly long lines at the Boma buffet.
Boma does have great desserts included, but it’s also a bit more expensive.
Whispering Canyon was the clear winner for me

We finished our amazing meal at 8:10pm and we wandered around the lobby and up the stairs.
I love this resort, in case you hadn’t guessed.

We stumbled upon a little fireplace and seating area on maybe the third floor.
SERIOUSLY WILDERNESS LODGE???
You are perfect.

We sat by the fire for 10-15 minutes and reminisced about the trip so far.
Of all the happiness I felt on this trip, I think this was my happiest moment.
I was so content sat there by the fire

The view next to me:

We went back downstairs and walked past the bigger fireplace.

I prefer our secret one.

Then we went to Roaring Fork because I wanted to get a magic cookie bar!
I’d heard great things and thought I may as well grab one while I’m here.

I was too full to eat it right now, but this is what it looks like.
Spoiler alert, it’s delicious.

Click for Day 9, Part 5!​

​

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 9
Wednesday 30th September 2015
Part 5 – Wishes from Fantasyland!

We headed out the back of the Wilderness Lodge, through the pretty courtyard and past the pool, and hopped on a boat to the Magic Kingdom.

This was my first boat ride past the Contemporary into Seven Seas Lagoon. I was living.
Such pretty views.

Jamie decided to go back to the room, so I sent him off (with strict orders not to eat my magic cookie bar), and I went into the Magic Kingdom!
It was 8:45pm so I figured I’d watch Wishes.

I got into the park and it was PACKED.
Main Street was completely backed up.
I decided to view the fireworks from Fantasyland for the first time ever!

I called into the Confectionary first.
Can’t you smell the sugar just by looking at this photo?!

I also heard the singing guy up in this window!

It was so busy I had to veer right and walk through Tomorrowland.

And I made my way around to the back of the castle.

I stood between the carousel and the New Fantasyland walls, which made for some really great viewing!

As some of you probably know, there are two layers of fireworks, so you can see the ones outside the park in one direction, and behind the castle in the other direction!

Hearing the kids in this video puts a huge smile on my face!
This is such a happy place to watch the fireworks from!

WOW!

I loved this!
The atmosphere was so much more relaxed than Main Street, where everyone seems to be frustrated at somebody nearby.

As you can hear from the last videos, everyone was “oohing” and “aahing” and we all cheered at the end!
It was such a happy experience!

Of course I recommend seeing it in front of the castle first, but if you're looking for a fun new experience where you get to spin around like a crazy person, this is the spot for you!

Now that they’ve announced the cancellation of the Wishes fastpass area I think Fantasyland will be my new fireworks viewing area of choice.
Maybe next time I’ll stand back a bit and so that the fireworks are behind Beast’s castle.

I wasn’t sure what to do after the fireworks, so I just went straight home.

Kathy Bates, you know me well. I took a detour through...

The woman sat in front of me on Splash was adorable, she kept turning around to talk to me in broken English, but she was so cute.

After the big drop my new friend turned to me and offered me a Kleenex to dry my face!
I love her.

I headed out towards Adventureland, and there I spotted none other than Tom Bricker from the Disney Tourist Blog!!!

He takes the most amazing Disney photos ever.

Unfortunately when I saw him, he was in full photographer mode, sat on the floor under the Adventureland/Frontierland archway so I didn’t want to bother him, but it was so cool to spot him in action!!!

I decided before heading home that I wanted to do a cruise through the jungle at night, so I walked right in, and I was the only one there!

When I got in the boat the Skipper said,
“Oooh a girrrrl… Come sit close to me, we’ll talk about stranger danger.”
Bahaha.
Disney after dark.
I mean, I was on a boat in the middle of no where, so I couldn't exactly say no...

We chatted with another CM who was on the deck until some other people turned up, then we headed off on our Jungle Cruise!

This was the only photo I took.
Tom Bricker, eat your heart out.

I know I prefer every ride at night, but the Jungle Cruise is REALLY something special at night! It’s like a completely different experience, and a little creepy.

After the Jungle Cruise I actually did head out of the park.

Checked in with Snapchat!

I walked up Main Street and got a picture from my favourite spot before leaving.

I got the boat because the monorail line was huge.
In fact, both lines were huge, but they were sending larger boats, like the Epcot friendship boats, so I didn’t wait long.

I got back to the Poly at around 11pm.

I went back to the room and watched some TV with Jamie, and we went to sleep at around midnight.

It was a very long day, we’d been up since 6:45am with no naps.
Thankfully we could sleep in tomorrow.

Goodnight!

Click for Day 10, Part 1!​

​

 

[Raeven]

HAHA omg, this made me laugh! Like dude I just want a nice shot in front of the castle to get printed and framed, not sassy twin pictures I do like some of the quirky photographers though, I've had a couple of guys who were super into it and seemed to love their job, they made me laugh at least!!

We had some photographers with really good ideas. Our pictures at the France pavilion came out adorable, and I loved the photographer! But sassy twins I can't even imagine why someone would ask a couple to pose like that

Omg!!! Lucky!! That will be amazing, I'd love to see the Poly at Christmas. Not long for you!

We're actually going back in September too so even less of a wait! (But not staying at the Poly then). I'm so excited for Christmas this trip and the last one we both did for Halloween which is our favorite holiday, but it made us curious about how awesome Christmastime could be.

Hhaha best reaction gif ever, he is adorable.

Also - you can buy that sweater at Universal!! I look at it every time, I think I should just get it. I definitely would if my name began with R... (...RAEVEN)

I tried it out but it was too itchy and I thought it was too hot for Orlando I was very sad because our names do start with the same letter so I thought it would be perfect.

Did you know you can have your wedding reception in the Wizard of Oz room?!
Like seriously.

That would be an interesting (and probably very expensive) wedding

I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by this resort.

I can't wait to see the Wilderness Lodge especially around the holidays We haven't seen that resort yet.

This little bridge and stream are INSIDE.

We followed the stream down through the courtyard and spotted…

It's so cute!

But we LOVED Whispering Canyon!

Loved the review! We're going for lunch in December at the request of the birthday boy.

She then told me I could keep the glow cube that was in my cocktail.
Jamie said, “She already has loads of them!”
To which Monica leaned in to me and said,

“He's being polite, but he’s trying to tell me that you have a drinking problem…"

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Awesome updates. What's your snapchat name?

 

[mlegerto]

Amazing updates as usual! Your next trip is coming up really soon isn't it?