Feelin' Hot Hot Hot in Walt Disney World (May 2010) - The Final Decision...Hmm

[PolynesianLily]

Do you like funny stories of people having to run through the airport to catch their flight or stories of people walking into solid objects? If you do then . . .

Welcome to my May 2010 Trip Report!!!!!!!!!!

I am so glad that you have decided to read this trip report. This will be my first time writing a trip report, so please be aware that it might be a little choppy or out of sorts at first, but I promise it will get better over time. Before you ask, yes we did have to run to catch our plane, but that story will be saved for the arrival day. I will just say this much - I use to laugh at those people on TV that you see making a mad dash to the gate but never in my life did I ever think that would happen to me. Lesson learned - actually arrive at the airport 3 hours in advance, regardless. If we did than we would have been fine.

We unfortunately returned from our 10 day vacation yesterday (May 11), and boy am I missing Walt Disney World. I kept thinking as we were sitting in the airport yesterday that WDW is only 45 minutes away, and if I tried I'm sure I could make a run for it - I mean I had money. Did I? No. As I am writing this trip report I am torturing myself with the "oh this time last week we were...". I think I might continue doing this to myself for the next year or until the next trip.

With every trip that passes my love for Walt Disney World continues to grow. My first trip was in 2000, and I have been almost every year since. Due to the fact that we tend to stay at deluxe resorts on our trips, we have decided that it is best to go every other year. Since our last trip to Walt Disney World was in December 2008, we decided to take another trip in May 2010. Our next trip is scheduled for February 2012, even though we would like to go back sooner. We were a little more comfortable going for the amount of days that we did for this trip because of all the discounts that we have received. If we can find a 40% pin code or discount for February 2011, than we might be able to go then.

I always get depressed after a trip to WDW because I never want to return back home. I don't know what it is but there is just something about WDW that makes me smile and extremely happy. I think it is the water. There were so many times on this trip that I wanted to bottle up the smells I smelt in the parks such as the Fountains of Nation smell, it was so familiar - the smell of chlorinated water always reminds me of Walt Disney World. Some people think i'm weird, but whenever I smell chlorine either at home or in stores or outside, I immediately think of Walt Disney World.

I'm getting distracted so before I get too much into the trip report I think that it is time for some introductions and background information.

Cast of Characters
Me (Princess Lily) - I am truly in love with Walt Disney World and I refuse to go to any other amusement park. I'm not into that whole twisted metal roller coasters that have 130ft drops. I am truly lucky to have been able to go to Walt Disney World the number of times that I have, and I love every single trip that we take there.

Mom (Princess JoJo) - Also loves to travel to Walt Disney World. She plans the park days and dining reservations and does an excellent job doing so! We have a lot of fun planning the vacation together.

Dad (Pirate Pipepig) - Likes Walt Disney World, but loves being on a relaxing vacation a little bit more. Does not mind going to Walt Disney World because it is a vacation, but would also like to relax there - and not constantly be at the parks.

Our trip occurred from Sunday May 2 to Tuesday May 11, and in those 10 days we celebrated Mother's Day and my Birthday. We stayed at Disney's Polynesian Resort, a resort that we are quite familiar with.

Why is this trip report called "Sizzling Our Way Through Disney World"? Well, simply because we literally were sizzling through Disney World. The weather was so hot that the weather channel referred to some days as having record high heat. Yes, we got sunburnt and of course it did hurt. I'm pretty sure my sunburn got burnt more than once during the trip because I remember waiting for one of our lunch reservations and trying to stop my hair from touching my sunburn on my shoulder because every time it did, it well, stung. I went to Florida looking like a ghost, and because my skin was so white it was no wonder that it burned so quickly.

Chapter Links
Chapter 1 - The Arrival Day
It's Just a Hop, Skip and a ... RUN to the Airplane
It's Up In The Air We Go
Is It? I Think It Is...Welcome to Walt Disney World!
Where Oh Where in the Polynesian Are We?
The Disney Food Expedition Begins ... With a Turkey and a Pig?
The Night of Disney Magic, Oh But Where's the Magic? WE MISSED IT?!
The Arrival Day: IN REVIEW

Chapter 2 - The Magic Kingdom Day
The Introduction
Mmm...Breakfast at the Kona Cafe
There's Magic In The Air
Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pi...HEY Food!
From Screaming to Splashing, It's All Magical
From the Contemporary to the Wilderness
There's Nothing Better Than A Dinner Buffet
A Stroll Around the Boardwalk

Chapter 3 - The Hollywood Studios Day
It All Starts With Some Food
Potato Who?
What's Old Is New To Us!
Just A Spoonful of Sugar
The Downtown Disney Dining Extravaganza!

Chapter 4 - The Epcot Day
The Beginning
Epcot: The Land of Imagination
The Adventures of a Piggy Bank
Hey Look! It's Vikings and Bill Nye!
The End of the Day

Chapter 5 - The Animal Kingdom Day
A Delicious Breakfast
It's NAH-TA-ZU!
Is That a T...T-Rex?!
A Short and Sweet Trip to the African Hotel

Chapter 6 - The Magic Kingdom Day
Why Yes, Yes We Do Like Switching ADR's Last Minute...Don't You?

Chapter 7 - The Day Of No Parks

Chapter 8 - The Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios Day

Chapter 9 - The Magic Kingdom & Epcot Day

Chapter 10 - The Departure Day

Bonus Updates
We're Planning the Next Trip
To 2011 or Not To 2011?

These chapters are just outlines, to show you the parks that we went to, and the parks that we hopped to. Under each chapter I will be posting links to the sub-sections which will include meal reviews and park reviews as well as our park touring plans. I can be a little short on details, so for this trip report I will try not to be.

On this trip I learned many things, and one thing that I learned was not to hold expectations. When we were planning for this vacation we had planned our park days out. By planning our park days out what I mean is that we created touring plans of the rides that we wanted to visit each day. I got a little bit disappointed when these plans did not hold up, but I soon got off of being disappointed.

The one thing that I was really excited about was how many pictures I took - 1,916. I could have taken a lot more but the batteries kept dying on me because for some reason the camera drains the batteries. We bought a new memory card for the camera so it could store more pictures, but it actually ended up making the camera a lot slower to turn on making it difficult to take pictures while in a moving vehicle such as on Kilimanjaro Safaris. Maybe by the next trip I will have a new camera .

Anyways, I hope that you all enjoy reading this trip report! I will be posting the first day soon. The lesson learned on this trip was that sometimes things that you might have remembered or thought to be perfect, turn out to be a little bit imperfect the next time through. This certainly was the case with our resort, and one of our meals that we once thought was amazing.

So sit back, relax because this trip report starts now. Saying that reminds me of what they say on the trams: At this time there will be no further boarding, no further boarding please. For those of you on board please sit back, relax . . . driver you are clear *beep beep*.

I keep thinking that last wednesday we were at Epcot, and it gives me chills to actually think that yesterday morning we were in Walt Disney World. I thought that waiting for this trip would be torture, but it wasn't.

Up Next: The Arrival Day

 

[PolynesianLily]

It's Just A Hop, Skip and a ... RUN to the Airplane

As this title suggests, there was running involved in order for us to board the airplane in a timely manner. You will find out why in just a little bit.

I don't have any pictures from the arrival day morning because the Pearson International Airport is not a pleasant sight in comparison to the Orlando International Airport. It to us seems like a depressing airport, and I was certainly dreading sitting in the dirty airport terminal waiting to board the plane.

Instead of driving to the airport, we decided to once again use an airport shuttle service. It makes it a lot easier on my parents because with the airport shuttle service they do not have to be stressed with the rush of morning traffic either going to the airport or coming back from the airport. When we had booked the airport shuttle service they told us that they would be at our house for 7:30am with our plane leaving at 10:30am. It takes approximately 1 hour to get to the airport, so that would mean that we would get to the airport at 8:30am. That was fine...then. We booked the service in early December, before the airports began enforcing new security measures. With the suggestion that we should arrive at the airport 3 hours prior to our flight, we had asked the airport shuttle service if they should be picking us up sooner, and they said no. Fine, we'll deal with that.

We booked a private car because we found that with the public shuttle service, we had to make other stops to pick people out before we actually arrived at the airport. After using this service for 4 trips, we finally decided that getting a private car was the better choice and it was more comfortable for us.

The car picked us up at 7:30am, and before we knew it we were off to the airport. We had a nice chat with the driver, and at approximately 8:20am we arrived at the airport. We took our luggage from the car and proceeded to the "Self-Service Baggage Drop" counter at the airport. In order to save time, we had decided to check in online and print out our boarding passes the day before because it was advertised to save time in line. RIGHT. In what universe is waiting 1 hour to get our bags weighed saving time? Oh did I mention that the plane was supposed to be boarding at 10am? Right. We finally reached the baggage drop counter at 9:15am or so and we were relieved to get out of that long line up. It's amazing to see the amount of luggage people bring with them. In all honesty, I think that by the airline service offering 2 free checked bags and 2 free carry-ons per person they are putting themselves at a disadvantage by creating some very unhappy customers. Judging by what people were bringing with them this was what was causing the line to be so long. Oh and the fact that they only had 2 people working the counters. When I look back at it now, I think the whole thing was a joke.

After leaving the line up for the baggage drop, we were faced with yet another LONG line up for security. By this point it was 9:20am which meant the plane would be boarding in 40 minutes. Could we make it through security in 40 minutes? No, because judging by the title of this update, we were more than late for the plane boarding. I tried to do the deep breathing that is supposed to relax a person but I couldn't help but to notice a lady holding up the line - more than once. She was holding up the line because she couldn't stay facing forward. She always had her head turned, and trust me I am not one to get upset with people but when we are under pressure to make the airplane, I did not have the patience for people like her. I once heard her say "I wonder why this line up is so long" and I felt like saying "Well if you turned your head around and looked at the space in between you and the person in front of you - then you would understand why the line up is so long. Thanks." But I didn't, I kept my mouth shut and we moved on through to customs. The line up for customs was a never ending snaking line up. It was fast moving, but by the time we actually saw someone from customs, it was 10:05am. Yes...really.

Customs was quick and soon enough we were on our way to security. This line up wasn't that long, but by the time we were done in security it was 10:20am. Then it dawned on me...the plane is supposed to leave at....10:30AM?!!?!?!?! Oh and did I mention that our gate was practically at the end of the terminal...no it actually was. That was when we decided to walk quickly. My mother began to run and I was thinking to myself "there is no way i'm going to run in an airport". Well, I ended up running. My dad was on the moving sidewalk, and he began running as well. That is until he dropped his cell phone. As we were running all I could possibly think to myself was "Panic panic panic...NO". I wanted to go to WDW, and I wanted to go NOW.

Well, we made the plane - why? Because other people were late as well. Who knows what would have happened if we were the only ones left. Let's just say that regardless of what they tell us at the airport shuttle service, we want to ARRIVE at the airport 3 hours early.

 

[Stefy]

Subbing and going back to read properly

Oh goodness, I know what its like to run for your gate. I think our first WDW trip we arrived at the airport (after sitting two hours in our taxi because there had been an accident) so we couldn't do what we normally do when we get to the airport (which is arrive way ahead of time and do some Duty Free shopping). We just sat down after having ordered some sandwiches when I realised "Woah our flight is in half hour" so we had to eat quickly and run to our gate. Not a pleasant experience I can tell you

Am looking forward to reading more, esp seeing as you stayed at the Poly. We are staying there for the first time this year and I am excited to see your pics/reviews of the resort

 

[PolynesianLily]

Subbing and going back to read properly

Welcome!!!!
I see that you are staying at the Polynesian in September, how lovely!!!

 

[Stefy]

Yeah, we have been to WDW twice and it was love at first sight with the Poly and we now we got the opportunity to stay there, cannot wait I tell you

 

[PolynesianLily]

Yeah, we have been to WDW twice and it was love at first sight with the Poly and we now we got the opportunity to stay there, cannot wait I tell you

The Polynesian is a beautiful resort.

 

[PolynesianLily]

Oh goodness, I know what its like to run for your gate. I think our first WDW trip we arrived at the airport (after sitting two hours in our taxi because there had been an accident) so we couldn't do what we normally do when we get to the airport (which is arrive way ahead of time and do some Duty Free shopping). We just sat down after having ordered some sandwiches when I realised "Woah our flight is in half hour" so we had to eat quickly and run to our gate. Not a pleasant experience I can tell you

Am looking forward to reading more, esp seeing as you stayed at the Poly. We are staying there for the first time this year and I am excited to see your pics/reviews of the resort

I'm alright with the fact that we didn't get to look around in the shops because they are less than interesting. . GOSH, that must have been scary for you especially on your first trip to WDW. We were just lucky not to miss the plane.

I took a ton of pictures of the Polynesian, I will hopefully post them soon!

 

[snapppyd]

We were at the Beach Club from 5/4 - 5/10 - and you are right, it was HOT!!! We stayed at the pool all week on this trip. I look forward to reading about your adventures!

 

[PolynesianLily]

We were at the Beach Club from 5/4 - 5/10 - and you are right, it was HOT!!! We stayed at the pool all week on this trip. I look forward to reading about your adventures!

Welcome!!
I hope that you had a lovely trip!
I didn't expect it to be that hot. I mean I knew it was going to be warm, but not record heat. We actually ate at the Beach Club twice.

 

[Angies1274]

Joining in! Can't wait to read all about your trip!!

 

[PolynesianLily]

Joining in! Can't wait to read all about your trip!!

Welcome!!
Thank you for joining me!

 

[PolynesianLily]

It's Up In The Air We Go

Again this will be a no picture update because I did not have the camera with me on the airplane and trust me there was nothing to take pictures of. I promise the next update will have pictures.

In the last update I mentioned that we had to run to catch the airplane, and while we did make it on the plane, the plane did not leave on time. The reason for this was because there were still a lot of people waiting in the security line up to get through and be able to go to the terminal gate. I went into the airport with the expectation that the plane would leave on time. I was soon disappointed, and it was not the weathers fault. Yet again it was the airline's fault for leaving late. I am in no way upset with them, but still when you say that you are going to leave at 10:30am then please try your best to do so. When you see that the line up waiting for the baggage check in is extremely long than allowing your employees to stand in a corner and talk when they could be reducing the line up time would be something to consider.

Anyways, so instead of leaving at 10:30am we left at 10:45am. A 15 minute difference did not really matter, I realize that. But I was kind of hoping that we would arrive at the Orlando International Airport early like what has happened in the past. This again demonstrates the dangers of expectations. I expected to leave on time and arrive in a timely manner but that expectation was destroyed fast. Anyways, this update will not be quite long because the airplane ride there was not fun. I watched a few shows on the treehouse channel, but that was because there was nothing interesting on the TV channels that they had to offer.

Instead of getting sandwiches on the plane we decided to instead get some Crispers. The crispers were in the flavor of Salt and Vinegar, and they were alright. I mean with only have one flavor to offer, they could have chosen something a little less strong. It sounds like I am constantly complaining but that is not the case, I am trying not to. I guess again I came into this trip with expectations when I should have not had any expectations.

Soon enough we landed at the Orlando International Airport. Before we left Toronto, the captain told us that the temperature was 30C which turned out to be 86F. Hearing that made me smile because that confirmed the fact that we would soon be at the most magical place on earth. After we had landed we had to wait for them to open up the cabin doors and let us off of the plane. As soon as we stepped off the plane we could feel the heat. I saw the familiar sights of the Orlando International Airport and immediately began smiling. I tried not to notice those who were waiting to board the plane that we had just arrived on because I knew that in a week and a bit we would be sitting in those seats at the terminal gate waiting to go back home.

To skip through the boring parts, because they are boring - we waited 45 minutes for our luggage and while my dad was waiting for the luggage to arrive my mom and I decided to check into Alamo. The check in at Alamo only took 5 minutes because we used the kiosk. It also helped that we decided to beat the rush and head down to the rental car level before we got our luggage. We knew that that was where many people would be heading after they received their luggage on our flight. Anyways, soon enough we got our luggage and headed off to the rental car garage.

At first I was a little bit confused because I remember that Alamo was on the second floor of the rental car garage but this time it was on the ground level. It made it easier for carrying the luggage, but again confusing at first. We ended up getting a fullsize vehicle because we found a great discount on the price and a free car class upgrade. All the cars were not in good shape, so we decided to take an Impala in the color of White. On our december 2008 we rented an Impala as well, but that time it was a sapphire blue color.

The reason why I made this update a little bit faster was because I want to get to the part where we actually arrive at Walt Disney World. It is much happier than spending time talking about airplanes and rental car garages for a few updates. I will try to make my updates longer, but sometimes I can be a little bit short on the details. If any of you have any question by all means please ask me! I will be putting pictures soon, as mentioned before I don't have any from anywhere else but WDW. Thank you all for joining me!!!

I want to make this trip report more interesting so along the way I might add interesting facts or questions - and I will put some pictures that are of good quality (hehe).

 

[MickeyisBeast]

Joining in!
I absolutly LOVE the Polynesian
Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip

 

[GraceysGirl]

I think it is the water. There were so many times on this trip that I wanted to bottle up the smells I smelt in the parks such as the Fountains of Nation smell, it was so familiar - the smell of chlorinated water always reminds me of Walt Disney World. Some people think i'm weird, but whenever I smell chlorine either at home or in stores or outside, I immediately think of Walt Disney World.

I haven't finished reading yet but I had to comment on this before I forgot. I always think of WDW when I smell chlorine too! When you start to get close to getting on Splash Mountain and you can start smelling the water... that's the best smell ever!

 

[pepperw23]

I'm in! Very excited to read the rest of your TR! So far so good.

 

[manntra]

Hi there!!! Count me in too as I was there May 1 through the 7th and yes it was HOT!! I have been playing the last time this week I was in....too!! So sad to be home now especially with this cold and depressing weather!!! Looking forward to more!!!

Tracy

 

[PolynesianLily]

Joining in!
I absolutly LOVE the Polynesian
Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip

Thank you for joining me and welcome aboard! I also love the Polynesian

I haven't finished reading yet but I had to comment on this before I forgot. I always think of WDW when I smell chlorine too! When you start to get close to getting on Splash Mountain and you can start smelling the water... that's the best smell ever!

Oh gosh that is totally true with Splash Mountain. In the queue area you can smell the water - ohhhh it brings back memories!

I'm in! Very excited to read the rest of your TR! So far so good.

Thank you!! Welcome aboard! I am excited that more people have decided to join my trip report

Hi there!!! Count me in too as I was there May 1 through the 7th and yes it was HOT!! I have been playing the last time this week I was in....too!! So sad to be home now especially with this cold and depressing weather!!! Looking forward to more!!!

Tracy

Thank you!! Welcome aboard and glad to have you here! The weather certainly is depressing. I hated wearing long pants and running shoes today

 

[PolynesianLily]

Is It? I Think It Is … Welcome to Walt Disney World!

It seems as though getting to Walt Disney World is quite easy because there are signs pointing you in the direction that Walt Disney World is. There is nothing like driving by billboards advertising for the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival or for Expedition Everest. Seeing these signs always puts a smile on my face simply because it reinforces the fact that you are only minutes away from the happiest place on earth. As we drove through Orlando, I began to see the exit signs for Walt Disney World. We took exit 64 to the Magic Kingdom, which was the way that we wanted to go anyways. At first we thought that we had taken the wrong exit because we couldn’t see anything that looked familiar about that exit. That is until we saw the “ESPN Wide World of Sports” complex sign. It was then that we realized we took the right exit and soon enough we would be seeing our favorite sign, and the sign that is loved by many Disney addicts as well. I was a little bit high stressed because I wanted to get a picture of that sign for this trip report, but because the car window was so dirty and I did not have a proper view, I could not take a picture of the sign. Sad isn’t it? Anyways, after we drove under the welcome gate sign I immediately was overcome with joy and excitement. We were here, this was it, and it was finally here! After one and a half years spent planning, we were finally in Walt Disney World. Just thinking about this right now makes me a little bit sad because that feeling is so familiar. We followed the signs to the Magic Kingdom resort area, and we were immediately faced with this . . .

Seeing this sign made me smile a whole lot more again because I knew how close we were to the resort. As we were waiting in a line up of cars, I turned my head to look out the back window and I saw a monorail heading towards the Transportation and Ticket Center from Epcot. In all honesty I was hoping that I would see a monorail as we drove through Walt Disney World to the hotel. It’s always so cool to see a monorail for the first time on each trip. I could get a picture of it because it was too far behind, and all I could see were the front lights of the monorail in the distance. Anyways, we passed through the Magic Kingdom welcome gates and drove straight through to the Magic Kingdom resorts area. We made a left turn onto Seven Seas Drive and as we rounded the curve in the road I could not help but to notice the Polynesian resort sign in the distance. I told myself that I would take some pictures of the sign, so I did.

I was able to take a few more pictures because there was a line up for the security gate at the resort.

A lot of the pictures that I took at the security gate were a little bit shaky because the car kept moving since other cars were passing through the security gate. Anyways, we told the security officer that we were checking into the resort and he told us where we were to park. We parked the car and made the journey to the lovely resorts main entrance. Everything about the parking lot and the hotel seemed so familiar. It felt like I was at home, it felt like for once everything was perfect and happy.

Up Next: Where Oh Where in the Polynesian Are We?

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Polynesian and can't wait to be back there in October.

Oh, and my b-day is in May too (May 11).

Off to read now ......

 

[tksbaskets]

Subbing in. You are doing a fine job on your inaugural trip report and I'm looking forward to the rest! We once went to WDW in June. The term you are looking for is "Hot, Africa Hot"