Day 5 Part 3 (Friday, September 21, 2018): Spirit of Aloha, Back to Epcot, First Impressions of the Art of Animation
We headed to the Poly with a sleeping baby for our 5:15pm ADR for the Spirit of Aloha. Since I was always planning for us to take the monorail from Epcot to the Polly, I estimated a 45 minute travel time. I don't think I actually noted the time that it took us to get there.
In the end we decided not to use our last FP that we had for the Nemo ride in Epcot. We were having too much fun in the World Showcase and just ultimately decided to skip it and make our way to the Poly so we wouldn't be late.
The monorail was really fun, I've only ever been on it a couple of times. We were sure that the baby would've loved it but he was unfortunately still sleeping throughout the entire duration of the ride. The monorail itself wasn't that crowded and once we got to the ticket and transportation center, we transferred to the resort monorail where the first stop was actually the Poly.
We arrived relatively early and weren't entirely sure about what time we should check in. I had done some previous research on the internet, around the time that I was making our ADRs, and saw that it typically does take a little time before they start letting people in but we decided to use the extra time we had to enjoy some things around the Poly. One of the things we did was check out the gift shop and look around the lobby area. We might decide to stay there one day in the future, it is a beautiful resort, but I'm not sure. I think that as long as we have some children in our family we'll keep gearing towards the larger than life character Disney resorts.
Eventually I went to check us in and got the leis that they hand out and we then woke the baby up at around 4:45pm when we decided to take pictures in front of the statue with the Photopass Photographer. They graciously took a ton of pictures for us, family pictures and single pictures.
Once we were done with that we decided to make our way towards the venue and down the path. We continued to wait outside of the venue for about 10 minutes before they began to let people in. It was a little hot and humid, it is September in Disney World after all, but it wasn't completely unbearable. The line to get into the venue was long but they worked through it pretty quickly. One guy in line actually saw that I wasn't wearing the lei that they handed us and gave us some more since he said his kids took a bunch. But they had two separate lines where once you get to the front, the hostess takes your receipt (that you get when you check-in) and takes you directly to the table you're sitting at. I thought it was kind of funny that we had gotten assigned to Table 50, which just so happened to be our table number while we were on the cruise.
Our table was on the second floor in the middle section so we had a perfect view of the stage. There was no one behind us and no one in front of us so it was like we were the only people in that section. I think there was a table besides us, but we didn't share a table and we barely even realized they were there. We were at the table right near the kitchen but we never heard any noise from them. I was concerned about getting bad seats, though. I thought we might get something like unfavorable tablemates or there might be a pole in front or someone's head that would result in the baby not being able to see, if we were placed on the first floor. Our seats were perfect for us.
I know that I tried to research about reserving an ADR for this place beforehand and didn't really find much information on it so I'm not exactly sure about the time that warranted what kind of table we got. I read reports about how they assign a table when you reserve, but I'm not sure in what order. I picked Category 2 when reserving because we were on the dining plan therefore only Category 2 and 3 are covered on it, not Category 1. I put a picture of the floor plan to give a better idea.
This was actually the first ADR that I booked when our window opened. I wasn't concerned with any of our 3 ADRs because we weren't going for the high profile places like Chef Mickey's or Cinderella's Royal Table. We weren't that interested in meeting princesses this trip and my family doesn't really do breakfast, so we had no desire to do anything pre-park opening or princess related. I also wanted to try not to go to like a place with repeat characters, like go to two character meals that had the same characters in attendance, even though they may be wearing something different. In the end, I think the choices we made were perfect for us.
I had looked at what the menu would be beforehand and told everyone in my family about what kinds of things they would have. I don't think any of us had any real complaints about the food. Everything was delicious and our server brought out more as we wanted it, even just bringing out certain menu items or even just something plain. At one point my mom said something about not really wanting a piece of chicken with the pesto sauce on it, to my dad and brother. Our server just so happened to overhear her and brought out an entire plate of just plain chicken for her.
The appetizers were already on the table when we sat down. There was some watermelon, pineapple, cold noodle salad, and a wedge salad. The baby loved the fruit there and began devouring that almost immediately. To be honest, some of the reviews online scared me a bit about this place but it was something that my mom wanted to try. It was actually like the only thing she said she wanted to check out while we were on this trip. I did tell my family about the potential bad reviews beforehand, about how some people weren't happy with the food or the show itself, but my mom commented that we were going for the experience, not just for one of those sections mentioned above. She said that it was all of it together that created the atmosphere and experience that we were looking forward to.
The main course was brought out during a break in the first half. In order for the servers to be able to bring out the food as well as to allow everyone some time to eat, there were breaks placed throughout the first half and also a kind of like intermission. The second half, the half that everyone reportedly goes for, isn't until after the dessert is served. I didn't have any issues with any of the breaks as it allowed people to have time to eat and go to the bathroom without having a continuous show where they'd have to get up and interrupt. The meal itself consisted of BBQ pork, ribs, chicken, some broccoli looking type thing that was the vegetable, and coconut rice.
There were no complaints about the food in my family and we all enjoyed it. I, personally, was surprised in myself that I loved the coconut rice as much as I did. I don't particularly like coconut but was just absolutely in love with the rice.
Additionally, the dessert itself was a pineapple cake that was cut into a large square for everyone at the table to share. Our table had gotten two of them. We had two of everything, even two of the appetizer and main course dishes. It was more like a family meal type setting.
The show itself wasn't that bad as some reviews make it seem or maybe it's just that my family likes that type of thing. The first half had a lot of singing and dancing but I think that the cast had amazing voices and everyone in the show seemed to really be enjoying themselves. There were instances when they wanted the kids to come up and dance or if people were celebrating certain things and we even got the baby to go up with my brother.
The second half is the one that people probably wait for since it's when all of the traditional dances happen and they were beyond amazing. Everyone was completely captivated by them. The fire dancer at the end was absolutely stellar. In my opinion, it was beyond what I thought it would've been after reading everything on the internet. My entire family enjoyed the show and probably wouldn't mind coming back again.
As far as the cost of the dinner was, my family was on the Standard Dining Plan for the Free Dining promotion. We upgraded to the standard since value resorts, which Art of Animation is one, only get the Quick Service Dining Plan. We upgraded for a variety of reasons, one of them being that we knew that since we were going with the baby, we wanted to perhaps try some character meals. But anyway, on the receipt that they give you when you check-in for the dinner, it tells you what the total was and for the 6 of us plus gratuity, I don't think the baby counts since he was 2 on this trip, it would have been $444. Now since gratuity is included on the bill, and since we used the dining plan, we didn't have to pay out of pocket for it in this particular instance.
Now after dinner our original plan was to head back to Epcot to shop a bit and maybe see the fireworks before returning to the resort. Since we were sure we weren't going to have another day in Epcot I wanted to check out the main gift shops and see if there was anything Epcot related that I particularly wanted. However our plans got derailed a little bit.
I won't go into a lot of detail about what derailed it, but pretty much while at the Spirit of Aloha, alcohol is included in the price and is available on refills throughout the course of dinner. Well let's just say that my brother needed to go back to the hotel since he wasn't really feeling well. So we made one last stop at the gift shop, and I ended up getting a Stitch Polynesian shirt before trying to figure out a new course of plan. We finally agreed that my youngest sister, Dad, and I would go to Epcot while everyone else would head back to the resort. That plan got a little further derailed on the monorail and in the end it was just my youngest sister and I that headed to Epcot.
While we were there I actually wanted to check out the Light Lab, a Food and Wine booth I heard about before our trip. The two of us went there first and it was really cool inside. There were neon or like black light things and it had a really cool atmosphere. At first we got the two drinks that were made with a combination of Sprite and different colored cotton candy. Then we saw people with some of the neon cups and wanted to get some for ourselves so we went back in line to get it. The three they gave you were different flavors of slushie. They were handing out like a paper to see what flavors they were but we didn't get one and didn't feel like going back and getting one. Watching them make the first drinks were really interesting, though. They poured out a red liquid from test tubes and then put the cups, with cotton candy in it, underneath of a drip that they put the Sprite into and you were able to watch the entire process.
After that we walked around to the main shops, not the ones in the World Showcase, and I drank the rest of the neon drinks so it'd be easier for us to carry the cups, since we wanted those light up ice cubs haha. We did hear a couple of people comment as we walked by wondering what kind of drinks we had since they light up in the dark park. The two of us also ended up hitting that Coke place with different flavors from around the world. That was our first time ever going there.
Mouse Gears was our last stop and after looking around there we discussed about whether we should stay for the fireworks or not. It was almost time for them but I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay and my youngest sister said that she didn't mind either way. In the end, we decided not to stay because I was starting to get tired and hoped that maybe we'd be able to leave before the start of the crowds. It was just at that time, when we finally decided on that, that my dad called to see where we were since he was in line to come to Epcot. Thankfully we caught him before he was actually on his way as we told him we were coming back to the resort and he said he would wait in the lobby for us since we hadn't actually seen the room yet.
The line for the bus back was pretty long, it wrapped around a couple of times, but the wait wasn't actually that long because as soon as we got there we saw that there were two buses coming that were headed to the Art of Animation We probably waited for around 15 minutes in total? Also, the duration of the bus ride didn't seem that long. I'm not sure why, maybe it's the placement of the resort? But the duration of any of the rides to any of the parks never seemed to be long.
After arriving we caught up with my dad and he led us to our room. We were in Building 5, the one with Crush outside of it, and were on the second floor I believe in room 5602, but that could be wrong. I do know we were near the elevators and there was a little bit of noise from that but nothing that was completely unbearable.
I was impressed with the size of the room upon entering, it was actually bigger than I thought. I was going to be sleeping on the pull out bed with my other sister while my mom, youngest sister, and the baby were going to be in the separate bedroom, since they like the TV on while they sleep, and my dad and my brother were going to share the pull out couch. There were two bathrooms in the suite, one of the important factors we were looking at, and there just seemed to be a lot of space to put all of our stuff.
By the time we entered my mom and the baby were already asleep and it actually turned out that my mom didn't feel so well. We thought it was a build up of the actual events of the day as well as the first half of the trip finally catching up to her. She also previously expressed saying that she didn't feel well when we were in Epcot. That wasn't the first of the sickness on this trip, though. But that was waiting for us another day. Magic Kingdom was going to be our next park and we were all excited!
Next: Magic Kingdom!
My friend actually sent that picture to me while I was there! I thought it was really cool that at some points we had the Mickey ears on or had Mickey balloons. My family all turned on our locations on Snapchat, even my parents have one, and took a screenshot of all of us on the map haha.