First trip to Disney - April 15th to 23rd! Two kids, Poly stay

[starousse]

Following along

 

[footballmouse]

 

[BellaBaby]

Wow, I hope your luck gets better with your park days!

 

[CamillaF]

Following

 

[torontominnie]

I can definitely relate to your worry at the wave pool! I find it really easy to lose track of kids in them since the waves seem to move them in wildly unanticipated directions. If it helps, my middle kid once got lost at MK for about 20 minutes (it felt like 2 hours!)

 

[Sophie Rose]

Thanks for sharing your trip report! I hope your luck turned around for your park days
We recently got back from a Disneyland trip that was also postponed, so it’s fun to be back in the Disney spirit again!

 

[Jen81NYC]

04/18, Monday, first park day, Magic Kingdom day, Epcot evening! I was very nervous the night before since so much had gone wrong already and I wasn't totally sure what our park approach would be. I wanted to buy an ILL for 7 Dwarves and my TA told me Jungle Cruise or Peter Pan should be my first LL Genie+ choices because they run out first. At 7am on the dot, I tried to get Peter Pan and 7 Dwarves. I ended up with a Peter Pan 11:45am LL slot and the 7 Dwarves slot changed when the purchase went through so it somehow ended up at 7:45pm--boo! We had a 6:45pm ADR at Epcot so I knew that 7D time wouldn't work for us but I hoped to get it fixed at the park. My family was up around 7am and though we hadn't really planned to get there by park opening, given my less than ideal Genie+ and ILL times and the early theme park hours, I decided we should try to rope drop a few rides. We had a quick breakfast from Captain Cook's and made it to the monorail by 8am, yay! Or so we thought, lol. Then we waited and waited and waited as the minutes ticked by (very subway-like!) and no monorail appeared. There was no official announcement but it was clear the monorail was down in some way. Then when one finally came by, it was super slow and didn't stop. Finally at 8:30am we got on the monorail but at that point we had wasted a whole half hour, ugh. When we got to MK, we rushed to Tomorrowland (although we did pause to take it in as this was our first trip as adults and the kids first trip ever!) We did standby at Space Mountain and that was a 40 minute wait even though we got in line before 9am. I stopped at Guest Services after this to change my 7D ILL time but sadly no other slots were available so they gave me a refund. Then I saw Touring Plans and the MDE app say Haunted Mansion was somehow only a 10 min that so we went to that (wrong!) That was probably another half hour line and it was already getting hot and sticky by now. While there I pre-ordered a 12:45pm lunch from Columbia Harbour House. I then grabbed a LL for Pirates for 2pm and we took a Mickey bar break before heading to Fantsasyland. It was still a bit early for our PP LL so we did Philarmagic (no wait), which was super cute. Then we rode our PP LL (so cute but so short!) and stopped at Hall of Presidents after that, for the nostalgia and air conditioning.

After lunch we headed to Pirates (just like I remembered it!) and then explored Tom Sawyer's Island for a bit. At this point, it was a bit after 3pm and since everyone was hot and sticky and we had an evening ADR and another full MK day the next day, we decided to leave the park. It was a decent MK day but I generally struck out Genie+ wise. My inexperience plus the crowds were just too much I guess.

We took the boat back to the Poly (loved!), took an hour nap and then got ready for Epcot evening. We dumbly took the resort monorail to Epcot (my husband's choice!) and after 25 mins on the monorail, we laughed when it finally stopped at the TTC and we saw we were right next to the Poly again (d'oh!) We finally made it to Epcot and took some pics in front of Spaceship Earth. We then checked into Space 220 lounge, which we loved. For me Space220 lounge was the first place where the food and drinks tasted like proper restaurant food and not like a theme park replica of food and alcoholic drinks, lol. Husband and I shared some small plates and had delicious margaritas and the kids had the kids' prix fixe menus. Afterwards, we rode Mission Mars (LL, extremely bad idea after a meal!), walked to the international gateway and caught Harmonious (really great!) and then the kids and I stayed for extended hours to ride Remy because they begged and I'm a sucker (cute ride but I want that hour of my life back). We then took the monorail back to the TTC and didn't get back to our room until 11:30pm--very long day for us!

 

[zmdisneyworld]

Please continue your story! We are going to be staying at the Polynesian with two young children and your experience so far as been valuable (and entertaining).

 

[Jen81NYC]

04/19, Tuesday, 2nd park day, Magic Kingdom!
I was tired from the long day before but I dutifully woke up before 7am. First LL booked was thunder mountain--my bday kid really wanted to ride it and I wanted an earlier first Genie+ slot than I got the day before. I scored a 9:45am LL and was happy. At 7am, only very late slots for 7DMT were available and I learned my lesson from yesterday and didn't immediately book. A few minutes after 7, an 11am slot for 7DMT popped up so I grabbed it, which then turned into 4pm when I was checking out, which somehow ended up at 12:40pm when the transaction was completed, lol. Weird system there, Disney, haha.

Everyone else woke up around 8:20am. We grabbed a quick breakfast at Captain Cook's and then headed to MK a little after 9am. Poly Captain Cook's tip: they are pretty slow so I learned to grab a breakfast mobile order slot pretty early and then immediately click on "I'm here". We decided to take the boat to MK even though we had just missed it. When we got there, we headed to Thunder Mountain and when we tapped in twice, I grabbed a Jungle Cruise LL for 7:20pm. After Thunder Mountain we did standby at Splash. Probably not the smartest move efficiency-wise, but the weather was decent and it felt productive to knock that out after Thunder. After Splash we went to the Frontierland free shooting arcade, which my boys had been wanting to try. They did that for about 15-20 mins and then we realized we were in a great spot to catch the noon parade so we caught that up close, which was super cool. After the parade, us and seemingly the rest of the park moved in the same direction as we made our way to Fantasyland for 12:40pm ILL. We tapped into 7DMT a few mins early and loved it, but I was a little disappointed we didn't get to see the cool gems in the queue (my 6yo is gem obsessed!).

The boys and my husband then did standby at teacups (i can't do spinning rides) while I got lunch for the kids at Friar's Nook, the closest QS place. In the interim, I made two 3-4pm LL reservations in Tomorrowland so after this late lunch, we headed there. After Laugh Factory standby, I looked at my hot and sweaty kids and realized we could all use some downtime! So I canceled the afternoon Genie+ rides and we took the boat back to the Poly (love the boat!) First day of Poly housekeeping and it was a huge pro to return to a clean room.

After resting at Poly and some husband pool time (and kid tv time in the Poly lobby), we took the boat back to MK at 5pm bc we had a 5:50 ADR at Skipper Canteen. We got there a few mins early so we walked through the Swiss Family treehouse while our table was getting ready. The food at Skipper Canteen was surprisingly solid but dinner was a bit of a bust for me because the kids were being too annoying, lol. The server, while perfectly adequate, didn't really do a bit so he didn't provide a good distraction from my annoying kids, haha.

After dinner, my son begged to ride Magic Carpets, which had an annoyingly long standby line for the ride (that said, kids loved it). After Magic Carpets, we headed to Jungle Cruise for our LL. The acoustics of Jungle Cruise weren't great so the kids missed most of the puns but we still loved the ride. I had one more LL after this for Small World but it shut down early so my LL converted to a broader one. It was 8:30pm by then and 6yo and husband were losing steam (and husband really wanted to avoid the post-fireworks return) so they left then, stopping at confectionary for a dessert for 6yo. They ended up seeing part of the fireworks on the boat back to Poly, which they loved.

9yo and I headed to Thunder Mountain to use our final LL pass. We loitered around until right before 9 and then got on the ride during the fireworks. It was a fab way to end the day! After that, we made our way back to Main Street and stopped at the confectionary for 9yo's dessert pick (he picked a bag of skittles, to troll me I assume). Then we took the boat back to Poly and crashed. Next day--Animal Kingdom!

 

[Jen81NYC]

Please continue your story! We are going to be staying at the Polynesian with two young children and your experience so far as been valuable (and entertaining).

Ha, I continued it!

 

[Hubie]

Sounds like you made a solid day of it.

 

[Jess_VacayMode]

I lost my now 14 year old snow skiing when he was 4 or 5. Well, his father lost him. He was a good skier so I had that in my favor but had it been at a water park, I would have lost my mind.

Seems like the trip is coming together good now. Glad yall had a good time and thank you for sharing your TR with us.

 

[Jen81NYC]

04/20, 3rd park day, Animal Kingdom! I woke up before 7am while everyone else slept and snagged a safari LL for 10am and Flight of Passage ILL for 1pm (finally getting better at Genie+!) Everyone woke up around 8 and we grabbed breakfast at Captain Cook's and took the bus to AK. This was our first time taking the bus and I was happy to see it came quickly and wasn't too crowded (it was after 9am so I assume we missed the early bird crowds). AK wasn't around when my husband and I were kids so we had no idea what to expect. We did some photo pass pics when we got there and then headed to safari, which was a great ride. We saw so many cool animals and much closer than I expected! Plus it was a nice long ride, which I appreciated.

After Safari we walked around the gorilla area and I think birds too but kids were being pretty whiny so didn't get to fully soak it in. Not sure if they were just overtired or that AK didn't have the same theme park feel as MK or what. We thankfully had an 11:30am ADR at Tusker House and were able to check in a few mins early, right before peak kid whininess/meltdowns set in. Tusker House was great!! Probably my favorite ADR of the whole trip. The food was delicious and the characters were super cute. Plus, air conditioning, woo hoo. After Tusker House, the kids were in a much chiller mood and we headed to Pandora for our FOP ILL.

We tapped into FOP a few minutes early (favorite ride of the trip!), explored the gift shop some and then headed to Dino land. I wanted to take it easy today so I let the kids play in the playground and dig area for about an hour, which they loved. After that, we had an LL for Everest, which the 6yo refused to ride so my 9yo got to ride it twice (this was the day my 6yo decided he hated all thrill rides, which became a fun theme for the second half of our trip ). My husband's foot was pretty swollen and sore by this point (days of walking on a recently healed broken foot put too much stress on it), so he begged off and the poor guy limped towards the bus back to Poly. The kids and I walked back to Pandora and stopped at It's Tough to be a Bug on the way (such a fun and surprisingly dark show, lol) and then tapped into Navi (LL) a few mins early. I would've liked to do the dino and rapids rides too but I decided to prioritize letting us go at a slower pace. We took the bus back to Poly probably around 5:30/6pm and just chilled around Poly that evening, including fireworks watching on the beach.

Next day--Hollywood Studios! The park I was most nervous about, Genie+ wise!

 

[snikki]

Fireworks on big thunder is the best! You seem to be having solid park days. Your plans are working well.

 

[Jen81NYC]

04/21, 4th park day, Hollywood Studios! This is definitely where I peaked, Genie+ wise, haha. At 7am I carefully refreshed and timed until I ended up with 1) 9:25am ROTR ILL and 2) 10:30am MFSR, woo hoo! I was super excited with this timing and the proximity of these first two rides. We were slow moving this morning because we briefly misplaced the kids when they ran off to the Poly beach without telling us (whoops! another theme of this trip) but after Capt Cook's breakfast, we took the bus to HS. Got to HS at 10am and before entering the park, I refreshed for a few minutes and grabbed a 6pm MMRR LL then. We then entered the park and headed to Galaxy's Edge.

Galaxy's Edge was so cool! We're not huge Star Wars fans but still very impressed. We loved seeing Chewie and the Storm Troopers walking around! And we rode ROTR and Smuggler's Run and thought both were great. I wish I could hire those ROTR prison guards as babysitters, lol. Have never seen my feral kids listen better!

We then had a lunch ADR at Prime Time, which was delicious (and had great margaritas!). Then we caught the Indiana Jones show since it was right next door and afterwards headed to our next LL, Toy Story Mania. TSM was cute but our screen went out for a bit during it so we missed part of the ride but I didn't have the energy to push the issue and ask to go again. Then it was time to book another LL and I really wanted SDD but it was after 2pm and I wasn't sure how successful I'd be. But after refreshing for a bit, I scored an SDD LL for 4:25pm, yay! We then walked back to Galaxy's Edge for our 3pm Savi's reservation (kids loved!!) and then rode our SDD LL (my 6yo's favorite ride of the trip). After that my husband begged off due to his swollen foot and the kids and I had milkshakes at the boat food stand and then went to Muppets 3-D and the Mickey's vacation fun theater.

It was then just about time for our MMRR LL so walked over to it and tapped in, and it was a really fun ride. All in all it was a fantastic day--we didn't wait on any standby lines and also continued the streak of not having to get up super early (well except for me, the planner, haha). I did feel a little guilty we didn't get to do Tower of Terror (which my 9yo really wanted to go on) but my 6yo wouldn't have gone for that and I figured it was better to end on a high note than to push the kids further.

A bit after 6pm we took the bus back to the Poly, the kids played with their new lightsabers and we got pizza delivered, and then they watched the Poly outdoor movie and we watched fireworks from Poly beach.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

04/20, 3rd park day, Animal Kingdom! I woke up before 7am while everyone else slept and snagged a safari LL for 10am and Flight of Passage ILL for 1pm (finally getting better at Genie+!) Everyone woke up around 8 and we grabbed breakfast at Captain Cook's and took the bus to AK. This was our first time taking the bus and I was happy to see it came quickly and wasn't too crowded (it was after 9am so I assume we missed the early bird crowds). AK wasn't around when my husband and I were kids so we had no idea what to expect. We did some photo pass pics when we got there and then headed to safari, which was a great ride. We saw so many cool animals and much closer than I expected! Plus it was a nice long ride, which I appreciated.

After Safari we walked around the gorilla area and I think birds too but kids were being pretty whiny so didn't get to fully soak it in. Not sure if they were just overtired or that AK didn't have the same theme park feel as MK or what. We thankfully had an 11:30am ADR at Tusker House and were able to check in a few mins early, right before peak kid whininess/meltdowns set in. Tusker House was great!! Probably my favorite ADR of the whole trip. The food was delicious and the characters were super cute. Plus, air conditioning, woo hoo. After Tusker House, the kids were in a much chiller mood and we headed to Pandora for our FOP ILL.

We tapped into FOP a few minutes early (favorite ride of the trip!), explored the gift shop some and then headed to Dino land. I wanted to take it easy today so I let the kids play in the playground and dig area for about an hour, which they loved. After that, we had an LL for Everest, which the 6yo refused to ride so my 9yo got to ride it twice (this was the day my 6yo decided he hated all thrill rides, which became a fun theme for the second half of our trip ). My husband's foot was pretty swollen and sore by this point (days of walking on a recently healed broken foot put too much stress on it), so he begged off and the poor guy limped towards the bus back to Poly. The kids and I walked back to Pandora and stopped at It's Tough to be a Bug on the way (such a fun and surprisingly dark show, lol) and then tapped into Navi (LL) a few mins early. I would've liked to do the dino and rapids rides too but I decided to prioritize letting us go at a slower pace. We took the bus back to Poly probably around 5:30/6pm and just chilled around Poly that evening, including fireworks watching on the beach.

Next day--Hollywood Studios! The park I was most nervous about, Genie+ wise!

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What a great picture with Donald!

 

[Disturbia]

If any LLI$ changes times like SDMT and conflicts with dining, the front desk can change it (time slots will release again at 7:15-7:17 am).

In the park you’ll have less luck as offsite guests will start buying at park opening.

Awesome trip report.

 

[Jen81NYC]

If any LLI$ changes times like SDMT and conflicts with dining, the front desk can change it (time slots will release again at 7:15-7:17 am).

In the park you’ll have less luck as offsite guests will start buying at park opening.

Awesome trip report.

Ah, good to know for any future trip! I thought guest relations could change it at the park and didn’t realize they’re also limited to the available times. Thankfully we rode it the following day but if it had been a shorter trip, would’ve been a real bummer!

 

[Jen81NYC]

04/22, 5th (and final!) park day, Epcot day, MK evening! I was pretty worn out at this point and didn't have the best Epcot Genie+ focus. First LL was for Test Track for 10:30am and also booked ILL for Remy at 2:30pm. After QS breakfast, we walked to the TTC monorail and took the Epcot monorail. Got to Epcot around 9:45am and did Spaceship Earth as a standby (a classic!). Then rode Test Track (we loved but I must have screwed up tapping into it when we got in vehicle so two of us didn't see the car we designed), Figment as standby (another classic!) and then watched the dancing fountains for a bit. We made our way to International Gateway and had lunch in Mexico and did the boat ride there while my husband got our food (great margaritas!)

We then superficially walked through some of the next countries on our way to France. In France, we had some pastries and rode Remy and then everyone got too cranky and didn’t want to stay for our 4:30pm Soarin' LL, which was a big mistake in retrospect. I started stacking LLs for Magic Kingdom and before leaving Epcot we stopped at the big gift shop before leading the park because my 6yo became hugely obsessed with Orange Bird and we were looking for Orange bird merch (see pic!). We then headed back to the Poly to rest.

After an hour or so of downtime at the Poly, everyone thankfully got a second wind for Magic Kingdom/our last night. We got to MK before 7pm and rode Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear (LLs). 9yo actually rode Space Mountain twice because my 6yo was boycotting roller coasters.

Then we headed to the Tomorrowland Terrace for the fireworks pre-party. The dessert buffet was a bit of a bust IMO (not much in the way of cookies or cakes, for example) but obviously we weren't really paying for the food. Even though we had seen the MK fireworks multiple times by now, we loved seeing the full show at the park and actually seeing the illuminations up close. Definitely pricey but would do the fireworks party again if we return because it was such a special "last night" thing.

After fireworks, I had two LLs left. We rode It’s a small world because we just couldn’t leave Disney without riding it, and last LL was for Peter Pan because my 6yo loved it and I didn't want to stress him out with a final roller coaster. And that was the end of the rides portion of our trip!

We walked through Cinderella’s castle on the way out, then took to the boat back to the Poly. My 6yo asked for one last dip in the Poly pool bc we were leaving before it opened the next day (my 9yo was like, “no thanks”). 6yo stayed in pool until 11pm and then that was that! We went back to the room to crash and woke up the next morning at 6am to throw everything in the suitcase before heading to the airport.

 

[Jen81NYC]

First WDW visit--final thoughts! Despite the rocky start to our trip, we had a great time at the parks! Genie+ requires some real timing luck though--you don't always want to grab it too early but also don't want to get overconfident and wait too long. If it's a crowded day and you have plans to hop to another park in the evening, it can be a real challenge to get the LL timing to work at the first park. If I could do it again, I wouldn't focus on Peter Pan or Jungle Cruise as first picks just because they run out first (unless of course they're your "I MUST ride" rides). Unless you know for sure you're spending the whole day there and are super flexible, I think it's best to get a first Genie+ pick that's both early and something popular you're genuinely very interested in riding (versus a FOMO pick). Plus at least for MK, those two rides are likely still available when your second LL slot pops up.

I loved the Poly but I was surprised by how much I didn't love the resort monorail (maybe because I ride the subway frequently?) It's good if using it just to explore but I didn't care for it as a way to get to MK at a set time. My 6yo also helpfully noted "the monorail smells like a petting zoo!", which cracked me up. The MK boat all the way for us!

We learned we're not rope droppers and I hope the trip report showed you can still do a lot even if you don't get up at the crack of dawn to do so, for those who aren't super morning people either.

And finally, while I thought this was our one and done Disney trip, now I really want to return next year!! And I fear the Poly has spoiled me for other resorts so this seems like a very expensive new interest!

Hope this helps for anyone who had the stamina to read all of it!