"I brushed my teeth, and I don't have cooties." An August DFTW and Disneymoon TR

[MeghanEmily]

What a fun day at DC. We did this a few days and I really liked how it was kind of an escape from the crowds and sort of a relaxing vacation within a vacation

100%, that's exactly how it feels! Like a little escape for a day.

 

[pkondz]

There's no such thing as "too many Disney trips," right?

Correct.

Good! Because, as of yesterday, N and I have officially booked another trip to make use of our annual passes, and to celebrate our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

we'll be returning to Central Florida in AUGUST!

You liked sweating, right?

(and... I'd rather be sweating in WDW than not anywhere else.)

and so we just booked the last 5 nights of our August trip with them...at the Grand Floridian!!

No way! Nice!

we're paying $300 a night, taxes in

That's a great deal!

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay!! That's so exciting No better place to celebrate your 1 year anniversary, and at the GRAND no less!

 

[missjackiemcg]

YAAAAAAY!!!!!! Gotta make good use of those APs and what better way than deluxe style!!!! Now THIS is a trip I can't wait to read about!!

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

There's no such thing as "too many Disney trips," right?

NEVER!

Because, as of yesterday, N and I have officially booked another trip to make use of our annual passes, and to celebrate our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! We haven't even gone on our February trip, but I'm already excited because now I know that we'll be returning to Central Florida in AUGUST! For somewhere around 12ish nights!

Yayy!!! What a perfect place to celebrate your anniversary!

They have an excellent deal on deluxe resorts in the three weeks leading up to Labor Day, and so we just booked the last 5 nights of our August trip with them...at the Grand Floridian!!

How exciting!!!

and we'll spend the first 5-or-so nights either at a WDW value resort (Probably Pop), or at my grandmother's timeshare.

So in other words...

YAYY!!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Perfect way to spend your honeymoon!!!! Awesome. Nothing is better than pulling the trigger on another trip!

 

[disneyAndi14]

How awesome!! We have used the same TA, (I think) the last three Augusts and have had such great deals! We stayed 7 nights at GF in 2016, we loved it! I actually love the end of August, the heat never bothered me anyway, ha, ha!

 

[Raeven]

For the other nights of our trip, we're planning to try to get an annual passholder rate on a room at Universal for the two nights immediately before the GF— @Raeven, I'll have to pick your brain on this one since you've done the AP thing there before!—and we'll spend the first 5-or-so nights either at a WDW value resort (Probably Pop), or at my grandmother's timeshare.

Yes let me know what questions you have about the hotels! I can point you in the direction of the hotel that best suits what you're looking for.

 

[buzzrelly]

as of yesterday, N and I have officially booked another trip to make use of our annual passes, and to celebrate our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! We haven't even gone on our February trip, but I'm already excited because now I know that we'll be returning to Central Florida in AUGUST! For somewhere around 12ish nights!

OMG!

the Grand Floridian!!

That's amazing!

we're paying $300 a night, taxes in

Great price! Congrats!

 

[amazingact21]

Yay for another trip!!! And an extra HOORAY for staying at the Grand Floridian. That's awesome; I'm sure you're going to have a wonderful time celebrating your 1st Anniversary in the same place you got married.

 

[Tracy161]

He wasn't even really there to eat, just to snuggle.

Awww, this was so adorable!!!

Wow, what an incredible experience at DC! Your photos are amazing!

I'm already excited because now I know that we'll be returning to Central Florida in AUGUST! For somewhere around 12ish nights!

Woohoo!!!!!!!!

 

[Steppesister]

YAY for another trip! Nothing more exciting than that! And yes, you got an incredible deal at $300/night! NICE!

 

[kastoney]

Awesome news on your August trip. We're contemplating going in August too

 

[MeghanEmily]

Lions, and Giraffes, and Banshees? Oh my!
Disney Day 5 - Part 2

Thanks so much for all the well-wishes and excitement for our new August trip plans! Obviously we're very excited about our February trip, which is coming up in just under three weeks, but I think I'm even more excited for August. We've got so many fun things on our To Do list for that one to make it really special, and I can't wait!

I'm also realizing just how behind I'm getting in my trip reporting, if I intend to keep taking so many trips! I'm not sure I'll report on February, but even so, I've got lots of work to do! So I've made a difficult and horrific decision...I'm going to try not to bother editing a lot of my photos for the rest of this TR. Or when I do, I won't spend as much time on them. I'd much rather present them to you all in their best state, but for the sake of time while I'm also working on school and whatnot, they will probably be the thing that takes the hit. I know, you're all devastated.

So when I left off, we had just left Discovery Cove. That morning we had left our luggage with bell services to have it transferred to another resort, and we were about to go meet it...

At the Polynesian!!

This had been a 3-night splurge for our honeymoon, and we were able to get an excellent rate from a travel agency that offers a great yearly deal around Labor Day (thanks to @chunkymonkey's advice!) We saved money over what we would have paid with an AP discount, and even over what we would have paid renting DVC points. We went to check in, and I was pleased that we were in the longhouse I'd hoped for: Rarotonga. I wanted to be near to the TTC so we could walk there, and also close to the Great Ceremonial House.

We went to check in to our room, and it was quite nice, but we were disappointed. I knew not to expect any grand gestures of pixie dust, despite the fact that we'd marked our honeymoon on the reservation...but they hadn't honored either of our room requests. We requested a king bed and a higher floor, and we got a double room on the ground floor. I knew there were definitely king rooms in Rarotonga based on my research. I also know that there's no guarantee that you'll get any of your room requests, but I was hoping since our celebration was marked that we might at least get one of them. If it had just been for a night like at the Grand, I wouldn't have thought twice about it, but it was for three nights, and we'd had to splurge to get the room. N wasn't thrilled about it either, so he decided that before we started to make a mess in the room, he'd go back to the front desk and see if there was anything they could do to move us. According to him, the person at the front desk told him that it was a simple mix up, and he blamed it on the fact that we'd used a travel agent, and that sometimes the requests they make don't work the same way in their system and so they don't get honored. (I've already heard from others that that's not true, so I'm not sure if this is actually a thing or not? Maybe it depends?) He told N that there wasn't anything he could do at that point for this night, but that if we would hang tight in that room for a night, that the next day we could move to another room for our remaining two nights. As a gesture to make up for having to move, which involved checking out and back in again, he had a third floor lagoon view room with a king bed that he could upgrade us to in a different longhouse. N called me from the front desk to ask if I wanted to do that, because he knew it would be a pain to move, and he knew I'd like to stay in our current longhouse. I told him to go ahead and get the guy to switch us for the next night, since my biggest priority was to get a room with one king bed—ya know, for the extra space, and for the whole romantic honeymoon thing—and so he did. The front desk CM also told N to come back the following evening, after he'd had a chance to document the situation, and they'd see what else they could do for us, implying that he'd have some kind of pixie dust up his sleeve. I had no idea what this might look like. Maybe a small token, or a FP, or help with an ADR, etc., etc., but we planned to check back in the next day like he said. ...I wish N had gotten his name...anyway!

N came back to the room shortly after, and he showed me on the resort map which building and side our new room would be in, based on what the man at the desk told him.

I took a few pictures to document our first room there.

I liked the wardrobe area and with the coffee, etc...

The bathroom was pretty large, and it had more of those nice toiletries I liked so much! (Imagine my surprise when we went back on our December trip and every hotel seems to have those toiletries now!)

It was a cute room, fairly spacious (though not as spacious as it looks in panorama!) There really wasn't anything wrong with it at all, but if you don't ask then you'll never know if there's something else that can be done for you, so we were looking forward to our upgraded room the next day!

We decided after a short rest that we'd head out to another park that night. I'd been able to get FP+ for Flight of Passage, and for Rivers of Light, which were both still very new, just in case we came back from Discovery Cove early and wanted to use them. We only had a couple of chances on this trip to be able to do them both, so we decided to go. But before we did, we had a pitstop to make first...something we were very excited to be able to do at the Poly...

...get dole whip!!

We shared our dole whip, while wearing these...

Shortly after, we arrived at the Animal Kingdom, and I wanted to stop and look in the gift shops to see if we could find some Bonine, which would be less drowsy than the motion sickness meds I had with me. I was a little concerned about getting sick on FOP. We had checked two shops and found nothing, when N decided to go ask the CM at the cash. Apparently he pulled out a bunch of drugs from under his counter and sold N some individually-wrapped motion sickness pills. Who knew that Disney CMs were dealing under the counter!? Unfortunately, when N got back to me with the drugs, they were exactly what I already had in my bag. Oh well.

It was nearing supper time, so we went somewhere that always seems to get good reviews...Flame Tree Barbecue! I had been years ago, but not recently. We decided to split the allergy-friendly version of the Ribs, Chicken, and Pulled Pork Sampler. And it took Foreeevvverr! We waited there nearly a half hour before the food finally came. Allergy food can sometimes take a while, but it it wasn't just us—everything seemed to be slow and disorganized there that night. But when they finally brought us out food, to apologize for our wait and as pixie dust for our wedding, they gave us a plate of free cupcakes! ...too bad we obviously had an allergy meal and I couldn't eat them. But N got to enjoy them, and I was still just touched that we'd gotten something gifted to us for our wedding! It was our first official wedding pixie dust of the trip!

They had also swapped our baked beans for extra grapes, since neither of us like them. And the manager decided, for our trouble, to add some extra free watermelon because, as she said, "it was really fresh right now and that's when it's best!" And also an extra free allergy cookie! Yay!

We finished our food and thought everything was pretty good. It would have been better with the BBQ sauces they had, but even though they were all GF, the CMs weren't sure whether they had dairy, so I just steered clear to be safe.

Then we were headed toward our first FP on the safari, passing by here on the way:

The driver of our safari was just kinda lame, but the animals were excellent!! The first half of the safari was pretty much devoid of all animals, and I was getting concerned, but once we hit the giraffes that changed. As many of you know, giraffes are my primary reason for safari-loving, (and possibly for existence in general,) and they got really close to the truck this evening!

We had to stop for a pack (pack??) of wildebeests crossing the path.

We interrupted a rhino taking a peaceful mudbath...

"Oh...I'm sorry...I didn't see you folks there..."

And the lions were fairly visible, if a little dozy...

After our safari, it was time to go check out Pandora for the first time!

We were both pretty impressed by the theming in this area. I had tried not to let myself be swayed by anything I'd heard with all the hype after Pandora's opening, but I think it probably did affect my perception a little. I thought it was really impressive and beautiful, but maybe not as life-shattering as it was made out to be in some of the reviews I'd read.

We would have a chance to check it out after dark later. We headed over for our FP on Flight of Passage, and I was glad to have the FP when we walked by the standby line...

So...what to say about Flight of Passage... Well, N was pretty blown away. He thinks it's the best simulator he's ever been on, and an amazing ride—though he couldn't get on board with saying it's the best ride he's ever been on, because there are a lot of rides he enjoys more, even if they're less technologically advanced. He thought it was incredibly immersive, with the banshee breathing under you, and the way they spray you with water, etc., and the visuals were beautiful. For me, however, it was kind of a nightmare. It made me incredibly motion sick, and I ended up having to close my eyes for most of it. By the time I started closing my eyes, though, it was too late, and the continued motion of the ride vehicle just made me increasingly swimmy. I was glad that I tried it, because I always would have wondered about it if I hadn't. Some people find it hard to ride with motion sickness, and others seem to not find it bad at all due to how well the screen and the motion are synchronized. Now I know that I fall into the first category. But it was worth it to have seen [parts of] it once. I was really too sick to function for anything else at that point, so we made our way out of the park, slowly, and back to the hotel. We had an early night, and I planned to be in much better shape the next morning to tackle another busy day.​

 

[ariane37]

According to him, the person at the front desk told him that it was a simple mix up, and he blamed it on the fact that we'd used a travel agent, and that sometimes the requests they make don't work the same way in their system and so they don't get honored. (I've already heard from others that that's not true, so I'm not sure if this is actually a thing or not? Maybe it depends?) He told N that there wasn't anything he could do at that point for this night, but that if we would han

Well, while I despise the agency you booked with lol I will say it was definitely wrong for the CM to blame them for you not getting your requests! There is no less chance of you getting your requests when made by a TA over making them yourself, provided your TA actually MAKES those requests. So I'm glad the CM was willing to move you guys

And while I know you didn't enjoy FOP as you said it's probably better that you tried it so you're not always saying "I wonder......"

 

[Raeven]

"Oh...I'm sorry...I didn't see you folks there..."

I love this! @xlsm come look! it's a rhino taking a mud bath!

 

[pkondz]

Obviously we're very excited about our February trip, which is coming up in just under three weeks,

Woot! Coming up fast!

I'm also realizing just how behind I'm getting in my trip reporting, if I intend to keep taking so many trips!

Lol. I know just how you feel!

I'm going to try not to bother editing a lot of my photos for the rest of this TR.

Whaaaat????

I know, you're all devastated.

I am! Totally!
I don't know if I can go on...

At the Polynesian!!

Nice!

Huh. For an unedited photo, it looks pretty good.

We saved money over what we would have paid with an AP discount, and even over what we would have paid renting DVC points.

That's great! Nice score.

We went to check in to our room, and it was quite nice, but we were disappointed. I knew not to expect any grand gestures of pixie dust, despite the fact that we'd marked our honeymoon on the reservation...but they hadn't honored either of our room requests. We requested a king bed and a higher floor, and we got a double room on the ground floor.

Not unreasonable of you to expect a bit of magic when it's your honeymoon, I don't think.

but I was hoping since our celebration was marked that we might at least get one of them.

I agree.
No... it's not guaranteed, but...

According to him, the person at the front desk told him that it was a simple mix up, and he blamed it on the fact that we'd used a travel agent, and that sometimes the requests they make don't work the same way in their system and so they don't get honored. (I've already heard from others that that's not true, so I'm not sure if this is actually a thing or not? Maybe it depends?)

I'm calling BS on this one.
I think your CM is falling victim to the rule that they can't say "I don't know".
So he said something that sounded semi-plausible.

since my biggest priority was to get a room with one king bed—ya know, for the extra space, and for the whole romantic honeymoon thing

The front desk CM also told N to come back the following evening, after he'd had a chance to document the situation, and they'd see what else they could do for us, implying that he'd have some kind of pixie dust up his sleeve.

Hmmm.... I guess I'll find out, but.... I'm sure wondering about that.

but if you don't ask then you'll never know if there's something else that can be done for you,

...get dole whip!!

YUSSS!!!

Cute!

Apparently he pulled out a bunch of drugs from under his counter and sold N some individually-wrapped motion sickness pills. Who knew that Disney CMs were dealing under the counter!?

Did N have to pay cash? Under the counter?

Unfortunately, when N got back to me with the drugs, they were exactly what I already had in my bag. Oh well.

All that effort and subterfuge!

Flame Tree Barbecue! I had been years ago, but not recently.

I've only been once, myself. And that was a few years ago too.

We waited there nearly a half hour before the food finally came.

Good grief!
Well... I guess they had to go find an animal first........

to apologize for our wait and as pixie dust for our wedding, they gave us a plate of free cupcakes! ...too bad we obviously had an allergy meal and I couldn't eat them.

I guess it's the thought that counts.
"I think I know how to get rid of these day old cupcakes!"

It was our first official wedding pixie dust of the trip!

It would have been better with the BBQ sauces they had, but even though they were all GF, the CMs weren't sure whether they had dairy, so I just steered clear to be safe.

Huh. I've only made my own a couple times, but I don't remember any dairy in them.
But... better safe.

Nice pic!

As many of you know, giraffes are my primary reason for safari-loving, (and possibly for existence in general,)

We had to stop for a pack (pack??) of wildebeests crossing the path.

I looked it up!
It's a confusion of wildebeests.
(Or alternatively an implausibility of wildebeests.)

For giraffes it's a tower of giraffes.

I remember learning from a CM that those horns are hollow.

Now that is cool. Never seen that before!

"Oh...I'm sorry...I didn't see you folks there..."

"Where's my robe!?!?"

And the lions were fairly visible, if a little dozy...

Animatronic.

We were both pretty impressed by the theming in this area.

I thought it was really impressive and beautiful, but maybe not as life-shattering as it was made out to be in some of the reviews I'd read.

I agree. Very impressive. A lot of thought and time and energy went into it.
But.... I don't feel like my life has changed.
Then again... seeing it at night was... pretty incredible.

We would have a chance to check it out after dark later.

Curious to know your reaction to that.

Huh. Not as long as usual today.

Well, N was pretty blown away. He thinks it's the best simulator he's ever been on, and an amazing ride—though he couldn't get on board with saying it's the best ride he's ever been on, because there are a lot of rides he enjoys more, even if they're less technologically advanced. He thought it was incredibly immersive, with the banshee breathing under you, and the way they spray you with water, etc., and the visuals were beautiful.

That's how I felt. Loved it.

For me, however, it was kind of a nightmare. It made me incredibly motion sick, and I ended up having to close my eyes for most of it.

Awwww.... I'm so sorry to hear that.

By the time I started closing my eyes, though, it was too late, and the continued motion of the ride vehicle just made me increasingly swimmy. I was glad that I tried it, because I always would have wondered about it if I hadn't. Some people find it hard to ride with motion sickness, and others seem to not find it bad at all due to how well the screen and the motion are synchronized.

I'm glad you tried it too.... but not so glad at the result.

I planned to be in much better shape the next morning to tackle another busy day.

Okay! You go, girl!

 

[missangelalexis]

Your hats look so cute! Dole whips right in your hotel, I can't imagine anything better!

Nice pixie dust at Flame Tree!

Great safari pics!

I'm so sorry you didn't do well on FoP

 

[missjackiemcg]

What a bummer about your room!!!! Especially when you had specifically splurged for it On our Honeymoon, we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter prior to departing on our Disney Cruise. We were put in a double room, as well, and we questioned being able to move to another room because it was our Honeymoon, they basically said there was nothing they could do. Something about what deck we booked for our cruise. Not the end of the world, but still a disappointment.

I thought it was really impressive and beautiful, but maybe not as life-shattering as it was made out to be in some of the reviews I'd read.

We felt the same way earlier this month!! It really is beautiful, but it's sort of smaller than I imagined.

We enjoyed FoP, but I wasn't sad we only got to experience it once. I still prefer Soarin' honestly!

 

[MeghanEmily]

"This is the Trip of Breaking Curses"
Disney Day 6 - Part 1

This morning we had a new breakfast spot on the docket, and I was excited to go. We got up early and I took a few photos from our window...

...before heading over to the Great Ceremonial House to check in here:

I got the allergy waffles...nom! They were cooked really well, crispy on the outside, and soft but not gummy on the inside.

And N got something I'd been telling him about for a while: the tonga toast!

Strangely, he wasn't a huge fan. He didn't dislike it, but probably wouldn't order it again. Makes my heart ache for all of us in the world who can not enjoy the marvel that is tonga toast...and he just didn't even really enjoy it... sad!


I really liked Kona for a simple, good-quality, reasonably-priced, sit-down breakfast. I would definitely go back. (And in fact, I did! We went on our December trip!)

After breakfast we went back to our room and gathered up our stuff, and then left it with bell services. We went to the front desk and explained again about our room being moved. They still had the notes on our reservation, which was a good sign. We checked out, and would check back in that afternoon in our new room.

You may remember that we got willingly suckered into a Disney's Vacation Club tour a few days prior, and this was the morning for which we'd scheduled it. I think it was for around 10am, maybe? We went to the DVC desk at the Poly and checked in, and someone was out to meet us shortly. A middle-aged woman took us outside and across the way to one of the DVC longhouses, and while we walked she told us about how she joined DVC, and how much she loved it. It was a beautiful morning, with bright blue skies, and it was already really warm.

I forget exactly which longhouse it was, but she took us inside and to a room specifically for doing DVC tours/info. She left us there with free bottles of water, and tea for N, and soon after a gentleman came into the room to answer all our questions. He asked us early in the meeting where we were at in terms of the process of considering DVC, and we told him that we were very early in the process! It's something we're considering for down the line, but we weren't ready to purchase that day. He told us that since we're from Canada, we'd have to buy while we were in Florida, which we knew, but he seemed satisfied when we told him that we already had another trip planned for the winter, so we'd have lots of opportunities to do so. I think he decided that it wouldn't be worth it to waste our time or his by asking us questions or pushing us on anything we weren't ready for, so he just pleasantly answered our questions, gave us a booklet of information, went through what a contract might look like for us based on our needs, etc. He showed us a what a studio at Poly looks like in a room just down the hall, we asked a few last-minute questions, and then we were on our way. It was a very short meeting—probably 30-45 minutes. It was also private, as there were no other people signed up for tours there at the same time.

My understanding is that this is a very different experience from most DVC tours, since most people have to be transported to the DVC headquarters, and they look at multiple model rooms there from whichever resorts are for sale, sharing their tour with other people sometimes, and being given free ice cream at the end. That processes can take a very long time. Our experience was nothing like that since we were already staying at the Poly, but it ended up being totally worth it for us. It was quick and didn't take away from our day, and it gave us a chance to start asking questions and learning the basics about DVC. We were already there. And when we finished, we went back to the DVC desk where they had our $100 gift card for us, as promised, and they loaded our extra free FPs. The only frustrating thing was that the guy who convinced us to take the tour in the first place made it sound like we'd receive 6 FP each. This would have been an increase on what the typical DVC FP offer is, as was the $100 gift card at the time. I don't know whether he thought that was going to be true, or he was just trying to be deceptive without actually explicitly saying that. But when we got the FP loaded, they loaded 3 FP each, which was 6 FP total. It was a minor thing, and not a big deal at all. And it's possible we just misunderstood. But more likely, I think, that we were intentionally mislead.

After our DVC tour, N wanted to indulge in more Poly dole whip, and of course, I was okay with that. We went back to Pineapple Lanai. Somehow the conversation turned to our recent marriage, and CM at the cash asked us about our wedding. She was so enamoured when we told her we'd gotten married at Epcot, and she wanted to see pictures on my phone, etc. We chatted for a while with her and the other CM there, and when we went to take our dole whip and pay, they told us it was on the house. So much Disney pixie dust magic!!

As we were taking the photo above, some kind older gentleman must have thought we were trying to get pictures of each other or something? Anyway, he offered to take our picture for us, and I didn't want to seem ungrateful, so we got him to take this:

Then we left the Poly, with a backpack I'd packed with our swimming things, to go to Typhoon Lagoon! We'd been trying to get there for several trips now, and if you've read my previous TRs, you'll know that we seem to be cursed when it comes to TL. It's always either closed for refurb when we go, or the one time it wasn't, we took a cab all the way there, only for it to have just unexpectedly closed early for the day, and we had to turn the cab around and come home. This time we had confidence we'd get there, and we both decided that "this [was] the trip of breaking curses!"

So, did we make it?

...

Yay!!

Also, side note: I had gotten a slight sunburn during our dolphin swim the day before, and I'm just noticing in that picture that it had already started fading into a reddish tan...ish. I'm very pale naturally, so any colour is pretty exciting! ...oh, how I miss having a tan. Summer...please hurry back soon!

Our first stop, because it was still very new, was checking out Miss Adventure Falls. It had a bit of a wait, but not too bad since it was still kind of early in the morning. I don't have it written down, but I'm gonna guess it said about 30 minutes. It was moving along fine...until the ride stopped.

According to the CMs, there is a lever/button that gets pulled/pressed to temporarily stop the ride if someone is sticking their limbs out of the tube or otherwise not following the rules. Then they yell at them over the loudspeaker, and they resume the ride. However, there's another lever/button that puts the whole ride into shut-down mode. And apparently the wrong one was used, and so they had to follow protocol to check the whole ride out, and then boot the thing up again. I've also heard, however, that a CM will never tell you what's actually wrong with a ride, so that may be 100% made up.

Either way, we were waiting like this, so close, yet so far, for a very long time.

Eventually, the ride got going again, everyone clapped, and soon enough, we were up here...

Miss Adventure Falls was pretty fun—not that you can tell from our faces in the photos below—but I'm not sure I'd wait very long for it again.

Afterward, we decided to head to our next priority which was likely to develop a longer line as the day went on: Crushin' Gusher. N carried our tube like a champ.

I don't think I'd ever been on this slide, and it was a lot of fun. It was a bit bumpy for someone with a brain condition, since it's supposed to be a "water coaster," but we both liked it...just not enough to lug the tube back up and wait in line again.

We were both starting to get a little tired and drained from the heat, and also a bit hungry. We decided to try to find somewhere to eat. The first place we got in line, there was a huge line up and they were running WAY behind getting orders out. I didn't want to wait in line just to get to the front and have them not have allergy options, so I went up to try to get someone's attention to ask. The people around me waiting for their food started bad-mouthing me about not waiting in line, and complaining about how they'd already been waiting 20 minutes, etc., but I didn't care. (Dude, I wait 20 minutes for my QS almost every time due to allergies! Count yourself lucky!) I'm glad I didn't wait, because the CM told me they didn't have anything, and directed me to the one QS place at TL that has allergy options. We headed there instead, and after walking the length of half the park, we found it and got some QS lunch. I got allergy chicken fingers and fries, and I think N may have gotten the same, just not allergy-friendly? Not sure. I do remember, however, that it took FOREVER to get the food. Like, significantly longer than it usually takes for an allergy order.

After lunch, we hopped in the lazy river for a bit.

*Side rant: I like lazy rivers. I like them a lot. It kinda awkwards me out that they're often super crowded at Disney and there are always random strangers bumping into your tube and everyone feels weird about it. But otherwise, I like them. My issue though, is when there aren't that many free tubes available, and there are newlywed couples like us who would like to float together, and then you see 4 dozen pre-teen boys floating by, each occupying their own double tube, by themselves! I mean, sheesh! Some of us who've actually found love in life might have wanted those! As we awkwardly take turns riding the one little single tube we managed to snag. Whenever we'd see a double tube being vacated, we'd go to try to pounce for it, and some kid aged 11-16 would get there first. Ugh! :end rant.*

After some only-slightly-frustrating-lazy-floating, we decided to attempt the wave pool. It was fairy busy as well. #AugustThough. I remember really liking it as a kid, but this time I just found the waves kinda intense and awkward. The floor of the wave pool is also really rough, which I know is necessary so your feet can get some grip in the waves. Otherwise everyone would be falling down. But N and I both got pulled over by the waves and ended up scraping various body parts on the floor. It wasn't long before we gave up on that venture.

There were a few other slides we might have been interested in, but at that point we figured we could go back and check in at Poly, so that's what we did. As we were heading back, I checked our room assignment on the MDE app, and I noticed that it wasn't in the building that the CM had shown N on the map. N decided, since we'd already had some concerns with the room, that he'd stop in to the desk and check with the same CM about it if he was there. Well...that CM wasn't in yet, but N spoke with someone else. They had given us a king bed, and on the upper floor. That was great. That would have been 100% perfect, if that's what we'd been told yesterday. But N was kinda peeved that the CM had promised him a lagoon view and made us think that's what we would be getting, only to have us in a different longhouse without the view. The new CM told us that our new room had a Luau view, and that we must have just misheard. So N showed the new CM on the map which longhouse and which side the old CM had pointed out to him, and the new CM told N that there weren't even any rooms of that type available there and that the last guy had made a mistake! I'm not sure how he had made a mistake, since he had located a room in their computer system for us and had shown it to N on the map?? Anyway! New CM was also quite rude to N and didn't seem at all interested in apologizing for the confusion, let alone doing anything about the situation, or talking to the old CM about it when he got in, etc. N was pretty ticked off about the whole situation, and I didn't love it either, but I was just grateful that they were able to move us to a room that matched both of our original requests.

P.S. N went back that evening to check in with the old CM about "what else they could do for us," (his words), just like he'd told N to when he gave him the impression that he might be working on some pixie dust for us. And suddenly it was like that had never been said, and the CM acted as if the whole situation never happened. I don't want to sound entitled or anything. I didn't go into this trip expecting to be given any pixie dust for our honeymoon. I would have been totally fine if, originally, the CM had told us that there wasn't any room available to move us to, and that was that. No big deal! We were at the Poly, and that was awesome. And I was also perfectly happy with the new room they gave us. The only thing that really was grinding my gears was that the CM offered something they couldn't/wouldn't deliver on, we got all excited for our new awesome room, and then there was no apology or acknowledgement for it. And then the same thing happened after the fact for the pixie dust we were supposed to come back for. The whole thing was the weirdest experience I've ever had with CMs at Disney, and we also experienced more rudeness from both CMs the second day than I've ever seen. It was the worst customer service experience we've had at WDW, and it just put a slight damper on being at the Poly, which, being such a pricey deluxe resort, we had expected to be oozing with good vibes and positive guest relations.

That said, we moved into our new room, and it was nice! The elevator was super scary-sounding, so we mostly just used the stairs. (Which reminds me: I keep forgetting to mention what incredibly terrible luck we had on this trip with creepy elevators. Every hotel on the road on our way had a nerve-wracking elevator...especially in Jersey!...and then we got to Disney and kept having the same problem!)

I took some pictures of the room, naturally.

We had a nice little balcony, which was something I'd hoped for. It was narrow, but fairly long. (That's what she said?)

Here was our "lagoon view" lol (in EXTREME panorama! You could kinda see a little water to the right side, so I guess it still kinda counts...)

But...if I leaned out one end of the balcony a bit, I could catch this beautiful view of the Grand, which made me a very happy girl.

We got settled in, and then we were headed back out again for the afternoon/evening.​