"I think I'm in love, and her name is Polynesia..." an Aug/Sept '15 TR (NEW TR link @ end!)

[PrincessInOz]

Love the poses!
Such a shame you didn't get to a WP; but it looks like a fun day at AK....despite the crowds.

 

[mlegerto]

HAHA LOVE the model photos!

Glad you guys finally got to enjoy the pool. I have such fond memories as a really young child at the original lava pool - not sure if you remember it or not, but you used to walk up the stairs to the slide from inside the pool and you had a waterfall coming down on you and such. Because of these memories, the lava pool has a special place in my heart, but I can see what you mean with the disappointment.

Can't wait to see the rest of your TR!

 

[skier_pete]

Joining in late in the game but I have enjoyed reading about your trip. The Poly room looks lovely. One day I will get to stay there if I can get a good discount, not crazy enough to pay rack rates!

I agree - rent points through a DVC rental place if you ever do it. It's MUCH cheaper. As DVC owners I forget the exact #, but we "paid" < $200 a night. Certainly with renting points it wouldn't be that cheap, but you would probably be somewhere around $300 a night.

Love the poses!
Such a shame you didn't get to a WP; but it looks like a fun day at AK....despite the crowds.

Well - I didn't mind that much, I just thought it was funny that we decided to spend the extra for the water parks, but really we ended up hardly using them. With the YES program the cost wasn't so bad, but I think from now on we'll go back to one visit or less per trip.

HAHA LOVE the model photos!

Glad you guys finally got to enjoy the pool. I have such fond memories as a really young child at the original lava pool - not sure if you remember it or not, but you used to walk up the stairs to the slide from inside the pool and you had a waterfall coming down on you and such. Because of these memories, the lava pool has a special place in my heart, but I can see what you mean with the disappointment.

Can't wait to see the rest of your TR!

No - never saw the old lava pool...this was truly our first visit to the Poly other than a late-night dinner at Ohana in 2013. I'd never been past the main ceremonial house before.

 

[kcpinwdw]

HI Pete! It's been a while since I stopped by! I love your "glamour shots", so so funny. We felt those crowds too, i think that was our last day, and we were at MK. It was such a change from the rest of the week for sure! Bet you guys are getting excited about DIsneyland!!

 

[skier_pete]

HI Pete! It's been a while since I stopped by! I love your "glamour shots", so so funny. We felt those crowds too, i think that was our last day, and we were at MK. It was such a change from the rest of the week for sure! Bet you guys are getting excited about DIsneyland!!

Hi there! Long time no "see"!

With the holidays it's hard to get too excited about Disneyland. I have mostly been disgruntled about that trip. Stop over at my PTR - which I continued for the DLR trip to see my rants. Mostly, it's not being able to get the VGC stay we wanted, the frustration at the fact they only post park hours and closures 45 days in advance, and the fact that so many things seem like they might be closed - though it appeared that World Of Color would be down, but not looks like it will be back up by our trip which is a big relief.

 

[skier_pete]

Since this may be my last update of the year - I thought I'd knock off the rest of day 9. Only two days left!

For the evening, DW and I decided that we wanted to go over to Epcot for dinner at Sunshine Seasons. DD didn’t want to, so we picked up a flatbread pizza and left her in the room. We then walked over to the Epcot monorail…in the rain.) By the time we did all this though it was pretty late – probably around 7:00 PM. (Note – we didn’t take any pictures – so this will be a dialog only section of the report.)

We got into Epcot and it was raining pretty good, so we went directly to Sunshine seasons. This time, I think we BOTH got the pork chop meal. I remember it was getting close to 8 oclock and looking over at Soarin’ and seeing the standby line was like 85 minutes. The later it was up to 105 minutes. There were very few people at the restaurant though – so we had no problem getting a table. The food was good as usual, and it was fun to just be able to be spontaneous and come over here to get a meal.
After dinner I had a project to do! I had to pick up a special souvenir. See, there’s this sign that I had found available at WDW for the Adventurer’s Club. I had seen it on the Disney Parks shopping app, and I just HAD to have it. Unfortunately, it was not something you were allowed to order on-line, but had to buy it in the parks. They had been out of stock the whole trip, and some finally came in. Unfortunately, the ONLY place you could get it is at the Ziwati Marketplace at Animal Kingdom lodge.

So – I had called to have them hold one for me earlier in the day. I used the evening as an opportunity to go over there. So while DW took the monorail back to the Poly, I took the opportunity of a direct bus to AKL from Epcot. The bus came quite quickly. (I think it was less than 5 minutes waiting for it.)

At the marketplace, they were able to find the sign for me easily. Here is a picture of it hanging on the wall in my “man cave” along with my Enchanted Tiki Room sign DW got me for my birthday last year.



While I was at AKL, I decided that it would be some sort of sin for me to not go to the Mara and pick up some Zebra Domes. For those that have never had them before, they are these small truffle-like desserts made from white chocolate and cake and soaked in Amarulla liquor. They are ONLY available at Boma and at Mara, and while not everyone loves them, there is a good portion of those that have tried them that think they are as close to heaven as you can come on earth.



Anyways, I bought a six-pack of them, knowing they might not survive the trip back in the heat. I then walked back out to the bus stop. (The stop here at AKL made me realize how happy I am with our DVC purchase location. I just really absolutely love this resort. And that’s not even seeing any animals, just the style and design and ambiance I really am excited at the idea of staying here on a future trip.)

I now have the issue of figuring out how to get back to the Poly. There’s no direct routes of course, so the choice is to go to another park. The obvious choice was MK – so I figured I would go to that bus-stop and see if any other options cropped up. (Epcot would’ve worked OK too.) The bus came pretty fast, so I rode back to MK with my sign and my box of Zebra Domes.

When I got to MK, it was probably approaching 10 PM. It was certainly after the parade, but before the fireworks, so there were quite a few people leaving the park. I had to decide between “boat” or “monorail” to get back to the Poly. I started heading towards the monorail – thinking the AC might be better for my Zebra Domes (not that the AC does much on a crowded Monorail) but as I was walking up the ramp, they were closing the doors for the monorail, and at the same time I saw a boat pulling up to the dock. Knowing the ride was shorter on the boat (With 1 stop instead of 2.) I went back down to the boat. I Was able to squeeze on the next launch up near the front, and rode back towards the hotels.

Someone saw my Zebra Domes. The conversation went like this.

Person #1: “What are those?”
Me: “They are Zebra Domes”
Boat Captain: “Oh my god – ZEBRA DOMES!” (She was clearly one of the converted.)
Person #2: “Where did you get them?”
Me: “Well it’s kind of a long story – I bought them at Animal Kingdom Lodge” (Here I explained why I was there.)
Person #2: “What are they.”
Boat Captain: “Little balls of deliciousness”
ME: “Yeah, they’re chocolate with Amarulla”
Person #1: “Are they that good?”
Me: “They are pretty good”
Boat Captain: “They are amazing! I don’t supposed you’d be willing to share”
Me: “ No, my wife would kill me.” (My wife didn’t know about them.)
Boat Captain: “I haven’t had a Zebra dome in ages.”
Me: “Well, if you go to the Poly dock first I’ll give you one.”
Boat Captain (looking sad): “I can’t do that.”
Person #2: “They’re really that good”
Me & Boat Captain: “They really are!”

So – I eventually left the boat with all 6 Zebra Domes intact, but looking a bit on the melty side. (In fact, we ended up not eating them tonight because we wanted to let them re-harden.)

By the time I got back DD was in bed, and DW and I had decided we were going to finally go and check out Trader Sam’s. We went out and watched the fireworks first, and then headed over. There was a wait to get in, but we eventually made it in in about 10 minutes. The place is not very big. Also, just because they let you in doesn’t mean there’s a place to sit, so we had to wait a few minutes before we found one of those:




The goddess – who gets “angry” when someone orders an “Uh-OA”. Each specialty drink has a special “performance”.



The drink I had wanted to get the souvenir glass of was the nautilus – see the below link. The problem was the Nautilus was a $52 drink (with the glass) but was a $27 drink WITHOUT the souvenir glass, so I skipped that.

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/wp-co..._10206463520004370_5795480514369087606_n1.jpg

I ordered the Shrunken Zombie Head, which I did NOT buy the glass:
Gosling’s 151 Black Seal Rum, Appleton Estate Reserve Rum, Bacardi 8 yr Rum, Tropical Juices, Falernum, and Cinnamon. Served in a souvenir Shrunken Head
DW ordered the Krakatoa Punch:
Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, Pyrat XO Reserve Rum, Orgeat (Almond), Sam’s Gorilla Grog, and Hibiscus Grenadine. Served in a souvenir Tiki Mug. This one we bought the mug, because it was only like $20. We liked the mug a lot – though I liked both drinks. The Krakatoa Punch also came with a glow cube, which we got to keep.



We only stayed for one drink. (Considering we spent $36 on two drinks that seemed like plenty.) We had an early appointment with Lilo and Stich the next day!

That's it for pre-holiday updates! Everybody have a Merry Christmas and in case I don't get one in next week a Happy New Year.

 

[mlegerto]

Merry Christmas to you and your family as well! Happy New Year if we don't hear from you before then.

Hubby and I stopped in at Trader Sams as well and ordered the same drinks as you and your wife. We were also miffed by the price for 2 drinks - we originally wanted the Nautilus just like you, but couldn't justify the price. In the end, it would have been pretty much the same price if we got that one drink and split it - without the glass to keep.

Great trip.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

This may be blasphemy and get me kicked off the Dis but I stayed at AKL for a week and did not eat any zebra domes! I was always too full when we were at the resort that I passed them by. Shameful, I know.

 

[skier_pete]

This may be blasphemy and get me kicked off the Dis but I stayed at AKL for a week and did not eat any zebra domes! I was always too full when we were at the resort that I passed them by. Shameful, I know.

Not shameful, but very sad. You should always make room from Zebra domes...

 

[skier_pete]

Merry Christmas to you and your family as well! Happy New Year if we don't hear from you before then.

Hubby and I stopped in at Trader Sams as well and ordered the same drinks as you and your wife. We were also miffed by the price for 2 drinks - we originally wanted the Nautilus just like you, but couldn't justify the price. In the end, it would have been pretty much the same price if we got that one drink and split it - without the glass to keep.

Great trip.

Yes - we will soon be hitting Trader Sams in California. Very similar, though not as interactive. I'm thinking we won't bother buying the glasses there! Dual coastal Sams in 6 months. Woo hoo!

And Merry Christmas to you as well. Or Joyeux Noel has your Quebecois brethren say.

 

[rteetz]

Merry Christmas Pete!

Great update! Glad you were able to get your sign. Your Zebra Dome story is pretty funny.

Looks like you had a good time at trader sams. Not being 21 yet I don't think it would be worth it for me to check it out yet.

 

[skier_pete]

Merry Christmas Pete!

Great update! Glad you were able to get your sign. Your Zebra Dome story is pretty funny.

Looks like you had a good time at trader sams. Not being 21 yet I don't think it would be worth it for me to check it out yet.

Stay away from those drunken Zombie Heads, kid.

And Merry Christmas to you, too!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Zebra Domes! I think I may have just had to *steal* them from you if I were on that boat. Bwa ha ha ha!

Good work getting from Epcot to AKL to MK and then back to the Poly!

 

[khertz]

One of the reasons I'm excited to be staying at AKV in February is to try some of the famous zebra domes! Among other things, of course. But they are so frequently raved about on the boards, and we have never made a trip out to AKL just to look around, so this will be the perfect time to finally try some! I was laughing through the whole conversation with the boat captain & guest. I bet he really wished he could have gone to the Poly dock first for one of those domes!! lol

 

[Vernie822]

Hey Pete - totally behind on your TR but you have lots of good updates. Hope you guys had a nice holiday - and happy new year! I'll have to check out your PTR for Disneyland. We are heading there in September (after Aulani/Maui) for our honeymoon. We just bought a resale contract and I am realllyyyyy hoping we can get VGC at 7 months out!

No photos really from Peter Pan. It was now only about 11:00 AM, and though we had a lunch planned in an hour or so, everyone wanted a snack. DD was still mad at me from 2 years ago that I wouldn’t let her get a $10 caramel apple, and so I had told her she could have one this trip. We knew we could get one at Storybook Circus, so that’s where we headed.

Haha, I laughed too hard at this, 2 years for a caramel apple is a long time to wait!! Glad she finally got her apple - those things are huge but look so delicious.

We asked DD if she wanted to do Dumbo or Barnstormer while we were there in the park – but she didn’t have any interest. So we headed to Little Mermaid. Previously we had done this with a FP, but this time we went through the Standby line. It was a “walk-up”, except you had to walk through the ENTIRE line! Argh – why does Disney do this stuff. (Finding Nemo has the same killer foot issue.)

I love this ride but every time we go on I think the same thing - the 10 min posted wait is the length of time it takes to get from the front to the ride.

These kids faces in the front are priceless!!

Everyone LOVED their meals, especially DD, who was so enamored with the meal that she requested the recipe from the chef. (They e-mailed it to us eventually!) I have to say, we’ve eaten here for both lunch and dinner, and both times the meals were excellent. Highly recommended for both the theme and the food.

We loved that Croque Monsieur, too! And the roast beef, I thought that was excellent. We also really liked the french onion soup. Good choices all around.

We had gotten so much done in the morning, there wasn’t really a pressing need to get a lot done in the evening. I was hoping we would stay for the fireworks, but knowing the 10 PM fireworks time is typically too late for DD usually, I thought even that was going to be iffy.

Um heck yes you did! You got more done in a morning than some people get done in a day. I love when that happens.

Next we headed over towards Flights of Wonder. Our DD LOVES this show. When she was maybe 9 she got picked to throw a grape in the air, and since then we have often seen it twice on a single trip. This trip we only saw it the one time, but always enjoy it!

We did that for the first time last trip, and I was pleasantly surprised with how cool it was.

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This is an awesome pic!

We only stayed for one drink. (Considering we spent $36 on two drinks that seemed like plenty.) We had an early appointment with Lilo and Stich the next day!

Ohana for breakfast? Love it!!

 

[skier_pete]

Zebra Domes! I think I may have just had to *steal* them from you if I were on that boat. Bwa ha ha ha!

Good work getting from Epcot to AKL to MK and then back to the Poly!

Yeah - it wasn't too bad. We sometimes consider getting taxis for circuitous routes like this. But in this case I was not in a hurry - so just took the Disney Transport. It's not the last shopping "detour" I took on the trip.

One of the reasons I'm excited to be staying at AKV in February is to try some of the famous zebra domes! Among other things, of course. But they are so frequently raved about on the boards, and we have never made a trip out to AKL just to look around, so this will be the perfect time to finally try some! I was laughing through the whole conversation with the boat captain & guest. I bet he really wished he could have gone to the Poly dock first for one of those domes!! lol

Definitely try them out! They aren't for everyone. (They DO have Amarula in them. Not the same as Amaretto.) I like them so much, DW cooks with Amarula all the time now.

Hey Pete - totally behind on your TR but you have lots of good updates. Hope you guys had a nice holiday - and happy new year! I'll have to check out your PTR for Disneyland. We are heading there in September (after Aulani/Maui) for our honeymoon. We just bought a resale contract and I am realllyyyyy hoping we can get VGC at 7 months out!

Make sure to go after it right at 8 AM at the 7-month mark. We didn't get what we wanted, and I am stuck with two nights - one in a studio and one in a 1-bedroom as the only pieces of our wait-list I've been able to get. You should be able to get it as long as you are not trying for labor day weekend. Understand though - if you've never been to DLR - staying "off-site" can be very similar to "on-site" as the whole area is so small. The walk to the Disneyland entrance from off-property hotels is shorter than from the VGC.

 

[skier_pete]

This morning was a little different from most, as we actually had a breakfast ADR. DD had said she didn’t care about character meals, but we gave her the option of picking one. When I told her about some of the ones that were available beyond the ones we usually go to, I mentioned that O’Hana had Lilo and Stich, she got sort of excited about that idea. So we decided since we were at the hotel anyways that we would go for an early breakfast prior to the park opening. We figure while we might not QUITE make rope drop, we should be able to be pretty close.

Anyways – I actually managed to get everybody moving this morning for a change, and we were at the restaurant right around 8 AM.



We waited less than 5 minutes to be seated.


The only other time we ate at Ohana – we had a table that was in a corner facing the dark outside and couldn’t see a damn thing. This time, we had another Table on the glass (this is apparently where parties of 3 go) but at least we could look out the window and see the Poly and the MK off in the distance.



It was interesting – I guess I hadn’t been to too many Disney Character Meals right when they opened, but it seemed they were seating everyone in a circle around the restaurant. The characters eventually came out from Backstage and went to the first tables that were seated first, and then slowly made their way around the area. While we were waiting for them to show up, we were served first some bread and some fruit and juice.



I forgot what was in the Juice, but it was actually pretty awful. The rest was OK, but I didn’t come here to fill up on bread and fruit.

They eventually brought out the family style plate of food. There were Mickey waffles, but also the occasional STITCH waffle.





Overall – the food was pretty---typical. We don’t usually do these types of breakfast, because to me breakfast is so “standard” that I always leave feeling somewhat underwhelmed. Everything was very edible, but nothing to write home about.



The characters eventually started showing up while we were eating our meals. We did end up having to wait for all the characters to come by long after we were done eating. Again, I hate to criticize that, because we were visited in the proper order, and we had plenty of time with each character, so I don’t begrudge that it took a while for everyone to get to us.

Stitch came though first. We complimented him on the Stitch waffles and he was very lively and playful. They also had a photo pass guy coming around with the characters, which made for easy interactions.





Next round was Lilo. She tried to get DD to help out with a hula – but DD was having none of it.


Mickey was next up…he certainly looked very casual in his Hawaiian shirt!!



Finally came Pluto – he was the one we were waiting for the longest.


So – what is there to say about the O’Hana breakfast – it’s sort of critic proof. It cost us $102 with tip for 3 all-you-care-to-enjoy breakfasts, which based on what we ate was probably about $15 worth of food. The food was good and plentiful. The character interactions were all good. Yet at that price point, it is unlikely I will ever return.

The good news when it comes to character meals is with DD starting to outgrow them, we bought into DVC at the perfect time. Our window of using free dining to allow us to go to 3 or 4 of these meals each trip has closed, yet I am not sure we would go to more than 1 a trip going forward. I think next time it will have to at least be a lunch.

 

[skier_pete]

With meal complete, it was probably at this point about 10 minutes of nine, so we went out to the monorail to head over to Magic Kingdom. We knew we weren’t going to make rope drop, but we more or less treated our touring plan like we did. Our first destination therefore was going to be to ride Peter Pan again. After dumbo got moved, Peter Pan became our go-to first ride. It was at one point one of DDs favorites, and I remember one trip we ended up riding it 7 times. (Back when you could get multiple fastpasses.) Those days are over, but this was our second ride of the trip. We actually had about a 20 minute wait through the queue, but it was neat because it gave us a chance to explore the interactive queue, which is a pretty impressive area.







The new queue is pretty neat – it still doesn’t beat skipping the line with a fastpass, but it was inside and cool and there was lots to see…so good job Disney!

Really today wasn’t so much about hitting headliners – but about mopping up some of the smaller rides. (Not that we didn’t hit some headliners along the way.) Therefore, the next stop was at Winnie the Pooh.





You’d think DD would start outgrowing these rides, but she still loves them. From there we were heading towards Tomorrowland, but there was one more stop along the way.



DW wanted her own teacup because she didn’t want us spinning her. I don’t like the spinning that much either, but it’s worth it to see DD with such a big smile on her face. (She is such an unbearable mope much of the time.)



Next up we had a real shocker. DD decided she wanted to ride the Speedway!!!



Now this is a shocker because we’ve NEVER ridden this ride. Not once. Not ever. We rode Autotopia in California which is essentially the same thing – but never here. I don’t even remember riding this ride as a child, though I may have. Certainly never as an adult. But DD loved the idea that she could drive her own car.



So DW and I took a leisurely drive around the race course and let DD drive her own car. She is not nearly independent enough in my view – so her wanting to do this was actually very exciting I thought!

We had been working our way over to Space Mountain – we had FastPass+ for 10:30 – 11:30 AM. However, DD had finally tried Space Mountain last trip, and she didn’t like it, so DW and I took turns riding it. Because of the walk to get in and out of the ride, this means it took quite a while to do. We waited in the store at the exit. DD actually ended up getting a Minnie Mouse case for her IPOD – you will see this in a later picture.

Next up we headed to the TTA – yes we already rode it once, but heck – it’s the TTA! We were too early for our Buzz Lightyear Fastpasses, so we decided to hit the Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor.



Still wasn’t THAT GUY!! Darn It! We then headed into Buzz Lightyear. (For those keeping score – our 8th ride of the morning.) This time, DD rode with DW, and I rode on my own.


Finally remembered to “Ham It Up” for the cameras!



When we got out of Buzz, DD wanted to do the Laugh Floor AGAIN! Since we had time, we said “sure!” and we headed into see the show again. Still no THAT GUY! But seriously, I’ve always liked this show, but watching it twice in a row you realize how extremely repetitive it is. Sure, there’s that one section where they use the audience jokes, but the rest of it is the SAME jokes over and over. Definitely a “one and done” attraction.

I'll leave it there for now - more updates later in the week - still trying to get this one done before our next trip!!!

 

[rteetz]

Playing trip report catch up! I really like Ohana as a breakfast. I haven't done dinner there yet but hope to soon.

I love Tomorrowland speedway because it has a lot of nostalgia to me. When I was younger it was always my favorite thing to get to drive a car.

 

[mlegerto]

I feel the same way about breakfast in Disney. I much rather grab something quick or have something in the room to eat than schedule an ADR for a buffet. I find the food is okay, but standard and I don't think we eat enough to make up for the price it costs. If I do breakfast ADR's its typically at Kona cafe where I can order something off of the menu and if I do schedule a breakfast buffet it's always in the Magic Kingdom so I can get into the park earlier than opening time.