And, Here we are:
Day 4 (12/30/10) getting ready for the Luau at Polynesian Resort.
We were getting ready to leave for our 5:15 Luau. We decided to drive. Although, we did get turned around along the way. As it was 12/30, the guards at the gates were stopping everyone, making sure no one was trying to get something for free. I told them we had a Luau reservation, and they checked their sheets before letting us through. Thats some serious stuff.
We got a decent-enough parking spot, and walked inside. We went to the concierge desk to pick up our tickets. We had to walk quite a ways to get TO the luau bar. There was a little photo shoot we had to meet up for, and got inside just as the Luau was starting.
*Side bar* - This time, my room was running behind, and the other room was there. (They followed the road signs correctly). But, it didnt seem NEARLY as big a deal to me as Tuesday when they were late for the Fantasmic! dinner package. Go figure

:
Im going to split this review into 2 sections: Food and Show
Food The good of this was that it was all you care to eat. The chicken they served (bbq) was pretty good, and the coconut bread (pineapple? Something Hawaiian) was good too. (I think it was coconut).
I want to say there were also ribs, and then there was salad, too.
And the downside to all this was that there really wasnt a LOT for any picky eaters (Nephew and Potato), so while they were given the uncrustables by the staff, it would have been nice had there been the Hawaiian version of mac & cheese on the tables, too.
But as stated in the title, I'm not a "foodie," so I don't have a lot of good pictures of the food.
The chocolate volcano desserts were AMAZING. SO rich but SO good.
My brother took a BIG spoonful of the sauce, and ate it, and made a face like death, then, he was okay. He said, I thought it was caramel
its not.
yeah, its red, like, LAVA from the VOLCANO! Im guessing raspberry?
oh, yeah
thats what it was. Dude, I know its dark, but cmon
you can see that.
Heres Bean stuffing his face with whatever was in front of him. He eats like a chipmunk, stuffing his cheeks. I just love this picture. You can almost feel his food coma.
Another great aspect of the Luau was that it was all you care to drink. Bud Light is
great for an all you can drink beer (It's a St. Louis Product after all

). That being said, Im at Disneyworld, on vacation. I'm with my kiddos and I dont want to get

falling down. I take it easy on the hooch, which is good and bad. (I was able to be a parent, but I didnt feel like I got my moneys worth out of the free beer.)
Next: The show.
The show was good, I think.
I say it like that because we were trying to deal with finding something for 4 boys to eat, and feeding Baby Girl a bottle, and cleaning up a glass I dropped (oops). Because of all of the commotion of eating, I missed the plot of the Luau show. I think one of the guys was trying to court a woman that was out of his league, but, I dont know. The music was good, and the show was entertaining, but the plot was amiss (to me.)
At one point, they asked the kids to go up and dance. Bean loved it, but I didn't get a good picture of him.
The Fire Dancer was great, though, Im not sure how HE fit into the plot.
And, as all the Polynesian gals were up dancing, those around me commented repeatedly on their attractiveness. I get it, yes, theyre all pretty. But man
just watch the show, dont argue over whos the pretties gal you dont have a shot with. The answer is
you aren't going home with ANY of them, so hush & watch the show.
This was 2 credits per person. To an extent, the Luau was the reason we went with DxDDP. MeMaw really wanted to do this option. We saw it was 2 credits, and were trying to see what meals we could skip or what-have-you, opting instead for DxDDP. To the extent that MeMaw LOVED what she wanted to get out of this vacation, I found the Luau great. However, this is one Disney experience that now that Ive had, I really don't think I'll be doing this again.
Its 7:30 or 7:45 at this point, and dark outside. When we left for the Luau, our plan was to leave the car at the Poly, and Monorail it over to MK for the New Years Eve fireworks, one day early. (it is December 30th, after all).
As we were leaving the luau, I made a wrong turn, and wound up walking past the beach at the Polynesian resort. I looked across the water, and saw Cinderellas Castle! How neat is that.
Wait
If I can see the Castle, then I'll bet we can see the fireworks, too.
I spoke up, Hey, gang, want to hang out here for 45 minutes and watch the 8:30 fireworks?
We did, and I thought for SURE the boys would lose it. WRONG AGAIN!
They played in the sand on the beach for 40 of the 45 minutes. You may not be able to see it, but here is a sand drawing of Mickey Mouse by Potato (DS6)
And a couple more Polynesian Resort beach pictures
I also took a picture of the Grand Floridian, but it's too blurry to post.
The fireworks last 10-15 minutes. Baby Girl is asleep, Bean is winding down, and Potato & DS7 are covered in sand. Time to head back to POR. I really wanted to go to MK to see the Fireworks at Midnight, but then I thought to myself, really, how much different can midnight fireworks be compared to the 8:30 holiday WISHES fireworks? I decided not TOO different, and stayed at POR. I was again not TIRED.
I walked on up to the Food Court. Again, POR is a BIG resort. Deciding to walk from Alligator Bayou building 33 is real commitment! I had my journal in order to wind down, and keep my notes as current as possible to help when / if I ever write a trip report. I waited in line to thank Genevive for the great job shed done on my pasta from Monday night. She remembered me (is that good or bad?

) and thanked me for the compliment.
I later learned that cast members that get compliments have special recognitions on thier nametages. Or, I was told that. I don't KNOW if it's true.
I also got talked into a fudge brownie. I thought about doing it ala mode, but the server gals said it would be 2 snack credits, and I didnt want to waste them. Then I saw from my receipt I was still in the 30s on snack credits for my room with only 2 days left.

DxDDP is a LOT of food!
It got to be about 10:30 or 11, and I bagged it for the night. Tomorrows New Years Eve at Disney, and going to be a LONG day
lets hit the hay early to prep for tomorrow.