It's a Jolly Holiday with LL. *FINISHED* Final Update on pg. 58.

[vdarrell]

38 pages later and I'm still am enjoying reading your TR.
I too love everything Christmas and am looking forward to the Christmas shop and buying an ornament.
I am trying to remember to leave room in my suitcase for souvenirs but we learned a long time ago to pack an extra nylon gym bag with us just for that reason, but now with the extra bag fee we need to watch not to run out of room.
The floor also reminded me of the Brach's candy we called nougat.
Hope you are feeling better and can post more update and let me now (What was in your mystery bag?)

 

[Charleston Princess]

An update today? Hurray!

It's the "maybe we did, maybe we didn't make it to Kona" update, right?

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Yay! You know how I adore Sunday updates!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Oooh yay I can't wait for the update!

38 pages later and I'm still am enjoying reading your TR.
I too love everything Christmas and am looking forward to the Christmas shop and buying an ornament.
I am trying to remember to leave room in my suitcase for souvenirs but we learned a long time ago to pack an extra nylon gym bag with us just for that reason, but now with the extra bag fee we need to watch not to run out of room.
The floor also reminded me of the Brach's candy we called nougat.
Hope you are feeling better and can post more update and let me now (What was in your mystery bag?)

Thanks for reading!! What was in my mystery bag will be coming in my next update!! Hehehe.

An update today? Hurray!

It's the "maybe we did, maybe we didn't make it to Kona" update, right?

Yes it is!!

Yay! You know how I adore Sunday updates!!

I figured since I didn't do a Sunday update last week that I really needed to this week!!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Oh no...not another crappy week. Surely this week has to pick up for you!!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Day 4. Part 2.

Once we arrived back at Pop, I stopped and bought more moleskin. Moleskin saved my feet this week from the stupid blisters that I had gotten from wearing my sneakers. Luckily my Mary Jane Crocs combined with moleskin and bandaids, no more blisters for me besides the ones I already had.

We got back to our room and our towel rack in the bathroom had finally been fixed. This broken towel rack didn't really bother me, but it bothered Marc. He had this fear that they would blame it on us. We had called on our first day to get it fixed and were told they would fix it the next day but no luck much to Marc's annoyance.

I was reviewing my pin purchases, laying them all out on the bed. In my mystery pin pouch, I had received Ariel & Snow White, eye pins. I don't know how else to describe them. Marc starts looking at them. He tries to take the back off of Ariel and BREAKS THE POST OFF. Needless to say, I was a teeny bit upset. It figures. The pin I wanted the most from that collection was Ariel and that is the one that Marc breaks. Marc felt bad so he gave me the pins he bought me for my Birthday early. He bought me Lady & The Tramp, a Mickey & Walt pin, a Castle pin and an Ursula pin. Because you have all been so patient with my update I have some pin pictures for you!!

The Shadow Box I got for my pins.

The broken pin. I just propped it on the bottom of the box.

Since CP has a weakness for WL souvenirs.

I think this is my favorite pin that I got. I just adore this section in Haunted Mansion.

This pin opens up with a black & white photo of Walt & Mickey.

And Ursula of course!

After looking at my pin booty, I decided to call a Taxi company to see how much a ride to the Polynesian Resort would be. I was done with the Pop buses. It's not that the Pop buses were bad either, I just didn't want to have to leave super early and then kill time until our ADR. After being on holfd for what seemed like forever, they told me it would be approx. $20 one way. I thought this was outrageous. I ended up hanging up so I could think about it.

Marc and I hemmed and hawed about whether we wanted to go to Kona at all. We could go to a park, we could relax at Pop, we could do whatever we wanted. I point blank told Marc that I just didn't feel like dealing with the Disney transporation to get to Poly. If we were going to go, I wanted to take the taxi. If not, I thought we should do something else. I offered to call to see if there were any other ADR's we could get. I threw out Brown Derby again since it had been so delish.

Bless my husband, because he said "Kona is the ADR you have talked about the most, and drooled over the pictures and we are going to go have our romantical evening! Call the taxi." And I am glad he did. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed. For some reason I had a mental block about doing the transporation jig to get over to the Poly. I know it's not that hard but I just didn't want too.

So I called the Taxi and arranged for a pick up at 6:25PM. Our ADR being at 7:10PM. I updated my Trip Journal and called my parents for a quick chat. Even though I live in a different state from my parents, for some reason when they go on vacation or when I do, I still get homesick for them. I even paid $50 to make a phone call to my mom on our ill fated honeymoon cruise. I swear, hearing her voice was the only thing that kept me going that week.

We left the room at 6:15 and our Taxi was already there. We were off to the Poly. The taxi ride was a little under $20. I think it was $15 or $16, so with tip you might as well call it $20. We got there and it was just so beautiful. Of course I whipped out my camera and started snapping away.

I really like this picture of Marc.

A very nice CM saw that we were taking pictures of each other in front of the waterfall so he offered. He was probably the nicest CM to offer all week. He was just so friendly and happy. Ahhh Disney.

We headed into Poly and I snapped lots of pictures as we poked around.

Now, before we had left on our trip I had coveted a stay at Poly. With how expensive it is, I just couldn't justify it. I had high expectations for how wonderful the Poly would feel. Now it's wonderful, pretty and so awesome with a Monorail stop but I don't know as it's the resort for us.

It was only about 6:45 at this point but we decided to check into Kona, it didn't look very busy so why not?

We were called in to sit after about 5 minutes of waiting.

Continued...

 

[Lady Lallie]

Day 4. Part 2. Continued.

Kona Cafe was very open, I thought it would be more closed off from the lobby but it wasn't. It wasn't a bad thing just different than I had imagined. It was very beautiful inside. We had a fantastic server but I can't remember her name. She was great. She had a wonderful sense of sarcastic humor which Marc and I have as well. I know she was a scuba diver because she talked about that but not her name.

I very excitedly ordered my Lapu Lapu and Marc ordered a Mai Tai.

With our delicious drinks, she also brough out that wonderful bread and macadamia butter. Mmmmmmmmmm. I am starting to drool.

Lapu Lapu action shot.

YUMMY!

As you can see, I loved my Lapu Lapu. It was good. Holy strong though. I will admit that I couldn't finish it all but it was worth it. I contemplated having Marc take a video of me and my Lapu Lapu while I was shouting "HALA KAHALKI!" But decided I didn't want to be banned from Kona.

For my appetizer I got the Duck Pot Stickers.

They were delicious. Both Marc and I were happy to see the seaweed salad that we had at Coral on the plate. Yum Yum!

Marc got the crab cakes.

He won the appetizer battle. Oh my goodness. These were melt in your mouth good. He was kind enough to share with his wife. Hehehe.

For my entree, I got Coconut Almond Chicken - sauteed chicken breast served with Asian greens tossed with honey-lime dressing, golden pineapple, strawberries, and toasted almonds.

This was flipping fantastic!! It was so delicious. I ate every single bite of it except the one or two bites I gave Marc. Each bite tasted better than the last.

I feel bad about Marc's entree to this day. I suggested that he get the Mahi Mahi since I had read about it on the DIS. I said Mahi Mahi but what I had MEANT was the Tuna Oscar. I was mixing the two pictures I had seen. D'oh!

It was good but he wished he had gotten the "right" one or gotten something else. He said it was good but just not his cup of tea.

I love the lights at Kona.

I asked Marc to take a picture of the light behind me....he didn't get a close up. Didn't he learn anything while we reviewed our pictures each night? This picture just doesn't give their beauty justice!

So I made him take another.

For dessert, I got the Kona Cone. I ordered it with the glee of a 5 year old as well. I enjoyed it. It was very yummy.

Marc got the Coconut Cream Kiki Tart which was awesome as well.

Our Waitress was the first person to comment on our special Tip Envelopes. The Kona Cafe one had Lilo & Stitch on it with something like "Thanks for making us feel like Ohana" or something like that. She thought it was so nice. She did make a comment "You must be on those Disney Boards." Guilty as charged. Marc had to pipe in about my mad/crazy planning skills. I defended myself in a joking manner that I was able to go with the flow and deviate from the plans and the waitress summed me up this way, "So you are obsessive but not anal rententive." Yep, that's about it. She even showed some of her other tables our tip envelope. It was really nice to see that she appreciated it so much. I was glad to pass on the pixie dust!

After dinner we decided to take a ride on the monorail since it was right there. We ddi the resort loop. We met two groups of DISboarders on there, I can't remember their names but I know one group of them had a Flat Amy. After our ride, we got a Lilo Smushed Quarter from one of the machines. I love me some Lilo & Stitch. We decided to head out to the beach.

A torch on the way to the beach.

The Poly pool was very very impressive. We ended up finding a primo spot on the beach in one of the swings. Which was really nice. It was nice to relax and just spend some time together.

The Grand Floridian.

The Contemporary.

Continued....

 

[Lady Lallie]

Day 4. Part 2. Continued Again.

We had a bit to wait before the Electrical Water Pageant came our way, so we goofed around a bit.

The palm tree that was above our swing.

Finally the pageant started.


And I was disappointed with it. I was so looking forward to this. I thought the floats would "parade" by us, not just get in a line and light up one at a time. I am glad we saw it but it's not something I will plan my evening around. While planning I had so much stress about seeing this and Spectro that I rearranged our plans 20 different times! So not worth it.

I did take pictures though.

We had toyed with the idea of staying for Wishes but knew that we were planning to see them the next night at MK. So we decided to take a taxi back. There was one at Poly so we didn't even have to call the company. The driver was complaining about how it was slow season now. We were back at Pop by 10. We went by the lobby and I took some pictures.

I also went and talked to concierge. I wanted to see if Hollywood & Vine had any openings the following morning. We decided to try to get into the park early again since it had worked so well at MK a few days before. We were able to get an ADR for 8:15. We didn't intend to eat there but just wanted to get into the park. They had at least 5 different times available so I didn't feel bad about not using it.

We headed back towards our room. On our building there was a transistor radio. Everytime we passed by it Marc said "TRANSISTOR RADIO" in this really odd, weird voice. Don't ask me why. I took a picture of it for him so he could have his memories. Weirdo.

Why can't the soda machine at work have a front like this machine?

Marc & I decided to do some laundry. We ended up doing two loads. We decided that some of our clothes were just more comfy than others, we plan to pack less next trip and do laundry again. While we started the laundry we went for another swim in the 50's pool. I was getting a little sad to say goodbye to Pop but we were both really looking forward to WL the next day. After our swim & while waiting for the laundry to finish, Marc went to the food court to see if there were anything to munch on. We were hungry for some reason.

Even though the food court was open until Midnight only the Italian area was open. We got chicken alfredo. The alfredo was nasty! It was so salty. Blech. This way by far the worst food of our trip, I blame it on the food court being ready to close.

We also munched on our Goofy's Candy Co. treats.

We finally got to bed around 12:30 - 1AM after getting all packed and ready to go in the morning. We had a busy morning coming up!

Coming up....
LL's Birthday Extravaganza!
An early morning hissy fit.
A little slice of heaven.

 

[nts4wdw]

yeah! A Sunday update! I'm sorry you were disappointed with the Water parade. I'm not sure why I like it so much. Just happy memeories I guess. great pictures of the Poly. It looked like a fun night!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Wow! This was a super-duper heavy-duty installment. Just what I needed as I "waste" hour # Idont'wanttotellyou on the DIS b/c I am fundamentally incapable of focusing on anything but Disney this close to my trip!

Once we arrived back at Pop, I stopped and bought more moleskin. Moleskin saved my feet this week from the stupid blisters that I had gotten from wearing my sneakers. Luckily my Mary Jane Crocs combined with moleskin and bandaids, no more blisters for me besides the ones I already had.

Funny you should mention this. I bought some a long while back in anticipation of the trip and had forgotten all about it until I was rooting around in my junk drawer. It is now properly in my Disney pile!

Your pins look great!

Since CP has a weakness for WL souvenirs.

Ooohh... LL... you're playing dirty... I like it!

Bless my husband, because he said "Kona is the ADR you have talked about the most, and drooled over the pictures and we are going to go have our romantical evening! Call the taxi."

He does listen when you talk about Disney!!

on our ill fated honeymoon cruise. I swear, hearing her voice was the only thing that kept me going that week.

I don't think I know the story behind this. Someday you'll have to fill me in.

Now, before we had left on our trip I had coveted a stay at Poly. With how expensive it is, I just couldn't justify it. I had high expectations for how wonderful the Poly would feel. Now it's wonderful, pretty and so awesome with a Monorail stop but I don't know as it's the resort for us.

Interesting. I have to say I'm a little surprised b/c as I was looking at your pictures I was cursing you (lovingly) for making me covet another deluxe resort. Anything about it in particular that doesn't appeal to you?

Continued...

Thank goodness. I nearly cursed you not so lovingly for a cliff hanger.

I very excitedly ordered my Lapu Lapu ...

Lapu Lapu action shot.

too cute. You look so excited to be drinking it! Now that I think about it... that will be me one week from tonight at about this time!!!

As you can see, I loved my Lapu Lapu. It was good. Holy strong though. I will admit that I couldn't finish it all but it was worth it. I contemplated having Marc take a video of me and my Lapu Lapu while I was shouting "HALA KAHALKI!" But decided I didn't want to be banned from Kona.

Couldn't finish?! Surely that is a cardinal sin in the Disney/Lapuette bible? Just kidding. Good call on not getting banned from Kona.

For my entree, I got Coconut Almond Chicken - sauteed chicken breast served with Asian greens tossed with honey-lime dressing, golden pineapple, strawberries, and toasted almonds. This was flipping fantastic!! It was so delicious. I ate every single bite of it except the one or two bites I gave Marc. Each bite tasted better than the last.

Cursing you again (lovingly)! I had my entree selection all picked out (teriyaki NY strip steak) and now you throw me a curve ball.

Finally the pageant started.


And I was disappointed with it. I was so looking forward to this. I thought the floats would "parade" by us, not just get in a line and light up one at a time. I am glad we saw it but it's not something I will plan my evening around. While planning I had so much stress about seeing this and Spectro that I rearranged our plans 20 different times! So not worth it.

Sorry you were disappointed. I actually love it but I think what I love is that it takes me back to childhood (I don't think it has changed in 20+ years!!) so if I were to look at it with fresh eyes I can see where it wouldn't really live up to the hype. But imagine it back in the 80's when it was very, very cool!!

Marc & I decided to do some laundry. We ended up doing two loads.

Laundry on vacation?? I do know what you mean, though, about the comfy clothes and there is a lot to be said for packing light. So for WL in 2009 I can expect to see you in the same outfit every day??

Coming up....
LL's Birthday Extravaganza!
An early morning hissy fit.
A little slice of heaven.

It's finally WL day!! Yippee!!!!

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

What a wonderful evening!

Everything at Kona looked so good! It's sad about Marc's entree though. But it sounds like his appetizer and dessert were excellent, so maybe it made up for the entree?

Bummer about the water parade (don't remember what it's called.) After reading your review on it, I know I won't try to squeeze it into our plans.

Your Poly pics are gorgeous.

Thanks for a nice, long, fabulous update!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Great update. Made the mistake of letting DD see your Kona dessert. I guess we will be going to Kona on our next trip!!! Never thought about making an ADR and not using it...good plan! (although I will privately think it's a good plan and on the Disboards tell you that you should be ashamed of yourself for making a fake ADR )

 

[TarzansKat]

Wow. I am in serious lust over your treats from Goofy's Candy Co.

Yum. Yum. NOM.

That's an awesome picture of you and DH in front of the waterfall! I swear it is just so perfect, it almost looks like a fake backdrop, you know? So beautiful. And I love your corny faces. What a riot!

This was a fantastic update! Thanks for giving me a fix!

 

[belle8306]

I have so much to say! That is too bad about your Ariel pin. The pins your DH got you are really cute and your pin shadow box is a fantastic idea. I love it! I am so glad you went to Kona since that is one of my ADR's. The waterfall pics are really cute. My DH saw the pic of the Kona Cone and said "That looks awesome!". So, now he knows what he wants to get for dessert. The beach sounds very peaceful. I saw the electric water parade in 2007. It was nice, but not what I was expecting either. The Pop shadow boxes are cool. I am a child of the 80's and I recognized a lot from that box. I am looking forward to hearing about the Wilderness Lodge. I would love to stay there someday. Great update as always!

 

[MRYPPNS]

You could probably get the Ariel pin display up on the back of the box with velcro.

 

[ILuvCrush]

Great update LL!!! It was REALLY swell of ya to wait til I got home to update, so I wouldn't miss anything!!!

Sorry about the Ariel pin!! What a bummer. Your Poly pics are fab. I'm still not sold on trying Kona, myself....but I have to say your dessert is helping the effort!!!

I wish the Water pagent had been better for you I like it, primarily because for Disney.... Its very simple. I like that. I have a tendancy to close MK, shop a little on the way out, then watch it before catching the bus back to where ever I'm staying. I wouldn't plan my night around it either.

Paula

 

[brookelizabeth]

The pictures of you and Marc in front of the waterfall are awesome! The Poly looks so pretty!!

What a great night-your DH being smart and going for the taxi, yummy food and fun pictures on the beach. And even though the Light Parade was disappointing, at least you won't ever wonder what it would be like had you missed it.

And yay! Off to the WL!!!!

ETA: I love your shadow box! That is a great way to enjoy your pins all year round. I might steal this idea someday...

 

[Charleston Princess]

An update worth waiting for! I am so glad that you made it to Kona and the Polynesian -- all the shots of you and Marc are just too cute! Do you think it is a bad thing that after seeing your pic of the Lapu Lapu, I am craving one at 8:03 on a Monday? Sorry to hear that the Electric Water Pageant was a bust -- guess I can cross that off my list of pluses for WL.

But you are headed to WL the next day -- woo hoo!

 

[julezdisney]

Great update, Lallie. I'll have to remember about the shadow box. After I'm done w/my first lanyard I'm going to 'retire' it and start trading. The shadow box gives me something to work for!

 

[Sarilas]

I'm starting to reconsider the pin collecting thing, you know... I didn't WANT to get any, but now I'm thinking it would be nice to have some on my bulletin board...

I feel an obsession coming on!