Herein lies the tale of an 8 day trip to Disney World. Our cast of characters include me (36 years old), DW (age removed for my protection), DD6, DD3, and my mother (in her 60's). This is the first time to WDW for the kids.
We (mostly me) had been planning this trip for over a year. We stayed at the Polynesian (concierge) and were on the Disney Dining Plan.
The trip to the airport and airplane ride are mostly uneventful. The only indication of things to come occurred when my mom disappeared during baggage check-in. I dropped everyone off at the terminal to minimize walking while I parked the car. I'm still not sure how or why, but my mom walked off with her bags to check-in leaving my DW with our four bags and two kids to control. She managed to get in the terminal where I met up with her to get through check in.
Anyway, we're off to Disney World! We get to the Polynesian by 12:30 pm, and I pull up to the reception area. Before I know it, our bags our out of the rented mini-van and being loaded onto a cart and are being wisked away to our room (Hawaii building). Our driver informs us that we have a lagoon view - which surprises me as we had reservered a garden view. Sure enough, we get to the rooms (3512 and 3513), and they are lagoon view rooms, and the view is spectacular!
The only down side is that they are smoking rooms and it smells. Not one to give up on a good thing, I end up buying some Lysol which masks the smell enough to be bearable for the week (actually, I didn't notice much after the first day).
The resort is absolutely beautiful! We save exploration for other days, but we know right away that this was a great choice for trip. The DW and I stayed at the Gaylord Palms back in April, and there is no comparison. Everyone we saw was extremely friendly and helpful. It's the little things that make such a huge difference to me.
Later that day, the tuxedo strawberries we ordered arrived. We end up getting 12 strawberries instead of the 6 we ordered - the upgrades just keep coming!
Our first day of exploration is Epoct (leaving around 2:30 pm). The first thing everyone wants to do is ride the "golf ball". I've been on it enough times on previous trips that I decide to head over to Soarin' to see if any FastPasses were available (there weren't).
After Spaceship Earth, there's another restroom break before we head off to the World Showcase. We start at Mexico and work our way around (along with a margarita). My kids loved the Kidcot fun zones. It takes us close to three hours to go from Mexico to France (though somehow my mom still thinks I was walking too fast). Timing works in our favor as it starts to rain just as we get to Les Chefs de France for dinner. The food was wonderful (I'll post dining reviews separately).
After dinner (and the rain), we decide to call it a day and head back to the Polynesian. DW and I watch Wishes from the concierge lounge and the kids and my mom view it from their balcony. I like the fireworks a lot though I think the piped in music into the lounge is much too soft.
Anyway, it's a great first day with upgrades and good food. The next big adventure is Magic Kingdom and Cinderalla's Royal Table the next morning.
We (mostly me) had been planning this trip for over a year. We stayed at the Polynesian (concierge) and were on the Disney Dining Plan.
The trip to the airport and airplane ride are mostly uneventful. The only indication of things to come occurred when my mom disappeared during baggage check-in. I dropped everyone off at the terminal to minimize walking while I parked the car. I'm still not sure how or why, but my mom walked off with her bags to check-in leaving my DW with our four bags and two kids to control. She managed to get in the terminal where I met up with her to get through check in.
Anyway, we're off to Disney World! We get to the Polynesian by 12:30 pm, and I pull up to the reception area. Before I know it, our bags our out of the rented mini-van and being loaded onto a cart and are being wisked away to our room (Hawaii building). Our driver informs us that we have a lagoon view - which surprises me as we had reservered a garden view. Sure enough, we get to the rooms (3512 and 3513), and they are lagoon view rooms, and the view is spectacular!
The only down side is that they are smoking rooms and it smells. Not one to give up on a good thing, I end up buying some Lysol which masks the smell enough to be bearable for the week (actually, I didn't notice much after the first day).
The resort is absolutely beautiful! We save exploration for other days, but we know right away that this was a great choice for trip. The DW and I stayed at the Gaylord Palms back in April, and there is no comparison. Everyone we saw was extremely friendly and helpful. It's the little things that make such a huge difference to me.
Later that day, the tuxedo strawberries we ordered arrived. We end up getting 12 strawberries instead of the 6 we ordered - the upgrades just keep coming!
Our first day of exploration is Epoct (leaving around 2:30 pm). The first thing everyone wants to do is ride the "golf ball". I've been on it enough times on previous trips that I decide to head over to Soarin' to see if any FastPasses were available (there weren't).
After Spaceship Earth, there's another restroom break before we head off to the World Showcase. We start at Mexico and work our way around (along with a margarita). My kids loved the Kidcot fun zones. It takes us close to three hours to go from Mexico to France (though somehow my mom still thinks I was walking too fast). Timing works in our favor as it starts to rain just as we get to Les Chefs de France for dinner. The food was wonderful (I'll post dining reviews separately).
After dinner (and the rain), we decide to call it a day and head back to the Polynesian. DW and I watch Wishes from the concierge lounge and the kids and my mom view it from their balcony. I like the fireworks a lot though I think the piped in music into the lounge is much too soft.
Anyway, it's a great first day with upgrades and good food. The next big adventure is Magic Kingdom and Cinderalla's Royal Table the next morning.
