staceyatdisney
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2007
- Messages
- 207
Recently back from a wonderful week - stayed at the Poly. It was our family vacation which includes our 2 kids, 4 and 2 years old. Here are my tips...
a) (I posted this in a Poly thread but here it is in case you missed it.) My son (2 yrs) is at that age where going to dinner (a nice dinner) isn't so much fun. We can keep him occupied for a bit but then things go down hill and so we have resigned ourselves to take-out until he is a bit older. So having dinner at the nicer resturants in DW was not in our plan. (Also - I wasn't crazy about making ADRs and not being able to flow with how our day was rolling out.) After the first couple of days my husband and I were tired of the counter service food (truly - it is nothing to write home about. fast food at best.) and wanted a nice meal. This is where our plan came together. While the kids were napping we orderd room service and had a delightful and relaxing meal in our room. Room service is on the dining plan - it is two table service credits but you get a ton of excellent food. We would order the one appetizer, main course and dessert, split it between the 2 of us and be stuffed. The Poly resturants are excellent and so was the room service food (the same menu as Kona). So this tip is if you want a good meal, one that is relaxing and want to get a huge bang for a disney dining credit - room service at a deluxe hotel is the way to go.
b) Garden Grocer. My kids drink yogurt drinks and milk first thing each morning. Used the Garden Grocer, pre-ordered 1/2 gallons of milk, yogurt drinks, juice boxes, a case of water and munchies. Also ordered diapers and wipes to save packing space. They delivered on time and the Poly kept in cold until they brought the bags to our room. The service was perfect and very handy!
c) Fantasy Land + Fireworks = Magic. We found, by accident, that the fireworks are literally over your head if you stand in Fantasy Land. It was wonderful. And though you're at the back of the park when it is closing we found that just taking our time, looking thru shops, etc. until the crowds thinned out was very enjoyable.
d) Renting Strollers - I spent many an hour thinking about strollers for this trip. I bought the stroller that has a seat in the front and a "bench" in the back so my 4 year old daughter could sit or stand while we pushed. This is a great stroller - a bit heavy - but very useful at DW and home. BUT - for the evenings we spent at the Magic Kingdom we rented the double strollers - both kids loved sitting together and my son slept very comfortably on our very late nights.
e) Extra Magic Hours. One of the best nights we had was in the Magic Kingdom during the evening extra magic hours. They closed at 2am!!!!!! After the fireworks at 10pm we grabbed a bite to eat (Burger and Pork sandwich at Pecos Bills hit the spot) and then went on ride after ride. My son catnapped from 10:30 to about midnight - woke up and asked to ride Buzz Lightyear - which we did 3 times in a row. The park cleared out at 11pm - we caught the 2nd version of the light parade and just had a ball. No lines, few people - it was so wonderful. Just completely magical. The kids had a ball. A night I'll never forget.
(PS - naps earlier in the day helped make this night work!)
f) Monorail. For those with small kids that will spend lots of time in the Magic Kingdom - I can't not over stress how wonderful the monorail is. From the Poly it was just minutes to MK. So perfect! We rode the buses to the other parks and they are fine but the monorail is super!
g) Poly's pool with zero entry. I've never been in a pool that had zero entry - it is just a slope - no "edge" to climb over or fall into - one step you are out of the water the next your toes are in and from there you walk to whatever depth you want. It was perfect for little kids. They had a lot of freedom which they really enjoyed and it made things less stressful for us parents!
h) Interactive Fountains. LOVED these. I had read about the fountains at Ecpot and planned for the kids to fully enjoy them. It was a great day for it too - we were hot and needed to kill some time before our princess lunch in Norway. I had brought the kids suits - changed them and off they went. They had just a blast chasing the water and guessing where it would spring from. When we were done I changed them back into their clothes and off we went to lunch. We also enjoyed them as we left Downtown Disney. A great break and a perfect time for moms and dads to have a seat and just enjoy the smiles.
i) Dining Plan. This worked out great for us. We ate beyond what we paid so it was a great investment and the ease of use is just super. To not worrry about money! Excellent.
j) Magical Express. Can't say enough good about this. Easy, it worked like clockwork, bags were delievered to our room in less than 3 hours upon arrival and when US Air lost our bag they hunted for it for over a day. And when US Air found it in Calif. and shipped it to Orlando - Magical Express went, picked it up and delivered it with zero problem. A really great service!
k) The Boardwalk. Being from NJ we love the beach and our boardwalks. Have to say I was disappointed with the boardwalk. We made a special trip over to check it out - it is nothing special. Probably great for adults as they have some cool bars but not much for my little ones. It was pretty. Nice views. We had a lovely stroll.
l) Poly lizards. One of our favorite things to do was look for the tiny lizards that live in the foliage at the Poly. They are cute and the kids loved them. We had a blast looking for them.
m) Vintage Disney. At the Poly one of the channels played vintage mickey mouse cartoons. The kids, especially my 4 year old, loved this. And I loved hearing her giggle each night as she started drifting off to sleep after our busy day.
n) Hair Wrapping. My daughter loved this. The Poly had someone that did this poolside. It cost about $25 and will last nearly 2 months. It only took about 15 minutes.
o) Drinks at Poly. The pool bar has a drink - can't remember the name (it is the first drink on the board) a mix of pina colada and fruit puree. YUM!
I think that is it for now. Hope these help!
a) (I posted this in a Poly thread but here it is in case you missed it.) My son (2 yrs) is at that age where going to dinner (a nice dinner) isn't so much fun. We can keep him occupied for a bit but then things go down hill and so we have resigned ourselves to take-out until he is a bit older. So having dinner at the nicer resturants in DW was not in our plan. (Also - I wasn't crazy about making ADRs and not being able to flow with how our day was rolling out.) After the first couple of days my husband and I were tired of the counter service food (truly - it is nothing to write home about. fast food at best.) and wanted a nice meal. This is where our plan came together. While the kids were napping we orderd room service and had a delightful and relaxing meal in our room. Room service is on the dining plan - it is two table service credits but you get a ton of excellent food. We would order the one appetizer, main course and dessert, split it between the 2 of us and be stuffed. The Poly resturants are excellent and so was the room service food (the same menu as Kona). So this tip is if you want a good meal, one that is relaxing and want to get a huge bang for a disney dining credit - room service at a deluxe hotel is the way to go.
b) Garden Grocer. My kids drink yogurt drinks and milk first thing each morning. Used the Garden Grocer, pre-ordered 1/2 gallons of milk, yogurt drinks, juice boxes, a case of water and munchies. Also ordered diapers and wipes to save packing space. They delivered on time and the Poly kept in cold until they brought the bags to our room. The service was perfect and very handy!
c) Fantasy Land + Fireworks = Magic. We found, by accident, that the fireworks are literally over your head if you stand in Fantasy Land. It was wonderful. And though you're at the back of the park when it is closing we found that just taking our time, looking thru shops, etc. until the crowds thinned out was very enjoyable.
d) Renting Strollers - I spent many an hour thinking about strollers for this trip. I bought the stroller that has a seat in the front and a "bench" in the back so my 4 year old daughter could sit or stand while we pushed. This is a great stroller - a bit heavy - but very useful at DW and home. BUT - for the evenings we spent at the Magic Kingdom we rented the double strollers - both kids loved sitting together and my son slept very comfortably on our very late nights.
e) Extra Magic Hours. One of the best nights we had was in the Magic Kingdom during the evening extra magic hours. They closed at 2am!!!!!! After the fireworks at 10pm we grabbed a bite to eat (Burger and Pork sandwich at Pecos Bills hit the spot) and then went on ride after ride. My son catnapped from 10:30 to about midnight - woke up and asked to ride Buzz Lightyear - which we did 3 times in a row. The park cleared out at 11pm - we caught the 2nd version of the light parade and just had a ball. No lines, few people - it was so wonderful. Just completely magical. The kids had a ball. A night I'll never forget.
(PS - naps earlier in the day helped make this night work!)
f) Monorail. For those with small kids that will spend lots of time in the Magic Kingdom - I can't not over stress how wonderful the monorail is. From the Poly it was just minutes to MK. So perfect! We rode the buses to the other parks and they are fine but the monorail is super!
g) Poly's pool with zero entry. I've never been in a pool that had zero entry - it is just a slope - no "edge" to climb over or fall into - one step you are out of the water the next your toes are in and from there you walk to whatever depth you want. It was perfect for little kids. They had a lot of freedom which they really enjoyed and it made things less stressful for us parents!
h) Interactive Fountains. LOVED these. I had read about the fountains at Ecpot and planned for the kids to fully enjoy them. It was a great day for it too - we were hot and needed to kill some time before our princess lunch in Norway. I had brought the kids suits - changed them and off they went. They had just a blast chasing the water and guessing where it would spring from. When we were done I changed them back into their clothes and off we went to lunch. We also enjoyed them as we left Downtown Disney. A great break and a perfect time for moms and dads to have a seat and just enjoy the smiles.
i) Dining Plan. This worked out great for us. We ate beyond what we paid so it was a great investment and the ease of use is just super. To not worrry about money! Excellent.
j) Magical Express. Can't say enough good about this. Easy, it worked like clockwork, bags were delievered to our room in less than 3 hours upon arrival and when US Air lost our bag they hunted for it for over a day. And when US Air found it in Calif. and shipped it to Orlando - Magical Express went, picked it up and delivered it with zero problem. A really great service!
k) The Boardwalk. Being from NJ we love the beach and our boardwalks. Have to say I was disappointed with the boardwalk. We made a special trip over to check it out - it is nothing special. Probably great for adults as they have some cool bars but not much for my little ones. It was pretty. Nice views. We had a lovely stroll.
l) Poly lizards. One of our favorite things to do was look for the tiny lizards that live in the foliage at the Poly. They are cute and the kids loved them. We had a blast looking for them.
m) Vintage Disney. At the Poly one of the channels played vintage mickey mouse cartoons. The kids, especially my 4 year old, loved this. And I loved hearing her giggle each night as she started drifting off to sleep after our busy day.
n) Hair Wrapping. My daughter loved this. The Poly had someone that did this poolside. It cost about $25 and will last nearly 2 months. It only took about 15 minutes.
o) Drinks at Poly. The pool bar has a drink - can't remember the name (it is the first drink on the board) a mix of pina colada and fruit puree. YUM!
I think that is it for now. Hope these help!
That is why it is so important to stop, slow down and take all the good times in. I'm glad you had a wonderful vacation.
The other day my DD (age 3) started crying because I said I couldn't drive her to the Polynesian. 
I must mention that we live 24 hours away by car!
We can't wait to go back! We are lucky that our kids will sit for meals but we have done room service for late lunch before they nap and it is wonderful. The food is great and the rooms are big enough for the kids to get some energy out before nap time. Besides, what's better than eating in your pj's?
