Lizards, ducks, and FUN! Our week at the Polynesian!*Updated 7/21* Page 10

[tinkgurl]

Love the Chef Mickey's pics! We were there June 25th.

 

[stace208]

LOVE your Chef Mickey pics! I can't believe you had to wait 40 minutes to be seated! That's crazy!! Your kids look sooo excited! Don't you just love watching the interaction between them and the characters?! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks! It was crazy we had to wait that long. It was the longest wait, by far, of the entire trip-both meals or rides! I think what helped was that we hadn't seen each other so we were busy chatting and catching up. Otherwise, I think we might have gotten more antsy.

What a wonderful evening! I have never been to Chef Mickey's but it looks like such a fun time!

It was fun! I think it is one of those Disney meals that you NEED to do at least once. You've got lots of trips coming up where you can get it done

Ellie looks adorable in her Minnie Dress, you can really tell her how excited she is.

She was a cutie and I just loved how into everything she was. She's hard to read sometimes so I loved seeing her joy on her face.

About recognizing the monorail driver. The whole incident is just so very sad.

Love the Chef Mickey's pics! We were there June 25th.

Thanks! We missed you by just a handful of days!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

I'm signing up! It looks like you are off to a great start. I really like that Busch Garden passes let you into all the parks with your pass. That makes it easy to visit one of their places without feeling like you have to be there all day.

Your kids are so cute! Very sweet pictures of them with the characters.

 

[Angies1274]

Yay!! for Goofy pics!! We can't forget about him. He's my boys favorite as well.

So sad about the monorail accident.----for recognizing him......

 

[MJAJmom]

Your DD looks so sweet in her Minnie dress! What a fun time you had at Chef Mickey's. It's such a great character meal!!

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

Great Pics!!!!

We were at CM the very next night and really liked it. The characters are hysterical.

We had ducks in the pool at WL sometimes. Were your ducks in the pool?

Can't wait for more.

 

[stace208]

Sunday, June 21
No one wakes this morning until the Mickey morning call. Ben doesn't budge to get it so John answers. Our late night last night has made all of us a bit sluggish but we quickly perk up. Today is Hollywood Studios Day! Today is also Father's Day. We had already given John his gift before and I didn't plan anything special for this day. He did pick the park and meal so I counted that as part of his special day. I had bagged everyone, except John's, clothes by day, both AM and PM outfits. This made getting dressed in the mornings a breeze. Everyone dressed and fed (except Ellie-wouldn't eat) and out the door we went! My niece, Teressa, and her family (Mike and Sydni) were joining us today. We don't have room for them in our car, so they're taking the bus and meeting us there. We text them when we park and they are already at the turnstiles. We find them easily and start waiting. We were early as it wasn't even 8:30 yet. Our plan of attack (from Ridemax) was for the runner-John- to hoof it to get TSM fastpasses. The rest of us would ride Star Tours. John doesn't do this ride which is why he was fastpass runner. I love that about Ridemax-you can tell it what rides someone is willing to not ride to get fastpasses. We get through the gate and head to the rope. John moves forward, towards the right. We move towards the left. I am not a fan of the opening show at DHS, it really doesn't do much for me. While we are waiting, Tess and Sydni head into a shop to look around. After a few minutes, I tell Mike to find them because they are going to get trapped in the store. He tries but can't get in the store because of the people. Finally the rope drops and everyone is off. We keep up with the pack until we go to bear off to the left and then we step to the side to wait for T and Syd. They come along shortly and we are on our way. John was long gone! He took these along the way.

We head on over to Star Tours and hop on. I think we were in the 2nd load. We love this ride! Ben is a HUGE Star Wars fan and I was still a bit peeved that they changed from having SWW every weekend in June. He still doesn't know that such a thing as SWW exists because I didn't want him to feel disappointed.
When we were finished, it is one of those wonderful rides that dumps you in a store. Ben wanted to make his own lightsaber...I wanted him to wait so we didn't have to lug it around all day.

You can see who won, right? It didn't take long at all and he was finished. He hopped up on the speeder with his newly built lightsaber.

At this point, we are staying here to see the Jedi Training Academy. Ben gets a front row seat and sits down. I don't think you can see it too well, but he's wearing a shirt with Jedi Mickey on the front and the back says Jedi Training Academy (thanks DISigners-esp. DonNatalie)!! Ellie has now proclaimed that she is starving. We have 11:10 ressies but it's only about 9:40 so John takes her to go find something to eat. He calls a few minutes later to ask if I know somewhere that will have something. I tell him to find Starring Rolls. They come back a few minutes later with a cupcake. He says he couldn't find Starring Rolls No worries, it's no worse than eating a donut. So they sit down at one of the outside tables at Backlot Express which is right there. Mind you, although it is not even 10 in the morning yet, it is HOT! I was standing off to the side and I was melting. Finally the Jedi Master comes out and the show starts. Ben got picked for this last January and is prepared to not get picked today. I, however, really wanted him to get picked at least one more time. (This goes back to my whole feeling jipped on SWW ) Sure enough, he's the 2nd one picked. I think my smile was bigger than his. On the stage they go. Exact same show as last time and he loved every minute of it! I love that they photpass this now!

Continued...

 

[stace208]

I think I forgot to say that Tess and gang had left us at this point. I am not sure what all they did except I know they got fastpasses for RNRR for Mike, Sydni, and Ben. Once we were done with JTA we texted them and they were at TSM waiting for us to use our fastpasses. I was so excited for this ride!! We hightailed it over there, found them, and jumped in line. The fastpass line was actually pretty long and I think we waited about 10 minutes. We all thought it was worth it!

Tess, Ellie, and I grabbed fastpasses for TSM for later in the day. All the others wanted ToT fastpasses so they didn't get one.
As we were walking along we saw

He was a new character for us so that was fun!
Once we were done, it was time for us to go to our lunch at Sci-Fi. They were not joining us at this meal because when we made the ressie, she said they didn't have anything for 7 (or 4 and 3) the whole rest of the day. John really wanted to eat here so we took the one for 4 that they did have.

I don't have pictures of the food here (sorry) we were so hungry! I do know that I had the angus cheeseburger (delish), John had the black and blue salad (he proclaimed it wonderful), Ben had the kids cheeseburger (liked it) and Ellie had the hot dog (it was a hot dog). For dessert I had a milkshake, John and Ellie had sundaes and I believe Ben had nothing. I think he ate Ellie's left over fries.
We were a little behind our Ridemax schedule at this point because I hadn't scheduled enough time for lunch (first timers mistake I guess). We went ahead and headed over to Muppet Vision because that was next on the list. Tess, Mike, and Sydni were there-a row or two behind us. It was a cute show. John and I saw it 15 years ago on our honeymoon but the kids had never seen it. Ellie liked it gobs more than Ben. I think it will be one of those things she and I do while they are riding ToT etc. Until she starts riding those things...
That show over and T and gang headed for their 1:00 ressie at Mama Melrose (which they loved). We were to meet up with them when they were done so they could use their RnRR fastpasses. We headed that way to check out ToT. John and Ben grabbed fastpasses and stand by was only 30 minutes so they hopped in line. Ellie and I took a potty break and then tried to stay cool in some shops.

She's growling like a cat if you can't tell...
John and Ben ended up only taking about 10 minutes to ride. So we headed over to the next thing on the plan (ToT was not on the plan but with such a short wait...) The Great Movie Ride! Again, this was something John and I had done but the kids never had. We all enjoyed this-Ellie most of all. She sat right on the edge of the seat watching everything the whole time. I wish I had gotten a picture of her. We had the cowboy scenario. The other tram ended up coming in behind us completely empty About this time Mike texted us that they were done lunch and heading over. We waited and met up with them. There was a bit of confusion here because I thought John was going with Mike, Ben, and Sydni but he had been planning on going with me, Tess, and Ellie. After a brief *what should I do* he decided to stay with Ben and wait while they went on RnRR and then they would all go on ToT again. We 3 girls headed to The Magic of Disney Animation. Ellie is really into art and was very excited to do the drawing part. We got right in to see the show and then found our way to the little holding room to wait for The Animation Academy. We saw The Incredibles, Up characters and Sorcerer Mickey (I was so hoping to catch him!) We didn't dare leave that little holding area though for fear of not getting back in. We waited a good long while. Somewhere in here I talked to John and I think they had ridden ToT 3 times or something. Mike was now buying the picture of them on it while Ben and Sydni used the fastpasses that John had gotten earlier to ride it yet one more time. Whew!
Finally it was our turn to go in.

We loved this and will definitely be doing it again! Finally the ToT junkies were done and had come to meet us. We immediately hopped in line for Sorcerer Mickey-yea!!
Sorcerer Mickey loved that he had his own autograph page in the kids' books (again, thanks DISigners)

The Incredibles were gone by now but the kids wanted to see the Up! characters. That line was long but I stood in it with them while the others rested on a bench.

Now it was time to use our TSM fastpasses. Remember, only 3 of us had them. Everyone headed over. The stand-by line was really long-I think like 120 minutes or something. So, they just waited for us. The fastpass line went faster this time and the 3 of us enjoyed our 2nd ride.
We were all tired at this point. We had no ADR's or concrete plans for the evening. I was hoping to get back to DTD. The kids wanted to swim. So we all headed out. They went on ahead to the bus and we stopped for some photopass shots.

Up next:what do we end up doing tonight?

 

[stace208]

I'm signing up! It looks like you are off to a great start. I really like that Busch Garden passes let you into all the parks with your pass. That makes it easy to visit one of their places without feeling like you have to be there all day.
Thanks for joining in! The platinum BG passes are nice-we have used to them to go to Sesame Place in PA, Sea World, and now Tampa. In addition to our local BG and Water Country, of course. It's good to be able to add in something different without much added expense.

Your kids are so cute! Very sweet pictures of them with the characters.

Thanks! They both love characters-me too!

Yay!! for Goofy pics!! We can't forget about him. He's my boys favorite as well.

I know! No trip is complete without seeing Goofy

So sad about the monorail accident.----for recognizing him......

Thanks

Your DD looks so sweet in her Minnie dress! What a fun time you had at Chef Mickey's. It's such a great character meal!!

Thank you! It is a great meal-especially to see the Fab 5

Great Pics!!!!

Thank you!!

We were at CM the very next night and really liked it. The characters are hysterical.

Our Minnie and Goofy were the best. Minnie made a big deal about Ellie's dress and it just made her night. I had read that Mickey would do something if someone was dressed as Minnie but he didn't. That's great that you guys liked it too!

We had ducks in the pool at WL sometimes. Were your ducks in the pool?

I think John saw them in the pool a couple of mornings when he went early to get the mugs filled but they were never in the pool when we were. When we stayed at WL in 2006 the ducks were swimming with us many times!

Can't wait for more.

New update up tonight

 

[Janet B]

Stacy
Great pics. Glad Ben got picked for the Jedi Trainig Academy. Hee, hee, had to laugh over the lightsaber, seems like my kids always win too

BTW, we love TSM also! We were never able to get fast passes last year (remember we are not morning people???) but waited in line away. So worth it!! Never did the animation thing - is it a class??

Ready for the installment. Love the stitch photo pass pic!

 

[dismagiclover]

Wow you did a lot for a summer day Gotta love Ridemax It is a bit of a bummer that they switched SWW. We actually rescheduled our trip when they changed the dates. Who knows maybe you'll be able to get there for it sometime. Awesome that your DS got picked for Jedi Training. That is always so fun and I love how they have a Photopass guy.

 

[Angies1274]

Another great update It looks like you got alot accomplished so far. (I may just have to check out Ridemax) We loved Toy Story Mania--such a great ride!! Glad you enjoyed Sci-fi--we were thinking of trying it out. Love all the photopass pics!!! We can't wait to see the UP characters when we go back, and the Stitch one is too cute!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

The photopass photos of Jedi Training Academy turned out great! How wonderful that he was picked twice!

You got A LOT done at DHS in what seems like a short amount of time! I love DHS and it's Hollywood feel!

 

[cjackearl]

How did I miss 2 updates?

LOVE Ellie's Minnie dress at Chef Mickey's. I love the picture of her with Minnie holding out her dress. A 40 minute wait is a little excessive for a resteraunt you've got ressies for though.

A cupcake for breakfast at Disney sounds heavenly. That reminds me of the Billy Cosby skit where his kids ask for chocolate cake for breakfast and he goes through the ingredients in his mind..milk...eggs...go ahead! Chocolate cake for breakfast!


Your DHS sounds very productive. Yea for Jedi Training Academy and props to your son for putting those darn lightsabers together. They're hard!

Mmmm.Sci Fi cheeseburgers are the BOMB!

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

I remember that day. It was HOT!! I love the pic with Stitch. I have never seen that one before.

Your lines for ToT must not have been that long to ride 3 times in a row.

We too love the Magic of Animation. What a great way to relax and still be at Disney!!

I've never eaten at Sci FI. I would like to try Mama Melrose though.

Have a great day!!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Wow, you got some great pictures! The Jedi Training looked very cool! I so wish we had made our way back to the Animation Studios this past trip, we totally missed out on seeing the Up characters, Sorcerer Mickey and the Incredibles.
The drawing looked like fun, did you take any pictures of your finished work?

 

[stace208]

Stacy
Great pics. Glad Ben got picked for the Jedi Trainig Academy. Hee, hee, had to laugh over the lightsaber, seems like my kids always win too

LOL! Well, it was Disney after all AND he did carry it the rest of the day...for the most part. Seriously, the main reason I gave in was because I didn't want to have to come back over there at the end of the day!

BTW, we love TSM also! We were never able to get fast passes last year (remember we are not morning people???) but waited in line away. So worth it!! Never did the animation thing - is it a class??

TSM is a family favorite now! Animation Academy is a class. We watched the movie first with the dragon from Mulan (Mushu?) but you don't have to...if you go into the Magic of Animation building and go up the little stairs (there are usually characters up there) it's in a room to the left. There are doors, a little holding area with benches, and a CM standing there. I don't know how often they do the class??? You go in and someone comes in and teaches you how to draw a character. It's really neat and I want DH and Ben to do it next time too.

Ready for the installment. Love the stitch photo pass pic!

Wow you did a lot for a summer day Gotta love Ridemax It is a bit of a bummer that they switched SWW. We actually rescheduled our trip when they changed the dates. Who knows maybe you'll be able to get there for it sometime. Awesome that your DS got picked for Jedi Training. That is always so fun and I love how they have a Photopass guy.

We did get a lot done...more than I ever thought would be possible in the summer-I was so impressed!
I wish we could have rescheduled for SWW but due to the school calendar there is no way we could've gone any sooner. Maybe one year they'll have them later in June again!

Another great update It looks like you got alot accomplished so far. (I may just have to check out Ridemax) We loved Toy Story Mania--such a great ride!! Glad you enjoyed Sci-fi--we were thinking of trying it out. Love all the photopass pics!!! We can't wait to see the UP characters when we go back, and the Stitch one is too cute!!

Thanks! You should check out Ridemax-it's a wonderful planning tool! Try Sci-Fi too-it's a really fun meal and the food was yummy too.

The photopass photos of Jedi Training Academy turned out great! How wonderful that he was picked twice!

Thanks! I know, I am so thankful he got picked again.

You got A LOT done at DHS in what seems like a short amount of time! I love DHS and it's Hollywood feel!

We really did have a great day and get a lot done. I was so happy! I love the feel of DHS too but it has never been a highlight of my trip. I really liked it a lot more this year and now am looking forward to learning even more about it on future trips!

How did I miss 2 updates?

LOVE Ellie's Minnie dress at Chef Mickey's. I love the picture of her with Minnie holding out her dress. A 40 minute wait is a little excessive for a resteraunt you've got ressies for though.

I agree about the 40 minute wait...as I said, if we hadn't been catching up I think we might've said something. We have another small hiccup in a restaurant coming up later in the week

A cupcake for breakfast at Disney sounds heavenly. That reminds me of the Billy Cosby skit where his kids ask for chocolate cake for breakfast and he goes through the ingredients in his mind..milk...eggs...go ahead! Chocolate cake for breakfast!

Oh my, I can't believe you said that because I was just telling my kids about that skit!!! That's too funny!!


Your DHS sounds very productive. Yea for Jedi Training Academy and props to your son for putting those darn lightsabers together. They're hard!

Mmmm.Sci Fi cheeseburgers are the BOMB!

MMMMMhmmmm da bomb diggity!

I remember that day. It was HOT!! I love the pic with Stitch. I have never seen that one before.

Yep, it was a scorcher!! There's a list of all the magic shots on Stitch Kingdom-really neat stuff!

Your lines for ToT must not have been that long to ride 3 times in a row.

I think the posted wait varied between 20-30 minutes but they never waited that long. I don't know if the heat drove people away or what but it wasn't really that crowded.

We too love the Magic of Animation. What a great way to relax and still be at Disney!!

I've never eaten at Sci FI. I would like to try Mama Melrose though.

We ate there last January. We liked the food but the portion sizes were small-especially the kids meals. Sci-Fi is a neat experience!

Have a great day!!

Thanks!!

Wow, you got some great pictures! The Jedi Training looked very cool! I so wish we had made our way back to the Animation Studios this past trip, we totally missed out on seeing the Up characters, Sorcerer Mickey and the Incredibles.
The drawing looked like fun, did you take any pictures of your finished work?

Thanks! JTA is cool but dang, it was hot standing out there. Poor Darth Vader! LOL! I was soooooo excited to see Sorcerer Mickey!! I didn't take any pictures of our Pluto drawings...I'll dig them out and see if I can get a good shot or scan them.

 

[stace208]

I want to get this last little bit of Sunday up!
I left off and we were headed back from DHS. We rested in the room just a few minutes and then hit the pool. I think I've already posted all my pool pictures. Tess and gang finally made it down after we had already been there a while. Ben was having fun playing with Sydni. I loved the zero entry pool because I could sit up against the side and see Ellie. Sometimes I would go down and sit in the portion that has the jets (supposed to be like a hot springs).

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to let you know about something. While I consider myself very laid back, at Disney I like to GO, GO, GO! On our first trip, I really didn't want to give up park time to let the kids swim. Mostly because I had no idea then when we would be able to come back. Last year I was better..a little-I knew we'd be back but still, I wanted to be in the parks. This year was no different. While I had NO problem coming back to the resort and swimming, by the time dinner time came around I was ready to go do something. Problem was-no one else wanted to leave the pool. It is their vacation too so I told them that this was their night! We went in to Captain Cooks and got some dinner at some point. John had the cheeseburger and said it was good. I think Ben had one too. Ellie had a grilled cheese I believe and I had the flatbread (it was ok). Dessert was from the bakery case and all of that was Yummo!
After dinner, Ben went back in the pool. John, Teressa, and Mike were sitting at the table talking. Ellie wanted to play in the sand on the beach so I went over there, found a chair and watched my girl play.

She was so content and had a good time playing by herself. There were some other folks down there, but not many. A few were swimming in the lagoon. It's posted that swimming is not allowed but people were doing it and I saw CM's down there stacking chairs and no one said anything. Personally, I wouldn't swim in that water, signs or not!

Pretty soon the sun went down. I was kicking myself for not getting my camera to take pictures of sunset but I hadn't known that we'd be out there so late. John had his camera but he was off looking around or something. John made it back at some point and everyone came down to the beach.

Some night shots

We waited and watched the Electrical Water Pageant again because when we watched it the first night we were on the smaller Poly beach and couldn't see the whole show. I know there's not much to it, but we liked it!

All in all, it was a great night, I can't argue with that. It will continue to be a challenge for me to give up that much time but I can see the necessity of it. In fact, my only regret is that we did it so early in the trip. I think later on in the week would have been a better time for a night like that. I will definitely keep it in mind when I plan next year's trip!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I really think having nights like that are key to really enjoying Disney. I don't have kids but I still need nights like that, Disney can be so exhausting!

 

[SunnieRN]

Your kids are just so cute!!! My goodness Ellie in her Minnie dress was adorable! I love the picture of her and Minnie, too cute! Your family plate picture was great!!

Yea Ben!! He looked confident up on stage with the jedi instructor!! I thought that was cool as the kids in the background look nervous!

I the picture of the kids hugging in the sci fi car!! Oh my goodness!! Priceless! I love your family Mickey picture too!!

I used to be a commando park tourer. My poor daughter kept up with me pretty well, even at 18 months old. That was at disneyland though! Now I've had to learn to slow down and smell the flowers due to health problems.

Looking forward to more!!