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

[dismagiclover]

Sounds like a wonderful night. But I understand the desire to be in the parks. If only we could stay 2 or 3 weeks. Then we could do both

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

I think we all need nights like that too. Way to go with the flow!!!

We are big fans of the EWP in this family!!!

 

[cjackearl]

What a beautiful evening. My thoughts now are that we're paying so much to stay in some of these Disney resorts we should enjoy them fully.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

I finally let go and decided to do down time at the resort too. I was always a go, go, goer! I think we see so many cranky people and kid melt downs because they don't get enough rest and they are hot and tired.
Isn't it great to know that there is a next time?

 

[Disneyvirg]

I'm all caught up! I don't know how, but I managed to miss three updates. So sorry!

Ellie in the Minnie dress is just adorable - especially her huge smile. It was obvious she was having a wonderful time!

I love the pics of Ben and the Jedi training - looks like loads of fun.

Your Poly pool/beach night looks so relaxing. I love that beach!

 

[stace208]

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!

You are right, LL, it can be exhausting. Fun exhausting though! Relaxing is key to it all though-I'm learning slowly but surely.

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!!

Thanks! She loved that Minnie dress.

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!

Thanks again! He was super comfortable up there. I guess because he'd done it before and knew what to expect. Plus, there's lots of lightsabering (is that a word) around here!

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

They were so happy to be there. This was the meal they were looking forward to the most. I love that Mickey picture. It is one of my favorites of the whole trip!

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!!

I'm sorry that you have health problems. It's good that you can still go to Disney. Slowing down is something that I need to keep working on!

Sounds like a wonderful night. But I understand the desire to be in the parks. If only we could stay 2 or 3 weeks. Then we could do both

Oh yes, put me on that plan...2-3 weeks

I think we all need nights like that too. Way to go with the flow!!!

It was hard, and I grumbled about it, but it was best in the end.

We are big fans of the EWP in this family!!!

Yay! I know some folks think it is lame but I'm a sucker for those types of things.

What a beautiful evening. My thoughts now are that we're paying so much to stay in some of these Disney resorts we should enjoy them fully.

Thanks! That's exactly what John thought. Every year we pay for these great resorts--we need to be spending more time there!

I finally let go and decided to do down time at the resort too. I was always a go, go, goer! I think we see so many cranky people and kid melt downs because they don't get enough rest and they are hot and tired.
Isn't it great to know that there is a next time?

Knowing there is a next time (and a next) is what got me through. I won't say it still won't be something I struggle with, but I know I will do better each time!

I'm all caught up! I don't know how, but I managed to miss three updates. So sorry!

No worries! I'm not going anywhere and I know how life can get in the way of DIS'ing sometimes.

Ellie in the Minnie dress is just adorable - especially her huge smile. It was obvious she was having a wonderful time!

Thanks! That definitely ranks up there in the highlights of her trip!

I love the pics of Ben and the Jedi training - looks like loads of fun.

Thanks again He so loves SW and it does my heart good to see him still enjoying stuff like that. I know the time will come when he'll think that stuff isn't "cool"

Your Poly pool/beach night looks so relaxing. I love that beach!

That beach is wonderful. When I finally got over being stubborn about staying at the resort it really was a wonderfully relaxing night.

 

[stace208]

Monday, June 22nd

The day dawned beautiful again. The weather promised yet another scorcher, in fact, today was supposed to be the hottest of all with temps. 99-100 with a heat index of a horribly high number.

Thanks to our relaxing night, everyone was a bit easier to coax out of bed this morning. We got moving, got dressed, and grabbed a bite to eat. Ellie learned her lesson and ate this morning as well.

Where was our adventure taking us today?

We got to the monorail platform at the TTC and it was empty. A few folks were behind us but I had a plan and we got up to the front right away. Tess, Mike, and Sydni were not too far behind us and joined us where we were waiting. It wasn't but a minute or two when the monorail pulled in. Once they opened the gates I made my move and asked the CM if we could ride up front. He said sure thing and we headed that way. I took about 2 steps and then turned and asked Sydni if she wanted to ride up front. Of course she did so I got in the first car with Tess and Mike. Given recent events, these pictures make me sad but they are part of our trip and the kids (and John) really liked riding up there.

We arrived and got through all the gates no problem. The plan this morning was for me to head for FP's for Soarin' while the rest of them rode Test Track. There was some discussion about Ellie but we decided for her to ride TT because I was worried about her keeping up with the pack going to Soarin'. We split up and I went to wait over by Innoventions. It was early yet so I sat down on the curb. I should've taken some pictures but it was really hot already and I was trying to keep in the shade as much as possible. Once the characters came out to open the park I had to get up because the crowd was moving in. The rope dropped and we were off. This was an absolute MADHOUSE! I seriously thought I was going to get hurt. The worst part is when you pass through the one part (is it Innoventions? not sure) they are doing construction and have over half the walk-way closed so the whole mass of people has to merge and squeeze through. I was so glad I didn't have Ellie! I made it to The Land in one piece and got in line for FP's. The line moved fairly quickly and soon I was back outside. I headed back to Spaceship Earth for that is where we were supposed to meet.

Finally my TT riders showed up and we boarded SE. I love how they have redone this ride! It was so much fun!

Once we were done, we headed back over to The Land to ride Living with the Land. John and I kept singing the song from that but they didn't play it so I guess they don't use that song anymore. We were disappointed but the others were tired of us singing it.
We all enjoyed the ride and I think it is neat to see the stuff in there.

Now we only had about 5 minutes until Soarin'! We checked out Sunshine Seasons and the gift shop and then it was time. This is my absolute favorite ride! I wanted to ask for front row but I got vetoed because no one wanted to wait longer than necessary. Well, guess what??? We got first row anyways! Good things come to those who compromise. I was right smack in the middle too. It was the best ride EVAH!

We were all pretty hungry although it wasn't quite 11. Plus we had early ressies tonight so we stuck with the plan and ate lunch at Sunshine Seasons. I have mixed feelings about this. I was pretty sure I saw something on the menu on AllEars that Ellie would eat and yet there was nothing. Not sure if I messed up or if the menu changed since I looked back in March/April. Luckily, they still had breakfast food so we grabbed her French Toast and she was happy. Ben, on the other hand, was not! Nothing on the kids picks appealed to him. There were plenty of things there he liked, but not for kids. He ended up getting a pb&j with carrots and applesauce. It came with a juice box but we let him get a drink too. I also let him get a blueberry muffin from the bakery counter. I got the oriental noodles with 2 types of meat and gave him some of my noodles. I think he also got a pack of grapes. He ate the sandwich but said it wasn't good and ate everything else except the carrots. Oh well, live and learn.

Right when I was sitting down, Mike and Sydni left. Seems as though she had a hissy because she didn't want to eat anything there. Mike was taking her to the Electric Umbrella. I just raised my eyebrows because Teressa wasn't happy about him catering to her (she figured I made Ben eat there, surely Syd could have found something...) I agreed with her but quickly changed the subject. No need to dwell on unpleasantness at Disney

Once we were refueled and rehydrated we headed out the door. John agreed to go find our missing two and head over to get FP's for Mission:Space. He, Tess, and Ellie were going to give the green side a go. I was going to ride green with them but earlier Sydni had asked me to ride orange with her, Mike, and Ben. I always ride orange so I happily agreed. Teressa, Ellie, Ben, and I headed over to The Seas. The kids had never seen Turtle Talk with Crush so this was high on our list. The line to ride was coming out the door and snaking all the way around. John and I had discussed that there had to be another way in so I started looking around. I shortly found the door and in we went. We looked in the shop for a minute and then went in the holding room for Crush. We waited a bit and then went in. Ben and Ellie sat on the floor while me and T found seats. It was a cute show and both kids enjoyed it. John called and said they were on their way over. We met up with them while we were looking around at the aquariums.

I loved the manatees and we watched them a while. The kids all made the lanyard KidCot thing and we chilled on a bench talking and watching the fish. It was really nice in there. Soon it was time to use our FPs for Mission:Space. We got there and the standby line for green was so short they told them to ride standby. We hopped in the fastpass line and waited...and waited...and waited. Finally we got close to a CM and she told us that someone had "yacca" (her words) in one and so they were only running one orange. Finally we got in, saw the video, and then went to stand on our little numbers. Dang if something didn't happen and they shut it down! We waited a bit longer and then they moved us over to the other side. We didn't ask what happened this time but I figure, more . Sydni was so nervous about this ride. She screamed the whole time Ben and I loved it, as usual. Mike liked it too.
We exited and found them. They had been waiting a looong time. Ben played around a bit on the games there. T-gang left to head over to WS. They would meet up with us for dinner. We dragged Ben out of there with promises of Innoventions. Our first stop was

I was mean and gave all 3 of them big cups of Beverly. Oh, how I wish I'd taken a picture!! I was laughing too hard. We stayed in there and refreshed. Some of those are really yummy!

Then we hit Innoventions. We split up here-me with Ellie and John with Ben. Ellie and I first did the new recycling thing. Pretty neat. She loved pushing the trash truck around but it was hard for her to steer. It's made for a whole family to do so I hope John and Ben will do it with us next time. Then we walked around and did a bunch of the Fire Safety stuff. There's a game where you find the fire hazards in each room-it was really fun. I talked to John and they had done that as well and a bunch of the video games. We met up with them after we were done with the fire stuff and headed over to MouseGears to do some shopping.

Continued...

 

[stace208]

We were all just browsing around MouseGear, having a good time. Ellie picked out a Minnie journal and a Minnie pen. Ben got a Pirate Mickey and some sort of plastic pirate knife. Boys I made a run to the potty while they were paying for their things. Once we finished it was time to head over for our dinner ressies. They were early, 4:30 at

We sat for a few minutes and then the other 3 made their way in there so John went to check us in. They were very hot from their WS trip. We really weren't that hot because we had stayed inside one building or another. We didn't wait too long and our buzzer went off. This restaurant was a first for us and we were pleased! It took a bit for the 2nd plate of food to come out but there was plenty and it tasted good!

The kids enjoyed their offerings as well. I liked that the lettuce and stuff was all grown right there. Also, we all liked the rotating part and seeing the parts of Living with the Land we had seen earlier. Of course, characters make everything better too!

Once dinner was over we all decided to head out. Teressa and her gang headed back to the Poly. They ended up resting and then going to see Fantasmic. We headed to DTD!

We walked around and browsed. No real agenda, except Goofy's I looked in Basin but didn't get anything. The kids played with the Legoes a bit and Ben looked around in the store. I think he would have spent money here but I encouraged him to use his money on things he could only get at Disney. He agreed and we moved on.

A magician was just starting up so Ellie stopped and watched him. Ben went to get a cup of ice water and then walked around WoD with me. It was again crazy so we didn't last long. When the magic show was over, we just walked around to all the shops but we were all so tired, no one really wanted to stop and do anything. Plus, it was getting late and we all needed to shower and chill before bed.
We made one stop before leaving.

That was mine. Ellie got the marshmallows but started eating them when I was in the shower before I could get a picture. John got the oreo cookie thing and I don't know when/if he ate much of his. Ben got the gingerbread man, plain (he doesn't like chocolate/candy ).
After Goofy's, we went back to the hotel and everyone got a shower. The kids watched some TV, John got on the computer, and I wrote in my trip journal. Sometime around 10:30 we turned off the light. Another wonderful Disney day done!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

It looks like you had a very productive day and everyone held up well under the hot, hot, sun! I love it that you got front and center on Soarin'.
DTD is a great way to cap off the day!
Can't wait to read more...

 

[dismagiclover]

An Epcot day! Front and center on Soarin' Sorry you weren't impressed with Sunshine Seasons. That is one of my favorite CS. Such a deal on the DDP. You're an evil mom giving everyone cups of Beverly We really like Garden Grill too. It's such a relaxing character meal where the food is brought to you. Love that And Goofy's candy! Doesn't get much better!

 

[cjackearl]

I love Mission:Space orange version, too! What an amazingly realistic ride.

I love the pictures of Ben hamming it up with the characters.

Yea for Goofys! We made some treats there also.

The 22nd was our departure day, and I know what you mean about the heat. Brutal! Looks like you got a lot done dispite of it.

 

[Lady Lallie]

What a wonderful day! I think you staying inside buildings was the way to go on a hot day at Epcot. You can really get drained there....I know that well.

 

[Angies1274]

Looks like you had a great day!! (and you got alot accomplished!!) Yay for getting the front row of Soarin!! I just love that ride!! So fun!! Such a cute picture of your kids in Bruce's mouth!!

 

[stace208]

It looks like you had a very productive day and everyone held up well under the hot, hot, sun! I love it that you got front and center on Soarin'.
DTD is a great way to cap off the day!
Can't wait to read more...

We did have a fantastic day! Is it possible to have more than 1 favorite?? That ride on Soarin' though was by far my favorite ever!

An Epcot day! Front and center on Soarin' Sorry you weren't impressed with Sunshine Seasons. That is one of my favorite CS. Such a deal on the DDP. You're an evil mom giving everyone cups of Beverly We really like Garden Grill too. It's such a relaxing character meal where the food is brought to you. Love that And Goofy's candy! Doesn't get much better!

For me, and John, SS was fantastic. Also, once Ben is on the adult plan, I think it would've been great for him too. So, we may eat there again. We can always hodgepodge something together for Ellie. As you've seen, give her a cupcake and she's good
I was evil, and loved every minute of it! My only regret is not taking pictures.
We, too, love the character meals that are served family style. There's no stress about missing a character while you are up getting your food.

I love Mission:Space orange version, too! What an amazingly realistic ride.

I know. It's one of my favorites too!

I love the pictures of Ben hamming it up with the characters.

Thanks...he's a ham alright

Yea for Goofys! We made some treats there also.

The 22nd was our departure day, and I know what you mean about the heat. Brutal! Looks like you got a lot done dispite of it.

What a wonderful day! I think you staying inside buildings was the way to go on a hot day at Epcot. You can really get drained there....I know that well.

Honestly, even though this was the hottest day temps wise, we were the least sweaty. Epcot is definitely the way to go on super hot days. I should say, Future World. I warned the others against WS but they didn't listen and they were beat when they got back to dinner.

Looks like you had a great day!! (and you got alot accomplished!!) Yay for getting the front row of Soarin!! I just love that ride!! So fun!! Such a cute picture of your kids in Bruce's mouth!!

Thanks! Everyone was happy with what we got done! We had never done that shot with Bruce before so I made them get in line for it!

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I just got all caught up again. I love the pictures from HS, especially your DS doing the Jedi Academy and your DD "growling" like a cat. Too cute!

 

[ladybugmom]

All caught up!! Love the pics from HS!! We totally missed the animation building--love the pics with sorcerer Mickey and the characters from Up! Sooo cute!! How great that Ben got picked for Jedi Training!! And it looks like you had a GREAT day at Epcot! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[sharonW]

Hi, I'm enjoying your TR, saw you on Lesley and
Tims TR so jumped on! I really do hear you about
the pool thing. I know its vacation and relaxing
some should come into the picture but my feeling
is you can swim anytime at home!!!! Theres too many
other things to see and do at disney!!!! Everyone
has their own thoughts!!

 

[joannem]

I know it doesn't help you now, but early on in our trip, the cashier at Cosmic Ray's told us that they don't differentiate between child and adult counter service meals. So, if there's something that the kids want on the adult menu, just get it. It will come off as one credit and you're good. (This was after Nathan wanted a hot dog at Cosmic Ray's and it wasn't on the kid's menu. I told him he couldn't have it, the cashier overheard and told us just to order it for him!) We did the same at Sunshine Seasons. I ordered noodles and an adult sandwich and then split them with him!

I hope we didn't break the rules, but a CM told us to do it!!!

 

[MEK]

Hey Staci:

I just read the first 7 pages of your TR and I will have to say that I think Ridemax must work, because you really got a lot accomplished. I didn't read your Epcot day yet. And I can't see your pics (at work). I was there the week before you and I probably could have used some Ridemax to keep us on track a bit better. It was my 10th trip and I had a somewhat laid back approach so we focused on FP'ing the highlighters, but we missed some smaller rides.

Anyway, I think i will invest in Ridemax the next time I take a summer trip with a big group (we had 6). Seems like it was worth it!

I'm looking forward to going home and seeing your pics!

 

[highlander96]

Thanks for the report. Loved reading it and the pics. Can't wait for our stay at the POLY

Michelle