My 2nd tale... Fantasy Rd 2, TR Rd 2: NO sea sickness! [Apr '16-East Car.] (Upd Apr19: COMPLETED)

[jesterrific]

[ April 9-16 2016 7 Night Eastern Caribbean on the Disney Fantasy ]

Hi! ​

Welcome to my second trip report from my second time aboard the Disney Fantasy! I hope you all enjoy and follow along with me as I relive my glorious time on this ship! If you had followed along from my first trip (1st Cruise, 1st TR: A Tale of a Little Sea Sickness (Or A Lot) - Fantasy Jan' 15), you'll be glad to know I experienced zero sea sickness this time around. So, I am very excited to share with you all my fun aboard the Disney Fantasy, this time visiting the ports of Tortola and St. Thomas! (Holy moly this was SUCH a good vacation I enjoyed myself so much!!)

[ All photos from this trip were taken on my iPhone 6plus (some off my mom’s iPhone5). Beach photos from my GoPro (definitely not 4K). With exceptions of photo pass in WDW. We didn’t bring a camera with us and seemed okay with just our phones haha ]

​

Now to get started:
In all honesty.. I was ready to start this intro post about a week ago. But I did this foolish thing where I started a brand new thread, typed everything out, got distracted, forgot to post, went to bed, computer shut off... POOF! No more! Post be gone! Oops. I was quite sad and got discouraged to start over... But I will try my best to do this even better than my original draft haha.

SO! Continuing off from my last time... We arrived back home just before the end of February 2015. Truthfully I was a little bit scared of going on another cruise again. I have literally never felt as awful as I did being sick at the beginning of that cruise. I was telling my coworkers at work that I had a blast, but didn't think cruising was for me. Because of that, Glendon and I chose not to buy a placeholder while we were on board. Really didn't think we would go again within the two years. So how did we get here???

Of course, you can't get rid of the Disney fever. We were on the Disney high for a while, but when it started to wear off, we really couldn't help ourselves... July we decided we NEEDED to see Disneyland's 60th anniversary diamond celebration. We booked ourselves to go on Labour Day weekend, and spent 2 and a half very jammed packed days running around the two parks trying to get in as much as we could. When we got back home, we just knew we had to plan another "big" one. And this was when Glendon brought up doing the Fantasy again. I was a little bit worried since our Canadian dollar had gotten so bad so quickly. Up until that Disneyland trip, we had been doing all our Disney trips with our dollars on par. Coming back from our 2 days in California and looking at our bills... whoops that ended up being a pretty expensive weekend trip. So how on earth could we afford to do DCL???

G and I in Disneyland​

We decided to ask my parents if they wanted to come. A little while ago, my entire family had wanted to do a cruise family vacation, so when we talked to my mom about DCL she was intrigued. We decided that if we could find a good VGT that could sleep all 5 of us (mom, dad, Glendon, me, and my younger sister) on a 7 night on the Fantasy, we would go for it! And there it was: April 9-16 Eastern Caribbean with stops in Tortola, St Thomas, and Castaway Cay. So there we have it... Our official 6 month count down for our cruise in April. Since my parents had never been to WDW before, we decided to book 3 nights at the Polynesian so that we could do 2 days at a couple of the parks.
We actually wanted my older sister and her family to come as well, but as they are a family (brother in law and nephew!) they couldn't work it in their time or budget to come.

My mom was so cute... she actually got SO excited. She was making fun of us for having a 6 month countdown (she says 6 months is such a long time!) but throughout that time you could tell just how much she was looking forward to this trip. Right after booking she immediately called my aunt to let her know she booked a cruise. She started pulling up pictures of the Fantasy on the internet to show her (my aunt had only ever gone on Carnival and was so impressed by the photos that SHE got excited for my mom.) I even found some slips of paper in her office with things on them like "Disney Cruise Line Fantasy," "Polynesian Village Resort," and "Castaway Cay." She was pulling up images every few days to see what was to come, haha.

Here we all are! Pops, Momma, Michelle, Me, Glendon!​

So now Introductions I guess!

Me! Jessica! Hi ​

I am a 26 year old Canadian girl from Edmonton, Alberta. What do I do? I'm a makeup artist! I mostly do weddings, events, Halloween, makeup lessons, sales, and all the fun stuff in between. I love my Disney obsession... I love all things Mickey parts, my favourite princess is Cinderella, I have this weird hatred for Tinkerbell...
LONG STORY SHORT. Started dating Glendon, my very amazing boyfriend. Who loves Disney even more than me. He is an IT guy who does IT stuff. Truthfully… I have no idea what he does. When he starts to tell me it’s all “oh yes, uh huh!” and then I’m lost.

Glendon: He likes to do this thing where he doesn’t take nice photos by himself.​

We have been together for 2 and a half years, and in that 2 and a half years we have done a total of 6 Disney trips together: Disneyland, WDW with a few friends, 7 night on the Disney Fantasy with G's two best friends and a WDW stay after, Disneyland 60th anniversary with another couple, WDW with another couple, and then this trip! WDW and Disney Fantasy with my parents. We have been two very busy kids these last little while, as we just moved into our cozy little high-rise apartment in our city’s downtown core. We also plan on doing our Disney Asia trip in the coming new year! (I think we make quite the dynamic duo. He is my perfect balance.)

Random photos of these said past trips:

Our very first vacation together: Disneyland! [Fun fact: at the time we were still doing our long distance relationship]

Fried chicken in Disneyland

WDW - Epcot

WDW - Hollywood Studios

Up on deck on Disney Fantasy

Disney Fantasy with Donald!

Enjoying our Disney Starbucks WDW

Everybody’s favourite: Mickey’s Fun Wheel

Cars Land

Breakfast with Goofy at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom Lodge

In our beautiful glory with our friends on Splash Mountain​

Oops, sorry I went a little bit flashback crazy. Time to get back on track.



REST OF INTROS!

My pop! And momma! I think they’re pretty dang cute haha.
My dad wanted my mom to wear my ears for the rest of the trip.​

Pops: We call him a variety of names. But mostly just dad. And mom is all varieties of mum, momma, ma! About my parents: they met here in Edmonton. They are those Chinese folk that were born in Vietnam (different cities but similar backstory.) They both left around the same time: when the communists came. They were very young when that happened, so most of those nightmare memories are faded now as they’ve been here for twice as long as when they lived in Vietnam. But I remember some of the stories that they have told us when we were younger about escaping. I can’t imagine that life. We are truly so lucky to have been born in North America. Anyways, one of these stories came from my dad: they escaped on fisherman’s boats. Boats, not ships or ferries or anything. Just good ol’ boats. A lot of people he knew were on boats that capsized and didn’t make it. So deep down he has a huge fear of the open ocean, and was secretly hesitant about going on this vacation. But my mom was stinkin’ excited and he loves her and supports her in everything so he came! My parents really are quite funny, so I hope you guys will enjoy the photos of them in my later updates.

And this is Michelle, my 24 year old younger sister.​

Michelle is a professional student. (I'm just kidding, she's working really hard to study to soon take her MCATs.) She doesn’t love Disney and thinks Glendon and I are ridiculous for always going on our Disney trips. (But of course like everyone who gets immersed once you’re there… she enjoyed herself haha.) She is young and free spirited, likes beer, and fooooooood.

(We all love food.)


So that’s us all!


Our itinerary for this whole trip:

• April 5: Red eye down to Orlando, arrived in the morning.
• April 6: Magic Kingdom
• April 7: Day of rest: Disney Springs and resort day at Polynesian
• April 8: Epcot
• April 9: Embarkation Day at Port Canaveral
• April 10: Day at Sea
• April 11: Day at Sea
• April 12: Tortola
• April 13: St. Thomas
• April 14: Day at Sea
• April 15: Castaway Cay
• April 16: Home time

Other notes:
I eat dairy free (milk, cream, cheese, butter) due to allergy so I like to take my photos of my food.
My mom just loves food so she also likes to take photos of her food.
Face swapping on SnapChat was an ongoing thing during this trip…
The pictures my mom and dad took are quite hilarious.
I will be including my pre-cruise activities in WDW in this report, so if you weren’t interested in that feel free to skip past it!

Sorry I went off on so many tangents! Hope you guys like.


Here are some teaser photos from this trip to hopefully tide you guys over while I put this guy all together!

​

 

[jesterrific]

!! Table of Contents !!
[Will update and revise as I go!]
​

Pre-Cruise [ PHOTO HEAVY ]

• Day 1: Full day at Magic Kingdom [Part 1 - Arrival to Afternoon]
• Day 1: Full day at Magic Kingdom [Part 2 - Evening]
• Day 2: [Part 1] Morimoto Asia, Disney Springs, Polynesian Poolside
• Day 2: [Part 2] Trader Sam's, Wolfgang Puck Express, Top of the World Lounge
• Day 3: [Part 1] Epcot - Flower and Garden Festival!
• Day 3: [Part 2] More Epcot: Flower and Garden Passport adventures
• Day 3: [Part 3] EVEN MORE Epcot! All of the Bush Statue Things

Cruise Time! 7 Night Eastern Caribbean [ PHOTO HEAVY ]

• Cruise Day 1: [Part 1] Port Canaveral, Embarkation, Sail Away
• Cruise Day 1: [Part 2] Evening and Dinner... Our first goodnight.

• Cruise Day 2: [Part 1] Day at Sea: breakfast, sports, lunch
• Cruise Day 2: [Part 2] Aladdin, Formal night, Captain Mickey, dinner at Animator's Palette

• Cruise Day 3: [Part 1] Day at Sea: More Cabanas, deck activities, mixology
• Cruise Day 3: [Part 2] AquaDuck, Enchanted Garden, shopping

• Cruise Day 4: [Part 1] TORTOLA! Pre-Excursion: Sunrise, Pulling into Port, Breakfast
• Cruise Day 4: [Part 2] TORTOLA! Ferry over to, and tour of Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda
• Cruise Day 4: [Part 3] TORTOLA! The Baths at Virgin Gorda! (hike half)
• Cruise Day 4: [Part 3] TORTOLA! The Baths at Virgin Gorda! (beach half)
• Cruise Day 4: [Part 4] TORTOLA! Walk through the Caves to Devil's Bay
• Cruise Day 4: [Part 5] TORTOLA! Devil's Bay and Back onto the Fantasy.
• Cruise Day 4: [Part 6] Port of Tortola! Empty Ship, Pulling out of Port, Palo Dinner!
• Cruise Day 4: [Part 7] After Tortola: Pirate dinner, Pirate party, fireworks!
• Cruise Day 4: [Part 7] continued... pirate melon carvings!

• Cruise Day 5: [Part 1] ST. THOMAS! Breakfast, Shops at Havensport, Arrival at Coki Beach!
• Cruise Day 5: [Part 2] St. Thomas: Coki Beach! Swimming with the fishies
• Cruise Day 5: [Part 3] Leaving St. Thomas
• Cruise Day 5: [Part 4] Animator's Night, Evening Activities

• Cruise Day 6: [Part 1] Day at Sea - Palo Brunch!
• Cruise Day 6: [Part 2] Day at Sea - Muppets, AquaDuck, Captain's Night, Dessert at Palo!

• Cruise Day 7: [Part 1] CASTAWAY CAY!! Delayed entry, Serenity Bay
• Cruise Day 7: [Part 2] CASTAWAY CAY!! Sandbar at Serenity Bay
• Cruise Day 7: [Part 3] CASTAWAY CAY!! BBQ at Serenity Bay, Pelican Plunge, Dinner
• Cruise Day 7: [Part 4] Farewell Show, Ship Wanderings
• Cruise Day 7: [Part 5] Last photos at night

• Cruise Disembarkation Day

Conclusion

 

[condorthb]

Sounds like it will be a interesting read.

 

[CathyCU03]

Looking forward to more!

 

[party-of-five]

Loving this! Please, write more soon!!!

 

[egesicki]

Following!

 

[plannermom]

So happy to follow along! We will be on this cruise in October.

 

[cheermom2four]

Following!!! So glad to hear this trip wasnt like the last one where you were sick from day 1!!!

 

[jesterrific]

Thank you for everyone's patience! I am typing it all up so hopefully will be done the first post tonight!

 

[bcwife76]

Following! We are from BC and taking an EC cruise on the Fantasy in a few months

 

[jesterrific]

Fantasy Round 2: Pre-Cruise!
Day 1 [part 1]: Travels and Magic Kingdom!​

We officially started our vacation in the late afternoon of April 5, 2016, the Tuesday. Glendon still worked a half day of work, so my family and I finished our packing and went to go pick him up on our way to the airport. We were all pretty excited to leave. We were lucky this year for our winter, as it was actually quite mild. Most of the time when people think of Edmonton, Alberta, they think of our freezing cold -30 degrees Celsius winters. While we haven’t experienced a -30 in quite a few years, this year was particularly mild considering we barely touched the -10 C mark. Which also meant little to no snow this year! BUT OF COURSE! The day we leave…. A small snowfall.

Not enough to be a problem… but enough to remind us that it’s still winter time in Canada.​

Here we are en route to the airport! Glendon and Michelle are already passed out.
The snow didn’t even get a chance to last the day. I think that’s a good sign for our trip.​

Our flight itinerary for the night:
7pm flight to Vancouver, small layover, 11pm (Vancouver time) redeye flight to Orlando.

Our airplane from Edmonton to Vancouver
(Does anyone’s moms like to take photos of the plane they are to be flying in? This is definitely a thing my mom loves to do.)​

When we arrived in Vancouver, turns out the terminal we were in there was only the one flight out to Orlando. There were literally no other flights. We got to the terminal just in time to grab some food before all the places closed for the night. We also still had over an hour and a half to kill… so as I said previously… SnapChat face swapping was a thing.

Michelle’s face on my mom, Mom’s face on Michelle

SnapChat accidentally swapped Michelle’s face with the random man in the background. Oh no.

My face on dad, Dad’s face on mine.​

Oh no. You can only imagine how much we were laughing. After that accidental face swap with the random man behind Michelle, we basically kept trying to swap our faces with other things after that… ANYWAYS boarded our flight, and everyone but my dad passed out. We arrived on time in Orlando at about 6 in the morning local time.


Caught Disney’s Magical Express bus to our resort. It was quick and easy since Glendon and I already had our magic bands from our previous trip. Everyone napped some more on the bus ride, and finally we have arrived at the Polynesian Village Resort! We got checked in, and got changed out of our travel clothes and into our very first park day clothes!


Since the parks didn’t open for another half hour still (and we were all starving at this point…) we decided to head to Captain Cook’s for some quick serve breakfast. My parents just shared a big breakfast platter, my sister had the breakfast wrap, I had the gluten-free dairy-free Mickey waffles, and Glendon had the Tonga Toast. Everyone that we’ve ever talked with RAVED about Tonga Toast, so Glendon figured he HAD to try it.

Them gluten free waffles.

Settled for breakfast

Uh. Turns out Tonga Toast is a GIANT MOUNTAIN OF A BANANA FRENCH TOAST THING.​

Since Glendon isn’t huge on French toast, Tonga toast wasn’t really his thing. It was very neat and interesting though! Also, I was slightly disappointed with my Mickey waffles. For some reason I was expecting regular waffle mix, just made from olive oil instead of butter milk. I did not realize that in order to make this work it would be made with the gluten free mix. In all honesty, I don’t like gluten free alternatives for stuff like waffles. I want them fluffy! SO I was disappointed. Other breakfast items were just regular breakfast foods.


LOVE staying at the Polynesian. It was very convenient to just pop onto the Monorail for the short ride over to the beloved Magic Kingdom.

Here we are! Along with the other masses of people

My parents’ first view of the front area with the train station in the back.

First view of the castle​

Because Glendon and I had our annual passes from our last trip, we tried our very best to take advantage of all the photo pass spots.

Dad, mom, me, Glendon, Michelle in front of castle.

Our “goofy” photo

We all thought this one was so funny because I’m pretty sure none of us have ever seen my mom with her arm around my dad before.​

After our photos we walked over to Tomorrowland for our very first fast pass of the day: Space Mountain! My mom was a little bit worried just because she hadn’t been on a ride in so long, and it’s in the dark.

This is another thing my mom likes to do: take photos of the rides she likes. To remind herself of the names of the rides she was on.​

Here are our ride photos!!!​

I am dying laughing, because look at how my parents are holding on. Both of them are quite nervous!!! My mom made my dad sit in the front because she was scared of what she couldn’t see. My dad was secretly scared too and I offered to sit in the front. But of course he didn’t want to let us all in on how nervous he was so he insisted on sitting in the front.

BEST RIDE WITH MY MOTHER EVER. Holy smokes. I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard in my life. My mom was literally squealing and screaming at every drop and turn. I could tell my dad was enjoying himself too, as you could hear from the front seat “whoa! Wow! Oh ho!” But my mom. “AHHH!” “OOOH!!!!!” “AIY!!!” “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!” I could even hear Glendon and Michelle behind me laughing (Michelle laughing on top of her also squeals around all the corners). I don’t even know how to describe it. It was just soooo funny.

After Space Mountain we went on a few other rides.

Tomorrowland Transit Authority. People Mooooooover. My dad is funny.

And here is this photo again, with my mom in my ears. We all think she should keep wearing them haha.

Current wait time for Monsters Inc Laugh Floor: kid on the ground. Glendon thought this was funny.

Waiting to board the wildest ride in the wilderness!

They look so stoked.

They actually enjoyed it so much! My dad even put his hands up for the majority of the ride with us. At one point my mom put one hand up hahaha!!

More photopass!

Michelle and I’s embarrassing follow of then current trends: dabbing….
But my parents look like they are enjoying themselves haha.​

While we were waiting for our room to finish being ready, we decided to stop for lunch. Glendon and I had been pretty excited when the Jungle Cruise Skipper Canteen opened up, so we decided to give that place a try.

All the rooms are kind of decorated and themed differently.

This was what I ordered, the curry stew.

Glendon and Michelle decided to share this one as they wanted a tasting of a few dishes. I do believe this was an appetizer sampler, but I can’t remember.

The BBQ pork dish (cha siu). Glendon and Michelle shared this one as well. My mom and dad also ordered one but they went with rice instead of the beans.

This was what my curry stew dish came out looking like!!

My mom and dad also had this steak salad to share.​

All in all our overview of Skipper Canteen:
The experience started off pretty cute as all the servers are also Skippers… and they stay in character very much like on Jungle Cruise and in Trader Sam’s. It was toned down compared to the two as it was a restaurant though. Food wise at the time was asian fusion. Honestly, I love asian fusion haha. So my dish was right up my alley! My parents being much more Chinese though, thought the food was interesting. My mom enjoyed it (she’s quite open to food in general, as long as it’s not spicy) and thought her portions were good. My dad just wished there was more jasmine rice. He looooooooves rice. Portions for Glendon and Michelle, they were a little bit smaller for such big eaters. But in the end they were satisfied enough. SO! If you like asian fusion I recommend. Prices were reasonable, portions were okay. For lunch they were fine. I do think the menu has changed since we were there though.

After lunch we decided we were exhausted and pooped and it was time to head to our room at the Polynesian. Luckily it was just a monorail away!

This was our room number.

We immediately laid down to rest. There’s Glendon on the phone with house keeping. We had one of those rooms with a queen sized bed, a sofa pull-out, and a fold down single under the tv. (The deluxe studio with standard view in the Pago Pago building). They just forgot to include the extra blankets so he was calling about that.​

To come: Magic Kingdom part 2! Mine Train, Fireworks!!

 

[jesterrific]

Fantasy Round 2: Pre-Cruise!
Day 1 [part 2]: Magic Kingdom in the evening: Fireworks!​

Entrance view by night!

Main Street with view of lit up castle in the back. Jammed packed with people!

Castle up close by night, photo from my mom’s iPhone.​

After our nap (everyone ended up sleeping for longer than we anticipated…) we got up and headed back to the Magic Kingdom. We didn’t want to waste any time sitting in a restaurant for dinner, so we decided to do a quick service meal. We went to Columbia Harbour House in Liberty Square.

Salmon! With steamed broccoli (my sister is OBSESSED with broccoli so she was quite upset that a lot of the quick service places didn’t offer any greens…) And I had the fries instead of couscous (dairy!) My mom and Glendon both had the salmon as well. Michelle and my dad both got chicken fingers. My mom actually LOVED the salmon. It was soft and juicy. Very tasty for quick service! And prices, of course, were good compared to a sit down restaurant. She enjoyed this more than lunch haha.​

After food we just went to ride a bunch of rides, and caught our fast pass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

My mom tried to get a photo of us in a clamshell. This was us shouting at her to turn her flash off.​

Ariel is my older sister’s favourite princess.

Mine Train ride photos!

My mom enjoyed herself! She even raised her arms!!! (But still holding tightly onto my dad’s wrist haha)

I love this mini scene at the end of the ride.

It’s a small world

The backside of the castle!

Backside of castle white light!

We then checked in for our fireworks fast pass so that we didn’t have to worry about huge crowds.

Selfie with my mom while we wait

Castle show!

My mom loved the castle show

More castle show! Elsa.​

We finished off the night by running around taking some photos before we decided it was time to go back and sleep.

My dad being silly

Family photo in front of the castle!

Another silly photo of my parents. With Walt and Mickey!

Our last view of Magic Kingdom before we finally called it a night.​

To come… Our day enjoyed at the new Disney Springs and lounging around the Polynesian Village Resort!

 

[minniebeth]

I love your trip reports! I loved your last one (so sorry you were so sick!) and happy to be following this one! Your enthusiasm for Disney is so evident! You all are so adorable! Just love your mom and dad! (And I have to say, my kids and I have the best laughs on Snapchat, so I loved your airport snaps!) Thanks so much for the hard work and for sharing!

 

[bcwife76]

Oh my gosh, your parents are adorable!!! Awwww, looks like a great start to your trip!

 

[jesterrific]

I love your trip reports! I loved your last one (so sorry you were so sick!) and happy to be following this one! Your enthusiasm for Disney is so evident! You all are so adorable! Just love your mom and dad! (And I have to say, my kids and I have the best laughs on Snapchat, so I loved your airport snaps!) Thanks so much for the hard work and for sharing!

Thank you!! I'm hoping everyone will enjoy this one! I think my mom's excitement on this trip really made this trip hehe

 

[jesterrific]

Oh my gosh, your parents are adorable!!! Awwww, looks like a great start to your trip!

Haha thank you! I think they're pretty funny most of the time haha. Hope you enjoy!

 

[jesterrific]

Fantasy Round 2: Pre-Cruise!
Day 2 [part 1]: Morimoto Asia, Disney Springs, and Polynesian poolside.​

We were all pretty exhausted from our first day spent at Magic Kingdom, so most of us barely managed to wake up the next morning. We had booked a lunch reservation for Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs for 12:30, so that seemed like ample time to wake up and get ready. But of course, it took us all forever to wake up and we barely made the reservation.
OH!!! In case you didn’t know, the deluxe studios in the Polynesian Village resort are quite nice. Even though we were jamming 5 adults into one suite, it actually wasn’t too big of a problem getting ready. This is because the studios have two full sized bathrooms! Both of them with both a toilet and sink, and one with a stand up shower and other with bathtub shower combo. This really helped our mornings and evenings getting ready time.


SO! Onto our very first bus ride on a Disney transport bus to Disney Springs! (I still have the habit of calling it Downtown Disney!!!) The Town Center shopping area was still under construction, so we didn’t get a chance to see that, but on Glendon and I’s February trip, we really enjoyed our meal at Morimoto Asia so that’s why we decided to head there for lunch. Was pretty sure my family would enjoy the food offered there.

Here we are!

Very gorgeous interior. Definitely love the upper level

And the chandelier pieces are beautiful! Very neat​

We all ordered a variety of foods sort of. Ordered some dimsum items to share (pork buns), mom ordered for herself a lunch special that was like a bento box, dad ordered the duck ramen, Glendon had the spicy ramen, Michelle and I both ordered the nasi goreng, and Glendon and I also ordered tuna sushi to share.

Michelle and Glendon each enjoying a just after noon beer. Featuring the little dimsum container

Miso soup and green salad that came with mom’s special

Tuna sushi!

Mom’s lunch special!! Dumplings, black cod, potato croquette, kimchi, and California rolls.

Dad’s duck ramen

Glendon’s spicy ramen

The amazingness that is Morimoto Asia’s nasi goreng!!!!​

Ahhhhhhh what a delicious lunch!!! Dad liked the noodles, but he’s a rice person so he felt he probably should have ordered a rice dish as well. When it comes to noodle soup, since he grew up in Vietnam he loves his pho and bun bo hue (spicy noodle soup.) And for duck, he likes it Beijing style and BBQ’ed. But overall he enjoyed the flavours. Just not entirely his style of food. Glendon enjoyed his spicy soup, he even found it quite spicy. Mom LOVED her black cod. And that rice dish, the nasi goreng? Just, WOW. It was SOOOOO GOOD. Glendon was happy with his noodle soup, but a taste of my rice dish and he instantly fell in love. (He still to this day talks about the deliciousness that was the rice!!) And our tuna sushi was sooooo good. Quality!
I let my dad finish the end of my rice, though, since I had sushi to eat as well. (He was happy.)
I didn’t personally eat any of the dimsum pork buns because they are cooked in butter, but everyone enjoyed them a lot (no photos because everyone ate them before anyone remembered to take a photo. Mom was sad because she really liked them and now doesn’t have a photo to remember them by haha).

While we waited for our bill, there was more face swapping ridiculousness happening.​

After lunch we decided to stroll through Disney Springs. My parents had a good time taking in the scenery, and just the general buzz. It was a very beautiful day and there were quite a few people wandering about. We managed to catch one of the Amphicars rolling into the water though, so we stayed to watch that.

Amphicar launch

Glendon and I stopped into Il Gelato. We LOVE this place!!! So good! I’m normally not a huge fan of sorbets… I feel like they’re always all the same. But not here!!! You can really taste the fruit elements which make their sorbets just sooo delicious. And Glendon with his all time favourite: Stracciatella!

Mom wanted a photo with dad in front of the light house

Dad by the waterfront haha

Amphicar launch area

Fam jam by the water front.

Michelle loved all the Lego statues

Michelle and I being silly with Giant Lego Hulk

Michelle and giant Stitch in World of Disney. Couldn’t get one since we don’t know how to take it home!

Glendon thought these cone head Dugs were the best

We were trying to face swap with Olaf and then this happened. Did not believe something so perfect could happen. Oh goodness this one is so awful it’s good.​

We decided we were tired after shopping at World of Disney. Our shopping damage wasn’t too bad. Michelle got a couple of the classic grey Mickey Mouse sweaters, with Walt Disney World on the front to bring back for her best friend and herself. My mom went a little bit shopping crazy for my nephew, but didn’t actually go too overboard: got a sip cup and the cutest Mickey hat with sunglasses. She was very happy with her small purchase. After that we just headed back to the hotel to explore and relax by the pool.

Monorail and grass from the bus ride back

Walking from the bus stop to our room.

My mom loves flowers, and my dad thought these ones were very pretty, so he wanted my mom to have a photo with them haha

To remember that we stayed in the Pago Pago building

Pago Pago!
(I don’t think I remembered to take a photo of the front of the lobby itself, just this building haha oops)

Beach area. We didn’t spend too much time here since you can’t use the water

Ahh pool side. Love the volcano slide thing.

It was quite a busy day by the pool. We couldn’t find any chairs together right by the poolside

Poolside cocktails

Hehe the teaser snapchat I sent to my friends back home.

More poolside!​

After some playing around in the pool and sliding down the slide a few times, it was time for us to meet up with our local friends. Conveniently, since we were staying at the Polynesian, we decided it was a good idea to meet at Trader Sam’s! Trader Sam’s had only just opened not too long ago, and our friends hadn’t gotten a chance to go yet so they were eager to come and see us there. Glendon and I love the Trader Sam’s in California so we were excited to see if they did an equally good job in Florida!




To come: Trader Sam’s, Wolfgang Puck Express (Marketplace), Top of the World Lounge fireworks!

 

[SomeImaginationHuh]

Can't wait to follow along! Our first cruise is in January, so I'm taking in as many trip reports as possible!

 

[jesterrific]

Can't wait to follow along! Our first cruise is in January, so I'm taking in as many trip reports as possible!

Thanks for joining along! Which ship and itinerary are you going to be on? That's very exciting!!!

 

[jesterrific]

Fantasy Round 2: Pre-Cruise!
Day 2 [part 2]: Trader Sam’s, Wolfgang Puck Express (Marketplace), and Top of the World Lounge.​

SO! Getting to Trader Sam’s from the poolside is relatively easy. It’s just a walk into the main building. (Unfortunately I forgot to take some photos…) There is an indistinct door right at the back entrance… and there it is.. Trader Sam’s! Later on in the evenings if you were walking by or going to Captain Cook’s, you can actually hear the joyous shouting from Trader Sam’s haha.

Anyways, we chose to meet a little bit earlier because leading up to when we were traveling the word was that if you wanted to go later on in the evening there was always a bit of a wait. We managed to get a table in the middle of the room right away, but it was a communal table that’s basically a surfboard haha. (It was rather dark and since we only had iPhones, photos weren’t the greatest.) Have you been to Trader Sam’s before? It’s a lot of fun, because depending on the drinks being ordered, the room changes! Our favourite? The Uh-Oa! It’s a giant shared drink that comes lit on fire. Other favourites to watch are the Nautilus and the Krakatoa Punch. Basically because these are the ones that include all the guests and skippers, and they make everyone scream ridiculous stuff. Hence why you can hear Trader Sam’s from the hallway haha. It’s a lot of fun if you let go of feeling ridiculous (everyone is doing it so just join in the fun! It just makes it so much more fun haha.)

Uh-Oa! [ Myer’s Original Dark Rum, Bacardi Superior Rum, orange, passion fruit, guava, pineapple, and grapefruit juices, falernum, cinnamon, and fresh lime juice ]

Kalua Pork Tacos​

Everything on the food menu is basically appetizers with an asian flare. Think Hawaiian style stuff. It’s all quite yummy. My personal favourite is the Hawaiian Poke and the sushi roll. (I suddenly in the last couple of years got this huge obsession with tuna sushi so basically anything tuna I will like. Unless it’s terrible) The roasted chicken and pork pate banh mi sliders are also quite yum!

When I said the room changes, I didn’t mean only just the screaming and such. Lights flash and images change. For example, (when you order a Krakatoa punch…) there is a volcano in a window facade and it erupts when your drink comes out. Not only that… at one point we were all just enjoying our conversation and our skipper comes up to me and says something along the lines of “looking a little low there”

My seat was lowered and no one even noticed. Not even me.

My seat had shrunken basically all the way to the ground!!! Everyone was laughing so hard. Our skipper came and gave me an extra long straw so I could still drink.​

Eventually the seat started to rise back up too but we didn’t notice that either until I was actually looking my sister eye to eye again. Michelle could not stop laughing. We didn’t stay much longer after that.
When we left we decided to go check out the shop in the main lobby.

Very cute: BouTIKI!

Even cuter: we came back to the room to find mom and dad sitting on the balcony having coffee and eating Pringles. Don’t know why this was so funny to us hahahaha. (Mom: "Why are you taking a picture of us?" "Because you look funny!")​

We decided to head back to Disney Springs for the evening to finish walking around the further end of places we hadn’t seen yet, and try and decide on a dinner option. We didn’t book any reservations, so we were hoping to see something that jumped out at us and have an easy sit down meal. This proved to be a hard decision. We didn’t really feel like spending too much for one of the restaurants, we just wanted something easy. Our top choice was Earl of Sandwich (Glendon and I LOVE Earl of Sandwich!!!) and my sister and parents have been wanting to try as well. My cousin recently went to one and raved about it so they were very curious. Unfortunately… we got to Earl of Sandwich and the line up was actually out the door. I tried to count heads and it was over 50 people in line. We were all starving and getting grumpy… And the line wasn’t moving fast enough. So even though everyone really wanted Earl of Sandwich… we decided to ditch the idea and pop over to the Wolfgang Puck Express. We were lucky and there was only one person in front of us. We were not disappointed!!! Well, I guess it kind of has to be pretty good if it’s a chain by a celebrity chef!

Dairy free turkey sandwich! Made on rye bread. With chips! Fried potato slices that I forgot to take a photo of.

Mom had the rotisserie chicken

Dad and Michelle shared the pizza, and Glendon had the chinois salad (his favourite thing to order at Wolfgang Puck Express)​

Mom was SOOOOO happy with her chicken. She insisted EVERYONE take a piece because it was so tender and juicy. And I always love a good sandwich! Mmmmm good dinner considering we were so set on Earl of Sandwich.
(My mom actually said that was her only regret: that we didn’t get a chance to get Earl of Sandwich.)

After dinner we just walked around the shops a bit more before we planned to head back to the resort and try to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks by the beach side.

Photo with the giant Duffy

And of course… any chance we got to Face Swap. This one is just creepy.​

On our way back though, Glendon surprised us by taking us over to the Contemporary instead of back to the Polynesian… to check us in at Bay Lake Towers to head up to the Top of the World Lounge!! DVC member only private lounge at the top of Bay Lake Towers for fireworks viewing! We had some extra time to kill before the fireworks so we ordered drinks and sat inside while we waited (it was rather chilly on the roof top patio, very windy.)

Chandelier above us

Stout and pineapple beverage

Very cute drink stir thing with the Contemporary on it.​

View of Space Mountain with Cinderella Castle in the background from the rooftop patio! Everything suddenly looks soooo much further than they seemed when you can see everything in perspective.

And the fireworks have started!! What a different view of the fireworks compared to in the park!

We LOVED the Star shaped ones, which we didn’t notice when we were in the park the night before. Look how clearly they are from here though!​

Look at just how far away the fireworks are from the castle! When you’re in the park in front of the castle, these fireworks look HUGE and so close to you!

Looks so cool above Space Mountain though!

And these are so pretty​

Very neat experience. We all thought it was really cool to have been able to do that. While it’s not the same as being in the park and almost right up close, it was very interesting to have been able to see so much more this way. Plus they link the music to the speakers so you still get the full experience of the show. We didn’t have to pay to get into the park to watch, haha, and we got to see much more than if we watched from across the lake on the beach at the Polynesian.

So I have this weird thing where I LOVE to see the pools at any hotel I stay at. (Glendon and I had stayed at Bay Lake Towers before and I got to play in the pool very briefly)
Look!!! The water light parade thing is on in the background!

Zoomed in look​

We looked around the shop at the Contemporary for a bit on our way to the Monorail station. I like this one because they carry some different things you can’t really find in many of the other hotel shops including a bigger selection of the Dooney and Burke bags, as well as the Twenty Eight and Main collection items.


But.. Look what is also on the way to the Monorail station that got us pretty darn excited…

A MODEL OF THE DISNEY FANTASY!!!!

This is so cute! And how fitting… It’s the Fantasy!

We started imagining walking around the decks​

That got us pretty excited for what is to come!

Michelle and Glendon decided they wanted to try to walk to the Polynesian since it’s the next resort over (and our building the Pago Pago is the closest one) but mom and dad were tired. I stuck with mom and dad since I knew they would get lost on their way back to the room from the Monorail station. We ended up getting back around the same time. Mom and dad started to get ready for bed, but us kids decided we were hungry so we headed back to Captain Cook’s to bring back some pre-bed food.

NACHOS

And surprisingly available on the menu: Pho!!!​

Not bad for fast food. My dad decided to try a bit of the pho since he loves his noodle soups, but decided he was disappointed. Haha, what do you expect for a fast food place that primarily serves not Vietnamese food! But the beef was quite tasty considering. And Glendon and Michele devoured the nachos. They seemed quite satisfied.

They had just changed the Extra Magic Hours for the next day… when we first planned our WDW itinerary, it was originally early morning extra magic hours at Epcot for the next day, which is why we planned our days the way they were, so that we could have a rest day in between the two park days and go-go-go when we are at the parks. But they changed our Epcot morning hours to another Magic Kingdom early morning. That’s okay, we just decided we would just sleep that extra hour.


Up next… Our day in Epcot and World Showcase! International Flower and Garden Show!!!!

Then finally… CRUISE TIME!