My family vs. the Happiest Place On Earth
- Thread starter goodferry
- Start date
Day 4 could not come fast enough for wildlife explorer Shelby-we were finally off to Animal Kingdom.
Mickey woke us early and we followed our usual routine, get the kids dressed, DH takes them to the lounge to eat while I got ready and dressed the baby. We had dinner reservations for that evening for dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Faire. I had made this ressies before we got CRT, but decided to keep it anyway. We had two kind of meal vouchers with us and hadn't used them yet, so I asked Renee at the concierge desk to get us PS for the RFC for noon, and she came through.
We got to AK shortly after opening. We were developing a system now. I wore the fanny pack and took the backpack through bag check while DH took all the kids with him and headed to get a stroller.
We immediately went to ride the safari, which was difficult because Shelby wanted to stop and look at everything, but we really wanted to get the safari done early, so we left a lot for later.
The safari was fun, the animals were not as active as I remember from our trip in Feb. 2000. We headed to Kali River Rapids, which the kids all loved, then to Dinoland. The kids were not interested in any of the new rides (Primeval Whirl and Triceritop Spin) so we went to Dinosaur to get Fast Passes. We got snacks and took the kids to the boneyard for a little while. We stolled along the walking paths around Dinosaur and it was time for our Fast Passes. Once again, we all loved this ride, even the five-year-old. I will take this opportunity to say that the baby swapping worked very well at every ride in WDW, we never ran into one single problem.
We had time to see Festival of the Lion King (the baby's favorite thing of the whole week) which was really good, then it was time for lunch.
We used three $30 lunch vouchers at RFC and got over $300 worth of food that more than fed all of us. We had steak, lobster, shrimp, you name it. This was definitely the best deal of the week. All the kids loved the RFC, we were seated next to the dancing monkeys, and I almost wish we had time to go back again, they liked it that much.
We headed back for the Poly after lunch to rest and swim before dinner with Cindy. On our way out we ran into Goofy, who played with Shelby for a long time, tickeling and teasing her. Bus service was excellant, we had no trouble all week long.
Along the way we discussed the fact that the Mk was open late that evening for E-Ride night. According to the notes I had taken before we left, the Mk was open until 9 pm, then until midnight for E-Ride night. We decided to get a sitter for the three younger kids, since they couldn't stay up that late, and take Chris. I should have checked my notes first...
Mickey woke us early and we followed our usual routine, get the kids dressed, DH takes them to the lounge to eat while I got ready and dressed the baby. We had dinner reservations for that evening for dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Faire. I had made this ressies before we got CRT, but decided to keep it anyway. We had two kind of meal vouchers with us and hadn't used them yet, so I asked Renee at the concierge desk to get us PS for the RFC for noon, and she came through.
We got to AK shortly after opening. We were developing a system now. I wore the fanny pack and took the backpack through bag check while DH took all the kids with him and headed to get a stroller.
We immediately went to ride the safari, which was difficult because Shelby wanted to stop and look at everything, but we really wanted to get the safari done early, so we left a lot for later.
The safari was fun, the animals were not as active as I remember from our trip in Feb. 2000. We headed to Kali River Rapids, which the kids all loved, then to Dinoland. The kids were not interested in any of the new rides (Primeval Whirl and Triceritop Spin) so we went to Dinosaur to get Fast Passes. We got snacks and took the kids to the boneyard for a little while. We stolled along the walking paths around Dinosaur and it was time for our Fast Passes. Once again, we all loved this ride, even the five-year-old. I will take this opportunity to say that the baby swapping worked very well at every ride in WDW, we never ran into one single problem.
We had time to see Festival of the Lion King (the baby's favorite thing of the whole week) which was really good, then it was time for lunch.
We used three $30 lunch vouchers at RFC and got over $300 worth of food that more than fed all of us. We had steak, lobster, shrimp, you name it. This was definitely the best deal of the week. All the kids loved the RFC, we were seated next to the dancing monkeys, and I almost wish we had time to go back again, they liked it that much.
We headed back for the Poly after lunch to rest and swim before dinner with Cindy. On our way out we ran into Goofy, who played with Shelby for a long time, tickeling and teasing her. Bus service was excellant, we had no trouble all week long.
Along the way we discussed the fact that the Mk was open late that evening for E-Ride night. According to the notes I had taken before we left, the Mk was open until 9 pm, then until midnight for E-Ride night. We decided to get a sitter for the three younger kids, since they couldn't stay up that late, and take Chris. I should have checked my notes first...
Day 4-continued
Back at the Poly we ordered up a babysitter and decided to swim for a while, poor Zack was going into withdrawl at this point, it had been nearly 24 hours since he got his volcano slide fix.
Cue the rain.
We rested instead, enjoying the lounge, watching Disney cartoons and coloring. It was actually a nice forced break.
We got Shelby back into her Princess Gear and headed for the monorail, right on time for a change.
Let me tell you before I describe the experience that we all had a bad attitude going into this dinner. Noone was especially hungry yet after the huge lunch we had, and Shelby was happy to eat with Cinderella and Prince Charming, but she could have done without it.
The boys were princessed out.
Zoe, however, maintained the sunny disposition she had displayed throughout the entire trip. You may have noticed that I hardly mention her, that's because she was no trouble what-so-ever. She was just a joy to be around.
The GF is an absolutely beautiful resort. It is so white and pristine and I really wanted the family to enjoy this visit, as I would love to stay there on a future trip.
Unfortunately, the cms we encountered were aloof and the whole place seemed unfriendly to DH and Chris. Zack just wanted to see the pool and Shelby was too busy acting regal to give her impressions.
We were seated immediately upon arrival at 1900 Park Faire, much to the dismay of four other families that arrived before us. The restaurant is sort of unremarkable. It isn't awful or anything, but other than the characters, I can't recall any details that stand out. The food was ok. Typical buffet food and the character interaction was fine. The mice were lots of fun, the baby enjoyed them a lot. Cinderella visited for a little bit, but Prince Charming never did make it to us. We had to hunt him down for a picture and autograph.
Out in the lobby we finally got to hook up with the Fairy Godmother and our experience at the GF was over.
Overall, I would love to stay there someday, but I don't know about with the kids. I know that one friend from the resort board transfered to the GF after a bad experience at the WL and loved it there, so I think a lot depends on the expectations you go in with.
We left the GF for the hotel where we were scheduled to meet the sitter at 8:00. It was still raining, pouring as a matter of fact, and the thunder and lightening had started up.
The sitter arrived right on time and she was nice, the kids seemed to like her. We gave them time to get adjusted then headed downstairs. We stopped at the concierge desk to buy eride tickets only to find out that regular hours for the MK had been extended until 11 pm and that eride night was from 11-2am. No way could we say up that late! Plus it was still pouring and the electrical storm was still pounding away. We walked around the lobby of the Poly and went up to the lounge for a drink. (Chris got to try a virgin Pina Colada) We decided to head over to the MK for a while until closing since the rain looked to be letting up. We arrived to find the rain had finally stopped!! We got to ride lots of rides, inluding Space Mountain (my first time!) as there were virtually no lines. We got to see Wishes standing right next to the castle, it is an incredible show. We shopped a little and rode Pirates again before heading home at 11:30 to release the sitter.
Now it may seem like we are pawning our kids off on sitters a lot, but it was mostly the baby I worried about. We kept her slatered in sunblock, but she very fair skinned with red hair and not used to the Florida sun and heat, plus it gave the kids time to rest when we didn't need it so much. The only problem with a sitter is you really should plan for one in advance and you never know when your plans will change. For example, the night when our fireworks cruise was cancelled. We really could have done without a sitter that night, but we were past our time to cancel when we figured that out.
Back at the Poly we ordered up a babysitter and decided to swim for a while, poor Zack was going into withdrawl at this point, it had been nearly 24 hours since he got his volcano slide fix.
Cue the rain.
We rested instead, enjoying the lounge, watching Disney cartoons and coloring. It was actually a nice forced break.
We got Shelby back into her Princess Gear and headed for the monorail, right on time for a change.
Let me tell you before I describe the experience that we all had a bad attitude going into this dinner. Noone was especially hungry yet after the huge lunch we had, and Shelby was happy to eat with Cinderella and Prince Charming, but she could have done without it.
The boys were princessed out.
Zoe, however, maintained the sunny disposition she had displayed throughout the entire trip. You may have noticed that I hardly mention her, that's because she was no trouble what-so-ever. She was just a joy to be around.
The GF is an absolutely beautiful resort. It is so white and pristine and I really wanted the family to enjoy this visit, as I would love to stay there on a future trip.
Unfortunately, the cms we encountered were aloof and the whole place seemed unfriendly to DH and Chris. Zack just wanted to see the pool and Shelby was too busy acting regal to give her impressions.
We were seated immediately upon arrival at 1900 Park Faire, much to the dismay of four other families that arrived before us. The restaurant is sort of unremarkable. It isn't awful or anything, but other than the characters, I can't recall any details that stand out. The food was ok. Typical buffet food and the character interaction was fine. The mice were lots of fun, the baby enjoyed them a lot. Cinderella visited for a little bit, but Prince Charming never did make it to us. We had to hunt him down for a picture and autograph.
Out in the lobby we finally got to hook up with the Fairy Godmother and our experience at the GF was over.
Overall, I would love to stay there someday, but I don't know about with the kids. I know that one friend from the resort board transfered to the GF after a bad experience at the WL and loved it there, so I think a lot depends on the expectations you go in with.
We left the GF for the hotel where we were scheduled to meet the sitter at 8:00. It was still raining, pouring as a matter of fact, and the thunder and lightening had started up.
The sitter arrived right on time and she was nice, the kids seemed to like her. We gave them time to get adjusted then headed downstairs. We stopped at the concierge desk to buy eride tickets only to find out that regular hours for the MK had been extended until 11 pm and that eride night was from 11-2am. No way could we say up that late! Plus it was still pouring and the electrical storm was still pounding away. We walked around the lobby of the Poly and went up to the lounge for a drink. (Chris got to try a virgin Pina Colada) We decided to head over to the MK for a while until closing since the rain looked to be letting up. We arrived to find the rain had finally stopped!! We got to ride lots of rides, inluding Space Mountain (my first time!) as there were virtually no lines. We got to see Wishes standing right next to the castle, it is an incredible show. We shopped a little and rode Pirates again before heading home at 11:30 to release the sitter.
Now it may seem like we are pawning our kids off on sitters a lot, but it was mostly the baby I worried about. We kept her slatered in sunblock, but she very fair skinned with red hair and not used to the Florida sun and heat, plus it gave the kids time to rest when we didn't need it so much. The only problem with a sitter is you really should plan for one in advance and you never know when your plans will change. For example, the night when our fireworks cruise was cancelled. We really could have done without a sitter that night, but we were past our time to cancel when we figured that out.
Day 5
My original "plan" (which was all shot to hell at this point anyway) was that we would do a water park today, kind of a break from the parks. I reserved a sitter for the baby so we wouldn't have to torture her by dragging her through the water slides etc. Surprise, surprise, the kids didn't want to go to a water park. There were too many other things we hadn't done yet.
Shelby wanted to go back to AK, DH wanted to go back to AK. Chris wanted to go to MGM, I wanted to go to AK and Zack wanted to go on the volcano slide. We decided on AK since we were planning on going to MGM the next day.
Our sitter (Jo) was late today, the only time all week. After getting Zoe settled in for the day, we headed for AK. We did all the shows we hadn't seen the day before. We spent a lot of time looking at the Tree of Life. We went on all the trails and saw all the animals we had missed the day before. It was a very nice day. We saw Mickey finally and Minnie. All was good.
We had to be back to the hotel at 1:30, so we went back and released Jo. We swam and hung out until the rain started again. We decided to use some more of our vouchers and get a look at another resort, so we headed over to the MK and took a bus to the Beach Club where we had dinner at Beaches and Cream.
The Beach/Yacht Club resort is beautiful. We hadn't even made it to the pool yet and the kids announced they wanted to stay here next trip. The they saw SAB and they were amazed. Our next trip will definitely be a split stay between the Poly and BC.
We used three Q&C vouchers for the five of us at dinner and had more than enough to eat. Our waitress showed us how to split our meals and get the most out of our vouchers. She even gave the kids free drinks! I had the best chocolate cake ever for dessert. We watched three different tables eat a Kitchen Sink. It was lots of fun and the food was good for what it was, burgers and fries.
It poured the whole time we were there, I mean POURED. It rained so hard the roof started leaking at the front of the restaurant. But, by the time we finished it quit! We strolled along the Boardwalk heading for Epcot to watch Illuminations. We did a little shopping. We got t-shirts and Shelby got a charm bracelet. I bought the soundtrack for Wishes. It was a very pleasant, relaxing evening.
Once at Epcot we picked a spot near France to sit and watch Illuminations. We were about 30 minutes early, so Chris and I went to France to shop a little. We took silly pictures and bonded a little one on one. We met lots of great people while waiting for Illuminations.
The show was amazing and our exit was not stressful at all!
My original "plan" (which was all shot to hell at this point anyway) was that we would do a water park today, kind of a break from the parks. I reserved a sitter for the baby so we wouldn't have to torture her by dragging her through the water slides etc. Surprise, surprise, the kids didn't want to go to a water park. There were too many other things we hadn't done yet.
Shelby wanted to go back to AK, DH wanted to go back to AK. Chris wanted to go to MGM, I wanted to go to AK and Zack wanted to go on the volcano slide. We decided on AK since we were planning on going to MGM the next day.
Our sitter (Jo) was late today, the only time all week. After getting Zoe settled in for the day, we headed for AK. We did all the shows we hadn't seen the day before. We spent a lot of time looking at the Tree of Life. We went on all the trails and saw all the animals we had missed the day before. It was a very nice day. We saw Mickey finally and Minnie. All was good.
We had to be back to the hotel at 1:30, so we went back and released Jo. We swam and hung out until the rain started again. We decided to use some more of our vouchers and get a look at another resort, so we headed over to the MK and took a bus to the Beach Club where we had dinner at Beaches and Cream.
The Beach/Yacht Club resort is beautiful. We hadn't even made it to the pool yet and the kids announced they wanted to stay here next trip. The they saw SAB and they were amazed. Our next trip will definitely be a split stay between the Poly and BC.
We used three Q&C vouchers for the five of us at dinner and had more than enough to eat. Our waitress showed us how to split our meals and get the most out of our vouchers. She even gave the kids free drinks! I had the best chocolate cake ever for dessert. We watched three different tables eat a Kitchen Sink. It was lots of fun and the food was good for what it was, burgers and fries.
It poured the whole time we were there, I mean POURED. It rained so hard the roof started leaking at the front of the restaurant. But, by the time we finished it quit! We strolled along the Boardwalk heading for Epcot to watch Illuminations. We did a little shopping. We got t-shirts and Shelby got a charm bracelet. I bought the soundtrack for Wishes. It was a very pleasant, relaxing evening.
Once at Epcot we picked a spot near France to sit and watch Illuminations. We were about 30 minutes early, so Chris and I went to France to shop a little. We took silly pictures and bonded a little one on one. We met lots of great people while waiting for Illuminations.
The show was amazing and our exit was not stressful at all!
Day 6--In my mind I figured we would be needing more rest time by now and that we would spend the day at the resort and then head to MGM in the evening. Wednesday morning came, however, and they wanted to go to MGM. (All but Zack, you can imagine by now what he wanted to do) We did all of MGM that day, with the exception of TOT and RNRC. We didn't even go back to that general area. It was like the ride didn't exist. No one mentioned it, no one casted a glance in that general direction. Bad vibes.
We FINALLY got to see Indiana Jones. It was closed down during our last trip and we had missed our fast pass time on the day when we all sat next to each other on benches at the TOT looking for each other. It was OK. Not what I expected, after all the hype and all the buildup, so many people say it's their favorite thing at MGM, it was not what I was expecting for some reason.
We had lunch at Pizza Planet, which the kids did not think was as cool as I thought they would think it was. We skipped Millionaire because we didn't think the youngsters would enjoy it.
We headed back to home base to relax and swim. We had dinner reservations at 'Ohana that night, but intended to cancel because we planned to go back for Fantasmic. It ended up raining so we decided to keep the 'Ohana reservation and pulled out our Hawaiian garb. I had gotten the girls matching blue Micky hawaiian dresses at the Disney Store. Won't that be cute, I thought, they will have Mickey luau dresses instead of regular hibiscus shirts like everyone else. Apparently everyone at the Poly the night, or at least 50%, had the same idea. They had on either that dress or the shirt that matched it.
Upon arrival, we waited in a HUGE line to check in. Apparently the luau was cancelled due to the rain, so everyone from the luau poured into 'Ohana. We waited a good while for a table. Luckily, they serve excellant drinks and my family had finally hit their stride. We were in "no worries" mode. Nothing was getting us down. Dinner was good. The kids didn't participate in any of the festivities, but they watched from a far and they LOVED the food. This would probably be a really fun place to go with a large group. As we were finished eating the pineapple and carmel (really, really, really good) the waitress brought a plate of steaming hot towels. She said these are hot towels FOR YOUR HANDS. She was serious. Chris said "What does she think we are going to do, eat them?" Which prompted DH to pretend to eat his, which prompted Zack and Shelby to burst out in hysterics. Everybody around us thought we were nuts. Oh well, no worries.
We FINALLY got to see Indiana Jones. It was closed down during our last trip and we had missed our fast pass time on the day when we all sat next to each other on benches at the TOT looking for each other. It was OK. Not what I expected, after all the hype and all the buildup, so many people say it's their favorite thing at MGM, it was not what I was expecting for some reason.
We had lunch at Pizza Planet, which the kids did not think was as cool as I thought they would think it was. We skipped Millionaire because we didn't think the youngsters would enjoy it.
We headed back to home base to relax and swim. We had dinner reservations at 'Ohana that night, but intended to cancel because we planned to go back for Fantasmic. It ended up raining so we decided to keep the 'Ohana reservation and pulled out our Hawaiian garb. I had gotten the girls matching blue Micky hawaiian dresses at the Disney Store. Won't that be cute, I thought, they will have Mickey luau dresses instead of regular hibiscus shirts like everyone else. Apparently everyone at the Poly the night, or at least 50%, had the same idea. They had on either that dress or the shirt that matched it.
Upon arrival, we waited in a HUGE line to check in. Apparently the luau was cancelled due to the rain, so everyone from the luau poured into 'Ohana. We waited a good while for a table. Luckily, they serve excellant drinks and my family had finally hit their stride. We were in "no worries" mode. Nothing was getting us down. Dinner was good. The kids didn't participate in any of the festivities, but they watched from a far and they LOVED the food. This would probably be a really fun place to go with a large group. As we were finished eating the pineapple and carmel (really, really, really good) the waitress brought a plate of steaming hot towels. She said these are hot towels FOR YOUR HANDS. She was serious. Chris said "What does she think we are going to do, eat them?" Which prompted DH to pretend to eat his, which prompted Zack and Shelby to burst out in hysterics. Everybody around us thought we were nuts. Oh well, no worries.
mareb66297
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2004
- Messages
- 168
keep it coming!!! i feel like i was there with you!!!! can't wait for more!!!!
Sorry this took me so long to finish. We went away and then had family in town for the week.
Day 7-- Like I said, we had hit our stride. Since this would be our last full day, the kids voted for going to the Magic Kingdom and then to see Fantasmic. We were up and out early. I actually made it to the lounge to get something to eat this morning! We enjoyed a nice morning at the MK and were actually getting to ride stuff despite the crowds. I finally got to rid Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!!! It was one of those rides I had always wanted to go on, but just never made it too. DH took the older three on the ride while I waited with Zoe. I noticed as I sat in the shade and people watched, that everyone was smiling that came off the ride, big wide, ear to ear smiles. Since we had fast-passes, we hardly waited at all before the it was my turn to go. Shelby decided to wait with her dad, so the boys went with me with a baby-swap.
We rode a lot that morning and also got to see Mickey's Philharmagic, which we loved. It was one of our favorite 3-D movies.
When it came time for lunch, the kids wanted to go to Casey's for hot dogs again. Remember how good that lunch tasted earlier in the week, I agreed. After lunch we were able to slip into the crowd and watch the afternoon parade, which was fun and mercifully short and sweet! It was hot and very muggy. We headed back to try Pirates of the Carib. again and the Jungle Cruise. Shelby desperately wanted to ride Alladin's Magic Carpet. I waited with Zoe, and just as they got on the ride, the rain started. Not too hard, but hard enough. We got out our ponchos and kept moving. We had fast passes for Space Mountain, so we headed there. The rain let up and we decided to ride on Buzz Lightyear first. Just as we came out it started POURING!!! I have never seen it rain like that! There was a huge lightening storm, and there we are in Tommorowland (forever known from this day on forward as Metal Land to my family) The storm was so bad, we were pressed up tight next to the doors for the Timekeeper waiting out the. It was so bad, that you couldn't see the castle and the rain on the walkways was up over my ankles!
We waited about an hour, talking to other guests and watching Cast members try to entertain people. The we decided the worst of the lightening was over so we headed back out. The line for Space Mountain was monsterous, so we were preparing to leave and there was Buzz Lightyear. Zack wanted his picture with Buzz so bad, we had to go wait in line. Had it not been for Buzz, we probably would have made it back to the monorail and remained relatively dry. The rain started again, just as we left Tomorrowland. We ran to Main Street, laughing the whole way. We wound our way through the stores, shopping a little bit, and then ran as fast as we could to the monorail, soaking wet and resolved to the fact that we were probably not going to get to see Fantasmic.
More to come, soon I promise!
Day 7-- Like I said, we had hit our stride. Since this would be our last full day, the kids voted for going to the Magic Kingdom and then to see Fantasmic. We were up and out early. I actually made it to the lounge to get something to eat this morning! We enjoyed a nice morning at the MK and were actually getting to ride stuff despite the crowds. I finally got to rid Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!!! It was one of those rides I had always wanted to go on, but just never made it too. DH took the older three on the ride while I waited with Zoe. I noticed as I sat in the shade and people watched, that everyone was smiling that came off the ride, big wide, ear to ear smiles. Since we had fast-passes, we hardly waited at all before the it was my turn to go. Shelby decided to wait with her dad, so the boys went with me with a baby-swap.
We rode a lot that morning and also got to see Mickey's Philharmagic, which we loved. It was one of our favorite 3-D movies.
When it came time for lunch, the kids wanted to go to Casey's for hot dogs again. Remember how good that lunch tasted earlier in the week, I agreed. After lunch we were able to slip into the crowd and watch the afternoon parade, which was fun and mercifully short and sweet! It was hot and very muggy. We headed back to try Pirates of the Carib. again and the Jungle Cruise. Shelby desperately wanted to ride Alladin's Magic Carpet. I waited with Zoe, and just as they got on the ride, the rain started. Not too hard, but hard enough. We got out our ponchos and kept moving. We had fast passes for Space Mountain, so we headed there. The rain let up and we decided to ride on Buzz Lightyear first. Just as we came out it started POURING!!! I have never seen it rain like that! There was a huge lightening storm, and there we are in Tommorowland (forever known from this day on forward as Metal Land to my family) The storm was so bad, we were pressed up tight next to the doors for the Timekeeper waiting out the. It was so bad, that you couldn't see the castle and the rain on the walkways was up over my ankles!
We waited about an hour, talking to other guests and watching Cast members try to entertain people. The we decided the worst of the lightening was over so we headed back out. The line for Space Mountain was monsterous, so we were preparing to leave and there was Buzz Lightyear. Zack wanted his picture with Buzz so bad, we had to go wait in line. Had it not been for Buzz, we probably would have made it back to the monorail and remained relatively dry. The rain started again, just as we left Tomorrowland. We ran to Main Street, laughing the whole way. We wound our way through the stores, shopping a little bit, and then ran as fast as we could to the monorail, soaking wet and resolved to the fact that we were probably not going to get to see Fantasmic.
More to come, soon I promise!
roberrl187
Avid Lurker
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2000
- Messages
- 945
Great report. I can't wait for more. Thanks. 
Day 7-the evening
Back in the room, we headed for the lounge since the dinner offerings were out. There were ribs and spring rolls, rice, that sort of thing, plus drinks and PB&J uncrustables. The lounge offerings are not a meal plan, however, on this particular evening, it was more than enough to fill us up.
After dinner DH hung out in the room watching Donald Duck cartoons with the kids and I headed over to the gift shops to get some souveniers to bring home. By the time I was done, the rain was over and the kids wanted to swim (imagine that).
The pool was not crowded at all until it was almost time for Wishes. The kids rode the volcano slide at least one hundred times and we sat in the shallow end and watched the fireworks for the last time (sniff, sniff)
Back in the room, we headed for the lounge since the dinner offerings were out. There were ribs and spring rolls, rice, that sort of thing, plus drinks and PB&J uncrustables. The lounge offerings are not a meal plan, however, on this particular evening, it was more than enough to fill us up.
After dinner DH hung out in the room watching Donald Duck cartoons with the kids and I headed over to the gift shops to get some souveniers to bring home. By the time I was done, the rain was over and the kids wanted to swim (imagine that).
The pool was not crowded at all until it was almost time for Wishes. The kids rode the volcano slide at least one hundred times and we sat in the shallow end and watched the fireworks for the last time (sniff, sniff)
Day 8--departure day 
(I bet you are all thinking "thank god this is over"
We all got up in the morning and had breakfast (together!!) in the lounge. We reviewed what we wanted to do since our limo wasn't coming until 2:00. DH and Chris still had not gotten to ride the Rock N Roller Coaster or Test Track and Shelby wanted to see more characters, Zack, you guessed it, he wanted to swim. DH and Chris decide to go to MGM and Epcot if they had time while Shelby, Zack, Zoe, and I head to MK.
We had been trying the whole trip to get to ride up front on the monorail, as it pulls up, no luck, it's full. It's the only thing (other than swim) that Zack has really wanted to do.
We arrive plenty early at MK, it isn't even open yet! (a first for us) We see tons of characters, including Ariel (so not worth the wait!!) too many to list here. There were a lot of characters from Pinochhio this trip, I don't remember seeing any last time. We ride the teacups again and do a little shopping, then it's back to the room.
We walk up to the monorail just as it arrives. We ask about riding up front, the front car is full, but they have room for one, so Zack gets his wish. On our very last departure from the Mk to the Poly, he gets to ride up front.
We meet up with DH and Chris. (We had requested and received a late check-out) He takes the kids swimming while I finish packing stuff up and get our bags taken up front. They had a great time at MGM, turns out it was Star Wars weekend again, and there were characters EVERYWHERE! They got to see the opening of the park with the Storm Troopers. They rode RNR twice and loved it, saw the Muppet 3-D show again (go figure), rode Star Tours and had lunch. It seems to me like they had the better plan than waiting in line over half and hour to meet a "mermaid".
It was during their last swim that we had our only unfortunate experience. Shelby got turned around on the slide and slammed her head against the side of it. DH took her over, crying her eyes out, to get her a towel. The towels are in the little hut where they do hair wrapping. The woman in the hut wouldn't give him a towel because he didn't have a room key with him. He explained the situation, that she had hit her head and she was crying about having water in her eyes and that the room key was on the table clear at the other end of the pool. She asked him what room he was in, he said "Hawaii" and told her the room number. She says, we have no building named Hawaii and tells him to leave before she calls security!! Well, he just brought her back to the room and we took care of it, not really a big deal but kind of uncool. I understand that they are trying to cut down on people using the pool from other resorts that shouldn't be, but there are exceptions, especially when a child is hurt.
We were on our way out of the building and who stops us, but the manager of the Poly, asks us about our stay etc. DH tells him about the "towel natzi". He said he was going to take care of it right away and apologized.
We were out front by 1:45 and our limo was right on time at 2:00. This was really much too early for our 5:45 departure, but I guess better too early than too late, but that's a really long time to sit in the airport with four kids.
(I bet you are all thinking "thank god this is over"
We all got up in the morning and had breakfast (together!!) in the lounge. We reviewed what we wanted to do since our limo wasn't coming until 2:00. DH and Chris still had not gotten to ride the Rock N Roller Coaster or Test Track and Shelby wanted to see more characters, Zack, you guessed it, he wanted to swim. DH and Chris decide to go to MGM and Epcot if they had time while Shelby, Zack, Zoe, and I head to MK.
We had been trying the whole trip to get to ride up front on the monorail, as it pulls up, no luck, it's full. It's the only thing (other than swim) that Zack has really wanted to do.
We arrive plenty early at MK, it isn't even open yet! (a first for us) We see tons of characters, including Ariel (so not worth the wait!!) too many to list here. There were a lot of characters from Pinochhio this trip, I don't remember seeing any last time. We ride the teacups again and do a little shopping, then it's back to the room.
We walk up to the monorail just as it arrives. We ask about riding up front, the front car is full, but they have room for one, so Zack gets his wish. On our very last departure from the Mk to the Poly, he gets to ride up front.
We meet up with DH and Chris. (We had requested and received a late check-out) He takes the kids swimming while I finish packing stuff up and get our bags taken up front. They had a great time at MGM, turns out it was Star Wars weekend again, and there were characters EVERYWHERE! They got to see the opening of the park with the Storm Troopers. They rode RNR twice and loved it, saw the Muppet 3-D show again (go figure), rode Star Tours and had lunch. It seems to me like they had the better plan than waiting in line over half and hour to meet a "mermaid".
It was during their last swim that we had our only unfortunate experience. Shelby got turned around on the slide and slammed her head against the side of it. DH took her over, crying her eyes out, to get her a towel. The towels are in the little hut where they do hair wrapping. The woman in the hut wouldn't give him a towel because he didn't have a room key with him. He explained the situation, that she had hit her head and she was crying about having water in her eyes and that the room key was on the table clear at the other end of the pool. She asked him what room he was in, he said "Hawaii" and told her the room number. She says, we have no building named Hawaii and tells him to leave before she calls security!! Well, he just brought her back to the room and we took care of it, not really a big deal but kind of uncool. I understand that they are trying to cut down on people using the pool from other resorts that shouldn't be, but there are exceptions, especially when a child is hurt.
We were on our way out of the building and who stops us, but the manager of the Poly, asks us about our stay etc. DH tells him about the "towel natzi". He said he was going to take care of it right away and apologized.
We were out front by 1:45 and our limo was right on time at 2:00. This was really much too early for our 5:45 departure, but I guess better too early than too late, but that's a really long time to sit in the airport with four kids.
Wrap up
Things we loved:
Staying concierge--worth every penny
The Polynesian--very laid back and friendly. I loved the ease of being on the monorail and zipping around at will. Thanks to these boards, though, I kept hearing in the back of my mind "it's a story, of a man named Brady..." It is a little '70s looking.
CRT--we had an early ps, made by the concierge. We didn't wait at all. I don't know if having the concierge make your PS for you makes a difference in how long you wait, but it seemed to us like it did. We had excellant Princess interaction and good food.
'OHana--really good food and fun!
Vouchers--we saved a bundle at RFC at AK and B&C. Everywhere else we pretty much broke even.
Yacht and Beach Club-- It is beautiful and SAB looks amazing. I loved being able to stroll along the boardwalk to Epcot.
Springing for the limo--it started the whole week off right
Watching Disney cartoons in bed at night--even though we saw the same ones over and over, we loved them!
Things we loved:
Staying concierge--worth every penny
The Polynesian--very laid back and friendly. I loved the ease of being on the monorail and zipping around at will. Thanks to these boards, though, I kept hearing in the back of my mind "it's a story, of a man named Brady..." It is a little '70s looking.
CRT--we had an early ps, made by the concierge. We didn't wait at all. I don't know if having the concierge make your PS for you makes a difference in how long you wait, but it seemed to us like it did. We had excellant Princess interaction and good food.
'OHana--really good food and fun!
Vouchers--we saved a bundle at RFC at AK and B&C. Everywhere else we pretty much broke even.
Yacht and Beach Club-- It is beautiful and SAB looks amazing. I loved being able to stroll along the boardwalk to Epcot.
Springing for the limo--it started the whole week off right
Watching Disney cartoons in bed at night--even though we saw the same ones over and over, we loved them!
luckywife
<font color=darkcoral>Really believed in the 10:00
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2004
- Messages
- 20,148
Great trip report, Goodferry! 
I really enjoyed learning more about you and your family. So glad you all had a good time at Poly CL. When we stayed there in May/June, it was our first trip to that resort and first time for CL. You hit it right on...Concierge is worth every penny and then some. Thanks for sharing your vaction adventure!
I really enjoyed learning more about you and your family. So glad you all had a good time at Poly CL. When we stayed there in May/June, it was our first trip to that resort and first time for CL. You hit it right on...Concierge is worth every penny and then some. Thanks for sharing your vaction adventure!Things we didn't love so much:
Dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Faire--the food was just OK, and I kept getting the impression that they were trying to get rid of us. We did get to meet Prince Charming, though (we all know THAT doesn't happen every day)
Loosing each other at the TOT--lesson learned. Make sure you know your spouses cell phone number.
Rain--it seemed to rain a lot while we were there. Keep that in mind if traveling during the rainy season and when planning when to go. It wasn't the type of Florida rain I remembered either, it was major electrical storms that lasted quite a while.
Babysitters--although all the sitters we had were great and the kids loved them, it crimped our style a little bit. We would be in the middle of something and then would have to rush back to the resort to meet the sitter, or we would have to leave the parks because it was time to pick up the baby from the sitter. Only one of them was late and that wasn't by much, I would say it would be ok for a date night with DH, or if you were going to La Nouba.
Towel Natzi--enough said.
Dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Faire--the food was just OK, and I kept getting the impression that they were trying to get rid of us. We did get to meet Prince Charming, though (we all know THAT doesn't happen every day)
Loosing each other at the TOT--lesson learned. Make sure you know your spouses cell phone number.
Rain--it seemed to rain a lot while we were there. Keep that in mind if traveling during the rainy season and when planning when to go. It wasn't the type of Florida rain I remembered either, it was major electrical storms that lasted quite a while.
Babysitters--although all the sitters we had were great and the kids loved them, it crimped our style a little bit. We would be in the middle of something and then would have to rush back to the resort to meet the sitter, or we would have to leave the parks because it was time to pick up the baby from the sitter. Only one of them was late and that wasn't by much, I would say it would be ok for a date night with DH, or if you were going to La Nouba.
Towel Natzi--enough said.
Shelby5514
<font color=87005b>John Taylor is my guilty pleasu
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2002
- Messages
- 3,024
Great trip report...deserves to be bumped up!
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