My oh my what a wonderful day!

[gzwick26]

We just finished a one week vacation 7/18-7/25 staying at the Polynesian. I received so much help from reading through these boards. I thought I'd share some of my experiences. Any questions, please ask.

Who went: My wife and I and our 4 daughters(ages 3,5,8,9).
My sister and brother in-law and there 2 children(ages 1 and 3)
My mom

First trip for me since I was 11(I'm 39 now).

We had the dinining plan and arrived at the Polynesian at approx.11 a.m.on Monday(7/18). We checked into our room in raratonga and settled in for a few minutes. We were very hungry so we ate lunch at Cook's Kitchen. I got a burger( good) and fries. When we were finished eating, we went on the momorail to the MK. We secured our spot for the parade and loved watching it. After the parade, we decided to go back and unpack everything. As we were unpacking, our Garden Grocer order arrived. We were able to put all of the groceries away also and got ready to go to dinner at Chef Mickey's. Chef Mickey's was good. The kids loved seeing the characters. Something interesting to me was when I saw someone in line trying to get in without having a reservation. The person at the desk said that there wasn't any availability. The man took a $20 bill out of his pocket and in about a minute there was availability for the family. I never thought the old $20 trick would work in Disney World. Anyway, we enjoyed the buffet and went back to the rooms(our rooms were connecting). Our vacation had begun!

 

[gzwick26]

On Tuesday, the plan was to Open Epcot. We were up early, had a bite to eat in the room and off we went. We were one of the first people in line. They let us into the park at around 8:40. My brother in law and I had the job of racing through the park to get fast passes to Soarin'. What an experience it was! Off to the races we went when the time came. There were cast members blocking us, arms straight out, as we headed toward soarin. Mobs of people behind us, to the right and left of us. What a rush and interesting experience. We were one of the first people there and got the fast passes for 9:45. We were able to use the fast passes and the other lines were very short. Soarin' for me was actually the ride that I enjoyed the least, but everyone else enjoyed it. We made it over to the countries for our 11:00 meal with the princesses(Akershus). The kids loved it and the food was fine. We went on a couple more rides and headed back to the Polynesian to relax. Some of the family enjoyed the pool while others rested in the rooms. We went back to Epcot at around 5:30 and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Coral Reef. I had a delicious steak and fantastic dessert(Baileys and Jack Daniel's Mousse). We enjoyed the evning at Epcot and returned back to the Poly. We had a wonderful day!

 

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[gzwick26]

Wed. was an early day as we had breakfast at 8:05 at Crystal Palace. We had the buffet and planned to get fast passes and open the park at 9 a.m. Unfortunately, there was a big tour group there and we still hadn't seen any characters at our table at 8:50. I ran ahead and got fast passes and the rest of the group waited for pictures and autographs. We met up a bit later and was amazed at the short lines and low crowds. We got to go on and see everything we wanted to rather quickly. We had a delicious lunch at the Columbia Harbor House and returned to the Polynesian during the afternoon for rest and swim time. We returned during the late afternoon and loved our dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. The meal was absolutely delicious. We made it out on time to get a good spot for the evening parade. It was wonderful. We returned to the Polynesian and decided to go to the beach to relax and see the fireworks. Unfortunately, you couldn't hear any of the music and the fireworks didn't seem very good. We didn't stay for the rest of them and went back to call it a night.

 

[gzwick26]

Thursday was our day to relax a bit. We used the pool, had lunch at Captain Cook's and enjoyed the hotel. We went to Downtown Disney at around 3 oclock and did some shopping. We had a good meal at Wolfgang Puck's and returned to the hotel in the evening. It was a great day to relax, refresh, and enjoy the Polynesian while doing some shopping too.

 

[gzwick26]

Friday was a day for Hollywood Studios. We got there early again and once again, my brother in law and I found ourselves racing for fast passes after the rope dropped. Everybody was going toward Toy Story Manina and we got our fast passes. It was unbelievable to be a part of. I survived a few elbos and pushes but made it. We enjoyed Hollywood Studios and again were able to accomplish everything we wanted to. We had a decent buffet lunch at Hollywood and Vine. It was a great break from the heat and the kids enjoyed the characters. We returned to the hotel for an evening swim.

 

[gzwick26]

We went to Epcot on Saturday and enjoyed a fantastic lunch at Le Cellier. The fiket mignon with mushroom risotto was fabulous. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the countries. We took pictures with some of the characters along the way and enjoyed the day at Epcot. We returned late in the evening.

 

[gzwick26]

We were at the MK for rope drop on our last day. We loved seeing the opening of the MK and once again used the fast passes to help us go on the rides without having long waits. We at at Cosmic Ray's and stayed the whole day. We saw everything we wanted to and went on rides. We enjoyed the fireworks at 10:00 and enjoyed the evening. We finished up with some shopping before returning to the Polynesian at around 12:30.

 

[gzwick26]

We had a great trip and loved the Magical Express and Polynesian. I hope that this review helped someone. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions with anything,. I'll be glad to assist while everything's so fresh in my mind.

 

[gzwick26]

Anyone with any questions about our trip?