Newsies' Quest for the Unicorn Pinata - A Julaugust TR - FINISHED 9/21!

[Newsies]

"If you are interested in stories with happy endings... you have come to the right place.

In this story, there is not only a happy ending, there is also a happy beginning.

And many happy things in the middle.

... and it is my solemn duty to bring to light this story."

You guessed it! Welcome to my latest adventure:

My name is Kaitlyn and I'm here to bring to life the tale of my latest adventure. This adventure will include the following things:

A week full of rain,
A magical upgrade,
A sweet sixteen,
A sad goodbye to a favorite ride,
A trip to a brand new land I've never seen,
A plot twist I could have never dreamed of,
A never-ending abundance of unnecessary photographs,
A lot of pixie dust thanks to some truly amazing CMS,
and, of course...
A unicorn piñata that I fell in love with!

If you have followed me here on the DISboards before, you know that this is my 4th TR adventure. I'm not the BEST at finishing them, but this trip was truly special and you'll see how it was vastly different than the others. I was looking forward to writing this TR well before our trip was over and I really hope you all are going to enjoy reading it as much as I'm going to enjoy writing it!

If you have NOT followed me here on the DISboards before, then some introductions are, of course, in order

First I'd like to introduce the trip: My family and I stayed at the Polynesian Village Resort from July 30-August 5, 2017. We had originally booked a standard room, but... well, you'll see that we didn't exactly get what we booked! This trip, we utilized the Disney Dining Plan and bought Memory Maker in advance, both of those things we found to be valuable assets on the trip and I'll talk about how they enhanced our stay along the way.

Any non-memory maker photos you see on this report were taken by myself on either an iPhone or a Canon EOS Rebel t5.

Now we can introduce the cast of characters!

First, I'd like you to meet my mom and dad.

That goofy guy on the left is my father, Tom. Tom is a full-time municipal officer and a part-time volunteer firefighter. He loves Main Street USA, Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, and watching the fireworks at night. He's our captain, who does most of the driving and all of the coordinating whenever we go anywhere. Don't bother standing next to him, if he likes your shirt he'll strike up a 25 minute conversation about where you're from and how you like WDW. He's a pretty easy-going and funny guy, and his dream is to be the next Chief Smokey Miller of Main Street, USA. I keep trying to tell him that there's only ONE Chief Miller, but he's never going to listen to me.

MagicBand Color/Name: Blue/"Chief"
Favorite Disney movie: Toy Story
Favorite Disney character: Mr. Potato Head
Favorite resort: Polynesian Village
Favorite restaurant: 'Ohana
Favorite ride: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Favorite souvenir: Pins
Favorite snack: Mickey Rice Krispie Treat

That gorgeous gal on the right is my mom, Susie. Susie is in the real estate line of business who just celebrated her 25th year at her company! She LOVES Winnie the Pooh- he's her favorite character. She's always loved Walt Disney World and used to go twice a year when she was younger. Her style of touring is very laid back- pool during the day, tour the parks during the night. She uses these vacations to really relax, and she deserves it. My mother is the most selfless, giving, caring, and loving woman in the world. She is my rock and I'm so happy she enjoyed this trip as much as she did.

MagicBand Color/Name: Blue/"Susie"
Favorite Disney movie: Dumbo
Favorite Disney character: Winnie the Pooh
Favorite resort: Grand Floridian
Favorite restaurant: Crystal Palace
Favorite ride: Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Favorite souvenir: Alex and Ani bracelets
Favorite snack: Dole Whip

At the start of my PTR, I mentioned that these two had been toying around with the idea of buying into the DVC for a long while now, and that every trip edged them further and further to it. Did they finally buy into it this trip? You'll have to read and see!

Anyway, I mentioned there was somebody celebrating a sweet sixteen in the mix, and here she is:

This is Grace, my 16-year-old-but-still-a-little-kid sister. Her ACTUAL birthday was July 11, but we go in the summer and always end up celebrating it there. She's a school yearbook editor who's into photography (even though I jacked her camera for the entire duration of this trip!). She's just as goofy and obsessed with Disney as I am, and we can't go 5 minutes without texting each other another joke or meme. We both love Riverdale and share the same opinion on Happily Ever After. She is the ultimate lost boy, and owns a ton of Peter Pan merchandise! We had a great time together this trip and there was tons of birthday magic in the mix for her.

MagicBand Color/Name: Purple/"Rapunzel"
Favorite Disney movie: Peter Pan
Favorite Disney character: Peter Pan
Favorite resort: Polynesian Village
Favorite restaurant: Be Our Guest
Favorite ride: Frozen Ever After
Favorite souvenir: Ears
Favorite snack: Dole Whip

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand finally, you've reached your author. My name is Kaitlyn.

I'm a 20-year-old incoming college junior at Pace University studying communications. I'm a proud sister of the grΣΔΤest sorority ever and somebody who loves to write! I'm obsessed with three things: Cole Sprouse, sweet tea, and LuLaRoe (this is SO off topic, but I was so jealous of all the amazing Disney LuLa I saw this trip! All of my Disney LuLa happen to be leggings, so I decided to forgo them this trip). I'm always looking out for new, trendy souvenirs at the park and I used at least one snack credit every day on a good iced latte from Starbucks-- it always tastes better on Main Street USA! So far I've only been to Walt Disney World, but I have plans to visit Disneyland Resort in January and there's a PTR link for that in my signature and in an upcoming post!

My journey as a Disney fan really took off when I joined the DIS in 2013. I've been on 4 Disney trips since I started here, and being able to write TRs and PTRs in tandem with them has truly been one of my favorite adventures ever. I love Walt Disney World SO MUCH that I decided to work there last year, and I'm proud to call myself an alumn of the Fall 2016 Walt Disney World College Program. I was a Fantasyland attractions hostess and it was truly an experience that I look back on and feel grateful for every day.

MagicBand Color/Name: Orange/"Sassy"
Favorite Disney movie: Newsies
Favorite Disney character: Tinker Bell
Favorite resort: Polynesian Village
Favorite restaurant: 'Ohana
Favorite ride: it's a small world
Favorite souvenir: Whatever's new at the time!
Favorite snack: Mickey Rice Krispie Treat

This trip was so special for so many reasons. Returning to my favorite place on earth and seeing things through the lens of a former CM was so interesting and so much fun! We had a lot of pixie dust come our way and I really hope you stick around to read about it.

Okay, I'm done rambling! The story begins here, so away we go!

Click HERE to begin!

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[Newsies]

Table of Contents

Travel Day
July 28-29
The Busy Beginning

Day 1
July 30
The Ultimate Upgrade
The Rainy Reunion
The First Feast

Day 2
July 31
The Certain Celebrashun
The Grand Getaway
The Special Springs
The Embarrassing Evening

Day 3
August 1
The Beautiful Brunch
The Affordable Afternoon
The Tremendous Toothsome
The Exciting Evening

Day 4
August 2
The Frozen Fun
The Serene Showcase
Real Life Update: Carrying the Banner!
The Perfect Piñata
The Crazy Crowds

Day 5
August 3
The Great Goodbye
The Noteworthy News
The Lackluster Luau

Day 6
August 4
The Momentous Morning
The Horrible Heat
The Priceless Purchase

Days 7 & 8
August 5 & 6
The Exhausting Evening
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The Culminating Conclusion​

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[Newsies]

Other Reads

If you have the time, or I'm taking too long to update and want to read more, I would love for you to check out my completed PTR/TR adventures! Of course I have the PTR for this trip in case you want some background, and I have an ongoing PTR for my upcoming DLR trip.
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Julaugust 2017 PTR:
Looks like the POLY is our Laughin' Place! - An Aug 2017 PTR

January 2018 - Ongoing
My first Disneyland PTR: Make a Wish and Hold on Tight - My First Disneyland PTR!

July 2014
My first PTR: So whatever happens, let's begin.
My first TR: "You're definitely feeling and not concealing!"

August 2015
My second PTR: I'll Call Steve: A Wilderprincess PTR!
My second TR: Naveen Ain't Playin: My Glitteriest, Princessiest TR Ever!

January 2017
My third PTR: Is it WEIRD to Make a PTR for a 3-Day Long Trip?
My third TR: Polynesian Tiki God Says... Magical Bora-Bora Bungalow Upgrade?!?

 

[xlsm]

Here, subscribed, and will be back to read later!!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Following along!! Getting ready to start my TR too from the same week (only August 1-3 though)!

Also, I have to tell you that I FOR REAL thought I saw you one day. It definitely wasn't because it was in the airport on August 1, but the girl had the same Marie backpack you posted about in your PTR! I even snapped a picture of it!

 

[luckylady]

I'm in. Just going to pop some corn and wait until you post more.

 

[FrozenOne16]

Joining in! Sounds great so far!

 

[Mollydolly334]

YESSSS I'M HERE!!! So excited to read about your adventures my dear!!!

 

[Newsies]

Here, subscribed, and will be back to read later!!

Thank you so much! So happy to have you here!!

Following along!! Getting ready to start my TR too from the same week (only August 1-3 though)!

Also, I have to tell you that I FOR REAL thought I saw you one day. It definitely wasn't because it was in the airport on August 1, but the girl had the same Marie backpack you posted about in your PTR! I even snapped a picture of it!

So happy to have you here!

THAT'S CRAZY. I wish my mom flew, I would love to travel to the World via airplane! It wasn't me this time, but hopefully our paths will cross in Orlando some other time!

I'm in. Just going to pop some corn and wait until you post more.

Thanks for joining along! I'll try to have our travel day update up soon!

Joining in! Sounds great so far!

Thank you so, so much!

YESSSS I'M HERE!!! So excited to read about your adventures my dear!!!

YAY YAY YAY! So so happy to see you here!!!

 

[Glam]

Following... your TRs are great, and I'll be at the Poly in 3 weeks so looking forward to recent observations/WDW experiences

 

[Newsies]

Following... your TRs are great, and I'll be at the Poly in 3 weeks so looking forward to recent observations/WDW experiences

Thank you so much for your kind words! I'll definitely be as detailed as possible for you!

 

[Newsies]

The Busy Beginning
July 28-29 2017
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So fair warning, this TR is starting off with a text-heavy update. A lot happened in the span of ~36 hours and I don't have a lot to show for it. Sorry! I PROMISE that the next ones will be better, so let's just get this one out of the way real quick.

I can say in all honesty that the day our story begins, Friday July 28 2017, was the craziest whirlwind day of my life. The day started as it usually does for me at 6:30 in the morning. I’m a camp counselor, and it was the last day of camp, so I put on my uniform, grabbed some Dunkin’ and went to camp. Camp runs from 8:30-1:00. It was a bittersweet day for me. I really loved all of my campers and didn’t want to say goodbye to them! I worked with the kindergarten and first grade girls, and they were all incredibly sweet and so, so cute.

I got home at 1:15 and as soon as I got home, I had to change out of my uniform so we could check our dog, Roxie, into Best Friends for the week. She usually doesn’t want to go, but she ran right into the room with the pet sitter this time, which was a relief.

Dad drove us back and I noticed there was a cute little note with the address of the Polynesian on the dashboard of the car. “It’s already loaded in the GPS, all I gotta do is hit go”, he said.

I had lunch and then mom and Grace went to their 2:30 nail appointment. Mine was at four. I had to change the water in my fish’s tank, pack my toiletries, and have a light lunch before dad drove me over there.

I got to the nail salon and it turns out that mom and Grace were… still in progress? It was a small salon, so there was only one woman working on all three of us at the same time. She was very kind and I really enjoyed the final product, but we were there until 6:00. It was… bizarre. Although she did hook me up with a spur-of-the-moment eyebrow appointment in between doing my manicure and Grace’s pedicure, so that was cool too! I accidentally deleted the photos of my nails from my phone, but they were a really pretty pink Essie polish with a glittery topcoat. I’m sure they’ll pop up in photos again soon! They held up for a really long time without chipping.

We grabbed some slices of pizza for dinner. There’s a pizzeria that makes a white pie with potatoes and onions on top and it’s amazing. I barely had time to sit down and eat it before mom, Grace and I did a run to CVS. We got snacks, tissues, wet wipes, and some water for the car ride. When I got home, I decided that I was in fact tired and if I wanted to watch Lilo and Stitch before leaving, I would probably need a nap. So I changed into some pajamas, climbed under the covers…

… and got a text from my friends Shaun and Jason asking me if I wanted to go get “rolled ice cream” in the neighboring town with them.

And I said yes because I hadn’t seen Jason in like almost a year so I got dressed again and we went and got rolled ice cream. Confession time- THEY got rolled ice cream, I just got some Starbucks because I had been tipped in Starbucks gift cards that day from camper parents. I got home from that endeavor at around 10:00 and was shocked to see that mom was still awake. She couldn’t sleep! We were supposed to leave at 1:00 in the morning, but I still wanted a little nap, so I opened my laptop and wrote my conclusion for my PTR.

15 minutes in, we start to think that dad is awake upstairs because we definitely hear him coughing and walking around. But we’re supposed to leave at 1:00 in the morning, so I’m not concerned at that point...

20 minutes in, Grace comes downstairs and we all watch the middle together...

A few minutes after that, with an accidental keystroke I accidentally DELETE the entire conclusion I had been writing and had to start all over.

Suddenly it’s 10:45, I’m in the middle of trying to rewrite it, we all hear dad’s voice upstairs: “Alright, I can't sleep. Let's go, folks.”

​

I PANICKED because I wasn’t even done posting and I still needed to pull together the bag with my laptop, chargers, and such. I finish it up as quickly as I can, pull the bag together.

Finally, at 11:19 in the evening, we said “good trip” to each other and started the drive to Florida!

Our first stop, as it always is, was the 24-hour Dunkin’ Donuts in our town. I grabbed an iced sweet tea and we started the actual drive.

I really don’t remember much from the first 6 or 7 hours of the trip. I slept like a rock throughout most of Jersey, DC, and Maryland. We stopped at 8:00 in Virginia for breakfast at Denny’s. We waited a long time for cold pancakes, but I was so tired that I really didn’t care. This was honestly the fastest travel day ever, and probably because I slept for literally I think 70% of it. I usually only sleep for 30 minutes at a time, but I was sleeping for hours at a time this trip. At 1:00, we stopped for lunch at Zaxby’s. I got a chicken sandwich with fries, texas toast, and sweet tea. It was glorious. And it put me right back to sleep.

I was going in and out of sleep until we got to Georgia, and I was awake for most of Georgia until we arrived in Kingsland, where we stopped for the evening! We had a reservation for the Kingsland Fairfield Inn and Suites, which is a really, really nice little motel. I seriously recommend it if you need a place to stay in Georgia on your drive down to WDW—it’s incredibly clean, new, and only about 5 minutes away from the Florida state line.

We had a very lowkey evening at the hotel. Dad and I went out and got Krystal for everyone for dinner. I hopped in the shower and when I stepped back into the room at 7:30, everyone was already asleep. So I wrote this update and went to sleep myself at around 8:15, because I’m a loser and I wanted it to be Disney day already!

(Click here to continue!)​

 

[PlutosRHM55]

JOINING IN! (of course.)

Lol I'm dying about how I 100% agree with some of these assessments of your family and how a good portion of this TR (including the origin of the title) already has been spoiled for me hahaha What a crazy first day you had! I'm shocked you even pulled yourself for rolled ice cream. Granted rolled ice cream is pretty cool, but even I need my sleep now before Disney. Still proud of you for getting a final post in, even if it wasn't the one you wanted, but omg you converted your family in the worst way.

Looking forward to hearing all the nitty-gritty deets!

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Joining in!

 

[Newsies]

JOINING IN! (of course.)

Lol I'm dying about how I 100% agree with some of these assessments of your family and how a good portion of this TR (including the origin of the title) already has been spoiled for me hahaha What a crazy first day you had! I'm shocked you even pulled yourself for rolled ice cream. Granted rolled ice cream is pretty cool, but even I need my sleep now before Disney. Still proud of you for getting a final post in, even if it wasn't the one you wanted, but omg you converted your family in the worst way.

Looking forward to hearing all the nitty-gritty deets!

BAEEEEEEE WELCOME ABOARD

I know, I know, you know everything about everything when it comes to me and this TR is not gonna have any fun surprises for you, but I'm so happy to have you here. And LMAO that was a wild night and I was falling asleep in the line for the ice cream which I did KNOT even consume.

Thank you bae, next update coming up!

Joining in!

YAY YAY YAY! SO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU HERE!!

 

[absolutmey]

can't wait! Love your TRs.

 

[Newsies]

The Ultimate Upgrade
July 30​

We woke up and it was FINALLY DISNEY DAY! We quickly got dressed, threw our things into the back of the truck, and then grabbed breakfast downstairs. They had a small, cute little spread so I grabbed a half-decent bagel and a surprisingly really good cup of coffee. Then we were back on the road! I was really disappointed because it had been raining the day before and was still raining, and who wants a rainy first day at Disney? But I got over it as soon as we crossed the border.

It was 7 AM so the welcome center wasn’t open, but that didn’t stop us from taking some pictures.

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We drove entirely without stopping until we were about 20 minutes away from Orlando. I was impressed. Then we went to the bathroom at the last rest stop before the Orlando area and put on our Magic Bands and it was the home stretch!

We were very, VERY lucky this trip because we had virtually no traffic at all on the way down until we reached Orlando, and even then, it was NOTHING compared to what we’ve dealt with in the past.

We were home underneath the Disney arch so soon! I think we clocked in at 10:50, which was perfect timing for us. Here’s our rainy, rainy view of the arch:

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We followed a Transtar bus into the Poly, which harkened back memories of my CP and I almost cried a little. We had a bellhop grab our bags, dad parked the car, and mom, Grace, and I went into the lobby to check-in.

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We approached the desk and a very lovely woman named Katie was waiting for us.

“We’re celebrating my daughter’s sixteenth birthday, is there any possible way we could get an upgrade?” My mom asked. I cringed hard when she asked because you’re not supposed to ask for an upgrade, it’s supposed to be random pixie dust and let’s be real, we’ve already been upgraded quite a bit in the past.

“We’re pretty full, but I’ll check!” Katie said, which floored me. I really didn’t think mom’s plea would work, but Katie was incredibly kind! She made a quick phone call, then leaned into us with a map of the resort in one hand and a sharpie in the other hand.

“So, I got you guys an upgrade.” She smiled and circled the HAWAII building.

For those of you who don’t know the Poly, the Hawaii building is home to the King Kamehameha Club, which is the Concierge/Club Level building of the Poly!

I was honored and immediately started thanking her. A few other managers came along and were talking to my dad while he hung back and mom and I finished checking in. Katie grabbed a concierge CM to escort us to Hawaii so that we could finish checking in there, and as soon as we stepped away from the desk I tweeted @WDWNT to let them know how much I appreciated Katie.

Here’s the exterior of Hawaii and the King Kamehameha Club!

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We had to do some check-in procedures in the concierge, and they explained everything we needed to know about the club—what times different meals would be served in the lounge, what number to call if we needed concierge services, etc.

When we were done checking in, we decided to head to Captain Cooks. Our room wasn’t ready yet, and we didn’t know when it would be. I typically would have just headed to the parks, but I was carrying a few bags of things that I didn’t want to leave on the luggage cart. Anyway, we needed to grab our refillable mugs and we needed some lunch in our systems! I grabbed the purple mug, Grace grabbed the pink one, mom grabbed the blue one and dad grabbed the red one. We all ordered flatbreads for lunch.

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I thought the flatbread was fine. I wasn’t too hungry and was looking forward to snacks being served in the club level soon. To drink, I filled my mug up with iced tea from the Golden Peak machine next to the soft drinks. NGL, I was disappointed that the only sweet iced tea they had was green tea, but it was OK. It definitely hit the spot at the time!

After Captain Cooks, we decided to go to Boutiki. Mom and I grabbed a pair of Fuel Rods, which saved my life on my college program but sadly went missing when I tried to pack them for this trip. We decided to head to the Club Lounge.

I didn’t take any photos of the “lunch spread” while we were there because I knew I would take better pictures when I had my Canon on me, but now I’m kind of kicking myself over it because that was the only time we got the lunchtime snacks. That had a very cute spread out for us- they had a few different cookies, some crackers, and the special potato chip/wonton mix they serve at the QS locations.

There were a few coolers of drinks at the front of the station, including iced tea (unsweet therefore untouched), soda, water, and… POG! MY LOVELY POG JUICE! I grabbed a cup of that with my snack plate and we sat down in an empty lounge.

The lounge was truly lovely, I’ll talk about it in later updates with pictures.

No sooner than we had finished our food did we receive a text that our room was ready! We were in room 1522, on the ground level of the building. We headed down there and here’s what our lovely room looked like:

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Having stayed at a regular room at the Poly last trip (Rarotonga), I did note some things about our room. While it was decorated mostly the same, and the bedroom was the same size, the bathroom sink counter was marginally larger. That left us with a lot more room to put our toiletries and such. Personally, I still don’t think Poly rooms are big enough for my family of 4 adults, but the extra sink space was something that we didn’t get in a standard building.

(PS: The H20+ products smelled really, really nice. Especially that sea salt

We called bell services and in a snap they were up with our bags. As soon as my park bag got up to the room, I headed out to my first park of the trip, Magic Kingdom!

(Click here to continue!)​

 

[Newsies]

can't wait! Love your TRs.

Aww, thank you so, so much!

 

[ALEXandFAB]

We're seriously considering staying at the Poly (renting points for a studio villa) for our next trip so I'm looking fwd to reading about your stay at the resort as well as the rest of your trip

 

[Newsies]

We're seriously considering staying at the Poly (renting points for a studio villa) for our next trip so I'm looking fwd to reading about your stay at the resort as well as the rest of your trip

Happy to have you here!

My family absolutely adores the Poly and we had a perfect experience with the resort this trip. There is simply no resort in WDW like it. Not only is it beautiful, but ALL of the CMs we encountered were truly kind and helpful. Rent the points and stay at the Poly, you won't regret it!