Newsies
Headlines don't sell papes.
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2013
- Messages
- 5,265
**UPDATE BEGINS HERE**
Alright you guys, let's get some real life stuff out of the way first!
I am, indeed, back in NYC for the semester. Moved in yesterday. Whoop-whoop!
(Peep those Disney-themed letters my big gave me last year!)
This leaves us with good news and bad news. Should we get the bad news out of the way first?
So the bad news is that it looks like I'm really going to hit the ground running on Wednesday when classes actually begin. Professors are beginning to email their syllabus and lesson plans, there are at least three major events coming up for my sorority this month (one of which I actually programmed as a g-board chair holder), Broadway tickets are being purchased, and I'm not even going to be around from the 13-17. Tuesday is my worst day this semester with 3 classes (2 of which are 3-hour lectures), but I only have one class Thursday and no Friday classes.
Obviously, this is where things go downhill for the TR
. However, I do have quite a bit of free time between today and Wednesday, and I'm projected to finish writing the TR today. 
I have about 3 updates left to write, not including the conclusion, so there are about 5 updates left to post for you guys! Here's the rest of my Hollywood Studios day!
I went back to the room, quickly put on my bathing suit, then joined my family at the “quiet” Poly pool for an hour or two. It was so nice to relax in the pool for a bit on the tail end of a long vacation.
When we got out, I took my shower first, then got dressed and went to the collect our tickets for tonight’s dinner: The Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show!
By the time I had gotten back to the room, everyone else was pretty much ready in about 15 minutes. Then we headed off to the Great Ceremonial House so that we could get to Luau Cove!
This was my most anticipated experience of the trip, but the weather that night was… concerning. The clouds were getting darker and darker and I knew the sky was going to open up any minute, and I was getting really worried that our show might get cancelled. We arrived alongside the crowd at 5:00 for our show and almost as soon as we reached Luau Cove, the sky opened up. We ran to the verandah and waited to be brought to our seats!
I don’t know how many of you have ever gone through sorority recruitment, but the way you’re seated for Spirit of Aloha is definitely exactly the way that fomal recruitment works: All of the waiters were standing in a line and as you approached them with your party, the first one in line got out to show you to your seats. It’s so hard to describe but that’s the best way I can describe it.
We sat down and I was immediately irritated because it was still raining and it was really steamy underneath the seating area so my camera wasn’t cooperating. Our waiter brought out the appetizers first: these really nice coconut rolls, some pineapple, some mixed greens, and some cold noodles. I seem to remember everything being okay here, especially the rolls.
They weren’t out for long before we got our dinner.
My camera was now getting over it’s little hissy fit due to the rain!
There’s some mixed vegetables, some pulled pork, some rice, some ribs, and some roasted chicken. I remember the pulled pork being really good… and I don’t remember much else.
All of us were disappointed with the dinner. It was pretty mediocre. You can make the argument that you’re paying for the show and not the food, but Hoop-Dee-Doo had arguably MUCH better food than Spirit of Aloha. I was honestly surprised.
Dessert was pretty good, so it did end on a positive note. They had this really nice vanilla cake with a guava filling and chocolate crunchies on top of vanilla icing. It was a little too small for our table and our waiter immediately offered to bring more out, but we had kind of had enough of the food here. I was actually expecting the volcano mousse dessert and didn’t realize they had changed it, but I loved the cake! “Guava” was the name of the game for me this trip, it seems to be in EVERY dessert at the Poly, and I wasn’t mad at it.
The coffee was also very good, and I really enjoyed sipping on it throughout the show!
Speaking of the show, let’s talk about the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show!
Spirit of Aloha is split up into two halves. The first half sets up a pretty basic, easy-to-follow albeit forgettable plot. Some hula student is going to the mainland and her auntie is throwing her a luau to celebrate. There’s a wacky, eccentric duo composed of a boy and a girl and the boy falls in love with her or something, and they’re all planning this luau for this really pretty hula dancer. It’s peppered with songs from Elvis Presley, 9/10 of them are featured in Lilo and Stitch. The second half is what you’re really here for: it’s the portion of the show that includes performances of authentic dances from Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand and Hawaii.
So what did we think of it?
The first half is bad. Like, really bad. Like, mom-and-dad-are-roasting-me-in-the-family-group-chat-while-the-show-is-happening bad. Grace and I are sending each other memes because we can’t bring ourselves to pay attention to the cringey, forced romance between the boy and the girl character on stage. Mom’s direct words were, “I say we take Kaitlyn off the deed for this one.” I NEVER text while a show is going on but I seriously couldn’t handle this. Admittedly, it’s not for us. It’s for the young children who will enjoy the basic comedy and easy-to-comprehend plot.
I thought the second half was terrific. All of the dances were beautiful and the Samoan fire and knife performer is just amazing. I was mesmerized by the beautiful costumes and gorgeous dances from the Polynesian culture. If the show was JUST the second half, things would have gone a lot better for us.
At the end of the day, Spirit of Aloha wasn’t for us. That’s disappointing because all of us were looking forward to it and we spent 2 TS credits on it. Young children were really entertained by it, so if you have young children with you and you’re looking for a unique way to spend a night, by all means make a reservation for them. They’ll laugh and dance along and enjoy some standard children’s fare for dinner. But if you’re a family with older kids or just plain kids-at-heart: take your business over to the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue for a funnier, more interactive show with more palatable food.
Oh, Spirit of Aloha. You weren’t my favorite, but thanks for the beautiful dancing and the yummy guava cake.
I wanted to get to Epcot that evening because the piñata was still on my mind, but it wasn’t happening. The park was closing in an hour and a half and I still had to walk all the way over to the other side of Poly, change into a different outfit, put on sneakers, hike it over to the TTC and then walk from the main entrance all the way to Mexico. And I didn’t even know what time the temple closed! Plus, it was threatening to rain again and rain + my pretty paper unicorn wouldn’t mix well.
I stopped mom, dad, and Grace at the beach to take some pictures.
Then I took some pictures of the resort on our way back. Our new home is so gorgeous.
Grace and mom decided that they wanted a Dole Whip and with ample snack credits to spare, I got one as well.
Then we went back to the room, I finished the Dole Whip and took a nap.
I set my timer for half an hour and when I woke up, mom had just texted me asking me to come up to the lounge for desserts and fireworks.
Here’s my plate for the night.
They had some great options that. The strawberry mousse cake, which was that little pink thing, was delicious. And that éclair in the bottom was probably my favorite thing from either dessert service! The two tartlets on the right are s’more tarts, which were wonderful. On the left, there’s a mini cherry pie tart thing which I appreciated because it was different and I love cherry pie filling!
After dinner, mom and I decided that we wanted to go to the Contemporary. I brought my camera with me so that I could snap some pics of my second favorite resort.
First we went to BVG. We looked around for a while. Mom almost got a DVC Alex and Ani bangle and I almost bought this little guy:
Ultimately, we decided against these purchases and went over to Fantasia gifts.
I got a LOT of things here. I bought two pins, one for my big and one for my best friend. I bought two of the VHS notebooks for my friends who were hosting me overnight for the Newsies reunion. And finally… I caved and bought Lucifer for myself. And now I’m holding Lucifer on my lap as I type this update, his long tail cascading onto the ground.
We didn’t spend too long at the Contemporary after that. I’m pretty sure we just went back to the hotel so that we could get to sleep. I had to be up early the next morning so that I could sign the deed to our DVC!
(Click here to continue!)
Alright you guys, let's get some real life stuff out of the way first!
I am, indeed, back in NYC for the semester. Moved in yesterday. Whoop-whoop!
This leaves us with good news and bad news. Should we get the bad news out of the way first?
So the bad news is that it looks like I'm really going to hit the ground running on Wednesday when classes actually begin. Professors are beginning to email their syllabus and lesson plans, there are at least three major events coming up for my sorority this month (one of which I actually programmed as a g-board chair holder), Broadway tickets are being purchased, and I'm not even going to be around from the 13-17. Tuesday is my worst day this semester with 3 classes (2 of which are 3-hour lectures), but I only have one class Thursday and no Friday classes.
Obviously, this is where things go downhill for the TR
. However, I do have quite a bit of free time between today and Wednesday, and I'm projected to finish writing the TR today. I have about 3 updates left to write, not including the conclusion, so there are about 5 updates left to post for you guys! Here's the rest of my Hollywood Studios day!The Lackluster Luau
August 3 cont.
Before I went back to the room, I grabbed dad’s new DVC member card and stopped in BouTiki. I decided that the best way to commemorate this new journey would be to buy a keychain of our new home resort with our new DVC discount!August 3 cont.
I went back to the room, quickly put on my bathing suit, then joined my family at the “quiet” Poly pool for an hour or two. It was so nice to relax in the pool for a bit on the tail end of a long vacation.
When we got out, I took my shower first, then got dressed and went to the collect our tickets for tonight’s dinner: The Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show!
By the time I had gotten back to the room, everyone else was pretty much ready in about 15 minutes. Then we headed off to the Great Ceremonial House so that we could get to Luau Cove!
This was my most anticipated experience of the trip, but the weather that night was… concerning. The clouds were getting darker and darker and I knew the sky was going to open up any minute, and I was getting really worried that our show might get cancelled. We arrived alongside the crowd at 5:00 for our show and almost as soon as we reached Luau Cove, the sky opened up. We ran to the verandah and waited to be brought to our seats!
I don’t know how many of you have ever gone through sorority recruitment, but the way you’re seated for Spirit of Aloha is definitely exactly the way that fomal recruitment works: All of the waiters were standing in a line and as you approached them with your party, the first one in line got out to show you to your seats. It’s so hard to describe but that’s the best way I can describe it.
We sat down and I was immediately irritated because it was still raining and it was really steamy underneath the seating area so my camera wasn’t cooperating. Our waiter brought out the appetizers first: these really nice coconut rolls, some pineapple, some mixed greens, and some cold noodles. I seem to remember everything being okay here, especially the rolls.
They weren’t out for long before we got our dinner.
My camera was now getting over it’s little hissy fit due to the rain!
There’s some mixed vegetables, some pulled pork, some rice, some ribs, and some roasted chicken. I remember the pulled pork being really good… and I don’t remember much else.
All of us were disappointed with the dinner. It was pretty mediocre. You can make the argument that you’re paying for the show and not the food, but Hoop-Dee-Doo had arguably MUCH better food than Spirit of Aloha. I was honestly surprised.
Dessert was pretty good, so it did end on a positive note. They had this really nice vanilla cake with a guava filling and chocolate crunchies on top of vanilla icing. It was a little too small for our table and our waiter immediately offered to bring more out, but we had kind of had enough of the food here. I was actually expecting the volcano mousse dessert and didn’t realize they had changed it, but I loved the cake! “Guava” was the name of the game for me this trip, it seems to be in EVERY dessert at the Poly, and I wasn’t mad at it.
The coffee was also very good, and I really enjoyed sipping on it throughout the show!
Speaking of the show, let’s talk about the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show!
Spirit of Aloha is split up into two halves. The first half sets up a pretty basic, easy-to-follow albeit forgettable plot. Some hula student is going to the mainland and her auntie is throwing her a luau to celebrate. There’s a wacky, eccentric duo composed of a boy and a girl and the boy falls in love with her or something, and they’re all planning this luau for this really pretty hula dancer. It’s peppered with songs from Elvis Presley, 9/10 of them are featured in Lilo and Stitch. The second half is what you’re really here for: it’s the portion of the show that includes performances of authentic dances from Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand and Hawaii.
So what did we think of it?
The first half is bad. Like, really bad. Like, mom-and-dad-are-roasting-me-in-the-family-group-chat-while-the-show-is-happening bad. Grace and I are sending each other memes because we can’t bring ourselves to pay attention to the cringey, forced romance between the boy and the girl character on stage. Mom’s direct words were, “I say we take Kaitlyn off the deed for this one.” I NEVER text while a show is going on but I seriously couldn’t handle this. Admittedly, it’s not for us. It’s for the young children who will enjoy the basic comedy and easy-to-comprehend plot.
I thought the second half was terrific. All of the dances were beautiful and the Samoan fire and knife performer is just amazing. I was mesmerized by the beautiful costumes and gorgeous dances from the Polynesian culture. If the show was JUST the second half, things would have gone a lot better for us.
At the end of the day, Spirit of Aloha wasn’t for us. That’s disappointing because all of us were looking forward to it and we spent 2 TS credits on it. Young children were really entertained by it, so if you have young children with you and you’re looking for a unique way to spend a night, by all means make a reservation for them. They’ll laugh and dance along and enjoy some standard children’s fare for dinner. But if you’re a family with older kids or just plain kids-at-heart: take your business over to the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue for a funnier, more interactive show with more palatable food.
Oh, Spirit of Aloha. You weren’t my favorite, but thanks for the beautiful dancing and the yummy guava cake.
I wanted to get to Epcot that evening because the piñata was still on my mind, but it wasn’t happening. The park was closing in an hour and a half and I still had to walk all the way over to the other side of Poly, change into a different outfit, put on sneakers, hike it over to the TTC and then walk from the main entrance all the way to Mexico. And I didn’t even know what time the temple closed! Plus, it was threatening to rain again and rain + my pretty paper unicorn wouldn’t mix well.
I stopped mom, dad, and Grace at the beach to take some pictures.
Then I took some pictures of the resort on our way back. Our new home is so gorgeous.
Grace and mom decided that they wanted a Dole Whip and with ample snack credits to spare, I got one as well.
Then we went back to the room, I finished the Dole Whip and took a nap.
I set my timer for half an hour and when I woke up, mom had just texted me asking me to come up to the lounge for desserts and fireworks.
Here’s my plate for the night.
They had some great options that. The strawberry mousse cake, which was that little pink thing, was delicious. And that éclair in the bottom was probably my favorite thing from either dessert service! The two tartlets on the right are s’more tarts, which were wonderful. On the left, there’s a mini cherry pie tart thing which I appreciated because it was different and I love cherry pie filling!
After dinner, mom and I decided that we wanted to go to the Contemporary. I brought my camera with me so that I could snap some pics of my second favorite resort.
First we went to BVG. We looked around for a while. Mom almost got a DVC Alex and Ani bangle and I almost bought this little guy:
Ultimately, we decided against these purchases and went over to Fantasia gifts.
I got a LOT of things here. I bought two pins, one for my big and one for my best friend. I bought two of the VHS notebooks for my friends who were hosting me overnight for the Newsies reunion. And finally… I caved and bought Lucifer for myself. And now I’m holding Lucifer on my lap as I type this update, his long tail cascading onto the ground.
We didn’t spend too long at the Contemporary after that. I’m pretty sure we just went back to the hotel so that we could get to sleep. I had to be up early the next morning so that I could sign the deed to our DVC!
(Click here to continue!)
Last edited:
Good luck with school!
