Our First Stay at the Poly - April 2012 PTR!!

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Hi Everyone and thanks for checking in on my very first attempt at a PTR!

I've been working on this trip since August of 2011. After much obssessing and frequent trips on the boards, I pretty much completed the itinerary and made all the necessary reservations a month ago. So, I didn't know what to do with myself. At first, I tried pursuing some daily Disney discussions with my wife but by day 2 of this failed experiment, I started noticing a pattern which involves her glazed over eyes desparately searching for some other distraction in the room at the mere mention of the word "Disney". Next I tried asking our DD5 what she would like to do at Disney World but that didn't last too long either once she ran out of princesses she wanted to meet. After that, I found myself talking to myself quite a bit about our Disney trip and quickly realized that talking to oneself in public draws unwanted attention and whispers. I needed to find a more productive outlet. So here I am! Ready to share my trip plans with my fellow DISers where I know my questions and comments will not be met with but with and !

Here's an introduction of the cast of characters.

Me (37): As you may have guessed, I'm the "Disney Freak" in the family and I have my parents to thank for that. They used to take us the Disney World every year when our family used to live in Florida - then every other year after we moved out of the state. I love everything about WDW and I find it amazing that there's alway a few new things I get to try each trip after all this time.

DW (36): She likes going to WDW - but she would also be fine with going once every 5 years scared1: was my reaction when I first heard her say this). Her birthday is in April and about a week after our trip, so I've planned a surprise for her during our trip which we'll get to.

DD (5): A BIG princess fan with Rapunzel topping her charts. During our last trip, she told me that she wanted to meet ALL of the princesses at WDW. After her meet-and-greet with Tiana and Naveen on the second to last day, I boldly declared to her "See? We saw all of the princesses". Without missing a beat she says "There's still Mulan and Pocahontas". For a moment, I thought about making the argument that they are not "techinically" princesses, but we ended up park hopping between Epcot and AK to meet ehm.

DS (2): He was only 15 months last year for his first trip, and I don't think he enjoyed it as much as his sister. Characters scared him. He was so tired that half of the pictures I have of him from that trip is him sleeping in the stroller or on someone's shoulder. So I'm happy that he gets another shot at this and he's been telling me how much he wants to meet "Bightyear" (=Buzz Lightyear) at Disney.

DFIL (??): Okay, now I feel really bad that I can't remember exactly how old he is. I'm going to say 63. Of course I won't feel as bad when I go home to ask my DW - she usually has to think about it for a few seconds . All kidding aside he's a great guy, and a fun grandfather. This will be his first trip to Disney, but I have no doubt that he'll fit right in!

So there you have it - us in a Disney nutshell! I can't wait to share all of the details of our trip and hear your thoughts on them.


Table of Contents
1. Lodging and Transportation
2. Food, Food, and More Food (ADRs)
3. Getting to Orlando and Itinerary for the Week
4. iDisney (Apps for iPhone and iPad)
5. Line-up of Must-See Characters
6. Packing List for Things We Always Manage to Forget
7. Day 1, April 14th: Dolphins! Whales! And Pizza?
8. Day 2 April 15th Part I: Checking into Poly and DHS Morning
9. Day 2 April 15th Part II: DHS Afternoon and Beyond!
10. Day 3 April 16th Part I: Akershus, Soarin, Nemo, and Crush
11. Day 3 April 16th Part II: A World Showcase Tour and an Evening Cruise!
12. Day 4 April 17th Part I: It's Finally Here! Magic Kingdom Day!
13. Day 4 April 17th Part II:Br'er Rabbit, Back Side of Water, and Star Light Star Bright
14. Day 5 April 18th: What do you mean there's no rope drop? A Poly-Day
15. Day 6 April 19th Part I: Hakuna Matata! Just Another Rope Drop Day at Animal Kingdom.
16. Day 6 April 19th Part II: Digging for Bones, Jammin with Mickey, and an AKL Expedition
17. Day 7 April 20th: Magic Kingdom Redux and Cindy Overload
18. Day 8 April 21st: A Last Hurrah at Animal Kingdom and Saying Goodbye to the World

 

[jpmom97]

Can't wait to hear more! It's nice to see a dad that is crazy about Disney. The kids are at such great ages, they are going to have a blast!!

 

[Zuzu03]

Subbing! So cool that you're a Disney freak - hahahaha! My DH has the same reaction as your DW, I can't talk too much about it without him doing the glazing eyes thing and also searching for an "out!" We're right behind you, heading down the 21st, so this will be a fun way to pass the time! Yay!!! And, you're under the 60 day mark, so here you go...

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Can't wait to hear more! It's nice to see a dad that is crazy about Disney. The kids are at such great ages, they are going to have a blast!!

Thanks! I'm trying to get the kids to experience Disney as much as they can while they're young enough to really enjoy it. We'll take them to more "boring" nature and historical places once they get to the age where they'll be rolling their eyes at me regardless of where we take them - plus it'll be a lot cheaper too!

Subbing! So cool that you're a Disney freak - hahahaha! My DH has the same reaction as your DW, I can't talk too much about it without him doing the glazing eyes thing and also searching for an "out!" We're right behind you, heading down the 21st, so this will be a fun way to pass the time! Yay!!! And, you're under the 60 day mark, so here you go...

Thanks for all the s and s! It's working already!!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Can you tell how excited I am about staying at the Polynesian Resort?

Before I get to how we decided on Poly, here's a brief historical review of our lodging for our last two trips.

In December of 2008, we had a four night stay here:



Disney All-Star Movies! (Just noticed, is it me or does Woody look like he's got a nice "buzz" going in this picture? )

We liked it. This was a last minute trip and I think we decided to go with only about three weeks notice. I was quite the Disney newbie back then when it comes to planning so I have nooooo idea how I managed to put things to together with that short of a notice. Transportation wasn't too big of an issue since we rented a car. The Mickey waffles got a little old by the fourth morning in a row at the food court. All in all, we liked it enough that DW and I agreed that we didn't need to shell out all that money for a moderate or a deluxe for our future trips......

......That is, until our next trip in February 2011 when we stayed five nights at:

We went with my parents and they offered the split the cost of lodging woohoo so that gave me incentive to look at the Deluxes and DVC properties. Plus, we had to find a place that had two bedrooms to fit everyone in. So we decided to try Saratoga Springs Resort. We loved it! Very quiet. Tranporation was not an issue since we once again rented, a minivan this time.

The problem was, now I had gotten a taste of a Deluxe resort. And that's how Disney hooked me in - I became curious of what the other Deluxe resorts were like. So from February to April of 2011, I started perusing pictures and websites of all the deluxe resorts and completely fell in love with the Poly!

(So pretty. The Poly better look every bit as good as this picture or else I'll be shouting out "Never Again!". And no, I don't think my expectations are unreasonably high. )

But I didn't think we could afford it. Until my father-in-law decided to join us for the trip AND pay for part of the costs! Plus, we can fit all 5 of us in a single Poly room so that works out great! So, that's how it came to be, that on the last week of August of 2011, I hit the "Book" button on the Disney website for a our April stay at the Poly!!

We're looking forward to the monorails, the easy access to restaurants in the Poly, GF and CR, the lush landscaping, the volcano pool (it be better be up and running or else it's "Never Again!" ), the beach, the Dole Whips, AND the rented mini-van. Yes, we're still renting since we have an offsite day. Plus, I love having some control over the time it will take to get from point A to point B where buses are the only option available.

Next up: Our ADRs!

 

[auprincess]

can't wait to hear your plans! maybe I need to jump on the pre-trip report bandwagon, lol ~ but I don't think I would follow through!!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

can't wait to hear your plans! maybe I need to jump on the pre-trip report bandwagon, lol ~ but I don't think I would follow through!!

You definitely should! After following Charity's PTR, I decided this would be a fun diversion.

 

[wakica]

YAY!! subbing in to watch your plans take place. I followed you over from the April board.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

YAY!! subbing in to watch your plans take place. I followed you over from the April board.

Welcome!! Always happy to see a friendly face DISer from the April Boards!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

On October 18th, I woke up at 5:30am to prepare for a very important event. Our 180+10 day ADR window was opening up for business at 6am that morning. So, the night before, I practiced linking my resort ressie to the ADRs online and familiarized myself with the ADR booking website, I wrote down the phone number for ADRs just in case the Disney website decided to throw one of its famous glitches. Yes, I take these things very seriously and I don't think I have an OCD problem.

After spending about 20 minutes in the dark with just the warm glow of my laptop, I got every single ressie I wanted at the time I wanted it. After I finished, I pulled up "My reservations" page on the Disney website and just stared at it. It was beautiful! And I stared it once every day completely content with it.

Until 3 weeks later when DD suddenly declared to me that CRT was now a must for her. I left out CRT initially because we didn't think it was worth a second trip . Clearly I should have consulted our DD before I made the ADRs. But, hey no problem, there was still lots of availability for CRT so I added that in. And the ADR list was beautiful and perfect again!

Until another 3 weeks later when I looked at the crowd calendar and touring recommendations from easyWDW and realized that we were slated to visit Epcot and MK on the least recommended days. That threw me into a panic and led to cancelling 6 and adding 6 ADRs. But somehow it worked. And now my ADR list is beautiful.

(Well, maybe except that I still haven't been able to find an early ADR for Crystal Palace.)

Here's a list of our ADRs

April 15th
Mama Melrose (Lunch)
Ohana (Dinner)

April 16th
Akershus (8:10am)
Le Cellier (Late Lunch)

April 17th
Kona (Breakfast)
The Plaza (Dinner)
Wishes Dessert

April 18th
Ohana (Breakfast)
Whispering Canyon Cafe (Dinner)

April 19th
Tusker House (8:05am)
Boma (Dinner)

April 20th
Cinderella's Royal Table (8:10am)
1900 Park Fare (Dinner)

April 21st
Yak and Yeti (Lunch)

Most of the places we will be trying out for the first time and I'm especially excited about Boma, Le Cellier, and Kona. I'm also a BIG fan of doing in-park ADRs before park opening. Love walking down an empty Main Street. Love walking by the Tree of Life with no one around. AND it doesn't hurt that we have a better chance of being first in line for say, Rapunzel, Soarin, or the Safari .

I'm a little worried about Cinderella overload for the 20th and I would have like to have spread these two ADRs out from each other. But this was the only way to book the ADRs when I had to make the changes. We have yet to have met the Tremaines and I am very much looking forward to seeing seeing how DD and DS will interact with Anastasia and Drizella.

I'm a bit skeptical about Whispering Canyon Cafe. I'm pretty sure the kids will love the antics. And as I said before, I am trying to add a Crystal Palace meal for DS since our character meals are significantly tilted towards princesses.

Next up: Getting to Orlando and our Trip Itinerary

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Also followed you over form April board.
My DH used to be the "freak" and did all the planning including a color coded spreadsheet. He still makes the spreadheet but does for me only. I've taken over most of the planning but he still loves to go. Although I think next year will be our first time not going to Disney for a while. He would really like to go on a cruise (and not a Disney one).
We stayed at the Poly last August and loved it! The pool is very cool but too small and crowded. I know what you mean about going deluxe and not going back. Wait til you try CL lol.
Looking forward to your plans.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

On October 18th, I woke up at 5:30am to prepare for a very important event. Our 180+10 day ADR window was opening up for business at 6am that morning. So, the night before, I practiced linking my resort ressie to the ADRs online and familiarized myself with the ADR booking website, I wrote down the phone number for ADRs just in case the Disney website decided to throw one of its famous glitches. Yes, I take these things very seriously and I don't think I have an OCD problem.

After spending about 20 minutes in the dark with just the warm glow of my laptop, I got every single ressie I wanted at the time I wanted it. After I finished, I pulled up "My reservations" page on the Disney website and just stared at it. It was beautiful! And I stared it once every day completely content with it.

Until 3 weeks later when DD suddenly declared to me that CRT was now a must for her. I left out CRT initially because we didn't think it was worth a second trip . Clearly I should have consulted our DD before I made the ADRs. But, hey no problem, there was still lots of availability for CRT so I added that in. And the ADR list was beautiful and perfect again!

Until another 3 weeks later when I looked at the crowd calendar and touring recommendations from easyWDW and realized that we were slated to visit Epcot and MK on the least recommended days. That threw me into a panic and led to cancelling 6 and adding 6 ADRs. But somehow it worked. And now my ADR list is beautiful.

(Well, maybe except that I still haven't been able to find an early ADR for Crystal Palace.)

Here's a list of our ADRs

April 15th
Mama Melrose (Lunch)
Ohana (Dinner)

April 16th
Akershus (8:10am)
Le Cellier (Late Lunch)

April 17th
Kona (Breakfast)
The Plaza (Dinner)
Wishes Dessert

April 18th
Ohana (Breakfast)
Whispering Canyon Cafe (Dinner)

April 19th
Tusker House (8:05am)
Boma (Dinner)

April 20th
Cinderella's Royal Table (8:10am)
1900 Park Fare (Dinner)

April 21st
Yak and Yeti (Lunch)

Most of the places we will be trying out for the first time and I'm especially excited about Boma, Le Cellier, and Kona. I'm also a BIG fan of doing in-park ADRs before park opening. Love walking down an empty Main Street. Love walking by the Tree of Life with no one around. AND it doesn't hurt that we have a better chance of being first in line for say, Rapunzel, Soarin, or the Safari .

I'm a little worried about Cinderella overload for the 20th and I would have like to have spread these two ADRs out from each other. But this was the only way to book the ADRs when I had to make the changes. We have yet to have met the Tremaines and I am very much looking forward to seeing seeing how DD and DS will interact with Anastasia and Drizella.

I'm a bit skeptical about Whispering Canyon Cafe. I'm pretty sure the kids will love the antics. And as I said before, I am trying to add a Crystal Palace meal for DS since our character meals are significantly tilted towards princesses.

Next up: Getting to Orlando

We ate at Boma for the first time last year and we liked it a lot! Wanted to do it again this year but there are not enough days
I did 1900 PF w/ my niece a couple of years ago it was fun.
We love Ohana for b-fast!! We are big Lilo and Stitch fans.
We ate at LeCellier a few years ago before it became a siggie restaurant -some say it's changed. We liked it.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Also followed you over form April board.
My DH used to be the "freak" and did all the planning including a color coded spreadsheet. He still makes the spreadheet but does for me only. I've taken over most of the planning but he still loves to go. Although I think next year will be our first time not going to Disney for a while. He would really like to go on a cruise (and not a Disney one).
We stayed at the Poly last August and loved it! The pool is very cool but too small and crowded. I know what you mean about going deluxe and not going back. Wait til you try CL lol.
Looking forward to your plans.

Thanks for following over!! I know if we ever try CL that we're going to get hooked on that as well. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Hi ! Followed you from the April thread.

Plans sound great so far (too many ADR's for me .. but I know others LOVE their Disney dining !)

Looking forward to reading more about your plans !

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

We ate at Boma for the first time last year and we liked it a lot! Wanted to do it again this year but there are not enough days
I did 1900 PF w/ my niece a couple of years ago it was fun.
We love Ohana for b-fast!! We are big Lilo and Stitch fans.
We ate at LeCellier a few years ago before it became a siggie restaurant -some say it's changed. We liked it.

How did you like the food at 1900 PF? Been hearing mixed reviews about the food, but very positive reviews about the character interactions.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Hi ! Followed you from the April thread.

Plans sound great so far (too many ADR's for me .. but I know others LOVE their Disney dining !)

Looking forward to reading more about your plans !

Happy to have you on-board!

 

[HalloweenNut]

Looks great so far! You're going to be there just the week before us so I'll be more than interested to follow along.

BTW I hear you about the glazed over look from the DW! I eventually gave up and just went ahead and planned everything myself. Wether they like my choices or not there better be no complaining! Seriously I think she'll be more than happy with everything. We're just looking forward to a week away and watching the wonder in our daughter's eyes.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Looks great so far! You're going to be there just the week before us so I'll be more than interested to follow along.

BTW I hear you about the glazed over look from the DW! I eventually gave up and just went ahead and planned everything myself. Wether they like my choices or not there better be no complaining! Seriously I think she'll be more than happy with everything. We're just looking forward to a week away and watching the wonder in our daughter's eyes.

We'll try to leave the Poly in one piece for ya when we leave!

Thanks for joining in!

 

[Zuzu03]

We LOVE the Poly! It's one of our fave deluxes and I'm sure you'll love it. DD and I often have to choose between the Dolphin and the Poly and it's always a tough choice! We stayed CL in July 2010 which spoiled us so bad - but DH almost had a heart attack when he saw the bill - luckily I'd been saving and saving forever to pay for it and it was for DD's high school graduation, so I could justify it pretty easily.

One morning I got up super early (like 4:30) and wondered the resort taking pictures of the beautiful sunrise and the resort waking up. It was incredibly gorgeous - be sure you explore the grounds, it's truly a magical resort!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

We LOVE the Poly! It's one of our fave deluxes and I'm sure you'll love it. DD and I often have to choose between the Dolphin and the Poly and it's always a tough choice! We stayed CL in July 2010 which spoiled us so bad - but DH almost had a heart attack when he saw the bill - luckily I'd been saving and saving forever to pay for it and it was for DD's high school graduation, so I could justify it pretty easily.

One morning I got up super early (like 4:30) and wondered the resort taking pictures of the beautiful sunrise and the resort waking up. It was incredibly gorgeous - be sure you explore the grounds, it's truly a magical resort!

Wow, not sure if I could get up that early but definitely would love to see the sunrise over the resort. This may be the only time we get to stay at the Poly, so I am fully planning on checking out every corner of the resort!