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

[Zuzu03]

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!

LOL, it was rough, but definately worth it!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

LOL, it was rough, but definately worth it!

Do they have Photopass photogs on the resort? Maybe I can just hand them my PP card and ask for a picture of a sunrise

 

[Zuzu03]

Do they have Photopass photogs on the resort? Maybe I can just hand them my PP card and ask for a picture of a sunrise

NOW you're thinking!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

We briefly entertained the idea of driving to Orlando. Very briefly. The thought of a 14 hour drive + additional hours of reststop times for the little ones just didn't sound appealing to us. So, we're once again flying. Even though we have two perfectly nice airports here in Northern VA, Southwest mostly flies out of BWI (Baltimore/Washington) which is about an hour from our home. We're big fans of Southwest and their no baggage fees. I'm sure all of you with young children can attest, traveling with little ones means LOTS of checked luggage. I'm also a big fan of taking the earliest flight out to Orlando. I say "I" and not "We" as DW may not necessarily agree

Anyhoo, our flight leaves at 6:40am.

We'll be spending the night before our flight at the Four Points by Sheraton located within the BWI airport complex.

(I'm sure you were dying to see a picture of a random hotel at an airport you may never set foot on )
We tried this for our last trip and it worked out great Terminal is about 2 minutes away. This way we get more sleep and get to order room service! Shouldn't I get some kind of compensation from the hotel for this type of promotion?

So the payoff for all of this is, our arrival time: 8:50am! We have a full day ahead of us on arrival. DFIL will be flying in from Columbus, Ohio and his flight arrives at 9:00am (Yup, I booked that flight for him too ). So if all goes well, DW and the kids will meet him at baggage claim while I go fetch our rental minivan.

Here's what our week looks like:

April 14th - Arrive at MCO/SeaWorld
15th - DHS
16th - Epcot
17th - MK
18th - Poly Day!!
19th - AK
20th - MK
21st - AK/ Fly home at 7pm

Next Up: Disney Apps for our iPad and iPhone

 

[wakica]

Wow! That is one full restaraunt schedule We are only going to be going to one on your list and that is Kona Cafe for breakfast. i want to try the Tonga Toast and DD wants to try the macadamia nut pancakes. Anything specific your wanting to try there?
We don't typically book a lot of restaraunts b/c we stay in a condo and do alot of our own food prep and take in lots of food to the parks to eat between rides or even while waiting for something Our main priority is RIDE AS MUCH AS WE CAN and then GET BACK FOR RnR. I'm sure you noticed that by our first park day plans though. Totally comando touring.

Your park days looks good too. Glad you have a pool day in there. i cannot beleive how WIPED out i get being at rope drop for the parks and getting everything in!!! I'm not normally the type of person that falls asleep very well but let me tell you - while at WDW i DO!!! It's a nice change tho.

Make sure you hit Manta at SW if your a coaster fan - it's one of our FAVES!!! it's got a forcefull up in it and not just the downs which makes it cool and the way you ride it is different from the other coasters so it's really neat!! Our top coasters are... Manta(SW), Sheikra(Busche), Hulk (IOA), DRAGONS (IOA), EE(WDW). I wouldn't say that's the order but those are definitely our top 5 and Manta would be VERY close to the top!!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Wow! That is one full restaraunt schedule We are only going to be going to one on your list and that is Kona Cafe for breakfast. i want to try the Tonga Toast and DD wants to try the macadamia nut pancakes. Anything specific your wanting to try there?
We don't typically book a lot of restaraunts b/c we stay in a condo and do alot of our own food prep and take in lots of food to the parks to eat between rides or even while waiting for something Our main priority is RIDE AS MUCH AS WE CAN and then GET BACK FOR RnR. I'm sure you noticed that by our first park day plans though. Totally comando touring.

Your park days looks good too. Glad you have a pool day in there. i cannot beleive how WIPED out i get being at rope drop for the parks and getting everything in!!! I'm not normally the type of person that falls asleep very well but let me tell you - while at WDW i DO!!! It's a nice change tho.

Make sure you hit Manta at SW if your a coaster fan - it's one of our FAVES!!! it's got a forcefull up in it and not just the downs which makes it cool and the way you ride it is different from the other coasters so it's really neat!! Our top coasters are... Manta(SW), Sheikra(Busche), Hulk (IOA), DRAGONS (IOA), EE(WDW). I wouldn't say that's the order but those are definitely our top 5 and Manta would be VERY close to the top!!

For Kona, I have my eye on the Big Kahuna which includes the pineapple macademia pancakes. I also want to get a bite of Tonga Toast so I'm going to have to convince someone else to order them

I have some pretty detailed touring plans laid out for each park which I'll share soon. I'm hoping that the TS restaurants provides a nice sit down break for the group in addition to getting a variety of food.

Thanks for the tip on Manta! Even though we've been to SeaWorld twice, we haven't tried any of their thrill rides because of the kids. Maybe we'll get a chance this time since we have an extra grownup

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Our household finally got apple-fied over the holidays and we are now proud owners of an iPhone (DW) and an iPad (me). One of the first things I did was to look for apps that could be useful for our trip. So here's what I've downloaded so far.

1. Touringplans Lines (I already had a subscription) - iPad
2. Disney World Magic Guide by Versaedge -iPad
3. Undercover Tourist (the free version) -iPhone
4. Disney Magic Mobile - iPhone

I've been playing around with them, and like all three so far. I used Touringplans' web version of lines on my blackberry for our last trip and it was very helpful when we were trying to decide if DW and I had enough time to run over to SM while the kids played in Toontown with my parents. I pulled up the Lines, saw that wait time was only 10 minutes, so we made a quick side trip. The most helpful were the times inputed by users for that day.

I wish I had the Magic Guide with me last year. One of the features I love is their "Food Finder" function under Dining. You just type in the type of food you're in the mood for - it will identify all TS/QS/Carts that sell the item and locate the nearest ones to your present location using GPS. During our last trip, DD really wanted a cotton candy. We promised her we would get her one before the trip is over. I thought finding a place that sells cotton candy would be a lot easier - on our last day we were at Epcot, and had to ask five different CMs at various food carts before one of them finally pointed us towards Goofy's Candy Store in Mickey's Gear I think. I also love the Magic Guide's park maps with GPS - it shows you where all the bathrooms are

For the Undercover Tourist app, I'm looking forward to using the "Where did I Park?" function where you can save the GPS location of your car and later won't have to remember which Villian or Hero you're parked under.

We added Disney Mobile Magic last month when it finally became available for the iPhone. Very similar to what we already have. I read that the waittimes and FP return times are generated from their Park-wide system so it'll reflect what's posted at the ride entrances. I think this helps us out a lot for timing FP runs since I can get an accurate read on the return time windows. The standby wait times may not be so helpful as I've seen those posted wait times to be frequently inaccurate.

Does anyone have any other app that they've tried in the Parks and recommend?

Also, I'm not sure if it would be feasible or convenient to be carrying my iPad around in the Parks. Have any of you done this and if so, how did you carry it?

Next up: Line up of Must-See Characters

 

[HalloweenNut]

Also, I'm not sure if it would be feasible or convenient to be carrying my iPad around in the Parks. Have any of you done this and if so, how did you carry it?

Someone correct me if I'm mistaken but I thought there was only wifi a the resorts and not in the parks at all. For the Lines app to work on the iPad you'd need a connection. Maybe have the lines app on the iPhone instead?

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Someone correct me if I'm mistaken but I thought there was only wifi a the resorts and not in the parks at all. For the Lines app to work on the iPad you'd need a connection. Maybe have the lines app on the iPhone instead?

You're right. They don't have wifi in the Parks, but I have 3G service through Verizon for my iPad so can still get a connection. I'm still leaning towards not taking the iPad to the parks - it's just one more thing I need to keep an eye on.

 

[HalloweenNut]

Oh, that would work then. It would be a bit of a pain having it with you - like you say just another thing to keep track of/worry about - however it might pay for itself not just with the Lines app but also being able to watch movies or play games on it to keep the kids occupied while waiting in lines/shows.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Line-up of Must See Characters

DD loves character meet and greets and meeting characters is what she's looking forward to the most for our upcoming trip. During our last trip. even with characters she's never seen or heard about before, she wanted to meet them. As it is with all character meets, there were some that were exceptional, some that were good, and some that were just ok. Rapunzel and Flynn was the best for her. She asked for the Smolder from Flynn and DD actually blushed and looked away causing Rapunzel to burst out laughing. The photopass photog caught all of this interaction and one of the pics was later picked for that night's Magic, Memories, and You "Castle show". It's a shame that Flynn doesn't appear anymore. Here he is......giving the Smolder to DD.

DS on the other hand had a rough go with the characters last trip. It was his age - 15 months old and stranger anxiety had fully kicked in. His first encounter was at Crystal Palace with Tigger, and as soon as he saw him approach our table, he lunged into DW's arms and did not want to look at him. From that point on, we just funneled all the characters towards DD and whenever DD got in line for a meet/greet, we took DS some place else to keep him entertained. I have to give the character CMs at the meals a lot of credit - they knew right away from the body language of DS that he was not interested in meeting them and kept their distance in a nice way - a little wave here and there. One funny thing Minnie did for us at Chef Mickey's. When she approached our table, she quietly slid behind our DS who was busy eating, and posed for me to take a picture. Once I got the shot, she quickly moved to my DD before DS turned around to see what was going on behind him. It was cute. Anyway, DS is very motivated to meet characters this time. He's seen a lot of Pixar movies, so he wants to meet them all. I have a feeling this will go better for him this time now that he's 2 1/2 years old.

So here are the list of must-see characters for DD and DS. I've bolded the ones that are top 5 in their lists.

DD: Rapunzel, Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Cinderella, Aurora, Mulan, Tiana, Pocahontas, Snow White, Phineas and Ferb, Woody and Jesse, The Tremaines, Stitch.

DS: Lightning and Mater, Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Jesse, Sulley and Mike, Mickey, Minnie.

One of the reasons we have so many character meals is so that we can minimize our meet/greet wait times in the Parks. But I still had to work around big touring plan speedbumps like Rapunzel and Phineas and Ferb when I came up with the plans.

I'm personally excited to meet Phineas/Ferb and Sulley. Looking back at all our photos, I realized there are very little with the adults and the characters. I think we're going to make a more concerted effort of including ourselves in the photos too this time!

I've also been using this thread to get some ideas on how to make the character interactions more fun and interesting:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=657318

Hmmm, that reminds me. Need to remember to bring a red apple with us when we meet Snow White.

Next Up: Packing List of Things We Always Manage to Forget

 

[wakica]

I just have the Undercover Tourist apps for WDW and Universals. I like to look at them ocassionally to see how insanely long people will actually stand in line for a ride for. LOL But I won't be using them in the parks b/c we don't have an iphone - just ipod touch and even if we had a phone that we could use for that we would not use it in fear of INSANE roaming charges b/c we are from Canada. I find it lots of fun to check out the line up s though from time to time. It helps me get an idea of what it will be like during our trip based on how busy of a day it is and will be for us.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I just have the Undercover Tourist apps for WDW and Universals. I like to look at them ocassionally to see how insanely long people will actually stand in line for a ride for. LOL But I won't be using them in the parks b/c we don't have an iphone - just ipod touch and even if we had a phone that we could use for that we would not use it in fear of INSANE roaming charges b/c we are from Canada. I find it lots of fun to check out the line up s though from time to time. It helps me get an idea of what it will be like during our trip based on how busy of a day it is and will be for us.

I do the same thing too with Lines where I just like to randomly look up how long the waits are now. I know what you mean about roaming charges . When I was in Vancouver and Toronto for conferences, had to pay very close attention to how many minutes I was using the phone. And I got very upset when someone sent me a text

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

So excited to be reading your PTR! DBF & I would LOVE to stay at the poly. However, we are both still in college so saving up for the value resorts is hard enough . I told him that when we both have degrees & "real jobs" we will stay there... so now I'm just going to live vicariously through you!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

So excited to be reading your PTR! DBF & I would LOVE to stay at the poly. However, we are both still in college so saving up for the value resorts is hard enough . I told him that when we both have degrees & "real jobs" we will stay there... so now I'm just going to live vicariously through you!

Thanks for joining! This is a dream stay for us as well and probably the only time we'll be able to stay at Poly. We'll definitely make the most of it!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

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

I don't remember not liking the food. Although I am not picky at all. I don't think there's been a TS restaurant I haven't liked.
Character interaction is very good!!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We have never done a character meet with my kids, can you believe that?!!
My kids have never been big fans of the characters- I mean standing in line to meet them and actually having any kind of interaction. My boys are extremely shy and used to be scared to death of them.
It is really nice how they take the kids' body language cues seriously. I remember characters hiding behind my kids too so I could get a picture. I used to be upset that they didn't want any pics w/ characters, but now I'm kinda glad that I never had to waste any time standing in long lines when we could be on rides.
Now they are big boys and will pose with them at character meals for mom to get great shots.
For my DS14's 10th b-day Pluto fed him his b-day cake!! it is such an awesome picture I need to learn how to post pics.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

We have never done a character meet with my kids, can you believe that?!!
My kids have never been big fans of the characters- I mean standing in line to meet them and actually having any kind of interaction. My boys are extremely shy and used to be scared to death of them.
It is really nice how they take the kids' body language cues seriously. I remember characters hiding behind my kids too so I could get a picture. I used to be upset that they didn't want any pics w/ characters, but now I'm kinda glad that I never had to waste any time standing in long lines when we could be on rides.
Now they are big boys and will pose with them at character meals for mom to get great shots.
For my DS14's 10th b-day Pluto fed him his b-day cake!! it is such an awesome picture I need to learn how to post pics.

That sounds like a great picture! Ahhh, the irony. A dog feeding a human

I don't know how we got so hooked into characters - I think it happened once DD became aware of princesses. Oh well.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

This is going to be running list where I'll keep updating and adding to the list everytime I remember something. I'm going to use the DISboards as my personal notepad! At least, I will never lose this list, right? Unless I forget my password. Or unless the server crashes which based on the loading speed of the Boards lately, may very well become a reality.

1. SUNSCREEN!

The following scene has occurred on both of our previous trips to Orlando/Disney. And they happened in exactly the same manner. We arrive at MCO, load up our rental car, and drive down to SeaWorld. We've been doing SeaWorld on our arrival day; has become sort of a tradition. As we're driving, we marvel at the sunny and warm weather in the middle of winter and pity out loud our poor friends back home battling a snow storm in the DC area and subfreezing temperatures. As we get out of the car in the SeaWorld's parking lot, we look to the car to our left and see a family putting on sunscreen on the little ones on the stroller. We look to our right and see another family putting on shades/hats and sunscreen. And then it hits us. We forgot to pack sunscreen. I mean who thinks about sunscreen in December/February??? People in Florida, that's who. So we end up buying some overpriced tube of sunscreen at the first souvenir store inside SeaWorld. We still have the two tubes from our last two trips. Here's to hoping we can avoid a third tube and actually spend money on a real souvenir!

2. Autograph Book

For our last trip, DD and I bought an autograph book from Disney online store. I also got her a bunch of Disney stickers, and we spent time decorating one page with each character. I had to stop her from a few times from completely covering the page with stickers. It was all ready to go sitting on top of DD's dresser. And that's where it remained during our trip. Fortunately, DD wasn't heartbroken about it - especially once she found a "prettier" autograph book at the resort gift shop!


Next up: DAY 1: Dolphins, Whales, and Pizza!

 

[auprincess]

This is late, but we really enjoyed our meal at 1900 a couple of years ago. I don't really remember what we ate, but I know we liked the food and the character interaction was great! I have the sweetest video of Cinderella and Prince Charming playing ring around the rosy with my oldest DD. Hmmm, now I'm really wondering if we should eat there again (even though we have CRT and Akershus booked).

With 3 girls, we will also be seeing all the prnicesses! The hardest ones will obviously be the ones who aren't at our character meals (Rapunzel, Tiana, Pocahontas and Mulan) ~ we've met them all, but I know the girls will want to see them again. I really want to see Mike and Sully this time as well. My middle DD (3) has really gotten into Monsters Inc lately so they are a must this time, as well as Phineas and Ferb.

Oh, and we also really liked WCC when we ate there. We were staying at the WL, so it made sense to eat there, and it was good. Didn't make the cut this time, but mainly b/c we had so many other must dos (including Kona for breakfast).