PamNC
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
- Messages
- 4,597
Aloha! We're home from our first Poly trip.
The Cast - Two Die-Hard Yacht Club/Beach Club Fans:
Me, 41
my DH, known as Uncle Albert on these boards, 33
Day 1 - Travel Day, our first Impression of the Poly, and the Magic Kingdom!!!!!!
Of course DH drug me out of bed at 4:00 a.m. on 2/9 - we always drive and we like to miss the Orlando rush hour traffic. It's a 9 hour trip for us. We packed the car the night before so all that had to be done was to feed the horses, dogs, cats, chickens, brush our teeth and hit the road!!! I did the animals and DH got the cooler ready. We hate to eat fast food so we take a cooler with cokes, water, yogurt and stuff for sandwiches. We take enough cokes and water so we can have them in the room for our whole trip. Anyway, it was a flawless exit. Jumped in the car at exactly 4:47 a.m. It was 26 degrees. BRRRRRR. It was so interesting to see the temperature go up up up as we drove South. Upon our arrival it was 79 degrees. Much better!
We needed to purchase our AP's and we decided to do so at Downtown Disney where we could buy activated passes. That way, no "issues" at check-in. We like to nip potential "issues" in the bud whenever possible. We were soooo excited when we drove up to the Marketplace. We asked a nice CM where we could find Guest Services and went on in to buy the AP's. Only one family in line before us. We used our reward dollars (we had $120) to help pay for them. I liked that. It sort of felt like I got a discount, although I know I that's not true.
We drove to the Poly to check in. Immediately a cast member said "Aloha" and explained the Poly check-in process. We had a great check in. The CM was great! Much friendlier than the CM we had last year at WL, she never looked up or smiled once. This was definitely the opposite experience. We received leis - the CM asked us to put them on each other so we did and of course we had to get in a little "smooch" in the process. Our room number was Tokelau 3944. The CM that took us to our room was so helpful. He took us on a little tour of the resort and talked to us about the restaurant and drinks that they offer at the Poly. We took his advice a few times during our visit by purchasing Lapu Lapus - a delicious drink in a pineapple. My DH said all the way down, "I'm going to get a drink in a pineapple or a coconut." And so he did!!! Our room was great BUT they were doing construction on the quiet pool which was right below our room. It was loud...but we decided to just let it go because although we had a garden view - we could see the lagoon and the castle if we looked to the side. We were quite impressed with the size of the room. Much bigger than YC/BC. We didn't waste much time in the room because #1 we were starving and #2 we were excited about going to the MK. So off we went. And how simple it was hopping on the monorail to get there. Love it!
There is nothing like that first moment when you walk under the train station and hear the sounds and smell the smells of the MK. Ahhhhhh! I love that moment. We were starving so we thought perhaps we would eat at Tony's Town Square. It was 4:00 and they didn't open until 5:00. Couldn't wait. So we ate at the Plaza Restaurant...it was our first time eating there. For "fast food" it was pretty good. Well, at that point anything would have seemed delicious. After we ate we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. It's a tradition that we ride it first. We also took in the Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The lines were not bad at all. I think each wait was about 10 or 15 minutes. We decided to head back because we were quite tired from the trip. We took the boat launch back to the Poly. When we got to the Poly it was almost time for the fireworks. We watched them from the beach and I knew at that moment that this would be a magical trip. I also knew the Poly might become my new favorite. DH said "I like it here but the jury is still out." After the fireworks we were definitely ready to go to bed. I know...we're wimps but we're getting old and can't hang like we use to.
After some discussion we decided we would ask to be moved to another room because of the noise from the construction. The CM couldn't have been more helpful. We told her we liked Tokelau so she moved us to the other side of the building. Our new room number was 3927. A nice garden view. We couldn't hear any noise at all. It was perfect. The CM said that she wanted us to be happy. We were impressed with her.
In the middle of the night Uncle Albert woke up and forgot where he was. And then, he thought "my head is on a Polynesian Pillow." Let me elaborate on this. We've been going to Disney since our honeymoon in 1994. He has always said "I'll know I've made it when I wake up and my head is on a Polynesian Pillow." So this was quite exciting for him. Tune in for our next report - maybe the "jury will be in" and Uncle Albert will name the Poly as his new favorite.
PamNC
The Cast - Two Die-Hard Yacht Club/Beach Club Fans:
Me, 41
my DH, known as Uncle Albert on these boards, 33
Day 1 - Travel Day, our first Impression of the Poly, and the Magic Kingdom!!!!!!
Of course DH drug me out of bed at 4:00 a.m. on 2/9 - we always drive and we like to miss the Orlando rush hour traffic. It's a 9 hour trip for us. We packed the car the night before so all that had to be done was to feed the horses, dogs, cats, chickens, brush our teeth and hit the road!!! I did the animals and DH got the cooler ready. We hate to eat fast food so we take a cooler with cokes, water, yogurt and stuff for sandwiches. We take enough cokes and water so we can have them in the room for our whole trip. Anyway, it was a flawless exit. Jumped in the car at exactly 4:47 a.m. It was 26 degrees. BRRRRRR. It was so interesting to see the temperature go up up up as we drove South. Upon our arrival it was 79 degrees. Much better!
We needed to purchase our AP's and we decided to do so at Downtown Disney where we could buy activated passes. That way, no "issues" at check-in. We like to nip potential "issues" in the bud whenever possible. We were soooo excited when we drove up to the Marketplace. We asked a nice CM where we could find Guest Services and went on in to buy the AP's. Only one family in line before us. We used our reward dollars (we had $120) to help pay for them. I liked that. It sort of felt like I got a discount, although I know I that's not true.
We drove to the Poly to check in. Immediately a cast member said "Aloha" and explained the Poly check-in process. We had a great check in. The CM was great! Much friendlier than the CM we had last year at WL, she never looked up or smiled once. This was definitely the opposite experience. We received leis - the CM asked us to put them on each other so we did and of course we had to get in a little "smooch" in the process. Our room number was Tokelau 3944. The CM that took us to our room was so helpful. He took us on a little tour of the resort and talked to us about the restaurant and drinks that they offer at the Poly. We took his advice a few times during our visit by purchasing Lapu Lapus - a delicious drink in a pineapple. My DH said all the way down, "I'm going to get a drink in a pineapple or a coconut." And so he did!!! Our room was great BUT they were doing construction on the quiet pool which was right below our room. It was loud...but we decided to just let it go because although we had a garden view - we could see the lagoon and the castle if we looked to the side. We were quite impressed with the size of the room. Much bigger than YC/BC. We didn't waste much time in the room because #1 we were starving and #2 we were excited about going to the MK. So off we went. And how simple it was hopping on the monorail to get there. Love it!
There is nothing like that first moment when you walk under the train station and hear the sounds and smell the smells of the MK. Ahhhhhh! I love that moment. We were starving so we thought perhaps we would eat at Tony's Town Square. It was 4:00 and they didn't open until 5:00. Couldn't wait. So we ate at the Plaza Restaurant...it was our first time eating there. For "fast food" it was pretty good. Well, at that point anything would have seemed delicious. After we ate we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. It's a tradition that we ride it first. We also took in the Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The lines were not bad at all. I think each wait was about 10 or 15 minutes. We decided to head back because we were quite tired from the trip. We took the boat launch back to the Poly. When we got to the Poly it was almost time for the fireworks. We watched them from the beach and I knew at that moment that this would be a magical trip. I also knew the Poly might become my new favorite. DH said "I like it here but the jury is still out." After the fireworks we were definitely ready to go to bed. I know...we're wimps but we're getting old and can't hang like we use to.
After some discussion we decided we would ask to be moved to another room because of the noise from the construction. The CM couldn't have been more helpful. We told her we liked Tokelau so she moved us to the other side of the building. Our new room number was 3927. A nice garden view. We couldn't hear any noise at all. It was perfect. The CM said that she wanted us to be happy. We were impressed with her.
In the middle of the night Uncle Albert woke up and forgot where he was. And then, he thought "my head is on a Polynesian Pillow." Let me elaborate on this. We've been going to Disney since our honeymoon in 1994. He has always said "I'll know I've made it when I wake up and my head is on a Polynesian Pillow." So this was quite exciting for him. Tune in for our next report - maybe the "jury will be in" and Uncle Albert will name the Poly as his new favorite.
PamNC
