~Practically Perfect In Every Way~ 8/18-8/28 at The Polynesian!

[disneylove16]

We didn't try dessert, because we wanted to try the pineapple lumpia from Pongu Pongu.

I thought they would be a packet of a few of them, but an order is for one piece. It wasn't anything to write home about for either of us. I didn't taste the pineapple. It just tasted like sweet crab rangoon to me.

We headed out of Pandora

And stopped at....

You guessed it! Starbucks. I was sooo bummed when I tried to purchase the last "You are here" mug for my 4 park set. They don't carry them at AK, because they're redesigning them to include Pandora. So guess I'll have to purchase it on our next trip!

I was also fascinated by the fact that Starbucks has their own special green paper straws. I think I assumed they would be the basic beige ones.

 

[disneylove16]

We headed over to Dinoland to use our Dinosaur fastpass, and ride Chester & Hester's Dinorama, which is one of my absolute favorite rides. I laugh the entire time.

So on Dinosaur, I sat next to this adorable little boy who was all brave and into it, but once the ride started he grabbed his mom's hand with one hand, and my hand with the other, and was terrified. He held onto us for dear life the entire ride. I felt so bad for him, but it was also hilarious. Every time his mom laughed, it made me laugh more. So our ride photo is DH and I looking at this sweet kid instead of the Dinosaur!

up next: maharajah jungle trek, tusker house, and more pandora!

 

[Disneylovingmomof2]

Following! This is great! I'm staying at Poly for the first time in Feb with my family. I also love AK and have two AK days planned for this trip so I hope I don't run into a bunch of frantic people! How sad. Did you have fast passes for any of the rides? I'm hoping that with two days at the park I can split up the tiered Pandora rides and have plenty of time to see everything so we're not rushed. I wasn't sure if everyone was just running around like that because they were trying to get to the regular lines faster?
Edited to say AK and not AKL (stayed there last trip haha)

 

[disneylove16]

Following! This is great! I'm staying at Poly for the first time in Feb with my family. I also love AKL and have two AKL days planned for this trip so I hope I don't run into a bunch of frantic people! How sad. Did you have fast passes for any of the rides? I'm hoping that with two days at the park I can split up the tiered Pandora rides and have plenty of time to see everything so we're not rushed. I wasn't sure if everyone was just running around like that because they were trying to get to the regular lines faster?

How exciting! You will love the resort. It's absolutely beautiful, and so relaxing. Make sure you factor in down time! 2 days at AK is perfect, you won't be rushed at all. I had a FP for FOP for our 1st AK day at night, then booked another FP for another night on our down day, which we ended up using because the ride was so amazing. I booked a FP for Navi River ride for our 2nd AK day (our last day of the trip) but we didn't end up going. The crowds were rushing trying to rope drop Pandora, and from my eavesdropping on the bus and in the park, what I gather is soooo many people don't plan. DH and I discussed that so much this trip. How shocked we were that people are willing to spend so much money on a trip, and not do any research or plan at all. The chaos and frantic people were those people. If you have FP, you don't need to worry at all. Both times we rode FOP, it was hassle free, the 1st time was no wait at all with our FP, the 2nd time was about a 20 minute wait. (It was worth it). Having lunch wasn't chaotic at all, nor was walking around enjoying Pandora (though it was very crowded). I feel like Pandora draws more crowds, so the park is busier than it was last year (and I felt like it was busy last year), but if you have a plan, and FP's, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. We did everything we wanted to, and we weren't very commando this trip. I hope you have an amazing trip, and enjoy the Poly! If you like coffee, I highly recommend Kona Island on the 2nd floor of the main lobby! They're only open in the morning, then they change over to a sushi menu for lunch/dinner I believe.

 

[annie170]

When we've had shorter trips, four or five days, we've often skipped AK. I know what you mean about the love/hate with that park. In my opinion, there wasn't enough to do to fill an entire day. We would do AK the first half of the day and Downtown Disney (I know, I know, it takes me awhile to transition to new names) the second half. Pandora was needed there. Actually HS is starting to give the same feeling now. Epcot has always been my favorite with MK a close second.

You have me craving a Mickey pretzel now!

Looking forward to your Tusker House review. That's my favorite character buffet!

 

[disneylove16]

When we've had shorter trips, four or five days, we've often skipped AK. I know what you mean about the love/hate with that park. In my opinion, there wasn't enough to do to fill an entire day. We would do AK the first half of the day and Downtown Disney (I know, I know, it takes me awhile to transition to new names) the second half. Pandora was needed there. Actually HS is starting to give the same feeling now. Epcot has always been my favorite with MK a close second.

You have me craving a Mickey pretzel now!

Looking forward to your Tusker House review. That's my favorite character buffet!

Ha! I still call Disney Springs Downtown Disney too! And I agree about HS, I didn't even want to go to the park this trip, but DH did. Can't wait for it to finish getting the TLC it needs. And I crave Mickey pretzels 24/7

 

[disneylove16]

I was so excited to see the bats on Maharajah Jungle Trek this trip, and we got an amazing view of the male tiger. A cast member was out showing live feed of mother and babies. They of course were too young to be out, but soon

 

[disneylove16]

I stopped for a root beer float. I don't know what it is with me and root beer floats at WDW. I never ever get them anywhere else. I don't crave them, or think about them, I just always end up wanting them while at WDW!

Again, I know some of these are out of order, sorry!

The faces I make on roller coasters always cracks me up

We made one more stop at Rafiki's Planet Watch so I could see my piglet friends again

 

[disneylove16]

We then headed over to Tusker House to check in for our ADR. We were about 20 minutes early, so we stopped for a drink at the Dawa Bar, and watched some amazing dancing and music. I was kind of bummed for DH, because he would drool over all the photos I showed him of the Bloody Mary's at Dawa Bar, and that was one of the things he was most excited to try. But when we tried ordering one, the cast member said they only have them in the mornings I thought that was odd. DH ended up getting a beer, and I think I got Lost on Safari.

 

[disneylove16]

Our buzzer went off right on time for our ADR. We had never been to Tusker House, and I was super excited. Neither of us were looking forward to the character aspect of it (I know, I know) and I think DH was secretly kind of dreading it. But he ended up doing great with taking photos with them. I think the characters kind of read your interaction. If you just kind of sit and wave, they get it, and keep it quick and simple. I did take photos, but other than that, we just kind of said hello, and got back to eating. I have to add, I don't know if it's an all-the-time thing here, but service was ridiculously slow. (Yes, I know it's a buffet). I only say this to advise others not to make any FP reservations or plan on catching a show immediately after dinner. When we sat, we were positive our server forgot about us. We waited over 1/2 an hour for someone to come take our drink order. I had to go grab silverware from the trays at the server station, we just kind of stacked our dirty plates up throughout our dinner, since no one took them. The server never came back to offer drink refills, you get the idea. I know service is probably more relaxed here, as they want you to get adequate time with the characters, and because it is a buffet. They may have been short staffed though, or who knows what. It could have been a one off for us. I wouldn't let it deter me from going back, however, because the food was great. There's a great selection for vegetarians, and everything was fresh and refilled often. The salmon was amazing, as was the shrimp with green curry sauce.

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As much as I liked the food, I wasn't a fan of any of the desserts.

 

[disneylove16]

And this is why I take the photos on our trips, rather than DH

 

[Frozen2014]

Wow, amazing report! Thanks for sharing and for all those fantastic photos!

 

[disneylove16]

After dinner, we headed back to Pandora for our FOP FP! Warning: lots of photos ahead!

 

[disneylove16]

We got one of these bad boys while we waited for our FP window to open. It was tasty, but sooooo sweet. DH and I had to share it. The boba used in WDW is different for me. I love boba here at home, but every time I've tried it, it's a chewy tapioca ball. The WDW boba are little balls that burst when you squeeze them, with liquid inside. The "skin" disolves. I can see them being really fun for kids to eat.

The FP line for FOP was moving super fast, and DH was reprimanding me for trying to take pictures of the queue. I would run ahead, stop for a photo, then run again. But all my photos are blurry. The 2nd time we rode it, I got better pictures though. Unfortunately, when you use a FP for FOP, you don't get to see the avatar animatronic, which I would have liked to see. Maybe in a year or 2 when the standby lines aren't so bad.

This ride is the nicest ride I've ever been on. It's so smooth, and absolutely breathtaking. The screen and film is crisp and clear since it's still new, so it's flawless really. Everyone was oohing and aahing the entire ride, and everyone seemed to absolutely love it. It is definitely a don't miss attraction. I was worried about DH being comfortable b/c he has very long legs, and I've read mixed things about the leg restraints, but he was totally fine both times we rode it.

I don't know if banshee availability is still an issue, but there were plenty when we went.

 

[disneylove16]

When we exited the ride, it was dark out, and it was like seeing Pandora for the 1st time all over again.

 

[disneylove16]

We headed back to Dinoland to ride C&H Dinorama again, and passed some more amazing dancers

We passed Rivers of Light, and it looks beautiful and amazing. DH just never wants to do shows like that ever since Fantasmic on our first WDW trip together. He hates the bleacher-style seating. I will get him there one day.

We made our way out of the park

When we got back to our resort, they were showing Wreck It Ralph outside

We were pretty exhausted since we didn't take any breaks that day, so we went straight to the room, showered, and called it a night.

Up next: DS- DLuxe Burger, Morimoto Street Food, Sprinkles, Jack Lindsay's Hangar Bar, Raglan Road... Dang we eat a lot!

 

[disneylove16]

Wow, amazing report! Thanks for sharing and for all those fantastic photos!

Thank you so much for reading along!

 

[disneylove16]

DAY 6: DS/ AK​

The next morning we slept in a little (I think we woke up around 7-8 instead of our usual 6 am). I head to the lobby for my usual iced latte with almond syrup and my danish. DH didn't want anything, so I just got my breakfast and brought it back to the room to eat on the balcony while DH showered and got ready.

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We took the bus to DS and did a little shopping before lunch.

I ended up spending a small fortune in Under Armour

 

[disneylove16]

Then it was time for lunch. DLuxe Burger wasn't really a must do for us, but DH was in the mood for a burger, and after him eating at Tusker House the night before (which is out of his comfort zone), I figured I'd keep lunch simple for him.
When we arrived, I was happy to see chicken and veggie burgers on the menu. I got the cluck burger, and DH got the el diablo burger. We asked to try all the sauces with our fries. For those of you that are embarrassed about asking to try all of them, don't be. Everyone else I saw ordering food was doing the same thing, and they are all prefilled. They just grab one of each and throw them on your tray.

Unfortunately, neither one of us liked the food. At all. I hated my burger, and didn't end up eating it. The garlic herb sauce on it had a really bad taste to it. And I love pretty much any cream based sauces, especially garlic. The burger itself had no seasoning or taste to it. DH didn't like his burger, and he swore it was uncooked (which was worrying him because of the chorizo (pork) inside. The sauces for dipping the fries were just meh. It's unfortunate, because the atmosphere is really nice, and relaxed, and the customer service was fantastic. We definitely won't be heading back there on our next trip, though.

 

[disneylove16]

When we left, I was still hungry, and had really wanted to try the chicken bao from Morimoto Street Food, so we stopped there. DH and I split an order, which comes with 2 tacos, and I got the citrus popping boba green tea. Everything was delicious. I loved the bao, and the tea was so refreshing. The tea was slightly sweet, and the boba added that extra sweetness. They are also definitely not stingy with the boba! DH got a beer.

My mouth is watering just thinking about that meal!
We headed to Sprinkles to get some cupcakes to take back to the resort with us. On the way, we passed a vendor with dog accessories! I was beyond excited. I always complain that they don't have enough pet accessories in the shops, and I think they would be big sellers! Could you imagine the market for collars/leashes, food bowls, doggie tees or bandanas, even collar charms with different characters? I know I would drop a small fortune. Anywho, this vendor had an adorable selection of Disney collars and leashes, and some treats.

I ended up getting the Ohana one for my sweet potato. Now I wish I got our little nugget before our trip so I could've gotten him one too! Oh well, next trip.

Clockwise from bottom left, salted caramel, strawberry, rainbow sprinkle, and chocolate sprinkle. The rainbow sprinkle and chocolate sprinkle didn't make it out of the store.