I'm finally posting after our absolutely fantastic vacation in August! We had a wonderful time, spending 1 night at the Royal Pacific resort (Universal) and 2 days at Universal IOA (WWoHP is amazing!) followed by 9 glorious nights TPV at the Poly. We did a 1 night Platinum plan in the middle of our trip. We ended up keeping our 9 night reservation and surprising my BIL and his partner with a night (GV-CL) at the Poly, including Platinum. We just put all 5 names on the reservation. Not as cheap as possible, but less expensive than booking 2 separate rooms with Platinum packages. I actually haven't run through all the numbers to see how much (if anything) we saved, but in retrospect, we had such an awesome time that we are considering doing it again in the future (3 night minimum and all!).
Anyway, we actually accomplished everything we set out to do on the itinerary except for boat rental at the resort. The only reason that didn't happen was because it was raining - we had plenty of time and energy, just too much rain and lightning! Overall, our 2 days went like this:
Day 1
1.
Check in for Platinum package (early) - Check in was a breeze except that the front desk guy couldn't find the key to unlock the cabinet to get our La Nouba vouchers. Eventually he did - he was super nice the whole time and I felt bad for him that he was getting so flustered. DH headed off to EPCOT for 8:30 Segway tour while DD and I walked over to GF Spa. A beautiful walk, especially early in the morning. Had a little trouble finding the spa with the construction walls up - actually walked past it and had to double back, but no big deal. First snafu - they hadn't booked our spa appointments properly. We were doing massages, mani/pedis, and DD was doing My First Facial. They didn't have me booked for a mani/pedi. This was the ONLY reservation of our trip that I let the concierge desk handle - I should have done it myself. After getting just a little firm with them, the guy miraculously is able to get a technician to come in to do a mani/pedi for me. Hooray! The spa was divine and all of our servicers (what would they be called?) were great - except the one that did DD's mani/pedi. She was OK, but not very patient. I get that DD is only 10, but they shouldn't offer "My First..." spa services if they don't want to provide them, KWIM? When we checked out, they were only going to use 2 of our Platinum credits - they quickly fixed it to use my DH's credit for one of my services, so it all ended well. The front desk staff was a bit snooty, IMHO - pleasant enough, but while looking down their noses at you.
DH loved the Segway tour so much that he now wants to buy a Segway. Go figure.
2.
Return to Poly to pop the surprise to BILs! As we were walking back from the spa, my BIL called to tell me they were pulling into the parking lot. DH had already texted that he was on his way back from EPCOT, so we were bound to meet at our room within just a few minutes of each other - perfect timing! One BIL was in on the surprise - the other was stunned. It was so cool getting to surprise him like that. He is a CM and has done so much for us over the years - free park entry, party tickets, room discounts, etc. We ventured over to their room in the Hawaii building then grabbed a quick lunch at Captain Cooks (and got our mugs!). The place was PACKED - I think because it was raining - so we took our food over to the Hawaii building and had lunch in their room. We were planning to rent boats but the rain kept us from it. That is the main complaint I have with Captain Cook's - the dining room is too dang small. Enjoyed it in every other way though.
DH loved the Dole Whips so much he wants a Dole Whip machine at home. Go figure.
3.
Monorail to MK then boat to Ft. Wilderness - the transportation went without a hitch. Very cool boat ride and the rain let up to an occasional sprinkle.
4.
Hoop Dee Doo Revue (5 pm show) - what more can I say? We loved the show, the food, everything. A great time was had by all.
5.
Carriage ride at Ft. Wilderness - we got out of HDDR a few minutes after 7 pm and I had booked a carriage ride for 7:30 (or maybe 7:45). The carriage was just sitting there when we got out of HDDR, so we wandered over and started chatting with the driver. I told her we had a reservation but it wasn't time yet - she said to hop on in! Now, there were 5 of us in the carriage and technically it is for 4 adults. DD is 10 and there was plenty of room for all of us in the carriage. The carriage ride was lovely and it makes me want to do it at Halloween and Christmas even more! And, FYI, the carriage drivers cannot accept tips.
6.
Boat to MK then to GF for Wishes fireworks cruise - no transportation issues - the plan worked smoothly and we got to GF with plenty of time to spare. Lounged around in an upstairs seating area before heading down for the cruise. Snafu #2 - we couldn't find the right boat dock. We were directed to the MK ferry dock, which I knew wasn't right. On the up side, we saw some of the EWP from the dock. Eventually, we figured out where to go and made it just in time. Our captain said she had almost given up on us. It wouldn't have been a problem if we would have scouted out ahead of time or if we had been more familiar with the GF layout. The fireworks cruise was S-P-E-C-T-A-C-U-L-A-R. I can't put into words what a good time we had. We cruised around the lagoon for awhile, heard crazy frog noises from the island, then parked to watch the fireworks. So cool. Our captain was even nice enough to drive us back and drop us off at the Poly so we wouldn't have to monorail back. Thanks Katie!
7. Headed to bed - see next post for Day 2....
I do hope you'll still be joining us on the Wishes cruise.
I said what happens if both our Dolphins In Depth and Aqua Seas are canceled and they said not to worry at this time- the CM's would reschedule us if needed (We go the 1st week of November.) Well, that would mean 2012 or 2013 and I have no idea if they will honor that. Also, we have done most every tour except Wild Africa Trek and they will not sub that for the DID or AS tours (I asked.) So I have no idea what to do. I have been planning this for several months for our 15th anniversary and the only other tour we are doing is Wilderness Segway. We don't really want to repeat any tours as we have done many of them more than once already. So we basically have a whole day with nothing now (just dinner.) We are within our 45 days so I hate to cancel and get charged $200. Ugggggggggggg.....
