We left for the Poly on Saturday 11/19. Our flight was leaving really early from a small city about one hour from our home. So on Friday night Mike came home early and packed.
The girls had hip-hop and jazz dance classes from 4-6 that evening. We picked them up about 1/2 an hour early and went to our favorite restaruant for dinner: There was NO WAY I was going to be starting cooking that night!
We were home by 7:00 and Mike loaded the car while the girls got ready for bed. As planned they took showers and then got dressed in their clothes for the next day. They wore tie-dye yoga pants and tank tops.
One aside: where we live tie-dye pants are the current "fad". Literally every little girl has several pair. But they must be a local thing because we were stopped repeatedly in Orlando to ask where we got them!
The girls were asleep by 8:00 and Mike and I got into bed at 9:00. I was worried we wouldn't be able to fall asleep, but the next thing I knew it was 4:30 and Mike got up to take his shower and so did I. (We re-did our house last year and now both have our own bathrooms. It makes travel to even the nicest hotel a little bit of a comedown since there are 4 of us sharing a bathroom. I know, I know I am terribly spoiled! Mike always wants us to get two rooms or a suite but I love having the girls with us all week and he admits its great for family bonding)
When I made the reservations at the Poly, I did not put in any room request. We had originally considered going concierge, but decided that with the meal plan, it was just a waste. So the Friday before I called to confirm all of my meals. The CM was very friendly and I asked a nicely as I could if it "was at all possible, we would LOVE to be in Rapu Nui" I felt that being close to the TTC was our best option. She told me she was going to try and make it happen!
Anyway, we woke the girls exactly at 5:15 a.m. and had them put on their sweatshirts and shoes. It was a good thing they slept in their clothes because they were 1/2 asleep and would have been very poky getting fully dressed.
We headed to the airport. With no traffice we made the drive in only 50 minutes. We checked all but one carry on and a SportSac bag.
The carry-on was very important what with Magical Express. It contained a change of clothes and shoes for all of us PLUS our swimsuits/coverups. And of course 6 disposable cameras which would be ruined in the regular x-ray machine.
The sport-sac contained what Mike calls my "BUT what if" bag. It is a make up bag but it is filled with more over the counter medicine and first aid stuff than you can imagine. The list is as follows. Regular and children's Advil. Cold medicine. Benydryl. Pepto Bismal. Nyquil, Neosporin, Cort-aid, Band-aids, Moleskin, and of course my personal favorite Purell.
Let me tell you about Purell for a moment. I do not work for the company or anything though Mike tells me I should be their "unoffical spokesman". I do however, thorough my work, read alot of medical journals. I recently read a study in the journal Pediatrics that convinced me to buy alot of bottles of it. I also knew that public restrooms, incluiding Disney's don't have hot ennough water in their sinks to really effectively kill germs. Thus we used Purell EVERYWHERE. I made the girls use it after every ride, every button or door they touched and at every restaurant. I was a little obssessed I will admit, but we all stayed nice and healthy and except for a band-aid or two and some cortaid for itchy skin, we did not have to use anything in the "what if bag"
Anyway, the plane took off on time. It was only Skylar and Sophie's second time on an airplane. Around here that makes them VERY unsual. Most of their friends travel on every vacation. We felt that it was better to wait unti they were older, though one of my friends always jokes that Child Protective Services was going to come after us, if we didn't take those poor girls on vacatation!
A few long hours later, we landed and quickly made our way to the Magical Express line. It went fairly quickly and only one hour and fifteen minutes later we were checking in at the front desk of the Poly!
Let me just say now that it is the most beautiful hotel. We loved everything about it and would go back in a heartbeat.
At the desk, we were informed we would get a new room in....Rapu Nui. Hooray. Off to a good start already!
We went to the room and I started my obesessive plan of action. It was 75 and sunny but I looked at the weather forcast. Rainy the next day and cool the day after. Oh,oh, we better get to the pool: NOW.
I hustled Mike and the girls to get into their suits and 10 minutes later they were on their way to the pool. I got ready as well and went immediately to Captain Cooks. We had not eaten since morning but we had dinner reservations in 4 hours at the Crystal Palace. i wanted to get us something to eat, but not too much.
I ordered the girls a chicken figners to share and Mike and I a veggie sandwich. They gave us fries with that and I was able to get us a side of fresh grapes as a snack. I also got two big waters as our beverages and asked and got some extra cups. For our desserts we got two chocolate cakes.
We used two CS meals and had more than ennough! We swam for about two hours then went back to the room. Our luggage had arrived. We got into our clothes for the evening and then relaxed. Sophie is doing a report on Walt Disney so she read a biograhy while Skylar and we watched T.V.
Around 4:30, we walked to the TTC. Just 2.5 minutes door to door. WOW! We caught the express Monorail to the MK and 5 minutes later were at the gates!
We walked over to Buzz Lightyear and were able to get a FastPass for 8:00-9:00. Perfect since dinner was at 6:30.
We then went to Timekeeper, which we all liked and we bored the girls yet again with the story of how Mommy and Daddy went to Disney World together as kids and went on this very ride and isn't that cool. Skylar gave us one of her best eye-rolling and sarcastic "interESTing" comments.
Then it was onto Mike's favorite Hall of Presidents (which Skylar declared "booooorrrring"!) Sophie though seemed to like it though maybe she was just greatful that she could sit.
It was time for our dinner and we walked over to the CP. We thought it was OK. Definitely our least favorite meal. But it was sure nice to see those big zeros on the bill!
We then walked over to Buzz and rode. I am sooooooooo bad at that ride. I think I scored about 23! Skylar was happy with her 32,000 until she saw her little sisters score of 225,000. Then she was mad! Little Sister's are NOT supposed to beat you at ANYTHING!
By that time we were ready to go. People we already lining up for the Parade and we had to thread our way through the crowd. But we did it and made it back in plenty of time to see the Electric Lights Parade and then be asleep before 10:00, slightly nervous about the weather for the next day in which "serious storms" were predicted.
NEXT: The storm that wasn't!
The sport
The girls had hip-hop and jazz dance classes from 4-6 that evening. We picked them up about 1/2 an hour early and went to our favorite restaruant for dinner: There was NO WAY I was going to be starting cooking that night!
We were home by 7:00 and Mike loaded the car while the girls got ready for bed. As planned they took showers and then got dressed in their clothes for the next day. They wore tie-dye yoga pants and tank tops.
One aside: where we live tie-dye pants are the current "fad". Literally every little girl has several pair. But they must be a local thing because we were stopped repeatedly in Orlando to ask where we got them!
The girls were asleep by 8:00 and Mike and I got into bed at 9:00. I was worried we wouldn't be able to fall asleep, but the next thing I knew it was 4:30 and Mike got up to take his shower and so did I. (We re-did our house last year and now both have our own bathrooms. It makes travel to even the nicest hotel a little bit of a comedown since there are 4 of us sharing a bathroom. I know, I know I am terribly spoiled! Mike always wants us to get two rooms or a suite but I love having the girls with us all week and he admits its great for family bonding)
When I made the reservations at the Poly, I did not put in any room request. We had originally considered going concierge, but decided that with the meal plan, it was just a waste. So the Friday before I called to confirm all of my meals. The CM was very friendly and I asked a nicely as I could if it "was at all possible, we would LOVE to be in Rapu Nui" I felt that being close to the TTC was our best option. She told me she was going to try and make it happen!
Anyway, we woke the girls exactly at 5:15 a.m. and had them put on their sweatshirts and shoes. It was a good thing they slept in their clothes because they were 1/2 asleep and would have been very poky getting fully dressed.
We headed to the airport. With no traffice we made the drive in only 50 minutes. We checked all but one carry on and a SportSac bag.
The carry-on was very important what with Magical Express. It contained a change of clothes and shoes for all of us PLUS our swimsuits/coverups. And of course 6 disposable cameras which would be ruined in the regular x-ray machine.
The sport-sac contained what Mike calls my "BUT what if" bag. It is a make up bag but it is filled with more over the counter medicine and first aid stuff than you can imagine. The list is as follows. Regular and children's Advil. Cold medicine. Benydryl. Pepto Bismal. Nyquil, Neosporin, Cort-aid, Band-aids, Moleskin, and of course my personal favorite Purell.
Let me tell you about Purell for a moment. I do not work for the company or anything though Mike tells me I should be their "unoffical spokesman". I do however, thorough my work, read alot of medical journals. I recently read a study in the journal Pediatrics that convinced me to buy alot of bottles of it. I also knew that public restrooms, incluiding Disney's don't have hot ennough water in their sinks to really effectively kill germs. Thus we used Purell EVERYWHERE. I made the girls use it after every ride, every button or door they touched and at every restaurant. I was a little obssessed I will admit, but we all stayed nice and healthy and except for a band-aid or two and some cortaid for itchy skin, we did not have to use anything in the "what if bag"
Anyway, the plane took off on time. It was only Skylar and Sophie's second time on an airplane. Around here that makes them VERY unsual. Most of their friends travel on every vacation. We felt that it was better to wait unti they were older, though one of my friends always jokes that Child Protective Services was going to come after us, if we didn't take those poor girls on vacatation!
A few long hours later, we landed and quickly made our way to the Magical Express line. It went fairly quickly and only one hour and fifteen minutes later we were checking in at the front desk of the Poly!
Let me just say now that it is the most beautiful hotel. We loved everything about it and would go back in a heartbeat.
At the desk, we were informed we would get a new room in....Rapu Nui. Hooray. Off to a good start already!
We went to the room and I started my obesessive plan of action. It was 75 and sunny but I looked at the weather forcast. Rainy the next day and cool the day after. Oh,oh, we better get to the pool: NOW.
I hustled Mike and the girls to get into their suits and 10 minutes later they were on their way to the pool. I got ready as well and went immediately to Captain Cooks. We had not eaten since morning but we had dinner reservations in 4 hours at the Crystal Palace. i wanted to get us something to eat, but not too much.
I ordered the girls a chicken figners to share and Mike and I a veggie sandwich. They gave us fries with that and I was able to get us a side of fresh grapes as a snack. I also got two big waters as our beverages and asked and got some extra cups. For our desserts we got two chocolate cakes.
We used two CS meals and had more than ennough! We swam for about two hours then went back to the room. Our luggage had arrived. We got into our clothes for the evening and then relaxed. Sophie is doing a report on Walt Disney so she read a biograhy while Skylar and we watched T.V.
Around 4:30, we walked to the TTC. Just 2.5 minutes door to door. WOW! We caught the express Monorail to the MK and 5 minutes later were at the gates!
We walked over to Buzz Lightyear and were able to get a FastPass for 8:00-9:00. Perfect since dinner was at 6:30.
We then went to Timekeeper, which we all liked and we bored the girls yet again with the story of how Mommy and Daddy went to Disney World together as kids and went on this very ride and isn't that cool. Skylar gave us one of her best eye-rolling and sarcastic "interESTing" comments.
Then it was onto Mike's favorite Hall of Presidents (which Skylar declared "booooorrrring"!) Sophie though seemed to like it though maybe she was just greatful that she could sit.
It was time for our dinner and we walked over to the CP. We thought it was OK. Definitely our least favorite meal. But it was sure nice to see those big zeros on the bill!
We then walked over to Buzz and rode. I am sooooooooo bad at that ride. I think I scored about 23! Skylar was happy with her 32,000 until she saw her little sisters score of 225,000. Then she was mad! Little Sister's are NOT supposed to beat you at ANYTHING!
By that time we were ready to go. People we already lining up for the Parade and we had to thread our way through the crowd. But we did it and made it back in plenty of time to see the Electric Lights Parade and then be asleep before 10:00, slightly nervous about the weather for the next day in which "serious storms" were predicted.
NEXT: The storm that wasn't!
The sport
