Tracy Jean
He popped the question at V&A's
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2001
- Messages
- 49
Hi all,
I wrote a summary of my recent four-night trip for some of my friends, and I thought some of you might be interested in reading it too. I know I enjoyed reading other people's trip summaries before I went. Kinda got me in the mood. Anyway, here it is if you're interested. Enjoy!
Tracy
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<u><b>Saturday, 12/15</u>: SURPRISE! We're staying at the Poly</b>
My BF Greg and I flew down to Orlando from Washington, DC. We landed at 5pm, got our rental car, and headed to WDW.
We had been planning this trip for a couple months, and first had reservations at the Courtyard by Marriott in DD. But when I found out about the Winter Getaway rates, I secretly cancelled our reservations there and booked us in a lagoon view room at the Polynesian. It was going to be my special surprise for him. Well, one day a few weeks ago he says to me, "I hear they're having great discounts on rooms at Disney right now. Maybe we should cancel our reservations and get a room at one of the Diseny resorts." ARGH! So, I kinda spilled the beans. I told him we were staying on property, but I didn't tell him where. Over the weeks, one by one, I eliminated a bunch of Disney resorts until we were left with just the Poly and Wilderness Lodge. So, he knew we were staying at one of those two. As we got closer to the park, we came upon a crossing in the road where he had to turn right for the Wilderness Lodge, or left for the Polynesian. I took my time, but finally told him to turn left. He got a HUGE smile on his face and said, REALLY?! He couldnt believe it. He totally thought it was the Wilderness Lodge, since we had stayed there once before and loved it. Ha ha! This was going to be our first stay at the Poly.
So we got to the hotel and checked in. I had him stand back so he couldnt hear what kind of room we had. Once we were checked in, the woman at the front desk gave us both flower leis. Then we went out to the valet to have them help us to our room. He loaded us and our suitcases onto a golf cart type thing, and drove us around the grounds of the hotel, and finally to our building, Tahiti. It is the one I specifically requested. (Thanks to the valuable info on these DIS boards and on Tikiman's website!) In passing, the valet mentioned that we had a lagoon view room, and you should have seen Gregs face! We got to the building and ran up to our room on the second floor (2034). Opened the door, and WOW! We had a view of the beach, and across the way was Cinderellas castle and Space Mountain. It was amazing. Very close to the right was the Transportation and Ticket Center, and way off to the left was the Grand Floridian. We had the beach right in front of us, with cabanas and hammocks. We got to our room at 6:50pm and I knew the fireworks were scheduled to start at 7pm. So, I brought him out to the balcony, and all of a sudden, the show started. It was amazing! Much better than I had ever imagined. They lit up the entire sky! We both got teary-eyed, and Greg went on and on about how great it was and how thankful he was.
After the fireworks, we unpacked quickly and walked over to the Great Ceremonial House where we had dinner at the Kona Café. We both had this delicious Asian pasta dish (mine with chicken and his with shrimp), and then we took a walk around the grounds. The weather in Florida this time of year is beautiful. They had Hawaiian Christmas music playing all over, and it was so nice. (My favorite is the Hawaiian version of 12 Days of Christmas I already ordered a CD online that has it!) We could also hear sounds of the MK, including the train and howls from the Haunted Mansion. We got back to the beach just in time to see the Electrical Water Parade. It was so cute! We went back to our room and slept with shades open, so we could see the castle all night from bed. They keep it lit up all night, and it changes colors, from blue to purple to white and back again. I woke up about 4 times during the night just to look at it. *sigh*
<u><b>Sunday, 12/16</u>: Resort Hopping and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party</b>
On Sunday, we woke up early and walked over to Grand Floridian. It was such a nice day, and so cool to see everything in the daylight hours. We joined the health club for the length of our stay (Gotta work off all those extra Disney calories!) We worked out there for about an hour, then went back to the Poly and got ready for the day. We walked over to the main building and had breakfast at the little convenience restaurant called Captain Cooks. Then we just walked around and explored our hotel for a while. We walked on the beach and lied in the hammock for a while. Ahhhhh... After a while, we walked back over to the GF so we could look at the hotel. It is really nice there. (We decided not as nice as our hotel though!) Their Christmas decorations were really beautiful, including a HUGE tree and a life-size gingerbread house.
From there, we took the Monorail over to the Contemporary, where we looked around some more and had lunch at the Concourse Steakhouse. Very good, and fun with the Monorail going by. We walked around some more, then headed back to our hotel to change into pants for the night (not that we really needed to!) We took the Monorail right from our hotel to the MK around 5pm. MVMCP didnt start until 7, but they let us in early. We walked around a bit and went on the Haunted Mansion. From there, we went over to LTT, where we had 6pm PS. Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale were there, all in their colonical holiday costumes. The food was pretty good. It was like a Thanksgiving buffet, with turkey, steak, stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, etc.
We got out of there at 7pm, just in time for the Christmas Party to start. We got our free picture taken right away (no line), which will be sent to us in the mail soon, I hope. We went on a few rides, including Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain (twice), Jungle Cruise, Its a Small World, Peter Pans Flight, etc. There were practically no lines. We also saw 2 special Christmas shows (Mickey's Twas the Night before Christmas, and Celebrate the Season), the Christmas parade, and the special Christmas fireworks (with Rudolph flying down from the castle instead of Tinkerbell, and fireworks being shot off from all around the park!) It was so cool. They also had snow falling on main street (soap bubbles actually, but it looked so REAL!), and they were serving free cookies and hot cocoa. We had a great time. We were there until it closed at Midnight, then went back to our hotel. It was great having the Poly so close. We were home in about five minutes. Slept with the shades open again (we did this the whole trip).
<u><b>Monday, 12/17</u>: No parks, just relaxing</b>
On Monday I woke up early and took walk over to the GF. It was another beautiful day. I walked past the Wedding Pavilion and saw it was open, so I went inside. WOW, it is so nice in there! I would LOVE to get married with that view of the castle in the background. Had to drop a few hints to Greg later that day. I ran into a couple there who were celebrating their 4th anniversary of their Disney Wedding. I took their picture in front of their brick in the walkway. How cute!
I got back to the room about an hour later, and Greg was up and ready to go. We went over to the GCH and had breakfast at Captain Cooks. Then we drove over to Downtown Disney. We walked around and went in a bunch of the shops. We had lunch down there at Wolfgang Pucks Express. The pizza was delicious! After that, we drove over to the Boardwalk area and walked around. We went in the Yacht Club, Beach Club, and Boardwalk hotels just to check them out. (We still think the Poly is the best!)
We went back to the Polynesian later that afternoon and took a nap in the hammock. I love that hammock! The beach was deserted and it was like we were alone in the world. The sun went down and at 6:15pm, we watched the fireworks over the MK from Sunset Point. It was so pretty, but we got eaten alive by mosquitoes. (Im still itching from them!) After that, we went over to the Coronado Springs resort for dinner. They have a great food court there that is like a Mexican open-air market, with all types of different foods. Then we walked around the hotel a bit and played on their playground. We got back to the hotel around 9, just in time to see the Electrical Water Parade from our balcony.
We had decided in advance to build in this "rest day" in between our park days. It's a lot less stressful that way, since we tend to go "Commando" in the parks. We have both been to the parks and seen the attractions many times. We figured we could take a little breather on this trip and enjoy the hotel and each other.
<u><b>Tuesday, 12/18</u>: MK Keys to the Kingdom Tour and EPCOT at night</b>
We got up early on Tuesday and went over to the MK at 8:30am. There was hardly anyone there, so we pretty much had the park to ourselves! It was so nice. We had breakfast at the bakery on Main Street and walked around a bit. We had booked the Keys to the Kingdom behind-the-scenes tour at 9:30, and met up with our group. Its a five hour walking tour that takes you all around the park. There were about 15 people on it, and our guide Robin was really great. (Don't worry -- I won't tell any big secrets here or spoil the *Magic* for anybody. Just wanted to give an overview of the tour.) Anyway, Robin took us down Main Street and told us some of the stories behind the names on the store windows and some of the history of WDW. We made our way over to Tomorrowland and rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and she told us about Walt and Roy Disney, and how the Magic Kingdom came to be the way it is. It was really interesting. Then we walked over to a gift shop in Fantasyland and she took us behind the Cast Members Only door, and down into the tunnel system that runs below the park (called the Ultidor). There we saw the costume department, the wigs, engineering central, etc. We came back upstairs into the park and had a free lunch at Harbor House in Liberty Square. They gave us some free pins there too. From there, she took us to the Haunted Mansion and told us some of the history of the ride, and things to look out for, then we got to ride it. Then we walked over to Frontierland and went behind another Cast Members Only gate to see where they keep the parade floats. That was really interesting. She showed us how they work, and how the people get in them and everything. Then we walked over to Splash Mountain and got to look at the water reservoir and find out how it works. We came out in Adventureland and walked back to Main Street. It was a really great tour. It ended about 2:30, and we stayed and watched the 100 years of Magic parade. That was my favorite one because the characters were all in snowglobes. We had just seen those floats backstage!
After the parade, we took the Monorail over to Epcot. Actually, we sat in the front, which was really cool. If ou're going to sit in front on the Monorail, the ride from MK to Epcot is the one to do it on. We walked around the World Showcase, where they were having Holidays around the world. Saw the UK's Father Christmas and Germany's Kris Kringle. We also caught the Tapestry of Dreams parade which was really pretty. I still cant get that song out of my head! And I love the interaction between the paraders and the crowd in that one. We walked around for a couple hours and saw all the countries. We rode the boat rides in Norway and Mexico and saw some performers in the other countries. (My favorite was the live statue in France (I think) and the mimes in Italy one threw me a flower from the balcony!) We had 7:30pm PS at the Teppanyaki restaurant in Japan. That was my favorite meal of the trip! Fun and absolutely delicious! After dinner, we walked all the way around the lake and rode Spaceship Earth. Then we walked all the way back to the lake and watched Illuminations. Whew! The crowd was a bit surly though -- people telling other people to sit down so they could videotape, that sort of thing. But, not bad enough to ruin our good time. We left when that was over, around 9:30pm. That was a long day, and we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow that night!
<u><b>Wednesday, 12/19</u>: Is it over already?!</b>
Wednesday was our last day, so we were a little sad. I woke up a few times during the night to look at the castle. At 6:30am we both woke up to look, since that would be the last time we would see it lit up in the darkness. It is such a beautiful sight. We got out of bed around 8am and went over to the GF health club for a quick workout. Then back to our hotel and had breakfast at the Kona Café. I had the famous Tonga Toast and freshly squeezed pineapple juice, both of which the waitress recommended (and I had heard about on these boards). It was delicious and very tropical. After breakfast we walked around the Poly some more (it is so pretty!) and took a nap in our favorite hammock. We requested a late checkout of 1pm, so around 12:30 we went back to the room and packed. We loaded up the car and drove over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to check it out. It is a really nice hotel. (The Poly is still our favorite of them all though!) We walked out to the savannah overlook and saw some giraffes, gazelles, and other animals pretty close. After a while, we drove back over to the GF and had lunch there in the café. Then we left for airport 
It went way too fast and I can't wait to go back! I've definitely got a case of the post-WDW blues...
I wrote a summary of my recent four-night trip for some of my friends, and I thought some of you might be interested in reading it too. I know I enjoyed reading other people's trip summaries before I went. Kinda got me in the mood. Anyway, here it is if you're interested. Enjoy!
Tracy
-----
<u><b>Saturday, 12/15</u>: SURPRISE! We're staying at the Poly</b>
My BF Greg and I flew down to Orlando from Washington, DC. We landed at 5pm, got our rental car, and headed to WDW.
We had been planning this trip for a couple months, and first had reservations at the Courtyard by Marriott in DD. But when I found out about the Winter Getaway rates, I secretly cancelled our reservations there and booked us in a lagoon view room at the Polynesian. It was going to be my special surprise for him. Well, one day a few weeks ago he says to me, "I hear they're having great discounts on rooms at Disney right now. Maybe we should cancel our reservations and get a room at one of the Diseny resorts." ARGH! So, I kinda spilled the beans. I told him we were staying on property, but I didn't tell him where. Over the weeks, one by one, I eliminated a bunch of Disney resorts until we were left with just the Poly and Wilderness Lodge. So, he knew we were staying at one of those two. As we got closer to the park, we came upon a crossing in the road where he had to turn right for the Wilderness Lodge, or left for the Polynesian. I took my time, but finally told him to turn left. He got a HUGE smile on his face and said, REALLY?! He couldnt believe it. He totally thought it was the Wilderness Lodge, since we had stayed there once before and loved it. Ha ha! This was going to be our first stay at the Poly.
So we got to the hotel and checked in. I had him stand back so he couldnt hear what kind of room we had. Once we were checked in, the woman at the front desk gave us both flower leis. Then we went out to the valet to have them help us to our room. He loaded us and our suitcases onto a golf cart type thing, and drove us around the grounds of the hotel, and finally to our building, Tahiti. It is the one I specifically requested. (Thanks to the valuable info on these DIS boards and on Tikiman's website!) In passing, the valet mentioned that we had a lagoon view room, and you should have seen Gregs face! We got to the building and ran up to our room on the second floor (2034). Opened the door, and WOW! We had a view of the beach, and across the way was Cinderellas castle and Space Mountain. It was amazing. Very close to the right was the Transportation and Ticket Center, and way off to the left was the Grand Floridian. We had the beach right in front of us, with cabanas and hammocks. We got to our room at 6:50pm and I knew the fireworks were scheduled to start at 7pm. So, I brought him out to the balcony, and all of a sudden, the show started. It was amazing! Much better than I had ever imagined. They lit up the entire sky! We both got teary-eyed, and Greg went on and on about how great it was and how thankful he was.
After the fireworks, we unpacked quickly and walked over to the Great Ceremonial House where we had dinner at the Kona Café. We both had this delicious Asian pasta dish (mine with chicken and his with shrimp), and then we took a walk around the grounds. The weather in Florida this time of year is beautiful. They had Hawaiian Christmas music playing all over, and it was so nice. (My favorite is the Hawaiian version of 12 Days of Christmas I already ordered a CD online that has it!) We could also hear sounds of the MK, including the train and howls from the Haunted Mansion. We got back to the beach just in time to see the Electrical Water Parade. It was so cute! We went back to our room and slept with shades open, so we could see the castle all night from bed. They keep it lit up all night, and it changes colors, from blue to purple to white and back again. I woke up about 4 times during the night just to look at it. *sigh*
<u><b>Sunday, 12/16</u>: Resort Hopping and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party</b>
On Sunday, we woke up early and walked over to Grand Floridian. It was such a nice day, and so cool to see everything in the daylight hours. We joined the health club for the length of our stay (Gotta work off all those extra Disney calories!) We worked out there for about an hour, then went back to the Poly and got ready for the day. We walked over to the main building and had breakfast at the little convenience restaurant called Captain Cooks. Then we just walked around and explored our hotel for a while. We walked on the beach and lied in the hammock for a while. Ahhhhh... After a while, we walked back over to the GF so we could look at the hotel. It is really nice there. (We decided not as nice as our hotel though!) Their Christmas decorations were really beautiful, including a HUGE tree and a life-size gingerbread house.
From there, we took the Monorail over to the Contemporary, where we looked around some more and had lunch at the Concourse Steakhouse. Very good, and fun with the Monorail going by. We walked around some more, then headed back to our hotel to change into pants for the night (not that we really needed to!) We took the Monorail right from our hotel to the MK around 5pm. MVMCP didnt start until 7, but they let us in early.
We walked around a bit and went on the Haunted Mansion. From there, we went over to LTT, where we had 6pm PS. Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale were there, all in their colonical holiday costumes. The food was pretty good. It was like a Thanksgiving buffet, with turkey, steak, stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, etc. We got out of there at 7pm, just in time for the Christmas Party to start. We got our free picture taken right away (no line), which will be sent to us in the mail soon, I hope. We went on a few rides, including Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain (twice), Jungle Cruise, Its a Small World, Peter Pans Flight, etc. There were practically no lines. We also saw 2 special Christmas shows (Mickey's Twas the Night before Christmas, and Celebrate the Season), the Christmas parade, and the special Christmas fireworks (with Rudolph flying down from the castle instead of Tinkerbell, and fireworks being shot off from all around the park!) It was so cool. They also had snow falling on main street (soap bubbles actually, but it looked so REAL!), and they were serving free cookies and hot cocoa. We had a great time. We were there until it closed at Midnight, then went back to our hotel. It was great having the Poly so close. We were home in about five minutes. Slept with the shades open again (we did this the whole trip).
<u><b>Monday, 12/17</u>: No parks, just relaxing</b>
On Monday I woke up early and took walk over to the GF. It was another beautiful day. I walked past the Wedding Pavilion and saw it was open, so I went inside. WOW, it is so nice in there! I would LOVE to get married with that view of the castle in the background. Had to drop a few hints to Greg later that day.
I ran into a couple there who were celebrating their 4th anniversary of their Disney Wedding. I took their picture in front of their brick in the walkway. How cute! I got back to the room about an hour later, and Greg was up and ready to go. We went over to the GCH and had breakfast at Captain Cooks. Then we drove over to Downtown Disney. We walked around and went in a bunch of the shops. We had lunch down there at Wolfgang Pucks Express. The pizza was delicious! After that, we drove over to the Boardwalk area and walked around. We went in the Yacht Club, Beach Club, and Boardwalk hotels just to check them out. (We still think the Poly is the best!)
We went back to the Polynesian later that afternoon and took a nap in the hammock. I love that hammock! The beach was deserted and it was like we were alone in the world. The sun went down and at 6:15pm, we watched the fireworks over the MK from Sunset Point. It was so pretty, but we got eaten alive by mosquitoes. (Im still itching from them!) After that, we went over to the Coronado Springs resort for dinner. They have a great food court there that is like a Mexican open-air market, with all types of different foods. Then we walked around the hotel a bit and played on their playground.
We got back to the hotel around 9, just in time to see the Electrical Water Parade from our balcony. We had decided in advance to build in this "rest day" in between our park days. It's a lot less stressful that way, since we tend to go "Commando" in the parks. We have both been to the parks and seen the attractions many times. We figured we could take a little breather on this trip and enjoy the hotel and each other.
<u><b>Tuesday, 12/18</u>: MK Keys to the Kingdom Tour and EPCOT at night</b>
We got up early on Tuesday and went over to the MK at 8:30am. There was hardly anyone there, so we pretty much had the park to ourselves! It was so nice. We had breakfast at the bakery on Main Street and walked around a bit. We had booked the Keys to the Kingdom behind-the-scenes tour at 9:30, and met up with our group. Its a five hour walking tour that takes you all around the park. There were about 15 people on it, and our guide Robin was really great. (Don't worry -- I won't tell any big secrets here or spoil the *Magic* for anybody. Just wanted to give an overview of the tour.) Anyway, Robin took us down Main Street and told us some of the stories behind the names on the store windows and some of the history of WDW. We made our way over to Tomorrowland and rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and she told us about Walt and Roy Disney, and how the Magic Kingdom came to be the way it is. It was really interesting. Then we walked over to a gift shop in Fantasyland and she took us behind the Cast Members Only door, and down into the tunnel system that runs below the park (called the Ultidor). There we saw the costume department, the wigs, engineering central, etc. We came back upstairs into the park and had a free lunch at Harbor House in Liberty Square. They gave us some free pins there too. From there, she took us to the Haunted Mansion and told us some of the history of the ride, and things to look out for, then we got to ride it. Then we walked over to Frontierland and went behind another Cast Members Only gate to see where they keep the parade floats. That was really interesting. She showed us how they work, and how the people get in them and everything. Then we walked over to Splash Mountain and got to look at the water reservoir and find out how it works. We came out in Adventureland and walked back to Main Street. It was a really great tour. It ended about 2:30, and we stayed and watched the 100 years of Magic parade. That was my favorite one because the characters were all in snowglobes. We had just seen those floats backstage!
After the parade, we took the Monorail over to Epcot. Actually, we sat in the front, which was really cool. If ou're going to sit in front on the Monorail, the ride from MK to Epcot is the one to do it on. We walked around the World Showcase, where they were having Holidays around the world. Saw the UK's Father Christmas and Germany's Kris Kringle. We also caught the Tapestry of Dreams parade which was really pretty. I still cant get that song out of my head! And I love the interaction between the paraders and the crowd in that one. We walked around for a couple hours and saw all the countries. We rode the boat rides in Norway and Mexico and saw some performers in the other countries. (My favorite was the live statue in France (I think) and the mimes in Italy one threw me a flower from the balcony!) We had 7:30pm PS at the Teppanyaki restaurant in Japan. That was my favorite meal of the trip! Fun and absolutely delicious! After dinner, we walked all the way around the lake and rode Spaceship Earth. Then we walked all the way back to the lake and watched Illuminations. Whew! The crowd was a bit surly though -- people telling other people to sit down so they could videotape, that sort of thing. But, not bad enough to ruin our good time. We left when that was over, around 9:30pm. That was a long day, and we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow that night!
<u><b>Wednesday, 12/19</u>: Is it over already?!</b>
Wednesday was our last day, so we were a little sad. I woke up a few times during the night to look at the castle. At 6:30am we both woke up to look, since that would be the last time we would see it lit up in the darkness. It is such a beautiful sight. We got out of bed around 8am and went over to the GF health club for a quick workout. Then back to our hotel and had breakfast at the Kona Café. I had the famous Tonga Toast and freshly squeezed pineapple juice, both of which the waitress recommended (and I had heard about on these boards). It was delicious and very tropical.
After breakfast we walked around the Poly some more (it is so pretty!) and took a nap in our favorite hammock. We requested a late checkout of 1pm, so around 12:30 we went back to the room and packed. We loaded up the car and drove over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to check it out. It is a really nice hotel. (The Poly is still our favorite of them all though!) We walked out to the savannah overlook and saw some giraffes, gazelles, and other animals pretty close. After a while, we drove back over to the GF and had lunch there in the café. Then we left for airport It went way too fast and I can't wait to go back! I've definitely got a case of the post-WDW blues...
