The First Official Tiki Room Fan Trip Report (with pictures!)

[Disneyland_Mama]

Hi!
I justed wanted to sub and say I'm really enjoying your TR! The pics are great. DS is sitting on my lap singing IASM as we view your photos!
Looking forward to more
Love the resort photos. We just returned from the Poly and you sealed the deal for POFQ next time! Thanks!

 

[Al and Kate's Mom]

I feel like I'm there with you - thanks for giving so much detail!

 

[MickeyNicki]

I love your report and pictures! You are getting me all excited for my trip next month!!

 

[TinkNH]

loving the report..the excess of towels cracked me up!

 

[Tiki Room Fan]

The towel Mickey Mouse body on the bed is hysterical! funny stuff.

Hey, did you say HoopDeeDoo had cornbread now? last time I went it was white breadrolls with a honey butter.

Great report I am enjoying every minute.

I know it! We cracked up for a long time over seeing the Mickey Mouse on the bed for the first time. Then I was picturing a mousekeeper standing in a hotel room rolling towels to make things. I'm assuming Disney much teach them how to make things with towels. I was so happy to get all these towel things because in all the times I visited, I never got one before!!

And YES!!! HDDR has cornbread!!! And it was AWESOME!!! I am a big cornbread fanatic and this was some good stuff!!! I would have been happy just having the cornbread for dinner!

Thanks everyone for your kind words!! I am loving re-living all of our trip as I go along here. I know I'm leaving things out.

Okay on to more of Day 5. We left MK and got a bus back to POFQ. DF went in the pool and then hung at Mardi Grogs (pool bar) while I downloaded all of the days' pictures so far.

We decided to head to Epcot to see Illuminations, so we got a bus to Epcot and it was sprinkling out at this time. We were running late, so we had to rush. All of the good spots were already taken and since the DF has night blindness, I didn't want to keep dragging him all over the park trying to find a good spot so we just settled for grabbing the last table behind La Cantina in Mexico and watching with an obstructed view (lots of trees...that's what happened when we saw Illuminations last year, too) We hadn't had dinner yet so we got an order of nachos with no chili (I don't eat meat) and a couple margarita's. I filmed the show, even through the trees. It rained through most of it. Since it was rainy and dark, after Illuminations we got a bus back to POFQ and grabbed a table in the Scat Cat Lounge to see our buddy Elliot Dyson performing in the lobby.

Elliot puts on an EXCELLENT show and I recommend his show to everyone who comes to Disney!! We purchased his CD last year and haven't stopped listening to it all year. He's extremely talented. It's always a lot of fun seeing him and no visit to WDW would be the same without seeing his show! He also does a Blues Brothers show over at Universal which is great also! He also does shows at the House of Blues sometimes. But he's pretty much at POFQ every Wed - Sat from 8pm -12am. He takes requests and does a huge array of songs and he is very personable and gets the audience involved. (Okay so that's enough of a plug for Elliot!) I filmed the second show of his we caught later in the week. There was an excellent crowd there of women mostly that were dancing and singing and it just made the show even more entertaining. He even did his version of the Electric Slide for them and they danced to it. I don't have pics because I video taped it!

We stayed until midnight, the end of his show. Just before Midnight I ran into the food court and grabbed a last minute coffee and we headed back for our room. On the way, I decided to check for LGMHPCs on windows to see if I could find Gmax or Scrap4U or anyone else who might have them in their window. I thought I was able to see in all of the windows, but since I missed Gmax's, that I walked by a few times (!) I guess I couldn't see as well as I thought. The DF walked around 2 buildings with me then went to bed. I walked around about another hour myself until just after 1:00 a.m. and covered every inch of grounds around all the buildings looking for LGMHPCs in windows. No luck! I did notice that a ton of the rooms were empty. When I asked a CM at FQ how full they were, she said only around 40% full. Wow. They were doing consruction around our building (6) and they were pretty quiet about it. They'd be out there working around 2am and continue until whenever the next day. They worked very quietly and neatly. It appeared as though part of what they were doing was painting. I'm not sure what else.

I went back to the room and signed online and then went to bed around 3:00 a.m.

That's about it for day 5. So....onto to Day 6 - Thursday.

 

[Tiki Room Fan]

Day 6 - Thursday

(Btw, I've been going back and adding more pictures to my previous days)

I got up around 6:30 a.m. and did the usual routine - shower, etc., food court for coffee and Diet Coke and back to the food court when DF was ready. We both got the egg and cheese croissant. We ate quick and got a bus to Epcot. I just left a tip envelope for Jose and no towel art this time. We had given back most of our towels the day before. We didn't realize that our mousekeeper wasn't going to be Jose H for the rest of the week. The mousekeeper who took over never left their card with their name. I wish they had! More on that later!

When we got to Epcot we went on Test Track and Mission Space again (this time I was a navigator the DF was the pilot I think.) We stopped at the booth on the way out and made a postcard from space to send to our friends and family. We sent it to ourselves so that we could go in later and send it to everyone else we want to (I had my laptop with me for the trip) The postcard from space was very cute!!! I would recommend everyone stop by and check this out. It has sound and it takes your photo right there and puts in on the card you choose. It's really cute and it's free!!!!

We did the Figment ride where I got this HM. I saw a few others but didn't get them on film with my camera. (We went back on a second time later in the week and I video taped it) I submitted this one to Steven Barrett for consideration. He's going to check into it. I also submitted one to him that I saw at Saratoga Springs. It's on his website now. I submitted another one from Jungle Cruise to him that he's going to check out as well.

What do you guys think? It's blurry cuz we were moving, but when you see it in person, it does look like a good HM. It's in the golden, glittery circles. See it?

Here's another HM on the way out of the Figment ride. It's between the I & the M.

We were going to stop and see Honey I Shrunk the Audience, but we had just missed a show and didn't want to wait around for the next one so we headed for World Showcase.

I stopped and picked up a passport kit to get signed and stamped around World Showcase. I had done this several years ago with my DS21 when we went to WDW several years ago. I thought it would be fun to do again, so we did.

We visited Mexico and did El Rio Del Tiempo twice. We had a boat all to ourselves and there was no line, so the CM let us stay on again with out getting out and reboarding. The first time I filmed the entire ride, the second time I wanted to photogragh the HM clay pots. So I did:

I got the DF to pose with a sombrero for me.

I got my passport signed and stamped and set off for Norway!

We went into the Stave Church and I found a HM that wasn't listed in the book!!! It was an OMG!! moment! (I have since found it on the HM website, but I thought I discovered an unknown one. Oh well)

I got the DF to pose with a Viking hat, too. By the time we reached China, I wanted him to put a hat on, he drew the line and said no more hats. What a party pooper!! LOL!

I'm too tired to continue with anymore tonight. I took cough medicine before and I can hear my pillow calling me. I'll try to get more written tomorrow! Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

 

[Spike]

Great pictures! We can't wait till our honeymoon in March. It will be my 2nd time (1st was about 10 years ago) and her first time ever. I am enjoying hearing about everyones trips and reading their reports.

 

[Glendamax]

Lovin the pictures! You took a TON!

I know I had to walk pass you that night while you were listening to that guy perform. I remember looking his way, but being too tired to stop and listen. OH Well, maybe we'll run into each other next year!

 

[Tiki Room Fan]

Yes GM!!! The DF spotted you and your mom coming through the lobby that night - he poked me (I was taking pictures of Elliot I think) and said there's that lady you saw the other day and her mother! And I looked past Elliot and I swear you were kinda dancing through the lobby! I haven't gotten to that in my TR yet, but you're in my notes!! I was thinking maybe you'd go to your room and come back. The crowd that night at his show was a riot! A bunch of women who took over and were very rowdy and hysterical!! It was so much fun!!!

I still have a few days to go with my TR. Not sure I'll get any done tonight. This cold has me feeling very sleepy and I've had a really bad headache for days. I have to go to work tomorrow because after 2 sick days in a row we need to come in with a doctor's note and I can't see spending a $15 copay at the dr's office for them to tell me I have a cold.

Speaking of cold, it's been very cold in CT these past few days. I sure miss that hot Florida sun!!! Brr!!!! I hate cold and winter!

 

[Glendamax]

I probably was dancing through the lobby! When I'm in Disney, I tend to do crazy things!

I am sooooo sorry about your cold. This past Thurs-Mon. was ROUGH on me. You know how taking a shower (if you have the energy) takes EVERYTHING out of you, and you end up sleeping to recover? Well that was me! I would be so excited just to be able to shower AND dress myself without feeling dizzy. Sorry you have to go to work. I KNOW EXACTLY how you feel about going back. I just prayed and asked God to help me get through my shift, and I made it. So please hang in there, and try not to be too sad. I'm pulling for you!!! And don't post tomorrow! When you get home from work, eat, take some medicine and go to sleep!

 

[Tiki Room Fan]

YES!!! I know the feeling...the dizziness. Usually when I feel sick a shower helps but not with this cold! I'm gonna go to work tomorrow and if I don't feel good, I'm just going to leave.

I just didn't have the energy to post more TR today. I spent hours reading everything else on the Disboards, though. Reading doesn't take half as much energy!

Anyways, thanks for the advice - coming home from work, eating, taking medicine and sleeping sounds like a plan to me!!

 

[Eeyore's Tiara]

I am loving the towel thing with Jose. It does look like you cornered a towel cart in your room.... I hope you and Gmax are feeling better soon.

Keep the TR coming. I can't wait to find out more!

 

[Viki]

Wow! You have a serious hidden mickey gift!!! Good for you and great report!

 

[HMHunters]

Great TR! As you might have guessed from my name, we love to find hidden mickeys. I love Jose - can I request him when we're at POFQ in January?

Rest up and get rid of that cold - then get right back here and finish up this TR!!

 

[Tiki Room Fan]

Great TR! As you might have guessed from my name, we love to find hidden mickeys. I love Jose - can I request him when we're at POFQ in January?

Rest up and get rid of that cold - then get right back here and finish up this TR!!

LOL! Next time we book ourselves into POFQ my first request will be a room in Jose H's building!

It's definitely a lot of fun to look for HM's. It's much easier when the parks aren't so crowded. Sometimes we'll be half way through a ride and I'll be like DOH! I forgot to photograph one of them!

I'm hoping to get more TR done later this evening. It seems today like my cold has started all over again. But since I don't have to work tomorrow, I can stay up tonight and get the TR worked on and then just sleep in.

Thanks for all the kind words. I can't wait to get going on it again!

 

[Tiki Room Fan]

Day 6 continued...(finally!)

Ok so while in Norway we have to ride Maelstrom, too, of course. (Has anyone ever stayed for the movie after the viking ship ride? I never have)

As we're boarding I took a picture of the HM - one of the vikings is wearing mouse ears. I took the HM on the flight attendants shirt, too, but it came out blurry so I won't post it.

We visited China, then Germany, then Italy, then American Adventure (each time stopping to have my passport signed and stamped.)

I'm not sure who this princess was (?)

Then we stopped at Japan so I could go shopping at Mitsukoshi - I LOVE shopping there!! DF hates shopping, so I don't do as much as I do when I'm there with my mother, but I was sure to buy a couple things I HAVE to get when at Epcot. The Botan Rice Candy and the latest Hello Kitty stuffed animal for myself and one of my sisters (whenever either of us goes to WDW it's customary to bring back the latest Hello Kitty for both of us) This time the latest one was a too cute for words angel Hello Kitty.

WOO HOO!! The Hello Kitty section!!!! (and some guy wondering what I was excitedly taking a picture of!) You can see the angel HK's on the shelf!!

Not far from the Hello Kitty corner, there were 2 girls doing calligraphy at a table. You give them your name or a word and they write it out in Japanese calligraphy writing and then in English at the bottom and let you have the paper for free. It's very cute! I'm going to stick mine in a small frame with dried flowers or something.

Whenever I am at Epcot and in Mitsukoshi, it POURS out. This time was no exception. Unfortunately, we had to RUSH through World Showcase cuz we had ressies at O'hana's that night. Next year I want to spend alllll day checking out all of the lands - details, artwork, etc.

Anyway, we grab our umbrellas and head on to Morocco. I get my passport signed and stamped (I love how they write right to left instead of left to right like we do.) Of course I had to photograph the infamous Morocco brass plate not-so-Hidden HM on the green door

And then we took pictures with 2 princesses that I am embarassed to say I have NO clue who they were. But, they were standing there looking beautfiul and no one was around, so we went and took pictures with them. I'm sparing you those pictures because our clothes were wet, our hair, our face - not great pictures! LOL!

It was on to France (I'm determined one of these trips to try those French pastries everyone tells me are to die for!), United Kingdom and Canada.

For some reason, whenever I go to Epcot and visit UK, I HAVE to photograph this phone booth. I'm not sure why. ?

Here's some HM's from UK and Canada.

Not crazy about this one, but it's in the HM book:

This one is on the totem pole in Canada (you can see the rain coming down in these pictures!)

Not sure who these bears were (shame on me!)

Speaking of beers, we grabbed a table at Rose and Crown and had a couple beers.

Here's the view from our table.

At the next table to our right was a group of about 10 college kids that were incredibly drunk. I'm REALLY surprised the bartenders kept serving them to this level of intoxication. They were loud, obnoxious, slurring their words, falling over, laughing, etc. They were funny, but pathetic and disturbing. They were bragging about how much beer they had and how drunk they were. Who goes to WDW to drink and pass out?! Then this couple with a very young baby came in and bellied up to the bar with a couple beers and they were taking the baby's picture at the bar and when DF said something jokingly about that, they said YEAH we're taking this to show (I forget which one's parents') but apparently as a joke. The place was really crowded so when we were ready to leave, we called the couple with the baby over so they could commandeer our table before someone else grabbed it. We probably could have gotten money for our table!! LOL!

We left there and then went to Innoventions West and got our complimentary Disney Chase Visa 5x7 picture taken (we made it just in time!) What's funny is, when the CM brought us to the back to take our picture, all of the characters were sitting around and she comes in and claps her hands and says come on everyone!! Lets go! It was cute to see them spring up and run over. It was Mickey, Donald and Pluto. They also took our picture with my camera, too.

We took the bus back to our hotel and this was the longest wait we had for a bus in the entire week we stayed. There was a guest in a wheelchair attempting to get off the bus and the wheelchair lift wasn't working properly (this would be the 2nd or 3rd time all week a bus had a malfunction that required fixing) The bus driver tried propping everything under it until it finally leveled out enough to lower so the guest could get off.

I had a huge blister under one of my toes so we went back to the hotel and I fixed up my foot. We stopped by the lobby and talked to Elliot for a while, who was setting up his equipment for the show that night. I had a Margarita in a can that DF bought the day we arrived and DF had a beer.

We took the bus to MK to see SpectroMagic and even though it was 7:30 when we got there, we found a great viewing spot up by the railing of the train station. I filmed the entire show. It was a perfect view because we were looking down on the parade and saw it approaching us from the front, and then the side, too.

 

[Tiki Room Fan]

We took the monorail to the Polynesian to hang out before our 9:40 pm ressie at O'hana's. The DF went to the Tambu Lounge and had a beer at the bar while I went shopping and photographed the HM on the first floor.

They buzzed our little beeper thingie at 9:10 so we were able to get seated 1/2 hr early. At O'hana's, everyone working there refers to you as "cousin." Wishes was still going on so they seated us in a cozy little table by the window, however, DF noticed that it was very dark, and the only table in there that didn't have a light over it (again, he has night blindness.) So, we asked to be moved, which they did with no problem. We couldn't see the fireworks or castle anymore, but oh well. DF wanted to be able to see what he was eating! When they seat you they ask you to turn and say hello to your cousins seated around you. LOL!! So we said aloha to our cousins around us!

I mentioned to our server (Marina) my special vegetarian/seafood meal and she sent Chef Alfanso over. I told him about my conversation with Chef Kim a couple days earlier and Alfanso was offering what he'd like to bring me for dinner. He suggested getting fish and rice from Kona's and bringing that to me along with the veggies and potatoes that the dinner already came with. In the meantime, Kim saw us and came right over to our table. So, we had TWO chef's at our table discussing my meal!! Marina came over and asked who we knew to get TWO chef's to our table! Alfanso and Kim started to jokingly bicker about what my meal was going to consist of. Kim was saying he already told me a couple days ago that he'd bring me veggie spring rolls with dipping sauces, lo mein noodles with miso sauce, grilled veggies and tofu. Alfanso said he wanted to bring me Mahi from Kona's and serve it over rice. So Kim said they'd bring me the Mahi Mahi, lo mein noodles in miso sauce, rice, veggies, spring rolls and the shrimp, salad and potatoes the meal already came with.

First they brought out a bowl of excellent greens with honey-lime dressing - it was sooooooooooooo good!!! We got fried noodles and dips that both me and DF loved!

Then they brought out an order of veggie spring rolls with dipping sauce that were awesome!!

Next was a bowl of huge shrimp....but the DF and I didn't end up eating them because...I should warn everyone....not only aren't they peeled but they are not deveined either. YUCK! It took me years to get past the way shrimp looks enough to be able to eat one, but having to dig my fingers through the sauce they come in and peel it and see the black vein thing. It turned my stomach, so we didn't eat those.

Marina came out to see how we were doing and we told her how much we loved the honey-lime dressing on the greens, so she went into the kitchen and came back with a printout of the recipe for us to take home!! That was so nice of her!! I will definitely be making a batch of honey-lime dressing at home!

All throughout dinner various servers kept bringing meat on skewers by the table for the DF. He finally had to ask them to stop because he couldn't eat anymore. He really liked it.

This was chicken (BBQ I guess) that they brought out for DF

The potatoes were to die for!! They were so rich and creamy! Alfanso said they are made with heavy cream and I forgot what type of cheese he said, but he said there's a lot of it in there.

I LOVED my food!! I had poached Mahi Mahi over lo mein noodles in miso sauce with grilled veggies along with tofu that tasted either fried or baked.

I got a plate of grilled veggies on the side and so did DF with his meal.

The Mahi Mahi with my meal was a HUGE piece of fish that I could not finish! I also had an excellent beer with my dinner. It was made by Kona Brewing and it was the Fire Rock Pale Ale. It reminded me of the beer I brew myself at home and it reminded me of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (which is the recipe I use to brew my own beer at home....I've won brewing contests with this recipe!)

The dessert was also delicious!!! It was pineapple bread pudding with a warm banana foster sauce and a huge scoop of delicious rich vanilla ice cream. They pour the warm banana foster sauce over the dessert when they deliver it to your table. I had a coffee with it and it was sooooo good. Even though I was so full from dinner, I HAD to at least TRY the dessert. The DF was too full to even taste it!

We saw the coconut races and they were absolutely hysterical!! Just watching the kids push coconuts around with brooms around the dining area, under tables and chairs was a riot. Then I hear an announcment that says anyone 13 and older had to use the stick end of the broom.

I had a WONDERFUL time at O'hana's and plan to come back for dinner everytime we visit WDW. The atmosphere was gorgeous, the service was impeccable, the food was delicious, the attentiveness of the chefs was incredible. As we were walking out, Kim saw us and called us over to shake our hands and say good night.

Getting back to POFQ at that hour was a bit of a hassle. We took the monorail to Grand Floridian, then took a bus to Downtown Disney, then took a bus to POFQ. While we were sitting outside waiting for the bus at GF, we saw a HUGE cockroach (uh, sorry Palmetto bug...) darting around near our feet. UGH! YIKES!! The GF has roaches??!! GASP!!

We got to DD and had a looooooong wait for a bus and for some reason, the driver stopped at POR first, then POFQ. It took well over an hour to finally get back "home" to our hotel. It was too late for coffee and we had missed Elliot's show, too. So, that was it for Day 6....sadly, this means only one more full day at WDW left.

 

[Glendamax]

GREAT pics! I'm supposed to be doing housework, so I just scanned through your pictures! I'll be back later to read through!

 

[Tiki Room Fan]

Thanks, GM! Well, my park pictures lately aren't so great or detailed cuz over the several times I've been there, I've taken so many pictures of everything that there's not really anything "left" for me to photograph that I haven't already done. But every year I take at least a few, just to put in the photo album. Each time I go to Disney World I purchase that years' special dated photo album from World of Disney to put the pictures in. For my last two trips, I've taken digital and I've taken so many (esp. last year) that I haven't gotten them all sent to Snapfish for printing so I can put them in my last years photo album. So I still have to do that.

Some day I want to get all of my 35mm pictures I've taken at Disney (several thousand collectively!) scanned onto CDs and my hard drive.

I should be doing housework, too, but I'm going to go easy today cuz I still feel sick. I have such a sore throat!!

But I will probably do some more TR later on so I can get it finished up. I can't wait to start looking over all the info about the Year of a Million Wishes that's coming up starting officially tomorrow. It sounds really fun! I hope we get to go next year. That will basically depend on the airlines staying nice and low and Disney offering a moderates code again. Though I would really love to stay at Polynesian one trip. Maybe I can start devising ways to come up with some extra cash so we can justify staying there instead of POFQ-but then again, I know wherever else I'd stay, I'd miss FQ.

Oh the quandry of it all. LOL!

 

[Redbudlover]

Well I thought your park pics were great!!!!!!!! I really enjoyed them. Reading about hyour pics on your computer - and mine! I thought about hte Cathy cartoon where they talk about all their pics on their compter and not on a CD or in an album! Now we have all thes instant pics and no where to look at them..... LOL!