The NASTEE (Nate And Spencer Trip ExtraordinairE) Trip Report--Day 7 (Part 3, Subpart A): I Can't Move My Hips Any Faster!
Cast:
Nate ("Aerobics"): 24, 4th trip to WDW, 1st trip in 12 years, 1st time staying on property
Spencer (Anti-aerobic): 29, 8th trip to WDW, hasn't stayed on property since 1992
Dates:
September 16-23, 2000
Lodging:
Wilderness Lodge--September 16-21, 2000
All Star Music--September 22, 2000
I actually took a Sick Day from work since I can't seem to shake whatever's been bugging me for the past 9 days--funny how this is the first chance I've had to sit down and finish the NASTEE. It's definitely time to reprioritize! Anyway, as always, thanks again for all your kind words of encouragement (and your never-ending patience).
Hope you enjoy these final installments!
Once we had left the Magic Kingdom, we boarded a water launch (the PassPorter Peeps Polynesian water launch, to be specific) and, a few minutes later, we had arrived on the shore of the beautiful Polynesian resort. This resort holds a special place in Spencer's heart, and he was most thrilled to once again "be back home". Even though some people diss this resort for being so old, you can't deny its incredibly unique and oh-so-lush tropicality (is that a word?)--very magical! The fire-lit torches that we passed on our way to the Great Ceremonial House made me think of Survivor's Tribal Council, and, I guess in a way, Spencer and I were the next two being "kicked off the island", so to speak--after all, this was our last night at WDW (but let's not think about that right now).
Once we were inside the awesome lobby of the Great Ceremonial House, we met up with a few others who had not been able to make it to the Adventurer's Hunt at the Magic Kingdom, including Joanne (of the famed Joanne's WDW Web Site) and our resident Travel Agent Jean (oh, how we worship thee, Jean!--for those of you who don't know, Jean is an absolute genius when it comes to booking WDW trips, so don't be afraid to contact her--she's the best in the business!)
Since Dave and Jennifer had planned this gathering far enough in advance, they had been able to request a table at O'hana right next to the fire pit, which is definitely worth the extra wait, if you've the opportunity and the time. As soon as we were seated, the appetizers arrived--spring rolls, lettuce wraps, and all sorts of other yummy stuff that proved to be only the beginnings of an absolutely fantastic (and fitting) final dinner at WDW. By the suggestion of Bruce, our special CM w/the inside scoop for the night, we ordered a few Mai Tais, which were quite delicious.
However, I couldn't keep my eyes off of the pineapple that had mysteriously appeared in front of LauraBelle--I finally had to inquire what was inside. No one really knew, but the consensus was that it was pretty darn strong, so later on, I also treated myself to a pineapple. Beware! Do not attempt to walk without the assistance of another individual after consumption of this pineapple; I have no clue what was in this drink, but, boy did it have a kick!
All throughout dinner, a CM with a microphone and a little baby guitar (I'd venture to say that it was a ukelele, but I'm not positive) was walking around, encouraging us to join in the traditional Polynesian greeting ("A-loooooooooo-ha!"); also, since we were right in the middle of all of the action, we had front row seats to the coconut races, which were absolutely hysterical. We actually found it difficult to eat sometimes 'cuz we were laughing so hard at all of the mayhem around us--most enjoyable! Just a quick word about the dinner--this is an all-you-care-to-eat dinner, so don't be shy! Go ahead and ask for that 4th helping of skewered shrimp! (Cruella got a great pic of me being "over-served"--here's the link: PassPorter Pictures)
After we'd all had a chance to eat, drink, and be way too merry, the hula hoops came out--now, mind you, this is supposed to be a contest for the kids, but who was up there trying to out-hula the youngins? That's right, yours truly and Cruella!
How many of you guys had "Field Day" in elementary school? Did you happen to have "Hula Hoop" as one of the possible contests? Well, if I may say so for a moment, I was the Hula Hoop King (Queen?
) of Field Day from 1st through 3rd grade!
So, fast forwarding 16 years, I figured I still had what it took to hoop it up w/the best--I couldn't have been more wrong! How on earth are you supposed to get that stupid hoop to stay up? There's no way (after having that "libation in a pineapple", at least) that I could make my hips move any faster--of course, I suppose that, now, there's quite a bit more of me around which the hoop must travel, eh? Oh, well--perhaps it's time for me to head to Toys 'R Us to pick up a hoop and practice so that my next attempt at O'hana will be a roaring success!
Anyway, so that was a complete and total blast, and somehow, I ended up not paying for our drinks, but I never figured out why. Do I still owe somebody some $$$? We all headed downstairs for a few photos, one of which was sent to us a few days later (Thanks, Dave and Jennifer--it's sitting on my PassPorter shelf of my bookcase. Yes, I have an entire shelf of just PassPorter stuff, can you believe it? ).
By now, it was about 7:30 p.m., and those who still had some energy were planning on heading down to Pleasure Island for some heavy-duty partying at Adventurer's Club. Unfortunately, Spencer and I still needed to check-in at All Stars Music (and we wanted to grab a quick shower since we had been so sweaty and gross earlier at the Magic Kingdom). It was then that we realized that we had a slight transportation snafu on our hands. We originally thought we would take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and then hop on an All-Stars bound bus, but since the MK had just closed, we were afraid that the wait for the bus might've been horrendous.
So, instead, we opted to walk to the TTC and take the monorail to Epoct, and then board an All-Stars bus. This worked out beautifully--also, as a bonus, Heidi joined us, so we got to chat and learn a little more about each other. Then, as an even bigger bonus, we were able to ride in the front of the monorail (something that Heidi didn't know you could do--don't you just love showing off cool things like these?) Once we had arrived at Epcot, we said our goodbyes to Heidi (who was staying at DxL), and headed over to our bus.
All right, I know a few of you are anticipating my All-Stars Music review--let me preface it by stating that I think that a move from any Deluxe resort to a Value resort will certainly feel like a "step down", but let's proceed, anyway. Well, the All-Starts were kinda what I was expecting them to be--loud, crowded, and somewhat gaudy, which can be tons of fun, if that's the mood you're in when you get there. Surprisingly, check-in went smoothly, and even more surprisingly, when we went to pick up our luggage, we were pleased to find that it was already waiting in our room--that was pretty cool!
We were staying in Broadway, Room 7610, which was very nice, actually, since all we needed was a place to crash. As we headed out of Melody Hall, we passed the main pool, which was appropriately shaped like a guitar. In the center, (I think) the Three Caballeros shoot out water, so that's kinda fun and cute, too. One thing we did notice, however, was that there was a rather large number of cigarette butts all over the pool's walkway--this kinda upset me. I certainly am in no position to condemn, but I would hope that those who choose to smoke would do so in a way that would not affect those of us who choose not to smoke. As is usually the case, I would suspect that the majority of smokers are indeed considerate; however, isn't it usually the small minority of inconsiderate individuals that cause problems for everyone?
Anyway, so, yes, noticing that did affect my impression of the resort--I'm sure there were many smokers at the Wilderness Lodge, as well; perhaps I just didn't notice them? Moving on...our room was adequate--I personally find the decorations to be a bit loud and obnoxious, but, again, it was a place to crash, so we really didn't mind it that much. For two people on a budget, it was ideal--however, if I were there with, say, four people (especially if it was four adults), I'd probably go a little nuts.
As you probably know, for the All-Stars, they provide an "all-in-one" soap/shampoo dispenser in the shower, so plan on bringing your own if that doesn't appeal to you (it didn't appeal to us, but then again, that's why we had brought our foo-foo stuff from Bath & Body Works). Also, our dispenser seemed a little, ummm, grody (I couldn't think of a better word), so we were definitely glad that we had brought our own.
We quickly showered and changed and were back up in front of Melody Hall within 20 minutes. We missed a Downtown Disney bus literally by seconds, and so we ended up having to wait a good 20 minutes for another one to arrive. When we finally got to Pleasure Island, it was already going on 10:00 p.m., and we were kinda running out of energy, which I really didn't want to happen, because I was so looking forward to partying at the Adventurer's Club with the PassPorter Peeps.
After scanning our cards, we headed straight to the Adventurer's Club and promptly got ourselves a few Kungalooshes as we surveyed the crowds, trying to locate the other PassPorters. We didn't realize that there is another part of the club that runs "shows" continuously (the Main Library, I think it's called), so, for awhile, we thought that we had perhaps missed everyone. Fortunately, after about 15 minutes of (what was becoming frantic) searching, I spotted Cruella and The Gang, and so we headed over to chat before we all were ushered back into the Main Library for what had to be one of the most entertaining short shows I've ever seen.
The performers in this club are improvisational geniuses. Within a few minutes, they've gauged the audience and found the "playful" people who they can comfortably tease. I believe the name of our entertainer was Samantha Sanders (or something like that), who wanted to impress upon us that "Most guys don't want love...they just want to kick it around."
I don't really think there's any good way to describe just how phenomenally entertaining this skit was--the best advise that I can give you is just to make sure that you set aside a good two to three hours one evening to enjoy all of the shenanigans that this club has to offer. After Samantha's performance, we all gathered in the Mask Room for one more round of Kungalooshes and pictures before deciding that we were going to head out.
However, as we made our way up the stairs, I was stopped by someone who was giving out "free drink" cards--well, how could I resist? So, Spencer and I each stopped to grab one more drinky, and when we had turned around, everyone except LauraBelle was gone! We had no clue what happened, but they were just nowhere to be found. Oh, well--the three of us were tired anyway, and since we were all staying at the All-Stars (LauraBelle was at All-Stars Movies, I think), we ended up just heading out to the busses.
Within a few minutes, we had boarded an All-Stars bus; however, it was very crowded, and so we ended up having to stand. LauraBelle and I were having a wonderful conversation when, all of a sudden, we turned a corner, and she was gone! (Gosh, we're losing PassPorter Peeps left and right! ) It turns out that the turn had kinda caught her off-guard (and off-balance), and she had ended up accidentally falling into the lap of a gentleman seated nearby (did he ever ask you for your number, LauraBelle? ). And, LauraBelle hadn't even had any Kungalooshes that night (she did, however, have one of those Pineapple concoctions at O'hana--perhaps that's what caused the fall? ).
The bus ride back to the All-Stars seemed to take a lot longer than the ride that we had taken earlier that evening to Downtown Disney, but since I was having such a nice chat w/LauraBelle, it was ok. When we arrived at All-Stars Music, we said our goodbyes and hurried to our room, where we immediately crashed. (Fortunately, earlier in the evening, I had remembered to place a wake-up call for 7:30 a.m.)
Luckily, I was too tired to realize that our vacation was nearly over (little did I know that I'd be reliving it for the next 9 months by writing the NASTEE--maybe THAT'S why it's taken me so long to finish? I just don't want to admit it's over?)
Anyway, we slept very soundly that night, thanks in part to those 2 Kungalooshes and the Pineapple drink from heaven...
P.S. A special thanks to all who attended the PassPorter events for making it such a fun night for us--we really had an absolute blast!
And, still to come: The NASTEE Trip Report--Day 8: So Long, Farewell...
Cast:
Nate ("Aerobics"): 24, 4th trip to WDW, 1st trip in 12 years, 1st time staying on property
Spencer (Anti-aerobic): 29, 8th trip to WDW, hasn't stayed on property since 1992
Dates:
September 16-23, 2000
Lodging:
Wilderness Lodge--September 16-21, 2000
All Star Music--September 22, 2000
I actually took a Sick Day from work since I can't seem to shake whatever's been bugging me for the past 9 days--funny how this is the first chance I've had to sit down and finish the NASTEE. It's definitely time to reprioritize! Anyway, as always, thanks again for all your kind words of encouragement (and your never-ending patience).
Hope you enjoy these final installments!Once we had left the Magic Kingdom, we boarded a water launch (the PassPorter Peeps Polynesian water launch, to be specific) and, a few minutes later, we had arrived on the shore of the beautiful Polynesian resort. This resort holds a special place in Spencer's heart, and he was most thrilled to once again "be back home". Even though some people diss this resort for being so old, you can't deny its incredibly unique and oh-so-lush tropicality (is that a word?)--very magical! The fire-lit torches that we passed on our way to the Great Ceremonial House made me think of Survivor's Tribal Council, and, I guess in a way, Spencer and I were the next two being "kicked off the island", so to speak--after all, this was our last night at WDW (but let's not think about that right now).
Once we were inside the awesome lobby of the Great Ceremonial House, we met up with a few others who had not been able to make it to the Adventurer's Hunt at the Magic Kingdom, including Joanne (of the famed Joanne's WDW Web Site) and our resident Travel Agent Jean (oh, how we worship thee, Jean!--for those of you who don't know, Jean is an absolute genius when it comes to booking WDW trips, so don't be afraid to contact her--she's the best in the business!)
Since Dave and Jennifer had planned this gathering far enough in advance, they had been able to request a table at O'hana right next to the fire pit, which is definitely worth the extra wait, if you've the opportunity and the time. As soon as we were seated, the appetizers arrived--spring rolls, lettuce wraps, and all sorts of other yummy stuff that proved to be only the beginnings of an absolutely fantastic (and fitting) final dinner at WDW. By the suggestion of Bruce, our special CM w/the inside scoop for the night, we ordered a few Mai Tais, which were quite delicious.
However, I couldn't keep my eyes off of the pineapple that had mysteriously appeared in front of LauraBelle--I finally had to inquire what was inside. No one really knew, but the consensus was that it was pretty darn strong, so later on, I also treated myself to a pineapple. Beware! Do not attempt to walk without the assistance of another individual after consumption of this pineapple; I have no clue what was in this drink, but, boy did it have a kick!
All throughout dinner, a CM with a microphone and a little baby guitar (I'd venture to say that it was a ukelele, but I'm not positive) was walking around, encouraging us to join in the traditional Polynesian greeting ("A-loooooooooo-ha!"); also, since we were right in the middle of all of the action, we had front row seats to the coconut races, which were absolutely hysterical. We actually found it difficult to eat sometimes 'cuz we were laughing so hard at all of the mayhem around us--most enjoyable! Just a quick word about the dinner--this is an all-you-care-to-eat dinner, so don't be shy! Go ahead and ask for that 4th helping of skewered shrimp! (Cruella got a great pic of me being "over-served"--here's the link: PassPorter Pictures)
After we'd all had a chance to eat, drink, and be way too merry, the hula hoops came out--now, mind you, this is supposed to be a contest for the kids, but who was up there trying to out-hula the youngins? That's right, yours truly and Cruella!
How many of you guys had "Field Day" in elementary school? Did you happen to have "Hula Hoop" as one of the possible contests? Well, if I may say so for a moment, I was the Hula Hoop King (Queen?
) of Field Day from 1st through 3rd grade!So, fast forwarding 16 years, I figured I still had what it took to hoop it up w/the best--I couldn't have been more wrong! How on earth are you supposed to get that stupid hoop to stay up? There's no way (after having that "libation in a pineapple", at least) that I could make my hips move any faster--of course, I suppose that, now, there's quite a bit more of me around which the hoop must travel, eh? Oh, well--perhaps it's time for me to head to Toys 'R Us to pick up a hoop and practice so that my next attempt at O'hana will be a roaring success!
Anyway, so that was a complete and total blast, and somehow, I ended up not paying for our drinks, but I never figured out why. Do I still owe somebody some $$$?
We all headed downstairs for a few photos, one of which was sent to us a few days later (Thanks, Dave and Jennifer--it's sitting on my PassPorter shelf of my bookcase. Yes, I have an entire shelf of just PassPorter stuff, can you believe it? ).By now, it was about 7:30 p.m., and those who still had some energy were planning on heading down to Pleasure Island for some heavy-duty partying at Adventurer's Club. Unfortunately, Spencer and I still needed to check-in at All Stars Music (and we wanted to grab a quick shower since we had been so sweaty and gross earlier at the Magic Kingdom). It was then that we realized that we had a slight transportation snafu on our hands. We originally thought we would take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and then hop on an All-Stars bound bus, but since the MK had just closed, we were afraid that the wait for the bus might've been horrendous.
So, instead, we opted to walk to the TTC and take the monorail to Epoct, and then board an All-Stars bus. This worked out beautifully--also, as a bonus, Heidi joined us, so we got to chat and learn a little more about each other. Then, as an even bigger bonus, we were able to ride in the front of the monorail (something that Heidi didn't know you could do--don't you just love showing off cool things like these?) Once we had arrived at Epcot, we said our goodbyes to Heidi (who was staying at DxL), and headed over to our bus.
All right, I know a few of you are anticipating my All-Stars Music review--let me preface it by stating that I think that a move from any Deluxe resort to a Value resort will certainly feel like a "step down", but let's proceed, anyway. Well, the All-Starts were kinda what I was expecting them to be--loud, crowded, and somewhat gaudy, which can be tons of fun, if that's the mood you're in when you get there. Surprisingly, check-in went smoothly, and even more surprisingly, when we went to pick up our luggage, we were pleased to find that it was already waiting in our room--that was pretty cool!
We were staying in Broadway, Room 7610, which was very nice, actually, since all we needed was a place to crash. As we headed out of Melody Hall, we passed the main pool, which was appropriately shaped like a guitar. In the center, (I think) the Three Caballeros shoot out water, so that's kinda fun and cute, too. One thing we did notice, however, was that there was a rather large number of cigarette butts all over the pool's walkway--this kinda upset me. I certainly am in no position to condemn, but I would hope that those who choose to smoke would do so in a way that would not affect those of us who choose not to smoke. As is usually the case, I would suspect that the majority of smokers are indeed considerate; however, isn't it usually the small minority of inconsiderate individuals that cause problems for everyone?
Anyway, so, yes, noticing that did affect my impression of the resort--I'm sure there were many smokers at the Wilderness Lodge, as well; perhaps I just didn't notice them? Moving on...our room was adequate--I personally find the decorations to be a bit loud and obnoxious, but, again, it was a place to crash, so we really didn't mind it that much. For two people on a budget, it was ideal--however, if I were there with, say, four people (especially if it was four adults), I'd probably go a little nuts.
As you probably know, for the All-Stars, they provide an "all-in-one" soap/shampoo dispenser in the shower, so plan on bringing your own if that doesn't appeal to you (it didn't appeal to us, but then again, that's why we had brought our foo-foo stuff from Bath & Body Works). Also, our dispenser seemed a little, ummm, grody (I couldn't think of a better word), so we were definitely glad that we had brought our own.
We quickly showered and changed and were back up in front of Melody Hall within 20 minutes. We missed a Downtown Disney bus literally by seconds, and so we ended up having to wait a good 20 minutes for another one to arrive. When we finally got to Pleasure Island, it was already going on 10:00 p.m., and we were kinda running out of energy, which I really didn't want to happen, because I was so looking forward to partying at the Adventurer's Club with the PassPorter Peeps.
After scanning our cards, we headed straight to the Adventurer's Club and promptly got ourselves a few Kungalooshes as we surveyed the crowds, trying to locate the other PassPorters. We didn't realize that there is another part of the club that runs "shows" continuously (the Main Library, I think it's called), so, for awhile, we thought that we had perhaps missed everyone. Fortunately, after about 15 minutes of (what was becoming frantic) searching, I spotted Cruella and The Gang, and so we headed over to chat before we all were ushered back into the Main Library for what had to be one of the most entertaining short shows I've ever seen.
The performers in this club are improvisational geniuses. Within a few minutes, they've gauged the audience and found the "playful" people who they can comfortably tease. I believe the name of our entertainer was Samantha Sanders (or something like that), who wanted to impress upon us that "Most guys don't want love...they just want to kick it around."
I don't really think there's any good way to describe just how phenomenally entertaining this skit was--the best advise that I can give you is just to make sure that you set aside a good two to three hours one evening to enjoy all of the shenanigans that this club has to offer. After Samantha's performance, we all gathered in the Mask Room for one more round of Kungalooshes and pictures before deciding that we were going to head out.
However, as we made our way up the stairs, I was stopped by someone who was giving out "free drink" cards--well, how could I resist?
So, Spencer and I each stopped to grab one more drinky, and when we had turned around, everyone except LauraBelle was gone! We had no clue what happened, but they were just nowhere to be found. Oh, well--the three of us were tired anyway, and since we were all staying at the All-Stars (LauraBelle was at All-Stars Movies, I think), we ended up just heading out to the busses.Within a few minutes, we had boarded an All-Stars bus; however, it was very crowded, and so we ended up having to stand. LauraBelle and I were having a wonderful conversation when, all of a sudden, we turned a corner, and she was gone! (Gosh, we're losing PassPorter Peeps left and right!
) It turns out that the turn had kinda caught her off-guard (and off-balance), and she had ended up accidentally falling into the lap of a gentleman seated nearby (did he ever ask you for your number, LauraBelle? ). And, LauraBelle hadn't even had any Kungalooshes that night (she did, however, have one of those Pineapple concoctions at O'hana--perhaps that's what caused the fall? ).The bus ride back to the All-Stars seemed to take a lot longer than the ride that we had taken earlier that evening to Downtown Disney, but since I was having such a nice chat w/LauraBelle, it was ok. When we arrived at All-Stars Music, we said our goodbyes and hurried to our room, where we immediately crashed. (Fortunately, earlier in the evening, I had remembered to place a wake-up call for 7:30 a.m.)
Luckily, I was too tired to realize that our vacation was nearly over (little did I know that I'd be reliving it for the next 9 months by writing the NASTEE--maybe THAT'S why it's taken me so long to finish? I just don't want to admit it's over?)
Anyway, we slept very soundly that night, thanks in part to those 2 Kungalooshes and the Pineapple drink from heaven...
P.S. A special thanks to all who attended the PassPorter events for making it such a fun night for us--we really had an absolute blast!
And, still to come: The NASTEE Trip Report--Day 8: So Long, Farewell...
