Monday, October 1, 2007
Today we had our last hotel transfer of this vacation. We transferred from AKL to the Poly. We got almost everything ready to go this morning and went to Mara to get a breakfast platter to share and supplement it with the concierge offerings. The food was enough for the both of us and it was good. After breakfast we finished getting the luggage ready and called bell service. They came up within 5 minutes after they called us back to verify that we needed our luggage transferred to the Poly (who knows what that was about?).
We went to the bus station to catch a bus to the MK. After a long wait (more than 15 minutes), we decided to catch the bus to DAK. Once we arrived at the DAK, we went to catch the Poly/Cont resort bus. We got to the place and the bus was already there (at least we thought). The CM asked me what resort I was going to I stated to the POLY (I thought how obvious since I was standing in that resorts bus line). The CM told us to get on the bus that it would take us there once it made a stop at the AsMu, WL, and then to our resort the Poly.
Once we arrived, we went to the concierge stand out by the valet desk near the drive entrance. This was nice; especially since I thought I would have to find my way to the Hawaii building. We were taken there by golf cart. The CM who registered us for the resort told us that our room was already ready we were surprised because it was 10 AM.
Our room was 3501 in the Hawaii building just outside the door of the elevator right next door to the concierge lounge. It has the most breath-taking view of Cinderellas castle. We were on the third floor; which meant we actually had a balcony. I think right now this has to be my favorite resort. This view was definitely worth the cost.
The concierge staff has been outstanding like they were over at BWI. They are more than willing to give you a whole bottle of water for your room. They are not selfish with their water like AKL was with their water. The staff has also presented a friendly, approachable attitude.
We went to the MK for our 11:30 AM ADR for Tonys Town Restaurant. We each had the breadstick appetizer and I had the chicken parmesan with spaghetti. It was good, but way too much. My wife had the meatball sub which she thought was very good, but again way too much for one person. Since we are on the dining plan, we also got dessert. I got the pistachio cream Brule and my wife got the chocolate bomb. Both desserts were very good it was my first time for Cream Brule and wow is it good.
After lunch, we went to ride PotC and HM. The changes on the PotC are great and it does remind you a lot of the movies. Some of the new features can give you the wow factor. I read on the boards about seeing the key for the lock from the movies, but I could not find it. I decided to ask a CM and he told me that Captain Sparrow broke in last night and stole it. The CMs this morning did see a piece of gold that he accidently left behind and showed me where it was located. It was neat to see a piece of the movie at the attraction I mean gift shop. We went through Liberty Square on our way to the HM. I finally saw the lanterns in the Liberty Tree as well as the two lanterns in the window. The new features of HM were spectacular. We plan to do both again in the next few days.
We decided to go back to the resort and rest (our daily nap time). We got back to the room around 3:15 PM. I decided to call bell service to see if our luggage had arrived. The bell service said he would check and call me back shortly (they were very busy at the time with arrivals). They called back in a few minutes and told us that they tracked our luggage down at AKL. They had not even shipped our luggage to the resort yet I was not surprised with everything else that happened at that resort. They said they would have it shipped immediately to them and call us as soon as it arrived. We received a phone call about 20 minutes later stating that our luggage was here and they were on the way up to our room. Our luggage finally arrived and we got it put away. Just before the luggage arrived in the room the front desk had brought us a chocolate poly sign. It was almost too beautiful to eat I dont know if we will eat it or not.
We decided to go back to EPCOT to see Off Kilter and we took the monorail. The trip was great and quick. Upon our arrival at the park, it started raining really hard. We decided to stay and see if it would stop raining. It did and we arrived at the Canadian pavilion to see the show. The show was awesome. It was our first time seeing the show. It will definitely not be my last time to see the show. It started raining so hard I thought we were in a monsoon. We kept trying to return to the resort and finally did we looked like a couple of drowned rats.
We finally made it back to the resort and ate at Captain Cooks. We both had the flatbread pizza. It was good, but again too greasy for our taste. It finally stopped raining and we went back to our room. We went to the lounge to get a snack and some coffee to relax before going to bed. We went back to our room and set on the balcony. Again, the view is breath-taking and well worth the cost. We were able to see the Electric Water Pageant from our balcony and it was cool!!!!!!!!!!! We then went back into our room and relax and noticed that Wishes had started. We went back to the balcony to see the presentation and it made the room so much more beautiful and in a perfect location for us. We could hear the music and see both presentations from our balcony.
Our room had the turn-down service when we arrived. Again, this is something that is so nice to walk into. We finally settled in for a nice night of sleep and relaxation.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Today we woke up without an alarm and it was nice. We got up at 7:30 AM and got dressed and went to the lounge for a continental breakfast. They had the wonderful pineapple bread which is great. I have really enjoyed everything that I have had in the lounge.
We then went to the Studios today and took the park at a slow pace. It rain showered on and off all day today. I finally found the singing in the rain umbrella; which is amazing to see. The only thing that we did not do yet is ToT because I did not want to wait for more than 30 minutes and I did not want to wait for the next fastpass time (I knew that I would be able to do it on Friday morning). I did not get to do RnR because it does not open until Friday (I hope!). My wife and I were doing the Backstage tour and I got picked to be the person to get soaked (and we forgot the camera batteries back in the resort). All well, I will at least have the memory of the event.
We left MGM around 3 PM for MK because we wanted to eat at Pecos Bill (one of the restaurants that we attend every time we come to WDW). We got the bacon double cheeseburger, French fries, sprite, and peanut butter brownie mousse dessert. The whole meal was great as usual. We did PotC again and noticed things that we did not see when we rode it the first time. We also got to see the Captain Jack Sparrow character interaction today. The presentation was great and the person playing Captain Jack Sparrow is uncanning in having the same mannerisms has Johnny Depp. They do a great job in getting the audience to participate with the entire presentation. We did the JC ride and we had a guide who was either bored with his job or had the dullest personality. I think that ride is good depending on who your guide is for the ride. We then went to ride Splash Mountain and got stuck on the ride. We waited for 10 minutes and then they came to get us and took us out into the back of the ride (off stage) and then got us back to the little shop at the end of the ride (on stage). They also gave us a fastpass good for one MK attraction until October 31, 2007.
We wanted to see the Fantasmic show at MGM and went back to watch it. We have seen it several times, but we enjoy it every time we see it. The show seemed a little different this time to me (but not to my wife I cant explain it, but it did) than when we saw it in June 2006.
We got back to our room to our wonderful turn down service around 9:45 pm. We settled down for a nice night of sleep and magical dreams.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
We got up this morning and went to the lounge for breakfast (no supplements today). I just love their pineapple bread.
We then left to go the MK today. We did Tomorrow Land and Toon Town Fair today and had a great time. We choose to ride the WDW Railroad all the way around the park. It is a great way to relax a little while in the park. We were able to walk on most rides or maybe wait 5 to 10 minutes for every ride it was great.
We had lunch at Caseys today and had the Gram Slam Hot Dog combo (I had the apple slices and my wife had french fries). It was a great meal as always. It is one of the restaurants that I look forward to eating at every trip to WDW. We then came back to the hotel.
While at the hotel, we did our last loads of laundry on this trip. We used this time to do some recreational reading and relaxing before heading to Downtown Disney.
We had dinner in the lounge tonight. They had these wonderful chicken drums and fried rice; which were both excellent and tasty. We then decided to go to Gierdellehes for ice cream; especially since we were going to that area tonight anyway. We got their famous hot fudge sundae; which is absolutely the best.
We then made our way to see Cirque du Soliel (we already had our tickets for the show). We were in section 104 row H. We think we had the best seats in the house. You could see all the action of the show. We had seen this show before on a TV special, but it is just so amazing to see it in person. I would highly recommend this production.
We then left the show and made our way back to the Poly. We came home and went straight to bed it was after 11:30 pm way past our normal bedtime.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
We had breakfast in the lounge again, with no supplemental items from other places. I have really enjoyed this lounge it is so relaxing and inviting. The lounge is a great place to eat, read the paper, and relax. The only complaint that we would have about this lounge is no chocolate milk all the others did have it and yes we did ask for it.
We then left for the MK for the day. This allowed us enough time to finish all the rides that we really wanted to ride on this trip. We finally were able to ride Splash Mountain without it breaking down. The secret to the ride is to ride in the back you dont get as wet as you do in the front of the ride. We went to ride Hall of Presidents, but it was closed for refurbishments (or at least we thought it was).
We then came back to the resort, so that we could eat at Captain Cooks for lunch and rest for the
MNSSHP tonight. I had the bacon double cheeseburger and Polynesian chips combo and my wife had the multi-grain turkey sandwich with Polynesian chips combo. We both had water to drink and my wife had her favorite dessert apple charlotte. I had the vanilla cupcake I have now had it twice there. We then went back to our room and took a two-hour nap gave us plenty of time to relax and rest before tonights party.
We went back to MK at 4 PM to go to the MNSSHP and our ADR at LTT. We were nervous because as soon as we got off the monorail it started pouring down rain. However, that was the last time it rained all night. We had a little bit of time before we could give our names in for our reservation and noticed that the Hall of Presidents was not closed just a section is being re-done on the side of it; which is good because it is one of my favorite attractions. The characters tonight for LTT were Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale, but no Mickey Mouse. The food was excellent except the pork (we dont like pork although I tried it). I absolutely love the Macaroni and Cheese (something that I look forward to eating) and my wife absolutely loves the mashed potatoes and gravy (we asked for more of these items as well as the turkey). All of the food was excellent and so was the dessert. We were able to get pictures by ourselves with the characters and together (thanks to nice people at the table near us).
We finished with a little time before the party actually began so we caught the last Dreams Come True show at Cinderellas Castle. The show was good, but not a real necessity to see. After that show, we headed to the front to get our pin for tonights party. We finally got it and started toward Adventure Land and went around the park from that starting point. We made it to every candy giving station; except for the two in Tomorrow Land (ran out of time). We saw both parades because my wife and I did not have a good spot for the first parade. The parade is very good and worth seeing. We saw the Hallowishes presentation, but I would not recommend it from Liberty Square (just before going over the bridge). We thought it would be a good spot to watch not too close, but then most of these fireworks were behind the castle instead over the castle the trees there blocked a majority of the view but we thought all well we will wait until tomorrow night and see the Hallowishes from our balcony at the POLY Hawaii building. We went to see the last Villain Mix and Mingle not at all what we expected. (I think we were expecting some type of show like they normally do at the castle, but this was just the villains dancing. We did get to interact a little with the Queen of Hearts from Alices Adventure in Wonderland. We did not make to any of the dance parties; which is probably good because neither of us dance well. Overall, the party was very good and I would highly recommend it. We got a lot of candy even though we did not have children with us. The CMs gave us more than just one or two pieces they usually just dumped a handful of candy in our bags.
We made it back to our room by 12:45 AM to our nice turn down service and went to bed. We had magical dreams all night long.
Friday, October 05, 2007
We did not wake-up until almost 10 am this morning (really late for us we usually wake-up by 7:30 am every morning even without an alarm clock). We got ready and then decided to go to MGM to finish the last few rides that we have not had a chance to see yet.
We arrived at MGM about 11:30 am and headed straight to Sci-Fi Drive-In for lunch. Even though we did not have an ADR we only had to wait about 10-15 minutes. It was a lot different than what we expected I dont know what we really expected. We both had the cheeseburger and French fries meal. We both had shakes for our beverage I had strawberry and my wife had chocolate we both thought they were really good. The food was good, but again way too much for us. For dessert, we both had the hot fudge sundae they were good, but not as good as Gherdellis. We then went to ride ToT and RnR well at least I did. I noticed that now RnR finally has a single-rider line that is truly single-rider (all the way through the preshow right up to where you get on the ride you are separated from all of the other riders no chance to go through the single-rider line to get there faster and then at the last minute go together or with others in your party. It was truly nice for us single-riders who see abuse of this all the time on other rides. After I got of ToT, I met Chloe Hollywoods greatest gossip columnist. She spent about 15 minutes interviewing me and just conversing with me about my job (I am a librarian I never saw someone so excited to meet a librarian). I told her that I had to go meet up with my wife and she walked outside the building with me arm in arm. She asked me my wifes name and I told her and she said that they went to school together. She met my wife and continued our conversation there for about 5 minutes. It was overall a great interaction with one of the street characters.
It rained hard off and on all day. My wife told me that a couple of times it rained really hard while I was on the two rides. We decided to go back to the Poly for our daily nap (almost 1 ½ hours today). We woke up and freshened up a little and decided to go to the GF or CR for one of their CS meals. We ended up eating at the GFs Grill. She had the chicken strips with Cole slaw meal and I had the hot dog with grapes meal. Both meals were very good and tasty. For dessert, she had their chocolate cake which she said is very rich tasting and could not eat it too much chocolate (this totally surprised me because she is a chocoholic). I had their carrot cake; which was fantastic. We then went back to our hotel to relax and start preparing to head home tomorrow (how sad!!!). It was really raining, thundering, and lightning by this time.
We got back to our hotel to our nice turn-down service for a nice night of relaxation. We did make one last trip to the lounge for their desserts; which are heavenly. I will truly miss this lounge when we get home. We spent the evening on the balcony and saw the EWP and Hallowishes (it finally stopped raining for a little bit). The Hallowishes is much better from this viewpoint we did not notice it last night, but they shoot fireworks over the entire MK Park. We then went into the room and settled down for a nice night of magical dreams.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
This morning we got up early to have our breakfast at OHanas; which is one of my favorite character meals. It was great as usual and the food is always good. We then finished getting ready to make our trip back home. We finished and left for the morning at MK.
We arrived about 10 AM just as the park was opening. We did not ride a lot of rides during this time, but mostly just walked around the park to get our last views of the park.
Overall, the Poly is a terrific resort and we will definitely stay here in the future. The lounge is great and one of the highlights of our trip. The view was worth the entire cost of the trip.
My opinion - the best resort
