The Prius & The Poly Trip Report **Updated 10/31 What I Learned...**

[DisBride2009]

Hey great trip report so far. I love the Polynesian hotel its so beautiful. I could live there with all the accomadations, transportation, hospitality, and anything else I can think of. I can't wait to read more of your TR

 

[Bridora]

It rained while we were in our room...buckets...Luckliy, we had time before our ADR, so we just relaxed in the room. Max played on his laptop, the kiddos watched some Disney Channel, and I fell asleep in the chair! Also, luckily, the rain let up in time for our walk to 'Ohana to be a dry one!

This was to be our second time to enjoy 'Ohana. We had to wait an hour past our ADR time to get in. It was pretty crazy. We weren't the only ones waiting a loong time, though. It must have been an overwhelmingly busy night! Max got the kids a Cherry Sprite (I think) from the bar. I liked they way they served them!

This helped the wait a bit, for the kiddos. We also took pictures of each other, and snapped one of Luke in front of a 'tiki-booty'! He really thought that was funny...

We got our table, which had a wonderful view out over the pool area and on to the castle. We were not right by the window, but it was still a good view.

Not the best picture, however!

And here comes that yummy bread!

It did take me a minute to remember the coconut flavor of the bread, but we still finished both loaves! Next up was the salad:

Once again, not a great picture. The picture where I used the flash was even worse!

Don't get too excited about all these food pictures, they stop here and don't pick back up until dessert. But I can tell you the appetizers were good and the main course was better! They bring around a big dish of each type of meat and serve you any or all of them you want! The dipping sauces are amazing, too! For dessert, the kids were brought ice cream with Mickey sprinkles:

(We'll call this 'the day of bad pictures'. Each one is worse than the one before, it seems to me...!)

And Max and I ate all of the Bread Pudding!

Now, while we were eating, there were lots of festivities going on around us! A big wedding party was there at the same time as we were (maybe the reason they were a bit behind earlier) Our cousin (I can't remember her name!) with the microphone led the festivities. She kept having us clap for the bride & groom, or drawing attention to them in some way. I think they had a great time! It is a really fun atmosphere there, although loud! There were hula lessons, a limbo contest, and a parade. She gave all participants a lei and Luke had 3 by the time we left!

We walked outside just as Wishes was beginning. The Electrical Water Pageant was also sitting right there in front of the beach!

(that's Luke & Allison)

After this, we hiked over to the Grand Floridian, just for a look around. It was a nice night, and a nice walk! We really enjoyed our 'pool day'. I am glad we incorporated it into our vacation, and think this is something we'll do every time from now on.

 

[Bridora]

Hey great trip report so far. I love the Polynesian hotel its so beautiful. I could live there with all the accomadations, transportation, hospitality, and anything else I can think of. I can't wait to read more of your TR

Hi! I agree, living there would be very awesome!

 

[stacikristine]

'Ohana looks wonderful! We tried to get in there...but they were all booked up. Maybe next time!

 

[TiggerCL]

I am enjoying your trip report! Thanks for posting! We'll be at the Poly one month from today : )

 

[princess_momma]

'Ohanas does look so yummy!! They were all booked for my trip too! Maybe next time!!

 

[Bridora]

Where have you been?! Hope everything is alright and you are just busy with life! I leave soon!! Only 9 days now!

We must have been on here at the same time!--I was probably typing away on my TR when you posted this! I am going to try and get some more updates on here today! AND I have been busy with life, but I feel like such a slacker...always apologizing to you guys! I wasn't even going to mention it again...

'Ohana looks wonderful! We tried to get in there...but they were all booked up. Maybe next time!

I hope you do get to go! The food is good and it's a really a fun atmosphere, too. You don't have to worry about ordering off the menu, and you don't have to go back up to the buffet line--perfect!

I am enjoying your trip report! Thanks for posting! We'll be at the Poly one month from today : )

I'm glad you are enjoying it! I bet October is a good time to go--have fun!

'Ohanas does look so yummy!! They were all booked for my trip too! Maybe next time!!

That's too bad they were booked up...But there's a reason to start planning your next trip!

 

[Bridora]

The date: Thursday, June 4, 2009. That day, Epcot was up for Evening Extra Magic Hours. We had no ADRs and our only plans for the day were: Magic Kingdom in the morning and Epcot in the evening. Sounds good to me! We decided to take the boat launch from the dock at the Polynesian over to the Magic Kingdom since we had not yet done this.

It was a beautiful morning! I tried to capture the way the sunlight glistened on the water.

Some more views from the boat dock:

There were plenty of benches to relax on while waiting for your boat:

A look back at the beach from one of those benches:

Pretty soon, our boat pulled in!

We all went aboard, waited while one other family boarded as well, and then we were off to the Magic Kingdom!

There was a lifejacket demonstration by Mickey. Well, it was just a poster, but it did illustrate!

In the distance, we could see Cinderella’s Castle!

Looking around:

We were in a race!

Getting close now:

How many forms of transportation can you spot in this picture?

We’re getting closer still!:

Zoomed up

Thanks for the ride!

We all enjoyed the ride over. I don’t suppose it’s the quickest form of transportation, but it’s worth doing at least once.

**We ended up using it again to leave the Magic Kingdom. (maybe Friday night after EEMH) That surely wasn’t the quickest way out. Even though the Monorail lines looked horrendous they cleared out long before our boat came back for us. I think we waited through 3 trips, but I’m not sure how many boats were launching. We always say we’ll sit on a bench and watch the mass exodus at night, but we’re usually still exiting with lots of other folks. Maybe we just need to park it a while longer!**

**caution!--Rambling, slightly off topic sentences follow.

 

[princess_momma]

We must have been on here at the same time!--I was probably typing away on my TR when you posted this! I am going to try and get some more updates on here today! AND I have been busy with life, but I feel like such a slacker...always apologizing to you guys! I wasn't even going to mention it again...

I understand!! The only reason I'm on so much is that all I do is answer phones at my job and it can get quite slow and the Dis isn't blocked...so yeah I get paid to Dis. Its nice.

I may have to give you a hard time if I finish my TR before you do. Kidding of course...I mean I get paid to do this while you have to take the kids to and around doing a bunch of errands. There there's (thats symbolizing cooking, I'm not saying you're a witch!! ) and dealing with the kids And I KNOW that you probably have to a little to keep from going

Hahaha...I probably just amused myself way too much with all the smilies.

I love these!! Is it bad that I have the headband bride ears? Because they discontinued them and have ugly bride ones now and I didn't want to miss out!! HAHA I hope I didn't jinx myself though!!!

 

[stacikristine]

I love your DD's headband ears!!! SOO cute And it looks like a very peaceful ride to the MK! We stayed at Fort Wilderness one year and LOVED taking the boat back and forth

 

[Bridora]

I understand!! The only reason I'm on so much is that all I do is answer phones at my job and it can get quite slow and the Dis isn't blocked...so yeah I get paid to Dis. Its nice.

I may have to give you a hard time if I finish my TR before you do. Kidding of course...I mean I get paid to do this while you have to take the kids to and around doing a bunch of errands. There there's (thats symbolizing cooking, I'm not saying you're a witch!! ) and dealing with the kids And I KNOW that you probably have to a little to keep from going

Hahaha...I probably just amused myself way too much with all the smilies.



I love these!! Is it bad that I have the headband bride ears? Because they discontinued them and have ugly bride ones now and I didn't want to miss out!! HAHA I hope I didn't jinx myself though!!!

I love the smiley story! That's just about right, only I do work during the day until 3. I used to have more free time there, but I used to work until 5; so with 2 less hours at work I don't have the extra time I used to. I do love getting off work in time to pick the kids up every day and then go home (or after school activities). My new mission is to finish my TR before you get back! I don't have too too much left, though. Hopefully I will use the long weekend to do some TRing, but right now What Not to Wear is on....and I don't know if I can concentrate enough to doth both at the same time!

I love her headband ears, too! I think that's a great thing that you already have your bride ones. You wouldn't want ugly ones!

Less than one week for you!

I love your DD's headband ears!!! SOO cute And it looks like a very peaceful ride to the MK! We stayed at Fort Wilderness one year and LOVED taking the boat back and forth

I love them too! She bought them last year when we went and actually brought them back, well, I brought them back becuase we sneakily packed the kids up one night...but she wore them again! They also had some with black sequins and a red bow that she had a hard time passing up. We did enjoy the boat ride!

 

[princess_momma]

I love the smiley story! That's just about right, only I do work during the day until 3. I used to have more free time there, but I used to work until 5; so with 2 less hours at work I don't have the extra time I used to. I do love getting off work in time to pick the kids up every day and then go home (or after school activities). My new mission is to finish my TR before you get back! I don't have too too much left, though. Hopefully I will use the long weekend to do some TRing, but right now What Not to Wear is on....and I don't know if I can concentrate enough to doth both at the same time!

I love her headband ears, too! I think that's a great thing that you already have your bride ones. You wouldn't want ugly ones!

Less than one week for you!

I'm glad you liked my story!! I work until 3 too. Its a nice time to get off, because you still have time to get stuff before dinner and stuff! What do you do?

And I leave on Thursday!!!! AHHHHHH!!! Hopefully that puts some pressure on you for your new mission!!

Oh and PS I had to work today on Labor Day hopefully you are indeed taking advantage of this long to write!! Although I'm sad your trip is coming to an end!! Do you know when you guys are going back? These guys from my work are going to a Nascar race in I think February and they're staying at AKL and I think ONLY going to Epcot. Its killing me! I'm like "let me go and stay at AKL and do the parks myself while you guys are at Nascar!"

 

[Bridora]

I'm glad you liked my story!! I work until 3 too. Its a nice time to get off, because you still have time to get stuff before dinner and stuff! What do you do?

And I leave on Thursday!!!! AHHHHHH!!! Hopefully that puts some pressure on you for your new mission!!

Oh and PS I had to work today on Labor Day hopefully you are indeed taking advantage of this long to write!! Although I'm sad your trip is coming to an end!! Do you know when you guys are going back? These guys from my work are going to a Nascar race in I think February and they're staying at AKL and I think ONLY going to Epcot. Its killing me! I'm like "let me go and stay at AKL and do the parks myself while you guys are at Nascar!"

I work in the office for a company that manufactures and sells automotive products and janitorial supplies. I love getting off at 3!

As I type this, you are either on your way or ALREADY THERE! Pressure is on!

Looks like I used Labor Day Weekend for other things, namely spending Saturday putting in a new storm door with Max, and the evening learning a new card game with friends...Sunday touring caverns after lunch...and Monday catching up on all that housekeeping that had been neglected.

We have some plans in the works for the end of May 2010...I will let you know when I know some more for sure. I cannot imagine being that close and ONLY going to Epcot, although it is a nice choice for a 1 day trip....but still!

 

[Bridora]

If only I could be a performer in that show! I would love to spend my day singing and dancing to that song...

Our 1st boat trip to Magic Kingdom was successful, and now...

We have arrived!

That is how we all felt, I think!

There is just something about walking down Main St., you know?

The 'Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it!' street party/parade was just beginning as we made our way toward Cinderella Castle, so we stopped to watch. We were in a horrible spot due to our 'spontaneous decision' to stop (in which I pretty much just stopped!) right where we were, right in the sun!

But we got a pretty rainbow out of it!

I am sure this girl in teal would just love her expression in this one!

It was a pretty loud affair, with a looped soundtrack. We made our way up Main St. behind it. The parade pulled itself around the hub, then stopped for the street party portion. We walked up to the Bakery, then crossed Main St. to head toward Adventureland, walking in front of Crystal Palace....we heard the music the entire way and Max was quite tired of it by then.

Ah, safely in Adventureland!

Shadow family in Adventureland!

To be continued...

 

[Bridora]

...with embarassment.

I was just loading up the photos to continue my above post, when something just wasn't feeling right. I then realized the next pictures were from Crystal Palace, which we did not go to until the NEXT day, Friday, for dinner! Oops!!!

So, just pretend I gave you a little glimpse into Friday afternoon...(which explains the parade and afternoon sun in those 'Thursday morning photos'!)

That's what I get for working under pressure. (Kimmy!)

Thursday was Evening Extra Magic Hours at Epcot, and we were there! Coming up, our Monorail ride and our June 4 day in Epcot....

 

[Bridora]

Didn't you just love that sneak peak into our Friday at the Magic Kingdom? So, to pick up where we left off, chronologically, that is...

Thursday morning, June 4, 2009.


Epcot has Evening Extra Magic Hours and we have decided the spend the whole day there. We really want to check out the Kim Possible missions over in the World Showcase. The threat of thunderstorms is looming in the distance.

Just a side note: Apparently just before we got there the rain was never-ending. I mean, for the previous 2 weeks it seemed. I can remember checking the weather and worrying about rain, but so far, it had not messed with our plans. Several cast members remarked about all the rain they had gotten and how we came at a good time!

We made our way to the Monorail station to begin our journey to Epcot. At the Ticket & Transportation we transferred to the Epcot Monorail--and got to ride in the front!

We each got a Monorail Co-Pilot's License:

front

back


Here are some shots of our ride to Epcot:

notice those clouds?

At this point, I am little fuzzy on what we did next. *note to self: take small flip notebook into the parks. this will come in handy later on, especially if you use it to write down what you did, what you ate, etc.*

From our pictures it looks like we headed straight over to ride Figment. Now, we do love us some Figment, but doing that first? I don't know about that. More than likely, we got fast passes for Soarin' and then headed over to ride Journey into Imagination with Figment.

ominous looking clouds, no?

I do remember that the kids were hungry by that time, from looking at some other pictures we took. We headed over to World Showcase with some counter service food in mind. We wanted to try a new place, but weren't sure where. On our way over to World Showcase we stopped by a Kim Possible Recruitment center and got a mission time for later in the afternoon.

A few zoomed shots from our walk over:

Don't forget about those clouds...By the time we crossed over and passed through Canada the sprinkles began. They picked up quickly, so we stopped in the United Kingdom to don our ponchos. (Max gets so excited when he has prepared us all by packing the ponchos, and we actually have to use them. He acts like I make fun of him and get embarrassed when he packs them!) I though it would be fun to pack into one of those red telephone booths and change, Superman style, you know? There wasn't much room for 4 people. Max and Luke ended up just putting their ponchos on in the rain. Allison and I, however, managed the superhero thing might well. We continued on, after an unsuccessful attempt to get into the Rose & Crown Pub. Rounding the corner coming out of the United Kingdom Max made the game-time decision that we should eat somewhere on the Boardwalk. We hopped aboard one of the Friendship boats to avoid the rain.

After arriving, we looked around and decided we should try out:

Their menu sounded yummy! We got there at just the right time, because we had no wait. Shortly after we were seated and before our meals arrived there was a line waiting to get in! I so do not even remember what we had, but I do remember it was yummy...including the beer! It was a nice place to stumble upon.


We took a tour of the units at the Boardwalk since they had an 'open house'. It was nice, too, but we were still very pleased with Bay Lake Towers (still are!) We walked back to Epcot this time since the rain had let up.

...to be continued...

 

[stacikristine]

YAY for the two updates! Sorry you got all mixed up, but I must say, I REALLY like the picture of your shadow family!! So great. Sorry it's started raining in Epcot....I hope it lets up for your KP mission! Oh--and very cool that your changed Superman Style!

 

[Bridora]

YAY for the two updates! Sorry you got all mixed up, but I must say, I REALLY like the picture of your shadow family!! So great. Sorry it's started raining in Epcot....I hope it lets up for your KP mission! Oh--and very cool that your changed Superman Style!

Thanks! We were just walking along when I looked down and noticed them! It was too cool to not snap a picture!

 

[Bridora]

I found it! It was hiding on another camera...

The big suitcase on the left of the photo holds Max and my clothes. The smaller blue one on the right holds Allison's and behind it, under the other bags, is it's twin (only in black), holding Luke's things. The bag in the back of the 2nd level on the right has shoes and some other loose odds & ends. The blue duffel bag is our 1st night overnight bag. That way, when we stop in Ocala we only have to grab that bag plus my cosmetics bag. It's much better than unloading all the bags. We each have pajamas and clothes for the next day in that one. That's pretty much it! You can see Allison's hoodie and travel pillow in the picture, too!

 

[Bridora]

I'm just going to go ahead and warn you now: I don't have many pictures from Thursday afternoon/evening. It was too wet to get the cameras out. Don't feel bad for us, though, we all know what rain in Disney World means--fewer crowds!

.....So, we had walked back into Epcot and down into the UK pavilion, where we spied Alice, of Wonderland fame. This was very exciting for Allison, who had just finished up a children's theatre program. The play? Alice in Wonderland! Alice was surprised to find out that Allison did not play the role of Alice. They chatted for a bit--it was very fun!

Have I mentioned the book we bought for the Allison before our trip? It was an absolutely wonderful purchase. It is Walt Disney World's Guide to the Magic For Kids by Tim Foster. Google it. It's a spiral bound book full of things for kids to do. We took it with us in the parks and Allison could write in it while in line, at lunch, whenever! It has sections for each park, giving descriptions of each attraction, complete with stickers to place when you've 'done' an attraction. There are journal pages for each day of your vacation with sections for the weather, where you went, what you ate, ect. In the Epcot section, there is even a space for a cast member from each country to write something in their native language! It is awesome! Seriously, I feel like an infomercial! Plus, there are plenty of pages for autographs. I highly recommend you check it out!

We walked back through toward Canada, headed to Innoventions in Future World. Max really has been wanting to see the House of the Future exhibit. On the way we had to stop by Club Cool. We were thirsty! (And we wanted to make the kids drink Beverly at least one last time when they didn't remember it from the time before!)

It worked! They tried it andmade some awful faces. The pictures were too blurry. Inside. No flash.

We continued on to Innoventions and took that tour. Allison found a bed she thought was cool! Max also found lots of things (everything) he wanted!

After that, it was Spaceship Earth. We love that thing!

I'm sure by that time it was close to 3:00. Time to report for our Kim Possible mission! Time for the rain to begin again just as we approached the wagon over at the International Gateway. The good news?: the Kimmunicators still operate in the rain! Missionn! Our mission was in the United Kingdom. It was one of the most fun things we've done! I think everyone needs to do at least one of these missions! Even if you do not have kids with you--seriously! You go through some training on how to use the Kimmunicator. Then, you find out Kim & Ron need your help to save Disney World! It's great fun using the Kimmunicator, and searching around the country for your next clue/instruction. We had our ponchos on and off during our whole UK mission. They have incorporated your Kimmunicator's return at the end of the mission into your mission, as well. We finished up and said we had to make time to do it again before we left.

We moseyed along through the other countries, riding Malestrom in Norway and the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico. I still miss El Rio del Tiempo, no matter how cute Donald Duck is.

We were leaving the World Showcase, heading back to Future World when the thunderstorm hit. People were soaking wet. People were running. Out came everyone's ponchos. We saw streams of people all going toward the exit. Lots of people went into Mouse Gear (that big big souvenir shop in Future World, next to the fountain). We were headed in that direction when Max noticed another set of door, unused, off to our right, just before Mouse Gear. There was quite an overhang, so we headed that way to get out of the downpour. There was cardboard and window tint over all the glass, and the doors. But we peered into a crack and found lots of boxes, must be used for warehouse space for the store. Anyway, it was a good place to stand while the rain came down. It was a great place to people watch, too. We even saw people go by without their shoes! A couple of times, it seemed we were about to be joined by more people, but they always defected for Mouse Gear at the last minute. There were some loud claps of thunder and even some lightning. It was a bit scary for Allison for a little while. (she hates lightning) But, the rain did let up. So we ventured back out. I don't know how long we were there, maybe 20 - 30 minutes. It was still sprinkling when we left our shelter, but we still had on our ponchos, so we were good to go!--Straight to the Electric Umbrella for dinner!

We did ride Soarin' some time that day. That night, we headed over and did Mission:Space and Test Track. It was Evening Extra Magic Hours, so I'm sure we did Nemo and Figment again, as well. We love those Evening Extra Magic Hours!

I'm sorry the details are fuzzy now. I'll end our Thursday here. Plans for Friday are Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekends in the morning, then to the Magic Kingdom for dinner at Crystal Palace and more Evening Extra Magic Hours!!! (and you've already seen some of that!)