The Waltons Do Disney - Our Way!! With pics

[Naisy68]

Hello All - I thought it was about time I started our trip report since we've been back for 15 days now. You will have to forgive the delay, it's taken me this long just to cope with the reality of not being there anymore. I've been seriouslyBLUE!

First of all, here's a little background information...
CAST - My DH - Travis (who works very long hours and has to live away from home when he's working. He really only gets home every other weekend IF we are lucky!)
Me(40) - Full-time mom, chauffer, maid, nanny etc. for the Walton Estate (otherwise known as our home in South Dakota) I also work part-time while our DD is in school.
DD Kylee (7) - 2nd grader, loves gymnastics, reading and all things Disney pretty much! She is very much a typical yet slightly dramatic little girl.

Back a little farther...There were supposed to be 8 of us on this trip when I started planning last winter. We were supposed to be taking my parents (in their 70s) as a gift for everything they have always done for us. My brother and sister-in-law, my 19 year old DS, My DH (36), our DD(7) and me(40.) Well after a lot of hem hawing around about the dates, and what we would all be doing in Florida etc. etc. "Why do we have to stay on Disney Property, that's stupid we should stay..." yada, yada "Let's not even go to Disney, let's just explore Florida and not really make plans for where to stay." I'm telling you, I was ready to cry more than once. All we wanted to do was take our family to Disney and we were open to exploring Florida some too but this was our trip that we wanted to share with them. We were willing to pay for most of it. Then we discovered that my mother was going to be needing heart surgery in the summer. And then my brother and SIL or even our DS wouldn't commit to the trip, My DH and I almost cancelled the entire idea. However, we deserved this trip and were really looking forward to it. Sooo, we modified our plans and decided to move it to late summer and just take our DD and go AND not only that, but we were going to stay deluxe too!! We were finally going to stay at... The Polynesian. I can't tell you how jazzed I felt after we finally made a decision and actually booked our reservation. Then three months later we were paid in full and we were going to Disney from August 27 - September 2, 2008. Stay tuned for more... would you like to know how you sleep in the airport in Denver??

 

[Naisy68]

After today, I was wondering if I should be going at all?! The day started out fine, the plan was to take Ky to school, go to work, leave work, pick up Kylee, drive to Gillette and pick up Travis and then leave for Denver and hopefully get a room there for the night. It didn't exactly happen this way. We made it to Gillette only to find out that Travis was still working and would be for awhile and then he had to fix his truck before we could even leave. We got out of Gillette towards Denver at about 8:00pm. Mind you, our flight out of Denver was for 6:35 the following morning and the drive to the Denver airport was a good 6+ hour drive. Bad, bad planning on my part. So we drove to Denver both half asleep most of the way ( I know, not smart!) and because we weren't going to be getting there until the middle of the night, we decided that we'd sleep at the airport, HA! HA!! Well, airports are bright, loud, slightly scary and pretty cold at night soo, we walked back out to the car about 2am and tried to sleep there. It wasn't really successful. We were able to sleep on the flight for about an hour though so that helped. We arrived in Orlando about 2pm and were dragging but very excited about finally being there. At this point, I wanted to check in at our resort and SLEEP! Miss Kylee who had slept in the car, and on the plane was ready to GO!! So what happened and where did we go on our first night at Disney? Stay tuned for more... See Day 2 but not till tomorrow because just thinking about how tired I was then makes me tired now and it happens to be bedtime so I better go be a responsible parent now.

 

[Naisy68]

So we arrived in Orlando at just about 2pm, the weather was beautiful, we came through some storm clouds on the way so I was a little worried. We checked into Magical Express and less than 15 minutes later, we were on a bus tooo.. Coronado Springs Resort. When we added a day at the beginning of our trip we decided to stay at the only moderate resort we hadn't been to yet even if it was for only one night. It was beautiful!! The lobby area is wonderful. The CMs there were very nice. Travis and I somehow developed a second wind somewhere between the airport and the resort. I like it call it the magic of Disney!! We had been contemplating how to tell Kylee we were just going to take a nap but after checking in, we just wanted to explore CSR. See pics below

 

[Naisy68]

As you can see from the pictures, CSR is really a beautiful resort and we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring for the most part. We had one small issue there. When we went to our room, the carpet was really wet like it had just been shampooed. Travis called the front desk, they apologized and moved us immediately. We were very impressed with how simple that was. After we moved to the new room and cleaned up some we went over to the food court to eat, I thought the way they work their food court was really cool. You go to the podium, someone seats you and takes your drink order, then you get a sheet of paper and then go to the different food stations and they stamp the sheet with what you order, then you eat and take that sheet to the cashier before leaving. The same person that sat us, kept our drinks filled and answered any questions we had. The food was delicious by the way. I had rice with teriaki chicken and it was truly yummy!! After dinner, we swam for awhile in the big pool which was a wonderful area and lots of fun, the Mexican staircase was a great picture shot but I can't show you because I'm in it in my swimsuit and I'm a little shy, ha ha! Here are a couple other pics for you to enjoy though.

Travis was having a little fun here!

Travis and Kylee and yes, me don't laugh, I don't relax this way too often but I did have fun!

We relaxed at the pool until about 8pm or so and then believe or not, we went to bed - big day tomorrow - we check in at our main resort and then start playing - stay tuned until tomorrow evening to find out more...

 

[Maddie2]

Hi there! I, too, live in SD!!! Judging from your travels to WY & CO, you must live West River? I am East, just north of SF.

Congrats on taking your vacation, despite the change in plans. I'm guessing that in the long run, having just the 3 of you along was even better, right?

Isn't it amazing how that 2nd wind can hit you when you arrive in WDW?

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Naisy68]

Hi there! I, too, live in SD!!! Judging from your travels to WY & CO, you must live West River? I am East, just north of SF.

Congrats on taking your vacation, despite the change in plans. I'm guessing that in the long run, having just the 3 of you along was even better, right?

Isn't it amazing how that 2nd wind can hit you when you arrive in WDW?

Can't wait to read more!!

Yes, we do live west river - Summerset - about 10 minutes northwest of Rapid actually. We love living here but we love getting away too. This was a much, much need vacation, especially for my husband. You are right about enjoying it more with just the three of us too, no-one else to worry about. I am soo glad we decided to go. We were beyond tired that first day, I was literally ready to drop but for some reason, after checking in, I was awake, I'm telling you, it was the magic of Disney!

 

[srandsr76]

Cannot wait to hear more!!!
Glad you made it and got a second wind.

 

[patches07]

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Nancy for Disney]

Great start.

 

[Naisy68]

Thursday August 27, 2008 started with a lot of excitement for us. We woke about 8:00am and got ready, packed and called bell services to pick up our luggage and deliver it to the Polynesian (our dream resort!) This was all easy, breezy and actually quite speedy. We then walked to the bus stop, no wait, we ran right on the bus to Epcot then from there we ran up to the monorail to TTC and then transferred over to the monorail for the resorts and MK. I think it took us only about 20 minutes to get over to the Polynesian this way from CSR. I was impressed. Once we walked off the monorail at the Polynesian, the theming begins, the flowers and plants are gorgeous and there's even a really good smell that I can't really descibe but it helps with the theme. Mind you, it's only like 9:20am by this point and I'm ready to check in at my dream resort. I'm sure I looked like a kid in a candy store. The check in line was short and I was so excited to see where our room would be. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed as we were going to be in Rapa Nui and they couldn't tell me for sure where but it would have a parking lot view. We were told that our room wouldn't be ready until after 3pm so we would have to wait but we got our keys to the kingdom and could go to the park. We had ADRs for lunch but we were starving, we explored the resort a little bit and then went to Captain Cooks for breakfast. We were told we just missed the breakfast but a nice CM heard that we were really wanting breakfast so she asked the kitchen CMs if there was anything left and they happened to have 2 waffles and a tonga toast left IF we wanted them. Well that was exactly what we would have ordered so like YES, we'll take it all! Then I will tell you about the only negative thing I have to say about the Poly. There is not enough seating inside and people are literally rude and stalk the tables there. We just went outside to discover three empty tables that still had food on them leftover from people who weren't cleaning up after themselves. Maybe the garbage cans were full when they finished but they could have at least stacked things on their trays and made an attempt. We were able to find a clean enough table but it was sticky from syrup, we just tried to clean it off with some wet wipes and napkins. The breakfast was yummy. I hadn't told Travis about the Tonga Toast as I wanted him to be surprised and he wasn't so sure about it but did like it. I in the mean time was thrilled with my Mickey Waffle (I live very low carb OFF vacation usually.) While we were sitting there eating, we watched another family just get up and leave their mess again. I'm sorry but why don't people clean up after themselves? I just don't get it. The birds were going crazy even jumping up on the tables and I watched one almost get a straw down his throat. The CMs didn't seem to be in a hurry to clean up out there so I started at least cleaning the garbage up off the tables. Ok, that's the only negative about the Poly you will hear from me. See below for some beautiful Poly pics! Then stay tuned to see what we did next...

Kylee took our pic with the surfboard.

The center of the lower lobby

 

[Naisy68]

You know, it's kinda hard to surprise you when I list it in the title so yes, we went to MK on our first park day. This is a family tradition for us. This is where you will learn what I mean when I said we did Disney OUR WAY. This is our 5th trip to Disney since 2000 so we were going to relax and take in the highlights and check out the new attractions. We were not going to stress about time, or try to fit it all in etc. We have already been there and done that and didn't truly get to enjoy ourselves because of it. Soo, what we did when we got into MK was just sort of took it all in and talked about which things we for sure wanted to do while we were there. Kylee had her heart set on doing Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain so they were top on the list. We went over to Splash Mountain and got a fastpass for later and then checked out the line for that, 50 minutes, we would wait. So we just kind of headed back towards the front of the park and happened to notice that POTC only had a 10 min. wait so we went on there. Kylee was a little scared as she doesn't care for Davy Jones but I didn't even see him on the ride this time? Did they take him out? He used to be on a screen at the beginning I think. After this we wanted to get to Crystal Palace for our ADR (another first day tradition for us.) It was very busy there as usual but wonderful as always. See a couple pics below.
We then headed over to Splash Mountain and used our fast pass. I love passing all the people. We watched a couple try to sneak into the line only to get caught for having the wrong kind of ticket. They thought they passed the CM that was taking fastpass tickets, oops! They thought they were being clever, didn't work. Sorry, if I sound sarcastic but I don't care for people that try to beat the system. I like it when it doesn't work for them. Anyway, we loved the ride, got pretty wet which was welcome as it was pretty hot.
Afterwards, Travis had to go smoke so Ky and I went to the play area there for awhile. I talked to a lady from Scotland which was pretty cool. She was there with a beautiful baby girl named Sophie. Red hair and totally Gerber like! Sorry, I had to share that, I love little people. Anyway, Ky and I had to wait for almost an hour, I thought Travis got lost and I got a little scared for some reason as he wasn't even answering his cell phone. Turns out that lunch didn't agree with him and he ended up in the restroom, poor guy. Also, we discovered that Alltel does not have good signal at Disney. Which angers me some as I called them special to make sure we'd have signal there before we left and was told we have a nationwide plan and it would work great down there, ha!!
Well, to make an already long story short, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Disney and even went through the Haunted Mansion for the first time. It was a hoot!! Kylee really liked it even though she was a little scared. After 4:00pm, we headed back to the resort to check in again and see where our room was. We were in Rapa Nui, 3rd floor on the back side. While we checked in, I happened to ask if there was any other area that would have an opening and asked if there were any openings in Tokelau. The very nice CM told us that we were supposed to be put in there but there wasn't an opening for that particular night so they sent us to Rapa Nui but she would request that we move to Tokelau 3rd floor with a view of the quiet pool the next day. So of course, I was excited. Our room at Rapa Nui turned out to be really nice though and didn't have a bad view, there were trees there but we still wanted to move to Tokelau as it was more centrally located in the resort. I will add a couple pics of our room at Tokelaueven though we didn't move in there until Friday, I think the room # was 3940.
Oh there is one more thing I want to share though. The bell services CM we had was awesome, he offered us a ride to Rapa Nui and gave us a tour and told us some of the history along the way. I wish I would have gotten his name because he was really awesome and super nice!!
In case you are wondering, after we went to our room, we decided to take just relax and we actually took a boat ride over to the Grand Floridian to explore and ate at their little food court area for supper. We also took the boat back to the Poly. Then we watched Wishes from the beach at Poly which was a great way to end the evening.

Ooh, I forgot to tell you we saw Jiminy Cricket for the first time ever!

Ky with her pal, Tigger

Kylee relaxing on the beach at the Polynesian

Tomorrow -- Epcot and breakfast with the princesses. Stay tuned, not sure if I'll be able to write before Sunday but I will try!!

 

[Naisy68]

Hi All - I apologize for the delay, Kylee has a stomach bug and hasn't been feeling well. I will try to write and add more pictures again really soon.

 

[Naisy68]

For some reason this posted twice, hmmm?

 

[marianas00]

You have a beautiful family! I am looking forward to more fun with the Waltons. Great reporting.

 

[Naisy68]

You have a beautiful family! I am looking forward to more fun with the Waltons. Great reporting.

Thanks for your kind comments. Unfortunately I still don't have time to continue my report. Miss Kylee still isn't feeling so well and I've been a little stressed. All will be well soon I'm sure.

 

[Naisy68]

For those checking in, I want to apologize as we are having a germ fest here. I feel like I swallowed sandpaper and my energy level is at like 0.5. I promise to get busy and give you a good report yet. In the meantime, I am going to let you see some pics of our room at the Poly.

Our room was beautiful and we had a lot of fun just kind of relaxing and enjoying it. We were only a couple minutes from the Ceremonial Hall and the Volcano Pool. I think it was a perfect location for us. We were in Tokelau 3940 by the way. The pool you see in the picture was the quiet pool, very nice view.