This Trip Report is Useless Without Pictures. Update 8/20: Day 2 in the Magic Kingdom

[mirage0306]

...which is why I took over a thousand

Hello, DIS!

Welcome to my second trip report! Well, sort of my second. My first one died. But this one I promise to finish. Because I have nothing else going on in my life.

Anyway, welcome! I hope you'll read along, learn a thing or two from our mistakes, ooh and aah at the elements of our trip that went according to plan, marvel at my mediocre photography skills, and maybe even comment if you feel comfortable. The more, the merrier. I took a ton of pictures this time (over 1000) so even if you don't have anything to say, there should be a lot to look at.

Now, let's get started!

The cast:

Me:
Meribeth, certifiably Disney crazy chick. I am the Disney planner in the family and love to help others plan trips, too. In addition to visiting Disney, I like to knit, read, read about Disney, and I'm a huge fan of Breaking Bad (back in ONE WEEK, whoop whoop! can't wait to see what Hank does after he gets out of the bathroom!), Justified, Arrested Development, and LOST.
I'm in very few pics. One reason is I am usually taking them. The other could be that I am watching LOST clips on Youtube.

That's not really a joke.

In this one, I'm on the left.

Favorite park: Epcot (just let me into the World showcase to drink and shop, please)
Favorite ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Favorite Character: Eeyore

My DH, Tim. Loves Disney but not quite as much as I do--he puts up with a lot.

Favorite park:
Epcot and Animal Kingdom--toss up
Favorite ride: Splash Mountain
Favorite Character: Goofy

Liam, age 10. Peacemaker, protector of his brother, caring, smart. Still holds our hands in public. Loves video games, nerf wars, characters, and all animals.

He is at a friend's house right now but I'm going to guess for him. I'll sneakily change his answers when he comes back if I guessed wrong.

Favorite park: Epcot
Favorite ride: Test Track
Favorite character: Goofy

Quinn, age 7. Determined, often contrary, defiant, very loving, also very smart. Loves any character in costume. REALLY loves Minecraft. Quinn cannot have food dyes or artificial flavorings/preservatives without behavior difficulties, so going to Disney (or anywhere, really) is pretty hard for him. He either can't have something he wants, or he ends up having it and feeling terrible. It's tough for a little kid, but he generally does great with his dietary restrictions.

Favorite park: Hollywood Studios
Favorite ride: Buzz Lightyear or Toy Story Mania
Favorite character: Mickey

My ILs also joined us on this trip, but their touring style is a lot different from ours (no rope drop, no late nights). They joined us for fireworks and some meals and a few rides, so you will see them in pictures from time to time. I share this so you don't see some crazy old dude posing with my kids and Mickey and think, "uh, hey lady, did you not notice that crazy old dude is in your character photograph?"

The Setting:
Walt Disney World!! (duh) Polynesian CL and Animal Kingdom Lodge CL

Originally, we had planned our split stay to start off at Pop Century and then we were going to move over to AKL. However, two weeks before vacation, my husband learned he had a kidney stone ("learned" is a nice way of saying "we went to the ER because he thought he was dying"). He had a lithotripsy--a nifty procedure to blast the crap out of the stone--two days before our departure date. He was nervous that he'd be in pain during vacation and was wary of being stuck in a value-sized room passing stones and all that fun stuff so he had a suggestion.

Tim: I was thinking that since I might not be feeling so hot at the beginning of the trip, that maybe we should switch to the Poly from Pop Century. It might be nice to have more space. What do you think?
Me: (already on phone with CRO)

So we upgraded to CL garden view. Love that 30% discount. And then it was time to forget everything I had learned about Pop, and start reading up on Poly! We had never stayed there (had eaten at 'Ohana, though), so while I knew some things about it, I did a crash course in Poly knowledge so we'd have a better idea of the resort.


The time:
July 20-28, 2013
AKA "Hotter Than Hades" week

So, that's pretty much the basics. I really hope you enjoy our trip report, or at the very least, get a laugh out of our many misfortunes.

Because there were several.

Here's one to get you started: Crazy stressed lady photobombs our family picture. Hey crazy stressed lady! It's ok! Get a dole whip and relax. You're at Disney!

Happy reading, and hope to see you real soon!

 

[Lei]

Ahahahaha CSL (crazy stressed lady) cracks me up! Epic photobomb! She just need a hug from a nice, cold, wet towel, a glass of dole whip and all is well.

Though i'm sorry for your DHs kidney stone situation, so excited you guys upgraded to Poly! Yay!

PS. Fellow Arrested Development fan here. How exciting is it to have them back for one season? Annyeong!

 

[jdd]

Subbing!! We'll be at the Poly CL in just 8 days - so excited

Looking forward to reading about your trip

 

[wiigirl]

Following along.

 

[jamiesmom07]

Subbing! Love the light hearted approach to the photo bomber!

 

[DisFanAmI]

Following along and feeling your husband's pain... I've had kidney stones twice; lithotripsy once. Both times I thought to myself, "I'm glad this didn't happen while we were at Disney World!"

 

[Mousemommy1]

Hello!

We've crossed paths in other threads. Great to be able to put a face to a name.

Your family is adorable!

Can't wait to read about and see pics of your trip! Especially those Poly CL ones!

 

[mirage0306]

Hey, friends! So happy to see you all! I am hoping to actually get the first installment of this thing up soon, but we went and adopted another dog this weekend (that makes three ) so it's been a little busier around here than usual. So hold tight!

Ahahahaha CSL (crazy stressed lady) cracks me up! Epic photobomb! She just need a hug from a nice, cold, wet towel, a glass of dole whip and all is well.

Though i'm sorry for your DHs kidney stone situation, so excited you guys upgraded to Poly! Yay!

PS. Fellow Arrested Development fan here. How exciting is it to have them back for one season? Annyeong!

Welcome!!!

Yes! Motherboy! There's a movie coming out at some point--I'm interested to see it, since i wasn't really happy with how they ended season 4. I also wanted more Buster. I loooooove Buster. And Tobias. And all of them, really.

Yeah, I think that lady would have been a lot happier with a frogg togg around her neck, a dole whip in one hand and a $15.96 Official Disney Mister in the other. Poor thing.

I was SO excited for the upgrade. I was actually really excited to stay at Pop, too, but Poly's been on my list for a while so I was super glad to get to stay there, too.

Thanks for joining in!

Subbing!! We'll be at the Poly CL in just 8 days - so excited

Looking forward to reading about your trip

Thank you for stopping by!

Have you stayed Poly CL before? I think you will love it. We really, really enjoyed ourselves (as you will soon hopefully see). Just a gorgeous resort, great lounge, beautiful redone rooms. Nice CMs, too. Really a great experience.

Following along.

So happy to have you!

Subbing! Love the light hearted approach to the photo bomber!

Yeah, I've found that's about the only way to get through some moments of our trip Gotta keep perspective, KWIM?

Thanks for stopping by!

Following along and feeling your husband's pain... I've had kidney stones twice; lithotripsy once. Both times I thought to myself, "I'm glad this didn't happen while we were at Disney World!"

Oh, you poor thing!!! I had heard kidney stone pain was nearly unbearable, but had no first hand experience with it (I did have my gallbladder out years ago due to terrible attacks, but that was all I could liken it to). Then I saw my poor husband. OMG. He is so stoic about pain--almost never acts like something really hurts. But it was clear he was not doing well, so the ER was the only thing that made sense.

I hope you are free from kidney stones in the future. :

Hello!

We've crossed paths in other threads. Great to be able to put a face to a name.

Your family is adorable!

Can't wait to read about and see pics of your trip! Especially those Poly CL ones!

Hi there! Welcome!!

Thank you so much!

Oh, if you hang out here, you will see pics. Many, many pics. My family was irritated with me by the end of the second day for taking SO MANY PICS.

 

[jdd]

Have you stayed Poly CL before? I think you will love it. We really, really enjoyed ourselves (as you will soon hopefully see). Just a gorgeous resort, great lounge, beautiful redone rooms. Nice CMs, too. Really a great experience.

Yes, we've stayed Poly CL before - once with the whole family in 2010, then just my middle son and I in 2011. The kids are so excited to go back - it is definitely our favorite resort in the World.

 

[mirage0306]

Yes, we've stayed Poly CL before - once with the whole family in 2010, then just my middle son and I in 2011. The kids are so excited to go back - it is definitely our favorite resort in the World.

Hey look--the info is in your signature!



Sometimes I question my intelligence. Glad you love it, too!

 

[TXPyroMom]

Joining in on the fun. Can't wait to hear about your thoughts on Poly... we are booked at CR in December, but I can save a good amount of money if I move to the Poly, just need to convince the rest of the family.

Can't wait for all the pics.

 

[Cruisinskier]

Joining in to follow along with your review!! We were actually there for some of those very hot days ourselves as we did a whirlwind trip from July 25th-29th staying at AKL.....may have seen you there??
Looking forward to seeing all your pics!!

 

[bluejasmine]

Looking fwd to it!!

 

[jdd]

Hey look--the info is in your signature!



Sometimes I question my intelligence. Glad you love it, too!

Ha ha - yeah, I do that all the time too

Really having a hard time getting any work done today - visions of Cinderella's castle in my head

 

[mirage0306]

Joining in on the fun. Can't wait to hear about your thoughts on Poly... we are booked at CR in December, but I can save a good amount of money if I move to the Poly, just need to convince the rest of the family.

Can't wait for all the pics.

Ooh, you better warn your family now that you'll be at the Poly in Dec after you see my fifty zillion awesome Poly pics

Joining in to follow along with your review!! We were actually there for some of those very hot days ourselves as we did a whirlwind trip from July 25th-29th staying at AKL.....may have seen you there??
Looking forward to seeing all your pics!!

We were at AKL the 23rd to the 28th! Maybe we crossed paths!!!

Looking fwd to it!!

I hope I don't disappoint!

Ha ha - yeah, I do that all the time too

Really having a hard time getting any work done today - visions of Cinderella's castle in my head

You're almost there!!

 

[mirage0306]

Day 1

Well, friends, here we go. Day 1 of this year's trip report!

So like I said in the intro, we were not sure how today was going to go. Tim had just had his lithotripsy on Thursday afternoon, and his hip looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to it. We're hoping having the lithotripsy done so close to Disney wasn't a bad idea

But his urologist said "Say hi to Goofy!" and well, you can't argue with that.

So despite massive amounts of excitement

it's hard to get up at 4 am, but you do what you have to do to get to Disney. Amirite? Even when you've been out the evening before to see a friend in from out of town?

We get the last couple things in the luggage, make sure the house is sealed up, do all the last minute checking things, and rejoice in the fact that this year, our septic tank doesn't overflow as we're walking out the door (See: Last year's auspicious vacation beginnings).

The kids are, of course, very excited.

I am apparently so excited I can't take a clear photo.

We had wanted to leave at 5, but didn't actually pull out of the driveway until 5:20. It takes an hour to get to the airport, and our flight leaves at 7:30, so I'm thinking we'll be fine.

We pull up to the airport at 6:30 on the dot, and learn the long term lot is full so we will be paying short term rates for parking.



But we're going to Disney, so we hurry up and park and get our luggage and we get to the airline check in and it looks like this

I hadn't been nervous about missing our flight, but it leaves in less than an hour and we have to get through Magic Kingdom on Christmas day, AND get through security.

Fortunately, they have the line moving pretty quickly. It's about ten to seven when we check in and head over to security. We're through security around 7, hustle over to the gate, and find they have not yet started boarding.

Yay!

Except we didn't have enough time for breakfast. Or coffee.

As we boarded, I asked one of the flight attendants if during our stopover, there would be time to get off the plane and grab something to eat. She didn't think so.

Well, the kids had snacks in their bags, and had had toast before we left the house, so they'd be fine. And Tim and i would deal.

So we boarded, and my ILs were on this flight with us. Liam spent the first half of the flight in their row, and swapped with Quinn when we stopped to pick up people in...wherever that was. I can't remember. Houston?

My seat mate for the first leg of the trip

That's about what he did the whole time, too. Sleep? Notsomuch.

 

[mirage0306]

We got our sodas and I had some breakfast.

and the rest of the flight was very uneventful, except for the fact that my children decided not to sleep.

But who can sleep when we're on our way to Disney? We landed just about on time, at 3 pm, deplaned (that word never gets old) and briefly debated getting food at the airport (while I had enjoyed delicious Southwest Plane Crackers, Tim had not eaten a bite of anything yet). Tim decided he'd rather just get to the resort, so we went on the first monorail

down the escalator, and down some more, and--is it one more level? DME is really down there.

But! Yes! It's not far now!

Still too excited to focus my camera.

The ILs are staying at GF, and were at Poly, so were on the same ME bus.

It's raining, but despite the tropical storm we hit the tail end of last year, I am not fazed. I know the weather wont be like that this year.

Our bus is just waiting for us

and after just a few minutes, were off, congratulating ourselves on our great decision to prolong eating. I love it when a plan comes together.

We settle in for our favorite pre-vacation film to start

and enjoy the fact that our bus driver is the same one who brought us to the airport last year. He is HYSTERICAL and keeps us in stitches the whole time. Really, this is Disneys next big comedy hit, I am telling you now.

Seriously, he's funny.

Soon we see this

and this

And this.
Dont be jealous of the awesome seat I had on the DME, now.

First stop is the Contemporary, where about 90% of the bus gets off. 35% discount?

Whatever. We're next. I am PSYCHED for the Poly, people. Really, really psyched. Don't get me wrong--I was excited for Pop Century. But the Poly has me practically doing backflips on the bus.

We pull up, get off the DME, get our carry ons and are immediately greeted by a cast member with an ipad. He is super nice. He asks our name and when he sees that were staying CL, he escorts us over to Hawaii. Since its rainy, he takes us through a couple other longhouses, so we don't get quite as wet (though its really just drizzling at this point).

Whatever. I don't even care.

See? Told ya.

He brings us to Hawaii, we say thank you, and are handed off to another really nice CM who asks if wed like anything. The kids, of course, jump at the chance for REAL SODA!!

The view from the first floor of Hawaii
Yes, please. Yes.

She finishes checking us in, gives us our KTTW cards and our leis, and says our request for a third floor room was granted. Already this vacation is off to a good start. That was the only thing we really cared about--having a balcony. Tim didn't like the idea of the first floor patios; he thought they'd be a little too exposed. Obviously, the lack of a balcony on the second floor would have bummed us out a little. But no, third floor, come to mama. Or rather, I'm coming to you.

When check in is finished, she says she'll take us up to our room, and we can go past the lounge to check it out. Its almost 5 pm, which also worked out well, since we can drop our stuff in the room and grab some apps. We go up the stairs and get to the third floor, pause to admire the simply beautiful view out the left side of the building, pass through the second story of the lounge, and down the hall just a few rooms. She stops in front of one that I happen to notice is on the left side of the building.

 

[mirage0306]

And I think, we just saw that Cinderellas castle was on the left side.

I booked a garden view room.

She opens the door, we go into the room and open the curtains to this.

I think I may actually have blacked out at that point.

So yeah, we were pixie dusted with the most amazing amount of pixie dust. I think our pixie dust was pixie dusted. A theme park view room. With a GREAT view of the castle. I may have been hyperventilating. I know I thanked the CM about 60 times.

Even today, right now, I cannot believe we were upgraded like that. Honestly, it was just amazing.

The refurbed rooms were lovely, we thought. In addition to the queen beds there was a desk and chair, armoire, closet with large safe, daybed, and chaise. Everything felt light and clean and spacious.

Next: up to the lounge, where I recover from my upgrade-induced heart attack. Stay tuned...

 

[apainterxx44]

Joining in! Beautiful photos!

 

[nancy drew]

Yay!!!

Don't you love the surprise upgrade? Once we were at WL and I think had a "Woods View" room. Well, it turned out we could see the lake (bay?) and the castle through a conveniently located space between the trees, or over the trees (this was like 7 years ago, I don't remember but WE COULD SEE THE CASTLE so who cares). Amazing

Can't wait to read more!! Did you guys do the Sorceror's Kingdom game? Or do I need to wait patiently and see for myself?