Trip Number 9 ~ It's the Most Wonderful Time of Year ~ Christmastime at the GF & Poly

[Disney Mommy 3]

Congrats on the first booking Shelly!!!! And Sheila...how cool you are the first one~!! Another happy guest here confirming that the Poly has always honored our requests with the longhouses...

 

[PrincessPaczki]

Shelly I just sent you my g-mail. Congrats on your first booking! I was looking on my phone at the wait times at 9:30, for the Magic Kingdom, and it wasn't to bad tonight. It was like 10 minutes for everything( except Peter Pan..lol) They were open until 11. Wish I was there.

 

[sjs314]

Congrats on the first booking Shelly!!!! And Sheila...how cool you are the first one~!! Another happy guest here confirming that the Poly has always honored our requests with the longhouses...

Very nice to hear you confirm what I have heard about requests at Poly! Staying at the Poly has been a long time coming so I am very excited!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Very nice to hear you confirm what I have heard about requests at Poly! Staying at the Poly has been a long time coming so I am very excited!

You will really like it over there Sheila!!! Even if you don't get the specific longhouse you requested (but I am sure you will!), they are all great...Our first time there we stayed at the Aotearoa,,it's the longest distance I think to the TTC, but pretty close to the GCH and we loved it! I didn't make a room request that year and our room faced the monorail passing by! My boys were pretty little then and they looooved hearing it swoosh by....the next trips to the Poly were the Tokelau because they have the biggest rooms and for a family of 5 I needed bigger rooms~got that Longhouse both times I requested it... Just wanted to tell you that to give you an idea of how extreme our rooms were and we loved both of them! Have fun planning with Shelly!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Congrats on the first booking Shelly!!!! And Sheila...how cool you are the first one~!! Another happy guest here confirming that the Poly has always honored our requests with the longhouses...

Thanks Shawna!

I sure hope Sheila loves the Poly!!

Shelly I just sent you my g-mail. Congrats on your first booking! I was looking on my phone at the wait times at 9:30, for the Magic Kingdom, and it wasn't to bad tonight. It was like 10 minutes for everything( except Peter Pan..lol) They were open until 11. Wish I was there.

Thank you!

I sure wish I was there too. So tired of winter.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Congratulations Shelly for your first booking! I'm sure it's the first of many to come.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

When I left off it was nearing 11:00, so we headed onto World Showcase.

More cute topiaries on the way!

We got to Mexico and they weren't quite open yet. There was a crowd of people on the steps waiting for them to open up. We stayed back and the kids made a little friend.

Pretty soon some CM's came out and did a little opening ceremony for the Mexico pavillion.

We went in and walked right onto the Gran Fiesta Tour.

Continued in next post....

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

After we got our fill of Mexico we moved onto Norway.

Walked right onto Maelstrom!

Just then Jodi texted me that they had just gotten to the park and were headed to Mexico for their lunch and San Angel Inn. So we walked back to meet up with them. DS13 spotted them right away and him and DS11 took off to greet them!

We visited a little bit and talked about the crappy weather. I must have looked awful, it was so damp and humid, plus I had done 2 rides on TT! I sure felt awful anyway! We chatted a little more and then said our good-byes in-case we didn't see each other again. The rest of their trip was pretty full with lots of relatives and a wedding!

Up Next: More World Showcase

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Congratulations Shelly for your first booking! I'm sure it's the first of many to come.

Thanks Lisa! I hope so!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Congrats on your first client booking Shelly!

Thanks for the TT info - it was not yet open when we were there last. I have a feeling I'm going to prefer the original too. This "make everything interactive" push might just go a little too far!

I saw the pics of the new Poly rooms. Looks a little brighter.

What longhouse would you recommend if you did not want to pay for a park view? I haven't got any plans to stay there (no DVC!), but just curious. Can you be close to the TTC and the pool? Is that possible? I really should just look at a map!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Congrats on your first client booking Shelly!

Thanks for the TT info - it was not yet open when we were there last. I have a feeling I'm going to prefer the original too. This "make everything interactive" push might just go a little too far!

I saw the pics of the new Poly rooms. Looks a little brighter.

What longhouse would you recommend if you did not want to pay for a park view? I haven't got any plans to stay there (no DVC!), but just curious. Can you be close to the TTC and the pool? Is that possible? I really should just look at a map!

Thanks Sheree!

Yeah, I agree. It's a little much.

The new Poly rooms do look brighter. I'm sure they are very nice. There are lots of great longhouse options without a TPV. Tahiti and Rapa Nui are very close to the TTC. The back side of Tahiti and all of Rapa Nui would be a standard or garden view. Samoa is the best none TPV longhouse in my opinion!! Both sides have a pool! Tokelau is another favorite of a lot of people! Over on the other side of the GCH Fiji is a super location. And if you want a monorail view you can go with Rarotonga or Aotearoa - both right on either side of the GCH. You just can't go wrong at the Poly!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Congrats on your first client!!

I can't wait to try TT (22 more days!!!! )

Great pics with Jodi and family. I love WS early in the morning before anybody's there. Those Santa Mickey and Minnie topiaries are so cute.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Where could I see the new Poly rooms??

 

[sjs314]

Nice Update! All the kids are getting so tall and look so much older. I forgot to tell you we finally went into the Nordic Church last trip after all these years Had my school bread finally never knew about the quiet little spot behind the bakery to sit and take a break. A new favorite spot for us

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Congrats on your first client!!

I can't wait to try TT (22 more days!!!! )

Great pics with Jodi and family. I love WS early in the morning before anybody's there. Those Santa Mickey and Minnie topiaries are so cute.

Thanks Deb!

Wow 22 days!! That is awesome!

That was the first time we ever got to WS before it actually opened. It was pretty neat!

Where could I see the new Poly rooms??

The only place I've seen them is on Tikiman's website.

Nice Update! All the kids are getting so tall and look so much older. I forgot to tell you we finally went into the Nordic Church last trip after all these years Had my school bread finally never knew about the quiet little spot behind the bakery to sit and take a break. A new favorite spot for us

Thanks Sheila! I know, the kids are getting so big!! DS13 is the same height as me. And he just got weighed at school the other day and he has put on 15 lbs since the beginning of the school year!

Did you finally make it into Stave Church?!

I still haven't had school bread. Maybe this year...

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Thanks Deb!

Wow 22 days!! That is awesome!

That was the first time we ever got to WS before it actually opened. It was pretty neat!

The only place I've seen them is on Tikiman's website.
...

Thanks! I'll check them out.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Catching up...

That Tonga Toast looks so dang good right now! My stomach is growling!

I'm not so sure about the new TT either. I haven't actually been on it yet, but from what I've seen, it just doesn't do much for me. It seems like a lot of money put into it for not much result. IDK. I think the whole neon light thing just takes away from theme and makes it very 'generic' looking. It's hard to decribe.

Speaking of generic... I'm not sure about the new Poly rooms either. I like that they are brighter, but they seem a little too 'vanilla' to me. One of the things I like most about Disney is that they theme things out to the max. It seems like they are going more 'modern' with things now, which to me equates to generic looking??? The bathrooms especially look just like any other nice modern (non-themed) hotel I've ever stayed at.

I kind of feel the same about DTD. They said the theme was a Florida village, but it just looked very white and generic to me. I much prefer the heavily themed stuff. Maybe I'm the minority though???

 

[JoBird]

OMG--- how in the world did I miss this update yesterday?? Dumb. Sorry.



So.......... how sad. On many levels. We had to say goodbye to you before we even felt like we had seen you AND--- you had been there for a long time in the mist and STILL looked better than me!!! And I had just arrived!!! Notice I didn't say I had just gotten up.

It took forever that morning. I remember me texting you saying we were still at the timeshare and you said to hurry up, that it was crowded and I was like, okay everyone Shelly says it's crowded, scoot your boot, lets go, go go!!! So hard to get a crowd motivated to get going when you are offsite and a box of Dunkin donut Munchkins and Starbucks coffee are involved. Good grief.

Anyway-- I didn't know Mexico had a little morning ceremony when they open! How fun. And you know I love Gran Fiesta!!!!!! We always have to ride it at least 3 times every trip.
And your DS liked Maelstrom still this trip!! That's good! It's one of my favorites. But what I like is when it's over and you pull up to the little village thingy. IDK why, I could sit in the boat there for a long time. Yes I'm nerdy like that.

Thanks for the update! Wish we could have had longer to visit. Guess that means we'll have to do it some other time!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Catching up...

That Tonga Toast looks so dang good right now! My stomach is growling!

I'm not so sure about the new TT either. I haven't actually been on it yet, but from what I've seen, it just doesn't do much for me. It seems like a lot of money put into it for not much result. IDK. I think the whole neon light thing just takes away from theme and makes it very 'generic' looking. It's hard to decribe.

Speaking of generic... I'm not sure about the new Poly rooms either. I like that they are brighter, but they seem a little too 'vanilla' to me. One of the things I like most about Disney is that they theme things out to the max. It seems like they are going more 'modern' with things now, which to me equates to generic looking??? The bathrooms especially look just like any other nice modern (non-themed) hotel I've ever stayed at.

I kind of feel the same about DTD. They said the theme was a Florida village, but it just looked very white and generic to me. I much prefer the heavily themed stuff. Maybe I'm the minority though???

Hey Rinky!

I know. Tonga Toast is so good!!

Yes you are right, it seems they are getting away from the heavy theming and going more modern and techy on some things anymore.

I haven't really looked at the new DTD plans too far in depth yet. I hope it is nice when it's done.

OMG--- how in the world did I miss this update yesterday?? Dumb. Sorry.



So.......... how sad. On many levels. We had to say goodbye to you before we even felt like we had seen you AND--- you had been there for a long time in the mist and STILL looked better than me!!! And I had just arrived!!! Notice I didn't say I had just gotten up.

It took forever that morning. I remember me texting you saying we were still at the timeshare and you said to hurry up, that it was crowded and I was like, okay everyone Shelly says it's crowded, scoot your boot, lets go, go go!!! So hard to get a crowd motivated to get going when you are offsite and a box of Dunkin donut Munchkins and Starbucks coffee are involved. Good grief.

Anyway-- I didn't know Mexico had a little morning ceremony when they open! How fun. And you know I love Gran Fiesta!!!!!! We always have to ride it at least 3 times every trip.
And your DS liked Maelstrom still this trip!! That's good! It's one of my favorites. But what I like is when it's over and you pull up to the little village thingy. IDK why, I could sit in the boat there for a long time. Yes I'm nerdy like that.

Thanks for the update! Wish we could have had longer to visit. Guess that means we'll have to do it some other time!!

I remember texting you saying you better get here if you want to ride Soarin because it is busy!!!

Yes, is was a nasty day. Not too cold, just plain nasty and ugly for Florida!!

We only rode Gran Fiesta once this time. Same with Maelstrom. Yes, DS still loved Maelstrom this time!! We just never got back to WS. Just made the one pass through. We will definitely spend more time at Epcot this summer.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

After we visited with Jodi and family for a bit they headed in for their lunch and we moved on to our journey around the rest of the World Showcase. We didn't have a lunch ADR until 1:30, at LeCellier. Much later than we would have liked, but all we could get 6 months out because of all the Candlelight Processional packages.

We stopped and watched a few storytellers along the way and bought some yummy treats in Germany.

Continued in next post....