Weekend w/o Kids - Poly, Dining, PI

[Jletendre]

Just wanted to share an adult trip report. This was my wife and myself's first time at WDW for "us" time since we had are DD's (6+7) so we didn't spend much time in the parks and mostly relaxed at the hotel, had 2 fantastic dinners planned (Wolf Gang - Upstairs, Califorina Grill) we also had breakfast at Kona Cafe and lunch at Marakeesh.

This is my 1st ever trip report so bear with me if it's not as good as some I've read here.

Background: May 16th - 18th

I was being sent to FL for a conference and asked DW if she would like to come down the end of the week and we could have a little weekend to ourselves, of course she jumped at the chance and immediately starting looking at hotels. I was already at to Marriot World Orlando and while very nice felt too business like and without a rental car not near anything. So of course she twisted my arm to stay at a monorail resort. We have stayed at a number of resorts over the years dating, married, kids and she finally decided on Poly due to she loves it when we go there to dine. We splurged and went for a lagoon view seeing it was only 2 nights.

Arrival: May 16th

I had strict orders to not check in without her so I waited until disney express dropped her off. I must say Taxi fares have gone up since the days I used them. When I arrived the previous weekend from MCO to hotel was $49, trip to downtown disney during the week was $20. I got a towncar over to the Poly and the driver was nice and it was around $25. I only had to wait 15 mins as she walked right onto a DE bus after landing and since she only had a small carry on she didn't have much waiting.

We checked in and the rooms were not ready till after lunch, we did get a room in Taihiti which she was thrilled about. We hopped over to MK for a lunch ADR at Liberty Inn and had a nice lunch (she had the turkey and I had the burger) We went on quick rides at Haunted Mansion since it was being refurbed on our last trip, after we hit Pirates (her fav) and went back to see our room and freshen up for our dinner ADR at Wolf Gang Puck's Upstairs.

I must say the Poly has beautiful grounds and if you didn't know it you could convince yourself you were on an island. We stopped at the lounge and she had the pineapple drink (lapu lapu) and I had a nice cold beer.

We walked to our room (3rd floor, I think it was 3015) and she was thrilled at the view, we had a clear view of the contemopary and space mountain. If you moved to the right or left you could see the castle (which made her beyond happy)

Evening 1:

After freshing up and changing (we usually dress up for dinner) we walked to catch a DTD bus, if the wait was long we'd grab a taxi/towncar. We lucked out and the bus was just pulling up as we got to the stop. Once at DTD we walked through the village side and stopped in the big disney store for presents for our DD's .. (they made out as always), we had the packages shipped to the poly and walked to wolf gang's to check in. We had in the past eaten at WG express and it was ok so she was going back and forth on trying upstairs. I asked for a table by the window and we had one on the side facing out so it was nice. We had Steve as our waiter and he was very attentive. We both thought the restaurant was nice and shared a nice bottle of pinot gris as we went through apps and then our meals. She had the filet and I had the strip, both were excellent pieces of steak comparable to Michael Jordan's / Ruth Chris. We finished our meal with a slice of flourless chocolate cake. We enjoy going out to dinner and this ranked as one of our best meals while at WDW.

After dinner we walked through some of the west side shops and got passes for PI. I really enjoy the Adventures Club so we started there and saw a library show and then relaxed in the main room until the comedy club show later. I also find the CC as hit or miss and while they ask for input feel the shows are a bit canned. After the show we stopped at Motion for a drink and then checked out Mannequinn's for a bit. Seeing her flight down left at 6:45am she was wearing down around 11:30pm so we headed back to Poly. Once back and sipping a bottle of wine we bought earlier I must say sitting with the lights low and watching the hustle across the lagoon was a nice feeling.

Lights out.

I'll post Day 2 soon which was spent at Epcot and dinner at Califorina Grill.

 

[Jletendre]

Day 2

Sorry for the delay, been busy with life/work

The next day (Sat 5-17) we started with breakfast at Kona Cafe, we had a ADR but it was pretty dead at 8am. We started with the fresh fruit plate and some drinks (we asked for all the extra fruit to go which was great for walking in the park later) We both had the French Toast. Not much else to say Kona is a nice breakfast and with the quiet morning we got to relax before the full day we had planned.

We jumped on the monorail (for anyone who hasn't stayed at a monorail resort, it is so nice for MK and Epcot) and switched a TTC for Epcot. Trip time with some waiting was maybe 20 mins. Epcot had the usual morning crowd to get in and there were a few large "groups" We got a couple passcard photos by the ball and noticed SpaceShip earth line was HUGE so we skipped it for on the way out. We hit Test Track right away and the wait was 10 mins .. We didn't need a fast pass for anything but we also weren't doing a ton of rides either. After TT we jumped on Mission Space (green team) I've done both versions and Orange is just too much for me.

Walking off we wandered back towards Innovations and a older disney employee said to make sure we check out Innovations .. luckily we did! I walked in and the dream team was inside handing out Dream Passes. I basically ran through the "crossing line" leaving my poor wife in the dust wondering what was going on. They had an armful of passes and the funny thing is we didn't even use them at all, it's a nice keepsake and she got a funny picture of me after getting it.

We wandered through Innovations and made a postcard for friends, I wish they refreshed this more often as it's gotten boring and doesn't seem as innovated.

We walked to the Coke Cool Station and drank some of that tasty ginger ale (Kringle?) and headed to world showcase as it just opened.

We always start with Mexico and go around as she *loves* the jewelry store in the mexican "plaza" she poked and I rested on the bench. Mexico is always nice to get out of the sun and imagine yourself really under the stars in Mexico. Happy with her latest purchase we moved on and road the Norway viking boat. Another ride / area that needs to freshen up, it's been the same basically since it opened.

We strolled through the next few countries but rarely ever buy anything other then some candy. We wanted to check out the new Italian restaurant if it looked nice as we're booked there for free dining in August.

While waiting for our ADR for Morocoo I checked us in with Southwest. I had dined here before and she was unsure about it. We both had the chicken kabob's and had a nice lunch. She was letdown the belly dancer didn't stay out long (maybe 10 mins) she had a little girl come out and dance with her and it was cute.

After lunch we walked over to France and got some desserts and walked through the shops buying some gifts for my parents for watching our girls for the weekend. We stopped at England on the way out to get some of the yummy Flake bars and walked onto SpaceShip Earth as it was being refrub last time we were here. The update is ok, it's neat how they put your face on the screen and I can picture our girls wanting to ride it multiple times to try each "ending" out.

Knowing we had a 6pm ADR at Califorina Grill we headed back to unwind and freshen up before dinner.

She was beyond excited for CG as we never seemed to get around to trying it. We arrived and only waited a few mins for a table I had mentioned we were celebrating her birthday and if possible would like a window view. We were seated in the back wine room overlooking the back lake, the table was scattered with mini mickey heads. We sipped our wine and selected a pizza appitizer, salads and our meals. We both again had steak with was like a big beef teriayki stick ... it was very good. We finished the meal with another chocolate cake and relaxed and enjoyed the view, the rest of our wine and the perfect meal we just shared. We were still flipping between watching Wishes here on the roof or on our balcony at the Poly. We had to jump over to MK to visit Tinker Bell's Treasures so we hustled as it was already 8pm!

Now when I say we moved .. I mean it .. we somehow made it through the crazy crowds for SpectroMagic parade to the shop, bought some tinker bell stuff and made it out just as the parade was starting. It was VERY busy at MK. We settled on going to CG for Wishes viewing so we made our way back to CG and got some drinks and relaxed on the rooftop. A nice cool breeze drifted over us and the crowd was very lite until 5 mins before Wishes started, it was no where near as crazy as being in front of the castle though. Wishes was beautiful as always and seeing my wife happy made the night perfect .. As the last fireworks exploded I knew our wishes for this trip came true and we caught the monorail back to Poly for a nightcap at the lounge before relucantly going back to our room knowing while this trip was ending another with our girls was a few months away.

I'll get my camera downloaded and put up some pictures of the resort, our room view and anything else that I think is worth sharing. Thanks for those who stopped to read and if anyone has any questions just ask