When We Get to Heaven, We'll Hear "ALOHA!" - Update 10/17, Day 6

[guitarob]

Day 3 - 9/20/10

This morning started off as another photo taking opportunity.

I took a few shots before the dawn and a couple of the sunrise, and then sat back down between the pool and the lagoon to type up some notes for this report. It was actually a bit chilly, and it was odd to me. Still, there is nothing in the world like that early morning feeling of having the resort to yourself and watching and hearing the world wake up around you. We had so far been graced with unbelievable weather, I was even able to walk around the parks at night without breaking a sweat, it was almost surreal. Sadly, it detracted a bit from my enjoyment of our afternoon pool breaks, because the water was actually a little too cold for me, but I digress…

Around 9 or so, Mrs. B. and I had a very light snack for breakfast in the lounge. We had just enough to get us through because we were anticipating our lunch at the Coral Reef at Noon and our late dinner at ‘Ohana.

We then took the beautiful scenic walk to the TTC and boarded the Tronorail to Epcot.

I have to say… I wasn’t a huge fan of the wrap when I first saw photos of it, and in person, I’m still not much of a fan. I will say that it does make the monorail look much cleaner, and fresher (let’s face it, they could all use a paint job, but they’re old, and I assume, probably nearing the end of their life span). The one thing that I couldn’t stand was that the wrap made viewing the scenery on the way to Epcot difficult, and I didn’t much enjoy that.

Upon arriving at Epcot, we wandered over to The Land.

We grabbed a Fastpass for Soarin’ and got in the stand-by line for a 20 minute wait that turned out to be more like 35, which normally wouldn’t bother me. This morning I got a very strong impression of disorganization on the cast’s part. We were lined up in our boarding position, had watched the Patrick Warburton spiel, the doors to the ride standing open in front of us and we just waited. And waited. And waited some more. Eventually a Cast Member emerged to tell us that they were “Cleaning the film, so that it would be nice and crisp for [us]”. This is code if I’ve ever heard it. I’ve never heard of a film needing to be cleaned, and besides, it’s early in the day, shouldn’t that have been done at night? It surely didn’t look any cleaner to us.

Since it wasn’t quite time for our Fastpass return yet, we hopped on Living with the Land, something that I hadn’t done since it was a new ride. We both found it very entertaining and interesting. Mrs. B was particularly interested in the profusion of plant life, as she managed to grow a total of 6 tiny tomatoes all summer (out of 2 plants!), and ooh’d and ahh’d over the fishes and baby alligators.

As soon as that was finished, we decided not to use our Fastpasses, but instead head over to the Seas and check it out and to make sure we were on time for our lunch reservation. After finding someone to hand our Fastpasses off to (a very nice couple who actually gave us theirs for later in the day), we headed over and got into the non-existent line for the Nemo and Friends ride. As we were standing outside, I took a photo of the pavilion sign with the seagulls and quipped to Mrs. B. “Mine, Mine, Mine”. No sooner did the words leave my mouth than the seagulls chimed in on their own. We both found it very amusing.

The Seas is a pavilion that I haven’t even entered since the days of the Hydrolators. I always found it to be a little boring back then, so I never really gave it much thought afterward. Since we had just watched Finding Nemo a couple of nights before we left, we thought it would be neat to check out the pavilion and see what it had to offer. The ride was cute and a good way to kill a few minutes, but not a must do by any stretch. We were both delighted by the aquarium exhibits, rushing back and forth and pointing out the different fish, dolphins and sharks – definitely like a couple of kids. We agreed that we would have to return.

After spending a good amount of time staring at fish it was time to go eat some (sorry, fishies), so we made our way over to the Coral Reef. I started off with a Blue Glow-Tini (bright lights… shiny objects… yeah, I’m all over it…) and Mrs. B had a Key Lime Coconut Martini. We both thought that our drinks were excellent.

For an appetizer I had the Sea and Land which consisted of a beef skewer over polenta, a couple of grilled shrimp and a mushroom salad.

Mrs. B. Started off with the Crab Cakes

We both had the Lobster Ravioli for our entree

For dessert, I had the Chocolate Wave

Jen finished with the Bailey’s and Jack Daniels Mousse

The meal was good, above average even, but not extraordinary. We both decided that we would probably return but try other dishes next time. While we ate we watched the sharks (who we decided must be union members, on a schedule, because they swam by the tank with almost precise timing. We also decided that they possibly changed it up to keep from getting bored. Swimming left to right, then right to left, then straight at the window, etc…).

After lunch we headed back over to The Land to use our Soarin’ Fastpasses. There was no film cleaning this time and we were seated and on our way over California in good time. I think that Soarin’ may very well be my favorite attraction at Walt Disney World (and I also believe that I’m probably not alone).

We then took a stroll through both sides of Innoventions. We didn’t really do anything in there, just walked through at a nice slow pace. I wanted to give the Sum of All Thrills attraction a go, but, being “Pooh-sized” I wasn’t sure that I would fit in the simulator as I remember the ones at Disney Quest being a bit cramped for me. I definitely plan on losing weight before our next trip, so I’ll try it then. Maybe it’s just because I’ve gotten older, but I remember that I used to be able to spend a good afternoon in Innoventions, and I just don’t get that feeling anymore. It seems like just something to walk through and check out, but there’s really nothing there to hold my attention (save for the Segway training and tour which I did and really loved a couple of years back).

Before leaving we made our way over to Spaceship Earth which is another one of our favorites. I’m still partial to the old Walter Cronkite version with that spectacular ending and Tomorrow’s Child playing in the background. Or even the Jeremy Irons version with all the “fiber optic” and other lighting effects, but that may just be the sentimentalist in me. I feel that this new version doesn’t have the ending flair and drama of the old versions and loses something because of it. Once you’ve done the little “create your own future” thing once or twice, it gets a little old. Tomorrow’s Child, on the other hand, never got old to me, but I digress… I do still love the ride, doubly so for the fact that there’s never a line, and because it’s dark and cool inside. As for Mrs. B, she could ride over and over and over…even though she, too, believes that the Create Your Future thing gets old after the first few times.

By now we were ready to head back to the resort to do a little bit of swimming and imbibing. I believe that on this day I had an Ultimate Long Island Iced Tea, and Mrs. B. had another Banana Cabana. The pool was a bit warmer and we were able to get over to “our spot” at the end of the pool where the underwater bench and water jets are. It’s a really great spot for people and castle watching.

We then took our normal rest period to shower and nap a little bit. Then we headed over to tour the Grand Floridian a bit more before our late dinner at ‘Ohana. We stood and listened to the band play for a while and really enjoyed listening to them and soaking in the atmosphere they created.

The Grand Floridian is truly a beautiful resort and I think we might like to stay there sometime. It’ll never replace the Polynesian for me, but I think that it could be very enjoyable to change it up a little bit for a trip. Not to mention the fact that Mrs. B. has wanted to stay there forever, so it’s definitely going to be in our future. After a couple of walks around the resort I’ve grown a little bit of appreciation for it myself.

It was finally time for the much anticipated dinner at ‘Ohana, so we hopped on the boat from the Grand Floridian back to the Polynesian and made our way up to check in and have our Lapu Lapus at the Tambu Lounge. Lapu Lapus, for the uninitiated are basically hollowed out pineapples, filled with rum, splashed with pineapple juice and topped off with more rum (151 to be precise). We laughed and joked, completely unaware of the food carnage that awaited us.

But that's a tale for tomorrow my friends. It's late and I must get some sleep! Thanks for reading!

 

[cdsmom]

Still lurking with much enjoyment....

 

[MissLiz]

Loving it!! Can't wait to read more!!!

First, we rode Soarin on Sunday and had confusion as well. They kept sending people to lines, but then they'd have to come back because there weren't enough spaces. Of course, the people in front of us got sent to one line and then we got put in row 1 (I hate heights...to the point that I teared up a bit when we sat down to ride because I was scared to death of the 30 feet over cement thing) and THEN, they got sent back and put in our 3rd row.

I looked at my husband like "Why? Couldn't they have been put here and us in the 3rd row?" I can do Soarin in the 3rd row. 10 feet is okay....30 feet, not so much. Yes, I'm a dork.




And I believe I may have sat by you guys in the pool for a bit on Monday afternoon. Other than the kids playing in the "waterfall", those seats are great! Of course, with 2 kids, sitting there for an extended period of time was just not an option. Dang it!


I did have one amusing thing happen that day at the pool. I got out and was trying to warm up at our table by the bar (gee, really? the bar?) and there was this group of people sitting at another table. They weren't pool-hopping since they were fully dressed, but I overheard one of them on the cell phone with WDW Dining. She told the CM on the phone that they were staying at the Contemporary and were sitting by the Poly pool enjoying a drink and wanted to know if there was any availability for Kona Cafe around 6pm that day. She listened for a bit and then said "So, you mean I have to walk up there and ask there? Fine." and then hung up.

Then, she said to her group of 5 adults and 3 kids. "They said they didn't have any availability and that I had to walk up there and ask if we could do a walk up". She was so annoyed that I had to giggle a bit. Really? You are sitting by the Poly pool and you can't have one person walk up to Kona and ask? Really?

Sorry, but that amused me a bit.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

Aloha Rob and Mrs B!!

Yeah, a Polynesian trip report! We love the Poly and are super excited to be back there in about 2 weeks.

Your pictures are GREAT!

Debbie

 

[guitarob]

Loving it!! Can't wait to read more!!!

First, we rode Soarin on Sunday and had confusion as well. They kept sending people to lines, but then they'd have to come back because there weren't enough spaces. Of course, the people in front of us got sent to one line and then we got put in row 1 (I hate heights...to the point that I teared up a bit when we sat down to ride because I was scared to death of the 30 feet over cement thing) and THEN, they got sent back and put in our 3rd row.

I looked at my husband like "Why? Couldn't they have been put here and us in the 3rd row?" I can do Soarin in the 3rd row. 10 feet is okay....30 feet, not so much. Yes, I'm a dork.




And I believe I may have sat by you guys in the pool for a bit on Monday afternoon. Other than the kids playing in the "waterfall", those seats are great! Of course, with 2 kids, sitting there for an extended period of time was just not an option. Dang it!


I did have one amusing thing happen that day at the pool. I got out and was trying to warm up at our table by the bar (gee, really? the bar?) and there was this group of people sitting at another table. They weren't pool-hopping since they were fully dressed, but I overheard one of them on the cell phone with WDW Dining. She told the CM on the phone that they were staying at the Contemporary and were sitting by the Poly pool enjoying a drink and wanted to know if there was any availability for Kona Cafe around 6pm that day. She listened for a bit and then said "So, you mean I have to walk up there and ask there? Fine." and then hung up.

Then, she said to her group of 5 adults and 3 kids. "They said they didn't have any availability and that I had to walk up there and ask if we could do a walk up". She was so annoyed that I had to giggle a bit. Really? You are sitting by the Poly pool and you can't have one person walk up to Kona and ask? Really?

Sorry, but that amused me a bit.

Wow, it seems like we had a lot of near misses with people from the boards while we were there.

Seriously, people really do just surprise me sometimes. Sadly, there's a feeling of entitlement at Disney that some people have and it's just shocking at times.

We were in the pool one day, and there was a woman next to us bragging about how much she loved the Fort Wilderness Cabin they were staying in. .

 

[TheNewMrsB]

And I believe I may have sat by you guys in the pool for a bit on Monday afternoon. Other than the kids playing in the "waterfall", those seats are great! Of course, with 2 kids, sitting there for an extended period of time was just not an option. Dang it!

Seriously????? ARGH! I wish I had known that at the time!!! Now I'm sitting here trying to remember everyone we sat nearby...even if it was only for a short amount of time...

And yeah, the woman bragging about her stay at Ft Wilderness was charming. Especially when she asked her kids "Okay, do you wanna go back to the Ft. Wilderness pool now?"

 

[JMat]

Fun! thanks for the breakdown of the epcot day - its actually really relaxing to read such nice details and specifics... great way to start (and often end) my day

Im headed over to the Wilderness Lodge in a few weeks - I have a DH that feels pretty strongly about WL, much like you do the Poly... so I'm getting in the wife line with Mrs. B about staying at the GF next time... you'll have to do a TR for there as well!

As always, excited to hear more.... Thanks again

 

[guitarob]

'Ohana... Oh-hana... Ohhhhh - haaana. Words defy me.

Do not eat at 'Ohana if you have a weak stomach. Do not eat at 'Ohana if you're used to eating very little portions. Definitely do not eat at 'Ohana if you don't like meat.

There is so much food brought to your table at 'Ohana that it's almost embarrassing. That is... Until you realize that everyone in the restaurant is going through the same thing.

It is a family style, all-you-care-to-eat meal. Need more of something? Just ask. There's no need for that. We didn't even consider asking for more of anything. As soon as you're smack in the middle of one hefty course, another one arrives. Your "cousins" arrive at your table with giant skewers of meat and just scrape off a bunch for you.

It is food nirvana. No, scratch that, that doesn't even begin to describe it. This is as close to a force-feeding that I have ever been party to. My only advice for eating at 'Ohana? Be hungry and eat early.

We didn’t have to wait for very long before we were escorted past the kitchen and around the restaurant to our table, which was right next to the area used for all of the childrens’ activities, and close enough to the window that we could see Wishes.

During dinner we were treated to the night’s showing of Wishes, some enthusiastic coconut races and a small child bouncing up and down in his chair and almost falling out of it and cracking his little head on the wooden floor at least 5 times (A server actually had to come over and ask the child to sit, because, evidently, the parents weren’t too interested). Mrs. B was deeply concerned and actually was halfway out of her chair at one point, to stop the kid when it looked like he was about to fall with no one else at his table paying attention.

Not long after we were seated the food started coming, and boy, did it just keep on coming. I apologize in advance for the pictures that contain my messy plates, there was just no way to get clean shots. I also apologize for the quality of the photos in the restaurant. It is so dimly lit, and I didn't really take the time to set up each shot.

You are immediately handed a marvelous loaf of Coconut Pineapple Bread as you are seated.

Then started off with a salad.

And then they brought over the wings and the dumplings.

Then came the noodles and broccoli (which, were, for the record, the BEST Asian-style noodles I’ve ever had).

Then came the shrimp, the pork and the beef.

Our “cousin” Auturo then brought us over a congratulatory cupcake.

And, finally, the bread pudding… oh… the bread pudding… there is nothing finer than this dish.

When our “cousin” came over to ask us if we were finished or if we wanted any more dessert, I guess I didn’t answer fast enough (because I was so full I couldn’t speak) and he took off back to the kitchen with the promise of more, which… he brought… and we shamefully took a few bites of (We couldn’t just let it go to waste right? Right?). Maybe more than a few bites. It’s all a terrible, shameful blur. A tear or two may have been shed.

This was a meal that defies description, but I’m sure Mrs. B. will try mightily when she does her food report. I will be HEARTBROKEN if we can’t get an ADR here on future trips. As we were leaving, at around 10:00, and in as close to a food coma that we’ve ever approached, we noticed that people were still being seated. God bless them. I don’t know if I could handle a meal like that beginning at 10:00 PM. Some of them even had small children. I was shocked!

We decided that the best thing to do was to walk around the resort for a while and walk off some of the food before bed. So we wandered all around the grounds, making it halfway to the Grand Floridian and coming back, taking photos all the while. After an hour had passed and we noticed that we were getting eaten alive by the many hungry bugs, we headed back to the room to once again pass out and get ready for another full day.

 

[guitarob]

 

[DebbyLof428]

Totally enjoying your TR on this rainy, windy day. Keep it coming

 

[iloveeeyore]

Not to beat a dead horse, but...what a great report! And your photos are absolutely amazing!

Sounds like you guys had a wonderful time; thank you so much for taking the time to share!

 

[sandym718]

Love your Ohana report!! I agree- BEST noodles everywhere. I was so bummed to hear the potatoes were gone before our last trip - even though I had never eaten there before, they just sounded good. Noodles sounded...eh. But they are SO good. I love, love, love the dumplings too!! We're returning mainly for the sides - bread, salad, dumplings, noodles, broccoli and bread pudding-soooooo good! The meat - some was good, some was dry - the sauces did help. Love the atmosphere, so it's now a must-do for us!!

 

[DISNEY1975]

Fantastic! Cant wait for day 4!!

 

[Kteacher]

more beautiful pictures!

 

[PamelaKay]

I was so excited to read the ohana review. We will be trying dinner there for the first time in Dec. I can't wait to read more.

 

[TheNewMrsB]

Love your Ohana report!! I agree- BEST noodles everywhere. I was so bummed to hear the potatoes were gone before our last trip - even though I had never eaten there before, they just sounded good. Noodles sounded...eh. But they are SO good. I love, love, love the dumplings too!! We're returning mainly for the sides - bread, salad, dumplings, noodles, broccoli and bread pudding-soooooo good! The meat - some was good, some was dry - the sauces did help. Love the atmosphere, so it's now a must-do for us!!

I agree, the sauces helped a lot. Mmmmm that peanut sauce...Yum!!!

Seriously, they could have brought me out a bowl of noodles, a plate of broccoli and a plate of potstickers, and I would have been a happy camper. Oh, and bread pudding. Of course.

 

[MissLiz]

When we went to Ohana in May, they brought over the shrimp and, since it's my favorite, I had some. Then, he brought over the skewer again with about 10 shrimp left on it and piled them all on my plate!!!

I don't think I ate more than a couple bites of the rest of the meat because I had shrimp everywhere!

And I've never had seconds on the bread pudding....I've wanted seconds, but never had the guts to even suggest it. Hmmm......maybe next time...

 

[Purple Opal]

Subscribing

I've really enjoyed reading your posts on the Poly FAQ thread and your photos are beautiful! Looking forward to seeing what's next...

 

[guitarob]

Day 4 - 9/21/10

Due to the cold that I was continually fighting throughout this entire trip, I found myself awake at about 3:00 AM coughing my brains out. After going into the bathroom to finish coughing, on the way back to bed I realized that the castle Christmas lights were again lit up. I decided to sneak out the sliding doors to try to grab another shot. Much to my delight, I actually (kind of) got a decent one.

Much to my dismay, I noticed that the sprinklers on the lawn had come on, cutting off my route back to the room. As I had left my room key on the dresser, thinking that I would just slip out and back in, I was forced to wait about 15 minutes until I could get back into the room. Once back, I quickly fell back to sleep.

Our 4th day officially started with a small breakfast in the lounge to make up the deficit in meal credits caused by our signature dining experiences throughout the week. We then headed out to the bus stop to grab a bus to Hollywood Studios.

We didn’t have to wait long for a bus, which was nice, but the bus that arrived was standing room only.

This was unexpected, but we dealt with it (complete with a small child laying on the floor of the bus directly behind Mrs. B’s feet) and balanced our way over to DHS, where, oddly enough, we found ourselves in time for rope-drop.

Mrs’s B’s interjection: Why would you allow your child to lay on the floor of a bus? Even a Disney bus? And she was laying, literally, directly behind my sneakers. One little step, one little move to keep my balance, and I would have stepped right on her. But the mother encouraged her to lay there. I don’t get it.

After the little rope drop show we followed the masses over to Toy Story Midway Mania to grab ourselves a fastpass. The plan was to jump in line, ride once and then return for our fastpass time, but we decided that the wait really wasn’t worth it (it was already 45 minutes) so we decided to head over to the Back Lot Tour which I hadn’t been on in forever. It was an enjoyable and breezy ride through the back lot, which I seem to remember used to be a lot longer. The Catastrophe Canyon segment was still pretty awesome (and, sadly, went un-photographed because I was afraid of getting the new camera wet, which ended up being a non-issue).

After our tour of the back lot, we headed through the Streets of America section and over to see the Muppets.

I’ve always loved this show, because I’m a pretty big fan of the Muppets. Sadly though, I feel this show is in dire need of a revamp. It is still very enjoyable, but next to Philharmagic, just seems dated. I think so much more could be done. We’ll still see it once on every trip though, because it’s fun.

It was finally time for our fastpasses to Toy Story Mania so we headed over and only waited about 10 minutes to ride. Even with my early lead, Mrs. B. killed me, as she usually does. I firmly believe that it has to do with my inability to score points at the ring-toss section, because I scored really well in every other event.

We then headed over to the Tower of Terror (Mrs. B’s favorite) and endured a small (15 minutes or so) wait to ride. I love it too, but I HATE the anticipation of the first drop. I’m a thrill ride junkie, but for some reason, this always gets me nervous. Boy, was I in for a surprise. For the first time in my memory of all the times that I’ve ridden this attraction, the first drop was actually a launch upward! I was shocked and probably yelped a little, but it was great, as the Tower of Terror usually is.

We skipped the Rock N Rollercoaster this year, because it’s not really Mrs. B’s favorite, and I wasn’t feeling perfectly up to it either. I figured, since we’d been on it a bunch of times, it was ok to skip this year.

It was time for a snack so we headed over to the Writer’s Stop to grab a Carrot Cake Cookie and a couple of drinks. The cookie was marvelous. Mrs. B. had a coffee and I had a mocha slushy, which really helped my sore throat but didn’t do much for my taste buds.

After Writer’s Stop we decided that it was time to get back to the room to rest up a little bit. We decided to skip the pool in lieu of a nap. So we headed back to the bus stop for our ride home.

I got off of the bus at the Contemporary to try and find some “day-time” cold medicine since I had exhausted my supply and Samoa Snacks was apparently out that morning. Mrs. B. continued back to the room to rest up, while I wandered the Contemporary and took some pictures before heading back for my nap.

After napping and showering it was time for dinner at Artist Point. We left a little early so we would have time to get over to the lodge and explore it a little bit before our ADR since neither of us had been there, but have family members who rave about it.

We headed over to the Magic Kingdom by way of the launch, and then took the boat over to the lodge.

We wandered around the grounds of the lodge and throughout the lobby before finding ourselves checked in for dinner...

... and sitting at the Territory Lounge, each with a Kentucky Peach in front of us. The Kentucky Peach may well have been my favorite concoction of this trip. It consists mainly of Black Cherry Burbon, Peach Schnapps, a little bit of mint, and some Sprite (among other forgotten ingredients), and is absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend hunting one of these down. They were on the menu at the Coral Reef, Tambu Lounge, Kona Café, and Territory Lounge that I noticed. I’m sure you’ll find them elsewhere as well, given the fact that Disney seems to have adopted a pretty standard mixed drink menu.

As we finished our drinks, our buzzer went off and it was time for our much anticipated dinner at Artist Point. We had heard great things about this restaurant, and now it was time to experience it for ourselves. We were started off with complimentary Blackberry Champagne Cocktails and sourdough bread.

While we waited for our appetizers to arrive I had a Northwestern Exposure, which is a mixture of Ketel One Vodka, amaretto, Kahlua and cream with a splash of Coke. It was another amazing beverage, and went down way too quickly.

I started off with the crab cakes.

Mrs. B. started with the Smoky Portobello soup.

For an entrée I chose the Grilled Buffalo Strip Loin (but with the sides for the Beef Tenderloin), medium rare. This was amazing. Given a choice, I think I would choose buffalo over beef any time. It’s very lean, not bloody and has a spectacular flavor.

For my side dish, I chose the Artisanal Cheese and Macaroni.

Mrs. B. had the Wild King Salmon, also medium rare, and loved it as well.

She had the Truffle Fries as a side.

For dessert we both chose the Coffee duo. I preferred the Pot de Crème, and she preferred the bread pudding, so it worked out really well.

Overall, this was an excellent meal and Artist Point is now on our “Must Do” list. We decided that we’re going to need to take longer trips to accommodate our must-do’s and still have room for trying out new things.

After dinner, we headed back to the Polynesian, by way of the Contemporary...

...to catch Hallowishes from the beach. I really like Hallowishes. It’s really a great show. It seems that there’s actually more fireworks during Hallowishes then there are during the regular Wishes presentation, but it’s not nearly as sentimental. It was great watching from the beach, even though we had someone standing behind us talking on his cell phone the entire time. I don’t understand this. There are people here trying to watch a show, it’s a huge beach. Can’t you go somewhere else and talk? Really?

http://backend.bardall.net/dis/hallowishes.mov For those who may be interested, I did get a video of this show. It's not the best, I had it zoomed in a bit too much so the picture is a little grainy and doesn't get the bursts that are way off to the side for the end. It was the first time I really tried to take a video with this camera. It doesn't sound bad at all, and surprisingly enough, cell phone guy doesn't get picked up by the mic. If anyone is interested, let me know, and I'll convert it and get a link posted.

We then headed back to the room to get rested up for day 5, and Mrs. B’s “Pick-A-Pearl” experience.

 

[guitarob]