You Flew All The Way Here With PIXIE DUST?! UD 8/22: Final Thoughts :)

[AmandaSparks730]

As soon as I read your opening post I knew I would have to read the rest - my DH and I met at Chuck E Cheese 15 years ago!

Looking forward to the rest of your report!

Aww, how sweet!

Welcome aboard

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Day 3, Part 1--O'hana Breakfast & Epcot & Hotel Day!



August 18, 2008

Part One--O'hana Breakfast!

Today was our O'hana breakfast day!

I am a MASSIVE Lilo & Stitch fan (stuffed Stitch that I sleep with every night), so this was my number one restaurant choice. Anything else was fine, as long as I got my O'hana breakfast with Stitch and the gang!

Sure enough, we got in (a late breakfast, as we're not really breakfast people). Our ADR was for 9:05 a.m., so we took a bus to the MK, and then the monorail to the Poly!

Oooh...I see Space Mountain! Can we go on?

Aly's first WDW monorail ride:

We got our first glimpse of Chef Mickey's as we passed through the Contemporary (we'd be eating there tomorrow), and we zoomed through the TTC.

Then...

There it is...

THE POLY!



I fell in LOVE with this hotel. One day, I WILL stay here. I will. Mark my words, I will.

And just like Emma, the Disney Snob (aka AGPrincess, whose TR's I adore), I will sit with a book in a hammock on that beach! I will! I will! I will!

Anyway. *cough*

So we checked into O'hanas and were given our buzzer and our leis. It was about in 10 minutes when we were escorted into the restaurant. It was so pretty!

Before we knew it, Stitch was making his way over. He pointed out my Lilo & Stitch pin excitedly.

*Just a side note, Aly has a pretty bad nut allergy. This includes palm oil, any sort of nut oil, all tree nuts, etc. We had all the chefs come to our table to go over what she could and could not have. The chef at Crystal Palace in particular was VERY nice, as most of them were. Sorry I didn't mention this earlier!*

So, here's Aly's specially prepared meal, with a flair:

Doesn't that look amazing? Good job, chefs!

Pluto was the next to pop by, decked out in a lei:

Eek, I'm hidden behind Pluto's whiskers!

The head Mouse himself was the next to come by our table. He was more than happy to take pics:

(Really, don't ask about why I look the way I do in these pics. I don't take pics very well...awkward posing, weird smiles, etc;don't know why I do this )

The last to come by our table was Lilo. She was very sweet

Updates will come, not to worry. I have finals the 18, 19, and 22. Wish me luck! (I'll need it for Chemistry I H. Really, that class is a pain in the... )

Coming up...

Epcot (FW/Mexico/Norway)
Pool time!
A night in (Olympics!)
And that little...unexpected visitor (oooh, ahh, what can it be?)

 

[KathyRN137]

Eek, I'm hidden behind Pluto's whiskers!

I've always thought those whiskers were dangerous!! I'm always afraid they're going to poke me in the eye or something!!

Ahhh, the Poly! You're far from being the only DISer who dreams of staying there someday!! It's so beautiful and so close to the MK!!

Did you know that all of the original Magic Kingdom resorts were designed to correspond to the different Lands in the park?

The Poly = AdventureLand
The Grand Floridian = Main Street USA
Fort Wilderness = FrontierLand
The Contemporary = TomorrowLand

Isn't learning that just so much more fun than chemistry?? (Blech, Phtooey!)

Good Luck with exams!!



Kathy

 

[ladylyons]

Enjoyed your update!!
My 2 year old DS loved your Mickey Pics. He kepts saying "icky, icky". Yes he is learning how to talk and just loves Mickey Mouse. Head on over to my TR and once I reach about day 5 or 6 you'll get to see how much he really loves the Head Mouse!

Hope everything goes well with your finals!! Good Luck!!

 

[AmandaSparks730]

I've always thought those whiskers were dangerous!! I'm always afraid they're going to poke me in the eye or something!!

Ahhh, the Poly! You're far from being the only DISer who dreams of staying there someday!! It's so beautiful and so close to the MK!!

Did you know that all of the original Magic Kingdom resorts were designed to correspond to the different Lands in the park?

The Poly = AdventureLand
The Grand Floridian = Main Street USA
Fort Wilderness = FrontierLand
The Contemporary = TomorrowLand

Isn't learning that just so much more fun than chemistry?? (Blech, Phtooey!)

Good Luck with exams!!



Kathy

I know! This wouldn't be the ONLY time Pluto's whiskers would strike...

Oooh, yes, I did know about the MK resorts aligning with the MK! We have a Disney Trivia game for the Wii, and my parents laugh at how fast (and accurately!) I answer the questions. If only school had Disney questions..."If Mickey had a tank of helium that was 34.2 mL and 23 degrees Celsius and is at 3.2 atm, what is the mass of the helium gas?" I'd get it right! ''

(Gas Laws. Gotta hate them. )

I only have to take 4/7 exams, though! English (Thurs), U.S. History (Fri), Chemistry (Fri), and Geometry (Mon). Health and Child Development don't require exams (Health is a one-quarter class), and we're doing projects instead of a Spanish final.

Enjoyed your update!!
My 2 year old DS loved your Mickey Pics. He kepts saying "icky, icky". Yes he is learning how to talk and just loves Mickey Mouse. Head on over to my TR and once I reach about day 5 or 6 you'll get to see how much he really loves the Head Mouse!

Hope everything goes well with your finals!! Good Luck!!

Thanks

Aww, he sounds so cute! I'll go read your TR now!

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Day 3 Part 2--EPCOT!




So where I last left off, we were hugging this girl:

We left the Poly sad1: ) and hopped the monorail to the TTC, where we transferred to the EPCOT line. Our first stop was Soarin' FastPasses. They were already for 1:40! But we got them anyway and headed over to Turtle Talk with Crush.

Stingray!

Turtle Talk was very cute, but I think I prefer Monster's, Inc.

After talking to a Turtle pal, we poked around Innoventions before heading out to Test Track

Single Rider line was 40 minute wait posted.

Standby line was 60 minutes.

We chose Single Rider and got on in 20 minutes

I simply love Test Track! Wheee!

We browsed in MouseGear for a few minutes, but decided we'd come back later, before we left.

The skies were becoming increasingly darker, but we headed on over to Mexico anyway. I miss the old El Rio del Tiempo!

Party Today

We decided to go on Malestrom. I love this ride for some reason. Or maybe it's that Disney Water Smell that I love? Either way, we survived Troll Country.

It was *almost* time for our Soarin' FastPasses, so we went back to The Land and went on. It was...okay. By far not my favorite ride. Not even in the Top 10. Guess I heard so much hype about it from the DIS, and had too high expectations (as I do with...well...basically everything).

Mom has a Disney Visa Card, so we found their special Meet 'n' Greet. I understand that the characters rotate from time to time, so we didn't know who we'd get.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E! And his faithful dog, Pluto!

*Yeah, I know, Mom isn't in many pictures. She was taking all of them!*

We enjoyed this; you got a lot of time to hang out with the characters without feeling rushed.

We went towards MouseGear and...

The skies opened up...

It was...

HURRICANE FAYE!!!



Yes, THAT Hurricane Faye. We got caught in her. Lucky us?!

Anyway, we went into MouseGear (where many people were hiding). Aly and I bought Mr. Potato Heads (well, I bought new pieces; I've been collecting for years!). Dad bought me a plush doll (thanks, Dad! I love him!)

We RAN to the nearest restaurant for lunch (it was about 2:45 at this point). This happened to be The Electric Umbrella. It was decent; standard counter-service.

We went back to the bus (wet and cold) and travelled back to POR.

Coming up...

Pool!
A night in

 

[KathyRN137]

Party Today

Now, surely you can get some extra Spanish credit for that!!

So glad you didn't get swept away in the Hurricane!!


Kathy

 

[wvdislover]

Looks like you had a lot of fun at Ohanas b'fast with Lilo and Stitch! I think my girls, esp DD11, would really enjoy this, but they don't like b'fast foods, usually so I'm not sure I want to spend meal credits for a meal that won't get eaten.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Now, surely you can get some extra Spanish credit for that!!

So glad you didn't get swept away in the Hurricane!!


Kathy

LOL! If only, if only. The great thing is, I've never gotten anything lower than an A- in Spanish since 7th grade. I'm about to enter 11th.

Oh, Faye wasn't quite done with us yet...

Looks like you had a lot of fun at Ohanas b'fast with Lilo and Stitch! I think my girls, esp DD11, would really enjoy this, but they don't like b'fast foods, usually so I'm not sure I want to spend meal credits for a meal that won't get eaten.

Oh, we did! Lilo & Stitch is one of my favorites. We aren't normally "breakfast people", but we did enjoy it.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Day 3 Part 3--Pool Time!



We went back to Acadian House (room 3000something...can't recall!). We changed into our bathing suits, grabbed books ( Breaking Dawn!!), and headed off to the pool that was approximately behind our "mansion". It was small and quiet.

The rain had let up by now, so we plunged right in!

(I had been saying something like "she's taking pictures of us!" right here)

Our house:

Mom playing with the camera settings:

Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to mention! During our DTD day, we had gone to Goofy's Candy Kitchen! Ohmygoodness, yum-o-rama, much?

I remember getting marshmallows...dark chocolate...M&M's, I think. White chocolate drizzle.

Man, oh man, they were GOOD!

Oh, another thing! This morning, on our way from the Poly to the TTC, Aly and I scored the coveted Front of the Monorail seats! We shared with a mother and her little boy.

But moving on...

We dried off and read for awhile (Aly was borrowing my copy of Twilight). We headed back to the room, while mom and dad went to the food court to pick us up some dinner. I honestly do NOT remember what we got there. Maybe pizza? Anyway, we chilled out and watched the Olympics on TV

Coming Up:
AK day
Faye comes back...with a vengence!
Nemo, FOTLK, yay musicals!
Expedition Everest: how many times *did* we manage to do this?

 

[MickeyisBeast]

I'm loving your TR, its very exciting! I really love the title you gave it!
I absolutely love it!

 

[AmandaSparks730]

I'm loving your PTR, its very exciting! I really love the title you gave it!
I absolutely love it!

Thank you!

And thanks for de-lurking yourself

 

[KathyRN137]

Dads!


I'm laughing when you wrote that Faye came back "with a vengence!"

You were probably experiencing the eye of the hurricane when you were swimming!!


Kathy

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Dads!


I'm laughing when you wrote that Faye came back "with a vengence!"

You were probably experiencing the eye of the hurricane when you were swimming!!


Kathy

Maybe!

Ah yes, Dads. I get that a lot from him.

Faye comes back, all right. Stay tuned for that

 

[MickeyisBeast]

Thank you!

And thanks for de-lurking yourself

haha

 

[PrincessEeyore]

Meg I just read like 5 updates because I'm bad and have been slacking on the Dis lately, darn finals . So you stayed at the Arcadia House? How was it like location wise and whatnot to the bus stops and pools and the main house? That's where we're considering staying on our next trip and Arcadia House is our number one building.
Great update but I'm scared to hear what Faye did to ya'll.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Meg I just read like 5 updates because I'm bad and have been slacking on the Dis lately, darn finals . So you stayed at the Arcadia House? How was it like location wise and whatnot to the bus stops and pools and the main house? That's where we're considering staying on our next trip and Arcadia House is our number one building.
Great update but I'm scared to hear what Faye did to ya'll.

Yep, Acadian House! It was very close to 'Ol Man River (main pool). 5 minutes or less (depending on your walking speed) to the lobby. There's the main bus stop right there, outside the lobby (7 minute walk or less). Quiet pool out back

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Day 5--Animal Kingdom--Part One: Africa! Africa!



Now that I'm OFFICIALLY a Junior in High School (eep, two years before college!) I have time to write this TR!

So Day 5 was to be our Animal Kingdom day. But how much would it rain? After all, Faye was still in the area. It wasn't raining when we left, so we took this as a good sign! There were only a few other families on the AK/BB bus. Everyone was JAMMED onto the EPCOT bus! (We later heard that lines were 2-4 hours there!)

Walking through the Oasis (with no line to get in. At all. Or at bag check.) we saw this pretty pink flower:

Nearing the Tree of Life, we ran into Koda, Baloo, and Pluto--with no visitors!

We made our way towards Kilamanjaro Safaris, knowing that the animals would be put away if the weather got worse. This is what we saw:

Rhino:

Random birds? :

Elephant...behind :

And an elephant side! :

If you can see it, up there is a lion:

We exited our African safari, and went on the Pangani Exploration Trail.

Meerkats:

And mom's favorite, the gorillas:

That's a SPIDER, that yellow thing...eek! (towards the top of the pic) :

Scenery:

And the Tree:

Up next:

An Asian expedenture!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I was two whole installments behind. We went camping this weekend and I'm behind on a couple of my trip reports. You really should post your flower pictures over on the Disney Flower Picture thread. Those are gorgeous.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

I was two whole installments behind. We went camping this weekend and I'm behind on a couple of my trip reports. You really should post your flower pictures over on the Disney Flower Picture thread. Those are gorgeous.

Oh, thanks

I can't hold credit for any of these pics, they're all mom's!