Trip Report "You stop it, you bad boy Captain Hook!" **COMPLETED **

Aloha! Welcome to my first trip report!

We just returned from a 6-night stay in The World from May27-June 3rd. This was not our first trip but we tried a lot of new things! Including visiting during a holiday weekend in summer and staying at our first deluxe resort by renting DVC points.

Let's start by introducing the crew (be warned, there will be a lot of pirate talk if you couldn't tell by the title!):
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Poohbear-Keegan(3) we were celebrating his birthday this trip, Pluto-Ty(almost 7), Chip-Matthew(5), Minnie-Me(gan), and Mickey-DH. Thanks to Etsy for our matching shirts that DH just loves to wear;)

We ended up driving as we've done it in the past and our boys do pretty well in the car. Last trip the last 3 hours were the worst with traffic and construction. So, we decided to break it up this trip and arrived in Gainesville about 7:30pm. This way we didn't waste a night at a Disney resort by arriving after bed time. We decided to visit the Swamp while we were in town.

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Boys needed time to run around after 15 hours in the car and being huge college FB fans we wanted to check out their stadium. I was not overly impressed with their facilities. I will add that growing up in Nebraska in the 90's made me hate any program that came from the state of Florida so that may have had something to do with my reaction:rolleyes:

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Next morning we decided to drive 30 min to the next stop in Ocala for breakfast at one of our favorites, First Watch:p

On this last stretch we notice that Ty's nagging cough that he had for a week was getting a lot worse and then Matthew started complaining that his ear was hurting:facepalm: I will say we debated taking Ty to the Dr before we left but anyone with kids knows unless they have had it for 10+ days and a fever they are not going to prescribe anything. Don't want them getting immune to antibiotics and all...but we had been down this road before. Last year during Spring Break at Disney Matthew developed an ear infection on night 2 of our vacation at 2am. Screaming 4 year old in the middle of the night can put a damper on things! DH had to take him to Florida centra care the next morning.

I bet you know where I'm going with this...we decided to make a detour to Centra Care and good thing we did as they were closed the next day for Memorial Day along with the pharmacy. Note:the centra care website makes it so easy to book an appt online and we were in and out in about an hour.

Bronchitis, ear infection and two antibiotics later and we were finally ready to head to our resort!!!

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Where are we going???
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We arrived around 1pm our goal was 11am but we will find out that our delay was for the best. The valet guys were awesome...even refrigerated the antibiotics for us.
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Check-in was smooth except for this guy on his EVC decided he didn't need to wait in the line like the rest of us and almost ran me over cutting in line:mad: When I told him I was in line he just kept moving. This will be a big pet peeve of mine this trip, the total disregard for other people and the mindset that their time is more valuable. I will even get into it with a 10 year old later on...:oops:

Anyway, nicest gal at check-in. I request a building closest to the main house but also checked the box for first available room. We had an early ADR and wanted time to settle the room and get ready. She said they were cleaning it now and should receive our text anytime! In the meantime we had promised some pool time and a dole whip or 2. Dole whip floats are a great use of a snack credit!!
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6 going on 16!!

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My little pirate:)

Next:Getting into our room...maybe!
 
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PrincessL

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I think a few well blaced concrete barriers and planters and reverse the process (enter the epcot station where you currently exit and exit the incoming monorail where you enter currently and the problem is solved. You would have to go through a security check going back however.
I couldn't agree more!
 

PrincessL

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm in! We're staying at the Poly for the first time this fall. So excited!! Maybe they'll have the poly-epcot security thing figured out by then.
That's so exciting!!! I bet you will love the Poly! I would be surprised if they didn't have a solution in place by the time of your trip. Thanks for following:)
 

cfry06

Well-Known Member
Following! Such an adorable family!!
Hope the med's kick in and all feel well quickly!
Love the Poly - it is addicting isn't it? @fractal is spot on! Our fave since our first stay!
We love Ohana for the food, but have had really mixed experiences the last few visits. I agree with feeling rushed - disappointing bc we have had such great experiences in the past. Still have it booked for our Dec trip though...can't seem to say no!
Also a fan of matching shirts . The DHs might all complain, but I think they secretly love it!
Looking fwd to more!
 

PrincessL

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I labored over and over our touring plans so I had a plan B. I'm an IE so it's in my nature...I studied wait times and benefit analysis of efficient walking patterns to minimize walking and wait times. Wanting to make it flexible but still get the most out of our time at the parks. I'm a nerd I know it! Did we completely follow these plans... Heck No! I thought I had realistic plans but you just can't control everything(like PPF opening 30min late).

7DMT should have been the obvious choice since we were right there and the masses hadn't been release yet but we didn't feel that was the best first ride for Keegan. We still didn't even know if he liked rides. Plus we had a FP later just in case he did like the rides!

So, we headed to Keegan's favorite. I'll give you one guess...it's on his shirt:happy:

We were headed towards the hundred acre woods when we see this wall of people heading straight for us. It was so crazy looking because there were maybe 5 people in FL and then a sea of people came tearing around the corner by the tea cups. The poor CM that was leading them was trying to keep a controled pace but It was no use these people were crazy!

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He loved it! It was the perfect start to our day.

Then we took a ride on Tomorrowland speedway. Our boys LOVE this ride. Must be a boy thing wanting to drive way, way, way before their time:eek:

Next it was off to defeat Emporer Zurg.
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The line moved really quickly so we jumped in line again. Keegan only wanted to ride with me so I think our score was a whopping 1,200 lol!

It was nearing the end of our FP window for our next ride so we were booking it. Plus we left the stroller at BoG since our plan was to pick it up after PPF:banghead: We made it just in time...
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DH is not a small guy so naturally they put him with another not so small guy:hilarious:

Matthew looks like he's about to cry but swears that he loved it!

Next: Character meets-what this trip is all about:)
 
We checked out the "volcano" pool as my boys call it. Though, I'm pretty sure after the last refurb it's no longer called that. It took a few laps to find a open chair. I'd say 10% of the chairs had people using them and the other 90% just had towels on them. It was Sunday and it was packed...overheard a lot of guest saying it was either their first or last day.

After a couple hours we were getting antsy to get in our room so we followed up with the front desk... said it should be done soon, as the cleaning crew started cleaning 4 hours ago but didn't have an exact time to give. They did however have a room abailable in Pago Pago...wait what...I thought we were getting the first available room?!?

At this point it's 3pm we had already waited 2 hours and I know they were trying their best to fufill our request so we decided to go ahead and wait...surely it couldn't take much more than 4 hours at this point to clean one room. But, what do I know?

Now it's 4pm the deadline for when rooms are to be ready and still no text. Back to the front desk. This time they physically sent someone to check on the room. 4:15pm my phone dies right as I'm reading the text with our room #.View attachment 208973View attachment 208979

A lot annoyed but we got a 2nd floor garden view in Tokelau. Just like I wanted:D

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I fell in love this trip. I love every little detail about the Polynesian! DH fell in love as well and I quote, "we will never stay anyplace else at Disney:greedy:"
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Luckily our 5:30pm ADR was for OHana. Not far to go but we only had an hour to get our luggage from bell service, shower and get dressed. Bell service was very prompt so that took a little stress out of it.

Phew...we made it just in time!
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I definitely needed one of these after today's events... Lapu Lapu! DH was boring and ordered a bud light. He asked for the largest one they had and that's what they gave him:hilarious:
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I apologize as the food pics are going to be a little hit or miss. The drink pic apparently was the most important! We were all very hungry and 3 little boys were on the verge of hangry so no OHana food pics.

This was our second visit and DH and I love the food. However we have yet to have the wow experience that I have wanted. Last year I saved it for our last meal and the boys were over Disney. I also didn't know you could order something else for picky eaters (Ty). He didn't eat a single thing last time and as we were leaving I noticed a table with chicken nuggets and French fries:banghead: I knew to ask this time!

This meal I felt like we were rushing the whole time. Rushing to get there, rushing to get drinks, rushing through dinner. It just felt rushed and I didn't get to enjoy it. Next time I will try planning this meal during our resort day!

DH took the boys on a monrail ride while I unpacked and then it was off to bed.

Up next:Early ADR at BoG
Great trip report so far! :)
 

PrincessL

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Following! Such an adorable family!!
Hope the med's kick in and all feel well quickly!
Love the Poly - it is addicting isn't it? @fractal is spot on! Our fave since our first stay!
We love Ohana for the food, but have had really mixed experiences the last few visits. I agree with feeling rushed - disappointing bc we have had such great experiences in the past. Still have it booked for our Dec trip though...can't seem to say no!
Also a fan of matching shirts . The DHs might all complain, but I think they secretly love it!
Looking fwd to more!

Thanks!! I'm so glad we went to Centra Care on Sunday, I think it saved our trip!!

Right, addicting is exactly the way to describe the Poly:) 'OHana will still be on our list as well. I just need to figure out the right time to go and so far first night and last night are not right for our family.

DH does secretly like the matching shirts and he secretly likes Disney way more than he puts on...he kept taking about our next trip!
 

amjt660

Premium Member
I labored over and over our touring plans so I had a plan B. I'm an IE so it's in my nature...I studied wait times and benefit analysis of efficient walking patterns to minimize walking and wait times. Wanting to make it flexible but still get the most out of our time at the parks. I'm a nerd I know it! Did we completely follow these plans... Heck No! I thought I had realistic plans but you just can't control everything(like PPF opening 30min late).
Hello to a fellow engineer
I have worked in automotive for over 26 years so I get the striving to be efficient and the over analysis of all inputs to get the best output.
Sometimes it is hard but you have to give your brain a vacation as well.

Max
 

PrincessL

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2 MK (cont.)

After 7DMT we had a FP to meet the main Mouse himself! Edit: I forgot to add that at 11:10am the wait was 90min! I don't wait that long for anything at Disney. I'm glad we used a FP for this!

Let me rewind for a sec. back in 2013 we were on vacation in Naples and decided to do a day trip to MK with our BIL, DH's DS and their two boys. Ty at the time was 2.5years old and his cousins 5 and 2.5. We always said when the youngest was 5 and could remember is when we would take our first trip to Disney but my BIL can be persuasive!

We ended our one and only day with Mickey's meet and greet on Main Street and it was in that moment that reawakened my Disney spirit! The Magic of Ty meeting his idol and the pure joy of the moment was something that will stay with me forever. Thus, the reason we have taken all of the boys for their first trip at 2.5-3 yrs (bonus that they are also free;)).

The characters are real to them and the memories of witnessing that through a 3 year olds eyes is something that I cherish. These years at the ages our boys are will go fast and we choose to make memories at Disney while we can:)

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I'm not sure when they changed to the talking Mickey but I'm assuming it is the same time they refurbished the set.

I miss the curtain :arghh: Walking around the corner and really being able to capture that special moment.

The set up now has you entering the room through a door into a line of about 8-10 people. Instead of capturing the moment we were trying to curb that excitement in order to not disturb anyone else's moment. As Keegan kept excitedly screaming for Mickey.

The first picture is of Keegan trying very hard to keep it together...which is not easy for a 3year old super fan!

We still had that moment it was just a little anticlimactic.

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One of my favorites (above). Big bros letting him have his moment and enjoying it:angelic:
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The talking Mickey is pretty cool! I though we might have questions later on in the trip why all of the Mickey's they met didn't talk but that was not the case.

Below, we are bouncing with Mickey because he mentioned that he had just been with Pooh's good friend Tigger:)
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Another great moment with Mickey...but the next two Character meets with their Friends and Mateys make the top two memories of the trip!!

Next: More Characters for Keegan and Matthew and a thrill ride for Ty.
 
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