Trip Report WDW October 2003
The group included my wife, two kids both girls ages 5, and 9, my sister in-law and myself the dad. Left from KC on 10/16/03 through 10/23/03. Booked myself using the Fairy tale vacation package that was offered in the spring of 2003. What a great deal that was, we decided to book the Polynesian concierge lagoon view room.
Day 1.
Arrived via another great non-stop on time flight using Southwest airlines. I had arranged the first surprise of our trip, which was a Stretch Limo upgrade from Happy Limo. I thought it would be nice if I chose the option of having the driver meet us in the baggage claim area holding a sign with our name. The other option was to meet him outside after we had collected our bags. The problem with having him meet you, driver has to go get the parked limo while you wait. This took about 20 minutes and seemed a lot longer. I would choose the second option next time. Once in the Limo it was great and it included a fifteen-minute stop at a grocery store.
Arrived at the Poly and told the bellmen we were concierge guest. They loaded us on a super golf cart that carried all of our luggage and us. The drove us to the concierge building and took the bags and us straight to our room. Wow, what service. The concierge building has it’s on private check in desk and after a short visit we had our room key which included the park tickets and were ready to go. We all were starving at this point around 3 pm and dinner reservations were not until 5 at O’hana’s. Tried to get in early but they did not open until then. We got a snack at Captain Cooks and went back to the room. The concierge staff had delivered a Mickey birthday cake, hats, balloons, etc. for my wife’s birthday. I had made sure they knew of this occasion in advance. They also had sent the standard gift of a chocolate post card. This was great but my wife thought they should have delivered the cake on her actual birthday, which was the next day. I noticed they view from our third floor balcony; we had the only palm tree in the area blocking the view of the castle in the MK, still great view of the Contemporary on the right and the Grand Floridian on the left.
Ohana’s dinner was fabulous as always. This was our third straight trip to eat at Ohana’s and I do not think we will ever visit WDW without at least one dinner at Ohana’s.
It’s off to the MK and MNSSHP (Mickey’s not so scary Halloween party). 5 year old was Tinker bell and the 9 year old was Mulan. I had bought the tickets in advance so I really don’t know if it was sold out. Official hours of this party were 7pm-midnight. We got there around 6 and they sent us straight over to Tomorrowland. Rode Buzz, did some trick-or-treating and it was getting close to seven. Crowd was heavy in this area because it was the only section open until 7. Decided it was time to get ahead of the crowd and move over to fantasyland. This worked, rode teacups, Pooh, Snow White, Dumbo, kids went to see Pooh and friends in their costume while I got fast passes for Peter Pan. Cinderella’s carriage lit up with straw and pumpkins right in back of the castle. I thought this was the coolest thing I saw that was there for the party. The kids got a picture with Cindy right in front of the carriage and I had to get one too. I think that was the only character picture I was in this time. We then hit Peter Pan with our fast pass, good thing because the ling was getting long, then saw Philharmagic for the first time. Philharmagic was really good even the 5 year old kept the glasses on.
Time to make our way around to the front of the castle for the fireworks. I knew I needed to have a view of the wire and wanted to be some distance from the castle so we headed to the tomorrow land bridge. It was not really a problem to go just about anywhere you wanted. This version of the fireworks was really good. Not as good as whishes but really good. This show did have something whishes does not. During the show they set off fireworks in a giant circle around the park. This was really cool it actually made me spin around to get a full view. It was my favorite part. We did see the wicked witch come down the wire right over our heads.
Went over to Frontierland for a good parade spot. This was the second showing of the Halloween parade and I thought it started from here. Wrong. This parade actually started on main street so we where at the end of the parade instead of the beginning. That meant an extra 20-minute wait but we did have a great spot with kind of seat right in front of Pecos Bill’s cafe. This was a great parade and the wait was worth it.
One last ride before we leave, okay maybe two. Aladdin’s magic carpet, I know allot of people do not like this ride but my family does. We rode it twice. Great kids ride and better than Dumbo because the whole family can ride on one carpet. It was getting late and it had been a long day so a quick ride on the monorail and we are back at the Poly ready for bed.
Day 2.
The concierge building we were in was the Tahiti building. This was a temporary location because the Hawaii building was being refurbished. Good news for us the Hawaii building opens today 10/17. I requested a third floor lagoon view, checked all of our luggage with the bell service and we were ready to move upon our return that night. Did I mention the concierge has a lounge with a very good continental breakfast. Really this was very good and everybody found something to eat. They also had plenty of pop and water that we stocked in a soft sided cooler for the day at the parks. This saved us allot of time and money each day.
It was extra magic hour at Animal Kingdom today. I decided it might be better to try and avoid those crowds and head to MGM. With all the packing and storing luggage we were not ready to get there that early anyway. I did what I always do at MGM in the morning, split from the group and head straight for TOT (Tower of terror) and RNR (Rock’n’Roller coaster). I collected fast passes for both. Yes, I took one of the kid’s tickets. I waited in the 40-minute RNR standby line because the fast pass return was quite a bit later. The rest of the group was in desperate need of shopping so they got their fix. After RNR it was time for me to meet up with the group at WWTBAM (Who wants to be a millionaire). They stood me up and I missed that show time. Cell phones came in handy and I quickly met up with them around the corner under the big MGM hat. About that time at least 10 characters came through and spread out for autographs. The girls had to get Lilo and Stitch’s autograph and picture. We then had Mickey bars and I got everybody over to WWTBAM. This was our first time for this show. We had missed it the time before and was on the top of my list this time. I was ready to win the Disney cruise but it didn’t happen. Maybe next time.
I split from the group again. It was time for my fast pass return for both RNR and TOT. The girls were going to do the Great Movie ride and Mermaid show and I am sure more shopping. TOT is great, I wish I didn’t always have to do it by myself. After, it was time to meet for our priority seating at our favorite restaurant Sci-fi Dine-in. This is a great cool dark fun place to rest and have good junk food. Although I had the turkey sandwich this trip.
We then headed for a parade spot for the Mickey’s stars and motorcars parade. We lined up at the start this time, across from Star Tours. Great spot and you could sit on the fence railing. This was our first time to see this parade and it was one of the best. There really isn’t allot at MGM for little kids. My 5 year old is a big Belle fan so our last attraction would be Beauty and the Beast show. I took the kids and my wife and sister in-law did more shopping. We did not do Fantasmic because we had seen it on two other trips, also the 5 year old got a little scared watching this show last time so we will save it for another year.
Bus trip back to the Poly, by the way, the poly bus is shared with the contemporary and always on return trips stops there first, argh. Aloha Hawaii building. Stopped and the concierge desk for our new room keys. They had a third floor room ready for the rest of our stay. Note the Hawaii building second floor rooms do not have balconies suppose to be more realistic or something, also the lounge in the Hawaii building is much bigger and is meant to serve the meals for the concierge guests.
Room 3516. Great and I mean great view of the lagoon and the MK castle. There is also a little peninsula that we watched at least five weddings during our stay. The Hawaii buildings rooms are a little smaller than Tahiti, about two feet, enough that we did not have a double sink in the bathroom any more, only other complaint was the hair drier was circa 1971. Should have been upgraded in the renovation. I made it a point to my wife not to bring her hair drier because they would have one. Mistake. The rest of the night we swam in the volcano pool. Tunnel slide in the volcano was great. I had to go with my 9 year old the first time. After that she loved it. Couldn’t get my 5 year old to even consider that scary thing. 9:00 each night the Poly is treated to the water pageant parade. This night we watched from the beach but had a great view from our room as well. Kids played in the sand and we watched whishes fireworks from the Poly beach for the first time.
More to come later.
The group included my wife, two kids both girls ages 5, and 9, my sister in-law and myself the dad. Left from KC on 10/16/03 through 10/23/03. Booked myself using the Fairy tale vacation package that was offered in the spring of 2003. What a great deal that was, we decided to book the Polynesian concierge lagoon view room.
Day 1.
Arrived via another great non-stop on time flight using Southwest airlines. I had arranged the first surprise of our trip, which was a Stretch Limo upgrade from Happy Limo. I thought it would be nice if I chose the option of having the driver meet us in the baggage claim area holding a sign with our name. The other option was to meet him outside after we had collected our bags. The problem with having him meet you, driver has to go get the parked limo while you wait. This took about 20 minutes and seemed a lot longer. I would choose the second option next time. Once in the Limo it was great and it included a fifteen-minute stop at a grocery store.
Arrived at the Poly and told the bellmen we were concierge guest. They loaded us on a super golf cart that carried all of our luggage and us. The drove us to the concierge building and took the bags and us straight to our room. Wow, what service. The concierge building has it’s on private check in desk and after a short visit we had our room key which included the park tickets and were ready to go. We all were starving at this point around 3 pm and dinner reservations were not until 5 at O’hana’s. Tried to get in early but they did not open until then. We got a snack at Captain Cooks and went back to the room. The concierge staff had delivered a Mickey birthday cake, hats, balloons, etc. for my wife’s birthday. I had made sure they knew of this occasion in advance. They also had sent the standard gift of a chocolate post card. This was great but my wife thought they should have delivered the cake on her actual birthday, which was the next day. I noticed they view from our third floor balcony; we had the only palm tree in the area blocking the view of the castle in the MK, still great view of the Contemporary on the right and the Grand Floridian on the left.
Ohana’s dinner was fabulous as always. This was our third straight trip to eat at Ohana’s and I do not think we will ever visit WDW without at least one dinner at Ohana’s.
It’s off to the MK and MNSSHP (Mickey’s not so scary Halloween party). 5 year old was Tinker bell and the 9 year old was Mulan. I had bought the tickets in advance so I really don’t know if it was sold out. Official hours of this party were 7pm-midnight. We got there around 6 and they sent us straight over to Tomorrowland. Rode Buzz, did some trick-or-treating and it was getting close to seven. Crowd was heavy in this area because it was the only section open until 7. Decided it was time to get ahead of the crowd and move over to fantasyland. This worked, rode teacups, Pooh, Snow White, Dumbo, kids went to see Pooh and friends in their costume while I got fast passes for Peter Pan. Cinderella’s carriage lit up with straw and pumpkins right in back of the castle. I thought this was the coolest thing I saw that was there for the party. The kids got a picture with Cindy right in front of the carriage and I had to get one too. I think that was the only character picture I was in this time. We then hit Peter Pan with our fast pass, good thing because the ling was getting long, then saw Philharmagic for the first time. Philharmagic was really good even the 5 year old kept the glasses on.
Time to make our way around to the front of the castle for the fireworks. I knew I needed to have a view of the wire and wanted to be some distance from the castle so we headed to the tomorrow land bridge. It was not really a problem to go just about anywhere you wanted. This version of the fireworks was really good. Not as good as whishes but really good. This show did have something whishes does not. During the show they set off fireworks in a giant circle around the park. This was really cool it actually made me spin around to get a full view. It was my favorite part. We did see the wicked witch come down the wire right over our heads.
Went over to Frontierland for a good parade spot. This was the second showing of the Halloween parade and I thought it started from here. Wrong. This parade actually started on main street so we where at the end of the parade instead of the beginning. That meant an extra 20-minute wait but we did have a great spot with kind of seat right in front of Pecos Bill’s cafe. This was a great parade and the wait was worth it.
One last ride before we leave, okay maybe two. Aladdin’s magic carpet, I know allot of people do not like this ride but my family does. We rode it twice. Great kids ride and better than Dumbo because the whole family can ride on one carpet. It was getting late and it had been a long day so a quick ride on the monorail and we are back at the Poly ready for bed.
Day 2.
The concierge building we were in was the Tahiti building. This was a temporary location because the Hawaii building was being refurbished. Good news for us the Hawaii building opens today 10/17. I requested a third floor lagoon view, checked all of our luggage with the bell service and we were ready to move upon our return that night. Did I mention the concierge has a lounge with a very good continental breakfast. Really this was very good and everybody found something to eat. They also had plenty of pop and water that we stocked in a soft sided cooler for the day at the parks. This saved us allot of time and money each day.
It was extra magic hour at Animal Kingdom today. I decided it might be better to try and avoid those crowds and head to MGM. With all the packing and storing luggage we were not ready to get there that early anyway. I did what I always do at MGM in the morning, split from the group and head straight for TOT (Tower of terror) and RNR (Rock’n’Roller coaster). I collected fast passes for both. Yes, I took one of the kid’s tickets. I waited in the 40-minute RNR standby line because the fast pass return was quite a bit later. The rest of the group was in desperate need of shopping so they got their fix. After RNR it was time for me to meet up with the group at WWTBAM (Who wants to be a millionaire). They stood me up and I missed that show time. Cell phones came in handy and I quickly met up with them around the corner under the big MGM hat. About that time at least 10 characters came through and spread out for autographs. The girls had to get Lilo and Stitch’s autograph and picture. We then had Mickey bars and I got everybody over to WWTBAM. This was our first time for this show. We had missed it the time before and was on the top of my list this time. I was ready to win the Disney cruise but it didn’t happen. Maybe next time.
I split from the group again. It was time for my fast pass return for both RNR and TOT. The girls were going to do the Great Movie ride and Mermaid show and I am sure more shopping. TOT is great, I wish I didn’t always have to do it by myself. After, it was time to meet for our priority seating at our favorite restaurant Sci-fi Dine-in. This is a great cool dark fun place to rest and have good junk food. Although I had the turkey sandwich this trip.
We then headed for a parade spot for the Mickey’s stars and motorcars parade. We lined up at the start this time, across from Star Tours. Great spot and you could sit on the fence railing. This was our first time to see this parade and it was one of the best. There really isn’t allot at MGM for little kids. My 5 year old is a big Belle fan so our last attraction would be Beauty and the Beast show. I took the kids and my wife and sister in-law did more shopping. We did not do Fantasmic because we had seen it on two other trips, also the 5 year old got a little scared watching this show last time so we will save it for another year.
Bus trip back to the Poly, by the way, the poly bus is shared with the contemporary and always on return trips stops there first, argh. Aloha Hawaii building. Stopped and the concierge desk for our new room keys. They had a third floor room ready for the rest of our stay. Note the Hawaii building second floor rooms do not have balconies suppose to be more realistic or something, also the lounge in the Hawaii building is much bigger and is meant to serve the meals for the concierge guests.
Room 3516. Great and I mean great view of the lagoon and the MK castle. There is also a little peninsula that we watched at least five weddings during our stay. The Hawaii buildings rooms are a little smaller than Tahiti, about two feet, enough that we did not have a double sink in the bathroom any more, only other complaint was the hair drier was circa 1971. Should have been upgraded in the renovation. I made it a point to my wife not to bring her hair drier because they would have one. Mistake. The rest of the night we swam in the volcano pool. Tunnel slide in the volcano was great. I had to go with my 9 year old the first time. After that she loved it. Couldn’t get my 5 year old to even consider that scary thing. 9:00 each night the Poly is treated to the water pageant parade. This night we watched from the beach but had a great view from our room as well. Kids played in the sand and we watched whishes fireworks from the Poly beach for the first time.
More to come later.
