Hey everyone! Since we’ve been back from this trip for over 6 months now and I’ve taken another WDW trip and another cruise, I figured it was time to write this report! I’m not sure I have ever anticipated a trip to WDW more in my life than I anticipated this one! Was it because I was going to be going on my first Disney cruise (and first cruise EVER!!)? Is it because I would finally get to stay at my dream resort, the Polynesian? Was it because I was finally getting to meet all these awesome gals from WDWMagic in person for the first time? Well…. I’d like to think it was a combo of ALL of those things! 
When I first read about the girls cruise, it was October 2011, almost a full 2 years before the cruise was planned. I did some creeping on the thread before I actually even thought about joining in. I was still sort of “new” to the boards and wasn’t sure I would “fit in” so to speak. The more I read about it, the more fun it sounded. I ran the idea past my mother and my sister to see if they would like to go and sure enough, they were in! We officially booked the first of January! We planned on staying 1 night pre-cruise and 3 nights post cruise so our trip would be Saturday Sept 7-Sunday Sept 15. We rented points for Bay Lake Tower after the cruise and had originally booked Wilderness Lodge for before the cruise. My sister and I decided to switch it up and change WL to the Polynesian because A – It’s my dream resort and B – We wanted to celebrate my Mom’s retirement. So we changed it without her knowing. We were originally going to hide the DME tags from her and tell her on DME since we knew that WL, Contemp, the Poly and GF all shared the same DME. We decided to tell her earlier though at her retirement party. She offered to pay us for her portion but we said no, it was our treat!
Anywho, though the cruise was still over a year and a half away when we booked, the time flew by. Over the course of that year and a half, we had many group chats and chatted in the cruise thread. As the cruise crept closer, I knew that I absolutely could not wait to meet this wonderful group of ladies! I knew it would be the BEST time! And was it ever!!
Saturday Sept 7, 2013 – It’s time! It’s time!!!
My alarm went off bright and early Saturday morning at 2:30am. I was already packed and ready to go so Mom picked us up at 3:30am and we were off! We were flying out of Manchester NH on Southwest. Even though Portland’s airport is literally a mile from our house, Manchester had a non-stop flight, with better flight times and was cheaper. So we made the hour and 20 minutes trek to NH. No biggie!
We arrive at MHT at 5am. We hauled our luggage out of the car (all 10 bags! Eek!!) and waited for the shuttle to the main terminal. The bus driver pulled up and opened the door. As we struggled to get our bags onto the bus, the driver just sat there. No offer to help us, nothing. I have flown out of MHT less than a year earlier and the driver then was super helpful. But not this guy!! Mom got in the bus and we handed all our bags up to her. It took us a few minutes to get everything on and all Mr. Bus Driver did was sit there. This trip was NOT off to a good start! That all changed though after we sat down and “Dude Looks Like a Lady” came on the radio. I immediately thought of Rock N Roller Coaster and the fun week that lay ahead of us and pushed Mr. Bus Driver to the back of my head. I immediately texted @plaz10 and told her. I knew she was awake and either at the airport or on her way and would totally understand my excitement for hearing this song! When we reached the terminal, we schlepped all our bags off and bid Mr. Bus Driver a snarky farewell.
We went into the terminal and the security line was pretty much non-existent. We grabbed some Dunks and waited for boarding.
The flight was uneventful and we landed 20 minutes early! Wooooo!! We arrived at DME, hopped on the bus and headed to WDW at 10:30 on the dot!
Typical DME selfie!!
We're heeeeereeeeee!!
We made a stop at WL first and a part of my heart was sad because we weren’t staying there. As we stopped at the Contemporary, I wondered if we should have just stuck with WL since we knew we liked it. What if we hated the Poly? What if Mom hated it? We knew she loved WL, maybe we shouldn’t have changed it! My mind was busy with these thoughts as we made our way from the Contemp to the Poly, but as we made that right turn, pulled up to the gate and I saw the sign reading Polynesian Resort, all my worries went away. I KNEW we had made the right choice!
We got off the bus and were greeted by the amazing waterfalls and lush greenery of the Poly’s entrance. A CM put lei’s on us and said “welcome home!”. Not going to lie, I teared up just a bit! Mom and Ashley both looked at me waiting for the waterworks but thankfully I had my sunglasses on (It’s kind of a running joke with us that I cry over everything so they always look to see if I’m crying over the smallest little thing! Meanies!!! Haha)
We were led into the lobby where we checked in. The CM was looking for our Magic Bands but I told him we got them already. We had wanted to request Tahiti but it was closed as the Poly was starting to begin it’s refurb! We thought we weren’t going to be able to swim in the volcano pool, but the closure of that was a couple days after we left, so we lucked out! We request Tuvalu instead and were given our request. When we had originally booked, we wanted a standard garden view but when I called, it wasn’t showing up anymore (it was online though) the CM told us she could give us a lagoon view though for just $14 more. Well, you don’t have to twist my arm for that! SOLD! And for only $14 more than a garden view.
We took the long way to Tuvalu so we could take in the grounds of the resort. So beautiful.
We were on the ground floor in Tuvalu room 1413. Mom and Ashley let me open the door and be the first one into the room. As I pushed open the door and walked in, taking in the newly refurbished beautiful room, I could feel the tears again. This time, I didn’t care. I burst into tears and said “I can’t believe we are actually staying here!” Some of you might think I am a little weird, crying because of a resort.. Even though it was only for one night, we were staying at the Polynesian! From my first visit in 2001, when I was just 18 and we saw the luau and I first fell in love with the resort, to the many subsequent trips to Kona Café and Ohana trip after trip, I hoped every time that we would someday be able to stay there! That someday we would be able to just walk back to our room after leaving the Grand Ceremonial House instead of going back to another room at another resort. The Polynesian is more than just a resort to me. It is paradise. It was a place I had my heart set on staying for so many years. A place that I would longingly look at from the monorail as we glided past on the Express beam. I would look down at people wandering the grounds, wondering which building they were staying in and thinking how lucky they were. And now we were the lucky ones! FINALLY!
I took some pictures of the room. I LOVED the size of it!
And I loved the bathroom. The only thing I didn’t like, and I believe @fractal mentioned this in his TR too, that the hook for the towel was on the other side of the wall, next to the toilet. Made it a little hard to reach the towel! Also I wasn’t a fan of the sink IN the bathroom, probably since we’re so used to the sink being outside the bathroom but it was only for one night so it wasn’t really an issue.
The closets were cool and we loved having the couch in the room. Ashley was the tough luck loser who had the couch that night while Mom and I each had the bed. Ahhhhh, lucky us! (I wouldn’t be laughing later on in the trip when I was climbing up and down from the pull down bed on the cruise though…. Meh.)
I had yet to look out at the view, so I pulled the curtains back and actually gasped when I saw the view. Slightly to the left was the wedding pavilion and the Grand Floridian. To the right was the boat dock and the Contemporary and straight ahead was Cinderella Castle. We couldn’t see TOO much of it but had Wishes been scheduled for that night, it would have been perfect. Unfortunately, it was Night of Joy and there were no fireworks. Booooo!! We had other plans anyway but had we not, it would have been awesome to watch Wishes from our patio! (Spoiler alert, we ended up NOT having plans later that night so it was very much a bummer that Wishes wasn’t happening!)
We were starving at that point and didn’t have plans until later that afternoon, so we changed into our swimsuits and headed to the GCH. It was time to try Captain Cook’s!!
There were a couple things I wanted to try but most importantly, I wanted to try the Poly chip! Jess ( @plaz10 ) and I had been discussing these beauties for a bit before the cruise. She was staying at Bay Lake Tower with Siobhan ( @Tiggerish ) that night but we made plans to meet up a bit later. I opted for the Aloha Pork Sandwich which came with Asian slaw on top and the Poly chips!
Ashley got the chicken sandwich and fries and I can’t remember what Mom got. The pork sandwich was delish!! And the Poly chips… Oh Mylanta! Were those delicious! I’m eating some Wasabi almonds right now but boy do I wish I were eating those chips instead! The chips were the first of MANY ridiculously good foods I was going to try over the course of the trip! Ashley like her chicken sandwich and Mom liked… whatever it was that she got!! Lol
When I first read about the girls cruise, it was October 2011, almost a full 2 years before the cruise was planned. I did some creeping on the thread before I actually even thought about joining in. I was still sort of “new” to the boards and wasn’t sure I would “fit in” so to speak. The more I read about it, the more fun it sounded. I ran the idea past my mother and my sister to see if they would like to go and sure enough, they were in! We officially booked the first of January! We planned on staying 1 night pre-cruise and 3 nights post cruise so our trip would be Saturday Sept 7-Sunday Sept 15. We rented points for Bay Lake Tower after the cruise and had originally booked Wilderness Lodge for before the cruise. My sister and I decided to switch it up and change WL to the Polynesian because A – It’s my dream resort and B – We wanted to celebrate my Mom’s retirement. So we changed it without her knowing. We were originally going to hide the DME tags from her and tell her on DME since we knew that WL, Contemp, the Poly and GF all shared the same DME. We decided to tell her earlier though at her retirement party. She offered to pay us for her portion but we said no, it was our treat!
Anywho, though the cruise was still over a year and a half away when we booked, the time flew by. Over the course of that year and a half, we had many group chats and chatted in the cruise thread. As the cruise crept closer, I knew that I absolutely could not wait to meet this wonderful group of ladies! I knew it would be the BEST time! And was it ever!!
Saturday Sept 7, 2013 – It’s time! It’s time!!!
My alarm went off bright and early Saturday morning at 2:30am. I was already packed and ready to go so Mom picked us up at 3:30am and we were off! We were flying out of Manchester NH on Southwest. Even though Portland’s airport is literally a mile from our house, Manchester had a non-stop flight, with better flight times and was cheaper. So we made the hour and 20 minutes trek to NH. No biggie!
We arrive at MHT at 5am. We hauled our luggage out of the car (all 10 bags! Eek!!) and waited for the shuttle to the main terminal. The bus driver pulled up and opened the door. As we struggled to get our bags onto the bus, the driver just sat there. No offer to help us, nothing. I have flown out of MHT less than a year earlier and the driver then was super helpful. But not this guy!! Mom got in the bus and we handed all our bags up to her. It took us a few minutes to get everything on and all Mr. Bus Driver did was sit there. This trip was NOT off to a good start! That all changed though after we sat down and “Dude Looks Like a Lady” came on the radio. I immediately thought of Rock N Roller Coaster and the fun week that lay ahead of us and pushed Mr. Bus Driver to the back of my head. I immediately texted @plaz10 and told her. I knew she was awake and either at the airport or on her way and would totally understand my excitement for hearing this song! When we reached the terminal, we schlepped all our bags off and bid Mr. Bus Driver a snarky farewell.
We went into the terminal and the security line was pretty much non-existent. We grabbed some Dunks and waited for boarding.
The flight was uneventful and we landed 20 minutes early! Wooooo!! We arrived at DME, hopped on the bus and headed to WDW at 10:30 on the dot!
Typical DME selfie!!
We're heeeeereeeeee!!
We made a stop at WL first and a part of my heart was sad because we weren’t staying there. As we stopped at the Contemporary, I wondered if we should have just stuck with WL since we knew we liked it. What if we hated the Poly? What if Mom hated it? We knew she loved WL, maybe we shouldn’t have changed it! My mind was busy with these thoughts as we made our way from the Contemp to the Poly, but as we made that right turn, pulled up to the gate and I saw the sign reading Polynesian Resort, all my worries went away. I KNEW we had made the right choice!
We got off the bus and were greeted by the amazing waterfalls and lush greenery of the Poly’s entrance. A CM put lei’s on us and said “welcome home!”. Not going to lie, I teared up just a bit! Mom and Ashley both looked at me waiting for the waterworks but thankfully I had my sunglasses on (It’s kind of a running joke with us that I cry over everything so they always look to see if I’m crying over the smallest little thing! Meanies!!! Haha)
We were led into the lobby where we checked in. The CM was looking for our Magic Bands but I told him we got them already. We had wanted to request Tahiti but it was closed as the Poly was starting to begin it’s refurb! We thought we weren’t going to be able to swim in the volcano pool, but the closure of that was a couple days after we left, so we lucked out! We request Tuvalu instead and were given our request. When we had originally booked, we wanted a standard garden view but when I called, it wasn’t showing up anymore (it was online though) the CM told us she could give us a lagoon view though for just $14 more. Well, you don’t have to twist my arm for that! SOLD! And for only $14 more than a garden view.
We took the long way to Tuvalu so we could take in the grounds of the resort. So beautiful.
We were on the ground floor in Tuvalu room 1413. Mom and Ashley let me open the door and be the first one into the room. As I pushed open the door and walked in, taking in the newly refurbished beautiful room, I could feel the tears again. This time, I didn’t care. I burst into tears and said “I can’t believe we are actually staying here!” Some of you might think I am a little weird, crying because of a resort.. Even though it was only for one night, we were staying at the Polynesian! From my first visit in 2001, when I was just 18 and we saw the luau and I first fell in love with the resort, to the many subsequent trips to Kona Café and Ohana trip after trip, I hoped every time that we would someday be able to stay there! That someday we would be able to just walk back to our room after leaving the Grand Ceremonial House instead of going back to another room at another resort. The Polynesian is more than just a resort to me. It is paradise. It was a place I had my heart set on staying for so many years. A place that I would longingly look at from the monorail as we glided past on the Express beam. I would look down at people wandering the grounds, wondering which building they were staying in and thinking how lucky they were. And now we were the lucky ones! FINALLY!
I took some pictures of the room. I LOVED the size of it!
And I loved the bathroom. The only thing I didn’t like, and I believe @fractal mentioned this in his TR too, that the hook for the towel was on the other side of the wall, next to the toilet. Made it a little hard to reach the towel! Also I wasn’t a fan of the sink IN the bathroom, probably since we’re so used to the sink being outside the bathroom but it was only for one night so it wasn’t really an issue.
The closets were cool and we loved having the couch in the room. Ashley was the tough luck loser who had the couch that night while Mom and I each had the bed. Ahhhhh, lucky us! (I wouldn’t be laughing later on in the trip when I was climbing up and down from the pull down bed on the cruise though…. Meh.)
I had yet to look out at the view, so I pulled the curtains back and actually gasped when I saw the view. Slightly to the left was the wedding pavilion and the Grand Floridian. To the right was the boat dock and the Contemporary and straight ahead was Cinderella Castle. We couldn’t see TOO much of it but had Wishes been scheduled for that night, it would have been perfect. Unfortunately, it was Night of Joy and there were no fireworks. Booooo!! We had other plans anyway but had we not, it would have been awesome to watch Wishes from our patio! (Spoiler alert, we ended up NOT having plans later that night so it was very much a bummer that Wishes wasn’t happening!)
We were starving at that point and didn’t have plans until later that afternoon, so we changed into our swimsuits and headed to the GCH. It was time to try Captain Cook’s!!
There were a couple things I wanted to try but most importantly, I wanted to try the Poly chip! Jess ( @plaz10 ) and I had been discussing these beauties for a bit before the cruise. She was staying at Bay Lake Tower with Siobhan ( @Tiggerish ) that night but we made plans to meet up a bit later. I opted for the Aloha Pork Sandwich which came with Asian slaw on top and the Poly chips!
Ashley got the chicken sandwich and fries and I can’t remember what Mom got. The pork sandwich was delish!! And the Poly chips… Oh Mylanta! Were those delicious! I’m eating some Wasabi almonds right now but boy do I wish I were eating those chips instead! The chips were the first of MANY ridiculously good foods I was going to try over the course of the trip! Ashley like her chicken sandwich and Mom liked… whatever it was that she got!! Lol
There was no going back ..lol.
