Trip Report **Completed** It's My Birthday (and its a hot one...)!

Hey guys my computer isn't here yet but I really want to start my TR so I'm slowly uploading pictures hoping my computer can handle it :rolleyes: So, it will be a slow start but here we go!!

Who?
Just my Mom and I (Mary and Megan)...as if you don't know us by now :)
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When?
July 4- 14th!

Where?
The Polynesian :)

Why?
I'm off all summer and I always wanted to go to Disney for my Birthday so why not!

T-1 Day
I finished residency the Friday before leaving but this day was insane for me trying to get a bunch of training and applications done before I left. I was also trying to finish ALL our packing...since we are not light packers...:joyfull::joyfull: These are just my two suitcases
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Anyway we were finally all set to go and we were out for a quick walk before bed when my sister called me and told me Max (my nephew) was having trouble walking. :( Long story short she had to take him to the ER but it all turned out OK and it was just swelling in his knee from his recent ear infection. Luckily we knew all was OK by like 10:30 and could still get some rest!

Day 1 - July 4, 2017
We had a later flight (aka not 6 am) so we could sleep in a bit, but we were going to Disney so I still woke up at 6am :) I still didn't drag myself out of bed until 7 am though, don't worry :)
We got ready and took our usual "kidnapping" pictures :)
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Soon enough it was 8 am and we were off to the airport !
Southwest in our airport had a new self check in thing so we tried it out. This gave my flash backs to when I flew out of Canada to Punta Cana and struggled with self check-in but this was much easier and it only took me a few minutes to figure out the luggage tags :) The whole thing, however, made my Mom very nervous so she was glad I was doing it :p
When we brought our luggage to the counter the worker was saying that we MUST be going to Disney World (based off the DME tags and the Minnie Mouse suitcases) and how he and his coworkers go to Disney several times a year too :) We were lucky to have TSA pre-check and the TSA worker was so sweet about our matching shirts and saying she loved them. Anyway, the whole experience was very pleasant and I looked at my phone when we were through and it was 8:27 am. Drove to airport, checked luggage, and went through security all in 27 minutes :)
We were pretty hungry so checked out the Anchor Bar's breakfast menu but we were not feeling it (and we are creatures of habit) so went to get our usual bagel breakfast :)
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Petey was there of course
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We enjoyed our bagels then headed to our gate to wait. It was a VERY slow airport day (probably since its a holiday) so it was kind of nice to relax in the quiet. Soon enough we were on the plane!
When I got up in the morning my Lambie (yes I have one) was on the floor by my carry on. I had no idea how she got there but it was like a sign that I had to bring her so I did :)
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Magic Bands unite!
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We were lucky enough to be seated in row 3 and there was a dog behind us which made it even better :)
Our flight was actually about 20 minutes longer than usual but we entertained ourselves with The Keepers from Netflix (love that you can download stuff to use offline) and we had a fantastic flight crew!
You all know what happens first at the airport (well besides the bathroom...)! The fonorail!!
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Next up: down to DME!
 
Last edited:

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 1 continued
I wanted to do our first FP before eating lunch so we headed over to BTMR. I say it every time but why oh why do I choose the back of the park for our first FP every time!
It was very evident already how hot it was going to be this trip. It actually prevented me from taking a 1000 unnecessary pictures (too hot to drag my camera out) though so I guess thats good :)
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In line they kept saying the ride may close because of storms in the area but luckily we made it on! I remember just beaming the whole time thinking about how happy I was to be in Disney :) Sounds corny but its true!
After our ride we ran into F of F which was delayed because of rain and thunder (although it never actually rained more than a few small drops)!
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We were behind the slowest moving people possible but I had to remember that it was probably because they were in the heat all day and we just got there so we were OK :)
We decided to eat lunch at the Columbia Harbor House since it was close. We split the adult chicken nugget meal :)
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While we were sitting there I was digging through my bag and could not find my phone (but randomly did not panic :p). I was wondering if I lost it on BTMR because I noticed my bag was not zippered when I got off. Luckily when my Mom called it it was actually just stuck in my Frog Togg! Phew, crisis averted!
After this we headed towards our next FP..Buzz of course!
This is the only picture I have of us heading towards Buzz?
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Buzz wasn't working very well and we waited about 20 minutes in the FP line :cautious: I kept getting hit in the face with water from a squirt fan while in line and the wife of the guy doing it to me saw it happening and still didn't say anything to him about stopping...:joyfull:. I was not going to complain though because it actually felt good :rolleyes:
I don't believe the pictures were working either...but we still had fun!
After this is was time for....the Peoplemover! We waited about 15 minutes for this too...clearly it was a crowded day :)
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The sky looked very ominous
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After our nice breezy ride on the Peoplemover we headed to our next FP...7DMT!
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Snow White wasn't dancing at the end...it looked so weird haha
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Next up: heading out of the MK
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 1 continued
We decided to head out of the park after this :)
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We headed right into Move it Shake it Traffic. No worries it made us stop and take some Photopass pictures :)
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We sent this next one to our family :)
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Loved that 4th of July sign! So cute!
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We hopped on the monorail and back to the Poly. We wanted to take full advantage of the Club Level so checked out the appetizers :) It was packed in there so we kind of mulled around a bit. Someone actually checked our MBs at some point to be sure we were supposed to be there. All I remember eating is cheese but I wrote down "peanut butter and jelly, cheese, short ribs, hummus, hot dogs" so I'm assuming those were my mental notes of what they had. I did take one random picture because I thought the peanut butter and jelly looked so cute :)
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Next up: some short relaxation!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 1 continued
I do remember taking our snacks back to our room since it was so crowded :)
In honor of @Tuvalu (and I was sure to send her a picture) we tried the Ku U Lei. It was delicious :) Look a clock in the room!
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We had already had turn down service actually haha
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Despite the sky outside it never did rain
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We relaxed in our room and watched Jeopardy before getting dressed and heading to the Contemporary!
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On the monorail we could already see the crazy amount of people both at Bay Lake Tower and the California Grill deck waiting for the 4th of July fireworks. I was overly concerned about this and if it would be too crowded but I tried to calm myself down and remind myself fireworks are in sky and you can still see them :) The Club level at the Polynesian had their own beach party (VIP access only :joyfull:) for the fireworks and I was borderline sad we weren't there.
There were tons of people on the monorail chatting about how they were going to to Top of the World Lounge but they weren't DVC...good luck with that! :p
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First Birthday button appearance @DisneyJeff
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Anyway, we ended up checking in for dinner early and went right out to the deck to wait for fireworks :)
It was crowded but manageable so I was happy with that (but was willing my phone to text me that my table was ready :joyfull:).
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Next up: fireworks suspense continued
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 1 continued
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Well, as luck would have it we got our text that the table was ready at 8:45! Woohoo!
Birthday celebrations at the table :)
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As you can see from the picture of me our table wasn't right by the windows like I hoped it would be and I was somewhat bummed that we didn't stay on the deck for a better view. My Mom and I were discussing me being able to see and it sounded like we were arguing :p The people around us were probably like....that girl is a brat :joyfull:
Well it turns out the fireworks are shot off like mirror images and it was actually a perfect spot we were in the see both sides of the fireworks! All that worrying for nothing! PS our waiter kept asking us if we wanted to order during fireworks. Shhh sir!
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Of course I would have still preferred to be closer to the window but thats OK :)
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The fireworks were incredible!!! Loved the music and how many fireworks there were and I was so happy we were able to see them! I would love to come back for the 4th of July someday and even though they were great from the California Grill I feel like next time I would like to watch them either from the Poly or in the park :) Just for a different view!
After the fireworks my Mom and I ordered some wine (Riesling for me Moscato for my Mom)
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Bread time!
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Next up: California Grill continued
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 1 continued
Butter...
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Due to the fact that there were SO many people watching the fireworks it was chaotic at the California Grill. Since everyone was essentially waiting for one elevator they were all lined up behind my Mom and kept shoving into her seat. The whole thing was very disruptive and super annoying. I know there was nothing they could do about it but it was hard to even focus on dinner. On top of that I had worked myself up so much about fireworks and traveling that I wasn't even feeling that well :hungover:
Still we powered through and started off with the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli for an appetizer
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That was delicious as usual!
For entrees I ordered the Oak Fired Filet of Beef and my Mom ordered the Bell and Evans chicken
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My beef was great and so was the risotto. I could only eat about a third of it though. My Mom's chicken on the other hand was underwhelming at best. It actually was making me sick to even look at it was so unappealing. The veggies were good though!
Our server was awful too. We barely saw him the whole night and we were sitting there for long periods of time waiting for our food/the check.
I suppose the one advantage was that we were alone with like only two other people in our row of tables :)
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So a few weeks before we left my Mom decided she wanted to order me a cake for my Birthday for the California Grill. I was the one who called to order it since I knew the process :p. They talked me into this new cake they had so I said sure.
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Look how cute it is!! It even had a tail!
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*sorry lots of words coming up*
We weren't the least but hungry but we each tried a small slice of the cake and sadly it wasn't very good. I should have just stayed with the old cake! It was very mousey (is that a word?) and really did not have much cake to it at all. Worst of all we realized we were moving rooms in the morning and had no clue how we would move the cake too....:cautious:. Why didn't I think of this until this moment?
Well...I feel like theres a lot of negativity in this post but truly it was the worst experience we ever had at California Grill. The service was dismal, the crowds were annoying and my Mom's food was actually pretty terrible. Fireworks were the only positive. We both agreed that we should have just split some appetizers since we weren't that hungry anyway and we were sitting there so long. I felt so bad that it was so expensive and we didn't really eat that much...we really need to be more conscious about sharing. We almost wanted to cancel our other CG reservations coming up but we decided to keep them and just stick with the appetizers for a little bit.
After leaving we waited a long while for the monorail and finally made it back to the Poly. We were agonizing a bit over what to do with the cake and my Mom was saying we should just throw it out since it wasn't good anyway. I felt so bad about that and wasting money so I was going to ask the desk if we could store it somewhere cold while we changed rooms. As we were getting off the monorail some girl wished me a Happy Birthday and was like "where's my cake" (noticing the box in my hand)? On a whim I asked her if she wanted the cake and said we only ate a small bite and everything we ate was with a fork or broken off (the ears mainly). She asked what kind it was and I said chocolate and she said she would take it :jawdrop::joyfull::rolleyes::eek:. I handed it to her and she said she was "low key kidding" but was super happy we gave her the cake to share with her friends and we were happy we didn't waste the cake !! Oh Disney....a place where you can trust getting food from strangers :D
Anyway after all this we headed off to bed!

Next up Day 2
 

susan lees

Well-Known Member
Day 1 continued
Butter...
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Due to the fact that there were SO many people watching the fireworks it was chaotic at the California Grill. Since everyone was essentially waiting for one elevator they were all lined up behind my Mom and kept shoving into her seat. The whole thing was very disruptive and super annoying. I know there was nothing they could do about it but it was hard to even focus on dinner. On top of that I had worked myself up so much about fireworks and traveling that I wasn't even feeling that well :hungover:
Still we powered through and started off with the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli for an appetizer
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That was delicious as usual!
For entrees I ordered the Oak Fired Filet of Beef and my Mom ordered the Bell and Evans chicken
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My beef was great and so was the risotto. I could only eat about a third of it though. My Mom's chicken on the other hand was underwhelming at best. It actually was making me sick to even look at it was so unappealing. The veggies were good though!
Our server was awful too. We barely saw him the whole night and we were sitting there for long periods of time waiting for our food/the check.
I suppose the one advantage was that we were alone with like only two other people in our row of tables :)
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So a few weeks before we left my Mom decided she wanted to order me a cake for my Birthday for the California Grill. I was the one who called to order it since I knew the process :p. They talked me into this new cake they had so I said sure.
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Look how cute it is!! It even had a tail!
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*sorry lots of words coming up*
We weren't the least but hungry but we each tried a small slice of the cake and sadly it wasn't very good. I should have just stayed with the old cake! It was very mousey (is that a word?) and really did not have much cake to it at all. Worst of all we realized we were moving rooms in the morning and had no clue how we would move the cake too....:cautious:. Why didn't I think of this until this moment?
Well...I feel like theres a lot of negativity in this post but truly it was the worst experience we ever had at California Grill. The service was dismal, the crowds were annoying and my Mom's food was actually pretty terrible. Fireworks were the only positive. We both agreed that we should have just split some appetizers since we weren't that hungry anyway and we were sitting there so long. I felt so bad that it was so expensive and we didn't really eat that much...we really need to be more conscious about sharing. We almost wanted to cancel our other CG reservations coming up but we decided to keep them and just stick with the appetizers for a little bit.
After leaving we waited a long while for the monorail and finally made it back to the Poly. We were agonizing a bit over what to do with the cake and my Mom was saying we should just throw it out since it wasn't good anyway. I felt so bad about that and wasting money so I was going to ask the desk if we could store it somewhere cold while we changed rooms. As we were getting off the monorail some girl wished me a Happy Birthday and was like "where's my cake" (noticing the box in my hand)? On a whim I asked her if she wanted the cake and said we only ate a small bite and everything we ate was with a fork or broken off (the ears mainly). She asked what kind it was and I said chocolate and she said she would take it :jawdrop::joyfull::rolleyes::eek:. I handed it to her and she said she was "low key kidding" but was super happy we gave her the cake to share with her friends and we were happy we didn't waste the cake !! Oh Disney....a place where you can trust getting food from strangers :D
Anyway after all this we headed off to bed!

Next up Day 2
Such a shame about your CG experience. We've never been but our son did enjoy it when he went. We still would like to try it.
Glad your cake didn't go to waste.
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
That 4th of July sign was adorable. It would look great on my front door. :D

So cute right? I kind of want to make one now!

Not cool about your CG experience this time. It will be better the next time you go. I have faith in the magic.

I have complete faith it will be fine next time. I really think everyone was overwhelmed by all the chaos of the 4th of July!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
That's such a shame about your CG experience. :( I've only ever read good things about it on here & we had an amazing time there in May. Hopefully your next reservation will be much better :) The fireworks looked amazing!!

We have been there so many times before and have loved every minute of it! Even the best of restaurants have off days so we understand! Plus the fireworks were incredible so I can't take away from that :)

Such a shame about your CG experience. We've never been but our son did enjoy it when he went. We still would like to try it.
Glad your cake didn't go to waste.

Its definitely worth a try! We have been there tons of time and otherwise had wonderful experiences!!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Following along! What better way to celebrate your birthday than at Disney.
That is too bad about you CG dinner and the cake especially when you pay so much for it.

I was so happy to be able to spend my Birthday in Disney :) I'm sure CG just had an off day! It was just a bummer to start the trip like that :)

The cake looked really cool!! :)

It was so cool! Just didn't taste cool haha
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm here! So glad you started your TR. Sorry your CG experience was not up to par. That was super nice of you to give your cake away! Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip.

Thank you for following along!!! The rest of the trip went uphill from CG!

Sprinkling someone with pixie dust by giving them your cake was a wonderful thing to do.

Thank you! We felt so much better that we didn't throw it out ! And she was actually really excited when I gave it to her so I felt good about that :)
 

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