Trip Report UPDATE 11/2 "Anyone have change for $100?" It's all about the Bennys, baby! A Girls Cruise TR!

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
 

PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Mom stayed down on the island we shuffled back very quickly to the room, grabbed our stuff and headed back out. We spotted these two guys and decided to stop for a picture. How can you resists, I mean, look how cute they are in their swimsuits?!








There she is.. what a beauty!










This is one of my favorite pictures I took on the whole trip!




We took the tram to Pelican Point and checked in at the station for the cabana guests. I guess Missy had our wristbands but we hadn't seen her since the run earlier and she didn't have them with her. We walked over and joined our fellow WDWMagic girls in Cabana #7! We had 5, 6 and 7... Woooo!!




We were all mixing in between all the cabanas and when we got there Tammy was there and Jess and Diane showed up a few minutes after we did. They had gotten stuck in the mini rainstorm that had rolled in. The clouds were coming in and the sky looked awfully dark. This was the view from our cabana. Absolutely perfect!






We had a private beach in front of the cabanas for cabana guests only. The sky looks a little friendly over there....






We never got over to try the slides, but there is Pelican Plunge.




Here are the cabanas from the beach.. From left to right Cabana 7, 6 and 5 :)



 

Tiggerfanatic

Well-Known Member
Love this post! The verandah was my favorite thing about the room. Not sure I could cruise without a verandah!!! lol

I see in your signature that you are going to be down in WDW in November! We are currently planning to cruise November 8-15 but plans may change if Ashley's work goes on strike and we may end up at WDW the 8-16 instead. If so, we NEED to meet up and have a drink or two or three! :D
I am absolutely spoiled with the verandah. No cruising without one.

And count me in on those drinks in November - I'll be there, too!
 

HakunaMatata89

Well-Known Member
these trip reports make me wish i had taken one before i got transferred. i used to work on one of the CG boats next to all the cruise ships in the Port, our trips wern't as comfortable

your pics are awesome tho looks like a lot of fun
 

Tiggerish

Resident Redhead
Premium Member
Love this post! The verandah was my favorite thing about the room. Not sure I could cruise without a verandah!!! lol

I see in your signature that you are going to be down in WDW in November! We are currently planning to cruise November 8-15 but plans may change if Ashley's work goes on strike and we may end up at WDW the 8-16 instead. If so, we NEED to meet up and have a drink or two or three! :D

It seems odd to "hope" for a strike, but YEAH!! Nov. 6-10 is a mini Girls Cruise reunion around the Wine & Dine running events--Shannon, Courtney, Holly & Jess P (now S) are running the half-marathon while Sherry and I cheer for them! Carousing will happen. ;)
 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
It seems odd to "hope" for a strike, but YEAH!! Nov. 6-10 is a mini Girls Cruise reunion around the Wine & Dine running events--Shannon, Courtney, Holly & Jess P (now S) are running the half-marathon while Sherry and I cheer for them! Carousing will happen. ;)

OMG I hope Ashley goes on strike. I have no shame in saying that! I'm so excited for November! It may or may not be overshadowing my August trip with Mom/Sister...:angelic:

Uhhh I didn't say that....

Oh wait yeah I did they aren't on this site! CANNOT WAIT FOR NOVEMBER. YAY FOR THE STRIKE!
 

PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It seems odd to "hope" for a strike, but YEAH!! Nov. 6-10 is a mini Girls Cruise reunion around the Wine & Dine running events--Shannon, Courtney, Holly & Jess P (now S) are running the half-marathon while Sherry and I cheer for them! Carousing will happen. ;)

OMG I hope Ashley goes on strike. I have no shame in saying that! I'm so excited for November! It may or may not be overshadowing my August trip with Mom/Sister...:angelic:

Uhhh I didn't say that....

Oh wait yeah I did they aren't on this site! CANNOT WAIT FOR NOVEMBER. YAY FOR THE STRIKE!

STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE...:D

OMG Darolyn, those Castaway Cay pictures...paradise!!

haha, she is hoping they DON'T strike because she doesn't want to picket in the hot August heat but everything is just kind of happening all at the same time it seems. The union is trying to talk with Fairpoint about extending the contract and Fairpoint is like we have no interest in renewing a contract with you. But they will have to. They'll go down the tubes if they don't have any employees, obviously. Just depends how long it takes them to do it. Strike is set for August 2 and our 90 days out for the cruise is August 10 then the 75 day cancel or pay a price deadline is August 25. If there isn't anything resolved by then, we have to cancel the cruise. We can't take a chance and have her not be able to save additional vacation money should they strike for a lot longer. She will get paid like $200 a week for strike pay and that will have to go to all her bills. So if we have to cancel, we will just change to WDW. That way, we can cancel right up until the day before and not be penalized should her strike last until November.... Dear lord, I hope it doesn't! lol
 

PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
these trip reports make me wish i had taken one before i got transferred. i used to work on one of the CG boats next to all the cruise ships in the Port, our trips wern't as comfortable

your pics are awesome tho looks like a lot of fun

I've done 2 cruise so far and they really are lots of fun! Completely different than WDW trips, that's for sure. A totally different pace.
 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Alright so selfishly I want you guys to be at WDW so we can meet up!!! But cruising is so fun and I wouldn't want you guys to have to cancel the cruise! So it's a win win...either cruising (yay) or wdw and meeting up with some awesome ladies (double yay!) so it's all good!

I've been doing nothing but re-reading wdwmagic girls cruise TRs recently...:oops: I'm so ready to get on a ship again!
 

PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Alright so selfishly I want you guys to be at WDW so we can meet up!!! But cruising is so fun and I wouldn't want you guys to have to cancel the cruise! So it's a win win...either cruising (yay) or wdw and meeting up with some awesome ladies (double yay!) so it's all good!

I've been doing nothing but re-reading wdwmagic girls cruise TRs recently...:oops: I'm so ready to get on a ship again!

I hear ya! As bummed as I would be about canceling the cruise, at least WDW is a fabulous backup plan, right? We also debated going to Disneyland again cause rates to LA that week are really cheap (cheaper than Orlando!) but we want to wait until next year and go back for the 60th so WDW it is! Where are y'all staying? I think we're going to aim for POFQ. Never stayed there before!
 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
I hear ya! As bummed as I would be about canceling the cruise, at least WDW is a fabulous backup plan, right? We also debated going to Disneyland again cause rates to LA that week are really cheap (cheaper than Orlando!) but we want to wait until next year and go back for the 60th so WDW it is! Where are y'all staying? I think we're going to aim for POFQ. Never stayed there before!

We are staying at Riverside (Royal Room)!!! I believe Sherry and Siobhan are staying at Old Key West.

I really love POFQ. It's small and that's why I love it. Super close to bus/food court/etc...
 

PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We are staying at Riverside (Royal Room)!!! I believe Sherry and Siobhan are staying at Old Key West.

I really love POFQ. It's small and that's why I love it. Super close to bus/food court/etc...

We will be neighbors then. Heyyyyyyyyyy!! lol It's a toss up between POR and POFQ. We will see what discounts come out! The crappy thing is, since I know discounts will come out before we have to make any decisions regarding the cruise, I have to dig into my savings and a book a week at one of the resorts so we can make sure to get a discount, just in case. I know I'll get the $$ back if we don't end up needing it, it just stinks to have to tie up some of my money for that. Oh well! It's only a one night deposit so it could be worse! My mom is like "why not just wait until we know about the cruise?" and my OCD over-planner self is like "NO! We NEED the discount so we NEED to book a room!" No wonder she doesn't like planning trips with me :rolleyes:
 

Tiggerish

Resident Redhead
Premium Member
Hades was so good! The same guy played Hades on our cruise in February, too. Tarzan was also the same... yummy! And another good looking fella I recognized as well.

Same here...except in February I was cruising with the hubby, so I had to keep the drooling to a minimum while Tarzan was on stage. :D Another great reason to go on the girls' cruises!! ;)
 

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