Trip Report A Full Moon March Disney Trip

Hi Everyone!!

If you can read this, thank the Phoenicians. We just returned from our Disney trip and I'm really feeling the Blues now. It was an amazing and very different trip than we've had in the past. Here we go!!

The Cast:
Mom
Alex
And me! (Donna)

When: February 28-March 7
Where: The POLYNESIAN Villas (!!!!)

This trip starts with Alex and I getting to the airport around 2pm for our 5pm flight. Since we had so much time to kill, we decided to go get some food! I didn't take food photos, but I got this great shot of Alex with our beers (Bud Light for me, Sam Adams for Alex)

We actually took a long time eating (that plus the place was PACKED slowed us down). We finally get over to our gate at 4:30 and they're already almost done boarding! By the time we get on board and take off, we've left a good 15 minutes early. Woohoo! I'll take an extra 15 minutes in Florida . We had a nice and uneventful flight to Orlando, we landed around 7:15pm (almost 30 minutes early!) and then we just sat on the tarmac.... There went my extra 15 minutes .

Next we went and grabbed our luggage (which took FOREVER) then went outside to try to find our ride.

Nope, not yet! But SOON!

After trekking around outside with our luggage for about 20 minutes, we finally found our shuttle. Glorious air-conditioned shuttle! Then we headed to our first hotel of the trip: Comfort Suites Orlando Airport. We did this since Mom isn't flying in until the next day and I found an amazing deal on flights for this night. Airport hotel with free shuttle it was! And even with the additional hotel expense, it was STILL cheaper than if we flew in the next day.

A 10 minute shuttle ride later, we arrived (photo borrowed from Google Images):

We checked in quickly and went up to our room.

Obviously, there was more to the room, but I was tired from traveling and we were on a mission!

Once we dropped off our luggage and gave the room a once-over (it was nice, not anything fancy, but just fine for 1 night) we went back downstairs and called an Uber. Where did we go?! Walmart! We needed supplies and since we weren't going directly to Disney we opted out of the Garden Grocer option and went to Walmart instead. There we got beer, wine, snacks, and these babies (also another Google photo).

So apparently, the Walmart we chose to shop (was closest to our hotel) is kind of in a bad area. As mentioned in the title to this report, there was a full moon (or mostly full) for the entire length of our trip. Let's just say there were a lot of interesting people at this Walmart after dark. Our Uber driver back to the hotel helped us forget by being super bubbly and extremely chatty. Her name was Jessica and she was great, but never took a breath!

We returned to our room where we ate a Walmart Deli dinner, had a beer (Bud Light), and went to bed. We're going to DISNEY tomorrow!

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Yes, it's hard to get a good fireworks spot in Epcot! I do love those fireworks! A nighttime ride on SSE sounds really fun, even though it broke down.

Good for you for only eating french toast while on vacation! I love french toast but don't have the willpower you do! The Grand Floridian Cafe, what a great tip for an ADR!
I'm not capable of doing full "off days," but we do rest in the am, or do a ADR and then go to a party at night, like MVMCP! Even a little bit of a break like that can really recharge batteries!!

Can't wait to hear what you do next!

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

OMG, Alex's shirt!!! I love that!! I absolutely love Robin Hood, it's one of my favorites and kind of obscure too. Where did you guys find that?

I really think this is the greatest shirt ever! I got it from Redbubble.com. I've tried to buy the same one again (I'd probably order 10 more if I could) but I couldn't find it again They have a similar one, but it's not the same.

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

Yes, it's hard to get a good fireworks spot in Epcot! I do love those fireworks! A nighttime ride on SSE sounds really fun, even though it broke down.

Good for you for only eating french toast while on vacation! I love french toast but don't have the willpower you do! The Grand Floridian Cafe, what a great tip for an ADR!
I'm not capable of doing full "off days," but we do rest in the am, or do a ADR and then go to a party at night, like MVMCP! Even a little bit of a break like that can really recharge batteries!!

Can't wait to hear what you do next!

This was also the first Friday night of the Flower & Garden Festival, so it was much more crowded than normal. We just didn't want to deal with the crowds after the show. I LOVE SSE, I just hope they update it enough to keep it going smoothly. And yes, definitely try Grand Floridian Cafe! I loved it! Thank you for reading!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Really loving the TR so far! That view from your room is amazing!!!

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

Really loving the TR so far! That view from your room is amazing!!!

It really was an Unbelievable view! I will never forget it! Thank you so much for reading!

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

Alright, I'm back! Sorry, the "real world" keeps getting in the way.

Saturday, March 3 Continued

After our amazing (for me) lunch at GF Café, we hopped on the monorail.

Am I the only one who thinks monorail yellow looks like Donald Duck??

We were heading to...

I honestly have no idea what I was thinking, going to MK on a Saturday afternoon.. it was SO CROWDED. We had Fastpasses for later in the day, so we headed to Tomorrowland to find something to do before then. Our first idea was to hop on the PeopleMover again.. because why not?!

This was "part" of the line

Pretty sure waited a good 25 minutes... for the PEOPLEMOVER

Oh well, it was nice and sunny out so we tried not to let the crowds bother us. And soon we were on!

My leggings for the day

After our relaxing ride, it was still too soon for our first FP so we headed to a nice, air-conditioned, Disney staple- Carousel of Progress! I LOVE this but I don't get on it every trip. Since it was so crowded, this was a nice way to escape for a bit. I really hope they never get rid of this... I wish they could just update the last scene without ruining Walt's vision, if that makes sense.

After COP, we still had a few minutes before our first FP so we made our way over. Mickey turned blue, so we must have been more than 15 minutes early. Oops! However, the nice CM let us in anyway (I guess they can see what our actual FP time is?). Where did we go?

Monster's Inc Laugh Floor! One of my favorites! I know we didn't necessarily need a FP for this (the line was a good 20 minutes though), this FP was mainly to make sure we went. This is definitely a must-do for us on every trip and this show did not disappoint! I remember it being much different than in the past, there were new jokes, etc. So much fun!

After Monster's Inc, we had at least a full hour until our next FP- Space Mountain. SM had also gone down earlier in the day, so every time we walked by it the FP line was a mile long! We decided to walk around for a bit and try not to get trampled by all the people... did I mention that it was CROWDED?

By the time we got back to the hub, we were all tired, hot, and annoyed from the crowds. I still don't know what I was thinking! MK on a Saturday?? WHY?
Then we had a brilliant, if stupid, idea. Let's go back to the resort and Finally watch the fireworks from our balcony. It was about 5pm at this point and I hated leaving since it was our last MK day, but we were all agreed that we were over it. So today's ticket was wasted on about 3 hours of park time with 2 rides and 1 show completed. We probably should have stuck with my original plan and made this a full day off. Oh well!

Next up- finishing up day 3

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

Saturday, March 3 Continued

After getting back to the Poly via monorail, we headed to our room to put our stuff down and decide on a game plan for the rest of the evening.

I took this photo of the bamboo outside of our room, when the wind blew this stuff would squeak like crazy. It was scary until we realized it was just the bamboo!

After relaxing in the room for a bit, we were STARVING. So we headed back to Capt Cooks

It was a nice night, but getting chilly fast! So we moved inside to eat. Alex and I shared more pulled pork nachos and mom had a Mickey ice cream bar for dinner When in Disney!

After dinner it was about 7:30 and we wanted to make sure we didn't miss HEA again so we headed back to the room. Once there we grabbed our adult beverages of choice and went onto the balcony to wait for the show. It was CHILLY at this point and windy so we bundled up a bit. Here is the video I took of HEA, it's long so you don't have the watch the whole thing. And unfortunately, we were too far away from where the pump in the music, so it's basically just silent fireworks



It was really nice watching from the comfort of our room! We also didn't have to deal with crowds right after, win-win! After the show, Alex decided he wanted to go in the hot tub (despite it being about 55 degrees out). I agreed to go with him, but only if would could go get a drink first. He didn't argue with that


We headed to the Tambu Lounge where Alex got a Kentucky Mule (they were out of the copper mugs) and enjoyed it!

For the life of me, I can't remember what the name of this drink is... or what was in it . From the menu, I'm pretty sure it's a Lava Flow, but don't quote me on that. I just remember it was good!

We also had to get one of these, Alex's favorite!

Bread Pudding from Ohana!!! Alex really is not a sweets person, but he Loves this.

Before heading out of the room, we put our bathing suits on under our clothes and brought towels in our park bag. After our drinks at the bar, we each ordered a bourbon and coke to bring to the hot tub with us. It was COLD at this point, I'd say about 50 degrees.

Luckily, we were not the only idiots going into the hot tub in 50 degree weather. Some kids were even in the pool! We joined about 5 other people in the hot tub and just relaxed and enjoyed our drinks. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to have a hot tub at your Disney resort, it really helps relax the aching muscles! While enjoying the hot tub, Alex said he will Never go to a Disney resort without a hot tub. Works for me, but not necessarily our wallets

After a good 30 minutes we got out, toweled off as best we could and then bolted to our room. The cold was much worse when we were wet! We got showered, had another adult beverage, then went to bed!

Next up- Sunday!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

I could be mistaken, but I think that drink is the Island Sunset. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!

 

[LeighM]

Thanks for the idea.

I have an Android and I use the sound app Sleepo. It has any sound I would ever need. I actually had to use all 3 of the white noise options during our recent trip to WDW. My husband came to depend on it.

 

[LeighM]

Day 3- Saturday, March 3

So when planning this trip, I remembered that the last time my mom and I came to Disney (we did a Thursday to Monday then too) we were absolutely exhausted and worn out by Saturday. So I decided to give us a rest day this trip, especially staying in this amazing resort, I wanted to actually spend some time there. When I told my mom and Alex before the trip that this would be a rest day/no park day, they kind of balked at the idea. My mom was like, what would we do instead? Alex was fine with it, but he suggested we take the morning off and then go to a park at night. That way the day wasn't "wasted". So I conceded to a late lunch and an evening at a park.

We all slept in a bit this day, but we were all up by 8ish. I drank half a pot of coffee and mostly just relaxed on the balcony, appreciating the view and our trip in general.View attachment 270821

We were planning on a pool day today, but the weather was not cooperating. The sun was nice and warm, but it was windy (from the Nor Easter going on up north) so this did not make the best day off. So we just lounged and relaxed until it was time for lunch. I was very much looking forward to this ADR and soon we were on our way!

We walked to the Great Ceremonial House and hopped on the monorail to...View attachment 270822
View attachment 270823

The Grand Floridian!

I really love visiting the GF, but Alex and I both agreed we wouldn't actually want to stay here. It just isn't our style and it feels stuffy. We much preferred the Poly and it's laid-back feel. Anyway, we were a bit early for lunch so we decided to take a quick walk around the grounds. We also saw 2 different bridal parties and their families, it must have been a busy day at the wedding pavilion. We walked down by the water and got a different angle to the view from our room.

View attachment 270824

Do you see that sky?! It was a Gorgeous, yet breezy day in Disney World.

After our walk, we were still pretty early for our lunch ADR. We checked in anyway and were seated almost immediately! We were about 30 minutes early, so I didn't expect that, but they were not very busy. Where did we go? Grand Floridian Café, of course! After so many rave reviews from @blgauger I just had to try this one. Since we were staying so close and took the morning off, this seemed the perfect spot for lunch.

Our server was very nice and helpful, sorry I cannot remember his name. Alex said he was weird, but I think he was just a little over the top. First we ordered drinks:
View attachment 270825

Alex had a beer and I had a classic mimosa
Mom passed on the alcohol this early in the day. Then I got my first course:

View attachment 270828
French onion soup. THIS WAS SO GOOD

And since it was brunch, we all ordered breakfast for our meals. I know French onion soup and breakfast don't really go together, but I couldn't pass up the soup. And I'm glad I didn't!

Mom ordered a cheese omelet
View attachment 270827

She said it was very good and kept her full most of the day!

Alex got the steak and eggs
View attachment 270826

He said it was ok, but then later on in the trip he said this was the meal he liked the least . He said the steak wasn't cooked or seasoned well at all.

And I ordered the French toast
View attachment 270829

OMG! These were AMAZING! That little cup next to the syrup? That's "Madagascar Vanilla Bean-Butter"... that stuff alone was worth the price of the meal... if it wasn't butter based, I might have eaten it with a spoon . For some reason I only eat French toast when I'm on vacation, and this was definitely a good time to do so! If you ever get a chance to eat here, I highly suggest you try the French toast!

View attachment 270830

Alex's full face BTW, that's my favorite shirt ever! Honestly, have you ever seen anything better than that??

After lunch we headed out, heading to our park for the night. I will update more tomorrow!

Good to know about their French toast, which is my husband's favorite breakfast food. I had an breakfast ADR here but cancelled the day before so we could sleep in. He got sick on me.....

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Sounds like you had a nice Saturday evening, even if your time in MK was crowded. CoP was a great escape from the crowds!

 

[blreinsel]

Yay I'm so glad you loved GF Cafe! We haven't been there in awhile, so I'm itching to go back! It really is a hidden gem.

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

Good to know about their French toast, which is my husband's favorite breakfast food. I had an breakfast ADR here but cancelled the day before so we could sleep in. He got sick on me.....

You must make an ADR next trip, that French Toast is so worth it!

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

Sounds like you had a nice Saturday evening, even if your time in MK was crowded. CoP was a great escape from the crowds!

We did have a nice, if short, evening! I will say this was the most relaxing trip to Disney I've ever taken. So strange to be 3 days in and not have sore feet!

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

Yay I'm so glad you loved GF Cafe! We haven't been there in awhile, so I'm itching to go back! It really is a hidden gem.

Yes, I loved it! Have you had the french toast??

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

Sorry, life is getting in the way of this TR! I'm hoping to finish up this weekend

 

[Longers]

Those model shots of Alex are great - and I especially love the Captain Hook leggings - I would love those!

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay!

Sunday March 4, last full Disney Day

We were up at a decent hour this morning, I had some coffee in the room and then we were headed to breakfast at....

Thanks to Google for the photo!

Mom and I had eaten here for breakfast on our last trip, and since we were staying at the Poly it was a no-brainer to come back. After a decent wait (they "lost" our reservation?) we were seated towards the center of the restaurant.

I think these are my favorite lights at Disney... except maybe the lanterns in MK.

I, of course, ordered coffee but no one wanted to share the press pot with me . Our server was very nice and served us quickly without rushing us.

Alex ordered the Loco Moco

He said it was very good!

I ordered the Macadamia Nut Pancakes- sorry I cut them before taking the photo

There was pineapple on these and they were SO good! If you haven't had these yet, I highly recommend! Mom had another omelet (sorry no photo) and she enjoyed hers as well.

When we were stuffed, we headed out for a first of this trip... the bus stop! It's our last park day and first time taking a bus all trip, so weird! We were also very spoiled by the monorail and boats. I did not miss the smell of the buses.. it's not really a dirty smell, but I think it's from the metal bars you hold onto when standing... does anyone else know what I'm talking about??

Anyway, we were headed to...

Our first time getting to see Avatar! My original plan was to go to HS this morning, have lunch, and then spend the rest of the night at AK. But Alex insisted that we spend the whole time at AK since there are new things to do. Fine by me! The only negative is that our park hoppers were a complete waste of money! Oh well!


Once inside, we had a decent amount of time before our first Fastpass so we first walked through Pandora just to check it out. We walked through and just quickly took some photos. It was crowded in that area and we were going back later that night anyway.

Once through Pandora, we still had some time to kill and we happened upon Nomad Lounge, so of course we had to check it out!

This was my first time inside and I love the décor and feel of the place. I ordered a Tusker Lager, mom got a margarita, and Alex got an Old Elephant Foot IPA.

Continuing the day in the next post.

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

Sunday, March 4 Continued.

We took our drinks with us on our way to our first stop of the day, Festival of the Lion King! I LOVE this show! I took this photo of a crazy lady wearing heels... at Disney????! WHY?? I mean they aren't that high, but still... why would you do this to yourself?? Sorry, rant over

We were seated in the Lion section

The show was great as usual! This is one of my favorite shows on property, probably because I grew up watching the Lion King and with the music

After our show it was time to head over for our first FP of the day... Dinosaur! I took this photo on the way

And once we got on that side of the park, there were CM's blocking the path to Dinosaur.. the ride was DOWN . The CM's said it would be at least an hour before it came back up. I was so bummed! I haven't been on this since before the refurb .

The good news was that we had a FP we could use (almost) anywhere. We walked back around and I took some more walking photos

Unfortunately we didn't use the FP on Everest.. next time Everest! We wanted to pick something my mom could go on and it was pretty warm this day so we opted for Kali.

Here is the aftermath...

These pics don't do it justice, we got SOAKED. Mom didn't get it as bad as Alex and I did, the wall of water hit right between us on the raft . Needless to say we cooled down quite a bit.

After that adventure, we had a few minutes before our next FP so we stopped at my favorite bar on property: Dawa Bar!

I got the Safari Amber and Alex chose a Bud Lite and mom passed on this round. We walked around a bit to drink our beers and stood in the sun to try to dry off a bit more. The sun was actually going down pretty fast at this point and we were still soaked.

Next it was time for our next FP- Safari! After a decent 10 minute or so wait, we were heading out!

These were the only pics I took the whole ride

We had a nice Safari and got to see the new baby hippo , but there were no elephants out

Continuing in next post!

 

[DonnaOnTheRocks]

Sunday, March 4th Continued

By the time we were done with our safari, the sun was really starting to set and we were still wet.. and COLD. We were also starving, so we headed over to one of my favorite QS restaurants- Yak & Yeti. I still have to eat in the restaurant- one of these days!

I had an order of the chicken fried rice, Alex got egg rolls and a cheeseburger and mom had a cheeseburger as well. Very good and hit the spot!

After lunch we decided to head back towards Pandora where Alex and I had a very special FP a little later. Photo on the way

Forgot to post these in my previous post, oops!

We still had time to kill before our Fastpass, so we headed to Satu'li Canteen. I grabbed a coffee, mom got a hot tea, and Alex had to try the Mo'ara High Country Ale. It was good! But I liked the tap handle better

This place is so cool inside! After a nice rest, it was time for Alex and I to take a flight of passage. Mom ended up sitting outside of the restaurant where they had heat lamps. We were all still cold and wet.. sorry for the broken record on that it was just very uncomfortable

I didn't take any photos on Flight of Passage (or the line). I really just wanted to take it all in and enjoy it the first time. Thankfully I was able to get a FP for this as the standby line was a good 2 hours. After we scanned our bands, we walked through the queue ... and kept walking. We never saw another person in that line! It was so weird, I guess I picked a good time for it (it was close to when Rivers of Light would begin). Shortly after getting to the end of the line we were sent into the chamber. This was so cool! But I think it was a little too long, it was fun at first but then everyone started getting bored. Anyway, I don't want to give away too much if anyone hasn't been on it yet, but OH MY!!!!!!!!!! Seriously BEST RIDE EVER! I had this goofy smile on my face the whole ride! And the way the Banshee "breathed" SO COOL!

After our amazing ride, we went to find mom and decide on our next stop. We all agreed that since we were there and it was brand new, we might as well stand in line for Na'vi River Journey. The wait time was posted at 60 minutes and it was about 7:30ish at this point so we figured we might as well.

Sorry, this was the only pic I took of the queue, it was really cool! The ride was fun too, but I think I was so tired and cold (still wet) that at that point I wasn't all that impressed . It was still fun to see, I just don't think I'll ever wait more than 15 minutes for it in the future.

After that it was time to head back to the Poly and warm up! We got back to the room, had a few adult beverages, and went to bed!

I will finish up this report this week! Hopefully!