Trip Report *COMPLETED* Seriously...How is our Luggage Still Not HERE?! An August Trip Report

Hi everyone!

We have been back to reality for a little over a week now and while I still have yet to download all the photos we took during our recent trip to the World, I wanted to get started on detailing what was really an amazing trip.

Now, I must preface this report by saying that while the title of the report does play into our trip, which I will explain throughout, the trip really played out practically perfect in almost every way.

Ok, here we go...Our trip took place between August 3 through the 13th. Here is the cast from our last trip to Disneyland last August during the 60th Anniversary.

From left to right on your screen: Kelly, Lennon, Ella and me (Matt).

Originally we had booked the trip from the 4-13th in a studio at the Polynesian Villas. Upon booking, maybe a month or two later, we decided to add another day onto the trip and booked our first night at All Star Movies resort before moving the the Poly for the remainder of the trip the day after arriving.

I had detailed the our plan in this pre-trip report should you want to see the itinerary we had set out months in advance of the actual trip.

So let's jump in!

August 3 - Travel Day

After months of build up and anticipation the day had finally arrived. We live way up north in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada so making the trek down to Orlando is not always the easiest and definitely not the quickest so whenever we come the WDW we always make sure to stay long enough to really justify the long travel day.

Kelly and I were up around 4 am (MDT) to get ready, pack the vehicle and get the kids up and on the road by 530 to head out to the airport which is about a 45 minute drive from our house. Thankfully the kids were more than happy to get up early knowing they were heading to Disney World and after eating a small snack in the car we arrived well in advance of our 830 am flight from Edmonton to Houston.

Here we are killing some time in the airport waiting to board our first leg.

After small breakfast and some time spent calling the grand parents to say goodbye we were boarding our flight to head down to Houston. We ended up flying United as the options to get to Orlando from Edmonton are pretty limited. United has never been our air carrier of choice but in the spirit of giving credit where it is due this was the first time we took a trip using United that absolutely nothing went wrong and the service was great.

Lennon seemed pretty happy up in the air even if she was up early. We had no doubt that Ella was going to be very well behaved throughout the entire trip but Lenny is a major wildcard. Her mood changes at the drop of a hat so we didn't know what to expect from her while we were gone. Thankfully we were off to a good start!

After close to a four hour flight we touched down in Houston. We departed the plane to find out we would be getting right back on the same plane to head over to Orlando so that made things much easier plus it made for losing our luggage almost impossible. After about an hour layover and a really, really bad airport sandwich we jumped back on the plane for the second leg of the trip. After a four hour flight to get to Houston, the two hour jaunt to Orlando seemed like a breeze. The flight was pretty smooth and soon enough we were descending into MCO!

We touched down around 6 pm Orlando time and made our way to the airport monorail over tot he main terminal to jump on the Magical Express. We have never taken the Magical Express from the airport to the hotel and I must say it was a very nice treat bypassing the luggage carousel and heading straight to our bus.

After a short 10 minute wait we jumped on our bus and were on our way to All Star Movies!

We ended up sitting behind a young family from the DC area that was heading to Movies to celebrate their daughter's 6th birthday. Ella and the young girl started talking through the chairs and asking each other all sorts of questions during the drive. She was happy to have made a new friend!

After stops at Coronado Springs, All Start Sports and Music we arrived at All Star Movies around 730. We checked in and picked up or Magic Bands before making our way to our room int he Toy Story section. We were in a room on the first floor right outside the courtyard with all the big Toy Story characters. It was actually pretty cool to see these types of displays throughout the grounds. Fun hotel though based on the size of the rooms I am glad we only spent the night before moving into larger accommodations.

After a quick look at the room and some pics in the courtyard we made our way to the food court to grab some dinner. I didn't take any pics of this meal, it wasn't overly exciting, but Kelly enjoyed the homemade macaroni, I had the hot Italian sandwich and the girls, who ate dinner on the bus ride to the hotel shared an ice cream and a bag of cotton candy. They seemed happy with that night cap!

After finishing our meal we decided to walk around the grounds of the hotel and check out some of the other themed areas before killing a little time at the children's playground near the main pool for a little before heading back to our room to pass out.

Our luggage arrived shortly after we returned to the room and after a quick shower we hit the bed to finally get some sleep. No major plans the next day other than switching hotels and we were happy that we didn't have to set an alarm on the first night.

So that was day one, Our very exciting travel day that was thankfully uneventful and really quite smooth. I will have to really get on downloading our pictures to keep this going but will be adding more as the week progresses. Thanks in advance for following along and we look forward to sharing our trip with you!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

LOVE THESE!!

SO GOOD!

 

[Tuvalu]

We had the same "luck" in getting our bags moved from POFQ to Poly in June....6:30 p.m.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

We had the same "luck" in getting our bags moved from POFQ to Poly in June....6:30 p.m.

Very frustrating. I certainly know the feeling. Would have been nice if ours were there at 630 but I'll get into that a little more later today...

 

[Ciara]

Your family is just beautiful! Love your daughters name. Following along

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Your family is just beautiful! Love your daughters name. Following along

Thank you so much on all accounts!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

We were on our way in to be seated for one of our mostly highly anticipated meals of the trip. Kelly wanted to try it out so why not on the first night at the Poly to kick things off right?!

Our host guided us towards the area where the pineapple coconut bread was warming and explained to us that this is customary to serve at the beginning of Polynesian meals before placing one on a plate and leading us towards our table. I must admit it was darn good and even though I knew we were in for a mountain of food I couldn't help going back for more.

We had a really nice table right beside a bay of windows which provided a nice view towards the pool. It was still raining at this point so it wasn't bright and sunny or anything but was still a cool backdrop for the meal. Our server then greeted us and explained what to expect from the meal. I was super tempted to order either the Backscratcher or the Lapu Lapu to drink but ended up being boring and sticking with water. Kelly indulged in a pina colada which was a major surprise to me as she doesn't drink much but she really seemed to enjoy it. I definitely regretted not getting the backscratcher just for the actual backscratcher it came with. Oh well!

We decided to order some kids meals for the girls instead of trying to get them to eat the standard fare and so Lennon had chicken fingers and Ella crushed the macaroni. Both were happy with meals we knew they would both eat as opposed to trying to get them to eat something they may not have liked. From there, the food for Kelly and I started coming and it didn't stop! It's really tough for simply two people to try and eat everything they put in front of you but we gave it our best effort.

Started with the wings and pork dumplings along with the Polynesian salad...AMAZING!

We maybe took on more than we should have at this stage not knowing what else was coming. From there came the steamed veggies and noodles. Both were great though we didn't hit them as hard as the other stuff to the point. Next came the endless supply of steak, chicken and shrimp. There was so much coming so quickly that it was overwhelming. I hunkered in and just kept going so as not to seem rude! That and I am clearly a pig. I'll eat whatever is in front of me!

The steak was fantastic, as was the shrimp. The chicken was good but not as good as the other stuff. At least the girls seemed amused by watching us stuff our faces.

We finally tapped out on gorging on the mountain of food only to have dessert placed before us. Cupcakes for the kids and bread pudding with vanilla ice cream for the bigger kids.

I swear Kelly and I pretty much took one bite of the bread pudding and called it a night but something kept calling to our spoons. We pretty much finished it off before calling for the bill and very gingerly waddling away form what was truly a great meal. I would totally eat here again in the future but would hope to have more than two stomachs trying to house all this food.

It was a little past 630 pm at this point so we decided to make our way downstairs to bell services and check on our luggage. Surely it had to be in the building by now, right?

Kelly went up to ask as I nearly broke on of the couches near the desk. Way too much food. Quickly I realized she was not happy with the answer she received so I made my way over to see what was up only to find out our bags had yet to arrive. Seriously...how is our luggage not here yet? The cast member at the front explained they should be on the way to which Kelly asked if he had actually called over to All Stars to see if that was the case. He had not, which prompted her to ask for the manager. After short disappearance the bellman returned with the manager and we explained what was going on. We were a tad frustrated with the entire day since receiving our room and listed the mishaps, along with our missing luggage, that we had encountered. The manager apologized a number of times and had the bellman call the other resort only to find out our three bags were still sitting in the storage room.

From there the manager asked they be shipped over immediately and again apologized for the inconvenience. He wanted to make it up to us in some way shape or form and his kindness was most appreciated. He ended up giving us three additional no conditions added fastpasses for each of our next three days that we could use as we saw fit and since he knew we wanted to go swimming he allowed us to go into the gift shop and select new swimsuits which they covered the cost to allow us to head to the pool as we had intended to do all day. He was very cordial about the entire process and did a nice job of smoothing over a rocky start to our Poly experience.

Ella, Lennon and I all picked up a new swimsuit but Kelly didn't like any of the styles so she didn't grab one for herself. We were finally off to the pool to enjoy a dip and have some fun. I was very pleased to soak in the hot tub for a bit. Felt good on these old bones. Lennon loved the splash par and Ella must have rode the big water slide about 10 straight times. It was a nice way to end the day.

We decided to head back to the room around 830, hopefully unpack our stuff and get ready for a good nights' rest to get up early for the Magic Kingdom the next day. We were very pleased to find our bags waiting for us when we returned with a note from the bellman saying they were delivered to the room at 8pm. We quickly unpacked and I cracked a beer which was now cold in the fridge that was working again. Then it was off to bed with an early wake up call on the horizon to get us up and ready for 8 am extra magic hour at MK.

 

[sheriffwoody]

Glad you finally got your bags and were able to swim in the meantime! That's definitely not the first report I've read about bags taking forever Seems it must be a common issue! Maybe they'll reevaluate whatever system they use soon.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Ugh. What a mess. One thing is understandable but two then three things on your arrival day.... I must say the manager did a good job offering the bathing suits. I've never heard of anyone doing that, it seems that the go to to calm someone down are fastpasses so the bathing suits were a nice touch, plus Lennon's is super cute

 

[FlaggNL]

Great TR! Your girls are adorable! Off course following along and thanks for sharing!

 

[awheartsdw]

Great report! We love Poly and 'Ohana-glad to see that you're enjoying it too! Your girls are adorable-thanks for sharing!

 

[DisneyJeff]

It's a good thing you pressed the issue about your bags without just accepting the "They should be here soon" line. Otherwise you would still be wearing the same clothes which probably didn't fit as well after eating at Ohana.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Glad you finally got your bags and were able to swim in the meantime! That's definitely not the first report I've read about bags taking forever Seems it must be a common issue! Maybe they'll reevaluate whatever system they use soon.

It was frustrating for sure. As I said earlier in the report, we should have done a better job preparing before we left Movies but didn't expect things to take this long. This really was the only blemish on the trip so it didn't leave that bad a taste in our mouth.

Ugh. What a mess. One thing is understandable but two then three things on your arrival day.... I must say the manager did a good job offering the bathing suits. I've never heard of anyone doing that, it seems that the go to to calm someone down are fastpasses so the bathing suits were a nice touch, plus Lennon's is super cute

It was definitely a nice touch by them to do that. We really weren't overly excited about the fastpasses, even though they turned out to be super useful, and he really went beyond what we expected him to do. It was the type of service you'd expect from Disney even after all the hiccups you wouldn't necessarily expect.

Great TR! Your girls are adorable! Off course following along and thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading along and for the kind words!

Great report! We love Poly and 'Ohana-glad to see that you're enjoying it too! Your girls are adorable-thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading along! Poly was a great experience. I'd stay there again in a heartbeat but I do admit I still like Wilderness Lodge better.

It's a good thing you pressed the issue about your bags without just accepting the "They should be here soon" line. Otherwise you would still be wearing the same clothes which probably didn't fit as well after eating at Ohana.

Kelly is pretty good at not letting things like this go. She seems to like these confrontational conversations from time to time. If it were me we probably would be in those same clothes that had become a very tight squeeze!

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

Omg Matt, I remember when your first baby was...well, a baby! Wow has time passed quickly. They're adorable! You're great at this fatherhood thing-I mean, training them to hand over their bacon? That's impressive work.

Loving your report so far. Your food pics are killin' me!

 

[kimberlymautz]

Iy stinks that your first day was so rough, can't wait to keep reading to find out about the rest of the trip!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Omg Matt, I remember when your first baby was...well, a baby! Wow has time passed quickly. They're adorable! You're great at this fatherhood thing-I mean, training them to hand over their bacon? That's impressive work.

Loving your report so far. Your food pics are killin' me!

Amazing how time flies so quickly! Both our kids have birthdays in the next month and looking back it's so hard to believe that they are 6 and 4 already.

I guess I must be doing something right if they are more than willing to hand over their bacon. Then again, they could just be buttering me up for when they ask for things down the road. Either way, I'm good with that!

Thanks for following along. Hope all is well!

Iy stinks that your first day was so rough, can't wait to keep reading to find out about the rest of the trip!

Thanks for reading along!

It was a minor blemish on what was an otherwise terrific trip. Was frustrating at the time but something that we were quick to forget once all was rectified.

 

[officialtom]

Following along!

When I was reading the part about what the manager did for the inconvenience, I started thinking "HE ONLY GAVE YOU FASTPASSES?!?!?" but then he offered you all swimsuits. I actually think that's pretty impressive and Disney-like!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Finally downloaded all the pictures off the camera and from the Memory Maker this weekend so now I can continue on with our first day in the parks! Seems like we have a lot of photos, may of which I'd love to share so some of these upcoming posts may end up being word-short, picture heavy. Hope you don't mind!

August 5 - Magic Kingdom

Our luggage adventure was finally over, everything was unpacked for the rest of the trip and we were getting up early to make it MK for our first official day in the parks! We had set an early alarm so that Kelly and I could get ready and let the girls sleep a little longer. Again, those two bathrooms in the studio were a massive help. I took over the shower room and Kelly claimed the full bathroom. Was ideal for us all trip.

It doesn't take me long at all to get ready so once I was dressed for the day I slipped out of the room to head to Capt'n Cooks to fill my resort mug with coffee for the morning. The walk from Moorea to the restaurant wasn't an overly short one but I did enjoy getting up as the sun was rising and walking along the path near 7 Seas. Was a pretty picturesque way to start each morning. Plus it was a good kick start for my fitbit step count!

Little blurry but you get the picture. Man, that's such a bad pun.

I got back to the room after my 10 minute hiatus to find the girls were just getting up and they both seemed pretty jacked up to get to the park and hit the rides. We got them dressed, loaded up our park bag and the lunch kit with snacks and made our way towards the resort monorail. Figured that was the best way to kick off the trip though we pretty much stuck to the Ferryboat anytime we visited MK during the rest of the trip.

It was a very sticky morning and by the time we made our way to the monorail area I was sweating like crazy! Seemed to happy like that every morning as my body adjusted to the heat and humidity. Thankfully the AC was blasting on board so I cooled down pretty quickly before arriving at the park. It was EMH from 8-9 that morning and we arrived a few minutes after 8 and just missed the park opening show which we were hoping to catch. Oh well, no worries, the crowds seems pretty light and we were just happy to finally be back on Main Street. Before heading to our first ride we made a very quick trip to City Hall to inquire about a guest assistance pass for Ella. To our surprise we were the only ones in line and a very helpful, friendly Cast Member was more than happy to set us up. Before long we were strolling down Main Street heading toward Fantasyland to ride Peter Pan.

This is the first time I ever recall actually going through the queue to ride Peter Pan and I must say it was pretty cool. Certainly the first time I can ever remember absolutely no line to ride so we pretty much walked right on and were whisked to Neverland. Lenny was my ride partner for our first ride and, as always, we loved Peter Pan. Always seems like the perfect ride to kick off the visit. At least it seems to be whether we visit WDW or DL.

After Pan the girls wanted to swing over to Ariel's Undersea Adventure so we made our way towards that ride after stopping for a couple pictures along the way. We also swung by the Mine Train to grab a return time using Ella's pass to get on in the morning even though we had a FP+ time for just after lunch. While we didn't use Ella's pass obsessively, we did use it to our advantage and it did save us from waiting in too many lines throughout the trip which was a big bonus. We were slated to return anytime after 9 am to ride. Couple that with the three additional FP's we were given for the luggage mix up and the first few days pretty mcuh had no lines for us which was awesome.

Park was pretty much empty still so it was super easy making our way through Fantasyland. Like Peter Pan, Ariel was a walk on and as we exited the ride the line up to meet Ariel in her grotto was non-existent so we grabbed our autograph books and made our way to our first character meet and greet. Ella for whatever reason was very shy but Lennon was a regular chatty Cathy and wouldn't shut up whenever she had the chance to meet a character. It was pretty funny to watch as she'd ask crazy questions or ask them to look at her cool shoes or something like that.

After Ariel it was time to head over towards Lennon's favourite ride, Dumbo. But first we decided to ride Goofy Roller coaster as again there were no lines and I think both gilrs wanted to test out a little more "thrilling" ride, at least to them, to see how daring they could get throughout the trip. Much like the Gadget coaster in DL they loved it and we ended up riding a second time before heading over to the big top to ride Dumbo. No idea why but Lennon loves all things Dumbo. We have seen the movie countless times, she has way too many stuffies on her bed and would probably ride this ride over and over again if she was allowed to.

As you can see, she was pretty excited for her first flight with Dumbo!

After our flight it was time for us to head back towards the Mine Train and really kick things up a notch. The kids were talking tough leading up to the trip saying they'd have no issues with some of the bigger rides but the time for talk was over...it was time to actually do it! Ella seemed ok walking through the fastpass line but Lenny was clearly nervous. Once inside the ride building she grabbed on to me pretty tight and was not really in the mood for riding but being the good parents we are, there was no turning back for her at this point!

Not sure how they felt about their first really fast ride but I'll let you be the judge!

They said they enjoyed it afterwards which was good because we were just getting started with some of the bigger rides! Even though we are only sort of an hour into the fun, we are already having a blast!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Following along!

When I was reading the part about what the manager did for the inconvenience, I started thinking "HE ONLY GAVE YOU FASTPASSES?!?!?" but then he offered you all swimsuits. I actually think that's pretty impressive and Disney-like!

Pretty much exactly what we were thinking as this was unfolding. Kelly and I both said that while the fastpasses are a fine touch it really doesn't make up for the day we essentially lost. Not that we were expecting anything like the purchase of bathing suits (maybe an upgrade to a Bora Bora Bungalow HAHA) but it was nice that they were willing to more than just a token offering to try and smooth things over.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

After the Mine Train we had our first FP+ booking to make it to so it was off to find the stroller and head off to the opposite end of the park...

Big Thunder was next on the list and since it was closing a few days later for the refurb we were happy to have the chance to ride it before it was shut down. This was Ella's first "big ride" at DL last year so she kinda knew what to expect but Lennon was in for a new experience. Now that she had survived the Mine Train she was acting pretty brave. Walking the FP queue, not needing to be picked up and a big smile on her face.

Very little wait before we were loaded up in the first two rows of the train and we were ready for the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness!

Much like the pictures I posted on from the Mine Train, the look on Lennon's face was pretty much pure terror throughout the ride. Ella was much more laid back having been on the ride before but I don't think Lennon has held my hand so tightly before. She did work up the nerve to put her hands up very briefly at one point which she thought was cool! In the end even though Kelly and I both agreed the ride felt slower than normal everyone came off with smiles on their faces.

We then made the short walk over to Splash to use up one of our additional FP's provided to us. We figured we might as well throw all the tougher rides at the kids and set the tone early since they were taking everything in stride! FP line cruised along as it was still pretty early in the day but it was very hot so Splash provided a good opportunity to cool off a little.

I joked about getting the front row as we made our way through the queue which was not received well byt the rest of the group but low and behold that's exactly where we ended up as we got to the loading area. I was supposed to ride with Ella but she didn't want to get soaked in the front so me and Len piled into the front and were ready to get wet!

I took a cool video of the first drop down the first drop but I don't think I can post videos here so that's too bad. Nonetheless we forged on through the ride and made it all the way to the top of the big drop...

and somehow survived! We did get a little wet but man it felt good. Even Ella didn't seem to mind that she took on more water than she may have expected!

Still my all-time favourite and I am glad I was able to share it together with my girls for the first time.

At this point we had another FP+ booking for Peter Pan but since we already took our flight we changed it up for the Jungle Cruise. We decided to head towards Adventureland and hit up come of the attractions there before our FP window closed. First came Pirates at Ella's insistence which is so funny considering during our last Disney trip she was terrified of the ride but had now somehow become a major fan. For Kelly this ride is take it or leave it, she doesn't much care for it but no Disney trip is complete without at least one voyage on through the Caribbean. After Pirates we hit up the Jungle Cruise for our FP. Park was starting to get busier now that were we beyond mid-morning and the lines were getting longer through the standby entrances. It was a gorgeous day to set sail through the jungle.

Can't recall our skippers name but she was pretty funny. Mostly told jokes we had heard a number of times over but threw in a couple newbies that went over pretty well.

After the Cruise we hopped about Aladdin's Magic Carpets and took a break from the beating sun by ducking into the Enchanted Tiki Room to singalong with the birdies. Always one of my girls favourite attractions and I must admit I find myself singing along as well.

By this time it was after just a tad after noon and we decided to try and check in for our lunch reservation at the Plaza. We arrived about 20 minutes early and had to wait a little bit but at least they had tables set up with big umbrellas to keep us shaded. Felt good to relax for a bit and people watch along Main Street. Nice camera skills, Ella...

Our buzzer started to ring and we were whisked into the glorious air conditioning to a table near the window to enjoy our lunch. I know people have mixed reviews about the Plaza but we have now had lunch there twice and have nothing but good things to say about the food. Was just around this time I received a text from my colleague informing me that our office had been broken into this morning and the intruder ended up taking a bunch of stuff people had throughout their desks. I was fortunate that I had nothing of interest to this person but my colleague had a number of things stolen. Not the best news to receive while on vacation but I was thankful nobody was hurt.

For lunch Kelly ordered a mint chocolate milkshake (delish). The girls enjoyed the peanut butter and jelly sandwich and both Kelly and I ordered the cheese steak sandwich. I had the club house last time and immediately regretted not having the cheese steak upon seeing Kelly's. All the food was fantastic.

Kelly kept receiving compliments from a lot of people throughout the day on the shirt she was wearing so I had to get a good shot of what all the fuss was about

Before we finished our meal one of the CMs approached our table to ask if Ella was a diabetic. She noticed her insulin pump on her arm and wanted to know more about it. She, too, is a diabetic and is on a wired pump so we had a good chat about how Ella's works and how crazy the medical advances have become since the CM was diagnosed decades ago. Turns out we would run into quite a few diabetics during our stay who were happy to speak to us and to Ella about their experiences. Pretty cool.

After lunch we could tell the kids were hitting the wall but we had one more FP+ booking for the Mine Train again that we didn't want to just give up on so we took a trip back to Fantasyland to ride once more before heading back to the Poly for a little rest before returning to MK in the evening.

All this adrenaline was now wearing off as Lennon quickly fell asleep in the stroller as we started walking down Main Street towards the exit. We ended up stopping so that Ella could meet Snow White who was camped out beside City Hall with absolutely no line.

Figured it was wise of us to take the ferryboat back to the TTC and walk down the path to the Poly. I had never been on the Ferryboat until this time but we most certainly took advantage of our close proximity from our longhouse. It's quite the nice relaxing way to get to or from the park.

From there it was time for a cold beer and a little rest as we still had big plans for the evening.

 

[Tuvalu]

The first two rows of the Big Thunder Mountain train are the slowest, due to their location behind the locomotive. The "wildest" rides come in the last car. There's a big difference.