Donald Duck's May 2010 Trip Report

May 13 - May 20, 2010 - Polynesian Resort

Greetings All!
Here is my first official trip report. My wife and I went to WDW to celebrate our 2 year wedding anniversary. We have lost count as to how many times we have been to the World, so let's just jump right in!

Day 1
Upon arriving at good old Orlando International, we grabbed our bags (don't like waiting for Magical Express delivery!) and headed to the buses. This was the scene waiting for the Polynesian...we were the only ones heading there!

Once a few other travelers joined us, with a wandering child, we boarded the bus and were on our way. First stop...Polynesian!

Here we are in the Poly lobby -- Daisy and Donald

This is the first trip in which we did the online check-in...wow...how quick and hassle-free! (So we thought). Our room wasn't ready yet (we arrived around 12pm and per our online registration, they knew this). We grabbed some lunch from Capt. Cooks.

Flatbread from Capt. Cooks

After eating and wandering around in the shops for about an hour, we checked back to see if the room was ready...still nothing.

So we headed to Tambu Lounge for some 1:00'tails.

Here I am with a Backscratcher, and you can see my wife's Tropical Mojito in the foreground...thanks to Wally!

Another check to see if room was ready...NOPE! By this time we had been up since 4am and we really were getting desperate to get in our room and unpack. So what did we do?? Took matters into our own hands...headed to Tuvalu, and stood outside with our luggage. (Yes we have no shame! :ROFLOL. The Mousekeepers asked if they could help us (oh you mean us standing out here sweating with our bags?! Why yes!). They checked on our room...it was just about ready so they told us to go up to the 3rd floor and wait on the balcony.

Impatiently waiting while said Mousekeeper is vacuuming!

All of a sudden there was a knock at the door...wait we're outside...oh it's the Mousekeeper telling us our room is ready! :sohappy:

So in we go four hours after our arrival...and here's the view we find from our balcony...awesome and worth the wait.

A few minutes later...my cell phone rings...its the front desk telling me our room is done. To which I reply...yes I'm already in it!

A few moments later, a knock at the door (our room door this time), and here's an anniversary surprise from our two dear friends.

If you haven't picked up on it already (from previous postings or this trip report)...I'm Donald Duck obsessed!

We finished unpacking, changed up, and headed to dinner....

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Love the report!

May I ask what it is you love about Donald? I love Donald, too, because he reminds me so much of my darling husband. Such a sweet, easy-going guy but what a temper. I've seen my dearest pitch fits that were the exact imitation of the duck's quacking, ranting, explosions. LOL! And Daisy's my girl. She's a girly-girl, knows what she wants, wants it her way, loves her some Donald, and keeps him in line at every turn. She's perfect. And she wears pink. Daisy is awesome!

Love Tonga Toast. I'm with you!

Lovin' the food , too, although I think I've gained about 5 lbs. just reading your report. LOL!

Can't wait for more!

:wave::wave::wave:

 

[Donald Duck]

Last Day...

Ah yes, the dreadful final day of "The World." We all know that looming depressing feeling...but the wife and I would not let that stop us from going out with a bang. We ordered room service...and of course, I had to have Tonga again.

Here is my wife's TT with sausage (which I polished off, sans sausage, as I do not eat meat). I had mine with fruit:

After breakfast and my many cups of coffee we headed over to MK and got on just about every ride. We stopped for lunch (I'm not a lunch person, so I jam-pack my intake at breakfast and dinner, and of course dessert...or two) at the Harbour House. We had never been there before and I feel shameful admitting that since we go to WDW very often. Nice quiet nooks upstairs for getting away from the crowds.

Here is my wife eating her fried shrimp and french fries, and an apple crisp / tarte:

After MK, we strolled around GF and saw that they were putting in a new carpet in the lobby. Notice the hidden Mickey's in the pattern:

After GF (and I should mention we also utilized the GF gym, being Poly guests, and ran off some calories on the treadmills. I'm not a treadmill fan, but it beats running out in the blistering sun) we went back to POly for out after cocktails and some lounging in the beach swing and the hammock

Here we are on the swing, Pina Colada and Mai Thai in hand:

We had a nice relaxing afternoon, but up next was our official anniverary dinner at our favorite restaurant in "The World," Narcoossee's. We love it there, and we always close out our trip dining here. We always request our favorite server, Chevy, as in Chase (Yes, he really does say that...everytime we go, and we love it!). Being the classy and attentive restaurant they they are, we had pixie dust scattered on the table, personalized menus, and complimentary chamagne waiting for us at one of the window tables:

Pixue dust...which Chevy collected later that evening and placed it in a Narcoossee's envelope for some magic to take home:

Me endulging in what is now our favorite champagne (we aren't champagne lovers, but Chevy changed that!):

 

[Donald Duck]

Here is my wife cutting her Hearts of Romaine salad:

This would be my Roasted Beet Salad:

Theirs salads are so fresh, perfectly dressed, and have several textures to keep what is merely a salad, very exciting.

Here is my wife's most favorite dish in the world, yes the world, not just WDW, but anywhere. SHe says the scallops are tender and candy sweet with a perfect caramalized crunch on in the sear.

Behold, the Grilled Scallops with green risotto:

My entree was a "Chef's Recomendation," and that changes daily. It was unbelievably delicious, and out of character for me to order, since I tend to be a creature of habit and I typically order some sort of raw or rare tuna dish. But this was amazing.

Bate your breath folks...a seared Rock fish atop Pollenta cakes, baby carrots and cajun spiced baby shrimp:

A Happy Anniversary Almond -encrusted cheese cake, which is absolutey one of my favorite desserts anywhere. There is another picture of this dessert as we are blowing the out the candles, and I had foolishly blown the powdered sugar all over my darling wife. The picture captured the after effects---my wife laughing histerically with tears in her eyes and she will not allow me to post this picture because she says she looks "awful..." But I tend to laugh everytime I look at it.

The almond-encrusted cheesecake, pre-powdered sugar storm:

And of course, my sweet tooth never lets me down...had to order another dessert as well...

Chocolate dome! I'm not a huge chocolate fan, but Chevy suggested it, and I submitted... freaking, delicious:

 

[Donald Duck]

The Morning of Departure...

As with every morning, I got up before the sun rose and I ventured off to Capt Cooks for my coffee (just black). I realixed I had not taken a picture of our House Sign, and I decided to do just that as Sleeping Beauty was still up in bed:

No it's not the Tuv House...it's Tuvalu, with my big head in the way.
The sun is out now, and the man I ran into every morning next to this sign on the bench who was smoking cigs not stop, was not anywhere to be seen. I could finally walk the path without having cigarette smoke blown in my face.

We decided to hit MK for breakfast at the Bakery before our MAgical Express pickup. Again we took our eats over to the Noodle Station area where we could eat in peace.

Pictured here are an egg and cheese croissant and one crumb cake for my wife, and a plain croissant and crumb cake for me. Come on, one crumb cake for me?! If you know me by now, I of course finshed my wife's crumbcake along with my own. And I had picked up some extra banana bread pudding from the bakery the day before to bring back home...but only some of it made it back home...it was calling me at the ariport!

The view from our breakfast spot, and our final picture of the trip:

 

[Donald Duck]

Well, there you have it folks, the end of our trip report. We hope you enjoyed it. I realize this trip report could also have been in the "food Pic of the Day" thread where I tend to hang out, but we've been wanting to post an "official" trip report for so long.

As you might have guessed, we love food and we love WDW. We have already booked our next trip for January 2011 at the Beach Club (one of the very few times we have not stayed at the Poly) as I am running the Half-Marathon in my quest to obtain my Donald Duck 1/2 Marathon medal!
If we happen to get a chance to go back for Food and Wine Festival this year we certainly will and of course, more food- to come...

 

[Donald Duck]

Great report so far. Love that your signiature says you're a Tonga Toast-aholic. I don't consider that a problem. :animwink:

I do not consider it a problem either!

But, I have other issues as well...
Lefse-ophile
MSB Banana-bread pudding and crumb cake addict
School bread junkie

Oh, so many problems!

 

[Donald Duck]

Loving your report so much considering my bf and I are huge food fans as well! Only thing that irked me was you waiting outside for mousekeeping at the doors. But to each their own, I know at my resort, check in time is at 3:00pm. I personally would have gotten scared if a guest just came to stand outside the door while I was cleaning and I would have felt rushed. x_x Now if it was past 3:00pm I as a quest would be complaining up front in the lobby.
Glad you're having fun! and please continue to post more yummy pictures.

Next week my bf and I are going to Crystal Palace, Trails Inn and Konas Sushi at the Poly! Which yes thank you by the way, that is the same sushi roll we want to try and it looks amazing!!! :sohappy:

We waited outside our intended room because we did complain to the frost desk several times and they told us which room was supposed to be ours. They told us to keep calling back every 15 - 20 minutes to see if it was done. Whenever we called, they said it was not ready. So, we were told which room it was, and we decicded just wait outside instead of calling and calling and calling. The Mousekeepers were great and had a great attitude. So did we. It was all laughs in the end.

 

[Donald Duck]

Love the report!

May I ask what it is you love about Donald? I love Donald, too, because he reminds me so much of my darling husband. Such a sweet, easy-going guy but what a temper. I've seen my dearest pitch fits that were the exact imitation of the duck's quacking, ranting, explosions. LOL! And Daisy's my girl. She's a girly-girl, knows what she wants, wants it her way, loves her some Donald, and keeps him in line at every turn. She's perfect. And she wears pink. Daisy is awesome!

Love Tonga Toast. I'm with you!

Lovin' the food , too, although I think I've gained about 5 lbs. just reading your report. LOL!

Can't wait for more!

:wave::wave::wave:

Ah, Donald is just a love affair since I was a little kid. Same temper, attitude, disposition, and height (!!!)
So much Donald memorabilia from toys, clothes, plushes, art, and close to 700 pins (many of which are SUPER rare and the pin traders at DTD would hunt me for my collection).

I also have the tattoos to go along with it...

 

[heartodisney]

I sense a disturbing pattern in the force here...food...

Ha ha! Great post! WDW is the best at just grazing! Keep up the wonderful post!

 

[blackthidot]

My man...good job! I have 15 ADR's in September so my food pics will be next!

 

[Donald Duck]

My man...good job! I have 15 ADR's in September so my food pics will be next!

Sweet! Can't wait to drool over those. I am hoping we can get down for Food and Wine this year...I usually go over-board with the food.

 

[blackthidot]

Sweet! Can't wait to drool over those. I am hoping we can get down for Food and Wine this year...I usually go over-board with the food.

Haha we are getting out of there before F&W this year. We are aiming for lower crowds this time.

 

[corey154]

I loved the trip report, even with running I don't know how you stay in shape with eating all those deserts...I gained a few pounds just reading along! And I even had to pull out some m&m's out of my desk b/c you gave me the munchies with all the great pics!!

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

WHOA the scallops with risotto looks AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

 

[Donald Duck]

I loved the trip report, even with running I don't know how you stay in shape with eating all those deserts...I gained a few pounds just reading along! And I even had to pull out some m&m's out of my desk b/c you gave me the munchies with all the great pics!!

Thanks for the kind words regarding the report!

Run, run, run...and more running, and I try to eat relatively healthy on a normal basis, and I don't eat meat, just fish. No fast food, no fried food (except TONGA TOAST!), no artificle junk either.

If I made you reach for the M&Ms...then I've done my job!!! Glad you like the report.

Maybe I'll post more pics from the trip...

 

[Donald Duck]

WHOA the scallops with risotto looks AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

Oh wow, yes the scallops are sublime. And the risotto... no words to describe my dear!

My wife's absolute favorite meal.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

Oh wow, yes the scallops are sublime. And the risotto... no words to describe my dear!

My wife's absolute favorite meal.

Ahhh I bet-I MUST have that next trip!

 

[harveyt0206]

I am all about the food so your trip report was sublime. I have no clue how you eat all that food each day. You definitely know how to eat right at Disney. Thanks for the trip report and the great pics of all the great food.

 

[kerrie]

nice report, Also irked bout standing outside for mousekeeping. In the future doing online check in does not guarantee your room will be ready before check in time I believe 3 or 4:00. it only makes things easier for your packet for arrival and if you leave a cell you can get a call or text for your room being ready. As for the rest of trip an pics they are great, i mean you seemed to have a good time.

 

[fbp]

Excellent trip report my friend! Just what I was in the mood for I should have read it before dinner though.

You said you don't eat meat. You do. Meat = animal flesh that is used as food. Tuna = animal.