Trip Report Food and Rain Festival, Polynesian, 5th Anniversary!

Thanks to fall break, I got my photos edited and uploaded already. Yay!

Cast: Me and my husband, R
Where: Polynesian DVC villa (rental)
When: Oct 4-10
Why: 5th wedding anniversary

When we were planning this trip, I was unable to find any decent rates for our flight down on the 5th. I ended up finding a late Delta flight on the 4th that would get us there after midnight. It was around $70 as opposed to the ~$250 Southwest flights I was finding. I figured I wouldn't be able to add a night at the Poly, and frankly, I wouldn't want to pay that much for a room we didn't need until the wee hours of the morning. So I booked a room at All-Star Sports with some Disney rewards points. Score!

Ok now on to the trip. I left work a couple of hours early, took Chipper to his sitter's house and got home to get all the bags ready. R got home a little earlier than planned, and we were able to leave the house a little before 4pm.

We got to the Memphis airport in great time. I don't have TSA pre-check, and they sent me through a line where they were training someone. It. took. forever. I already get super anxious during the security check, and additional waiting makes it worse. Once I'm through and I KNOW I'm at my gate, I'm fine. But enough about my issues...

We had a plane change in Atlanta. Not a long layover. They were already starting to board when we got there. Atlanta had this cool art installation that reminded me of Pandora.



We got to Orlando before 12:30 and headed to claim our bag. It was weird seeing MCO completely empty.




Our bag came out almost immediately, so we grabbed it and made our way to the busses. We were headed to All-Star Sports at about ten till 1. Me = sleepy and cranky. Slanky? (not creepy...:joyfull:). Unfortunately it hit me that we never got a room text, which meant we'd have to stop at the desk. ARGH.

We were the 3rd drop off and got off the bus at 1:40. There was only one person at the desk, and the two people in front of us seemed to be taking forever. It was about 15 minutes before a second person finally came out and we got our room number in less than a minute. Would have been nice to have just GOTTEN A TEXT. I guess maybe when I did online checkin I put that we'd be there late? I don't understand why that would make them not text us though.

Whatever. We got to sleep about 2:15am and I was OUT.

Sorry this is so text heavy. One more story, then I promise I'll do more pictures.

At 6am the freaking in-room alarm goes off. :arghh: I turned it off (I thought)
At 6:10am the freaking in-room alarm goes off :arghh:. I unplugged it
At 6:20am the freaking in-room alarm goes off :arghh::devilish:. I briefly considered throwing it off the balcony, but R took it from me and started trying to figure it out. You needed a screwdriver to get to the batteries, but he figured out how to actually turn it off. Thankfully that worked.

We fell back asleep and didn't get up until 9. After we were up and moving, I took some pictures. Apologies for the slept-in beds (we sleep in a king bed at home, so in these doubles, we split up...no shame)



Donald :inlove: I liked the room instantly because of this.



I thought the headboards were cool.






Honestly, I liked this room better than our Pop room last spring! I would totally stay here again. I think I'd request being closer to the main building. We were about as far as you could get in the baseball section. It didn't matter for us, but for a longer stay it would.

I headed out to get coffee and look for a rain jacket for R (we forgot to get one for him before). Sorry all iphone pictures...I forgot my camera. *Edited to add - after reviewing this post, I realize I took the room pictures AFTER getting coffee. Oops. Bad note taking.





It was raining steadily. It was a light rain, but heavy enough that I needed my jacket on with the hood up.

No luck with the jacket. I headed back to the room with only my $3 coffee. :cautious::hilarious:

We finished getting ready, packed back up and called at Lyft at 10. Jose took us over to the Poly. We had a great conversation! Unfortunately, this was the most expensive Lyft I've had, and it wasn't even that long. Ugh. No idea why there was surge pricing at 10am on a Friday. Whatever.

We walked into the Poly at about 10:30 and our room text came in! I couldn't believe it!




I love this lobby so much and it smells soooooooo good :inlove::inlove::inlove: What I wouldn't give to smell it right now.

We were in Moorea, so we headed there. I knew it would be on the far end, so we headed that way and when we ran across a map, we charted our course.
 
Last edited:

Second Star to the Right

Well-Known Member
Following along! Happy anniversary and I'm glad to hear your family was safe after Las Vegas.

I absolutely love those ears and your food pics of F&W are making me regret not getting tickets for this year!
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I interrupt this trip report to bring you part of the reason for a delay in posting:

171017_KMW_ScholarshipBanquet_0241.jpg


I work as the staff photographer for a university, and we had W here for our annual scholarship banquet Tuesday. It was seriously one of the most stressful events I've photographed in my career. There were so many restrictions I had to follow! Despite the stress, it was a great event.

I fly pretty much right down the middle politically, but I would be honored to meet ANY former president (I have a feeling that will change once Donny is out :hilarious:). It was an even bigger honor to actually get to photograph him.

But anyway, I've been working on editing for the last two days, so with that plus other shoots in the queue, I've been unable to post here. But I'll be back soon I hope!
 

WildcatDen

Well-Known Member
I interrupt this trip report to bring you part of the reason for a delay in posting:

View attachment 239037

I work as the staff photographer for a university, and we had W here for our annual scholarship banquet Tuesday. It was seriously one of the most stressful events I've photographed in my career. There were so many restrictions I had to follow! Despite the stress, it was a great event.

I fly pretty much right down the middle politically, but I would be honored to meet ANY former president (I have a feeling that will change once Donny is out :hilarious:). It was an even bigger honor to actually get to photograph him.

But anyway, I've been working on editing for the last two days, so with that plus other shoots in the queue, I've been unable to post here. But I'll be back soon I hope!
I have a friend (wounded warrior) who got to go out on the field for a Reds game when W was there to throw out the first pitch. W even spent time to pray with him. I am jealous of your opportunity. Glad you were able to do that.

Loving the report. Thanks for the great pics!!
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
I interrupt this trip report to bring you part of the reason for a delay in posting:

View attachment 239037

I work as the staff photographer for a university, and we had W here for our annual scholarship banquet Tuesday. It was seriously one of the most stressful events I've photographed in my career. There were so many restrictions I had to follow! Despite the stress, it was a great event.

I fly pretty much right down the middle politically, but I would be honored to meet ANY former president (I have a feeling that will change once Donny is out :hilarious:). It was an even bigger honor to actually get to photograph him.

But anyway, I've been working on editing for the last two days, so with that plus other shoots in the queue, I've been unable to post here. But I'll be back soon I hope!

Awesome!
 

Bullseye1967

Is that who I am?
Premium Member
I interrupt this trip report to bring you part of the reason for a delay in posting:

View attachment 239037



I work as the staff photographer for a university, and we had W here for our annual scholarship banquet Tuesday. It was seriously one of the most stressful events I've photographed in my career. There were so many restrictions I had to follow! Despite the stress, it was a great event.

I fly pretty much right down the middle politically, but I would be honored to meet ANY former president (I have a feeling that will change once Donny is out :hilarious:). It was an even bigger honor to actually get to photograph him.

But anyway, I've been working on editing for the last two days, so with that plus other shoots in the queue, I've been unable to post here. But I'll be back soon I hope![/QUOTE

What a great pic!!
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
I interrupt this trip report to bring you part of the reason for a delay in posting:

View attachment 239037

I work as the staff photographer for a university, and we had W here for our annual scholarship banquet Tuesday. It was seriously one of the most stressful events I've photographed in my career. There were so many restrictions I had to follow! Despite the stress, it was a great event.

I fly pretty much right down the middle politically, but I would be honored to meet ANY former president (I have a feeling that will change once Donny is out :hilarious:). It was an even bigger honor to actually get to photograph him.

But anyway, I've been working on editing for the last two days, so with that plus other shoots in the queue, I've been unable to post here. But I'll be back soon I hope!

That is a very nice photo. Not many people ever get an opportunity to meet a current or former President. Happy for you.
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Very cool to meet a former President! Woody has met Jimmy Carter which was a highlight for him.
Oh how neat!! It's an interesting world to get a glimpse of. I can't imagine being surrounded by that much staff all.the.time. :eek:

I have a friend (wounded warrior) who got to go out on the field for a Reds game when W was there to throw out the first pitch. W even spent time to pray with him. I am jealous of your opportunity. Glad you were able to do that.

Loving the report. Thanks for the great pics!!
That's so touching! One of the guests who got a photo was a vet in his 80s (?...maybe 90?) and he spent extra time speaking with him. I'm sure that meant a lot!

What a wonderful opportunity plus you look amazing!
Ah you're makin me blush! I clean up for special occasions :p

What a neat experience!! Great photo also!!
During Jimmy Carter's presidency he had made a stop in my hometown & my parents have a picture of him holding me. Of course I was too
young to ever remember it happening!!
Awww how neat!
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
I am late to start following
But hey, I am in Japan!!!

Loving the pics as always

Especially meeting W

I met and had my picture taken with our Prime Minister a few years ago

Unfortunately it was not Justin!!
But meeting Stephen Harper was cool

Max
 

muffy0110

New Member
Thanks to fall break, I got my photos edited and uploaded already. Yay!

Cast: Me and my husband, R
Where: Polynesian DVC villa (rental)
When: Oct 4-10
Why: 5th wedding anniversary

When we were planning this trip, I was unable to find any decent rates for our flight down on the 5th. I ended up finding a late Delta flight on the 4th that would get us there after midnight. It was around $70 as opposed to the ~$250 Southwest flights I was finding. I figured I wouldn't be able to add a night at the Poly, and frankly, I wouldn't want to pay that much for a room we didn't need until the wee hours of the morning. So I booked a room at All-Star Sports with some Disney rewards points. Score!

Ok now on to the trip. I left work a couple of hours early, took Chipper to his sitter's house and got home to get all the bags ready. R got home a little earlier than planned, and we were able to leave the house a little before 4pm.

We got to the Memphis airport in great time. I don't have TSA pre-check, and they sent me through a line where they were training someone. It. took. forever. I already get super anxious during the security check, and additional waiting makes it worse. Once I'm through and I KNOW I'm at my gate, I'm fine. But enough about my issues...

We had a plane change in Atlanta. Not a long layover. They were already starting to board when we got there. Atlanta had this cool art installation that reminded me of Pandora.



We got to Orlando before 12:30 and headed to claim our bag. It was weird seeing MCO completely empty.




Our bag came out almost immediately, so we grabbed it and made our way to the busses. We were headed to All-Star Sports at about ten till 1. Me = sleepy and cranky. Slanky? (not creepy...:joyfull:). Unfortunately it hit me that we never got a room text, which meant we'd have to stop at the desk. ARGH.

We were the 3rd drop off and got off the bus at 1:40. There was only one person at the desk, and the two people in front of us seemed to be taking forever. It was about 15 minutes before a second person finally came out and we got our room number in less than a minute. Would have been nice to have just GOTTEN A TEXT. I guess maybe when I did online checkin I put that we'd be there late? I don't understand why that would make them not text us though.

Whatever. We got to sleep about 2:15am and I was OUT.

Sorry this is so text heavy. One more story, then I promise I'll do more pictures.

At 6am the freaking in-room alarm goes off. :arghh: I turned it off (I thought)
At 6:10am the freaking in-room alarm goes off :arghh:. I unplugged it
At 6:20am the freaking in-room alarm goes off :arghh::devilish:. I briefly considered throwing it off the balcony, but R took it from me and started trying to figure it out. You needed a screwdriver to get to the batteries, but he figured out how to actually turn it off. Thankfully that worked.

We fell back asleep and didn't get up until 9. After we were up and moving, I took some pictures. Apologies for the slept-in beds (we sleep in a king bed at home, so in these doubles, we split up...no shame)



Donald :inlove: I liked the room instantly because of this.



I thought the headboards were cool.






Honestly, I liked this room better than our Pop room last spring! I would totally stay here again. I think I'd request being closer to the main building. We were about as far as you could get in the baseball section. It didn't matter for us, but for a longer stay it would.

I headed out to get coffee and look for a rain jacket for R (we forgot to get one for him before). Sorry all iphone pictures...I forgot my camera. *Edited to add - after reviewing this post, I realize I took the room pictures AFTER getting coffee. Oops. Bad note taking.





It was raining steadily. It was a light rain, but heavy enough that I needed my jacket on with the hood up.

No luck with the jacket. I headed back to the room with only my $3 coffee. :cautious::hilarious:

We finished getting ready, packed back up and called at Lyft at 10. Jose took us over to the Poly. We had a great conversation! Unfortunately, this was the most expensive Lyft I've had, and it wasn't even that long. Ugh. No idea why there was surge pricing at 10am on a Friday. Whatever.

We walked into the Poly at about 10:30 and our room text came in! I couldn't believe it!




I love this lobby so much and it smells soooooooo good :inlove::inlove::inlove: What I wouldn't give to smell it right now.

We were in Moorea, so we headed there. I knew it would be on the far end, so we headed that way and when we ran across a map, we charted our course.
I was wondering why you paid to transfer. I have switched between WDW hotels many times on vacations and they would come and pick us up especially when transferring to higher end hotel.
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I was wondering why you paid to transfer. I have switched between WDW hotels many times on vacations and they would come and pick us up especially when transferring to higher end hotel.
I've never seen that offered, so I just went with what I knew. We could have had bell services transfer our bags and we could ride the bus too, but I prefer to just take my own luggage.
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
When we got back to our room, R decided to take a nap, and I headed to the pool. I just went to the Oasis pool, since it was closer and I figured there was a greater chance of me finding a chair. I found a chair, then I grabbed a very sweet beverage, and when I returned there was a chair with an umbrella open. Score! The sun was still hitting me some, but still better than nothing.

37680735631_33bc003a0b_b.jpg
DisneyFall17Edits-121[/url] by Kristi Woody, on Flickr[/IMG]

I stayed about an hour. It was pretty nice. There were some loud families, but it was overall fine. I notice the afternoon storm headed our way, so I packed up.



When I got back, there was still time for me to take a little nap after I showered. I had an alarm set for me to get up and start getting ready for dinner and I slept through it :eek: Thankfully R came in from the patio about 10 min later and woke me up. So I got up and started getting ready. Unfortunately my clean hair didn't want to curl, so I was pushing it on time.

Tonight was our Victoria & Albert's reservation at 7. We left the room at 6:20 and got there way early. I was looking for a spot to take a picture with a self timer, and I saw a gentleman taking pictures of the lagoon. I politely asked if he would mind taking a photo of us.

He was NOT happy to do it. He acted very annoyed that I asked, and this is the picture I got.



Thanks, man...guess I'll keep looking for a trashcan to prop my camera on :cautious:



Much better!



And a selfie, for good measure.

We ended up walking in about 10 minutes early, and they seated us. I was overwhelmed by how classy the place was :joyfull:

Our server, James came over pretty quickly and got us started. I don't have a ton of notes, so I'll try to recount the experience as best I can.



Dunno why they put these plates down, they just pick them up when you get there. It does look better than an empty table though.

James walked us through everything and explained our options. We went back and forth on what we wanted to do, and despite getting the vibe that R didn't want to spring for the wine pairing, I decided to (@Tony the Tigger it's your fault :joyfull:). We also got the 10 course. If I could do it again, I would get the 7 course with wine pairing. The 10 was a bit too much food for me, and I could have tasted the courses I missed because R had the 10 courses. Aaaaanyway.

I'm using our customized menu to remember these. That was a nice souvenir! They also gave us both champagne to toast with :D

1st course - Amuse-Bouche, Cauliflower Panna Cotta with Imperial Caviar. Paired with Henriot Brut Rose NV






This was my first experience with caviar, and it was GREAT. Everything about this dish was great. The panna cotta had amazing flavor and went perfectly with the caviar. This one was very memorable...we were off to a great start.

2nd course - Seared Duck Breast with Farro and Asian Pears. Paired with Tablas Creek Cote de Tablas Blanc 2015



Once again, delicious. I loved the duck, and the accompaniments were perfect. That little farro think was delicious. I tried the sauces with the duck, and both were good.

3rd course - Roasted Sablefish with Baby Bok Choy and Coconut Curry Broth. Paired with Dr. Loosen "Erdener Treppchen" Riesling Trocken, Mosel 2014



I decided after dinner that this was my favorite dish, which surprised me. Fish is not usually a star for me, but this was amazing! The curry broth just put it over the top. I love curry anyway, and this was AMAZING.

4th course- New Zealand Langoustine with Nage Crema. Paired with Maison Vincent Girardin Puligny-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes, Bourgogne 2013



I'd never heard of langoustine. R said it was tiny lobster-like things, and he was right. They were super tender and tasty. I liked it both with and without the sauce.

5th course- Marcho Farms Veal with Black Truffles. Paired with Bruno Giacosa Nebbiolo D'Alba "Valmaggiore," Piedmont 2014



I remember these all being good, but that's about all I remember. This wasn't a standout for me. Still VERY good though.

I'm going to save the rest for another post because I've got to head out for a wedding. And now I'm hungry :hilarious::hilarious::hilarious:
 

Big Hair

Well-Known Member
Going to V+A next week and am pondering the 7 or 10 course? They called the other day and said there last was a $100.00 or so wine course or a $200.00 one. All they asked was about food allergies and to make sure us here Northern Michigan folk were able to Iive up to the dress code. Thought that odd, anyways, what do recommend? It will be just me and my 23 year old daughter
 

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