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.
 
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LeighM

Well-Known Member
It is truly a nightmare. I don't fly a ton, but it's definitely one of the worst airports to fly out of. So excited to have pre-check next time! Although @Doc Disney mentioned in her report that it's possible to not get it on the boarding pass, even if you pay for it? So that's concerning...but I always fly southwest and get my boarding pass on my phone 24 hours ahead, so I guess at least I'd know ahead of time.

The person doing our in person interview let us know that the precheck wasn't always guaranteed and that we could randomly be marked for extra security at any time. Which makes sense I guess. She also said to make sure that not only is the TSA number included on your airline profile but to make sure it's also listed in the manage details section of your airline reservation. So I made sure ours was listed in both locations just in case. At this point, I've done all I can do to try to control a situation that I can't control LOL.
 

blreinsel

Well-Known Member
Okay.... all of your pictures are amazing. But the ones of the Haunted Mansion section of the parade are PERFECT. As are the ones of the castle show. :joyfull:

And then, there's the one of Donald on his float. :inlove::inlove::inlove:

Sooooo excited for your trip! Eek! :D
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Okay.... all of your pictures are amazing. But the ones of the Haunted Mansion section of the parade are PERFECT. As are the ones of the castle show. :joyfull:

And then, there's the one of Donald on his float. :inlove::inlove::inlove:

Sooooo excited for your trip! Eek! :D

Thank you!!! I had such a great spot for the parade and the show, so that helped! No heads in the way :D
Me too! It really started to sink in yesterday that I'll be down there so soon! Time to start thinking about packing! I think about it for a couple of weeks, then actually do it the night before I leave :hilarious:

Just finished your outstanding report. Did I read you are going to be back in January? We are doing a quick trip the 22nd to the 25th.
I'll still be there the 22nd! We're volunteering at Give Kids the World though, so we'll only be in the parks at night.
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
What's this give the kids the world you speak of?
It's a resort where people coming to Central Florida for their Make-A-Wish trip stay. So all the families staying there have a child with a life-threatening illness, but they get to go and forget about their struggles for a week and just enjoy a magical trip! It's a great place. I've been fundraising for them, but I'm excited to finally get to go volunteer.
 

mrerk

Premium Member
It's a resort where people coming to Central Florida for their Make-A-Wish trip stay. So all the families staying there have a child with a life-threatening illness, but they get to go and forget about their struggles for a week and just enjoy a magical trip! It's a great place. I've been fundraising for them, but I'm excited to finally get to go volunteer.
@sheriffwoody I’m just curious, what role did they give you at GKTW? Hopefully something utilizing your photographic talent?
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
@sheriffwoody I’m just curious, what role did they give you at GKTW? Hopefully something utilizing your photographic talent?
No sadly I didn't get a photo role. I honestly didn't know that would be an option, but it is! I will definitely try to do that next time. We did breakfast service, a pool party (i did the sound for that one), a tea party (filling drinks), castle attendant, character photos and carousel operator. Everything was fun! I also walked around with one of the employees I've become friends with and took some photos of the village. I don't know if they'll be able to utilize them, but I hope so!
 

Dave Z

Well-Known Member
They help us last year with my son Make-a-wish trip. Give kids the world goes out of overboard in helping out families.
 

Dave Z

Well-Known Member
Also, for our Make-a-wish trip we stay at Disney's Wilderness Lodge you do not have to stay at GKTW. More gear to younger children,
 

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