Trip Report The Adventures of Sass and Frass

Hi everyone! I figure it’s finally time to get to work on this trip report!

Who: Myself, husband Nick, daughters Sage and Aria, ages 12 and 7 (they are the Sass and Frass )
When: March 5-11th 2023
Where: Polynesian

The trip is the first time back for my husband and kids post-Covid. Our last family trip was in January 2020, right before the world went crazy. That trip was unsuccessful to say the least. The kids whined about everything and fought constantly. We’ve taken many family trips over the years and during Covid, I got the idea to plan a solo trip for myself. My love for Disney started long before I had kids and I was always disappointed after our family trips. I felt like we spent so much money, dealt with constant bickering and behavior issues and I didn’t even get to do all the things I wanted to do. So as a reward for making it through all the quarantines and remote learning, I did my first solo trip in January 2022. It was AMAZING. I had the best time and I’d love to do it again someday.

This family trip was actually Nick’s idea. He stayed at the Polynesian once when he was young and really wanted to stay there again. I was hesitant only because it’s so expensive and I would rather spend that money elsewhere. We rented DVC for this trip and even with the savings compared to the rack rate, still paid over $600/night. Because of that, the trip was a bit shorter than usual and we only had 5 park days. Maybe it’s just me, but I would have preferred to stay somewhere cheaper and stay for a longer amount of time. But the DVC rental was successful and we were off!

Sunday 3/5

Our flight was at 6:30am. Aria couldn’t sleep the night before (typical for her) so we ended up leaving for the airport much earlier than planned. We actually arrived before security was even open. We had plenty of time to grab a quick bite and just hang out.

And we were finally on our way! Fly us to Disney!

 

[Wicked Sisters]

Loving your family adventure. How wonderful staying so close to MK and seeing the fireworks every night.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Loving your family adventure. How wonderful staying so close to MK and seeing the fireworks every night.

It was amazing! Being able to see the fireworks and being so close to the TTC were the absolute best parts

 

[BigDis]

Looking forward to reading more. Your pictures are great!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Before I continue on, is there a way to add a video to a post?

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Looks like a fun trip so far, looking forward to seeing more. I like the view from your room and I would love to have some of those pulled pork nachos right now.

As for posting a video, I haven't done it but I think must people upload them from their youtube page.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Happy to be following along! Staying at The Polynesian is on our bucket list!

 

[mpaulam]

Following along

 

[Darstarr]

Dole whips, obviously.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Tuesday 3/7

This was our one and only Animal Kingdom day! Early entry was at 7:30 again. We did not purchase Genie+, I didn’t think we would need it since we would be arriving early. Nick and I discussed purchasing FoP just for us but decided against it. There were many things the kids were looking forward to so we were anticipating a long day.

Sage is a huge Animal Kingdom fan. She just loves animals in general. She’s been saying since she was 5 that she wants to be a zookeeper or a vet. She’s obsessed with the AK show on Disney+. I really hope her love for animals sticks with her!

The early entry process was done differently than when I was there for my solo trip in January 2022. During that trip, the tapstiles opened prior to early entry and we could line up at our desired first ride. This day was a little different. They actually kept us out front until 7:25. Once we made it through, it was already 7:30. It threw me off a bit but I knew most people wouldn’t be rope dropping Navi like we were. So I took a deep breath and stopped to enjoy the Tree of Life and pose for a family picture. Thank you kind CM for taking this for us!

Hello floating mountains!

We made our way over to Navi and essentially walked right on. My kids love this ride and I actually do too. I find it very peaceful and beautiful.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We then walked over to Safari, taking the back path that connects Pandora to Africa. I love finding these early morning empty pockets!

The Safari line looked long but I think it was because they weren’t quite open yet. We basically slowly walked our way through the queue and were on a little after 8.

I’ve heard so many people say the Safari is best first thing in the morning. I was a little disappointed this time though because the giraffes weren’t out yet. They are my fav so I was sad to not see them at all. I’ve never been on a Safari where there were literally no giraffes. The lions weren’t out either but that’s more typical for them.
We did however get great views of the African wild dogs and the rhinos! Decent view of the cheetahs too.

We then walked the Gorilla Falls trail. First up, some pretty birds and an adorable rock hidden Mickey.

Those little yellow birds were so busy. They were flying all around, collecting little twigs and making nests up in the trees. It was fun to watch.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We then spent quite a bit of time watching the meerkats. They are just so stinking cute!

When we got to gorilla area, we were told the females and babies (the ones in the area behind the glass) weren’t out yet. So again, early morning doesn’t seem to be the best viewing time for the animals.
The male gorillas were out however.

So it was about 9am by this point. We had an ADR for Tusker House at 10:15. I knew I wanted to do Navi, Safari and this trail prior to breakfast. It’s just hard to judge how long you might need. I didn’t want to leave Africa and then come all the way back for breakfast. So I went into the app to see if I could adjust our ADR time and I was able to change it to 9:50! I checked in right when I was able (I forget if it’s 15 or 20 minutes prior to your ADR time) and our table was ready by 9:35. As much as I sometimes hate how much you have to be on your phone now, I actually love that you can adjust ADR times and check in right in the app. This is such a great feature!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Tusker House has been a family favorite of ours for years. On our last family trip in 2020, we actually did quite a few character meals. Because this was a shorter trip, we opted to only do one and Tusker House was the obvious choice. First a few comparison pictures-
September 2016, January 2020 and March 2022

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

The characters were absolutely amazing!! It was by far one of the best character meals we’ve ever done. Our server was great also and the food was really good. This ended up being one the top moments of the entire trip for me. I took a ton of pics so I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible

First up was Donald. I love Donald. I feel like he’s often misunderstood and I can relate to his anger issues. I had Donald on my shirt but he paid zero attention to me. Why?
Because Aria had Daisy on her shirt. He walked right up to her, pointed to her shirt, made a heart with his hands and then stared at her shirt for a solid 10 seconds. Then he’d make the heart again, then stare again. Aria was cracking up. After giving the kids hugs and autographs, I tried to tell him how much I loved him and joined the kids for pictures. I still don’t think he noticed me though. He was all about Aria and her Daisy shirt. It was hysterical.

Next up was Goofy. When we first sat down at our table, the characters were doing their character parade through the dining room. Goofy did this super impressive high kick. When he came to our table, I told him how much I loved his dance moves and how impressed I was with high kick. More on that later
Nick got in on these pics because Goofy is his fav.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Next was Mickey. Somehow the first thing he noticed was Sage’s bag hanging on the back of her chair. It has a bow on top and is covered in flip sequins. He immediately started playing with the bag, flipping the sequins all around. It was super cute.
Then we gave him the kids autograph books and he was being super secretive signing them. He was leaning way over the table, covering the books with his hand. When he finished with one, Nick tried to take it to make room for him to sign the other. He snatched it back from Nick and just stared at him. Then leaned over and started signing the other. It was so funny. I can’t even remember exactly what he wrote. I think in one book he wrote have a magical day and in the other, you’re my best pal or something similar.

Playing with Sage’s bag

Admiring her shirt

Signing the books

And the character attendant was kind enough to take a family picture for us!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Last up was Daisy. She was the most subdued of the characters but still very sweet. She gave the kids lots of long hugs and kept making hearts with her hands.

So as we’re getting ready to leave, the characters come through the dining room to do their dance parade again. I got my phone out and put it on video, thinking I would ask Goofy to do his high kicks again. But, HE REMEMBERED! He pointed to me, did 4 high kicks in a row and then pointed to me again. I got it all on video and it is hysterical. I crack up every time I watch it just remembering how funny it was in the moment. I don’t think I can post it here so here are a few screen grabs.

I know character meals can be pricey, especially when you have kids like Sage that are considered an adult but still eat like a child. But I 100% think they are worth the price. First of all, you don’t have wait in the hot sun, in multiple long lines. You’re sitting inside, in the AC, and the characters come to you. Second, the food here is awesome. It’s a great mix of classic breakfast with a few more unique items thrown in. Even my picky kids had no problem filling their plates. And finally, I am truly amazed by how characters who can’t speak were able to connect with so many kids. They have such a tough job and they do it perfectly. Even our server was so upbeat and happy. Meals like these are likely once in a lifetime, magical experiences for most guests but for the characters and the servers, it’s just another day. But they make it seem like they are having the best day ever. I have so much love and respect for them.
Anyways, rant over

Here are a few pictures of the themed posters outside the restaurant ~

Love the attention to detail in this area!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We then started walking towards the animal trail in Asia. I wanted to get this done sooner rather than later. We made the mistake on our last trip of saving it for the end of the day and it closed much earlier than we were expecting. We missed out on seeing the tigers and Sage has never let me live that one down
First my kids had to jam out on these drums-

And pose for a tree of life picture.
Aria is trying to hug Sage in so many pictures. Not because they actually like each other but because Aria knows it annoys Sage. Aria loves to make people mad. I think it gives her a sense of control and power. Since she’s the youngest and all

I forgot about this picture. Yes, Sage is rubbing noses with what is likely a very germy statue. Now that we are two weeks home from our trip, I can say with confidence that I am AMAZED our kids didn’t get sick. They literally touched every surface despite us constantly asking them not too. And Aria was always doing ridiculous things like rubbing her eyes or biting her nails. Sage got cotton candy later in the week and had it in her bag for days. She would randomly rip off a piece and lick it off her fingers. Yes we sanitized and washed hands constantly. But yeah, kids are gross and it’s so stressful.

Anyways, back to the tigers!

After the tiger sat up like this, she started gagging and then threw up every where. All the kids were screaming ew! Ew! It was pretty funny

 

[cgersic]

I was loving the tiger pictures and the finishing story made me laugh right out loud! Good thing I work alone!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We then went over to Dinoland.

First stop, TriceraTop Spin. I still don’t understand why this ride isn’t pterodactyls. You know, an actual flying dinosaur

As we were walking towards Dinosaur, we came across Chip and Dale dressed like dinosaurs! How cute are they?!?

I don’t have many pictures for what we did over the next hour and half or so
Aria really wanted to try Dinosaur since it’s not a roller coaster. I had a feeling she wouldn’t like it, but we let her give it a try. She did ok on it, but had no desire to ride again. The posted wait was 20 or 30 minutes and we almost didn’t get in line. I’m glad we did though because we waited maybe 5.

Then the kids played in the Boneyard and Nick and I took turns using single rider on Everest. Everest was closed for refurbishment when I was there in 2022 so this was the first time I’d been on it years. I seriously forgot how much fun it was! Top two fav, right up there with Tower of Terror.

After Nick and I both finished up, Sage wanted to ride Dinosaur again. Aria was putting up a stink saying she didn’t want to wait for them and was bored. But I knew the perfect way to distract her.

Ice cream sandwich from Dino-Bite! So good! And even with us sharing it, we still couldn’t finish it.
We also looked around in the gift shops and Aria had to ham it up with this dino.

She was so excited to find little stuffed dino Chip & Dale’s!

 

[amjt660]

Your AK day looks like it was so much fun

Cant wait to hear the rest of it

Max

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Next up was the Nemo show. Cute & worth the watch but I’m not sure I would make this a must see on future trips. Sage and I were hoping to see Lindsay & Jared from Allears but sadly, they weren’t in the show we saw.

Walking towards the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, we saw Kevin!

I don’t have any pictures from Rafiki’s, it wasn’t the best part of our day. The kids were getting tired and cranky. Most of the animals in the petting zoo were in areas where the kids couldn’t pet them. All the stuff inside was of no interest to Aria. While Nick and Sage looked around, Aria and I just sat down and took a little rest.