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!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Thank you for all the great photos! I am especially enjoying all the topiaries as I have yet to visit during the Flower and Garden Festival.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Thank you for all the great photos! I am especially enjoying all the topiaries as I have yet to visit during the Flower and Garden Festival.

Thank you
Since we just had the one day in Epcot, we didn’t focus a whole lot on the festival but we LOVED all the different topiaries! I wish we could have had a whole other day there to try the food. And I think the kids would have liked the scavenger hunt. I also didn’t think of it til after but somehow I missed the Tiana topiary! It’s crazy that we spent the whole day there and still missed some things. Just another reason to go back someday!

 

[cgersic]

The girls' dresses are adorable!!! Loving the photos and can't wait to get there for Flower and Garden and just wander around all day! Great reporting!

 

[amjt660]

For only having one day at Epcot I say you did great!!

Max

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Thursday 3/9

The day our winning streak came to an end

I apologize in advance for the text heavy opening.

This was our DHS day. We were planning on staying for Fantasmic so I decided we would not be rope dropping. RnRC was closed for refurbishment, I knew my kids wouldn’t do ToT, they don’t like Star Wars. So I was confident 11am-9pm would be plenty of time. And after days of early wake ups, I thought they would enjoy a lazy morning.

I was up early because I always am but also to get our Genie for the day. I purchased it at about 6:30am. At 7, I went to get Slinky Dog and when I clicked it, I was brought back to the purchase Genie page. I force closed the app, tried again, and was again brought to the purchase page. I figured I would just buy it again and straighten it out later but when I tried that, I got an error page saying it was already purchased. So I was on an endless loop and not able to make a Genie selection. I sent a message in the app but didn’t hear back for a while. I was able to successfully purchase an ILL for Rise for Nick.
At about 7:30, when LLs switched from check availability to an actual time, I noticed that all rides had a return time of 8:30, park open. So that’s when I realized it must be a system wide issue and I felt a lot better. I did get a response in the chat soon after that. Basically saying IT is on it and keep checking.

I was actually really relieved we weren’t rope dropping. I made some coffee and sat out on the deck and just enjoyed the view and the quiet and kept refreshing the app. Finally at 8:07, the issue resolved and I booked Slinky for 10:45am! The exact time I was hoping for.

I breathed a sigh of relief and went into the room to tell Nick. Both kids were up and Sage was completely ready. And she was IN A MOOD. Even though I told them we weren’t rope dropping, she was suddenly very concerned we wouldn’t have time to do everything. I assured her we would have plenty of time but she was stomping around the room demanding we all get ready. I was still in pjs and I was really hoping to get take out from Kona Cafe for breakfast. So Nick told me to order my food, and he would go get it while I got ready.
I have been wanting to try the Tonga Toast for so long! Choices for the side were bacon, sausage, ham or spiced ham. I ordered spiced ham thinking it was some fancy Hawaiian Kona version. But nope, it was spam! Oopsies
Unfortunately the Tonga Toast was not good. The outside of it was hard as a rock. I could barely cut it with the plastic silverware and I actually snapped my fork doing so. I think maybe it had just been sitting out too long. The flavors were good and I was so sad I didn’t really enjoy it. Or the spam. But that was totally my fault for not knowing spiced ham was spam.

We all got ready and left for DHS a little earlier than I was planning. We arrived around 10 so too early for our Slinky LL. The standby for the other two Toy Story rides were too long to wait and I planned on using LL for them later so we started our day at Muppet Vision.
Sage found the key under the mat!

Who gets the Muppet humor?

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

After Muppets, we made our way to Slinky. Aria would not be riding. Sage rode first with Nick. Aria and I walked through the Midway Mania exit so we could look around the gift shop.

Thankfully Sage loved Slinky Dog! So she took Aria’s band and came to ride with me.

After we all tapped in, I booked Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. I forget the exact time but I know we had about an hour in between. Standby lines were long and we couldn’t find a show time to match up so we decided to get lunch. After reading through the menus, we opted for Backlot Express. I didn’t get anything because I just had the Tonga Toast and I can’t remember what the others got. I do know that both kids insisted on getting blue raspberry slushies. I don’t know if it was because they drank it fast or if something was actually wrong but they both got really bad stomachaches. Aria is very prone to sickness, if there’s a germ out there, she catches it, and I frequently travel with different medicines. Thankfully I had chewable Pepto in my backpack and they both felt better soon after.
We then went over to MnMRR! I did this ride on my solo trip but Nick and the kids have never been on. Both kids were grumpy from their stomachaches so I kept trying to hype it up and tell them how much they were going to love it.

We all tap in and I go to make our next LL. The app boots me out and when I try to sign back in, I get an error page saying my account has been deactivated I force close the app and try again. No luck. I turn off the WiFi. No luck. I sign in and out a million times and I keep getting this-

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

I am unable to make another LL

We continue through the preshow and right before getting on the ride, the lights come on. Uh oh. We wait for maybe 5 minutes and they announce we all have to leave the queue. Sage stubbornly sits down and announces she’s not leaving until we get to ride. I’m kind of hoping a CM forcibly removes her
We make our way out and they have a great system set up with a bunch of cast members. We are issued a LL to return later when the ride reopens. I ask where the nearest blue umbrella is as I need to sort out the issue with the MDE app.

Over at the blue umbrella, we are told that this is once again a system wide issue. There is nothing we can do except keep trying to sign in. Unfortunately Nick does not have the app or a Disney account. So anytime we want to make a LL, we need to go to a blue umbrella. While we are there, we make a LL for Toy Story Mania. I think the return time is around 2:30. Nick’s ILL for Rise is at 2pm and I was planning to take the girls to the 2:30 Frozen show while he did that. So we take the LL for Toy Story Mania but it’s so frustrating that I can’t try to modify it for an earlier time.
It’s just before 1pm and thankfully, there is a Beauty and the Beast show happening soon so we make our way over to that.

Even though this theater is outdoors, it very shady under the roof and there are lots of fans. It’s very cool and relaxing and I’m hoping when we’re done, Sage has snapped out of her bad mood. But nope. Still grumpy.
Thankfully, MnMRR has reopened so we go back over.
On the way we pass this statue. These statues were very hit or miss all week as far as getting them to interact with my band. I would wave my arm in front of them and my band would usually vibrate. Sometimes they would talk, sometimes not. But Aria always insisted we try. But anyways, we got a kick out of this one because of Bo Peep’s little friend!

And finally, we get to ride Mickey and Minnie’s! I actually really do love this ride but will forever be salty that it replaced The Great Movie Ride. The kids enjoy it but Sage says it wasn’t worth waiting twice. The wait really isn’t that bad though. Even with a little bit of a LL back up, we waited maybe 20 or 25 minutes total over the two times we lined up.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

So after that, Nick goes over to Rise and the kids and I just go into the Frozen show a little early. I think we tried to do the Olaf meet and greet first but the wait time was jumping significantly on this one all day. It would say 10 or 15 minutes in the app, we would walk over and it would be 45. It must have to do with when a Frozen show is in progress vs when it lets out.

This was actually Nick’s first time on Rise of the Resistance. On our last family trip in January 2020, they were still utilizing only a virtual queue and you had to be in the park to book it. This was back when DHS was opening super early. By the time we got the kids ready and out the door, Nick was able to join the VQ but his return time was so high, it was never called. I rode on my solo trip in 2022. I am not a Star Wars fan at all and honestly, I wasn’t overly impressed. It just felt like preshow after preshow and one short, kind of cool ride. So I didn’t mind skipping it this time.
The kids and I very much enjoyed the Frozen show but I will say, it really depends on what narrators you get. The two we had that day were good, but not the funniest I’ve seen.

While we were in the show, Nick texted me saying he was done with Rise and was just going to wander around the land a little. When he was done, I asked him to go to blue umbrella and double check the time on our next LL. I wasn’t able to view it at all or do anything in the app. While he was there, he was able to book us another. I actually don’t even know if our two hour window had passed or if they were just being helpful. But he booked us Alien Swirling Saucers for 4:30.

After Frozen, we all met up to ride Midway Mania. I asked him what he thought of Rise and said he said he liked it, but that Guardians was way better. So it made me feel a little better that he too wasn’t as blown away as everyone else seemed to be.

We all enjoyed Midway Mania but we still had over an hour until our Alien LL. It was so frustrating that I couldn’t even try to fiddle faddle for a closer time. There was honestly nothing else the kids wanted to do, and they were both hot and grumpy. Nick offered to take them back to swim. They didn’t want to miss Alien but I assured them we would likely be able to ride with a short wait later after Fantasmic.
Aria suddenly remembered that we never got to meet Olaf. The wait was short at the current time and there were LLs for almost immediately. I told Nick to walk over with them and get in line and in case the wait time jumped on the walk over, I would go to a blue umbrella and ask them to switch our LL to Olaf.
So he gets over there with them, the wait is thankfully only 10 or 15 minutes. I am in the process of working with the CM and getting our LL switched just in case. I start walking over and I tell him just to take the kids in. But Aria is insisting I be there to get pictures with them. She hasn’t been concerned with any other character that we get family pictures so I really think she’s just being difficult on purpose. But I finally make my way over there just as they are being let inside. And we all meet Olaf together per Aria’s request.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

After Olaf, Nick takes the kids back to swim and tells me to stay and enjoy some alone time
I am pretty hungry at this point but dreading walking into a quick service since I don’t have the ability to mobile order. As I’m mulling it over, I head back over to my good friends at the blue umbrellas. I ask them to remove our Olaf LL and instead book one for me at Tower of Terror. The CM says the return time is 8pm. The exact time of Fantasmic I nicely tell her that won’t work and she taps around for a bit and then says she scheduled a LL I can use at any time. While she’s arranging things, I’m looking at the map trying to decide where to eat. Then I remember the Brown Derby. I’ve always wanted to try the Cobb salad but it was kind of off my radar for this trip since I knew we’d be grabbing something quick with the kids. I asked the CM how I could join the walk up waitlist without a working app and she said she wasn’t sure but she would walk over with me to find out. So we walk over to the Brown Derby and she discusses it with someone there and they tell me they can seat me immediately in the lounge outside. Works for me!
And finally, I get to try the Cobb salad!

It was so good! Definitely recommend! I also got the grapefruit cake.

While I would definitely order the salad again, the cake was a one and done. Very good but not necessarily special enough to order again. I was so happy I finally got the try this restaurant!

I start to walk towards ToT and then I think maybe I should let my food settle a bit. While I’m in the area, I decide to check out Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy. I’ve never done it before so I figure why not. I recently became a TA so it’s important to me to have as much hand on experience as possible so I can give the best advice I can.
So anyways, what a fun show! If you have someone in your party who loves Cars, I definitely recommend seeing it. There are some cars set up out front for photo ops and the McQueen animatronic is really nicely done.

Then over to ToT! My number one favorite ride in all of WDW.

Many years ago, I got super into The Twilight Zone and I loved finding all the hidden props and Easter eggs throughout the lobby and queue. However, I just recently learned something completely new.
After you walk through the lobby, there is a directory sign between the two elevators.

Look down into the sign to see some fallen letters. What do they spell?

TAKE THE STAIRS

I love it!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

After Tower, I was thinking of going over to see the Mickey and Minnie short, only because it’s pretty much the only thing left in the park that I’ve never done before. But Nick texts me and says that the kids are looking for a few certain souvenirs. He’s hoping I can look around the different stores so when they come in later, we can quickly show them their options without wasting too much time.
While I’m out poking around, I take pictures of this statue and plaque. Much like the find over at ToT, I just recently read that this dedication plaque is the only thing in the park to still say MGM Studios

After looking through all the stores in the front of the park, I figure while I’m over there, it’s finally time for a proper trip to guest relations. We paid over $90 that day for Genie+ and while yes, we were able to use 4 LLs, the whole day was just so frustrating. Not being able to use the app at all to make or modify LLs, mobile order etc, having to walk back and forth to the blue umbrellas multiple times, waiting in line every time to make a LL, it was just so exhausting. I truly didn’t think Genie was worth $90+ that day. The line at guest relations was very long so I’m assuming many people had issues that day. While I was waiting, I was going over in my head what I was going to say, as people with anxiety often do but when it was my turn, I barely got through half of my spiel and the CM interrupts me and says, do you just want a refund? So I think he was just over it all. Poor guy, it’s not his fault. He issues me the refund and asks if we will be in the parks tomorrow. I say yes so he adds Genie for free for the following day. He says I can make my first selection at 7am and it will be ready to go. So that was very nice of him. At this point, my app still isn’t letting me sign in so I’m really worried about the morning. We were not rope dropping again so if my app still wasn’t working at 7am, I asked him what I should do. He says to go down to the front desk. That would be a long walk in my pajamas first thing in the morning So I was crossing my fingers and toes it would be fixed by then!
I then decided to make my way back towards Fantasmic and wait for Nick to come back with the kids.

I got a snack to go so we could share it while waiting for the show to start. Toffee and coconut blondie from Fairfax Fare! Yum!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We didn’t sit down in the Fantasmic theater until about 7:50. Our seats were way off to the side but I actually didn’t mind at all. One thing I hate about nighttime shows is how early you need to show up to claim a spot. The fact that we could walk in 10 minutes prior to showtime and still get a seat was great. I’d pretty much sit anywhere!

The show was AMAZING! The kids have never seen it and they both loved it. Nick and I haven’t seen it since before they were born. Awesome, awesome show.

Oh I just remembered this, there was a guy sitting right behind me who was going absolutely crazy. Just screaming and clapping and yelling the whole time. It always makes me happy when I see (or hear) other adults enjoying Disney in the same way I do. I was smiling the whole time listening to him

 

[amjt660]

Sounds like a challenging day at the Studios
You seemed to take it all in stride - I am glad you went to Guest Relations and they handled it so well

Did you notice the new scenes in Fantasmic ? I hear they are well done.
Looking forward to seeing them one day.


Max

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

After Fantasmic, we make our way back towards Toy Story Land to finally ride Alien Swirling Saucers. Nick was hoping to ride ToT but with RnRC closed, the wait was 60 minutes. We hoped it would be lower so close to park close but I’m guessing everyone exiting Fantasmic had the same idea as us. So he skipped it and never got to ride. I did feel really bad about that.
We walked right onto Alien, rode once, walked off, then right back on and rode again. They told us we could stay seated if we wanted to ride a 3rd time but the kids still needed to do their shopping and the park was just about closed.

What a day guys. What. A. Day.
Between the ongoing issues with the app, Sage’s grumpiness and the parks feeling more crowded than the first few days it was just… a lot. We survived but just barely

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Sounds like a challenging day at the Studios
You seemed to take it all in stride - I am glad you went to Guest Relations and they handled it so well

Did you notice the new scenes in Fantasmic ? I hear they are well done.
Looking forward to seeing them one day.


Max

All the cast members were great that day. I made an appoint to be as kind and polite as possible. Obviously it’s not their fault. But yeah, it was rough.
It had been so long since we saw Fantasmic, I honestly don’t remember the differences from the “old” show. But we all really enjoyed it. The audience was great. Everyone would go crazy whenever a new character would pop up and start performing

 

[MickeyCB]

What a day guys. What. A. Day.
Between the ongoing issues with the app, Sage’s grumpiness

One day at work a doctor and I were grousing about our teenage daughters and he asked me, "what's the worst time in a woman's life"?
Answer, when she's 13 and when her daughter is 13!
Thought that was spot on!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

One day at work a doctor and I were grousing about our teenage daughters and he asked me, "what's the worst time in a woman's life"?
Answer, when she's 13 and when her daughter is 13!
Thought that was spot on!

Yeah I’m sure 13 will be just as bad. Sage has always been a difficult child. It’s why our kids are 5 years apart. For the first 4 years of her life, I couldn’t even imagine having another. Every age has been hard, it’s just different issues and problems. The hardest part is that somehow, Aria’s behavior issues are even worse. So yes, I doubt these issues will just suddenly resolve before age 13

 

[Zipadeelady]

How awesome of your husband to take the girls and give you some time to yourself. He's a keeper. And that Cobb Salad!! That has been on my want list for so many years and I just haven't been able to try it yet, it looks absolutely delicious.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

How awesome of your husband to take the girls and give you some time to yourself. He's a keeper. And that Cobb Salad!! That has been on my want list for so many years and I just haven't been able to try it yet, it looks absolutely delicious.

Oh yes, my husband knows Disney is my one true love
And yes, the Cobb salad was perfection!

 

[heatherhy01]

Just caught up, sounds like a great trip. I think all of us have at least one bumpy day on vacation?

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Friday 3/10

This was our last full day! The plan was to go back to MK to finish what we missed our first day. We were planning on staying for fireworks so once again, we were not rope dropping. Thankfully Sage was ok with it this time.
I was up early so of course the first thing I did was open the MDE app. It brought me to the sign in page and this time IT WORKED!! Back in business. At 7am, I booked Jungle Cruise. I got a return time of 10:30 which is just what I was hoping for.
We had a lazy start to the day and I was once again able to sit on the deck and drink my coffee. As much as I love the quiet of the parks at rope drop, this was nice too. We mobile ordered some breakfast from Captain Cook’s, got all ready, and made our way down to the ferry.

When we entered MK, we decided to first get some family castle pictures before everyone was too hot and grumpy.

Then on to Jungle Cruise.

I’ll admit, I’m not a huge JC fan. Mainly because the sound system needs some serious upgrading. I always feel like I’m straining to hear the skipper. One thing that was strange on this particular ride was that our skipper didn’t make a big deal out of the backside of water. Just casually said, oh this is the back of the water. Then said, I don’t know why people like it so much. So weird.
After tapping in, I booked the Magic Carpets and got pretty much an instant return time.

It was pretty hot that morning so I was a bit disappointed that the camel didn’t spray us as we were flying by
I then booked Pirates but we had some time in between so obviously we got Dole Whips.

Both kids got raspberry.
Not pictured is the one Nick and I shared. Coconut dole whip over pineapple juice. So good!
Then the Tiki Room. I actually love the Tiki Room. I enjoy it much more than Jungle Cruise. I said what I said!

And finally Pirates! A big family fav.