cjb121879
07-13-2007, 07:00 AM
Cast of Characters
Me-27 and designated planner
Mom-55
Sister-18
Aunt-47
Cousin-26
Cousin-18
Cousin-14
Cousin-12
Nephew/Godchild-8
Niece/Godchild-5
To make a long story even longer, we planned this trip for approximately a year. A lot of work was put into the trip(and a lot of reviewing these boards!) and we really had the best time:number1:.
A note- Day 2 and Day 3 will be posted in the Vacations Beyond Disney forum on the Info, News and Trip Reports board, since we spent those days at Universal. Didn't want post those in the wrong place!
Bear with me- brevity is not my strong suit:blush:...
Luckily, I was sitting at a computer at exactly noon on the day before we left so I was able to check our large group :grouphug:in on Southwest. We were all assigned to Group A, except my aunt. Southwest’s system said they were unable to check her in and that she would need to proceed to the ticket counter at the airport the next day. I see a lot of this as I work for TSA, so I assumed her name resembled someone’s on the Watch List and figured that we would have to fill some paperwork out when we got home to prevent this from happening again. We resigned ourselves to the fact that she would probably be in Group C.
We arrived at the airport and checked in with a skycap, figuring that we would need to check my aunt in at the ticket counter. This was not the case. He was able to pull her boarding pass and even though she was still assigned to Group C, it saved us a trip to the ticket counter. The terminal was not as crowded as it can be and the line moved fairly quickly and we got through the checkpoint in no time. I would like to say that the flight was uneventful, but my 5 year old niece was not exactly thrilled during takeoff and landing. She is a bit of a scaredy cat anyway so she cried during the normal bumps you feel at those times. However, at cruising altitude, she was fine. Can I just say how great the Southwest flight attendants are? One of the male attendants even devised a short game for people to play while en route to Orlando. He gave a list of four occupations and the passengers had to guess which attendant had that career before joining Southwest. Somehow, my mom and aunt won!
We landed on time, though we took off a bit late due to the late departure of the flight leaving our gate right before us. Breezed through baggage claim, only to be confronted with the longest line I’d ever seen at a rental car counter. It took almost an hour to retrieve our two cars and when I got out to the lot, I found that they were out of intermediate cars and I was upgraded to a full size car! What a nice surprise!
We stayed in a house in a beautiful development with a pool, spa, game room, etc. and the kids loved it. My cousin and I were nominated to make the run to Super Walmart for breakfast foods and assorted beverages. Of course, by this time, I was developing a major headache from not having eaten anything substantial since breakfast (Ritz crackers and peanuts on the plane don’t count!). So we finish the run to Walmart just in time to start getting ready for our 9:35pm ADR at ‘Ohana!
Let me just say, if you’ve never eaten here before, DO IT! Immediately! I was very sleepy and a bit irritable from my headache on the drive over to the Polynesian. Just stepping on the grounds made me feel a bit better- I couldn’t believe how themed and beautiful the inside and outside of the resort were! Though we were about 45 minutes early, we checked in and found a seat in the waiting area. The waiter buzzed around taking drink orders and I didn’t even have to look at a menu- thanks to the wonderful advice of my fellow Intercotees, we knew we were having Lapu Lapus:papple:. After the first sip, we were officially on vacation (Headache? What headache?)! We were seated roughly 20 minutes early and our wonderful server started bringing out food right away. The kids tried all the sauces for the wonton chips and before we had a chance to wonder what was next, the salad was on the table. Next were the unbelievable wings and the shrimp (which everyone else loved- I don’t like seafood so I can’t say from firsthand experience). We also made a dent in the wonderful au gratin potatoes and stir-fried veggies. And when we thought we couldn’t eat anymore, pork loin, turkey, sausage and sirloin steak as far as the eye could see:thumbsup:. The steak was not done as well as I would have liked and when I asked our server about it, she said she’d be more than happy to get me some. And the best moment of all, just as we began dessert, the lights dimmed and Wishes started. We were at a table that wasn’t even right up against the window and we still had a great view:cloud9:. My family couldn’t get over this restaurant and they all thanked me profusely for researching it and making the reservations- balm to a Disney planner’s soul! Everyone was so full and happy that ‘Ohana became a byword for “awesome” during the entire trip:number1:!
When we got home, everyone showered and fell into bed ready to start our first full day of vacation the next morning!
Me-27 and designated planner
Mom-55
Sister-18
Aunt-47
Cousin-26
Cousin-18
Cousin-14
Cousin-12
Nephew/Godchild-8
Niece/Godchild-5
To make a long story even longer, we planned this trip for approximately a year. A lot of work was put into the trip(and a lot of reviewing these boards!) and we really had the best time:number1:.
A note- Day 2 and Day 3 will be posted in the Vacations Beyond Disney forum on the Info, News and Trip Reports board, since we spent those days at Universal. Didn't want post those in the wrong place!
Bear with me- brevity is not my strong suit:blush:...
Luckily, I was sitting at a computer at exactly noon on the day before we left so I was able to check our large group :grouphug:in on Southwest. We were all assigned to Group A, except my aunt. Southwest’s system said they were unable to check her in and that she would need to proceed to the ticket counter at the airport the next day. I see a lot of this as I work for TSA, so I assumed her name resembled someone’s on the Watch List and figured that we would have to fill some paperwork out when we got home to prevent this from happening again. We resigned ourselves to the fact that she would probably be in Group C.
We arrived at the airport and checked in with a skycap, figuring that we would need to check my aunt in at the ticket counter. This was not the case. He was able to pull her boarding pass and even though she was still assigned to Group C, it saved us a trip to the ticket counter. The terminal was not as crowded as it can be and the line moved fairly quickly and we got through the checkpoint in no time. I would like to say that the flight was uneventful, but my 5 year old niece was not exactly thrilled during takeoff and landing. She is a bit of a scaredy cat anyway so she cried during the normal bumps you feel at those times. However, at cruising altitude, she was fine. Can I just say how great the Southwest flight attendants are? One of the male attendants even devised a short game for people to play while en route to Orlando. He gave a list of four occupations and the passengers had to guess which attendant had that career before joining Southwest. Somehow, my mom and aunt won!
We landed on time, though we took off a bit late due to the late departure of the flight leaving our gate right before us. Breezed through baggage claim, only to be confronted with the longest line I’d ever seen at a rental car counter. It took almost an hour to retrieve our two cars and when I got out to the lot, I found that they were out of intermediate cars and I was upgraded to a full size car! What a nice surprise!
We stayed in a house in a beautiful development with a pool, spa, game room, etc. and the kids loved it. My cousin and I were nominated to make the run to Super Walmart for breakfast foods and assorted beverages. Of course, by this time, I was developing a major headache from not having eaten anything substantial since breakfast (Ritz crackers and peanuts on the plane don’t count!). So we finish the run to Walmart just in time to start getting ready for our 9:35pm ADR at ‘Ohana!
Let me just say, if you’ve never eaten here before, DO IT! Immediately! I was very sleepy and a bit irritable from my headache on the drive over to the Polynesian. Just stepping on the grounds made me feel a bit better- I couldn’t believe how themed and beautiful the inside and outside of the resort were! Though we were about 45 minutes early, we checked in and found a seat in the waiting area. The waiter buzzed around taking drink orders and I didn’t even have to look at a menu- thanks to the wonderful advice of my fellow Intercotees, we knew we were having Lapu Lapus:papple:. After the first sip, we were officially on vacation (Headache? What headache?)! We were seated roughly 20 minutes early and our wonderful server started bringing out food right away. The kids tried all the sauces for the wonton chips and before we had a chance to wonder what was next, the salad was on the table. Next were the unbelievable wings and the shrimp (which everyone else loved- I don’t like seafood so I can’t say from firsthand experience). We also made a dent in the wonderful au gratin potatoes and stir-fried veggies. And when we thought we couldn’t eat anymore, pork loin, turkey, sausage and sirloin steak as far as the eye could see:thumbsup:. The steak was not done as well as I would have liked and when I asked our server about it, she said she’d be more than happy to get me some. And the best moment of all, just as we began dessert, the lights dimmed and Wishes started. We were at a table that wasn’t even right up against the window and we still had a great view:cloud9:. My family couldn’t get over this restaurant and they all thanked me profusely for researching it and making the reservations- balm to a Disney planner’s soul! Everyone was so full and happy that ‘Ohana became a byword for “awesome” during the entire trip:number1:!
When we got home, everyone showered and fell into bed ready to start our first full day of vacation the next morning!