SBETigg
10-14-2010, 11:00 AM
The Spoiled:
Sherri, 40-something
Sean, 40-something
Nick, 19
Elissa, 17
Objective: One big last family trip before both kids are in college and schedules/circumstances prohibit future family stays.
*Note: Sorry I have been swamped with work and not keeping up. I'll wrap it up quickly here with summaries so that I don't leave the trip report hanging without end.
August 25, Wednesday:
Spent the morning at Disney Hollywood Studios and finally got to ride Rock and Roller Coaster, several times. We hopped between Rock and Roller and Tower of Terror for most of the morning, with some shopping and dining in between.
Grabbed breakfast at Fairfax Fare, bagel egg bacon cheese sandwiches, mediocre. The CM at Fairfax refused to let us use our dining plan credits for breakfast because we couldn't tell her how many we had left by an exact count. Yes, it was weird. She seemed to think that we had to know an exact count or she wouldn't even try to put the order in. We ended up just paying cash and vowing to complain about her to management (which we totally have not done, of course, because it was forgotten until now).
Old mom and dad (that's me and the husband) went back to the resort early for a rest while the kids decided to stick around and play at DHS longer. We just missed the Polynesian bus so we grabbed the TTC bus and had a nice walk back to the Poly from there. That's one thing I love about the Polynesian's location, having that extra transportation option.
We spent the evening at the MK to have the chance to play around on our favorite rides at night. Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain are all different and fun at night, to name a few.
August 26, Thursday:
We started the day at Epcot and finally managed to ride Soarin! Yay! We Fastpassed it and rode it, then went over to the Living Seas for awhile, and back to enjoy Soarin again.
I didn't mention that on a previous Epcot day (we spent the most time at Epcot this trip by far), we did Journey Into the Imagination and only due to excellent timing- the show was just about to start- the kids talked us into joining them for Captain EO. I never meant to see it. I'm not an MJ fan and have been a bit against the return of this one, but there I was. And it was so cheesy and dated, but that's what made it fun for the kids, and then fun for us stodgy adults in turn. Nick kept threatening to pick up a Captain EO t-shirt but he never did. If I could get my hands on one and send it to him at college for a joke, he would really laugh. But anyway... back to Epcot fun. We finished off everything we wanted to see and do and managed some repeats, then headed for a break until dinner.
Our big afternoon activity was deciding if we were going to box or ship home all our extra stuff or buy more luggage. We bought two more big bags and managed to plan out our packing.
Dinner tonight, Narcoossee's. There was a bride there in her gown with her groom in his tux and a small assembled wedding party. I guess they were skipping a big reception and just having dinner at Narcoossee's? I never figured it out. The bride's dress was gorgeous, but boy did she seem mad. It was the unhappiest wedding party I have ever seen (good luck to them!). We waited to be seated at the bar and remembered the bartender from a previous visit- great guy, longtime Narcoossee's bartender and his name is escaping me now. We toasted with champagne (and ginger ale, for the kids) and watched the little bit of Wishes we could see from the bar (dining late) then it was time to be seated by the window just as the Electric Water Pageant was coming around (perfect!).
I was in a seafood mood, so I started with chilled crab and went right to the whole Maine lobster entree, yum. All good. Sean had the artisanal cheese plate and crab-crusted Flounder with crushed fingerling potatoes, haricots verts, and Meyer lemon sauce (excellent). Nick had crab cakes (he loves) and also the crab-crusted flounder. Elissa had the tomato and stone fruit salad with house-made ricotta cheese, greens, and aged balsamic vinegar then the Tanglewood Farms chicken breast with "loaded" mashed potatoes, spinach, and bacon vinaigrette (she had the same thing on our last Narcoossee's visit and couldn't wait to have it again, loved it both times).
Dessert for me was almond-crusted cheesecake with lambert cherry sauce (one of my favorite WDW desserts), gelato sampler for Sean, cheese plate for Nick, and strawberry shortcake for Elissa. The verdict: Service was a little spottier than usual, though not bad. Dining went quite late. We were all very pleased with our meals. Five stars out of five- Narcoossee's continues to rate at the top of WDW dining for me, one of the best.
August 27, Friday, departure day:
We finished packing (tight fit, heavy bags) and called for bell services, who came promptly. After securing our bags and checking out, we went over to spend the morning/afternoon at the MK (our last day traditional park). We redid our favorites. I had my life threatened on Pirates for asking someone to stop taking flash pictures (how dare I) but it gave us something to laugh about later.
We grabbed lunch at Pecos Bill and I dropped my burger at the fixins bar- oh no! Must be the shaky hands from being threatened. :) But a CM saw me and she told me not to worry, that she would get me another, and she did. Her name was Niaches (or something, I might have spelling wrong) and she really made me smile by going above and beyond. Yay for great CMs! We headed back to the Poly with joy in our hearts.
I usually cry as I'm waiting for the ride to the airport (that same white stretch limo), but not this time. I had a really full trip, made a lot of great memories, did some fun shopping and great eating, and couldn't really ask for more. Until now. Now I am ready to go back. But then, I was ready to head home and very happy after another wonderful family WDW vacation. Thanks for reading!
Previous Report: Day 7 Part Two (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=175564)
Sherri, 40-something
Sean, 40-something
Nick, 19
Elissa, 17
Objective: One big last family trip before both kids are in college and schedules/circumstances prohibit future family stays.
*Note: Sorry I have been swamped with work and not keeping up. I'll wrap it up quickly here with summaries so that I don't leave the trip report hanging without end.
August 25, Wednesday:
Spent the morning at Disney Hollywood Studios and finally got to ride Rock and Roller Coaster, several times. We hopped between Rock and Roller and Tower of Terror for most of the morning, with some shopping and dining in between.
Grabbed breakfast at Fairfax Fare, bagel egg bacon cheese sandwiches, mediocre. The CM at Fairfax refused to let us use our dining plan credits for breakfast because we couldn't tell her how many we had left by an exact count. Yes, it was weird. She seemed to think that we had to know an exact count or she wouldn't even try to put the order in. We ended up just paying cash and vowing to complain about her to management (which we totally have not done, of course, because it was forgotten until now).
Old mom and dad (that's me and the husband) went back to the resort early for a rest while the kids decided to stick around and play at DHS longer. We just missed the Polynesian bus so we grabbed the TTC bus and had a nice walk back to the Poly from there. That's one thing I love about the Polynesian's location, having that extra transportation option.
We spent the evening at the MK to have the chance to play around on our favorite rides at night. Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain are all different and fun at night, to name a few.
August 26, Thursday:
We started the day at Epcot and finally managed to ride Soarin! Yay! We Fastpassed it and rode it, then went over to the Living Seas for awhile, and back to enjoy Soarin again.
I didn't mention that on a previous Epcot day (we spent the most time at Epcot this trip by far), we did Journey Into the Imagination and only due to excellent timing- the show was just about to start- the kids talked us into joining them for Captain EO. I never meant to see it. I'm not an MJ fan and have been a bit against the return of this one, but there I was. And it was so cheesy and dated, but that's what made it fun for the kids, and then fun for us stodgy adults in turn. Nick kept threatening to pick up a Captain EO t-shirt but he never did. If I could get my hands on one and send it to him at college for a joke, he would really laugh. But anyway... back to Epcot fun. We finished off everything we wanted to see and do and managed some repeats, then headed for a break until dinner.
Our big afternoon activity was deciding if we were going to box or ship home all our extra stuff or buy more luggage. We bought two more big bags and managed to plan out our packing.
Dinner tonight, Narcoossee's. There was a bride there in her gown with her groom in his tux and a small assembled wedding party. I guess they were skipping a big reception and just having dinner at Narcoossee's? I never figured it out. The bride's dress was gorgeous, but boy did she seem mad. It was the unhappiest wedding party I have ever seen (good luck to them!). We waited to be seated at the bar and remembered the bartender from a previous visit- great guy, longtime Narcoossee's bartender and his name is escaping me now. We toasted with champagne (and ginger ale, for the kids) and watched the little bit of Wishes we could see from the bar (dining late) then it was time to be seated by the window just as the Electric Water Pageant was coming around (perfect!).
I was in a seafood mood, so I started with chilled crab and went right to the whole Maine lobster entree, yum. All good. Sean had the artisanal cheese plate and crab-crusted Flounder with crushed fingerling potatoes, haricots verts, and Meyer lemon sauce (excellent). Nick had crab cakes (he loves) and also the crab-crusted flounder. Elissa had the tomato and stone fruit salad with house-made ricotta cheese, greens, and aged balsamic vinegar then the Tanglewood Farms chicken breast with "loaded" mashed potatoes, spinach, and bacon vinaigrette (she had the same thing on our last Narcoossee's visit and couldn't wait to have it again, loved it both times).
Dessert for me was almond-crusted cheesecake with lambert cherry sauce (one of my favorite WDW desserts), gelato sampler for Sean, cheese plate for Nick, and strawberry shortcake for Elissa. The verdict: Service was a little spottier than usual, though not bad. Dining went quite late. We were all very pleased with our meals. Five stars out of five- Narcoossee's continues to rate at the top of WDW dining for me, one of the best.
August 27, Friday, departure day:
We finished packing (tight fit, heavy bags) and called for bell services, who came promptly. After securing our bags and checking out, we went over to spend the morning/afternoon at the MK (our last day traditional park). We redid our favorites. I had my life threatened on Pirates for asking someone to stop taking flash pictures (how dare I) but it gave us something to laugh about later.
We grabbed lunch at Pecos Bill and I dropped my burger at the fixins bar- oh no! Must be the shaky hands from being threatened. :) But a CM saw me and she told me not to worry, that she would get me another, and she did. Her name was Niaches (or something, I might have spelling wrong) and she really made me smile by going above and beyond. Yay for great CMs! We headed back to the Poly with joy in our hearts.
I usually cry as I'm waiting for the ride to the airport (that same white stretch limo), but not this time. I had a really full trip, made a lot of great memories, did some fun shopping and great eating, and couldn't really ask for more. Until now. Now I am ready to go back. But then, I was ready to head home and very happy after another wonderful family WDW vacation. Thanks for reading!
Previous Report: Day 7 Part Two (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=175564)