WDW Trip Report 2/2 - 2/8 - Seven Days at the Poly with my Wife and Daughters (4, 1)

[BuffaloJason]

We just spent 7 wonderful days at WDW and as I start writing this are currently "stranded" in Cocoa Beach, where we are waiting out the blizzard that's preventing us from flying back home to Buffalo (we were supposed to fly home Fri 2/8, looks like we'll be here until Mon 2/11). There are definitely worse places one could be stuck and thank goodness for lots of Hilton Honors and Hertz Gold points, although living in a hotel room with a baby is wearing thin at 9 days now.

I was an INTERCOT regular back in the early days and remember fondly waiting for the page to load on the Sun Workstations in my college computer lab in the late 90's. I rediscovered INTERCOT a couple years ago via the insider podcast, of which i am a loyal listener but I've only been a lurker on the discussion forums. I wish I remembered my original userid but my memory of that decade has faded from too much partying I suppose.

Instead of a chronological trip report, I'm going to try making a few posts by "categories" of thoughts about the trip and see how that goes. I'd love to include some photos but the forum rules say I can't use the [img] tag or post attachments. Is that because I'm a "newbie" or because I'm on an iPad? Can someone help me with that?

[Melanie]

LOL Jason. You're post makes me laugh. If you really want to, I can probably figure out your old username with a little detective work. Send me a private message if so.

Many of us were stuck in WDW because of Hurricane Sandy, so I can certainly sympathize. Hope you get home soon!

Look forward to reading about your trip. You are correct that pictures in threads are not allowed, but we do allow direct links to them if they are set up on a photo sharing site. We'd love to see them!

[BuffaloJason]

Jason (36) - offsite (81, 91, 92, 93, 95, 01); All Star Music (94, 97); Coronado Springs (98), Port Orleans (03), Wilderness Lodge (11)

Heather (34) - Contemporary and Polynesian (as child), Port Orleans (03), Wilderness Lodge (11)

Ellen (4 yrs, 11 mnths) - Wilderness Lodge (11)

Elizabeth (1 yr, 4 mnths) - First Timer

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[January-2007]

Looking forward to your reports!

[BuffaloJason]

What an amazingly beautiful resort. The Poly has long been my dream stay, made somewhat "practical" by the combination of value season and the 30% off deal. Being on the monorail was ideal for a little one. We stayed in Tokelau, which seemed like a perfectly central location to us. Our room requests were honored, including being on the first floor (room 1925) so the little ones could play on the patio. The room was GV but we could see the castle and space mtn from the patio and watched the fireworks from there. Had a great time at the volcano pool every afternoon (it was just barely warm enough to swim but the standards northerners such as us). Had breakfast and evening snacks at captain cooks most days. The food was very good, especially the dole whips and tonga toast, but this place could definitely benefit from more seating, especially on days when it's too chilly to comfortably sit outside. There is quite a bit of construction going on at the poly right now, primarily at Samoa and Hawaii. It wasn't much of an issue really. Actually it was less annoying than the fact that they were power washing the outside of our building what felt like everyday of our trip.

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I spent a lot of time on this trip thinking about the first time I stayed on property (All-Star Music) and how special it felt being "inside the magic" 24-hours a day. Staying at the Poly for the first time felt like a whole new definition of "on property", even more so than the Wilderness Lodge, which we loved. Monorails zooming by, views of Cinderella castle around every corner, watching the Ferries come and go, short walks to the TTC. It's fair to say I'm hooked. Even my four year old, who was disappointed that we weren't going back to WL because of the bunk beds, said she couldn't wait to come back to the Poly next time.

[Melanie]

Your family is adorable! Sounds like the Poly is a winner for you all. :lei: :papple:

[BuffaloJason]

We did sit down dinners every night except our days of arrival and departure at: Biergarten, Cinderella's Royal Table, Chef Mickey's, Akershus (or should I say ahhhhh-kerrr-shuessse), and Be Our Guest. Yes, it was definitely princess mania!

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I still think the table service dinning in Walt Disney World is pretty good, as long as you don't think too hard about what you're getting food wise for what you're paying. Biergarten is always a highlight for my family and was just as much fun as we remembered from our last trip (my four year old refers to it as "German Dancing Party"). We enjoyed both Cinderella's table and Akershus but doing both did feel a little redundant and we would probably just do one or the other next time. The princesses seemed to make their way through the room more efficiently in Norway, a definite plus. The buffet at Chef Mickeys was actually a little better than I remembered (which is to say something slightly better than mediocre). Last time, Ellen was 2 and was pretty scared of the characters. Liz was anything but scared and actually would have run off with Goofy if we'd let her. Great memories made there. The dinning room at Be Our Guest is just as beautiful as everyone says. Unfortunately, the steak I ordered there was the only really bad food I had all week. It was loaded with fat and grizzle and tasted like someone had dumped a whole shaker of salt on it. My wife had the shrimp and scallops and said they were great so perhaps my entree was just an anomaly.

Counter service lunches included: Capt Cooks, Columbia Harbor House, Flame Tree BBQ, Sunshine Seasons, Morroco's Tangerine Cafe, Pinnocio Village Haus, Restaurant-o'saurus, and Cosmic Ray's.

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The counter service is hit or miss but mostly adequate IMO. I don't really perceive much of the decline that others have noted. I like the fact that there's a decent selection of healthier options, at least the fruit instead of fries etc. The ribs at Flame Tree, sandwiches at Sunshine Seasons (is that even what they call the food court at the land still?), and flatbread pizzas at Pinochio would probably be the highlights. The burger at Restaurant-o'saurus was pretty bad, although to be fair, I don't find WDW burgers to be that much worse than the Golden Arches or the king. Objectively, I have to admit that Cosmic Rays is pretty bad too but I drag my wife there every trip for nostalgia. It reminds me so much of mid-90s tomorrowland and that "bright little star" song gets stuck in my head.

[BuffaloJason]

I've long been a fan of Disney transportation and the general experience of not renting a car, dealing with the parking lots, etc. I've always found the disney system to be fairly efficient and have given people the advice for years that you don't need to rent a car if you are staying on property unless you're planning to spend a lot of time at Downtown Disney or have dinner reservations at a resort other than the one you are staying at. This was the first trip that made me rethink that philosophy. This was our second time using Magical express and it worked out very well for us again. However, the bus service within the resort this time just seemed slower and less efficient than I remember. Maybe we just had bad luck on when we got to the stops but it seemed like we waited at least 20 mins for a bus almost every time. Most surprisingly, the monorail wasn't much better. They kept having to stop for traffic congestion, so much so that the night we went to chef mickeys it took us almost 40 mins to take the resort monorail from the poly to the contemporary. Then the one day we wanted to go to Epcot both morning and afternoon (after returning to the poly for a nap / swim) the Epcot monorail was out-of-service the entire day. Not a huge deal in the overall scheme of things but we paid a huge premium to stay in a monorail resort and it was pretty frustrating to have to take a bus, fold up the strollers, etc. So will I rent a car next time? Probably not. I'm not ready to let one less than perfect experience erase many positive ones, but I would think twice about a monorail resort vs. the Wilderness lodge. By the last couple days we were taking the boat to the Magic Kingdom anyway.

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[VWL Mom]

Enjoyed your reports, thanks for sharing :mickey:.

[BuffaloJason]

We began and finished our trip with rides on its a small world, which thankfully my children love as much as I always have. I was also excited to take them into the Tiki room for the first time; during our last trip it was closed for the fire. I really think they did a good job with the "trimmed" version of the show. It's now short enough not to lose those with short attention spans, but all the critical elements are still there. The only part I missed a little was the "lets all sing like the birdies sing" sing-along part, but that's OK, I just sang along with the one verse they do still do :) Ill definitely take this version over the under new management version for sure.

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I think it's fair to say that New Fantasyland exceeded my already pretty optimistic expectations. The theming of the new areas is so rich with little details. I love the feeling the new castle walls add and the way the new and old areas are tying together. I didn't anticipate the extent to which it still feels like a construction zone with all the work on mine train and princess fairy tale hall. That feeling was enhanced by the cranes in front of the castle taking down Christmas lights all week. I'm really anxious to see how the whole area comes together when they are finished. The new attractions are great too. The Ariel ride and story time with Belle were both trip highlights. That mirror effect in Maurice's cottage and the wardrobe and lumiere animatronics are breathtaking. I'm also really grateful that they found ways to shorten the wait for Dumbo. My young family spends a lot of time there and on the carousel.

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[T-Belle]

Really enjoying your posts and pictures! You have a beautiful family and the look on your daughters' faces looking up at Snow White almost brought tears to my eyes. Pure Disney joy!

[BuffaloJason]

Really enjoying your posts and pictures! You have a beautiful family and the look on your daughters' faces looking up at Snow White almost brought tears to my eyes. Pure Disney joy!

Thanks for the kind words Joan. Yes the whole Magic Kingdom experience seems to make me tear up these days with daughters in tow. That reminds me about two highlights I forgot to mention. The first was getting to MK in time for rope drop one morning. I don't remember ever seeing that before but it was great. Especially the experience of running up Main Street USA with all the cast members on the street waving and the music blaring. Gives me chills just thinking about it. The other was that we came out of Cinderella's table just as MSEP was coming up Main Street and were able to watch the first 2/3 or so of it from the castle forecourt. What a magical experience, especially knowing that we may be seeing parade for the last time.

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[AgentC]

Great pictures and report. Thanks so much for sharing your family's trip with us!

[IwannabeinNarnia]

I will echo everyone else's comments here.. you have a beautiful family! Loved seeing the pictures and reading your report! thanks for sharing!

[stephicakes]

Great pics & trip report! Your kids are soooo cute! :mickey:

Now... time to plan your next trip... :thumbsup:

[Belle of the Ball 051411]

I will echo everyone else's comments here.. you have a beautiful family! Loved seeing the pictures and reading your report! thanks for sharing!

This! :)

[BuffaloJason]

Despite the frequently cited axiom that Epcot is the more adult disney park, my family spent a lot of time there again this trip (four of our half day park trips). My kids especially seem to enjoy the World Showcase, I think because they're too young to really be into rides anyway and they love having lots of places to run around and explore, like the trains by Germany and the hedge maze behind the UK. I made the obligatory stop by Gary's Column and felt like a big geek checking in there on four square. World Showcase is now a great place for princess autograph hunting, a big focus for my four year old. We also tried out the Phineas and Ferb adventure, which was a lot of fun. I was surprised how much there was too it really. We did only two countries/missions. I felt like if we had tried to do all of them it would have consumed a whole day.

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We also had a lot of fun in Future World, mostly on the east side, which feels like the more family friendly section. I love the Nemo addition to the living seas, a great way to add characters to a classic Epcot attraction without ruining the message IMO. Riding Journey into Imagination is always a bitter sweet experience. Both my wife and I have fond memories of the original attraction there as a childhood favorite and the current one is really such a pale shadow of its former self. As much as I'd hate to see figment go, part of me hopes the rumors of Dr Doof coming to that pavilion are true, just to make it feel relevant again. On a brighter note, I convinced my four year old to ride Soarin' and Test Track with me. Soarin' is a good ride but I have to say I'm confused about why its as popular as it is. I certainly don't consider it the best thing in Epcot. In fact for my money, Living with the Land is still the best attraction in that pavilion, but I'm sure that puts me in a small minority. I love, love, love what they've done with the new test track. I always thought of that ride replacing World of Motion as the death of "old Epcot" but I feel like the new version gives me new faith in the idea that the Epcot "edutainment" model can work in the 21st century. It's like taking a classic Epcot dark ride, adding this great interactive element and enough thrill to keep the adrenaline junkies engaged. I also like the level of attention that was paid to making the post show area interesting and relevant to the rest of the attraction. I consider that another hallmark of classic Epcot. Bravo imagineering!

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[Melanie]

I made the obligatory stop by Gary's Column and felt like a big geek checking in there on four square.

Don't steal my mayorship! :nono: :funny:

I love reading about how much fun your family had at Epcot. Our sons have grown up loving Epcot and we never encouraged it being 'boring' or nothing to do. Glad your girls had a good time! Although, we'll have to agree to disagree on TT and Soarin'. ;)

[BuffaloJason]

I don't think your mayorship is in any danger from me! So you don't like the new TT?

[BuffaloJason]

What a beautiful place animal kingdom is. My wife and I were in agreement this trip that its become our favorite place in WDW to just hang out and wander. This was the first trip where we spent significant time in Asia and I think the imagineers really outdid themselves on that area. We particularly enjoyed the two nature treks, Pangani and Maharajah. Digging in Dinoland was a favorite of the kids. We had a great safari on Kilimanjaro and I didn't miss the old story / narration at all. I didn't see the new zebras that were supposed to replace little Red however. Are those gone already? Last trip my wife and I took turns riding Everest and I thoroughly enjoyed it but somehow failed to see the yeti at all. This time I went on again paying particular attention for it and saw him briefly but I can't tell for the life of me how anyone even knows whether he's swinging his arm or not. Kind of begs the question why they put so much into developing that animatronic, or perhaps answers the question of why they don't seem to be in a hurry to resolve the "yeti is down" situation. It's a great attractions though either way. I'd love to try a stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge next trip but I'm afraid of what the transportation situation would be like from there. I'd welcome any opinions others would like to share on experiences with that.

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[emerzmom]

I will have to ditto several comments on here about your lovely family and the great trip report. I agree with you on a few counts: I like Soarin but I don't get why it is so crazy popular and that Living with the Land is the best! I don't know exactly what it is but I just love that ride. My dream job at WDW would be a master gardner in the Land.
I stayed at AKL and absolutely loved it. The transportation is fine and not all that much further from everything else. I think it has the most beautiful pool too.
Thanks again for the reports and pics. Vacations like this are the really special.
:tink:
Julie

[BuffaloJason]

Safely back in Buffalo now. I had a couple other subjects I wanted to opine about if anyone is still interested. Thanks for all your comments.

I don't really have many Disney Studios thoughts because we didn't make it over there this trip. I like that park plenty, tower of terror is probably my favorite ride anywhere, but i just couldn't picture what we'd do with the kids there. The Disney jr show was "down for rehab" for the second trip in a row. I would have loved to check out the star tours update but I guess we're saving that for next trip.

[BuffaloJason]

Wow, the merch really does leave a lot to be desired now, doesn't it. That's one frequent complaint on the podcast that I never really understood but I was super bummed that there was almost no Polynesian Resort related souvenirs at the Polynesian Resort. I also couldn't find a tiki related item to save my life. If you want pirates or princess you're in luck, otherwise, no dice. Disappointing that its all become so generic. I'm frequently in SoCal on business and generally stop at Downtown Disney in Anaheim to get presents for the kids at world of Disney. I didn't see much of anything in a week at WDW that I couldn't have bought there. Oh well, I guess they're saving me money in the long run that way. I'm sure that's not their intent.

[BuffaloJason]

One area I was concerned about going into the trip was that we were going to notice a significant decline in the quality of Disney service. I'm happy to report that by and large, for our particular experience, this was not the case. In fact we had several "only in WDW" experiences where Cast Members went above and beyond. I might say things were a little less consistent that they had been in the past. We did encounter a couple cast members who were somewhere between indifferent and rude. In the past that may have been unheard of, but I would say it definitely still the rare exception. I'm not sure if maybe that makes me a Disney apologist but it feels to me like the magic is alive and well.

[RedSoxFan]

Love your trip reports and pictures. Very beautiful family.
As for staying at AKL; we love it there. Have no problems with transportation. People complain that it's a long ride to MK; but I'm not really too sure any resort is not far away from one park.
AKL is a lovely resort. We love roaming around watching the animals. Night vision goggles to see the animals if fun also.
BOMA's is an awesome restaurant and I love the gift shop!!

[BuffaloJason]

Thanks Tracey. If nothing else I'd definitely like to make it over to Boma on my next trip. That's been on the "didn't quite get to it" list for a couple trips now

[Melanie]

Wow, the merch really does leave a lot to be desired now, doesn't it. That's one frequent complaint on the podcast that I never really understood but I was super bummed that there was almost no Polynesian Resort related souvenirs at the Polynesian Resort.

I'm not the one who complains. I actually really like the stuff they've come out with the last few years. For one, the shirts are amazing! I think the resort merchandise has really improved as well. I see resort specific things at the deluxes all the time, and I even remember thinking the Art of Animation merchandise was really cool.

Sorry you couldn't find tiki stuff. :( :tikki:

[BuffaloJason]

I'm not the one who complains. I actually really like the stuff they've come out with the last few years. For one, the shirts are amazing! I think the resort merchandise has really improved as well. I see resort specific things at the deluxes all the time, and I even remember thinking the Art of Animation merchandise was really cool.

Sorry you couldn't find tiki stuff. :( :tikki:

There was certainly some Polynesian specific stuff at the Boutiki, I got a poly coffee mug. Mostly I was disappointed that I couldn't add a poly themed picture fram to my super gaudy one from the Wilderness lodge (a ceramic frame with the fireplace and the mickey totem). All was not lost as we went to Ron Jon cocoa beach while stuck there waiting for the storm to pass and I got a cool little tikki for my office there :)

P.S.
This forum is making me feel inadequate about my range of emoticon knowledge. Never seen the tikki one before but I like it
:tikki: :tikki: :tikki:

[forever a child]

Loved reading your trip report! Your family is beautiful. Just wanted to thank you for sharing and tell you that I love Living with the Land too! :mickey:

[BuffaloJason]

Thanks, if only they'd bring the song back :mickey:

[faline]

What a lovely family you have!

Am enjoying your reports of your visit.

We've stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge a few times. There are two bus stops there - one for Jambo House and one for Kidani Village. Most routes stop at Kidani Village fist (DVC units) and then at Jambo House (mostly hotel with some DVC units) and one route does the reverse. When we last stayed there, they also ran a van shuttle between the two stops within Animal Kingdom. The advantage of the transportation here is that it is not shared with any other resorts. On the other hand, unless you are going to Animal Kingdom park, the travel time to the other parks is a bit longer than from other resort locations. It is also a bit more difficult to plan dining at other resort locations (but it can be done as we have stayed there without having a car available).