angyl15
11-05-2018, 11:24 AM
We went to our first mnsshp on the 28th. Just leaving my notes in case they help someone next year. We were in Clearwater the 25th-28th for a family get together. (We are from Chicago). We left clearwater about 11:30 on sunday, with a stop for coffee we got to the polynesian about 1pm. I had already checked into the app and it said our room was not ready but we went to the great hall anyway to check. They were able to give us a different room, so we were very excited - Pogo, Pogo (I think?) room 3109. We love the DVCs and have stayed in a few. We had a studio for the 5 of us (me, DH, DS10, DS8 and DD4). The room was perfect for one night, but we would need a 1 bedroom for much longer - we really like to have a kitchen for quick meals. Having 2 bathroom areas was great, but it would have been even better to have a toilet in both, but it was nice to have the 2 areas while getting ready. We napped for about an hour and a half - room got very dark and was pretty quiet except for a car alarm that went off. Even though we had a view of the parking lot, the kids were psyched to be able to see the monorail go by our room.
Left for the party about 3:20 - took the resort monorail and were in the park with our bands by 3:45. We took the bypass to get our treat bags and first treats and headed to space mountain. We had a 3:10 fastpass and by the time we got there it was 4:20, but we were still able to babyswap and go on. Not too many people in costume at that time, but that changed as the evening went on. Had 2 more fastpasses for haunted mansion and big thunder mountain. Grabbed a quick dinner at pecos bills and headed off to meet Moana. We got in line about 7:05 and she came out about 7:10, but by 7:40 the line stopped moving completely. From one of the cast members, it sounded like a child had a bathroom accident while meeting Moana. Had to wait another 20 min to have 3 people come and clean it up - I think had that not happened, the wait would have been about 30 min. We rode the magic carpets, winnie the pooh, it's a small world, dumbo, the speedway, special effects tea cups and space mountain all with little to no wait. Some rides they asked us if we wanted to stay on and ride again! Rode the 7 dwarves with a 30 min wait (posted was 40). Saw the hocus pocus show and fireworks we watched from fantasyland. We tried the hades nachos (good but would not probably get again) and the maleficant ice cream cone - my boys loved that...kind of like a lime dole whip. We ended up with about 10-15 pounds of candy...one very full reusable shopping bag. Even those we never really waited, just walked through a line....country bear seemed to have the best candy and 2 stops - lots of Dove candies there :)
All in all, we had a fantastic time and would go back again in a heartbeat. It did not seem overly crowded to us at all - but we went in with low expectations so maybe we were mentally prepared? The nap was key for our family and doing it in a trip where we were only there for 2 days. Next time I would love to see the parade and maybe a better spot for fireworks. My family had a great time dressing in costume and seeing others. I was happy to see only one or two questionable costumes. My favorite costume of the night was princess Belle with a belt made of tacos hehe.
Left for the party about 3:20 - took the resort monorail and were in the park with our bands by 3:45. We took the bypass to get our treat bags and first treats and headed to space mountain. We had a 3:10 fastpass and by the time we got there it was 4:20, but we were still able to babyswap and go on. Not too many people in costume at that time, but that changed as the evening went on. Had 2 more fastpasses for haunted mansion and big thunder mountain. Grabbed a quick dinner at pecos bills and headed off to meet Moana. We got in line about 7:05 and she came out about 7:10, but by 7:40 the line stopped moving completely. From one of the cast members, it sounded like a child had a bathroom accident while meeting Moana. Had to wait another 20 min to have 3 people come and clean it up - I think had that not happened, the wait would have been about 30 min. We rode the magic carpets, winnie the pooh, it's a small world, dumbo, the speedway, special effects tea cups and space mountain all with little to no wait. Some rides they asked us if we wanted to stay on and ride again! Rode the 7 dwarves with a 30 min wait (posted was 40). Saw the hocus pocus show and fireworks we watched from fantasyland. We tried the hades nachos (good but would not probably get again) and the maleficant ice cream cone - my boys loved that...kind of like a lime dole whip. We ended up with about 10-15 pounds of candy...one very full reusable shopping bag. Even those we never really waited, just walked through a line....country bear seemed to have the best candy and 2 stops - lots of Dove candies there :)
All in all, we had a fantastic time and would go back again in a heartbeat. It did not seem overly crowded to us at all - but we went in with low expectations so maybe we were mentally prepared? The nap was key for our family and doing it in a trip where we were only there for 2 days. Next time I would love to see the parade and maybe a better spot for fireworks. My family had a great time dressing in costume and seeing others. I was happy to see only one or two questionable costumes. My favorite costume of the night was princess Belle with a belt made of tacos hehe.