The Polynesian Compendium TR (8/16 - 8/19/15)

[JustCor]

Hi everyone!

I've just returned from a great stay at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, and while I miss Disney already, I'm happy to be home. During my trip I did as close to a live report as I could, attempting to keep on top of each thing as they happened. It was fun to do and really helped to cement in some of those memories as they were happening or after they were finished. You may wish to read that live trip report here. It'll give a good bit of info plus pictures. This trip report will be a companion to that one, filling in the space and fleshing out some of the experiences after needing more brevity due to trying to accomplish it all on a phone. That wasn't so easy. I may borrow a few pictures from that report to add, but I'll try not to duplicate too much and give this TR its own voice. Hope you all enjoy!

For the completists:

Pre-trip report: click here
Live trip report: click here

 

[JustCor]

So, a brief introduction...

My name is Corey. I'm 36, single, taurus, ISFP, sheep sign, burger lover, sushi eater, and all that other unimportant stuff. I have a strangely deep well of pop culture references that tend to get sprinkled into my writing.

I spent a few days at the Polynesian. My first trip to Disney World was last October. I've been three times since that trip. This was my first stay at the Polynesian and my first time at a Monorail resort. I've done AKL, POR, and CBR previously.

This will just be one of those things to fill in blanks from the other report, sort of like a commentary track on a DVD.

 

[JustCor]

8/16/2015 - Arrival

I live just a shade over 2 hours from Disney World, so all of my trips start by driving north on the Florida Turnpike. It's a boring two hours, but I've got plenty of music to keep it from droning.

Eventually, things get interesting. The signs start to pop up, and they're the good ones. They're the signs (figurative and literal) that I'm getting close.

Close indeed. There's still another ten or so miles from that exit to get to Disney, but it lets me know that I can get off of the awful turnpike very shortly.

The picture of the welcome arch came out ridiculously blurry. The traffic had me far more focused on not dying than getting a clear images, so I binned that picture. I think others have covered it many times before. Heck, I believe I got it on my previous TR, if not my previous two TRs. Instead, the Poly sign. That's a good one. The traveling is nearly complete.

I had left my home at a little after 8am and arrived at the Polynesian at about 10:30am. Not a bad time, but I was convinced I'd be waiting for a room to open up. Fair enough. I went in with the expectation that I'd be waiting and had planned on just leaving my stuff in the car and hopping over to MK on the mono and starting the fun until the room was ready. The kind cast member informed me that my room was not ready. I kind of figured that would happen. She then asked if I minded being moved. I don't put any requests on my online check-in. I honestly don't necessarily care where I'm being placed as long as the room is clean and quiet, so it's not a big deal to me to be moved. To be quite honest, I had no idea what my room was before she asked, so it didn't necessarily feel like I was being moved at all. I never saw the original room. So, at 10:30, I already had my room. Sweet!

Home. At least for a few days.

The room was nice. It was a larger room than ones I've had previously, and had a nice, airy feel to it. the rug had seen better days, but you can't win them all. The bathroom was nice as well, though I neglected to take any pictures. The mirrors had lights built into the sides and it looked pretty tricked out. The toilet had the flusher on the top center of the tank. It felt strange to use every time. I would instinctively reach for the side of the tank to try and flush before realizing that, yes, that big shiny silver button on the top is indeed the flusher.

The view from the balcony? Not so hot. I got a prime view of all of the construction equipment. Fantastic. That would be the last time I go out on the balcony. Oh well, I'm not here to sit, I'm here to party.

I unloaded my car and brought it up to the room, dumping all of the drinks that I bought at Publix directly into the fridge. It may have been early in the morning, but it was already sweaty hot. I knew these drinks would be magic by the time I returned to my room. With everything kind of situated, it was time to hit up the parks. I had very important business to attend it, and it required my presence at Friar's Nook as soon as humanly possible.

Onwards, to Magic Kingdom!!

 

[JustCor]

8/16 - Magic Kingdom: Very Important Business

Did I mention that I had serious business to attend to? It was very much crucial to establishing the right mood at Magic Kingdom. I made a direct line to Friar's Nook, stopping ever so briefly to get a picture of Alice and the White Rabbit as they wrapped up their picture stop.

I would have loved to have gotten a picture with Alice for grown up reasons which aren't as bad as you may be thinking, but won't be shared here, but it just wasn't meant to be.

Finally, priority stop number one: Friar's Nook. I've learned in my brief Disney life that the Friar's Nook is overlooked by many. A number of people I've spoken to have mentioned that they have never heard of it, let alone been there. It is a great tragedy, though perhaps for the best. I wouldn't want to battle long lines to eat there.

Let's start with this...

... and follow it up with this bold statement: The Pot Roast Mac and Cheese at Friar's Nook in Disney's Magic Kingdom is, bar none, the best mac and cheese at Disney World. Period. End of sentence.

Seriously, I'm saying this with hand to heart and in all honestly. The best mac and cheese. I will also venture to say that it is among the best mac and cheese dishes that I've had anywhere.

I didn't get this on my last trip. It got pushed aside for other reasons. When I walked up to the counter to order, doubt seeped into my head. Maybe I had built it up so high in my head that it just wouldn't live up to my expectations. Maybe the joy of being at Disney transferred to this dish and I was just heaping praise on a mediocre dish that was bland and flavorless.

No. It was better than I remembered. It was fantastic. I was incredibly full when I finished eating it, to the point where I was starting to hurt a little, but I still gave a very strong consideration to getting another bowl. Thankfully, I did not. Space Mountain was next.

 

[JustCor]

8/16 - Space Mountain and the Rumbly Tumbly

What's there to say about Space Mountain that hasn't been said many times before? It's fun, it's exciting, the darkness adds an element of surprise to the ride, and it's a generally overall good time that I really enjoy. I wish more roller coasters could be done in the dark, especially the ones over at Universal.

Here's the other part. That bowl of delicious goodness that I had just scarfed down was now in my stomach. Throughout the ride, it was turning in some not so wonderful ways. Perhaps a thick, rich, cheesy meal wasn't the ideal thing to eat before being tossed around. Also, and more importantly, I'm 6 foot tall. It's a bit over average height for an adult male, but not exceedingly so. The seats on Space Mountain are a (literal) pain to get in. I was sat in the very last seat. This will be kind of important later. Upon stepping into the seat area, my left foot got a little jammed between the pull down bar and the seat. The more I tried to move it, the more it got wedged into place. I was stuck, and pretty good. A bunch of awkward maneuvers and a mild bit of panic later, and I managed to get my leg free and everything situated into a moderately comfortable position. Exiting the car was a little more perilous. In order to get me legs out of the car, I have to push my whole body back. That clears my knees of the bar and gives me a little room to maneuver. I found out that it also dangles a fair amount of my upper body past the car and over the tracks. One false move and I'm going rear end over tea kettle and on to the tracks. Not so exciting. Still, it's a fun ride and, naturally, I'll be going on it again.

Stepping outside of the gift shop, a wave of heat and humidity coated my body. I was immediately sweating uncomfortably. It was one o'clock and things were not about to cool down. I had planned to hit Big Thunder Mountain next, and then eventually do Peter Pan. The heat changed those plans. Instead, I started to head towards Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. The previous times that I have been, this ride has had a standby wait of about 35 minutes, with the actual wait time being just north of 20. This time it was hovering at just north of an hour. No thanks. Time to wander towards Haunted Mansion. I also needed something to cool down.

 

[Britbrie]

Awesome TR so far! I read your Live report, and it was great! Keep the updates coming!!

 

[JustCor]

Awesome TR so far! I read your Live report, and it was great! Keep the updates coming!!

I'll be slowly plugging away at this thing as I work on getting settled back home and putting off doing things I don't want to do.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Joining in. I can join the club of people of have never heard of Friar's Nook. Where is it located? You had me at the picture of the mac and cheese. It looked delicious!

 

[princess Maxwell]

Did you travel alone,hope you got a good price,the view is not good for the money.

 

[JustCor]

8/16 - Panicky Pete meets Tinkerbell

Along the way to Haunted Mansion, I stopped and picked up a Citrus Swirl. Combining orange and vanilla tends to agree with my taste buds more often than not, so it seemed like a no-brainer. It was also one of those highly recommended things along, along with the Dole Whip, which I would eventually get as well. The Citrus Swirl had a wonderful tart flavor to it, missing some of the artificial orange flavor that seems to inhabit other orange/vanilla flavor combos. It was very refreshing and incredibly welcome as the sweat continued to just dump out of my body. It hit the spot, and would be a tough challenge for the much vaunted Dole Whip. That would be another day, though. Time to hit Haunted Mansion. It's indoors and air conditioned. It has to feel great...

... which is probably why there was a massive line for it. Ok, skip. Time to get a plan together and just mentally regroup. The best thing I could think of at that moment was to head back to Poly and sit in the A/C for just a bit to cool off and rehydrate.

At the entrance I noticed my first short line: Tinkerbell meet and greet, 10 minute standby. Seriously? Ten minutes, indoors, in A/C to do a character meet and greet? Where is the downside? Mickey, in the same building, was at a 45 minute wait. But dear little Tink? Ten minutes. But it wasn't ten minutes. It wasn't even one minute.

This was the exchange between myself and the cast member before being escorted in to see Tinkerbell:
CM: "Are you here to see Tinkerbell?"
Me: "Yes ma'am."
CM: "Is it just you?"
Me: "Yup, I'm playing to role of a creepy guy on this visit." (said in a lightly humorous tone, not a barbed sarcastic way)
CM: "You're not being creepy, everyone is welcome. Come on in!"

And that was the extent of my wait to see Tink. That's my kind of wait. Tinkerbell was incredibly nice and did a fantastic job to make it not weird or creepy. I get it, I'm an older guy seeing Tinkerbell alone. I am astutely aware of how strange and creepy it can appear to be. It makes me incredibly anxious and borderline panicky. I'm an introvert by nature, so these meet and greets tax my anxiety to maximum levels. Her and eventually Belle were fantastic. Absolutely superb. Any edge I may have had standing there getting a photo was instantly removed by them. They're true professionals.

I'm going to stop and briefly sidetrack myself. In my PTR, I mentioned that I'd be bringing handkerchiefs with me. I've carried one daily for at least two months now. They've become part of my everyday pocket carry, and they've become indispensable. For Disney, I ended up carrying two and eventually three with me each day. One for any nose wiping. The others for sweat. I bring this up because the Tinkerbell meet and greet was the first of many times that it came in handy to have. Heat + Anxiety = lots of sweating. My arms and hands were dripping. The palms of my hands were sweating. How does that even happen? I pulled out my hanky and managed to dab off the sweat on my arms and hands so that I wouldn't be be dripping on this poor girl. Having the hanky in my hands while walking up also gave me something to briefly focus on to center myself and calm down for the meet and greet. It was a lifesaver in many ways. I very, very highly recommend everyone carry one. They're incredible.

Back on task. Part of that whole anxiety thing is being hyper aware of how awkward it feels standing there, which makes any "natural" stance impossible to accomplish. Am I too hunched over? Am I standing up straight? Is my belly sticking out too much? Am I sweating again too much? Can they see me panicking? Is my right leg longer than me left? Do I have midget hands on a normal body? Am I cross eyed? Why am I breathing like that? Is that normal breathing? I can't stop focusing on my breathing. I forgot how to breath normally. If I don't focus on my breathing it's going to stop and I'm going to die.

And so on.

In hindsight I laugh about it. At the moment, not so pleasant. But as I mentioned, she was excellent, as was the photographer.

With that out of the way, it's back to the resort for some much needed hydration. I can feel how dry my insides are. That's never good.

 

[princess Maxwell]

why didn't you change rooms,the view is not good for the money!!

 

[JustCor]

Joining in. I can join the club of people of have never heard of Friar's Nook. Where is it located? You had me at the picture of the mac and cheese. It looked delicious!

Hi! Friar's Nook is nearly right across from 7DMT. You can see one from the other quite easily. They serve delicious mac and cheese as well as a hot dog covered in mac and cheese. It's a very specific list of food.

Did you travel alone,hope you got a good price,the view is not good for the money.

I did travel alone, though I had friends who live in Orlando meet for dinner at various points. I got an amazing price on the room. I paid just a few dollars more per day on this resort than I did for the Royal Guest Room at POR. For the price, the view off the balcony was not an issue for me.

 

[JustCor]

why didn't you change rooms,the view is not good for the money!!

Honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal to me. The way I see it, if the construction stuff wasn't there, I'd just be staring at buildings. The rooms of the Poly may be really nice, but I find the buildings themselves to be kind of drab and blah. If I had a view of the parking lot, it would be no different to me. If I were paying for a specific view, such as a view of the castle, or the safari view at AKL, or something like that where I'd have to pay a premium for that specific feature, and that construction stuff was in the way, I would raise hell. Otherwise, a construction view is no different from a parking lot view to me. There's vehicles in both and I didn't pay for any premium view. It also helped that I didn't hear any construction the entire time I was there. So, I drew the curtains closed. Out of sight, out of mind.

 

[princess Maxwell]

I assume your fl.resident, me too,but still averages to 300ish a night,when I ask for somoa pool view nice view,but you if like it they will move you especially with construction everywhere.

 

[JustCor]

I assume your fl.resident, me too,but still averages to 300ish a night,when I ask for somoa pool view nice view,but you if like it they will move you especially with construction everywhere.

I am a Florida resident and an Annual Passholder. Normally, the deals they run for both pretty much mirror each other. The deluxe resorts, at best, run at a 33% discount, which isn't horrible, but still not enough to get me to spring for them. Polynesian, specifically, seems to run much higher. I've written them off in the past many times because I just don't see the point in spending that kind of money per night. I'll splurge a little for Disney because I find the amenities and closeness to the park to be an acceptable value, but $300+ just isn't in my wheelhouse. Earlier this year, the travel agents got an excellent deal on a few of the deluxe resorts. When all was said and done, I paid a shade over $200 per night for the stay. That's almost moderate prices. I can take a little construction view for that price.

 

[princess Maxwell]

Oh you went through,magical vacations i used them too,pd for beach club mid 300's but club level.

 

[JustCor]

8/16 - Thunderbolts and Lightning (Not very frightening)

I had stocked my fridge with a fair amount of water and gatorade for the trip, and it was now paying off in spades. Few things in life are as incredibly refreshing as a cold Gatorade on a really hot day. I could feel cool liquid spreading from my core to every part of my body. It felt fantastic. At that time, a friend in Orlando was about to get off of work. We decided to meet up at MK and throw together a plan on the fly. So, back to MK I go, refreshed and rehydrated. We met up and headed for Buzz Lightyear. Thankfully, the wait had come down. As the day passed, more people were starting to leave. School was starting the next day in a few counties here in Florida, so that may have thinned the local crowd. Buzz Lightyear was down to a very manageable 25 minutes. I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn on that go round, so the victory went to my friend. I'll just blame the gun.

Next, out to Haunted Mansion. This time, the waits were at 30 minutes. Thankfully, the queue is a covered affair, as the rain began to trickle down. The rumbling of thunder could be heard in the distance, and every now and then a bolt of lighting would streak across the sky. Indoor rides, for the win. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I like Haunted Mansion. It's fun. It's not the extreme blah blah blah of some rollercoasters, and it's not the latest and greatest. It has something though, and it seems to just kind of pervade through time. I quite like it.

Earlier in the day I had moved back some of my fast passes in anticipation of friends showing up. I moved them to later in the day, when the temperatures would (hopefully) be lower. But the one thing I couldn't move was the ADR at Kona Cafe. After the Haunted Mansion, we headed back to Poly to eat some food, making it back to the resort before the sky really opened up.

 

[JustCor]

8/16 - Kona OK

I think my live report pretty much sums up the food. To quickly recap: Bread - delicious, Crab Rangoon Roll - tasty, Spicy Tuna Roll - Not spice and just kind of OK. That about sums up the food experience without going in to any repetitive detail.

I did kind of want to expand upon the Cafe itself. I was not exactly impressed with it. It's a table service restaurant that had a strange counter service look to it. It's an open air kind of thing that reminded me more of a food joint in an airport terminal than a restaurant. It's loud. Very, very loud. My friend, sitting no more than three feet from me, was barely audible from all of the noise. It's noise upon noise upon noise. There were a number of empty tables when we walked up for our ADR. We arrived five minutes early, and we were handed a beeper thing. At the exact minute of our scheduled ADR, the pager went off. Look, I get it. It's a reservation time and blah blah blah. And if they were full, I wouldn't have cared, but when I'm looking at a handful of empty tables and you stick me in the one that was empty before we arrived, it just seems like waiting for the sake of waiting. Also, the table was oddly small, like something they hacked together to fit in a small space so they could cram in two more bodies. The service wasn't that great. Our waiter was nice enough, but so slow. It took just under 15 minutes for him to come to the table the first time. His visits back were few. By the end of the meal, I had reached my fill on noise and was ready to leave and we were still waiting for the guy to bring back our credit cards. Part of it is from being over seated in his area. Another part is just the continued push to cram as many people into a small spot as possible. Just a little more space between tables and other dining patrons would change the dynamic in a more positive way. Instead, you're practically touching elbows with the next table. As I'm sitting in this cramped space with others just a little too close and a little too loud, I take in more of the overall details and I'm just less and less impressed. I could have gotten nearly the same food at the counter service place just a few feet away and avoided the ringing ears. The overall experience kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I have no desire to return to Kona Cafe in the near future, and it wasn't even that bad in terms of food. Just a strange vibe that put me in a crap mood.

Back to MK.

 

[JustCor]

8/16 - And so it rained, for forty days and forty nights

The sky looked ominous. It was dry as we left Kona, but the rumbling from above told us that it would only be a matter of time before the waterworks started up again. We took the boat from Poly to MK this time. That was awesome. That's they way things should be done, yet that was the only time I used that mode of transportation. Strange. The drizzle started up as we arrived, not heavy enough to soak anything, but enough so that it was annoying. We had Big Thunder Mountain fast passes at 10, and about an hour and a half to kill. What would the plan be? 7DMT.

Forty-five minutes. That's how long the standby line was for 7DMT. The same 7DMT that I've seen pass the hundred minute mark on multiple occasions. The same 7DMT that I still can't get a fast pass for because the selections are already filled up for my trip in September. Let's do it.

We hop on line and it moves briskly at first. Things in the sky aren't looking so hot, though. We reach a covered part of the line and the sky opens up once again. It's coming down pretty heavily now. Every few minutes they cast members announce that they may have to shut the ride down due to inclement weather at any moment, but they solider on, as do we. It's also loud. The acoustics of the building seem to amplify all the noise. My ears are still ringing. As we move, we hit the first of two traffic jams in the line. The touch screen games near the end of the line have caused the line to stop as kids and parents just stand there, clogging off the lanes. The line ahead of them moves forward, but we remain stuck. They don't seem to care. Maybe they think the ride is going to shut down anyway, so might as well entertain the kids with this massive game. Or maybe they're oblivious to life around them. We, along with a few others, sieve through. We've managed to bypass them, as they continue to stand there, blocking any flow. We find out why a few minutes later when they cut through the line of people that pass them to get back to their position with the placeholder. She skipped the games to keep their spot open, regardless of how far the line advanced. We hit the point with the spinning barrels and the ceiling projections and the same scene takes place. They've clogged up the line, once again. Not only that, but certain members of their group are intentionally spacing themselves to fill up as much of the walkway as possible so that nobody can get back. We follow the same two people in front of us as the politely yet forcefully open up a path through the human cholesterol. It's all for not though. As we get closer to the entrance point, the group spots their line holder and barrels forward. Our progress is once again thwarted by the same group of people. Thankfully, we're almost there. The interruption from the fast pass line is minimal. It appears as if people who scheduled for this time decided to bail due to the rain. Jokes on them. As we approach the boarding point the rain lets up. My first time riding on 7DMT is dry. It was a lot of fun.

Afterwards, we slowly make our way to BTM for the 10pm FP+. It turns out that a fast pass would not be necessary. Wishes is pushed back to 10:45 to let the rest of the storm cell pass. The rain, combined with the delay for the fireworks, clears out a large number of people. BTM in the dark is awesome. The darkness adds that extra bit of something to really make it fun. I really need to just schedule the coaster rides to all take place at night.

As we finish the ride, I'm worn smooth. Too much heat and noise has just sucked the energy out of me. I decide to call it a night. On the way out to the mono, we hear that the line for 7DMT is down to 30 minutes. It's so tempting to hop on it again, but I'm spent. My friend goes home. I go to my room and crank down the A/C to 65 degrees. I wish every night sleep was that amazing.

Day one at Disney is in the books. Good times.

 

[Sailormoon2]

Absolutely love your writing style!!! Enjoyed the live report too, very funny. Thanks.