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Thread: Deb - 6-16 August 2007 - 6 nights Polynesian/4 Disney Wonder

  1. #1

    Deb - 6-16 August 2007 - 6 nights Polynesian/4 Disney Wonder

    Travel dates: August 6th-16th
    Travel method:Air/Van/Cruise
    Resort:Polynesian/Disney Wonder
    Accommodations:Concierge Garden View
    Ages Represented in Group: 40, 40, 18, 16, 11
    WDW Experience Represented in Group:Couple past trips to WDW/ 1st time cruising ever!
    Comments:
    Had a wonderful time and can't say enough wonderful things about the Disney Cruise Line!!
    Cast of characters:
    Dan, Deb, Danielle, Cass, Kennedy

    1st day
    Arrived at airport and took Quicksliver transportation to Polynesian. Driver and service were both wonderful! No problems what so ever and very friendly! Arrived at Polynesian about 1pm to find that our room was already done and waiting...yeah!!! Checked into the concierge desk where all were extremely friendly. Room was on the 3rd floor and was wonderful. We had requested a nonsmoking and there was absolutely no smell of prior smokers. Jumped on the bus and headed for MGM. We had reservations that evening so we thought this would be the logical 1st day for us. Had a wonderful time. Hit Tower, Aerosmith, Great Movie Ride, Muppets and the older girls did Star Tours. Lines were on the short side and not bad weather although it was HOT!!! Next stop was Hollywood and Vine....food was wonderful. Although I can't say the same for the service. Had to wait for everything and the waitress looked frazzled and acted quite rude. I commented this to the manager on the way out. We then hit a few shops....always my favorite part to any day!! Then did fantasmic....which was absolutely wonderful. Did the dining package and was extremely happy with the seats. It was standing room only that evening so it all worked out well!! Headed back to the Poly and did some late night swimming and then headed off to bed!

    Day 2[B]
    Ate breakfast in the concierge lounge. We absolutely love doing this. Can sit and look at the castle! Headed up to the monorail. Got into MK and no kidding was able to ride Aladdin (2), Jungle Cruise, Pirates (3), and Thunder Mt all in that order with little or not wait!! And best of all it still was'nt HOT yet!! We had pix taken everywhere. Much to my hubby's disbelief...nearly 450 with our camera alone!! Next headed to Splash Mt were we got a FP and then headed over to Dumbo, Phillarmagic, Snow white, and Peter Pan....and once again really no bad lines!! While headed back to Splash were recieved a special suprise....we recieved Dream FP!! So the rest of the day was pretty much not worrying what and were we were headed!! Later that day we headed over to Fort Wilderness to do Hoop De Doo! Our youngest daughter was asked if she'd ring the bell to open things. It made her whole day!! Had a wonderful time!! Food and service was fantastic!!! Headed back to Poly to do once again some more swimming and lounging by the pool! Older girls hit MK again and had a blast doing all the rides on their own.

    Day 3

    Had a nice breakfast at the concierge lounge. Then headed off to Animal Kingdom. Honestly for us this is never a full day park. Just not enough we really want to do there. Although this year we did quite a few shows and loved every one of them. Hit Everest 1st off. Only a 20 min wait. Not bad at all! Did this twice. Headed over to see Nemo and absolutely loved it!! Extremely cute!! Well worth the wait! Next headed over to Dinoland to do a couple of the tamer rides for the youngest. Then headed on Dinosaur....all I can say about that is WOW!! Never had rode it before and loved every min of it!! So much so that we hit it twice! We then headed over to Tusker House....always wonderful food!! Love the place and will be sad to see it changed over! After this it was more pix and shopping!! I may need a extra suitcase by the end of it all!! Had ressies at RainForest for the evening....deffinately was'nt impressed at all by it. Was a so so type in my opinion. Although the girls liked it alot. Food was just ok and service was'nt anything to brag about! We once again hit the Poly for some down time and swimming to end the evening. The service and pool is nothing but top rate here. Love the resort!!!

    Day 4

    [B]Woke up early since we had a ressie at "Ohana. Breakfast and characters. Food was wonderful...as was the service. The girls love this even with all the different ages. Lots of one on one time with the characters....more pix!! After breakfast we got on the monorail and headed to Epcot!! Kind of sad to see the changes with the wand coming down. Although that was the way I origanally remembered it from way back. We stared off heading to Nemo...all I can say is.....YUCK!! What a waste of time. The lines unlike the rest of the trip were extreme and yes we waited since the girls wanted to do it. But just not worth it in the end. All that for less then 2 mins?? While it was cute...nothing I'd ever do again!! We then got FP for Mission and headed right onto Test Track....no lines really and was able to hit it twice!! My youngest loves Figment so we headed over to that area....where we recieved yet another special suprise....yes, our 2nd Dream FP!!! Unreal!!! We never expected to get 1 let alone 2!!! So once again we did'nt really have to worry about lines the rest of the day!! We did do the pix at the end that digitally put you into them. If you get the chance to do this it's well worth the money! We had the girls done flying over the MK and it's just sooo cute!! What a memory!! By this time it was time to head over for dinner at Coral Reef....another we had never tried. It was Wonderful!!! We were right in front of the aquarium and the girls just loved it!! Food was beyond fantastic and our waitress was wonderful!! Deffinately a must do if you have never tried it!! Never did get to see WS so we decided to head back in the morning to do that!! And headed out for some more down time at Poly!!! Once again lots of fun and relaxing! Got to see the Water Parade and Fireworks!! Both were wonderful!!

    Day 5

    Headed for another relaxing breakfast in the lounge! And once again was headed back to Epcot. I absolutely love the world showcase!! So we spent alot of time here and actually did some of the rides in this area. Had never done so before and were extremely suprised by them. They were alot of info and fun at the same time! Did shopping and eating all the way through! Something I HAVE to do!! Took us about 4 hours and it was wonderful!! Lots of pix once again!! We headed out then to MGM again to hit a few more rides. Lines were on the long side today. But still managed to hit TOT, Muppets, Aero, and Star Tour. Had ressies at Brown Derby this evening. Food was wonderful although the girls were'nt too thrilled with any of it. I think if we were to do this again we'd let them go elsewhere! Got pix with all the characters and my daughter got to see the High School Pep rally!! She loved that!!! Left the older two there to hit even more rides and did some down time at the Poly!!!

    Day 6

    After breakfast we headed to Down Town to do some shopping and sight seeing. Bus wait was quite long. But then it was a weekend and knew crowds would be larger. Hit all the stores. Love this area.....although the crowds and heat were about unbearable!! At lunch time we headed over to Planet Hollywood. We love this place!!! Food was fantastic as was the service. Headed back to the hotel for some down time as we had ressies for 'Ohana and tickets for Pirate/Princess Party. 'Ohana while the food was wonderful the service wasn't. Took forever to get everything. Waitress seemed frazzled and like she had way too many tables to cover. Kept forgetting things. We decided to just pay and leave before dessert...once again spoke to the manager. Time for P & P Party!!! Took the boat over to MK. Way cool how they do everything up for these events. Just a wonderful experience!! Got pix with Pirate Mickey...Jack Sparrow (Girls Loved this) and got to ride about every ride imaginable!! No wait times worse then about 10 mins!! And NO SUN!!!!! That was the best thing of all!!! COOLNESS!!! Only down part about this whole evening was that they had way too little staff in the photo lab area and the lines were LONG!!!! Waited nearly 2 hours to have everything done there. They really need to look into this more. It was our last night and the last thing we wanted to do was wait that long....but we still had a fantastic time!!!



    Day 7

    CRUISE DAY!!!!

    Did laundry early and only good thing about that is that they actually worked!! What horrible equipment. And for what we paid it should have worked alot better.
    Headed for the front to get in the van and head to the cruise! All I can say is WOW.....what a impressive sight to see the Wonder sitting there. Got out and was greeted by a very large intimidating man....who turned out to be a very helpful teddy bear!! Wish I could remember his name....he was fantastic with all his help!! Got all the paperwork finished and was still in awe!! Girls had pix taken in terminal with chip & dale in front of scale model and then waited for our turn to board!! We were all soooooooo excited!!! Can't even begin to put into words how it felt when they announced us and it was our turn to board!!
    Headed up to Beach Blanket to do the buffet....food as far as the eye could see!!! And it was nothing but fantastic!!! Staff were soooo friendly!!! Time to do some exploring. Loved doing this. The ship is HUGE!!! And so clean and impressive!!
    Time to head to our 2 staterooms. Decided against one since we thought we'd be tripping over each other. And we were right!! Our rooms were on deck 2 and had the big port holes. They were side by side... but not connecting. We loved them!! Very clean and well kept. Nothing bad to say about them what so ever!

    Life Vest drill....LOL....way funny!!! Everyone is in the same boat...literally!! No one wants to be there ... but has no choice!! More pix!! LOL This to me was just a great moment!!
    Sail away Party!! First introduction to the .... BAHAMA MAMA!! LOL The party is just great!!! We had such a fantastic time. What a moment when they sound the horn for the very first time!!!
    Time to head back to the room and get ready for supper. Parrot Key..introduced to our servers....what wonderful guys!!! Food was beyond fantastic...as was the service!!! Loved how they took photo's....can you tell I'm crazy about pix!! LOL Met our table mates.....had lots of fun with them...and they were from the same state we were originally from. What are the chances!!! After Kennedy and I headed to the pools while the others went to magic show! We all had a wonderful time.
    Headed off to bed after this as we were all BEAT!!!

    Day 2

    BAHAMA'S......Got up and headed for breakfast. The buffets on the wonder are great!!! Time to get off the ship. Kind of apprehensive about it. But went smoothly. Was'nt at all impressed with this port!!! Had never been there before and wanted to get off to see things and do some shopping. We were off a total of 3 hours and headed back to the ship. Just way too many panhandler types. Had a great time shopping. But worried about safety the whole time!!
    Nothing but great once back on the ship. Many, many character appearances. Kennedy had the pools almost to herself!! Mickey pool is by far her favorite since it has that huge slide. Lounged and ate by the pool. Older 2 did lots of exploring. While Kennedy spent lots of time in Lab!! She loved going there and the counselors were wonderful!!
    Triton's tonight!! All I can say is WOW......what a impressive resturant. Tried lots of new food we'd have never otherwise tried and had a wonderful time!! Tonight we had the show Hercules.....cast and show was fantastic! Changed into some lighter clothes and headed up on deck to watch movies on the big screen!! That in itself is an experience!! Sea breeze and movie. And Kennedy loved watching the movies while sitting in the pool!!!
    Another day gone and time to head off to bed!


    Day 3

    Castaway Cay!!! This place is just beyond words!! Beaches as far as the eye can see and lots to do! Was raining a bit when we got off the ship. But cleared up quickly. Played in the water with the tubes for a few hours and then hit the banana boat!! That was great!! Even though I could'nt quite manage to stay on the thing!! LOL Lots of pix with characters again!! And lots of shopping in between it all. Cookies BBQ was great....huge selection and very good! Now for the down part....we had ressies for parasailing...which had to be cancelled due to weather. Not a huge problem...until they decided that after we were told everything was cancelled for the day they would take walk ups and once again do them. Imagine our disbelief while sitting on board to see people doing this. We headed to guest relations to complain...they could have cared less. Only bad service on whole cruise. We then spotted someone who turned out to be the food service manager on board.....he listened...took notes and we told him we wanted nothing more then to make sure it did'nt happen to anyone else. Imagine our suprise when we got back to our room and we had a fruit/cheese/cracker basket with a written apology. Then to top things off we had a message from him inviting us to a special evening the following night at 9:45. We were extremely suprised and happy....although we honestly expected nothing.
    Time to get ready and head to dinner. Once again in Tritons....Pirate night!! This was beyond fantastic!! What a treat. Dinner was great. Servers dressed and dancing was just fantastic!!
    Off to see the Golden Mickeys!! The show was beyond expectation!!! The cast was great!! It's something for every age group. Disney deffinately knows how to to make sure eveyone is happy!!!
    Time for the deck party!! WOW!!!! Disney goes above and beyond!! The show was fantastic!! But the fireworks were beyond words!!! Then you turn around and there is a nonstop buffet!!! What a wonderful experience!!!
    Tonight we headed off to Kareokee....LOL...can't even put this one into words!! Lots of fun. Just not our cup of tea!!
    Time to head off to bed!!

    Day 4

    Kind of bittersweet as you know it's your final day. But fun none the less. Headed off to breakfast. Can't say anything bad about the food....PERIOD!! Can you tell we all love to eat!! LOL
    Started the day doing the pools and the kids playing video games. Very well kept. As a matter of fact they were always cleaning nonstop no matter when we were on deck!!
    Much to my hubby's disbelief we then headed over to check out next years vacation....can you guess what it is????? Yup....another cruise!!! YEAH!!! He just laughs since I'm so addicted. But has to admit he loves it when it all comes together!!
    Lunch at Parrots....chinese buffet.....once again fantastic. They had so much we did'nt know which direction to head in first!!
    Time to head off and purchase pix....spent WAY too much money!! But the pix are so impressive. The photographers are fantastic at catching everything!!
    Bingo next....no we did'nt win anything....but it was alot of fun!!! More time up on deck playing in the pools and watching videos and movies on the big screen!!!
    Time for supper....Anitmators Palate. This place is sooooooooooo cool!! I had a hard time eating since I was watching everything!! Kind of sad since you know your basically saying goodbye to the wait staff....and we had really gotten attached to them. They were just unbelievable!! As was all the staff! Disney makes it hard to go anywhere else!!
    Next was Dreams....another fantastic musical experience!! The shows alone are well worth the cruise!!!
    Time for our suprise!! Much to our suprise we got a private meet and greet with characters and cast from musicals!! It was just us and one other family!! It made our whole cruise!! They were so great!! Lots of one on one pix and time!!! Then we got to see the final with them all!! Sad and fun all at the same time!!
    Headed back on deck to watch our final movie of the cruise and then headed off to bed.


    All in all we had such a fantastic time!!! Hope you all enjoy this report. It's the first I've ever written so forgive me for any mistakes!!

    Can't wait for next year!!!


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  3. #2

    Great trip report. Sounded like you did just about everything! Sorry about the parasailing but sounds like they made it up to you. Thanks for sharing that with us!

    ~Wendy~ Trips to the World ~ 21 * 19 * 18 * 15 * 09 * 10/05 * 6/05 * 02 * 99 * 95 * 91 * 89 * 88 * 81 * 79 * 77 * 76 * 74

  4. #3

    I love trip reports! They make my day much more enjoyable, thank you for sharing!

     
    Pop Century Jan. 2009 -- CBR Turkey Day 2007 -- All Star Music Oct 2006-- Offsite New Years Eve 2001 -- All Star Sports X-Mas 1997 -- DL Regular (Passholder)

  5. #4

    Glad you liked it! Was my first and I honestly just started typing and ended quite a bit later!! Was alot of fun and I love reading them also.


  6. #5
    Disney Addict
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Denver, Colorado

    What a wonderful report! Aren't the Disney cruises so addicting!? We went on the 4 night in December 2006, and then had to go again right after. We went on the 7 night Eastern in April/May of this year and it was even better! Once you do a 7 night it's hard to go back to a shorter one! You should see how much more food you get on those!

    Thanks again for the wonderful report! You took me back to being on the ship again .

    I agree about spending too much money on the pictures! But it's hard to not buy them all since they have the great borders! They need to get PhotoPass on there ASAP so that you can just buy a CD of everything!

    Jennifer


  7. #6

    What was your disembarking like? We found it to be sooo much easier and smoother than we ever would have imagined. Just curious if we were lucky or if that was usually the way it runs.


  8. #7

    We were honestly expecting a rough time even though everyone said it was so much more stream lined. We had a amazingly easy time. We got up went to breakfast, went back to gather up the lugguge we needed for that morning. Stopped and got a quick pic with the Cpt.. Then headed off the boat. Our luggage was sitting altogther in the character area as we were told. And it took us a total of about 10 mins to get through the customs line. And that was only due to a very large family in front of us. It was so easy it made us wonder also if this was the norm for everyone. Not sure if it is always like that but that makes us and you both....so maybe so!


  9. #8
    Self-proclaimed Diz nut TinaMouse's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    My Old Kentucky Home

    WONDERFUL trip report. You've got me SERIOUSLY considering a cruise!

    Working hard for that next WDW trip!

  10. #9

    If you've never done one before believe me you will absolutely love it. It was so nice and relaxing. Everything was literally in one place. While WDW is great. It was also great not having to walk miles every day also. Plenty of characters if that is what you wanted and activities galore. There is absolutely no reason to be bored or just sitting if you truely want to do something!!


  11. #10

    What a wonderful trip report. We have never taken a Disney cruise but after reading your TR I just might book one.

    Thanks again,
    Ellen


  12. #11
    Registered User anniedg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    The Mile High City

    Wow, sounds like a dream vacation. And the best part is you get to go back! Thanks for posting -- I love hearing about the cruises and sure hope I get on one one of these days.

    Can't believe you actually got two dream fastpasses -- so cool!!


  13. #12

    I am surprised that you had bad service at 2 place at WDW.. I have never had a bad experience in any of the places. I do think that the servers are over worked and under paid. I try to keep that in mind. Glad you had a great time. I can't belive you got 2 FP for the day. Never happend to me. Just being in the right place at the right time I guess.

    I have a Disney Time share so we are there 2 times a year. Was there in April of this year and was going in October, but my huband ended up having heart surgery. Next trip is January 2008 with 11 family members.


  14. #13
    I loved reading your trip report! Thanks so much for telling it, It's nice to hear from someone who had a wonderful time.

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