Catchy Title with Lots of Exclamation Points Here!!! A 14 year Trip Report

[DemonLlama]

So Monday morning bright and early we call bag services to come get our luggage for our big transfer to the Polynesian.

I've never done a split stay. DH has always insisted he wants to unpack and stay put. Plus, I'm a bargain hunter and there is no way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks that we can justify the cost of a deluxe resort these days. Two kids in college (by next fall)? And good grief how the prices have skyrocketed.

Wayback machine: on our first trip in 2000 when DH was working as a state employee, I got us the Magic Kingdom card (remember those?) with a discount that ended up being $144.00 a night for Courtyard Wilderness Lodge. Sigh.

Now, we're paying that for the mods and may bump down into the Values at this rate by the next trip. The new 2014 Poly rates just came out and the room we stayed in this night is more than $1000 rack rate per night. Just... no.

So how did we end up there?

That goes back to the conference trip in April. When we were booking the room, Bob, who served on the board of directors for this particular professional association, had set up and signed all of the contracts that brought the conference to the Contemporary in 2013. He'd since retired (they set these things up years out.). But it had always been a dream of mine to either stay in the Tower or at the Poly. When they offered us rooms at either at the conference rate he called THREE TIMES with THREE DIFFERENT CMs to confirm that we could actually stay in the TOWER at that rate. Otherwise, we'd go with the Poly.

On arrival? Oh, no, sorry, you're out in the Garden Wing, despite everything you were told multiple times. And no, we can't move you to the Poly now -- all those rooms are taken. Bob wrote a very nice, very long letter after our stay, especially after discovering some other conference attendees WERE put in the Tower. As a result, we had one free complimentary night at the Deluxe resort of our choosing.

So, naturally, after how we were treated at the Contemporary, we chose the Polynesian.

One free night -- our last night of our trip -- and here it was.

Bag services was at our room within ten minutes of calling and we were out the door to Studios for the day. Our luggage would meet us at the Poly that afternoon.

Our first stop was RnR and this time I was determined to grab the camera for the ride shot. (Yes, we're cheap. I've done Photopass the past couple of trips and decided I love our pictures way more than the staged shots. Wasn't worth it.)

Our best pre-show ever was last April, when a very bored CM stood at the back and made snide comments. "Free passes? You guys are sooooo lucky!" "Oh, that never happens!" "Ok, I'll be right here waiting for youuuu." as the doors swing open.

One more time to wait for the front. We kind of love doing that, especially since it means we get to take in the details of the themeing. And riding in the very front on RnR is my favorite, because you actually make out the inversions ahead of you and have some great cool wind on your face the entire time. You are hurtling into the darkness without any other heads in the way.

Our turn!

Rock on!

After that, we went around the corner and decided to pull some FP for Tower of Terror for the guys to ride while Sam and I hit up the Animation Academy.

I went through and grabbed two and had Sam pose with what was about to turn obsolete within the month.

Since the Academy was going to take more time than a single ride, it occured to us to use our other two and grab a second set. Bob walked around and this time encountered a CM who stopped him and told him, because he had a magic band, he wasn' allowed to use the machines.

Um, what?

So some guests can pull as many FP at multiple parks in a day, and it's not fair that we get anything beyond the three on the band in the single park? Why give us the ability to do so and tell us (multiple CMs) to use them while we could?

Bob walked away quite hurt, because the CM basically told him he was cheating the system and being unfair to other guests.

Sam pulled her magic band off, handed it to me, grabbed the Keys from him, and marched around and pulled them in under 60 seconds. Done.

We left them on Sunset and got ourselves back to the Art of Animation in time for the 10:30 session.

This is, hands down, her favorite thing to do. We started going in 2004 and haven't missed it since.

In fact, this session was the first time since our very first one that we drew Donald Duck again, so it was fun to see what 10 years time has done for my little artist.

So we made our way towards Toy Story for the next FP+ to meet back up with the boys and played around a bit on the way.

Hey! They have Rapunzel in Sam's size!

Rawwwwrrr

Woody Cookies? That just sounds AWFUL.

 

[DemonLlama]

Meanwhile, at Tower of Terror...

I gave Bob a small camera to carry and here's what I got.

Really, honey?

No smiling!

But this one made all the other shots worth it.

We popped into Toy Story together for one more go and it was my turn to get destroyed by Nick. Which I did. But imagine his surprise when he spotted he wasn't he high score of the car? Bob finally beat him!

After that, we still had some time to kill before our lunch ressies at Sci Fi and the boy could not wait to eat. He's packing on weight for his second year of college football, moving positions from QB to defense, so five meals a day were the norm. We headed into Pizza Planet as an appetizer for Sci Fi.

And took in Muppets.

We skipped a row going in specifically because I had a hunch. Sure enough, the two boys we would have been behind plopped down right in the center, with 20 empty seats left on the other side of them. We were in the row behind and loved it when we realized a Dad (and possibly ex military) stopped at their seats and said loudly, "Nope. Get up and move ALL.THE.WAY.DOWN."

I think they may have thought about playing the language card for .0002 seconds and then got up and moved over.

We were sad to find the firetruck out back had been removed. I had a shot of Nick and Sam I wanted to do a comparison with.

ANNND, the Sci-Fi car is gone, too, dagnabbit.

Oh well, you can't win them all.

So while we are eating lunch, Sam is quite certain we are going to totally miss our FP+ window for Star Tours and convinces me to change it to two hours later. Guess who could've walked out of lunch and straight onto Star Tours? Yeah. Oh well, more time to spend people watching. We watched a good bit of one of the Jedi shows.

And my little Padawan was quite put out that they didn't have these back when he was the right age. We had a hilarious conversation in which he acted out taking on the role of teenage Anakin who swoops in and lays waste to all the younglings. Luckily, no one overheard us.

We sat for Indiana Jones Stunt show for the first time since 2000 thanks to the extra time. The kids hadn't remembered it except for a few bits we have on tape and really enjoyed it. We had a laugh at remembering 5 year old Sam's first question.

Bob had been picked as an extra and she'd watched him on stage before he was whisked away to wardrobe. When Indy comes in through the ceiling on a rope, she asked, quite wide-eyed, "Is that DAD?!?"

(Us in 2000 waiting for the stunt show)

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jibEFUDHXw0/UmheB6RufgI/AAA
AAAAAiyo/Nv9aY5iBivo/w651-h857-no/mgmindy_filtered.jpg

Star Tours

And then we were off to catch a new bus -- to the Poly!

I'm SURE it's entirely coincidence that they get the brand new busses, right?

 

[DemonLlama]

I was so psyched to be checking in at the Poly, I didn't managed to even raise the camera until we were on our way to the room!

We were in Tuvalu

Room 3408 (Third floor, Fourth building, eighth room)

It was directly across from the elevator. And we never heard a sound.

Beautiful, big room:

Entry hall with closets (closets?!?)

And you get real coffee cups, not paper ones here.

Giant bathroom

Oh, and you get shower gel and lotion?!? (I sound like such a rube, I know.) Plus, you get "Grapefruit Bergamot" instead of "Orange"

And Sammi was thrilled that she had her own sleeping space tonight:

And, here's the VIEW

THE VIEW!!!!

Everyone else wanted to take a nap, but there was no way I was spending a minute with my eyes closed while we had this room.

So I bundled up (the next winter front was blowing through and it was COLD) and sat out on our balcony and watched the sun go down.

Sigh. So amazing.

Next: 'Ohana

 

[JillianLeigh]

WOW! What a view!!

 

[DemonLlama]

We got our buzzer and pulled up seats at the bar for our LapuLapus

I love the old school Tiki touches. It's my 70s childhood. Bob was actually born and raised in Hawaii, as an air force brat, so he loves it too.

We got a table right near the grill

Morris took good care of us

Yes, I'm still scraping out spiked pineapple during dinner

Morris singing along:

Sammi and her second helping of dumplings

Nick and his request for more shrimp

I can't believe I missed taking a picture of the bread pudding. It's Nick's favorite dessert.

We headed out right before the fireworks so we could take them in from our balcony.

Or should I say, waddled back. Here is Nick showing off his "food baby"

Of course, I managed to mess up my camera settings and get a big mess of blur on most of the fireworks pictures, but getting to see them (and you could hear too!) on our own private balcony? Just, wow.

We half-joked this would ruin us for every other resort from here on out. But all I have to do is look at the thousands of dollars we don't have and decide this once-in-a-lifetime night is just going to have to be a lovely memory, not a standard!

Nick and Bob decided they were so full and so tired they were going to stay in the room and watch football. (Gasp!)

So Sam and I layered up for the cold and hopped the monorail to the MK, which closed at 10:00. Yeah, so we'd only have about an hour and a half. It's our last night!

 

[DemonLlama]

One thing I'd done on my own in April was start a Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game a collected quite a few packs of cards. I kept mentioning to Sam, who was at Ringling College of Art and Design last summer in their pre-college perspectives program studying animation and gaming, that she should check it out.

So on our last night, we finally did. We popped into the firehouse and started a new game (my old one wasn't in the system) and got some more cards. Sam was hooked from the start. She loved the interactive animation and hidden in plain sight portals aspects, as well as the art on the cards.

Of course, I was mainly there to take pictures, soak in my favorite park in the dark (my favorite time), and see how long we could last after closing without getting stranded.

Leaning Tower of Partners

Leaning Tower of Sammi

Did you know that when they designed the art for Cinderella's fountain, it was done at an angle so that when a child looked up at her, she could see the crown upon her head?

We hit up the Caroussel and found Cinderella's Horse. You can spot her in the center row wearing a garland of roses, with a golden ribbon around her tail.

How come the backside of the castle doesn't get icicles? I decorate my tree 360°!

Fasntasyland at Night is magic

We stopped in at Gaston's for some hot chocolate

Sammi is still miffed out of the whole expansion, Tangled got. . a BATHROOM?
I mean, it's a cool bathroom, no doubt. But still.

We hopped on Haunted Mansion

And got over to Big Thunder one minute before 10:00 closing, so we were the last train of the night. And we got the VERY back this time!

 

[DemonLlama]

When we got off, we were treated to a completely empty Frontierland (most of the other riders headed through Adventureland)

Empty Liberty Square

Empty Adventureland

Empty Tomorrowland

Closing up and roping off

And weeping at the Kiss Goodnight

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
on behalf of everyone here at the Magic Kingdom,
we thank you for joining us today
for a magic gathering of family, friends, fun, and fantasy.
We hope your magical journey with us
has created wonderful memories
that will last a lifetime.

Walt Disney said that the Magic Kingdom
is a world of imagination, hopes, and dreams.
In this timeless land of enchantment,
magic and make believe are reborn,
and fairy tales come true.

The Magic Kingdom is a place for the young
and the young at heart.
A special place where when you wish upon a star,
your dreams can come true.
Until we see you again, have a safe trip home.
Thank you, and goodnight.

See the night ducks? They started wandering up from the water while we sat there quietly, watching the park completely empty. They walked in pairs pecking at the tracks in the cement, looking for stray popcorn. We ended up with five pairs all around us.

There were still a few folks loitering on Main Street.

But we had to say goodbye in order to make the last monorail of the night back to the resort.

Until we see you again! (in about 8 hours )

 

[DemonLlama]

I was up before dawn to take in the gorgeous view before we had to say goodbye.

Maybe it was best that we only had the one, precious night. It made everything that much more special.

So once the troops were up and we packed up, we rang bell services and stowed the luggage before breakfast and one last morning at the MK.

It was a gorgeous morning, and very, very cold. For people like us who cannot imagine going to Disney in that infernal heat, it was perfect!

We hit up Captain Cooks for some Tonga Toast

Ok, let's hit the park!

 

[DemonLlama]

One last Space Mountain ride

And we found Push!

So many memories here.

 

[DemonLlama]

Nick was pretty interested in the Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom game, too.

While they played out the rest of this round, I was able to catch some of the behind the curtain stuff for the Castle Forecourt show

We had our third FP+ (after Space and Dumbo) was Big Thunder

Splash was covered in scaffolding

And, as it turned out, Big Thunder was down, too. They said they'd no idea when it would be back up and we could use our FP later. Not quite. We had to get going to meet the Magical Express.

Oh well.

Back to the Poly for the ME

I read they'd be taking the center stuff out soon, so I was glad we got to stay here before that happened.

a bit of shopping

and a bit of nosh

(Make your own Dole Whip station at Captain Cooks)

and Hawaiian pizza

Sigh. Yeah, even with my legs cramping and being nearly lame and having the cold coming roaring back after a late night in the cold and no sleep, I have the same face as Sam heading back to reality.

 

[DemonLlama]

Thanks for the memories!

 

[DVCmom4]

Love your report!!! My boys (13 & 16) where reading over my shoulder and want to do the same idea!! But my ds16 (smart mouth) says to me " hey mom just think it will be at least another 15 years before you will have an empty nest!!!". WHAT A BRAT!!! Haha. My youngest dd is 3!

 

[hucifer]

Really enjoying this!

 

[DemonLlama]

Your title cracked me up, that's what brought me here.

I am loving your report! First of all, you have a GORGEOUS family. Every one of you are handsome. And I'm not just sucking up.

Second, those nametags of yours are priceless. Did you know that they no longer sell them? If you walk around alone, people will think you're a CM. Trust me on this.

Third, I LOVE the comparison before/after pictures. They are so much fun to see how things change...and don't change.

Fourth, I have always liked your user name. While there are 28,000 variations of Tinkerbelle names here, I don't see too many references to the Emperor's New Groove. It's brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT!

Oh! And fifth...your family looks like a blast to hang with. I love all the facial expressions and gestures!

Looking forward to your next installment.

thank you, thank you!!

About those nametags...

Those nametags are guarded fiercely by me until we return to WDW. Once everyone has theirs, they know they will break their poor mother's heart should anything happen to them, so they pin them very carefully and check the integrity of the pin each and every time. I bought them through some service that would get them engraved and have them waiting in our room on that first trip in 2000. It was a surprise to everyone to check in and find it on the bed.

We've never done a trip without them and have never done a trip without people asking us about them, even in 2000 when they were still available. When we came back in 2002 only the red Mickey ones were for sale. I think by 2006 they were gone entirely.

My favorite was the rather irate guest in line who looked at them, and us, and said, a bit rudely, "Why are YOU guests of HONOR?"

We've never had any guest mistake us for CMs, at least to our faces, but them we never walk around alone and I would bet they figured it out this time by the giant fluffy unicorn I had strapped to my back.

We did have CMs mistake us for CMs! This trip, when Sammi was going to buy her Mike hat in AK, the CM at the kiosk said, "You'll have to take that off before I can sell this to you." and when Sam explained it, she looked closer and said, "Oh! I see!"

Our friend Jay said mine especially could be mistaken at a distance, since they are now awarding something to CMs (I forget what he said) that means a blue nametag, the same color as mine. Mine doesn't have the bump at the top, and theirs don't have Pooh Bear, so at a closer inspection, I'll not be passing for any perks as an employee.


And about my user name...
I love my username too! Since the movie came out in 2000 and we saw it at the same month as our first trip, it seems to fit, especially since it is still one of my favorites. I used it on YouTube for a long time for our Disney trip videos, too, until Google made me merge everything.

When we went back in 2002 they'd already phased out the chance of meeting Kuzco, Kronk, or Yzma, although I've seen pictures from Paris that they are still over there. Rats.

We also tend to quote from the movie at least once a week.

Herewith, DemonLlama's family's top 20 (because there are JUST that many) oft-used ENG quotes:


Why do we even *have* that lever?

It's my birthday gift to me. I'm so happy!

No touchy.

You're right. That's giving you WAY too much credit.

Yay. I'm a llama again! . . . Wait.

Cheese me no likee!

Ha! You really should have thought of that before you became peasants!

Well, which is it? That sounds like a pretty crucial conjunction.

I'll smash it with a hammer! It's brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, I tell you! Genius, I say! . . . Or, to save on postage...

Huh? What? I didn't do anything. Somebody's throwin' stuff. You gonna build a fire or what?

He will be dead before dessert!
Which is a real shame, 'cause it's gonna be delicious!

That is the last time we take directions from a squirrel!

I need to hear these words.
Uh, do you need to hear all those words exactly?

You know, it's a good thing you're not a big, fat guy or this would be reaaallly difficult.

It's called a "cruel irony", like my dependence on you.

Ooh! Look! That's me as a baby! (The kids do this one at home videos)

Is there anything on this menu that is not swimming in gravy?

Well, that makes you ugly AND stupid.

Hit the road, Bucky!

Beware the groooove!!! Grooooove.

 

[DemonLlama]

Love your report!!! My boys (13 & 16) where reading over my shoulder and want to do the same idea!! But my ds16 (smart mouth) says to me " hey mom just think it will be at least another 15 years before you will have an empty nest!!!". WHAT A BRAT!!! Haha. My youngest dd is 3!

With teenagers, you already know how fast it goes. Bless you for having teenagers AND a toddler -- you are made of stronger stuff than me!

 

[DVCmom4]

With teenagers, you already know how fast it goes. Bless you for having teenagers AND a toddler -- you are made of stronger stuff than me!

No I'm just CRAZY!!! Haha. We have 4 total we also have a DS who is 7.

 

[rev02a]

This was fantastic. I wanted to be on this trip. Your family looks like they had way too much fun and I love your sense of humor. Thanks for sharing all those awesome photos!

 

[DemonLlama]

This was fantastic. I wanted to be on this trip. Your family looks like they had way too much fun and I love your sense of humor. Thanks for sharing all those awesome photos!

Glad you enjoyed them!

I'm thinking I could pull some more old stuff in to this thread soon, just because I hate to have nothing new Disney on the horizon! This keeps me distracted and saving money!

 

[DemonLlama]

Dec. 14, 2000: Our very first character picture, ever. We'd flown in from Houston that day and had dinner at Chef Mickey's (where we've never returned). Bob had gotten horribly sick the weekend before this trip. This trip we'd scrimped and saved for two years for! I had joked I'd wheel him on the airplane with an IV if necessary. He rebounded the day before we left, right when Sammi started running a fever! She was still running a low grade fever this evening -- can you see it in her eyes?

That night, Nick threw up and I thought it was all over.

But by the next morning, our first parks day, no one was sick or running a fever. Our first Disney miracle!

 

[DemonLlama]

Also from 2000, the old school Brer Fox.

I'm not sure how long this incarnation had been around, but he promptly disappeared on our subsequent trips. We could never spot Brer Fox anywhere, which seemed odd, since in 2002 especially, was stocked with all kinds of rare characters out and about.

And then, in 2006, he was back, post-plastic surgery and sporting a new nose, cheek implants, and more hair.