Welcome Trip at the Poly, early December 2018

Beachmom0317

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 5, 2016
DH and myself are in our thirties and live in New England...after a trip to WDW every other year the past few years we finally jumped on board and closed CCV October 2018! We had a trip booked December 2018 at AoA with our two littles (DD2 and DS4) but they pulled some Disney magic for our welcome home trip and found us a studio at the Poly. We had never been to the Poly so I was super excited!

Day 1, we landed in Orlando around 12:30pm, picked up the rental car and were on our way. We stopped at Publix and grabbed some food, which took more time than we thought. We used Garden Grocer last trip and after going Publix we decided if we need groceries next time we’ll just stick with GG. Time is money on vaca to us and it was much easier having groceries delivered to our room, even if it cost a little extra with.

We then went to DS Guest Services to prioritize our park tickets since I was given complimentary park hopper tickets from a friend who won them at a raffle, and I wanted to save those for the end of our trip. DH waited in the car with the kids while I ran in to prioritize them. We were all anxious and super excited to get to the Poly, and are not big shoppers.

After DS, we arrived at the Poly around 3pm I was blown away by the theming! The tiki torches and lush gardens really immerse you into a Hawaiian/Polynesian atmosphere. I did online check in, but we decided to pop in grand ceremonial house to check in desk and see if there was an update on our room since I hadn’t gotten a text. I’m happy I did because she said room was ready, we stayed in the Moorea building on the third floor. I was a little surprised how much walking there is to get to all the different buildings, but thankfully we don’t have any limitations.

The studio layout overall was a little tight for our family of 4, even though I understand the poly studios are the largest. I think having the big double stroller took up too much space. It was still a beautiful room (and still Disney!)- DH and I took one bed, DS4 took sofa bed and DD2 loved the little pull down bed with the mural of lilo on the wall. The two bathrooms were incredibly handy.

Even though DH wanted to rest, I was too excited and made everyone explore haha We were hungry so we went to Capt Cooks and had an early dinner and it was so good! The pulled pork sandwiches and nachos saved us as we were much hungrier than we realized. The kids loved running around the little green, and we were excited to check out the splash pad later on in our trip.

We felt energetic so we decided to hop on the monorail to the Contemporary and then boat to FW for the s’mores singalong with chip n dale. We stayed at FW once and loved it. I had grabbed s’mores stuff at Publix. It must’ve been a party night or something because it was around 5:30pm and lots of people were pouring into MK, so getting through security to hop on the monorail at the GCH took a few min, but not bad. The kids had fun running around FW and the singalong was adorable. DH and I got a wine and beer at the food truck. Kids met chip n dale, and BTW this event is FREE!

Around 8pm though the travel suddenly hit us (we were up at 4:30am) and we started crashing hard lol! We’re total morning people. So we headed back to the Poly and were in bed by 9:30 after tubs, milk and pjs. I will incorporate more rest time on our arrival day no matter how excited I am! Up next is Day 2: Animal Kingdom!
 
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Day 2: animal kingdom! So my kids being morning birds were up super early. Like 6am. Animal kingdom didn’t open until 9 that day so we had time to kill. We showered and were at Capt Cooks for breakfast by 7. I was thinking if we had the refillable mug how long of a walk it’d be to grab a quick drink. Thankfully we made coffee in our room while we got ready, but just a thought if someone is considering getting the mug and staying even further from GCH, like Pago Pago.

We enjoyed a yummy breakfast then went back to the room and watched tv until about 8:15. We headed to AK and were there right opening. Lots of people headed to Pandora. We walked on to the safari and saw SO many animals! We’ve done safari in the past, and even in the morning some animals were sleepy. This time they were lively, even the lions which was awesome.

We walked through the animal exhibits, grabbed a cookie and the kids each got a Lion Guard stuffed animal. Then we headed to Festival of Lion King for 10:30 show. We got in FPline at 10 and the show was absolutely amazing! My kids are on a lion king kick so it was pure magic for them.

After we ate at Flaming Tree BBQ. DD2 was napping in our rental city mini double stroller by this point (we’ve used kingdom many times). So DH and DS ordered food while I looked for a quiet table with sleeping DD. We found tons of quiet tables right on the water at the entrance to Asia, and a short walking distance to flaming tree, so we had a relaxing early lunch.

After walking around Asia we went to Dinoland (DD2 still napping in stroller) and got a picture with Donald. By this point is was probably 1 and DS4 was getting tired so we headed back to the hotel. More to come:)

The kids were dying for the splash pad so we splashed all afternoon (it was like 65 degrees and I was chilly but they had fun). We made a last minute ADR for Kona Cafe around 5:15 and had a delicious meal. DH loved the Lapu Lapu! After dinner we watched a movie in the lobby on the couches by the check in counter, did a little shopping in the gift shop and called it a night early. Next day was Magic Kingdom
 
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Sounds like a fun trip. Enjoy the trips when your kids are little, they grow up so fast!
 
Day 3 Magic Kingdom Day! Kids were up early again so we had no problem getting to Rope Drop. We had a great time hanging around Main Street at 8am. DH and DS4 got us all Starbucks and a snack, while DD2 and I got a photopass picture in front of the giant Christmas tree by the train station. We then all got a photopass photo taken with the castle in the background. As we made our way down Main Street we got to watch the Main Street USA Trolley singers and dancers.

Once at the entrance to fantasyland while waiting for opening, we enjoyed a great view of the welcome show at the castle and then we were on our way!

We hit Winnie the Pooh, Enchanted Tales with Belle and the carosuel. I was pumped my kids got a photo with Belle even though they didn’t participate in the show. My kids didn’t want SDMT (kinda young) and aren’t huge Peter Pan fans so we got to walk on everything. Next DH and DS4 hit Tomorrowland Speedway while DD2 and I grabbed a cinnamon roll at Gaston’s. We then all met for Journey of Little Mermaid and then by this point DD2 fell asleep (it was probably 11) in the stroller.

We went to Pecos Bill for early lunch. I sat with the stroller in a shaded outdoor seating area while DH and DS4 grabbed the food. It was so quiet! Then DH and DS4 hit Thunder Mountain, while sleeping DD2 and I watched them ride from the viewpoint area. Next DH sat with sleeping DD2 while I did pirates and Swiss family treehouse with DS4.

After wandering around we decided to set up spot an hour before Festival of Fantasy parade. We got a front row spot and grabbed a coffee while we waited. The parade was absolutely amazing!!

After we immediately left and hopped on a boat back to the Poly. We relaxed all afternoon and did a quick swim. We then spontaneously grabbed a last minute ADR to Boma. We drove to AKL, hung around the lobby and watched the animals outside for about an hour before having an amazing dinner. DS4 fell asleep at the table lol!

After our 7pm dinner we went back to the room. DH and I bathed the kids put them to sleep and I snuck out to watch electrical parade and fireworks. Which were of course amazing. Epcot next!
 
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Last day was Epcot! We woke up and casually hung around the Poly since we didn’t want to get to Epcot until close to 11 when World showcase opened.

When we arrived DS was super obsessed with the pressed pennies so we made a goal to try to get as many as we could at each country. We made our way around the world browsing and snacking. We had takeout slices of pizza at Via Napoli, their crust is amazing! At once of Italy’s kiosks I got cannolis and a Prosecco drink. At the Mexico pavilion my kids loved the Grand Fiesta Tour with three caballeros. We had fast passes for Frozen but before we rode we did M&G with Anna and Elsa because there was no wait! DS4 got an adorable Viking sword and we rode the frozen ride.

After finishing world showcase the days of walking caught up to us, so we decided to just hang at the Poly the rest of the day. We played in Splash Pad, had dinner at Capt Cooks and spent rest of evening hanging at Lilo and Stitches Playhouse. They were airing Muppets Christmas Carol and had hot cocoa and cookies. Around 9 we watched electric water parade and then kids passed out and we called it a night. The next day was our final day but we weren’t leaving until late afternoon:)
 
Loving your trip report and thanks for sharing! Sounds like a really great time. I stayed at PV once and loved it, definitely in my top 3 resorts.
It was our first time too! We love WL so are super excited to now own at CC but I’m so happy we tried out the poly. When my kids are older I’d love to go back for their pool
 



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