"Why are you wearing jackets in Orlando?"-Nov/Dec '18 - Our first time in the World (updated 2/26)

[apxstitch]

I felt a little bit unstable after coming off FoP as well. It was an amazing experience though and I would probably do it again with a FP

 

[reyasmommy]

All caught up! What a fun and exciting vacation! I love your pictures and am thankful for all of your AKL ones. We'll be staying there in June and seeing your photos is making me even more excited. I look forward to reading more.

 

[masterpabu]

Following along. I was there during this time from 11/25-11/28, it was my first solo trip to WDW. BTMRR is my favorite ride too

I felt a little bit unstable after coming off FoP as well. It was an amazing experience though and I would probably do it again with a FP

I hope your trip was awesome! I think it’s the best time of year to go, I just couldn’t settle for anything else!

FoP really was quite an experience! But definitely would only do it again with FP, or if we’re somehow miraculously able to make it there at rope drop

 

[masterpabu]

All caught up! What a fun and exciting vacation! I love your pictures and am thankful for all of your AKL ones. We'll be staying there in June and seeing your photos is making me even more excited. I look forward to reading more.

Thank you so much!
AKL was so beautiful you’ll love it!

I wish we had spent more time to just sit by the viewing area to relax and watch the animals, my advice would be to take as much time and soak the whole resort in!

 

[wvgoofyfan]

Some of the best meals at WDW can be had for a song....if you only have ice cream and sugar, that is.......Plan it right and the sugar rush can last all day.......I have done the same thing myself.........lol...

 

[Caitlyn Allen]

Having so much fun reading all about your first time to my favorite place!!!!
Can't wait for more! Following!

 

[masterpabu]

Some of the best meals at WDW can be had for a song....if you only have ice cream and sugar, that is.......Plan it right and the sugar rush can last all day.......I have done the same thing myself.........lol...

Oh I can't ever say no to a nice ice cream any time of day/year!

Having so much fun reading all about your first time to my favorite place!!!!
Can't wait for more! Following!

Thank you so much! I'm so glad it's been entertaining enough for everyone!
Tonight I get a break off from cooking as DFi will be handling dinner -gasp- (he cooks dinner about twice a month if I'm lucky! )
so I'll get to do an early update on our check in to our Poly room yay!!

 

[reyasmommy]

Thank you so much!
AKL was so beautiful you’ll love it!

I wish we had spent more time to just sit by the viewing area to relax and watch the animals, my advice would be to take as much time and soak the whole resort in!

I think I'll do just that.... Now that my kids are getting older it's much easier to relax and smell the roses.

 

[masterpabu]

Day 11 - Kwaherini AKV & Aloha Polynesian!

I can't believe we're already half-way through our WDW trip already! But I was determined that it would only keep getting better from here!

Woke up on our check out day and our room was a mess, but I managed to have everything packed and ready to go on time, although Brave started on the TV halfway while I was packing and it slowed me down a little lol oh well!

It was a little sad to leave this wonderful resort but at least we had a couple more days left!

We headed to Jambo House for some food, and the weather was much warmer today jumping back up to mid 20's (Celsius/77+ Fahrenheit) and DFi was irritated that we didn't pack any swimmers
(although I insisted on buying him shorts to go swimming so hey I didn't stop him!)

But the weather definitely made it nice to go for a swim, but we relaxed near the pool regardless. I went for a brief walk to view the Savannah one last time, and I really can't wait to come back here again one day!

After a while we left the Lodge and headed to the Polynesian.

Now lets have some fun deciding which route to take
I suggested we catch a bus to Magic Kingdom and go from there, because we could then choose either Monorail or boat for a more scenic trip. However, DFi was convinced his plan to go to AK then get another bus from there would work better.

Not wanting to debate about it, I let him lead the way. We got to AK and there he realized he was wrong
The wait at AK for a bus took a lengthy amount of time, and to top it off since the bus was shared with the Grand Floridian it was quite a packed bus in the afternoon. Oh well!

Eventually we arrived at our next resort, which felt even more like home! It just made us wish we had Hawaii on our itinerary instead of New York!

Our room was already ready and waiting for us, roughly at 2:30pm (I had put an arrival time of 2pm)
and I lucked out and got my request for Tokelau house.


Home for next 6 nights

I could live here

"Now can I try out the bed?"
Fine

The room was so amazingly spacious, our suitcases eventually were spread out but it didn't look too cluttered even then. While lighting wise it wasn't as bright and light as our room at AKV, it did have that sleepy, relaxed (and another word I can't think of right now), Polynesian atmosphere.

Had to pull this out to show DFi, the Lilo & Stitch artwork is soo cute, and being a small person I fit in there quite comfortably But of course I couldn't leave the other bed half empty!

The one and only shower I'd want to use always.

And the other awfully large bathroom I hardly touched

Enjoying the outdoors for a moment until I realized that, similar to the large sized room, the mosquitoes were also large in size, so I popped back into the room

All in all, we were very pleased, and I'm so glad we were able to stay here instead of my original plan to stay at BLT. I would have loved it there too no doubt, but the Poly was a wonderful and unexpected treat

And the next best part would have to be that we were on the end closest to the lake, so from our balcony we can (juuust) see Space mountain.

And just a few seconds walk out to the outdoor stairs would be the perfect view to watch the fireworks

(photo from another morning and I apologize for the large photo size, but no size could do this justice)

I really could live here!

We eventually went back out for a walk around the grounds, the bungalows looked nice and while I don't doubt how nice it would be to stay in one, it really would have been a fantastic view of the lake & for the fireworks back when the huts weren't there!

I thought I could convince DFi to pop over to the Grand Floridian for some perusing but alas that would be for another day

We went past the pools and DFi kept muttering about wanting to swim, so I dragged him to the shop to find him some swimming shorts, but of course after trying on some shorts he decided to let it be and we went to get food instead

Captain Cook's eventually became our only go to dining place during our stay as we did enjoy the food, and so grabbed some dinner and went home to enjoy it with a movie.

After dinner, and just before deciding to sleep, I got to watch the fireworks out at the lawn, and it was so completely worth it to stay here!​

 

[apxstitch]

Day 11 - Kwaherini AKV & Aloha Polynesian!

I can't believe we're already half-way through our WDW trip already! But I was determined that it would only keep getting better from here!

Woke up on our check out day and our room was a mess, but I managed to have everything packed and ready to go on time, although Brave started on the TV halfway while I was packing and it slowed me down a little lol oh well!

It was a little sad to leave this wonderful resort but at least we had a couple more days left!

We headed to Jambo House for some food, and the weather was much warmer today jumping back up to mid 20's (Celsius/77+ Fahrenheit) and DFi was irritated that we didn't pack any swimmers
(although I insisted on buying him shorts to go swimming so hey I didn't stop him!)

But the weather definitely made it nice to go for a swim, but we relaxed near the pool regardless. I went for a brief walk to view the Savannah one last time, and I really can't wait to come back here again one day!

After a while we left the Lodge and headed to the Polynesian.

Now lets have some fun deciding which route to take
I suggested we catch a bus to Magic Kingdom and go from there, because we could then choose either Monorail or boat for a more scenic trip. However, DFi was convinced his plan to go to AK then get another bus from there would work better.

Not wanting to debate about it, I let him lead the way. We got to AK and there he realized he was wrong
The wait at AK for a bus took a lengthy amount of time, and to top it off since the bus was shared with the Grand Floridian it was quite a packed bus in the afternoon. Oh well!

Eventually we arrived at our next resort, which felt even more like home! It just made us wish we had Hawaii on our itinerary instead of New York!

Our room was already ready and waiting for us, roughly at 2:30pm (I had put an arrival time of 2pm)
and I lucked out and got my request for Tokelau house.


Home for next 6 nights

I could live here

"Now can I try out the bed?"
Fine

The room was so amazingly spacious, our suitcases eventually were spread out but it didn't look too cluttered even then. While lighting wise it wasn't as bright and light as our room at AKV, it did have that sleepy, relaxed (and another word I can't think of right now), Polynesian atmosphere.

Had to pull this out to show DFi, the Lilo & Stitch artwork is soo cute, and being a small person I fit in there quite comfortably But of course I couldn't leave the other bed half empty!

The one and only shower I'd want to use always.

And the other awfully large bathroom I hardly touched

Enjoying the outdoors for a moment until I realized that, similar to the large sized room, the mosquitoes were also large in size, so I popped back into the room

All in all, we were very pleased, and I'm so glad we were able to stay here instead of my original plan to stay at BLT. I would have loved it there too no doubt, but the Poly was a wonderful and unexpected treat

And the next best part would have to be that we were on the end closest to the lake, so from our balcony we can (juuust) see Space mountain.

And just a few seconds walk out to the outdoor stairs would be the perfect view to watch the fireworks

(photo from another morning and I apologize for the large photo size, but no size could do this justice)

I really could live here!

We eventually went back out for a walk around the grounds, the bungalows looked nice and while I don't doubt how nice it would be to stay in one, it really would have been a fantastic view of the lake & for the fireworks back when the huts weren't there!

I thought I could convince DFi to pop over to the Grand Floridian for some perusing but alas that would be for another day

We went past the pools and DFi kept muttering about wanting to swim, so I dragged him to the shop to find him some swimming shorts, but of course after trying on some shorts he decided to let it be and we went to get food instead

Captain Cook's eventually became our only go to dining place during our stay as we did enjoy the food, and so grabbed some dinner and went home to enjoy it with a movie.

After dinner, and just before deciding to sleep, I got to watch the fireworks out at the lawn, and it was so completely worth it to stay here!​

Wow, that view from your room at the Poly is AMAZING! Can't wait to read more

 

[reyasmommy]

The Poly is on my bucket list of places to stay. I have never been able to find a deal that I felt comfortable with spending. The crazy thing, is I was married there! Never stayed there, but said "I DO" on the grounds many years ago. My ultimate goal is to go back in 2021 for my 20th anniversary ….. Do a vow renewal and then stay for at least a few days. I'm hoping to at least have breakfast there on our trip in June.

Thanks for sharing your photos!

 

[masterpabu]

The Poly is on my bucket list of places to stay. I have never been able to find a deal that I felt comfortable with spending. The crazy thing, is I was married there! Never stayed there, but said "I DO" on the grounds many years ago. My ultimate goal is to go back in 2021 for my 20th anniversary ….. Do a vow renewal and then stay for at least a few days. I'm hoping to at least have breakfast there on our trip in June.

Thanks for sharing your photos!

Wow your wedding must have been so lovely, and congrats on 20 years! That would be amazing if your vow renewal will also be at the Poly, I would recommend renting points if you could, it would be so worth it especially for your 20th Anniversary!

 

[masterpabu]

Day 12 - Our super rest day! And a brief review of California Grill

The next day we had planned to half rest and half monorail hop around the nearest resorts, however we woke up to a rainy morning, which stretched out to a practically non-stop rainy day!
So we made the choice to stay in our room practically all day also (so unfortunately there aren't a lot of photos for today, it's most!)

We did manage to get some laundry done in between the rain breaks (I lost track of the amount of times I walked back and forth!). I tried to suggest us just do a monorail trip when the rain subsided, but in the end our comfy room was more appealing lol!

We also had a dinner reservation at California Grill later, so at least I could finally hop on the monorail at some point and that was good enough!


I had booked our dinner for just before 7pm, however it had slipped my mind that it was a party night and that the fireworks would be at 10pm instead of 9pm, oops! So we made some effort to take extra time to enjoy our meal for the sake of killing time.

The atmosphere here is a lot busier and louder, which wasn't too bad, although being seated in a booth that sits close to the table next to you did make it much less intimate meal.

Dinner was still enjoyable, although felt slightly rushed with meals coming out quite quickly, but I didn't mind much because I was starving!

I quite enjoyed my pork shank, although my favourite was the small slice of pork belly on the side.

DFi had the ravioli for an appetizer, followed by a flatbread, which he found pleasant enough.
Although after having a taste of the starter breads served at Jiko, the sourdough bread that was served at Cali Grill was just a bit of a let down for us I could eat that Jiko bread everyday!

Luckily both of our desserts were great! The Valrhona chocolate cake was a dream, I couldn't believe I finished all of it! DFi also enjoyed his Apple Crostata and by the end we were both very full

Overall we had a pleasant evening, although we both definitely preferred our Jiko experience and the calm atmosphere compared to the hustle and bustle at Cali Grill. While it most probably would have been more enjoyable if we had a better table, it felt rushed but I'm still glad we got to do it


We still had over an hour until the fireworks, debating whether or not to go downstairs for a walk, our full stomachs decided to just sit in the lounge and relax with a few drinks.

Now at this point was when I kept forgetting that ordering "lemonade" in this country meant real lemonade, whereas back home in Aus lemonade is the soft drink, so I fought my way through my vodka & lemonade and boy I was glad we were both sitting!

Poor DFi finished off the rest of my drink and made it to the fireworks, we went out to the deck and waited for the show.

We went back over for a spot towards the middle of the balcony and what a view it was!
Watching the Holiday wishes from here was really enjoyable, although we'd be going to a party at the end of our trip it was still really nice to watch it from up here! It made me feel extra lucky to have finally made it here

Afterwards the long wait to get home began, the line for the lifts was less than amusing to DFi but we eventually made it back to the monorail and back to our warm comfy bed
​

 

[LeiaIsAPrincess2]

A nice, relaxing day! So is your lemonade like a bubbly lemonade or more like our lemon/lime soda (7Up, Sprite)? So curious, I love lemonade!

 

[masterpabu]

A nice, relaxing day! So is your lemonade like a bubbly lemonade or more like our lemon/lime soda (7Up, Sprite)? So curious, I love lemonade!

Yea! Our “lemonade” is typically 7Up/Sprite or similar brands, we just call it lemonade lol! it didn’t occur to me until that night I ordered lemonade that it wasn’t what I expected

Traditional lemonade isn’t as popular around here now that I think about it!

 

[masterpabu]

Day 13 - Hogwarts and dinosaurs and why did we go on a water ride?

Finally an update!

After 2 days break from the parks our legs felt a bit more refreshed and today we chose to hit Universal Isle of Adventure. We chose to only visit one of the parks, because while Dfi is enough of a fan and wanted to see Hogsmede & Hogwarts, after pricing the tickets to visit both parks in a day we just couldn't justify it It would have made sense if we were visiting for multiple days but that wasn't the case unfortunately. Besides it's not really Hogwarts unless it were in beautiful Scotland, which I would gladly love to return to again


We got an Uber from the resort and it was a nice quick trip to Universal Studios, and we actually manage to get there before the park opened! IF only our mornings at Disney were like that too!

(Also sadly there were not a lot of photos from this day as it turns out I didn't take that many oops!)

We had a look around the Dr Seus land before rope drop for harry potter, and while I could see the appeal in all the Dr Seus for children, I wasn't much of a fan as a child and it still gives me heebie jeebies lol!

Crowds seemed relatively low and it was also a bit cold that morning, I remember my ears aching a little from the cold
Although I'm not sure what the crowds are usually like for Universal, it felt incredibly spacious and we did really like that! The crowds definitely picked up in the afternoon, but at least it still felt like there was a lot of room to roam around.

We had a brief look around Hogsmede, which was charming to see, just a bit smaller than I imagined it.
But still charming, and the snow topped buildings felt believable enough with the weather this morning!

Me: "which way back to Disney again?"

Hoggy Hoggy Hogwarts


The Forbidden Journey ride was walk on and the theming inside the line was pretty cool! But because it was walk on we only got a quick glimpse of all the knick knacks inside.
The ride itself did induce a bit of motion sickness for me lol but the parts where I was able to unpeek my eyes did seem cool and at least DFi had some fun!

After the ride and some perusing in the shops, we had a try of the Butterbeer which really was nice! Both DFi and I agreed that we mostly enjoyed the "beer froth"
The drink itself was sweet but we much preferred the cream lol!

We kinda just meandered through the park, did the trolley train ride in Dr Seuss to kill time and DFi felt compelled to get a giant donut. I wish I could answer why

He did finish the whole thing. I will admit it was not very appetizing to watch


We wandered around some more an had a funny interaction with the wishing well, patient DFi stood there for at least 2 minutes while he was pranked into reciting the longest pledge to "being awesome"

We had previously watched a cute little girl have a sweet interaction at the well, but being a 6ft bearded guy, I guess the well had better ideas


We did some rides that were a short wait, and of course we made a stop to see some dinosaurs

And of course we had to do the Jurassic Park river ride, which was very much walk on. And this was when we realised that unlike Disney, where they would turn down the extra splash on cold days, Universal showed no mercy. Did I mention it was a cold day? DFi still tried to convince me we wouldn't get wet.
We did.

The ride of course was fun, we shared the boat with only 2 other brave riders (who remembered to bring ponchos),and at least I had my jacket

Despite this, DFi still thought it'd be a good idea to go on another water ride I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with the Dudley Do-Right Ripsaw falls, but that's what he chose. Again, I wish I could answer why!
We were probably one extra slide/dip from being completely soaked, so much that we were going to use the drying machines, but of course it wouldn't accept our cards and we didn't have any cash on us, brilliant!


I admit I did sulk for a bit (something along the lines of I TOLD YOU SO ) and I tried to dry off anytime the sun came out.
By lunch time Hogsmede was filled with crowds, and there weren't any other rides that we wanted to go on. DFi did try his best to get me to go on the Hulk roller coaster with him but I didn't have the stomach for it, so thankfully he went on his own while I went searching for Harry Potter souvenirs specifically requested by my sister (although she has been to the park in Japan she seems to be building a collection of items from every Universal park lol!)

Yay a Christmas shop!

We met up again and DFi told me how much fun the rollercoaster was, but alas it was not enough to get me to go on it, nice try buddy!


We decided to leave the park for lunch and almost went to Bubba Gump, but some other strange, unknown force compelled DFi to take us to Burger King lol sigh!

This turned out to be a bad decision as unfortunately DFi felt it was one of the worst customer service experiences ever, but at least it makes us appreciate the CM's at Disney so much more. Despite all we hear about the politics of their working conditions and pay, the CM's are the backbone of the Disney experience and I can say only good things about all the CM's we encountered on our trip!


We wandered around the shopping area some more until we decided to go home, even though it was only around 3pm, we felt like there was nothing else that compelled us to stay so home we went!

It seems silly to leave so early, but at that point in our trip DFi was tuckered from all the walking, and I just wanted to be back in the warm embrace of the Disney bubble anyway lol!

Later I popped out to watch the fireworks at the poly lawn and that was good enough for me!


Next up, Epcot!!​

 

[LivingforDisney]

Much as I love Disney, I also loved Universal , the train was one of the best rides, going onto to the platform, we got a great video of walking through the wall at the station, we did the train both ways. My fav ride there is Transformers, kids loved the Simpsons ride. U didn't go on Gringgrots? Not sure of spelling, that was pretty amazing when u walk thru the bank and then the long walk before u get on the ride. There are some good shows at Universal as well. Oh no u should have gone to Bubba Gumps.
I am so glad we had 3 weeks, can understand about the sore feet lol. Did u go to the outlets? Can't remember if I read that earlier in the report, we also did a airboat ride, that was great, we had to get out of the Disney bubble, as we were there 14 nights.
Look forward to reading more

 

[masterpabu]

Much as I love Disney, I also loved Universal , the train was one of the best rides, going onto to the platform, we got a great video of walking through the wall at the station, we did the train both ways. My fav ride there is Transformers, kids loved the Simpsons ride. U didn't go on Gringgrots? Not sure of spelling, that was pretty amazing when u walk thru the bank and then the long walk before u get on the ride. There are some good shows at Universal as well. Oh no u should have gone to Bubba Gumps.
I am so glad we had 3 weeks, can understand about the sore feet lol. Did u go to the outlets? Can't remember if I read that earlier in the report, we also did a airboat ride, that was great, we had to get out of the Disney bubble, as we were there 14 nights.
Look forward to reading more

Unfortunately we decided to skip doing both parks so we didn't get to go on the train ☹ it would've been nice to but at the time the price for both parks just didn't make sense to us lol! At least it'll be on our to-do list for when we go back again!

And I was pretty disappointed we didn't go to Bubba Gump! But that'll be one of DFi's regretful decisions lol

We did plan to go to the outlets on our break day, but that was when it so happened to rain the whole day so we chose to stay in bed instead
The exchange rate for USD to Australian dollars wasn't in our favour so in a good way (gotta look at the pro's!) shopping didn't end up a priority


I've been trying desperately to convince DFi to go back for the 50th Anniversary in 2021, or even 2022 I'd be happy with! But he insists that we'll go back, when we have kids
Which at this rate won't be for at least another 6-7 years!

He's been reading my report and surprisingly enjoying it himself (hey Mitch!), so if anyone wants to help me convince him that we HAVE to go back again before kids come along, I would be forever grateful!