A Hidden Mickey Wedding and a Disneymoon with a newbie - TR - Page 6 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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So glad you all got to see giraffes from your balcony before you had to move to the Poly! that is one of my most favorite things about AKL.
Me too!! I loved it! I have to say that AKL might of taken a slight lead over the Poly just for the magic of waking up to that...the Poly does have the castle though but I don't think we could ever afford a room with that kind of view...I have to say I did find the AKL had a bit of a warmer more romantic feel for us but more on that later
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What an awesome view from your room - and trust me, I'd be excited about that as well!
It didn't last for long as they moved round to the other side where more sun was but that made it all worth it for us..I would book a Savannah view room again for sure!!
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We found the bus stop and decided that the bus to the Magic Kingdom then a monorail/boat to the Poly would be the most direct route. Luckily the first bus that showed up was the MK bus…Score!! (but little did we know this would be the end of our luck with the buses at Disney but more on that later)
The bus went by really quick considering the AKL distance from MK…We got off the bus and I just about cried...I LOVE MK!! To me that place IS Disney World. It took so much strength to walk by and not go in…Ken was lucky we didn’t have our room keys yet from the Poly with our park tickets on it or else….
We just missed the boat launch to the Poly so we decided on the monorail plus one’s Disney vacation doesn’t officially start until you hear “please stand clear of the door…. por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas”. That sound is heaven to my ears.
I managed to get a pretty good shot of MK from the monorail too…
Once we got to the Poly we headed downstairs to the lobby and outside to the Club Level check-in desk.
The CM at the desk was pretty helpful. She gave us the option of walking to the Hawaii building or taking the golf cart and went with the golf cart option…today was HOT and HUMID and as little movement I can do in the heat the better (I realized that I would have to adapt pretty fast – that humidity wasn’t going anywhere)! While were waiting for the CM to pick us up the nice CM behind the counter offered to take our picture.
The CM who took us to the Hawaii building didn’t really offer much information as to the layout of the resort or drive around a bit to show us the location of various amenities (which I’ve heard they sometimes do). Not really a big deal for me since I’ve toured the resort on many other trips – I just thought it would be nice for Ken to get a small tour of the resort….
When we arrived at the Hawaii building the first thing I noticed and LOVED was that as soon as you walk in you can see Cinderella’s Castle…just beautiful (even if there was a giant crane sticking out of it the whole time we were there) .There was a CM already waiting to check us in. She informed me I had gotten my room request of a ground level room and would be in Room 1523. She was also really helpful in changing the name on my KTTW card to my new name - very exciting! After a quick run down of the perks of the lounge we were off to find our room. I have to admit I was secretly hoping to find out our room was on the left side of the hallway (MK facing) instead (paid for a garden view) but we knew upgrades weren’t common – we were just happy to be at the Poly at all!!
First impressions….the room was huge! It did feel much roomier than the one at AKL. The décor was nice – very fitting for the Poly. I didn’t find the room as “dated” or “worn” as others have mentioned. The patio was really nice to sit out on in the afternoon.
After we dropped some of carry-on stuff off we decided to head upstairs to checkout the lounge. None of the offerings were really out yet but we grabbed some soda from the fridge sat and marveled at the castle a little while. We talked about what we wanted to do for the afternoon (we had dinner ressies at California Grill for 7:30) and had talked about heading to Epcot for a tour of WS…but if we used a ticket on the first day we wouldn’t have a ticket to use on our last day…plus I wanted Ken’s first park experience to be MK in the morning. We were getting hungry so he wasn’t too bothered so long as we found some food…then I felt the hunger pains too….and I knew EXACTLY what I wanted!! Earl of Sandwich!! I started to get all excited telling Ken these were the best sandwiches in all the world and off we went to DTD for Ken’s first ever Earl of Sandwich experience!!
What a great way to wake up! I love that you guys fully enjoyed your morning at AKL by eating breakfast on the balcony. Ken's excited look at the Poly is classic! Looking forward to hearing about dinner!
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What a great start to your Disneymoon....staying at AKL & waking up to such an awesome view! Great room at Poly too!!! We are going to try EoS for the first time next trip, as I've read so many great reviews. Can't wait to read more of your TR! Oh....& love the pictures!!!
Day 2 - Free Day/Poly Check In PART THREE "Best. Sandwich. Ever."
Day 2 - Free Day/Poly Check In PART THREE "Best. Sandwich. Ever."
We headed back out to the front of the Poly to catch a bus to DTD. Luckily the DTD was the 2nd one that showed up so we didn’t have to wait too long. A short ride later we arrived in the marketplace.
When we got off the bus I made the mistake of walking by the Christmas store (which I just HAD to go in)…I don’t think Ken really understood why I was looking at Christmas stuff when it was 90 degrees out but he was great and very patient while I looked around.
Next stop was Earl of Sandwich. Cue the chorus of heavenly angels now…I LOVE the food here!! As always there was a short line but moved quickly. This time I decided to get something different and went with the Hawaiian BBQ and Ken went with the Earls Club. Since we were on the DDP we each got a fountain drink (actually I got the Earl’s Lemonade – another fav) and a dessert. Ken had the chocolate pudding and I had strawberry shortcake.
I have to say the Hawaiian BBQ is now my favorite! I loved it so much I forgot about taking pictures. Ken loved his too…he said it was the best sandwich he’d had while eating out in a long long time. Total for lunch $21.24 using 1 CS credit on the DDP.
After EoS we decided to do some shopping. We toured around the big Disney store as well as the shops on the West Side.
When we were walking though the old pleasure island area we stopped in Curl by Sammy Duvall where I found a gorgeous pair of Oakley sunglasses. I’ve never owned a “good” pair before – the 10$ wal mart special normally does it for me. Ken on the other hand has nothing but Oakley’s and loves them. Since we did happen to have a large amount of donations in the Disney honeymoon registry he told me to go ahead and buy them. I never thought he would say I could so I went up to the counter and charged them to the room before Ken could change his mind. I wore them pretty much the whole trip, they were so comfortable, and was one of the best purchases I made on the trip….
We toured some more shops but nothing seemed to catch Ken’s eye yet so we decided to head back to the Poly. It was just after 3 pm and the sun was brutal. So hot and humid. We arrived back at the Poly shortly after 3:30 pm.
Now this is when Ken made romantic move #1. Ok ladies this man usually has NO clue about romance but when we made it back the Poly Ken stopped halfway back to the room and I lost him....When I backtracked I found him by some bushes... He had picked me a bunch of flowers!! Now this is the man who has NEVER bought me flowers before let alone hand picked some from me...which I must apologize to the Poly's landscapers on his behalf .... He told me I looked so pretty that he wanted to pick me some flowers and had one big one to put in my hair....
It was a very simple but romantic gesture that I never would of expected (and wouldn't be the last in this trip). I was all giddy again like on our first date....
By the time we made it back to the room our bags had arrived from AKL so we quickly changed and headed out to the pool (with a quick stop in the lounge to grab a beer first). We lazed around in the pool and on the beach for a few hours and decided to head back to the room around 5:30 so we would have time to shower and get ready for our dinner ressie at California Grill.
I have to say I LOVED the shower at the Poly. I found the water pressure much better and much more refreshing than at AKL – but that could have been just the room. After I got out of the shower it was Ken’s turn…just after he jumped in I got a phone call from the club level front desk. They said they had a surprise for us and wanted to make sure we were in the room so they could deliver. I was so excited I had no idea what it could be!
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door…The lovely CM had brought us a congratulatory card from Jasmine and Aladdin and some gorgeous Poly chocolates. Then she brought in a huge gift basket…I friend of Ken’s family had sent us the “Ears to the Bride and Groom” gift basket from the Disney florist… I was floored! I thought it was so sweet of them! It was filled with a huge bottle of champagne, chocolates, cheese and crackers, Mickey engraved champagne flutes and the bride and groom ears.
Ken loved the basket just as much I did and texted the daughter of the family who sent us the basket right away to thank her for the surprise. She is actually a CM working at Le Cellier in the Canada Pavilion in Epcot but more on her later…
It had been such an awesome day and even had a lovely surprise to top it off..but it wasn’t over yet.! We were now on our way for dinner at California Grill!!
Now I know your all dying to know…Did Ken ACTUALLY wear his groom ears?
IMG_1594.jpg
I think the picture speaks for itself….its ok that he didn't really want to wear it.. did look pretty silly on him anyway...but I got more than enough wear out of my bridal ears though!!
COMING UP SOON…Part Four Dinner at California Grill!
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Looking forward to hearing about dinner!
Susan
Great gift from friends, too! 
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