Me, Muffin and the Polynesian...........Maybe- PTR - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Me, Muffin and the Polynesian...........Maybe- PTR
October 8th
Our next trip is now in the works! Muffin and I were chatting about our upcoming trip over dinner tonight when we realized it was time to pick our exact dates for our April adventure. We sat down and talked about it and decided a few things.
I know you guys think we’re nuts when we plan vacations but when I say ‘decided’, what I really mean is we make an outline and start out with points that we think are important. . Then I guess we shape it up slowly by exploring different options.
I know this process seems strange to those of you that plan a vacation and stick with it, but for us, it has always worked out in the end and even better sometimes than when we started out!! That being said, we can drive each other nuts with our different proposals at times and it certainly isn’t all sunshine and baby bunnies!
Our initial list when starting our plans for this adventure stemmed from the changes we made to our November trip: it was Muffin’s idea to take another WDW trip in April so that I could run in the Star Wars Dark Side 5k.
Originally, I was supposed to run in the Wine and Dine 10k in November, but after more than 6 months of running, I can honestly say that I think I am more of a 5k girl than any kind of distance runner. This is not in any way a disappointment but rather a realization. I love running and I hope I can do it for many years to come but it is good to know your limits!
In the process of cancelling the 10k in November, we also cancelled the Polynesian for 2 nights because we really couldn’t justify staying there now. We had booked it specifically for the race weekend and it was much more practical to just go back to staying outside WDW for the first part of our trip.
My husband knows me all too well and seeing how sad I was to have to cancel both of these things gave him an idea. He looked on the runDisney website and noticed that there was a 5k in April that still had some registration spots open. He asked me if I would be interested in participating in that and also said that we could definitely stay at the Polynesian.
This was a hard offer to turn down, so I signed up for the race (once again ) and we tabled planning the trip until now. The reason we started our planning now is twofold:
1. We are just about at the 180 day mark
2. After we return from our November trip, we will be in holiday mode which requires 100 % of our attention
We are big list people when planning anything. We kind of free think so that we can consider different angles and then write our ideas down. Then we start looking at possibilities to see what, if anything, fits or even sort of fits or takes us in a completely different direction.
For this trip, this is where we started out. The first thing we did was check to see when Easter was because:
We did not want to be anywhere near WDW during the weeks preceding and following Easter. : We really did consider taking Logan for his Spring Break, which is indeed the week before Easter, but we made a list of pros and cons and decided that would just not work out this year. While it’s true that the weather is beautiful and the parks have extended hours, WDW is just too nuts!
Mind you, I have no regrets and many warm memories but I have no desire to book a trip when I know it will be mobbed. :
Then we wrote down some important points:
1. Muffin has to go to China the last week in April. This is not flexible. He leaves on April 23rd.
2. I would run the Star Wars Dark Side 5k race on April 20th.
3. We would stay at the Polynesian unless we loved splitting our stay for our November trip. If that was the case, we would consider doing that again with the Poly being one of the resorts.
4. We wanted to experience the Flower and Garden Festival.
Thankfully, Easter is on April 1st next year so that eliminated one worry. Our discussion then narrowed down our range of dates to April 12th-April 22nd.
Next, we had to decide how long we wanted to stay. Well actually that was Muffin because I would stay for a month if I could. . Ultimately, we decided we like 8 night stays. Who knows why.
We also looked at prices for the Polynesian for those dates and after absorbing the sticker shock, we came up with Friday, April 13th through Saturday, April 21st. We booked a lagoon view room with a one night deposit........
Well, I guess we didn’t fully absorb the sticker shock or it wouldn’t digest because almost immediately, we had buyers remorse! This led us back to see if we could tweak our present plan at all.
Muffin asked if we could go back to looking at different dates earlier in April and I immediately had a sinking feeling that my 5k was, once again, out the window. He assured me we weren’t changing anything- just looking.
However! You guys know all too well how our planning goes and when we started plugging in dates, it was actually around 500 bucks cheaper to take a chance and stay over Easter!
Like I said before, we have been to WDW over Easter before and it is seriously crowded. I, of course, would have to forfeit the race. But 500 bucks is 500 bucks and this would give Muffin some breathing space before going to Hong Kong.
Also, no one is around for Easter anymore. It used to be a big deal holiday around these parts but Sean is usually down the shore, my sister is usually down the shore and my SILS are usually down the shore. Katie will spend Easter next year with her in laws and Mike and Gabby can’t come because Mike is instead taking time off for Logan’s Spring break, which is the week preceding Easter.
This last fact really brought us back to reconsider a stay this week, but it was just too expensive to fly Mike, Gabby and Logan out from Spokane and pay for their trip as well. ( They just don’t have the money. )
We thought and thought on this matter and, in the end, decided to keep things the way they were. Muffin knew I really wanted to run in the race, having cancelled twice already. We also came to the conclusion again that we really did not want to deal with Easter crowds.
Lastly, we decided that we both really did want to stay at the Polynesian just for a change. We love the proximity to the MK and the restaurants at the GF and we have not stayed here in years!
So! Our dates will be from April 13-21. We will stay at the Polynesian and I really hope we keep it that way! I will be running in the 5k, and even though time is tight, Muffin says he is fine with coming home on the 21st.
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Another trip! [emoji2] Congrats and certainly a lot involved. Should work out for the two of you.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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Yikes!!! Here you go AGAIN!! And I LOVE IT!!! Thinking of a trip for us around that time too. Will keep a close eye on your dates and let you know if are paths will cross.
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Yikes!!! Here you go AGAIN!! And I LOVE IT!!! Thinking of a trip for us around that time too. Will keep a close eye on your dates and let you know if are paths will cross.
I am determined that we will meet up again but just be warned that this trip may morph into something entirely different!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
I love that in your very first post there’s already a question of whether the dates and place stick!
And I may co-opt that saying - not always sunshine and baby bunnies. It cracked me up!
I heart you so much Colleen and can’t wait to meet up with you!!!
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About This Page: 
. Then I guess we shape it up slowly by exploring different options.
) and we tabled planning the trip until now. The reason we started our planning now is twofold:
: We really did consider taking Logan for his Spring Break, which is indeed the week before Easter, but we made a list of pros and cons and decided that would just not work out this year. While it’s true that the weather is beautiful and the parks have extended hours, WDW is just too nuts! 
. Ultimately, we decided we like 8 night stays. Who knows why. 
through Saturday, April 21st. We booked a lagoon view room with a one night deposit........
But 500 bucks is 500 bucks and this would give Muffin some breathing space before going to Hong Kong.
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