Nala & pride + one tour WDW Final thoughts COMPLETE!
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Nala · 02-19-2005, 11:05 AM

As evening approached our concerns that it may rain and the luau may be cancelled faded away. The sky was still cloudy but the rain seemed to be holding off. We made our way to the Poly via boat from FtW to the Contemporary and boarded the Monorail. As we waited for it Peter Pan asked if we could ride in the front car. Just as I was about to ask the attendant he walked up to the people in front of us and told them the front car was not available. Seems that little secret is out. We enjoyed our short ride and made our way to Luau Cove where we checked in and received our leis. As others rushed into a long line to wait for a table we walked around and enjoyed the beautiful gardens of the area. We found a spot that had a great view of the MK and we watched the castle changing colors against the night sky. I attempted to take shots of it but had no success. Then the fireworks began! And Kiara was terrified! People were being seated and the line was dying down so we decided to get her away from the noise. We were one of the last groups seated and the theater was very full. The only table we saw open was front and a bit left of center and sure enough it was ours! I could not believe our luck. It was a perfect seat.

Our server was with us as soon as we were seated to take our drink order and she was an absolute dear. Great personality and never once left us needing anything. I have read so many terrible reviews about the food, service and the show itself that I was a bit worried about this one. We quickly realized that service was not going to be a problem. The first course of salad and bread was brought to us very quickly and Grumpy and I tore it up. Kiara picked at the bread and salad but Peter Pan refused to touch any of it. He wanted to save his room for his hot dog and mac & cheese. Just before the show started a light rain began but stopped quickly and the show went on.

At the beginning of the show the hostess invited all the kids to come up and learn the hula. Peter Pan took Kiara out and the two of them picked up a few moves. Actually, Kiara just stood there mesmerized by the dancer in front of her but it was still fun to watch her. After the hula lesson our main course came out and everything was very good. I loved the ribs and vegetables and the rice was good too. While I am a fan of chicken I only had a bit of this which was also good. I just couldn’t seem to put the ribs down long enough to eat the chicken! Our server kept our drinks filled and saw we were on the last rib and before we could ask she said she would bring us more. She also brought out another kids meal for Peter Pan as he had polished off his in nothing flat. Grumpy and I continued on the food and he later confessed he thinks he ate sixteen ribs!

So much for him coming away hungry. He of course ribbed me (pardon the pun) about how surprised he was he could eat that much after his “big lunch”.

We all enjoyed the show and the dancers were both beautiful and talented. I loved the slap dance the guys did and the interjection of humor during it. (OWWW! This hurts!) Desert came which was a chocolate mousse type pyramid with a raspberry sauce. We only got two for the kids as both Grumpy and I were full (imagine that) but I did sneak a bite of Kiara’s and it was pretty good. Even though we had paid gratuity in the price of admission Grumpy and I both wanted to give our server a little more so I slipped her an additional tip and thanked her profusely for her wonderful service. While Kiara was enjoying the show she was starting to fade and was laying her head on the table fighting to keep her little eyes opened. At the last song we decided to get out before she went to sleep. As I said before I had read many negative things about the luau but we enjoyed everything about it.

We made our way back into the Poly and stopped for a few pictures.

As we got to the Monorail level Grumpy needed to use the facilities just as Kiara had spotted a large display of princess attire near the doors. She ran for the Aurora section proclaiming loudly how she loved pink. Grumpy then pulled out his room key and said “Here you go little girl, get whatever you want” and left the scene to go to the bathroom. Kiara was in a pink frenzy and was grabbing everything she could. Shoes, tiara, gloves, purse, wand and I told her if she was going to get all that she may as well get the dress too. By the time Grumpy returned Kiara’s arms were bursting and she was making her way to the counter with Daddy’s room key in had. When the total was rang up, Grumpy’s jaw dropped

and I just looked at him and said “You told her to get whatever she wanted”.

We got on the Monorail and exited at the Contemporary and made our way to the boat dock. It was well after 11:00 by this time and as we stood alone on the dock we realized the lake was silent and dark. There wasn’t a boat in site!

Oppps! So now we decided our only option was to find a cab. We found one waiting outside the Contemporary and talked the driver into taking us to the front of FtW so we could reclaim our golf cart which was parked at the marina. I waited with the kids while Grumpy went to retrieve it and in just a few minutes we were all on board and headed back to the cabin. I thought for sure Kiara would be headed straight for bed but she couldn’t wait to try on her new princess attire.

I soon was able to convince both her and Peter Pan to go to bed but she insisted on sleeping in her new dress! Grumpy called the front desk for a wake up call as we had an early PS at AK the next day and we all settled in for a good nights sleep. We had had a very full and magical first full day at WDW!

Up next …….. Breakfast with Donald at AK and what not to ride after it (AKA please don’t let him throw up on me!)

TheGoof · 02-19-2005, 12:51 PM

I'm glad you had such a great time, and Grumpy should know better! "Get anything you want to" to a little one is inviting disaster!

Sorry that you were disappointed in the petite filet at Le Cellier, I usually get the surf n turf (very expensive, but worth it!) and don't have a problem with being hungry afterwords.

Looking forward to the rest of your TR!

TheGoof

Cinderbrella · 02-19-2005, 04:16 PM

Great TR, Nala. Love all of the pictures. Your daughter looks just beautiful in her Princess Aurora outfit. Looking forward to reading your next installment-poor Peter Pan?!

Tara O'Hara · 02-19-2005, 04:52 PM

Nala,awesome update!! I'm glad you guys enjoyed the luau and wow! I sure wish Grumpy was my dad!

Kiara looks beautiful in her new finery!!

**Colexis Mom** · 02-19-2005, 05:16 PM

More great updates Nala

Glad you enjoyed the luau, it's gotten such mixed remarks

More please

luvnwdwgal · 02-19-2005, 10:12 PM

What a wonderful installment! So glad you enjoyed the luau and what a beautiful princess you have!!

mom2my4dwarfs · 02-20-2005, 02:03 AM

Great update! Love Kiara's new outfit she looks beautiful in it.

**LizardCop** · 02-20-2005, 07:14 AM

Another Great Update....

Jillybean · 02-20-2005, 09:12 AM

I loved reading about the luau! I would love to try it one day!

And Kiara makes a gorgeous Princess Aurora!

What a great tr! Keep it coming! (please)

Jill

**DrDolphin** · 02-20-2005, 03:32 PM

Cheryl and I have been talking about going to the Luau -- I think you have convinced us!! Great installment and DD looks lovely in her pink gear!

Nala · 02-20-2005, 10:52 PM

Sunday January 30th

It seemed as if I had barley closed my eyes before the phone rang the next morning. Grumpy, who had taken up residence on the Murphy bed, was quick to grab it. But it only took one ring to wake up Kiara and Peter Pan. I asked Grumpy if Stitch had given him the wake up call and he confessed he didn’t listen!

We quickly got ready and were at the Outpost bus stop waiting for an AK bus by 7:30. It seemed we waited forever and after about fifteen minutes (OK, when you have a pending PS, fifteen minutes is forever) our bus arrived. We made it to the gates a few minutes before 8:00, gave our name to the CM who was checking the PS list and were on our way to Dinoland. We made it to the check in stand a few minutes after eight and I apologized to the CM for being late. She assured me it was not a problem. Kiara knew right where she was and started to whine about riding Ema (what she calls Tricera Top Spin, as Ema is the name of the triceratop in Dinosaur). Her memory and the fact that she doesn’t miss anything around her never ceases to amaze me. I convinced her to eat breakfast first and see Mickey and Pluto and she agreed to wait. We were seated at our table quickly and within minutes the characters began to appear. Peter Pan wanted to get his food and I wanted to fill a plate for Kiara but they were coming so fast I was afraid we would miss one. Peter Pan decided to go to the cold buffet as it was very close to us and not crowded and I gave Grumpy instructions on how to use the camera if someone came by while I was filling Kiara’s plate. Before I could give him the run down of camera operations Pluto and Donald came to the table. I checked to see if anyone else was in the area and decided to make a break for the buffet. By the time I came back with Kiara’s plate Goofy had been at the table. He was just starting to leave but saw me grab the camera and hung around for another picture. Then came Mickey. He signed autographs, struck a pose for a few pictures and was on his way.

Not a whole lot of character interaction here. But the kids enjoyed the food and seeing the fab four so all was good. When it came time to pay the bill I gave our server the letter I had from DDE in place of a card. He looked at it like it was something from another planet and told us he would have to check with his manager to see if this was acceptable to receive the discount.

We had no problem using this yesterday so his reaction surprised me. He came back to the table, said nothing to us and heavily dropped the check in front of Grumpy and walked away. Not one of the best servers I have had in WDW. We paid the bill, left a tip that was larger than our server deserved and made our way to Dinoland.

Since Kiara was busting at the seams to ride “Ema” Peter Pan volunteered to ride with her. Grumpy and I watched as the two of them took a spin. Oh how my little girl loves this ride. Once off, Kiara wanted to go again and I asked Peter Pan if he wanted to ride Primeval Whirl. He watched it for a moment and proclaimed it looked cool and wanted to ride. As we got in line, Grumpy took an elated Kiara for another spin on “Ema”. Ok, so I like roller coasters and this one is tame in my book even though I don’t spin well (hence why I won’t do Mission Space) so I didn’t give a second thought as to the effects it may have on Peter Pan. We walked on to the ride and I was getting a kick out of Peter Pan screaming through the first part of it. I was getting thrown around like a rag doll and giggling over that and the fact the he was screaming like a girl. It was cracking me up until I realized he fell silent. One look at him and I knew what was happening. The poor kid was white as a sheet and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure he was fighting with all he had to keep his breakfast down. I did the best I could to help him in the spinning, turning, whipping, dipping roller coaster and kept telling him to take deep breaths. The whole time I did this I was also hoping he wouldn’t throw up and certainly not on me as I don’t do well with that sort of thing. We made it to the end of the ride and we were both grateful to be off of it! It only took a minute for him to bounce back and we met up with Grumpy and Kiara. We then made our way to the Boneyard and I took the kids inside while Grumpy waited for us.

I got a little nervous as the two of them started to climb to the upper levels of the slides and called them down when they got to the rope ladder. I knew Kiara wouldn’t be able to climb this and since you can only go up and not down according to the CM there, I felt it best for them not to try it. Once they came down to my level I decided to climb along with them and told Peter Pan there was a dig site somewhere that I had never found. We climbed the stairs to find slides and a CM at the top who I asked the whereabouts of the dig site. He directed us over a bridge across the walk way into Dinoland. I had no idea this place crossed over to the other side. And I had no idea that the cool dinosaur bridge I had walked under many times took you to the dig site!

Once across the bridge we discovered a cool, quiet place for the kids to play in the sand.

Both Peter Pan and Kiara had a ball trying to unearth the bones that lie beneath the sand. While the kids dug around the bones I took some time to explore the area and notice how much detail was put into it. Like everything else Disney, this was amazing. If you ever are in AK and need a break from the crowds and heat, this is a great place to explore. After a bit of time I had to force the kids away from the site with the offer of a ride on Kali River Rapids. The idea of getting wet appealed to Kiara and Peter Pan was quick to follow.

After I pulled the kids out of the bone yard and dusted the sand off of them we met up with Grumpy and headed to Asia. We stopped to do some shopping along the way and Peter Pan checked out CM’s lanyards . We made our way to Kali and parked the stroller when a woman approached us with two rain ponchos in hand. She offered them to us and said she was tired of carrying them and was going to throw them away, but if we wanted them for the ride we could have them. I took them off her hands, thanked her for her generosity and offered them to the others in my party. They all looked at me like I was crazy so I put one on and carried the other one for any last minute takers. We made our way into line and walked all the way up to the rafts without a wait. While I enjoy not having to wait in line, this is one queue that has a lot to look at and I was sad to rush through it. There were some great pictures just waiting for me but my party was anxious to get on the ride. Once in the raft we took off on our adventure and I was quick to notice that there were two empty seats across from Grumpy and I. I knew this meant one thing. The weight of the raft was on our side so we would get all of the water! As we discussed this I noticed his hand reach over and grab the extra rain poncho I was clutching and pull it over himself. I then put my feet up on the center ring and instructed Peter Pan to do the same. He tried but couldn’t reach the bar with his feet. I bet the other riders in the raft wished they would have followed our lead as the ride went on.

When we made the big drop at the end the water came in between me and another rider but I stayed dry thanks to the poncho. Just as we thought we were safe a huge swell of water came over the top of the raft and soaked the rider next to me. I again stayed dry but the poor man next to me was soaked from the waist down! We all embarked from the ride relatively dry and passed our hand off ponchos to another family about to get in line.

We checked the times guide and saw that Flights of Wonder was about to start so we made a bee line to the theatre. Grumpy and I love this show. Not over done, no big thrills but some very beautiful birds at their best and always fun to watch. We made our way to the upper right had side of the bleachers and this move baffled Peter Pan as there were plenty of seats in the lower front rows. Most of the audience participation went on in the first few rows and I know Peter Pan was still confused as to why we sat in one of the upper back rows. And then came the beautiful, majestic hawk. It flew from the stage, passed almost in front of our faces and landed on the arm of a CM standing right next to us. Talk about an up close view. I couldn’t even think about trying to get a picture of this. I just wanted to enjoy watching this wonderful bird flying so close. After the hawk, my other favorite bird of prey came out. The American Bald Eagle. What a beautiful animal. And for some reason it brings a tear to my eye. I tried to take pictures but didn’t do so well. After the show we decided it was time to hop to another continent. Africa!

Up next…… “Who let the crowds out”…….