Chills and Thrills: January 2011 at the Poly - COMPLETE!! 1/27 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Chills and Thrills: January 2011 at the Poly - COMPLETE!! 1/27
Now that it’s stopped raining inside my house, let’s get this party started, shall we?!
So when we last left off, I was fah-reaking out about the terrible weather predictions for our travel date. Thankfully Delta was quick to announce a winter weather travel waiver and we were able to book a flight out the afternoon earlier. Since we were getting in late, I booked a room-only reservation for the night at ASMo.
Monday was a stressful day running around trying to wrap up everything that I thought I actually had two days to do. DH and I had made the decision to not check any luggage - we figured it would make things easier if there were unexpected hiccups. That meant a major travel-size stock-up at CVS. I was planning to hit Costco for some new memory cards but there was no time since I had to drop the dog at the kennel, so I paid a crazy $29.99 for a 2GB card at CVS – I’m still smarting over that one!
On Tuesday we sent DD off to school and arranged to have her dismissed at noon so we could head down to LGA. It was smooth sailing all the way and we had the car settled in remote parking and ourselves through security by about 1:30 p.m. This gave us just over two hours until our flight. We passed the time eating some really bad airport food and people-watching (the terminal was pure chaos due to all the weather issues in Atlanta and now the Northeast). About 10 minutes before the scheduled boarding time we got the dreaded announcement that the flight was delayed because the crew wasn’t there yet. The delay was to be 30 minutes, but 20 minutes into there was still no crew and I was starting to get worried. CNN was playing in the waiting area and they kept talking about the “snowball express” barreling up the I95 corridor. I knew time was of the essence!
Finally the crew arrived and they quickly boarded the very full flight. In spite of leaving about an hour late we were only 15 minutes late into MCO. By the time we got there all the flights up to NY and Boston had been cancelled for the night, which meant the gates were full of empty planes. Because of this, there was no place for us to park. They said it’d be a 10 minute wait but that turned into 35 minutes before there was a gate available for us. I sighed a huge sigh of relief when we were finally inside MCO!!
I checked my voicemail and there was a message from my Dad. Turns out we’d had some pixie dust already in the form of a complimentary upgrade to the Poly for the night! My Dad was concerned that we wouldn’t get rooms near each other because we were checking in on different days (they had been in Orlando since 10 a.m. – lucky ducks!) so he asked the manager about it. In the course of the conversation Dad mentioned that because we were getting in late we were staying at ASMo and then moving over in the morning. The manager said he’d arrange to have us stay at the Poly on him. WOW!! So wonderful. Dad wanted to make sure we got the message so we’d go to the correct DME line.
We quickly made our way over to DME and noticed immediately that the lines were long for just about every resort. We waited for about 20 minutes and not one single bus came. For any resort! It was almost 8:30 p.m. at this point and we were tired and starving. There were five CMs just hanging out by the desk where you go out to the buses so I went over to ask if they had an ETA and they said they had no idea when more buses would come. I hit the wall at this point and said to DH, “Let’s just take a cab.” It wasn’t cheap ($66 plus tip) but it was worth every penny to just get moving and go straight there vs. continuing to wait for the bus then making multiple stops. We made it to the Poly safe and sound around 9 p.m.
My parents were waiting for us in the lobby and hugs and relief were shared all around. A very nice CM got us all checked in and said we’d just have to come down in the morning to check out and check back in on our original reservation. He said there was a 99% chance we wouldn’t have to change rooms and that was good enough for me!
Since none of us had had anything substantial to eat since breakfast, it was a “do not pass go, do not collect $200” ‘til you eat situation! So we headed over to Captain Cook’s luggage and all. DD devoured a grilled cheese sandwich. DH and I split a Hawaiian flatbread and some sushi (oh and a Mickey rice crispy treat for dessert). As we headed out just before 10 p.m., DH noticed a family from the DME line just coming in so I think we made a good (albeit expensive) call with the cab.
Our room was on the second floor of Raratonga, which is just steps from the Great Ceremonial House. I didn’t send in a room request but told my parents to mention at check-in that we wanted to be away from the quiet pool because of the construction. Well, you can’t get much more of a direct view of the quiet pool than what we got BUT, there was no construction to be seen so all was good. I really ended up loving this location, especially with some of the chilly days we had, it was nice to only have to take basically three steps outside to get to the GCH. We had the connecting room to my parents, which was also fantastic.
I took a few pictures of the room then we all collapsed into bed happy to have made it there!
(you can see the lights from the pool area through the curtains)
Wonderful start! I am glad you were able to get out, I tell you it was absolutely no picnic here in Atlanta last week. Insane is the word. I wish we had been in WDW instead of all the snow. LOL So glad you took that cab, I would have too. Just nuts. Everyone must have decided to escape to Disney from all that snow. I am so looking forward to reading more, keep it coming.
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Heather, I know just how rough a start like that is! We had the same thing happen to us last year before going on a cruise. Glad you made it safely and that upgrade is a nice bonus!!
Sorry for the rough start! Congrats on the upgrade!! More please!
More comin' up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by debrabrown
Wow. What a stressful way to start the trip! I know that it MUST get better from here though.
It definitely gets better - it was a wonderful trip sandwiched between a really rough start and an even rougher homecoming.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
My goodness -- what a complicated start to your trip! Glad you made it safely though!
Thanks so much!
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwonderz
Whoo! I'm breathing a sigh of relief!
Glad it all worked out and you got there - and that great upgrade - there's some Disney service and magic for you !
Can't wait for more!
I agree - it was so nice of the Poly manager to do that for us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Talk about a crazy start but sounds like all turned out well. Glad that you scored the upgrade, much easier then to have to transfer in the morning.
So true! After getting in so late it was wonderful to not have to wake up and move all our stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by taylan1
Wonderful start! I am glad you were able to get out, I tell you it was absolutely no picnic here in Atlanta last week. Insane is the word. I wish we had been in WDW instead of all the snow. LOL So glad you took that cab, I would have too. Just nuts. Everyone must have decided to escape to Disney from all that snow. I am so looking forward to reading more, keep it coming.
I saw news reports about Atlanta, sounded horrible! This winter has just been terrible all around!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Thank goodness you made it in the end!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Glad you got to the World! Upgrade to the Poly is awesome!
Thank you both!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciavobella
What a wonderful upgrade! Looking forward to more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nursemom
I love Poly trips! I'm glad you made it safely! Looking forward to more~
Before we went to bed my parents mentioned that they were planning to go to the Grand Floridian Café for Breakfast. I told them that we may or may not join them depending what time we got up (I wanted to allow DD the opportunity to sleep as late as she needed to). Turns out we were awake before they left. DH went down to the lobby to check us out from our comped night and back in under the reservation we had booked. Everything went smoothly and we were able to keep our room. Phew!
Mom and Dad took DD over to the GFC to put our name in while I finished getting ready. By the time DH and I got over there, DD had already devoured a plate of Mickey waffles! Guess she was still hungry from the previous day. We’ve never eaten at the GFC before but my parents rave about it and make a point to have breakfast there on just about every trip. It’s very pretty inside and was quite empty this morning.
The food was very good! I had an egg white and veggie frittata, DH had the smoked salmon and bagel platter, and Mom had the fruit/yogurt/granola plate. Dad had eggs Benedict but I missed the photo op.
At some point during the meal DD crawled up on my lap and next thing you know Dad says, “She’s sound asleep.” We thought he was kidding but sure enough she was! We headed out to the lobby to sit for awhile so DD could get a little more nap in. I tried to pass her off to DH so I could browse the shops but she was having none of it! She put a death grip on my neck every time I tried. Finally we were able to pry her off and Mom and I had some nice girl time browsing in Summer Lace and Basin.
Last stop was the Mercantile where I picked up a new pressed penny album for DD (she’d finished filling her original album on our trip last January). The album had six slots for pressed quarters so I started her off with one from the machine in the GF. I’m glad there were only six slots for quarters because she loved them but they are so much pricier than the pennies!
We made our way back to Dad, DH and DD and DD was finally waking up so we hopped the Monorail over to the TTC where we switched to the Epcot line. Once inside, Dad and DH took all our tickets and walked ahead for Soarin’ FPs while Mom and I waited in line so DD could meet Daisy.
All of us met back up at The Seas to do the Nemo ride.
After that we headed over to ride Living with the Land, which was closed when we were there last January. I always enjoy this ride, although I still miss the original song!
(Mickey melon!)
While in The Land pavilion we made two magical discoveries. First, DD is finally tall enough to ride Soarin’ and second, the Christmas decorations were still up in Epcot! We discovered this when we went by Garden Grill to get to the pressed penny machine and saw their Christmas tree out. What an unexpected treat!
Our Soarin’ FP return wasn’t until 2:30-3:30 p.m. so we decided to make our way to World Showcase for a while.
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, let’s get this party started, shall we?!
. Thankfully Delta was quick to announce a winter weather travel waiver and we were able to book a flight out the afternoon earlier. Since we were getting in late, I booked a room-only reservation for the night at ASMo.
!
already in the form of a complimentary upgrade to the Poly for the night! My Dad was concerned that we wouldn’t get rooms near each other because we were checking in on different days (they had been in Orlando since 10 a.m. – lucky ducks!) so he asked the manager about it. In the course of the conversation Dad mentioned that because we were getting in late we were staying at ASMo and then moving over in the morning. The manager said he’d arrange to have us stay at the Poly on him. WOW!! So wonderful. Dad wanted to make sure we got the message so we’d go to the correct DME line.
. I hit the wall at this point and said to DH, “Let’s just take a cab.” It wasn’t cheap ($66 plus tip) but it was worth every penny to just get moving and go straight there vs. continuing to wait for the bus then making multiple stops. We made it to the Poly safe and sound around 9 p.m. 
. A very nice CM got us all checked in and said we’d just have to come down in the morning to check out and check back in on our original reservation. He said there was a 99% chance we wouldn’t have to change rooms and that was good enough for me!
So we headed over to Captain Cook’s luggage and all. DD devoured a grilled cheese sandwich. DH and I split a Hawaiian flatbread and some sushi (oh and a Mickey rice crispy treat for dessert
). As we headed out just before 10 p.m., DH noticed a family from the DME line just coming in so I think we made a good (albeit expensive) call with the cab.
BUT, there was no construction to be seen so all was good. I really ended up loving this location, especially with some of the chilly days we had, it was nice to only have to take basically three steps outside to get to the GCH. We had the connecting room to my parents, which was also fantastic.
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