Most Magical Anniversary Trip - Day Four - 5/2/08... with pictures!

[poeticeclipse]

Glad you guys are liking the trip reports so far! We had a great trip and i'm enjoying sharing it with all of you. Just an FYI, i'm going to start my dining reviews soon in the dining section.

The morning of May 2nd started out with us waking up and getting around for breakfast at Kona Café. Last minute reservations made the night before. I was REALLY excited to try the tonga toast. Our luck with busses was still pretty weak. We needed to get a bus to Epcot to take the monorail over to the TTC to get to the resort monorail. It took about 20 minutes to get that bus but luckily, once at Epcot, the monorail was waiting for us to board. We hopped on and once at the TTC we ran to the connecting monorail. One was just pulling away. Darn.

We ended up making our reservations 5 minutes early and were seated within 5 minutes. I’m telling you, I love the Poly. So so so much. It’s just the most gorgeous place. Someday we will stay there. I just know it. We have something to look forward to in the future. Enough of me gushing about the Poly. Breakfast was great and our waitress was super sweet. I wasn’t overly impressed with the actual restaurant itself but the food was outstanding and well worth the money. You sure do get a lot. Matt and I could have shared!!! Our waitress told me that I need to be telling people that I have now had the Tonga Toast with the new strawberry compote.

After breakfast we caught a bus to AK. Riding along with all of the rich folk who actually are staying at the Poly. It sure is a different group of people than at Pop. Not better, not worse. Just different. Since we got to AK late the park was crowded beyond all belief. We got fastpasses for Everest and then went to the walking trail to see the tigers. Last year, we forgot to look for the tigers and that is Matt’s favorite animal. They were really awesome and the bats were cool as well. I thought that when they said bats would be on the trail, they’d be behind glass. HA! They were in open air with us… just behind bars. Pretty cool! Our time for Everest finally came up and we were able to walk right on. Hooray! It was great and our photo was hilarious so we bought it and had it sent back to the room.

DH and I wanted to go to a water park at least once so we came back to Pop to get changed quickly. Again, our bus took forever. It seems that we see 2 or 3 of each park pull up before ours ever comes. No matter where we are going. Once we got into Typhoon Lagoon, we hit the lazy river and went all the way around. We really disliked having kids not on rafts, just swimming and kicking around us. We just wanted to chill out and relax and kiddies swimming under your tush just didn’t help.

The wave pool was really fun as well. We really hung ten! Kind of. Haha. It was time for us to dry off a little and then go back to Pop to clean up before heading to AK. We grabbed a bite to eat at Pop and then were good to go.
We went back to AK because a friend of mine that works in Entertainment down at WDW set us up with VIP seating for Festival of the Lion King. The bus this time took 40 minutes to come. The longest yet! Just crazy!!! I understand that the park was going to close at 6:00 p.m. and it was 5:00, but, c’mon! The VIP people thought that we didn’t show for our seats so they just gave them up. They felt really bad though and were searching everywhere for proper seats for us. We told them that it wasn’t a big deal at all and they ended up finding us a lower bleacher seat. The show was great as usual and I got to see my friend’s boyfriend perform! Hooray!!!
We were so beat from all of the traveling that we did that we just wanted to go back to the room. BUT, we didn’t want to waste our valuable time at WDW so we went to DTD to see what we could find. Not much really… everything was getting busy and a lot of the Friday night clubbers were out. Totally not our thing. We did see the really cool magic guy! We had more fun watching him than anything. No Disney Quest for us since it seemed to be crazy busy and we were getting tired. It was time to head back to Pop. We headed back to the room and called it an early night. We were both asleep by 10:00. *yawns* A long nights rest was so needed…

Link to Day Four's Pictures
http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x...008/May%202nd/

[mickey&missy]

Thanks for another great report Stacey! You guys had a really full day with lots of travel!

[mouseketeer mom]

I really liked the bats too! More than then I thought I would. Wasn't the Tonga toast filling? We split an order of Tonga toast along with the Macadamia nut pancakes because we couldn't choose! Sounds like another terrific day for you guys! Thanks for the pictures!

[pogo]

I know how you feel about the Poly.... it was our favorite of all places to stay but couldn't afford.

When we won the trip to WDW in 2006 and could stay anywhere we wanted, we said we wanted to stay at the Poly.

Another busy bus day. But you sounded like you handled it well.

[DisneyCouture]

I love reading your trip reports. That's unfortunate that your buses took so long that you missed your VIP seating. I am glad you had fun anyways. If you ever get the chance to stay at Poly u should, we've spent many family vacations there and its so beautiful. On to read more.

ps I have the same baggallini as you, my husband teases me about the bright green color. lol.

[HndrdPrcnt]

Your bus experience is exactly why we spend the extra money and get a rental car while we are there. I am just way too impatient. I want my stay to be magical and the bus situation would put me over the edge!!

[poeticeclipse]

ps I have the same baggallini as you, my husband teases me about the bright green color. lol.

My husband wears ours!! He loves that bag!! hahahahaa!!!

[DizNee143]

sounds like a great..and yet again busy day..you should do a lot of traveling to other places in one day!!

[DisneyCouture]

My husband wears ours!! He loves that bag!! hahahahaa!!!

Ha that is so funny that my husband does too. He teases that it is so bright that he would be able to spot me across the entire park. lol
Your sunglasses are so cute, where did u get them?

[Jeff G]

Stacy, thanks for sharing your trip thus far. I've enjoyed all of your reports. You & Matt make the most out of every day and get quite a lot in. That being said, based on my calculations you spent more time waiting for buses on this trip than you were able to at any one place you visited, that must have been just slightly annoying.

[wdwgrl377]

I know one day you and your DH will stay at the Poly!! I love that hotel! Sorry too, about the bus experiences....

Thanks for sharing - I enjoyed reading and seeing your pictures from your trip!

[tinkerbell04]

Another terrific post! I am sorry about your bus waits, that can be frustrating sometimes.

[BluewaterBrad]

Still sounds great! Sorry to hear about the bad luck with the buses. It can happen though! We always seem to get tired more quickly when we are having an "off" bus day.

[brewcrew26]

I love your EE photos! You two look like you're having a blast!

[TikiGoddess]

Much as I love Disney transportation, I love my rental car more. I've stayed at Pop and for the most part the bus service was fine, but when you do have to wait it's tough. You just want to get to the parks!

Great pics again! The Tonga Toast looks delicious!!

TikiG

[*tinker_belle*]

Stacey you and your husband are such a beautiful couple! I've really enjoyed reading your trip reports. Keep them coming!

[ChipnDaleGal]

Tonga Toast with strawberries sounds delicious! I will have to remember that for the next time I am at the Kona for breakfast. Thanks for reporting.

[faline]

What a lot of traveling you did that day! Sorry the buses' schedules didn't coincide with what you were trying to accomplish!

The Poly is my favorite resort! I'll bet you'll love staying there!

[DisneyorBust]

Enjoying your reports!
We love the POLY too, our favorite resort by far.
I was hoping to read that your bus issue had been resolved, sorry that it has continued, but what the heck, you're still in Disney!

[poeticeclipse]

Tonga Toast with strawberries sounds delicious! I will have to remember that for the next time I am at the Kona for breakfast. Thanks for reporting.

Our waitress says that the strawberry compote is new so it should be around for a while. It was great! I'd eat it again... and again.. and again.

The Poly is my favorite resort! I'll bet you'll love staying there!

We're saving up!!! At least a few nights in the Poly is all i'm asking for.

Stacy, thanks for sharing your trip thus far. I've enjoyed all of your reports. You & Matt make the most out of every day and get quite a lot in. That being said, based on my calculations you spent more time waiting for buses on this trip than you were able to at any one place you visited, that must have been just slightly annoying.

Ya know, thinking about it... that's very true. We always were very efficient once we were in the parks but when it comes to our traveling... what a waste. I'm thinking of not getting the park hopper next time. Then we'd be forcing ourselves to get the most done at one park without moving around. The thing about this trip was that we didn't do the dining plan so when I booked our meals... I made them lunches. And sometimes, they were out of the park that we started the day at. Next time, I won't try and book anything at Downtown Disney unless we have more days and after my figuring... we didn't stay on budget dining wise so the DDP will actually help us stay on track and not spend so much.

I'm learning... slowly learning. I firmly believe that not every package and option works for everyone. Some people don't need the extra features and some love them. I don't think that there is a "right" or "wrong" way. I think it just depends on you and your family.