Tuesday - February 2nd
We got up at a time we thought would be "early enough" - 7am - to take advantage of the 8am Magic Morning Hour. (This is something only offered to those guests staying on Walt Disney World resort properties.) Well, everyone else did too. The main dining hall was packed and so were the buses. Not a great way to start the day. So, onto HS we went.
Today it finally rained. I had thought it already rained until I saw what happened today. We had just left the Writer's Coffee Shop at HS when it started. Every 30 seconds it fell harder then the 30 seconds before for the next five minutes. We managed to duck under some umbrellas by the ABC Commissary, which was, thank God, also a smoking area.
There's something very nice about having a smoking area with large, dry umbrellas in the middle of a hurricane like that. Sure there's the obvious part about not getting wet, or having cigarettes go out. Having hundreds of soaked people not be able to join you because you're fouling the air with your tobacco - that's something special. You could read all of their faces so clearly:
"How dare you have a nice dry place, you filthy smokers! We have children! We need dry umbrellas!"
See what I mean? Special. Minutes later I almost felt bad as I watched a family of six from Louisiana get swept away by a flash flood outside of Star Tours. I sighed and lit up another cigarette.
We eventually went back to Pop to get dryer clothes. But the mix of our breakfast (a quick latte and muffin from the aforementioned Writer's Café,) the rain, and the ensuing comedy left us both pretty tired.
[T's opinion: The Writer's Café is the best little known spot at HS. It's located next door to the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, hidden amongst the false facades of New York. I think most people think it's just another fake store when in fact they offer some of the best coffee in WDW … and it's NOT NESCAFE!!! Besides the coffee they also offer espresso & other specialty coffee drinks. The café lattes are my favorite. Also, their muffins & cookies are yummy! It's never crowded and the cast members are always great!]
We had lunch at Pop - I had the Chicken Parmesan, T had the veggie calzone. As always, these standards of the Pop commissary were delicious. Normally we'd just get one or the other and share it, but of course we have the quick service credits, so we each got our own. This cost us 1 credit each; $36 without "the plan".
Unfortunately this also put us both into a mean carb coma, and we had to nap. By the time I woke up, the rain had stopped, and the clouds were starting to part. Time to get ready for the Luau!
The Luau was at Polynesian Resort, so we left early to tool around Magic Kingdom for a while. We went on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which broke while we were on it.
Being on a Disney ride that goes haywire is really a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I highly recommend it. Our car stopped in the middle of the ride. Actually it did so twice before that, so there were obviously already a lot of problems. On that third stop, though, I noticed that the car about fifty yards behind us hadn't stopped. Not even a little bit.
In fact, it was cruising right along without any problems at all. And we were in it's path.
I thought, "hey, is that car supposed to ram into us? Because this has been a pretty tame ride so far, so it seems a little out of character, but if that's the way they're trying to sell us the 'future' - that automated cars ram into each other - okay then, I'm game."
Instead, all I had time for was a quick, "uh," and the other car slammed right into us. T gave a yelp, so I knew I didn't bother having to say all that other stuff .
[T's perspective: I didn't see it coming. I didn't yelp but actually screamed - loudly too! Then I let out a loud burst of laughter, as I couldn't believe what just happened really did! It's one of those things you do think about when you're on a ride, especially with the recent events of the monorail over the summer and the recent bus crashes. Thankfully it wasn't that bad - though I am still checking my neck once in a while to make sure there's nothing to report to Disney before I leave.]
That was a boner on Disney's part. We then continued on, for maybe another minute or so, before the ride stopped again for good. A cast member came to walk us off the ride along the elevated tracks. Talk about getting a unique experience! Who ever gets to walk the Transit Authority tracks over Future World!?!
We got some Fast Passes for our troubles, good at any of the rides in the park. But we were pressed for time to get to the Luau, so we handed them off to the first couple we could find that looked hip and was childless. (Because why do favors for anyone else?) T spotted a Chinese couple that I don't think knew any English, and they took the passes and smiled. For all they know, we could have handed them miniature Jehovah's Witness prayers.
From there we went on to the Luau. We got a lei, our picture was taken, (they wanted $30 for it - as if!) and we were seated in a large hall.
Let me attack the meal in two parts: The show and the food.
The food was good, but once again, hardly worth what they were charging everyone else. There was a mango salad dressing on a mixed bed of greens, fresh pineapple, and coconut bread for starters. [T is going to look up this recipe for salad dressing as it is delicious!!] Next was a tray of steamed veggies (meh), rice, chicken, & bbq short ribs. We could've gotten by with just the ribs. The meat was so tender, you just sucked it off the bone!
The show was… Disney. You find yourself saying, "well, it's Disney" a lot at these shows. I would have preferred an actual luau show, with dancers doing their traditional dances and everything else you see in commercials for Hawaii tourism. Instead we got, essentially, "Disney's Polynesian Show," staring a cast of dancers, some singers, and one guy we swear looked like JC Slater from "Saved by the Bell." No. Really.
We left early, as T didn't care for the mousse desert. This meant we could walk around the Polynesian property alone. Everyone else was still inside the luau, where people were asked not to leave during the final 10 minutes. (Likely because they were doing the thing where they dance with flaming sticks. I'm not sure.)
The Polynesian is beautiful. We both decided we not only want to stay there when we come back to Disneyworld, we want to retire there. We want the afterlife to be like the Polynesian. (Sans children, if God can work that out.) It is quiet, as there aren't gaggles of people running around and talking loudly like there are here at Pop Century.
A lot of online reviews said the place is in dire need of room renovations, but the ones we could see into from the walkway, (yes, we're lookie-loos. But it's all for you, so leave us alone!) the rooms had HDTVs, which means they had to have been refurbished in the last 10 years. Either the negative reviews are very old, or people have a strange sense of how "new" a room needs to be.
There is a massive zero-entry pool with a water slide. A lot of the rooms are situated so the noise cannot be heard. It's also worth mentioning that the quick service area is 24 hour, and has only one soda fountain. What's the big deal about one soda fountain? It means it doesn't get rushed with people at all hours. The people at the Polynesian are just going to be a lot better behaved than us yokels here at Pop.
Finally, the property is connected to the monorail, so you can get to MK, Epcot or the transportation center very easily and very quickly. When you spend all your time waiting for buses, you get tired of them quickly. Monorails trump buses every time. (Until they ram into each other of course, but other than that…!)
By the time we got home, I was ready to draw a knife along my belly just to relieve the pressure. I was very, very full. But I was full of good food, and got to see a great property. When I get home I'll get back to sensible meals and workouts.
I'll also start saving my nickels and dimes to stay at Polynesian.
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