January Trip Report: An Evening at the Poly

After a devastating football game, DRF and I picked up our friend Lisa and headed to my happy place! We had an ADR at Kona and I was kind of worried we might be late, but we ended up getting there early. We got our pager and waited for a bit for it to go off. We were thinking about browsing the gift shop, so I went up to the podium to ask how long they thought it would be and at that moment it started buzzing! So, they took us to our table. I will post a full review of our dinner at Kona later,

I hadn't been to the Poly since the late 90's so it was good to be back and take the atmosphere and that smell everyone always talks about. I was kind of surprised at how small Kona was, but the atmosphere was exactly what I had imagined!

After dinner we had about an hour until Wishes so we took a round trip ride on the Monorail. Lisa said it made her want to go back to Disney World so I think I did my job!

After our trip we made our way to the beach to get seats for the fireworks. It was New Years Day so it was Holiday Wishes, which I had never seen before. Watching the fireworks for the Poly was interesting. It was very relaxing and not as crowded as on Main Street. My biggest complaint was that when sitting on the beach, the nearest speakers are on the buildings so the music is pretty quiet and if the people around you are talking you would have a hard time hearing it.

After Wishes we headed over to Downtown Disney so Lisa could pick up a souvenir...that was a BAD idea! We drove around for 20 minutes looking for a parking space and by the time we finally got one, there were SO many people in there! I almost started to hyperventilate in World of Disney it was so packed! But, Lisa found something and we had a nice chat with the cashier who goes to Central Michigan.

Then, we ran back to the car, dropped Lisa off at the Peabody and headed back to the beach. We got back around midnight and we could barely keep our eyes open! But, we had to get to bed, we were headed to the parks nice and early!

January Trip Report: GPS+WDW=BAD

Transportation and Ticket
Center

When I left off last we were leaving the Citrus Parade. We got in the car and I programmed my Garmin to take us to the Magic Kingdom (to buy our park tickets so we wouldn't have to wait in line on our park day). I listened to an episode of WDW Today where they said that GPS(es?) work fine on Disney property. I don't know, maybe that's true for some. Not mine. Well, unless you count the Shipping and Receiving center as the Magic Kingdom.

I should've known something as not right when we went past the Reedy Creek Fire Station, but we kept going. We eventually turned around, silenced GPS lady, and followed the signs to the Magic Kingdom. My advice would be that if you are staying off property and want to use a GPS, once you get to Disney property follow the signs, not your screen.

Anyway, we eventually made it to the TTC and bought our tickets.(Tip: There is a pick-up/drop-off area that you can go to without paying for parking if you will be less than 15 minutes. Just tell the guy at the gate they you're dropping someone off and follow the signs.) 

Arriving at Downtown Disney

Tickets in hand, we headed to Downtown Disney (following the signs, not Ms. Garmin). The first three lots were full so we had to park by Cirque du Soliel. We were STARVED so we booked it over to Earl of Sandwich (full review of EoS to come). For dessert, we headed to Babycakes NYC, which I had heard so much about (I will have to review that later, as well). 

My New Pin

After we were sufficiently full the shopping began. I wanted to check out the new spice & tea area at Mickey's Pantry and while it was cool, everything was too expensive for me. It was small quantities and high prices.
The next place we hit was Pin Traders. While I don't trade pins and woudn't really say that I'm into pins, I have bought at least one pin each trip since 2000. And when I get home I put it on my Millennium Celebration hat. So, I bought a Happy New Years 2011 Pin to add to the collection.

My first Vinylmation!

We made our way back to the West Side and I had to stop at D-Street to buy my first Vinylmation! It was PACKED in there but I eventually decided to purchase one from the Parks Series 3 and I got Herbie the Love Bug.


We were sufficiently sick of the crowds so we headed to my Aunt & Uncle's condo on the beach. The weird thing is when we got there, I called my Aunt so she could let us into the building and I got a busy signal. Tried with DRF's phone and we got a busy signal again. To test it, I called his phone from mine and got a busy signal. So, we got out of the car and my Aunt & Cousin were outside trying to flag us down from the road because they were getting a busy signal too! That was weird.

The Condo at Night

We went inside, exchanged Christmas gifts (it was Dec 30, remember) and the headed out on the beach with flashlights to look for crabs. DRF and my Cousin (7) played flashlight tag while I caught up with my Aunt. We were exhausted so we went to bed early to prepare for the next day, which was our beach day!