Arrival Day!
So, I flew out of lovely Logan Airport with a stop at BWI
They are VERY into Old Bay at BWI. I got myself a bag of potato chips seasoned with it for a snack on the way.
Then on to Orlando! I love the monorail at the Orlando airport. Even the airport knows you are there for fun!
We rented a van (since it was going to be 5 adults and a baby in a car seat) made a stop at Publix for provisions and drove on to the Poly.
When we first planned this trip, we had booked rooms at Pop Century. We've stayed in the value's a bunch, and had a blast. And considering how many were going it seemed like an economical choice. Well, Sis and Bro-in-law went on a trip in april without me (Mere weeks before my actual 40th...pout) because they wanted Baby Nephew's first ride to be Pirates. It's our families traditional first ride, and it was closed while we were there. They stayed at an All Star, and apparently taking the stroller on and off the bus was enough to get my Bro-in-law to book a monorail resort instead, and my dad looked into passholder discounts, and there we were. I have very fond memories of the Poly from the mid-eighties. We stayed there for my dad's 40th with an earlier version of the dining plan (I think it's now called the platinum plan. We ate waaaay too much food, and rode boats and I took some sort of behind the scenes class and everything). Financially I don't know if this is a decision we would make again (although it looked like my sister and bro-in-law were seriously considering DVC while we were there), but it was really wonderful and possibly the most relaxing disney vacation ever.
We had a room in Fiji, which was PERFECT. Our room faced Luau Cove and the GF, and we had adjoining rooms on the third floor (sis and bro-in-law had a king room, dad and I had two queen rooms). The construction was on the other side of the resort, so the only time we saw it was when we walked over to the TTC. We were just on the other side of the marina so it was a short walk from the Ceremonial House.
Here is the view from our rooms. You could see the monorail go by, and you could hear the music from Luau Cove every night, which was wonderful
The best part was having adjoining rooms. Baby Nephew had a hard time adapting to sleeping in the new room. He was not loving the Pack-n-play, so they got him a crib. There were a couple of times where dad and I would go down to the Terrace at Trader Sam's for a drink while they were putting the baby down, just to come up and see them lounging on one of our beds as to not disturb the baby.
And now....for my favorite picture of all of vacation
Every morning I would go down to Capt Cooks with all of our refillable mugs and then dad and I would sit on the balcony enjoying breakfast. Baby Nephew could hear us from the other side of the balcony, and would peek under the privacy screen
my bro-in-law's view
After settling in, it was time to go to Chef Mickey's!
(this baby is giving side eye at the 6th grade level!)
Chef Mickey's was fun. While you wait there is a photopass photographer that takes a group shot next to a fiberglass Chef Mickey sculpture, which is a decent way to pass the time. Most of the characters were great with Baby Nephew (although it was hard to get Minnie to stop by). The food was better than expected based on reviews. Nothing too fancy, and i wouldn't recommend it for the food itself, but other than fish that was too dry, nothing seemed egregiously bad. I had some sushi and fish, and there was some ok seaweed salad. The dessert table had some yummy options. And since we were celebrating my birthday, I got a vanilla cupcake.
We headed back to the Poly, and dad and I had some beverages at the Tiki Terrace at Trader Sam's. We eventually went inside Trader Sam's on this trip, but for me it's all about the Terrace. It's just tables with umbrellas out back, with a waterfall and a ukelele player. I would say the prime spot is the left corner table, because you get a great view of Wishes and the Water Pageant, and they play the fireworks music on the Terrace. It was amazing.
Also, the blood orange margarita I had was fantastic!
Such a great first day!