3 Nights In Paradise / Kristen K.

This is my new Auntie. She gave me a Hawaiian name (Kailani) and taught me how to make Kukui nut leis.
Also, I ate Dole Whip that was not pineapple. I hope Uncle Walt forgives me, because it was good.

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Aww thank you! They do it every Sunday and Wednesday. It's stupid easy and they have a ton of colors that you can use to create your lei. It was $20 for an adult size lei. I had watched some videos about Kukui nut leis on YouTube before the trip, so I had an idea of what I wanted to make. You get your choice of knots between the nuts (which I used) or small shell cluster separators. It was a fun way to spend some time, and I really enjoyed the meditative experience of stringing the nuts. You can buy pre-made nut lei's in Boutiki for less, but you don't get the fun color options or the experience of putting it together yourself. I also learned a ton of history about the Kukui, and specifically the tree that is there at the Polynesian.

I am *really* loving staying here without racing off to the Parks all of the time. I told Geordon that I think we should look into a small resale contract and add on some points here at the Poly. This has always been my favorite resort, and I don't think that has really changed. I love the Grand Floridian, but I'm a tropical island kind of gal.

Fireworks from the beach were pretty fantastic. I could even see Tinkerbell make her flight!

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Up late this morning since Katie and I decided not to do the Regatta Run. Ate some breakfast in room, drank some coffee, now I'm headed off to the pool for a swim before some more Disney Springs. Katie is headed to Animal Kingdom today with a friend.

I'm (sadly) home now, and have had a couple of days to recover. There's been a bunch of family drama that started blowing up the moment Katie and I stepped on the tragical express and it pulled away from the Poly. Maybe more on that later on another thread because I totally need some non-local friends to hash things over with. Anyhow! I left off with you all on Thursday.

Day 3 - Thursday 5/ 23

I slept in on Thursday, both of our bodies just needed it from all we were doing. I hit the pool about 9am and spent an hour or so floating around. The Oasis pool was pretty empty from 9am-10am and it was a great way to start the day. Floating in the pool always seems to take away my aches and pains. However when the kids arrive and start to splash and yell it's time for me to go.

I got on the bis and headed back to Disney Springs. I went right for 4 Rivers Cantina Truck and got a Chicken Tinga Taco Cone that was so good. The girl working the counter told me that they might be opening a smokehouse at Disney Springs in about a year. However she was under the impression that they would be replacing the Polite Pig and I'm not so sure how I feel about that. I hope she got that part wrong.

After that I wandered back to the Boat House Dockside Bar and toured the boatie porn docked along side the tables. Wow - there are some really spectacular machines there. If you haven't toured the Boat House Collection and you love boats, you need to take a walk back through there.

I was really pleased with all the time I spent at Disney Springs . I finally felt like I put a dent in it. LOL! I discovered Mickey's Pantry and all the lovely spice blends and teas available there. No idea how long this little shop has existed, but I didn't know about it. I could have blown a ton of money there if I had had it to spend.

I stopped at Wine Bar George and saw George. I love that every time I stop in he is there. I even managed not to be a crazy fan girl. I had their "American 75" and it was amazing. However it made me more than a bit tipsy, so I ordered up the mac-n-cheese bites. Those are really delicious, and there is just a hint of siracha in the cheese to add a bit of a garlic and chili flavor. So Yummy! I love this place.

Once I was safe to walk again (LOL) I headed back to the hotel for a nap. Yay naps!

That evening I went out to Port Orleans Riverside and had dinner at the River Mill Food Court, as I walked out of the back of the lobby there were two horse drawn carriages pulling in. I had this wonderful "out of time" moment where I felt like I was really in the old south.

After dinner I headed to the River Roost Lounge to see YeeHa Bob. Oh my gosh that was so much fun! YeeHa Bob puts on a fun piano/comedy show with a tton of audience participation. The music went from pieces like Rhapsody In Blue, and Flight of the Bumble Bee, to Disney Parks and Movie Songs, to Elton John, and Bob Seger. Bob really understands how to get an audience involved and having a ton of fun.

Once the show was over, I took the boat from POR to Disney Springs, what a lovely trip. I could have just cruised back and forth for an hour. As I walked through Disney Spring to the bus station, I made another stop by Wine Bar George and got a Dole Whip Mimosa. I had a bunch of pineapple based drinks on this trip, but the Dole Whip Mimosa was absolutely THE BEST. It had the freshest pineapple flavor, and just the right amount of zip from the champagne.

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Oh just you wait. Adult kids who are dating is not something I was ever prepared for as a Mom. Katie (my youngest who will be 20 July 5th) just broke up with her boyfriend of nearly 3 years. This puts a hault to her plans for moving to Canada.
Then Kirk (my middle child, age 24) and his girlfriend are having trouble with her mother who likes to tell them she is kicking them out of her house all the time. Oy - "inlaw" dynamics are weird.

As of last night's family dinner and meeting, Katie, Kirk & Rosie are going to be moving to Orlando before the end of the year. Geordon, Tori and I hope to follow within 6 months of that. We shall see what comes. I've wanted to do this for a long time. I'm almost afraid to get my hopes up.

Me too! I have no official word on if any of that is really going to happen. I do hope she was mistaken because Polite Pig is one of my favorites.

Have you tried the 4 Rivers truck though? The chicken tinga taco cone was amazing. I have a bag of their beef jerky sitting on my table too. I just need to take some pictures of it before I can dig in and enjoy it,

Day 4 - Friday

Ahhh departure day, the saddest day of any Disney trip. Since our DME wasn't coming to pick us up I slept in, packed up, and left the room by about 10am. Katie and her friend were going swimming, so I left dealing with the bags to her. It was actually really nice not having to organize getting everyone and their stuff out of the room for once. She's a decent traveling companion, very independent and helpful when needed. Even though I didn't see much of her.

My original plan was to grab a burrito at Cap. Cook's but I noticed lots of empty tables at the Kona Cafe' and was able to slide into a table for 2 without any wait! This excited me because I had tried to make a reservation for breakfast there and hadn't been able to. The highlight of breakfast was the mimosa flight! Because it's not breakfast at Disney without booze.
The Coconut Macadamia Nut Muffin was also really tasty.

I was seated next to a nice couple, and the man made a joke about my DSLR camera and how rare it was to see one these days. He asked if I was a professional photographer, and I never really know how to answer that question. I mean my business cards say "travel writer" but taking pictures is such a HUGE part of that experience for me, if I don't have the pictures it's really hard for me to write. Anyhow - we had a nice conversation as they finished up their breakfasts. This was actually the second person that started up a conversation with me on this trip because I was taking detailed pictures of food. A guy at YeeHa Bob even asked me if I had ever heard of the Disney Food Blog.

After breakfast I made my way to Disney Springs. I had a bit of time to kill and some more pictures on my list to take. I stopped at Enzo's Hideaway for a cocktail (the Holly Hill) which I loved. Everything about this place made me happy. I am absolutely going o return for a meal in December. I also stopped in to Chicken Guy to give the chicken tenders a try, delish. I ran into Lou Mongello on the way out. He should maybe be his own attraction because I see him every time I'm there. I'm totally need to invent a "spot the wandering Lou" drinking game.

I had a ticket to see Aladdin at the AMC, and wow. I caught a show in the Dolby Cinema and the theater itself was amazing. For starters my seat was in the 3rd floor balcony. The theater is HUGE and so high tech. I know people living closer to big cities probably wouldn't be impressed, but it blew my little cinema out of the water. I really enjoyed the movie too.

Then I took a couple more snaps, got dessert at Amorette's and headed back to the Poly around 4:30. Our bus was coming to pick us up at 7:30, so I did some shopping, had some dinner at Capt. Cooks and grabbed sushi to go at Kona Island, before just chilling in the lobby.

The tragical express arrived right on schedule, and Katie and I said good bye to our happy place. We BTW had a private bus ride back to MCO as the only souls on board besides our driver. That was sort of sweet.

I actually finished a full trip report for once.

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