Our first stop was actually at Disney's Polynesian Resort where I had made reservations for lunch at Kona Cafe. I haven't been to the Polynesian in 25 years, and none of the guys had ever been. Things had of course changed quite a bit in the intervening years, but it was very familiar, just upgraded nicely, including the addition of the restaurant where we ate. The Kona Cafe was on the second floor of the Great Ceremonial House and was quite open providing a great view of the hotel - and for the boys, the monorail stop outside. Our meal was delicious..potstickers for an appetizer, then Barbecue Pork Tacos for me and a Kona Turkey Sandwich for Daryl, plus a cheeseburger and hotdog for Parker and Wesley. The boys meals included ice cream sundaes and so Daryl and I split a Kilauea Torte and I had the famous Kona coffee. Our server Bridget was super attentive and friendly with the boys; just a great all around experience.
After lunch we wandered around the resort, checking out the pool and beach area. From here you could see the Grand Floridian to the left, the Contemporary to the right and the Magic Kingdom straight across the lake. We decided to take the monorail resort loop and ride over the Contemporary to check things out. The boys always love riding through it, but had never really been inside. This is another hotel I had not been at in 25 years and boy is it ever different! Back then the game room was huge and in the basement and we would play for hours. Now there is a tiny arcade crammed in on the fourth floor where you get off the monorail with all the other public areas. We shopped and wandered around for a while. Thank God they didn't change my favorite awesome artwork on the inside celebrating the Southwest - done by Disney artist Mary Blair (think It's A Small World).
We rode the monorail back to the Polynesian and managed to spot the Ironman monorail at the Ticket and Transportation Center. After retrieving the van from the Polynesian's parking lot, we made our way over to Downtown Disney and to our hotel -the Buena Vista Palace Resort and Spa. It's one of only 7 hotels on Disney property not owned by Disney directly. We asked for a Disney view room and from our vantage point on the 14th floor we had a perfect view of Downtown Disney all laid out. If you leaned WAY out you could even see Spaceship Earth at Epcot (the big round ball). The boys loved the view from our mini balcony!
After settling in, we walked over to Downtown Disney and did some window shopping and pin trading. It's a Star Wars weekend at Hollywood Studios so there was an addition to one of the shops of a Droid factory - we did let the boys each make one as a souvenir. And no trip here is complete without a visit to the Lego store, although their air conditioner was broken so we didn't linger as long as we usually do.
By 9pm, Daryl was back in the room resting (his allergies were acting up and he had lost his voice). The boys and I went in search of medicine and we did a McDonald's run for their dinner. Upon our return, the lights of Downtown Disney glowed brightly in the dark. What you can't see in this picture is all of the twinkling lights in the trees around the shops.
A really super day. Next up, Aquatica!
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