'Going the Distance' June 2017 - Day 10 - Typhoon Lagoon, The Polynesian + O'hana.

[H_C-2017]

Monday 19th June

Day 10

'Going the Distance' - June 2017


Today was our first Disney Waterpark and we picked Typhoon Lagoon. As it didn’t open until 10 we had a bit of a lie in which was nice!
I won’t bore you with yet another pool view photo today

We actually arrived at typhoon lagoon at 10:20. Love the tropical theming and all the lush foliage.

We managed to get some sun loungers no problem – not in the shade though, there are not many shady spots but we didn’t spend long lying/sat down anyway.

I always like to get loungers at the ‘back’ where there is no one to the side of back of us. Basically near the trees. I don’t know why but that’s where I always gravitate to.

We got ourselves a locker for the day and dumped everything bar some drinks and sun cream in there.

We decided to have a go in the wave pool before heading off for some of the slides.

I did some posing first of course. I had bought a Go-Pro knock off which we used at the water parks to just grab a few photos here and there. It was literally like £30 so were weren’t too bothered if we didn’t use it all the time.

I love the wave pools at water parks but hate going too deep so tend to just bob about at shoulder height. However I couldn’t do any of this here because anywhere where you are more than mid calf height and you get knocked over by those waves! Jesus Christ there are so strong. It led to some serious coughing up of water which I think I managed to swallow. And also some odd faces on photos:

I think I also managed to lose my sunglasses at one point – someone actually found them like 4 metres away from me and gave them back though so that was lucky! Although they were crazy cheap ones so it wouldn’t really have mattered if I had lost them anyway.

I dragged Chris away from the waves and we consulted a park map and headed in an anti-clockwise directed to get on all the slides.
We went on the new Miss Adventure Falls which we really enjoyed! I love raft rides, they are my fave as you tend not to get any wedgies or bumps from the joins on the slides.

Next after that was Crush and Gusher and I think we went on the slide which was something about Bananas (just looked it up, it was Banana Blaster). It was good anyway! There was a photopass photographer at the bottom of this one and we don’t look half bad to say we are wet through and I have no makeup on.

I think we actually managed to do most if not all of the slides, I definitely remember Humunga Kowabunga (which gave me a wedgie), the storm slides (which made me swallow water and left me disorientated) and all three of the tube slides. The waits weren’t any more than 5-10 minutes for any of the slides which we thought was very good.

We were finished with all the sides by 12 and had another bob in the wave pool which was set to ‘gentle waves’ which means that I didn’t end up losing my glasses or getting beached.

We then did several laps in the lazy river. Now when I go on the lazy river, what I expect is this:

Nice and relaxing, closing my eyes feeling the sun and just being in ‘holiday mode’. What I actually get is this:

Which is Chris trying to shove me under any waterfall possible on the way round. He loves it, I think it’s one of his greatest pleasures

I think we did a couple of laps on the river, which wasn't too busy to be honest which was good as it can get abit like wacky racers on water with everyone bumping into each other.

We got separated at one point by a small island

We left the lazy river at 1pm and headed to Leaning Palms via the lockers to get some cash.

We shared a burger ($12.99) and chicken tenders with fries ($9.99).
We didn't get any drinks as we had bought one of the refillable mugs earlier (which I think cost $9.99).

We enjoyed this. I really liked the chicken tenders. Think we went through alot of bbq and hot sauce though, I’m a sucker for hot sauce, I will literally put it on anything!.

We had a friend join us for lunch. However he passed us by in favour of a family behind us- how rude!

We had literally just finished lunch and got into the wave pool when we were called out because of an incoming storm. We headed back to the loungers just in time for an almighty downpour! The sky went very dark and seeing that it was now 2pm and we had really covered most if not all of Typhoon Lagoon we decided to join the masses and head for the exit.

Smiling despite of the rain!

We were back at the Villa by 2:30pm and our reservation at O’hana wasn’t until 7pm so we had plenty of time to relax and get ready. The weather actually picked up at about 3:30 and so we actually got in the hot tub and pool for about an hour before we started to get ready.

I put a face mask on to really treat myself Although I admit I always look quite scary/demented with a face mask on.

We actually ended up being ready for 6pm so decided to head to the Polynesian with the plan to have a look around and get a drink at the bar beforehand.

Uber to the Polynesian cost us less than $10.
As we were going in a family were leaving and the ‘Dad’ offered to take a photo of us together which was nice. It is actually a really nice photo and we rarely have any photos together so I’m happy we have got it.

I loved the Polynesian (although I’m pretty sure I have said this about everything in Disney World in general). The tropical vibes were definitely being felt! Reminded me of being back at the Royal Pacific.

The lobby was lovely and smelt fantastic!

We also had a wander to look at the beach area. Although the weather was slightly dull it was still beautiful and there was a good view of the Grand Floridian. Must be lovely to stay in one of the deluxe resorts although I have to admit I loved the space of the villa we had. Maybe next time we can have an onsite experience to compare.

We headed back inside to check in for our reservation.

It was 6:50 and although our reservation was for 7pm they explained that they were running slightly behind. No matter to us, we just sat at the bar while we waited.

I ordered a Magic Star cocktail and Chris went for the Lapu Lapu – We always try to get different things so we can sample the other persons.

Even though the alcohol on site is expensive we found that the drinks were good quality and strong. I loved the colour changing glow cube in the magic star as I am easily pleased the Lapu Lapu was also lovely and good for posing with.

We actually asked for a refil of the Lapu Lapu and got a Pina CoLava as well.

The buzzer went off just as we got the Pina CoLava so we just carried it to the table.

We enjoyed all the drinks we had. I think the Lapu Lapu came out on top though.

We were shown to our table at 19:15 so they weren’t running that late really!

We had a great table - we had already planned to go and watch the fireworks from the beach but this would be the perfect tablet if you booked for 8/8:30pm as you could see the castle in the distance.

We had a lovely server in Ohana, she was super chatty and lovely.
Bread and Salad came out first. I'm not usually a salad person but this was very nice and the dressing was lovely, this was followed by the the wings, potstickers, veg and noodles came next. I'm a massive fan of stir fry noodles and Chris has some sort of love affair with chicken wings going on so we really enjoyed this.

Basically what happened was that we finished everything and the waitress insisted she brought more. The pan she brought back was double the size and I saw her serve a family of 5 next to us the same size. They actually didn't finish it and we managed to finish ours - I'm not sure what that says about us

The skewers were next. We tired abit of each despite now feeling very very full.

We enjoyed all of the skewers - I sent the photo of the huge shrimp to my dad as he loves shrimp .

Finally it was time for desert.

We ate it all - no surprise there. I loved the sauce. I like toffee flavour deserts so this was a winner with me.

Chris expressed that he was feeling quite full/sick at this point.

Total was $102.51 excluding tip, we also ordered another drink apparently although I can’t remember which one us did that. We had tap water with the meal as well.

Overall we really enjoyed O’hana, the food was tasty and plentiful and the service had been excellent. I think we did eat too much though as I felt pretty uncomfortable.

We then headed back down to the beach to watch the fireworks. Now I know that you don’t quite get the same effect from afar, especially with the projections but we were going to watch from up close later in the week. We figured we might as well watch from afar whilst we were already at the poly and it meant that we could sit on some sun loungers and let our food digest a bit.

As we were approaching the beach the Water Pageant was going past.
The beach wasn’t too busy which was nice.

I took a few photos of the fireworks – obviously nothing like seeing the show up close but still nice. I love fireworks in general.  We could hear the music from the beach though and the song for Happily Ever After is super catchy!

We headed back to the Villa once the fireworks were over and did the usual routine of pool, hot tub and bed. Creatures of habit.
We really enjoyed a more ‘relaxed day’ and despite feeling like we had eaten a small village we felt refreshed.

Steps walked: 3,793, 2.9km. Obviously not counting any steps at the water park as phone was in the locker.

Thanks for reading!

Day 11 is HERE!