Aunty Kau’i turns 80
Aunty Kau’i celebrated her 80th birthday on March 12th. So many of us know and love Aunty and all she brings to the resort. I only hope that I am as healthy and look as young as her when I am 80. I really believe so many of the Cast Members at the Polynesian make the resort the special destination that it is.
That is why I added a new page where I will post stories from my readers that tell me about special experiences they have had with a Cast Mmeber that made their trip special. If you have a story send it to me at tikimanpages@gmail.com and adding a photo or two for your story would be helpful also. To see the Cast Member stories go to my new page. http://www.tikimanpages.com/tiki/news/cast-member-stories
Pool update
As reported earlier, the slide was expected to open on March 9th and reports said it did that afternoon. It remains open but someone was told that it might have to close down for more work. I have not had that confirmed yet but I was told before all this started that there was going to be additional work to the pool and volcano that might cause the whole pool to close. All work is expected to be completed by April 1.
Monorail update
As reported on my Facebook page the monorail was to run limited service starting on March 2nd. The report I got said that the monorail would be out of service from 11:30 AM to 6:00 PM from March 2 until March 13. Today I got news that there will be some limited service on Wednesday the 14th but hopefully all will be done then.
The letters sent to guests at the resort said:
“Dear Walt Disney World Guest
We are delighted you have selected the Walt Disney World Resort as your vacation destination!
In order for our Parks and Resorts to continue to flourish as a magical destination, it is necessary for us to make enhancements from time to time.
As a result, to accommodate planned maintenance and nearby construction, we will be temporarily adjusting the operating schedule for the Monorail system. Beginning Friday, March 2, Monorail service on the Magic Kingdom Resort and Express beams will be temporarily suspended during non-peak times, between 11:30am and 6pm.
During this time, buses and watercraft (where applicable) will be available to transport you to the destinations throughout the Walt Disney World Resort. If traveling to Epcot, bus transportation will be provided to the Transportation and Ticket Center, where you may transfer to the Epcot Monorail. Weather permitting, we expect this work to be complete before the end of March.
Please contact the front desk with any questions or concerns. We hope your stay with us is truly magical.
Sincerely
The Cast of the Walt Disney World Resort”
Keep in mind that this letter went to guests at all monorail resorts so the busses to the TTC for transferring to the Epcot monorail really don’t apply since you can walk right to the TTC from the Polynesain.
The report I got this morning says that tomorrow (March 13th) will be the last day of the reduced operational hours of the monorail.
Fast Passes for fireworks?
Intermittently throughout March, Magic Kingdom Park will conduct a test of Disney’s FASTPASS for our nighttime entertainment spectaculars.
During the test, a limited amount of FASTPASS tickets will be distributed manually by Cast Members throughout the Magic Kingdom from 3-5 p.m. on test days.
The parade FASTPASS viewing location will be in the Castle hub area, just north of the Partners statue. The fireworks and projection show FASTPASS viewing location will be in the southwest quadrant of the Castle hub. Cast Members will be stationed there to assist and direct Guests.
As a reminder, all Walt Disney World Guests are expected to return within their FASTPASS return time window. We are conducting this test as part of our ongoing commitment to seek feedback and provide our Guests with the mix of experiences they most enjoy. The experience we are testing may or may not end up as part of our park offerings.
Tuvalu landscaping
Mark Greger sent me photos of the lagoon side of Tuvalu to show me the new landscaping. When I stayed in Tuvalu (when it was called Samoa) it had a few trees and grass right up to the rope railing at the water. It was nice to walk right to the water’s edge but seemed a little unsafe for kids.
Looks like the lawn is out and new plantings are put in to keep people away from the edge. Hopefully they will keep it trimmed so that the ground level guests don’t have their view blocked.
