This was the second Mancation trip for me and was going to be even better then the first because this time I knew the guys and knew what I was in for. Also I knew I would not lose as many balls on the course this time…hopefully.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
May 14, 2008<\/span><\/p>\n So my travel started on Wednesday leaving SFO for LAX and than to Orlando. I was leaving a day earlier than the rest of the guys coming from Southern California because if I left the same day I would get there much later than them. I got some Disney Magic to get me a room at Pop Century for a night for free so it would be the same two resorts as I stayed in for the last Mancation trip.<\/p>\n I was getting into Orlando earlier than last year so I would have a little time to do something instead of checking in at midnight like I did last year. Len Testa was in town and I was hoping to meet with him, Matt and Mike N. at the Tambu Lounge but Len was flying out just after I was checking in.<\/p>\n I drove right to Pop Century to get my room and than clean up for dinner.<\/p>\n I met up with Allison from the Polynesian for dinner at the Concourse Steak House at the Contemporary resort since it was going to close at the end of the month. They were putting in the new restaurant (The Wave) down in the lobby on the first floor so it would be quieter than up on the 4th floor where it is open to the stores, arcade, Chef Mickey\u2019s and the monorail. They were already taking reservations for the Wave. It looks like a new quick grab and go place went in near the bar outside Chef Mickey\u2019s. The new store in the Contemporary was well done and there is a cool affect with the hologram of the monorail toy. <\/p>\n Construction was going on all night on the Bay Lake Towers (use to be Magic Kingdom Towers) which is the DVC still not officially happening right before our eyes. Looks cool but I could not buy into it and be looking at the Polynesian all day. <\/p>\n There are discussions of taking rooms out of the Polynesian and making them DVC and I don\u2019t know how I feel about that. I looked at DVC years ago and there are too many things I do not like about the deal that I myself would not do it. Mostly because it expires. So either the Polynesian (and every other Disney resort) will turn DVC or it will get too expensive and I will eventually stop going but that is another rant for another time.<\/p>\n I was asked for ID at the gate of the Contemporary when I told him I was there for dinner but no 3 hour pass was given.<\/p>\n After a great dinner and great company we got on the monorail and headed over to the Polynesian so I could get my fix. It was very quiet and surprisingly Kuulei was still around. She was getting some things ready for a special (not open to the public) hula competition at Luau Cove the next day. We hung out and talked about some of the history of the Polynesian and Aunti Kaui and what she has done at the resort. It was great to spend some time with her and I thanked her again for having her, Sefa and Aunti Kaui come and entertain at Tikifest. They had just spent all day at a hula competition and headed right to Tikifest to entertain the guests. Unfortunately I did not get to see Sefa or Aunti Kaui this trip.<\/p>\n I stayed for a while and than I realize the monorail was no longer running and I was stuck at the Polynesian. As much as being stuck there was fine with me I did have a car at the Contemporary and my stuff at Pop Century with everyone showing up in 7 hours. Bob from the Polynesian was nice enough to take me over to the Contemporary to get my car. I had a great time at dinner and talking with some of the CMs at the Polynesian so my trip was starting off well.<\/p>\n I guess the Polynesian has a new GM (Vince Valdes). I did not get to meet him but I hope he keeps the resort running well and so far have not heard anything bad about him. The resort needs some good managers that will keep the majority of guests happy and more importantly, the staff happy. With a happy staff you will have happy guests.<\/p>\n I did walk around the Pop Century a little more but still have not eaten there. It is a fun resort and kids would love it but it is a value and there are many things I miss not staying at a Deluxe Resort. <\/p>\n The rooms are much too small if I were not by myself. I was in the 90s building (room 8115) but I suggest finding out where your room is before you unload. If I had parked in the 90\u2019s lot I would have been walking for a while with my bags when the 80\u2019s lot was right outside my door. I can\u2019t comment on the housekeeping other than the room I checked into was clean but I have always only been there one night. <\/p>\n I still prefer the layout of Pop over the All Star Resorts. I saw the Legendary Years buildings that are just falling apart and I talked to a few Disney people about it. It sounds like Disney has no need for those rooms so at this point there are no plans to finish them.<\/p>\n May 15<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Nothing seemed very crowded while I was there. Even when I went over to the Polynesian the next morning the parking lot was half full. I was not asked for ID and was not given a pass at the gate but the security guy was very nice and we talked for a minute or so. I told him he needed to try Kona Caf\u00e9. <\/p>\n I was tempted to eat while I was at the Polynesian but I just wanted to walk the resort and see how things looked. I almost got something at Captain Cook\u2019s and I should have. The resort looked great and the only thing I saw going on the few times I was over at the resort was they had sections of the paths walled off and were redoing the cement.<\/p>\n Looks like some of the exterior things were finally fixed on Tahiti longhouse but I hear that there are still rooms that did not get all the new items. Until someone from the Polynesian can confirm anything different I am going to assume that the rooms are not complete. After walking around the resort and taking some photos I got a call from Sean that they were on their way on the Magical Express. As I pulled into the Boardwalk I was right behind the bus they were on exactly like last year. It was great to see everyone and we had two new guys (Dave and Phil) added to the group. We were also down one man (Bobby) for some unfortunate reasons and we all did miss him on the trip (well other than Ed since he would not have won at golf if Bobby was there but I am getting ahead of myself).<\/p>\n We all got together, had them hold our bags and headed over to the Yacht Club for breakfast at the Captain\u2019s Grille. Food was ok and not too expensive but not Kona Caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n After breakfast a few of us headed to Animal Kingdom to go on some rides. Again it was not crowded and we just about walked on Everest. Got to sit in the first car this time. After that we went to the safari. A little more of a line but not bad. Got to see quite a few animals. Looks like the ride has changed a little and the dialogue during the ride is different.<\/p>\n We headed back after that and decided it was pool time. The room still was not ready or at least our was not. Two of the three one bedroom villas we had were ready. We hung out at the pool for a while and eventually the drinks arrived at the front desk. I guess it was quite a site as they wheeled the cart through the lobby. The women looked disgusted and the guys would just stare with their mouths wide open.<\/p>\n We all got to the rooms and started to unpack our stuff and transfer the bottles of stuff to the different rooms. They were all near each other on the first floor just next to the hot tub at the resort main pool. We found the grass area a good place to practice chipping . We went over to ESPN Club to get our stomachs ready for the traditional meat on a stick from \u2018Ohana that night. Just to stretch out the stomach a little.<\/p>\n So our traditional kick off dinner seems to be \u2018Ohana. We all walked through Epcot and got on the monorail to head over to the Polynesian. We got off at the TTC and walked instead of transferring to the other monorail that would go to the lobby. The guys followed me since they would have gotten lost in the Polynesian and of coarse I had to take all the joking about knowing the Polynesian so well and being the tiki guide. Good thing I like all these guys. So we all got to the Tambu Lounge and I got the first round of Lapu Lapus. The infamous Back Scratchers were next on the list but this time we all kept our back scratchers to ourselves (refer to last years report).<\/p>\n Amanda from Polynesian concierge came up (no not to see me) to see Sean. It was nice to see her again. She was very helpful with the Tikifest people staying concierge last year and she even attended the party.<\/p>\n After drinking all these tropical delights there is nothing like meat on a stick to soak it all up.<\/p>\n After not too long of a wait we were seated at the big table in the center and it was time to let the eating begin. Things had changed on the menu so I was curious to see the differences. They brought out a bowl of salad with what use to be the dips for the wantons to put over it. Seemed strange but it was good. There were than some pork pot stickers, some chicken wings, mixed vegetables and a replacement for the potatoes was like a chow Mein noodle.<\/p>\n I liked the potatoes better but the noodles were good and were more with the theme.<\/p>\n The shrimp was back on the skewers and was good as ever along with the beef, pork and turkey. No sausage. They still finished up with the ice cream covered bread pudding with Bananas Foster Sauce. We asked for more as soon as it hit the table.<\/p>\n When we were done some in the group headed back to the room and I lost the rest of the group (or they tried to lose me). I ended up walking the resort alone and was going to head back on the monorail until I saw the rest coming from the concierge building with a box of cookies. No comment on how they got them. Thanks for inviting me along!!<\/p>\n We got in a taxi over to Downtown Disney to go to Raglan Road where we hung out for a while before heading back but we had to make one more stop at ESPN Club because I guess it was still not late enough to go to bed. First day of golf. We got up and grabbed our stuff to shuttle over to the Palm course at Shades of Green Resort. I had played Magnolia (also over there) a few times but never Palm. They say it was more difficult but I enjoyed it. Other than the case of balls I lost last year playing Magnolia I kept the same ball for 11 holes and only lost 3 balls that day.<\/p>\n We went over and ate at Shades of Green at what I think was called Garden Gallery. We had eaten there before and it was not very good this time. Your standard buffet with limited items and not very good quality. As always the course looks great. They set you up with carts with GPS and coolers and give you balls to go to the driving range. For scores you can refer to the Mancation page (when it gets updated!!).<\/p>\n It was a good day of golf and for the first time I was not last on the leader board. Ed had a great day and was top of the leader board. At the start of the day they warned us about the raccoons and to not keep anything out in the carts. Well on the back 9 we stopped at this one hole and a raccoon decided to walk over and start to get in the cart and go for the cell phones and glasses. Not sure what they do with them. Sell the stuff on Ebay? <\/p>\n Well the cart before us had the same raccoon go and grab Michaels camera but he threw a sandwich his way and he dropped the camera. We also came apon a snake on one of the greens that was o longer alive and maybe that was because the group ahead had put it in the cup for the group behind them. The Disney Wildlife patrol are still looking for the guilty party.<\/p>\n There was quite a bit of water on this course and sometimes you were even hitting over water the whole time. All this water was a great place to meet even more Florida wildlife. In some cases we went to extremes to meet the wildlife. Dave decided to say hello to a member of the local fish population. He is so good at golf he gets bored inbetween holes and has to do something else.<\/p>\n On the last hole I hit right up near the river going across the fairway and I looked in and there was a gator swimming by. The guys had to run down to see but by then it went under. THIS IS WHY YOU DON”T LET YOUR KIDS NEAR THE WATER AT THE RESORT BEACHES!!!<\/p>\n We all headed back to the Boardwalk, leaving our clubs there since Disney will transfer and have them ready for the next day if it is a Disney course. It was now time to hit the pool and make a few drinks.<\/p>\n I think a few guys went over to ESPN and some got Pizza on the boardwalk as a snack. I think I got a wrap from the pool bar that day. Good wrap but not as good as Captain Cook’s food and not much of a variety at the Boardwalk to choose from that is close to the pool.<\/p>\n I had to make this photo large not just because it is a good photo of Bill and Gabe but because I had to laugh at the guy behind them checking out Gabes butt or maybe it was because Bill was grabbing it.<\/p>\n We got cleaned up and headed into Epcot. Our dinner that night was trying out Marrakesh (Morrocco). We were going to try it the year before but changed our minds. I had heard very good things about it so I was interested in trying it. It was busy that night and the guys were getting frisky with the decorations but we won’t show those phots….this is a family web site. We were seated and ordered enough wine and appetizers to feed a small country. <\/p>\n A few of the appetizers were very good. I could have made a meal out of them. The mussels were ok but the sauce they were in was great with the bread. Did someone say BREAD? Well Ed was feeling the affects of some of the mixed drinks so he just hung out partly conscious and ate 3 baskets of bread to himself. He is now called Ed \u201cbread\u201d Romeo. He felt much better after the bread which was more than could be said about Dave and Sean.<\/p>\n Dave had to share part of his dinner with Sean\u2019s flip flops on the floor but that must have made Dave feel better after seeing the way he was ripping into the rack of lamb after purging, but Sean imidiately decided he was no longer hungry.<\/p>\n My dinner was ok but I was not a huge fan and don\u2019t think I will return. The entertainment was good and the dancing was great until Gabe and Michael decided they needed to join in. It was all fun until someone dresses up like a Shriner.<\/p>\n Some guys headed off to Rose and Crown for drinks and Ed, Phil and I met up with Lou Mongello (who was visiting there with his family and this was his last night).<\/p>\n Ed had worked on the new design for Spaceship Earth back at Imagineering in California but had not been on the ride since the 80s so we all headed over to check it out. I thought it was a nice cleanup of the ride but nothing exciting. I always have to ride Spaceship Earth when I visit but I was hoping for more to have been done to the ride. We headed over to Test Track but after getting almost up to the cars the ride went down and we were given passes to come back. We had a nice chat with Lou on the way back to the Boardwalk (where he was parked) and it would have been nice to spend more time talking but it was late and Lou had to get back to his family after a long day for both of us. We might talk about \u201cguys trips\u201d to WDW on Lou\u2019s show at some point to explain that it can be a good destination for guys trips and not just families and the wives are happier than if the guys went to Las Vegas. This morning a few of us decided we were not going to eat at Shades of Green and we decided to go to Spoodle\u2019s. A few of the guys did this before and had such bad service and a very bad incident that they have been skipping it but they figured after a few years they would give it a try again. The breakfast pizza (or flat bread) I had was good and service was fine. I had only tried this place once for dinner and it was just ok. We were just about the first people in there that morning and got out quickly.<\/p>\n We were shuttled over to the Magnolia course where are bags were already there for us. It was another nice day of golf in Disney World and the weather was a little warm but nice. The water on this course can steal balls but I like that we play with the Polynesian as our backdrop at the last few holes. This is also where we played with Arron and Chris (that we met at Tikifest). We tried to get either one of them tocome down for this trip since we were down a man due to some family health issues but Bobby was in our thoughts just about every day and we all wished he could make it\u2026.well except Ed who was in the lead due to Bobby dropping out. Just kidding! Ed missed him also. <\/p>\n It was a little warmer that day but it was fun. Not as much interaction with wildlife this time.<\/p>\n It was nice playing in different groups each day and Phil and Gabe and I had a good time with Chris being Gabes caddy.<\/p>\n This is the course with the famous Mickey ear sandtrap.<\/p>\n Same thing as before after golf. Pool, ESPN (for some), mixed drinks, get ready for dinner. If I remember correctly this night we were going to go to Boma but most of the guys did not know what it was (did not know what they were missing) and decided we would not travel to Boma. I did have a car but not everyone could go in the car and getting from Resort to Resort is not easy at Disney.<\/p>\n We sort of splintered off that night and Bill and I decided to fine a place to go. We thought we would head over to the Big River Grille and Brewing Works just down the Boardwalk. I had never been there before and I heard mixed reviews but I thought it was very good. The beer was great and the food was very good. We could not decided on the Rocket Red Ribs (BBQ sauce has the same beer I was drinking in it) or the Flame grilled Italian Sausage Meatloaf so we asked to split each one. They not only split on two plates each but each plate we had was full of the side dish so we each had double the side dish. Both were good but it was too much food.<\/p>\n The other guys ended up over there also just as we were finishing up. I decided I needed some dessert so I went to the funnel cake booth on the Boardwalk but I got the deep fried ice cream. It was so good I got it the next night also. Last full day and we were heading off property for the first time to play Orange County National Golf Course.<\/p>\n When we started off it started to rain hard. First time it really rained since we were there. It only seem to last until about the second hole and than it was great golf weather since there was cloud cover, in the 80\u2019s and no more rain. This was a fun course but difficult. All the areas that had water hazards were dry. I guess we are not the only ones having a drought. <\/p>\n When we got back Bill and I had talked about finishing off the trip with a great dinner and I suggested Flying Fish. This use to be a place Tara and I never missed eating at and we have never had a bad meal. I can even say that each time I go back it gets better. Gabe, Dave and Michael decided to join us and we all had a great meal with great company. <\/p>\n I can honestly say that every time I go on this trip I have a sudden desire to stay home….no just kidding. I enjoy my time with these guys and each trip I get to know them all better and each night I seemed to be with a different group of guys which makes it fun. They are all a blast to be on a trip with and I look forward to doing it again. If you ever find yourself in Disney World when we are make sure to say hello and if you are with your family than make sure to stay as far away as you can.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This was the second Mancation trip for me and was going to be even better then the first because this time I knew the guys and knew what I was in for. Also I knew I would not lose as many balls on the course this time…hopefully.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-trip-reports","entry"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"turkmandu","author_link":"https:\/\/papersuasion.com\/tiki\/author\/turkmandu\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersuasion.com\/tiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersuasion.com\/tiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersuasion.com\/tiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersuasion.com\/tiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersuasion.com\/tiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/papersuasion.com\/tiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2111,"href":"https:\/\/papersuasion.com\/tiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions\/2111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersuasion.com\/tiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersuasion.com\/tiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersuasion.com\/tiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Looks like movies are on the beach on Sundays going by the schedule and there are many activities going on around the resort all day including hula lessons at the GCH for anyone who wants to attend. The night I was there some company booked the whole Luau and they had special fireworks on the beach just for them. Not sure what happened up in the Tambu Lounge but half the chairs were missing the night we were there for \u2018Ohana.<\/p>\n
MAY 16<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
May 17<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
MAY 18<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n