My Tween's Review of the Edge on the Disney Fantasy

Disney Fantasy Trip Report So Far:
Vacation Video
Hotel Review: Disney's Polynesian Village Resort

My Tween's Review of the Edge on the Disney Fantasy

On our recent cruise (our 5th cruise on Disney), my son was still young enough to visit the Oceaneer Club/Lab (a secured place for ages 3-12) but was also now old enough to go to the Edge (Tween club for ages 11-14). He spent many hours at the Edge and I asked him to write a review of his new experience.

Written by Nathan Powell, age 11

What is the Edge?

On my most recent cruise I was able to go to the EDGE, a club for ages 11-14, located on the 13th floor, mid-ship. In the Edge you don’t have to sign in or out and you can come and go as you please.

Usually the Edge is open from 10:00 am to 12:00 midnight. The counselors there are very nice and awesome and fun to hang around with. The Edge even has an elevator that goes directly to deck 13 that only 11-14-year-olds can use.


Photos of the Edge from the open house on embarkation day: 

Activities at the Edge:

It has an Xbox for up to 4 players and a Wii U up to 4 players as well as 8 computers at a station. For games, they have hockey, football, and a game called Blurr for Xbox. They have Mario Kart and Mario Party for Wii U.

In addition to the video games, the counselors run organized activities for all the tweens. There is gaga ball and four square at random times, and at midnight they do dodgeball at Goofy’s Sports deck. Times change for other activities like the "Anyone Can Cook" class, in which you can bake cookies. In the "Brains and Brawns" activity, you make a team and compete with other teams to find clues all over the ship. Even Stitch visited the Edge at one time. The activities are posted in the printed daily navigator and are also listed on a board inside the Edge.

They also do other group activities like "That’s Hilarious" where you can show off your comedy skills in front of your friends and movie time where you can vote on a popular movie. There is other neat stuff like drawing Disney characters where you can draw Disney characters like Donald and Goofy under an instructor. There is also green screen where you act out like you are on a news channel, and the magic floor where you play four square, gaga ball and karaoke. One afternoon there was a magic show. The 4 counselors are very cool to hang out with.

On the last night, the Edge had a "Final Farewell" dance party where the counselors showed photos of us throughout the week.

 

My experience at the Edge:

On my first day at the Edge, I got to make a profile page so everyone could get to know me better. I recommend you try the Edge on the first day so you get a chance to know other kids early.

Profiles at the Edge

During our cruise, I spent my time in the Edge by coming for a few hours in the morning playing on the computers and from 7:00pm to midnight playing four square, gaga ball, X Box, Wii U, and other organized activities that were happening at the time. I did meet up with my family for swimming and comedians during the day so I wasn't at the Edge all day.

I personally think that if you were deciding on whether to go to the Edge or the kids club I would go to the Edge because if you have younger siblings they can't go to the Edge. The Edge's activities are also more suited for the people at the Edge and you don't have to watch out for smaller kids. I also liked the idea of having more freedom and staying up late. The Edge is a way that you can interact with other people and make friends because I made 2 and many more.

Editor's (Mom's) note: I appreciated that the Edge had meet-ups on Castaway Cay (Disney's private island) for lunch so that my husband and I could eat at Serenity Bay (adults-only beach) without feeling guilty about leaving Nathan on his own while his younger siblings were at Scuttle's Cove (island kids' club). I did take a while to get used to the late-night activities...he was playing dodgeball until 1 a.m. one night and we were in bed before he came back to the room on most nights! I guess this is just a taste of what is to come during the teen years...sniff sniff.

Hotel Review: Disney's Polynesian Village Resort

On our recent Disney Cruise vacation, we had the opportunity to stay at the Polynesian Village Resort for two days prior to our cruise at a deep discount. We have visited this resort many times for dining reservations, but we had never stayed as overnight guests. I could not pass up the opportunity to stay at this iconic hotel. We had the chance to stay at Contemporary Resort last July (also at a deep discount convention rate), and it was interesting to compare the two resorts (see also my review of the Contemporary Resort).

The Polynesian Resort Hotel has an interesting history and stunning landscape that can be seen on fan webpages like this one.

Checking in:

Since I had completed online check-in a few days before, I requested to receive a text-message when our room was ready. As I was on the Magical Express bus that morning, I received a text letting me know our room number. When we got to the hotel, I stopped at a desk to pick up a map to figure out where our room was located. The staff gave us Hawaiian leis, just like at Aulani in Hawaii. It was a nice touch.

Our room:

During check-in, I was allowed to request our longhouse building. I requested and received the Samoa building, which is convenient to the lobby and the main pool.

We were assigned room 1605 on the ground floor.

Love the lamps in the hallway!

The layout of our room was very similar to our room at the Contemporary Resort.

It had two Queen beds:

And a sofa that converted into a single bed:

Two closets and a refrigerator in the entryway:

The bathroom:

Love the tiki lamp!

Our room had a patio with furniture. In this resort, the 2nd floor rooms have no balcony (just a window) but the 3rd floor rooms have balconies.

We made good use of our patio during our stay. It was nice to have extra space.

I let the kids play out there since I could see them from inside.

The volcano pool was directly outside our room.

And when we stepped outside and looked to the right, we could see the castle!

Since the pool closed at 8 p.m. during the winter, our room was pretty quiet at night (except during the Electrical Water Pageant, which had surprisingly loud music!)

Restaurants at the resort:

'Ohana restaurant is a big draw. It has a family-style character breakfast in the morning and a meat-skewer restaurant for dinner.

We have had breakfast here 4 or 5 times before (when we weren't staying at the resort) and it's our favorite place! I love how we don't have to get our food from a buffet, the food comes right to our table. And of course the unlimited POG juice is a huge hit!

Characters at breakfast:

Capt. Cook's is a quick-service restaurant downstairs.

The menu is nothing special, but we ate here for lunch one day.

It has tables inside and outside.

We had dinner at the Kona Cafe on Friday night. I always hear about the Kona Cafe for breakfast, but had never read anything about it for dinner.

The food was excellent. Our server brought us a sweet bread with macadamia nut butter that was so delicious! And these potstickers were also excellent.

The hotel has a counter out back with pineapple Dole Whips if you're into that:

We did not try Sam's Grotto bar, which gets great reviews, or the Spirit of Aloha dinner show (luau).


Pools:


The volcano pool is visually stunning and reminded me of a smaller version of the pools at Aulani in Hawaii.

The view from the top of the volcano (which contains a waterslide):

The volcano with the waterfall:

The zero-entry area:

The kids' splash park with two slides:

The pools at the Polynesian are some of the best of all the Disney resorts, in my opinion. They have great theming and are perfect for all ages. While the pools at the Contemporary were nice, the Contemporary pools did not have a zero-entry area and the splash pad was a lot smaller.

Activities:

In addition to the activities at all the Disney resorts (marshmallow roasting, outdoor movies, pool parties, etc.), the Polynesian Village Resort has a few unique activities.

Every afternoon there is a free hula lesson in the lobby. I took my daughter on Friday afternoon, and I couldn't believe that we were the only ones who showed up for the lesson! She got her own private lesson, complete with a lei and hula skirt, taught by a native dancer and accompanied by a ukulele player.

On Friday night we attended the torch lighting ceremony. It started in the lobby with a call/howl through an instrument to gather people, then it continued outside with a fire dancer and some drums. It only lasted a few minutes, but it was very entertaining to watch.

The Polynesian Village Resort is one of the resorts around the lake that gets the Electrical Water Pageant. I saw this when we stayed at Wilderness Lodge two years ago, and again at the Contemporary last year. It's worth seeing!

 

The Polynesian has arguably the best beach and fireworks viewing area of all the resorts. It has plenty of beach chairs plus a few porch swings scattered throughout the beach.

The beach is directly across the lake from the castle and the fireworks. We arrived about 10 minutes prior to the show and had no problem finding some chairs. It was so peaceful to watch the fireworks from here, and then walk 2 minutes back to our room instead of fighting the crowds inside the park.

Artwork/ambiance:

This is where the resort shines! There is so much artwork and detail throughout the lobby and each building.

Lobby from the 2nd floor looking down:

Lobby ceiling:

Artwork everywhere!

Disney films connected to Hawaii/Polynesia:

Photographs of construction of hotel:

Nothing beats the ambiance at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort at night, with the tiki torches and a view of the castle right outside the lobby. My photos don't do it justice at all. I had the chance to walk around at night and take photos by myself. It was so peaceful!

The pond near the lobby entrance:

Pros:
*  Location, location, location! The resort is on the monorail loop with easy access to Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Can't beat the transit time!
*  Atmosphere! The landscaping, art work, torches and architecture really make you feel like you're in Hawaii. It's immersive. The atmosphere is a huge advantage over the Contemporary (but that is subjective).
*  Rooms--they are large and fit 5 people easily.
*  Food--great restaurants that are unique with tasty food.
*  Pools--volcano theme, waterslides, zero-entry, splash park.
*  Beach--the best resort to see fireworks.
*  Unique activities--the hula lesson and torch lighting ceremony were great!

Cons:
*  Price. Ouch. But I can see why people pay it. The resort is awesome!
*  The quick service restaurant (Capt. Cook's) did not have as many choices as the Contempo Cafe (at the Contemporary Resort) and other Disney resorts we have visited.
*  The shops were smaller and had a smaller assortment than other resorts.
*  No rain cover--when it rains, you have to walk outside to the main building or to the bus stop where there is no cover for rain. At the Contemporary, there were covered walkways so that you didn't have to get wet.

We are grateful we had the chance to stay at the Polynesian Village Resort. I would stay there again in a heartbeat!

Vacation Video--January 2016 Disney Fantasy

The first thing I do when I get home from a family vacation is make a music video. Enjoy!

Using British Airways to Fly Between Dallas and Mexico?

Note: For people already versed in this travel hacking hobby, this is not going to be breaking news for you. But for me, a person relatively new in the miles and points hobby, I find this travel hack fascinating and exciting.

As you probably know, my family loves a Disney Cruise Line vacation. We love that the price is almost all-inclusive and that our kids are well cared for in the clubs while my husband and I can have some time together as a couple. We've been wondering for years if we could replicate this experience at a resort on land.

To make a long story short, all of my research has convinced me we should try a resort in Mexico. So I started figuring out how to fly my family to Mexico for the least amount of miles possible.

It turns out, the most efficient way to spend miles to get from Dallas to Mexico (including Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Cancun) is by using British Airways Avios. That's right, British Airways. And how is this possible?

Puerto Vallarta. Photo from CheapCaribbean.com

The British Airways award chart is currently different from many other airlines in that it is based on the distance between the cities you fly (as opposed to one flat price for flying within the U.S. or to a certain region). For example, flights under under 650 miles currently cost only 4500 British Airways Avios (although in February this will increase to 7500 miles) and flights up to 1149 miles cost 7500 British Airways Avios.

British Airways is partners with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, so flights on those airlines can be redeemed with British Airways Avios. We are lucky to be living in an American Airlines hub city with many direct flights to other cities.

Based on the distance, we were able to book return flights on American Airlines from Puerto Vallarta to Dallas, a direct 2 1/2 hour flight, for 7500 British Airways Avios each. The same exact flight on the same AA airplane costs 12,500 AA miles in the off-season and 15,000 miles in regular season. It may not seem like much of a savings, but since we have 5 people traveling, the point savings makes a big difference.

Puerto Vallarta--photo from sunsetrealty.mx

Tricks to getting these great low redemptions on flights within the U.S.:
*  Award flights on American and Alaska must be "MileSAAver" awards, not the "Anytime" level awards. It's best to be flexible on your travel dates to find these awards.
*  AA and Alaska flights must be direct in order to get the lowest points cost because British Airways charges points for each segment.

To find the flights between Dallas and Puerto Vallarta that only cost 7500 miles, I searched on American Airline's webpage for the lowest MileSAAver awards. I had a range of about a week to be somewhat flexible for our trip dates. Once I found MileSAAver award flights for 5 people, I had to click on each itinerary to make sure it was a direct flight. Some of the MileSAAver awards from Dallas connected through Los Angeles, so the points on that connecting flight would be more expensive than just booking through American Airlines.

Million Mile Secrets has a blog post series dedicated to booking flights on British Airways here.

Wandering Aramean blog also has a great calculator and a map you can use to see how many British Airways Avios a trip would take. The map takes a little while to load after you enter your home base city, but the results are easy to see.

We accumulated British Airways Avios by getting an American Express Premier Rewards Gold card. Last year, my husband was offered 50,000 Amex Membership Reward points for spending $1000 on the card within 3 months. The card has an annual fee of $195 that is waived for the first year, so we will cancel it before we have to pay the fee. This card also comes with a $100 airline fee credit per calendar year, which we were able to use for a $100 Southwest gift card in 2015 and another $100 Southwest gift card in 2016. We transferred the Amex points over to British Airways Avios (which at the time was a 1:1 ratio).

You can also accumulate British Airways Avios through other Amex cards that earn Membership Reward points (like the Amex platinum card) and through a Chase British Airways credit card that periodically has a 50,000-point bonus. See this post for all the possible ways to earn British Airways Avios.

As for our trip, so far we have only been able to book flights for our return trip from Puerto Vallarta. Now that we have that leg booked, we are a little bit less flexible on the date we can fly out, and so far there are no award seats on American. My backup plan is to book our flights from Dallas to Puerto Vallarta using Southwest miles. It won't be a direct 2 1/2 hour flight since we will have a stopover in Houston, but because I have my Southwest companion pass until the end of 2016 my daughter will fly for free.

So, who is ready to start using British Airways Avios??? Have you already been using this trick for flights on AA and Alaska Airlines?