For our last night at Disney, we had a dining reservation at ‘Ohana which was located at our resort.
“‘Ohana” means family, so everyone at the restaurant is a “cousin” and everything is served family style and all-you-care-to-eat. The dinner menu featured skewers of meat (steak, chicken, pork, and shrimp) grilled over an open fire pit. We also loved the pineapple coconut bread.
During dinner, a woman playing the ukulele led some Hawaiian-themed activities. The girls tried coconut racing (using brooms to sweep coconuts around the restaurant) and we could have learned to hula again (but we were already pros after our afternoon lesson).
As we were getting ready for dessert, one of the servers was talking to Emily and asked if it was her birthday soon. Emily said yes. (Her birthday is actually in September). A few minutes later, the server arrived with a few other servers and a cupcake with a candle. Before we could tell them that her birthday is actually 4 months away, they lit the candle and started singing “Happy Birthday to you…”
Other guests sitting near us joined in singing to Emily too. Emily loved the attention, Luke and I thought it was really funny, but Logan and Audrey were totally annoyed and kept saying “It’s not her birthday!” and plugging their ears! Their reaction made us laugh even more!
After dinner, we walked out to the end of the pier and sat on a bench to watch the boat parade. It was a little chilly, so Luke went to grab a few towels from the pool area, and I snapped a silly picture on my cellphone with the kids. What fun!
The kids loved the boat parade. It consists of several boats carrying screens of lights which light up to show sea creatures, all set in time to music. It was a fun way to end the night.
The next morning it was time to pack up and head home. Because we were staying at a Disney resort, we could check our luggage and get our boarding passes all while at the Polynesian.
We took one last picture in front of the outdoor waterfall, and then caught the magical express to the airport with our carry-on bags.
As we were standing in the security line at the airport, I realized something. I didn’t have my driver’s license. It wasn’t in my wallet, it wasn’t in my purse… then I remembered: it was in the front pocket of the shirt I had worn on the flight to Florida, and that shirt was in my checked suitcase which was on its way to our airplane.
I spoke to a security guard who asked if I had any other form of photo ID (all I had were credit cards and a library card) or any mail addressed to me (I only had receipts). Luke figured he might have to fly home without me and fax my license to the airport after he got home, but instead they took me to a separate area for high-level screening. I had the full pat-down, body swabs, the panoramic screening, and a search and swab through all my checked luggage. I didn’t even care; I just wanted to go home! After that, they allowed me to proceed to my gate, where I met up with Luke who had to take all three kids (and stroller) through security by himself. Whew!
The flight home was uneventful and on our drive home from the airport, I turned around to see this. Sooo tired!
So, that was our trip! We had been anticipating it for months, and we really had a great time! The kids were so well-behaved and it was so cool to see everything through their eyes. They soaked it all up. I remember during the parades, Audrey would turn to me and say “Tinkerbell just waved AT ME!” and I remember feeling the same way when I was a child. It was exciting to see the kids get so excited about the characters and the rides, and it was nice not to have the distractions from home so that we could really enjoy each others’ company. It was fun to laugh and explore together as a family.
Before we went to Disney, I had always said we would go one time and that would be it. After experiencing Disney World as a family, we’re already saying that we’d like to go again in three years or so. It was such a great experience for us.
And with that, my Disney blog posts are finished! FINALLY. :)
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