Mickey in Polynesia

After leaving the Kona Cafe and heading downstairs, the rest of the family goes on to our rooms while I veer off to the Concierge desk. I can’t help but stop and enjoy the tropical centerpiece of the lobby, the two-story waterfall surround by flowers and island greenery. It is gorgeous.

I step up to concierge desk and ask the cast member there for a printout of my reservations. She asks my name and has the printout in seconds. That was fast – I will definitely do this on check-in on my next vacation.

Scanning down the page, I see the mistakes – there’s the fireworks cruise for late-night Monday, not early, and the Kona Cafe reservation supposedly for Monday morning. Grrr. Thankfully, the remaining reservations I made for today and tomorrow are (a) listed there and (b) correct!

Interestingly, the printout also shows a reservation in my name for Shula’s Steakhouse, for a party of eight on the preceding December 11! Hmm. Someone else is running around Walt Disney World with my name? Hope they had fun!

Printout in hand – and fears of further screw-ups put at ease – I rejoin the others in our room.

There’s a large painting on one wall of a idyllic tropical scene, with islanders on a beach, waves rolling in, and a lush green mountain towering through the clouds above them. We’ve located three hidden Mickeys in the painting. One is obvious – an island girl has drawn the three circles in the sand – but the other two take some looking. The greenery near the mountain’s peak is in the shape of Mickey’s head, and then some froth in one of the crashing ocean waves forms the same shape.

If there is a fourth hidden Mickey in the painting, we don’t see it.

By 8:55 we have gathered our stuff for the parks and are at the bus stop, ready for a day of adventure at the Animal Kingdom!

As we wait for the bus, I’m curious how crowded the parks will be today. This is a major holiday, after all, but I’m guessing that the crowds will be lighter, since many people will need to return to work tomorrow and may need today to travel.

At the least, though, this morning should be lighter – one more advantage of our not staying up to welcome the New Year last night. We have nothing to sleep off! It pays to be boring sometimes.