The second half of the day was all about eating and new adventures! We hopped on a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then the Monorail over to the Polynesian Resort. We love the Polynesian. It is so beautiful! Staying there is definitely on our Disney bucket list.
We had dinner reservations at 8:45 so with 3 hours to kill it was time for drinks at Trader Sam’s! We decided to just sit at the outdoor bar instead of waiting to be seated inside. Pro Tip: There seems to be plenty of seating outside and they serve all the same drinks and food as the super cool Trader Sam’s inside.
For my cocktail there was only one choice… The Spikey Pineapple! It’s Dole Whip with Rum and it’s literally one of the most delicious things I have ever had! I was really in my happy place when Tom took the picture below.
Tom ordered the Spice Island; Knob Creek Disney select single barrel reserved bourbon, Elizabeth allspice dram, Orgeat (almond), and pineapple juice. This smokey and tropical drink was perfect for him. If you don’t want something super sweet this is the drink for you.
Shortly, after receiving our drinks, it started to storm. Our waitress sprung into action and closed out our tab so we could bring our drinks inside to enjoy them.
While inside we did a little gift shop shopping while we waited for our dinner reservation at Ohana.
We were so excited to have dinner at Ohana. This was my first time having dinner there (I had breakfast there in 1995) and it was also Tom’s first time experience all this food!
Ohana is a family style Asian/Hawaiian influenced meal and it’s all you care to enjoy. You start out with a super tasty pineapple coconut bread. They then come around with salads and skillets full of noddles, chicken wings, and dumplings. If that’s not enough for you don’t worry because they come around with skewers full of chicken, beef, and shrimp. You’ll end your night with Ohana’s famous banana bread pudding with caramel sauce.
We heard such amazing things about Ohana and we are sure that they are all true, but we were too tired to truly enjoy our meal. We had been up since 1:30 in the morning and we weren’t feeling our best, but there are few things that stood out.
We loved the noodles and the dumplings. They were so good and the chicken was super tender. The dessert also lived up to all the hype! OH and they have seriously strong sauce game!
As you can see from this picture of my plate it didn’t look like I ate much, but I made sure to try everything and it was all very tasty. It’s a pretty expensive meal so make sure you go hungry.
To top off our night, you can watch Happily Ever After from the restaurant. The view isn’t as grand as it is a California Grill, but they pump in the music and it was such a magical way to start our trip. A little magical bonus was seeing my cousin Chris and his family at Ohana too. I wish we got a picture together, but I have feeling it won’t be the last time we run into each other in Disney World.
Before we could go to bed there was one more thing we had to do… The Villains After Hours Event in the Magic Kingdom!
Disney offers lots of after hours events in the parks now. It’s a special ticketed event that offers fun treats, special shows, and lower wait times. It runs from 10PM to 1AM. They also offer free bottled beverages, ice creams, and popcorn throughout the park. This specific event was was themed after the villains taking over the Magic Kingdom. It comes complete with a show starring Hades and Meg from Hercules.
Pro tip: Go to an after hours event on a day when you don’t have a park ticket. They let you in 3 hours before the event starts and since it’s as expensive as a park ticket it’s a great way to save. You can spend the day resting by the pool so you have lots of energy later. We also recommend stocking up on the free beverages and bringing them back to your room for the rest of your stay. We got like 4 bottles of water.
Our time at the event was spent riding the rides! The low wait times allowed us to get on Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, People Mover, and Big Thunder just to name a few. Pirates even offered special live actors throughout the ride and it’s queue.
We caught a few glimpses of Maleficent in Dragon form from the Festival of Fantasy. She went around the park all night scaring all the guests or trying to at least. It was cool to see her blow fire at night.
On our way out around midnight (Pro Tip: beat the crowds to the bus) we noticed the ugly step-sisters, Lady Tremaine, Bowler Hat Guy, and Captain Hook harassing guests as they exited. This was by far our favorite part of the night. They were so much fun and really silly! We definitely recommend an after-hours event instead of buying a ticket for that day.
The Cocho Life 