Sailing the Seven Seas Lagoon

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010

Today was Talk Like a Pirate Day, so we celebrated by hitting the Seven Seas! For years, Daddy has dreamed of getting on one of those little boats and going out on the Seven Seas Lagoon, and traveling across to Bay Lake. Today, we set sail and charted a path for Discovery Island and parts unknown. Avast! Madison and Daddy climbed in one of the boats at the Marina and made our way from port at the Polynesian at the bottom left hand corner of the photo...

...all the way to the beach to the bottom right, which is at Ft. Wilderness, along the shores of Bay Lake. Of course, we stopped by the Wilderness Lodge along the way, and journeyed around Discovery Island, passing by once more Contemporary Resort on a straight path to Madison's favorite destination: the Magic Kingdom (that's towards the left on the map). By that time, we had to be getting back. The winds were choppy, but Madison and Daddy were the seafaring types that were having a scurvy good time!

While we were sailing the high seas, Mommy was having a great conversation with Auntie Kua'i, who is a legend at the Polynesian, having been there since the very beginning. Mommy talked with her quite some time about flowers, leis, and of course Hawaii. When Daddy and Madison came back from our adventure, we met Auntie Kua'i, who was very kind and very nice to Madison. It was neat for Madison to meet her!

It was also neat for Madison to try something unique to the Polynesian Resort. This morning, we all tried the legendary Tonga Toast, which was actually very big - and very filling! Good stuff!

Sadly, our time at the resort had come to an end though. But our vacation wasn't completely over with yet. We got into our car and drove over to the Disney Village, where we'd spend a few hours shopping, eating and having fun.

Our first stop is usually the Cirque du Soleil shop. We would have gone to see the show today if it were running - but this was a day off for "La Nouba," so we'll have to wait until next time. Still, the shop was open and we dashed inside for a peek at some of their unique items. Madison was immediately drawn to some of the exciting masks they had on display. In fact, she simply had to try some of them on. Then, after that, she tried on all the funny hats, giggling as she saw herself in the mirror with each one on. It was infectious!

We're going to see Cirque du Soleil's "Ovo" in November, and thought they might have a DVD of it, but only the soundtrack at the moment. We'll have to wait for that. In the meantime, it was nice to simply look around as always, and see the clothing and assortment of items they have on their shelves.

We hopped on yet another boat, and crossed the lake from West Side Disney to the Disney Village, where we went to see another volcano: The Rainforest Cafe. Last time, Madison did not enjoy the thunderstorms that frequently occur inside. But this time, it was all good. We were seated right next to a huge aquarium with many, many colorful fish inside. This provided for easy entertainment - along with the noisy elephants and gorillas. The food was incredible as always. We had a good time.

Tummies full, we next went to our favorite toy store: Once Upon a Toy. We found books, gifts for the cousins - and this time, we found the My Little Pony station. This is much like the Mr. Potato Head station. We have pretty much all of the Potato Head parts, so this time we visited the My Pretty Pony area and followed the same concept: stuff as much as you can into one box. Whatever fits is what you get for a set price. Of course, with Mommy doing the stuffing, we walked away with all of the clothes - and two ponies! Madison was thrilled.

Afterwards, we went to Ghiradelli's, which is one of Mommy's favorite places in the entire universe. The reason for this is that they sell a sundae called "Strike It Rich." If you have not tried one of these, you have not lived life to the full. In the meantime, we had to get something for Madison, so Daddy ordered the smallest ice cream he could:

Madison's eyes were huge, gazing with awe-filled reverence at this huge, majestic sphere of vanilla ice cream. We were thinking, "there's no way she can finish all that!"

She did! It was a delicious tradition, but it was also getting late. We walked the distance back, passing by a unique street performer who appeared as if she were a statue - but periodically would wave at people. Madison was amazed, and smiled in wonder!

Finally, we made it back to the car. It was getting darker, so we made sure we left in time to get back to Ba-Ba and Nana's house. Madison fell asleep immediately, snoozing the whole way back.