Day 15: ‘Ohana Means Family / H&H@TP 2017

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Day 15 of Hibiscus & Holly At The Poly 2017, the latest of my Disney Trip Reports, is here! Today is our last day at Walt Disney World… Sad times!

The Hibiscus & Holly at The Poly 2017 Trip Report Index tells you a bit about the planning of this trip, as well as some info about me and my family (the Cast Members!) In short you have me, Michelle; Steve, my husband; and Liam, my son. It also, of course, has the full list of days for the trip.

Maui Tiki God Statue

Day 15: Travel Day

Breakfast at ‘Ohana / Travel Day MCO-LGW
December 21, 2017
You will be able to find all of the images from Hibiscus & Holly At The Poly 2017 in my Flickr Collection of albums from this trip. 
To see just today’s photos, you can view this Flickr Album.
Hibiscus & Holly At The Poly: Trip Report Index | Pre-Trip Report


It’s only taken me just short of two years to write this trip report, but I’ve finally reached the end!

I know I’ve taken longer and longer to write up my Disney trip reports, mainly because of the photos and the time I need to find to go organize and edit them. Because I am a lot busier with my blog, my trip reports do not have the same priority as they did 6 or 7 years ago.

I will continue to share them (there is our 2019 trip to write about after all!) as they serve as a lovely memory for us, but also, I hope, provide some insight into a Walt Disney World vacation.

With that all out of the way, let’s begin…

Great Ceremonial House

Waking up on the last day of your holiday is always a downer. I know I never want to get back to reality! Fortunately, with it being just a few days until Christmas Day, we had something to look forward to when back in the UK.

After packing any final bits from the morning, and doing a quick scan around the room to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind, we called up Bell Services to pick up our luggage and store it for us until it was time for us to leave for the airport.

We had a late breakfast booked at ‘Ohana, which is one of the table-service restaurants at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.

Ohana
Restaurant Sign Board at Polynesian

Breakfast at ‘Ohana

Breakfast is a character dining experience at ‘Ohana with the Best Friends Breakfast featuring Lilo & Stitch. Alongside Lilo & Stitch, you can also meet Pluto and Mickey Mouse (dressed in his Hawaiian outfit).

An American breakfast with Polynesian flavors is served family-style and is all-you-care-to-enjoy.

‘Ohana is a very popular (and very busy) restaurant and Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) are highly recommended. You can book your ADRs at 180 days out, so get in there as soon as you can as ‘Ohana fills up quickly!

We’ve dined here several times over the years for both breakfast and dinner (they do not serve lunch, and characters are only at breakfast) and have always had a nice time.

Breakfast at'Ohana
Breakfast at'Ohana

The hot breakfast foods are brought out on a large platter which you share at the table and include scrambled eggs, Island-style fried potatoes, Hawaiian pork sausages, Hawaiian-style ham topped with pineapple compote, biscuits, and Stitch waffles – plus warm syrup for pouring on your waffles.

You also receive a plate of chopped fresh fruit to share and some sweet bread, it may have been pineapple-coconut bread or macadamia nut… I can’t quite remember now!

Since it is all-you-care-to-enjoy you can request more if you desire. We did ask for more since this was our brunch! Second time around we received Mickey waffles instead of Stitch ones – no Disney breakfast is complete until you eat a Mickey waffle!

Chopped Fresh Fruit
Hawaiian Bread
Mickey Waffles

While you eat your breakfast the characters walk around from table to table. You should get to meet all of the characters during your meal and if you don’t, mention it to your server who I’m sure will be happy to help.

We’ve done a lot of character dining over the years, and here are my Disney Character Dining Tips that I think you will find very helpful!

Here are some photos of us with the characters – you don’t have to have little kids to do character dining!

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Me & Stitch
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Liam & Stitch
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Liam, Steve & Lilo
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Liam, Steve & Pluto
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Liam, Steve, and Mickey Mouse

‘Ohana » Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

Bill: $102 + Tax: $5.31 + Tip: $18.36 = $125.67
DVC Discount: $20.40


Total Paid: $105.27


View from the Second Floor
View from the Second Floor

After breakfast, we just hung out at the Poly until it was time to head to the airport. We didn’t want to deal with the crowds in the Magic Kingdom as I find the last day quite stressful knowing we have to get to the airport for a certain time.

Not much to say about what we did – I remember I bought some last-minute things in Bou-Tiki – the Resort’s shop. I bought a Christmas Mickey and Minnie plush because, well, it’s Christmas innit!

I also kinda want this lamp (below) which is in the DVC rooms, but getting it home would also be a nightmare and the price was two-hundred-something dollars! No ma’am!

Tiki Lamp
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Liam at the Polynesian Village Christmas Tree
Hibiscus on Christmas Tree
I love these chairs in the Great Ceremonial House (Lobby)!
I love these chairs in the Great Ceremonial House (Lobby)!
Tiki God Maui Statue
Tiki God Maui Statue
Tiki God Maui Statue
Tiki God Maui Statue
Bora Bora Bungalows
Bora Bora Bungalows
Palm Trees
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Before leaving for the airport, Steve wrote our initials into the sand on the Poly beach – a new tradition we both decided we’d start on our 2016 mega-trip for my 40th birthday!

And then it was time to begin the long journey home…

There isn’t much to say now, other than we got to MCO, checked-in our luggage and went through to the gate to wait for departure. As usual, I got stopped going through the body scanner. Happens every time and is mildly annoying for me as the TSA guards(?) are really quite aggressive.

There was another Christmas tree at the gate, and thus concludes all of the Christmas trees we saw on this trip!

Christmas Tree at Orlando Airport
Christmas Tree at Orlando Airport
British Airways Plane Interior

The flight home was uneventful. I can’t recall any major turbulence, which is always a good thing!

The food on the flight home is often a bit rubbish compared with flying out. We had dinner and then were given a breakfast box in the morning which had a roll with cream cheese and a granola bar.

Cheese Salad
Cheese Salad
Vegetarian Pasta Dish
Vegetarian Pasta Dish
Chicken Curry & Rice
Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate Mousse
Breakfast Box
Breakfast Box

We did have a bit of a nightmare once back at Gatwick. I had booked assistance to help me get from the gate back to the terminal and through to our cab. And again we were left waiting as in previous years. (And looking ahead to the end of our 2019 trip, was also left waiting).

This is down to the airport staff rather than the airline and really frustrating after a long flight. I did complain, but it fell on deaf ears, unfortunately.

Our cab was waiting for us which was nice. It’s about an hour or so drive back home, and it’s always good to be home!

We always unpack straight away and then have a nap at about 2pm for an hour, before staying awake until regular bedtime. This does help combat the jetlag somewhat, but I did suffer more than Steve and Liam for several days.

And that is it for Hibiscus & Holly at The Poly 2017! It’s been a long time finishing, but I got there in the end. I hope you have enjoyed reading along as much as I have enjoyed writing and reliving it!


Read about the day after:
There is no tomorrow – today is the last day!

Read about the day before:
Day 14: The Story of Christmas
Epcot / Lunch at Biergarten / Candlelight Processional with Neil Patrick Harris

» Read ALL the days!

I have included links to my camera equipment.
If you purchase via the links I may earn a small commission.

The camera I use for my Disney photography is a Canon EOS 70D.
The two main lenses I use: Sigma 18-300mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro and Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC Art. Both of these lenses will also fit Nikon and Sony DSLRs.
I also take some photos on my iPhone7 for sharing on social media – follow my Disney Instagram account – LoveDisneyPhotos
Pool photos are taken with: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5. A similar model is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT30EB-A
Videos are taken with Panasonic HC-V720, although the newer model is the Panasonic HC-V770.
Any photo editing is done with Photoshop or with Instagram editing features and filters.

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