Disney's Galactic Starcruiser May 2022

 My family went on the Galactic Starcruiser in May and we had a great time.  I will try not to have any spoilers and will talk about what to expect without getting into the story line specifics.  There was 8 of us total, my family of 4 and another family of 4.  

We arrived in 3 cars the first day.  While check in starts at 1pm, cars started lining up well before that.  I got to the line at 12:50pm and did not get out of the car until 1:20pm.  When we arrived, they took our luggage, gave us our wristbands and sent us to the transport to the Starcruiser.  You can take photos outside before entering.  Be sure to ask if you can get credit for the Lyft if you took one.  We took Uber and was not given a credit but those who took Lyft did.   We went to eat lunch.  Below is an example of how the buffets are served. The food can be odd, but you can find more normal food if you ask.  For example, they serve a pepperoni flatbread with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes in the lounge.  My son ordered it with just pepperoni and it was great. The second photo is another breakfast of bacon and "waffle fries", basically a hashbrown. 

Breakfast is served

Dessert platter and breakfast

Everyone will be scheduled a time on the bridge and for lightsaber training.  Make sure you participate in these two activities.  You will also need to gain access to the engineering room to complete some missions.  Every action will affect the rest of your day.  My husband and I tried to stay on the same path but by day 2, we had different missions.  Out of the 8 of us, 1 did first order, 7 did resistance.  Everyone was given a mission on the bridge and in engineering.  One of the 7 was offered a very special mission that only 10 people got to do.  He had an amazing storyline that most of us knew nothing about until the end of day 2.  The one person who went first order did not have as many personal interactions and opportunities to participate in the story as those who did resistance.  If you have someone who is going on the trip but not as into the story aspect, they may want to do first order.  

You can start engaging with the ship as soon as you board but the story doesn't really start until 4pm.  We took the time to eat lunch once onboard.  I would advise eating before arrival and just having a quick snack upon arrival and to go on the first ship tour you can.  The tour is not a requirement but will give you fun tidbits of information that true fans will enjoy.  At 4pm you start with going to your muster station and you are welcomed aboard.  From here on, everything you do will contribute to the storyline.  While engaging with the ship and doing missions, you will require assistance.  You can not do some of the missions alone.  There are lots of things that require teamwork to accomplish throughout the story.  This encourages people to go outside of their group and get to know others on this adventure.  Don't be surprised if a random person asks you to call out number to them or to help them do a task that requires another set of hands.  It is all part of the experience. 

The 2 families wanted to do some items together so we went to guest services to get our bridge training and light saber training at the same time. They were very accommodating in getting us together for these items.  The only downside to being in 2 rooms is everything had to be book as a room.  We couldn't book Ogas at a party of 8, we had to do 2 reservations at the same time.  Because of this, if we wanted to sit together, we had to wait longer than normal as they were not prepared for another large group.  I would recommend just doing Ogas at the same time but sit where ever they put you. 

Keep an eye on your COMMS tab.  This is how you will know what missions you have and will help progress your storyline.  As you can see, sometimes you are told to find a particular character and they will tell you personally what to do next.   Events are your scheduled activities.  Make sure to check those items also.  Events are added as part of your missions and when you complete some activities. 

 

Immediately after muster, we were scheduled for our bridge tour.  Every bridge tour has something unique that happens and contributes to the storyline.  Enjoy your time and try to learn each part, you will need it for later.   

Our next activity, was a photo session.  We paid the $99 for the 30 min session and it was worth it.  We went to several locations on the ship and took some unique photos.  We did it back to back with the other family we were with and shared the time.  The photo session is for up to 8 people so we did all 8 of us for the hour so we could go to more locations.  Here is a sampling of photos.  

We were lucky enough to get a seating at the captains table for the first evening. The captain stayed at the table for maybe 20 minutes of dinner.  We got some extra food and drinks and a front row seat for the storyline progression.  It was worth the small price for the experience but it is not a must do.  We did get a memento to take home from the experience.  We had second seating for dinner.  I think I would recommend 1st seating to clients.  The story progresses a lot in the evenings and it would be a little less rushed coming from 1st seating.

On day 2, we were on one of the early transports to Batuu.  We went immediately to Rise of the Resistance and had no wait and then proceeded to Smugglers Run.  We did both in about 45 minutes.  The family we came with was about 10 mins later than us getting to the shuttles.  They took about 1.5 hours to get through the two rides.  While we had no-one in the lightning lane when we arrived at both locations, they had a more normal lightning lane wait time of 20 mins or so.  We did make reservations at Ogas.  It was a nice experience and you do get a mission if you go there.   We had our light saber training 1:45,  during the time you can be on Batuu.  We finished everything we needed to do and made it back without issue.  I took about an hour after the training to just rest and relax.  It was a good decision.  The story goes late into the evening and you will want to have your energy for this evening.  This is when all the biggest events happen and the fun is in full swing.    The video below is an example of one of the times we had a mission to distract the storm troopers.  

By the end of day two, I was exhausted.  You can not do it all!  If you get tired and need a break, I recommend going to the lounge and getting a drink.  You can relax while still being a part of the action.  While I was in the lounge, a girl about 10 years old came by with one of the characters.  She was obviously given the task to distract him and it was very entertaining to watch her.  The lounge is also right outside of the main storyline area so it is a good place to just hang out.  

Just like you train for Disney with all the walking, you may want to do that for the Starcruiser, but add in stairs. It is helpful to know a bit about Star Wars, but honestly, you can get by without it.  They story was a lot of fun and everyone had an amazing time. 

My son had to leave at 5:30am to make his flight.  They offered to pay for his Lyft to the airport as a credit on the room.  I don't know how long that will last, but it is happening at least for now.  We had a late fight so we stayed until we were one of the last to leave.  There is a small shop when you are leaving that closes at 10am.  When we got there, it was literally closing in 1 minute.  I suggest getting off at least by 9:45 if you want to look at the items in the small shop.  

All cars are valet parked and all luggage at check in is handled by cast members.  Please make sure to bring a little cash for those tips.  

If you have specific question, please leave them in the comments.  If you are ready to book your trip, email me Marilyn@Polkadotsnwishestravel.com .  I would love to help you plan this amazing adventure and give you the rest of my tips and tricks for making the most of your time on Disney's Galactic Starcruiser. 

VIP tour at Disney World

 I had the opportunity to join a family on their VIP tours on Feb. 10th 2022.  They were a party of 9 with 4 children under the age of 6, one teen and 4 adults, with me being the 5th adult making us a full 10 person tour.  For those who are unfamiliar with the pricing, you pay a set price for the tour and can include up to 10 people on the tour.  You pay the same price whether you have 1 person, 5 or max it out at 10 people for the tour.  
Before the tour, I went to Ohana for breakfast.  At this point I started my step count.  

After my late breakfast, I took the boat from the Polynesian to Magic Kingdom and arrived at the park at noon.  This left me an hour before I needed to meet up with the tour group.  I took this time to take a few photos with the photo pass photographers.  I also saw 3 cavalcades in that hour.  

This family decided to stay in Magic Kingdom for the day and end with fireworks.  The goal was to ride every ride (not do every attraction, no laugh floor for example) in that time.  We met at 1pm just outside of Tony's town square.  We did the 50th anniversary meet and greet with Mickey Mouse, then took a short cut to Tomorrow land and went on Buzz Lightyear, the People Mover and Space Mountain. One adult stayed with the smaller children for this ride.  We used lightning lanes for the meet and greet and Space Mountain.  We had pretty direct access for Buzz Lightyear and the People Mover.  The Astro Orbiter does not have any special access and you would need to use the regular line for it so it was skipped at this point.  The family had done a few rides prior to meeting the guide so we skipped Autopia,  Mickey's PhilharMagic (show), Dumbo and the Tea Cups.  Next stop was Seven Dwarves Mine Train and Winnie the Pooh rides, both using lightning lanes.  After the meet and greet and 5 rides it was 2:45pm.  We decided to ride SDMT a second time and the guide got us popcorn and drinks while we were on the ride. 

After this we took a bathroom break and went on Peter Pan and It's a Small World rides followed by Haunted Mansion.  For HM, we were able to go straight to the ride.  We decided to do the pre-show and went right into it, skipping all lines and then had a separate line to get on the ride.  We then walked to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad through the lightning lane. 3 of the children fell asleep in their strollers during this walk so the guide stayed with them while all the others rode the ride.   We had planned to go to Adventure land next but littlest ones would want to do those rides so we went back to Space Mountain, and so the one adult who did not ride the first time could ride. We stopped for ice cream along the way that we each paid for.  The guide again stayed with the younger children while we were in line and during SM.  After this ride we got more drinks from the guide and more popcorn.  

Next we finished up in Adventure land and rode Pirates of the Caribbean (LL) , Jungle Cruise (straight on) and Aladdins Flying Carpets (LL).  At this point we still had 90 minutes before the fireworks so the group went to ride BTMR a few times before the show.  I needed to do some shopping so I split off and got my items and got a hot dog at Caseys.  After the fireworks I took the boat back to the Polynesian and checked my step count.  I had about 15000 steps for the day.  This is just over half of what I do on a normal day at Disney World.  

I spoke to the guide about how other tours went and she said this was unusual.  Most people who do all day at one park either don't get there until just before the tour or want to ride a few rides repeatedly.  One group she had did SDMT 13 times before moving on to another ride.  She suggested the ideal relaxed paced day is all the big rides at HS and MK.  This hits all the big rides while not walking an excessive amount or feeling frantic.  This did seem like a great day to me and what I would recommend for most people.  Maybe add in Flights of Passage at Animal Kingdom because they can park very close to that ride so it's not hard to get in and out of AK for that one.  She said it is a great to start your day at AK and do the other rides and then meet at FOP to ride with the guide, then proceed to HS and end at MK.  

There are several ways to do a VIP tour and several types of groups who will benefit from this experience.  For example, if you have someone who would normally need an ECV to do the trip but they refuse to use one because of pride, this might be a good compromise.  I typically walk 25 to 30 thousand steps per day at Disney World. but only 15000 this day.  That is a huge difference.  Not crossing the parks makes it less stressful for everyone.  

There are other suggestions she gave me and thoughts on how to make the most of a VIP tour.  If you are interested in booking any Disney trips, I am here to help.  Contact me at Marilyn@Polkadotsnwishestravel.com

 

Puerto Vallarta October 2020

Puerto Vallarta Oct 2020
I traveled to Puerto Vallarta in October of 2020 to visit a lot of different resorts.  I will detail Secrets resort where I stayed in this post and give some general information about the trip. 

I boarded my Delta flight in San Francisco for my flight to Puerto Vallarta. While on the plane, you will receive 2 different forms to fill out.  One is a customs form and one form is for immigration.  You can fill out the immigration form online before you leave and print it out.  I prefer to do this so I don't have to find all the information while I am on the plane.  The immigration officials also prefer this form since it is typed and easier for them to read.  

https://www.mexicotouristcard.com

Once in Mexico, you will go through immigration, pick up your luggage and then exit customs. Here is the tricky part, no matter what anyone says, DO NOT STOP until you get outside. There will be time share people saying you must stop and talk to them about your transportation to the resort. This is not true. One person even told me that if I left the building before talking to them I would not be able to get to my resort as all transportation was handled with them. Many people fell for this and stopped to talk to them. Just keep walking and do not engage with them and you will be fine. Your travel agent (hopefully me) should have information on how to get picked up and to your resort if you have transfers scheduled. If you plan to take a taxi or Uber, you should also just keep walking past all of the time share workers.

Sign on the Malecon

I stayed at Secrets Resort and was met just outside of the airport by a representative from AM Resorts and they paid a taxi to take me to the resort. This may be different depending on your party size. I was traveling alone and he had recently sent the van with another group so this was the quickest way for me to get to the resort.

Secrets and Now
Secrets is the adults only property and Now is family friendly.  If you are staying at Secrets you can go to the Now side for free.  You have to pay an additional fee if you want to come to Secrets from Now. There is an amazing spa that is available to both Secrets and Now guests that is on the Secrets side. You do not need to pay the day fee for Secrets to use the spa, just the regular spa service costs.

Secrets
Secrets is an adults only resort and where I stayed during this trip. Upon first glance, it appeared it would be easy to hear and see the family side of the resort, but that was not my experience.  Unless I made an effort, I could not hear or see the family side, except from my balcony.   When I arrive, the staff welcomed me with water or beverage of my choice and then showed me to check in.  There were signs about COVID restrictions and people were following them for the most part.  

View of Now from my room

Check in was easy and the room was very clean.  All rooms at this resort are Ocean view.  My one big note about this room is that you do not have any way to block the view of the tub or shower from the rest of the room.  The only thing that is behind a door is the toilet. I would only go to this resort if you are comfortable undressing and showering in view of others in the room. All rooms have a balcony or swim up.  They had very nice soaps, shampoos, and other amenities in 4 oz bottles which is much larger than I am accustomed to.  They did twice daily service in the room.  

The food here was excellent in the speciality restaurants.  Room service was acceptable and available with no fees. The buffet was great for a quick and delicious breakfast.  Right now the specialty restaurants are not all open at the same time so check to make sure which days each is open.  I went to try the Italian restaurant on the Now side but it was closed so we went to the French restaurant instead.  

This hotel has several activities throughout the day like yoga, aerobics and karaoke.  
The wedding amenities were great, the entertainment was fantastic and the food was so fresh and delicious. I would recommend for a wedding. 

My last morning I went to the spa and did indoor hydrotherapy and got a massage.  They limited the number of people in the dressing room due to COVID.  The spa area is mixed gender.  This was my favorite part of the trip.  I was supposed to keep my mask on while not in the water and during the massage but the person during the massage told me I could take it  off if I wanted.  I think that will vary by therapist.  I preferred to keep mine on in such a close setting. 

You must check out of the room at the front desk and they will give you two forms.  You hand one to the bell hop and one to the guard at the gate upon leaving.  Please allow time for this process as I had to wait about 10 minutes for an agent to help.  I was picked up by a van and taken to the airpot with Iots of time to spare. I easily checked in and found my gate.  There are several food options both before and after security so you can eat on either side of security.  Some of the nicer locations are before security but plenty of good options behind security.

Now

Now is a family friendly resort.  All rooms are Ocean View.  The bathrooms have 2 vanities, a stand alone shower and a large garden tub.  There is a closet and some drawer space.  They are identical to the ones at Secrets except here, there is a way to close off the bathroom area from the bedroom area.  

Preferred club was the way to go here. The extra benefits were great. The continental breakfast, the upgraded amenities and more made preferred club worth the extra money. There are 2 specialty restaurants here and lots of activities.  The event space is shared with Secrets.  

Morning View from my balcony

On our first night we had a banquet style dinner with entertainment.  The show was very good and is who they typically use for weddings.  They did some English and some Spanish songs.  They were very good.  The food was excellent.  I even told them at the beginning I don’t like seafood or mustard and they accommodated me last minute by not serving me seafood dishes so some courses I did not have anything, or by subbing out if they could easily do so, like giving me a different type of dressing on my salad.  They were very discrete and very attentive.  I highly recommend this location for a banquet style event.  

I visited several other resorts on this trip including: 

Iberostar Playa Mita 
Grand Palladium
Family Selection

Hard Rock All Inclusive
RIU Palace Pacifica
Marival Emotions Resort
Villa Premier
Buenaventura Grand
Sunscape
Grand Velas 
Dreams Villamagna Nuevo

Let's get you booked at the resort that meets your needs!

Marilyn@PolkaDotsNWishesTravel.com

(512) 698-9312

Golden Triangle (2014) Agra, Jaipur and Delhi

We were invited to a wedding in Agra and decided this would be a great opportunity to visit The Golden Triangle.  The Golden Triangle consist of Delhi, Agra (Taj Mahal) and Jaipur.  We invited our friend Catie to come along with us since she was in India for a community service project that ended just as we started our trip. 

On Saturday we started the trip in Delhi and took the express way to Agra. 

On Sunday we got up early and we were at the Taj Mahal for sunrise.  It was a great time to visit.  The crowd level was low and the view was spectacular.  The only down side was the water was drained from the pools.

You can see the reflection even with the water drained

The extra person is a friend from the USA

If you pay the foreign price it includes these to put over your shoes instead of removing your shoes.  I guess after Slumdog Millionaire people did not want to leave their shoes. 

No gas powered cars are allowed near the Taj Mahal so we got to ride this electric vehicle.

After the Taj, we went back to the hotel for breakfast.  Then we went to the Agra Fort and shopping. We have not purchased very many items from India to keep as "forever" souvenirs and this trip we decided to look for some of those types of items.  N really liked a marble chess set so we decided to get that as an item he can keep in his life forever.  B decided he really wanted a rug for his room so we purchased a small handmade rug made of yak's wool.  No, I did not pick out the rug. B was set on this particular rug and loves having it in his room.

We needed to return to the hotel in time to shower and change for the wedding that evening.  We all dressed in our best Indian outfits to dance in the street for 90 mins as we walked to the wedding venue.  The boys had a great time.  Unfortunately, the wedding was late and by the time we reached the wedding venue B was exhausted and wanted to go back to the hotel.  He was hungry so I stopped by McDonald's, in my sari, to pick up some food.  I am use to being stared at in India but this was a whole new level. Every head turned as I approached and I swear I think I saw a jaw drop.  As I was waiting for the food, two girls in their early 20's came up to me and said that I looked very Indian. It was a very unique experience.  Ken and my other son stayed at the wedding until midnight and had a great time.   

Monday we went to Jaipur, the pink city. We settled in for the night at the Marriott in Jaipur.  We really enjoyed the Marriott, the breakfast and dinner buffets were both excellent.  I highly recommend this hotel.

Tuesday we took an elephant ride to the top of the Red Fort.   It was not a good experience.  One of the elephants was very slow and the handler hit the elephant to the point of bleeding. 

I think our guide was not very knowledgable about the Red Fort and the elephant incident was not pleasant.  Others I know have thought the Red Fort was better than the Taj Mahal but not for us. 

Afterwards, we stopped to look at the Red Fort from a distance and we had a surprise celebration unfold.  A group of about 20 teenagers got out of a truck and started throwing colored powder, dancing and singing.  After about 5 mins they took and Idol and submerged it in the river.

We also went to an observatory.  It was one of my favorite places on this trip.  It has a working sun dial that is accurate to within 3 minutes.  It was huge.  I don't remember when it was built but well before North America was discovered by Europeans.  

We also visited an open air Mosque.  Normally women are not allowed inside a Mosque but since it is open air they make an exception sometimes.  They will inspect you to ensure you are properly covered before entering.  Notice the drape over B's legs and our friend is completely covered.  I think I barely made it through with my 3/4 sleeves and capri pants.  This is a group of men from Kashmir who, according to the translator,  had never seen a white person and asked to take pictures with us. 

 We then visited Delhi.  We visited many places but it was a let down overall.  I liked the Lotus Temple and the Gandi museum.  Nothing else is a must see in my opinion.  There is plenty that will keep you busy but nothing that I would go out of my way to see.  I do wish we would have been able to make it to Toilet museum.  I know that sounds strange but I was told it is very interesting by many but it is not near anything else we wanted to do so we had to miss it.  If we head back up that way will will have to see it.

Lotus Temple

We really enjoyed our trip to the Golden Triangle.  It was a fantastic experience and I highly recommend it as a bucket list trip.  You will never forget the experience. 

Beijing and Xi'an China 2014

 Ken is working off and on in China and so we decided to take a week and visit Beijing.

 The first thing to know, is to bring a mask.  The pollution is horrible and a mask is a necessity unless you want to get a respiratory infection.  The second thing you need to know if you are taking this trip is to be sure you have your hotel's name and direction written in Mandarin before you land.  You will need this for the cab driver.

After 12 hours in transit we arrived at the Beijing airport and went to grab a cab.  Along the way we had several people ask if we need a cab.  Do NOT ever go with these people.  They will take you to their car which is technically a limo service.  They will charge you 4-8 times the cost of a regular cab.  If you follow the directions for a taxi you will arrive at an area that has two different lines.  One is the regular taxi line and the other is for "special" cars that you will need to negotiate your price.  Again, this second line will cost you considerably more. Make sure you know which line you are in before hand.  We got to the hotel and went to dinner with a coworker of Ken's.

Saturday we went on a full day tour.  We started the day at the Great Wall where we took a long walk and then went down to the bottom on a toboggan.  After lunch we went to the Forbidden City and an acrobats show.

Part of the toboggan ride

Chairlift to The Great Wall

On the wall with Ken's coworkers

They were filming scenes for a movie.  Rumor is it was for Transformers.  I liked this because there is a Texas longhorns emblem on some of the equipment. 

 When we went to the Forbidden city we stopped out front to take a picture.  EVERYONE got out their cameras to take this picture.  At least 20 people had their camera's out taking pictures of the crazy people. 

Sunday was our one pollution free day in Beijing.  We went to the park across from the Forbidden city for a great view of the Forbidden City then we went to Silk Street. Ken and I were in Beijing in 1999 and the silk street market was extremely different.  When we first went to Silk Street is was a bunch of stalls along the street.  This time it was more like a permanent fleamarket inside a 5 story building.  Just not the same feel as before.

 We did some general touring of Beijing and a friend of a friend took me to several places the local expats go.  We found a few items we can not get in India and brought back a suitcase full of goodies.  It was a completely different experience going on a trip to China and knowing someone who is living there versus simply touring the city.  With such a large network of expat friends, I think I will have more trips where I will know a person in the city or at least a friend of a friend, and in expat circles, that makes you a friend.

McDonalds across from the Silk Street Market  

 Ken and I did not see the Terra Cotta Warriors when we toured in 1999 so we decided on Tuesday to book a trip to Xian.  We booked the overnight sleeper train for Thursday evening, toured Xian on Friday and took the overnight sleeper train back Friday night for a flight back to Bangalore on Saturday afternoon.  It was a whirlwind trip that was fantastic.  Ken and the boys all say the Terra Cotta Warriors were the highlight of the entire trip to China.

 After seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors, we went to the city center of Xi'an and rode around the top of the original city wall.  It took us just over an hour to complete the circuit without a break.  Ken and I decide to ride a two person bike. 

After the day in Xi'an we rode the sleeper train back to Beijing.  The next day the three of us left Beijing leaving Ken for one more week.  It is definitely a place I highly recommend visiting but I don't think I could ever live there with all the pollution.