BlueFairy
08-25-2002, 05:10 PM
Hi all!
Like many others, I'd love to give back in return for all the great tips I received on this board. We just returned from 6 nights at PO-FQ last night. I loved our stay here. We checked in at around 4pm on Sun. There was a 5 min. wait and the CMs were super helpful and patient with our questions. We got our room request except for bldg #. We got 2nd floor non-smoking connecting rooms in bldg. 4. 4242 and 4241. Both doubles (4242 is a corner room with 2 windows). We were on "Rue d'Baga" facing the courtyard between bldg. 5 and 6. Very short walk to food court and buses, pool and laundry, as well as parking for the car. Much quieter than 1st floor. Also, ice was right nearby. I can't complain about our room location. My only complaint was I did think the hot water supply was barely acceptable. I never had what I consider a hot shower (any time of day). There were sporadic times of heat followed by cool or luke warm. Still, it got the job done.
The CM's were all great here. Very helpful bell staff, gift shop folks, and front desk staff. Also the phone operators were obsessive about saying "Have a magical day!" always. We did get Stitch wake-up calls, but they were hit and miss. Sometimes, no character at all. Apparently there were technical difficulties.
The pool bartender, John, was excellent. He remembered our names everytime after our first visit. Also, I can't tell you how great the housekeeper was. Always more soap, shampoo and towels than we could use. Our room was always ready when we came from the parks. She did wake us one morning, but was very apologetic and nice. We got the ironing board and iron within 15 min. after calling for it.
The laundry area was good for a laundromat. $2 each for a wash or dry cycle. I had no problem getting a machine at 4:30 on a Thurs. I took a mesh laundry bag and that worked nicely.
The food court layout is much improved (see my dining review on restaurant board), but the choices seem the same. We enjoyed everything we ate here. Get the mugs, they pay for themselves easily in 4-5 days.
The pool was great, busy but never packed. The hot tub was hot, but the jets didn't work. Still good for soaking my feet. One night they did close the pool because the sidewalk lights were not working. Don't know how long, but eventually the got them working and reopened it.
A note about mosquitos: I have never had bug problems at Disney. We arrived and there was a nice letter in the room explaining that they spray nightly for mosquitos in WDW, but that the Florida Health Dept (I think) requires that you be acknowledged of risk for West Nile virus. It was lengthy and informative and very polite, without diminishing the seriousness of the issue. However, never having had a bug problem there, and not having a compromised immune system, as well as knowing of the spray, we promptly ignored the issue altogether. Mistake. We encountered mosquitos all over WDW. Take your Cutter's and use it, esp. at night! We were bitten many times, but no one got sick. Just itchy!!!
As for transportation, that met or exceeded our expectations. I was prepared for the worst and armed with estimations of travel times from laughingplace.com. That came in handy, but I must say we had no bus problems. We did rely on our car quite a lot to go between resorts for dining. Bus service to DTD and the parks was efficient, if not speedy. We never waited for a bus for longer than maybe 15 min. We were first on and first off. We did share with Riverside except for the MK bus. Do keep in mind that all AK buses go to Blizzard Beach from the resort. Also, returning from DTD there is a Typhoon Lagoon stop. The DTD loop was always slow, but better than the BW - DTD loop, which was a nightmare in 1999. Most of the time the buses weren't crowded. Only people standing on isolated occasions. My advice is know ahead of time how long the route takes and plan accordingly. Maybe we were satisfied because we were knowledgeable and never tried to rush it. Our bus drivers were mostly very safe and courteous, too. Only one seemed annoyed. (Also an improvement over our 1999 BWV experience).
We tried to use the boat to DTD on Wed. night but were unsuccessful. Either it was running, but the times weren't posted, or it was closed due to rain earlier in the evening. We took the bus instead. We did notice the boats running the next day quite frequently.
I think that covers all the bases. Please ask if you have questions! And thanks to everyone for helping us plan a great trip!
Like many others, I'd love to give back in return for all the great tips I received on this board. We just returned from 6 nights at PO-FQ last night. I loved our stay here. We checked in at around 4pm on Sun. There was a 5 min. wait and the CMs were super helpful and patient with our questions. We got our room request except for bldg #. We got 2nd floor non-smoking connecting rooms in bldg. 4. 4242 and 4241. Both doubles (4242 is a corner room with 2 windows). We were on "Rue d'Baga" facing the courtyard between bldg. 5 and 6. Very short walk to food court and buses, pool and laundry, as well as parking for the car. Much quieter than 1st floor. Also, ice was right nearby. I can't complain about our room location. My only complaint was I did think the hot water supply was barely acceptable. I never had what I consider a hot shower (any time of day). There were sporadic times of heat followed by cool or luke warm. Still, it got the job done.
The CM's were all great here. Very helpful bell staff, gift shop folks, and front desk staff. Also the phone operators were obsessive about saying "Have a magical day!" always. We did get Stitch wake-up calls, but they were hit and miss. Sometimes, no character at all. Apparently there were technical difficulties.
The pool bartender, John, was excellent. He remembered our names everytime after our first visit. Also, I can't tell you how great the housekeeper was. Always more soap, shampoo and towels than we could use. Our room was always ready when we came from the parks. She did wake us one morning, but was very apologetic and nice. We got the ironing board and iron within 15 min. after calling for it.
The laundry area was good for a laundromat. $2 each for a wash or dry cycle. I had no problem getting a machine at 4:30 on a Thurs. I took a mesh laundry bag and that worked nicely.
The food court layout is much improved (see my dining review on restaurant board), but the choices seem the same. We enjoyed everything we ate here. Get the mugs, they pay for themselves easily in 4-5 days.
The pool was great, busy but never packed. The hot tub was hot, but the jets didn't work. Still good for soaking my feet. One night they did close the pool because the sidewalk lights were not working. Don't know how long, but eventually the got them working and reopened it.
A note about mosquitos: I have never had bug problems at Disney. We arrived and there was a nice letter in the room explaining that they spray nightly for mosquitos in WDW, but that the Florida Health Dept (I think) requires that you be acknowledged of risk for West Nile virus. It was lengthy and informative and very polite, without diminishing the seriousness of the issue. However, never having had a bug problem there, and not having a compromised immune system, as well as knowing of the spray, we promptly ignored the issue altogether. Mistake. We encountered mosquitos all over WDW. Take your Cutter's and use it, esp. at night! We were bitten many times, but no one got sick. Just itchy!!!
As for transportation, that met or exceeded our expectations. I was prepared for the worst and armed with estimations of travel times from laughingplace.com. That came in handy, but I must say we had no bus problems. We did rely on our car quite a lot to go between resorts for dining. Bus service to DTD and the parks was efficient, if not speedy. We never waited for a bus for longer than maybe 15 min. We were first on and first off. We did share with Riverside except for the MK bus. Do keep in mind that all AK buses go to Blizzard Beach from the resort. Also, returning from DTD there is a Typhoon Lagoon stop. The DTD loop was always slow, but better than the BW - DTD loop, which was a nightmare in 1999. Most of the time the buses weren't crowded. Only people standing on isolated occasions. My advice is know ahead of time how long the route takes and plan accordingly. Maybe we were satisfied because we were knowledgeable and never tried to rush it. Our bus drivers were mostly very safe and courteous, too. Only one seemed annoyed. (Also an improvement over our 1999 BWV experience).
We tried to use the boat to DTD on Wed. night but were unsuccessful. Either it was running, but the times weren't posted, or it was closed due to rain earlier in the evening. We took the bus instead. We did notice the boats running the next day quite frequently.
I think that covers all the bases. Please ask if you have questions! And thanks to everyone for helping us plan a great trip!