Here is a mini review of our stay 6/7-6/17:
We had a queen deluxe in the main building overlooking the courtyard, so lovely views of the fountain and pool. The construction did not impact our stay, it was most noticeable at the beach pool but it did not bother us. We rented a cabana for a half day. There is a temp. bar set up at the beach pool. The courtyard pool was very crowded during our stay, we also used it more than we usually do. Played lots of ping pong.
Our room was lovely, and not as worn as our room during a previous stay although the bedspread was very tired looking. It was very clean. We again had a Keurig. I am completely baffled by this as no one else has reported having one and we have had them on all our stays since May 2010 I believe ( I am glad as I love the tea).
Our room was ready within a few minutes of our check in about 1:30pm, that evening we had a lovely amenity delivered and our turn down hostess put out our GF slippers, filled our ice bucket and closed the draperies. We do enjoy coming back to a room that has been prepared for the evening.
Our only GF dining was Citricos and private dining. The food in the lounge was fabulous this trip. The croissants and most other pastries are now being made at GF. The croissants were significantly better. Also, I don't know if I am just late in seeing this or if it just started but the lounge is now stocked with Sprite Zero and caffeine Diet Coke. As an aside we had the best breakfast at Tusker House, it was much better food wise than Crystal Palace and very well organized inside the restaurant for early morning diners like us who like to get out a little before 9am.
Except for the change to adding a pastry chef for the lounge breakfast and snacks were the same. Evening offerings included: duck pot stickers, fried ravioli, coconut shrimp, different sushi rolls plus all the normal offerings. We really enjoyed the eveing food and for some reason one evening for the children's choice they had the most delicious ham and cheese mini sandwiches. Maybe I was just in the mood for a cold sandwich but they stood out and they just were a kids version with american cheese on white bread with no crusts. Maybe because I don't let myself eat things like this at home. Anyway, the food just seemed fresher was constantly replenished and wonderful overall. My kids did complain that there were no brownies for the dessert offering this trip but I did not remember them anyway.
The monorail was down on a few afternoons as we were leaving MK. I don't know if this was construction related or just one of the now too frequent problems. We like to take the boat back anyway so this was of no consequence. They did have the larger boats servicing the resorts during these time periods so it may have been planned.
The CM's in the lounge were wonderful as usual and wonderful to my kids who just like to sit and chat Disney with them. Service at the resort and parks seems to be just a step above recent visits, all the CM's were very friendly and upbeat. Lots of tired and cranky guests in the parks. Everyone in the lounge wore appropriate attire and most of the children were supervised and/or well mannered.
Our only real complaint: valet service was very slow and disorganized on this trip. Was proud of my DD12, her keycard for elevator did not work one day when she was returning from the pool by herself but she solved her problem. She called my cell but I was in the pool and did not hear it. So she went to the front desk told them she needed a new key etc. They asked for ID
she told them she was 12 and did not have an identification card but gave them her room number and name on the reservation, home address and they issued her a new card.
We really enjoyed our stay even more than the last despite the construction. Will try to answer any questions, I do have some photos of construction and will look into how to post them.
Can't wait to read all about it!
Thank you for the hug 
we will definitely be visiting on Wednesday. I am super curious as to the progress of the construction.
So happy to see you, my friend.
I also think a refurb of Gaspirillas (with hopefully more seating) and Sandy Cove sounds great. I guess we are all going to have to be patient with all the construction, but when it is done the GF should be amazing!
When the online reservation system first started, the tea room was unavailable; I have been able to book online a couple trips, but it's possible they have gone back to phone bookings.
