Back from 8 days at DL - stayed at HOJO Kids Suite

[Kauinohea]

We checked in to Hojo on July 24 and checked out on Aug 1. It was a FANTASTIC stay. We were bummed at first with having to wait until a little after 4 to check in and for the crib and a little closet issue, but those things turned out to be minor issues.

Kids Suite:
Fabulous spacing with the most comfortable KING pillow top bed. We literally slept as if we were on a cloud! Having 2 bathrooms, and 2 TVs were great. The rooms were so spacious for the 5 of us. Micro and fridge were super convenient. We took out the shelf and was able to fit two 1/2 gallons of milk (on the side) eggs, cheese, micro bacon, veggies and fruits plus room for water and ice packs. I purchased a micro egg cooker/bowl from Walmart and we made our own egg mc muffins in the morning and snack. We had groceries delivered from Vons which was so convenient. Saved so much money on water and snacks.

I was so worried about the walk....IT WAS NOTHING. Not one complaint from my 8 or 10 year old. We walked back for breaks everyday with no problem at all. We crossed the street and walked on the DL side to avoid both the people and car traffic.

Mimi's:
CONVENIENT, Terrific portions, very tasty and tons of coupons! I registered all of us and had 5 breakfast coupons and 5 free desserts. You can call ahead to take out. The breakfast ciabatta sandwich is so yummy!

Ranforest Cafe:
This was our favorite restaurant. I loved the chinese chicken salad. The portion was so huge that I could share it with DH. We ate here twice and made use of the $10 off coupon....shared one with the family next to us too

DL:
We were early birds and used Ridemax. With all the tips here - we never stood in line for longer than 10 -15 minutes. Literally!!! The longest wait we had was for Aladdin. We usually always walked on by using fastpasses and child switch. We left the park every day to take a break at the wonderful HOJO pirates cove.

We rode everything we wanted to, multiple times - with the exception of Toy Story Midway Mania - never made it on that one because we were not willing to wast our time in line (so spoiled.. I know)
We watched bugs life, Crush, Alladin, Pixar parade, Celebrate parade and Electrical parade and loved them all! Pixar was the kids favorite.

Fantasmic Priority Seating:
THIS IS SO WORTH IT! I stood in line at 7:00 to get us front row seats while DH took the kids on more rides. We loved being able to sit on actual chairs and not be so cramped with everyone else. We ate all the grapes, crackers and cheese, but hardly touched the sweets. It was way too much and they should really consider having more fruit or a sandwich instead of all the sweets.

Character Buffets:
#1 - GOOFY's Kitchen!!!! We loved this. Food was excellent and largest variety. Character interaction was great. Worth the price and would definately do again.
#2 - Storytellers - The food quality was great, but the characters were minimal - would not do again
#3- Minnie and friends - Food was not good. Everything was bland and cold, but the character interaction was great. Would not do again
#4 - Lilo and Stich - So dissapointing. Food was terrible with such a limited selection. Characters were scarce - would definately not do again.

We were so close to getting APs...but at the last minute decided to wait to return until Cal Adventures is complete in 2011.

Any questions? Thank you to everyone for all of the tips and strategy information that you post. It made our stay so easy going and enjoyable without any stress. You could see the stress on some of the faces around us. People looked so disgusted standing in the long lines! If only they did their research on the DIS boards

[Czardas]

Thanks for all the information on your trip, there where some useful tips there.
I agree with you regarding the sweets with priority seating for Fantasmic, this is one of the reasons I am holding back booking it. I am more a savoury person and even though DH would eat some(even though he is meant to be on a Gluten Free diet), he couldn't possibly eat all of it. We then fly out early Saturday morning so not possible to take with us.
Your idea of fruit, cheese and sandwich would be more appealing, with of course a chocolate strawberry or two.

[Kayla's Mom]

Glad you had fun! Question regarding the Mimi's Cafe breakfast coupons -- can you use more than one coupon at a time?

[Hawleys]

Great report Kauinohea!
Glad to hear that you were able to get around the super long lines using Dis tips and Ridemax.

[Hojoanaheim]

YAY!

I'm sooo glad that you had a good stay with us, and such a good trip! I've never done PS for Fantasmic, and I think maybe it's time!

Lorealle

[Kauinohea]

Originally Posted by Kayla's Mom

Glad you had fun! Question regarding the Mimi's Cafe breakfast coupons -- can you use more than one coupon at a time?

Yes...they let us use one for each person. We got 5 meals free and only paid for drinks and a kids meal.

[Kayla's Mom]

Originally Posted by Kauinohea

Yes...they let us use one for each person. We got 5 meals free and only paid for drinks and a kids meal.

Wow!! Good to know, thanks!

[cannp123165]

It sounds like you had a great time!

[bardays]

Originally Posted by Kayla's Mom

Wow!! Good to know, thanks!

staying ar Hojo in October and will definatley be visiting Mimi's
Where did you get the coupons?

thanks

[Sherry E]

It's so funny how two different families can have such different experiences at the same place! I love Goofy's Kitchen and always have - for exactly the reasons you stated, Kauinohea- and I am so glad you had a wonderful time there, but another family just returned from DLR also and ate at Goofy's and didn't like it at all, didn't like the food, didn't like the character interacton, etc. but they loved Minnie & Friends!! I always find that so funny that people can have two totally opposing opinions of the same experience. Like I always say, I think it all boils down to personal taste and preferences! But I am glad that Goofy's went over well for you.

I wish you had taken the time to wait in line for Toy Story in the 8 days you were there!! It would have been so worth it! Last year, I was reluctant about the line at first too, but it moves quickly (like when it says 40 minutes for a wait, it never takes 40 minutes to get on the ride) and it is now my absolute FAVORITE ride in DCA, and probably my favorite ride in DLR in general at the present moment. I can't go to DLR and NOT ride TSMM. If I only had time to ride 2 rides in a day at DLR, TSMM would be one of them. It is addictive, and I think you all would have loved it.

I also love Rain Forest Cafe!

Glad to hear you had such a wonderful time overall!

[Sarah84]

Interested where you got the Mimi's coupon too? and the rainforest cafe one?

Sound sliek you had a great trip

[6Smiles]

Kauinohea-
Thank you so much for your review of the Hojo's kids suite and also about the size of the refrigerator I had been wondering about that. I am getting so excited to stay here for our March trip.

Thank you so much for all your reviews, I am updating my lists!

[DangerMouse]

Originally Posted by Sherry E

I I always find that so funny that people can have two totally opposing opinions of the same experience.

Sherry, I hate to disagree, but obviously they aren't having opposing opinions on the "same" experience. One person obviously had a good experience, while the other person did not. I have heard yours and many others' glowing recommendations of GK, but I can vouch that my experience was not the same at all.

My experience: The service was awful, no waiter showed up at our table until 20 min after we were seated, the character action was nill, and the food I put on my plate was not good. I felt that once they collected my money at the front counter, they could have cared less about my experience. The people at the table next to us may have been seated quickly, been attended to immediately by a waiter, explained how the buffet works, and had many characters visit before we even showed up. They may have even thought the pb&j pizza was awesome. Me? notsomuch. . .

See? Different experiences.

[Kayla's Mom]

Originally Posted by bardays

staying ar Hojo in October and will definatley be visiting Mimi's
Where did you get the coupons?

thanks

Here is the link for Mimi's:

http://www.mimiscafe.com/EClub.aspx

I believe people have said that after you sign up the coupon is only good for a couple of weeks, just FYI.

[Sherry E]

Originally Posted by DangerMouse

Sherry, I hate to disagree, but obviously they aren't having opposing opinions on the "same" experience. One person obviously had a good experience, while the other person did not. I have heard yours and many others' glowing recommendations of GK, but I can vouch that my experience was not the same at all.

My experience: The service was awful, no waiter showed up at our table until 20 min after we were seated, the character action was nill, and the food I put on my plate was not good. I felt that once they collected my money at the front counter, they could have cared less about my experience. The people at the table next to us may have been seated quickly, been attended to immediately by a waiter, explained how the buffet works, and had many characters visit before we even showed up. They may have even thought the pb&j pizza was awesome. Me? notsomuch. . .

See? Different experiences.

No, what I meant was the Goofy's Kitchen experience as a whole. Obviously everyone can have their own individual experiences at the same places, but I meant that term as Goofy's being its own entity, just like I say to non-Disney friends, "the Disneyland experience," even though we all have our own experiences with it.

Anyway, the OP enjoyed Goofy's, so that is the important thing!! It is not an issue of whether or not to try it - she has already been there, and loved it.