Back home after two wonderful weeks - Highs and Lows

[VailaTigger]

Hello all!

Well... we're back. And I'm back at work today.
We had an amazing two weeks. I'll do a proper trip report soon, but here are some highs and lows.

We stayed in AKL for two weeks, had the 14 day Ultimate tickets, and DDP (for the first time)

Highs
* Just being there generally!
* The food... Oh the food! Loved every meal we had, ate far too much, but really loved the 'special' things we did - dinner at Artist Point, and afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian. Also still LOVE the buffet at Tusker House, and Boma.
* Doing Character meals for the first time, so much fun!
* Quiet parks (though not as quiet as I've experienced in previous September visits)
* The Cast Members - were all amazing. So chatty, friendly, happy, and really made our days special.
* Some of the other visitors who we got chatting to on the bus, again lovely people.
* AKL, we loved staying there.
* Pixie dust. On our last day a lovely couple stopped us on our way into Epcot and gave us two fastpasses for Soarin' that they weren't going to use. So nice of them, and we LOVED getting to ride Soarin' one last time.
* The character interaction was fab, only a couple of characters seemed to struggle with interacting with adults rather than kids.
Pretty much everything could be considered a high!

Lows (more 'observations' than lows, nothing actually spoiled our trip at all!)
* Bumpy flight on the way out, no-one's fault, but I did end up feeling rather rough.
* Rain! It rained nearly every day at some point. Didn't stop us doing anything, but not what I was expecting. We bought ponchos, which I've not had to do since 2001!
* Rude people - line jumping, bad behaviour, bad attitude. There were lots of Spanish speaking and Portuguese speaking people there, no idea where they were from, but boy could they do with some lessons in manners and the Disney spirit... As could the French and German speaking people I encountered.
* Parks were busier than I had experienced in September before, afternoon ride times for a few things were above my 20 minute limit but the parks were by no means as busy as my April visit.
* Menu changes from last time - I know they have to refresh the menus, but unfortunately this seems to include making the vegetarian choices not as adventurous or exciting as they used to be. And STILL only one veggie choice on menus! Wouldn't hurt to have two, would it?

That's all I have time to write for now, if anyone has any questions, please just ask away, and I'll try to write more soon!

Vaila

 

[UKDEB]

Wonderful to hear from someone with the right attitude to it all! I refuse to sweat the small stuff - it's all over far too quickly, so I'd rather be chilling and making happy memories. Sounds as though you had a blast.

 

[wayneg]

Welcome home

We really enjoyed our afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian, great experience.

Glad you enjoyed the DDP, we just did it for the 4th time, changes in menus meant I didn't enjoy it quite as much this time. I think we need a break from it, eaten about 75 TS meals in Disney over the past 4 years, looking forward to offsite dining again next month.

 

[madmumof2]

Great to hear so many highs! I'm the same, little niggles won't bother me but I do hope the weather improves!

The sun and heat is one of the main reasons for going for us so we'll be gutted if it's miserable :S

 

[VailaTigger]

Thanks folks!

Yeah, we don't sweat the little things, just smile, and carry on!

I missed something off my 'highs'
*We were given little tokens of our stay throughout the two weeks, because it was our honeymoon. Nothing big or flashy, but really made our stay, as we weren't expecting them. Happily ever after buttons, light-up Tinkerbell clips, Mickey head shaped straws etc, and my favourite, a gorgeous fresh rose from our Afternoon Tea in the GF. Most of them came home with us (the rose didn't)! So many CM's wished us congratulations each day too, it was lovely.

The DDP was great, but it's a lot of food! We did spend every credit, but most of our snack credits went on drinks and ice creams. It seemed to work for us using the QS credit for breakfast, a snack credit around lunchtime for a drink or some ice cream, then our TS for dinner. Some days we had a TS lunch, so it would be a snack breakfast, and a QS dinner. Some days we'd share a QS meal, and some days I used snack credits for breakfast while DH had a QS breakfast. I'm sure there would be people out there throwing their hands up in horror that we didn't spend our credits 'cost-effectively' (in other words on the most expensive things ), but it worked for us just fine. Hope they have more free dining offers in 2 or 3 years when we can go back again.

Oh, it was still hot, believe me. I was still sticking to my clothes by lunchtime every day and I got burned to a crisp despite it being cloudy the couple of hours we spent in Typhoon Lagoon... I could have done with just a bit less rain perhaps. Hope the weather picks up for those of you going out soon. The forecast was for more 'autumnal' weather... which for them is 85 degrees and sunny

 

[dixonsontour]

Welcome back, sounds like you had a fantastic honeymoon

 

[K8T]

Thank you for posting, it sounds a lovely trip.

We go in a few weeks and was interested to hear about afternoon tea at the GF, could you use your dining plan for that?

Look forward to the Trip Report.

 

[wayneg]

Thank you for posting, it sounds a lovely trip.

We go in a few weeks and was interested to hear about afternoon tea at the GF, could you use your dining plan for that?

Look forward to the Trip Report.

No DDP for afternoon tea. You have to pay OOP.
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/garden-view-tea-room/

Pics from our visit in 2010
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2524489&page=23

You might struggle to get a reservation if you go in a few weeks. We tried a couple of trips to get a reservation, its very popular.

 

[Lesleyluvsdisney]

Hello all!


* Parks were busier than had experienced in September before, afternoon ride times for a few things were above my 20 minute limit but the parks were by no means as busy as my April visit.

* Menu changes from last time - I know they have to refresh the menus, but unfortunately this seems to include making the vegetarian choices not as adventurous or exciting as they used to be. And STILL only one veggie choice on menus! Wouldn't hurt to have two, would it?

That's all I have time to write for now, if anyone has any questions, please just ask away, and I'll try to write more soon!

Vaila

Hi

Glad you had a great trip. Can I just ask a quick question? For the past 11 visits we've been going mid/end sept into October and have enjoyed the 10 minute or so waits for rides etc. we are going 7th April next year and I'm stressing about just how busy it will be? I'm also a vegetarian. Was there a massive change?

Thanks x
I

 

[Emjem]

Sounds like you had a lovely honeymoon We'll be going in 5 weeks, staying in AKL and also have the DDP. We have never used the DDP before so are a little unsure how it works, probably a silly question but can you choose anything off the menus or is it only for specific meals? How do you go about paying gratuity?
Also what room did you have at AKL? we've booked a pool view room but looking at the plans we won't be directly over looking the pool as it looks like its surrounded in lovely landscaping/trees.

 

[VailaTigger]

As Wayne says, Afternoon tea at the GF isn't covered by the dining plan. Our bill I think came to around $50 with tip (ish!) for two of us. You might not get a reservation, but doesn't hurt to try.

Wait times in April (during Easter school holidays) went MUCH higher than 10 mins! But with a bit of planning & common sense we didn't wait much more than 20 mins for most things. There might have been one wait of 30 mins. Go to parks on their quiet days, get up early & be there for opening, hit the big crowd pullers first, then slow the pace for the other attractions. Do something else in the afternoons (hotel pool, sit with a cold drink in the parks, shop, etc) then do some more when the afternoon crowds ease a little. Book your meals in advance and/or eat at slightly odd times. It's not as relaxed as quiet season touring, but still perfectly possible!

I've had to change to going in school holiday times, but April 2010 wasn't as scary or as bad as I thought it would be, due to touring like the above. Hope this helps!! Good luck!!

 

[VailaTigger]

Oh, and I still had plenty to eat & had some really fab meals. Just seemed to eat more pasta and mushrooms this visit, LOL! My favourites were Tusker House, Boma, Sanaa, Crystal Palace, Artist Point. TBH I'd eat at all our restaurants again, I just missed some of the tofu dishes I got in 2010.

 

[Lesleyluvsdisney]

Thank you x

 

[VailaTigger]

AKL is a gorgeous resort, and yes the pool has trees and landscaping around it. Depends on the room, but it probably won't be a complete 'view'. We had a car park view, but it didn't bother us, as all we did was sleep in it ;-) it was still a really lovely room. I'd stay at AKL again in a heartbeat.

DDP works on a 'credit' system - per person you get 1 snack credit, 1 quick service (counter service) credit, and 1 table service (waiter service) credit - per night of your stay. So for the 2 of us for a 14 night stay we had 28 of each between us. You don't have to spend them as one a day, you can use them up as it suits you. Some days we used lots of snacks, other days we used more table service, sometimes we'd share a counter service.

Table service credit covers Entree, Desert, soft drink.
Quick service covers the same (unless breakfast when there's no dessert)
A snack is pretty much anything under $5

So anything on the menu from those categories is included. You can still order other things, you just pay for them (ie alcohol, appetisers).

Tips are not included, you just add them to the bill & pay as normal. Tips are only needed at table service places, and only if you are happy with the service!

Think that's all answers now... Happy to answer anything else!

 

[PJB71]

welcome home glad to hear you had a fantastic time

 

[Emjem]

AKL is a gorgeous resort, and yes the pool has trees and landscaping around it. Depends on the room, but it probably won't be a complete 'view'. We had a car park view, but it didn't bother us, as all we did was sleep in it ;-) it was still a really lovely room. I'd stay at AKL again in a heartbeat.

DDP works on a 'credit' system - per person you get 1 snack credit, 1 quick service (counter service) credit, and 1 table service (waiter service) credit - per night of your stay. So for the 2 of us for a 14 night stay we had 28 of each between us. You don't have to spend them as one a day, you can use them up as it suits you. Some days we used lots of snacks, other days we used more table service, sometimes we'd share a counter service.

Table service credit covers Entree, Desert, soft drink.
Quick service covers the same (unless breakfast when there's no dessert)
A snack is pretty much anything under $5

So anything on the menu from those categories is included. You can still order other things, you just pay for them (ie alcohol, appetisers).

Tips are not included, you just add them to the bill & pay as normal. Tips are only needed at table service places, and only if you are happy with the service!

Think that's all answers now... Happy to answer anything else!

Thankyou so much, this will be our fourth visit to Disney but our first time staying at AKL with the dining plan, looking forward to some lovely meals

 

[disneyholic family]

regarding vegetarian and the one choice per menu - the chef will prepare you something special if you don't like what's on the menu..

plus you can always order a veggie burger even if it's not on the menu...
every table service restaurant has access to veggie burgers..

but the chef will always prepare you something special if you ask...

 

[DISWolves]

A quickie........regards GF afternoon tea.
Do they serve coffee as an alternative as I do not drink tea.

 

[wayneg]

A quickie........regards GF afternoon tea.
Do they serve coffee as an alternative as I do not drink tea.

Yes Nigel, Karen won't drink tea. If you look in my pics you will see the coffee. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2524489&page=23

Have a look here:
http://allears.net/menu/menu_gft.htm

 

[VailaTigger]

Not sure... There certainly was LOTS on the menu... There are menus on allears, I'll take a look :-D

Thank you for the veggie tips! I'll remember those for next time. I'm too shy to ask for 'special' treatment though, might have to get over that!

Still loved all the curries and salads etc at Tusker House, Boma, and Sanaa.