Misscc1374
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 24, 2022
Part 1
My 22 year old daughter and I did a 3 day trip last weekend and I thought I’d share since I love reading other reports.
It had been 9 years since our last trip to Disney. In the depths of the pandemic, when we were home on the couch day after day, we decided we’d do Disney when we could travel again. It felt like now was the time and the dates aligned nicely. I got a super cheap flight out of my southwestern Ontario city on a Canadian discount airline. Perfect! Booked the hotel, bought tickets, all ready to go- then Flair cancelled our flights 15 days out. Since our travel days were over the Canadian Victoria Day weekend, flights were astronomical (like, 1200 each on Air Canada). After a very stressful few days, I was able to book Frontier out of Buffalo and Southwest back. It cost about 75% more than my original flights and was way less convenient. However, we did get to stop at Target in Buffalo, so there is that I have officially been burned by Flair, like many others, and while I say I’ll never book them again, I know they’ll tempt me with their dirt cheap flights.
We left Saturday morning and had an uneventful drive to Buffalo. A bit of shopping later, we arrived at the airport and started getting texts that our flight was delayed. It ended up leaving about 75 minutes later than scheduled- we were supposed to leave at 5:35 pm and ended up leaving around 6:50. The flight was fine until we got close to Orlando, where there was an intense rainstorm. The pilot tried to land twice but had to continue to circle due to “wind shear”. We circled for about 1 hour and then finally, on the third try, we landed. There was an outburst of relieved clapping- it was very stressful and we were all happy to be on the ground. So, we finally landed at 10:30 ish. Rocky start!
It was still pouring when we stepped outside at the airport. My plan had been to take an uber- I had been watching the rates and rides from MCO had been in the $35-40 range all week. However, given the storm, it was now over $85 US for an uber to our resort! This was a last-minute budget trip, so that wasn’t going to work. I hopped on the Mears website on my phone, booked a shuttle for two for $35, and within minutes we were on a small shuttle van (it was late and there were not a lot of people, so that was great!). The driver was nice and we were on our way. The drive was quick and even though we couldn’t believe it, we were dropped off first. I felt our luck changing after a very anxiety-inducing few hours.
We stayed at the All Stars Sports Resort. I know it doesn’t get a lot of love here, and for good reason. It needs work. However, I work in the travel industry and had a special rate. This hotel was my only value option. I expected far, far worse though- the reviews out there are not good. The whole resort was very clean, staff friendly and theming over the top. I am the opposite of a sporty person, so the theme didn’t really speak to me, but once there I thought it was all very cute, especially the surfboard building. We were at the very far end of the resort, closer to the All Stars Music lobby than the Sports lobby- Building 8, Homerun Hotel. We passed the Football buildings everyday and they look to be almost done with a complete renovation, so I expect Homerun Hotel will be next. Once the rooms are renovated, I think this will be a nice option again.
Our room was very quiet. It was like a time capsule though- everything looked original to the mid-nineties. Outlets were not handy for phones, beds were small, the room was quite tiny (though adequate for 2 adults) and the safe had a key. A key! I haven’t seen that in decades. The bathroom taps were old and loose. It is definitely time for a revamp. There were no USB outlets, the bathroom is teeny and the room had an odd odour that kind of smelled like paint but also mildew. BUT! It was clean and the beds were comfortable. The bedding was nice and there was a newer flat screen tv (that we didn’t even turn on!). We were really there to do the parks, so we didn’t spend much time in the room. However, unless it’s an insane deal or you are guaranteed a renovated room, this might be a wait until they are done the renos situation.
The whole hotel was very quiet. There did not appear to be any teams or groups staying. We used the main pool and the quiet pool and enjoyed both, though there is a shortage of umbrellas (it was very hot). The cafeteria was fine, several options for breakfast and lunch. I found the food and drink prices reasonable- across the whole world, actually. Food is expensive everywhere right now and I didn’t feel especially gouged anywhere at WDW (except for alcohol- cocktails at the bar at the resort, and everywhere, are in the $15 plus range, which is closer to $20 CDN with a tip, which is nuts!). There were several healthy options and a little ice cream section.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the resort. Outside of the fact that the room needs a reno, the rest of the resort has the magic, in my opinion. I have previously stayed at the Port Orleans and the Boardwalk, so I do have a sense of the other categories.
More to come....
My 22 year old daughter and I did a 3 day trip last weekend and I thought I’d share since I love reading other reports.
It had been 9 years since our last trip to Disney. In the depths of the pandemic, when we were home on the couch day after day, we decided we’d do Disney when we could travel again. It felt like now was the time and the dates aligned nicely. I got a super cheap flight out of my southwestern Ontario city on a Canadian discount airline. Perfect! Booked the hotel, bought tickets, all ready to go- then Flair cancelled our flights 15 days out. Since our travel days were over the Canadian Victoria Day weekend, flights were astronomical (like, 1200 each on Air Canada). After a very stressful few days, I was able to book Frontier out of Buffalo and Southwest back. It cost about 75% more than my original flights and was way less convenient. However, we did get to stop at Target in Buffalo, so there is that I have officially been burned by Flair, like many others, and while I say I’ll never book them again, I know they’ll tempt me with their dirt cheap flights.
We left Saturday morning and had an uneventful drive to Buffalo. A bit of shopping later, we arrived at the airport and started getting texts that our flight was delayed. It ended up leaving about 75 minutes later than scheduled- we were supposed to leave at 5:35 pm and ended up leaving around 6:50. The flight was fine until we got close to Orlando, where there was an intense rainstorm. The pilot tried to land twice but had to continue to circle due to “wind shear”. We circled for about 1 hour and then finally, on the third try, we landed. There was an outburst of relieved clapping- it was very stressful and we were all happy to be on the ground. So, we finally landed at 10:30 ish. Rocky start!
It was still pouring when we stepped outside at the airport. My plan had been to take an uber- I had been watching the rates and rides from MCO had been in the $35-40 range all week. However, given the storm, it was now over $85 US for an uber to our resort! This was a last-minute budget trip, so that wasn’t going to work. I hopped on the Mears website on my phone, booked a shuttle for two for $35, and within minutes we were on a small shuttle van (it was late and there were not a lot of people, so that was great!). The driver was nice and we were on our way. The drive was quick and even though we couldn’t believe it, we were dropped off first. I felt our luck changing after a very anxiety-inducing few hours.
We stayed at the All Stars Sports Resort. I know it doesn’t get a lot of love here, and for good reason. It needs work. However, I work in the travel industry and had a special rate. This hotel was my only value option. I expected far, far worse though- the reviews out there are not good. The whole resort was very clean, staff friendly and theming over the top. I am the opposite of a sporty person, so the theme didn’t really speak to me, but once there I thought it was all very cute, especially the surfboard building. We were at the very far end of the resort, closer to the All Stars Music lobby than the Sports lobby- Building 8, Homerun Hotel. We passed the Football buildings everyday and they look to be almost done with a complete renovation, so I expect Homerun Hotel will be next. Once the rooms are renovated, I think this will be a nice option again.
Our room was very quiet. It was like a time capsule though- everything looked original to the mid-nineties. Outlets were not handy for phones, beds were small, the room was quite tiny (though adequate for 2 adults) and the safe had a key. A key! I haven’t seen that in decades. The bathroom taps were old and loose. It is definitely time for a revamp. There were no USB outlets, the bathroom is teeny and the room had an odd odour that kind of smelled like paint but also mildew. BUT! It was clean and the beds were comfortable. The bedding was nice and there was a newer flat screen tv (that we didn’t even turn on!). We were really there to do the parks, so we didn’t spend much time in the room. However, unless it’s an insane deal or you are guaranteed a renovated room, this might be a wait until they are done the renos situation.
The whole hotel was very quiet. There did not appear to be any teams or groups staying. We used the main pool and the quiet pool and enjoyed both, though there is a shortage of umbrellas (it was very hot). The cafeteria was fine, several options for breakfast and lunch. I found the food and drink prices reasonable- across the whole world, actually. Food is expensive everywhere right now and I didn’t feel especially gouged anywhere at WDW (except for alcohol- cocktails at the bar at the resort, and everywhere, are in the $15 plus range, which is closer to $20 CDN with a tip, which is nuts!). There were several healthy options and a little ice cream section.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the resort. Outside of the fact that the room needs a reno, the rest of the resort has the magic, in my opinion. I have previously stayed at the Port Orleans and the Boardwalk, so I do have a sense of the other categories.
More to come....