tinkerbelt
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2007
- Messages
- 765
I have been meaning to get around to this, but I've been busy playing catch up with work this week!
We just finished DD's birthday trip to DL, and I have to say, I was less than impressed. We stayed at the DLH, standard view, Marina Tower, and did the room with the two queens and a daybed. The daybed was really just a futon that did not fold out, and it was not big enough or comfortable enough for anyone to sleep on, so we just used it to hold our suitcases and we all crammed into the beds together, which was interesting.
The bathroom was filthy - the tile was cracked, the grout was dirty, and it looked dingy and gross. The ceiling in the shower was covered in mold, and the water in the shower and sinks was salty. We had to brush our teeth with bottled water. And the refrigerator smelled.
We did love the pool, and used it quite a bit. When we checked in (we arrived at 9:30am), we asked for a room key to use the pool, and we were told that they would not be allowed to have a key until 3pm when our room was ready. We were also told that we could not use the pool at either the GCH or PPH (even though when we made the reservations, they told us that we would be able to).
The rooms were much bigger than the ones at Candy Cane Inn, but they were definitely not as nice. We had a parking lot view, but we could see a bit of DL from our window if we craned our necks out. MIL was able to watch the fireworks from inside the room and said that she had a good view of them. We did have internet access, but the desk with the plug for the internet did not have a power outlet nearby, so we ended up not being able to use the internet because we could not plug in the laptop, but we were too busy to really need to use the internet. If you have a charged laptop battery, you should have no problems.
The walk to the monorail was quick from our room (Marina Tower), which was really nice, especially at night. Early entry was also a bonus - and we were able to buy blockout passes at the front desk so that we did not have to walk all the way to the ticket booth.
The parks were fairly crowded, but it wasn't that bad. It was really hot though, so we spent more time doing shows and swimming at the hotel than we did waiting on rides. We tried to stay seated and/or indoors as much as possible to beat the heat. On Saturday morning, we had our EE day, hit Fantasyland (the Nemo line was 2 hours long by 7:30!), and then had breakfast at Cafe Orleans (Creole eggs benedict = delicious!).
We had some fun character interaction, which made the whole trip. On our first day, DD saw Remy and Emile and nearly had a heart attack trying to jump off the Omnibus trying to get to them. We managed to catch up to them, and Remy was so cute with her - she was wearing her Ratatouille shirt and carrying her Remy doll, so he made a huge fuss over her and gave her (and her doll) lots of hugs and kisses. On Saturday while we were eating breakfast, one of the Dreams CMs asked us if we had plans for later in the day (my heart stopped for a minute because I thought we were chosen to be the Grand Marshal!). He gave DD a pass for a one on one meeting with a princess at 3:30. She dressed up in her Jasmine outfit and then had her hair done at the Princess Fantasy Faire (it was so cute, but expensive!), and then she got to go right in to a private room where Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were waiting for her. It was so adorable! We spent about 10 minutes with them, and DD loved it.
After that, we had dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. The food was wonderful, but I don't think we'll be going back. We were seated in the far back corner, and only saw about 3 characters because they never made it back to our side. We were also really far away from all the action, so whenever there was singing and stuff, by the time we got there, we missed it. Our server was really frazzled, too. We got drink refills one time, and several times we had to get up and ask someone to come clear our plates because they never came around. They also forgot to bring DD's balloons and birthday place setting (that we had ordered ahead and paid for), and I finally had to go find our server and ask her to bring it before we left. I loved the food, but the experience was too rushed and hectic. I much prefer the atmosphere at Ariel's grotto, because the princesses really spend a lot of time with you and it is not so loud and crazy (too bad the food is not good there!).
The day that we left, we did brunch at Storyteller's, and it was fantastic. Excellent food, fun characters, and great service. All of the characters were so charming. We saw Koda, Kenai, Baloo, Dale, and Meeko. DD even loved the characters that she didn't "know" because they were so cute and fun. They brought DD a birthday cupcake, and Meeko helped sing happy birthday, and he tried to steal her cupcake. And Baloo took her Pez dispenser and tried to eat it. DD loved it and thought they were so funny.
Overall, it was a good trip, though there were some big dissapointments. I definitely won't be doing DLH or Goofy's Kitchen again, but Storyteller's is now on the top of my must-do list.
We just finished DD's birthday trip to DL, and I have to say, I was less than impressed. We stayed at the DLH, standard view, Marina Tower, and did the room with the two queens and a daybed. The daybed was really just a futon that did not fold out, and it was not big enough or comfortable enough for anyone to sleep on, so we just used it to hold our suitcases and we all crammed into the beds together, which was interesting.
The bathroom was filthy - the tile was cracked, the grout was dirty, and it looked dingy and gross. The ceiling in the shower was covered in mold, and the water in the shower and sinks was salty. We had to brush our teeth with bottled water. And the refrigerator smelled.
We did love the pool, and used it quite a bit. When we checked in (we arrived at 9:30am), we asked for a room key to use the pool, and we were told that they would not be allowed to have a key until 3pm when our room was ready. We were also told that we could not use the pool at either the GCH or PPH (even though when we made the reservations, they told us that we would be able to).
The rooms were much bigger than the ones at Candy Cane Inn, but they were definitely not as nice. We had a parking lot view, but we could see a bit of DL from our window if we craned our necks out. MIL was able to watch the fireworks from inside the room and said that she had a good view of them. We did have internet access, but the desk with the plug for the internet did not have a power outlet nearby, so we ended up not being able to use the internet because we could not plug in the laptop, but we were too busy to really need to use the internet. If you have a charged laptop battery, you should have no problems.
The walk to the monorail was quick from our room (Marina Tower), which was really nice, especially at night. Early entry was also a bonus - and we were able to buy blockout passes at the front desk so that we did not have to walk all the way to the ticket booth.
The parks were fairly crowded, but it wasn't that bad. It was really hot though, so we spent more time doing shows and swimming at the hotel than we did waiting on rides. We tried to stay seated and/or indoors as much as possible to beat the heat. On Saturday morning, we had our EE day, hit Fantasyland (the Nemo line was 2 hours long by 7:30!), and then had breakfast at Cafe Orleans (Creole eggs benedict = delicious!).
We had some fun character interaction, which made the whole trip. On our first day, DD saw Remy and Emile and nearly had a heart attack trying to jump off the Omnibus trying to get to them.
We managed to catch up to them, and Remy was so cute with her - she was wearing her Ratatouille shirt and carrying her Remy doll, so he made a huge fuss over her and gave her (and her doll) lots of hugs and kisses. On Saturday while we were eating breakfast, one of the Dreams CMs asked us if we had plans for later in the day (my heart stopped for a minute because I thought we were chosen to be the Grand Marshal!). He gave DD a pass for a one on one meeting with a princess at 3:30. She dressed up in her Jasmine outfit and then had her hair done at the Princess Fantasy Faire (it was so cute, but expensive!), and then she got to go right in to a private room where Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were waiting for her. It was so adorable! We spent about 10 minutes with them, and DD loved it.After that, we had dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. The food was wonderful, but I don't think we'll be going back. We were seated in the far back corner, and only saw about 3 characters because they never made it back to our side. We were also really far away from all the action, so whenever there was singing and stuff, by the time we got there, we missed it. Our server was really frazzled, too. We got drink refills one time, and several times we had to get up and ask someone to come clear our plates because they never came around. They also forgot to bring DD's balloons and birthday place setting (that we had ordered ahead and paid for), and I finally had to go find our server and ask her to bring it before we left. I loved the food, but the experience was too rushed and hectic. I much prefer the atmosphere at Ariel's grotto, because the princesses really spend a lot of time with you and it is not so loud and crazy (too bad the food is not good there!).
The day that we left, we did brunch at Storyteller's, and it was fantastic. Excellent food, fun characters, and great service. All of the characters were so charming. We saw Koda, Kenai, Baloo, Dale, and Meeko. DD even loved the characters that she didn't "know" because they were so cute and fun. They brought DD a birthday cupcake, and Meeko helped sing happy birthday, and he tried to steal her cupcake. And Baloo took her Pez dispenser and tried to eat it. DD loved it and thought they were so funny.
Overall, it was a good trip, though there were some big dissapointments. I definitely won't be doing DLH or Goofy's Kitchen again, but Storyteller's is now on the top of my must-do list.
I hope that my room has a clean bathroom.
