Best and Worst US, DCL, WDW

[RDP]

thanks for the mini-review!! sounds like a great holiday all in all!! we also enjoyed our cruise on the Disney Dream and i agree the concierge lounge is a wonderful oasis, far from the madding crowds!! and i also agree that a cabana is a wonderful way to spend the day on castaway cay!! and i also agree about that 4 hour drive!! i had to drive that last august to get us to our royal caribbean cruise out of fort lauderdale! wow...it doesn't seem far...only 4 hours, but i was really exhausted in both directions!!! on our way down, i'd planned on one stop on the turnpike....but i ended up stopping at every single rest stop, drinking yet another cup of coffee and then carrying on.....torture!!! after doing that i knew that i could never fly into miami....no way would i be able to make that drive after traveling for 24 hours.. in truth, after the flights getting us to orlando, i can barely make it from MCO to disney.....

We will def. try and cruise concierge again . We will def not fly to Miami again, not so much the drive ( although it was hard) 3 hours to get through immigration was crazy, we still don't know why it took that long, all in all a great holiday, we are still learning a lot on how to travel to and in Florida 15 years on. Already looking forward to next year!

 

[disneyholic family]

We will def. try and cruise concierge again . We will def not fly to Miami again, not so much the drive ( although it was hard) 3 hours to get through immigration was crazy, we still don't know why it took that long, all in all a great holiday, we are still learning a lot on how to travel to and in Florida 15 years on. Already looking forward to next year!

i've never flown through miami, but i've seen lots of bad reviews about immigration there. i thought it would have been improved by the kiosks (i thought they have them there), but it would seem from your experience, miami is still a problem.

i suppose it's timing. If your plane arrives at the same time as several other large planes with lots of non-citizens, you're in for a long wait.

regarding concierge, on disney we've only cruised concierge and i do think it makes a difference. They've improved it considerably on the new ships by adding that concierge lounge. There wasn't one on the Wonder (though i've heard they've added one or are planning to add one). On our Wonder cruises, we complained about the lack of a concierge lounge and they were really surprised. They questioned why we would need it when there's food all over the ship. They admitted that it was the one consistent complaint of everyone travelling in concierge. So they listened and built a beautiful lounge and upstairs area in the new ships. We didn't get a chance to use the upstairs at all during our cruise as we had really really bad weather (hurricane - i think sandy).
But even not being able to use the upstairs, the lounge and concierge services were great!!

 

[RDP]

Glad the highs outweighed the lows DCL will always, for us, be a highlight of any Florida holiday that includes a cruise. It really is amazing, both in terms of experience and service.

Sorry about your problems with Miami airport, although IIRC I (and others) did try and warn you of the problems before you went. As I think I alluded to back then, Miami airport is not an airport I would willingly choose to travel to (even as a cheaper option) as it is just so poor. We are having to fly in there next May, as our cruise departs from Port of Miami but, believe me, I actually considered flying in to Orlando and driving down instead

3 week trip next year sounds great. We are planning the same

Yes - 3 weeks, we plan to spend the majority of time at our home resort of AKV, we may try to spend some time at GFV if we can get the dates.

Good to hear that your highs were the best of the trip

Definitely! We had a great time and learn more and more as the years go by on the best way to travel and stay.