We stayed May 26th through June 1st and had a great time. It was me, DH, DS6, DD4 and DS2. We were in Martinique 2105. My parents and aunt and grandmother had two other rooms also.
Here are our observations:
Check-In: We arrived about lunch time on Saturday. The line to check in wasnt long, but the Magical Express area was crazy. We drove so Im not sure what that was about. I must say, we did not have a very nice CM check us in. She wasnt rude or anything, but she never smiled, didnt say anything like Welcome or How can I help you?. She just said I need your hotel voucher and went about her business. I asked if we could get two rooms that connected and she said she didnt have anything to do with that. We would get whatever room we were assigned. One of our rooms was ready so that was nice and I was much too excited after 9 months of planning to let her bother me. My aunt and grandmother said the lady that checked them in was very nice and gave them Grand Gathering buttons.
The grounds: Absolutely beautiful! Very lush and green which was a nice change of pace since everythings brown here because of the drought. We enjoyed our walk to Old Port Royale by the lake, but like others have said, it is spread out and a little confusing. I dont think we walked the same way twice through the buildings, but we always made it back. I should have timed it for you, but I know it was less than 10 minutes walking with little ones. We would often see bunnies, ducks and lizards which the kids just loved. Watch the birds if you eat outside!
The room: We had plenty of room and enough storage for everyone. We even brought a pop-up Play Hut tent for my DS2 to sleep in as he is too big for a pack-n-play. It fit nicely between the bed and the door and was out of the way. Like others have said, its nice to store your suitcases under the beds. The vanity area was a plus with two sinks and the curtain to separate it. We would get up before the kids to take showers and it was nice not to have to disturb them with the light. The fridge held a lot. The AC wasnt too loud, but our beds squeaked pretty bad which was a little annoying since Im a light sleeper. Mousekeeping was great. The room was always done when we came back in the afternoon for naps. And we had new towel animals everyday. They would set up the towel animals and my kids stuffed animals up in different ways. One day they were all looking out the window waiting for us. The kids loved it!
The buses: I just read a review from the same time frame that said the buses were awful for the non-emh parks, but we did not find this the case. We never waited more than 15-20 minutes for a bus. There was one major exception, one non-emh night at Epcot the line after Illuminations was backed-up all the way to the main walk way from the buses. We paid $15 for a car back to the resort that night. You expect the line to be long, but that was ridiculous and none of the other resort lines were that long. Not sure what happened or what they did to remedy the situation. Other than that, we never waited that long and only had to stand if we left right after park closing. It was about a 5 minute walk to our bus stop.
The food: We ate at the food court more than I thought we would. We ate the rotisserie chicken a couple of times. My Dh and I shared that. It was very good and a nice value for counter service (we were on the
DDP). My parents said the salmon and pork were good too. We also had the burgers which were good and my kids had the pizza, spaghetti and meatball and the chicken nugget bucket. All were fine. The chicken nuggets were very processed, but my kids didnt seem to care since it came in a sand pail with a shovel. The food court had lots to choose from and if youre on the dining plan, you can choose your dessert from the grab and go section which has big cookies, brownies and cakes. You do not have to choose the desserts from the same section you ordered your food. Seating was never an issue with the times we ate and I did like that the tables were big so you had enough room for all of your food. We also ate outside once. Like I said watch the birds. We did not eat at Shutters, but there were always people waiting.
The pool: We used both our quiet pool and the main pool. My kids arent good swimmers so Im not sure about the water slide, but it looked cool. They had fun in the big pool and the kiddie pool had fountains spraying into it which they liked. What I did not like was those stupid love bugs. I think they are attracted to water because there were a lot of them near the pool. Not swarms like Ive read about, but still annoying. You get used to them eventually though.
So anyway, we all loved the resort and would stay there again. Besides the first CM, all the staff were very friendly and helpful. The gift shop was also cute with lots of POC stuff. We also got my daughter's hair wrapped (just two strands) outside by the pool. A little pricey but she loved it and still has them in.
I also wanted to say thanks to everyone on the thread. You were all so helpful. Let me know if you have any questions!
