Christmas 2007 Report

[guynhawaii]

Aloha,

The following info is provided live (12/27/07) from CSR, WDW. Keep in mind this review covers the four-day period of 12/23-12/26. Some/all of the restaurants A-Team staff may have been on leave. Famiily consists of parents and a pair of children (5/6). I have previously managed a hotel chain (65 hotels) and restaurants (six) which were highly praised and awarded. Have very high personal standards which drive some people crazy.

Magical Express. Arrived from Honolulu via Houston on Cont'l on Saturday, 22 Dec. Took two hours to arrive at resort from airport. Luggage took four hours. Disney processing lines and bus lines were very long. People who arrived after Christmas stated it took them less than 45 minutes to reach WDW resort from time of airport arrival. Lesson learn: If arriving on a weekend during peak season take a taxi/other transportation to resort from airport.

Character Dinning. CRT was OUTSTANDING. Five stars across the board. Our server Todd was magnificent. Most highly recommended. Celebrated DD's birthday. Princess' signed b-day card and menu. Well managed and led.
1900 Princess Fare and NPS were BAD. Have no intent on any repeat meals and especially no positive recommendations.

Hollywood and Vine. Excellent. Strongly recommended.

SCIFI. Ditto.

Tusker House. NOT Recommended.

AK Rainforest. Server Shane was outstanding. Food and drinks were poor. Don't waste any $$ on any bar drinks unless you like expensive ice. Great service and atmosphere just poor food and bar drinks.

Coral Reef. OUTSTANDING. All aspects (view, atmosphere, service, food) were superlative.

TGM. Without giving away too many secrets, MOST STRONGLY Recommended. Followed his advice with great success. Visited MGM, MK, AK and EPCOT with great success. Visited parks on days strongly (green) recommended by TGM. Arrived at each park 30' prior to opening. Optimally used Fast Passes. Experienced little to no wait for any rides. On Christmas Eve knocked out all of FAL, FRL and ADL by 10 AM. AVOIDED MK and Epcot on Christmas Day.

CSR. Average. Sorry to disappoint Buzz. Would like to have a larger sink area, microwave and daily paper. Requested microwave without success to date. Staying at 9A. Great pools and playground. Pepper Market is too small and poorly led. Excellent food but poor service (Nice people, just poorly led and under staffed. Some need to improve their communication skills).

CMs. I can't say enough good words about ALL of the CMs my family and I have experienced during our WDW stay to date. Incredible politeness. Very professional. Superlative patience and kindness. Obiviously well led and managed.

Aloha,
Guy

 

[cdotla]

Thanks for the reviews. Appreciated!

Just one question - what is NPS?

 

[guynhawaii]

Aloha,

My Bad. NPS stands for Norway Princess Story. Avail at Epcot's Norway. Recommend for anyone considering this site to keep in mind the following:

1. Menu. Check the menu. Unless you're from Norway it's very, very slim and bland.
2. Princess'. At least during our visit it was WDW's B-Team. One of the Princess' was actually one of Cinderalla's step-sister's at 1900 Princess Fare. None of the them were the orginals from CRT or other MK/ GF events. Even my DS noticed. Also there is very little room to obtain quality pixs with the Princess' other than Belle (she has her own room). They parade between tables resulting in a background of strangers munching on their chow.
3. Compared to CRT NPS was a BIG drop down in all aspects.