Disneymoon Report

[jcammans]

Hi all! I am going to split this up into a few sections, so bear with me!!

We just got back from a 9 day stay at WDW for our honeymoon. We stayed at POFQ, we were able to go to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney. We were on the Deluxe Dining plan and ate at some great (and not so great) places. I will give my take on all of the parks that we visited, the restaurants, and Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter Resort. I will also fill you in on some of the pixie dust that was sprinkled on our vacation

So, sit back, relax, and I hope that you enjoy my report!

 

[jcammans]

My husband and I just returned from our Disneymoon stay at POFQ. We had a great time!! This was my first stay at POFQ and my husband's first trip ever to WDW!

POFQ was great! We loved the small size of the resort - especially after a full day in the parks it was nice to return to POFQ and not have to walk another mile to our room... We stayed in room 5326 - corner room, river view, king bed, very quiet. FYI - there is only one outlet right next to the bed in a king room (behind the only nightstand). Bring an extension cord if you both like to read from electronic devices while resting in bed.

Food - We didn't eat too much at the Floatworks, but what we did have was very good. We unfortunately had a few rude CMs there, but most of them were polite enough. For the most part, we ate elsewhere.

Transportation - During peak times in the morning we always had our own bus to the parks. During midday, with the exception of MK, we always shared a bus with POR. On return trips, we almost always had a dedicated bus to POFQ. Most of the time, we waited less than 10 minutes for a bus. The only exception to this was our return from AK. We waited 25 min for a bus, and then when it finally did come, we stopped at BB and then POR before we arrived at POFQ. That was a long trip home... Other than that, we experienced no problems with bus trips from POFQ. For the most part, we boarded the bus to/from POFQ and arrived at our destination within 30 min. The boat to DD was also frequent and quick.

Pool - We didn't use the pool even though we completely intended to one day. However, we found the water to be too chilly. The hot tub was also very hot, but it made us feel soooo much better after a long day of walking.

Room - The room (5326) was a corner room, river view, king bed. It was very nice, quiet and clean. I believe that they could do a little better with the lighting in the room - it seemed darker then necessary. Mousekeeping was good. We tipped $4/day and received 3 towel animals during our 9 day stay (including the Mickey ears the first day). I found the sheets/blankets a little too rough and the bed a little too hard for my liking, but take that with a grain of salt - I'm picky about that stuff.

Elliot Dyson - We caught his show a couple of nights while we were there - he was very entertaining!!! We really enjoyed it!

All in all, we had a great stay at POFQ and we will definitely stay there again!

 

[jcammans]

So, we went to Disney with the free Dining Plan. However, as part of a wedding gift, we were upgraded to the Deluxe Dining Plan. I just want to say, that although it was great to be able to use all of those credits, it was waaaay too much food!!! I would recommend sticking with the regular Dining Plan rather than the Deluxe plan. We went home with 12 unused meals. We had 7 leftover snacks, but I cashed them in at the resort store before we left and took some snacks home with us.

For the most part, we ate QS breakfast either at our hotel and some QS sometimes in the parks for lunch. I won't go into detail on those - there's not much to tell!

So here's the table service meals that we had:

Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano (Hollywood Studios) - On our first night we had dinner here as part of the Fantasmic! dining package. This restaurant was so-so. Definitely not great, but not terrible either. The service was ok. However, doing a Fantasmic! dining package is definitely the way to go - this way you don't have to stand in line for seating for the show.

The Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom) - On Saturday evening we had dinner here. We really liked it! All of the Winnie-the-Pooh characters were there. Pooh Bear, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore all made trips around the restaurant and went to each table in order. This was nice since it is a buffet. You knew when it was ok to get up and get food without having to worry about missing a character. They also took breaks to lead all of the kids around in a "Friends Day" parade. It was very cute!!! The food was good as well! It was nice to be able to choose what temperature you want your meat while at a buffet. We would eat here again.

The Rainforest Cafe (Animal Kingdom) - On Sunday we had our AK lunch break here. We really enjoyed it! The service was GREAT! The food was good too! The atmosphere was super different... but we really liked it. Unfortunately, it was really dark and loud though. We will eat here again.

Paradiso 37 (Downtown Disney) - On Sunday night we ate dinner here. The service was amazing! The food was excellent! I highly recommend it!! Unfortunately, we were still full from lunch, but we tried to eat as much as possible because the food was so good! We will definitely eat here again.

'Ohana (Polynesian) - *sigh* Well, we were really looking forward to this dinner, but we left very disappointed. It started off well enough - I had a very yummy drink served in a pineapple... yummmm As the food started, it was good. They served us wings first (sticky, but they brought over hot towels to clean our fingers - very nice!). As the food started coming, it was good until they served us raw pork. Bummer. That basically spoiled our appetites. They were very apologetic, and comped our whole meal (including the yummy alcohol). We probably won't eat here again.

Boma (Animal Kingdom Lodge) - This was hands-down our favorite of the trip. It was AMAZING! We tried so many different things, and all of it was great!!! There was something on the buffet for everyone. I can't say enough good things about this place. There is no doubt that we will be eating here again. Two thumbs up!

San Angel Inn Restaurante (Epcot - Mexico) - The lunch that we had here was just ok. Nothing great, nothing bad. Just ok. We will probably try somewhere else in place of here next time.

Whispering Canyon Cafe (Wilderness Lodge) - We ate dinner here and they serve a TON of food to your table! It was all very good. It was funny to watch people ask for ketchup, but it made the atmosphere really loud. We got served a free champagne toast to help us celebrate our honeymoon. It was a good family restaurant that served good comfort food. We would visit again.

Trails End Restaurant (Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground) - We ate here for the breakfast buffet. There was a good fresh selection.

Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria (Epcot - Italy) - Dinner here was good. Again, nothing super great, but nothing bad either.

Sci-Fi Drive-In Theater Restaurant (Hollywood Studios) - Terrible lunch. We had wings as an appetizer but there were no wet wipes to clean up. It was so dark we had trouble reading the menu. I had the pasta dish and it was horrible. We won't return here again.

Artist Point (Wilderness Lodge) - Ugh. I guess we just are not fine dining people. We didn't really like anything that was served to us here except for the free champagne toast. We will never eat here again.

So, that sums up our table service dining. I will continue my report tomorrow.
Goodnight everyone!

 

[jcammans]

So, this was my husband's first trip to WDW. He was really impressed with everything!!

The day before our last day we sat through a DVC presentation and in return we each got 3 magic FP to use whenever we wanted... We used them at DHS the next day.

We used the first one on Rock n Roller coaster. That is my favorite roller coaster in the world!!! I LOVE it!!

We used the second ones on TSMM. It was great! We had a lot of fun on that ride - more than expected!

So after everything was completed, we still had one FP left. I asked my husband what his favorite ride in WDW was and he said Tower of Terror. So we used the FP on that ride to make it the last ride on our last day of vacation.

We walked right on and when the ride was over, we went to the photo center to add our photo to our PhotoPass+ card, but the people that were sitting in front of us on the ride had their arms up in the air and were blocking our faces! So sad!! The wait on the line was 80 minutes... This was the only ride that we repeated and we didn't want to stand in line just to get a final photo. I asked the CM at the photo place if there was anything we could do? She noticed our 'Happily Ever After' buttons, congratulated us on our honeymoon, and said to follow her.

She led us to another CM who then brought us directly to the front of the line in the loading area for the elevators!! We got to ride again right away without waiting in line!! Then, when we got off the ride, the photo CM had our photo printed out and waiting for us! We got the print free!! It was a super great way to end our trip!

 

[NateTiff]

That was so nice of that cast member to do that!
I never would have thought to even say anything. I'll remember that next time.

I also stayed at POFQ for my honeymoon earlier this year and loved it!

 

[jcammans]

I know!! It really made our day and gave us a great memory!! Oh, in order to get from the photo area back to the loading area, we had to get in an elevator and go up one floor! When the CM led us into the elevator I said "Is this a joke?" He replied "I guess you will just have to wait and see..."