Feb 29 - Mar 9 Just got back.

[DisneyRookie2007]

We just got back from our 10 day trip. Room only Feb 29-Mar 3 and then MYW with free dining Mar 3-9. Anyone have any questions they'd like to ask? Here are some of my observations:

Weather was great. First 4 days was about 85-88 F (hot). One day of 65F (cool and windy) and then it warmed up again progressively from 75-83 F for the remainder of the trip. Overall great weather with no rain.

Resort crowds greatly increased on March 3rd - likely because of the free dining offer.

All TS meals were great, but our favourite was Chefs.

Chefs des France (dinner)
Ohana (dinner)
Rainforest Cafe (dinner)
Boma (dinner)
50's Primetime (dinner)
le Cellier (lunch)

Fastpass enforcement was in effect starting March 7th. The one time I went over my timeslot (5 minutes), I was still permitted to go onto the ride - but reminded to adhere to the time slot the next time !

Art of Animation resort is "huge". Work is still progressing - I have no idea if they are on schedule or not - but lots of activity.

 

[c&m]

Thanks for the report! We're flying out to MCO on Thursday morning, but we won't be at WDW until March 25. (We have Universal Studios and a 7-day Caribbean cruise before hitting WDW.) Unfortunately for us, the crowds will probably be in full force by then.

Happy to hear about the warm weather...I need me some sun...
Good to hear the TS places were good. We're eating at 'Ohana and Boma too. How was the service and food at 'Ohana for you?? I've noticed in most reviews, it's been a bit spotty at times.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Thanks for the report! We're flying out to MCO on Thursday morning, but we won't be at WDW until March 25. (We have Universal Studios and a 7-day Caribbean cruise before hitting WDW.) Unfortunately for us, the crowds will probably be in full force by then.

Happy to hear about the warm weather...I need me some sun...
Good to hear the TS places were good. We're eating at 'Ohana and Boma too. How was the service and food at 'Ohana for you?? I've noticed in most reviews, it's been a bit spotty at times.

Service was friendly and fast - soon after the chicken wings and salad was delivered they were offering us the meat. Of course we had the option of saying no - but we didn't - our bad. All the "fixings" were good tasting, drinks refilled frequently. Overall, it was our fastest meal (family of 6) and we were out of there in about 1 hour. Compared to Chefs de France & le Cellier (2 hours) we felt rushed @ Ohana.

 

[modegard]

Did you fly in? We are arriving March 17th for our first trip to WDW and I am curious about the Magical Express and the process we go through to have our bags delivered to the hotel.

We have an ADR at Chefs de France as well, did you see Remy? Looking forward to that hot, humid weather!




Merilee

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Did you fly in? We are arriving March 17th for our first trip to WDW and I am curious about the Magical Express and the process we go through to have our bags delivered to the hotel.

We have an ADR at Chefs de France as well, did you see Remy? Looking forward to that hot, humid weather!




Merilee

Yes we flew in and used the Magical Express. There is likely many other posts specifically for ME, but in a nutshell, here's what you need to do.

Magical Express (ME) is only available if you are staying on property at one of the Disney Resorts. If so, you'll be receiving in the mail a packet with your ME booklet and luggage tags. The booklet will identify all the people in your party. You'll need to present this to the ME desk on the first floor of level B. The luggage tags will need to be put on your bags before your check them. When your fight arrives, simply go to the ME desk with your booklet and check in. Your bags will be picked up and delivered to your resort within 3 hours or so.

I suggest you search other posts for magical express procedures to get more clarity

 

[modegard]

Thanks for the ME info! We arrive in 7 days (staying in the new Royal Rooms at POR) and have not received our documents from WDW yet. Hope they get here soon!


Merilee

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Thanks for the ME info! We arrive in 7 days (staying in the new Royal Rooms at POR) and have not received our documents from WDW yet. Hope they get here soon!


Merilee

7 days eh? Well I think your package with the ME tags and brochure should have arrived by now. You may need to call ME to ensure they have you registered for pick-up. I don't recall the phone number, but I'm sure you could do a search for it on the Transportation Forum.

If your tags don't arrive in time then you have 2 options. (1) pick up your luggage from the carousel yourself and transport them on the ME bus with you or (2) provide your airline supplied luggage stubs to the ME desk when you check-in with the ME and they will pull the bags for you and deliver them to you room.

 

[ferris198]

you can use ME without tags you just need to get your own luggage.

 

[modegard]

We may be transporting our own bags to the ME bus then. I see on my reservation that we have the ME booked for the day we arrive. I will hope for the best and plan for the worst.

Thanks for the info, I am sure we will be fine. We will be on vacation after all!

 

[Tinkershelly]

We have an ADR at Chefs de France as well, did you see Remy?

If things haven't changed Remy only makes appearances during lunch, as it's much too crowded to get his cart through the dining room during supper time.

 

[dvc deernut]

we have been many times and use me. Dont worry about your bags just pick them up yourselves head down to the me counter then get in the line for your resort. Its typically disney organized they are great. If you pick up your own bags they will be on the same bus as you. When going home you can do airport check in at the resort as long as your flying on an airline they work with. We fly jet blue.

By the way we love boma, we eat there everytime we go. Floridian cafe is really nice. Dont let the word cafe fool you. The food is fantastic.

 

[modegard]

If things haven't changed Remy only makes appearances during lunch, as it's much too crowded to get his cart through the dining room during supper time.

This is good news! Our ADR is for noon on the 19th. I hope we see Remy, I think the kids will love that (almost as much as me!).


Merilee

 

[Kazzy1548]

Hi,
We just got back last thursday, we picked up our luggage and took Me with no wait at all. Returning back to the airport we decided to take care of our own luggage and it was less stressful. Last time Me took care of our luggage and they got lost in the transport.
We loved BOMA , it's my DH favorite buffet he really likes the chicken coconut casserol. We also did Chef de France but we were disapointed witht the food. We expected much more. One restaurant that surprised us was KONA . I wasn't to sure at first but it was amazing....
Crowds was very manageable. Except for the day we did Magic Kingdom, the kingdom is always crowded.

 

[Tinkershelly]

When going home you can do airport check in at the resort as long as your flying on an airline they work with. We fly jet blue. size]

You also need to not be flying all the way home to Canada. We travel with Continental, which is an approved airline, but since we fly to Halifax we can't use resort check-in. When in doubt ask them in advance at the resort check-in desk the day before you are supposed to go home.

 

[Remmy]

We just got back from our 10 day trip. Room only Feb 29-Mar 3 and then MYW with free dining Mar 3-9. Anyone have any questions they'd like to ask? Here are some of my observations:

Weather was great. First 4 days was about 85-88 F (hot). One day of 65F (cool and windy) and then it warmed up again progressively from 75-83 F for the remainder of the trip. Overall great weather with no rain.

Resort crowds greatly increased on March 3rd - likely because of the free dining offer.

All TS meals were great, but our favourite was Chefs.

Chefs des France (dinner)
Ohana (dinner)
Rainforest Cafe (dinner)
Boma (dinner)
50's Primetime (dinner)
le Cellier (lunch)

Fastpass enforcement was in effect starting March 7th. The one time I went over my timeslot (5 minutes), I was still permitted to go onto the ride - but reminded to adhere to the time slot the next time !

Art of Animation resort is "huge". Work is still progressing - I have no idea if they are on schedule or not - but lots of activity.

Thank you for the quick trip report. We were planning to go the same week in March but it didn't work out for us this time. I am happy you had a good time. I was wondering how you found the parks--did they seem crowded for you? How were the wait times?

Thank you,
Remmy

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Thank you for the quick trip report. We were planning to go the same week in March but it didn't work out for us this time. I am happy you had a good time. I was wondering how you found the parks--did they seem crowded for you? How were the wait times?

Thank you,
Remmy

We found the crowds to be busier starting on March 3rd (free dining started), but nothing untolerable. Wait times for the main attractions in each park hit 60 minutes by late morning/early afternoon.

Toy Story Mania was of course the busiest. We arrived @ opening and by the time be got to the FP machines, our FP return times was 130pm. We rode standby first and then returned later on with the FP - I see no way we could have rode 3 times. The FP's were all gone by 11am.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

We just got back from our 10 day trip. Room only Feb 29-Mar 3 and then MYW with free dining Mar 3-9. Anyone have any questions they'd like to ask? Here are some of my observations:

Weather was great. First 4 days was about 85-88 F (hot). One day of 65F (cool and windy) and then it warmed up again progressively from 75-83 F for the remainder of the trip. Overall great weather with no rain.

Resort crowds greatly increased on March 3rd - likely because of the free dining offer.

All TS meals were great, but our favourite was Chefs.

Chefs des France (dinner)
Ohana (dinner)
Rainforest Cafe (dinner)
Boma (dinner)
50's Primetime (dinner)
le Cellier (lunch)

Fastpass enforcement was in effect starting March 7th. The one time I went over my timeslot (5 minutes), I was still permitted to go onto the ride - but reminded to adhere to the time slot the next time !

Art of Animation resort is "huge". Work is still progressing - I have no idea if they are on schedule or not - but lots of activity.

I forgot to add that we went from POP to the Premium Outlet Mall on Vineland Ave. We called for a van as we had 6 people. The cost one way is approx $18 total + tip. If I recall correctly, it took approx 15-20 minutes. PS. There is no pharmacy in the mall. There is a Walgreen's (open 24hrs) somewhat nearby, but as I think I got some wrong directions, it took be about 20 minutes walking time to locate it.

I was not able to convert 1 CS credit into 3 snacks....as had been done in the past. The cashier @ the resort advised me the policy had changed effective Jan 1st.

If I think of anything else, I'll continue to add it to the list