Feb 12-18.
Stayed at the CSR and upgraded to the DxDP from free dining.
Spent 2 days at MK, and 1 day each at EP, AK, and HS.
Impressions:
The resort:
CSR was both nicer an larger than we anticipated (the resort main lobby and grounds definitely have a "deluxe" feel). Our room was in the Ranchos section, about as far from the main building as possible but less than 100 yards from bus stop 3 (we used the buses extensively so this ended up being a net positive). Bus service was better than I anticipated (average wait time of 8-10 minutes, longest wait was about 20 minutes). The Dig Site pool area was also very nice. Overall, I thought the resort was an excellent value and would recommend it to anyone looking for as close as possible to a deluxe experience at a moderate price.
The parks:
Liked the MK the best, followed by EP, followed by HS, followed by AK. Biggest downside to MK was the crowds on 2/17 (start of President's Weekend). Fantasyland was particularly bad (crowds + construction). Least favorite area of the parks was the Dinoland part of AK (will skip that area altogether next time).
The attractions:
Top 4 favorites were Splash Mtn., Soarin, R&RRC, and Expedition Everest, in that order (BTMRR was closed). Liked TSM but thought it was a bit overrated. Didn't particularly like TOT (being dropped once would have been enough for me). Space Mtn. wasn't as fun as I remembered it. Kalai River Rapids was okay but not as good as I expected it to be.
The restaurants:
We ate signature dinners at Artist Point, Citricos, Jiko, Flying Fish, and Cali Grill. All were very good and I didn't sense a dramatic difference in quality between them. My favorite meals were at Artist Point and Jiko with my favorite entree being the snapper at Flying Fish. We had character breakfasts at CRT, Tusker House, Crystal Palace, and Cape May. I liked each of the buffets better than CRT, with Cape May being my favorite (less frenzied, yet the characters came around faster and spent more time with us). We also had dinner at 'Ohana and lunches at 50's PT and Coral Reef. We liked both 'Ohana and 50's PT but didn't care for Coral Reef. All in all we ate 5 meals in the parks and 7 meals in resorts (which allowed us to check out the Poly, GF, CR, BC, WL and AKL).
Other notes:
We showed up at both EP and HS at around 8 am and were one of the first non-character breakfast entrants at both parks (which, in each case, opened at 8:45 instead of 9). At HS, this enabled us to get TSM fastpasses, walk on to TSM, then ride R&RRC and TOT with about a 5 minute wait at each. At EP, this enabled us to get Soarin fastpasses, do the character meet & greet, and then ride Test Track and Mission Space with about a 5 minute wait at each (doing the character meet & greet between getting the Soarin fastpasses and riding Test Track was something we just stumbed on, as it wasn't part of our tourning plan).
We discovered that a good way to do character breakfasts is to reserve an ADR for about 15-20 minutes after the restaurant opens and then try to check in before the restaurant opens. In every instance, we were let in with the first group. At the same time, we didn't have quite as much pressure to make it to the restaurant when it opened. This worked best at Tusker House in AK. We had an 8:15 ADR on a day when the park had 8 am EMH. This enabled me to be one of the first in line for a Safari FP when the park opened at 8 while DW checked us in for breakfast. We then skipped the picture with Donald and were one of the very first to be seated in the restaurant and meet the characters. As soon as breakfast was over, we then walked onto the Safari with our FP.
I asked our server at Cali Grill about the rumor of the restaurant closing for refurbishments. He told us they were planning to close it for about 6 months starting in January 2013. The impression I got from him is that the restaurant will keep its same name and the refurbishments are mostly for interior modifications of the restaurant.
The bounceback offer in our room included 35% off deluxe villas and resorts and 30% off moderates on selected weeks. I tried to use this for the Poly for the week after Thanksgiving but was told it was unavilable for that week (I got the impression from the CM that it's difficult to get discounted rooms at the Poly). So it looks like I'll have to hope for a PIN or wait for the fall general and AP holder discounts to be announced.
Stayed at the CSR and upgraded to the DxDP from free dining.
Spent 2 days at MK, and 1 day each at EP, AK, and HS.
Impressions:
The resort:
CSR was both nicer an larger than we anticipated (the resort main lobby and grounds definitely have a "deluxe" feel). Our room was in the Ranchos section, about as far from the main building as possible but less than 100 yards from bus stop 3 (we used the buses extensively so this ended up being a net positive). Bus service was better than I anticipated (average wait time of 8-10 minutes, longest wait was about 20 minutes). The Dig Site pool area was also very nice. Overall, I thought the resort was an excellent value and would recommend it to anyone looking for as close as possible to a deluxe experience at a moderate price.
The parks:
Liked the MK the best, followed by EP, followed by HS, followed by AK. Biggest downside to MK was the crowds on 2/17 (start of President's Weekend). Fantasyland was particularly bad (crowds + construction). Least favorite area of the parks was the Dinoland part of AK (will skip that area altogether next time).
The attractions:
Top 4 favorites were Splash Mtn., Soarin, R&RRC, and Expedition Everest, in that order (BTMRR was closed). Liked TSM but thought it was a bit overrated. Didn't particularly like TOT (being dropped once would have been enough for me). Space Mtn. wasn't as fun as I remembered it. Kalai River Rapids was okay but not as good as I expected it to be.
The restaurants:
We ate signature dinners at Artist Point, Citricos, Jiko, Flying Fish, and Cali Grill. All were very good and I didn't sense a dramatic difference in quality between them. My favorite meals were at Artist Point and Jiko with my favorite entree being the snapper at Flying Fish. We had character breakfasts at CRT, Tusker House, Crystal Palace, and Cape May. I liked each of the buffets better than CRT, with Cape May being my favorite (less frenzied, yet the characters came around faster and spent more time with us). We also had dinner at 'Ohana and lunches at 50's PT and Coral Reef. We liked both 'Ohana and 50's PT but didn't care for Coral Reef. All in all we ate 5 meals in the parks and 7 meals in resorts (which allowed us to check out the Poly, GF, CR, BC, WL and AKL).
Other notes:
We showed up at both EP and HS at around 8 am and were one of the first non-character breakfast entrants at both parks (which, in each case, opened at 8:45 instead of 9). At HS, this enabled us to get TSM fastpasses, walk on to TSM, then ride R&RRC and TOT with about a 5 minute wait at each. At EP, this enabled us to get Soarin fastpasses, do the character meet & greet, and then ride Test Track and Mission Space with about a 5 minute wait at each (doing the character meet & greet between getting the Soarin fastpasses and riding Test Track was something we just stumbed on, as it wasn't part of our tourning plan).
We discovered that a good way to do character breakfasts is to reserve an ADR for about 15-20 minutes after the restaurant opens and then try to check in before the restaurant opens. In every instance, we were let in with the first group. At the same time, we didn't have quite as much pressure to make it to the restaurant when it opened. This worked best at Tusker House in AK. We had an 8:15 ADR on a day when the park had 8 am EMH. This enabled me to be one of the first in line for a Safari FP when the park opened at 8 while DW checked us in for breakfast. We then skipped the picture with Donald and were one of the very first to be seated in the restaurant and meet the characters. As soon as breakfast was over, we then walked onto the Safari with our FP.
I asked our server at Cali Grill about the rumor of the restaurant closing for refurbishments. He told us they were planning to close it for about 6 months starting in January 2013. The impression I got from him is that the restaurant will keep its same name and the refurbishments are mostly for interior modifications of the restaurant.
The bounceback offer in our room included 35% off deluxe villas and resorts and 30% off moderates on selected weeks. I tried to use this for the Poly for the week after Thanksgiving but was told it was unavilable for that week (I got the impression from the CM that it's difficult to get discounted rooms at the Poly). So it looks like I'll have to hope for a PIN or wait for the fall general and AP holder discounts to be announced.
