fa mulan
And I think to myself, "What a Wonderful World."
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2002
- Messages
- 267
Travelers:
Me- 39 y.o. planner; first real trip (last was 25+ years ago!)
D.Husband - 48 - first trip ever
D.Daughters - 7 and almost 4 - first trip!
Resorts: Split stay between PO-FQ (4 nights) and AKL (4 nights)
PO-FQ (2/7-2/11): POFQ was clean, charming, quiet and delightful in every way. All of my room requests had been met: no-smoking, corner, near food court and/or pool. We had room 5248 (building 5, 2d floor); a perfect location. As I had read on the DIS, the PO-FQ was perfect with small kids - its compact size and the fact that it was the first to be picked up and dropped off by the buses (before PO-R) made it ideal. I had seen some peoples complaints of worn carpets & furnishings and mold - we had a very clean bathroom - no mold in sight. Furnishings were fine. Carpets were on the thin side and definitely not new, but clean none-the-less. Housekeeping was excellent. We had the famous towel animals every day and a towel castle in which our daughters toothbrushes were positioned. They loved it. I have only positive things to say about this resort and would stay here again without hesitation. The value was excellent. The only cons I can think of: no real closet to store suitcases in - it wasnt a problem tho, and we generally lived out of 4 good-sized suitcases plus several carry-ons w/o feeling too cramped (never fully unpacking b/c we were switching after 4 days). We, unfortunately, never got to use the pool b/c it was too cool during our stay but it looked wonderful. On our last day, which was sunny and warm, we strolled along the river to PO-R and had a delicious breakfast at Boatwrights after check-out.
AKL (2/11-2/15): Room location: standard (parking lot) view on the Giraffe Trail (Room # 5029). Though we didnt get an upgrade, our requests for no-smoking and bunkbeds were met. Beautiful, amazing, fabulous decor in the lobby. The room was newer, of course, than PO-FQ. Carpets were better quality and in better shape (and probably will stay in better shape simply b/c less dirt is tracked into rooms where the resort has internal hallways). Lighting was low, but not dark - I actually preferred the lighting b/c it made it possible to turn lights even while our girls were going to sleep and afterwards (at PO-FQ, we had to unscrew lightbulbs over the bathroom sinks after the girls went to sleep b/c they were so bright). If not budget-conscious, we would in the future choose Savannah view because of the convenience of watching animals from the balcony. But since Ill probably always be budget-conscious and would rather spend my money on dining and souvenirs, I would have no qualms opting for standard-view again. I didnt feel like I was missing out, and even though we faced the parking lot, it was quiet and I barely noticed the buses or any other noise (and I tried to pay attention to this). This resort offers so much for children (ie. cookie decorating, daily crafts -both free and for a cost- near the pool) - which we didnt have time to use - that it is an excellent place to spend a non-park day. Food was tasty and fabulous.
We did have one complaint: on the day we checked in, I pulled the bedspreads back and found several hairs in our bed and also in the bunk beds (including an eyelash on the pillow and a green smear that looked like kids toothpaste. So many hairs that I think the only explanation is that the sheets had not been changed prior to our check-in. That was pretty gross. Of course we called housekeeping to get them changed; I was a bit surprised at the their unapologetic, blase response - it was as though this either was a common complaint or they are so used to such complaints that they purposefully downplay each one so as to avoid requests for recompense: their reaction was Oh, so you want your beds remade? Okay, well send someone right up. Well, we went to BOMA for dinner and let the girls watch cartoons in the lobby, and 2 ½ hours later (8:30 p.m.) the beds were still not changed. After a second call to the front desk and an explanation that the housekeeping staff attends to rooms in the order that calls were received and that one more room was before ours, they were finally changed. So much for coming right up. No towel animals during our stay.
Everything, after this initial AKL blip, was fabulous. Bus travel was excellent. This resort did not feel remote or too far from the parks for a newbie. We clocked 10-15 minutes to EPCOT and about the same to MK.
Me- 39 y.o. planner; first real trip (last was 25+ years ago!)
D.Husband - 48 - first trip ever
D.Daughters - 7 and almost 4 - first trip!
Resorts: Split stay between PO-FQ (4 nights) and AKL (4 nights)
PO-FQ (2/7-2/11): POFQ was clean, charming, quiet and delightful in every way. All of my room requests had been met: no-smoking, corner, near food court and/or pool. We had room 5248 (building 5, 2d floor); a perfect location. As I had read on the DIS, the PO-FQ was perfect with small kids - its compact size and the fact that it was the first to be picked up and dropped off by the buses (before PO-R) made it ideal. I had seen some peoples complaints of worn carpets & furnishings and mold - we had a very clean bathroom - no mold in sight. Furnishings were fine. Carpets were on the thin side and definitely not new, but clean none-the-less. Housekeeping was excellent. We had the famous towel animals every day and a towel castle in which our daughters toothbrushes were positioned. They loved it. I have only positive things to say about this resort and would stay here again without hesitation. The value was excellent. The only cons I can think of: no real closet to store suitcases in - it wasnt a problem tho, and we generally lived out of 4 good-sized suitcases plus several carry-ons w/o feeling too cramped (never fully unpacking b/c we were switching after 4 days). We, unfortunately, never got to use the pool b/c it was too cool during our stay but it looked wonderful. On our last day, which was sunny and warm, we strolled along the river to PO-R and had a delicious breakfast at Boatwrights after check-out.
AKL (2/11-2/15): Room location: standard (parking lot) view on the Giraffe Trail (Room # 5029). Though we didnt get an upgrade, our requests for no-smoking and bunkbeds were met. Beautiful, amazing, fabulous decor in the lobby. The room was newer, of course, than PO-FQ. Carpets were better quality and in better shape (and probably will stay in better shape simply b/c less dirt is tracked into rooms where the resort has internal hallways). Lighting was low, but not dark - I actually preferred the lighting b/c it made it possible to turn lights even while our girls were going to sleep and afterwards (at PO-FQ, we had to unscrew lightbulbs over the bathroom sinks after the girls went to sleep b/c they were so bright). If not budget-conscious, we would in the future choose Savannah view because of the convenience of watching animals from the balcony. But since Ill probably always be budget-conscious and would rather spend my money on dining and souvenirs, I would have no qualms opting for standard-view again. I didnt feel like I was missing out, and even though we faced the parking lot, it was quiet and I barely noticed the buses or any other noise (and I tried to pay attention to this). This resort offers so much for children (ie. cookie decorating, daily crafts -both free and for a cost- near the pool) - which we didnt have time to use - that it is an excellent place to spend a non-park day. Food was tasty and fabulous.
We did have one complaint: on the day we checked in, I pulled the bedspreads back and found several hairs in our bed and also in the bunk beds (including an eyelash on the pillow and a green smear that looked like kids toothpaste. So many hairs that I think the only explanation is that the sheets had not been changed prior to our check-in. That was pretty gross. Of course we called housekeeping to get them changed; I was a bit surprised at the their unapologetic, blase response - it was as though this either was a common complaint or they are so used to such complaints that they purposefully downplay each one so as to avoid requests for recompense: their reaction was Oh, so you want your beds remade? Okay, well send someone right up. Well, we went to BOMA for dinner and let the girls watch cartoons in the lobby, and 2 ½ hours later (8:30 p.m.) the beds were still not changed. After a second call to the front desk and an explanation that the housekeeping staff attends to rooms in the order that calls were received and that one more room was before ours, they were finally changed. So much for coming right up. No towel animals during our stay.
Everything, after this initial AKL blip, was fabulous. Bus travel was excellent. This resort did not feel remote or too far from the parks for a newbie. We clocked 10-15 minutes to EPCOT and about the same to MK.
