Kristine316
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2010
- Messages
- 368
Our first trip to Disney was at the end of January/first week of February 2011. The amount of planning that went into this trip was unreal but, worth it because I felt very prepared once we arrived.
Our resort was just ok. We stayed at Coronado Springs. Beautiful grounds and very peaceful to walk around at night. Nice pool area and friendly people at the check in.
One thing that bothered me is reading and hearing about all these folks getting upgrades and special things from the resort.... what on earth do you have to do to get an upgrade???!!! We paid for a water view room and barely had a view of the water.. we were put on the second floor and things were really, really loud. So loud that many nights we could not sleep because of noise outside and between rooms. That was the biggest disappointment.... the amount of noise was unexpected and quite upsetting at times. Walls as thin as paper.
The tv selections were really pretty awful. No, we did not spend a ton of time in our room but, we are morning people and were opening parks so, we were back in the hotel by 9pm every night and trying to find something decent to watch when you have so few channels was a bummer. Lots of ESPN, Disney and Soapnet... I guess all owned by the parent company of Disney... otherwise there was little else available.
Ok.. that is all the complaining I will do because everything else was pretty terrific. Free Dining was terrific. I actually walked about 10 miles a day and still gained a few pounds!!! lol We were all thrilled with the food during our stay. We are not picky eaters keep in mind but, I think most people would be happy with the food.
First night we ate at Mama Melrose... really, really good. Great service. My three men had steaks and I ate a chicken pasta dish... all very good.
Second night we ate at Liberty Tree Tavern.. again really good.
Third night we ate at Planet Hollywood... this night was not the best but, it wasn't horrible. We had a situation with the baked potatoes my husband and I had with our steaks.. both were cold as ice. Neither of us said anything to the waiter however, once we left I brought up that my potato could have been better and my husband said " mine too.. it was cold".. we both had a laugh about it. Keep in mind it was Free Dining so, we did not feel cheated but, you can be sure if we were paying out of pocket for that meal we would have complained. It was worth eating there once though, I just don't think I would go back again on the next trip.
Fourth night we ate at Captains Grill... I liked this place alot. I had the crab cakes and really enjoyed them. Everyone's food was fine but, my older son wasn't crazy about it. Again.. it was fine and nothing to complain about but, I wouldn't go back to this restaurant again when we come back because my sons did not seem to like it as much as other places we ate.
Fifth night we ate at Ohana... this place was a homerun!! We had a situation where when we arrived it was really busy and our server couldn't get to us right away so, she sent another server to get our drinks and get us started. What ended up happening is both of them were waiting on us and coming over so often with refills on everything we felt totally pampered. We left a huge tip because frankly, they both deserved it. lol
All of us were so stuffed at the end of this meal we could barely walk. The dessert was so unreal... that banana sauce on the bread pudding was sooo delicious! Everyone of us felt this was our best meal at Disney and we will definitely go back and eat there, again.
Sixth night we ate a Ragland Road... this was a great meal and great atmosphere. Only complaint was my husband did not get his lamb chop on his mixed grill platter but, didn't want to say anything. If you can tell we don't like to complain and again this was a situation where if we were paying for this ourselves we would have said something. My husband said he couldn't have eaten the lamb chop anyway... so, no harm no foul.
All of our quick service meals were very good as well. I was thrilled with Disney food. Getting a dessert every meal was starting to get addicting and for a few days after we got home to reality I felt myself thinking I needed something sweet to end my meals... before Disney I NEVER ate dessert and never felt like I wanted to.
The rides were not a dissapointment at all. Every ride met its expectations. Here is a list of our favorites...
I loved Tower of Terror, Dinosaur, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Soarin and The Haunted Mansion was so amazing... we rode that about 6 times, I think.
Hubby loved Test Track the best.
We only rode TSM once because DHS was packed both days we went. I found that ride a little overrated considering it was the only ride the entire time we were in Disney that had a wait time of more than 45 minutes in stand by. We rode it with Fastpass and that is why we only rode it once, we got another Fastpass after riding it the first time but, left the park before our time came up again to ride.
HS seemed to be the park that was busiest and hardest to move around in. I loved the theme of the park but, felt at times suffocated. We went to this park when Touring Plans said it was a "Best Park" and it was only suppose to be about a 1 on the crowd scale but, it felt way busier than that!! I am not sure if Touring plans predicted wrong or if this park feels this crowded even when it isn't busy because of the way it is set up. I do know TOT was walk on both times we were there and so was The Great Movie Ride and Rockin Rollercoaster... so, maybe it only felt busy.
Animal Kingdom really did not hold our interests as much as the other parks and we only spent one morning there. However, in that morning we were able to ride Dinosaur three times, Expedition Everest 3 times and do all the other rides at least once. All of these rides were walk on with minimal waiting time.
Dinosaur is a really unbelievable ride... honestly, that ride is sooo cool!! It is really bumpy but, how exciting to have Dinosaurs all around you and the heat from the asteroid about to hit and lights all around you looking like pieces of the asteroid hitting earth? Very cool.
Epcot was exhausting!! The amount of walking at this park is unreal. We spent two full days in Epcot and both days it was pretty quiet.. especially that second day. Everyone loved the World Showcase... very impressive. I loved the rides here.. even The Ellen Energy ride which my sons found boring. The Planet Earth ride in the sphere was one of my favorites.. I love the dark animatronic rides and this one was really cool. The only ride I didn't like in this park and its not really a ride was Michael Jacksons Captain EO very, very outdated. I was never a fan so, the nostalgia of it was lost on me.
One thing about Disney is the amount of time they do for prep on some of these rides... Mission space seemed to take forever to get on the actual ride. It is fine the first time through but, when you are riding something mutiple times it gets a little tiring and tedius to have to watch the same prep video and go through the same motions. My husband is not a patient person and it was driving him bonkers. lol
The last day we were there we spent a magical day at MK. I had such a blast this day I cannot even tell you!! It was not busy at all and we pretty much walked on everything all day long.. the only real wait times we had in line was at Peter Pan and Splash Mountain and both were less than 15 minutes. We followed a touring plan on this day and wow.. did that make a difference.. not in wait times because the park was dead anyway but, more in the amount of walking we did... we followed a circle and it made total sense and saved a ton with my feet. I loved this park. Even the kiddie rides were fun to me... I was laughing and having a blast on rides like Winnie the Pooh... I felt like a kid, again. I really, really loved Space Mountain.. it was scary but, an exhilarating scary not a freaked out sort of fear. I even loved the Carousel of Progress and the People Mover not big exciting rides but, really relaxing and fun in their own ways.
We spent two evenings at DTD because we had dinner reservations down there two different nights. I have to admit I was not impressed with Downtown Disney. It just felt like a large outdoor shopping mall without any real decent stores... mostly just tourist stuff. The huge Disney store was cool, though. I finally found a store that tripped my trigger the last night we were there "Basin" and I spent about an hour in there at least. I am really into body lotions, candles and other things that smell nice... I about drove my hubby crazy taking 30 minutes trying to figure out what flavors to make my soy candle. lol
We spent one evening on Disney's boardwalk and I actually enjoyed that so much more than DTD. I just loved the vibe of the Boardwalk and it was so peaceful that night we were there, I could have sat on the bench in front of the water for hours.
I understand now why people become obsessed with going back to Disney. Honestly, since we have been back about a week now, I have been thinking about our time at Disney quite often. It was such a wonderful time and I find myself wishing life could always be so joyful and fun.
Memories that will last forever.. that is what Disney gives you if you take the time to really take it all in and allow yourself to be a kid, again.
Our resort was just ok. We stayed at Coronado Springs. Beautiful grounds and very peaceful to walk around at night. Nice pool area and friendly people at the check in.
One thing that bothered me is reading and hearing about all these folks getting upgrades and special things from the resort.... what on earth do you have to do to get an upgrade???!!! We paid for a water view room and barely had a view of the water.. we were put on the second floor and things were really, really loud. So loud that many nights we could not sleep because of noise outside and between rooms. That was the biggest disappointment.... the amount of noise was unexpected and quite upsetting at times. Walls as thin as paper.
The tv selections were really pretty awful. No, we did not spend a ton of time in our room but, we are morning people and were opening parks so, we were back in the hotel by 9pm every night and trying to find something decent to watch when you have so few channels was a bummer. Lots of ESPN, Disney and Soapnet... I guess all owned by the parent company of Disney... otherwise there was little else available.
Ok.. that is all the complaining I will do because everything else was pretty terrific. Free Dining was terrific. I actually walked about 10 miles a day and still gained a few pounds!!! lol We were all thrilled with the food during our stay. We are not picky eaters keep in mind but, I think most people would be happy with the food.
First night we ate at Mama Melrose... really, really good. Great service. My three men had steaks and I ate a chicken pasta dish... all very good.
Second night we ate at Liberty Tree Tavern.. again really good.
Third night we ate at Planet Hollywood... this night was not the best but, it wasn't horrible. We had a situation with the baked potatoes my husband and I had with our steaks.. both were cold as ice. Neither of us said anything to the waiter however, once we left I brought up that my potato could have been better and my husband said " mine too.. it was cold".. we both had a laugh about it. Keep in mind it was Free Dining so, we did not feel cheated but, you can be sure if we were paying out of pocket for that meal we would have complained. It was worth eating there once though, I just don't think I would go back again on the next trip.
Fourth night we ate at Captains Grill... I liked this place alot. I had the crab cakes and really enjoyed them. Everyone's food was fine but, my older son wasn't crazy about it. Again.. it was fine and nothing to complain about but, I wouldn't go back to this restaurant again when we come back because my sons did not seem to like it as much as other places we ate.
Fifth night we ate at Ohana... this place was a homerun!! We had a situation where when we arrived it was really busy and our server couldn't get to us right away so, she sent another server to get our drinks and get us started. What ended up happening is both of them were waiting on us and coming over so often with refills on everything we felt totally pampered. We left a huge tip because frankly, they both deserved it. lol
All of us were so stuffed at the end of this meal we could barely walk. The dessert was so unreal... that banana sauce on the bread pudding was sooo delicious! Everyone of us felt this was our best meal at Disney and we will definitely go back and eat there, again.
Sixth night we ate a Ragland Road... this was a great meal and great atmosphere. Only complaint was my husband did not get his lamb chop on his mixed grill platter but, didn't want to say anything. If you can tell we don't like to complain and again this was a situation where if we were paying for this ourselves we would have said something. My husband said he couldn't have eaten the lamb chop anyway... so, no harm no foul.
All of our quick service meals were very good as well. I was thrilled with Disney food. Getting a dessert every meal was starting to get addicting and for a few days after we got home to reality I felt myself thinking I needed something sweet to end my meals... before Disney I NEVER ate dessert and never felt like I wanted to.
The rides were not a dissapointment at all. Every ride met its expectations. Here is a list of our favorites...
I loved Tower of Terror, Dinosaur, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Soarin and The Haunted Mansion was so amazing... we rode that about 6 times, I think.
Hubby loved Test Track the best.
We only rode TSM once because DHS was packed both days we went. I found that ride a little overrated considering it was the only ride the entire time we were in Disney that had a wait time of more than 45 minutes in stand by. We rode it with Fastpass and that is why we only rode it once, we got another Fastpass after riding it the first time but, left the park before our time came up again to ride.
HS seemed to be the park that was busiest and hardest to move around in. I loved the theme of the park but, felt at times suffocated. We went to this park when Touring Plans said it was a "Best Park" and it was only suppose to be about a 1 on the crowd scale but, it felt way busier than that!! I am not sure if Touring plans predicted wrong or if this park feels this crowded even when it isn't busy because of the way it is set up. I do know TOT was walk on both times we were there and so was The Great Movie Ride and Rockin Rollercoaster... so, maybe it only felt busy.
Animal Kingdom really did not hold our interests as much as the other parks and we only spent one morning there. However, in that morning we were able to ride Dinosaur three times, Expedition Everest 3 times and do all the other rides at least once. All of these rides were walk on with minimal waiting time.
Dinosaur is a really unbelievable ride... honestly, that ride is sooo cool!! It is really bumpy but, how exciting to have Dinosaurs all around you and the heat from the asteroid about to hit and lights all around you looking like pieces of the asteroid hitting earth? Very cool.
Epcot was exhausting!! The amount of walking at this park is unreal. We spent two full days in Epcot and both days it was pretty quiet.. especially that second day. Everyone loved the World Showcase... very impressive. I loved the rides here.. even The Ellen Energy ride which my sons found boring. The Planet Earth ride in the sphere was one of my favorites.. I love the dark animatronic rides and this one was really cool. The only ride I didn't like in this park and its not really a ride was Michael Jacksons Captain EO very, very outdated. I was never a fan so, the nostalgia of it was lost on me.
One thing about Disney is the amount of time they do for prep on some of these rides... Mission space seemed to take forever to get on the actual ride. It is fine the first time through but, when you are riding something mutiple times it gets a little tiring and tedius to have to watch the same prep video and go through the same motions. My husband is not a patient person and it was driving him bonkers. lol
The last day we were there we spent a magical day at MK. I had such a blast this day I cannot even tell you!! It was not busy at all and we pretty much walked on everything all day long.. the only real wait times we had in line was at Peter Pan and Splash Mountain and both were less than 15 minutes. We followed a touring plan on this day and wow.. did that make a difference.. not in wait times because the park was dead anyway but, more in the amount of walking we did... we followed a circle and it made total sense and saved a ton with my feet. I loved this park. Even the kiddie rides were fun to me... I was laughing and having a blast on rides like Winnie the Pooh... I felt like a kid, again. I really, really loved Space Mountain.. it was scary but, an exhilarating scary not a freaked out sort of fear. I even loved the Carousel of Progress and the People Mover not big exciting rides but, really relaxing and fun in their own ways.
We spent two evenings at DTD because we had dinner reservations down there two different nights. I have to admit I was not impressed with Downtown Disney. It just felt like a large outdoor shopping mall without any real decent stores... mostly just tourist stuff. The huge Disney store was cool, though. I finally found a store that tripped my trigger the last night we were there "Basin" and I spent about an hour in there at least. I am really into body lotions, candles and other things that smell nice... I about drove my hubby crazy taking 30 minutes trying to figure out what flavors to make my soy candle. lol
We spent one evening on Disney's boardwalk and I actually enjoyed that so much more than DTD. I just loved the vibe of the Boardwalk and it was so peaceful that night we were there, I could have sat on the bench in front of the water for hours.
I understand now why people become obsessed with going back to Disney. Honestly, since we have been back about a week now, I have been thinking about our time at Disney quite often. It was such a wonderful time and I find myself wishing life could always be so joyful and fun.
Memories that will last forever.. that is what Disney gives you if you take the time to really take it all in and allow yourself to be a kid, again.
