Hi All,
Just got back from taking my family to Disney for the first time. I went when I was 10, first time for wife and 4 year old daughter. I got a lot of good info out of these boards when I was planning so I thought I'd post a few observations from our trip that may help others plan.
The Good:
Disney is indeed magical. Great attention to detail everywhere. Nice staff. Huge variety of experiences for all ages. Very clean. You pay through the nose for it but you get what you pay for.
Wilderness Lodge was great. Better than I expected. Super clean. Good food. Great pool that is a perfect place from which to watch Wishes.
Transportation system is mostly very good. Sitting in an air-conditioned bus for 30 minutes mid-day in July is not a bad thing. Monorail is great. Boat is just OK (more later).
Food was mostly very good. Best meal -- lunch at the Concourse Steakhouse. Angus burger with blue cheese and an actual beefsteak tomato. Maybe the best burger I've ever had. Kid's desert was the best too -- make-your-own sundae thing.
The Bad:
Chefs du France is extremely overrated. I saw a few posts where people said it was only so-so. Then I saw others defending the place. Being of French descent, I had to see for myself. The pork loin was just like Mom used to make. That is to say, WAY overcooked, tough and dry. Veggies were boring. Desert was mediocre. My wife's seared tuna was only a little better. The waiter assumed we were American idiots, but came around. I will say that my escargot and my espresso were both excellent.
Our first transportation experience was bad -- checked into WL, went right down to the dock around 5:15 with a 4 year old whose head was about to explode. Waited 25 minutes for a boat to come. Boat went to campground first. From our room to the security check at MK was almost an hour. Fortunately, that did not happen again.
It's bad enough that the trip cost $600 per day for the three of us, do they really need to gouge your brains out at every single turn? $10 for a baloon? $2.50 for water? $6.95 for an egg and cheese croissant? Pin trading????? Rides that exit you directly into a gift shop???
The Ugly:
MK has cockroaches. I live in NH where cockroaches are extremely rare. I've only seen a couple of cockroaches in my life and they were at a school I formerly worked at in the poorest neighborhood in all of NH. I understand that Florida is tropical and it has bugs, but still.
Single best experience:
Our last night at the MK when we were ready to go we told our daughter we had time for one more ride. She wanted to do splash mountain. We headed over from the pirates of the carribean only to find the road blocked for the electric parade. I found a spot for my daughter where she could stand on a fence and hold onto a light post. She had a great view of everything, and I guess they all had a great view of her because every single character that went buy looked right at my daughter and waved and smiled. It must have been the light shining right down on her. When the evil witch from Sleeping Beauty went by my daughter gave her a dirty look -- the witch gave it right back in a stare contest! Very cool.
Would I go back given the enormous cost? Yes. The cost really is huge when you consider what that money can get you elsewhere, but there is no denying the Disney magic. Underlying everything at Disney is a profoundly wonderful message -- believe in yourself and you can make any wish come true. Given all the negativity in popular culture today, that is a message I want my kid to get loud and clear and Disney delivers it at every turn.
Just got back from taking my family to Disney for the first time. I went when I was 10, first time for wife and 4 year old daughter. I got a lot of good info out of these boards when I was planning so I thought I'd post a few observations from our trip that may help others plan.
The Good:
Disney is indeed magical. Great attention to detail everywhere. Nice staff. Huge variety of experiences for all ages. Very clean. You pay through the nose for it but you get what you pay for.
Wilderness Lodge was great. Better than I expected. Super clean. Good food. Great pool that is a perfect place from which to watch Wishes.
Transportation system is mostly very good. Sitting in an air-conditioned bus for 30 minutes mid-day in July is not a bad thing. Monorail is great. Boat is just OK (more later).
Food was mostly very good. Best meal -- lunch at the Concourse Steakhouse. Angus burger with blue cheese and an actual beefsteak tomato. Maybe the best burger I've ever had. Kid's desert was the best too -- make-your-own sundae thing.
The Bad:
Chefs du France is extremely overrated. I saw a few posts where people said it was only so-so. Then I saw others defending the place. Being of French descent, I had to see for myself. The pork loin was just like Mom used to make. That is to say, WAY overcooked, tough and dry. Veggies were boring. Desert was mediocre. My wife's seared tuna was only a little better. The waiter assumed we were American idiots, but came around. I will say that my escargot and my espresso were both excellent.
Our first transportation experience was bad -- checked into WL, went right down to the dock around 5:15 with a 4 year old whose head was about to explode. Waited 25 minutes for a boat to come. Boat went to campground first. From our room to the security check at MK was almost an hour. Fortunately, that did not happen again.
It's bad enough that the trip cost $600 per day for the three of us, do they really need to gouge your brains out at every single turn? $10 for a baloon? $2.50 for water? $6.95 for an egg and cheese croissant? Pin trading????? Rides that exit you directly into a gift shop???
The Ugly:
MK has cockroaches. I live in NH where cockroaches are extremely rare. I've only seen a couple of cockroaches in my life and they were at a school I formerly worked at in the poorest neighborhood in all of NH. I understand that Florida is tropical and it has bugs, but still.
Single best experience:
Our last night at the MK when we were ready to go we told our daughter we had time for one more ride. She wanted to do splash mountain. We headed over from the pirates of the carribean only to find the road blocked for the electric parade. I found a spot for my daughter where she could stand on a fence and hold onto a light post. She had a great view of everything, and I guess they all had a great view of her because every single character that went buy looked right at my daughter and waved and smiled. It must have been the light shining right down on her. When the evil witch from Sleeping Beauty went by my daughter gave her a dirty look -- the witch gave it right back in a stare contest! Very cool.
Would I go back given the enormous cost? Yes. The cost really is huge when you consider what that money can get you elsewhere, but there is no denying the Disney magic. Underlying everything at Disney is a profoundly wonderful message -- believe in yourself and you can make any wish come true. Given all the negativity in popular culture today, that is a message I want my kid to get loud and clear and Disney delivers it at every turn.
Great trip summary! Thanks for posting.
