apicozzi
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
- Messages
- 213
Just back from a 6 night stay at Port Orleans Riverside (5/31-6/6) and wanted to share a few thoughts/observations.
Our party consists of two adults and we have been to WDW many times, so the intent of this trip was to just relax, eat great food and take in the views/attractions with no rushing around. We have visited Disneyland for the past two years, so havent been to WDW since 2011.
I will say that after reading the boards in the weeks prior to our trip, I was expecting it to be one of the worst trips Ive taken. From reading peoples rants about pet peeves and high crowd levels, to non-working FP+ and rain every day, I headed down to Florida expecting the worst. We typically travel to WDW in March or September, so June was new to us. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised.
1. Port Orleans Riverside Ive stayed at this resort a few times in the past and was happy with the accommodations. The room was clean, and check-in was easy. We rented a car and parking was always adequate at the resort.
2. Magic Bands This was my first trip with Magic Bands and I think theyre great! From the ease of opening your hotel room door, to entering the park and using the dining plan or charging to the room, we had no issues with the bands and found them much easier than opening our wallet to pull out a card.
3. FP+ - I was not an avid user of paper FP, so cant really compare FP+ to that. I think in all of our trips, we may have used the paper FP once or twice. Ill say that although I was not a fan of booking my attractions/times so far in advance, I did like the ease of being able to change the choices or times on MDE app while at the park. With the paper FP+ I remember having to get to the park early and rushing over with hopes that the FP hadnt run out. With FP+, if I had a 4:00 FP, I didnt have to show up to the park until 4:00 in my eyes, thats a score! (Not to mention a 5 minute wait for 7DMT vs 90 minute stand-by wait). We didnt use the 4th FP+ - didnt really have a need for it.
4. Crowd Levels I found crowd levels at all four parks to be completely manageable. As expected, MK was a little more crowded than the others, but I was still pleasantly surprised. Attractions like HM and POTC had longer wait times than Im used to (usually in the 25-35m range), but I had FP+ those in advance simply to skip the lines.
5. Weather The weather was great! Although hot (which would be expected for June), it wasnt too hot. Sunny every day. We had rain twice, which was the typical mid-day shower.
6. Fantasyland additions at MK I thought the additions were aesthetically pleasing. The new Little Mermaid ride queue was nice. I was a little disappointed with the ride itself. 7DMT was excellent, but too short. Im surprised that they didnt use museum glass in the windows of the cottage we couldnt see inside because of a glare from the sun! The ride vehicles were also a bit tight and Im a 510 160lb guy. We didnt make it over to BOG, but I thought the Beasts castle was a nice touch as well.
7. Downtown Disney Walls, walls, walls! We had dinner at Fultons one night and it was great. We were able to sit outside on the water. It was quiet (ressie was at 9:30) and the weather was comfortable. The rest of DTD was full of walls! We didnt spend much time down there because of the construction.
8. Dining Plan Weve used the dining plan in the past and opted for the Deluxe Dining Plan again or this trip. I know people will probably shake their heads when they see that, but for us, it works. We tend to have table service dinners at Signature restaurants. Dinners were at Citricos, California Grill, Fultons, Le Cellier, San Angel Inn and Restaurant Marrakesh. Lunches were at Nine Dragons (x2), Flame Tree BBQ (x2), Hollywood Brown Derby, Coral Reef and Liberty Inn. The dining plan cost approximately $109.00 pp/pn, so we paid $1,308.00. I kept every dinner and snack receipt during the trip and when we came home, made a detailed spreadsheet to figure out what we actually spent. After removing the cost of tip and alcohol, we ended up with a grand total of $1,419 which gave us approximately $111.00 more than we paid for. I would have even been happy breaking even I just like having the comfort of knowing that I can order a $50.00 steak and not worry about the bill coming at the end of dinner.
9. Busses Although we had a car, we did take the bus a few times at night so that we could drink and not worry about driving. I found the waits minimal, especially if you hang out in the park for a while after closing to avoid the rush.
10. Epcot After Hours Wind Down We booked the Wind Down event at Spice Road Table for our second night. It was nice, but I probably wont do it again. There were only two other tables of people at the event. We were served a flight of three different wines (none of which I cared for), three small tastings of appetizers and dessert. We were able to order drinks and anything from the appetizer tastings if we wanted more. It was nice to walk out of the park hours after closing with only a few people. Great opportunity for photos!
Before leaving for the trip, I read a thread about pet peeves in the parks and couldnt believe some of the stories that were posted! I thought that I would have a hard time seeing the Disney magic with all of the rude people that Id end up encountering. As with anywhere public, we did come across a few rude and downright nasty people but as a whole, we had a pleasurable experience. The cast members were friendly and most of the guests were courteous/friendly. There are always a few that like to spoil the fun (or stop in the middle of a walkway to pull something out of the bottom of their stroller
)
One request for parents: If your child doesnt want to go on a ride or watch a show, please dont force them!! I had a little boy SCREAMING his head off behind me on 7DMT the entire time because he wanted nothing to do with the ride his dad made him get on it. It was not fun for him, and definitely not fun for me to have to listen to takes away from the experience. Luckily, its a short ride!
While on Carousel of Progress, the ride had to stop three *THREE* times because a mother would stand up with her son to walk him around the theater. Each time it stopped, a cast member came over the loud speaker to say NO standing. I thought the mother would get it after the first two times.
Im sure there is a ton that I wanted to mention but am forgetting. If I think of anything else, Ill be sure to post it. These were just a few of my thoughts/experiences from this trip. Overall it was positive and Ill definitely be back soon!
Our party consists of two adults and we have been to WDW many times, so the intent of this trip was to just relax, eat great food and take in the views/attractions with no rushing around. We have visited Disneyland for the past two years, so havent been to WDW since 2011.
I will say that after reading the boards in the weeks prior to our trip, I was expecting it to be one of the worst trips Ive taken. From reading peoples rants about pet peeves and high crowd levels, to non-working FP+ and rain every day, I headed down to Florida expecting the worst. We typically travel to WDW in March or September, so June was new to us. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised.
1. Port Orleans Riverside Ive stayed at this resort a few times in the past and was happy with the accommodations. The room was clean, and check-in was easy. We rented a car and parking was always adequate at the resort.
2. Magic Bands This was my first trip with Magic Bands and I think theyre great! From the ease of opening your hotel room door, to entering the park and using the dining plan or charging to the room, we had no issues with the bands and found them much easier than opening our wallet to pull out a card.
3. FP+ - I was not an avid user of paper FP, so cant really compare FP+ to that. I think in all of our trips, we may have used the paper FP once or twice. Ill say that although I was not a fan of booking my attractions/times so far in advance, I did like the ease of being able to change the choices or times on MDE app while at the park. With the paper FP+ I remember having to get to the park early and rushing over with hopes that the FP hadnt run out. With FP+, if I had a 4:00 FP, I didnt have to show up to the park until 4:00 in my eyes, thats a score! (Not to mention a 5 minute wait for 7DMT vs 90 minute stand-by wait). We didnt use the 4th FP+ - didnt really have a need for it.
4. Crowd Levels I found crowd levels at all four parks to be completely manageable. As expected, MK was a little more crowded than the others, but I was still pleasantly surprised. Attractions like HM and POTC had longer wait times than Im used to (usually in the 25-35m range), but I had FP+ those in advance simply to skip the lines.
5. Weather The weather was great! Although hot (which would be expected for June), it wasnt too hot. Sunny every day. We had rain twice, which was the typical mid-day shower.
6. Fantasyland additions at MK I thought the additions were aesthetically pleasing. The new Little Mermaid ride queue was nice. I was a little disappointed with the ride itself. 7DMT was excellent, but too short. Im surprised that they didnt use museum glass in the windows of the cottage we couldnt see inside because of a glare from the sun! The ride vehicles were also a bit tight and Im a 510 160lb guy. We didnt make it over to BOG, but I thought the Beasts castle was a nice touch as well.
7. Downtown Disney Walls, walls, walls! We had dinner at Fultons one night and it was great. We were able to sit outside on the water. It was quiet (ressie was at 9:30) and the weather was comfortable. The rest of DTD was full of walls! We didnt spend much time down there because of the construction.
8. Dining Plan Weve used the dining plan in the past and opted for the Deluxe Dining Plan again or this trip. I know people will probably shake their heads when they see that, but for us, it works. We tend to have table service dinners at Signature restaurants. Dinners were at Citricos, California Grill, Fultons, Le Cellier, San Angel Inn and Restaurant Marrakesh. Lunches were at Nine Dragons (x2), Flame Tree BBQ (x2), Hollywood Brown Derby, Coral Reef and Liberty Inn. The dining plan cost approximately $109.00 pp/pn, so we paid $1,308.00. I kept every dinner and snack receipt during the trip and when we came home, made a detailed spreadsheet to figure out what we actually spent. After removing the cost of tip and alcohol, we ended up with a grand total of $1,419 which gave us approximately $111.00 more than we paid for. I would have even been happy breaking even I just like having the comfort of knowing that I can order a $50.00 steak and not worry about the bill coming at the end of dinner.
9. Busses Although we had a car, we did take the bus a few times at night so that we could drink and not worry about driving. I found the waits minimal, especially if you hang out in the park for a while after closing to avoid the rush.
10. Epcot After Hours Wind Down We booked the Wind Down event at Spice Road Table for our second night. It was nice, but I probably wont do it again. There were only two other tables of people at the event. We were served a flight of three different wines (none of which I cared for), three small tastings of appetizers and dessert. We were able to order drinks and anything from the appetizer tastings if we wanted more. It was nice to walk out of the park hours after closing with only a few people. Great opportunity for photos!
Before leaving for the trip, I read a thread about pet peeves in the parks and couldnt believe some of the stories that were posted! I thought that I would have a hard time seeing the Disney magic with all of the rude people that Id end up encountering. As with anywhere public, we did come across a few rude and downright nasty people but as a whole, we had a pleasurable experience. The cast members were friendly and most of the guests were courteous/friendly. There are always a few that like to spoil the fun (or stop in the middle of a walkway to pull something out of the bottom of their stroller
)One request for parents: If your child doesnt want to go on a ride or watch a show, please dont force them!! I had a little boy SCREAMING his head off behind me on 7DMT the entire time because he wanted nothing to do with the ride his dad made him get on it. It was not fun for him, and definitely not fun for me to have to listen to takes away from the experience. Luckily, its a short ride!
While on Carousel of Progress, the ride had to stop three *THREE* times because a mother would stand up with her son to walk him around the theater. Each time it stopped, a cast member came over the loud speaker to say NO standing. I thought the mother would get it after the first two times.
Im sure there is a ton that I wanted to mention but am forgetting. If I think of anything else, Ill be sure to post it. These were just a few of my thoughts/experiences from this trip. Overall it was positive and Ill definitely be back soon!
