pigby
<font color=66CC33>This one might be a little more
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2000
- Messages
- 3,410
Just returned from a 4 night stay at Hotel Cheyenne - some observations. It was our second visit as a family - we normally go for longer stays to WDW, but will try to keep the comparisions down to a minimum - we had intended not to compare at all, but this is difficult!
Arrived at the hotel just after midday (on the VEA shuttle bus) and were surprised that we were given a room straight away - unfortunately though, our non smoking room absolutely reeked of smoke so went back to reception and got it changed to a another room, but as a result, wasted a couple of hours getting it sorted out. Then our video camera (last used at Christmas) decided to give up the ghost and it's just out of it's guarantee - grrr. Luckily we had our digital camera (took over 600 photos in the end). The Cheyenne is a very attractive resort and I liked the room theming too - I knew the room was going to be small, but was clean and nice. Had an issue with the telephone in our room - allowed us to book a wake up call , but it didn't happen. Went to reception and had to push them to do something about it - said they would get someone to look at the phone - I wasn't convinced so bought an alarm clock from the park (lovely and a bargain at 14.50 euros) - good job as still no wake up call the morning after - gave up then
.
Weather wasn't fantastic - early in the stay it was chilly and on Thursday, we thougt it had got much bettre with sunny skies and warm temperatures, but then it poured down in the afternoon and evening. Friday was sunny and warm but with the weather came the crowds - DL park was heaving from early morning - as busy as a July day in WDW (and that's busy!)
Waiting times were not too bad in the main - top wait time we saw was 45-50 minutes for Big Thunder and Buzz (on the Friday) - a lot of rides were more or less a walk on - 15 minutes or less. Even though there were zillions of people in the park on Friday, the wait times were still less than an hour (we have seen 120 minutes in July in Florida, just to compare)
Food - booked Inventions, Cafe Mickey and Walts for dinner before we left and chose Chuck Wagon at our resort for our first night's dinner as we had been up since 4.30am that morning and wanted something quick in our resort. Myself and DH had barbeque combo meals with a Bud each, DD had kids meal - DH's spare rib was very fatty and gristly but everything else was OK - total bill came to just less than 50 euros - a little on the expensive side for what we had and the fact it was counter service.
Next night we went to Inventions - DD had a stomach ache (which came on as we sat down in the restaurant
) The server didn't charge us for my DD as she didn't eat a morsel. Didn't realise how expensive the drinks were and the total bill came to around 140 euros just for the two of us. The buffet had a really nice cold selection including giant prawns in their shells, smoked salmon, peppered mackerel, rollmop herrings etc., but I thought the hot selection was lacking with only three or four hot choices although the dessert buffet was more extensive - I still thought over 40 euros per person excluding drinks was a bit of a rip off, personnally - it took ages for the characters to get round too - we were in the restaurant 2 hours and left without seeing Minnie.
Cafe Mickey was a great experience - good service and excellent food ( a surprise as we didn't really expect that much). DH rates the mushroom starter as the best he has eaten anywhere - we had the fish and chips for main meal - I had tiramasu and DH the apple pie for dessert. DD had a kids meal. Again we waited some time for the charcters to come around - after an hour and a half, we had only seen Mickey and Minnie as they kept going away for (long) breaks. We sat tight and had one or two drinks until they finally appeared. We wondered if they would do the napkin waving as they do at Chef Mickey's in WDW - they didn't but even better, a few of the servers (plus Goofy) got up on a podium and danced and sang instead. Our total bill here came to 117 euros - we thought it was well worth it and vowed to return.
Walts - Our reservation was for 6pm - we turned up at 5.45pm to be told that our reservation was for 4pm - looks like the guy who booked it over the phone booked it incorrectly - luckily there were tables available so wasnt a problem. Our table overlooked Main Street and we were quite happy with it - had a sneaky look at the other rooms as well. Our server was very sweet but spoke little English and we didn't get our Buds - got water instead - the set menu's we chose from was 25 euros for 2 courses and 29 for 3 courses, which we though to be very reasonable for the standard of food - the clam chower was exceptional - DH had the hugest burger ever and I had the chicken in a mustard sauce - nicely presented but sauce not strong enough. DD had the chicken with chips - she said it was the best chicken ever.She also had a Mickey puzzle, which was pieces of white chocolate which she had to fit together like a jigsaw and then paint with coloured icing sugar, using a paint brush - brilliant - they do something similar at Artist Point in WDW. We could only manage 2 courses although did eventually manage to order a couple of beers (but not Bud). Total bill was only 68 euros - bargain and we will definitley return.
Another restaurant that caught our eye -was Auberge de Cendrillon - the menu looked good and reasonable and we had a little look inside - it was lovely - would like to try this on a future trip - couldn't fit it in this time.
Didn't eat too much counter service, really during the day - wanted to save ourselves for the big meal at night. I thought that option in Studios were extremely limited - Backlot and Cascadeurs was closed - we ate at Restaurante Coulise just before we set off for the airport - Mcdonald's type meals - cost 30 euros for the three of us. Also had hotdogs one day - which were surprisingly expensive - hot dog 4.70 euros and chilli dog around 6/7 euros. Ate at Hyperion in DL Park, which was a really nice restaurant, with a nice CM taking the order but then they messed up as I think they gave our meal out to wrong person?? They basicially weren't going to give me what I paid for - couldn't understand what was going on - but was sorted in the end. Also had a snack at the Cowboy Cookout, which was good and they had a group on stage singing country and western songs.
Breakfasts in DLPR is another thing again - totally chaotic in every sense of the word - you select your breakfast times when you check in - or rather, you have what they have left - our first morning's time was 7.15am. After the first morning, these times were obviously irrelevant - people went in at any time anyway - was a struggle to get a table even before 8am (and the park only opened at 10am). The biggest chaos came at the Good Morning Fantasyland breakfast, however - never again. People with the pink vouchers seemed to be at the left hand side near where it says Cast Entrance only, so this is where we stood too - there was a huge queue and no signs so everyone was confused, it seemed. Breakfast times were 9am - but the security guys who checked the bags only started checking just after 9am and then pink tickets were checked before entering the turnstiles (some being turned away as no pink ticket- but was bedlam so not surprising, people didn't know what was going on). Once past the turnstile, we were directed onto the train - (and we were one of the first parties through) - thought it was strange that no others followed us - only about a couple of dozen people on the train - eventually set off, the train then stopped for ages at Frontierland. Arrived at Chalet de Marionnette about 9.40am - crowds of people already queuing at the restaurant and nearly full inside - rest of the crowds had clearly walked instead of getting on the train - by the time we had eaten we had missed the advantage of getting into Fantasyland early and defeated the whole objective. I can't believe they do this every day - it seemed like no-one knew what they were doing .
We thought DL park to be beautiful - and yes it is larger than MK in WDW (as my sore feet will testify) - loved the little arcades and the different attractions. As everywhere, some CM's were great, others not so. The guys on Phantom Manor really stood out, getting into character and being really friendly. One blew into my ear in the darkened stretching room and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Studios desperately needs more attractions - Tower of Terror is coming on nicely and will be a valuable addition to the park. Couldn't keep DD out of the interactive section at the end of the Studios tour - she loved drawing Mushu at the little easels under the instruction of a CM.
Loved the two shows - Lion King and Tarzan - thought they were better than their WDW counterparts, but maybe because we've seen the WDW shows so many times.
Arrived at the hotel just after midday (on the VEA shuttle bus) and were surprised that we were given a room straight away - unfortunately though, our non smoking room absolutely reeked of smoke so went back to reception and got it changed to a another room, but as a result, wasted a couple of hours getting it sorted out. Then our video camera (last used at Christmas) decided to give up the ghost and it's just out of it's guarantee - grrr. Luckily we had our digital camera (took over 600 photos in the end). The Cheyenne is a very attractive resort and I liked the room theming too - I knew the room was going to be small, but was clean and nice. Had an issue with the telephone in our room - allowed us to book a wake up call , but it didn't happen. Went to reception and had to push them to do something about it - said they would get someone to look at the phone - I wasn't convinced so bought an alarm clock from the park (lovely and a bargain at 14.50 euros) - good job as still no wake up call the morning after - gave up then
.Weather wasn't fantastic - early in the stay it was chilly and on Thursday, we thougt it had got much bettre with sunny skies and warm temperatures, but then it poured down in the afternoon and evening. Friday was sunny and warm but with the weather came the crowds - DL park was heaving from early morning - as busy as a July day in WDW (and that's busy!)
Waiting times were not too bad in the main - top wait time we saw was 45-50 minutes for Big Thunder and Buzz (on the Friday) - a lot of rides were more or less a walk on - 15 minutes or less. Even though there were zillions of people in the park on Friday, the wait times were still less than an hour (we have seen 120 minutes in July in Florida, just to compare)
Food - booked Inventions, Cafe Mickey and Walts for dinner before we left and chose Chuck Wagon at our resort for our first night's dinner as we had been up since 4.30am that morning and wanted something quick in our resort. Myself and DH had barbeque combo meals with a Bud each, DD had kids meal - DH's spare rib was very fatty and gristly but everything else was OK - total bill came to just less than 50 euros - a little on the expensive side for what we had and the fact it was counter service.
Next night we went to Inventions - DD had a stomach ache (which came on as we sat down in the restaurant
) The server didn't charge us for my DD as she didn't eat a morsel. Didn't realise how expensive the drinks were and the total bill came to around 140 euros just for the two of us. The buffet had a really nice cold selection including giant prawns in their shells, smoked salmon, peppered mackerel, rollmop herrings etc., but I thought the hot selection was lacking with only three or four hot choices although the dessert buffet was more extensive - I still thought over 40 euros per person excluding drinks was a bit of a rip off, personnally - it took ages for the characters to get round too - we were in the restaurant 2 hours and left without seeing Minnie.Cafe Mickey was a great experience - good service and excellent food ( a surprise as we didn't really expect that much). DH rates the mushroom starter as the best he has eaten anywhere - we had the fish and chips for main meal - I had tiramasu and DH the apple pie for dessert. DD had a kids meal. Again we waited some time for the charcters to come around - after an hour and a half, we had only seen Mickey and Minnie as they kept going away for (long) breaks. We sat tight and had one or two drinks until they finally appeared. We wondered if they would do the napkin waving as they do at Chef Mickey's in WDW - they didn't but even better, a few of the servers (plus Goofy) got up on a podium and danced and sang instead. Our total bill here came to 117 euros - we thought it was well worth it and vowed to return.
Walts - Our reservation was for 6pm - we turned up at 5.45pm to be told that our reservation was for 4pm - looks like the guy who booked it over the phone booked it incorrectly - luckily there were tables available so wasnt a problem. Our table overlooked Main Street and we were quite happy with it - had a sneaky look at the other rooms as well. Our server was very sweet but spoke little English and we didn't get our Buds - got water instead - the set menu's we chose from was 25 euros for 2 courses and 29 for 3 courses, which we though to be very reasonable for the standard of food - the clam chower was exceptional - DH had the hugest burger ever and I had the chicken in a mustard sauce - nicely presented but sauce not strong enough. DD had the chicken with chips - she said it was the best chicken ever.She also had a Mickey puzzle, which was pieces of white chocolate which she had to fit together like a jigsaw and then paint with coloured icing sugar, using a paint brush - brilliant - they do something similar at Artist Point in WDW. We could only manage 2 courses although did eventually manage to order a couple of beers (but not Bud). Total bill was only 68 euros - bargain and we will definitley return.
Another restaurant that caught our eye -was Auberge de Cendrillon - the menu looked good and reasonable and we had a little look inside - it was lovely - would like to try this on a future trip - couldn't fit it in this time.
Didn't eat too much counter service, really during the day - wanted to save ourselves for the big meal at night. I thought that option in Studios were extremely limited - Backlot and Cascadeurs was closed - we ate at Restaurante Coulise just before we set off for the airport - Mcdonald's type meals - cost 30 euros for the three of us. Also had hotdogs one day - which were surprisingly expensive - hot dog 4.70 euros and chilli dog around 6/7 euros. Ate at Hyperion in DL Park, which was a really nice restaurant, with a nice CM taking the order but then they messed up as I think they gave our meal out to wrong person?? They basicially weren't going to give me what I paid for - couldn't understand what was going on - but was sorted in the end. Also had a snack at the Cowboy Cookout, which was good and they had a group on stage singing country and western songs.
Breakfasts in DLPR is another thing again - totally chaotic in every sense of the word - you select your breakfast times when you check in - or rather, you have what they have left - our first morning's time was 7.15am. After the first morning, these times were obviously irrelevant - people went in at any time anyway - was a struggle to get a table even before 8am (and the park only opened at 10am). The biggest chaos came at the Good Morning Fantasyland breakfast, however - never again. People with the pink vouchers seemed to be at the left hand side near where it says Cast Entrance only, so this is where we stood too - there was a huge queue and no signs so everyone was confused, it seemed. Breakfast times were 9am - but the security guys who checked the bags only started checking just after 9am and then pink tickets were checked before entering the turnstiles (some being turned away as no pink ticket- but was bedlam so not surprising, people didn't know what was going on). Once past the turnstile, we were directed onto the train - (and we were one of the first parties through) - thought it was strange that no others followed us - only about a couple of dozen people on the train - eventually set off, the train then stopped for ages at Frontierland. Arrived at Chalet de Marionnette about 9.40am - crowds of people already queuing at the restaurant and nearly full inside - rest of the crowds had clearly walked instead of getting on the train - by the time we had eaten we had missed the advantage of getting into Fantasyland early and defeated the whole objective. I can't believe they do this every day - it seemed like no-one knew what they were doing .
We thought DL park to be beautiful - and yes it is larger than MK in WDW (as my sore feet will testify) - loved the little arcades and the different attractions. As everywhere, some CM's were great, others not so. The guys on Phantom Manor really stood out, getting into character and being really friendly. One blew into my ear in the darkened stretching room and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Studios desperately needs more attractions - Tower of Terror is coming on nicely and will be a valuable addition to the park. Couldn't keep DD out of the interactive section at the end of the Studios tour - she loved drawing Mushu at the little easels under the instruction of a CM.
Loved the two shows - Lion King and Tarzan - thought they were better than their WDW counterparts, but maybe because we've seen the WDW shows so many times.
It was particularly interesting to read your opinions of the different restaurants.
and 
I'm getting.
