sydprincess
Crazy about Mickey and my girls!
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2004
- Messages
- 620
This will not be a full blown report- just a few details. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge from June 1-10. Hit MK twice, EPCOt, AK, MGM and Typhoon 1 day a piece, as well as a trip to Dunedin's Caledesi Island for a day away from it all. Overall, it was an absolute terrific trip and I am in such withdrawal right now. Anyway, on with the info.
Weather- No complaints. The small rain there was did not put a damper on anything we did. We lucked out that way. Two days were incredibly hot (98 degrees or so) which did force us to take more breaks inside. We did end up leaving AK before the parade because we just could not stand the heat. It felt like we were two miles from the sun. I have never gone to Disney and complained about the heat until now. We're from Milwaukee, so any complaints about it being too hot should be taken seriously!
Other guests/cast member service- No major issues with other guests. There was the usual stop-right-in-front-of-you people, but with those, I stopped right behind them until they noticed me waiting and by doing this, they made themselves feel rude, all without me saying anything. The cast members were top notch, with ONE exception, and I will get to that in a moment. I was most impressed with service at our meals. I gave more 35% tips on this trip that I ever have in my life. They were all well deserved and much appreciated, from those who realized what we left them. Our maid service was so good as well that I upped my daily tip for her, too.
Rides- The lines were not long at any ride we did, and we packed them in. I felt they all looked very clean and well kept. No complaints (and believe me, I had my eyes peeled on Splash Mountain, and it looked terrific).
Dining- We did not do the Dining Plan. We had 19 ADR's and kept every one of them. The food was so fantastic on this trip. Three best places were Boma, Artist Point and LeCellier. I could not believe how incredible the food was. Maybe I need to get out more! I wish we could have gone back to all three at some point in our trip. Very glad I listened to other Disers advice and included them in our plans. They did not disappoint. Every other location was great as well. I did notice lots of delays with getting seated, but by day 2 or 3, we adjusted by arriving a bit earlier and were able to get seated very close to the time of our ADR. I was wondering why guests are no longer given the rate cards for the servers. I remember filling them out back in '04 and was dying to fill them out on so many great cast members. I didn't remember to ask about it while we were there. Does anyone know why Disney did away with them?
Hotel- Wilderness Lodge surpassed all of our expectations (and at the rate we were paying, there were lots of expectations to be met!). We were in room 4140 and overlooked the Villas and the Villas pool. What a great view. We booked a standard view, but it sure didn't look standard to me, so I think we were upgraded to a woods view. It wasn't mentioned to me when I checked in. I was too busy smiling and acting like a dope because I was so excited to be there. The thing I liked the most about this hotel was how active it was. With us having 2 little ones, it was nice to see so many families there with children the same age, out and about having fun at the resort. The lobby was always full of people, the pools were full late into the night- it just had a carefree feel to it, while still maintaining that special Deluxe feeling. I did not see this at any of the other Deluxe's we visited. It was incredibly hard to leave the Lodge. It added so much magic to our trip.
Finally, my one negative experience. I was very disappointed this happened. It had to do with the BBB. My DD5 had a ressie for 1:00. We got to Downtown Disney prior to 1, but the place was so crazy busy that we couldn't find a place to park right away. We still made it in line to check in by 1:10. Well, there was a woman in front of me who did not speak English. Two cast members tried to figure out the name her reservation was under. Why both had to help her, I have no idea. I got to the counter at 1:21. Not good. I told her why we were running late, would we still be able to get in soon because we had obligations elsewhere. I was told she wasn't sure and was given the pager. And not in a nice way. Time starts ticking on... 1:30, 1:35. I go to the desk, ask the woman realllllly nicely is they could please get us in, my daughter wants to do it so badly, but we have to get in no later than 1:50or we have to leave. Well, you didn't check in until 1:21, she tells me. Yeah, thanks. I already know that, because I was looking at my watch the entire time. More people keep getting called, and time keeps ticking on. 1:50, we're still not called. I look down at my daughter and tell her I'm so sorry, but we have to go. No other time in our week where we can re-schedule. She starts bawling, which breaks my heart into a million pieces. I was soooo mad. I walked up the counter, put (well, slammed) the pager down and walked out. The manager had the guts to follow me OUT of the store and ask if we were still wanting to keep the reservation. If there had not been people around, I would have told her what to do with that reservation. But I refrained! Instead, I took the time to find her manager (now definitely going to be late for our next activity, but I knew if I didn't find someone, I would regret not reporting it). Found a great manager who asked me what she could do to fix it. I should have told her a face to face apology from the manager to my daughter would help, but my daughter was so distraught by that point that I didn't want to make the situation worse. I just told the store manager to tell the BBB manager to change her attitude, because it SUCKED. So, that was the one sour note of the our trip. In the future, I will never consider going there, no matter what. I will never give them the satisfaction of returning. If need be, I will do my daughter's hair for her as they would.
On a lighter note, and to wrap this up, I was very happy with our Disney experience. I was somewhat scared after reading previous reviews, but I was in la-la land the whole time there because it felt like the same 'ol Disney to me.
And thank goodness for that! DD5 was so upset when we left, and she kept telling me she wants to live at Disney World forever. I reponded by telling her, "Me, too."
If only...
Weather- No complaints. The small rain there was did not put a damper on anything we did. We lucked out that way. Two days were incredibly hot (98 degrees or so) which did force us to take more breaks inside. We did end up leaving AK before the parade because we just could not stand the heat. It felt like we were two miles from the sun. I have never gone to Disney and complained about the heat until now. We're from Milwaukee, so any complaints about it being too hot should be taken seriously!
Other guests/cast member service- No major issues with other guests. There was the usual stop-right-in-front-of-you people, but with those, I stopped right behind them until they noticed me waiting and by doing this, they made themselves feel rude, all without me saying anything. The cast members were top notch, with ONE exception, and I will get to that in a moment. I was most impressed with service at our meals. I gave more 35% tips on this trip that I ever have in my life. They were all well deserved and much appreciated, from those who realized what we left them. Our maid service was so good as well that I upped my daily tip for her, too.
Rides- The lines were not long at any ride we did, and we packed them in. I felt they all looked very clean and well kept. No complaints (and believe me, I had my eyes peeled on Splash Mountain, and it looked terrific).
Dining- We did not do the Dining Plan. We had 19 ADR's and kept every one of them. The food was so fantastic on this trip. Three best places were Boma, Artist Point and LeCellier. I could not believe how incredible the food was. Maybe I need to get out more! I wish we could have gone back to all three at some point in our trip. Very glad I listened to other Disers advice and included them in our plans. They did not disappoint. Every other location was great as well. I did notice lots of delays with getting seated, but by day 2 or 3, we adjusted by arriving a bit earlier and were able to get seated very close to the time of our ADR. I was wondering why guests are no longer given the rate cards for the servers. I remember filling them out back in '04 and was dying to fill them out on so many great cast members. I didn't remember to ask about it while we were there. Does anyone know why Disney did away with them?
Hotel- Wilderness Lodge surpassed all of our expectations (and at the rate we were paying, there were lots of expectations to be met!). We were in room 4140 and overlooked the Villas and the Villas pool. What a great view. We booked a standard view, but it sure didn't look standard to me, so I think we were upgraded to a woods view. It wasn't mentioned to me when I checked in. I was too busy smiling and acting like a dope because I was so excited to be there. The thing I liked the most about this hotel was how active it was. With us having 2 little ones, it was nice to see so many families there with children the same age, out and about having fun at the resort. The lobby was always full of people, the pools were full late into the night- it just had a carefree feel to it, while still maintaining that special Deluxe feeling. I did not see this at any of the other Deluxe's we visited. It was incredibly hard to leave the Lodge. It added so much magic to our trip.
Finally, my one negative experience. I was very disappointed this happened. It had to do with the BBB. My DD5 had a ressie for 1:00. We got to Downtown Disney prior to 1, but the place was so crazy busy that we couldn't find a place to park right away. We still made it in line to check in by 1:10. Well, there was a woman in front of me who did not speak English. Two cast members tried to figure out the name her reservation was under. Why both had to help her, I have no idea. I got to the counter at 1:21. Not good. I told her why we were running late, would we still be able to get in soon because we had obligations elsewhere. I was told she wasn't sure and was given the pager. And not in a nice way. Time starts ticking on... 1:30, 1:35. I go to the desk, ask the woman realllllly nicely is they could please get us in, my daughter wants to do it so badly, but we have to get in no later than 1:50or we have to leave. Well, you didn't check in until 1:21, she tells me. Yeah, thanks. I already know that, because I was looking at my watch the entire time. More people keep getting called, and time keeps ticking on. 1:50, we're still not called. I look down at my daughter and tell her I'm so sorry, but we have to go. No other time in our week where we can re-schedule. She starts bawling, which breaks my heart into a million pieces. I was soooo mad. I walked up the counter, put (well, slammed) the pager down and walked out. The manager had the guts to follow me OUT of the store and ask if we were still wanting to keep the reservation. If there had not been people around, I would have told her what to do with that reservation. But I refrained! Instead, I took the time to find her manager (now definitely going to be late for our next activity, but I knew if I didn't find someone, I would regret not reporting it). Found a great manager who asked me what she could do to fix it. I should have told her a face to face apology from the manager to my daughter would help, but my daughter was so distraught by that point that I didn't want to make the situation worse. I just told the store manager to tell the BBB manager to change her attitude, because it SUCKED. So, that was the one sour note of the our trip. In the future, I will never consider going there, no matter what. I will never give them the satisfaction of returning. If need be, I will do my daughter's hair for her as they would.
On a lighter note, and to wrap this up, I was very happy with our Disney experience. I was somewhat scared after reading previous reviews, but I was in la-la land the whole time there because it felt like the same 'ol Disney to me.
And thank goodness for that! DD5 was so upset when we left, and she kept telling me she wants to live at Disney World forever. I reponded by telling her, "Me, too." If only...
