I'm not doing a day by day trip report but instead just recording my thoughts on the trip overall. These are my opinions and experiences and you might have a totally different experience.
We were there 11/27 - 12/4 travelling with me, husband, two daughters ages 7 & 10 on the dining plan.
Resort -- Port Orleans French Quarter -- LOVE this resort. It's starting to show some wear which is probably whey they are in the middle of refurbishing it. About 4 days prior to the trip I called WDW to make some room requests. I wanted a room near the pool and main building and on the first floor. My preference was building 5. We arrived from the airport at noon to find all my requests met and our room was ready!!! The room was clean and nice but you could see some wear and we had a couple of issues. There were some strange spots on the ceiling and a bit of the wallpaper border was peeling off. The a/c made a terrible noise at times and one night I lifted up my pillow and a spider ran out! In another community this room probably wouldn't get more than $75 a night but aside of these issues we made ourselves at home and enjoyed it. The resort is sooooo peaceful and quiet and small.
Originally thiis trip was planned for a year ago and postponed due to illness. In that time we changed our mind about which resort to stay at as well and then along came the free dining so we had some changes to our reservation over the past year. Apparently that caused some problems because when I arrived they had 3 rooms ready for us and it took some convincing to make them understand we only wanted one. After about 20 minutes we were finally checked in and off to our room. Next stop, the food court for lunch and our resort cards won't allow us to use free dining. We went back to the front desk, another 20 minutes or so and that was resolved. We ate, went to Downtown Disney, ate again, went to sleep. The next day we tried to enter the Magic Kingdom and again our cards wouldn't work. When they were remade to include our free dining they forgot to put on the park passes. Ugh!! After another long wait at Guest Relations at the Magic Kingdom, they got that straightened out and for our trouble they gave us a fast pass to any ride in the park. We were in and on our way and had a great day. Later back at the resort my husband checked to make sure our account was as it should be and found the first night's "free" dining had been charged to our room instead. He was now furious with all the problems with the darn cards. To compensate us the resort gave us park hopper passes for our entire stay!! Who says Disney can't be reasonable. The only other glitch we had with our cards was that somewhere along the way charging to our room was removed. No biggie, we just used our credit card or cash.
The bus service from Port Orleans French Quarter was pretty good as well. We never waited more than 10 or 15 minutes for the bus going to and from the resort. A few times we used the boat service to Downtown Disney and again never had much of a wait.
Crowds -- Who said this was the slow time of year? Yikes was the Magic Kingdom crowded!! We thought once the Thanksgiving holiday weekend passed it would thin out and maybe it did a bit but we still had to get fast passes for several rides. All the parks had a longer than normal wait I thought for this time of year. The only exception was Friday when they were filming the Christmas parade at the MK. Every ride was a near walk on because during the parade everyone was watching that! At one point we got to ride Slash Mounting twice in a row without getting off. The cool weather may have detracted people from riding that ride. Who wants to get soaked when it's 60 degrees out?
Dining Plan -- We were on the quick service/table service dining plan. We ate our table service meals at Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, Norway and Tusker house, all for the characters. The weather and crowds changed our touring plans so we didn't make it to all of our table service reservations. No problem, many of the counter service places took the table service credits. I did ask at our concierge if that was allowed and she said officially "no" but that many of the counter service restaurants will do it including the food court at our resort. We never asked for more than what we would have gotten with quick service credits and it worked out just fine for us. Food wise, we always had plenty to eat. All of our character meals were late morning breakfasts so we'd have a snack when we got up, a big buffet and then supper later. We ended the trip with many snack credits left so we stocked up on Mickey Rice Krispy treats to bring home. I also must admit that near the end of the week we were all getting tired of eating out so we bought a loaf of bread and peanut butter and a box of donuts from the gift shop and ate that for some quick meals.
ECV use -- I need a scooter to get around so I rent one off site from Walkers' When I arrived it was waiting for me and in excellent condition. We moved a couple of things around in the room and had plenty of space to park and charge the scooter each day. When were were coming and going and no rain was expected, I left it outside near the door to our room but out of the way enough to allow the maids and other guests to get by. I have to say that EVERYONE I came in contact with was very kind and helpful to me. I never once felt scrutinized for using a scooter without an obvious injury or ailment. (I have arthritis in my knees and back, very difficult to get around) Scooters were everywhere too, more so than I've ever seen before. Getting on and off the bus was never a problem. I was always loaded first, then my family got on and then the remainder of the riders. If people gave me dirty looks or whispers, I never noticed. At every ride I took my scooter on as far as I could and then was able to walk onto the ride. Usually i did have to wait an appropriate amount of time. They no longer see a wheelchair or scooter and load it right up. If the sign says the wait is 20 minutes, scooter or otherwise, you pretty much wait that amount of time. I was also able to use the scooter in every store I went into and on the boat to Downtown Disney and the monorail quite easily. The cast members were always very helpful and kind to me. When dining in the counter service restaurants I usually parked outside near the strollers and walked in which looked like what most scooter people did.
Weather -- was pretty great the whole trip. It rained one night while we were asleep but otherwise was sunny, sunny, sunny every day. The first part of the week daytime temps reached high 80's but by week's end were only up to mid 60's. It ended up being a bit cold first thing in the morning but we managed. I think the cold snap is atypical for this time of year down there.
Christmas Decorations -- We felt like the decorations were lacking this year. What was there was beautiful, but it seemed as though some things were missing. For example, none of us remember seeing the big tree at the start of Main Street this year. Throughout the parks it just seemed like some of that Christmas dazzle was skipped this year. Maybe it's a money thing? Don't get me wrong, if you're going to see the decor for the first time, you'll enjoy it. But comparing it to previous years, we definitely noticed it lacking.
Comments -- As we made our way into and around the parks each day, I had a couple of personal issues. First of all, what is with all the HUGE backpacks full of stuff? I was trying to figure out why a couple, no kids, would need so much stuff. What is in those things? And why don't the people wearing them have pay attention to other people when wandering? I don't know how many times I was whacked by what appeared to be a giant hump on someone's back! And don't get me started on security check in. Those guys are thorough and it would take FOREVER while one of these large backpacks filled with mystery were inspected. Second issue, groups that walk side by side by side each other managing to take up an entire walking space. I just don't think a family of 5 people needs to walk right next to each other unless there is clearly plenty of room for people to get around them. What's even worse is a group lined up like that and just aimlessly wandering thus walking soooo slowly. Final comment is to parents kids, kids of all ages -- pay attention to where those kids are and kids pay attention to where you are going! I had more and more kids just wander in front of my scooter nearly missing being run over. Were I a more novice scooter use, I'm sure there would have been some bumps and bruises on a few people.
Final thought -- you can't beat Florida sunshine when it's cold at home and throw in some Disney magic, it's a great thing despite a few glitches. Add to that spending time with family, seeing kids go nuts over the same things they've seen and done many times before, it was a wonderful vacation!!
We were there 11/27 - 12/4 travelling with me, husband, two daughters ages 7 & 10 on the dining plan.
Resort -- Port Orleans French Quarter -- LOVE this resort. It's starting to show some wear which is probably whey they are in the middle of refurbishing it. About 4 days prior to the trip I called WDW to make some room requests. I wanted a room near the pool and main building and on the first floor. My preference was building 5. We arrived from the airport at noon to find all my requests met and our room was ready!!! The room was clean and nice but you could see some wear and we had a couple of issues. There were some strange spots on the ceiling and a bit of the wallpaper border was peeling off. The a/c made a terrible noise at times and one night I lifted up my pillow and a spider ran out! In another community this room probably wouldn't get more than $75 a night but aside of these issues we made ourselves at home and enjoyed it. The resort is sooooo peaceful and quiet and small.
Originally thiis trip was planned for a year ago and postponed due to illness. In that time we changed our mind about which resort to stay at as well and then along came the free dining so we had some changes to our reservation over the past year. Apparently that caused some problems because when I arrived they had 3 rooms ready for us and it took some convincing to make them understand we only wanted one. After about 20 minutes we were finally checked in and off to our room. Next stop, the food court for lunch and our resort cards won't allow us to use free dining. We went back to the front desk, another 20 minutes or so and that was resolved. We ate, went to Downtown Disney, ate again, went to sleep. The next day we tried to enter the Magic Kingdom and again our cards wouldn't work. When they were remade to include our free dining they forgot to put on the park passes. Ugh!! After another long wait at Guest Relations at the Magic Kingdom, they got that straightened out and for our trouble they gave us a fast pass to any ride in the park. We were in and on our way and had a great day. Later back at the resort my husband checked to make sure our account was as it should be and found the first night's "free" dining had been charged to our room instead. He was now furious with all the problems with the darn cards. To compensate us the resort gave us park hopper passes for our entire stay!! Who says Disney can't be reasonable. The only other glitch we had with our cards was that somewhere along the way charging to our room was removed. No biggie, we just used our credit card or cash.
The bus service from Port Orleans French Quarter was pretty good as well. We never waited more than 10 or 15 minutes for the bus going to and from the resort. A few times we used the boat service to Downtown Disney and again never had much of a wait.
Crowds -- Who said this was the slow time of year? Yikes was the Magic Kingdom crowded!! We thought once the Thanksgiving holiday weekend passed it would thin out and maybe it did a bit but we still had to get fast passes for several rides. All the parks had a longer than normal wait I thought for this time of year. The only exception was Friday when they were filming the Christmas parade at the MK. Every ride was a near walk on because during the parade everyone was watching that! At one point we got to ride Slash Mounting twice in a row without getting off. The cool weather may have detracted people from riding that ride. Who wants to get soaked when it's 60 degrees out?
Dining Plan -- We were on the quick service/table service dining plan. We ate our table service meals at Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, Norway and Tusker house, all for the characters. The weather and crowds changed our touring plans so we didn't make it to all of our table service reservations. No problem, many of the counter service places took the table service credits. I did ask at our concierge if that was allowed and she said officially "no" but that many of the counter service restaurants will do it including the food court at our resort. We never asked for more than what we would have gotten with quick service credits and it worked out just fine for us. Food wise, we always had plenty to eat. All of our character meals were late morning breakfasts so we'd have a snack when we got up, a big buffet and then supper later. We ended the trip with many snack credits left so we stocked up on Mickey Rice Krispy treats to bring home. I also must admit that near the end of the week we were all getting tired of eating out so we bought a loaf of bread and peanut butter and a box of donuts from the gift shop and ate that for some quick meals.
ECV use -- I need a scooter to get around so I rent one off site from Walkers' When I arrived it was waiting for me and in excellent condition. We moved a couple of things around in the room and had plenty of space to park and charge the scooter each day. When were were coming and going and no rain was expected, I left it outside near the door to our room but out of the way enough to allow the maids and other guests to get by. I have to say that EVERYONE I came in contact with was very kind and helpful to me. I never once felt scrutinized for using a scooter without an obvious injury or ailment. (I have arthritis in my knees and back, very difficult to get around) Scooters were everywhere too, more so than I've ever seen before. Getting on and off the bus was never a problem. I was always loaded first, then my family got on and then the remainder of the riders. If people gave me dirty looks or whispers, I never noticed. At every ride I took my scooter on as far as I could and then was able to walk onto the ride. Usually i did have to wait an appropriate amount of time. They no longer see a wheelchair or scooter and load it right up. If the sign says the wait is 20 minutes, scooter or otherwise, you pretty much wait that amount of time. I was also able to use the scooter in every store I went into and on the boat to Downtown Disney and the monorail quite easily. The cast members were always very helpful and kind to me. When dining in the counter service restaurants I usually parked outside near the strollers and walked in which looked like what most scooter people did.
Weather -- was pretty great the whole trip. It rained one night while we were asleep but otherwise was sunny, sunny, sunny every day. The first part of the week daytime temps reached high 80's but by week's end were only up to mid 60's. It ended up being a bit cold first thing in the morning but we managed. I think the cold snap is atypical for this time of year down there.
Christmas Decorations -- We felt like the decorations were lacking this year. What was there was beautiful, but it seemed as though some things were missing. For example, none of us remember seeing the big tree at the start of Main Street this year. Throughout the parks it just seemed like some of that Christmas dazzle was skipped this year. Maybe it's a money thing? Don't get me wrong, if you're going to see the decor for the first time, you'll enjoy it. But comparing it to previous years, we definitely noticed it lacking.
Comments -- As we made our way into and around the parks each day, I had a couple of personal issues. First of all, what is with all the HUGE backpacks full of stuff? I was trying to figure out why a couple, no kids, would need so much stuff. What is in those things? And why don't the people wearing them have pay attention to other people when wandering? I don't know how many times I was whacked by what appeared to be a giant hump on someone's back! And don't get me started on security check in. Those guys are thorough and it would take FOREVER while one of these large backpacks filled with mystery were inspected. Second issue, groups that walk side by side by side each other managing to take up an entire walking space. I just don't think a family of 5 people needs to walk right next to each other unless there is clearly plenty of room for people to get around them. What's even worse is a group lined up like that and just aimlessly wandering thus walking soooo slowly. Final comment is to parents kids, kids of all ages -- pay attention to where those kids are and kids pay attention to where you are going! I had more and more kids just wander in front of my scooter nearly missing being run over. Were I a more novice scooter use, I'm sure there would have been some bumps and bruises on a few people.
Final thought -- you can't beat Florida sunshine when it's cold at home and throw in some Disney magic, it's a great thing despite a few glitches. Add to that spending time with family, seeing kids go nuts over the same things they've seen and done many times before, it was a wonderful vacation!!
