Just Back.... a few thoughts.

[SDSorority]

Hi everybody. DH and I just spent a week at the world (4 days in the parks) and I have a few thoughts. I will be doing a trip report with pictures, but here are the cliff notes.

1- Saratoga Springs
BEAUTIFUL resort, WONDERFUL cast members. The main pool was awesome- beautiful, lots of space. The evening movies by the pool were so neat (uber relaxing), but not very well attended. The food court could have had more fresh fruit options and gluten-free options. The room- fantastic. We had a standard studio that overlooked the golf course. Very clean, though it needed a little bit of touch up paint, and very quiet.

2- Pop Century
Well, coming from Saratoga.... Pop was much more, well, Pop. Lots of people, everywhere. Very noisy. The pool was nice (we used the Computer Pool 2 times), though the grounds (EVERYWHERE) smelled like... protein spills. Consistantly. I don't know why- I never SAW anyone get sick, and they were doing a good job of power washing everything every morning. We had a Palmetto in our room (believe me, that was fun....not.) that we ended up killing- gross. The walls were paper thin, so we could hear lots of noise from the rooms next to, and above us. Every toilet that flushed within a 6 room radius we heard. The food court could have had more fresh fruit and gluten-free options as well.

3- Tour Groups
Yes, they were there. And yes, some of the OLDER members of the groups (in their 50's probably) tried to cut in front of us a few times. I have it on video- if it's worth posting, I will.

4- Crowds
Very low- we rode most everything 2-3 times. Evening EMH were great- we rode BTMRR, Splash, and PotC 4 or so times at MK. We couldn't get up early enough to do morning EMH. But, even arriving to the parks around 10am didn't cause us to really have to wait in lines. THANK YOU iPhone line apps and Touring Plans

5- Food
Being gluten-free vegetarians (that also avoid soy if possible) is difficult at Disney. Being vegetarian is easy. Being gluten-free is fairly easy. Being BOTH is not. We had some GREAT chefs- Raglan Road, Grand Floridian Cafe, La Hacienda de San Angel, Jiko, Kona. We had some BAD (and by bad, I mean not knowledgeable and RUDE) chefs- The Wave, ESPN Club, Chefs de France (which surprised me because we have had some wonderful meals there before). We would TOTALLY go back to the restaurants that had good chefs- never again will we go to the bad chef places, unless Chef TJ makes a switch there.

6- Lovebugs
They were fine- flying around AK and the resorts, but not really too bad at the other parks.

7- Parasailing
We parasailaed with Sammy Duvall's Water Sports at the Contemporary. I will NEVER do that again. It was SO scary for me. Sammy Duvall's staff was AWESOME. They were so nice and personable. We got the photo package- I'll post my scared faces... it's pretty funny. I totally recommend doing it- you get great views!! But, if you're scared of heights like I am, you will want to go up and come right back down. That was the longest 12 minutes of my life.

8- And just for fun... I rode ToT with my hands up! That was a big accomplishment for me!!! But, I guess after parasailing, I can do ANYTHING at Disney with my hands up

 

[sp0ngem0nkey]

thank you for your update. How was the weather?

 

[SDSorority]

thank you for your update. How was the weather?

You know, we had never gone in September before- just October and December. It was hot and sunny with a 3pm or 4pm shower every day, highs in the low 90's with 70-ish% humidity. It wasn't as hot as people had scared me into thinking it would be, though. We tried to go early, do as much as we could before noon, get out of the heat for a few hours in the afternoon, and then went back around dinner time. I got a sunburn on my arms from being at the pool in the middle of the trip, so I wore a long white t-shirt to cover my arms in the parks toward the end of the week, and I wasn't too hot by doing that. It actually helped, so I'm going to be looking for some extra long white breezy shirts to use next time! Along Main Street and at DHS we walked through the stores to stay in the air conditioning, and that helped a lot.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Thanks for the current update, and welcome home.

 

[k5thbeatle]

You know, we had never gone in September before- just October and December. It was hot and sunny with a 3pm or 4pm shower every day, highs in the low 90's with 70-ish% humidity. It wasn't as hot as people had scared me into thinking it would be, though. We tried to go early, do as much as we could before noon, get out of the heat for a few hours in the afternoon, and then went back around dinner time. I got a sunburn on my arms from being at the pool in the middle of the trip, so I wore a long white t-shirt to cover my arms in the parks toward the end of the week, and I wasn't too hot by doing that. It actually helped, so I'm going to be looking for some extra long white breezy shirts to use next time! Along Main Street and at DHS we walked through the stores to stay in the air conditioning, and that helped a lot.

Just curious, but how long would it rain for each day when you said it rained about 3 or 4 pm ?

 

[Caboosey]

Woo-hoo about the low crowds!

 

[Disneychix]

I have to laugh at your comparison of SSR and POP. We split stayed those 2 resorts last year but we stayed at POP the first 3 nights and SSR the next 4.
That sealed our decision to buy DVC and never have to stay at POP again!

The paper thin walls and constant toilet flushing/pipes noises and uncomfy beds really did us in at Pop.

Glad to hear you survived 2 amazing rides with your hands up!!

 

[SDSorority]

Just curious, but how long would it rain for each day when you said it rained about 3 or 4 pm ?

It was so strange- only 1 or 2 of the days did it rain longer than 30 minutes. Everything else was a pop up rain shower that lasted maybe 15 minutes, and then that was that! We used umbrellas and brought big ziplocks to keep them in in our backpack. Ponchos were too sticky for us with all of the humidity. Umbrellas worked much better. We also put our electronics in a ziplock in our backpack as well to keep them dry. Most people stayed inside and hid from the rain... we went full force out in it, and it was just fine!

 

[SDSorority]

I have to laugh at your comparison of SSR and POP. We split stayed those 2 resorts last year but we stayed at POP the first 3 nights and SSR the next 4.
That sealed our decision to buy DVC and never have to stay at POP again!

The paper thin walls and constant toilet flushing/pipes noises and uncomfy beds really did us in at Pop.

Glad to hear you survived 2 amazing rides with your hands up!!

Yeah.... as you can see from my list below, we'll be renting DVC points in 2013....... it just makes for SUCH a different experience. We have stayed at the All Stars before, and it didn't really bother us as much as it did this trip. We KNEW it would be that way, coming from SSR and going to Pop mid-way through the trip, so at least we were prepared for the resort difference. I'm hoping we can get either Boardwalk or Wilderness Lodge next time for a pretty decent price.

 

[kwdw]

Also there last week and the humidity was a killer. Really made it feel warmer than the temperature suggested. Did rain alot on Thursday in the afternoon/evening - but luckily not hard enough to cancel Fantasmic! (First time I got to see it.)

Love bugs not bad at all - a few here and there - I was expecting much worse.

The busiest we saw in the park was night EMH at MK on Sunday - won't do that again. But then - we are normally rope drop folks - so maybe that's why those evening EMHs felt so packed to us until about the last 30 minutes.

We stayed one night at SSR in a studio - and I agree with the OP - it could use some paint in places. Interestingly - it was loud compared to our previous nights at Kidani Village....... But I do suspect it was quieter than Pop! SSR feels very adult except for the main pool.

The big draw rides did have lines ranging from 20 minutes to 130 minutes (TSM on a rainy day in the middle of the afternoon!) - but otherwise it did not feel crowded except for Sunday in the MK.

 

[wdwnut61]

Welcome back

I agee about Sammy Duvall they are wonderful and very professional. Even though just DH and my 2 DD's went they allowed me to ride along. I was scared just watching them. Glad you had the courage to go and to put your hands in the air for TOT

I love to do that on TOT as well so much fun can't wait till November

 

[Disney Luvher]

Glad you had fun! I want to do parasailing when I go back to the world in August. I've never done it before and it will be something unique to add to my itinerary. You were a good sport for trying it even if you wanted to come right back down afterwards!

for low crowd levels! That's always good!

 

[SDSorority]

Glad you had fun! I want to do parasailing when I go back to the world in August. I've never done it before and it will be something unique to add to my itinerary. You were a good sport for trying it even if you wanted to come right back down afterwards!

for low crowd levels! That's always good!

HAHA I totally recommend parasailing. I am just a total thrill wimp! THOUGH, DH was just as nervous as I was, even though he won't admit it now. Up in the air we were both like OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGMOGOMG

Our pictures are great. I don't have my camera with me at work but tonight I'll post pictures. My face is CLASSIC.

 

[Figaro972]

Hi everybody. DH and I just spent a week at the world (4 days in the parks) and I have a few thoughts. I will be doing a trip report with pictures, but here are the cliff notes.


8- And just for fun... I rode ToT with my hands up! That was a big accomplishment for me!!! But, I guess after parasailing, I can do ANYTHING at Disney with my hands up

 

[DLW8]

Welcome back - we also just got back from a quick trip. While the weather was hot and humid, we got there at RD took a break in the afternoon and went back at night.

we LOVED the low crowds and I would definitely go back during this time again in the future!

 

[SDSorority]

Welcome back - we also just got back from a quick trip. While the weather was hot and humid, we got there at RD took a break in the afternoon and went back at night.

we LOVED the low crowds and I would definitely go back during this time again in the future!

We'll probably be back at this time of year again, too!

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this to our trip report board.

 

[rk5798]

Can you help me? I have a friend who was just there this past weekend 9/24 & 9/25. She is insisting that it rained and stormed the entire weekend so much that she couldn't even get out to do anything and that it was a terrible trip. I think she is crazy, lol! I don't know how anyone can go to Disney and be so miserable. Anyway, I am glad that you had a good trip and I can't wait until our trip in December. I will have fun even if the temps dip into the 30's!

 

[SDSorority]

Can you help me? I have a friend who was just there this past weekend 9/24 & 9/25. She is insisting that it rained and stormed the entire weekend so much that she couldn't even get out to do anything and that it was a terrible trip. I think she is crazy, lol! I don't know how anyone can go to Disney and be so miserable. Anyway, I am glad that you had a good trip and I can't wait until our trip in December. I will have fun even if the temps dip into the 30's!

HAHA well we left on the 24th and it was sunny that morning/early afternoon. I don't know what it did for the rest of the day and into the 25th, but I can tell you that unless there is a hurricane, we put up an umbrella and go. And actually, we have a better time when it rains!! No hot sun, better memories . We have been when it's been in the 30's... be sure to bring layers in December!!

 

[SDSorority]

UPDATE-

I emailed Disney all of the above thoughts and got a phone call from a cast member to talk about the horrible chefs, Pop experience, and the good experiences, too. She said that she would take our feedback and really appreciates the time taken to offer it.

I'm always happy to offer my feedback- that'll help make the next trip just that much more magical.