ter-moo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2003
- Messages
- 5,901
My 12 year old daughter and I just got home from a "girls only" trip, staying at POFQ. It was our first time to WDW and it was wonderful!
(Well, except for the fact that it was VERY crowded, a bit warmer than we expected, and my daughter got really sick with a sore throat and fever right in the middle of it!)
We loved the hotel! It was calm, quiet and easy to navigate. We were in Room 4121, which turned out to be a blessing in terms of its proximity to the Food Court, Guest Services and Bus Stop, especially when we had to spend a day and a half in the room so my daughter could rest. I could get to the Food Court, get food and get back to the room in a matter of 5 minutes. The rooms were lovely and the beds were some of the most comfortable ones I've been in in a hotel. This was good since we ended up spending a LOT of time in them! We even lucked out and had several towel creations (a duck, two toothbrush holders and fanned washcloths on the faucets) from our wonderful Mousekeeper. My only complaints would be that the food court does get monotonous if that's your only choice for eating, and the hot tub was more of a "lukewarm" tub. We loved the boat to Downtown Disney, the location of the hotel in terms of bus rides, and the beautiful grounds. We noticed that (probably because of crowds) there was a French Quarter ONLY bus to and from the Magic Kingdom--no sharing with Riverside.
We learned a great deal about the Health Services that are available. You call a shuttle which takes you to one of four clinics right on/near Disney property for free. (The shuttle is free, but the clinic is not) You can also have a doctor visit your room for a slightly higher fee. We requested that our room be cleaned while we were at the clinic (early in the morning) so that my daughter could get right into bed when we returned. They were just finishing up as we got back. That evening, the Mousekeeper recognized me near the Food Court and asked how my daughter was feeling. I was impressed!
The hardest thing was watching all the families around our hotel having fun, knowing my poor daughter was sick in bed. It also didn't help that everytime we turned on the tv, it automatically went to the channel that shows "Stacy" giving you a tour of the parks and all the fun stuff to do there. Talk about rubbing salt in a wound! My advice: try not to get sick at WDW!
The day my daughter started to feel better, we rented a wheelchair and I wheeled her all over EPCOT. She wasn't keen on the idea ("I'll look WEIRD, Mom!") but she quickly warmed to it. (A half hour later it was "This is fun!") It was so nice that she could rest and that we were treated so well at all the attractions. It was also a good lesson for my daughter. She noticed that a lot of people stared at her and realized how hard it was for people in wheelchairs all the time.
We ended up missing going to Typhoon Lagoon, but we hit all the parks despite the setback. We used The Unofficial Guide to WDW and followed it pretty much to the letter and avoided many lines. I 've always sworn by the Disneyland version here in California, and so I immediately bought a copy for WDW when we decided to go.
We had been using our Disney Visa card for all our big purchases over the last year and had accumulated enough free Disney Dollars which we were going to use for some special dinners and lunches that we probably otherwise would have thought were too expensive. This way they were FREE! Luckily our ressies for Boma (LOVE the desserts!) and the 50s Primetime Diner were BEFORE my daughter got sick. However, we missed our ressies for 'Ohana, and try as I could, (and I did try calling repeatedly!) I couldn't get another one since they were booked solid every night.
Well...we decided to go to 'Ohana anyway, (took a taxi for $12) right before they opened on Thursday evening. We were seated within 10 minutes!!!!! The pixie dust was truly flying our direction!
Thanks to all on this board who were helpful as we planned our trip! We're hoping to get back soon! Maybe we'll even bring the boys next time...
(Well, except for the fact that it was VERY crowded, a bit warmer than we expected, and my daughter got really sick with a sore throat and fever right in the middle of it!)
We loved the hotel! It was calm, quiet and easy to navigate. We were in Room 4121, which turned out to be a blessing in terms of its proximity to the Food Court, Guest Services and Bus Stop, especially when we had to spend a day and a half in the room so my daughter could rest. I could get to the Food Court, get food and get back to the room in a matter of 5 minutes. The rooms were lovely and the beds were some of the most comfortable ones I've been in in a hotel. This was good since we ended up spending a LOT of time in them! We even lucked out and had several towel creations (a duck, two toothbrush holders and fanned washcloths on the faucets) from our wonderful Mousekeeper. My only complaints would be that the food court does get monotonous if that's your only choice for eating, and the hot tub was more of a "lukewarm" tub. We loved the boat to Downtown Disney, the location of the hotel in terms of bus rides, and the beautiful grounds. We noticed that (probably because of crowds) there was a French Quarter ONLY bus to and from the Magic Kingdom--no sharing with Riverside.
We learned a great deal about the Health Services that are available. You call a shuttle which takes you to one of four clinics right on/near Disney property for free. (The shuttle is free, but the clinic is not) You can also have a doctor visit your room for a slightly higher fee. We requested that our room be cleaned while we were at the clinic (early in the morning) so that my daughter could get right into bed when we returned. They were just finishing up as we got back. That evening, the Mousekeeper recognized me near the Food Court and asked how my daughter was feeling. I was impressed!
The hardest thing was watching all the families around our hotel having fun, knowing my poor daughter was sick in bed. It also didn't help that everytime we turned on the tv, it automatically went to the channel that shows "Stacy" giving you a tour of the parks and all the fun stuff to do there. Talk about rubbing salt in a wound! My advice: try not to get sick at WDW!
The day my daughter started to feel better, we rented a wheelchair and I wheeled her all over EPCOT. She wasn't keen on the idea ("I'll look WEIRD, Mom!") but she quickly warmed to it. (A half hour later it was "This is fun!") It was so nice that she could rest and that we were treated so well at all the attractions. It was also a good lesson for my daughter. She noticed that a lot of people stared at her and realized how hard it was for people in wheelchairs all the time.
We ended up missing going to Typhoon Lagoon, but we hit all the parks despite the setback. We used The Unofficial Guide to WDW and followed it pretty much to the letter and avoided many lines. I 've always sworn by the Disneyland version here in California, and so I immediately bought a copy for WDW when we decided to go.
We had been using our Disney Visa card for all our big purchases over the last year and had accumulated enough free Disney Dollars which we were going to use for some special dinners and lunches that we probably otherwise would have thought were too expensive. This way they were FREE! Luckily our ressies for Boma (LOVE the desserts!) and the 50s Primetime Diner were BEFORE my daughter got sick. However, we missed our ressies for 'Ohana, and try as I could, (and I did try calling repeatedly!) I couldn't get another one since they were booked solid every night.
Well...we decided to go to 'Ohana anyway, (took a taxi for $12) right before they opened on Thursday evening. We were seated within 10 minutes!!!!! The pixie dust was truly flying our direction!
Thanks to all on this board who were helpful as we planned our trip! We're hoping to get back soon! Maybe we'll even bring the boys next time...
