Just back - Highs and lows

[scottishgirl1]

Got back on Sunday from another wonderful two weeks at Disney and have Disney Blues

Highs

- celebrating sons birthday and enjoyed all the little extras, cupcakes cards, etc also arranged a birthday event for him with Gifts of A Lifetime and they were fab. The kids think it was the best part of the holiday.

- went to MVMCP for the first time and it was wonderful, weather was warm and saw show, parade and fireworks and kids met Santa. The snow and the Christmas music really made it feel special and one of the CM got people on Main Street to shout Happy Birthday to DS just ahead of the parade. His face was a picture.

- Went to Shulas for the first time also and food was wonderful,best meal of the holiday, although we had a good laugh at 50s Prime Time this year, server had kids cleaning up etc.

- In general crowds were low except at Epcot for food and wine and the area at Osborne Lights was too congested to fully enjoy the display. It was the first night for the lights though so that might be why.

-Weather was cooler than used to but very pleasant and no rain apart from
one day at the start when it rained for hours and hours. Last day the temp dropped to about 50 degrees at night though when we had booked for an Illuminations cruise. It was freezing even though we were all
wearing extra layers of cardigans/coats.

- DS and DD going on Rip Ride Rocket together instead of one of me or DH having to go along with them. DD was only just tall enough for it this year but I have no idea how she was brave enough, I couldnt even look at them on it but she totally enjoyed it. She was also picked to be the child in Disaster at Universal which made that ride more entertaining.

Lows

Usual one, coming home other than that would say had a few small issues with housekeeping at OKW resort. These were dealt with swiftly but never had to contact them so often ever before.

- Le Cellier meal was worst of the trip, service and table were poor, steaks were not great and the salmon I had was the only meal I didnt eat. Wont be back there in a hurry.

- got stuck for about 30 mins on Splash Mountain on wet seats, never had a ride break down before with us on it but we did get a FP

- Flights were direct which was good but kids meals on Aer Lingus were pretty awful and adults were worse than I recall in previous years. Also both flights ran about 45 mins late with us all sat on them waiting. On way back it was a small technical fault though so we were lucky it was only 45 mins, was really starting to panic.

Overall, lows were really minor and if I add any more highs this will get very long so back to the unpacking for a while.

 

[melsmom12]

Sounds like it was a really nice holiday! I completely understand that coming from so far away you'd want/need to stay for a long time, but 2 weeks at WDW is a luxury that I aspire one day to experience! We did 8 days on our honeymoon and that was amazing, so I can only imagine how wonderful 2 weeks are.

Sorry about your lows, and very surprising about Le Cellier. I wonder if they'd want to hear your feedback? Seems like they need a little wake-up call.

Will you be writing a trip report? If you do, count me as your first subscriber!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Glad you had a good time. Sounds like your DS had a great birthday - certainly one to remember

I have read a few negative reviews on Le Cellier lately so it must be going through a bad patch

Hope you have managed to unpack!

 

[skelfbsfb]

So glad you all had a great time.

 

[dixonsontour]

welcome back thanks for doing highs and lows

 

[wayneg]

Welcome home.
We have just about given up eating airline food, try and eat before we board or take something on with us.
A lot of flights do take off late but they try catch up and land on time.

I have read a few negative reviews on Le Cellier lately so it must be going through a bad patch

I just said to DW, another bad report on Le Cellier. We ate there in 2009 and was one of our best meals, ate there again 2010 and one of worst. I thought now it was signature it would be better, we were considering trying it for lunch next year but not now, too many not enjoying it.

 

[Pegasus928]

Thanks for sharing your highs and lows - they are always a great help for those who are in the planning stages to see what worked well and what didn't.

When we did a Wishes cruise a couple of years ago it was really cold, but they provided balnkets for us all. They were huge and really warm. Do they not provide these anymore?

So what is the problem with Le Cellier lately. It seems to be the norm lately that people are not happy with the food or service and I hope they sort it out so that those still to go experience it at its best.

 

[Chilly]

Our meal at Le Cellier was OK apart from my steak wasn't very good, I want to go back just for the soup though!

Sounds like a great trip.

 

[wayneg]

Our meal at Le Cellier was OK apart from my steak wasn't very good, I want to go back just for the soup though!

Sounds like a great trip.

Its a signature steakhouse, the steak should be prefect.

 

[Chilly]

Its a signature steakhouse, the steak should be prefect.

Absolutely, I wouldn't get a steak again, but I might go at lunchtime and get a big bowl of soup. For our meal, all other food except my steak was good and we had good service.

 

[disneyholic family]

welcome back!!

sounds like a wonderful holiday!!

i'd love to hear about the gifts of a lifetime event...

i completely forgot about them when i was trying to come up with something special for the kids this trip (both couples were on their honeymoons)..

 

[scottishgirl1]

Thanks for all the responses. We did have a great time. With regard to Le Cellier, we told them at the time about my meal (as I didnt eat it) and they didnt charge for my cocktail as compensation, presumbably because we were on the dining plan.

Unfortunately with the flights we didnt make up any time and after the flight on the way there they apologised for how long it took as they also went around a storm, but when travelling anything can happen!

We did get blankets on the cruise but they werent very thick. I think though we had a very cold evening, the cast members were all wearing big coats that day which i had only ever seen at Disney in France years ago. The kids had on life vests on the boat which helped them but they still used the blankets and I found my head was really cold when we were moving on the water.

It was nice to see the Illuminations from there and the boat went out beyond the bridge so we felt we were almost under some of the fireworks. I saw things in the show I had never noticed before watching it from the park but I dont think it was worth the money unless you maybe shared the boat with other people. We did Pirates and Pals the year before and it was better value.Also part of the reaon for the Illuminations cruise on that day was for DS birthday and they were supposed to decorate the boat but we arrived and there were no decorations up so we ended up with just a few balloons, kind of expected more...

The Gifts events are all different based on the individual involved and the surprise is a big part of it. It was very well done and they were good to deal with. The kids enjoyed it and I was keen to try it because DS was turning 12 and I couldnt find much else for that age and this involved all 3 kids. It would only work once really though, as the element of surprise wouldnt work again. In all the years of going to Disney we had never managed to be there for anyones birthday before and probably wont again as will need to stick with school holidays more now so this was really special. Think next years birthday will be a bit of a disappointment by comparison.

Managed to empty suitcases but still stuff all over the house, have been spending too much time at photopass photos....

 

[Sarah28]

welcome home, thanks for sharing your highs and lows, I love reading them. Glad you had a great time

 

[starrysky]

Welcome back.

Sorry to hear you had a bad time with Aer Lingus, we had a delay on the way back of about 45 or so but we made it up on the way back. They forgot to change the movie option over but once we pointed it out it was sorted right away.

Food we have always found to be pretty good for airline food. Best meal we ever had was on emirates but they don't fly to orlando sadly.

We had once meal at le cellier two years ago and it was so bad we would not go back again. Soup was so salty and the rest of the meal was just horrible and service was even worse they brought out our main before we were done with our starter.

Found the best way to get over the Disney blues is to BOOK ANOTHER TRIP I was suffering badly until last night when we booked trip number 5 for october next year. I am so excited.

 

[flortlebap]

Sounds like it was a really nice holiday! I completely understand that coming from so far away you'd want/need to stay for a long time, but 2 weeks at WDW is a luxury that I aspire one day to experience! We did 8 days on our honeymoon and that was amazing, so I can only imagine how wonderful 2 weeks are.

I couldn't imagine doing any less than 14 days.

Unfortunately really choice doesn't come into it. Firstly, its a long way to go, so most of us UK chappies take advantage of the fact that we're there and do everything, Universal, Sea World, Busch Gardens etc as well as Disney. It's a struggle to cram that into 14 days!

The other factor is cost. It's costing our family of 7 approximately $15,000 to go for 14 nights - it would have been $18,000 to go for ten days - bizarre

For that money, you make sure its for 14 days and you make sure its a good trip!!!!