Just Back - Highs & Lows

[WSussex]

Hi All

Got back saturday morning after 16 days in orlando - 1 night at airport Best Western, 2 nights at Hard Rock Hotel deluxe room and 12 nights in a 3 bed villa with pool at Hampton Lakes

Lows (bad bits first)

Ohana!! service very very poor and even with an ADR late to be seated - food ok

Whispering Canyon Cafe - very very busy and attention to our table non existant - not that it should matter but our kids now 9 and 13 and they only seemed interested in making a fuss of the much younger kids which seemed a great shame - especially considering we were not on the dining plan and its very expensive - money could def have been better spent elsewhere

Typhoon Lagoon wave pool was broken - this is our biggest and most favourite thing of all the water parks so we were gutted - we did however return later in the trip and it was working but had to shorten a visit to aquatica to fit typhoon lagoon in on the same day!

Parks much busier than we expected due to halloween (usually go early sept)

Ace chinese buffet on 192 - yuk

Shopping - in general very expensive! - no bargains



HIGHS

Virgin !! on time, good service both Uk and Us - in the Us the check in guy saw that my daughter had not long turned 13 and disappeared off to return with a £10 voucher to spend on the aircraft duty free!! how nice was that!

Best Western - even only there for 1 night night got upgraded to a suite

Hard Rock Hotel - In our room there was a really funky birthday card for my daughter filled in by hand from the lady who checked us in along with a huge portion of birthday cake and a candle and two vouchers for ice cream sundaes (the second on was for my 9 year old so he didnt feel left out!! only in the US )

Villa - spacious, clean 10 min the animal kingdom

Wishes OMG always loved it but seems a lot bigger than before and the pre show on the castle just blew us away!!! we went back again just before we left

Planet Hollywood - One of the best meals and best service we experienced - went back twice

Discovery Cove - need i say more!

Helicoptor Ride - from I drive - spur of the moment, kids never done it before - wow fantastic!

Haunted carriage ride at fort wilderness - kids soooo scared it was priceless

My daughter - conquering her fears and going on every sinlge roller coaster!! including busch gardens!!

Longhorn Steakhouse on 192 - Fantastic service, amazing food, very good value!

Walmart on 27 - wowsers!!

Epcot - riding test track 5 times on last day - my favourite ride

Hard Rock Hotel Front of the line passes - awesome!!

Im sure will think of lots more but still jet lagged - even though went to bed 8pm last night and got up at 11 this morning!! If anyone wants any tips or uptodate info please ask!!

Sally x

 

[disneyholic family]

welcome back!!!

thanks for the highs/lows report....very interesting!!

how nice of the virgin guy to do that....i've never heard of any ground agent doing something like that!!

who did you rent the villa through? did it have its own pool? or a community pool?

 

[Pegasus928]

Thanks for the report Sally - and so good to see lots more highs than lows.

Feel free to add some pics of your trip if you get the time

 

[WSussex]

Hi Beth,

It was a private villa - very very reasonable rate - for 12 nights cost £550!! own private pool with optional heating - would recommend it to anyone!!

Im not sure if Im allowed to post website on here or not?? does anyone know?

I would love to put photos on here but not sure how to do it???

Sally x

 

[orangetiggs]

Id be interested in website

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Welcome back

Loved reading your mini report. It's funny but when we visited in December we also really enjoyed our meal at Planet Hollywood (courtesy of Virgin) and I wasn't really expecting anything much.

Sounds like you had a wonderful time and the villa sounds very reasonable. Was it on a gated community - we stayed at Windsor Palms and that was a nice area too.

 

[pigby]

I would like you to say more about Discovery Cove

Never been but considering a visit for next year - DD is 18 when we are out there and may want to visit on her birthday.

DH is thinking that it's maybe just for kids and I am wondering whether to do the swim as I not a very strong swimmer

 

[dixonsontour]

Thanks for taking the time to post - glad you had a great time.

 

[disneyholic family]

Hi Beth,

It was a private villa - very very reasonable rate - for 12 nights cost £550!! own private pool with optional heating - would recommend it to anyone!!

Im not sure if Im allowed to post website on here or not?? does anyone know?

I would love to put photos on here but not sure how to do it???

Sally x

i think you're permitted to post the website, but if not i'd really appreciate it by PM..

 

[pacman9a]

I would like you to say more about Discovery Cove

Never been but considering a visit for next year - DD is 18 when we are out there and may want to visit on her birthday.

DH is thinking that it's maybe just for kids and I am wondering whether to do the swim as I not a very strong swimmer

Hi We went to Discovery Cove in 2009 and it was amazing for both adults and kids. DD wasn't the strongest swimmer either and they provided her with an extra bouyant vest for the dolphin encounter. Overall I would say its a great day and the memory of that day still brings a smile to my face

 

[Sarah28]

Glad you had a great time good to hear great things about Planet Hollywood too as we have a meal booked there in a couple of weeks time

 

[Elise79]

Glad you had a great trip unfortunately there was a few events that added to the crowds this year. The Halloween events don't make that much difference but the 40th Anniversary and F&W do especially when combined into the same weekend and the Wine & Dine half marathon!

 

[WSussex]

Hi

Yes food and wine was packed!!!! fortunately they were more interested in the food and wine ha ha although crowds were hard to get through around world showcase - I persoanlly dont see the appeal of long ques in full on sun for a small sample of food and eating it whilst marching to the next stand?

Our villa website is - orlandopoolhome.net

We are extremely lucky to have enjoyed discovery cove twice - 2008 and a week ago

It most certainly is not just for kids in fact I would say the grown ups get far more out of it!! The grand reef is so much better than the previous reef as there are more shallow areas rather than one very deep pool!! The shark encounter part of the reef is breath taking!! The dolphin swim is just beyond words - it is truly magical, they are such incredible creatures like nothing else on earth - I have goosebumps just typing this Highly recommend it - caution with young children - it can just be too overwhelming when you are little and the dolphins are actually very big - also the water is very cold and we witnessed some kiddies just too scared or cold to enjoy it - and lets face it with the cost of the day it needs to be enjoyed and appreciated by all

Again - planet hollywood meal fab!! would book again in a heartbeat!

Have some amazing pictures which I have spent most of the day putting on facebook - i will try and get the links

Sally

 

[2Tiggies]

The Halloween events don't make that much difference but the 40th Anniversary and F&W do especially when combined into the same weekend and the Wine & Dine half marathon!

Agreed, however the one exception (which I can only base on our experience from this trip and our one last year) is that MK is very much affected on non party days and nights and more specifically on EMH mornings and evenings. We found the party days to be much quieter. Generally however we found crowds on the whole for this trip to be the lowest we have ever seen. Our best weekend was the one of the 40th anniversary. We figured everyone would be at the F&W and most at MK so we hit DHS. It was dead quiet. I have a photo of the Sorcerers Hat taken at 10.49 am on the saturday (it was morning emh too) and there was one person strolling by in the background. One person?!! We rode TSM twice, walked onto RnR 7 times and then did a few walk ons for ToT. It was amazing. We then hit MK the next day (assuming it would be quieter as everyone had attended the day before) and it was the same story: so quiet it was almost spooky for the first hour.

 

[Chilly]

Glad to see lots of highs.

 

[WSussex]

Hi

Not sure if this will work but here goes - hopefully you will see photos with this link?!!

?body=http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150854145590181.753051.720280180&l=91372d681c&type=1&subject=Florida - 2011 - Food!