Just back (July 3-10) with random but important recommendations...

[KimBean]

Wow, really? We didn't eat the QS side at Geyser Point but ate the bar side several times and it was fabulous. I can't fathom the QS being so different it's inedible. I'd try it if you are at WL

I'd have to find the thread but it was a vet I see on here all the time. Not long ago either. Said they left hungry. And then a disney blog gave it a bad review too.

 

[annemce118]

Thanks for sharing, love hearing about great trips!

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Sounds like you had fun!

And you won a pontoon boat rental at Bingo? Wow! We have played and won pool games many times- including Bingo, Trivia, and other pool games- and we just got little plastic toys.

Some of our best memories at Disney also come from the down time at the resorts. I really do think a family can have a wonderful vacation at the Disney resorts and never set foot in the parks.

 

[Sarafromcanada]

I have an 8:05 am BoG reservation in October. About what time would you say you left the restaurant to head to mine train? Am I correct that they let you start lining up for it before 9 am?

Our reservation was for 8:10. Arrived at MK at 7:45. Left BoG at 8:30 and we were the first ones to ride 7DMT. We rode twice, and then there was a line up of other people who had left BoG. We then waited by Peter Pan and were first to ride. By the time we got off the ride, it was a 40 min wait. So, you have to time it perfectly and be early to have it work out.

 

[Sarafromcanada]

We have reservations at BOG for 8 a.m. one morning. MK opens at 8 this morning. My question is: How does this work? What time will they let us in and how do we get past the sea of people waiting to enter the park?

It wouldnt work if the park opens at 8am, I don't think. I think you need to do it on a day where the park opens at 9am.

 

[Sarafromcanada]

Wow, really? We didn't eat the QS side at Geyser Point but ate the bar side several times and it was fabulous. I can't fathom the QS being so different it's inedible. I'd try it if you are at WL

The atmosphere far outweighs the food, in my opinion. On the dining plan, we felt like there was so much food that the type and quality became less important as we got into the trip because we started to get sick of eating. I don't know if I would make a special trip to Geyser Point, but if staying at WL, then it is a must do for sure. And the food is a little weird, but we just asked for things to be done differently and they were very accommodating. You can pretty much eat anything on the menu. My daughter for example had the grilled salmon from the salmon BLT with fries every day.

 

[Sarafromcanada]

Sounds like you had fun!

And you won a pontoon boat rental at Bingo? Wow! We have played and won pool games many times- including Bingo, Trivia, and other pool games- and we just got little plastic toys.

Some of our best memories at Disney also come from the down time at the resorts. I really do think a family can have a wonderful vacation at the Disney resorts and never set foot in the parks.

Yes, that was the first time we had every won anything like that. The prize was actually for a sea racer for an hour but when we showed up with four people, they said "you can have the pontoon boat instead". They had really big games and prizes on July 4th and it rained, so it looked from the envelope that it was a prize that was left over from that day.

 

[SaraVee]

Our reservation was for 8:10. Arrived at MK at 7:45. Left BoG at 8:30 and we were the first ones to ride 7DMT. We rode twice, and then there was a line up of other people who had left BoG. We then waited by Peter Pan and were first to ride. By the time we got off the ride, it was a 40 min wait. So, you have to time it perfectly and be early to have it work out.

Thank you!

 

[ELSA711]

I love that you gifted your FP like that, sharing that pixie dust!

We do this once every trip if given a 'paper FP', I love doing this for people. Sometimes it's better than the pixie dust we receive, to make people smile like that!

One time we had someone say no thanks with a 60 minute wait on RNR, we were like - okay

Sounds like a wonderful time and really helps me set my sights on WL, my kids have been asking to stay there.

 

[CurtisB]

Geyser Point at WDW is a must do if you have QS meals to use – it is amazing! We ate there every day for lunch!

We were there at the same time (7/7-7/10) and stayed at WL for the first time.

We didn't get food at Geyser Point but it's now our favorite place to grab a drink outside the parks. It's beautiful with a great view.
Overall we enjoyed WL and it is beautiful but we couldn't justify the extra cost for us vs our usual resort, Coronado Springs. We just don't spend a lot of time at the resorts but can understand if you do.
We were also pleasantly surprised with the crowds! We were at AK on Sunday 7/9, got a FP for FoP (agree AMAZING ride) and then headed back over after RoL for EMH and only waited about an hour to ride again, got off at 11:55 and ran back and was able to get back on basically walk on and ride it one more time before the park closed.

 

[GillianP1301]

Sounds like an amazing trip! I have stayed at WL, but never at GF and people always think I'm nuts when I say it's pretty much the last resort I would choose at Disney. I just don't like the overall feel of the place, hard to pinpoint, but interesting that you found something not quite the right fit for you there either.

I also love your advice to not feel totally attached to an ADR. The odd time I've skipped one for various reasons - usually because we were too into whatever else we were doing at that moment. You have to be willing to take the $10/person hit though, which doesn't bother me that much because we are only 2 in our party.

I'm intrigued about Splitsville and have thought about it the past couple of trips and I never seem to find time in our vacation to do it. It's still on the list though, I'll get to that eventually!

 

[Mikeb1892]

We were the first family to arrive at BoG for our breakfast reservation and had a special photo taken, and treated to a few extra special things including a fast pass for any ride. Since it was the last day of our trip and we had pretty much already one everything, we went to the last family in line for 7 dwarfs and gave them the fast pass (saved them an hour wait)! She started to cry and that was worth way more than a fast pass!

Love this.

 

[Dakota731]

Did you pay no show fee for Ohanas? I hope so or no one will ever cancel extra ADRs any more if there's no penalty.

 

[Sarafromcanada]

Yes, there is a penalty, but in my opinion, worth it.

 

[Sarafromcanada]

We do this once every trip if given a 'paper FP', I love doing this for people. Sometimes it's better than the pixie dust we receive, to make people smile like that!

One time we had someone say no thanks with a 60 minute wait on RNR, we were like - okay

Sounds like a wonderful time and really helps me set my sights on WL, my kids have been asking to stay there.

Our first memory (and best one) of staying at WL was renting the bikes and riding over to Fort Wilderness. (It was free at the time because of all of the construction, but got us hooked, and now it is the main reason our kids want to stay there). We love the bike rentals!

 

[ArielSRL]

Love your report. We did our first stay at WL (rented points for a DVC studio) and we fell in love. Decided to look into buying a resale contract before we even left the resort! If all goes well with our contract, we will be doing a mostly resort only trip next June!

I have always thought the GF was too stuffy for me. Glad you got switched over to WL!

We enjoyed GP, as well!

 

[AngiTN]

Did you pay no show fee for Ohanas? I hope so or no one will ever cancel extra ADRs any more if there's no penalty.

You aren't stuck with no show fees
About a year ago Disney added a change button to your dining reservations online
If you determine you aren't going to make an ADR just get on there and change it. If you want to move it to a time you can make them do that and if you just want to cancel them move it to some way far off time and then go back in and cancel it

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We stayed at GF SL and felt the same way. We were not thrilled at all with the feel of the resort, the CMs or the views of the room. The food in the lounge was very good at the time but the CMs were not friendly at all. We would stay anywhere else.

Where did you rent the Pontoon boat from? How far did you go? We keep saying we want to do it but haven't done it yet.

Thanks for the great review.

 

[robl45]

Our reservation was for 8:10. Arrived at MK at 7:45. Left BoG at 8:30 and we were the first ones to ride 7DMT. We rode twice, and then there was a line up of other people who had left BoG. We then waited by Peter Pan and were first to ride. By the time we got off the ride, it was a 40 min wait. So, you have to time it perfectly and be early to have it work out.

So basically you paid for breakfast to ride extra rides since you were there for 20 minutes. Nothing wrong with that but it is an expensive way to get some rides in.

As for the people saying geyser point is inedible, while I've never eaten there, you do realize they don't truck in a separate food vendor for that place right? I've had new york strip from multiple disney restaurants and I'd bet 100 bucks they all use the same vendor. Maybe the signature restaurants have something different, but the rest of the places is all the same food dressed up a little different. Just get a burger and don't get any special sauce. Going to be the same burger as anywhere else.

 

[Dakota731]

You aren't stuck with no show fees

I was told there is a $10 fee if you don't cancel within 24 hours??