OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
- Messages
- 7,614
Hi all!! I just got back from an amazing Disney trip. I want to share my experience and answer any questions anyone might have.
Who: my boyfriend and I (and his sister at some points).
When: Disney from Sept 9-13. Blue Springs State Park Sept 14. Universal Sept 15-17.
Where: Pop for Sept 9-13, Coronado Sept 13-15, Sapphire Falls Sept 15-17.
Crowds:
I thought that the crowd levels were very low for this trip, which was great because we went September of last year during this time and thought the crowds were awful. The only day we really had a problem was Saturday night when we hopped to MK for the nighttime entertainment. I knew this was going to be bad because of the MNSSH parties the MK is always crowded during the nights with Wishes and the MSEP. We just made the best of it and watched Wishes from Dumbo and saw the second electrical parade, which was not crowded at all.
We had great luck arriving at the parks at rope drop. On Saturday morning at DHS we met Donald, Daisy, Chip and Dale, Goofy, Minnie, Mickey, Olaf, Chewbacca and rode TSMM twice, Great Movie Ride, ST, Muppets and TT all from 9-noon.
Restaurants:
We did mostly counter service this trip. We liked Pecos Bill's, we were able to share the fajita platter and felt that we both had more than enough to eat. Columbia Harbor House was good as usual, we went right when they opened and were able to get our favorite spot upstairs overlooking fantasy land. We were very disappointed with Yak and Yeti counter service, we got the honey chicken to share and there were six pieces of chicken, and they were not big. They need to start providing smaller containers there because over half the container was empty. There were also three vegetables. We always share a meal there and this amount of food for the price was pitiful.
We really liked to visit resorts and eat at the counter services there. AKL's Mara food court was delicious as usual. We stayed at Pop and we much prefer AOA's food court which is a quick, easy walk from Pop.
We did two table services: Trail's End and Nine Dragons. I really cannot recommend Nine Dragons enough, I think the restaurant got a complete menu redo a year or so ago and it is just delicious. We had the Kung Pao shrimp and the lunch combo (sweet and sour soup, general tso's chicken steamed buns, pot sticks and the ginger ice cream). They also offer a 10% AP discount on weekdays for lunch.
Trail's End was amazing, we paid $26 for the dinner buffet with Disney Visa discount. All the food was amazing, they had many sorts of salads, chili, cornbread, vegetable soup, brisket, shrimp, mac and cheese, baked beans, potato salad, fried chicken and lots of delicious desserts. It is a very low key buffet and afterwards we waddled out to the beach at Fort Wilderness to watch Wishes. It is also located right next to the horse stables and you could arrive early and have a visit with the Cinderella ponies and take a peak inside the stables or see if the blacksmiths are working.
Hotels:
Pop was good, we stayed in the 80s section building 9, which was actually a lot closer to the bus stop than I thought, so long as you walk along the outside of the buildings.
Coronado must have had a room redo, everything looked really pretty and new and the room felt huge compared to Pop. The beds and pillows at Coronado were also really nice. We stayed in the Ranchos because I think the landscaping is just so pretty over there.
Weather:
It was very hot and muggy and humid. We had a couple rain showers, including the absolute 2 + hour monsoon and thunder storm that happened last Tuesday. I recommend over packing for this time of year, if you have a midday break you'll want fresh clothes to change into for the evening's activities. If there is heavy rain forecast and you pack a park bag, you might want to pack socks or sandals. Our feet got drenched during the monsoon and it was very uncomfortable.
Cast Members:
We didn't encounter any bad cast members this trip. Everyone was nice if not wonderful. We made sure to take down names and information of any exceptional cast members and will be sending an email to guest services about them. I think that is important so they can continue to encourage and reward the exceptional cast members. An easy way to do it is just to send a text to a family member after the encounter, including the cast members name, role location and any details. That way after the trip is over you can read back through the texts and already have the date and time recorded as well.
MNSSHP:
We attended the Sunday party and loved it, mostly because the crowds were very low. I did a write up on our experience in the MNSSHP thread, but I am more than happy to answer any specific questions, I am an uber planner for those parties so I have lots of tips, especially about meeting characters.
Overall I thought this was a very good time of the year to go. Besides the hot weather, you have the Halloween parties (which are my favorite Disney event), food and wine, lower crowds (usually...hopefully...it's hard to predict anymore).
I booked a bounceback offer for free dining for early December before we checked out of Coronado. I don't know if I'll end up keeping it, but it only required the $200 deposit and now I have it in case I want to keep it.
Anyone have any questions I can help with?
Who: my boyfriend and I (and his sister at some points).
When: Disney from Sept 9-13. Blue Springs State Park Sept 14. Universal Sept 15-17.
Where: Pop for Sept 9-13, Coronado Sept 13-15, Sapphire Falls Sept 15-17.
Crowds:
I thought that the crowd levels were very low for this trip, which was great because we went September of last year during this time and thought the crowds were awful. The only day we really had a problem was Saturday night when we hopped to MK for the nighttime entertainment. I knew this was going to be bad because of the MNSSH parties the MK is always crowded during the nights with Wishes and the MSEP. We just made the best of it and watched Wishes from Dumbo and saw the second electrical parade, which was not crowded at all.
We had great luck arriving at the parks at rope drop. On Saturday morning at DHS we met Donald, Daisy, Chip and Dale, Goofy, Minnie, Mickey, Olaf, Chewbacca and rode TSMM twice, Great Movie Ride, ST, Muppets and TT all from 9-noon.
Restaurants:
We did mostly counter service this trip. We liked Pecos Bill's, we were able to share the fajita platter and felt that we both had more than enough to eat. Columbia Harbor House was good as usual, we went right when they opened and were able to get our favorite spot upstairs overlooking fantasy land. We were very disappointed with Yak and Yeti counter service, we got the honey chicken to share and there were six pieces of chicken, and they were not big. They need to start providing smaller containers there because over half the container was empty. There were also three vegetables. We always share a meal there and this amount of food for the price was pitiful.
We really liked to visit resorts and eat at the counter services there. AKL's Mara food court was delicious as usual. We stayed at Pop and we much prefer AOA's food court which is a quick, easy walk from Pop.
We did two table services: Trail's End and Nine Dragons. I really cannot recommend Nine Dragons enough, I think the restaurant got a complete menu redo a year or so ago and it is just delicious. We had the Kung Pao shrimp and the lunch combo (sweet and sour soup, general tso's chicken steamed buns, pot sticks and the ginger ice cream). They also offer a 10% AP discount on weekdays for lunch.
Trail's End was amazing, we paid $26 for the dinner buffet with Disney Visa discount. All the food was amazing, they had many sorts of salads, chili, cornbread, vegetable soup, brisket, shrimp, mac and cheese, baked beans, potato salad, fried chicken and lots of delicious desserts. It is a very low key buffet and afterwards we waddled out to the beach at Fort Wilderness to watch Wishes. It is also located right next to the horse stables and you could arrive early and have a visit with the Cinderella ponies and take a peak inside the stables or see if the blacksmiths are working.
Hotels:
Pop was good, we stayed in the 80s section building 9, which was actually a lot closer to the bus stop than I thought, so long as you walk along the outside of the buildings.
Coronado must have had a room redo, everything looked really pretty and new and the room felt huge compared to Pop. The beds and pillows at Coronado were also really nice. We stayed in the Ranchos because I think the landscaping is just so pretty over there.
Weather:
It was very hot and muggy and humid. We had a couple rain showers, including the absolute 2 + hour monsoon and thunder storm that happened last Tuesday. I recommend over packing for this time of year, if you have a midday break you'll want fresh clothes to change into for the evening's activities. If there is heavy rain forecast and you pack a park bag, you might want to pack socks or sandals. Our feet got drenched during the monsoon and it was very uncomfortable.
Cast Members:
We didn't encounter any bad cast members this trip. Everyone was nice if not wonderful. We made sure to take down names and information of any exceptional cast members and will be sending an email to guest services about them. I think that is important so they can continue to encourage and reward the exceptional cast members. An easy way to do it is just to send a text to a family member after the encounter, including the cast members name, role location and any details. That way after the trip is over you can read back through the texts and already have the date and time recorded as well.
MNSSHP:
We attended the Sunday party and loved it, mostly because the crowds were very low. I did a write up on our experience in the MNSSHP thread, but I am more than happy to answer any specific questions, I am an uber planner for those parties so I have lots of tips, especially about meeting characters.
Overall I thought this was a very good time of the year to go. Besides the hot weather, you have the Halloween parties (which are my favorite Disney event), food and wine, lower crowds (usually...hopefully...it's hard to predict anymore).
I booked a bounceback offer for free dining for early December before we checked out of Coronado. I don't know if I'll end up keeping it, but it only required the $200 deposit and now I have it in case I want to keep it.
Anyone have any questions I can help with?
