also on theme park strategy board..but guess here is a good place to post it!
My family's 1st visit...what impressed/worked and what didn't!!!
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Wow! We had an AMAZING vacation, everything went SO well! The weather was gorgeous, warm, but we were never HOT and it didn't rain at all until the night before we left! Shows were starting just as we were walking by...fastpasses worked out great! Our longest wait was 25 minutes for Toy Story Mania (the first time we used fast passes and wait was about 15 minutes)...but DS wanted to ride a second time during our trip and we didn't have time to wait for fastpasses! Most of our waits (with or without fastpasses) were about 10 minutes. LOVE the fastpasses for SPLASH MOUNTAIN!! Takes you right to the front! Was disappointed with only being allowed 1 fastpass at a time...thought you could have 2, but nope! Oh well, wasn't a big deal! The best thing of all was that my DH (who hadn't been and wasn't overly excited, didn't think I'd ever get him to go back) LOVED IT!! Not that he was wearing Mickey Ears and posing with characters, but he was very impressed by the variation of attractions, and how they aren't just "rides". He loved all the great lengths Disney went to with theming, and I think his favorite ride was Pirates of the Caribbean. He even said we should book another trip!! We even were going to book the bounceback right away, but we thought it was good through next year...but only was good for this year, and actually the dates were pretty much past! If they'd had a good bounceback for next spring, we would have booked! That being said, I actually am the one wanting to wait! I think we should go AFTER the expansion of fantasyland is open. Would LOVE to go next fall again (october again) but hate for the kids to miss school again. We'll see what we can plan! Don't think we would like summer, with the crowds and heat.
Now for what impressed us, and didn't! We would not go without the dining plan...ever. Because the food was good and we like to eat, but wouldn't be able to lay down over $100-$200 every meal for a good meal.
My absolute FAVORITE meal was...........Liberty Tree Tavern...all of it was absolutely delicious!! Didn't even have the dessert because we were too stuffed!
We also ate at Planet Hollywood...my DH LOVED the atmosphere.
Chef Mickey's was.....by far the biggest disappointment. NOT much food to choose from and I didn't like any of it! Ended up eating kids chicken nuggest and peas...the only good part was the the chocolate mousse domes!
50's Prime Time....food was pretty good (we ALL had fried chicken)...however we were definitely rushed!!! We even rearranged our schedule because I wanted to eat there so badly and our first ressie didn't work with having to go see MSEP that night...but my plates (dinner and dessert) were cleared SO quickly I didn't even realize it was happening...and I wasn't even finished! Probably won't be back there.
Le Cellier...YUM!! We went there for lunch, and while it was salty (the filet) it was DELICIOUS, especially with the sauce that comes with it. Chocolate Moose was great too! (I ended up eating tons of chocolate mousse this vacation...that and EDY's ice cream!)
Yachtsman...DH loved it..I thought it was only ok..and too fancy for my tastebuds anyway, but DH enjoys trying new things, so he liked it. I probably wouldn't go back, but DH would. There at night, and sat by the Beach Club pool while waiting...lovely atmosphere there.
Raglan Road...food was pretty good, once I ordered it fairly plain...very IRISH and guess not my style. Was hoping for some good potato skins and such, but not here. Ordered steak, without the glaze, and was good, as were the mashed potatoes and carrots...kids got chicken...liked it...DH tried it said it was really good. Would maybe go back..
The standard pizza (we ate at Pizza Planet and Pizzafari) was ok..not horrible, but not great.
We loved Pecos Bill's...very good...
Our food court (all-star sports) was better than I thought it would be...at breakfast there first morning (not on dining plan yet and hadn't been to walmart for food yet)...wasn't bad...also ate dinner there one night...the adult chicken nuggets weren't bad...EDYs for dessert!!
Cosmic Ray's...not bad, had the chicken sandwich...
Flame Tree BBQ..pretty good...had the pulled pork...
Season's food court at epcot...was a little disappointed...the food wasn't to my tastes..except for the chicken caeser salad and potato soup..those were good..and desserts all looked yummy, the mouse cake was good!
We didn't have any problem using all of our credits on the DP...we did actually leave 4 snack credits, but that's because at 11:05 we went to foodcourt to use them on EDYs! and they had just closed it up...the next day we were leaving and literally ran out of time..should've just stopped in a shop (we were at AK getting DD's hair wrapped right before heading to airport) and gotten some candy bars or something..was hoping to stop at Downtown DIsney, but ran out of time...
We ate EDYs at Fountainview twice! LOVED all the options around for snack credits! Like I said, wouldn't go without DP, as we never would have spent money getting all the things we did with snack credits, and we very much enjoyed picking out snacks each day!
Now for what worked and didn't....(sorry so long!)
So, I had intended on going back to room to rest/nap, at least after the first couple days of adrenaline wore off....the hour we went back at that first try was miserable! While DH and I were TRYING to rest...kids were WOUND...one laid in bed with me, but couldn't stay still...the other walked around the dark room, singing and humming!! We didn't try again after that!
We were pretty much commandos the whole time!! DH liked it that way, and didn't care that we didn't have downtime and walked all day long! He seemed to love it and kept asking for more! Kids did REALLY well! They of course had to be separated from each other a few times because of hitting or yelling or whatever (biggest complaint was feet being stepped on by each other!)...but they were never really cranky from being tired or anything! Couldn't have made it any better!
We did pretty much everything we wanted to in the first 4 full days...then spent the next 3 1/2 going back and picking up a few things we missed, and re-doing our favorites! We left the room every morning (except day 5) by 9:00 and didn't really come back until 10-12:00 that night (with the exception of coming back and cleaning up for dinner a couple times)..but it worked for us!
Again...the best part was that my DH LOVED it and wants to come back!
My family's 1st visit...what impressed/worked and what didn't!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow! We had an AMAZING vacation, everything went SO well! The weather was gorgeous, warm, but we were never HOT and it didn't rain at all until the night before we left! Shows were starting just as we were walking by...fastpasses worked out great! Our longest wait was 25 minutes for Toy Story Mania (the first time we used fast passes and wait was about 15 minutes)...but DS wanted to ride a second time during our trip and we didn't have time to wait for fastpasses! Most of our waits (with or without fastpasses) were about 10 minutes. LOVE the fastpasses for SPLASH MOUNTAIN!! Takes you right to the front! Was disappointed with only being allowed 1 fastpass at a time...thought you could have 2, but nope! Oh well, wasn't a big deal! The best thing of all was that my DH (who hadn't been and wasn't overly excited, didn't think I'd ever get him to go back) LOVED IT!! Not that he was wearing Mickey Ears and posing with characters, but he was very impressed by the variation of attractions, and how they aren't just "rides". He loved all the great lengths Disney went to with theming, and I think his favorite ride was Pirates of the Caribbean. He even said we should book another trip!! We even were going to book the bounceback right away, but we thought it was good through next year...but only was good for this year, and actually the dates were pretty much past! If they'd had a good bounceback for next spring, we would have booked! That being said, I actually am the one wanting to wait! I think we should go AFTER the expansion of fantasyland is open. Would LOVE to go next fall again (october again) but hate for the kids to miss school again. We'll see what we can plan! Don't think we would like summer, with the crowds and heat.
Now for what impressed us, and didn't! We would not go without the dining plan...ever. Because the food was good and we like to eat, but wouldn't be able to lay down over $100-$200 every meal for a good meal.
My absolute FAVORITE meal was...........Liberty Tree Tavern...all of it was absolutely delicious!! Didn't even have the dessert because we were too stuffed!
We also ate at Planet Hollywood...my DH LOVED the atmosphere.
Chef Mickey's was.....by far the biggest disappointment. NOT much food to choose from and I didn't like any of it! Ended up eating kids chicken nuggest and peas...the only good part was the the chocolate mousse domes!
50's Prime Time....food was pretty good (we ALL had fried chicken)...however we were definitely rushed!!! We even rearranged our schedule because I wanted to eat there so badly and our first ressie didn't work with having to go see MSEP that night...but my plates (dinner and dessert) were cleared SO quickly I didn't even realize it was happening...and I wasn't even finished! Probably won't be back there.
Le Cellier...YUM!! We went there for lunch, and while it was salty (the filet) it was DELICIOUS, especially with the sauce that comes with it. Chocolate Moose was great too! (I ended up eating tons of chocolate mousse this vacation...that and EDY's ice cream!)
Yachtsman...DH loved it..I thought it was only ok..and too fancy for my tastebuds anyway, but DH enjoys trying new things, so he liked it. I probably wouldn't go back, but DH would. There at night, and sat by the Beach Club pool while waiting...lovely atmosphere there.
Raglan Road...food was pretty good, once I ordered it fairly plain...very IRISH and guess not my style. Was hoping for some good potato skins and such, but not here. Ordered steak, without the glaze, and was good, as were the mashed potatoes and carrots...kids got chicken...liked it...DH tried it said it was really good. Would maybe go back..
The standard pizza (we ate at Pizza Planet and Pizzafari) was ok..not horrible, but not great.
We loved Pecos Bill's...very good...
Our food court (all-star sports) was better than I thought it would be...at breakfast there first morning (not on dining plan yet and hadn't been to walmart for food yet)...wasn't bad...also ate dinner there one night...the adult chicken nuggets weren't bad...EDYs for dessert!!
Cosmic Ray's...not bad, had the chicken sandwich...
Flame Tree BBQ..pretty good...had the pulled pork...
Season's food court at epcot...was a little disappointed...the food wasn't to my tastes..except for the chicken caeser salad and potato soup..those were good..and desserts all looked yummy, the mouse cake was good!
We didn't have any problem using all of our credits on the DP...we did actually leave 4 snack credits, but that's because at 11:05 we went to foodcourt to use them on EDYs! and they had just closed it up...the next day we were leaving and literally ran out of time..should've just stopped in a shop (we were at AK getting DD's hair wrapped right before heading to airport) and gotten some candy bars or something..was hoping to stop at Downtown DIsney, but ran out of time...
We ate EDYs at Fountainview twice! LOVED all the options around for snack credits! Like I said, wouldn't go without DP, as we never would have spent money getting all the things we did with snack credits, and we very much enjoyed picking out snacks each day!
Now for what worked and didn't....(sorry so long!)
So, I had intended on going back to room to rest/nap, at least after the first couple days of adrenaline wore off....the hour we went back at that first try was miserable! While DH and I were TRYING to rest...kids were WOUND...one laid in bed with me, but couldn't stay still...the other walked around the dark room, singing and humming!! We didn't try again after that!
We were pretty much commandos the whole time!! DH liked it that way, and didn't care that we didn't have downtime and walked all day long! He seemed to love it and kept asking for more! Kids did REALLY well! They of course had to be separated from each other a few times because of hitting or yelling or whatever (biggest complaint was feet being stepped on by each other!)...but they were never really cranky from being tired or anything! Couldn't have made it any better!
We did pretty much everything we wanted to in the first 4 full days...then spent the next 3 1/2 going back and picking up a few things we missed, and re-doing our favorites! We left the room every morning (except day 5) by 9:00 and didn't really come back until 10-12:00 that night (with the exception of coming back and cleaning up for dinner a couple times)..but it worked for us!
Again...the best part was that my DH LOVED it and wants to come back!
