Gale Thompson
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2005
- Messages
- 14
We were at WDW from 5/7 through 5/14. We stayed at POP and were very pleased with the accommodations. Maid service was very good, pools were nice, and food court was great.
We found the crowd levels at the parks to be very manageable but I cannot stress enough that you should go EARLY. We were at the parks each morning at opening and took an afternoon break each day to swim and rest. We returned to the parks in the evening to crowds and temps that were generally lower than in mid-afternoon. We rarely waited more than five minutes for rides.
We also used Magical Express. We did not receive our luggage tags prior to departure, but everything went very smoothly despite this. At the airport, we were directed to the ME check-in where clerks took the numbers from our baggage claim checks and also asked for a description of our luggage. We went to a park upon arrival at POP, and our luggage was in our room when we returned. Our only complaint with ME was at departure. The ME line at the hotel to check our bags and print our boarding passes was outrageously long. We were finally told to wait at the bus stop with our luggage. A yellow Mears
bus took our luggage and we were required to take it to check-in at the airport. We were not happy about this, but had no other choice. Oh well, I guess Disney had already gotten all it was going to get from us for the week, so it didn't matter if we were happy with the service at the time of departure.
We also used the MYW meal plan, which worked wonderfully. Our opinions are outlined below:
Liberty Tree Tavern - good character interaction, food good.
Boma - We were impressed with the service but generally disappointed with the food. I guess we just didn't enjoy the African spices and flavors.
Hollywood & Vine - A good selection of food on the buffet, which was generally very good.
O'Hana - This was our favorite restaurant. The food was plentiful and extremely good. The staff was attentive and service prompt. We loved the wings, the skewers of turkey, beef, and shrimp, and the coconut with carmel dipping sauce.
Biergarten - This restaurant was a pleasant surprise. We were unsure about the German food but found everything to be very good. We particularly enjoyed interacting with the waitress who was from Germany and was finishing her year of work in WDW.
Chef Mickey - Buffet was plentiful and food very good. The place was noisy and busy with lots of character interaction. Each character came to every table in the restaurant and posed for pictures.
Rose & Crown - Food good, service good. We had the Steak and Prawns, which were very good but spicy with horseradish sauce.
Overall, we had a wonderful experience at WDW. I will be happy to answer questions if you have any.
We found the crowd levels at the parks to be very manageable but I cannot stress enough that you should go EARLY. We were at the parks each morning at opening and took an afternoon break each day to swim and rest. We returned to the parks in the evening to crowds and temps that were generally lower than in mid-afternoon. We rarely waited more than five minutes for rides.
We also used Magical Express. We did not receive our luggage tags prior to departure, but everything went very smoothly despite this. At the airport, we were directed to the ME check-in where clerks took the numbers from our baggage claim checks and also asked for a description of our luggage. We went to a park upon arrival at POP, and our luggage was in our room when we returned. Our only complaint with ME was at departure. The ME line at the hotel to check our bags and print our boarding passes was outrageously long. We were finally told to wait at the bus stop with our luggage. A yellow Mears
bus took our luggage and we were required to take it to check-in at the airport. We were not happy about this, but had no other choice. Oh well, I guess Disney had already gotten all it was going to get from us for the week, so it didn't matter if we were happy with the service at the time of departure.
We also used the MYW meal plan, which worked wonderfully. Our opinions are outlined below:
Liberty Tree Tavern - good character interaction, food good.
Boma - We were impressed with the service but generally disappointed with the food. I guess we just didn't enjoy the African spices and flavors.
Hollywood & Vine - A good selection of food on the buffet, which was generally very good.
O'Hana - This was our favorite restaurant. The food was plentiful and extremely good. The staff was attentive and service prompt. We loved the wings, the skewers of turkey, beef, and shrimp, and the coconut with carmel dipping sauce.
Biergarten - This restaurant was a pleasant surprise. We were unsure about the German food but found everything to be very good. We particularly enjoyed interacting with the waitress who was from Germany and was finishing her year of work in WDW.
Chef Mickey - Buffet was plentiful and food very good. The place was noisy and busy with lots of character interaction. Each character came to every table in the restaurant and posed for pictures.
Rose & Crown - Food good, service good. We had the Steak and Prawns, which were very good but spicy with horseradish sauce.
Overall, we had a wonderful experience at WDW. I will be happy to answer questions if you have any.
