MemoryMakers2669
<font color=green>Would rather have a sippy tag th
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
- Messages
- 6,218
Dates: June 21-29
Cast: Myself (36), dd's... 20 months and 5 years, Sister (38), Friend (37), her ds's...4, 9 and 11, Aunt (65), Cousin (43ish), Cousin (27) and Cousin (5).
Will start from day one....
Southwest airlines... Great all around! Flight down was right on time, flight home was delayed almost 3 hours due to severe SEVERE weather here at home, but they kept us informed, etc.
Magical Express..... For us...100% PERFECT! NO lines, NO confusion, NO waits, NICE buses, AWESOME videos, etc! Can't say one bad thing about this. Our luggage arrived in our room while we were at dinner that night, so not sure how long it took. We were completely prepared and fine with it taking a few hours. SO much better than having to even look at it again once we left it at the counter in Baltimore. On the day we left, our flight wasn't until 7pm. We had the Bell Service pick it up and store it for us....put valuables in safe deposit boxes.... They brought it right out for us, right to the ME pick up area and unloaded it for us. The ME bus driver put it on the bus for us and at the airport someone was right there and took it all up to the SW counter. So, we really didn't handle it on the return trip either. Just tipped the three different people along the way...which again was SO worth it! I had two bags, so tipped $8 for the whole thing. $2 for each...the Bellman, ME driver twice..putting it on and then off, and then the luggage guy at the airport. Each member of my party did the same.
National Car Rental.... Rented a mini van for the week from National. From Mousesavers I signed up for the free Emerald Club and boy was this just awesome! We walked straight off the plane to the mini vans and off we went. SO EASY! My cousin and I did not use ME going to the resort, we got the rental and hit Costco for water, snacks, etc. I returned it to the Car Care Center on site, which was super easy and they shuttled me to the TTC right away, literally took me 5 mintues. And the gas station being right there to fill it up was great! Oh yeah, I paid TOTAL.....taxes and everything...only $190 for the week with the codes and such from Mousesavers!
Port Orleans Riverside...... As usual, LOVED IT! With the exception of myself, kids and sister, the others in the party have never been to Disney, but they all were VERY happy with the rooms, resort grounds, food, etc. at POR. Check In was fast and easy and we were in the rooms within 1.5 hours of getting off the plane. For the first time ever, my room request was filled. Requested building 15 in AB, first floor, non smoking and got it.
Mousekeeping.... Our mousekeeper was just OK! She did very minimal work and unlike the rooms next to ours with a different Mousekeeper, we got nothing special all week long. None of the stuffed animals were displayed in cute ways, or in the windows, etc. Nothing. We tipped her here and there but at the end of the week got her caught up to $1 a day per person, plus...so she ended up with a little over $100 I believe. She actually started crying when we tipped her. She had NO idea how much we had given her either. We each did it seperately, and when I gave her ours, it was only a couple bills, with a $1 on top. I really think she was NOT used to being tipped! She was very sweet, just not great at what she does. OH, we didn't tip each and every day because we had NO cash on us for the most part. She was tipped the first couples days, then mid week, then all caught up on the last day. She was there the entire nine days we were.
DINING:
Ohana..... First night in we ate here. I have been before, so booked the group here, and they all LOVED it as much as I do. They were even still talking about it at the end of the trip. The shrimp and pineapple were huge hits.
CRT for Lunch.... Food was great, Princesses were VERY rushed, we felt rushed by waiter as well. But would do it again for sure. Kids loved it.
Sci Fi Dine In.... Again, LOVED this place. First time for me as well. The best thing about it was that it was quiet! We were really surprised by this actually. Very nice. Especially with it being Star Wars Weekend and it was a mad house outside, so the break was super nice! Only complaint would be it being so dark, you can't see your food very well. Other than that, it was great and we will be hitting it again.
Boma.... Another place my DH and I go to each time we have gone. The other members of my family that went also LOVED it! Food was as good as ever.
Chef Mickeys.... This was fun, food was good, character interaction was fantastic here. NOT quiet at all! Had 7:20 reservations and didn't get seated until close to 8:00 though! We were there at 7:00!
Counter Service.... Ate at POR, POFQ, Sunshine Season in EPCOT, Pecos Bills, Toy Story Pizza Planet, Pinocchio VH and had all the usual snacks like Mickey Bars, Egg Rolls, DOLE WHIPS, Turkey Leg, etc. NO complaints at all from me or my group. Over all all the food we had was very good to Excellent!
ACTIVITIES
Horse Drawn Carriage Rides at POR....... We all did this one evening, and again just loved it. Our driver was great, full of information and the ride went all over both POR and POFQ. Well worth the $30
Simba's Cubhouse @ AKL..... The night we went to Boma, we put the 4 and 5 year olds here for about 1.5 hours while we ate. They loved it and didn't want to leave, we had to drag the 4 year old out. We took them from 6-7:30 and they fed them dinner (free). They charge $10 an hour per child, but charge by the half hour after the first hour, which was nice! So, only cost us $15 per child. Well worth it to have a nice quiet kid free dinner and to give them something different to do. The baby and big kids stayed with the aunt and one cousin that didn't go to Boma.
Parks and Crowds.... Having only been to WDW in November, December and January, I was afraid of what the crowds and lines would be like. The parks were PACKED!!!! Interestingly though, we waited in NO lines all week long! We literally walked onto almost everything! Soarin of course was a mad house, but we rode it 3 times with no problems with FP's we got right after park opening and used a couple hours later. The only two things that we didn't get to go on were Splash Mountain and Test Track. The FPs for them when we were there were just too late, and when we went back the one night to use them, the FP lines were over an hour long themselves, so we didn't bother. Mission Space and Space Mountain and BTMR were no problems at all either. Very surprised by this. We hit most of the parks on the days they had EMH too! RnR, TofT, Buzz, Stitch, PP just to name a few were no problems either.
Busses.... OK, here is our one big complaint! Thank God I had a rental, as I wouldn't have been happy. The other members of my family though did have to deal with the unbelievable waits for busses throughout the week. Up to two HOURS at times. This was during or close to closing hours though! The few times I rode the bus there weren't any problems really, except them being very full.
Downtown Disney.... Just plain fun. Took the boat most of the time, bus once, drove another. Lots of great shopping. Ate at Earl Of Sandwich, which was VERY GOOD! Will be hitting this place again. Nice to have a good inexpensive meal!
Can't think of anything else really. Will be glad to answer questions of course, so ask away.
Cast: Myself (36), dd's... 20 months and 5 years, Sister (38), Friend (37), her ds's...4, 9 and 11, Aunt (65), Cousin (43ish), Cousin (27) and Cousin (5).
Will start from day one....
Southwest airlines... Great all around! Flight down was right on time, flight home was delayed almost 3 hours due to severe SEVERE weather here at home, but they kept us informed, etc.
Magical Express..... For us...100% PERFECT! NO lines, NO confusion, NO waits, NICE buses, AWESOME videos, etc! Can't say one bad thing about this. Our luggage arrived in our room while we were at dinner that night, so not sure how long it took. We were completely prepared and fine with it taking a few hours. SO much better than having to even look at it again once we left it at the counter in Baltimore. On the day we left, our flight wasn't until 7pm. We had the Bell Service pick it up and store it for us....put valuables in safe deposit boxes.... They brought it right out for us, right to the ME pick up area and unloaded it for us. The ME bus driver put it on the bus for us and at the airport someone was right there and took it all up to the SW counter. So, we really didn't handle it on the return trip either. Just tipped the three different people along the way...which again was SO worth it! I had two bags, so tipped $8 for the whole thing. $2 for each...the Bellman, ME driver twice..putting it on and then off, and then the luggage guy at the airport. Each member of my party did the same.
National Car Rental.... Rented a mini van for the week from National. From Mousesavers I signed up for the free Emerald Club and boy was this just awesome! We walked straight off the plane to the mini vans and off we went. SO EASY! My cousin and I did not use ME going to the resort, we got the rental and hit Costco for water, snacks, etc. I returned it to the Car Care Center on site, which was super easy and they shuttled me to the TTC right away, literally took me 5 mintues. And the gas station being right there to fill it up was great! Oh yeah, I paid TOTAL.....taxes and everything...only $190 for the week with the codes and such from Mousesavers!
Port Orleans Riverside...... As usual, LOVED IT! With the exception of myself, kids and sister, the others in the party have never been to Disney, but they all were VERY happy with the rooms, resort grounds, food, etc. at POR. Check In was fast and easy and we were in the rooms within 1.5 hours of getting off the plane. For the first time ever, my room request was filled. Requested building 15 in AB, first floor, non smoking and got it.
Mousekeeping.... Our mousekeeper was just OK! She did very minimal work and unlike the rooms next to ours with a different Mousekeeper, we got nothing special all week long. None of the stuffed animals were displayed in cute ways, or in the windows, etc. Nothing. We tipped her here and there but at the end of the week got her caught up to $1 a day per person, plus...so she ended up with a little over $100 I believe. She actually started crying when we tipped her. She had NO idea how much we had given her either. We each did it seperately, and when I gave her ours, it was only a couple bills, with a $1 on top. I really think she was NOT used to being tipped! She was very sweet, just not great at what she does. OH, we didn't tip each and every day because we had NO cash on us for the most part. She was tipped the first couples days, then mid week, then all caught up on the last day. She was there the entire nine days we were.
DINING:
Ohana..... First night in we ate here. I have been before, so booked the group here, and they all LOVED it as much as I do. They were even still talking about it at the end of the trip. The shrimp and pineapple were huge hits.
CRT for Lunch.... Food was great, Princesses were VERY rushed, we felt rushed by waiter as well. But would do it again for sure. Kids loved it.
Sci Fi Dine In.... Again, LOVED this place. First time for me as well. The best thing about it was that it was quiet! We were really surprised by this actually. Very nice. Especially with it being Star Wars Weekend and it was a mad house outside, so the break was super nice! Only complaint would be it being so dark, you can't see your food very well. Other than that, it was great and we will be hitting it again.
Boma.... Another place my DH and I go to each time we have gone. The other members of my family that went also LOVED it! Food was as good as ever.
Chef Mickeys.... This was fun, food was good, character interaction was fantastic here. NOT quiet at all! Had 7:20 reservations and didn't get seated until close to 8:00 though! We were there at 7:00!
Counter Service.... Ate at POR, POFQ, Sunshine Season in EPCOT, Pecos Bills, Toy Story Pizza Planet, Pinocchio VH and had all the usual snacks like Mickey Bars, Egg Rolls, DOLE WHIPS, Turkey Leg, etc. NO complaints at all from me or my group. Over all all the food we had was very good to Excellent!
ACTIVITIES
Horse Drawn Carriage Rides at POR....... We all did this one evening, and again just loved it. Our driver was great, full of information and the ride went all over both POR and POFQ. Well worth the $30
Simba's Cubhouse @ AKL..... The night we went to Boma, we put the 4 and 5 year olds here for about 1.5 hours while we ate. They loved it and didn't want to leave, we had to drag the 4 year old out. We took them from 6-7:30 and they fed them dinner (free). They charge $10 an hour per child, but charge by the half hour after the first hour, which was nice! So, only cost us $15 per child. Well worth it to have a nice quiet kid free dinner and to give them something different to do. The baby and big kids stayed with the aunt and one cousin that didn't go to Boma.
Parks and Crowds.... Having only been to WDW in November, December and January, I was afraid of what the crowds and lines would be like. The parks were PACKED!!!! Interestingly though, we waited in NO lines all week long! We literally walked onto almost everything! Soarin of course was a mad house, but we rode it 3 times with no problems with FP's we got right after park opening and used a couple hours later. The only two things that we didn't get to go on were Splash Mountain and Test Track. The FPs for them when we were there were just too late, and when we went back the one night to use them, the FP lines were over an hour long themselves, so we didn't bother. Mission Space and Space Mountain and BTMR were no problems at all either. Very surprised by this. We hit most of the parks on the days they had EMH too! RnR, TofT, Buzz, Stitch, PP just to name a few were no problems either.
Busses.... OK, here is our one big complaint! Thank God I had a rental, as I wouldn't have been happy. The other members of my family though did have to deal with the unbelievable waits for busses throughout the week. Up to two HOURS at times. This was during or close to closing hours though! The few times I rode the bus there weren't any problems really, except them being very full.
Downtown Disney.... Just plain fun. Took the boat most of the time, bus once, drove another. Lots of great shopping. Ate at Earl Of Sandwich, which was VERY GOOD! Will be hitting this place again. Nice to have a good inexpensive meal!
Can't think of anything else really. Will be glad to answer questions of course, so ask away.
