Minority Opinions

[Mickeyluver37]

Let me first say that I Loooooooooove the DIS, and our trips wouldn't have been nearly as magical without my having found these boards. So, now with that said...What were some things that you read on hear that you were totally in disagreement with? Where were you pleasantly surprised or let down because of something you read on here? I'll start.

1. AK- My kids loved this park. Definitely not a 1/2 day park here by any means. In fact, after one day at the park, the kids begged to go back a second day in a row, throwing off my planned to the hour schedule!

2. The All Stars- We stayed here for just a few nights before moving to the Contemporary and we also loved it. Now granted, we had a rental car and only used the bus system once or twice, but I'd be willing to stay every trip at a value resort.

3.Sci-Fi- One of our best meals the whole trip. Went back the following year, and again, the service was one of the best on property, and the food was excellent.

4. LeCellier- biggest waste of time, server was a moron- he questioned our lunch vouchers at least 5 times throughout the meal (I had showed them up front, thinking it would make things easier on him). Explained to him the whole Connections deal, had to repeat myself several times. @@ Food was not even that great.

5. Ok this one might not belong here but-- Universal Studios. We made the mistake of taking our 2 y.o. and 4 y.o. during Mardi Gras/Spring Break time. I found it to be extremely unfamily friendly, dirty (saw a dirty diaper on a bench earlier in the day, it was still sitting there that evening) It was crowded, there was a concert going on, staff was doing nothing to control crowds that were spilling beer everywhere, and the only way to leave the seriously lacking kids area was to try to push our strollers against this crowd, and there was no real path. This was our first trip, where we had driven down, and we bought the 3 day passes that morning. After using just one day, we decided to drive home instead. Yes, it was THAT BAD. That was 3 years ago and I'm still not ready to try again!

Ok, your turn.

 

[clombardi]

Although it is not Disney related, I have to comment on #5-Universal Studios. We went last summer because so many of our friends have raved over it, saying it is far superior to WDW. We hated it! Dirty..that is an understatement. Gross..Gross...Gross! I felt like we were at our local Six Flags.

 

[bpitzer20]

I had read a lot of raves for Boma at AKL, but we (all adults) did not enjoy it. We are definately not adventurous enough for African food, but we did have such a nice time walking around the lodge beforehand, we are staying there on our next trip! So, there was some good that came out of it

 

[DISUNC]

3.Sci-Fi- One of our best meals the whole trip. Went back the following year, and again, the service was one of the best on property, and the food was excellent.

AMEN! We are HUGE SCI-FI fans here too! Love the place...it's our one MUST do everytime we go! I can't for the life of me understand why everyone is so against it! The best Ruben sandwich I ever had (i lived in NYC for 30 years).
I always thought the SERVICE is even beyond Disneys expectations. I always leave a BIG tip there. And it has the BEST theming! Lots of Fun!

The WORST place we ever eaten in was Chef Mickey's. The service was HORRIFIC! What food was available (mostly cold cereal) was stale! AND FILLLLLLLLTHY. The only characters we saw were Pluto, Chip & Dale!
And at the table next to us, the man did nothing but SCREAM at the waitress while his wife changed 3 pairs of baby diapers right on the floor next to us.

We had p/s for 8:00am, showed up at 7:50am...finally was seated at 8:30am...by the time we got out it was 10:15...and I had a bagel & coffee.
The kids had cereal! Perhaps it was a off day....A VERY OFF DAY. But I will never go back.

 

[sweetheart2576]

1. AK- My kids loved this park. Definitely not a 1/2 day park here by any means. In fact, after one day at the park, the kids begged to go back a second day in a row, throwing off my planned to the hour schedule!

I have to say that AK is one of my favorite parks. My kids as well as my DH love it. We try and get an early PS at Donald's so that we are there before the parks open and usually stay all day. I would not miss AK for anything.

 

[dbanzai]

I'm another Sci-Fi fan. I enjoy the food (and the shakes!) and I'm also a sci-fi geek so I love the vintage commercials for some classic movies... With some of Walt's Tomorrowland features thrown in! I've only gone as part of a small party (two people once, one another time), and I could imagine not having as much fun if I had to keep craning my neck back to talk to my friends.

My first time back staying on property in 10 years was at an All-Star and I was quite happy. Granted, I went there expecting it to be the bottom-of-the-line Disney hotel, but having kept that in mind, I thought I got more than my money's worth. I would definitely stay at a moderate or deluxe if I had the money, but for what I paid, I was extremely happy with the All-Star Music... And we didn't have a rental car.

AK - I still see it as a half-day park, sorry. Despite the Nat-a-zu mentality, I keep thinking of a Six Flags animal park/zoo. I might change my mind on my next trip because I haven't tried to give it a full day yet. One trip we had to split it with extra time at one of the other parks, another time it was raining so we didn't want to try everything.

I like Stitch's Great Escape. I loved Extraterrorestrial, but it seemed way too dark for Disney. Stitch I think puts the old equipment into good use, and I think the Stitch animatronics are incredible.

I love Mission:Space, but I'm a thrill-seeker.

 

[PixieDust32]

OMG!!!

This is TERRIBLE!!! What a nasty lady, she never hear of Bathrooms??? Lord!

And at the table next to us, the man did nothing but SCREAM at the waitress while his wife changed 3 pairs of baby diapers right on the floor next to us.

 

[disneyholic family]

I agree - we love AK.....the park itself....just walking around, plus the various walking trails....and the animals....and festival of the lion king....and just about everything....we love AK (and MK and Epcot and MGM)..

I agree - we hated universal and IOA....we went after hearing for years and years how much better universal is and why do we waste out time year in and year out on just disney....so finally we went and hated it....2 years later (last summer) we decided to give it one more chance, this time even staying onsite to give it equal opportunity with WDW...
we still hated it.....
but at least we now know what we're not missing...

as for sci fi, we used to like it a lot better when they gave out unlimited popcorn....that was fun....(have they brought that back?)...

 

[epcotfan]

Nine Dragons Restaurant in China. Heard horrible reviews over the years. Were pleasantly surprised in January and ended up dining there twice.

 

[3lilprincesses]

well, this is a bit different because i didn't find the DIS boards until AFTER my trip, so there was no suprise, but now everytime i read how GF is so stuffy and not child friendly, i think "what are they talking about!!". we loved it, DD's loved it. i always wonder if anyone decides against staying there when they read something like this.

just goes to show, everyone is looking for something different, and everyone has a different experience. we should just take others opinions w/ a grain of salt. it's fun to read reviews, but try it if you want to try it and make your own mind up.

 

[letterdavidman]

As for AK, both DW and I loved every moment spent in the park. It's actually DW's favorite of all the Disney parks (mine being Epcot).

Alfredo's is a place that can get a bad rap here and there, but DW and I both thoroughly enjoyed it. We're eating there when we go back in August.

 

[disneyholic family]

everytime i read how GF is so stuffy and not child friendly, i think "what are they talking about!!". we loved it, DD's loved it.

GF is our favorite (even though we're not staying there this year )

We actually found it to be the friendliest of all of the resorts, and we've stayed at lots of them. In fact, we stayed in the RPC concierge which is supposed to be the stuffiest of the stuffy if you believe these boards....
nothing could be further from what our experience was...

and all through the GF....all of the CMs constantly were smiling and asking if there was anything they could do for us....

we even found the snack bar there to be the friendliest and most down to earth.....

i'm sorry we're not staying there this year, but i opted for a kitchen this year....otherwise, we'd be back at the GF in a flash....(and that includes our kids)

 

[hokiefan33]

I agree that AK is a 1/2 day park at best (at least for our family); sometimes, it is a no-day park for us, especially if the KS are not operating!

My other biggest minority opinion is naps/swimming during the day, back at your hotel. Seems like everyone on here swears by returning to your hotel for 3 or 4 hours or longer during the middle of the day, so their kids can rest/swim, etc... The first time we went we had our DS7 and DD4, and while DD still took naps, DS didn't, and we didn't come back to the hotel during the day. We left around 8 each morning, and got back around 9 or 10 each night, and our kids were fine every day. We would just swim at night after we got back, which felt great right before bed, and really cooled the kids off and got them calmed down. They would have been upset had we left the parks during the day, and they were able to rest in the stroller and in shows. I just don't see coming as far as we do to WDW and paying as much as we do to spend a lot of it at the hotel swimming, something I can do at our local pool for about $14!

 

[shoney]

I agree. We don't go back to the hotel for naps either. DS2 and ds4 last time and this time will be 4 and 6. We like to get to the park when it opens, eat a large sit down lunch somewhere and then we get restaurant (not fast food) take-out for back at the condo. The kids will not sit for dinner and they are not big eaters by any means. We only swim on days we don't go to the parks. That is why this time we are going for 2 weeks so we can have some much needed downtime and relaxation!

I feel I am in the minority on Disney restaurants in general. They are just okay in my opinion. I think the quality could be a lot better. I much rather eat at Wolfgang Pucks express. I think for quick food on the go, he does it well!

We loved ak and we live only an hour from the Bronx zoo. I don't think it compares. I just loved the atmosphere there. It is "not a zoo"... it is another great disney experience.

I also love Universal (more than mgm) and IOA. I am planning on taking the boys there this time and I think they will enjoy it as well. They love cat in the hat, hulk, spiderman, shrek, etc. (more than they love mickey, pooh or the princesses!!!)

Lastly, I do enjoy reading all of the information even though I may not always agree. They are opinions and everyone is entitled to one.

 

[boston1029]

I absolutely agree with you about Le Cellier. We went last October and had vouchers also. It took 2 hrs for lunch and not because we ate slow. The hostess actually told us that we had the best waiter in the restaurant, well if he was the best, I'd hate to see the worst. We won't be going back there.

 

[paladin]

I am also a great lover of AK; we go several times during a trip (not for a whole day, but I don't do any parks for a whole day).

While I am often amazed by some of the opinions expressed on the boards, I try to keep in mind that they are just that - opinions. Each to their own - that is why they make things in different colors!

 

[Goofy4WDW1964]

We had read a lot about how Old Key West had terrible bus service and it just didn't seem "Disney". I am glad we didn't let it keep us from staying there. We had no problems with the buses when we used them and I loved the theming at this resort.

Also, I read so much about the great food court at the All-Stars. We stayed at the All-Star Sports and I doubt that I will stay there again. We could hear quite a bit from other rooms around us, and the people were not being rowdy and yelling. We tried the food court once and never went back. It was filthy dirty and crowded. We didn't have any trouble with the buses there. When we used them, we didn't have a long wait.

We were actually the opposite on the breaks during the day. On our first trip, we thought that we would stay in the parks all day because we were paying so much for our tickets. That lasted one day. Our son was much happier in the evening if we took a break. So, although we spent fewer hours in the parks, our time in the parks was much more pleasant. I wish more people would do it. You can see a big difference in childrens behavior at the parks from when you first get there in the morning to how it is in the evening.

 

[beautybelle]

Our family loves AK me and my son moreso than my hubby though. I love anything to do with animals and my son loves anything to do with Dinos.

I have to agree though about US and IOA. The first time we visited these parks we liked them (NOT better than WDW though) but we visited them on this last trip and we hated both parks and probably wont go back for a loooong time. Im thinking they're one time parks, not someplace to visit and visit and visit.

SeaWorld we love too, everything seems so clean and we never tire of looking at sea life and especially Shamu and theres another show there we adore and for some reason I cant think of the name but it has a little otter and a sea lion and some silly pirates. We laugh our butts off at that show.

 

[fishy_mouse]

On my first trip to AK, I was unimpressed. On my latest trip, I really started to like the place.

If you view AK as a traditional theme park with impressive rides, etc. you will be disappointed. I now view AK as a cross between a zoo and a theme park. You can spend an entire day there if you take the time to walk the trails and take in the non ride areas. There is a lot there to be taken in.

The shows are a mixed bag. The Lion King show is excellent, Tarzan and the bird show are enjoyable, but I didn't care for Pocohontas.

 

[fishy_mouse]

My other minority opinion.

I don't understand the current princess craze. People obsess over getting into CRT breakfast so much that Disney has converted Norway to all princess all the time. Plus the $85 juvenile version of the one time use bridesmaid dress, plus the headpieces. I just don't get it. Disney must be making a fortune on it though.

I know that I am a guy, but my DW and 2 DDs never go into the princess thing either.

If you enjoy it, great. It's just not for us.