cornflkgrl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2006
- Messages
- 1,200
We just got back from the best vacation of our lives. My husband I stayed at Port Orleand French Quarter for 6 nights from March 18-March 24 and 1 night at All-star Movies for March 24-March 25.
First night:
Got there at around 4 p.m. were checked in by 4:10 and were back up at the front desk after dragging luggage to a handicapped room facing the parking lot on the bottom floor (the exact opposite of everything we requested). Told them it was our honeymoon could we please have a room with a tub like I requested and the whole situation was fixed and we were on our way to our new and wonderful first floor king bed non-handicapped room RIGHT across from the pool, right next to the boat launch and not far at all from the food court etc.
Didn't want to waste a ticket on 1/4 a day so we headed to Downtown Disney which was so incredible. Virgin Megastore was just mindblowing. They even sell vinyls!!!
Ate at Bongos= the best meal of our whole trip (and that is saying a lot because EVERYTHING we ate was delicious everywhere much better than everyone says on here). We both had the Vaca Frita which was a marinated flank steak with planteens (sp.) and dirty rice. It was fabulous and we sat on the balcony and it was beautiful and romantic and the weather was fantastic.
Went over to pleasure island and got a couple drinks walked around. Went back and swam in our awesome hotel pool (only problem was it was most certainly NOT heated. It was FREEZING!)
Day 1:
Went to Magic Kingdom and literally walked onto everything. We got there a little after opening. Had a cinnimon roll at the bakery on Main Street. It was huge but not that wonderful.
Went on Jungle Cruise (10 min. wait), watched Enchanted Tiki Room (10 min wait), Thunder Mountain (about 20 mins), Country Bear Jamoboree (5 min wait), Mickey's Philharmagic (about 15 min wait), Haunted Mansion (about 15 min wait and the lady manning the line was R-U-D-E, so was the guy inside. They were the only unhappy disgruntled people we encountered the entire trip.
Went to Epcot got on Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Journey Through Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Lion King environmental show, and husband went on Mission Space (I have Meniere's Disease and get motion sick so I did not go, thank goodness!) He said it was "awesome."
Went to Germany to Biergarten for dinner, had ADR and were seated immediately and had great server and wonderful food. I lived in Germany for 6 years so I am a little biased and I thought it was all great with the exception of the Schwartzwald Cake which was pretty bad (in comparison to what Blackforest Cake should taste like). I did the wine flight and I think the lady sitting across from us thought my husband and I are alchys or something. Husband had a litre of Lowenbrau and couldn't finish it....that is a LOT of beer!
Went over to Magic Kingdom for extra-magic hours and got character pics and walked onto It's a Small World, Pooh ride, Snow white ride, Peter Pan's Flight, and Mad Teaparty.
The rest is random since we parkhopped so much and i cannot say for sure where we were at what time. It is just a very incomplete list of stuff we did really.
Fantasmic= This was the best live show I have ever seen and I've seen broadway. I thought it was so elaborate and incredible. We went back a second night to flim it with the videocamera because it was just so magical sat in the front row both times. Get there early!!! 90 minutes early!
MGM
Indiana Jones Stunt Show= The guy in the show actually got injured falling from a rooftop when he was not supposed to and he busted a knee. They had another guy fill in so the show lasted longer but it was really well done and they kept right on going.
MGM
Star Tours= DO NOT GO ON THIS IF YOU GET MOTION SICK.. This is the closest I have come in a long time to throwing up on a theme park ride. I actually had to sit a while afterward. It was bad for me. I do have an ear/balance disorder though. They should put more warnings on this ride.
MGM
Stars and Cars Motor Parade= Got right up and shook the character's hands. Great parade lots of dancing/music and great photo-ops. We stood right near the Indiana Jones Stunt show, watched the parade and got in line and had front row seating for IJ. Great plan.
MGM
Muppets 3-D= Very cute and I love the muppets.
MGM
Voyage of the Little Mermaid= unless you have very little ones I would skip this. It was nice but nothing like a lot of the other shows we saw and it was only 15 mins long.
MGM
Sci-Fi Diner= I don't know what restaurant everyone is always complaining about but we must have been in a different one. Our waitress treated us like royalty (we were on the DP) and gave us a free drink and a free milkshake and was so great and friendly. We both had the ribs which were tasty and onion rings and apple crisp for dessert. I only had a couple bites of that we were sooooooo full by then.
MGM
Journey Through Narnia- if you've seen the movie skip it! It's just a trailer really.
MGM
Who wants to be a Millionaire= A pretty entertaining show/interactive game. I think it is very difficult to get picked but it was still fun to watch. Lasts 30 mins.
EPCOT
Coral Reef= Again, don't know what food others are eating but ours was great! We both had NY Strip and it was cooked to perfection with potatoes au gratin. We didn't ask but were given front row seats right next to the aquarium and had a 10 min wait with ADRs. Dessert was the chocolate flight (?) I think it was called. It was okay for me. Husband loved it.
EPCOT
Soarin'= With my motion problems I thought this would be terrible but it really was not that bad. Very unique, unlike anything I have ever been on anywhere. If you are afraid of heights it might scare you. I held tight to hubby's hand the whole time. Get there early for a fastpass. Wait times while we were there were anywhere from 45 mins to 125 mins! We fastpassed it and walked right it.
EPCOT-france
Bistro de Paris= Had ADR's during fireworks. Seats were hard to view fireworks but we didn't care because the atmosphere was great. We expected the waiters to be kind of rude (I have been to France and they don't like it when you aren't speaking their language....don't blame them for that.) Our waiter was very nice. We had a glass of champagne and the chef sent out complimentary cavier appetizers that I devoured (love cavier) and husband called "fishing bait." We both had the dish that had pork, lamb shanks, and filet mignon (not sure the name of it, it was in french of course
it was delicious and for dessert we had the sampler. If I could do that again I would have just had the creme brulee because it was SO good! Bill came to under 100! Not at all like I thought it would.
Wilderness Lodge
Artist Point= Good meal. Friendly service. Husband ate salmon and was sick 3 hours later. Don't know if there is a connection. I had buffalo steak med rare and it was so perfect. I had the chocolate truffle cake for dessert and it was very rich and I only made it through half but I loved it.
Polynesian
Kona Cafe= We were both given free coffee and the waitress was great. Very friendly. We were seated immedietely. Had the Tonga Toast. Don't put syrup on it, it is perfect just the way it is!
MK
Wishes= I cried. I never cry. It was so beautiful.
MK
Spectromagic Parade (used to be called Electric Lights Parade, I believe when I was little)= This was so much more elaborate than I remember. I filmed this one. We got up on the train platform about 1.5 hours before the show and a huge family had spread out all their stuff on like 10 chairs and were "saving" seats which irritated us because people with small children who came up there in plenty of time could not use those seats because they were being unfairly "reserved." We had a couple kids squeeze though next to us to watch. We stood the whole time but it wasn't that bad.
MK
Hall of Presidents= Not that great. I thought I remembered this being more interesting as a kid. Probably better for kids but we were a little bored through the animitronics. Film was good.
MK
Stich's Great Escape= I was a little disappointed. Didn't seem to be much to this one and if weird smells make you sick at your stomach don't go on this one. It made me a little clautrophobic too and was not that long of an attraction. Personally, I would skip it.
MK
Walt Disney Railroad= Road this around a few times and it was fun.
MK
Share a Dream Come True Parade= we loved this parade and it was not as crowded as Spectromagic AND easier if you have little ones because it is at 3p.m. instead of later at night.
AK
Animal Kingdom= We liked this park but felt that the layout was poor. There was not enough room on the walking paths and everything got very easily congested. It was packed the day we were there. We got there an hour before opening and got right on Expedition Everest when the park opened. It was scary!!! I like rollercoasters but this one is just crazy and I didn't expect it to be the way it was. It was really fun but did make me slightly motion sick from being in the dark and not seeing where I am going. Kilimanjaro Safari did not care for this. There were not many animals to see and just when you thought you might get to see one better the truck sped off. It seemed like the cues only worked for a couple animals. There are chains you drive over that are supposed to cue the animals (hubby saw this and figured it out). The elephant came running but really no other animals. Better views of animals at the zoo in my opinion. The ride was very bumpy and mildly entertaining. We used fastpass for this one and got right on so no problems there.
DINASOAR= This ride was not at all what I expected. It really suprised me and that is all I will say. It is great. Not for small kids though!
We did so much stuff I cannot even begin to review it all. We went on everything at every park for the most part with the exception of Rock N Roller Coaster (because of my motion disorder) and Tower of Terror (because of the line).
Extra stuff:
Crocs without socks= pure evil. DON"T DO IT!!! USE YOUR SOCKS!!! I got such bad blisters the first day that I had to use bandages and wrap my feet the second day. By the third day they were purple and bleeding. It was terrible. While on this trip I purchased: bandages, bandaids, ointment, flipflops, socks, and tape all because of wearing crocs sockless. My hubby wore socks with his and had NO blisters!
Souveniers:
Great souvenier if you are on a budget and want to get something inexpensive, get one of their popcorn/cotton candy buckets or drink mugs with soda that they sell at the parks at stands (not in gift shops) They cost between 4.50-7.00 and that includes the price of the popcorn or drink so you walk away with a snack AND a great souvenier which is way less than any cup in any gift shop and those don't include the soda/food. We got one for each park we were at and at Animal Kingdom they have cup that is refillable for 93 cents which is great.
Hand sanatizer: USE IT!!!! I contracted pnuemonia 2 days before we left and am now very ill and on antibiotics and breathing treatments. I'm not blaming it on the park but people WERE coughing and sneezing all over the place. If you think how many times those bars and handles on all the rides and walkways have been touched in a day it's amazing.
Sun block: USE IT!!!! I got sun poisening while I was there because I am on meds that react with the sun and did not know it. Check with doc before you go!
Extra cash= Take lots of it. There are so many things that you will want cash for.
Don't go to McD's for cheap food around Disney. We went to the "world's largest McDonalds and our bill was something like 26 dollars." We also went to the McD's by All-stars and our total bill was 10.00 for 2 egg mcmuffins and 2 drinks. I don't normally eat at McD's but that seemed steep to me.
All-stars is great for kids. GREAT for kids. The rooms feel like you are in a 10 year old's bedroom. Great for kids, bad for romantic trip. We only stayed there one night (we added it on when I got sick and didn't want to be driving that day). We think it is wondeful and affordable for families (129 with tax compared to I think 215 without tax at POFQ) We prefered POFQ for our romantic vacation though. More adult-like.
WRITE DOWN WHERE YOU PARKED!!!!!!!!!!!!! We drove to all the parks which was way easier than the bus for us and we like having that control plus parking is free for resort guests. If you don't have a good memory though you really need to write down the row/area you parked in or it will be very bad later that day when you go to leave. It is a long time from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. to try to remember that parking sign you saw once!
NOTE THAT MOST RIDES EXIT INTO GIFT SHOPS!!! If you have kids be prepared for this. Everytime you want to get off a ride you may end up in a fight with your child.
NOTE THAT AT ALL SHOWS THEY WALK AROUND AND TRY TO SELL YOU STUFF so make sure your kids are aware of your spending plan before you go to a show or buy something ahead of time since the stuff they sell at shows is junk. We didn't take kids but I know what kind of drama this causes.
Get parkhopper passes. We hopped all over and it made our trip very flexable. If one park got too crowded we just went to another one.
Food at Disney is not near as bad as everyone says (in my opinion, maybe we just have bad taste but I doubt it.) I thought everything for the most part was very tasty.
Dining plan worked great for us. It was convenient and it was a good way to have a set budget for food. We really enjoyed eating not having to think of what it was costing. We picked what we were really hungry for instead of the cheapest on the menu and an example of a couple of our daily Table Service meal totals:
84.99
98.22
and Counter Service:
17.67
I would have to find all the receipts but I do believe we saved and even if we didn't it made our trip more enjoyable so we will do it again. The waitstaff did not treat us poorly at all. They were very nice.
Tipping maids:
I said I don't tip maids but I thought I'd experiment to see if it made the service any different (the maids were doing a great job from the beginning). The tip made no difference. We got the same exact service. The day that I tipped I did so because I felt we were especially messy, more so than a person should be expected.
This was a very long review. We had an excellent time and are not disney addicts
. We both cried when we left (yes, I know, silly sight, two grown adults crying as they exit the disney gates!) We are now completely broke but are already trying to figure out how we can return next year!! So addictive!
First night:
Got there at around 4 p.m. were checked in by 4:10 and were back up at the front desk after dragging luggage to a handicapped room facing the parking lot on the bottom floor (the exact opposite of everything we requested). Told them it was our honeymoon could we please have a room with a tub like I requested and the whole situation was fixed and we were on our way to our new and wonderful first floor king bed non-handicapped room RIGHT across from the pool, right next to the boat launch and not far at all from the food court etc.
Didn't want to waste a ticket on 1/4 a day so we headed to Downtown Disney which was so incredible. Virgin Megastore was just mindblowing. They even sell vinyls!!!
Ate at Bongos= the best meal of our whole trip (and that is saying a lot because EVERYTHING we ate was delicious everywhere much better than everyone says on here). We both had the Vaca Frita which was a marinated flank steak with planteens (sp.) and dirty rice. It was fabulous and we sat on the balcony and it was beautiful and romantic and the weather was fantastic.
Went over to pleasure island and got a couple drinks walked around. Went back and swam in our awesome hotel pool (only problem was it was most certainly NOT heated. It was FREEZING!)
Day 1:
Went to Magic Kingdom and literally walked onto everything. We got there a little after opening. Had a cinnimon roll at the bakery on Main Street. It was huge but not that wonderful.
Went on Jungle Cruise (10 min. wait), watched Enchanted Tiki Room (10 min wait), Thunder Mountain (about 20 mins), Country Bear Jamoboree (5 min wait), Mickey's Philharmagic (about 15 min wait), Haunted Mansion (about 15 min wait and the lady manning the line was R-U-D-E, so was the guy inside. They were the only unhappy disgruntled people we encountered the entire trip.
Went to Epcot got on Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Journey Through Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Lion King environmental show, and husband went on Mission Space (I have Meniere's Disease and get motion sick so I did not go, thank goodness!) He said it was "awesome."
Went to Germany to Biergarten for dinner, had ADR and were seated immediately and had great server and wonderful food. I lived in Germany for 6 years so I am a little biased and I thought it was all great with the exception of the Schwartzwald Cake which was pretty bad (in comparison to what Blackforest Cake should taste like). I did the wine flight and I think the lady sitting across from us thought my husband and I are alchys or something. Husband had a litre of Lowenbrau and couldn't finish it....that is a LOT of beer!
Went over to Magic Kingdom for extra-magic hours and got character pics and walked onto It's a Small World, Pooh ride, Snow white ride, Peter Pan's Flight, and Mad Teaparty.
The rest is random since we parkhopped so much and i cannot say for sure where we were at what time. It is just a very incomplete list of stuff we did really.
Fantasmic= This was the best live show I have ever seen and I've seen broadway. I thought it was so elaborate and incredible. We went back a second night to flim it with the videocamera because it was just so magical sat in the front row both times. Get there early!!! 90 minutes early!
MGM
Indiana Jones Stunt Show= The guy in the show actually got injured falling from a rooftop when he was not supposed to and he busted a knee. They had another guy fill in so the show lasted longer but it was really well done and they kept right on going.
MGM
Star Tours= DO NOT GO ON THIS IF YOU GET MOTION SICK.. This is the closest I have come in a long time to throwing up on a theme park ride. I actually had to sit a while afterward. It was bad for me. I do have an ear/balance disorder though. They should put more warnings on this ride.
MGM
Stars and Cars Motor Parade= Got right up and shook the character's hands. Great parade lots of dancing/music and great photo-ops. We stood right near the Indiana Jones Stunt show, watched the parade and got in line and had front row seating for IJ. Great plan.
MGM
Muppets 3-D= Very cute and I love the muppets.
MGM
Voyage of the Little Mermaid= unless you have very little ones I would skip this. It was nice but nothing like a lot of the other shows we saw and it was only 15 mins long.
MGM
Sci-Fi Diner= I don't know what restaurant everyone is always complaining about but we must have been in a different one. Our waitress treated us like royalty (we were on the DP) and gave us a free drink and a free milkshake and was so great and friendly. We both had the ribs which were tasty and onion rings and apple crisp for dessert. I only had a couple bites of that we were sooooooo full by then.
MGM
Journey Through Narnia- if you've seen the movie skip it! It's just a trailer really.
MGM
Who wants to be a Millionaire= A pretty entertaining show/interactive game. I think it is very difficult to get picked but it was still fun to watch. Lasts 30 mins.
EPCOT
Coral Reef= Again, don't know what food others are eating but ours was great! We both had NY Strip and it was cooked to perfection with potatoes au gratin. We didn't ask but were given front row seats right next to the aquarium and had a 10 min wait with ADRs. Dessert was the chocolate flight (?) I think it was called. It was okay for me. Husband loved it.
EPCOT
Soarin'= With my motion problems I thought this would be terrible but it really was not that bad. Very unique, unlike anything I have ever been on anywhere. If you are afraid of heights it might scare you. I held tight to hubby's hand the whole time. Get there early for a fastpass. Wait times while we were there were anywhere from 45 mins to 125 mins! We fastpassed it and walked right it.
EPCOT-france
Bistro de Paris= Had ADR's during fireworks. Seats were hard to view fireworks but we didn't care because the atmosphere was great. We expected the waiters to be kind of rude (I have been to France and they don't like it when you aren't speaking their language....don't blame them for that.) Our waiter was very nice. We had a glass of champagne and the chef sent out complimentary cavier appetizers that I devoured (love cavier) and husband called "fishing bait." We both had the dish that had pork, lamb shanks, and filet mignon (not sure the name of it, it was in french of course
it was delicious and for dessert we had the sampler. If I could do that again I would have just had the creme brulee because it was SO good! Bill came to under 100! Not at all like I thought it would.Wilderness Lodge
Artist Point= Good meal. Friendly service. Husband ate salmon and was sick 3 hours later. Don't know if there is a connection. I had buffalo steak med rare and it was so perfect. I had the chocolate truffle cake for dessert and it was very rich and I only made it through half but I loved it.
Polynesian
Kona Cafe= We were both given free coffee and the waitress was great. Very friendly. We were seated immedietely. Had the Tonga Toast. Don't put syrup on it, it is perfect just the way it is!
MK
Wishes= I cried. I never cry. It was so beautiful.
MK
Spectromagic Parade (used to be called Electric Lights Parade, I believe when I was little)= This was so much more elaborate than I remember. I filmed this one. We got up on the train platform about 1.5 hours before the show and a huge family had spread out all their stuff on like 10 chairs and were "saving" seats which irritated us because people with small children who came up there in plenty of time could not use those seats because they were being unfairly "reserved." We had a couple kids squeeze though next to us to watch. We stood the whole time but it wasn't that bad.
MK
Hall of Presidents= Not that great. I thought I remembered this being more interesting as a kid. Probably better for kids but we were a little bored through the animitronics. Film was good.
MK
Stich's Great Escape= I was a little disappointed. Didn't seem to be much to this one and if weird smells make you sick at your stomach don't go on this one. It made me a little clautrophobic too and was not that long of an attraction. Personally, I would skip it.
MK
Walt Disney Railroad= Road this around a few times and it was fun.
MK
Share a Dream Come True Parade= we loved this parade and it was not as crowded as Spectromagic AND easier if you have little ones because it is at 3p.m. instead of later at night.
AK
Animal Kingdom= We liked this park but felt that the layout was poor. There was not enough room on the walking paths and everything got very easily congested. It was packed the day we were there. We got there an hour before opening and got right on Expedition Everest when the park opened. It was scary!!! I like rollercoasters but this one is just crazy and I didn't expect it to be the way it was. It was really fun but did make me slightly motion sick from being in the dark and not seeing where I am going. Kilimanjaro Safari did not care for this. There were not many animals to see and just when you thought you might get to see one better the truck sped off. It seemed like the cues only worked for a couple animals. There are chains you drive over that are supposed to cue the animals (hubby saw this and figured it out). The elephant came running but really no other animals. Better views of animals at the zoo in my opinion. The ride was very bumpy and mildly entertaining. We used fastpass for this one and got right on so no problems there.
DINASOAR= This ride was not at all what I expected. It really suprised me and that is all I will say. It is great. Not for small kids though!
We did so much stuff I cannot even begin to review it all. We went on everything at every park for the most part with the exception of Rock N Roller Coaster (because of my motion disorder) and Tower of Terror (because of the line).
Extra stuff:
Crocs without socks= pure evil. DON"T DO IT!!! USE YOUR SOCKS!!! I got such bad blisters the first day that I had to use bandages and wrap my feet the second day. By the third day they were purple and bleeding. It was terrible. While on this trip I purchased: bandages, bandaids, ointment, flipflops, socks, and tape all because of wearing crocs sockless. My hubby wore socks with his and had NO blisters!
Souveniers:
Great souvenier if you are on a budget and want to get something inexpensive, get one of their popcorn/cotton candy buckets or drink mugs with soda that they sell at the parks at stands (not in gift shops) They cost between 4.50-7.00 and that includes the price of the popcorn or drink so you walk away with a snack AND a great souvenier which is way less than any cup in any gift shop and those don't include the soda/food. We got one for each park we were at and at Animal Kingdom they have cup that is refillable for 93 cents which is great.
Hand sanatizer: USE IT!!!! I contracted pnuemonia 2 days before we left and am now very ill and on antibiotics and breathing treatments. I'm not blaming it on the park but people WERE coughing and sneezing all over the place. If you think how many times those bars and handles on all the rides and walkways have been touched in a day it's amazing.
Sun block: USE IT!!!! I got sun poisening while I was there because I am on meds that react with the sun and did not know it. Check with doc before you go!
Extra cash= Take lots of it. There are so many things that you will want cash for.
Don't go to McD's for cheap food around Disney. We went to the "world's largest McDonalds and our bill was something like 26 dollars." We also went to the McD's by All-stars and our total bill was 10.00 for 2 egg mcmuffins and 2 drinks. I don't normally eat at McD's but that seemed steep to me.
All-stars is great for kids. GREAT for kids. The rooms feel like you are in a 10 year old's bedroom. Great for kids, bad for romantic trip. We only stayed there one night (we added it on when I got sick and didn't want to be driving that day). We think it is wondeful and affordable for families (129 with tax compared to I think 215 without tax at POFQ) We prefered POFQ for our romantic vacation though. More adult-like.
WRITE DOWN WHERE YOU PARKED!!!!!!!!!!!!! We drove to all the parks which was way easier than the bus for us and we like having that control plus parking is free for resort guests. If you don't have a good memory though you really need to write down the row/area you parked in or it will be very bad later that day when you go to leave. It is a long time from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. to try to remember that parking sign you saw once!
NOTE THAT MOST RIDES EXIT INTO GIFT SHOPS!!! If you have kids be prepared for this. Everytime you want to get off a ride you may end up in a fight with your child.
NOTE THAT AT ALL SHOWS THEY WALK AROUND AND TRY TO SELL YOU STUFF so make sure your kids are aware of your spending plan before you go to a show or buy something ahead of time since the stuff they sell at shows is junk. We didn't take kids but I know what kind of drama this causes.
Get parkhopper passes. We hopped all over and it made our trip very flexable. If one park got too crowded we just went to another one.
Food at Disney is not near as bad as everyone says (in my opinion, maybe we just have bad taste but I doubt it.) I thought everything for the most part was very tasty.
Dining plan worked great for us. It was convenient and it was a good way to have a set budget for food. We really enjoyed eating not having to think of what it was costing. We picked what we were really hungry for instead of the cheapest on the menu and an example of a couple of our daily Table Service meal totals:
84.99
98.22
and Counter Service:
17.67
I would have to find all the receipts but I do believe we saved and even if we didn't it made our trip more enjoyable so we will do it again. The waitstaff did not treat us poorly at all. They were very nice.
Tipping maids:
I said I don't tip maids but I thought I'd experiment to see if it made the service any different (the maids were doing a great job from the beginning). The tip made no difference. We got the same exact service. The day that I tipped I did so because I felt we were especially messy, more so than a person should be expected.
This was a very long review. We had an excellent time and are not disney addicts
. We both cried when we left (yes, I know, silly sight, two grown adults crying as they exit the disney gates!) We are now completely broke but are already trying to figure out how we can return next year!! So addictive!
Thank you for sharing your tips and thoughts.
