Liljam
So NOT a Princess!
- Joined
- May 14, 2007
- Messages
- 661
So, I've never done a TR and I didn't want to write one that gets all linked in several pieces so I wrote out some of the things that were important to me. It's a little lengthy but anyway.....
Treehouses - Arrived at SSR at 12:15pm, waited in Online Check In line which was longer than the regular check in until a CM said she'd take care of us in regular check in. Our Treehouse was ready when we arrived! We loved them at first sight, everything about them was just beautiful and they're themed really nicely. The deck is great and we loved that the little one could be a little more rowdy at night when we got home because there were no adjoining walls to other guests' rooms. Our requests were water view and close to bus stop. About a week before the trip when I decided to do online check in, I called and added a request for being near the walking path. I figured I'd get at least one request that way. We ended up getting Villa 7033 which was the first villa beside the walking path to Grandstand, the bus stop was right out in front of our walkway, and I had a lovely view of the sunrise over the water every morning looking over the edge of the golf course toward DTD. I could have only asked for warmer weather and WDW couldn't fulfill that request.
Buses - The SSR buses were hit and miss. We mostly walked to Grandstand because it was an easy 5 minute walk, and there was rarely a bus in the THV area when we left for a park. The park buses were a pain to wait for though and they did have someone at the stop trying to monitor this from time to time. Coming back from the park, if we chose to get of at The Springs, there was always a bus waiting to go back to THV, but we often chose to walk the path instead.
Second Day (nothing eventful happened the first day) - Chef Mickey's - Love this place, love the food, can't say anything bad about it, our wait time was less than 10 minutes after we checked in and got our photo taken. We just had such a nice time here! This is where we had the custom cake ordered for the boys' birthday party. My cake review is on the cake thread and I'll repost it (& edit it) here! Ryan (DH) was sick this morning so he didn't eat much, thinks he had food poisoning from the flatbread he ate - swears to it, actually!
CAKE! - The vanilla cake was sweet and moist, and I had requested custard filling without any fruit. The custard was also delicious, and even my brother who doesn't normally like custard commented on how wonderful it was. The buttercream icing was just so so in my opinion and my brother agreed. Everyone in the party loves cake, but my brother and I are the bakers in the family (and the nit-pickers.) It's very crisco-y tasting to us, and not as sweet as I like mine. When I'd talked to Jerry, I asked for boyish colors on a Pirate themed cake and I knew I'd be getting a 2d Mickey Pirate cut out, but I'd asked for a treasure chest and coins and lots of really cool boyish looking decorations. He asked if I had any colors in mind and I told him maybe some maroon and gold to make it really Pirate-y and sort of dark. I had talked to him a good bit about all of the crazy cakes I'd seen on the boards, mentioned the skull and chest on the other pirate cake and how this is what I'd had in mind for months. I told him I had around $100 to play with but could do more if need be. I was certain that the cake that would come out of that kitchen would be extra special for my boys. It was not so amazing in decor! The 2d mickey was the pirate, and the chest was 2d as well - all in one cut out. There were plastic palm trees and about five gold wrapped coins, there were about an equal amount of fondant/sugar seashells. One side was blue water waves on top, the other was sugary sand. It had a common trim of piping in maroon and golden yellow icing with a birthday banner on front. The icing was all white. It was rather ordinary for $85 and seemed almost effortless. I wasn't disappointed, because I was happy that my boys got to have an awesome Disney Birthday celebration and the cake was delicious, but after seeing some really amazing cakes, I had expected more than I'd gotten. The bakery I buy our cakes from at home could have done the same job on the cake minus the Mickey statue and they would have charged me $35 (and the icing would have ROCKED!)
Same day, Later on - Animal Kingdom - got to see Ivy out and about which was a highlight for us because she's never out when we're there in May. Shane (DB) and I went to HOB. We had great service there and great food! I ordered Voodoo Shrimp and Spicy Calimari. (DB) got Rosemary Cornbread and Hot Wings. Took the boat to and from DTD, was a nice ride - no one was on the boat.
Monday - Super Bowl Parade at MK!!!
CMs - I've learned something and I've only been here since Saturday. The CMs seem to have more conflicting information now then ever before. They don't know about food, about parade routes, about directions... I had begun asking some of them questions I actually knew just to find out what they DIDN'T know. I found out today on the DIS that it's currently CM training, so I guess that explains some of it. Most CMs were as kind as always, but some of them were a bit more snippy than usual. Maybe it's because of some of the tourists - I would have trouble biting my tongue after some of the ones I ran in to! Oh well, it's still WDW and it's beautiful, but boy, is it cold!
Tourists - they were overly bad on Monday at MK - here were my dealings - I laugh at the situations now, but I wonder what it's like at Christmas or July 4th or any other time when people think they paid "more than the next person" for their vacation, haha! At HM, we had just gotten through to the loading area and we were last out of the elevator. As we were waiting to load, another group of people had been released from the elevator, and two young foreign men who spoke no English pushed and pushed and pushed some more until my DH (who was holding my two year old son) had to move aside was separated from me. They then pushed me and I looked at them like they were nuts and they just continued to move ahead through the line pushing and shoving but no one stopped them.
Next tourist - At Cosmic Rays - Condiment line was about 20 people or more long no matter where you went. Everyone seemed to be following directions well when two "diva-ish gals" walk up and grab there stuff and everyone in line is getting sort of mad. The girl looks at me and says "oh there was a line, I was just telling sis there was a line, hehe, sorry." And the nice Brittish girl in front of me cracks me up saying "If she'd have pulled her nose out of the air long enough she might have well seen the line." Same line, 2 seconds later, two teenage girls walk past me and Brittish girl, and I say "Excuse me, there's a line for the condiments" and do a nice smile and two finger point. The girl says "Um, yeaaaah, but I just want a straaawww, ummm..." So I say "And I just want some ketchup. There's the line." It was very frustrating dealing with the ignorance I read about on the message boards. I can honestly say that I generally don't run in to it at all.
Tuesday - Sci Fi Dine In - I hadn't been there that I can recall - loved eating there. I had ribs which were really great! I realize it has to be dark, but it's reallllllly dark at the table. It's awesome though and we'll be repeat visitors there.
My DB, DF, DS14 and DF went to Sanaa that evening, and I can only write a second hand report of the experience. They were treated well. Chef served them, had Raspberry Chocolate cake with Mango Sorbet brought out for DS14 when they found out it was his birthday, ate dinner with our friend who is a CM, along with the managers of CRT and Turf Club. They went out to the balcony overlooking the Savannah after dinner and I'm pretty sure my DB may try to get a job a WDW now. This was a highlight of the week for those that went to this dinner. The said the food was amazing and the service was superb, but I can't imagine it wouldn't be if you were getting the treatment they got,
!
By Wednesday The cold was just getting to me and I knew then that Id never book another Winter Trip to WDW. I dont think I could WIN a trip to WDW in the winter and take it! It just made the trip a little less enjoyable for me because I didnt want to be outside much. I know people back home posted that we were under almost 5 feet of snow, but you must understand, that I hibernate. I truly just stay inside until Spring shows her pretty colors. Even on the sunniest days at Disney World, I was freezing cold. I looked back through my photos and see that the layers thing must have worked on one or two of the days because I managed to go without a coat and gloves for a second.
On Thursday DH and I both realized (and really hadnt admitted it to each other too much at this point) that we probably wont come back to the Treehouses because we think theyre dreary and too secluded and they make us feel sort of blah. We are both thankful we didnt buy at Animal Kingdom now not being mean, just honest. We might try staying there some day, but after all of the BROWN in the THV, its too drab. We prefer, SSR most definitely. So our first impression had changed by the end of the week, and I had really had Cabin Fever. I wanted to be away from the Treehouse as much as possible, but was too cold to bother doing the night time shows. We spent some time shopping at DTD. I did some excessive pin trading.
Overall February is not for us. We loved the Table Service dining this time and will do more of it next trip that was a big change from last trip. Treehouses are lovely, but not for us, glad we stayed there, and will only do it again if our little dude begs to stay when hes older. Glad we purchased at SSR that is the right choice for us if we ever buy more points, itd be an add on there or at BWV because I still think its pretty there. The large crowds give the parks a different sort of character fun to watch at times, but I like the lower crowds. I wish I was still there even if it is still cold!
Treehouses - Arrived at SSR at 12:15pm, waited in Online Check In line which was longer than the regular check in until a CM said she'd take care of us in regular check in. Our Treehouse was ready when we arrived! We loved them at first sight, everything about them was just beautiful and they're themed really nicely. The deck is great and we loved that the little one could be a little more rowdy at night when we got home because there were no adjoining walls to other guests' rooms. Our requests were water view and close to bus stop. About a week before the trip when I decided to do online check in, I called and added a request for being near the walking path. I figured I'd get at least one request that way. We ended up getting Villa 7033 which was the first villa beside the walking path to Grandstand, the bus stop was right out in front of our walkway, and I had a lovely view of the sunrise over the water every morning looking over the edge of the golf course toward DTD. I could have only asked for warmer weather and WDW couldn't fulfill that request.
Buses - The SSR buses were hit and miss. We mostly walked to Grandstand because it was an easy 5 minute walk, and there was rarely a bus in the THV area when we left for a park. The park buses were a pain to wait for though and they did have someone at the stop trying to monitor this from time to time. Coming back from the park, if we chose to get of at The Springs, there was always a bus waiting to go back to THV, but we often chose to walk the path instead.
Second Day (nothing eventful happened the first day) - Chef Mickey's - Love this place, love the food, can't say anything bad about it, our wait time was less than 10 minutes after we checked in and got our photo taken. We just had such a nice time here! This is where we had the custom cake ordered for the boys' birthday party. My cake review is on the cake thread and I'll repost it (& edit it) here! Ryan (DH) was sick this morning so he didn't eat much, thinks he had food poisoning from the flatbread he ate - swears to it, actually!
CAKE! - The vanilla cake was sweet and moist, and I had requested custard filling without any fruit. The custard was also delicious, and even my brother who doesn't normally like custard commented on how wonderful it was. The buttercream icing was just so so in my opinion and my brother agreed. Everyone in the party loves cake, but my brother and I are the bakers in the family (and the nit-pickers.) It's very crisco-y tasting to us, and not as sweet as I like mine. When I'd talked to Jerry, I asked for boyish colors on a Pirate themed cake and I knew I'd be getting a 2d Mickey Pirate cut out, but I'd asked for a treasure chest and coins and lots of really cool boyish looking decorations. He asked if I had any colors in mind and I told him maybe some maroon and gold to make it really Pirate-y and sort of dark. I had talked to him a good bit about all of the crazy cakes I'd seen on the boards, mentioned the skull and chest on the other pirate cake and how this is what I'd had in mind for months. I told him I had around $100 to play with but could do more if need be. I was certain that the cake that would come out of that kitchen would be extra special for my boys. It was not so amazing in decor! The 2d mickey was the pirate, and the chest was 2d as well - all in one cut out. There were plastic palm trees and about five gold wrapped coins, there were about an equal amount of fondant/sugar seashells. One side was blue water waves on top, the other was sugary sand. It had a common trim of piping in maroon and golden yellow icing with a birthday banner on front. The icing was all white. It was rather ordinary for $85 and seemed almost effortless. I wasn't disappointed, because I was happy that my boys got to have an awesome Disney Birthday celebration and the cake was delicious, but after seeing some really amazing cakes, I had expected more than I'd gotten. The bakery I buy our cakes from at home could have done the same job on the cake minus the Mickey statue and they would have charged me $35 (and the icing would have ROCKED!)
Same day, Later on - Animal Kingdom - got to see Ivy out and about which was a highlight for us because she's never out when we're there in May. Shane (DB) and I went to HOB. We had great service there and great food! I ordered Voodoo Shrimp and Spicy Calimari. (DB) got Rosemary Cornbread and Hot Wings. Took the boat to and from DTD, was a nice ride - no one was on the boat.
Monday - Super Bowl Parade at MK!!!
CMs - I've learned something and I've only been here since Saturday. The CMs seem to have more conflicting information now then ever before. They don't know about food, about parade routes, about directions... I had begun asking some of them questions I actually knew just to find out what they DIDN'T know. I found out today on the DIS that it's currently CM training, so I guess that explains some of it. Most CMs were as kind as always, but some of them were a bit more snippy than usual. Maybe it's because of some of the tourists - I would have trouble biting my tongue after some of the ones I ran in to! Oh well, it's still WDW and it's beautiful, but boy, is it cold!
Tourists - they were overly bad on Monday at MK - here were my dealings - I laugh at the situations now, but I wonder what it's like at Christmas or July 4th or any other time when people think they paid "more than the next person" for their vacation, haha! At HM, we had just gotten through to the loading area and we were last out of the elevator. As we were waiting to load, another group of people had been released from the elevator, and two young foreign men who spoke no English pushed and pushed and pushed some more until my DH (who was holding my two year old son) had to move aside was separated from me. They then pushed me and I looked at them like they were nuts and they just continued to move ahead through the line pushing and shoving but no one stopped them.
Next tourist - At Cosmic Rays - Condiment line was about 20 people or more long no matter where you went. Everyone seemed to be following directions well when two "diva-ish gals" walk up and grab there stuff and everyone in line is getting sort of mad. The girl looks at me and says "oh there was a line, I was just telling sis there was a line, hehe, sorry." And the nice Brittish girl in front of me cracks me up saying "If she'd have pulled her nose out of the air long enough she might have well seen the line." Same line, 2 seconds later, two teenage girls walk past me and Brittish girl, and I say "Excuse me, there's a line for the condiments" and do a nice smile and two finger point. The girl says "Um, yeaaaah, but I just want a straaawww, ummm..." So I say "And I just want some ketchup. There's the line." It was very frustrating dealing with the ignorance I read about on the message boards. I can honestly say that I generally don't run in to it at all.
Tuesday - Sci Fi Dine In - I hadn't been there that I can recall - loved eating there. I had ribs which were really great! I realize it has to be dark, but it's reallllllly dark at the table. It's awesome though and we'll be repeat visitors there.
My DB, DF, DS14 and DF went to Sanaa that evening, and I can only write a second hand report of the experience. They were treated well. Chef served them, had Raspberry Chocolate cake with Mango Sorbet brought out for DS14 when they found out it was his birthday, ate dinner with our friend who is a CM, along with the managers of CRT and Turf Club. They went out to the balcony overlooking the Savannah after dinner and I'm pretty sure my DB may try to get a job a WDW now. This was a highlight of the week for those that went to this dinner. The said the food was amazing and the service was superb, but I can't imagine it wouldn't be if you were getting the treatment they got,
! By Wednesday The cold was just getting to me and I knew then that Id never book another Winter Trip to WDW. I dont think I could WIN a trip to WDW in the winter and take it! It just made the trip a little less enjoyable for me because I didnt want to be outside much. I know people back home posted that we were under almost 5 feet of snow, but you must understand, that I hibernate. I truly just stay inside until Spring shows her pretty colors. Even on the sunniest days at Disney World, I was freezing cold. I looked back through my photos and see that the layers thing must have worked on one or two of the days because I managed to go without a coat and gloves for a second.
On Thursday DH and I both realized (and really hadnt admitted it to each other too much at this point) that we probably wont come back to the Treehouses because we think theyre dreary and too secluded and they make us feel sort of blah. We are both thankful we didnt buy at Animal Kingdom now not being mean, just honest. We might try staying there some day, but after all of the BROWN in the THV, its too drab. We prefer, SSR most definitely. So our first impression had changed by the end of the week, and I had really had Cabin Fever. I wanted to be away from the Treehouse as much as possible, but was too cold to bother doing the night time shows. We spent some time shopping at DTD. I did some excessive pin trading.
Overall February is not for us. We loved the Table Service dining this time and will do more of it next trip that was a big change from last trip. Treehouses are lovely, but not for us, glad we stayed there, and will only do it again if our little dude begs to stay when hes older. Glad we purchased at SSR that is the right choice for us if we ever buy more points, itd be an add on there or at BWV because I still think its pretty there. The large crowds give the parks a different sort of character fun to watch at times, but I like the lower crowds. I wish I was still there even if it is still cold!
I hate that the weather was so miserable for you - - I can imagine that even in the most magical place on earth that the cold can just wear you down. Still, it sounds like you had some great times (even if you are officially crossing February off your list - LOL). 
I rebooked for 3/1 - hope the weather finally gets better...
I thought her name was Ivy, see, I learned something totally new! So it is D'vine? Thanks for the correction 
