My new bride and I just got home a few days ago from our honeymoon to WDW and I had to share some of our thoughts from the trip...
- Magical Express had some issues bringing all four of our bags upon our arrival, thought it was not their fault. Turns out that security at our origin removed the yellow bag tag from one bag and stuffed it inside, so it was never seen by Magical Express workers. Still, when we called to notify them, they'd located the bag within two hours and left a voice mail (phone didn't ring at 1 am when they left it) that it was at the bell stand of the resort. In all, I thought their service was outstanding.
- Overall, we found the parks to be far less crowded than we remembered. Bear in mind, my last trip to WDW was more than 15 years ago, and hers was more than 10. We purchased five-day park hopper passes, but only ended up using four of the days (only took six hours to do everything we wanted to do at MK, and only two hours at DAK). A bit of a bummer that we couldn't get a refund for the fifth, unused day, rather than adding a non-expiration to it, but that's our fault for assuming we'd need five days in the parks and not four.
- Lack of crowds and lines made the entire experience so much better than we remembered. Standing in line for more than 30 minutes can be a mind-numbing experience, and the fact that we didn't spend more than 25 at any point on the trip (for Kilimanjaro Safaris) was a godsend. To think we could literally walk onto Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, BTMRR, without needing FPs was completely unimaginable before the trip.
- One big disappointment was that the service of the waitstaff at most of the restaurants we dined at was downright awful. Two (of the seven nights) stand out as being outstanding: the woman we had at the Big River Grill & Brew Pub, and the guy from La Hacienda de San Angel (I'll get to that in a minute). Otherwise, the waiters were simply awful.
- We had booked a Sweetheart Dinner for one of the nights, and that turned out to be a misleading waste of time and money. The WDW website made that seem to be a quiet, romantic evening, yet it turned out to be anything but. Our dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse featured a table away from any windows or views, and had us surrounded by three annoying families around us. In fact, one had raised such a ruckus that the manager was summoned by another couple about their conduct. The waitress we had forgot that we were to have special champagne flutes (we did receive them in boxes just before we left the restaurant) and the menu options left plenty to be desired. Not saying the dinner was bad (indeed, what we ate was very good), but the experience was certainly less than what it was billed to be.
- One thing we found humorous was some of the posted wait times for attractions. We saw the early Fantasmic show at DHS and worked our way back to Toy Story Mania, which, at 9 pm, was listing a 110 minute wait for the ride (bear in mind, the park closed at 9:30 pm). The cast member working the front said that was accurate, but didn't stop anyone from joining the queue. Once inside, we realized how laughable that estimate was - we wound up in line for a total of 20 minutes before boarding the ride. Our guess was they posted that time amount to discourage people from getting in line given how close it was to closing time, but without actively prohibiting people from getting in line (and what a fantastic ride that was!).
- Dining reservations were a nightmare. Neither my bride nor me eat breakfast so we passed on the Disney Dining Plan. And granted, our last trips to WDW were at least a decade ago, but we remember being able to walk into a park and make reservations for that night that same morning. Now, despite the parks being uncrowded, we couldn't make reservations anywhere on Wednesday for that Friday night. The woman on the dining reservation line was kind of rude about it as well, saying that we could have made reservations up to six months in advance online, so it was our fault we couldn't get reservations. My simple response to that was to ask her what she wanted to eat on March 20, 2011 - when she replied that it was absurd to plan that far in advance, she proved my point for me. When I called again later and spoke with another (and more helpful) woman, she agreed about the absurdity of Disney allowing people to make these plans so far in advance; she explained that what people have taken to doing is making as many as 10 reservations online for one particular night to cover all their bases and then not canceling those unused reservations. This same woman suggested we try our luck with La Hacienda de San Angel at Epcot....
- ... which was a completely awesome experience. The restaurant, built outside the Mexico temple on the back side of the quick-serve restaurant, had literally been open for a week when we got there and weren't taking reservations, only walk-ups, and we were fortunate enough to get a table right away (as did nearly everyone who walked up, regardless of party size). What awaited us was a superb waiter who answered every question we had (even - rightly so - recommending against my bride's inquiry about getting her margarita frozen instead of on the rocks - with all the fresh juices, he noted (correctly) that it would be a waste to do it frozen, and even she agreed in the end), an incredible view of the Seven Seas Lagoon and absolutely the best Mexican meal either of us had ever eaten (no small feat, since we've both traveled extensively). We couldn't have been happier to have lucked into that experience.
- I realize that WDW is a place for kids, but people, have a little common sense about the ages of children you take there. While it may be cute to have a picture of an infant with Mickey, it's also a wasted experience, since the child will have no recollection of that. And, it ends up decreasing the experience for others when your child is screaming away on a bus or boat or in line for an attraction. If you need a stroller to get your child around the park, you need to seriously ask yourself if it's worth the cost (in both time and money) on an experience the child can't fully appreciate. The wife and I agreed that we wouldn't take a child there until they were at least 6 or 7, that being the earliest age that they would understand, remember and appreciate the trip. Yes, that's our opinion, but I think if people were to consider that others are spending their time and money on a vacation there, having VERY young children there negatively affects their experience as much as it might enhance someone else's. I think that if people, in general, and in all facets of life, ask themselves how their own choices affect those around them before settling on a course of action, that there'd be a lot less conflict.
All in all, the trip was really good. We played several rounds of golf (one way better than the other), and found the clubhouse staffs at both locations to be helpful, courteous and outstanding. We ran into a few unhelpful folks from time to time, as you would on any trip, but for the most part, everyone was great.
Still, the reservation thing really bugs me. I think it's completely unreasonable to allow people to make reservations six months in advance for dining for the vast majority of restaurants. For character dining, or dinner shows (like the Spirit of Aloha show), then that I completely get, but for just dinner at a park, it's ridiculous. I wonder if Disney holds some of their more popular dining spots for folks on the Dining Plan as an enticement to purchase that waste of money (indeed, all they kept pushing on us were the Biergarten (which we did on Wednesday and didn't want to do three times on the trip) or the Moroccan pavilion (and neither of us particularly like Moroccan food)). You shouldn't have to plan your entire trip around where you're having dinner that night - in fact, with how quickly we were able to move through the parks, had we scripted out our dining plans, we would have been forced to stay longer in parks that we were done with (as an example, if we'd made 7pm reservations - the time we normally eat dinner at home - at MK, what would we have done when we were done with that park at 3pm? Either waste another four hours in that park, or waste time traveling to and from another park?).
It was a good trip, but I don't see us heading back there anytime soon - at least until they revise their reservation policy. As sad as it was, dining (we both enjoy eating and cooking) provided most of the bad experiences of the trip.
- Magical Express had some issues bringing all four of our bags upon our arrival, thought it was not their fault. Turns out that security at our origin removed the yellow bag tag from one bag and stuffed it inside, so it was never seen by Magical Express workers. Still, when we called to notify them, they'd located the bag within two hours and left a voice mail (phone didn't ring at 1 am when they left it) that it was at the bell stand of the resort. In all, I thought their service was outstanding.
- Overall, we found the parks to be far less crowded than we remembered. Bear in mind, my last trip to WDW was more than 15 years ago, and hers was more than 10. We purchased five-day park hopper passes, but only ended up using four of the days (only took six hours to do everything we wanted to do at MK, and only two hours at DAK). A bit of a bummer that we couldn't get a refund for the fifth, unused day, rather than adding a non-expiration to it, but that's our fault for assuming we'd need five days in the parks and not four.
- Lack of crowds and lines made the entire experience so much better than we remembered. Standing in line for more than 30 minutes can be a mind-numbing experience, and the fact that we didn't spend more than 25 at any point on the trip (for Kilimanjaro Safaris) was a godsend. To think we could literally walk onto Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, BTMRR, without needing FPs was completely unimaginable before the trip.
- One big disappointment was that the service of the waitstaff at most of the restaurants we dined at was downright awful. Two (of the seven nights) stand out as being outstanding: the woman we had at the Big River Grill & Brew Pub, and the guy from La Hacienda de San Angel (I'll get to that in a minute). Otherwise, the waiters were simply awful.
- We had booked a Sweetheart Dinner for one of the nights, and that turned out to be a misleading waste of time and money. The WDW website made that seem to be a quiet, romantic evening, yet it turned out to be anything but. Our dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse featured a table away from any windows or views, and had us surrounded by three annoying families around us. In fact, one had raised such a ruckus that the manager was summoned by another couple about their conduct. The waitress we had forgot that we were to have special champagne flutes (we did receive them in boxes just before we left the restaurant) and the menu options left plenty to be desired. Not saying the dinner was bad (indeed, what we ate was very good), but the experience was certainly less than what it was billed to be.
- One thing we found humorous was some of the posted wait times for attractions. We saw the early Fantasmic show at DHS and worked our way back to Toy Story Mania, which, at 9 pm, was listing a 110 minute wait for the ride (bear in mind, the park closed at 9:30 pm). The cast member working the front said that was accurate, but didn't stop anyone from joining the queue. Once inside, we realized how laughable that estimate was - we wound up in line for a total of 20 minutes before boarding the ride. Our guess was they posted that time amount to discourage people from getting in line given how close it was to closing time, but without actively prohibiting people from getting in line (and what a fantastic ride that was!).
- Dining reservations were a nightmare. Neither my bride nor me eat breakfast so we passed on the Disney Dining Plan. And granted, our last trips to WDW were at least a decade ago, but we remember being able to walk into a park and make reservations for that night that same morning. Now, despite the parks being uncrowded, we couldn't make reservations anywhere on Wednesday for that Friday night. The woman on the dining reservation line was kind of rude about it as well, saying that we could have made reservations up to six months in advance online, so it was our fault we couldn't get reservations. My simple response to that was to ask her what she wanted to eat on March 20, 2011 - when she replied that it was absurd to plan that far in advance, she proved my point for me. When I called again later and spoke with another (and more helpful) woman, she agreed about the absurdity of Disney allowing people to make these plans so far in advance; she explained that what people have taken to doing is making as many as 10 reservations online for one particular night to cover all their bases and then not canceling those unused reservations. This same woman suggested we try our luck with La Hacienda de San Angel at Epcot....
- ... which was a completely awesome experience. The restaurant, built outside the Mexico temple on the back side of the quick-serve restaurant, had literally been open for a week when we got there and weren't taking reservations, only walk-ups, and we were fortunate enough to get a table right away (as did nearly everyone who walked up, regardless of party size). What awaited us was a superb waiter who answered every question we had (even - rightly so - recommending against my bride's inquiry about getting her margarita frozen instead of on the rocks - with all the fresh juices, he noted (correctly) that it would be a waste to do it frozen, and even she agreed in the end), an incredible view of the Seven Seas Lagoon and absolutely the best Mexican meal either of us had ever eaten (no small feat, since we've both traveled extensively). We couldn't have been happier to have lucked into that experience.
- I realize that WDW is a place for kids, but people, have a little common sense about the ages of children you take there. While it may be cute to have a picture of an infant with Mickey, it's also a wasted experience, since the child will have no recollection of that. And, it ends up decreasing the experience for others when your child is screaming away on a bus or boat or in line for an attraction. If you need a stroller to get your child around the park, you need to seriously ask yourself if it's worth the cost (in both time and money) on an experience the child can't fully appreciate. The wife and I agreed that we wouldn't take a child there until they were at least 6 or 7, that being the earliest age that they would understand, remember and appreciate the trip. Yes, that's our opinion, but I think if people were to consider that others are spending their time and money on a vacation there, having VERY young children there negatively affects their experience as much as it might enhance someone else's. I think that if people, in general, and in all facets of life, ask themselves how their own choices affect those around them before settling on a course of action, that there'd be a lot less conflict.
All in all, the trip was really good. We played several rounds of golf (one way better than the other), and found the clubhouse staffs at both locations to be helpful, courteous and outstanding. We ran into a few unhelpful folks from time to time, as you would on any trip, but for the most part, everyone was great.
Still, the reservation thing really bugs me. I think it's completely unreasonable to allow people to make reservations six months in advance for dining for the vast majority of restaurants. For character dining, or dinner shows (like the Spirit of Aloha show), then that I completely get, but for just dinner at a park, it's ridiculous. I wonder if Disney holds some of their more popular dining spots for folks on the Dining Plan as an enticement to purchase that waste of money (indeed, all they kept pushing on us were the Biergarten (which we did on Wednesday and didn't want to do three times on the trip) or the Moroccan pavilion (and neither of us particularly like Moroccan food)). You shouldn't have to plan your entire trip around where you're having dinner that night - in fact, with how quickly we were able to move through the parks, had we scripted out our dining plans, we would have been forced to stay longer in parks that we were done with (as an example, if we'd made 7pm reservations - the time we normally eat dinner at home - at MK, what would we have done when we were done with that park at 3pm? Either waste another four hours in that park, or waste time traveling to and from another park?).
It was a good trip, but I don't see us heading back there anytime soon - at least until they revise their reservation policy. As sad as it was, dining (we both enjoy eating and cooking) provided most of the bad experiences of the trip.
