Hi, back from my too embarrassing to admit how many times I've been to Disney trip # ?
I will spare you all the "and then we rode space mountain" stuff and try to just hit the highs and occasional lows. We went for a short stay to celebrate our 22nd anniversary, June 14-June 18th. We spent a romantic four nights, just the four of us (yes, we took the kids!) at the Grand Floridian. DH says our trips to Disney are actually cheaper than the mental health professionals I would need to see if we didn't go!
Cast Members:
DH: Late 40's, loves fine wining and dining, screams like a girl on rides.
DS 17: Likes fine dining, Epcot, and closing the hotel window shades at all times, hence his nickname Count Drapula.
DS 14: Inexhaustible in Disney. You can't wear him out, and he enjoys everything... even the people mover and figment! No fine dining for him, though.
Me: 40 ish Disneyaholic. I'm the one who gets misty seeing the parks for the first time each trip. Love it all, all the parks, the parades, the rides, fine dining, the pools, everything! I also take bathroom breaks... frequently.
We like the Grand, it is our second time staying there. Now that there are two pools, it seems less crowded. I love the lobby in the evening with the band playing, and Mizner's bar in the lobby is a great place for a pre-dinner drink. But, I like the Beach Club and Animal Kingdom almost as well, and better in some respects. I am not sure the Grand is worth the premium you pay over the other two. For a real splurge, I am waiting for the Four Seasons to open. If their price is anywhere near the Grand, I would stay there.
Upon check in we were upgraded to a MK view room in Pine Key. Very nice, great view! The room was large, clean and comfy beds! We only received turn down service 2 nights, although we were always out of the room at that time. Also, we did receive a surprise long distance phone call charge from our room one night when we were out. They also made a big deal of our anniversary. Received anniversary pins, and a split of champagne in our room. Nice touch!
I have two issues with the Grand. First is their quick food place, Gasparillas. Really sub par food and food choices, dirty, overflowing ice cream machine, birds flying in and out... just gross. No where near as nice as the fast food place Mara's, at Animal Kingdom. My second issue is with their pool shower room. This is where you are directed to go if you stay late your check out day and want to clean up after the parks. The shower room is non or very little air conditioned, dirty, dark, bugs, no privacy areas and HOT! I ended up rinsing off here and bringing all my stuff to the main lobby bathroom to finish getting clean. AK and Beach Club showers much, much nicer.
Park Highlights: I love the updating of the Globe ride in Epcot. It is really fun to have yourself "inserted" into the action, and making a goofy face adds to the fun.
The new Toy Store Mania is fun for the whole family. The waiting area is great, with all the games and toys you remember as a child. The interactive Mr. Potato head is quite amusing.
I love Everest! What a great coaster.
If you have a kid who likes to goof, ride mission space then go into the gift shop and have him try on (and take pictures of) him wearing the furr-ish space helmet. It's quite a look!!!
I love the street performers at Disney Studios, or whatever it is called today. (DH 17 said next time we come it will be Heinz Ketchup Studios!)
The French bakery in Epcot, tucked behind the main French restaurant, is great. Good food, great desserts, and a little air conditioned area to eat back where their kidcot station is set up.
I appreciate the fact that there are so many restrooms, and they are kept so clean (not to mention always having seat covers!) After one day in the parks with me, DS14 asked "So, do you have prostate problems?" That was the saying of the week!
We always get up early, hit a non early entry day park, do everything we want and are in and out before the masses. Then afternoon pool time. A few nights back to the parks after dinner (every night for sons!)
It is hot and crowded this time of year, people! We started every day taking bets as to when we would see the first child meltdown, (usually around 10 a.m.) and the first parent melt down (shortly after) We also had worst parenting of the day awards. Tops was the woman who told her son he was the biggest brat at Disney World. I really wanted to tell her that could not possibly be, as there were so many kids here... but I didn't want to get hit! Not too many families with small kids seemed to be enjoying themselves. We met one man in the bar at Jiko's, and he said his trip with his two young daughters was like the Bataan (sp?) Death March.
Food is important to us... so we ate at:
Citricos. I love this place. Amazingly great food, quiet for Disney, comfortable, just a really good dinner. I would keep this on my list for future visits.
Narcoosees: We decided to give this one more try after having a bad experience here with drunken conventioneers and Disney's poor handling of the situation. This time, we waited 30 minutes past our ADR time, not a big deal but the bartender was RUDE! When our buzzer went off, we asked for the check, and he picked it up off the bar in front of us, waved it around and said something like "It's here and has been for some time!" I looked at DH and said, "Yeah, you IDIOT!" so he would get the point!
The food was good, the waitress excellent. I still think Flying Fish overall is better, and will probably take Narcooses off the rotation.
Jikos: I love this restaurant. The food is always excellent, the atmosphere is fantastic. We had a bad waiter, but it did not impact the experience. We will always go here every visit.
California Grill: All food except the pork tenderloin (tough!) was excellent, service amazing, great view, and they decorated our table with Mickey confetti for our anniversary. I have heard rumors it may be closing and get replaced with a dining/entertainment type place. I hope not.
Overall, we had a hot, fun, sweaty, funny, hot, exciting, hot, great time. We did notice more CM's less than happy in their jobs, and very willing to share it. One boat driver literally berated a four year old for holding on to the outside of the railing, which was really ineffective as we knew from sitting behind his family that he did not speak English. One CM at a cart in magic kingdom by the big boat said, right after the loud horn went off, "Someday I am going to permanently fix that horn!!" Another time we were walking MK and I told DH I had seen the parade two times this week. A cm walking by said " Two times? Try 557!"
This, of course, was balanced out by all the CMs who wished us a happy anniversary, gave us a surprise fast pass to ride everest again, smiled, laughed, shared a little of their stories, etc.
Will we be back? What do you think?
I will spare you all the "and then we rode space mountain" stuff and try to just hit the highs and occasional lows. We went for a short stay to celebrate our 22nd anniversary, June 14-June 18th. We spent a romantic four nights, just the four of us (yes, we took the kids!) at the Grand Floridian. DH says our trips to Disney are actually cheaper than the mental health professionals I would need to see if we didn't go!
Cast Members:
DH: Late 40's, loves fine wining and dining, screams like a girl on rides.
DS 17: Likes fine dining, Epcot, and closing the hotel window shades at all times, hence his nickname Count Drapula.
DS 14: Inexhaustible in Disney. You can't wear him out, and he enjoys everything... even the people mover and figment! No fine dining for him, though.
Me: 40 ish Disneyaholic. I'm the one who gets misty seeing the parks for the first time each trip. Love it all, all the parks, the parades, the rides, fine dining, the pools, everything! I also take bathroom breaks... frequently.
We like the Grand, it is our second time staying there. Now that there are two pools, it seems less crowded. I love the lobby in the evening with the band playing, and Mizner's bar in the lobby is a great place for a pre-dinner drink. But, I like the Beach Club and Animal Kingdom almost as well, and better in some respects. I am not sure the Grand is worth the premium you pay over the other two. For a real splurge, I am waiting for the Four Seasons to open. If their price is anywhere near the Grand, I would stay there.
Upon check in we were upgraded to a MK view room in Pine Key. Very nice, great view! The room was large, clean and comfy beds! We only received turn down service 2 nights, although we were always out of the room at that time. Also, we did receive a surprise long distance phone call charge from our room one night when we were out. They also made a big deal of our anniversary. Received anniversary pins, and a split of champagne in our room. Nice touch!
I have two issues with the Grand. First is their quick food place, Gasparillas. Really sub par food and food choices, dirty, overflowing ice cream machine, birds flying in and out... just gross. No where near as nice as the fast food place Mara's, at Animal Kingdom. My second issue is with their pool shower room. This is where you are directed to go if you stay late your check out day and want to clean up after the parks. The shower room is non or very little air conditioned, dirty, dark, bugs, no privacy areas and HOT! I ended up rinsing off here and bringing all my stuff to the main lobby bathroom to finish getting clean. AK and Beach Club showers much, much nicer.
Park Highlights: I love the updating of the Globe ride in Epcot. It is really fun to have yourself "inserted" into the action, and making a goofy face adds to the fun.
The new Toy Store Mania is fun for the whole family. The waiting area is great, with all the games and toys you remember as a child. The interactive Mr. Potato head is quite amusing.
I love Everest! What a great coaster.
If you have a kid who likes to goof, ride mission space then go into the gift shop and have him try on (and take pictures of) him wearing the furr-ish space helmet. It's quite a look!!!
I love the street performers at Disney Studios, or whatever it is called today. (DH 17 said next time we come it will be Heinz Ketchup Studios!)
The French bakery in Epcot, tucked behind the main French restaurant, is great. Good food, great desserts, and a little air conditioned area to eat back where their kidcot station is set up.
I appreciate the fact that there are so many restrooms, and they are kept so clean (not to mention always having seat covers!) After one day in the parks with me, DS14 asked "So, do you have prostate problems?" That was the saying of the week!
We always get up early, hit a non early entry day park, do everything we want and are in and out before the masses. Then afternoon pool time. A few nights back to the parks after dinner (every night for sons!)
It is hot and crowded this time of year, people! We started every day taking bets as to when we would see the first child meltdown, (usually around 10 a.m.) and the first parent melt down (shortly after) We also had worst parenting of the day awards. Tops was the woman who told her son he was the biggest brat at Disney World. I really wanted to tell her that could not possibly be, as there were so many kids here... but I didn't want to get hit! Not too many families with small kids seemed to be enjoying themselves. We met one man in the bar at Jiko's, and he said his trip with his two young daughters was like the Bataan (sp?) Death March.
Food is important to us... so we ate at:
Citricos. I love this place. Amazingly great food, quiet for Disney, comfortable, just a really good dinner. I would keep this on my list for future visits.
Narcoosees: We decided to give this one more try after having a bad experience here with drunken conventioneers and Disney's poor handling of the situation. This time, we waited 30 minutes past our ADR time, not a big deal but the bartender was RUDE! When our buzzer went off, we asked for the check, and he picked it up off the bar in front of us, waved it around and said something like "It's here and has been for some time!" I looked at DH and said, "Yeah, you IDIOT!" so he would get the point!
The food was good, the waitress excellent. I still think Flying Fish overall is better, and will probably take Narcooses off the rotation.Jikos: I love this restaurant. The food is always excellent, the atmosphere is fantastic. We had a bad waiter, but it did not impact the experience. We will always go here every visit.
California Grill: All food except the pork tenderloin (tough!) was excellent, service amazing, great view, and they decorated our table with Mickey confetti for our anniversary. I have heard rumors it may be closing and get replaced with a dining/entertainment type place. I hope not.
Overall, we had a hot, fun, sweaty, funny, hot, exciting, hot, great time. We did notice more CM's less than happy in their jobs, and very willing to share it. One boat driver literally berated a four year old for holding on to the outside of the railing, which was really ineffective as we knew from sitting behind his family that he did not speak English. One CM at a cart in magic kingdom by the big boat said, right after the loud horn went off, "Someday I am going to permanently fix that horn!!" Another time we were walking MK and I told DH I had seen the parade two times this week. A cm walking by said " Two times? Try 557!"
This, of course, was balanced out by all the CMs who wished us a happy anniversary, gave us a surprise fast pass to ride everest again, smiled, laughed, shared a little of their stories, etc.
Will we be back? What do you think?
.
