ruvidu
SC Traveler --- I have spent most of my life fishi
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2001
- Messages
- 806
We just returned from our well planned Disney World vacation yesterday and I wanted to take a few minutes and give you our view of what we experienced.
There were six of us, 2 adults in near 60, two adults near 40 and a princess aged 6 and an upcoming prince aged 4.
Transportation - We flew non-stop from Greenville, SC to Orlando with no problems. 1 1/2 hours one way. Beats the heck out of driving. We used the Magical Express and the one complaint I have here is not with Disney but with the people who use this mode of transportation. Folks, only one person has to go to the Magical Express to check in. Do not take the whole family to this line. It just makes it miserable for everyone. There is a nice seating area nearby. Utilize it and send the head honcho of your choice to check you in. They will come get the rest of you when you recieve your line assignment.
The bus ride over to The Grand Floridian was very nice.
Coming home we checked in at the GF airline deck and checked our luggage the morning we departed. We got on the bus at our appointed time and were dropped off at MCO with time to spare.
The Grand Floridian - Excellent resort hotel. We were upgraded from a Garden View to a water view which was nice. Of course we were not there during the day enough to enjoy the view. Maid service was excellent. We found the room clean and ready for us every evening. I have only three complaints for the GF.
On top of the high prices you pay for this hotel, you get charged another $10 per day to use the internet and it was not always dependable. Just about every hotel and motel I stay in these days offers free wireless internet for guests. Of course they are not trying to gouge every penny from me during my stay,.
Gasparilla Grill has great counter service food but whoever thought of putting the arcade games in there had a very bad idea. No matter how good the food may be you get the feeling your are eating at Chucky Cheese. The games also cut the seating area in half making for very crowded conditions at meal time.
Checkout was a pain because my bill for the week was not put under my door the night before as it should have been. The excuse was "Oh, we normally do that but we had so many people checking out we did not have time." He then wanted me to OK the charges without giving me time to look them over. I told the person that I would accept excuses most places I stay but not at Disney World.
Meal Plan - It worked out pretty well for us. We had one counter meal and four snacks remaining on our last day. We tried to get Mickey Rice Krispie ears for two day at GF but they were out. I did end up having to pay for two meals because the Cinderella Breakfast took two meal passes from the plan. All in all I think I would rather just pay as I go next time. Sometimes I want an appetizer, sometimes I want desert.
Food and Food Service -
Day 1 - Dinner at Chef Mickey's. Our PS was for 6:10. At 6:15 we were seated. The food here was excellent with the mashed potatoes being our favorite vegatable of the week. The prime rib was great but the carver was very chincey with his knife. He would only give you a thin slice each trip. Dessert bar was very good as well.
Day 2 - Snacks for breakfast and then over to AK where we ate at Flame Tree. Order taker was rude. I ordered a rib plate with fries. He said, "You can't have fries, you get the beans." I told him I would have fries and would be glad to pay for them. He changed his manners a little after seeing I was not in a mood to play.
Coral Reef for dinner. - Stay away, far away from this place. I have never in my life in all of my travels had such sorry service as we had here. We sat with a loaf of bread on the table for 15 minutes before our server came back and asked if he could take our drink order. We gave him our entire order and then waited another 10 minutes before we saw a beverage. He came back one time during the meal and gave me a new glass of coke but never offered any more drinks for the remainder of our crew. He later brought the check with the 18% gratuity added. I told him to take the check off of the table and go get drinks for everyone quickly. He did so. When he brought out our desserts he layed 6 spoons in the middle of the table and left. We ended up tipping him around $25 for this fine service.
Hey folks. I gotta go for now. I will come back and finish this up with more of our experiances including us getting to meet every teenager from Brazil.
Have a happy day,
ruv
There were six of us, 2 adults in near 60, two adults near 40 and a princess aged 6 and an upcoming prince aged 4.
Transportation - We flew non-stop from Greenville, SC to Orlando with no problems. 1 1/2 hours one way. Beats the heck out of driving. We used the Magical Express and the one complaint I have here is not with Disney but with the people who use this mode of transportation. Folks, only one person has to go to the Magical Express to check in. Do not take the whole family to this line. It just makes it miserable for everyone. There is a nice seating area nearby. Utilize it and send the head honcho of your choice to check you in. They will come get the rest of you when you recieve your line assignment.
The bus ride over to The Grand Floridian was very nice.
Coming home we checked in at the GF airline deck and checked our luggage the morning we departed. We got on the bus at our appointed time and were dropped off at MCO with time to spare.
The Grand Floridian - Excellent resort hotel. We were upgraded from a Garden View to a water view which was nice. Of course we were not there during the day enough to enjoy the view. Maid service was excellent. We found the room clean and ready for us every evening. I have only three complaints for the GF.
On top of the high prices you pay for this hotel, you get charged another $10 per day to use the internet and it was not always dependable. Just about every hotel and motel I stay in these days offers free wireless internet for guests. Of course they are not trying to gouge every penny from me during my stay,.
Gasparilla Grill has great counter service food but whoever thought of putting the arcade games in there had a very bad idea. No matter how good the food may be you get the feeling your are eating at Chucky Cheese. The games also cut the seating area in half making for very crowded conditions at meal time.
Checkout was a pain because my bill for the week was not put under my door the night before as it should have been. The excuse was "Oh, we normally do that but we had so many people checking out we did not have time." He then wanted me to OK the charges without giving me time to look them over. I told the person that I would accept excuses most places I stay but not at Disney World.
Meal Plan - It worked out pretty well for us. We had one counter meal and four snacks remaining on our last day. We tried to get Mickey Rice Krispie ears for two day at GF but they were out. I did end up having to pay for two meals because the Cinderella Breakfast took two meal passes from the plan. All in all I think I would rather just pay as I go next time. Sometimes I want an appetizer, sometimes I want desert.
Food and Food Service -
Day 1 - Dinner at Chef Mickey's. Our PS was for 6:10. At 6:15 we were seated. The food here was excellent with the mashed potatoes being our favorite vegatable of the week. The prime rib was great but the carver was very chincey with his knife. He would only give you a thin slice each trip. Dessert bar was very good as well.
Day 2 - Snacks for breakfast and then over to AK where we ate at Flame Tree. Order taker was rude. I ordered a rib plate with fries. He said, "You can't have fries, you get the beans." I told him I would have fries and would be glad to pay for them. He changed his manners a little after seeing I was not in a mood to play.
Coral Reef for dinner. - Stay away, far away from this place. I have never in my life in all of my travels had such sorry service as we had here. We sat with a loaf of bread on the table for 15 minutes before our server came back and asked if he could take our drink order. We gave him our entire order and then waited another 10 minutes before we saw a beverage. He came back one time during the meal and gave me a new glass of coke but never offered any more drinks for the remainder of our crew. He later brought the check with the 18% gratuity added. I told him to take the check off of the table and go get drinks for everyone quickly. He did so. When he brought out our desserts he layed 6 spoons in the middle of the table and left. We ended up tipping him around $25 for this fine service.
Hey folks. I gotta go for now. I will come back and finish this up with more of our experiances including us getting to meet every teenager from Brazil.
Have a happy day,
ruv
