Donald D Duck
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2008
- Messages
- 110
Here are some belated highs and lows from our trip to the Mouse 15-19 Sep
Highs
Eurostar we were almost worried having two kids on our laps for the whole journey, but I took the younger one into the luggage area to get him to sleep at one point and then found an empty pair of seats by the doors which I used for most of the journey, managed this on the way home too.
Sequoia Lodge love this hotel. I found it clean and all the staff were great, I know it should be this way anyway, but I set my expectations low. One particular CM made me laugh, he was one of the character handlers, if you have stayed there you may recognise him as he frequently does a Donald Duck voice to make the kids laugh. Anyway I remembered him from last year and was just saying this to my wife when he came over and said he remembered us, I was shocked but he said from a couple of days ago. I said no he must be mistaken then, a moment of realisation comes across his face and he whispers to my wife Ah, I was Pluto the other day....
Characters we saw lots. I think we have 20 different autographs in the book, which obviously doesnt cover a couple we met more than once or Captain Hook who couldnt sign. Studios helped us boost our tally as did doing the meets outside Inventions at DLH.
Princess Pavilion I know not everyone loves the system, but for us we queued 30 mins to get the tickets then 30-45 once inside. Admittedly we were lucky but we saw three different princesses, the only low was the photographer somehow didnt get our photos on our card, but we did have our own pics.
Inventions we had eaten here for breakfast before which we did again and equally enjoyed, but this time we went for the character buffet dinner. I justified it with the shareholder discount, good exchange rate we got and the fact last year we thought Cafe Mickey was at best so-so with rushed interactions. How glad I am we did this, interactions were great, we were there the best part of 2 hours and I think we saw all the character at least twice. Donald and Goofy showed us to our table as we were one of the first tables in.
Blue Bayou this was one of our unplanned venues. I love the setting, the food was ok. I found the portions small and because I stuck to the set menu on a cost basis, probably not my first choice. Maybe I should have just spent those few s more and had something a la carte, but it did provide variety.
Hakuna Matata first time here on the last day of this trip, for me it is a hidden gem, ok it is in plain view, but I simply dont do Adventureland enough, even though I intended to make more effort this time. We did at least manage to briefly explore Adventure Isle.
The Inbetween
Smoking Ok, I know it happens and for the best part it didnt bother me, I think as long as you are in the mindset that it happens then you dont let it work you up.
Restaurants Id read that lots were closed in the evenings, but I hadnt expected this to extend to the hotels. Last year we ate at Manhatten and so we thought wed do that again first this year only to find it closed. Although it was open later in our trip I had by then done a rapid re-schedule or meals. This in fact turned out to be a high as it meant we experienced a lot of new places.
Parkside Diner I wouldnt have gone here by choice but with Manhatten shut we didnt have much choice. It was ok, but in my opinion the only one not worth the money. Ok they are all over priced, but this more so I thought. Also my mistake, but because the server thought our little one was over three we were initially charged for a childs buffet and told we had an inclusive drink. When we corrected the buffet price we were of course charged for a drink that DD didnt even want and so I had gulped down at the end of the meal.
Room keys Last year I put it down to a dodgy card, or one dodgy card reader thingy to enter the room, but this year over two rooms both were the same. Ok I learnt the trick ie persistence to get it to work, but I wouldnt find this acceptable in the most budget of hotels so it baffles me why we have it here at a recently refurbished hotel (ok I doubt they did anything with it during the refurbishment, but you get my point)
Queuing for characters I try to be as fair as possible, work out which kids were first and only tell DD to get in there when I know she should be next. Usually this is fine, but it was, annoying lets say when we follow that for the first bunch of kids and it is her turn and the handler suddenly says everyone back, Daisy will choose who is next. That is great if they do that from the start, but equally it seems sometimes they cant see the kids or as was the case DD had to then wait quite a long time when in fairness she should have been next. She told me it was her fault for not being quick enough so I had to explain on the fly why it wasnt her fault. Bless her!
Lows
Walts This one sticks out to me. The setting is fantastic, but my god was our server miserable. Our orders were mixed about, the steak was pretty tough and I got scowled at when I presented my shareholder card.
Ride closures mostly not a problem and we were well aware of the planned closures, but our day in the studios RNRC was shut both times I went by, Crush was closed all day and Parachute drop was closed at least while we were in the area. I planned to go back quickly on our last morning but didnt make it.
Trains Ok, nothing to do with DLP, but we got to our local station to get a train to Ashford to find the train was delayed. The staff had no idea how long it would be so we had to drive to ashford and park up. Once on the eurostar we were spitting distance from the tunnel when it grinds to a halt with a fault. We sat there for a good 10 minutes before we got going again but were told we couldnt go top speed. At that point of course I was just happy we were going.
Time we went an extra day compared to last year and we still didnt have enough time! There are plenty of things we missed.
Characters in the hotel last year each day we had a daily rotation every half hour. This year most days we had a half hour on / half hour off rotation meaning usually if you missed one that was your lot. One day we did have two and one day none.
Finally one question where is the lego store meant to go? The only place I saw work being carried out was a couple of shops along from Cafe Mickey. If it is there then that is worrying that they only just announced its opening was delayed, it looks like a disaster zone?!
Overall I enjoyed the trip but it has re-ignited a desire to go back to Florida. Im thinking of doing another DLP trip in 18 months or so before Florida roughly 3 years from now. That is the master plan anyway.
Highs
Eurostar we were almost worried having two kids on our laps for the whole journey, but I took the younger one into the luggage area to get him to sleep at one point and then found an empty pair of seats by the doors which I used for most of the journey, managed this on the way home too.
Sequoia Lodge love this hotel. I found it clean and all the staff were great, I know it should be this way anyway, but I set my expectations low. One particular CM made me laugh, he was one of the character handlers, if you have stayed there you may recognise him as he frequently does a Donald Duck voice to make the kids laugh. Anyway I remembered him from last year and was just saying this to my wife when he came over and said he remembered us, I was shocked but he said from a couple of days ago. I said no he must be mistaken then, a moment of realisation comes across his face and he whispers to my wife Ah, I was Pluto the other day....
Characters we saw lots. I think we have 20 different autographs in the book, which obviously doesnt cover a couple we met more than once or Captain Hook who couldnt sign. Studios helped us boost our tally as did doing the meets outside Inventions at DLH.
Princess Pavilion I know not everyone loves the system, but for us we queued 30 mins to get the tickets then 30-45 once inside. Admittedly we were lucky but we saw three different princesses, the only low was the photographer somehow didnt get our photos on our card, but we did have our own pics.
Inventions we had eaten here for breakfast before which we did again and equally enjoyed, but this time we went for the character buffet dinner. I justified it with the shareholder discount, good exchange rate we got and the fact last year we thought Cafe Mickey was at best so-so with rushed interactions. How glad I am we did this, interactions were great, we were there the best part of 2 hours and I think we saw all the character at least twice. Donald and Goofy showed us to our table as we were one of the first tables in.
Blue Bayou this was one of our unplanned venues. I love the setting, the food was ok. I found the portions small and because I stuck to the set menu on a cost basis, probably not my first choice. Maybe I should have just spent those few s more and had something a la carte, but it did provide variety.
Hakuna Matata first time here on the last day of this trip, for me it is a hidden gem, ok it is in plain view, but I simply dont do Adventureland enough, even though I intended to make more effort this time. We did at least manage to briefly explore Adventure Isle.
The Inbetween
Smoking Ok, I know it happens and for the best part it didnt bother me, I think as long as you are in the mindset that it happens then you dont let it work you up.
Restaurants Id read that lots were closed in the evenings, but I hadnt expected this to extend to the hotels. Last year we ate at Manhatten and so we thought wed do that again first this year only to find it closed. Although it was open later in our trip I had by then done a rapid re-schedule or meals. This in fact turned out to be a high as it meant we experienced a lot of new places.
Parkside Diner I wouldnt have gone here by choice but with Manhatten shut we didnt have much choice. It was ok, but in my opinion the only one not worth the money. Ok they are all over priced, but this more so I thought. Also my mistake, but because the server thought our little one was over three we were initially charged for a childs buffet and told we had an inclusive drink. When we corrected the buffet price we were of course charged for a drink that DD didnt even want and so I had gulped down at the end of the meal.
Room keys Last year I put it down to a dodgy card, or one dodgy card reader thingy to enter the room, but this year over two rooms both were the same. Ok I learnt the trick ie persistence to get it to work, but I wouldnt find this acceptable in the most budget of hotels so it baffles me why we have it here at a recently refurbished hotel (ok I doubt they did anything with it during the refurbishment, but you get my point)
Queuing for characters I try to be as fair as possible, work out which kids were first and only tell DD to get in there when I know she should be next. Usually this is fine, but it was, annoying lets say when we follow that for the first bunch of kids and it is her turn and the handler suddenly says everyone back, Daisy will choose who is next. That is great if they do that from the start, but equally it seems sometimes they cant see the kids or as was the case DD had to then wait quite a long time when in fairness she should have been next. She told me it was her fault for not being quick enough so I had to explain on the fly why it wasnt her fault. Bless her!
Lows
Walts This one sticks out to me. The setting is fantastic, but my god was our server miserable. Our orders were mixed about, the steak was pretty tough and I got scowled at when I presented my shareholder card.
Ride closures mostly not a problem and we were well aware of the planned closures, but our day in the studios RNRC was shut both times I went by, Crush was closed all day and Parachute drop was closed at least while we were in the area. I planned to go back quickly on our last morning but didnt make it.
Trains Ok, nothing to do with DLP, but we got to our local station to get a train to Ashford to find the train was delayed. The staff had no idea how long it would be so we had to drive to ashford and park up. Once on the eurostar we were spitting distance from the tunnel when it grinds to a halt with a fault. We sat there for a good 10 minutes before we got going again but were told we couldnt go top speed. At that point of course I was just happy we were going.
Time we went an extra day compared to last year and we still didnt have enough time! There are plenty of things we missed.
Characters in the hotel last year each day we had a daily rotation every half hour. This year most days we had a half hour on / half hour off rotation meaning usually if you missed one that was your lot. One day we did have two and one day none.
Finally one question where is the lego store meant to go? The only place I saw work being carried out was a couple of shops along from Cafe Mickey. If it is there then that is worrying that they only just announced its opening was delayed, it looks like a disaster zone?!
Overall I enjoyed the trip but it has re-ignited a desire to go back to Florida. Im thinking of doing another DLP trip in 18 months or so before Florida roughly 3 years from now. That is the master plan anyway.
nice to see al those highs. 
We've always loved our character meals at Inventions and also love Hakuna Matata although it took until our fifth trip before it was open. 
. And I will agree with you about the servers and the reaction to the shareholder's card, which really saddens me as this has always been my absolute favourite restaurant, and it just wasn't up to scratch this year 
