driftin' by
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2010
- Messages
- 13
We recently returned on October 8, from 10 nights celebrating our daughters 7th birthday. This was our third trip in as many years and are confirmed addicts. A little background- Our first trip was in April 2010 for 5 nights at POFQ. Second trip was in February 2011 for 7 nights at POFQ. Both included Dining Plan Plus. For this trip, we booked 8 nights at POFQ with arrival and departure stays at Fairfield Inn near MCO. Adding these additional day were the result of finding considerable lower airfare arriving on a Friday and departing on a Monday. The savings was more than enough to cover the extra nights at roughly $50 each through Priceline and a rental car at $160 (for the entire stay!) from Budget via Costco. Further, on arrival from Denver, it’s difficult to find an arrival before 2:00 PM Eastern time making it almost impractical to make one of the parks on arrival day especially after a long day of travel. Below is our touring itinerary that excludes arrival and departure days:
9/29 – Hollywood Studios late morning arrival after checking in.
ADR – 50’s Prime Time Café 1:50 PM
9/30 – Animal Kingdom late morning arrival after 8:40 BBB @ DTD reservation on our Daughter’s birthday.
ADR – Tusker House 2:25 PM
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
10/1 – Epcot for 30th Anniversary late morning arrival after returning to CS after 1AM from MNNSHP
ADR – Akershus 6:40 PM
10/2 – Magic Kingdom in park early for ADR
ADR – Crystal Palace 8:25 AM
10/3 – Hollywood Studios late arrival after feeling completely run down at this point.
ADR – Mama Melrose’s 2:40 PM W/Fantasmic!
10/4 – Epcot normal arrival right at opening
ADR – Teppen Edo 4:50 PM
10/5 – Magic Kingdom late arrival to enjoy some pool time at CS
ADR – Hoop Dee Do Revue 8:30 PM
10/6 – Animal Kingdom
ADR – Cape May Café 7:00 PM [Canceled because we had too many quick service entitlements to use.]
10/7 – Magic Kingdom Just daughter and I arrived at rope drop in hopes of catch opening show however we missed it waiting over 50 minutes for bus.
ADR – ‘Ohana 8:20 PM
And here are the things I learned:
• Never ever go again in September/October. In fact, only go in the first 4 months of the year. For the love of god, it was hot, rainy and just miserable. I went to college in Arkansas and lived for four years in Houston and I never remember it being as hot, humid and miserable living in either place as it was in central Florida. Adding insult to injury it raining every day except our last day. On the 2 days, it rained all day we were at Epcot then Magic Kingdom, it was virtual walk-ons for every attraction, however that did little to ease the soaking misery.
• Although free, the dining plan is WAY TOO MUCH FOOD! We left 9 quick service entitlements on the table (no pun intended) when we checked out! Most meals we had significant leftovers that were just thrown away. Quick service dining quality continues to improve and portions remain huge which can be easily shared between 2 adults. Next time we will try not to be lured by free dining and wait for a percentage off promotion to stay at The Poly.
• Use snack credits at The Food and Wine Festival booths. Here we enjoyed some excellent food and beer and wish the weather circumstances I mentioned above wouldn't prevent from ever experiencing it again. However, at check out we had 6 snack credits remaining which we used for souvenir candy in the gift shop to bring back home.
• Do not visit a park prior to attending Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party or any other hard-ticked park event. I wish we designated this a "pool day" followed by a nap then arrive early at 4:00 for the party. However, it was our daughter's actual birthday and we felt that we needed to make the most out of it, which we did with going to BBB, AK, Tusker House, MNSSHP but I think this lead to us feeling lethargic the rest of the week. This event was well worth the money and a nice treat (pun intended). We walked away with a huge bag of decent quality candy but the real treat was the parade, fireworks and rare character interactions in addition to walking straight onto attractions.
• Make ADR’s for more typical dining time. Although we booked this trip 5 months in advance, many choice dining times were booked. The late afternoon ADR's really led to us leaving so many quick service credits on the table. On these days it was difficult to wait so long for a late lunch then we wouldn't an appetite for dinner afterwards especially at the strange Pepper Market at CS. More on that below.
• Add ‘Ohana and 50’s Prime Time along with Mama Melrose’s as must do’s. All 3 were highlights this trip. We have always loved Mama Melrose’s which is one of only 2 restaurant we have visited on all 3 trips. In our opinion, they are fantastic and seem to continue to get better. It was our first experience at 50’s and ‘Ohana and neither disappointed in the least when it came to atmosphere, service or food. 50’s was our first sit down just hours after checking in and arriving at our first park. We had a great cast member serving us that kept us laughing and engaged the entire meal. I never booked this before because I was never a fan of the menu but my wife and I split the sampler platter and a wedge salad and thought it was all fantastic and very plentiful. We paid cash for this meal knowing we’d used the remaining sit-down entitlements throughout the week and sacrificing 2 each for HDDR.
• Take a pass on HDDR. I know this will upset many but in my opinion, it’s just not worth it. The entertainment is top notch and enjoyable. The food is decent and plentiful. Now that we have experienced it, I don't think it's worth doing again in the near future. I have the same opinion about CRT which we did our last trip.
• Resist the urge to book Akershus again. This was our inaugural WDW dining experience just hours after landing on our first trip in 2010 and has been a must do for us every trip. While the character interaction is fantastic for princesses in your party, unfortunately the food is bad and getting worse and service has never been great IMHO.
• Book Cape May Café and actually go. Not that we have ever eaten there because we have canceled on all three trips.
• Continue to book Character meals as they are still the best way to meet them. We filled up 2 autograph books and never made it to characterpalooza at HS.
• Stay away from Coronado Springs. While Coronado Springs is a beautiful resort with a great pool, it wasn’t for us being a bit too big and too impersonal. We stayed in the last Cabanas building next to the Pool so we were relatively conveniently located to the the main area, El Centro but most importantly, close to the pool. Compared to POFQ, the resort felt tired and in need of a “freshen-up”. None of the cast members acted pleased to see us making us feel unwelcome. Upon checkout, when asked how our stay was, no one wanted to hear our a response... especially if it wasn't 100% positive. The self-serve drink station was a joke with a terrible layout and flow. I reluctantly used a few quick service meals for grab-and-go breakfast sandwich with hash brown. The sandwich (croissant with egg cheese and beacon) was decent but the hash browns tasted like onion rings which left me with a bad impression on the cleanliness behind the counter. Pepper Market was a complete joke… talk about feeling unwelcome! I don’t think I saw a single cast member smile. Slow service, confusing ordering and mediocre food made it very undesirable. Bus service to and from the resort was among the worst I've ever experienced. On several occasions we waited in excess of 45 minutes and never did we luck out and wait less than 10 minutes.
• Arrive at the parks at rope drop. Although I stressed the importance of early arrivals to my wife and daughter, it really never happened this trip besides the 8:25 ADR at CP which really didn't benefit being in the park early although it was being on Main Street with few other around. As mentioned above, the day of our daughter's birthday really took it out of us and set the pace for a lethargic week. Even myself as an early riser usually before 6:00 AM struggled the entire week. This was evident in the fact that we only rode Midway Mania once! Both days at HS were late arrivals and the one time we rode it, was a 5PM FP I pulled around 11AM! Besides less crowds early in the morning, the weather is much more pleasant with cooler air and less chance of rain.
• Extra Magic Evening hours is really great especially when MK stays open until 3AM. I know there are a lot of touring plans out there but the one consistent bit of advice between them all is to avoid the parks that have EMH. I do believe this to be good advice but utilizing park hopper to visit a park in the evening with evening EMH would be ideal.
• Don't skimp, get Park Hopper to enjoy more flexibility as mentioned above.
• Continue the purchase PhotoPass Plus. For us, PhotoPass was a no-brainer for all 3 trips. The Plus option was well worth it considering that we claimed every attraction photos on Rockin Roller Coaster, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Tower of Terror then add our 3 dining photo packages at Tusker House, Akershus and HDDR the additional cost was a small sacrifice to have these memories.
• Renting a car isn't a bad idea... especially if one can be had for the incredible price I mentioned above. I've had a long standing policy of not driving while on vacation but it was almost necessary given our itinerary with staying our first and last nights off property. Also, with all the running around on our daughter's birthday it really paid off. With the terrible bus service we experienced at CS, toward the end of the week we found ourselves taking the car to the parks more often to avoid the aggravation. It's really quite a time saver even over the good bus service we experienced staying at POFQ in the past.
After booking this trip that would coincide with our daughter's birthday, I second guess myself several times wondering if we shouldn't go to Disneyland for better weather and the new Carsland. Adding insult to injury, all we could do is "imagine" what the new Fantasyland was going to be like with all the construction and scrims at MK. Knowing what I know now, I do wish we booked DL and waited to return to WDW in 2013 to experience the new Fantasyland in all its glory.
One incident we had was getting stuck at the drop on Pirates of The Caribbean for 50 minutes at 11:45PM during MNSSHP. Guest services more than made up for what they considered "time lost" with 6 No Questions Asked attraction passes. Unfortunately, we never used them because the 2 attractions we would have like to use them on, Soarin and Midway Mania were excluded and no other attraction really had very long waits during our trip. It was still a very nice gesture for the inconvenience.
Nevertheless, we did have a fantastic trip filled with great memories and we never forget how fortunate we are to take vacations like this. I'm still really amazed at the overall quality of a Disney Vacation and believe you can have reasonably high expectations. Because of that, it's a great value knowing that you're going to walkway very satisfied.
9/29 – Hollywood Studios late morning arrival after checking in.
ADR – 50’s Prime Time Café 1:50 PM
9/30 – Animal Kingdom late morning arrival after 8:40 BBB @ DTD reservation on our Daughter’s birthday.
ADR – Tusker House 2:25 PM
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
10/1 – Epcot for 30th Anniversary late morning arrival after returning to CS after 1AM from MNNSHP
ADR – Akershus 6:40 PM
10/2 – Magic Kingdom in park early for ADR
ADR – Crystal Palace 8:25 AM
10/3 – Hollywood Studios late arrival after feeling completely run down at this point.
ADR – Mama Melrose’s 2:40 PM W/Fantasmic!
10/4 – Epcot normal arrival right at opening
ADR – Teppen Edo 4:50 PM
10/5 – Magic Kingdom late arrival to enjoy some pool time at CS
ADR – Hoop Dee Do Revue 8:30 PM
10/6 – Animal Kingdom
ADR – Cape May Café 7:00 PM [Canceled because we had too many quick service entitlements to use.]
10/7 – Magic Kingdom Just daughter and I arrived at rope drop in hopes of catch opening show however we missed it waiting over 50 minutes for bus.
ADR – ‘Ohana 8:20 PM
And here are the things I learned:
• Never ever go again in September/October. In fact, only go in the first 4 months of the year. For the love of god, it was hot, rainy and just miserable. I went to college in Arkansas and lived for four years in Houston and I never remember it being as hot, humid and miserable living in either place as it was in central Florida. Adding insult to injury it raining every day except our last day. On the 2 days, it rained all day we were at Epcot then Magic Kingdom, it was virtual walk-ons for every attraction, however that did little to ease the soaking misery.
• Although free, the dining plan is WAY TOO MUCH FOOD! We left 9 quick service entitlements on the table (no pun intended) when we checked out! Most meals we had significant leftovers that were just thrown away. Quick service dining quality continues to improve and portions remain huge which can be easily shared between 2 adults. Next time we will try not to be lured by free dining and wait for a percentage off promotion to stay at The Poly.
• Use snack credits at The Food and Wine Festival booths. Here we enjoyed some excellent food and beer and wish the weather circumstances I mentioned above wouldn't prevent from ever experiencing it again. However, at check out we had 6 snack credits remaining which we used for souvenir candy in the gift shop to bring back home.
• Do not visit a park prior to attending Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party or any other hard-ticked park event. I wish we designated this a "pool day" followed by a nap then arrive early at 4:00 for the party. However, it was our daughter's actual birthday and we felt that we needed to make the most out of it, which we did with going to BBB, AK, Tusker House, MNSSHP but I think this lead to us feeling lethargic the rest of the week. This event was well worth the money and a nice treat (pun intended). We walked away with a huge bag of decent quality candy but the real treat was the parade, fireworks and rare character interactions in addition to walking straight onto attractions.
• Make ADR’s for more typical dining time. Although we booked this trip 5 months in advance, many choice dining times were booked. The late afternoon ADR's really led to us leaving so many quick service credits on the table. On these days it was difficult to wait so long for a late lunch then we wouldn't an appetite for dinner afterwards especially at the strange Pepper Market at CS. More on that below.
• Add ‘Ohana and 50’s Prime Time along with Mama Melrose’s as must do’s. All 3 were highlights this trip. We have always loved Mama Melrose’s which is one of only 2 restaurant we have visited on all 3 trips. In our opinion, they are fantastic and seem to continue to get better. It was our first experience at 50’s and ‘Ohana and neither disappointed in the least when it came to atmosphere, service or food. 50’s was our first sit down just hours after checking in and arriving at our first park. We had a great cast member serving us that kept us laughing and engaged the entire meal. I never booked this before because I was never a fan of the menu but my wife and I split the sampler platter and a wedge salad and thought it was all fantastic and very plentiful. We paid cash for this meal knowing we’d used the remaining sit-down entitlements throughout the week and sacrificing 2 each for HDDR.
• Take a pass on HDDR. I know this will upset many but in my opinion, it’s just not worth it. The entertainment is top notch and enjoyable. The food is decent and plentiful. Now that we have experienced it, I don't think it's worth doing again in the near future. I have the same opinion about CRT which we did our last trip.
• Resist the urge to book Akershus again. This was our inaugural WDW dining experience just hours after landing on our first trip in 2010 and has been a must do for us every trip. While the character interaction is fantastic for princesses in your party, unfortunately the food is bad and getting worse and service has never been great IMHO.
• Book Cape May Café and actually go. Not that we have ever eaten there because we have canceled on all three trips.
• Continue to book Character meals as they are still the best way to meet them. We filled up 2 autograph books and never made it to characterpalooza at HS.
• Stay away from Coronado Springs. While Coronado Springs is a beautiful resort with a great pool, it wasn’t for us being a bit too big and too impersonal. We stayed in the last Cabanas building next to the Pool so we were relatively conveniently located to the the main area, El Centro but most importantly, close to the pool. Compared to POFQ, the resort felt tired and in need of a “freshen-up”. None of the cast members acted pleased to see us making us feel unwelcome. Upon checkout, when asked how our stay was, no one wanted to hear our a response... especially if it wasn't 100% positive. The self-serve drink station was a joke with a terrible layout and flow. I reluctantly used a few quick service meals for grab-and-go breakfast sandwich with hash brown. The sandwich (croissant with egg cheese and beacon) was decent but the hash browns tasted like onion rings which left me with a bad impression on the cleanliness behind the counter. Pepper Market was a complete joke… talk about feeling unwelcome! I don’t think I saw a single cast member smile. Slow service, confusing ordering and mediocre food made it very undesirable. Bus service to and from the resort was among the worst I've ever experienced. On several occasions we waited in excess of 45 minutes and never did we luck out and wait less than 10 minutes.
• Arrive at the parks at rope drop. Although I stressed the importance of early arrivals to my wife and daughter, it really never happened this trip besides the 8:25 ADR at CP which really didn't benefit being in the park early although it was being on Main Street with few other around. As mentioned above, the day of our daughter's birthday really took it out of us and set the pace for a lethargic week. Even myself as an early riser usually before 6:00 AM struggled the entire week. This was evident in the fact that we only rode Midway Mania once! Both days at HS were late arrivals and the one time we rode it, was a 5PM FP I pulled around 11AM! Besides less crowds early in the morning, the weather is much more pleasant with cooler air and less chance of rain.
• Extra Magic Evening hours is really great especially when MK stays open until 3AM. I know there are a lot of touring plans out there but the one consistent bit of advice between them all is to avoid the parks that have EMH. I do believe this to be good advice but utilizing park hopper to visit a park in the evening with evening EMH would be ideal.
• Don't skimp, get Park Hopper to enjoy more flexibility as mentioned above.
• Continue the purchase PhotoPass Plus. For us, PhotoPass was a no-brainer for all 3 trips. The Plus option was well worth it considering that we claimed every attraction photos on Rockin Roller Coaster, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Tower of Terror then add our 3 dining photo packages at Tusker House, Akershus and HDDR the additional cost was a small sacrifice to have these memories.
• Renting a car isn't a bad idea... especially if one can be had for the incredible price I mentioned above. I've had a long standing policy of not driving while on vacation but it was almost necessary given our itinerary with staying our first and last nights off property. Also, with all the running around on our daughter's birthday it really paid off. With the terrible bus service we experienced at CS, toward the end of the week we found ourselves taking the car to the parks more often to avoid the aggravation. It's really quite a time saver even over the good bus service we experienced staying at POFQ in the past.
After booking this trip that would coincide with our daughter's birthday, I second guess myself several times wondering if we shouldn't go to Disneyland for better weather and the new Carsland. Adding insult to injury, all we could do is "imagine" what the new Fantasyland was going to be like with all the construction and scrims at MK. Knowing what I know now, I do wish we booked DL and waited to return to WDW in 2013 to experience the new Fantasyland in all its glory.
One incident we had was getting stuck at the drop on Pirates of The Caribbean for 50 minutes at 11:45PM during MNSSHP. Guest services more than made up for what they considered "time lost" with 6 No Questions Asked attraction passes. Unfortunately, we never used them because the 2 attractions we would have like to use them on, Soarin and Midway Mania were excluded and no other attraction really had very long waits during our trip. It was still a very nice gesture for the inconvenience.
Nevertheless, we did have a fantastic trip filled with great memories and we never forget how fortunate we are to take vacations like this. I'm still really amazed at the overall quality of a Disney Vacation and believe you can have reasonably high expectations. Because of that, it's a great value knowing that you're going to walkway very satisfied.
