Travel City Direct Sunshine First POFQ

[Sharon/Mark]

Hi

I have read some of the threads on here with some sadness as I have recently booked for the first time Travel City Direct Sunshine First to WDW next September taking advantage of the free Disney Dining Plan, it was nearly £800 cheaper than booking the same holiday with Virgin

Please please tell me there are some of you who have had a good experience with TCD......

I would also like any feedback on Port Orleans French Quarter...

Thank you as always

 

[alyssa'smom]

hi rest easy i have been with tcd for the past 4 holidays and never had a problem there has been a lot of negative feedback at the moment but i think you get that with any airline or company look at the virgin delays at the moment it's won't be long before the virgin bashing begins i hope this helps

 

[Sharon/Mark]

Thanks I really appreciate that £800 saving was too good to turn down, I know if live you get what you pay for but I took a chance this time

What did you think of Sunshine First?

 

[alyssa'smom]

it's been a couple of years since we did sunshine first no under 3's and my youngest is 2 but i thought it was wonderful only 22 people in there we had about 4 cabin crew the food came on proper plates with proper knives and forks.
you got champagne or orange juice while you waiting for everyone else to board seats that recline all the way back pure heaven i can't wait for our daughter to turn 3 then back into sunshine first.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

You will have a great holiday I'm sure
POFQ gets really good reviews - have stayed at Magnolia bend which is the other side & we really liked that.
A friend recently stayed at POFQ & he had a great holiday - he enjoyed the boat trip to DTD as it meant he could have a drink (or 2!)
Have fun

 

[Sharon/Mark]

We have booked a water view so I am hoping for a quite relaxing outlook we have taken the boat ride several times from downtown and we are always impressed by the beauty of the gardens and the riverside paths which seem very idylic!

 

[carolfoy]

I flew TCD this year in premium and they were excellent, I had far better service than I had the previous year with virgin, we also stayed at POFQ and it was wonderful, a really nice quiet resort, it really felt like a holiday!

(The only downside to POFQ is the constant jazz playing in the public areas!)

 

[Sharon/Mark]

Sounds fantastic, I think I can live with the Jazz.......All Stars when we stayed there played Disney tracks from 6.00am daily in the dining area! All part of the magic...
Thank you my spirits are cetainly lifted now!

 

[Booknut]

I have never flown TCD to Orlando, just BA so can't help you but with the savings you are making it won't matter too much anyway, its only a flight!

As for POFQ, we stayed there for 10 days this past September and we just fell in love with it. The theming is lovely, everything is close by, we were never more than a 3 minute walk from the buses, counter service restaurant, gift shop, pool, hot tub etc. The boat to DTD was brilliant, the maid service was perfectly adequate and the pool and waterslide a lot of fun.

And it was great having live music in the evenings Wed-Sun I think. The singer was good fun, played requests and it was very relaxing If you love jazz you will adore this resort!

We spent our first night in a savannah view room at AKL which was magical for its view but to be honest with you we loved POFQ just as much and will definitely be staying there again. You won't be disappointed!

Tip though: do NOT eat the porridge at breakfast in the counter service, it was foul! The beignets however were divine

 

[Sharon/Mark]

Just looked at trip advisor and currently POFQ has the highest score of all the Disney resorts!

 

[motheroftink]

We stayed at POFQ last April and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a beautiful resort, but not too big, so nothing is far away. You get to see lots of wildlife, various birds, rabbits, squirrels, ducks, geckos, etc, all in the beautiful grounds. The pool is lovely and relaxing and you can get a horse and carriage ride of an evening, plus the handy boat to downtown disney. I loved this resort, but the downside for us was that there were 4 of us, myself, my husband, daughter aged 11, and son aged 13 so we found the room a bit cramped. It was handy that the washbasin area has a curtain that you can pull across, (the bathroom itself is a separate room), but still it seemed to take an age in the morning for us all to get showered and dressed. Plus there wasn't enough clothes hanging space for me, there isn't a wardrobe, you have a shelf with a rail underneath, which is in the washbasin area, but there just wasn't enough room (or hangers) for everyones clothes. I took additional hangers but still there wasn't the room. There are plenty of drawers in the bedroom area, but I prefer to hang most of my clothes. I suppose everyone is different and some people wouldn't be bothered by this, but the mad thing is that there was plenty of room for a wardrobe behind the door !!!!!
I did think that the house cleaning could have been a bit better, don't get me wrong is wasn't dirty or anything, but when we arrived there were some plastic tags all over the carpet (from labels on new clothes), and by the end of the two weeks it was really quite dusty. The bathroom and sinks were kept spotlessly clean though, and thats whats really important. It was handy having a fridge in the room too.

I would probably go back to this resort if there was just me and hubby.

 

[Sharon/Mark]

Thank you for that - there is only my DH and myself travelling so hopefully being a little cramped won't be an issue. I am looking forward to this trip we are going to check out the resort when we go off site in less than a month!

Your feedback however is very gratefully appreciated

 

[wildwoods]

Hello
We went with TCD in 2004, we could not fault them. The custumer service is fantasic in Orlando and the UK, they changed our hotel twice for us due to unacceptable standards.
We are going again with them in 2007.
the true picture of good company is the repeat business they enjoy and they have a massive loyal following of customers.
You will have a super time

 

[rpbert1]

we stayed at POFQ in July and loved it, would go back if i was doing Disney again, resort is very compact and you do not have to walk far . met some people there who had stayed in a few of the luxury disney resortr, and they had came down for a short break on offers they had got for POFQ, this was there first time in a moderate and they said they where a bit hesitant , but as it was for 4 days they reckoned they could suffer it ,well they loved the place and while it was not as nice as some of the luxury ones , they said they would definetly come back to it as the price was excellent, compared to what they where looking for luxury hotels.
Pool was good to , food court wasn`t bad but not great, but then we ate out a lot when we where there, and the refillable mugs where great value

 

[castanea1985]

Hi Sharon/Mark

Sorry to have to tell you this... but last year I was asking the same question that you are now! It was our first time with TCD... and our last.

We had a 24 hour delay in Manchester due to a cable breaking, just as we were about to take off. Won't go in to the details.. but just had to tell you. I had already booked with them, when I joined the forum and started reading the adverse reviews on them. As I said, we went with an open mind, but with the treatment we recieved and the poor standards on board, we certainly won't be flying with them again. And with a 24 hour delay it doesn't matter whether you're travelling sunshine first or economy.. Its a day out of your holiday.. gone.
As regards to pricing. I did a like for like quote this year with Virgin and TCD and Virgin were cheaper!! Like we've said before on other threads, its all about being in the right place at the right time, when getting the best deals.
But, I do hope you have a good flight with TCD.. the problems we encountered with them, surely must be in the minority - but unfortunately, it put us off enough, not to book with them again. And I appreciate other airlines do have similar problems..

 

[Boo Boo Too]

Hi

As alyssa'smom said, problems can happen with any airline (like the cusrrent Virgin delays). The disadvantage of going with an airline like TCD is that they are smaller and have fewer resources - so, if there is a problem, they have less chance to put it right (and so delays of a day, rather than just a few hours, are not uncommon).

Your holiday sounds wonderful: your flight will be great (except you will be spoilt in sunshine first - no going back to normal economy after that...) and your hotel will be great.

The only thing that you have to bear in the back of your mind is "maybe" there could be the possibility of flight delays. Don't worry about it, but if it does happen "go with the flow": delays are NEVER good, but it is your attitude to it that makes all of the difference... If you get all upset, stressed and in the "this is ruining my holiday" mindset, then it will have a big impact on your holiday. If you go with the flow, try and stay calm, read books, listen to music, find something to eat, then try to forget about it when you get there - then it wont have too big an impact. Yes, loosing a day of holiday is horrible, but letting that lost day ruin the other 13 is even worse

My suggestion would maybe to buy lounge access at your two departure airports (Manchester/Gatwick and Sanford). Then, if there are any delays, you have a peaceful haven to wait it out...

Boo

 

[angel659]

Hi

We have just booked with TCD with reservations. However, the savings we encountered won. In our opinion we have never been ourselves and VA yes we had an excellent flight best we have ever experienced, but for 9 hours is it really worth paying the £800 extra. Not in our opinion. So we are TCD virgins as well. Fingers crossed it will go well. I will reserve all judgment and negative comments until we have used them. I am sure you will have a fantastic holiday like us. We will be taking the extra money we saved out there for spending money.

 

[arieliwish]

Hi,

We went with TCD 2 years ago and were ok going, not so good coming back but it was during hurricane frances!

What date are you going?? We're off to POFQ 12 - 26 sep next year, were originally booked for POP but altered dates from aug to sep and couldn't get in so altered accomodation.

May see you there!

Lynn

 

[jonkatony]

We have been with TCD twice and they have been fine, not as good as VA but cheaper. We stayed at POFQ last Aug for two weeks, it was very nice. Its classed as a moderate and is very small and quite. I have stayed at AKL and also allstars, the only Hotel I WOULD look forward to returning to is AKL. The other hotels to me were places to stay while at 'disney'.
I would say don't worry about TCD and you have chosen a nice place to stay

 

[Sharon/Mark]

Thank you guys for all of the feedback I believe we have taken a bit of a chance with the airline, but in light of the fact we were delayed last year by Virgin for nearly 6 hours (due to the flight being diverted because someone was taken ill on the flight) it can happen at any time with any airline. I realise this airline perhaps doesn't has the clout of the BA/VA's of this world and we stand a better chance of being 'bumped' if there are delays but £800! I find it flabbergasting that there can be such a price difference

I spent 10 years in the travel industry and I am still surprised by this

POFQ sounds grand though I too have stayed at AKL and All Stars, both great in their own way, I look forward to a smaller more intimate resort on this occasion