Trip Report Boardwalk and BCV 7/19-21

[dotterson]

Hi,

Just a quick trip report - we had a very fast weekend with a French Foreign student guest... So, 2 adults, 1 16 yr. old DD and 17 yr. old B-day girl.

Overall thoughts:

Boardwalk was looking a bit shabby. Was actually surprised at the condition - the hall carpets and wallpaper need replacement, our 2BR wasn't the cleaniest. Water slide wasn't working the first day we were there. Staff was nice, but didn't seem terribly motivated (I was at the desk figuring out my tickets for a long time.)

BCV was in much better shape. Rooms and hallways clean (even the towel animals were all over the room). Altho we saw the same glass on the carpet the whole day and no one picked it up. Since this is our 'home,' I would not book Boardwalk again (we booked in March, and Boardwalk was the only thing available - except for the final day). Staff was very nice, but they FORGOT our luggage downstairs for over 30 minutes. Not good. (They said it would be up in 5 minutes.) BCV was perfect except for that.

Ate at Yachtsmen first night. Actually, a very nice meal. Portions were large and the food was quite good. (We usually have good meals there, but the last time wasn't up to par.) Total for bill was nearly $200 tho. Very pricey. Wait wasn't too bad.

Next night ate at Blue Zoo. Totally not impressed. We dined there last at their 'soft opening' many years ago. They still don't have anything exciting for none fish-eaters -- except for a very expensive steak. Overall: WAY too pricey for what you had and there is no need for all the snobbiness. Waiter was busy with a larger table who ordered wine and let us sit for a long time (we wanted to get back to Epcot for the fireworks). Not happy.

Following night was at Ca Grill. Thought this would be a wonderful evening. Ok, not quite. Went up quickly (we met someone the next day who had 6 in their party the same time as us and waited an hour!) Waiter dropped water all over my pants. Someone came over to apologize (he didn't - which was totally wrong) and NEVER offered a comp anything or cleaning (ok, it was just water, but still!) Then, had to wait quite a bit after the appetizer (nice flat bread). Had steak and the portions were tiny - I'll repeat that again - tiny for the price! Yikes!!!! Ordered 2 desserts - they were fine, tho the blueberry cobbler wasn't very special. Do it again -- Not at all!!!!

Last night was at the Flying Fish. The Unofficial Guide rated this restaurant 4 stars (we borrowed the book from the woman who waited that hour at CA Grill). She said she walked by in the AM, and it smelled. Great....... Anyway, got in and the meal just sucked! ARG. For the price, just ew. The steak had 16 herbs on it - try only one - SALT. The rest of the unmemorable meal wasn't very good either. We got a DVC discount of 10%. My advice - don't waste your time!

The first day we went to Hollywood Studios. Man, it was awfully hot. Got in the line for Rockin' Roller only to find out it wasn't working... Went to TT (I didn't, but the girls did). Did the new Toy Story ride - it was very fun. Went back outside and the heat just hit on you in waves. After walking a bit around and finding out the RR was still broken, decided to go to the pool and leave!

AFfter a few hours of swimming, went to Epcot. The girls did the Fast Track and we met again at Innovations. That was fun and cool. Got a FastPass for Soaring for after dinner. (The dragging dinner at Blue Zoo...) Everyone went while I secured a spot for the fireworks. The FastPass line was so long, that we NEVER met up. I saw the fireworks at France by myself, while everyone else was still walking back. Geez.

Next day was devoted to MK. The group went to Space Mt. while I got them Fass Passes to Thunder RR (didn't need them). In fact for about 2 hours, everything was tops, 5- minute wait. The girls did Splash, RR, then Alladin and we all did Haunted Mansion (cool new effects) and Pirates. Ate lunch at Cosmic Rays (nothing very exciting) went on Peter Pan. Park was getting crowded, so we left to go swimming and return later (the park was open until 2 AM!) After dinner, did the Teacups, Pooh, Philamagic (she loved it) and watched the fireworks. We were so tired that we left as Spectra was going on.

The last day we just moved to BCV and stayed at the pool until dinner and went to Downtown Disney to shop after.

I must mention that we left our Boardwalk room at 11 AM and hung out at the BCV pool until 3:30 PM (they had promised it earlier). That wasn't very nice. Then, they forgot our luggage (see above). At that point, we were very hot from the pool and wanted to take a shower. We ate at Hurricane's while waiting - I thought that DVC used to have a discount there. Not any more. (In fact the old, fat, Perks Book had a LOT more discounts than now.) Totally not worth the price.

Other thoughts: We drove down from Atlanta. The roads were EMPTY. I mean it was scary (almost like the week after 9/11 when we drove down the first time). I'm sure that people are not going as much with the gas prices. There were a lot more foreigners (British and tons on Brazilians). Disney should wake up that Americans just can't afford the prices (we were stunned that a one-day Park Hopper cost so much).

So, some good things and some bad. You can't get a T shirt for under $20. The cheap, 'dollar store' is now 'cheap under $10 store.'

I think Disney needs to wake up that their core guests - Americans - can no longer afford the meals, tickets, clothes, etc. Maybe they don't care...

 

[SLM]

Thanks for posting-sorry you did not enjoy some of those dinners-we really liked Flying Fish, but we love seafood. We also waited for an hour for our table at CG but sat by the windows with a glass of wine and enjoyed the view-but when you want to do other things the wait could be annoying!

 

[snackyx]

We were at Flying Fish two weeks ago and the dinner was fine, but I did notice the restaurant was not full. You could have walked in and gotten seated at any time that evening. Our waitress was quite talkative, asking about where we were from and other minor probings. The next day there was a message on our voicemail at BWV from the manager, thanking us for dining with them and heard that (our waitress) had mentioned we were from the same state as her and blah blah blah. Are the servers prompted to get some tidbit of info and then quickly note it in the comptuer so the mamager could make a "personal" call the next day, thanking you for dining with them? We had three people and a $300 tab (oh, that Far Ninte!) so I can see why they may want us back, but this seemed like rather aggressive marketing.

One other point: I had ordered the Chef's Special Thunder, which was a creation inspired by the "Deadliest Catch" TV show. These guys were in the restaurant a month or so ago and they came up with an entree for them and left it on the menu: mahi mahi and crab oscar over a bed of greens. Folks, for $32 or $34 there was about a 3 oz. piece of mahi and maybe 3 oz. of crab atop a bowl full of greens. I had had a salad and appetizer so this was not a meal breaker, but this was perhaps the most unsubstancial dinner entree I have ever seen. I could see where someone ordering just dinner would be getting a corndog on the Boardwalk on the way out. I think they may want to rethink this if they are trying to attract customers. We just made dining reservations for over New Year's and Flying Fish was not on the list (and I have eaten there at least a dozen times). Just not special enough.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Reminds me of the current commercial on TV, you see the couple at an expensive restaurant and when they get their plates, there's 2 peas, a baby carrot and a quarter size peace of steak in a lovely sauce. Then you see them hitting the corner store for snacks!

Even if the food was exceptional at the FF, the portions could be a little more generous. I love Jiko and I think their portions are more than adequate IMO.