Trip Report July 24 Aug 7 2012 Lessons from our 2nd 2 week trip to WDW
This was a 2nd 2 week trip to WDW this year, the first being over Presidents Day. I think this trip taught us that it is possible to have WDW overload and that we really should have broken our trip up with some days at other non-Disney parks!
We were pleasantly surprised with the crowd levels. We did use touring plans to determine the best parks but we didnt use park touring plans. The longest wait time we experienced was 50 minutes and we got to do all of the attractions.
We stayed at POR which after staying at SSR in February was a very clear step down. I wouldnt say we disliked POR, but I think once you stay at a deluxe resort, you tend to noticed the differences! We were in the Alligator Bayou area of the resort in room 2835 and felt we were well positioned for all of the amenities.
On the upside for POR, it is a beautiful resort. The boat trip to Downtown Disney was really pretty. The newly renovated rooms are very nice and well themed. The main pool area was nice but at times rather crowded. We opted to use the quiet pool by our room most of the time. The food court has a pretty good selection and being on the counter service dining plan, we sampled most of the offerings and were quite impressed. The highlights of the food court were the beef or turkey carving station in the evenings and the delicious apple pies! However, the create your own salad and pasta stations were both great too.
While were on the subject of food, the quick service dining plan was a bit of a drag. Having had the regular dining plan in Feb, we noticed a distinct difference. UK visitors get 2 meals and 2 snacks a day plus the resort mug (this is an extra snack credit from the US version). Good use of the mug means you dont use too many credits on drinks and if youre someone who likes to get the most out of the meal plan, it offers a good challenge! The heat (and some other factors) left us with 47 snacks and 22 meals remaining on our last day! The snacks we exhausted with bags of goodies to bring home but we left with 8 meals after buying lunch for 2 other families!
Overall, I wouldnt recommend the quick service dining plan if youre paying for it. If you get it free, then it saves you money and stress, but if you pay for it, you will probably feel more obligated to use all the credits which in July probably isnt feasible for most people. I know a lot of people who can eat a lot of food no matter what the weather and some of them MAY have managed to eat all of the food you get, but for your average person, its way too much and youll leave with credits. Id be more inclined to get the regular dining plan where you can use the credits for signature dining.
On the downside for POR, it wasnt the quietest of places! One particular issue was the toilets that are so loud they make your ears pop. They frightened our kids!!! Non-smoking rules were not particularly well enforced either. They had to have the snake catchers in while we were there and I did see a huge snake which was alarming. It is an oversized resort leading to long lines at the food court at times.
Events
We went to the early show for Fantasmic and got seated at the last minute. Although they were not the best seats in the house, they were fine and it showed that even at peak season last minute seats are available without standing in line for over an hour!
We saw the Electrical Light Parade from a good vantage point in Frontierland. We did stake out a spot about an hour before though. Wishes was a different story, it was a zoo and I almost punched several people who thought my 8 year old was fair game to be shoved and knocked over. Never again! In Feb we watched from the safety of the Tomorrowland Terrace dessert party and Ill do that again when we go back!
Illuminations was my treat to my wife. I arranged a private dining event at the UK pubside. Thank you to Gus and Romita for making this a wonderful 11th anniversary night with great food!
We didnt use Disney Transport very much as we had a hire car, but buses were frequent and no problem. The same can not be said for Dollar with the rental car. My advice to ANYONE hiring a car but particularly those from the UK, is to AVOID DOLLAR AT ALL COSTS! I prepaid for a 7 seater van, this was a premium package with all insurances and fees etc. On arrival at Orlando International I was charged for extras and when I questioned it I was told they were compulsory. After an exhausting journey (more on that in a moment!) I just paid it so I could get out of there but I actually think with hindsight that they were very much optional. Stick with Alamo, we had no issues with them in Feb.
Flights OK this is where I start grumbling so brace yourself! We got our return flights from the UK in the Delta Glitch and in fairness £530 a ticket was cheap for July school holidays. However, the flights were not on Delta, they were actually on Air France which we found out after we were booked and had paid in full for tickets that were not changeable. PLEASE BEWARE of anything like this because a flight on Delta and a flight on Air France were not created equal!!!
We flew from Birmingham to Paris and Paris to Orlando. The connection wasnt bad, there was enough time to get to the different gates but not too much sitting around waiting for the next flight. However, you get NO CHOICE for your meals with Air France and the food was TERRIBLE no strike that VILE!!!! Add to that the fact that my 8 year old was given wine and some sort of liquor on her tray. Are you telling me that they can not see that she is 8 both on the booking and in person!?
On the main flight, Paris to Orlando, they had crammed in far too many rows and leg room wouldnt be enough for one of Snow Whites little friends. I have very long legs and always struggle, but I couldnt even sit in the seat without having to jam my knees into the back of the seat in front, which irritated the person in front who then decided to recline his chair fully the entire 9 hours leaving my legs in the aisle to be battered by passers-by and the food trolley. The flight back was more tolerable, it was an older style plane and had more leg room, but I only survived with my lower extremities in one piece because I had no one in the seats next to me.
We also found them to be VERY unhelpful in making what were simple accommodations for our daughter who has Autism. We were not asking for free upgrades or anything like that. Just that she be close to the front of the plane to avoid her seeing all the strangers and to get on the plane early. Air France blamed Delta, Delta blamed Air France, when we called (7 times in total plus 12 emails over the course of 6 months) the special assistance people they said they couldnt help at all. We do not expect to be able to get anything extra for our child and we even offered to PAY for premium economy to avoid her getting distressed but they refused. So again, beware Air France. On the positive side, they did have a good entertainment system that I never got to use because I had a distressed 8 year old and broken legs to deal with!
Magic Kingdom refurbs seem to be going well. I really feel like Disney need to build a new park or some major new attractions at the other parks soon though. HS particularly needs an overhaul.
An OK trip overall but some work to do for Air France, Dollar and Disney.
This was a 2nd 2 week trip to WDW this year, the first being over Presidents Day. I think this trip taught us that it is possible to have WDW overload and that we really should have broken our trip up with some days at other non-Disney parks!
We were pleasantly surprised with the crowd levels. We did use touring plans to determine the best parks but we didnt use park touring plans. The longest wait time we experienced was 50 minutes and we got to do all of the attractions.
We stayed at POR which after staying at SSR in February was a very clear step down. I wouldnt say we disliked POR, but I think once you stay at a deluxe resort, you tend to noticed the differences! We were in the Alligator Bayou area of the resort in room 2835 and felt we were well positioned for all of the amenities.
On the upside for POR, it is a beautiful resort. The boat trip to Downtown Disney was really pretty. The newly renovated rooms are very nice and well themed. The main pool area was nice but at times rather crowded. We opted to use the quiet pool by our room most of the time. The food court has a pretty good selection and being on the counter service dining plan, we sampled most of the offerings and were quite impressed. The highlights of the food court were the beef or turkey carving station in the evenings and the delicious apple pies! However, the create your own salad and pasta stations were both great too.
While were on the subject of food, the quick service dining plan was a bit of a drag. Having had the regular dining plan in Feb, we noticed a distinct difference. UK visitors get 2 meals and 2 snacks a day plus the resort mug (this is an extra snack credit from the US version). Good use of the mug means you dont use too many credits on drinks and if youre someone who likes to get the most out of the meal plan, it offers a good challenge! The heat (and some other factors) left us with 47 snacks and 22 meals remaining on our last day! The snacks we exhausted with bags of goodies to bring home but we left with 8 meals after buying lunch for 2 other families!
Overall, I wouldnt recommend the quick service dining plan if youre paying for it. If you get it free, then it saves you money and stress, but if you pay for it, you will probably feel more obligated to use all the credits which in July probably isnt feasible for most people. I know a lot of people who can eat a lot of food no matter what the weather and some of them MAY have managed to eat all of the food you get, but for your average person, its way too much and youll leave with credits. Id be more inclined to get the regular dining plan where you can use the credits for signature dining.
On the downside for POR, it wasnt the quietest of places! One particular issue was the toilets that are so loud they make your ears pop. They frightened our kids!!! Non-smoking rules were not particularly well enforced either. They had to have the snake catchers in while we were there and I did see a huge snake which was alarming. It is an oversized resort leading to long lines at the food court at times.
Events
We went to the early show for Fantasmic and got seated at the last minute. Although they were not the best seats in the house, they were fine and it showed that even at peak season last minute seats are available without standing in line for over an hour!
We saw the Electrical Light Parade from a good vantage point in Frontierland. We did stake out a spot about an hour before though. Wishes was a different story, it was a zoo and I almost punched several people who thought my 8 year old was fair game to be shoved and knocked over. Never again! In Feb we watched from the safety of the Tomorrowland Terrace dessert party and Ill do that again when we go back!
Illuminations was my treat to my wife. I arranged a private dining event at the UK pubside. Thank you to Gus and Romita for making this a wonderful 11th anniversary night with great food!
We didnt use Disney Transport very much as we had a hire car, but buses were frequent and no problem. The same can not be said for Dollar with the rental car. My advice to ANYONE hiring a car but particularly those from the UK, is to AVOID DOLLAR AT ALL COSTS! I prepaid for a 7 seater van, this was a premium package with all insurances and fees etc. On arrival at Orlando International I was charged for extras and when I questioned it I was told they were compulsory. After an exhausting journey (more on that in a moment!) I just paid it so I could get out of there but I actually think with hindsight that they were very much optional. Stick with Alamo, we had no issues with them in Feb.
Flights OK this is where I start grumbling so brace yourself! We got our return flights from the UK in the Delta Glitch and in fairness £530 a ticket was cheap for July school holidays. However, the flights were not on Delta, they were actually on Air France which we found out after we were booked and had paid in full for tickets that were not changeable. PLEASE BEWARE of anything like this because a flight on Delta and a flight on Air France were not created equal!!!
We flew from Birmingham to Paris and Paris to Orlando. The connection wasnt bad, there was enough time to get to the different gates but not too much sitting around waiting for the next flight. However, you get NO CHOICE for your meals with Air France and the food was TERRIBLE no strike that VILE!!!! Add to that the fact that my 8 year old was given wine and some sort of liquor on her tray. Are you telling me that they can not see that she is 8 both on the booking and in person!?
On the main flight, Paris to Orlando, they had crammed in far too many rows and leg room wouldnt be enough for one of Snow Whites little friends. I have very long legs and always struggle, but I couldnt even sit in the seat without having to jam my knees into the back of the seat in front, which irritated the person in front who then decided to recline his chair fully the entire 9 hours leaving my legs in the aisle to be battered by passers-by and the food trolley. The flight back was more tolerable, it was an older style plane and had more leg room, but I only survived with my lower extremities in one piece because I had no one in the seats next to me.
We also found them to be VERY unhelpful in making what were simple accommodations for our daughter who has Autism. We were not asking for free upgrades or anything like that. Just that she be close to the front of the plane to avoid her seeing all the strangers and to get on the plane early. Air France blamed Delta, Delta blamed Air France, when we called (7 times in total plus 12 emails over the course of 6 months) the special assistance people they said they couldnt help at all. We do not expect to be able to get anything extra for our child and we even offered to PAY for premium economy to avoid her getting distressed but they refused. So again, beware Air France. On the positive side, they did have a good entertainment system that I never got to use because I had a distressed 8 year old and broken legs to deal with!
Magic Kingdom refurbs seem to be going well. I really feel like Disney need to build a new park or some major new attractions at the other parks soon though. HS particularly needs an overhaul.
An OK trip overall but some work to do for Air France, Dollar and Disney.
