CowboyCO
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2005
- Messages
- 3,023
We just got back a few days ago and wanted to come back on and give a report since we gathered so much useful advice on Disney World.
Checked into POR at 10:30 am and there was a 15 minute wait to check in -- Not too bad considering it was a holiday. We had requested a room in Alligator Bayou, but they had us in Magnolia Bend. They also said the room was not ready and we would need to call to get the number. I requested a change for Alligator Bayou and they switched us to the Bayou, bldg 16 and the room was ready right away! The grounds were beautiful, the room was very nice -- everyhting looked brand-new. It's hard to believe this resort is 20+ years old.
I won't go into the parks in detail, but this was supposed to be a slow season for Disney and it was PACKED for the first 4 days. We expected the the 1st to be busy, but not Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. It never really got slower. Several CM's commented that the crowds were much heavier than they had anticipated.
We were on the dining plan and that was fantastic! We had ADR's for Liberty Tree, Boma, Le Cellier, Ohana, Cinderella's Table and Chef de France. Liberty Tree was wonderful, the characters made the rounds twice during our meal and the food was very good. Nice comfort food -- Turkey, roast tenderloin, ham, mashed potatoes -- Yum! Bill was $110 -- but not on dining plan
Boma was good, but the bulk of the dishes were more adventurous than what we could appreciate. I probably would not go again. No entertainment and if not on the dining plan, I would not pay the price for that one.
Ohana was wonderful! Great shrimp, appetizers, meats, drinks, and fun entertainment that involved all the family. Plus, our ressie was for 8:30 and the fireworks were at 9:00. They pipe in the music from MK into the dining and we watched the entire show. It was magical! Another big plus, was that at Ohana, they allowed our fussy 4 year old to order off a kids menu and still sample from the great foods delivered to the table. We felt bad wasting food becasue they brought so much! Our tab if we had paid cash rather than dining plan was $130.00 including tax & gratuity.
Le Cellier was wonderful They allowed us special drinks, appetizers, plus the wonderful entrees and amazing desserts. Our tab there was $172 -- but not on the dining plan!
Chef De france -- The food was OK but service was horrible. Took over 2 hours to get in & out. Waiter was rude -- (maybe he was in character?) but timing was horrible.
Cinderellas table for breakfast was very good -- excellent pastries, potatoes, plenty for everybody. The biggest plus about this character breakfast is that they are all real people like, Snow White, Belle, Aurora, etc. The characters actually talk and interact because they arent inside suits! The boys loved it and my 6 year old has a new, huge crush on Aurora (I think his Dad does too!).
We totalled up our entire food bills and including tax and tip, they were $1,118 for six days. On the dining plan, we paid about $550 for it. That's a 50 percent savings! Plus we ate at a lot of places we would never have gone.
One tip about the dining plan with kids. Disney doesn't know the difference between children and adult meals for counter service. So instead of ordering two kids meals, we would order one adult meal and let the kids share it. It was always more than enough and we would bank one meal a day and use it for breakfast for two seperate days.
Also -- extra-magic hours in the morning are very good -- evening ones are not as good beacuae people from all 4 parks converge on the one park, making lines longer until very late in the night. We actually left one park with EMH and went to MK and found the crowds much lighter there!
Overall we loved staying on property and will never stay off property again! The resort was beautiful, beds were very comfortable. The rooms were small, but didn't seem so. The fridge in the room was great for bottled water, milk, etc. Mousekeeping was great and my four year-old asked to bring a mousekeeper back as a souvenir to clean his room and make fun stuff with his stuffed animals!
Checked into POR at 10:30 am and there was a 15 minute wait to check in -- Not too bad considering it was a holiday. We had requested a room in Alligator Bayou, but they had us in Magnolia Bend. They also said the room was not ready and we would need to call to get the number. I requested a change for Alligator Bayou and they switched us to the Bayou, bldg 16 and the room was ready right away! The grounds were beautiful, the room was very nice -- everyhting looked brand-new. It's hard to believe this resort is 20+ years old.
I won't go into the parks in detail, but this was supposed to be a slow season for Disney and it was PACKED for the first 4 days. We expected the the 1st to be busy, but not Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. It never really got slower. Several CM's commented that the crowds were much heavier than they had anticipated.
We were on the dining plan and that was fantastic! We had ADR's for Liberty Tree, Boma, Le Cellier, Ohana, Cinderella's Table and Chef de France. Liberty Tree was wonderful, the characters made the rounds twice during our meal and the food was very good. Nice comfort food -- Turkey, roast tenderloin, ham, mashed potatoes -- Yum! Bill was $110 -- but not on dining plan
Boma was good, but the bulk of the dishes were more adventurous than what we could appreciate. I probably would not go again. No entertainment and if not on the dining plan, I would not pay the price for that one.
Ohana was wonderful! Great shrimp, appetizers, meats, drinks, and fun entertainment that involved all the family. Plus, our ressie was for 8:30 and the fireworks were at 9:00. They pipe in the music from MK into the dining and we watched the entire show. It was magical! Another big plus, was that at Ohana, they allowed our fussy 4 year old to order off a kids menu and still sample from the great foods delivered to the table. We felt bad wasting food becasue they brought so much! Our tab if we had paid cash rather than dining plan was $130.00 including tax & gratuity.
Le Cellier was wonderful They allowed us special drinks, appetizers, plus the wonderful entrees and amazing desserts. Our tab there was $172 -- but not on the dining plan!
Chef De france -- The food was OK but service was horrible. Took over 2 hours to get in & out. Waiter was rude -- (maybe he was in character?) but timing was horrible.
Cinderellas table for breakfast was very good -- excellent pastries, potatoes, plenty for everybody. The biggest plus about this character breakfast is that they are all real people like, Snow White, Belle, Aurora, etc. The characters actually talk and interact because they arent inside suits! The boys loved it and my 6 year old has a new, huge crush on Aurora (I think his Dad does too!).
We totalled up our entire food bills and including tax and tip, they were $1,118 for six days. On the dining plan, we paid about $550 for it. That's a 50 percent savings! Plus we ate at a lot of places we would never have gone.
One tip about the dining plan with kids. Disney doesn't know the difference between children and adult meals for counter service. So instead of ordering two kids meals, we would order one adult meal and let the kids share it. It was always more than enough and we would bank one meal a day and use it for breakfast for two seperate days.
Also -- extra-magic hours in the morning are very good -- evening ones are not as good beacuae people from all 4 parks converge on the one park, making lines longer until very late in the night. We actually left one park with EMH and went to MK and found the crowds much lighter there!
Overall we loved staying on property and will never stay off property again! The resort was beautiful, beds were very comfortable. The rooms were small, but didn't seem so. The fridge in the room was great for bottled water, milk, etc. Mousekeeping was great and my four year-old asked to bring a mousekeeper back as a souvenir to clean his room and make fun stuff with his stuffed animals!
