Update! The “He Said/She Said Love, Likes and Hates” Trip Report – All in One Thread!

[Cinerama]

Loved your report! Thanks for giving such honest and detailed reviews and for taking the time to write!!

 

[kathymc]

great report - I like the way you set it up. I'll have to check back to see how Grumpys take on things compare to yours

thanks for sharing

 

[LeapYear Debbie]

Thanks for all your great insights. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. What happened on your flight home to make it so scarey?

Debbie

 

[MazdaUK]

Love your report! Hope Grumpy's schedule lets him add his bit soon! aw:

 

[jennymouse]

Enjoyed your report! I agree about the Epcot resort area's transportation. It's a little better when you're staying at BCV because it's not the very last stop, but still annoying. They do divide the route during busier times tho; and, since you only have to do the buses to AK and MK opening, it's not that bad.

 

[rosiejo]

I understand about renting cars, but I didn't want to pay for that and parking and couldn't find any good deals either.

Do you have to pay to park at the resort hotels? I know parking at the parks is free for resort guests...

 

[paladin]

Parking is free at the resorts for resort guests (unless you use valet) or stay at the Swan/Dolphin (they charge even for self-park).

 

[kpk89]

I enjoyed your report, and the unique format. Can't wait to read Grumpy's H/L/L/PD/FT.

Thanks for posting!!

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

The one trick that helps with EPCOT resorts is to go through the International Gateway to catch the bus to another resort (Fort Wilderness for example). Much quicker than trying to start off with a bus from BWV or BCV. When returning...and staying at BWV...sometimes getting off at the Swan/Dolphin stop is quicker than waiting for the bus to get all the way around....this depends on where your room is in DVC...not sure its worth it for the Inn rooms.

And I absolutely agree Disney should run a bus to EPCOT from the EPCOT resorts. The other deluxe resorts have direct transportation in the form of the monorail & boats to the front gate of their nearest park (other than AKL)...I don't understand why they don't do it for these hotels. All you get is a boat. It seems to me it would be profitable for them to do so because it would then give people at other resorts a semi-direct way to get to Boardwalk at night without parking in the BWV self-park.

That said I love being able to enter through the gateway.

 

[KarenAylwood]

Dopey~ great trip report! And I agree with you about the foot massagers in the room Seriously!

It's too bad that AKL wasn't that great- I would have cried too! I hate when things don't go as planned or how I hoped. I've always wanted to stay in AKL too! We usually stay at POR and love it.

Also, wanted to say a quick hi because I'm a Clifton Park native - born & raised at exit 10 off the northway!

 

[AshClan]

Dopey, you did a great job and I loved the unique "trip report" format. Look forward to hearing Grumpy's side of the story.

 

[FutureAshleyDukes]

It sounds like you had a magical birthday celebration. I loved your report.

 

[FredS]

Dopey’s Final Thoughts: .............
5. It was A LOT more crowded than I thought it would be. Grumpy and I usually go in off-season, late November/early December after Thanksgiving, January, or May and it’s always been slow. While I thought it would be a little busier because of the F&W Food fest and Halloween party, I was really surprised with how busy it was. And I was surprised to see so many school age kids out of school – please don’t think I’m judging because Grumpy and I totally plan to do the same thing when we have kids as we will NEVER travel in the summer or holidays. So the busy-ness of October just reinforced that we will never go in the summer and Grumpy even thought it was too hot for him and wants to return to the December or January schedule.

Enjoyed your report. We were also there that week with our two children, but only because it was fall break and they were out of school. (I figure if your kids can miss a week of instruction without a problem then the school might not be the best......ours are very challenging!) If you really want to avoid crowds but not have a problem with missing school then a good time to go might be immediately after New Year's Day. Many people leave right after the 1st, but lots of schools are out for a few more days and you might be able to squeeze in a trip of a few days.

 

[ShariVT]

Hi
Love the trip report. We had the same problems at AKL as you did. I don't think any animals had been to out part of the savannah every. We did complain and were finally moved, we came back from the pool and our room keys no longer worked so we had to walk all the way to the desk and said oh you have a new room now....here are your new keys and we moved all your stuff....the DD's 16 almost fainted that a stranger picked up there underware off the floor and moved it to another room