Miffy2003
<font color=orange>I've got Saratoga Springs - mak
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2003
- Messages
- 12,175
Hi everyone,
Well we are back after a lovely three week holiday. No trip report from me this time but here are my highs and lows!
Lows
Crowds at WDW. We have been in mid August three times before and they were far worse than I have ever experienced which I am guessing may be due to the free Dining. I can honestly say that we will make a conscious effort to avoid WDW at this time if they do this again! The lines at the counter service locations were dreadful (50 minutes to get a burger and fries one day) so we took to using our CS credits at the resort or DTD (though the resort Food Court was mobbed whenever we went there as well)
Bus Service at POFQ
I always sing the praises of the WDW buses but found the very long route used at Port Orleans a bit of a pain. The buses were exceptionally frequent which was great but as an example it took about 36 minutes from stepping on the bus to get to Epcot - 8 minutes actually driving to Epcot and 28 minutes going round all the bus stops. I preferred the bus routeat the All Stars where there are only 3 pick ups rather than 5. Sorry to all POFQ fans!
The jouneys out and back
We flew out just after the security alert and were allowed no hand luggage, had to deal with very long delays and all the rest of it. Not a problem really in the general scheme of things and we did get there safely so that's the main thing
On the way back we had lots of encounters with a sick bag for one of ours DDs 
'Nuff said 
Rental Car
Don't ask me what variety it was (HHR? HNR?? Something like that) but DH did not enjoy driving it It was a nice 
gold colour though so was easy to spot in the car parks so I was happy
That was it for lows and there are lots more highs so please read on!
Highs
Food
We had lots of absolutely tremendous meals both onsite at WDW & Universal and offsite. Ones that stood out were the Coral Reef, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Tchoup Chop, The Kitchen, Brown Derby and Boma. We had a great time at the Sci Fi Diner too, though the food is as you would expect Offsite we did the usual which were as good as ever: Chili's, Cracker Barrel, Olive Garden etc. We tried Romano's Macaroni Grill for the first time and had a first class meal and experience there, I actually preferred it to Olive Garden which surprised me no end! If anyone would like more detail about any of the places we ate at, just shout
Port Orleans French Quarter
Such a beautiful resort and we loved the fact that it was so compact. The boat to DTD was great and the walk to Riverside lovely too. My DDs really liked the pool, though they preferred the slide at Riverside. POFQ had a lovely ambience and I recommend it highly!
Hard Rock Hotel
Wow, wow and wow. I just can't say enough about this place. Everything was perfect from the staff, to the location, the surroundings, the food, the pool, the slide, the kids activities, the Dive In Movie, the location to the parks, the landscaping..... We absolutely fell in love with it here and will most definitely return! The resort looked in great shape though I had heard it was looking a bit tired in places, I could not see any evidence of it.
Universal and IOA
We had not been to either park for many years and I was very impressed with both. We felt the rides were often state of the art, the CMs very pleasant (as nice as the WDW ones this trip certainly), the landscaping and themes at IOA fantastic. FOTL was obviously a great boon but it was pretty quiet anyway. It was like a breath of fresh air after the crowds at WDW. I will definitely be including a trip to the Universal parks for future trips.
Discovery Cove
We had a lovely day here, and although I wouldn't do it again in a hurry (due to the cost!) I am so glad we did it. If you can afford it, do it
Meeting Friends
We had a super evening in Epcot with Mandymouse & her lovely family. I think the lady selling flouresent light sbres will run a mile if she sees our DDs coming in future though We also tried to meet up with Vernon but did not manage to get it together unfortunately (due to my lack of organisation).
The Villa
It was great to be able to stretch out at the end of our holiday and enjoy our own pool. It had a great location in Lindfields and only took about 5 minutes to get to Sherbeth Road (via the back route). It was very good to have our own pool and to find somewhere that shows Food Network on the TV 
Adventurous Children
You may know if you have read my previous trippie that my DDs are not too keen on "scary" rides. This includes relatively tame ones like Splash Mountain! However this holiday they both decided to be more daring and eldest DD did the RNRC & Space Mountain twice (among others) while youngest is now a huge fan of Splash, Dudley Do Right (
I have to say this one scared me!) etc.
I think that's it though I'm sure I've missed lots out!
Any questions?
Cheers
Karen
Well we are back after a lovely three week holiday. No trip report from me this time but here are my highs and lows!
Lows
Crowds at WDW. We have been in mid August three times before and they were far worse than I have ever experienced which I am guessing may be due to the free Dining. I can honestly say that we will make a conscious effort to avoid WDW at this time if they do this again! The lines at the counter service locations were dreadful (50 minutes to get a burger and fries one day) so we took to using our CS credits at the resort or DTD (though the resort Food Court was mobbed whenever we went there as well)
Bus Service at POFQ
I always sing the praises of the WDW buses but found the very long route used at Port Orleans a bit of a pain. The buses were exceptionally frequent which was great but as an example it took about 36 minutes from stepping on the bus to get to Epcot - 8 minutes actually driving to Epcot and 28 minutes going round all the bus stops. I preferred the bus routeat the All Stars where there are only 3 pick ups rather than 5. Sorry to all POFQ fans!
The jouneys out and back
We flew out just after the security alert and were allowed no hand luggage, had to deal with very long delays and all the rest of it. Not a problem really in the general scheme of things and we did get there safely so that's the main thing
On the way back we had lots of encounters with a sick bag for one of ours DDs 'Nuff said Rental Car
Don't ask me what variety it was (HHR? HNR?? Something like that) but DH did not enjoy driving it
It was a nice gold colour though so was easy to spot in the car parks so I was happy That was it for lows and there are lots more highs so please read on!
Highs
Food
We had lots of absolutely tremendous meals both onsite at WDW & Universal and offsite. Ones that stood out were the Coral Reef, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Tchoup Chop, The Kitchen, Brown Derby and Boma. We had a great time at the Sci Fi Diner too, though the food is as you would expect
Offsite we did the usual which were as good as ever: Chili's, Cracker Barrel, Olive Garden etc. We tried Romano's Macaroni Grill for the first time and had a first class meal and experience there, I actually preferred it to Olive Garden which surprised me no end! If anyone would like more detail about any of the places we ate at, just shout Port Orleans French Quarter
Such a beautiful resort and we loved the fact that it was so compact. The boat to DTD was great and the walk to Riverside lovely too. My DDs really liked the pool, though they preferred the slide at Riverside. POFQ had a lovely ambience and I recommend it highly!
Hard Rock Hotel
Wow, wow and wow. I just can't say enough about this place. Everything was perfect from the staff, to the location, the surroundings, the food, the pool, the slide, the kids activities, the Dive In Movie, the location to the parks, the landscaping..... We absolutely fell in love with it here and will most definitely return! The resort looked in great shape though I had heard it was looking a bit tired in places, I could not see any evidence of it.
Universal and IOA
We had not been to either park for many years and I was very impressed with both. We felt the rides were often state of the art, the CMs very pleasant (as nice as the WDW ones this trip certainly), the landscaping and themes at IOA fantastic. FOTL was obviously a great boon but it was pretty quiet anyway. It was like a breath of fresh air after the crowds at WDW. I will definitely be including a trip to the Universal parks for future trips.
Discovery Cove
We had a lovely day here, and although I wouldn't do it again in a hurry (due to the cost!) I am so glad we did it. If you can afford it, do it
Meeting Friends
We had a super evening in Epcot with Mandymouse & her lovely family. I think the lady selling flouresent light sbres will run a mile if she sees our DDs coming in future though
We also tried to meet up with Vernon but did not manage to get it together unfortunately (due to my lack of organisation).The Villa
It was great to be able to stretch out at the end of our holiday and enjoy our own pool. It had a great location in Lindfields and only took about 5 minutes to get to Sherbeth Road (via the back route). It was very good to have our own pool and to find somewhere that shows Food Network on the TV
Adventurous Children
You may know if you have read my previous trippie that my DDs are not too keen on "scary" rides. This includes relatively tame ones like Splash Mountain! However this holiday they both decided to be more daring and eldest DD did the RNRC & Space Mountain twice (among others) while youngest is now a huge fan of Splash, Dudley Do Right (
I have to say this one scared me!) etc. I think that's it though I'm sure I've missed lots out!
Any questions?
Cheers
Karen
Sounds like a great trip and the HRH sounds fabulous.So glad you enjoy your trip even though the crowds were heavy. 
