The campsite with tent and 2 cots were set up for me and my son when I arrived. It wasn't the same tent, that looked insulated for the cooler weather, in the pictures posted online for the campgrounds when I was browsing the WDW website, but it was okay for an overnight stay. The site was very near the comfort station which I REALLY appreciated having kidney problems. The check in was very fast. And our breakfast on the morning I left was superb to the max in the Trails End buffet restaurant. My son that normally doesn't indulge in a lot of food, he sampled a lot to be had. The fruit, waffles were his fave. When I come back I am staying in the campgrounds again. Best place for quiet when sleeping in the evening. No strollers or luggage on the walkways at the crack of dawn, or kids or water noise in the walls. Just quiet, and the multitude of stars. Gonna get to a hayride, and a campfire next time, and a horseback ride, and rent a go-cart to get around. The bathrooms were always stocked with tissue, and clean. The shower after a day on the road to airport, plane ride, and day in the park was welcomed much.
We love shopping here, Pat is always so helpful and always has a smile on her face. You can tell she loves working here. Thank you Pat for always making our shopping trip fun. Your kindness is appreicated. Chris & Amy
My 3 year old loves to ride the Astro Orbiter! We were at Magic Kingdom this past weekend and were lucky enough to ride during the fireworks show. Amazing view of the fireworks and castle!!
This place is not worth spending fifty dollars per person, spend it somewhere else. We went with for kids and games and we experienced technical difficulties way too much. I don't expect this sort of thing especially at Disney. I'm not one to get mad but this place made me upset. I spoke to a manager who said they were having a lot of difficulties today and she apologized but didn't offer any thing else. Kids enjoyed there madden 15 more.
This the best ever seen true Moroccan, I m taking my family back to EPCOT just for this show. Thanks again to WDW for the amazing show
I have stayed here prior to refurbishment, this time I was able to request Jamaica building during online check in. I loved the theming, tropical planting and quiet relaxing feel of the resort from caribbean music to hammocks on beaches. The room refurb decor is very nice and the sliding doors and new queen beds were fabulous but a little more color in the room would have been a bit nicer. The morning walk over the bridges for coffee and breakfast using refillable mugs was a nice start to the day. The beach and quiet pool were always quiet and peaceful. Room was kept very clean. Only thing I don't like about moderate resorts is the small bathrooms and baths but this is the same at all moderate resorts in WDW. Food court had plenty of choices and the food was good standard, portion sizes and I liked the boxes and bags to take it as carry out back to room if desired. We had no issues with out magic bands and enjoyed fp+ using the iPhone app, however parks were busier than I anticipated for this time of year. Buses were good at getting to parks quickly, but there are many stops at this resort which need to be figured into time planning when heading for reservations. I would prefer to stay at other deluxe resorts, but given choice between longer stays and moderates and shorter at deluxe I will take moderate for the amount of time we actually spend in the room. I would not hesitate to stay here again, however I like to try new resorts and next year will be trying Coronado springs.
This place has an amazing atmosphere, you want to just stay, everytime I order the lobster roll, and of course a Rusty Nail there are only two restaurants on Disney property that offers Drambuie.
We enjoyed our stay here, but it did not come without issues. When we checked in at the Custom House, the agent who waited on us seemed unsure of what she was doing, stepping away from the counter a couple of times before returning and giving us a map of the property, and our packet. She did not speak very good English either. We checked in at 2:00 and the room was not ready, so she assured us we would receive a text when it was ready and wrote down the village and room # on our map. We walked over to the food court to get lunch and wait for the room. It took several trips around the court and a lot of question asking to figure out the meal plan, what exactly you get and what size, etc., as there are some exclusions. Also the menus change on an overhead board so you have to stand there and wait for the screen to change to see the whole menu. As it turns out, the agent wrote the wrong room # down on our map, and the correct room was cleaned and ready but housekeeping neglected to let the office know the room was ready. We wasted 2 hours waiting to get in our room. Finally a manager came and apologized for the whole mess. Then I was left to worry that our luggage would appear in the wrong room, so I went all the way back to the Custom House to inquire about it. There, Timmy came over to help and went above and beyond his duty. He personally found our luggage at Bell Services and arranged for Elvis to give me a ride, with our family's luggage right to our door. Other than this initial fiasco, we liked the resort.
Expect a long, crowded bus ride and no seat
Bad acting and boring show. Would skip.
There are many benefits to MyMagic+, especially if you take advantage of Disney's professional photographers, but it has pretty much ruined the parks for my family. Over the last decade we have visited WDW at least once, but usually twice, a year. Mostly we go for the rides. We visited WDW in January 2014 just after FP+ replaced the old system. It was terrible, but we chalked it up to the new system. We returned in October for a week, hoping the bugs had been worked out. It was a little better, but only because we knew how it worked and planned out every minute of our visit 60 days in advance. We have never ridden fewer rides or felt less like we were on vacation. What used to be an escape into a fantasy world is now an exercise in time management. It felt like being back in grade school -- every minute of your day regimented by a set schedule that you had little agency over. We could probably learn to deal with that if the system wasn't so terrible. Three a day is ridiculous. They say you can add more later, but we had used all three every day by 11 AM and the only FPs left were for rides that have short lines to begin with. Good luck getting a fourth fastpass to ride Test Track, Space Mountain, etc. Before FP+ I had never seen a long line at Journey Into Imagination or Spaceship Earth during the offseason. Now, there is always a line. Moreover, the system will not let you set a fastpass for all of the rides that have long lines. For example, you cannot get a fastpass for both Soarin' and Test Track on the same day. We are in the parks open to close and could always ride all of the rides we wanted before now. This trip, we were back in the room every night by 6. We lost our fastpass opportunities because we couldn't predict 60 days in advance when our toddler was going to need to rest, eat, sleep, etc. The FP+ seems designed for people who ride three rides a day and spend the rest of the day eating or shopping. I can do that at home. After this trip we have made the decision to wait a good long time before going back. It is just too expensive to pay more for a subpar experience. As crowded as the parks have gotten (even in the "off season"), the billion dollars that WDW has spend on FP+ would have been better spent building more attractions to handle all of the guest from the overbuilt resorts that now keep the place packed year round. In order to get the full experience, you now have to reserve your dinner meals a year in advance and have a fortune teller predict every diaper change, nap, and hunger pang your kid might have two and half months later. My wife and I have loved Disney World. MyMagic+ has just made it less magical. I have to monitor the clock during the rest of my life. I used to be able to leave my alarm at home when I was at Disney. That just isn't the case anymore.
This ride is your typical circus style ride. It is pretty high and you can control it up and down. It seems to accelerate when the ride is ending and the rockets are descending. Definitely best at night when Tomorrowland is aglow in neon lights. The wait should be longer later in the evening as well. It's very similar to Dunno and Magic Carpets of Aladdin. If you don't have a preference going in I would go with this one.
I actually saw their very first trial performance on October 27th. The Disney suits and many stage crew members were there for the trail. It was an awesome performance. They actually came out chanting (which is what caught our attention)...so it was not an awkward start as is shown in this video. The performance was so lively and entertaining that many of the Moroccan pavilion workers came to the front of the stage and danced with the music. It was like a street party. Very exciting to see. My husband and I always enjoyed Mo-Rockin but think this is a very respectable and appropriate replacement with a bit more culture than Mo-Rockin. Looking forward to more performances by B'net Al Houwariyate.
We spent about three hours here and covered the entire park. We were able to ride all the rides and even spend some time in the wave pool an lazy river. It was in the upper 70's, but sunny the day we went so a little cool, but easily tolerable. There is lots to do here and many of them can be done as a group. Steamboat Springs is a raft ride that up to 6 people can ride together. We easily fit 3 adults and 2 children in our raft. We even had lunch at Avalunch which serves up hearty portions of different types of dogs a well as jumbo turkey legs. This was really a nice way to spend part of the day. It was not very crowded when we went on Oct. 31. Even with Typhoon Lagoon being closed the crowds was very tolerable. You can easily do this park in just a few hours, but you could also spend the whole day here. It was only open 10-5 the day we went, but that was more than enough time. The theming if the park is fun with all the snow and they have tropical tunes playing over the speakers. Our family really enjoyed our day at Blizzard Beach.
First of all, I'm a Disney World newbie so this review really is only targeting other first-timers. It seems a many frequent visitors to DW have at best mixed feelings about the new MyMagic+. We just returned from our first visit and I have to say the system worked flawlessly for our family. Everything, and I mean everything is linked to your magic band. It operates as your room key, your fast pass ticket, your park admission ticket, your dining reservations, everything. You can even make other purchases on Disney property with your magic band. It is very secure as you must scan your finger to be admitted to the parks an you must enter a pin number for all purchases and dining reservations. There is no need to even check out at the end of your stay. Just put the band on at the beginning of your trip and don't take it off until you are on your way home. This is a very important point to make...LEAVE THE BAND ON during your entire stay. My 10 y/o niece didn't like the way it felt an was always trying to take it off. We were checking into our hotel and she somehow lost her band before we even checked in. No worries, the cast member checking us in just issued her a new one an we were on our way. She kept taking it off to sleep at night so we had to make double sure that everyone had their bands on every morning before we left. The actual process of using the band's was seem less. Now I understand that a lot of locals are upset that those staying on-site get to reserve fast passes 60 days out and everyone else has to wait until 30 days out. When we reserved our fast pass to 7Dwarfs Mine Train they were all gobbled up well before the thirty day Mark. And I also realize that before you could get as many fast passes as you wanted as long as you got to the parks early enough. I like this system. I think it dispersed the crowds throughout the park and evens out the lines (as much as possible anyway). This whole process is designed to cater to families who 1) are staying on Disney property 2) are spending thousands of dollars to travel in from out of state and 3) first-time visitors. I can see how Disney Vacation Club members and local residents don't like this especially with the fast passes and dining, but again, Disney is a very profitable machine always trying to reach new people and draw them to their parks. That's all I see going on here. So if you are planning your first trip to Disney don't fret, the MyMagic+ system works very well and is designed to cater to you and make your stay as carefree as possible.
Plane landed at 3pm. Was told luggage would arrive within 3 hours at Pop Century. First 3 bags arrived after 10pm. It is close to midnight and we still do not have the last bag. No reason provided for the delay and no phone calls from the resort letting us know what is going on. Disappointing to say the least.
I don't know why everyone is like "bring back the old one" or "these lights are so cheesy" because I think it is really cool. I also love the car-building part of the line. -P.S. I think it is better than the old one because it is in Future World and now that it looks more futuristic I think it is better for the theme.
We have been DVC member since 2003 and had visited the parks on an annual basis for ten odd years before then - we often visit WDW twice a year for 2-3 weeks at a time. Our recent visit - the first three weeks of October - however, was our first experience of the fast Pass+ system. We originally had some teething problems when I set up My Disney Experience - it would not recognise our annual passes, and wouldn't give us the advance booking window that you get staying in a Disney property - they mumbled something about DVC bookings but eventually it got sorted. Before I start it may be that I have failed to use the system properly but my grumbles are Booking the fast passes was relatively easy although I would have liked more flexibility on timings. For example we wanted to visit Fantasmic one evening and had already booked the dinner/show package. But however hard we tried we could not get first passes for the afternoon. It kept offering us morning or early afternoon slots. I would also have liked to be able to book the three passes separately as the timings were often very spread out. Also having to nook FP so far in advance meant that we were not very flexible in our weather - the first four days of our holiday were wet and miserable but on the fifth day the sun shone brightly and ideally we would have spent time at the pool - however it was fast pass day for Toy Story Mania and there was no changing that Other slight problems were that the Disney app was very unpredictable in the parks, some days it worked fine others no joy. My other general feeling is that it was difficult to fill time in he 2-3 hour gaps with other rides. I presume with the fastpass + system more passes are given out as other rides that are normally very short lines were 40-50 minutes wait. That said overall I think it did enhance the experience.
I'll start with what was nice about the magic bands. When we rode rides that had photos taken when you were on them it worked perfectly. No need to stand around trying to locate your photo, you just got off and when you got back to your room later in the day you could see all the photos you had had of you on the rides along with any you had taken in the park by photopass folks. That was the best part of the bands. Now the bad part... They don't work very well for entering the park. How is it that you don't even actually scan it when you are on a ride and the system is able to read it and get your photo attached to the right account, but when you are entering the front gate you have move and adjust your wrist just right for it to read it, same goes for some of the readers at fastpass points, it slows down lines dramatically when the readers just spin around white until they finally read. You can't get the premium fastpasses unless you know 60 days in advance of going. we didn't decide to go until 45 days prior to our trip and by then no Seven Dwarves Mine train or Frozen, they were all gone. Even though they claim you can make more fastpass reservations after your first 3 are gone, they don't tell you that you have to physically be in the park you want the pass for when you do it. We finished our passes in Hollywood studio and were going to be in MK for dinner that evening... Our plan was to go back to the hotel room and rest before going back to MK for the dinner, so we thought we would add a fastpass for that evening while we were still in Hollywood Studio because the fastpass app on my phone never seemed to work... Well it was because you can't use it to make that additional fastpass you have to do it at a kiosk in a park... but not any park it must be in the park you are going to ride in. So we couldn't make one for after our dinner reservation because as the CM put it we can't be sure you are going to be there to use it... Which kind of forgets the fact that we had dinner reservations and were going to get charged for them whether we showed up or not.... so what were the odds we weren't going to be there? All I can say is the magic bands were magic alright, they magically made me decide that future trips would be to Universal or Disneyland, but not WDW... My time is too important on a vacation to waste it on a stupid system that does nothing but make your life more difficult.
The merchandise in the store was great. It is about time they (Disney) put a dedicated gift shop for the best ride ever (sorry Pirates, you are now 2nd) where the old candle store was located. Haunted Mansion merchandise is my all-time favorite and I have a problem. At least that is what my wife says. I want it all. However, as cool as the merchandise was, the fact that there was a line to get in the store was a bit ridiculous. If there wasn't a line, people may have just walked by and therefore no wait. But wait, we are in Disney, nothing, and I mean nothing, comes without a line these days. Besides the line, I was hoping for a little bit more variety with the merchandise as well. I think this long of a wait for a Haunted Mansion gift shop should warrant some exclusive limited merchandise for the first few weeks or so. Then, and only then, could I understand a wait. I hope that they work their kinks out and get customers in and out as soon as possible. While I know that there is a such thing as maximum capacity, I do not believe that Disney cares about that. The crazy long lines EVERYWHERE constitutes that. Dear Disney, lines are not good for customers!!!!!
The fastpass concept was good in the original format. The new system allows reservations up to 60 days in advance. We were unable to find any open slots for fastpasses 48 hours in advance, meaning you have to book your entire Disney experience weeks in advance and are a slave to that schedule. No more just enjoying Disney as the day unfolds. Plan, plan, plan; schedule, schedule, schedule. A lot like being at work or school.............................the very thing Walt Disney wanted us to take a break from. Roughly our 10th trip to Disney in the past 20 years and likely our last!
We are a family of Disney veterans and this was our first stay at a deluxe. We chose the Contemporary with a Theme Park View purely for its location, however, it turned out to be so much more than that. We were greeted as we exited the DME and they had our information ready to go. Check in was very smooth and we were able to check our bags and head to the MK. We got our room and were able to watch wishes from the room, in fact our 11 year old was able to watch it from her bed. Since we are a MK family, this was the perfect spot for us. There was one evening that the monorail line was way too long after a long day at MK, so we decided to walk back. It took only 9 minutes as opposed to waiting from the Monorail. Truly a no-brainer. All in all, this was our best trip yet, and we look forward to many more at CR in the future.
Dreamflight was a fantastic attraction. Buzz is fun, but now with Toy Story Midway Mania at DHS, this piece of real estate in Tomorrowland could be better utilized with something different. Something more traditional Tomorrowlandesque.
An absolute classic. The icon of EPCOT Center. A marvel of design, construction, function, and storytelling. Even the panels on the outside of the sphere are remarkable! Rain water doesn't cascade off the surface, instead it gets filtered beneath the structure and replenishes the World Showcase lagoon!
An informative, whimsical, humorous, memorable journey through the history of transportation. A classic EPCOT Center attraction showcasing the very best of what Disney is capable of with storytelling. Truly missed.
Horizons was without a doubt the greatest single theme park attraction ever constructed. Even by today's standards, it holds up with its bold promises of the future to come. Many of Horizons's forcasts for the future have already come to pass. Truly a classic that is missed dearly every single day by many of those who were forunate enough to experience it while it was still with us. A masterpiece.
Aesthetically, the new version is spectacular. It LOOKS like something that belongs in a place called Future World. The queue is engaging, visually pleasing, and modern. The design studio element is a nice touch. Some may wish it played into the new ride a little more, but they really did the best they could. Only low point is the section that used to house the heat, cold, and corrossive chambers. That area feels like it needed just a little more. All the speed, G forces, and fun of the old track are still there. Absolutely love it!
I only gave this an 8 because of the room. It was very clean and everything was functional but it just didn't match the first class look of the resort. The bath/shower was in its own room and very spacious which is a nice change from most hotels. But the sink area was cramped and right next to the clothes hangars. And there was no stopper in the sink basin so I had to I had to improvise to fill it up for my shave. The bed was very comfortable and the Wifi worked great. Plenty of outlets for gadgets. One strange thing: The door lock mechanism would make a noise every once in a while as if it was unlocking. When I first heard it I thought someone was coming in. It woke me up once. But the resort is simply beautiful. The CMs are fantastic, from the front desk to housekeeping and the Pepper Market. Loved the Pepper Market. Got up at dawn for breakfast each day after a nice walk from the Casitas. My only complaint is they give you way too much food! One evening I had a build your own chef salad and they really piled on the toppings. I was waiting for the CM at check-out to weigh it but they don't. Just a flat rate! Minor complaint: I wanted a resort souvenir and there was nothing in the store. I really wanted a logo polo. Transportation is not bad. There are four stops including the main building. One day my bus did have to skip stop 3 because we were full. I don't think I waited more than 15 minutes each day.
I have stayed here alot and my entire family loves it. We love the pool and being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Beaches and Cream is awesome. Stay here.
Not pleased with the new fast pass system. Inefficient and encourages ppl to stand in long lines which isn't enjoyable at all. Go back to the old system please.
Talk about taking the spontaneity out of a Disney vacation. We weren't planning on even planning what park we were in until we woke up each morning. Ok so now forced to choose park days and ride times...that was awful! Then u for to the first ride and my selection which u showed the lady on my disney app did not match their system. Wish we would've made this a Universal Studio vacation instead. Won't be back to disney until they get rid of this.
Stopped in for a snack and to enjoy the view of Small World in the air conditioning. Very quick service even though the restaurant looked busy, and got a table overlooking the ride. Split a chicken nugget and fry basket which was ok. Lots of dipping options due to the many salad dressings available at the napkin station. Ordered the chocolate gelato for our six year old -skip it! Comes pre-packaged, and is too hard frozen for a plastic spoon. Also tastes very dark chocolate, not to our child's tastes. Also ordered bottled water which did not come out very cold, but two cups of ice remedied that.
Three cake cups (parfait style cake and icing) and three frozen lemonade hit the spot in the shade just behind the spinning tea cups! Several tables available under a canopy with restrooms nearby.
Two coffees, one milk and a nutella waffle sandwich with bananas and strawberries made a quick breakfast that was yummy and filling! We headed there right at park opening and didn't have to wait in line and our food and coffee was hot, and could see the castle from our patio table.
Just what the headline reads is what you should expect from Shades of Green. I received an email the other day asking for an opinion of where the military should look for another place to establish a resort. My first thought, why not improve what we have and/or decrease funding to help decrease deficit. From entering the secure roadway to check-in, the feel of being on a military establishment is surreal. The staff on check-in was ready to be somewhere else. I proposed the question if there were any larger rooms, like a suite, available for my 6 person family and she said that there may be a room. Paused, looked at the co-worker leaning on the counter next to her and quickly proceeded to ensure me that they are all booked, without even looking in the computer or other source. Huh... Presentation of the resort showed improvement since last visit in 2009. Room resembled Holiday Inn's traditional 2 queen bed suite. Within two hours of being in the room, 1/2 the family had clogged sinuses. The carpet seems to need cleaned. Some items were updated like the tile in the bathroom floor, steel locks in bathroom doors and paint. The bathtub tile had old anchors in the tile below the shower head that would propose future moisture damage. The vent on the wall above the toilet was rigged. It had a bathroom two vent plastic cover using one of the vent sides to cover the hole in the wall. Quite silly to look at. This Hotel, I mean "Resort" is old and there are a lot of rooms so I'm sure all the rooms are not the same standard. It is the people that make the stay either a good one or a miserable one...with that said, there were some good folks and some other folks that need to find other jobs. Good luck on your endeavors.
About as exciting, as well, sawing lumber.
I find most of everything good, like the rooms, the pool, (ect). The only flaws that I find, is that the food in the food court isn't too "kid friendly", and that the rooms are not big enough for groups of more than 4 or 5. Other than that, it is perfect for a great stay at Walt Disney World!
The beginning and end of this show (especially the end) is what really matters. The theme music for this show gets your emotions bubbling and it truly is exciting. At the end of the show the theme slows down a little and allows you to watch and be amazed at the spectacle of sorcerer mickey at the top of the mountain creating a fireworks display which is awe inspiring. The use of trap doors in this show is fascinating and creates the illusion that mickey is appearing out of nowhere. You really will believe in magic. Bring the kids to this show and give them the same incredible Disney experience you had when you were young.
I went with family and we had a great time. Grounds, staff, rooms all fine. My issue is that I knew I had to get some important work done. I called ahead and I was told that of course the hotel has a business center. After family was asleep I went to the lobby to find the business center and get that work accomplished. There is no business center. I was told that the nearest is at one of the convention centers (not in the hotel) which of course is not open at night (closes at 4:00). I spent my evenings at the open-all-night casual restaurant where I found a table and outlet for my laptop, next to the video arcade. Next to the LOUD video arcade. The rooms have wi-fi but I couldn't work in the room while others slept. Very disappointed in something so simple. The main building was being renovated; maybe they will have some forethought and build a real workspace/business center.
I really couldn't enjoy my trip on this coaster due to how crammed into the seat I was. I'm not the skinniest person around but I've never had trouble fitting on any Disney ride before. I was in excruciating pain in my knees the entire ride. I had a hard time focusing on the ride itself. The width of the lap bar is very narrow and not nearly wide enough for most adults. I spent the whole ride with the lap bar jammed into my kneecaps. Not fun. I don't know what Disney was thinking when they made these ride vehicles. Heck, I ride the Barnstormer (clearly a kiddie coaster) without any issue.
In short, the resort is nice with rooms that of a cheap "Motel 6" standard. Long description below. The wife and I absolutely love the Disney parks. This was not our first time to the parks. We have been several times including our honeymoon. Our recent trip was to celebrate our sons 4th birthday. A disney travel agent actually recommended the Caribbean Beach resort because of the Disney Dining Plan that was included. We also liked the idea of the splash pad area for our toddler. Our only request was a king size bed and a refrigerator so we could keep milk. The travel agent assured our request and booked our 7 night stay. First let me tell you this resort is huge. Plan on walking. There is no way around that. There is an "internal" bus that will take you to and from locations within the resort if you don't mind the wait. The walking did not bother us as we are very active and somewhat younger adults. The resort has an "islands" theme. The grounds outer themed decor was actually very nicely kept. The walks to and from the main pool/splash pad/food court area were pleasant because of the beautiful scenery. This resort has plenty of things to do for entertainment or enjoyment away from the parks. Our travel agent failed to give us an option as to which "island" we would like to stay. The only option we were offered was "standard" room or "pirate themed" room. We opted for standard as we did not plan on spending a lot of time in the room itself anyway. Upon arrival we were told we would be staying at the "Barbados" area of the resort. Building 13 to be exact. We had an tough time communicating with the staff member at check in due to a language barrier. We eventually were given a room number and sent on our way. We had many questions but due to the language barrier we decided to wait and ask someone else at a later date. Already planning the first day of our trip, we walked to our room with our luggage in tow. All happy faces until we opened the door. The first thing we noticed was mildew odor. From the doorway we could see all the filth. The green carpet was blackened to an extent that would show on the bottoms of your sock feet. The wall edge of the flooring could not have been vacuumed, ever. The first thing that came to mind after seeing this room was yuk. My wife immediately checked the beds for bed bugs. We did not find any. However the underneath side of the mattresses was nothing short of disgusting. Hair, food particles, things of unknown origin stuck like glue with dirt attached. No way was we staying in this room. It did have the refrigerator but we also asked for a king bed. This room had 2 queens. We loaded everything back into our vehicle and drove back to the main office. After explaining our concerns to now a different lady at the check in counter. She explained that she would have to go ask what she could do for us. When she returned from a room located behind the check in desk. She then informed us that there was nothing that could be done due to 100 percent occupancy. Basically the place was full so there were no other rooms available. She also blamed the bed configuration on our travel agent. So now, 980 miles from home, we were stuck. We could live with the bed arrangement however the smell and filth was enough to make us ill. With blank faces we returned to our room in disappointment. The room was very small. When taking a shower the tub would not drain quick enough and you found yourself standing in a tub full of water. The tub/shower had signs of mildew so we would not let our son take a bath but rather a shower. The windows were cloudy enough you could draw of them. Luckily for us we had brought some blankets as we slept on top of the bedding provided. Walking around the resort we noticed building 12 was completely vacant. All the blinds were raised, lights on, dressers pulled out away from the walls. Not sure what that was about. We also noticed the building to the right of the food court seemed to be ideally located and from the outside looked very clean. Unable to confirm that as we were unable to see inside the actual rooms. We did enjoy the food court as well as the pools. However we were unable to take our child to the splash pad area as it was closed for renovation? Another thing that our travel agent failed to mention. The atmosphere of this resort is very calm. Not to overly populated. Which was a nice break from the crowded parks. This resort does have potential to be great. Even with the super small rooms. But not until they do some room renovations and thereafter keep them clean. Expectedly, our son loved the parks. We have already planned a returned trip in two years. Needless to say, we will definitely not be staying at this resort.
The best thing that Epcot has to offer guest!!
We stayed at a 2 Bedroom Villa in September 2014. We are not DVC members, just a large family (7) with a pin code. The Resort itself is awesome and really gets 10 stars for location and recreation. Stormalong Bay is as good as advertised and our kids (ages 1,2,4,&6) had a great time. The restaurants and counter service options are plentiful and the food was above average. The marketplace could offer more in terms of meal choices, but it is on par with other Deluxe resorts. Having the walkway/boats to Epcot and Hollywood really made our trip magical. We had 4 little kids and a double stroller to take into the parks, and to not have to cram into buses for 2 of the parks really helped to keep the vacation relaxing and fun. The bus service to Animal Kingdom/Blizzard Beach was fine, but the bus to the Magic Kingdom wasn't great. That bus shares stops with the Yacht Club and wait times were long and we often had to stand in the buses the trip from our resort to the Magic Kingdom. I believe the Beach Club to Magic Kingdom is a longer trip than most, so this may account for some of the waiting. Our room was nice and spacious, but really needed updating. We had a dripping shower, loose doorknobs, and a large tear in the curtains in front of one of the balcony doors. The theming of the room was great for a deluxe resort- it really feels like a cottage in the northeast. The bathrooms were fine, but not as luxurious as other deluxe resorts such as AKV or GF. Our room had a courtyard view to one side and a view of the front entrance/luggage area on the other. We could glimpse a few of the fireworks from illuminations from our balcony but it wasn't really a theme park view. The location of our room (201) was very close to the marketplace and bus stops which was very nice. Even the farthest rooms at BCV are not too far from the main building and are much closer than other Villas (such as Animal Kingdom or Boardwalk). I'd definitely recommend this resort to anyone, but it is especially good for families with little children. I would not pay full price for a Villa though, until a refurbishment is completed in the rooms.
Upon arrival, baggage arrived at the hotel 5 hours after we did. When we were coming back home,we checked our bags at our hotel's magical express check-in service.Everyone else who did the same arrived at our home airport waiting for their checked items to arrive, but they never got loaded the plane. We were told that they would arrive in about three hours on the next flight in from Orlando.
The best kept dining secret is this place! For a little more than a burger and fries plate you can get real home cooking. Grilled fish, chicken and other healthier choices. A word of caution, though they tend to overspice the food. My green beans had too much black pepper and I could not eat them. Ask for a sample first.
This is by far our favorite place to eat in EPCOT. The food is good and you get plenty since its all you can eat. My kids love the atmosphere and characters. I highly recommend it to anyone.
This used to be a go to ADR for us when visiting, however as time went on its not so important anymore. If it is your first time or you have never ate there it is worth your time. I would highly suggest requesting a table near the tank especially if you have small children. Just remember they are incredibly difficult to get in the dinner hours. This is always a restaurant where we ate early either lunch or an early dinner.
I will just hit the highs and lows, my family has been to this event several times over the course of two decades, just rarely enough to forget why we prefer the MNSSHP, and try it again. First off you need to know this: If you are going to be at Disney within a couple of weeks of Christmas just about everything they do for the party will be done during any old regular day. Highs: It is festive, "Christmas-y", and all that jazz. Lines for attractions are shorter, the weather is more often than not pretty perfect. They do throw out some unusual characters, although they have skimped on this the last few years, and the parades and fireworks are great. Snow on Main Street is cool. Lows: Expensive ticket for very little "extras". Dance parties are fun but it's a way to do something "extra" for very little cost to Disney. They used to do a few unique shows, not so much anymore. There is just very little wow factor or difference in a typical day during the Holidays at Disney to make this worth paying for.
LOVE to see that Disney will continue to have the Frozen Fireworks. We feel that they are the visual display Disney has produced in a long time. LONG LIVE THE FROZEN FIREWORKS .
Used the whole new system for a 10 day trip 8-29 - 9-7-2014. As a whole, the system worked very well with paying, getting into the parks and for Photopass. Ride waits, whether it be standby or using a fp+ were much better. Little to no wait with a FP+. However, on days that the parks were crowded, wait times for attractions were not that bad at all, but crowds in the parks aimlessly wandering around, were terrible. Everyone, and I mean, EVERYONE was walking around with their phones in hand not paying any attention to where they were going and looking frustrated. Ride wait times in the past would have been much higher with the level of crowds for a few of the days. It was honestly like nobody was riding anything that they did not have a FP for. You were way better off to wait 10- 15 minutes in a line than try to walk from one area of the park to another. I love the convenience of the Magicbands but I do not like having to schedule the fastpasses from home. We like to be flexible and on a lot of the days didn't even need them. It is a nightmare to try and change them from the park on your phone. The Wi-Fi or system, one or the other was horrible. It just sat and stalled forever. We tried going to kiosks and there was no way we were going to wait in those lines, which were way more crowded than the just waiting in standby lines. Most of it, again worked great and ride times were all the way around lower than they would have been in the past. I would choose the old paper system and a longer wait on the days that people were just mobbing all areas of the park though. I don't think that many people all needed to be encouraged to walk and be looking at their phones. : /
We ate at Mama Melrose's for a late dinner/early lunch on our last trip to WDW. We booked it with the Fantasmic! dining package to get priority seats for Fantasmic! that evening. We LOVED the food! and the atmosphere was terrific. Really can't say a bad word. This is one of the nicer/fancier/more expensive options to eat (compared to going to Pizza Planet) but it's really worth doing something like this at some point on a visit! The Fantasmic! package works out (if you're not on a dining plan like us) such that you pay a flat fee for an appetizer, main course, and a dessert... the price for the package is kind of steep, but you can make it worth it by eating whatever you want from the menu, price is no object. I had the steak, and it was wonderful. My older son (12 at the time) ordered the calamari appetizer just because it was the most expensive app on the menu, the waitress was great and assured him he'd like it.. and he loved it. Everybody LOVED the food, and we've sworn we will do this again on our next trip. One other thing Disney "gets right" so well with the food, is allergy concerns.. My youngest son has a severe Nut allergy, so we are always careful wherever we eat. Disney is always great at handling these things, and at the sit-down restaurants like Mama Melrose's they really go all the way. The chef came out of the kitchen to talk with us, understand our concerns, tell us what was and wasn't possible for my son, and made us feel safe about the care that would be taken in his food preparation. Love it!
We are big fans of breakfast buffets. The very idea of unlimited amounts of bacon is enough to awaken anyone's taste buds! Pair that with exceptional service and fabulous atmosphere and you've got the Boma breakfast buffet. All the traditional favorites plus many unique African inspired dishes. Their signature "jungle juice" is an absolutely delicious combo of orange and guava juices and your glass is never half full. Refills are complimentary. The servers are super friendly and the vibe is fun and festive. Great way to start a magical day. Afterward, you can take a stroll out past the pool and catch a glimpse of some of the animals. Wether you're a local or traveling from far off lands, make a point to dine at Boma's breakfast buffet. You will not be disappointed! Jambo!
With a family who thinks change is bad I really had to sell us moving from one of the All-Star resorts to French Quarter. With that being said the kids are now the ones who are pushing to make sure we stay there every time we go back to Disneyworld. The atmosphere was wonderful, it was quiet, it was scenic, it was...well you get the drift. The rooms are not 5 star suites but who actually goes to Disneyworld for the rooms? The big selling point to me going into our last trip was the more central location to the four parks compared to All-Stars and that didn't disappoint as well. We shared a park bound bus with Riverside exactly once in our 10-day trip, we did share it many times on the way home but French Quarter lets off first so it didn't matter. Food is another thing that is possibly lacking but with the parks, especially Epcot, so close and Riverside a relaxing walk away you can get anything you want in minutes.
I was in the World the week before Easter (Apr 13 - 19) which is considered one of the busiest times. With the use of FP+ we never waited in line for more than 10 minutes for anything. We were also able to change our FP+ on the fly which was a great feature. The Magic Band worked just as it was advertised to. Not a single problem.
the Laugh Floor is one of my favorites 1.Funny Jokes 2.It feels like your in the movie 3.Never has a long line (The Wait Time stays under 20 minutes) and 4.It's Monsters Inc who dosen't love Monsters inc
We have made 3 trips to Disney and used DME each time. The first two trips it went well. This time airport to Disney was very good. Disney to airport is another story. We were supposed to be on the 4:30 bus from Port Orleans Riverside. We arrived at 4:15 and found out that the 4:00 bus had arrived full. Supposedly another one was on the way to take those passengers. But at 4:30 the bus came and picked up the 4:00 passengers. We waited and waited. We had three drop off buses come and tell us that another bus was on the way. Finally at almost 5:30 a bus arrived for us. Now these people know how many people are scheduled. There is no excuse for not having enough space for everybody.
I would not pay for this service!!!! My family got on the bus at the Contemporary 3hours and 15 minutes prior to our flight time and the bus then stopped at Wilderness Lodge, Polynesian and Grand Floridian that put us at the airport 40 minutes before our plane took off. After going thru security and getting to our concourse they were announcing FINAL CALL TO BOARD our flight. I would never use that service again!
I checked out the newly refurbished Captain Cook's at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort last night - here are my thoughts. The new decor is nice - fresh, clean, and well decorated. A lot of people may not really notice the changes, but overall it is an improvement. Sadly the improvements stop with the decor. The food was very disappointing. I tried the fish tacos, beef udon, and Hawaiian flatbread. The tacos were the best of the bunch. Quite spicy, some flavor, and a nice serving of slaw. Reasonable food quality, but probably not worth the asking price. The flatbread was an embarrassment. Pineapple straight out of a can, cheap, nasty processed ham cubes on the top, a brought in factory-made base, and the cheapest cheese they could get their hands on. It was luke warm, and not at all worth the near $10 cost. The Beef udon was watery, mostly flavorless, and lacking noodles and vegetables. Not worth the money. A couple of other notes. The self serve Dole Whip is gone, a new kiosk will open soon. The touch screen ordering is gone, replaced by a cast member stationed at the kitchen. Most of the baked goods are gone. A few cupcakes are in a cooler. Overall, Captain Cook's cannot be recommended. For the money, it just is not worth it. For a deluxe resort, the kitchen really needs to step it up.
There are certainly some benefits to the new magic bands. They allow you to have your park pass, room key, and money in one convenient place. When I went this past June, I did appreciate the ease of the new system. However, I was extremely disappointed with the new fast pass system. While I like having the fast pass on my wrist, I don't like that a guest is limited to only three fast passes a day. Also, the new system doesn't let you choose the attractions entirely. When selecting fast passes, you are allowed to put in one or two requests for attractions. The computer will do its best to honor those request, and find fast passes of the attraction you are interested in, but passes often aren't available. Also, the computer doesn't show you all available fast passes and let you choose three for yourself. The computer generates three passes that can be reserved as a set or tree. When so few fast passes are allowed, it's frustrating to not even have control over which attractions you have fast passes for. Another problem with the new system is that you cannot select times. A guest cannot even put in a range of preferred times. The times are completely out of the guest's control. The final problem with the new system is that a guest can only have fast passes for one park a day. So if you want one fast pass for Epcot and two for MK, it is not possible. On the whole, we were really disappointed with the new system.
Port Orleans Riverside has special meaning to my husband and me. We stayed there on our postponed Honeymoon back in 1993 when it was known as Dixie Landings. We had saved up to stay for 7 nights and it was SO worth it. We had requested one of the Mansions in Magnolia Bend and stayed in Magnolia Terrace, right near the bridge crossing to Ol' Man Island and only a short walk to the main building. It was my husband's first visit to WDW and my first stay in a Disney resort. We thought we had died and gone to heaven. Fast forward 21 years and we are getting ready to spend our 23rd anniversary there in October. I have lost count of how many times we have stayed at Port Orleans Riverside but it's definitely more than we have stayed in any of the other Disney resorts, and we have stayed in many, but we never tire of it... in fact, we seem to find more hidden treasures every time we stay there. We have stayed in both the Mansions and the Bayou buildings... building 14 of the Bayou and Magnolia Terrace being our 2 favorite buildings, basically for convenience. We have watched Port Orleans grown in it's beauty as the trees and foliage has matured over the years. It is our comfortable home away from home. We never tire of sitting on the deck of Muddy Rivers with a cocktail watching the kids enjoy the activities at the pool on Ol' Man Island. We discovered for the 1st time when we stayed there in June that they offer Marshmallow toasting at the new fire pit next to Muddy Rivers nightly, weather permitting. We have taken advantage of so many of the offerings this resort has to offer. We have used the water transportation, as well as the boats for rent, many of the pools and the hot tub. We have spent many nights singing along with Piano Bob in the River Roost Lounge and playing the games in the arcade. We hope to finally take that ride in the horse drawn buggy this trip. The rooms are very comfortable and nicely appointed and the property is spotless, The Castmembers are truly some of the best on property. Bus and boat transportation are convenient and the waits are never very long. Overall, this is the diamond in the crown of Walt Disney World Resorts.
I along with my family have traveled to WDW 15 times, never before staying here. It had in my opinion the best service of any other disney resort I've been to. Beautiful scenery as well! THERE IS ONLY FAMILY'S! This means no loud, craziness like there is at the other hotels(very little at others but none is better then any!) All and all amazing
We took some family of ours to the Boardwalk this past weekend because they had never been there before. We got hungry and decided to order two lage pizzas. It seemed that our order had been taking quite a long time and we noticed that other people that ordered after us were getting their orders before us. When we asked about our order it seems like they missed it somehow then rushed to get them made. We finally got our pizzas after waiting almost an hour. The pizzas didn't look well cooked. When we started on the second pizza, I found it to be under cooked. The dough was not cooked all the way so I decided to take it and get my money back. I had to stand in line again waiting to see the cashier. Once I got to her, I told her that the pizza was under cooked. She asked me if I wanted another one but I said no because we had waited so long for the first order. She said OK and had her manager refund me the money. What topped it off was that neither the cashier nor her manager offered me an appology which I found that to be very rude. I am a manager at a hotel in Downtown Disney and we focus very much on guest recovery if one of our guest has an issue during their stay. We want them to come back and also share their positive experience with their family and friends by giving them great customer service. In this case, I know that I will not go back there and if anyone asks me, I will tell them to go somewhere else.
Best parade ever produced for the streets of the Magic Kingdom. High energy, colorful, detailed, grand, etc. The scale of it all will leave you wanting to see it again.
This is the only place I eat in AK
My family of seven waited for this ride that said 60 minutes but winded up being 2 1/2 hours! By the time we got on the ride, we were expecting it to be worth it and were sadly disappointed! The ride lasted for about what seemed a minute and was not worth riding at all. The art work and message behind it was nice, but the ride was too short and too lame with no thrills. Also, the wait time was a flat out lie and everyone around us was upset as well. When we rented out the lockers by the ride that were free for two hours, we were charged 10$ because the ride wait went well pass that. We felt as if it was a scheme to make ten dollars off of unsuspecting tourists at disney. My family and I were so disappointed that we never want to go back to Animal kingdom again and we love animals!
I really enjoyed the food but also the atmosphere is great!
We stayed a few days ago (July 2014) in a deluxe club room. We are a family of 5, kids ages 13, 10 and 8. This resort was beautiful. The view of the Baordwalk and lagoon were stunning. We really enjoyed our stay here. The staff was great. Our only issues were: buses to MK and AK were not great and made a few stops. From MK there was standing room only. They need more buses from MK and should split BWI in busy times. One day we watched 4 buses for Downtown Disney before we saw and MK bus. Walking or boat to HS was great, and the walk to Epcot was great. We also thought our room was far away from the pool. This resort really is spread out. Last time we stayed Poly club level (Hawaii) and you just can't beat the location. Families with kids who want to do the pool a lot, beware. But the pool is really nice. The kids loved the slide and the games run by staff and the leaping horse has great pina coladas! Everything is so clean here, and the details are gorgeous. I can't say enough good things about every staff member we encountered. If you have young kids, this might not be the place for you. But for older kids, teenagers and adults, it's really nice. We all felt it was a wonderful experience and would highly recommend it.
Kilimanjaro Safaris is quite possibly the best ride in all of Animal Kingdom. It is fun for all ages (no motion sickness) and has close-up encounters not bested by any other experience in North America. And for all you animal lovers, there are no fences or cages of any sort. My younger sister was delighted when she saw baby giraffes and ostriches eggs, and my grandmother got some amazing photos. This ride should be at the top of your must-do list!
If I had to rate that ride when I first when on it, I would give it zero stars. This is because I was 7 years old, totally scared and cried a lot. Today, almost 20 years later, every time I think on Disney, or when I speak with friends about WDW, this ride is the one always present in our memories. We all have the same experience and histories to share, and the best feeling that it still gives, is that I am still there, living again all that magic moment. That is, I believe, the purpose of WDW. This ride is core of the whole "magic kingdom" idea, and so, it is the best of all, not because it was fun (because it wasn't), but because is the one that better stayed in my memories. Exactly one week ago I was at WDW, and I was sad that the Extraterrorestrial Alien Encounter wasn't there. Hope it will come back.
Cleanliness - Very clean. Clean grounds. Rooms were clean except for the fact that my kids found a Lego piece on the floor beside one of the beds which leads me to believe the room wasn't vacuumed well or at all before we checked in. Theming - Great! Stayed at Boardwalk, Poly, and Contemporary before. Since the Poly was undergoing a refurb, Contemporary was booked and wanted to be near the MK (ruling out the Boardwalk) I decided to try Wilderness. I was hesitant because when I think "Walt Disney World" I don't associate NW US Lodges with Mickey Mouse. Well, I was wrong. The lobby is amazing! My wife, kids and I grabbed a Hidden Mickey scavenger hunt sheet from the front desk an explored the lodge. It's truly beautiful. Dining - Ate at the Whispering Canyon. Family style dining where they bring large portions to your table for the party to share. The food was good, not outstanding. This type of meal can be similarly experienced at the Hoop Dee Do for more money, but you get a show. Next time I want this style of dining I'll go to O'Hana over at the Poly. The Roaring Fork is the counter service dining choice. Ate there for breakfast each day. The adult breakfast platter was awesome. It was big enough for my 10 year-old son and I to split each morning. Transportation - Quick boat ride to the Magic Kingdom. Buses to the other parks. Downside - The pool and pool deck area are too small for a resort of that size. They are scheduled to refurb the pool this fall. Hopefully they'll address this. Also, the Roaring Fork is too small as well. Finally, transportation. In the mornings we would share a bus with the Grand Floridian. Even if we filled the bus enough so that some had to stand in order to go to EPCOT, we still went to the GF...and no one would get on! So an 8 minute bus ride would turn into a 20 minute ride. Also, out bus depot at the parks would always be one of the furthest from the gate. I believe the Deluxe Resort Depots should be closet. All in all I would recommend the Wilderness Lodge to anyone who hasn't stayed there and is looking for something different. As someone who stayed at the POLY back in 2010 and vowed to stay nowhere other than the POLY ever again...I must say that I am torn for my next trip. If it turns out that when it's time for me to book my 2016 trip and the Wilderness Lodge turns out to be about $1000 less for 7 nights...it'll be a "no brainer" for me and a return to the Wilderness Lodge!
Always love the Beach Club. I just wish the price was easier to pay.
This resort is beautiful, the staff is so pleasant, and we had such a magical stay here. This is the most gorgeous Disney resort we've stayed at yet!
I don't understand all the negative talk for this ride. No its not a thrill ride but its not supposed to be... it is a beautiful ride and quite relaxing. We ride it at the end of the day when we need a 'breather' and lover to just sit back and enjoy the music and the ride. I loved it..:)
We dined here in May - the service was lovely and the food was wonderful. We all ordered different things and everyone was pleased with their meal. As a matter of fact we were sharing off each others plates because we wanted everyone to get to try the different dishes. The French onion soup was marvelous!
I think this is one of the best quick serves on property! They have a variety of things to pick from - we had everything from burgers to flat breads and all were very good. But to top off the meal they have the best cupcakes! I had one of the blue "Frozen" themed cupcake and my daughter had the S'more - both were wonderful. So if you need an afternoon - snack hop off the monorail and grab a cupcake!
We were lucky enough to ride this during a soft opening - we loved it! The queue is really cute and nice to look at while you wait. The ride was cool - so quiet but a different fun since the cars swing back and forth. Great addition!
Loved the resort, would go back any time. My only (small) complaint is the size of the rooms. They could be a little bigger (but all the other good things make up for that). Loved the atmosphere, service, the pool, the convenient restaurant, the grounds (next to the river with the river boat-taxi). Loved the background music (dixie-land/jazz).
We loved the breakfast buffet. I admittedly hate buffets and we only ate here due to convenience. I'm so glad we did. The kids loved the upbeat atmosphere and everyone loved the unique flavors. There are plenty of staples for simpler taste buds, but the African spices and different combos of foreign food had me going back for more. So glad we ventured in, we will definitely be back.
We recently returned from getting married in Disney in May 2014. It was our first time staying on Disney Grounds (Animal Kingdom Kidani) and using the MyMagic+ & FastPass+. We absolutely loved the experience and had no issues with it what-so-ever. From accessing our room, to booking and changes our FastPasses to entering the parks it was all so seamless. Even when a FastPass we had set up no longer became available due to being temporarily closed we received an email and were able to change the experience before even getting to the park. We couldn't say better things about it and had the most magical time!
This ride was incredibly boring. They strap you in, so you think something exciting might just happen, but you really just sit there in the dark while Stitch eats a chili cheese dog and burps. That was ten minutes of my life I'll never get back.
We had no problems using the magic bands and fast pass+ during our stay at the Polynesian the week of June 20,2014. I was able to make all dining and fast pass+ reservations quickly and easily using My Disney Experience. I liked not having to keep track of paper tickets. We were on the dining plan and I liked just having to swipe my bracelet. That's it! Super easy and convenient. I was a little paranoid that my 6-year-old would lose her magic band but she didn't. Overall, it was a great experience and I think it's a brilliant idea.
Just returned from five days at Disney. Stayed at Riverside. Bus service was frustrating during the entire stay. Schedule says busses every twenty minutes....don't believe it. You may wait up to an hour for your bus and what makes it more frustrating is for the resort you are NOT going two there will be ten busses stopping in front of you during that time. Didn't matter time of day. Express bus service from hotel to airport was not a satisfactory experience. Scheduled bus for our ride just drove through the loading area and never stopped. Driver was supposed to sign in at each resort...he ignored this. Had to wait for the next bus that luckily had space for our party. Busses need to have GPS trackers and two way radio communication that is used by Supervisor to manage routes and busses efficiently. There is no reason that if four busses to the same area are running bumper to bumper that one or two of them could not be switched to a route where passengers have waiting an excessively long period. The problem is not having enough busses, the problem is efficient management of the fleet to meet current load factors. Bus service seems to ignore this common sense business practice.
Had a great experience here I wanted to share. My father used to sing with a big band, and his voice literally mirrors Sinatra. He loves to go sing karaoke whenever he's out of town..gives him a chance to "perform" in front of a new audience. They have karaoke in the evenings at this spot. It's an intimate place...the food and drinks are good. The staff is very friendly, and the girl who hosts the karaoke does a great job with it. We ran into former NFL QB Kurt Warner there one evening and watched he and his friends sing..that was entertaining to say the least.
I come from a tremendous restaurant city with tons of diversity. I don't normally rave about any of the dining at Disney, and frankly halfway through a trip I'm already thinking about my favorite places to eat back home. But Via Napoli was worth writing a review for. Had lunch there with my wife and kids in June 2014, and it was tremendous. Excellent pizza and an open, friendly environment. We will absolutely book here again the next time we travel to WDW.
We stayed here back in January 2012. This by far is our favorite stay! We were able to park right outside of our treehouse (small sidewalk to the treehouse) and that helped because we were able to leave my dad's wheelchair in the suv until we got ready to catch the bus. He used his cane since we werent that far from the room. The bus stop was less than 25 feet from our vehicle which helped. We never had an issue with the internal bus at all. We had a little wait for an Epcot bus one morning due to one breaking down, but it was not bad. and the buses were NEVER full. there were always empty seats. <br /> Back to the rooms. the layout of the treehouse is outstanding. the kids have plenty of room to run around and not worry about distubring anyone above or below you! they can even play out on the deck and watch the boats go by. Being January, we didnt swim, but others did. The weather was perfect. a little cool in the mornings and evenings but comfortable during the day. My neice LOVED the whirlpool bath. i put one drop of soap in with her and we almost lost her because of bubbles!!! lol...she had a blast!<br /> We never heard any buses go by and a very muted boat horn could be heard, but it was not that noticeable inside the villa at all. Planning another stay here in Feb. 2015!!!
We stayed here in May 2013 after returning from the Disney Cruise. We LOVED it! We are DVC owners at BLT and we had 6 in our group. Not enough points for a 2bdrm at BLT, but more than enough for OKW. We had plenty of room to spread out and not be on top of one another. Loved the seperate laundry room. Could shut both doors and not disturb anyone sleeping. The kitchen was a great size and the dining table was a nice size as well. Loved being on the river and watching the boats go by while we sat on the balcony. We didnt have any issues with the buses at all that I can recall. They always seemed to be one right after another. We ate at Olivia's a couple of times and the food was ok. Nothing to write home about, but it was ok. Loved the boat ride to DTD. it is a nice relaxing ride and especially at night when the lights are lit up at DTD. Beautiful! If i had to complain about anything, it would be being on the 2nd or 3rd floor of the resort. After a long day in the parks, climbing 2 flights of stairs was HARD!!! I know it is the oldest of the DVC resorts, but to me, it is still one of the nicest.
We loved our breakfast at Tusker House. Compared with the other character dining experiences we've had, this one stands out. Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Goofy all visited our table dressed in their safari gear and didn't rush off. We got our picture with Donald while we waited a few minutes for our table. The food was fantastic. The buffet offered traditional breakfast fare along with some more exotic fruits and pastries and a few different savory dishes. The corned beef hash was great. Our son loved this place, and the characters really made his day.
The resort itself was very nice. cute themes, but we happened to be there during a cheerleader competition! THE PLACE WAS CRAZY!!KIDS RUNNING ALL OVER THE PLACE..... all we did was TRY to sleep here. left first thing and came back as late as possible!!!!! All that aside, it is a very nice resort. We were in the basketball section on the backside, but it was not a bad spot at all.....we were facing away from the courtyard areas so it was not as bad on our side as others!
We stayed here in 2004. It was a very cute resort. Especially if you have little ones! We were in the Dalmation section and it was very close to everything! the food court was great! THE ONLY BAD THING IS BEING LAST TO PICK UP ON THE BUS! it shares buses with All Star Sports and Music, so by the time it got to Movies, the bus was already packed!!
This has to be one of the prettier resorts. Great buildings. Loved the food court, had a variety of choices. we went in November, so it was a little too cool to swim for me, the kids did and loved it! The only thing I did not like was our room location. We were at the complete opposite side of the resort from the food court/pool. it was an obstacle course to get to the "hub" of the resort. We loved being on the "river" and even took the boat to DTD. That was an AWESOME ride. Very relaxing!!!
We stayed here and thoroughly enjoyed it. The main swimming pool was very nice! we had 3 rooms for 10 people. We were on the back side of the resort and the walk to the main building was quite a haul, but we were close to a bus stop which was more important to us. We did not care for the food court process, but I believe it has since been changed. it was rather confusing, but the food was good! all in all, it was a BEAUTIFUL resort and we would stay here again in a second!
We stayed at the Polynesian last February. There were 5 of us, my sister and her 19 y/o son, our father and another nephew, 18 y/o and myself. There was plenty of room for us and we had a TERRIFIC view of the Magic Kingdom. We were in the AOTEAROA building. We could hear the Luau if we were on the balcony or had the balcony door open, but otherwise, it never bothered us! It was a bit of a walk from our building to the Ceremonial House, but not bad at all. Loved having the boats, buses and monorail as options for transportation. The Great Ceremonial House could get crowded around O'Hana, but it was manageable. This was the 1st DELUXE resort we have stayed at other than DVC resorts. We would definitely stay here again. We walked from the TTC once for some reason, and it was a very nice stroll. Got to see a lot of the resort.
I loved eating breakfast here and stopping in for a bedtime snack after a late evening trip to the pool :) Everything was always fresh and ready quickly, the CM's were very friendly and helpful, and there were some decent bargains to be had, considering you're on Disney property! Would definitely return :)
Service was a tad slow, but the food was good. My husband had a burger with cheddar and bacon, and I ordered some fried pickles. The pickles were great, and the burger was huge and definitely worth the wait. Dining in front of the big screen was a lot of fun!
The food was fresh and warm and tasted great. We split the entree that comes with fried chicken, meat loaf, and pot roast. I loved the flavor of the fried chicken and the fact that the meat was nice and tender. The green beans that came as one of the sides had a good flavor to them without feeling like they were bathed in butter. We also had a peanut butter milkshake, which did not last long ;)The only thing I would like to improve is the speed at which the food comes out. It wasn't gruellingly slow, but I did hear the server making comments to the table next to ours about how long their food was taking. Overall, still a great experience and we would love to go back.
My husband and I split a funnel cake. We were amazed at how many choices we had for toppings! We went with vanilla ice cream, strawberries, and chocolate sauce. What we got was enough ice cream or four people easily, and the strawberries and chocolate really made the entire dish. Fantastic!
My husband and I split the barbecue chicken for lunch, and there was more than enough food for the two of us, and the flavor was perfect! Add a little bit of the barbecue sauce that they have out at the condiments stands, and it's heaven on Earth. Great value, especially if you're splitting this between two people!
We have dined at Akershus twice and it doesn't disappoint! We are huge fans of Cinderella's Royal Table, but Akershus is still a can't miss for us. Here's why:-Akershus is significantly cheaper than CRT-Akershus is the only place where my girls can be guaranteed an autograph/interaction with Belle at any dining experience -Akershus is the only option for dining before Epcot opens (it's nice to be able to get into parks before opening so you can dine w/o wasting park time!)-Akershus does have a princess parade where the children can get up and walk around the dining area with the princesses, so that's just a bit more interaction with the princessesThe food there is a little difference from the other character buffet options, but there are still plenty of options for picky eaters. A hot platter (eggs, bacon, etc) is brought to your table plus you have the buffet available. Definitely look over the menu before booking a lunch/dinner there because there is a Norwegian flair to it which some may not enjoy!
We really enjoyed our experience here in May! After dinner, we stopped for ice cream while waiting for Illuminations. The ice cream itself was delicious!!! Surprisingly good and much tastier than expected. However, I thought the prices were higher than I would have expected (even knowing we were going to be paying Disney prices!). We'll definitely go back though.
We dined at Teppan Edo during our recent trip in May 2014. It was really good - BUT - it has been much better in the past. When we last dined there in September 2011, it was really impressive and had much more of a show aspect to it. This time, it was just any other hibachi experience. There are so many other options in Epcot to enjoy, Teppan Edo won't draw me back next trip...though I know we will come back eventually!
We planned to go to Via Napoli for a quick lunch while touring World Showcase. Our goal was quick and inexpensive, but we got so much more. The pizza was fantastic- everything tasted so fresh! The service was really great. Our kids enjoyed watching the pizzas coming out of the large ovens. Super pleased. Would definitely recommend.
We went to Le Cellier for date night on our most recent trip in May. It was fantastic! The service was great. The food was great. It was easy to forget that we were in the middle of a theme park. Highly recommend! Should be on everyone's must-do list to try at least once.
I'm generally not a fan of buffets, especially in crowded places. I really wanted to try Boma since it was different, so I convinced my picky husband to eat there on our last trip. All things considered, I wouldn't write home about it.There ARE options for picky eaters, but they're pretty limited. All of the "adventurous" food I wanted to try just seemed forced and an Americanized version of something that could have been great. I understand that Disney has to feed the masses, but I didn't find Boma to be special and adventurous at all.Zebra Domes, on the other hand... Yes, please! :)
We ate here in September 2012 on the dining plan. It was a decent experience. I would highly recommend to save a TS meal for almost any other restaurant I've dined at at WDW. You can get most of the entree items offered at The Plaza at quick service locations throughout the resort. The only thing that set this dining experience apart was the dessert. I'd recommend to get dessert for a snack at The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor next door and save the TS credit/money for other things.
We absolutely loved our experience at Teppan Edo last November!Although the food is nothing another Japanese hibachi restaurant couldn't offer (don't get me wrong - it was great!), the service is what sets this restaurant apart from other dining experiences we've had. Everyone we encountered was authentically genuine and happy. If it weren't my goal to continue branching out on different restaurant experiences, we would absolutely eat here again!
My husband and I haven't eaten at Les Chefs de France since 2011, but it's still one of the most memorable meals we had on that particular trip. We would definitely try it again, but it's been my goal to try different TS meals on each trip.The ambiance was very enjoyable. The restaurant and it's surroundings are beautiful at night and, despite the crowds, makes for a romantic meal.
I'm from Florida (originally south Florida, now residing in the panhandle), I've been to every major city in Florida. I really wouldn't consider myself a "seafood snob" - I sometimes can't tell the difference between fresh and frozen. I don't think Coral Reef provides a very good sampling of dishes for being a seafood-prominent restaurant. I'd like to see more than a seafood/pasta dish, Mahi Mahi, and Trout on the menu for entrees. Additionally, I don't think the accompaniments or preparation of the dishes are at all memorable.We were thinking about giving it a try again (the ambiance is certainly something to write home about) on our upcoming trip but with the reviews I continue to see on various sites that it's still only half decent, we'll be skipping it.ADRs are better spent elsewhere in EPCOT, in my opinion.
This is one of our favorite QS meals and look forward to it every trip. We always stick with what we know - the honey chicken. With a QS meal credit, you get chicken, white rice, and (minimal) veggies in a very large "Chinese food" container with dessert. We haven't tried anything else here but can vouch for the honey chicken.
This ride has gone through alot since it was first pitched. and man it is the best. first of all, thrill ride, that's awesome. and second of all its not just a bland pile of fun! it had a STORY it was SUSPENSEFUL it was great! it doesn't make me sick one bit and i think it was very beautifully written and shown! this is definitely my favorite thrill ride of all time... if only it was still there.....
Horizons, One of the masterpieces that was trashed in the idea that epcot wasn't good enough, was a great attraction and makes any other attraction look bland in comparison. My all time favorite
My family of four spent 9 days/8 nights at Pop. We had a love/hate and love to hate the bands relationship. Here you go.... Love: The doors to the resort room opened quickly and easily using the magic bands. We added charging to the two adult bands and they worked without problems as well. Three of my party had no issues with the fit or feel of the bands. Hate: By day two I had developed a nasty skin rash on my band wrist. I ended up clipping my band to the pin lanyard my husband wore for the girls. My husband did not appreciate having to wear my band on the lanyard, but every time I wore the band the rash became worse. I tried wearing it loose but it still irritated my skin. I did not wear any lotions or creams but I do take medication, I don't know if this played a part or not. I hated the lines, esp. at MK to get access to the additional fp's...4th and beyond. Most of the times the CMs insisted on doing this for you and it slowed things down even more. The Tiers at Epcot and HS also make planning even more difficult. With the paper FPs we could ride the same ride more than once using FP now this is not an option. I spent a lot of time pre-planning, arranging and changing schedules to work with EMHs and ADR's. Then when we arrived and started using them I had to get in even longer lines and wait for a CM to direct me to another CM to help me get the 4th FP. HOW is this efficient? I spent as much or more time standing in lines as I would have sending one person to run grab the next set of FPs for attractions we really wanted them for. ALSO....I knew in advance but others didn't...but if you don't use all 3 of your FPs and you hop you cannot get a 4th FP because it will show an unused FP.
We arrived to Disney's Old Key West resort via Magical Express at about noon, and my fist impression was great! The decor at the front bus station was really nice, neat, pretty, gave a feeling you were at some other resort in Key West. Would love to point out how the lobby was set up; no main area, it was pretty much all outside, which was nice. We were very lucky that we were able to get a room close to the Hospitality House, aka lobby area, because if you didn't it would be a long walk/wait for a bus.Once we arrived at our room, there were a few problems. First of all, the room was supposed to be ready at 4, so we hung out by the pool for a while. Once it was ready, we were supposed to receive a text message confirming it. At about 4:30, we still hadn't gotten the message, so we asked front desk. They said it should be ready momentarily. We went back to the pool, but it started to pour. We knew the weather was beyond the resorts control, but we should have had a room to go to by now though. It took until about 5:15 after waiting in the gift shop (which was pretty cute) for our room to be ready.Once we got in the room, there were still a few problems. The fridge had water under it, the floor was sticky in some places, the coffee machine didn't work and there was a little gecko in the bathroom!After complaining, they said it would all be fixed while we ate dinner at Olivia's.Now to the meal- it was actually pretty good! I had a decent BBQ pork ribs. The staff was very friendly and attentive, like Disney should be!When we were back to the room, all that remained was the gecko. It creeped me out the first night, but glad to report that it didn't return for the rest of the trip!Back at the pool area, there is a really nice pool and water slide, but nothing really special. They also have nice island music playing the whole time, and Disney trivia games! There is a tennis court and some other little activities, which were funLastly, and I don't know why, but one of my favorite features was the dock that had boats that took you down a beautiful river over to DTD. So great!Overall, I do recommend that you visit this resort at least once, there are so many redeeming values to it!
I loved how simple life was with these bands. Getting into the parks, using our FP+'s, and even spending money was as simple as touching "Mickey to Mickey." In fact, on our last day of our trip, there was an issue with our credit card (MM+ had not updated on the hotel's end to reflect that I had updated my credit card information, so they had an expired card on file for me), but we didn't have time to fix it until after we got back from the parks that night, so we ended up having to use the "old fashioned" plastic. My husband said he actually missed not being able to just scan his band and go lol... that all of a sudden swiping a card seemed inconvenient. In short, the bands had spoiled us for the rest of the trip ;)FP+ was a breeze, too. Most days, we ended up with 5 or 6 FP+'s, and could have gotten more if we had cared to do so. I gave the system 9 out of 10 because of the glitch with our card not updating. Otherwise, I love the system, bands, FP+ and all, and can't wait to use it again!
OKW is beautiful. The rooms are huge and well-appointed and really give you a feel of a home away from home. Like a condo rather than a hotel room. However, the resort is so spread out that if you get the wrong room, you have to get in your car to go to the pool. I found this to be a huge inconvenience and ended up swimming in the quiet pool which was nice but not the same. I prefer resorts like Beach Club or Boardwalk where you walk to the pool from any room. Just my 2 cents.
A great addition to the Magic Kingdom.
Stayed at the Boardwalk Inn from May 24th until May 31st of 2014 and I have to say the bus transportation was bad. The Boardwalk, Swan and Dolphin share bus service and to get to the Magic Kingdom it would take 25-35 minutes. The bus was always standing room only and I have to say if I had stayed at the Swan I would have never gotten a seat. Getting to and from Downtown Disney was worse as this bus is shared by one of the water parks. Leaving Downtown Disney it took my family one hour to get to the Boardwalk Inn. You pay a higher price to stay at the Boardwalk because you want good service but you do not get that service from the bus.I have been to WDW 25 times and stayed at most of the hotels form the budget to the five star and have never had worse bus service
We were called just after out princess photoSeated to the side of the banquet hall which is beautiful The ordering process took quite a long time and the children were becoming restless The wand sword and wishing star are a nice touch if presented by a waiter who is interested I guessWe ordered the different appetisers and mains the children's menu for my son was not the best and he ate very littleOur appetiser was delivered in three pieces my son then two then finally the last 10 min after the first The Mainz came before our table had been cleared although we had been finished for some time and our pork was still pink I'm sure it said slow roasted My daughter had dry chicken on the other hand The fish was the best betDeserts were moderate the quarter strawberry and squiggle of aside for a strawberry cheesecake we have quite honestly had better from quick serve restaurant It was our daughters birthday so she was also brought a small bun cake with a candle and our disinterested waiter sang happy birthdayOverall apart from the attention of the princesses it was a shocking waste and dissapointment
So the fast pass chose this for us (which is totally pointless as everyone gets in) and nowhere during the wait did it say that this show would include the aledged pedophile and 80s pop hero. Had we known, we would have given the show a very wide birth. Including wait, It's a whole 45 minutes of my life I'll never get back. Like Saville, Rolf and your other childhood heroes, avoid unles you have been groomed to still believe the magic. Sorry Disney, this show really wasn't cool.
The room at the All Stars Movie was clean, but needed updating I thought. I have stayed there few years past and the place was "spotless". This time not so much. The room was acceptable, but not the Disney standard I have known. Also the Food Court food was good. The prices are a little pricey and the place was "just a mess" most of the time. There were empty tables to sit, but the tables had not been wiped off. Could not find a clean table in the whole place. Also where you order and pick up your food was a "mess". I was not comfortable eating there. Will look for other accomodations for future visits I think.
This is a must do for anybody on the dining plan. We just had dinner there last night and was impressed at the food and service. We had a 8:45,dinner reservation, but with the rain we went early and they got us in within five minutes of waiting. They encourage you to visit all of the ball rooms and to get a picture with the beast. I am amazed that they only charge 1table service for this experience.
This ride was very detailed and fun, I loved the whimsical feel of the mine inside the ride. The line queue was also fun and very detailed. But the best thing was how the cars felt very weird and scary when swinging back and forth.
I was SO disappointed! The old test track was my favorite thing about Epcot, so I couldn't wait to try the new one. It was such a let down to have no hot and cold rooms, and no bumpy road test! It was basically just driving a car through a dark room with cheesy lights. I miss the old one!! :-(
Let me begin this review by stating that I actually am for the city of New Orleans. With that being said I found this hotel to be absolutely amazing. I stayed here during my summer 2013 trip during late July. It was fabulous. The decor of the entire resort is almost an exact replica of what you would get in the French Quarter of NO. When you walk into the lobby you are first hit with that classic new orleans style architecture and decor. Truly amazing. But the hotel doesn't stop there. It follows the architecture up with the laid back atmosphere of the crescent city. I was shockingly surprised to see the quiet and relaxing vibe of the entire resort. The resort also aces the test in the food department. To me it offers a step above the average hotel food court with its fantastic big easy inspired dishes. It was especially good to me because I could get a piece of home at the food court while I was away. The rooms are the same as pretty much the rest of the moderate/value hotels. Which isn't bad as I have never been uncomfortable at a Disney Resort. Overall I found this hotel to be excellent. It gives you the feel of being in the French Quarter ( without all the partying of course ;)), it is a very peaceful and relaxing hotel, and the you cannot go wrong with most of the food selections and the food court. I would recommend Disney goers to at least experience this hotel at least once. It has become my hotel of choice.
I have been a member of DVC since 1992 however, prior to my membership I would bring my children, now grown and parents themselves, to Ft. Wilderness. To this day my kids talk about the fun they had exploring and just being there in the tranquil environment of Ft. Wilderness. We sometimes go back with my grandchildren, rent a golf cart, visit the animals, watch the shoeing of horses, see the miniature white horses, wander the grounds, play in the sand, etc. Again,myself & my youngest daughter and her two children are making reservation's for August of 2014 to partake once again on another adventure to Ft. Wilderness. I was happy to see bow & arrow lesson's & horse back riding for my grandkids of age 9. We could go anywhere and we have but this time we are going back to Ft. Wilderness. Oh, and I like taking the boat over to Magic Kingdom. We know how to visit WDW without being upset because we have to wait for a bus. Our expectation's are about enjoying what we can, when we can and yet enjoying just being together vs. trying to capture ALL of WDW in such a short window of time, it's impossible to please everyone. We always have smiles on our faces just being together.
We have stayed at the cabins four times now, and I have to say that it is the best way to go with a family of six this way you won't have to split up rooms, and there is still enough space for everyone in the cabin. The buses are really quick, I think the most we ever had to wait, was about 5min or so, not much longer than that. The ferry to the magic kingdom is always fun for kids. It's also very peaceful, I attribute this to not having neighbors butted up to your cabin. The kitchen is great for breakfast before a long day in the park, and although it is a drop down bed, it is extremely comfortable.
Upon arriving late we found our room had not been thoroughly cleaned. Called the desk and they did send someone over to vacuum. (There was popcorn all over the floor) Then, our last night there, we had come back to the room a little earlier than usual. The covers were pulled back on the bed and I dropped my keys. As I bent over to pick them up, I noticed something under the bed. Well, it looked like a years worth of stuff under that bed. First of all there was a cup from PF Chang's that had some kind of grape drink in it. An ice bucket. Crayons. And a whole lot of other things. Then I looked under the other bed. There was even an ice bucket under it! No sense in calling front desk since we were leaving in the morning. Upon checkout I asked to speak with somebody in charge. I had pictures of underneath the bed and I wanted to show them to somebody! Evidently, they must get this sort of thing all the time. She said, "oh, you don't need to speak to anyone, when you get home just call this number". I really wished I had insisted on speaking with someone so I could have shown them the pictures. The woman I called sent a voucher for 2 free nights at another value resort. Still didn't get to email her the pictures. She wasn't interested. I definitely would not stay there again!
My husband and I brought our daughters, 12 & 8 to this resort for our Disney vacation this week. We absolutely loved it. It was clean, and the staff were so helpful! The pools were large, clean, and very enjoyable. Our girls could have just stayed at the resort all week! We will definitely be back. Great value!
Love not racing across the park to get fast passes. It allows you to spend time doing popular rides with little to no ques before using fast passes on rides that always get busy. Only thing, the cast members have confusion about the way it works in general. Better to read on the forums. It's very cool to touch your band to the sensor and see the light change colour. I feel like I'm on star trek
This is a Fantastic Resort. This resort may be a moderate resort but it is just as good, if not better, than its next door neighbours Saratoga and Old Key West.French Quarter is a lovely, friendly, pleasing resort which wont disappoint. Stayed here in Summer 2013 and the resort made me and the family so happy it truly is a great place to stay. The size of the FQ makes it great for accessibility, even at the furthest room it took around four mins at a brisk walk to get to the food court and pool area, compared to Riverside which is a good 10 mins brisk walk.Staff are friendly, great rooms, fantastic location and atmosphere. Everything you expect from Disney.
I'm a surfer guy from NJ, and I knew this class was for "beginners," but I paid 135 bucks to give it a whirl. I have always dreamed about surfing at Typhoon Lagoon!IT WAS SO WORTH IT.The class had 3 instructors, one on land and 2 in the water. There were 8 students. Land instruction lasted about 40 minutes, and was very hands on and done properly. Then we were shown how to enter lagoon. Each time in, you were able to get 2 waves, one from the right side, then one from the left side. Then you had to exit and walk back to the top and await your turn. We were given 5 turns, so that was 10 waves, plus a single bonus wave at the end for whoever wanted it.Like I said, I am a surfer, and the instructor's teachings reiterated what I already knew, and their dedication towards the sport really showed. All students were able to stand and take a wave in, so everybody had success.Even better, having proven myself as capable, the instructors let me "do my own thing" and have fun with the waves, allowing me to carve and cut and work on some moves. (The others just rode into shore.) The experience was well worth it, the instructors were fantastic, and I was able to live a dream surfing at Typhoon Lagoon.For the record, the instructor's were NOT Disney "lifeguards." They were beach kids with salt water in their blood, so they knew what they were doing. And had a passion for their sport, and for your success.I would do this again, and plan to treat my dad as well. Obviously, I just wish I could have caught more waves!!
I hated my stay at AKL.BUT The Mara was an excellent dining location. The menu had a variety of food, both American and kind of African, and it always tasted so so good.The flatbreads were amazing, and the African inspired dishes were great!Big servings, perfectly cooked, friendly cast, great selection, one of the best!
I visited the resort staying with my family at the Art of Animation. It is a half hour trip from the Art of Animation to the Magic Kingdom. Thats is if the bus just arrived and their was room on the bus for you. It could take up to an hour to get there. Bus arrivals at this resort were not regular enough that you didn't feel penalized for staying at this resort. If you visited more that one resort you spent 3 to 4 hours of your day traveling and not enjoying the parks. Worst was closing time. You could wait over and hour to get a bus back to your resort and be forced to stand the entire time do to overcrowding the buses.I will not go back until WDW improves transportation between all areas of the parks. They spend so much improving the parks without improving how to get around to each of them.
First, let me say that the first time I went on this ride (when MGM first opened), I thought that this ride was fabulous. But that was a looong time ago. Presently, it is a good ride to take a nice cool nap in. Can you say, "Bad Acting....." ? Well if you review the performancesof the guides and actors who do the Western/Gangster kidnapping scene and are asked what is wrong, you will have to say "Bad Acting" and "Pathetic Script" and if you are on the ride itself, you will snore in response.So many people paying so much money and they can't update this ride? Come on, Disney! Do you realize that people under thirty will not feel nostalgic because they have never heard of Cagney, Bogart and most of the movies. I teach in a high school and my students know none of the movies and actors featured. One in one hundred students might.... Keep this around another thrity years and people will not return to this outdated ride.....
The worst thing I have ever seen at Disney. What are you thinking awful awful awful. The only thing that was ok was the the hit song. Disney get your act together. You need to replace this with something else. You don't sit crap like this a universal !!!!!
My daughter and I popped into Whispering Canyon for a spur of the moment lunch. We had no reservations yet were seated immediately. We were on the DDP which allowed us to order an appetizer, entree, and dessert. We ordered the cheddar cheese soup and the western chips and dip. Both were excellent and we would have been pleased to have stopped there. The soup was incredibly filling and really could have made the entire meal all alone. The chips and dip were delicious and plentiful! For our entrees we ordered a bacon cheeseburger and a special that day, a salmon BLT. My daughter thought the cheeseburger was delicious. But the star of the meal was definitely my salmon BLT! It was a very generous piece of salmon cooked beautifully, served on a magnificent bit of toast, lettuce, and tomato. The bacon was in the form of bacon jam. Sounds odd but was so incredibly delicious!!! Both of our sandwiches came with fries. Daughter chose plain fries, I chose sweet potato fries. Both good but we were too full to have more than one. If you want a bit of entertainment, ask for ketchup. I won't say anything more but it was fun!! This restaurant is appropriate for all groups. Good service, excellent food, and lovely views!
We were a group of 6 who stayed at AoA Finding Nemo suite in mid-April. We all personalized our bands and we were pleased with the colors. Did not have any problems with any of the bands during the week we were there. The bands also simplified things since we could use the band to charge items to the room, to swipe for the meal plan, to activate FP+ reservations, and gain access to the pool and our room. Excellent system!
I booked lunch at this place one day just because I didn't want to lie to park at the Contemporary (we like to walk over instead of taking a bus or boat/monorail)I was very pleasantly surprised!!We had the appetizer for 2.. and then I had their fish of the day while my wife had the strawberry salad. My kid actually ate one of their healthy meals and finished it all and got a souvenir cup with a light up Buzz Lightyear.After my passholder discount and tip I want to say the lunch cost us $75.. we probably could have gotten out of there around $50 if it weren't for the appetizer and the cup.I might eat there this weekend again :)
This place is great.. I have eaten there a couple times now and have a reservation for this weekend.For table service the price is great as well. My wife and son and I all can get out of there under $40.. normal Quick Service places cost us around $35. I think it might be the best value in MK for a meal.
This is one of my top three restaurants at Disney! The food is excellent! The music is amazing! Don't expect to have lengthy, quiet conversations - the restaurant is quite loud. If you want a view of the musicians and dancers, be prepared to wait a while for a table, but it is definitely worth it!
This is the best Italian food we've found at Disney! Great restaurant!
Definitely one of my favorite restaurants at Disney! Excellent service, lovely restaurant, amazing food, and a view of the fireworks!
Lovely restaurant, but the Italian food here is probably the weakest of any served on Disney property. If you're looking for Italian dishes, stick to Italy in Epcot or Mama Melrose (but that option is only slightly better). If you're just looking for a lovely restaurant with Lady & the Tramp stuff everywhere and okay food, this place is fine!
We ate here for dinner in January 2013. The food and service was excellent, but probably due to how many reservations they accept, it was the fastest meal we ever ate. Not that quick service is a problem, but if you want to sit and enjoy and comfortable, relaxed dinner, you'll probably be surprised to find that you can leave within 30-45min. of sitting down and have had your appetizer, dinner, and dessert (thanks, dining plan).
When visiting Disney, we usually eat here on our last day at lunch time before we leave for the airport. The place is small and the wait can be longer than ideal without a reservation at dinner time, but the food and service is excellent - nothing fancy, but definitely good quality. We've also found that we can eat lunch there for the same price we would pay at many counter service locations.
We stayed here in November 2012 and can't wait to go back again. The resort is very small, so it is easy to walk around - you will NOT get lost, as is the case with a lot of other resorts. We stayed in Building 4 and it is steps away from the main building and quick dine restaurant. My husband would go and grab food for us each morning and supper and he was back in minutes. Did I mention the beignets? OMG the best tasting thing you've ever had.My kids loved the dragon slide pool. It isn't huge, but it does the trick.The bussing system is great. Sometimes shares with Riverside, but mostly devoted to FQ. When it does share, FQ is usually picked up and dropped off first, so there's a plus (I've also stayed at Riverside so I can attest to this from both perspectives).The boat will take you to Downtown Disney which is handy, although give yourself some time. The boat drives pretty slowly, so if you have a reservation to get to, keep this in mind.The rooms are spacious and have everything you could need. The housekeeping did a nice job every day of cleaning the room and leaving special little 'towel' objects for my kids. We stayed for almost 2 weeks and not a problem in the whole time period we were there.Overall, this is our favorite Disney resort. We've stayed at all of the Moderates and this is by far our favorite. Food, location, price, small size, bussing, we loved it all.
Getting excited about our upcoming stay at the Yacht Club. We have always stayed there and get Lagoon/Pool View, Club Level. Yes we pay more but it is so much worthwhile. From the second we pull up to the gate until we get in the car to come home, we get that "extra special" treatment. The entire staff from bellman to Vp of events, is so courteous and genuinely friendly. The rooms are super clean and fresh looking. Transportation to any park us easy. Restaurants are very good and breakfast with Goofy at Cape May at the Beach Club is walking distance right next door. Seems like a more adult clientele staying there which suits us. Worth the price and can't wait for this Friday May 2nd to be going to our home away from home. A big 2 thumbs up!! :-) :-)
On Saturday the 26th of April, my husband and I met our granddaughter at Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner. Her High School band from Pennsylvania marched at 2:30 that day at Magic Kingdom. She had three band friends with her, Samantha asked the waiter if there were mushrooms in anything that she was going to eat. He left the table and within three minutes the chef was at our table asking her what she was allergic too. He wrote the items down and again within 5 minutes time he had prepared her a separate platter of food that he knew would be safe for her to eat, and also prepared her a special dessert. I do hope this message is received by him. Unfortunately I did not get his name. He needs to be commended for his thoughtful and compassionate action to our granddaughters friend. The meal was wonderful, the service was fantastic and we can all say we had a "Magical Day". Sincerely, Ron, Paulette and Cassie Smith Samantha, Allison and Maddie
I've stayed at all 4 disney moderate resorts, and this was the best one by far. The food was AMAZING! We ate all meals there (unless at a park) and everything was homemade, plenty of options, and the desserts were incredible. It was beautifully themed. I loved walking everywhere and taking the boat to downtown disney. There were plenty of activities like fishing (cheap) and movie under the stars (FREE). We sat in a beautiful courtyard and they gave us something to lay on. Definitely do this when you go!!!!! The buses weren't that big of a deal like most are saying, in my experience. The only complaint I have was that the main pool can get pretty crowded and you have to get there early to get a chair, but there are plenty of other pools that were a good size and weren't that busy. It is a pretty big resort but that didn't bother me. I loved it and can't wait to go back! I would definitely recommend this to a friend!!
Of all the rides this is the one that hits at the heart strings, sentimental and relaxing at the same time. The Tikki room runs it close but this is still number one for us.
I personally have been to Disney World Parks over 30 times & Disney Land 5 over the years along with now taking my now 16 year old & 10 year old starting @ the age of 1. Our trip to Disney this last February will be our last! The whole only being able to choose 3 rides per park per day really didn't work well for us @ all why not leave well enough alone I understand the convenience of the Magic Bands but why not combine them in the old system. I will say our experience @ The Caribian Beach Resort was great though the staff & the girls working @ the pool bar were some of the friendliest I've came a crossed in a long time!So Long Mickey!!
This was our 5th family trip to Disney, 1st time using the Magic Bands and we LOVE THEM!! My family of four with two teens had no problems with the bands from check-in at the Magical Express in Orlando, Wilderness Lodge check-in ( I did the pre-check in on line before our trip and recommend doing this) to fast passes (also did ahead of time)...no glitches or issues. The rooms opened without any problems and we could charge everything and then pay with our Disney Dollars at check-out. It was weird not carrying a purse, had a backpack, but really all hands free! It was a quick three day adventure and we packed in a lot. I plan way ahead so we get dinner reservations and decide which parks to get fast passes. I do wish, with the hopper pass, that we could get fast passes at multiple parks. It was April 12-15 so I was anticipating huge crowds and waiting at rides due to spring break/Easter but, we rode everything, sometimes twice! We did the parks with Extra Morning Hours and headed for the most popular ride right at rope drop, then fast pass the other three we wanted. 5-10 minute wait at many other popular rides! We checked wait times on the phone and that helped! We watched the new parade at noon at the Magic Kingdom and had seats on the upper part of the Train Depot! Amazing view of the new floats! Just get there early, bring a snack and watch meet-and-greats with characters! Overall, another great experience at Disney!
My husband, my 4 year old daughter and I stayed at the Disney Caribbean Beach Resort for 11 days last summer. We stayed in the Jamaica building in a ground floor suite. We loved our stay there. We found the hotel room to be spacious, and clean. It had a good size fridge to store our food and drinks. It also had a small breakfast table with 3 chairs that we used if we ate breakfast in room, etc. The grounds and gardens were beautiful and we loved our walk to the main building and main pool area. We were really close to the bus terminal too, but we rented a car so we didn't take the buses too much. All the staff there were really friendly and helpful too. As I said, we loved our stay there and would absolutely recommend staying there. The cafeteria, at the Caribbean resort, actually had better food than the Polynesian resort, to tell you the truth. When we go back to Disney World, the only reason why we wouldn't stay at the Caribbean Beach resort again would only be because we want to try out the other resorts for fun. But we definitely did love this one.
They took the best ride at EPCOT Center and turned it into this disaster! Getting rid of all references to the original including Dreamfinder & Figment and made it a boring open house with Dr. Nigel Channing, the worst and most annoying Disney character in history! No wonder this version closed! It was horrible!! And so is the current version! Disney! Bring back the original version already!
We were a little disappointed in this place. I was excited to try some place new but I will probably never go back. The location is good and it has a nice view of the boardwalk. The hostess was not very friendly or informative. We went to be seated outside and the table behind us warned us that there were "love bugs" everywhere, so we opted to sit inside. Our server did not come for a long time which lead me to believe that the hostess never told her we were there. Once she saw us she did a nice job. The table was dirty, which she noticed and cleaned right away. I hadn't even seen the dirt left over until she pointed it out.Our food was not great. My son enjoyed his hot dog and cake. I ordered a cheeseburger and it was just not good. The quality was about the same as the theme park cheeseburgers but a little larger. The cheese on top was hard and cold. They also serve their sandwiches with kettle chips which are really not appetizing. If I am paying $13 for a processed park burger, I want fries. I would pay extra for fries if it was an option. Overall I would walk down to ESPN and see if they had openings before I went to this place again. I think it is a waste of good property at WDW and someone needs to go in and overhaul the place. It has the potential to be good.
We booked the Dolphin last minute as a last night of vacation after staying in South Florida with family. I just had to have a little Disney fix if I was driving all the way to Florida! I thought the price was reasonable, even with the added fees. Just make sure to read the fine print. There is a service fee of $20 and a parking fee of $17. Even with those fees it was only $10 more than a value resort. So this was the smarter choice in my eyes. I could stay at All Star Music or the Dolphin on the Boardwalk for about the same price. I signed up to be a Starwood rewards member also so I will collect points for the stay.The lobby and grounds are beautiful. I loved to sit and take in the architecture and landscaping and the Dolphin and the Swan. The place doesn't have the most "Disney" feel but that was fine because my husband is not a Disney lover. It does have a bit of a business feel but it is still a great looking place. Our room was spacious but the bathroom was small and outdated. It was showing wear and tear and was about the size of a value resort bathroom. They do provide you with bottles of water and starbucks coffee in the room as part of the service charge. Personally I could purchase my own for much cheaper but it was a small perk I guess. There is also a small refrigerator in the room so I could bring my own drinks to the room. No microwave.The pool area was very spread out and a little bit of a walk from the Dolphin but still beautiful. The beach was full of kids playing in the sand and we even took our son on the swan boats, which are paddle boats. Pool towels are provided outside. There are different places for drinks and the Cabana is located outside for food as well. They provide service to poolside as well. The location is great. You can quickly walk to the Boardwalk or take the boat. There is also boat service to Epcot and Hollywood studios which can also take you to the other Boardwalk resorts. The bus service to the parks is also a plus but is a little hit or miss. This has been my experience at all Disney resorts.There are several food choices at the resort. Just make sure to do research to find what you want. I only went to the ice cream place so I can not comment on the food choices.Overall I was satisfied with my stay. The staff were all very nice and helpful. This is a good place to stay with a Deluxe feel without the price. I am sure we will stay here again in the future.
I'm a frequent visitor of the WDW resort & therefore I'm an Annual Passholder. My first visit using FP+ was in December. I did a lot of reading /asking questions during my planning for this visit because it was extremely new to me. I have to start by saying this, if you're someone who likes to go on vacation and have no agenda/plans, then WDW probably isn't the best place for you with or without FP+. I've gotten everything down to a science and get everything done in the parks, with plenty of extra time because I spend so much time planning our fast passes, dining reservations, etc. So as for FP+, I LOVE it! I'm use to going to WDW, hitting the ground running every morning, coming home late to the room just to do it all over again in the morning. There is no time left for relaxation in my planning. So when FP+ was introduced, after my first time using it in December, I realized how much extra time I will have. Yes, only having 3 Fast passes isn't ideal, but being able to enjoy the pools and everything else there is to do in WDW out of the parks is nice. I'm going back tomorrow and I planned my days so that we have time to enjoy the pool all day & go to the parks at night. With the old system, you couldn't do that if you wanted a Fast Pass for Soarin' or Toy Story Mania, now you can!Thanks to the numerous blogs & Disney news channels I follow via social media, they have thankfully realized the biggest complain about the FP+ is that there is only 3, and no park hopping, so they're working to fix this! Which is a wonderful thing! So after those complains are fixed I see no reason why people wouldn't love FP+.
My family experienced one of the best times of our lives. Due to an unfortunate situation we needed a smile in our lives. To start was a week vacation in Disney and the second thing was the experience at the Flying Fish Cafe. I booked at home reservations for the wine and dine meal and could not say enough about it. Courses were served with wine and our waiter described each and every one to the tee. The assistant chef described the meal and the wine complimented each and every bite. Sitting at the cooking station alone was an adventure one could not even describe, watching food being cooked and prepped for the general public. After two hours of eating and drinking, it was time to leave and I have to say that I would be the first in line to go back to this restaurant in a second. Thank you for the experience and I do hope we can meet again and do it all over again. One thing, I am sorry I am so late in writing a review on the place but between work and life it took a while. See you soon guys, Thanks.
Kids place for good food. YOU don't need a TABLE. 2 hour wait usually for dinner. We sat at the bar and our 2 girls loved it. The T-Rex is impressive. It's very similar to Rainforest Café.
Having stayed at a deluxe and value on our previous 2 trips to WDW, we decided to go moderate this time around and opted for the Caribbean Beach Resort as they were the only resort that had a King bed available on short notice.Customs House Check-in: Super easy, got our room within 10 minutes of arriving. The downside was then having to wait 20 minutes for the internal bus (more on buses later)Rooms: We stayed in Jamaica building 46. As stated above, we had a King room and the bed was fairly comfortable, not too hard or too soft. The room itself felt dated and in need of an upgrade. AC was through an in-wall (just under the window) unit versus central AC. Port Royale (dining and shopping): We only did the food court 2X for breakfast and 1X for lunch. The food is nothing more than theme park quality you'd find in any of the WDW parks. Not terrible but nothing to write home about either. We opted for simple fair like bagels/muffins for breakfast and I tried the Jerk Chicken for lunch which was pretty dry. The shopping has a good cross section of products and we purchased quite a bit here. Very nice staff.Transportation: This is perhaps one of the biggest downsides of this resort. CBR was the first moderate resort and it's my understanding it is the largest with multiple bus stops throughout the resort, basically one stop for each section i.e. Jamaica, Aruba, Trinidad, etc and one stop at the Customs House. Internal buses arrive approximately every 20 minutes and it seemed like we waited just about 20 minutes every time. Note that there was only 1 internal bus running at a given time. Not sure if this is normal but since the resort was at 100% occupancy, I'm assuming that one bus is standard. This made it a bit challenging to get to the Customs house and back to our room...cost us about 40 minutes of waiting in total. As for the resort buses, more challenges. On our Epcot day, we saw multiple buses arrive for each park, including Downtown Disney, before the Epcot bus arrived. Part of this we learned is that once a bus is full, it departs and since we were one of the last bus stops, there were likely a few buses that departed to Epcot before they got to us.Other amenities: We didn't utilize any of the pools though we did walk by them a couple of times. Very nice and well themed...a great looking pool for families. The resort itself looks nice with a large lake/lagoon and beaches centrally located. Overall: It is highly unlikely we would stay here again. I can honestly say that I had a much more enjoyable experience at Pop Century and while I might not stay there again, I'd choose it over CBR. Should we ever return to WDW, we will likely try another moderate resort like Port Orleans (Riverside or French Quarter). CBR was not terrible but failed to meet my expectations for a quality Disney resort.
I just returned from WDW - Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village. The hotel was amazing as usual. I started using my MagicBand from the time I checked in. It opened my door flawlessly every time. I also liked the way I gained access to the parks using the bands. Beyond that I hated it!!!First off - Getting past the security gate at the hotel - The band worked fine but I had to remove it from my wrist to position it on the reader. I am 6'1 and have a long arm span and could not maneuver enough to unlock the gate. When I did remove it then it worked fine. FastPass Plus was horrible. The band itself worked when attraction was correct. I had a fast pass for 4 people scheduled for Little Mermaid. When I arrived they showed only 2 of the 4 people in the party even though the app showed 4 people. I tried to show this to the person at the gate but they refused to listen or do anything about it. "Go to the FastPass+ folks to help you" they were halfway across the park. On another fast pass the system kept showing an error. I finally found someone and asked and they told me that I could only make 3 fastpass selections per day! What? How is that better in any way. There are still alot of issues that have to be worked out on this system before I will be happy with the full experience.
Best vacation EVER! My family of four just returned March 2014. If you are a runner and/or looking for a little relaxation while visiting WDW, Port Orleans Riverside was awesome. It was great to spend time at the hotel which is on a 3.6+ acre Louisiana setting. There's a mile loop around the water that is lit up from dusk til dawn. You can rent bikes, walk, swim and use the hot tub and hammocks. You can also sit in a rocking chair overlooking the water in the shade. There's a fishing spot and a great pool with slide. There is beautiful scenery everywhere you look. The flowers are beautiful. You can take the ferry to many Disney locations and it's centrally located so the bus ride isn't long regardless of where you are going. There is a huge slection of healthy food choices right at the food court. The beds are very comfortable and the place is spotless. I was able to set the coffee pot up the night before and get out and run without waking my family because there's a privacy curtain between the sinks, closet, etc. and sleeping area. It's best to take creamers from the food court and keep them in the fridge. There's a safe in the room with a key. It seemed that every single cast member worked diligently with a ile and helpful attitude.
Best ride ever!!!! That's all I have to say.
This show made us happy and the song created so many good times and memories. Dad (son, brother, david) made us go crazy with his songs and dances but we still joke and laugh about it now. The next time we visit this will be one of the first shows we see. RPPDLJL
Began with a 40-minute wait even though we had a reservation; well, that failure caused our entire party to be disappointed from the get-go.Expectations were high as we planned this event many weeks ahead of time but something went terribly wrong and manager was unable to accommodate our party until other patrons finished their meals...we had to wait as there was no table reserved for us! I even arrived 15-minutes early to confirm the reservation and hostess checked her database and indicated all was well...our entire party arrived on time...then the painful wait.Cora & Disney, please fix this!Now, if you ignore our first impression, or have a saint's patience, consider the food and service. First, the service: the manager did demonstrate his concern as our table was set with Kouzzina Spreads (Chickpea Hummus, Eggplant Spread, Taramosalata, Whipped Feta with Peppers, and Tzatziki) with Pita before we were seated. A nice gesture, and now important, as one of our guests was feeling ill from the unexpected long delay. Unfortunately our server was just too busy, to keep up with our party of seven and her other duties. This immediately became apparent as I ordered Appetizers for the table so as to ensure food would be arriving quickly ~ we now lost nearly an hour of our night and missed other planned Disney fun. Appetizers: Calamari, Spanakopita, Gigantes and Saganaki. Oops; the wrong quantities arrived. We moved on and ordered a bottle Greek white wine and the service for that was just fine!Entrees: All were good, plentiful, and everyone enjoyed the following:1. Kouzzina Trio - small portions of pastitsio, grilled lamb burgers and stewed chicken with orzo;2. pork tenderloin with vegtables; 3. chicken with tomatoes and orzo4. a whole fish - a kitchen assisted with taking it off the bone - roasted with greens, olives and fennel; 5. a rib-eye steak;6. pastitsio and7. braised short ribs.In summary: if the 40-minute wait was removed the review would have been more about the food but alas. Only two stars out of five. Cat Cora and Kouzzina have the right idea but will have to impress me a lot more to win me back.
Horrible experience! I love roller coasters and thrill rides but this was horrific and I am still traumatized by the ride. Not sure what happened to me but I experienced a "slipping away" feeling almost as if I passed out or fainted. My family tried to get me to respond while on the ride but I couldn't reply although I could hear them. Never again and I'm shocked I had this sort of physical reaction, I'm young and healthy, for the record.
My husband, son (16), & I ate here our last night at Disney. We were on the meal plan & this counted as 2 sitdowns so we were expecting great food. We eat out a lot. Anyway the waiter we had was completely rude....I mean he acted like we were beneath him because we were on the meal plan. We were on it for convenience not for cost...yet he never asked us if we wanted a salad or an appetizer etc.... Then the food itself was not good. The crab I had didn't come with proper tools to get the meat out & my baked potato tasted microwaved. My hubby liked his crab ok but said it was overcooked. My son's steak tasted weird. We also felt very rushed. We left feeling beyond disappointed.
My husband, son (16), & I ate here our first night at Disney & were thrilled. We eat out a lot & like good food. We loved this place. I had salmon, son had filet mignon, hubby had steak all were thrilled. Atmosphere was awesome. Waitstaff was great. We will definitely be going back.
We ate at Boma our last trip to Disney. My husband, son (16), and I. We love great food not processed crap. We go out to eat a lot at home. We absolutely LOVED Boma. My husband was very unsure about trying an African restaurant. He didn't think he would like it. He hasn't stopped talking about it since. I had a salmon that had a nut crust which was amazing. My son had some type of beef he couldn't stop raving about. My husband ate so much he could barely walk when we left. The salads were also amazing. The food was not strange, it was simply delicious. I can tell you, we will eat there every time we go now!
We stayed at the CBR in one of the pirate themed rooms. It was quite a hike from our room to the main pool and food court, but it wasn't too bad since you pass several beaches. We thought the rooms were really small which is the worst thing about the resort. However these moderate rooms are almost 100 more square foot that a value resort room! The food court had a neat ambiance and offered many choices, we like their offerings. The pool was really great for kids and adults and offered a slide. Overall it was a near experience but not enough magic to lure us back. We want to try another moderate resort.
My kids and I recently made a trip to Disney this past week for spring break. As pass holders we were able to test out the new my magic+ system. I have to say first of all I was really upset that now you only have the option of choosing 1 park a day to use your fast passes in and only 3 events can be chosen for the entire day. We chose to hop back and forth from Epcot and the Magic Kingdom that day so I had to choose which park I wanted to use our fast passes in. I decided we would do our fast passes in the Magic Kingdom and our choices were limited to early evening so we decided to go to Epcot first. As soon as we got there we noticed large stand by lines in pretty much every ride and show there. This was absolutely crazy because we had actually gone to Disney and Epcot around this same time last year and while it was during spring break and the flower and garden festival was going on the lines were not near as ridiculous as they were this year. We were able to only do only two rides in Epcot before it was time to head over to the Magic Kingdom. When we finally arrived at the Magic Kingdom we noticed the same ridiculous stand by wait lines. Dark rides that had at max a 20 minute wait time last year now were up to 50 to 60 minute wait times and Splash Mountain had a 100 minute wait time where as last year at most it was 60 minutes. The magic me and my kids once enjoyed at Disney World was no longer there and instead replaced with stress and chaos and my daughter at one point told a worker she would rather be at school than have to deal with all this aggravation. It is for this reason I have to say that as it currently stands the new my magic+ has done nothing but create more stress and longer wait lines for families than making things better. I do hope Disney will consider allowing us to being able to add more than one park in the same day and increase the amount of things that can be reserved for each day.
When compared to the old Test Track, this one is awful. The ride track reminds of the old one, and how bad of a mistake Disney made refurbishing it. All aspects of the ride are total letdowns from the original. The queue has next to nothing to look at, as the inanimate cars get boring. The design thing is pretty fun, but bottlenecks the stand-by line and really could've done better as an exhibit at Innoventions or a post show experience on the old test track. The ride itself is lacking, as the entire idea of a "digital testing ground" theme is very cheesy, hardly explained, and way too fanciful for Epcot. The interior part looks like a laser-tag arena, with black lights and cardboard-cutout objects everywhere. No more bumpy roads or hot and cold rooms or detail. The exterior is the same as the original, just with re-themed road signs, and is still fun. However, the whole jump from the "digital" test ground to the real world was unexplained and kind of disappointing to see an area of the ride so untouched as compared to the rest, like Disney skipped over it. The post show is lacking as well, with no exhibits, just commercial designing (which is OK), racing designs (which is AWFUL), and the showroom/gift shop. Overall, this update really has brought more bad then good, as this version is awful compared to the original. However, the designing and fast part are fun, but other than that, very disappointing. Hope Disney brings it back to the way it was.
I would honestly give it negative stars if I could. The only reason anyone went was because they couldn't get a fast past to anything else. WDW needs to freshen things up and give us something new to entertain us. Don't waste your time even if you are a MJ fan.
I loved this ride since i was five. Im not thirteen and i dont like how this ride is now. I loved all te props and the styles. Especially the line. The old line was much better. Not the new line is boring. At least to make it better, they should make te ride go 70 mph with a different, longer track. And more tests. And more styles for the sim car.
GO TO DISNEYLAND! My family and I have been to WDW 21 times in the last 18 years, and we were pros at park hopping, wrapping fast pass times, running from rope drops, maximizing EMHs, basically optimizing every moment in the parks using the legacy fast passes even at the height of spring break. The thought of only getting 3 fast passes in one park is enough to keep us away from Orlando until they fix this! In the mean time, we have discovered the ease, charm and joy of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. With two parks right next to each other, you can bop back and forth between the two several times a day holding paper legacy fast passes for multiple rides in each park. The Grand Californian is a fabulous hotel RIGHT in the park, and Downtown Disney is not an afterthought. It’s part of the fabric of the place. If you are looking for a 3-5 day Disney experience, head West! It’s where Walt started it all, and it’s still perfect.
Mugs works great. No long lines waiting to fill your mugs because guests were filling mugs they purchased years ago. Glad Disney took cover of this abuse of the system.
Just returned from a DisneyWorld vacation and love the Magic Bands. It is a great momento and worked almost flawlessly for us. The entrance to parks, fastpasses and room charging all worked without a problem. The problem we have experienced is our group was large and each person had their individual credit card info attached to their band. The last 2 days of our vacation, one of the others' charges were charged to me even though the first few days of vacations his charges were applied to his card. So there are still glitches with the system. As a heads up, for future trips as a group, each individual will have to use a credit card for their charges rather than using the band.
The original GM Test Track was my favorite amusement park ride due to its excellent combination of theme and thrills (not superlative in either category but the mix was just right for me). This new Vectrex-inspired "virtual" version was a real let down and were it not for the familiar high speed run at the end I would no longer be able to recommend this ride to anyone. The old ride's mechanical feel felt perfect in the original setting but is now jarringly contrasted by the black-n'-bright TRON graphics slathered all over everything that was simply not interesting to look at. The tractor trailer head-on is still there but the glowing outline it's been reduced to was underwhelming to say the least. I was hoping that the revamped ride would have better real world props, vehicle tests, and backgrounds but instead we got a fairly boring ride set in a cyber-cave. Test Track is tolerable as it is now but it used to be great.
We booked this tour after taking the Keys To The Kingdom tour at Magic Kingdom. We did the Keys tour about 5 months ago. We entered Epcot prior to the park opening thru the International Gateway and had a leisurely walk to Guest Relations where we checked in and were given our name tags. Our total group size was 14. One person was being pushed in a wheelchair. They were able to access everything and had no problems keeping up with the group, nor was the group slowed down. The tour spent the first 15 - 20 minutes in Guest Relations using the photos behind the counter as a prompt for discussion. This portion was somewhat redundant from information in the Keys tour, and also subject to distraction as many people were coming into Guest Relations for information, DAS cards, etc.From here we went outdoors and learned a few things about Spaceship Earth while sitting down. A sample similar to the material used to construct it was passed around with an picture card. Picture cards are used many times during this tour, which was nice. We went thru Guest Relations and saw the cast member pin trading department. We went thru Innoventions with a brief stop to talk about the Vision House and how it relates to Epcot, but we did not go through it. We walked past the Fountain of Nations and learned about it's origins and the designer, and were able to sit down here, too. I believe there were 3 restroom breaks during the tour, and one 15 minute break in the Land Pavilion. There is no lunch stop in this tour like there is in the Keys Tour.We saw the VIP Lounge above the Seas and spent alot of time (too much) looking at the tanks there and talking about the fish. We did ride Soarin' and entered thru the back entrance, after learning about the murals outside of The Land Pavilion and going inside to hear more information. We were told a little about the filming of the Soarin' film, which was interesting. We saw the area where the 3D glasses are washed, and learned about the creation of Figment and how he was named. We also the HP Lounge at Mission Space (for HP staff, their families, and other specified associates), which is nice, but small. We were mildly amused at the levels of "security" to obtain access. Outside of Mission Space we learned about its history and the previous attraction that was there.We spent some time looking at the mechanic's facilities for Test Track, and noting how the support beams sway when the cars come over. We also saw the Illuminations barges in their daytime parking spots at the marina and where the Friendships go for refurb. By this point we were feeling a little held captive by the tour and were ready for it to be over!The most interesting thing was the cast building. The laundry/uniform area and system is pretty neat to see. We saw some princesses getting ready for their day as well and saw where they get their hair done.We did not go into the Universe of Energy as some other tours did. I believe Soarin' replaced that in our tour. We finished in China, were told of the VIP viewing area in Italy, and received our pins. I believe we finished up at about 1:15. We were not offered a discount at Nine Dragons as others have reported. Our tour guide was polite, but did not have the enthusiasm that our Keys guide had. He was knowledgeable but spoke off script and would have to go back to start over if he got tripped up. He showed great and genuine concern for one person who had never been on Soarin' and had a fear of heights.The tour was good, but we knew much of the information already from our own research and visits. At times it seemed to drag on a bit. We toured on an overcast day. If it is sunny, it would be a very hot tour. Is the tour worth it? Everyone would have to decide for themselves. We are glad we did it, and it was enjoyable, but it was a little too long for our liking and for what we saw.
Our family of 6 has been driving down to Orlando and visiting Disney World for over a decade now, and this was the WORST year ever! We use non-expiring Disney tickets, and our on our 4th wave of these, and we stay at an off-site hotel (=no magic band). This year felt like we were part of a failed experiment, as we had to wait forever to get our tickets unexpectedly exchanged (bought only 2 years ago) . We then headed to our first favorite ride, only to be told to head back halfway across the park to sign up for the new fastpass plus system. I can assure you there is NOTHING PLUS about it. We had to narrow our choices down to 3 rides, and only 1 of these could be a popular ride like Soarin (Epcot). None of the rides in list 2 were even of interest. We wanted to save these for our park hopping to Magic Kingdom, but the extra slots were automatically randomly filled in, being told we could exchange them at a later point. When we went to exchange the tickets at MK, we were told (surprise again) this was not possible with the current system. An extra 1/2 hour lost at the entrance exchanging our tickets for new ones, another 1/2 hour to sign up for a maximum of 3 rides that we had to decide on the spot, and then to only be able to use in one park, since park hopping is not accommodated. We paid extra for our tickets for the park hopping privilege, and no one warned us that signing up at Epcot meant we could get any fastpass at MK!! In the end, we only were able to enjoy 2 rides at the fastpass level... where in previous years we would have enjoyed at minimum 9!!! The next day, when we used these new "upgraded" passes at Disney Quest, we were held back yet again for sign in issues... apparently my husband's fingerprint did not register the first time. The new system is HORRIBLE, and cost us many hours of our park day, from getting in to the park, to waiting in hour-long lineups for a limited number of rides. Our full park day, from 9am to midnight, felt more like a half day with less than 1/3 of our usual rides due to the unexpectedly long waits (only 3 fastpasses for the entire day!). This obviously needed a lot more testing before it was rolled out, and Disney has now succeeded in downgrading all our tickets! Very poorly handled, and not an experience I would wish on anyone. Disney's repeat, and up till now loyal, customers should not be part of their experiment. The Disney cast members only advice: send Disney your feedback, and hopefully the system will be upgraded soon to include more than 1 park a day. Doesn't sound very promising.
I waited with my young daughter for I don't know how long! What a complete waste of time and good energy waiting for that ride. It's more exciting riding an elevator! It looks so appealing going in but, boy I felt so ripped off. Disney is slacking on the rides as they build you up for a big let down!!!
I recently returned from my first trip at Walt Disney World. I cannot compare this with the old system. I can only state my experience as a first time visitor. I am tech savvy and that does play a factor in using the MyMagic+ fully. If you are not tech savvy it is more difficult. As and example, my parents would have trouble with this system.1. Magical Express - Magic Bands worked great for the magical express. I had to scan my band twice and each time it worked great.2. Resort - Magic Bands are used as your room key and this was great in my opinion. I didn't have to worry about losing a card which was wonderful. I had no issues using it to get into the room. I felt the band was lightweight and comfortable. You can also use your band to charge to your room but you need to set up a 4 digit pin number to do this. This worked out really well for me and it was easy.3. Park Entry - We only had one slight issue with park entry using the Magic Bands at Epcot. My daughter had trouble and they had to reset the entry area and then it worked. Otherwise, it worked great!4. FP+ - We set up our FP+ in advance using the website. However, I did have to change the FP+ reservations on the fly and it worked out well. I had to restart the app on my phone once but that wasn't a big deal. The longest FP+ line we had to wait in was Toy Story for about 10 minutes or so. The rest moved fast.5. ADR's - I used the app to cancel some ADR's and that was easy and I got an email with the confirmation of the cancellation right away.I did not use the FP+ kiosks at all so I can't review that. I just used my smart phone. If you have a smart phone or tablet I would suggest using that. The Wi-Fi and resort in the park worked great for me. I had a great experience and I didn't mind only having 3 FP+ selections each day because we don't ride some of the bigger thrill rides anyway. It worked out great for us and I liked this system overall.
There is no reason for the change at test track. Just because GM went bankrupt does not mean you have to ruin a perfectly good ride. They should have just replaced the mention of GM to Chevy, then updated the ride vehicles. No, they had to destroy a perfectly good ride. By destroying test track, there are hardly any attractions worthwhile at EPCOT.
Quite simply a time to reflect on all things good from Disney. A favourite of all the family from the UK. PRPDLJL
Ellen's Energy Adventure at the Universe of Energy is always a must ride for me. Between the air conditioned 40 minutes inside, the laughs, and the dinosaurs, it just never gets old for me! This is my favorite ride at Walt Disney World, and it is highly recommended.
Terrible. It feels so stressful. Tried fast pass plus and nothing good came of it. The one ride we wanted was all gone. At the end of the day we stood in that line for less time than the kiosk times. Wait times to get on rides are way more inaccurate than pre this system. Not impressed that we have to suffer because we stay off site. Hope it gets fixes
Great way to relax and unwind, fantastic views of tomorrowland. Good history lesson on rides such as C O P. A good to way to reflect on a fantatsic visit to the most magical place on earth. PamRoyPaulDavidLouiseJordanLauryn
Great way to relax and unwind, Views of tomorrowland are fantastic and you also get a history lesson on Carousel Of Progress etc. A favourite ride to reflect on a fantastic trip to Disney.
My husband, daughter, and I ate here before leaving this park. We picked it because of the convenient location alone.My husband and daughter got a sandwich/fries combo, and I got a chicken caesar salad.The combos were "meh" at best, and my salad was awful. The chicken was refrigerator-cold and would have been so much better if they had warmed it up in the microwave. The sign at the cafe says that the mix the salad right before serving it, but that's simply not true. The ingredients were thrown in there in layers, and I was sorry that I wasted my money!Do not eat here simply because it's convenient. It was the worst dining experience we had during our trip.
I had lunch here in Feb of 2014. Our group of 3 adults walked in and we were seated immediately. The light fixtures were beautiful and we enjoyed the atmosphere.One of our plates and one of our forks had dried food on them, so they brought us new ones while we perused the menu.Each plate ranged from $8-$12, so we ordered a few to try. The lamb slider had great favor, but there was only 1 small slider for $8.The Harissa chicken roll ($8) was the exact same southwestern eggroll I have had at Chilis and other chain restaurant. We received 1 roll for $8. The harissa ketchup was good, but not worth the price tag.The Mediterranean omlette was a large portion, but the flavor was bland.The spicy garlic shrimp was spicy flavorful and a decent portion size for the price.The red sangria was the best part of the meal. Our server never came back to fill our water or to see if we needed anything. No one cleared our plates or checked on us in any way. We flagged someone down to get our check. We spent $45 on food and we were still hungry.I far prefer Restaurant Marrakesh or Tangierine cafe.
My family loved this show. I'm quite disappointed my granddaughter will not get to see it. The action was fast and furious and required skill and agility. There was also an element of risk and danger. The original songs were great to.Bring it Back Disney.
We can not complete our holidy without a visit to the 50's Prime Time Cafe. We are looking forward to our August holiday I have already prebooked our reservation, my daughter (17) would not forgive me if we didn't eat here, she loves the pot roast and the choc. brownie dessert. The staff are fantastic, reminding my son(20) to keep his elbows off the table. This always puts a smile on our faces. I cannot recommend this enough. However be aware you NEED a sense of humour to done. I have read reports where some individuals have complained about the 'rude' service, remember the era and enjoy the experience. A must for my family, this wil be our 3rd visit, wish we had tried on previous visits!. Give it a try you are sure to enjoy your exoperience.
I'll be brief. The new system basically ruined our day. We were planning on going to the park(s) for two days but after the 1st day decided to do something else instead.We are current annual pass holders, but will not be renewing. There's an old saying I'm fond of....."If it ain't broke, don't fix it".......
As frequent Disney goers, we were so disappointed in the new TT update. TT used to be our family's absolute favorite attraction. We used to deliberate whether to fast pass TT or Soarin' upon arrival to Epcot. TT usually won. Now there is no deliberation necessary. The new TT ride feels cheap and uninspiring. Just not up to Disney standards! We miss the old TT.
Even though the song is repeated over and over, the song is put into different languages, so you don't listen to the same thing every time. It's also a really relaxing place if you just want to explore the worlds wonders in minutes. One of my kids got really scared at the "Hefelumps and Woosles" part of the Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh. She was breathing really fast. But when we got to this ride, she almost fell asleep.
We have stayed at the Dolphin two times, because of the good location and the big rooms. Even if some things aren't 100% the best, its location outweighs everything that could be classified as negative. But once you realize they offer transportation to every Disney attraction in the area, it becomes the perfect place to be. The huge pool, the great number of restaurants and the big beds are only a couple of things from the whole picture. I wasn't very satisfied with the prices, but we booked our rooms through http://orlando.hotelscheap.org and we got some good discounts.Of course, we have to point out that it's not a Disney-owned hotel, but it's still very recommendable.
The new fast pass system DisneyWorld has started in 2014 is HORRIBLE. We have been to Disney numerous times and the original system worked perfectly. We also visited 3 other area parks before Disney this trip and everything went perfectly. We got here and you have to go to specific spots in each park, stand in line, then choose only 3 for that specific park for the entire day. Then if you buy park hopper and forego a fast pass at the previous park, the system won't allow you to get a fast pass at the park you "hopped" too. Not only that, but if you have all of these people choosing fast passes instead of standing in line then aren't you essentially creating the original problem all over again???? We had the worst experience with this as it really doesn't even make sense. The limited options you are given at the park to choose fast passes from as far as time and attractions is just not worth the time. When we expressed our concerns, we were told it was still in the testing stages... Well why would you choose to go live with your "testing" when thousands of people have spent their hard earned money to visit your parks expecting perfection, not testing? We were also told they were trying to go "green" and asked to take a picture of the screen of our times. Couldn't we have done that with the old system? Time is money when you are at these parks, hiring people to teach you how to use the new system, then people to supervise the helpers has backfired as they should have left that alone and hired people to make sure our "dreams were coming true!" They need to figure it out and figure it out fast or Universal and Sea world will get every dollar I make instead of Disney. Forget Disney until they get it right.
Always our first ride in Magic Kingdom! Gets the flow going and time to plan where next!
For starters we are a family of 4 with 2 boys, ages 4, and 6 months. This is our second trip to Disney with our 4 year old. We stayed for 5 nights and 6 days at the Yacht Club. 3 of those nights were paid for by me, and the remaining 2 were on a Disney Resort credit that we received after our last stay at the Wilderness Lodge 2 years ago. Most of our issues during our last stay were as a result of construction going on at the Wilderness Lodge. (Im sure that review is still buried in my profile if your really interested) For whatever reason Disney was unable to join the resort credit reservation with our other reservation and this caused some minor problems during our stay. This also caused us to receive 2 sets of magic bands and 2 sets of magical express tickets with one end open on each reservation. We arrived fairly early on Monday and went inside to check in. I was immedaitely impressed with the decor and cleanleness of the lobby. The scent that they are pumping through the lobby was fresh and not overwhelming. The staff was very attentive and helpful. While waiting to check in I was brought over to the Concierge desk by an employee to expedite the check in as there was a line at the regular check in desk. The guy who checked us in (Mike) was extremely nice and very creative. He was, however new to that resort and didn’t know where anything was which made the total check in time approximately 30 mins. We had pre requested a ground floor room during the online check in and were told one was available. When the check in was over we were told that the room we had been assigned was ready for us however it had not updated in their system so our magic bands would not work to let us in the room yet. We were then told to call the front desk after 15 minutes to check on the status of our magic bands / room keys. We were then let in by a bell hop. Approximately 15 mins later I called the front desk to see if “Their system had updated” and the person on the other end of the phone had no idea what I was talking about. They tried to figure it out but I was inevitably transferred to another person who I had to explain the story to again. The room itself appeared to be clean and well maintained and besides a gigantic dead mosquito on one of the beds. We didn’t see any issues until we pulled back the curtains and walked outside. When we went outside on the patio we immediately noticed that we were directly in front of the adult pool which was under construction. I’m not sure why Disney chose to overlook this detail with our reservations. We were staying on a resort credit that was given to us largely in part to a massive amount of construction that was going on during our last stay. And here we were again with a nice fresh view of some lovely construction. I then called the front desk and asked for another room. I was told that one was ready and we were moved to room 1085. Upon switching rooms we found our new view to be exceptional as it had lovely views of the courtyard and water. The room was clearly an older one as the carpet was worn, the AC unit controls appeared to be from the 70’s. We also noticed a strange musty smell in the room which I chalked up to the ac being off and the room sitting unoccupied for a while. We then laid our kids down for naps and waited for our luggage to arrive. 3 hours later our luggage had still not arrived and I called the bell hops. They then advised me that our luggage had been sent to our first room and was waiting in there. They then advised that they would go an retrieve it for us. This again was a lack of attention to detail on Disney’s part and I wasn’t all that happy that our luggage had been sitting in a room that someone else could have had access to for at least 2 hours. After a few minutes in the new room I noticed that one of the light fixtures above one of the beds was missing its knob, exposing the plastic. Due to the design of the room this was very noticeable and quite frankly unacceptable for a $420 dollar a night hotel. I then mentioned this to a the bell hop that brought us our luggage and was advised that it was going to be taken care of. When we returned that evening the knob was still missing. The next morning I walked to the front desk and spoke to a manager who advised me that he was going to take care of it right away. This didn’t happen, and that evening when we returned to the room the knob was still missing. I then returned to the front desk and spoke with another manager for the now third time. A few minutes later a maintenance guy showed up and fixed the knob. In addition to the knob I also noticed that the room had significant rust on some of the metal fixtures in the bathroom and a bunch of tangled wiring from lamps and other items in the room, visible on the floors between the furniture. The fridge was also unplugged and I had to move the entertainment stand to plug it in. There was also visible trash in the mulch directly in front of our patio to include a wine cork, a cigarette butt, and several small pieces of white paper. Again a significant lack of attention to detail on Disney’s part. When we went out to hit the parks the following day I noticed some water damage in the ceiling outside of our room. There also appeared to be mold growing on the ceiling as a result. I then noticed it was in multiple sections of the ceiling as we walked down the hallway. This is, point blank, UNACCEPTABLE. I can deal with having to plug in a fridge or some rust on a fixture in central florida but water damage and mold? Really Disney. For $420 a night??? (See attached pictures) During the remainder of our stay things didn’t get much better in regards to the hotel. The room continued to smell musty and got so bad that we had to open the patio door to get fresh air in the room on a daily basis. When the maid came in to clean the room not much cleaning was done as the carpet was never vacuumed and some of the glasses we got one day had a nasty looking white spuge on them which I hope was undissolved dishwashing detergent. Also the maid forgot to replenish our ice bucket liner and I had to call and request one. During the end of our paid stay we received phone messages and a letter advising us to please come to the front desk and arrange our Magical Express Transportation. I had to go the front desk once again, to make sure they understood that we had 2 reservations and that we were not leaving and wanted to stay in the same room. This was finally addressed but almost everyone I spoke with appeared unfamiliar with a Disney resort credit and was unclear how to proceed. Furthermore once we had checked out of our first reservation and into our second I received a phone message asking me to come to the front desk and provide them with a credit card for the second reservation. I had already done this online and they also had my card from our first reservation. Yet another lack of attention to detail. However I’m glad that I didn’t respond to this request as when we went to check out on our last day there they handed me a bill for $202 Dollars. When asked what this was for the clerk couldn’t explain it and had to go in the back to check with a manager. She then returned to tell me that it was the taxes and fees for our last 2 nights. I then explained to her that those nights were on a Disney resort credit and that there should not have been a bill for anything. I then had to provide the letter I received from Disney in regards to the resort credit. Thank the lord I didn’t provide them with another credit card and they weren’t smart enough to use the one from my first reservation or this amount would have been charged to my card. Another huge lack of attention to detail and yet another issue I and to deal with while on vacation. I was finally told that the charges would be taken care of. My final complaint about this resort comes from the convention center located in the middle of the Yacht and Beach Clubs. I understand that convention business has to be a huge source of revenue for Disney but the last thing I want to see on vacation is a bunch of suits clogging up the front lobby discussing business deals throughout the entire day. This place was so busy with conventions that I don’t think there were many other families staying there at all. I’m not quite sure why Disney can’t have a separate lobby / meeting area for these convention guests and coordinate their room assignments to be in the same area and away from the families who are trying to enjoy some of the so called “magic”. To sum it all up we had a good time enjoying the parks and other attractions at Disney. This resorts pool is amazing and is easily its greatest feature. The grounds of the resort are also maintained very well and a pleasure to look at however, I can not get over the lack of attention to detail on Disney’s part regarding the rooms and reservations I paid a significant amount of money to stay for the 3 nights that I paid for, a dining plan, 5 days of park tickets, and countless other items that were purchased at the resort and parks. The experience we had with the rooms was unreal and I can’t believe that this level of negligence exists at a so called Disney "Deluxe" Resort. I expected a magical experience and what I really got was anything but. No folded towels in the room after day 1, no anything consistent with a $420 dollar a night room at Disney World. I'm not an unreasonable person this is just poor, poor management and service at a place that is supposed to be known for its level of service. What a shame.
Spent the day at the Magic Kingdom resort with my wife and 2 young children. Although a long day the experience was fantastic and we all enjoyed it very much. The rides were great fun and the queues were not too bad, with FP being a really great tool to avoid the longer ones. So a great day had my all and then we leave the park and bump into Mr Jobsworth! What an end to such a lovely day to be confronted by Mr Unhappy and Mr Attitude all in one young man. Soured the day but not the experience, Disney does such a great job - well done to all (bar the one) :)
My family took a trip to Disney in October of 2013, My daughter was only 13 at the time(to young to do the show) and the producer said "please come back when you are 14" So my daughter and I planned a 2 day trip to come back and do the show. We were just there on 1/27/14. These are all very professional people!!! They gave my daughter every courtesy. She sang for the initial producer, then on to a duo of producers who gave her the green light to join the event. She did the hair and makeup, the little arrangement thing with the vocal coach and then to her rehearsal. She rehearsed and then competed against to very good singers. The stage is IMMENSE. It is a thousand seat auditorium that they filled up both times she sang in it. She received amazing feedback from the judges. Even the one mean judge said "I can't even be mean to you" She then went on to the finals where she competed against 3 people. Two of which who were from Brazil and came to Disney JUST TO DO THIS EVENT. She won in the finals and received the Dream Ticket. If you are going to do this you have to give it almost the whole day. I am glad we really only went to Disney to do this for that reason. I am critical of most things but there is not one thing I can say bad about it. The producers were all awesome, the warm up guys were awesome, the judges were all industry professionals who gave my daughter great feedback and great Advice.... Just amazing.
MM+ saw our total ride count severely down. We used to be able to grab 7-9 FastPasses per day, at multiple parks, but now we are limited to ONLY 3 rides. It forced us to wait in Standby for rides we never used to have to. Which had us realize that the rides are NOT WORTH excessive standby lines.Our bracelet did not work as a credit card or as a room key. The tickets were also not properly linked. We bought Hopper options, but the band always read them as non-Hopper. Flagged everytime with an iPad toting CM trying to resolve the problem, that never was resolved.Our friendly CMs at the BoardWalk realized our struggles, and gave us a 300 credit for food and stuff. That was just proof that the MM+ was completely awful and led to a less than satisfactory vacation. Love the BoardWalk family.
Just back from a week stay with 4 kids, 2 parents, 2 grandparents. We had 2 connecting rooms on the 3rd floor in the 60's building. Location was great-close to food court, pool & transportation. However it is time for this hotel to upgrade to queen beds. Doubles are just too small for most adults & there is adequate room for them. 2 Pop rooms was an affordable option for our family of 8. Food court & transportation were excellent.Housekeeping was good with extra towels and pillows brought immediately. The kids were disappointed that no towel Mickeys ever appeared.Luggage assistance upon checkout was also very helpful as was pre-printed airline boarding passes.Ramp access for strollers or wheelchairs from the main pool required going quite a distance around or dragging them up the stairs to Classic Hall. Don't know why there is not a central ramp right next to the stairs. That made no sense!!
We tried out the new system the week before Thanksgiving and it pretty much worked as advertised. I had 1 glitch with entering EPCOT, but other than that all 8 of our bands worked at all park entrances, FP+ locations and on our room. The bands themselves were light and comfortable, but it wasn't super hot so I couldn't properly judge the sweat factor. Based on a lot of the talk and rumors I was bracing myself for more issues, but I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed not having to run for FPs and switching reservations on the fly was quick and easy. Even the touch to pay was kinda nice. No need to pull out my wallet to grab a CC or room key. I didn't think that was going to be a big positive going in, but it was.
I recently posted this review on a thread as well. My thoughts on fastpass plus as a longtime and frquent disney guest. I have read these forums for quite some time but only after my recent trip and experiences with fastpass plus, did I feel the urge to formally join and start posting on this forum1) I stay offsite-it's more cost effective and convenient for my family. However, on this trip, it made me feel like a second class citizen with the new system of fastpass plus2) The lines to do fastpass plus signups were VERY long. I was there at rope drop during a low-crowd week and still had to wait on line in all parks for 15-30 minutes on some occasions just to get my fastpass plus. And not being able to change a time on my phone just because I'm staying offsite was absurd. I would have to wait on line for 15-30 minutes all over again3) There are not enough faspass plus kiosks at many locations-and to try and compensate they had people with ipads there trying to do selections as well. The ipads frequently malfunctioned causing much frustration.4) I hated how the whole fastpass plus made the disney experience feel-as someone who was coordinating what we were going to do each day, this felt like work for the first time. And there was also a lot of stress and running to make our hour windows for rides or else risk losing them. All sense of reason was gone. At major rides like space mountain if you showed up 5 minutes early or 5 minutes late and that stupid scanner didn't turn green you were denied entry. It's an amusement park, not the DMV. The sense of fun and spontaneity is being drained for an adult with kids going to Disney. If your kids have to pee, that's too bad. Make your window or lose it. Zero understanding that a large percentage of their customers are parties with young children, and there is nothing more unpredictable (except maybe the weather) than the behavior of a young child.5) At MAgic Kingdom, I was one of the first on line to sign up for fastpass plus. Except the ipad kept malfunctioning. After 30 MINUTES, they finally got me signed in. By then ALL times for Enchanted Tales were gone. I complained-the person I was working with said: "what's the big deal-the wait is only 30 minutes?" (clearly someone that's never had to stand on line with a 1 year old and a 4 year old)-after getting it bumped to A 4th LEVEL SUPERVISOR and 20 more minutes, they finally said: "you're right, we'll get you in to Enchanted Tales"6) The 3 ride limit at magic kingdom is absurd-with so many rides affected by lines, why are you forcing people to make choices? Again it takes the fun away for the person planning. They are literally asking you to plan your entire day before you even get there. And once you're there, you feel pressured to plan it right, or else stand on line for a ride you misjudged.7) I hated separating from my family during my fastpass plus wait-I missed my kids' faces on entering the park becasue I have to run ahead to make sure we get the fastpassses and don't stand on line for the rides they want to go on. To be fair, I used to run ahead to fastpass one ride in the past as well (i.e. toy story in DHS-however, I could be there and back before my family even made it to the wizard's hat-now I ahve to wait on line and do this whole process of choosing the whole day-I lost the first 30 minutes with my family every disney day)8) I agree with others who have posted that Disney will increase the number of fastpasses by offering them for a fee soon. Congratulations: you'll make more money. But you're also upsetting longtime customers and fans like myself who are not as excited to go back in the future as I used to be. This trip was work and while I enjoyed it, it was because I like spending time with my family. My enjoyment was in spite of Disney, not because.9) We did Sea World and universal as well this trip and the contrast I felt on these days compared to my Disney days highlighted everything above for me. Those days were Waaaaaay more relaxing.Those are my thoughts. I'm not naive. I know this is ultimately about money. I get it. But I'm unhappy and thought I'd share it. Perhaps if they hear enough unhappiness, it will make a difference. Who knows? But I felt it neccesary to post. I don't know who has had good experiences with this system, but this was mine and I wanted to share it.
A visit to California Grill was something we looked forward to for our trip in early December. We wanted to check out the recent renovations of the space, as well as the menu.We checked in downstairs, and went straight up and were seated immediately. Stepping off the elevator, and seeing the wine cooler is impressive! I'm still undecided about the new interior. There seems to be more seating, but it doesn't seem to be more crowded with the possible exception of the seats by the windows. I took one for the team and took the bench seating with my back to the window. My only issue was the lump under the cushion. The food: Excellent! The grilled filet has been my standard order during previous visits, but I wanted to try something different on this trip. I also skipped the cheese board. I started with the goat cheese ravioli. It was one of the best things I had during our trip. The cheese had great texture and flavor. The sauce had just the right amount of fennel, and everything worked together beautifully! I'd have been happy with a larger serving as my entree. I chose Pork Two Ways with pork belly and tenderloin. Both were prepared perfectly. The belly almost melted in my mouth, but was not overcooked. The richness and flavor were great. The tenderloin was as good or better. It was tender without being overcooked to the point that it starts turning into mush. The flavor was great as well. Both cuts had been seasoned, but the seasoning complimented the flavor of the meat rather than masked it. The Goat Cheese Polenta, was fantastic as well. No one flavor was overpowering, and everything worked together to make it savory and very enjoyable. The Lemon Meringue Cheesecake was tart but the sweetness from the meringue balanced it out. In truth, the meringue was the star of that dish.My wife really liked her Sushi appetizer, as well as her filet. She prefers her steak cooked medium, which is a little more done than I prefer, but the sample I had was great. On our next visit I may have to try one for myself. I really liked the previous version on the menu, but felt that the sauce overpowered the beef flavor a little too much so I usually asked for sauce on the side. That's no longer an issue for me!Our favorite restaurant usually bounces back and forth between California Grill and Yachtsman and nothing we experienced on this trip has changed that. California Grill remains is still on the must visit list for each trip.
There is nothing that will disappoint you about this resort. It is smaller, has a wonderful dining, gorgeous scenery, and best of all it is centrally located in the WDW resort complex. Once in a great while you would share a bus with POR but for most part you had your own bus and are no more than 15 minutes from any of the parks.
The Caribbean Beach Resort was a huge disappointment. The Resort itself is lovely with colorful buildings, sandy beaches and a pretty lagoon. If you could spend your entire day outside and never go into the rooms or use the food court you'd have a great time. The room that we had smelled moldy, very outdated decor, a poorly functioning television, a sticking door and improperly fitted drapes plus creaking beds.The food at the food court was dismal and that is maybe to high praise for it. Our first morning at the hotel we used the food court for breakfast and ended up feeding the trash can instead of ourselves.This Resort is in need of serious updates and a total overhaul of the food court. You'd have a better value for your money by staying at one of the new "value" resorts. We checked out Art of Animation on this trip. They served real food on real plates with silverware as opposed to the paper plates and Styrofoam cups found at Caribbean Beach. The food at Art of Animation was hot and tasted great, it wasn't lukewarm and flavorless like what we found at our resort. The Caribbean beach could learn a few lessons from Disney's new line of Value resorts.
2 hour bus ride from marketplace in downtown Disney to beach club resort ,packed with way more people than it should have. The driver kept saying "everyone move further back for more people"
As long as i have known that pavillion, it makes me so proud to visit more and more, and now with this new project: absolutely fantastic food entertainment, real genuine from the heart customer service!! the smile on their Moroccan authentic faces is totally unforgettable!!!!! best of luck !!!!
This ride is not worth the wait. Disney really missed on this one, just like the re-make of the now terrible Test Trak at EPCOT. Ariel was broken in the larger room and everything looked cheap or fake. With all the technology available, it seems Disney took a step backward on this one, unless they intend to upgrade it over the next few years to make it "new again." Queue is good, but ride not worth a wait longer than 20 mins.
The original version at Disneyland Park in California is much better. The scenes are grander and in better shape, and the flow and transitions from room to room are more effective. Magic Kingdom's version, which isn't a direct copy, is shorter, has really abrupt transitions into and out of the ride building, and has lots of places (due to maintenance) where you can see wires, broken show elements, and bad paint jobs. The final room is particularly awful, with blinking rope lights and a ferris wheel that for some reason runs backwards. A huge disappointment if you're familiar with the California version.
We were at WDW during Halloween of 2013, staying at the Animal Kingdom Resort. We were invited to join the MyMagic Plus testing and it worked well for us. With the exception of getting Fireworks viewing using Fastpass+ the experience was a good one. We were able to get and change Fastpass+ events during the day. Unfortunately, we were not invited to join the Be Our Guest Fastpass+ testing so we have no comments on that.All in all, I was able to make FastPass+ reservations for all 14days of our stay at WDW. We were always admitted when we showed up at the FastPass+ event during the time span indicated by our reservations. We are members of the group of people who don't go to the parks early in the day so the Fastpass+ was great for helping us organize our day.I highly recommend the MyMagic+ and MyDisneyExperience as a great way to plan your WDW vacation, especially if it's a long one like ours.
The original version of this ride was great! It had beautiful animatronics, scenery, and music. The characters were lovable and memorable. And the ride overall was brilliant! Now it sucks!! The current version of his ride is boring, dark as short! Barely any animatronics, barely any scenery, and a boring theme! Dr. Nigel Channing is a HORRIBLE replacement for Dreamfinder and the ride is now about the senses! What?! Isn't it supposed to be about Imagination?! Disney made a huge mistake in changing this ride! I hope Disney brings back the original version of this ride soon because this version is a disgrace to Figment fans worldwide! What a horrendous replacement! Watch a video of the original version and then ride the new version! You'll see exactly what I'm talking about! I suggest to please go to customer relations and to tell them how much this version sucks and how much you'd like the original version back.
Friends recommended French Quarter on the basis of being quiet, secluded, and much smaller than some of the other moderate resorts.They were right. Compare a map of French Quarter to the other moderate resorts and you will see that everything at French Quarter is very convenient to all the rooms. I would not want to stay at a larger resort with long walks to the lobby, pool, restaurant, and bus station. Nor would I want the morning crowds at the bus station and restaurants that a larger resort would have. The rooms, architecture, and landscaping are attractive (so much better than the ugly value resorts) and immaculate but nothing spectacular. But this isn't the Polynesian or Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had a pleasant view of a sunny courtyard garden with a fountain. My kids loved the dragon slide in the pool. The restaurant served a good breakfast with lots of choices. The staff was very helpful.(My only complaint is the quality of the mattresses; they seemed to sag and I ended up being more comfortable on foam egg crates on the floor--but this is a frequent complaint for me at hotels of every price point.)Overall, I believe the other reviews when they say this is the best moderate resort at Disney. If you want something better on property you're going to have to more--much more--for a deluxe resort.
This past Christmas we finally saw the Candlelight Processional. We tried to go in the past, but the dinner packages were always sold out. We were so very fortunate to hear Edward James Olmos. He gave the most moving presentation of The Christmas Story that I've ever heard. The orchestra and choir were superb. Hopefully, we will have the opportunity to go again next year and hopefully, Edward James will be the narrator when we are there!
I see all these fabulous reviews and wish I was lucky enough to have had their experience. Our bands were jinxed from beginning to end. They were continually failing to open our door and show our tickets. We spent hours at guest services. CMs kept telling us how bad the system was and that were sorry. We were the ones that were sorry that we spent so much time and money on a vacation that was filled with frustration. Even when bands were working we were disappointed that we had such a hard time using the website to make changes. Aside from all this on a base level we feel that Disney missed the mark with the tier system and restrictions to 3 FPP reservations all in the same park. Disney I am sorry to say that we were terribly let down.
My wife and I just came back from a 5-Day vacation (Jan 1-5, 2014) at the All-Star Resorts - so everything, even the room key was all magic band and FP+. We live 1000+ miles from the park so we typically do the 3-6 day Disney vacation experience. We definitely saw some pluses and minuses of the MM+ and I will definitely be curious how things will work as the plan goes more widespread.The GOOD...The band worked fine as a room keyThe band was much faster to pay with than cash/credit cardsWaits were very minimal in FP lines at all 4 parks. A glance at the FP+ screens showed that typically FP people were waiting in line 1 min for every 6-8 minutes a stand-by rider was waiting. So even Test Track 2 with a 90 min line for stand-by was about 10-12 min for fastpass.At least right now...Scheduling the FP were great as long as you were doing it 1 day in advance. My wife and I had days (like our departure day) where we spent as little as 3 hours in the park, and we could use all our fastpasses in that 3 hour window, ride some big rides, and catch our Disney's Magical Express to the airport or spend time doing other things at the resort (tours, dinner shows, etc.). We made lots of changes (changed times, parks, attractions) and always got the times/rides we wanted as long as scheduled it 1-day in advance. The NEUTRAL...We found we were far more inclined to walk into stores with the FP+...at least 4-5 times we found ourselves with 5-10 minutes to kill before a FP+ window opened...often the only thing near by to do was to walk in a store. We did nothing with photopass or memory maker - no thoughts on that. The BAD...You can use your fastpass+ in one park per day right now. I hope this changes. I'm sorry but if I'm paying $59/ticket for the park hopper option, I want to use my 3 fastpasses wherever I darn well please. Forces vacationers to stay at least 4 days to use fasspasses once in all parks and ride what they wish.Ineligible for legacy fastpasses. I know legacy fastpasses are going away, but it was very frustrating to see them available for rides at Hollywood Studios and told I cant get one because I'm a fastpass+ user.It is no fun choosing between Test Track and Soarin. If I pay $90 for a day at Epcot, I want to ride both FP+. If Epcot is open for 12 hours/day, I should be able to ride both FP+.FP+ was meant to enhance personalization on the ride. All rides have a computer that shows your name for the cast member when guest's "tap-in" to greet the guest. We were there 5 days (15 fastpass+ per person x 2 people = 30 fastpass+ total). Cast members greeted us by name 0/30 times we used FP+.Changing FP+ the same day is doable but difficult to get a desirable time or attraction. Once the park opened and people started scheduling their FP+, desirable times went away quickly. I was fine scheduling desirable ride times 1 day in advance. I really do not want to have to schedule rides 6-8 weeks in advance. I generally dont even book Disney vacations 6-8 weeks in advance (booked 4 weeks out this time).Much slower scanning the bands during Extra Resort Guest hours than just wearing an Extra hours band or showing a room key. During Extra Resort Guest Hours...cast members were scanning in guests one at a time at each ride with iPods. It didn't take long, but it was far easier to show a room key or an EMH band (done in the past) and keep walking in the line. The UGLY...Each FP+ has two scanners per ride. Ideally people can tap-in two at a time...but the scanners are not placed far enough apart in most lines for two people to walk through at the same time, so many people tapped-in one-at-a-time. Occasionally people had issues getting the scanner to read their band. This created some bad line bottlenecks at the FP+ entrance to rides. One (star tours) was so bad that a cast member was holding a (FP+) sign some 50-75ft from the entrance to show people where the FP line started.Some of the longer lines we saw were at FP+ kiosks for people waiting to schedule their FP+. This was most notable at DAK. People were waiting 10-15 minutes to schedule FP+ at some kiosks. Again...this has me very worried for when FP+ is fully implemented. Looks like having a smartphone and linking your ticket to the Disney Experience app will be essential to avoid these kiosk lines. At table service restaurants, servers know your ready to pay when they see a credit card in the receipt jacket....there is no subtle way to indicate you're ready to pay with a magic band. We had table service 4 times...basically each time I had to roll up my sleeve somewhat and put my forearm in the air (with the band) to alert the server. I have to say it is very awkward to pay $85 for a nice meal for two at the Brown Derby and then raise my forearm w/ band in the air to indicate I want to pay. I wish there was a more subtle way to indicate I wanted to pay with the band.
Recently used magic bands during out stay over Thanksgiving. Was pleasantly surprised I did not find the bands themselves annoying or bothersome on my wrist. My 7 year old grandson had some issues keeping his on so most of the time one of the adults was wearing his too. The granddaughter had issues with hers unsnapping and actually lost it that way. When we did a resort change we encountered numerous problems with being able to charge because of the MM+ platform. Basically the magic bands wouldn't take the new resort reservation that was done through DVC. So we used KttW cards to get into the room. Then after 3 days we discovered we couldn't room charge and after hours, actually a 24 hour period they rebooked the entire reservation so I could have charging available but the bands could never be used for anything but the parks.As far as the bands for use at the park, worked fine, for park entry and FP+. Liked parts of FP+ where you know longer have to zig zag through the lands to get onto premium rides using this system versus paper FP. However we feel like 3 FP+ a day are too limiting and we feel like FP+ only at 1 park per day is very limiting too. The entire FP+ system will now cause us to change entire park visit strategies. IMO that is not a vacation enhancement I really wanted or appreciate.Like the bands when they did work for the kiddos to get in and out of room versus using their KttW cards. Using the bands for charging was no more or less convenient than whipping out the card because..well I whip out cash or a card daily to pay for things, doing it with a band actually seemed mechanically awkward and either I had to cockeye my wrist or take it off the wrist...While I did notice improvements with the WiFi at parks and resorts, no charging stations around to really use this technology over a 12 hour day without running out of battery.Having to do the kiosk thing was just seen as another line....In summary I think it was a huge waste of dollars and a brain drain....The small conveniences certainly were not an overwhelming sell for me. I was fine with the old system and the old website. Too much trip planning is not necessarily a great thing.
We stayed in a standard room in the alligator section of rooms. The room was great and our housekeeper was fun as she posed our toys and towels in fun ways. The room was comfortable and clean. The atmosphere was quiet and relaxing. It really looked like the bayou. The bus stop was close. The pool was a decent but fun walk. The food court was a long haul but we only ate there once so it was ok to me. We would definitely stay here again.
I have had the opportunity to test MM+ on three separate trips in the past 4 months. I will preface this by saying that I absolutely understand how this all works, and had no problem with the software either online at home or using the Apps on both an iPhone and an Android device and on my iPad. That being said...During October, as a passholder, the magic band was worthless. Unable to connect up the season pass ticket, and sure as heck didn't need the band to enter the parks or for DME. Threw it away and used the KTTW and my season pass.During November, things were finally hooked up. The Magic band worked to enter the parks and for fastpass+...though the 3 fastpasses per park per day is for the birds for any of us Season passholders. I found the best strategy was to make FP+ reservations for the second park, and just use the touring plans in the first park for the day -- and in the meanwhile, both the KTTW and the Season Pass worked at the regular fastpass machines so we mostly just used those. Ironically, this time around, they sent a second Magic band and you had no choice not to get a new one. The Disney magical Express still had my OCTOBER information in the system -- so I had to use the paper voucher to use DME. On this trip, the charging system was down in all the parks for the entire time we were there, so that could not be tested.During December, the DME worked, the bands worked for the resort and for park entry (A third band that they mailed, no choice though we could use any of our old bands as well)...but NONE of the pre-selected Fastpass+ reservations worked -- we had to use our iPhones to "prove" that we had preselected fastpasses which was a pain in the ass and held up the line behind us. Lots of people seemed to have the same problem. Since I had to use the iPhone anyway, I put my KTTW card inside by iPhone case and just used that to touch to sensors, making the wrist band completely useless and I never used it after the first day. This system is ridiculous for any return visitor -- and especially bad for season passholders who parkhop. Ruined the entire visit for our entire group.
I visited all four parks this week and I must say this was one of my favorite rides! Get a fast pass as it is a very popular ride.
My wife, two sons, and I participated this past Christmas week. It worked FANTASTIC! We loved the flexibility, the ease, and the pure joy of using the bands. They worked and were an absolute godsend to our successful week at The World!The ONE downside? The App itself and the wi-fi/cell issues at Saratoga Springs. We had absolutely NO cell phone service at times at Saratoga Springs in the room (AT&T) and the Disney wifi was, well. . .AWFUL!!! Once we got on the app, it seemed to move along at a snail's pace. Imagine using AOL Chat Rooms. . . Yeah. . . That bad. . . . Once they get that worked out, this is going to change the entire theme park industry! Disney does it again!!!
This review will primarily focus on our experience with FP+, during our recent trip to WDW, with a comment or two on the Magic Bands, at the end of the brief review.I've been on the boards a lot since 2005, so I'm well aware of the issues people have with the cost of NextGen, as well as FP+ concerns. I also appreciate that, as is the case with anything new, it may take some time to address these concerns and tweak the service. Also, in the interest of perspective, I want to note that our family has taken 15 trips to WDW in the past 10 years (12 in the past 6 years) and have spent about 120+ days in the parks during those trips. All this to say that I am not a novice with respect to WDW visits and information. Now, on to our regularly scheduled review.Although we've always been FP users, our recent trip was (obviously) our first chance to use FP+. In terms of how we vacation, the change to FP+ was immediate. We knew that by the time our flight from Canada arrived, and we checked in to our resort and had a meal, we would only get to a park in the evening (7pm or so). Typically, an arrival time like that allows us to enjoy park atmosphere and some high capacity or less popular attractions, but this time we were able to enjoy Tower of Terror, Rock 'n Roller Coaster and Toy Story Midway Mania upon our 7pm arrival (along with the atmosphere, and other attractions.). Although it wasn't the busiest time of the year, those 3 attractions had wait times from 30min to 60min, and we certainly wouldn't have bothered spending our first few hours at WDW, after 3 airports and 2 flights, standing in queues. What a great start to the trip! Thanks FP+!For the next 10 days, we loved FP+. We got to do some of our 'old school' faves, which we often won't do because of prohibitively long queues (such as the Tomorrowland Speedway, and Peter Pan's Flight) and had no issues making changes with the in park kiosks or using the app.The single biggest change for us was NOT feeling like we had to get up super early practically everyday and be at a park for rope drop! We've always done that. Why? Not because we are morning people at all, but simply because that's what you had to do to enjoy best loved attractions; physically queue up. When you think of it, that's so archaic. At home, I reserve concert tickets, theater tickets, hockey seats, bowling lanes and even movie tickets, days or weeks in advance, online. That's how the world is today. In 1980, I 'camped out' at the local arena to get 'Rush' concert tickets. In 1980!!! This trip was 2013. Being able to book a few fave attractions online should be the norm. We were finally able to enjoy a morning at the pool, a leisurely breakfast, shopping at Downtown Disney and playing a morning round of golf, and still look forward to enjoying our best attractions later (sometimes much later) in the day. It completely allowed us to relax more and have more fun than we'd ever had, with less stress! Yay!As for the Magic Bands themselves, we loved them. We usually had no awareness they were on (and I don't wear a watch or bracelet typically) and found it so easy to use them for room and park access, purchases and Photopass. We also purchased the cotton slipcovers (our set of 3...Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World and Enchanted Tiki Room) to look super cool. :-)All in all, we were very impressed and thrilled at how it allowed our days to be enjoyed differently and at a more relaxed pace. A+ :-)
We didn't stay on property so this is strictly from the perspective of a non-resort experience at DAK where all guests had access to FP+.Pros:-Picking your ride time is a huge plus. At the other parks where we used the old system we were often stuck with fastpasses that overlapped dinning reservations.-With the old system we frequently found ourselves walking from one side of the park to the other when we were eligible for a new fastpass. With the new system you don't have to worry about wasting time running around the park trying to maximize your fastpass usage.-No longer have to worry about losing fastpass tickets.Cons:-Only 3 rides. Even when we were at the parks during the dreaded Christmas-NYE week we were able to get at least 4 passes with the old system. Hopefully this can be reworked.-Lines to get in to the fastpass line. The old system of a CM checking your fastpass ticket on the way in is much faster than having everyone scan their bracelets. Many people showed up early or had other problems and held up the line trying to troubleshoot. Some rides had rather long lines just to get in to the fastpass line.-Lines for non-resort guests to book their FP+ reservations. The lines at DAK to work with a CM to make your FP+ reservations were almost 30min long. All the time saving benefits to this system are lost. Hopefully this is only temporary as they roll out the system. I can't imagine what it will be like during spring break if this same method is used in the more popular parks.
It was a complete hit with the wife and I. The true test will happen when everyone is on board but we loved it. The system gave us the freedom to do other things in the morning instead of having to be at the park to get a fastpass for later in the day. For the first time ever, we rode Soarin and Toy Story before 5pm on days we got to the park after lunch! It also gives you the ability to change from one ride to another, even in the ride time window, which was also a plus. Don't feel like walking from Tomorrowland to Big Thunder Mountain? Change to another ride close by. There were a couple of readers at the rides that were a little finicky that you had to position everything just right for them to read the bands, but otherwise a big thumbs up!
My biggest complaint was conectivity within the parks and the resorts. I would estimate I was down in excess of 40% of the time. Could verify fast pass times, dining reservation times, make changes or access the map and waiting times apps.But, other than that - great - got all our rides done 60 days in advance and kept "tweaking" them with no problem. Made out "major" ride reservation in advance of new limiting policy in some parks. Saved dashing back and forth across the parks to get the next fast pass when we were eligible - that was great!!!In hindsight - we made too many fast pass reservations for early in the day when stand by waits were minimal and usually are. We are always at the parks gates before opening, so we can hit a few major rides with no little to no wait. My advice to everyone who tours like this is to make fast pass reservations for noon on.What we did do is when we got to some of our fast pass reservations and realized there was no siginifcant wait - we quickly went on line and cancelled our existing fast pass reservations and booked something else for later in the day - an incredible feature!I do think thge new major ride restrictions in some parks and limiting to 3 fast pass reservations per day is too restrictive. When I think back to previoius trips, we always got 5 -6 fast passes per day and always for the major rides. It just seems to me that assuming same amount of guests, you should be able to get same amount of fast passes. Maybe the could allow an additional reservation after say 11:00 am, allowing day guests to make theirs before more slots are taken. Sure hope Disney reads these blogs to learn how to improve.
We used them in October when legacy FP was still available. Though, we ended up only using FP+ with the magic bands and did not pull a FP. We found ourselves arriving at the parks later than our normal trips because we knew we could get on what we wanted. This was before tiered options were testing so this is based on being able to hold TSMM, RnRC, ToT or Test Track, Soarin at the same time. The band worked perfect for purchases (Food and Wine, etc) and opening the door.