Momof3greatkids
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2004
My husband and I, along with our children, just returned from Costa Rica. Here are our overall observations: 1.) Disney does an excellent job with this tour. Every thing is first class and the service is mostly excellent. 2.) Our airline flight was diverted to Liberia, Costa Rica due to fog in San Jose. The guides told us that this has happened before, so you might want to consider arriving at least a day early. Fortunately, we were supposed to arrive a day ahead of time, and did not miss the start of the trip. 3.) Costa Rica is covered with 80% mountains, and the roads are curvy and rough. There is a lot of time spent on the bus, during the first few days. We had several people get bus sick, so you might want to bring Dramamine if this bothers you. The airline flight to Manuel Antonio was also bumpy and caused some to have motion sickness. There are Disney Movies shown on the bus to help pass the time, along with commentary about C/R by the guides. One guide is always a naturalist. 4.) There where also several people who got upset stomachs, due to exposure to germs our American stomachs arent used to, so you might want to come prepared for this also. The food and drink is all considered safe. 5.) Costa Rica is a very humid country, as you would expect. So, be prepared for some hot and humid times. C/Rs version of a/c varied from place to place. Our room at Arenal was very cool, but at Manuel it never got much below 76/78 degrees. All dining, except in San Jose is outside. 6.) This adventure has a very busy and exhausting itinerary. You are constantly on the go, and there is a lot of living out of your suitcase. 7.) Ziplining was very fast, long, and high. It was a great experience but not for the faint of heart. The children are all given a guide to go with them. The children must be 8, and no exceptions are given to this rule. Whitewater rafting was a big hit with everyone. The rapids only go up to Class 2, so the children can go along. The guides point out wildlife along the way, including poison dart frogs. The Pineapple plantation was more fun than it sounded, and the fruit and juice there are the best we have ever had. La Paz was an excellent experience. The waterfalls are amazing, and they also have a butterfly house, aviary, monkeys, snakes, and frogs. The trails are curvy and steep on the way to the waterfalls. They have naturalists there that do excellent jobs explaining all about what you are seeing. We had one lady who had a parakeet steal an earring right out of her ear in the aviary. They will warn you about this, and obviously arent kidding. 8.) The food overall was very good. The only exception was at Hildago Hot Springs. The steak had so much grizzle you could not cut it. There are always kid friendly offerings. The food at the Intercontinental in San Jose was very expensive, as in $100.00 for lunch, so you might want to consider eating at the mall across the street. 9.) The hotels where all beautiful, and the views at Arenal and Manuel Antonio, where to die for. The service was good, with the exception of Hotel Arenas del Mar. The front desk did not speak English well at all, some of the rooms never did get their a/c to work, and the restaurant took 2 ½ hours to serve dinner. I think they try very hard, but the hotel is new and the language barrier seems to cause a problem. The rooms at Arenal and Manuel both had Jacuzzis. The deck at Manuel, which is where the Jacuzzi is located, was the biggest and best we have ever seen. 10.) The only bad experience we had was on the walk through the national forest in Manuel Antonio. It was miserably hot and humid, with no breeze at all. You had to carry your personal belongings with you, including a big beach towel, so you could stop at the beach for an hour swim during the hike. After the swim, you had to hike another 20 minutes to get out of the park. You have to cross a stream and it is rocky. So you need to be careful. The other thing, I think they could improve on, is the fact that you must stay at the beach about 4 hours the day you arrive in Manuel Antonio. The beach is great, but some people where tired, and didnt want to stay that long, but you had no option. 11.) We loved seeing all the animals, monkeys, sloths, toucans, coatis, bats, lizards, and even a boa constrictor hanging up in the tree above the beach. They have a telescope so you can see them up close and personal. 12.) We all had a good time, and would highly recommend this adventure to you. Please let us know if you have any questions. It is hard to cover everything. Happy Travels!!
- we plan to just hang out at the hotel for a day. Any advice for killing time before the tour actually starts?
First they acted surprised that it was broken. Then they said it would be on very soon. Then they said a few hours. It was finally the 2nd night they admitted it wouldn't be fixed anytime soon. Well bummer, I gave them a really good review on Trip Advisor despite the A/C problem.
