avalon451
Errrr... what?
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2008
DH and I went Sept. 13-17th, just the two of us without our teenaged daughters, for my birthday. I finished my trip report the other night (link in my signature). But, I wanted to share a couple of general observations for those of you who don't want to read the whole thing.
Desert Inn: I've been championing this place all over these boards since I stayed there solo last year. I take it all back. Both times, I asked for top floor, as far forward as possible. Last year, they upgraded me for free to a parlor suite, fifth floor, very close to the front, and it was lovely. I could see the crosswalk from my window. The room was quiet, clean, nice. THIS year, they put us on the 3rd floor which is technically still top floor at the back of the property, WAY back in the "courtyard". It was dark, cramped, small, and the water pressure was TERRIBLE. I do not recall having to duck under the shower head last year, and it was like showering under a half-full watering can. Also, they forgot to clean our room one of the days. I talked to management (nicely) and asked why they couldn't have put us closer, considering that I booked 6 months in advance with my request, and got a not-very-clear answer about being 98% full and unable to move us. Also breakfast is pretty lame and the breakfast room is super cramped. Breakfast isn't a deal-breaker for me, but they could at least have yogurt available, and one of the two cold cereals could have been gluten free, like Chex or Cheerios. We ate cold hard boiled eggs and plain instant oatmeal made with a guesstimated amount of water from the hot water urn, and an apple or orange. So much for that; I'll stay elsewhere next time, maybe Park Vue or Grand Legacy since they remodeled.
As a last minute surprise, DH was able to arrange for us to have lunch at Club 33 for my birthday, through his boss at work (she knows the guy who admins the corporate membership!) That event alone made the whole trip! It was so awesome. Really really loved it!
I was excited to do the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour, but it wasn't really what I'd hoped for. It was ok, and I'll say I'm glad to have done it, because the Dream Suite was practically worth the cost and the time commitment in and of itself. But, since I have read lots of history and trivia about the park, there was really not much new I learned. It was ok, but we won't do it again.
We did a character breakfast at the Plaza, Minnie and Friends. I wasn't sure about this, being two adults. Many people said, "Oh, no, it's so fun, the character interactions are great!" But I'll just go ahead and say it-- it wasn't our thing. Not that it was bad, and we're not curmudgeons, but we're also kind of practical people, and I didn't find it easy to suspend my disbelief enough to really get into the character interactions. We enjoyed watching the nearby little ones interact, though.
We did have a couple of on-street character interactions that rocked, though: Goofy (DH's favorite) and Nick Wild/Judy Hopps.
We had a great meal at Napa Rose, chef's counter. That's the 3rd time I've done that one. I think next time we'll just do a table, though. I found myself wondering a lot why they were giving DH a different dish than me, and why they were pouring certain wines differently for each of us. Once we started asking questions, the waiter got a lot more conscious and informative of his wine choices for us.
Being gluten-free at DLR: it's not too hard, they are mostly quite good about it. We didn't have any bad reactions, so they must have been good about not cross contaminating the equipment. The finer restaurants, especially, are very good about making sure you're all set. However, they need to ramp up their bread and dessert choices! There are so many great ideas and options available today; I was shocked that even at the nicest places the choices were sorbet/creme brulee or plain berries. And, very surprisingly, Carthay Circle and Club 33 just used hamburger buns, prettied up with butter, herbs and garlic and sliced up, as a substitute for rolls. However, Blue Bayou had great little brown rolls, and Napa had delicious fresh herbed flat bread. Also: Blue Bayou very graciously made me a gluten free version of the Monte Cristo sandwich, when I emailed ahead and asked before our trip. They had the ingredients ready and made it fresh when we checked in for our meal.
Also on the subject of Blue Bayou: I was a little late making reservations for lunch; I was going for the waterside seating method of booking the earliest 11:30 lunch. Rather than 2 months out, I made reservations maybe 6 weeks out. I was surprised that I could only get 11:40. Then, they were unable to give me waterside, telling me that the first 11:30 seating takes up all the waterside, and it would be about an hour before something became available. So we had a table one back from waterside. This tells me that your best bet for waterside, if not right at 11:30, may be booking on the half hour, to take advantage of those leaving those waterside tables about once an hour. Worth a try, anyway, if you want to go for a later meal.
DH's favorite meal (aside from Club 33) : Carthay Circle lunch. Really nice and great service. Great classic movie star atmosphere.
As others have noted here, the crowds are just... more. It's just generally busier than a few years ago, even in the supposed "off season." You can still get great touring done if you rope drop, though, and take midday breaks.
I'm noticing more maintenance issues, too. You can tell that Disney is not putting the same effort into routine maintenance on the rides as they used to; things are looking worn, breaking down frequently, or, as on Splash Mountain, they just turn off the lights in areas of the ride where it's looking particularly shoddy. C'mon, Disney.
What I loved: getting to do this trip with just DH, without the extra considerations of keeping our 3 very differently-tempered daughters happy. We are very simpatico, and therefore enjoyed the same things and each other's company so much! I'd recommend a couples trip to anybody who can manage it. Leave the kids with Gram and Gramps once, and do grownup things.
As I said, for more details and LOTS of pictures, see the link to my trip report, below.
Desert Inn: I've been championing this place all over these boards since I stayed there solo last year. I take it all back. Both times, I asked for top floor, as far forward as possible. Last year, they upgraded me for free to a parlor suite, fifth floor, very close to the front, and it was lovely. I could see the crosswalk from my window. The room was quiet, clean, nice. THIS year, they put us on the 3rd floor which is technically still top floor at the back of the property, WAY back in the "courtyard". It was dark, cramped, small, and the water pressure was TERRIBLE. I do not recall having to duck under the shower head last year, and it was like showering under a half-full watering can. Also, they forgot to clean our room one of the days. I talked to management (nicely) and asked why they couldn't have put us closer, considering that I booked 6 months in advance with my request, and got a not-very-clear answer about being 98% full and unable to move us. Also breakfast is pretty lame and the breakfast room is super cramped. Breakfast isn't a deal-breaker for me, but they could at least have yogurt available, and one of the two cold cereals could have been gluten free, like Chex or Cheerios. We ate cold hard boiled eggs and plain instant oatmeal made with a guesstimated amount of water from the hot water urn, and an apple or orange. So much for that; I'll stay elsewhere next time, maybe Park Vue or Grand Legacy since they remodeled.
As a last minute surprise, DH was able to arrange for us to have lunch at Club 33 for my birthday, through his boss at work (she knows the guy who admins the corporate membership!) That event alone made the whole trip! It was so awesome. Really really loved it!
I was excited to do the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour, but it wasn't really what I'd hoped for. It was ok, and I'll say I'm glad to have done it, because the Dream Suite was practically worth the cost and the time commitment in and of itself. But, since I have read lots of history and trivia about the park, there was really not much new I learned. It was ok, but we won't do it again.
We did a character breakfast at the Plaza, Minnie and Friends. I wasn't sure about this, being two adults. Many people said, "Oh, no, it's so fun, the character interactions are great!" But I'll just go ahead and say it-- it wasn't our thing. Not that it was bad, and we're not curmudgeons, but we're also kind of practical people, and I didn't find it easy to suspend my disbelief enough to really get into the character interactions. We enjoyed watching the nearby little ones interact, though.
We did have a couple of on-street character interactions that rocked, though: Goofy (DH's favorite) and Nick Wild/Judy Hopps.
We had a great meal at Napa Rose, chef's counter. That's the 3rd time I've done that one. I think next time we'll just do a table, though. I found myself wondering a lot why they were giving DH a different dish than me, and why they were pouring certain wines differently for each of us. Once we started asking questions, the waiter got a lot more conscious and informative of his wine choices for us.
Being gluten-free at DLR: it's not too hard, they are mostly quite good about it. We didn't have any bad reactions, so they must have been good about not cross contaminating the equipment. The finer restaurants, especially, are very good about making sure you're all set. However, they need to ramp up their bread and dessert choices! There are so many great ideas and options available today; I was shocked that even at the nicest places the choices were sorbet/creme brulee or plain berries. And, very surprisingly, Carthay Circle and Club 33 just used hamburger buns, prettied up with butter, herbs and garlic and sliced up, as a substitute for rolls. However, Blue Bayou had great little brown rolls, and Napa had delicious fresh herbed flat bread. Also: Blue Bayou very graciously made me a gluten free version of the Monte Cristo sandwich, when I emailed ahead and asked before our trip. They had the ingredients ready and made it fresh when we checked in for our meal.
Also on the subject of Blue Bayou: I was a little late making reservations for lunch; I was going for the waterside seating method of booking the earliest 11:30 lunch. Rather than 2 months out, I made reservations maybe 6 weeks out. I was surprised that I could only get 11:40. Then, they were unable to give me waterside, telling me that the first 11:30 seating takes up all the waterside, and it would be about an hour before something became available. So we had a table one back from waterside. This tells me that your best bet for waterside, if not right at 11:30, may be booking on the half hour, to take advantage of those leaving those waterside tables about once an hour. Worth a try, anyway, if you want to go for a later meal.
DH's favorite meal (aside from Club 33) : Carthay Circle lunch. Really nice and great service. Great classic movie star atmosphere.
As others have noted here, the crowds are just... more. It's just generally busier than a few years ago, even in the supposed "off season." You can still get great touring done if you rope drop, though, and take midday breaks.
I'm noticing more maintenance issues, too. You can tell that Disney is not putting the same effort into routine maintenance on the rides as they used to; things are looking worn, breaking down frequently, or, as on Splash Mountain, they just turn off the lights in areas of the ride where it's looking particularly shoddy. C'mon, Disney.
What I loved: getting to do this trip with just DH, without the extra considerations of keeping our 3 very differently-tempered daughters happy. We are very simpatico, and therefore enjoyed the same things and each other's company so much! I'd recommend a couples trip to anybody who can manage it. Leave the kids with Gram and Gramps once, and do grownup things.
As I said, for more details and LOTS of pictures, see the link to my trip report, below.
