bellatheball
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2012
I wrote this trip review for a non-Disney discussion site so forgive me if some of it is very basic for the rest of you Disney vets!
Booking
We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside for a few reasons. First, it was the only one that accommodated all five of us without having to pay twice as much for a suite. Second, we got a "pin" (discount code) for 35% off. Only certain resorts give you 35% off and ours wasn't one of them. We still had 25% off our rooms which seemed reasonable enough. Free dining didn't apply to us (they won't give you free dining on a discounted room and, apparently, certain resorts are exempt from free dining each season). So we wound up armed with a package deal that included a dining program, a park ticket for each day, and our rooms. It was a ton of money. I'm convinced we could have done it better but I was so worn down by the whole process, I just gave up and booked.
Resort
Port Orleans is broken into two halves: French Quarter and Riverside. The grounds are beautiful. Like most Disney resorts, it felt very lush and transports you to another place: New Orleans. The lobby is impressive and includes a bar that has lively sing-a-longs every night, a sit down restaurant, and a quick service dining hall. They have several smaller pools and one large one in the middle which has a few more bells and whistles. They have a bonfire and outdoor movie most nights.
The rooms were decorated in a similar theme and looked updated enough. They aren't quite as new as Animal Kingdom but also aren't as dated as The Polynesian had become before being renovated. That said, I was really surprised at the cleanliness factor. The sheets and bedding were white and clean. At first look, the bathroom looked fine too...it wasn't. It needed a good amount of scrubbing.
I'm not sure we'd stay there again if we were able to find different options.
Dining Plan
There are different dining plans. The most basic includes one sit down meal (table service), one cafeteria-type meal (quick service) and one snack/day of your stay. You can use them however you'd like. An adult meal includes an entree, drink and dessert. Kids meals include an entree, drink, and whatever sides they offer for that meal.
Some restaurants are always quick service or table service. Some alter depending on the time of day you are dining. WAtch for that because it can be tricky!
Kids can order an adult meal at any quick service restaurant. They don't tell you that but some cashiers will let you know it's true. You can't do this for table service.
I kept a loose eye on how much we were spending. For five of us, most table service meals were between $100-$120. Most quick service meals were between $45-$65. I don't remember the cost of the dining plan alone but it probably paid for itself.
Magic Bands
The idea of Magic Bands gave me a headache before the trip but they are brilliant! Essentially, Disney sends you a wrist band (your choice of color) before your trip. It contains information about your hotel reservations, dining plans, and park tickets. Once you check in, you can use it to charge anything in the parks and it becomes your room key. Essentially, you could go to the park with no keys, no wallets, no identification, no tickets, and be fine all day long.
You use them to get into your resort and your room. You swipe it to charge your meals (or use the dining plan). You can use it for Fast Passes and for charging in the parks.
In true Disney fashion, they now sell little pins to dress your Magic Band up a bit. Lots of kids were running around with another twenty bucks work of these on their bands.
Fast Passes
I really think this system works a bit better than the old system. In the past, you got a Fast Pass and they'd tell you when to come back for a ride. Once you used the FP, you could get another one. The new system allows you to pick your FP options before your trip. You get up to three per day and, once you have used them, you can go to a park kiosk and get another one.
Pros:
It's nice to have three you can knock out pretty quickly (depending on availability).
It's nice to have a game plan heading into the park.
The wait lines are much shorter than they used to be in the old system. We never waited more than 5 minutes.
It feels more efficient.
If you download the Disney app, you can change your FP selections even while you are in line for something. It's very handy and gives you wait times as well.
Cons:
Sometimes you can't get the FPs you want because they are already "sold out."
It requires some work ahead of time.
Parks
Magic Kingdom
Wow. They really upped their game! The last few times we went to MK, it felt like a day-and-a-half-park. There was plenty to do and see but you could really manage it in a day and a half. With the addition to Fantasyland, it's a 2-3 day park for sure. We spent two full days there (14 hours and 13 hours) and still left feeling like there was more to do.
Fantasyland was fantastic. Enchanted Tales with Belle lets kids become part of the story of how Belle and the Beast fall in love. Belle shows up half way through to help and the kids all get their pictures with her. Under the Sea- The Journey of the Little Mermaid is a retelling of the story with actors. It had some added "4D" effects as well. Peter Pan's Flight is another new ride that takes the kids through vignettes of the story while they are flying through it. All of them were great. The other older stand-bys were still good too.
Somehow we managed a table at Be Our Guest! Wow. That was cool. It's a dining hall (tricky one where it's Quick Service at lunch, Table Service at dinner) made to look like the Beast's castle. You eat in the ballroom and they have a West Wing and art hall as well. THe food was good and had more choices for kids. The desserts were great. We got lucky and were there on a day that the Beast was. After eating, guests take their photos with him. It was very cool.
Gaston's Tavern is new too. They mostly just have snacks (and some pork). The cinnamon rolls are enormous! The overall theme was pretty cool too.
Most of the rest of the park is similar to past years. Our favorites were the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and The Haunted Mansion.
We also went to the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. It's always a ton of fun. We nearly got rained out but were thrilled when the heavy downpour lifted right before the 8pm parade. The park always feels so magical during these parties. Everything glows and looks a little creepy. Most people (parents and kids) were dressed up for it. The parades are awesome. They also have their fireworks and another 10-15 minute show where they transform the castle into a creepy one. All very cool.
Hollywood Studios
This has always been one of my kids' favorites in the past. While we still spent two days there, they weren't as thrilled with it this time around. The big bonus was that they were still celebrating Frozen in the park. That meant they had a parade with Anna and Elsa in the morning, which took a lot of pressure off of us since our 4 year old wanted to see her so badly. They also had several Frozen attractions around the park, Frozen fireworks (truly spectacular!), and lots and lots of Frozen merchandise.
The kids loved the Indiana Jones stunt show and got to meet the characters afterwards. We thought the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show would be even more impressive to our boys but it felt a little long to all of us. The Beauty and the Beast show was great, as always. I still don't get the attraction to Fantastmic. I've seen it a few times and have always felt underwhelmed.
My kids got to battle Darth Vader on stage. HUGE! They were thrilled. They loved the Star Tours ride, The Rock and Rollers Coaster, and the Tower of Terror.
We ate at 50's Prime Time, which was good. It felt like eating in my grandma's old kitchen. Good food. Good service. Mama Melrose was ok. It's Italian food for the Olive Garden set. Hollywood and Vine was really good. It's a huge buffet but with a high focus on good food and fresh food. They had tons of fruits and veggies.
Animal Kingdom
I underestimated how much my kids would love this park. In the past, we've taken 5-6 hours to get through it. We needed the whole day this time. They loved the safari ride (you get up close and personal with several animals), the hikes/trails to look for animals, Everest (the ride), and the River Rapids ride.
The Lion King was fantastic. Great music. Great dancing. Great costumes. I'd have gone to see it a few times.
They also have a giant play area for the kids. My youngest told me he was sad that he didn't get to play. I thought he was crazy. Then we would up in this play area. All three of my kids ran around for 45 minutes and came out new people. I didn't realize how much they just needed to have some free-play time rather than the structured play the rest of the trip gave them.
Epcot
We only spent 4 hours in this park. It's never been my favorite with kids but they loved it this time. Some of the rides felt dated to me. Others were amazing (Test Track!). If you have kids who at all interested in STEM, do Test Tract. They get to build their own cars and see how they'd preform compared to others. This is another place where Disney uses their Magic Bands to their full advantage. The computer remembers the car you made for the entire experience. It's very cool.
Character meet and greets are much easier in this park as well.
Universal Studios
It was really hard to choose which of the two parks to do for one day. Ultimately, because of open/close times, we did a one day/two park pass for an incredible amount of money! Ugh. Universal is split into two parks, both having Harry Potter attractions. \
Universal Studios, FL
Universal uses a lot of screen technology to create an attraction. You sit in a car of some sort, and are transported somewhere by the images flashing across the screen. It's great at first but can wear on you (and your belly!) after awhile.
That said, The Minion ride was fantastic. They borrowed from Disney by making the line into the ride part of the event. In this cast, Gru and the girls are trying to train you to become minions. It was fun!
My daughter and husband did the Rockit and said it was good. Given how impressive it looks as a roller coaster, I expected more feedback. The Mummy was great! Some old technology but still really good. Shrek 4D was fun. Transformers was a bit scary for my youngest but really cool.
Twisted was weird. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxon give you this huge lead up about how dangerous tornadoes are and how terrifying it was to film the movie. The ride starts and you realize the "ride" is you standing on a porch watching things get blow around (including a fat cow with very obvious ropes attached to it) while the twister hits. My kids even looked at me like, "That's it?"
The big thing for us was Harry Potter. They just opened the new Diagon Alley which is fantastic. You walk through London wondering where in the hell this part of the park went and then someone ushers you through the Leaky Caludron. They went Disney on this attraction. It felt like you were transported to a completely different place. It's exactly how I imagined Diagon alley with the wonky shops, cool cobblestone, and a little bit of creepiness. LOVED IT. Gringotts was thoroughly impressive.
Escape from Gringotts was an amazing ride. Truly. In the few years since they opened the first HP park at Islands of Adventure, they've improved the technology by a landslide. This ride really transports you into the HP world.
The Leaky Cauldron was everything I'd have imagined as well. They don't do any Americanized food here. It's all British (and Hogwarts). The food was good but I found myself looking at all of the little details of the place instead of enjoying my food.
They have some gimmicky stuff that is, frankly, cool. They sell you $44 wants that actually work in that part of the park. Kids can learn spells to make drinking fountains turn on, make it rain, etc. More than one adult was into it as well. You could spend hours in this area of Universal Studios. It doesn't have as many rides as the other side (Islands of Adventure) but the details pull you in and make it worthwhile.
Finally, we took the Hogwarts Express over to the other side of the park. Wow. That was cool. I won't spoil anything but my kids were really impressed.
Islands of Adventure
This is the other half of the park. We only had 3 hours on this side so we focused almost entirely on Hogsmeade. The Forbidden Journey is the bigger ride and, as I said, it already feels dated when compared to the newer ride. That said, it's still a lot of fun. You battle giant spiders, dementors, and the whomping willow. They have two other rides that are part of the Harry Potter park. One is meant for younger kids (fun!) and the other is a battling dragon that was refurbished and incorporated into the HP park.
The shops are good but I think they relocated some of them over to Diagon Alley. There weren't as many places for shopping as previously. Initially, the scenery and landscape is impressive but they didn't give it the level of detail they gave to Diagon Alley. I wonder if they'll update that over time.
Sorry for the information overload. Hope it helps someone. Now I'm off to do the heaps of laundry!
Booking
We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside for a few reasons. First, it was the only one that accommodated all five of us without having to pay twice as much for a suite. Second, we got a "pin" (discount code) for 35% off. Only certain resorts give you 35% off and ours wasn't one of them. We still had 25% off our rooms which seemed reasonable enough. Free dining didn't apply to us (they won't give you free dining on a discounted room and, apparently, certain resorts are exempt from free dining each season). So we wound up armed with a package deal that included a dining program, a park ticket for each day, and our rooms. It was a ton of money. I'm convinced we could have done it better but I was so worn down by the whole process, I just gave up and booked.
Resort
Port Orleans is broken into two halves: French Quarter and Riverside. The grounds are beautiful. Like most Disney resorts, it felt very lush and transports you to another place: New Orleans. The lobby is impressive and includes a bar that has lively sing-a-longs every night, a sit down restaurant, and a quick service dining hall. They have several smaller pools and one large one in the middle which has a few more bells and whistles. They have a bonfire and outdoor movie most nights.
The rooms were decorated in a similar theme and looked updated enough. They aren't quite as new as Animal Kingdom but also aren't as dated as The Polynesian had become before being renovated. That said, I was really surprised at the cleanliness factor. The sheets and bedding were white and clean. At first look, the bathroom looked fine too...it wasn't. It needed a good amount of scrubbing.
I'm not sure we'd stay there again if we were able to find different options.
Dining Plan
There are different dining plans. The most basic includes one sit down meal (table service), one cafeteria-type meal (quick service) and one snack/day of your stay. You can use them however you'd like. An adult meal includes an entree, drink and dessert. Kids meals include an entree, drink, and whatever sides they offer for that meal.
Some restaurants are always quick service or table service. Some alter depending on the time of day you are dining. WAtch for that because it can be tricky!
Kids can order an adult meal at any quick service restaurant. They don't tell you that but some cashiers will let you know it's true. You can't do this for table service.
I kept a loose eye on how much we were spending. For five of us, most table service meals were between $100-$120. Most quick service meals were between $45-$65. I don't remember the cost of the dining plan alone but it probably paid for itself.
Magic Bands
The idea of Magic Bands gave me a headache before the trip but they are brilliant! Essentially, Disney sends you a wrist band (your choice of color) before your trip. It contains information about your hotel reservations, dining plans, and park tickets. Once you check in, you can use it to charge anything in the parks and it becomes your room key. Essentially, you could go to the park with no keys, no wallets, no identification, no tickets, and be fine all day long.
You use them to get into your resort and your room. You swipe it to charge your meals (or use the dining plan). You can use it for Fast Passes and for charging in the parks.
In true Disney fashion, they now sell little pins to dress your Magic Band up a bit. Lots of kids were running around with another twenty bucks work of these on their bands.
Fast Passes
I really think this system works a bit better than the old system. In the past, you got a Fast Pass and they'd tell you when to come back for a ride. Once you used the FP, you could get another one. The new system allows you to pick your FP options before your trip. You get up to three per day and, once you have used them, you can go to a park kiosk and get another one.
Pros:
It's nice to have three you can knock out pretty quickly (depending on availability).
It's nice to have a game plan heading into the park.
The wait lines are much shorter than they used to be in the old system. We never waited more than 5 minutes.
It feels more efficient.
If you download the Disney app, you can change your FP selections even while you are in line for something. It's very handy and gives you wait times as well.
Cons:
Sometimes you can't get the FPs you want because they are already "sold out."
It requires some work ahead of time.
Parks
Magic Kingdom
Wow. They really upped their game! The last few times we went to MK, it felt like a day-and-a-half-park. There was plenty to do and see but you could really manage it in a day and a half. With the addition to Fantasyland, it's a 2-3 day park for sure. We spent two full days there (14 hours and 13 hours) and still left feeling like there was more to do.
Fantasyland was fantastic. Enchanted Tales with Belle lets kids become part of the story of how Belle and the Beast fall in love. Belle shows up half way through to help and the kids all get their pictures with her. Under the Sea- The Journey of the Little Mermaid is a retelling of the story with actors. It had some added "4D" effects as well. Peter Pan's Flight is another new ride that takes the kids through vignettes of the story while they are flying through it. All of them were great. The other older stand-bys were still good too.
Somehow we managed a table at Be Our Guest! Wow. That was cool. It's a dining hall (tricky one where it's Quick Service at lunch, Table Service at dinner) made to look like the Beast's castle. You eat in the ballroom and they have a West Wing and art hall as well. THe food was good and had more choices for kids. The desserts were great. We got lucky and were there on a day that the Beast was. After eating, guests take their photos with him. It was very cool.
Gaston's Tavern is new too. They mostly just have snacks (and some pork). The cinnamon rolls are enormous! The overall theme was pretty cool too.
Most of the rest of the park is similar to past years. Our favorites were the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and The Haunted Mansion.
We also went to the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. It's always a ton of fun. We nearly got rained out but were thrilled when the heavy downpour lifted right before the 8pm parade. The park always feels so magical during these parties. Everything glows and looks a little creepy. Most people (parents and kids) were dressed up for it. The parades are awesome. They also have their fireworks and another 10-15 minute show where they transform the castle into a creepy one. All very cool.
Hollywood Studios
This has always been one of my kids' favorites in the past. While we still spent two days there, they weren't as thrilled with it this time around. The big bonus was that they were still celebrating Frozen in the park. That meant they had a parade with Anna and Elsa in the morning, which took a lot of pressure off of us since our 4 year old wanted to see her so badly. They also had several Frozen attractions around the park, Frozen fireworks (truly spectacular!), and lots and lots of Frozen merchandise.
The kids loved the Indiana Jones stunt show and got to meet the characters afterwards. We thought the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show would be even more impressive to our boys but it felt a little long to all of us. The Beauty and the Beast show was great, as always. I still don't get the attraction to Fantastmic. I've seen it a few times and have always felt underwhelmed.
My kids got to battle Darth Vader on stage. HUGE! They were thrilled. They loved the Star Tours ride, The Rock and Rollers Coaster, and the Tower of Terror.
We ate at 50's Prime Time, which was good. It felt like eating in my grandma's old kitchen. Good food. Good service. Mama Melrose was ok. It's Italian food for the Olive Garden set. Hollywood and Vine was really good. It's a huge buffet but with a high focus on good food and fresh food. They had tons of fruits and veggies.
Animal Kingdom
I underestimated how much my kids would love this park. In the past, we've taken 5-6 hours to get through it. We needed the whole day this time. They loved the safari ride (you get up close and personal with several animals), the hikes/trails to look for animals, Everest (the ride), and the River Rapids ride.
The Lion King was fantastic. Great music. Great dancing. Great costumes. I'd have gone to see it a few times.
They also have a giant play area for the kids. My youngest told me he was sad that he didn't get to play. I thought he was crazy. Then we would up in this play area. All three of my kids ran around for 45 minutes and came out new people. I didn't realize how much they just needed to have some free-play time rather than the structured play the rest of the trip gave them.
Epcot
We only spent 4 hours in this park. It's never been my favorite with kids but they loved it this time. Some of the rides felt dated to me. Others were amazing (Test Track!). If you have kids who at all interested in STEM, do Test Tract. They get to build their own cars and see how they'd preform compared to others. This is another place where Disney uses their Magic Bands to their full advantage. The computer remembers the car you made for the entire experience. It's very cool.
Character meet and greets are much easier in this park as well.
Universal Studios
It was really hard to choose which of the two parks to do for one day. Ultimately, because of open/close times, we did a one day/two park pass for an incredible amount of money! Ugh. Universal is split into two parks, both having Harry Potter attractions. \
Universal Studios, FL
Universal uses a lot of screen technology to create an attraction. You sit in a car of some sort, and are transported somewhere by the images flashing across the screen. It's great at first but can wear on you (and your belly!) after awhile.
That said, The Minion ride was fantastic. They borrowed from Disney by making the line into the ride part of the event. In this cast, Gru and the girls are trying to train you to become minions. It was fun!
My daughter and husband did the Rockit and said it was good. Given how impressive it looks as a roller coaster, I expected more feedback. The Mummy was great! Some old technology but still really good. Shrek 4D was fun. Transformers was a bit scary for my youngest but really cool.
Twisted was weird. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxon give you this huge lead up about how dangerous tornadoes are and how terrifying it was to film the movie. The ride starts and you realize the "ride" is you standing on a porch watching things get blow around (including a fat cow with very obvious ropes attached to it) while the twister hits. My kids even looked at me like, "That's it?"
The big thing for us was Harry Potter. They just opened the new Diagon Alley which is fantastic. You walk through London wondering where in the hell this part of the park went and then someone ushers you through the Leaky Caludron. They went Disney on this attraction. It felt like you were transported to a completely different place. It's exactly how I imagined Diagon alley with the wonky shops, cool cobblestone, and a little bit of creepiness. LOVED IT. Gringotts was thoroughly impressive.
Escape from Gringotts was an amazing ride. Truly. In the few years since they opened the first HP park at Islands of Adventure, they've improved the technology by a landslide. This ride really transports you into the HP world.
The Leaky Cauldron was everything I'd have imagined as well. They don't do any Americanized food here. It's all British (and Hogwarts). The food was good but I found myself looking at all of the little details of the place instead of enjoying my food.
They have some gimmicky stuff that is, frankly, cool. They sell you $44 wants that actually work in that part of the park. Kids can learn spells to make drinking fountains turn on, make it rain, etc. More than one adult was into it as well. You could spend hours in this area of Universal Studios. It doesn't have as many rides as the other side (Islands of Adventure) but the details pull you in and make it worthwhile.
Finally, we took the Hogwarts Express over to the other side of the park. Wow. That was cool. I won't spoil anything but my kids were really impressed.
Islands of Adventure
This is the other half of the park. We only had 3 hours on this side so we focused almost entirely on Hogsmeade. The Forbidden Journey is the bigger ride and, as I said, it already feels dated when compared to the newer ride. That said, it's still a lot of fun. You battle giant spiders, dementors, and the whomping willow. They have two other rides that are part of the Harry Potter park. One is meant for younger kids (fun!) and the other is a battling dragon that was refurbished and incorporated into the HP park.
The shops are good but I think they relocated some of them over to Diagon Alley. There weren't as many places for shopping as previously. Initially, the scenery and landscape is impressive but they didn't give it the level of detail they gave to Diagon Alley. I wonder if they'll update that over time.
Sorry for the information overload. Hope it helps someone. Now I'm off to do the heaps of laundry!
