Tbone17701
Disney Dreamer
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2010
I didn't really intend to do a trip report, but wanted to post a few things from our first SB/Easter trip in case someone might find any of the info useful. Lord knows I've prowled around these boards and imposed my own questions often enough, that a little feedback is the least I can do!
So, this was supposed to be my 40th bday dream trip...be at MK for my big day, stay GF CL, etc. Then just as my DD10 is about to start her first year of middle school, she declared missing school a no-go from here on out. Good-bye MK on my bday (Feb)! That left holidays or summer. Summer is not on the table. (Heat...BAAAD!
) We would love to do Thanksgiving, but family obligations rule that out and though now I think we could tackle the week between Christmas and New Years...Easter seemed less scary this time. So, the deal that I made with My DH was that crazy crowds equal a longer stay. We settled on DDs entire SB from 4/2-4/11.
I figured I could still fulfill the GF CL part of the dream...and then somewhere along the way I read something about the activity pool being refurbed during our stay. DH & DD weren't wild about the GF to begin with, but with only one pool during such a busy time and no slide for DD? So, after some serious pouting about my first world problem, I made my family's day by switching to our favorite resort to date...WL CL. (I won't even dwell on how that GF pool refurb eventually disappeared from the schedule!
) CL was a new thing for us, so I just focused on that and started to get my groove back!
I got all ADRs that I wanted, when I wanted them.
We do not do a dining plan anymore. We find that we just do better in the long run with more flexibility. More on our specific dining experiences once there in a minute.
And then one fine day mid-January I decided to fall down the basement stairs while carrying down the laundry. I gave it my all and broke my ankle in two places with a dislocation for the cherry on top! Once I fought my way out of the horse tranquilizers they gave me to reset things, I all but grabbed every doc I came in contact with by the scrubs throughout the next 72 hours and mumbled, moaned or drooled my plea..."Can I still go to Disney in April"?! (Priorities people!!
) Long story short, after all the kicks and giggles that follow a break, dislocation and surgery, a thumbs up (with caution) from the doc, the best physical therapist EVER (grew up in a DVC family) and some time on the DISabilities forum...we decided to go as scheduled. We rented a wheelchair from Walker which was cheap and easy, but unfortunately barely used. Who knew how many ups and downs there were throughout the parks?
It just didn't seem fair to DH, so I rented a scooter at the parks (had no problem with availability early afternoon and evening) to do AK and the WS one day mid-trip as a little R&R for my ankle, took more breaks, swam more and sucked it up the rest of the time. Actually, the ankle forced a more laid back vacation on us and we ended up being greatful for it!
Now for the notes I made during the trip with the intention of sharing here;
Crowds: We were expecting the worst we could imagine and were pleasantly surprised. It was actually worse the Monday after Easter through the remainder of our stay than the Thursday before through Easter. Fortunately, we've evolved to the point with our WDW trips that we are content with doing whatever we can FP and has a wait that we find feasible (usually 20-30 min max). For this reason, the crowds weren't really an issue for us. I only felt shoulder to shoulder two times the entire trip (once was the usual post Wishes jam at MK and in Africa and Asia at AK for some reason). However, I can see how a first time visitor or commando tourer would be frustrated by the wait times for things. We didn't get to ride things over and over like we have in the past, but we honestly didn't mind as we tried to do either new things or things we've skipped for a while. I should add that our preferred schedule was sleeping in until 10AM-ish, grabbing bfast in the CL lounge, going down to the pool for a couple of hours and then getting ready to hit a park by mid-late afternoon and staying until between 11PM-1AM. We DO NOT do rope drop. Never have.
Weather: Before we went I saw temps in the 90s for several days and started sweating just seeing that! (Remember...heat BAAAD!) Once again we were pleasantly surprised! It was warm-hot for us coming from temps in the 30s during the day, teens at night and snow on the ground, but tolerable with lower humidity. I dare say we found the evenings to be downright delightful!
We were asked to leave the pool one afternoon due to storms in the area, but nothing ever came to pass. In fact, we didn't experience any rain when we were out and about during our stay! Impressive, right?!
FP+: It works for us. We used the 4th quite a bit, but I don't think we ever did a 5th. We found little to no wait at the kiosks and variable availability (obviously better the earlier we checked it). I had no issues with MDE and often changed times and experiences on the fly.
WL CL: I'm not sure if we will do CL again just because we didn't really take full advantage of the offerings and services. It was nice to have (especially paying down the room charges every other day with Disney Gift Cards right on our floor, having bfast available and the occasional pre-park beer for DH), but not a must for us. We did take advantage of checking out movies on laundry and packing night for DD, so that was a bonus. I only asked for assistance with dining once and the CL CM said they couldn't help me, so I went back to the room and called the dining line and they took care of it for me. I also asked them to bring DDs Easter delivery that I ordered from Disney Florist to our room after 9PM Saturday as we planned to return after midnight (making it officially Easter) and she would see that Easter Bunny (yep...still believes) had come. Unfortunately, they knocked on our door at 8PM as we were getting ready. DH and I were on top of our game though and pulled it off in the end, but it was a close call. So, the two times I did ask for added assistance didn't turn out as I'd hoped. Not a biggie, but not a plus either. Our continuing reservation check-in/check-out was smooth and easy though...kept the same room and all! They kept our CC on file for charging, but removed the Express Check-out so we would have to stop by to pay off any residual room charges before check-out. This was great for us as we were worried about paying all charges from late on our last night in cash before the computer auto-charged our CC at midnight. I feel the need to plug Bonnie from the OFC too. She was like being greeted by a warm hug! Other than that, we love WL (decor, atmosphere, dining, transportation, etc.) and were just as pleased as always with our time there!
Dining: We had a lot of ADRs. Some were new, some were favorites and some we just hadn't done in a while. We did decide that overall it's a lot of food and a lot of commitment, so we plan to do just the favorites next trip and visit the QS locations that we really like but didn't have time or room for more. Purely our opinions now and we are by no means foodies...Chef Mickey was our best character bfast (DDs favorite always). Did 1900 PF Easter AM and it was just ok (though Mad Hatter was fantastic). Sci-Fi and 50s PTC were great as always for us. O'Hana was yummy for dinner again, but we simply can't eat that much food at one sitting anymore. We were too full afterward. Biergarten was my favorite again with Tony's a close second (more for atmosphere than anything else). Did BOG for dinner for the first time and that was DHs favorite. We loved the atmosphere! We did San Angel Inn for the first time and all enjoyed it. Did Crystal Palace for dinner Easter night and it was just ok. DD was able to either order from the kids menu or get adult portions of kids meals at all a la carte restaurants. In fact, we both got the kids grilled cheese and tomato soup at BOG. We did wait an average of 30 minutes past our ADR time to be seated at all locations. I just chalked that up to the time of year though.
DTD: We only did this briefly, so I didn't really explore the changes or take too much note of the construction. I just wanted to say that we took the bus from WL late afternoon/early evening without issue or delay round trip.
CMs, park cleanliness and construction: We found most of the CMs to be mainly pleasant and polite. We did not encounter any particularly snarky or grumpy CMs, but did see some dishing out that bubbly Disney demeanor which is always amusing and magical all at once. Sure the headline attraction CMs seemed like they were more than earning their keep with the long waits after Easter, but it didn't equate to anything negative that I witnessed. The parks seemed to be in good shape to me. Yes there were the occasional full bathroom trash cans and clutter, but nothing that didn't seem justifiable given how much they were being used. I get more frustrated with sloppy guests than CMs. I thought the hub area at MK looked great despite the unfinished areas! The construction at AK didn't really phase me much, though it's obviously more apparent there. I did miss the hat at HS, but we'll roll with the changes. I missed Maelstrom though!
Overall we rated our trip a 10 out of 10 and would go back during this time again. The main concerns before going of crowds, heat and my ankle all turned out to be tolerable and did not impact things negatively at all! We are still Disney fans and look forward to our next trip and the changes that will hopefully be completed by then!
Alright, I lied. It's a trip report (and my first, so go easy on me). Sorry, but thanks for reading to those who had the stamina to hang in there! (Clearly I'm not good at brevity.
)
So, this was supposed to be my 40th bday dream trip...be at MK for my big day, stay GF CL, etc. Then just as my DD10 is about to start her first year of middle school, she declared missing school a no-go from here on out. Good-bye MK on my bday (Feb)! That left holidays or summer. Summer is not on the table. (Heat...BAAAD!
) We would love to do Thanksgiving, but family obligations rule that out and though now I think we could tackle the week between Christmas and New Years...Easter seemed less scary this time. So, the deal that I made with My DH was that crazy crowds equal a longer stay. We settled on DDs entire SB from 4/2-4/11. I figured I could still fulfill the GF CL part of the dream...and then somewhere along the way I read something about the activity pool being refurbed during our stay. DH & DD weren't wild about the GF to begin with, but with only one pool during such a busy time and no slide for DD? So, after some serious pouting about my first world problem, I made my family's day by switching to our favorite resort to date...WL CL. (I won't even dwell on how that GF pool refurb eventually disappeared from the schedule!
) CL was a new thing for us, so I just focused on that and started to get my groove back!I got all ADRs that I wanted, when I wanted them.
We do not do a dining plan anymore. We find that we just do better in the long run with more flexibility. More on our specific dining experiences once there in a minute.And then one fine day mid-January I decided to fall down the basement stairs while carrying down the laundry. I gave it my all and broke my ankle in two places with a dislocation for the cherry on top! Once I fought my way out of the horse tranquilizers they gave me to reset things, I all but grabbed every doc I came in contact with by the scrubs throughout the next 72 hours and mumbled, moaned or drooled my plea..."Can I still go to Disney in April"?! (Priorities people!!
) Long story short, after all the kicks and giggles that follow a break, dislocation and surgery, a thumbs up (with caution) from the doc, the best physical therapist EVER (grew up in a DVC family) and some time on the DISabilities forum...we decided to go as scheduled. We rented a wheelchair from Walker which was cheap and easy, but unfortunately barely used. Who knew how many ups and downs there were throughout the parks? It just didn't seem fair to DH, so I rented a scooter at the parks (had no problem with availability early afternoon and evening) to do AK and the WS one day mid-trip as a little R&R for my ankle, took more breaks, swam more and sucked it up the rest of the time. Actually, the ankle forced a more laid back vacation on us and we ended up being greatful for it!Now for the notes I made during the trip with the intention of sharing here;
Crowds: We were expecting the worst we could imagine and were pleasantly surprised. It was actually worse the Monday after Easter through the remainder of our stay than the Thursday before through Easter. Fortunately, we've evolved to the point with our WDW trips that we are content with doing whatever we can FP and has a wait that we find feasible (usually 20-30 min max). For this reason, the crowds weren't really an issue for us. I only felt shoulder to shoulder two times the entire trip (once was the usual post Wishes jam at MK and in Africa and Asia at AK for some reason). However, I can see how a first time visitor or commando tourer would be frustrated by the wait times for things. We didn't get to ride things over and over like we have in the past, but we honestly didn't mind as we tried to do either new things or things we've skipped for a while. I should add that our preferred schedule was sleeping in until 10AM-ish, grabbing bfast in the CL lounge, going down to the pool for a couple of hours and then getting ready to hit a park by mid-late afternoon and staying until between 11PM-1AM. We DO NOT do rope drop. Never have.
Weather: Before we went I saw temps in the 90s for several days and started sweating just seeing that! (Remember...heat BAAAD!) Once again we were pleasantly surprised! It was warm-hot for us coming from temps in the 30s during the day, teens at night and snow on the ground, but tolerable with lower humidity. I dare say we found the evenings to be downright delightful!
We were asked to leave the pool one afternoon due to storms in the area, but nothing ever came to pass. In fact, we didn't experience any rain when we were out and about during our stay! Impressive, right?!FP+: It works for us. We used the 4th quite a bit, but I don't think we ever did a 5th. We found little to no wait at the kiosks and variable availability (obviously better the earlier we checked it). I had no issues with MDE and often changed times and experiences on the fly.
WL CL: I'm not sure if we will do CL again just because we didn't really take full advantage of the offerings and services. It was nice to have (especially paying down the room charges every other day with Disney Gift Cards right on our floor, having bfast available and the occasional pre-park beer for DH), but not a must for us. We did take advantage of checking out movies on laundry and packing night for DD, so that was a bonus. I only asked for assistance with dining once and the CL CM said they couldn't help me, so I went back to the room and called the dining line and they took care of it for me. I also asked them to bring DDs Easter delivery that I ordered from Disney Florist to our room after 9PM Saturday as we planned to return after midnight (making it officially Easter) and she would see that Easter Bunny (yep...still believes) had come. Unfortunately, they knocked on our door at 8PM as we were getting ready. DH and I were on top of our game though and pulled it off in the end, but it was a close call. So, the two times I did ask for added assistance didn't turn out as I'd hoped. Not a biggie, but not a plus either. Our continuing reservation check-in/check-out was smooth and easy though...kept the same room and all! They kept our CC on file for charging, but removed the Express Check-out so we would have to stop by to pay off any residual room charges before check-out. This was great for us as we were worried about paying all charges from late on our last night in cash before the computer auto-charged our CC at midnight. I feel the need to plug Bonnie from the OFC too. She was like being greeted by a warm hug! Other than that, we love WL (decor, atmosphere, dining, transportation, etc.) and were just as pleased as always with our time there!
Dining: We had a lot of ADRs. Some were new, some were favorites and some we just hadn't done in a while. We did decide that overall it's a lot of food and a lot of commitment, so we plan to do just the favorites next trip and visit the QS locations that we really like but didn't have time or room for more. Purely our opinions now and we are by no means foodies...Chef Mickey was our best character bfast (DDs favorite always). Did 1900 PF Easter AM and it was just ok (though Mad Hatter was fantastic). Sci-Fi and 50s PTC were great as always for us. O'Hana was yummy for dinner again, but we simply can't eat that much food at one sitting anymore. We were too full afterward. Biergarten was my favorite again with Tony's a close second (more for atmosphere than anything else). Did BOG for dinner for the first time and that was DHs favorite. We loved the atmosphere! We did San Angel Inn for the first time and all enjoyed it. Did Crystal Palace for dinner Easter night and it was just ok. DD was able to either order from the kids menu or get adult portions of kids meals at all a la carte restaurants. In fact, we both got the kids grilled cheese and tomato soup at BOG. We did wait an average of 30 minutes past our ADR time to be seated at all locations. I just chalked that up to the time of year though.
DTD: We only did this briefly, so I didn't really explore the changes or take too much note of the construction. I just wanted to say that we took the bus from WL late afternoon/early evening without issue or delay round trip.
CMs, park cleanliness and construction: We found most of the CMs to be mainly pleasant and polite. We did not encounter any particularly snarky or grumpy CMs, but did see some dishing out that bubbly Disney demeanor which is always amusing and magical all at once. Sure the headline attraction CMs seemed like they were more than earning their keep with the long waits after Easter, but it didn't equate to anything negative that I witnessed. The parks seemed to be in good shape to me. Yes there were the occasional full bathroom trash cans and clutter, but nothing that didn't seem justifiable given how much they were being used. I get more frustrated with sloppy guests than CMs. I thought the hub area at MK looked great despite the unfinished areas! The construction at AK didn't really phase me much, though it's obviously more apparent there. I did miss the hat at HS, but we'll roll with the changes. I missed Maelstrom though!
Overall we rated our trip a 10 out of 10 and would go back during this time again. The main concerns before going of crowds, heat and my ankle all turned out to be tolerable and did not impact things negatively at all! We are still Disney fans and look forward to our next trip and the changes that will hopefully be completed by then!
Alright, I lied. It's a trip report (and my first, so go easy on me). Sorry, but thanks for reading to those who had the stamina to hang in there! (Clearly I'm not good at brevity.
)
