samsteele
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2014
I just returned from my All Star Sports stay and thought to post an update. My trip was a mixed bag. I hadn't been to WDW in 5 years so many changes.
I did get covid mid way through my trip (tested). At least I enjoyed the first number of days and had some wonderful steak dinners at Yachtsman and Steakhouse 71 before covid. I credit wearing my mask on the flight down with buying me some time to enjoy the first half of the trip. I did not mask in the parks and the majority of guests were coughing, had runny noses and clearly sick. No amount of hand sanitizer before meals can protect from that virus load. While you may not get sick if dipping in for only one park day, most people will likely get covid if going into the parks for multiple days. I saw a handful of people with the old cotton masks in the parks but the vast majority were not masked. My covid symptoms were a mild upper respiratory cold and flu like experience. I packed Mucinex with Guaifenesin expectorant in case I drove it into my lungs and filled my lungs with fluid. Thankfully, I didn't need it but did pull back and pace myself once I knew I was sick. Tylenol for muscle aches and Buckleys day and night cold pills were sufficient to relieve basic symptoms. Now that I'm home, I've had some bad headaches at night likely due to sinus pressure and stronger extra strength Advil has been a big help. I lost my sense of smell and taste for 24 hours. Smell back. Taste only back at 50% but will likely improve over the next week. I masked for the Mears shuttle back to MCO, in the airport and on the flight back to Toronto. But most passengers around me were coughing, wiping their nose, etc and unmasked so loaded planes returning to Toronto.
I had a 2 hour flight delay with Westjet on arrival and so was late checking into Sports. They placed me in one of the far back Tennis Center Court Buildings near the back parking lot. I asked to be moved at check in and was told a full house so can't help. I asked the next day and the following day and same reply not possible to be moved. This is new. This is my 3rd or 4th stay at Sports and they usually can work a room change if not on arrival at least the following day. They lost my magic band I had paid for. They probably sent it back. There was some guest recovery as I was given a $50 voucher to spend only on a replacement magic band. I had trouble using it as it was considered suspicious at the gift shop. I finally got my replacement band but wasted 45 mins as a result.
Wifi in my room was just ok. It wasn't wonderful and weirdly seemed to be better when I stood in the bathtub. I agree with previous posters like @scrappinginontario that wifi generally at WDW has hugely improved. But my outlier building may have been too far out for great wifi. Two good wifi tips if staying at All Stars: 1) open the app and be prepared to refresh at least by 6:30am for 7am vq drop or you may get skunked and not get the app to load and 2) regardless of your resort, use the Florida Blue Health lounge in the old Restaurant Marrakesh in Epcot to book your 1pm Guardians vq. The wifi was very strong in the building and I got my Guardians there when I couldn't get the app to open in my room. There is a free pass for the lounge online. Just google and either print it out or load it on your phone. Free bubbly drinks and mint tea plus henna tattoos. The a/c is wonderful. I did ride Guardians in Epcot and Tron in MK. Guardians is wonderful. I have mild motion sickness if I read in a car for any length of time but had no problems at all. Tron was too intense for me. Glad I tried it but the initial take off is too fast for my comfort. I'm in my mid 50s now and just don't enjoy the same thrill rides as I did in my 20s and 30s.
The bus system at Sports was great and I have no complaints. The new to me digital departure boards are a huge plus. The All Stars can move people. Kudos there.
I did have more violent and aggressive encounters with other guests in the park. This is a big change from 5 years ago. I had a grandmother punch me in the back with a closed fist twice when I physically couldn't get out of her way. Her young granddaughter darted in front of me when the doors swung open at Tough To Be a Bug in AK. It's a bad pinch point and I just couldn't move to the side to let grandmother run after the child. There was nowhere for me to move. I understand she was frantic and terrified. But punching another woman in the back doesn't make it better. Language barriers were an issue. I had a few bruises and moved on. Grandma disappeared after the child. Mom and Dad probably left her to deal with more grandchildren to care for than she had hands to hold onto. I also had more sharp elbows in the ribs during the running of the bulls for the early half hour park entries. It's getting worse and not better. My wait service in sit down restaurants was also a mixed bag. I'm a solo diner and understand that a waiter's assumption of a smaller tip is built into a small table. I had great service at Yachtsman, as always. I had flaky service at Steakhouse 71 where my waitress abandoned me for my meal to sit at the neighbouring table to talk about pin collecting. Other waiters refilled my glass, brought out my food and the manager asked me how my meal was and helped me with any concerns. I had a bad dining experience at Toledo when the waiter threw the menu on the table and walked away. I still enjoyed my food but now understand why solo diners are apprehensive about eating at table service in WDW. Again, experiences I hadn't had in nearly 20 years of visiting WDW.
I took the room discount offer and dropped the food credit offer. This worked to my advantage and I probably saved approx $200 US with the room discount after I added up my out of pocket food expenses. I enjoyed some good meals at Yachtsman, Steakhouse 71, Jaleo (Orlando Magical Dining offer is great), Toledo and 2 meals at the Boathouse. So I certainly enjoyed some more $ dining experiences and didn't feel like I had missed out on good food.
I really debated whether to book the bounce back offer but ultimately decided I should with the knowledge I can cancel 30 days out if I wish. FYI for mid September next year, there were no standard rooms available at AS Music or AS Movies only at Sports. POP was another $500 plus for the same time period. Interesting that Movies is included in the bounce back at all as Movies is often excluded from any discounts. I'm not sure I will be returning next year. I'm definitely going to look at some European bus tours and cruises first. I'm going to take some time to process my vacation experiences and decide if I want to do this again. I may have had a tough run and next year may be much better. But it may not be. I have time to decide. Wishing you all the best on your WDW trips. Everyone's travel experience is unique. Hoping you all stay healthy and find enjoyment in your vacation.
I did get covid mid way through my trip (tested). At least I enjoyed the first number of days and had some wonderful steak dinners at Yachtsman and Steakhouse 71 before covid. I credit wearing my mask on the flight down with buying me some time to enjoy the first half of the trip. I did not mask in the parks and the majority of guests were coughing, had runny noses and clearly sick. No amount of hand sanitizer before meals can protect from that virus load. While you may not get sick if dipping in for only one park day, most people will likely get covid if going into the parks for multiple days. I saw a handful of people with the old cotton masks in the parks but the vast majority were not masked. My covid symptoms were a mild upper respiratory cold and flu like experience. I packed Mucinex with Guaifenesin expectorant in case I drove it into my lungs and filled my lungs with fluid. Thankfully, I didn't need it but did pull back and pace myself once I knew I was sick. Tylenol for muscle aches and Buckleys day and night cold pills were sufficient to relieve basic symptoms. Now that I'm home, I've had some bad headaches at night likely due to sinus pressure and stronger extra strength Advil has been a big help. I lost my sense of smell and taste for 24 hours. Smell back. Taste only back at 50% but will likely improve over the next week. I masked for the Mears shuttle back to MCO, in the airport and on the flight back to Toronto. But most passengers around me were coughing, wiping their nose, etc and unmasked so loaded planes returning to Toronto.
I had a 2 hour flight delay with Westjet on arrival and so was late checking into Sports. They placed me in one of the far back Tennis Center Court Buildings near the back parking lot. I asked to be moved at check in and was told a full house so can't help. I asked the next day and the following day and same reply not possible to be moved. This is new. This is my 3rd or 4th stay at Sports and they usually can work a room change if not on arrival at least the following day. They lost my magic band I had paid for. They probably sent it back. There was some guest recovery as I was given a $50 voucher to spend only on a replacement magic band. I had trouble using it as it was considered suspicious at the gift shop. I finally got my replacement band but wasted 45 mins as a result.
Wifi in my room was just ok. It wasn't wonderful and weirdly seemed to be better when I stood in the bathtub. I agree with previous posters like @scrappinginontario that wifi generally at WDW has hugely improved. But my outlier building may have been too far out for great wifi. Two good wifi tips if staying at All Stars: 1) open the app and be prepared to refresh at least by 6:30am for 7am vq drop or you may get skunked and not get the app to load and 2) regardless of your resort, use the Florida Blue Health lounge in the old Restaurant Marrakesh in Epcot to book your 1pm Guardians vq. The wifi was very strong in the building and I got my Guardians there when I couldn't get the app to open in my room. There is a free pass for the lounge online. Just google and either print it out or load it on your phone. Free bubbly drinks and mint tea plus henna tattoos. The a/c is wonderful. I did ride Guardians in Epcot and Tron in MK. Guardians is wonderful. I have mild motion sickness if I read in a car for any length of time but had no problems at all. Tron was too intense for me. Glad I tried it but the initial take off is too fast for my comfort. I'm in my mid 50s now and just don't enjoy the same thrill rides as I did in my 20s and 30s.
The bus system at Sports was great and I have no complaints. The new to me digital departure boards are a huge plus. The All Stars can move people. Kudos there.
I did have more violent and aggressive encounters with other guests in the park. This is a big change from 5 years ago. I had a grandmother punch me in the back with a closed fist twice when I physically couldn't get out of her way. Her young granddaughter darted in front of me when the doors swung open at Tough To Be a Bug in AK. It's a bad pinch point and I just couldn't move to the side to let grandmother run after the child. There was nowhere for me to move. I understand she was frantic and terrified. But punching another woman in the back doesn't make it better. Language barriers were an issue. I had a few bruises and moved on. Grandma disappeared after the child. Mom and Dad probably left her to deal with more grandchildren to care for than she had hands to hold onto. I also had more sharp elbows in the ribs during the running of the bulls for the early half hour park entries. It's getting worse and not better. My wait service in sit down restaurants was also a mixed bag. I'm a solo diner and understand that a waiter's assumption of a smaller tip is built into a small table. I had great service at Yachtsman, as always. I had flaky service at Steakhouse 71 where my waitress abandoned me for my meal to sit at the neighbouring table to talk about pin collecting. Other waiters refilled my glass, brought out my food and the manager asked me how my meal was and helped me with any concerns. I had a bad dining experience at Toledo when the waiter threw the menu on the table and walked away. I still enjoyed my food but now understand why solo diners are apprehensive about eating at table service in WDW. Again, experiences I hadn't had in nearly 20 years of visiting WDW.
I took the room discount offer and dropped the food credit offer. This worked to my advantage and I probably saved approx $200 US with the room discount after I added up my out of pocket food expenses. I enjoyed some good meals at Yachtsman, Steakhouse 71, Jaleo (Orlando Magical Dining offer is great), Toledo and 2 meals at the Boathouse. So I certainly enjoyed some more $ dining experiences and didn't feel like I had missed out on good food.
I really debated whether to book the bounce back offer but ultimately decided I should with the knowledge I can cancel 30 days out if I wish. FYI for mid September next year, there were no standard rooms available at AS Music or AS Movies only at Sports. POP was another $500 plus for the same time period. Interesting that Movies is included in the bounce back at all as Movies is often excluded from any discounts. I'm not sure I will be returning next year. I'm definitely going to look at some European bus tours and cruises first. I'm going to take some time to process my vacation experiences and decide if I want to do this again. I may have had a tough run and next year may be much better. But it may not be. I have time to decide. Wishing you all the best on your WDW trips. Everyone's travel experience is unique. Hoping you all stay healthy and find enjoyment in your vacation.
I'm sorry to hear you got Covid and I hope that you are feeling 100% very soon.
