Hello all you WDW fans, UNI fans, dust snorters, doom & gloomers, realists, fantasists, paid brand advocates, Disney spies, corporate hacks, WDW MagiCANs, and WDW MagiCAN'Ts ...
I am new to these boards but only in written form, truth be told, I have lurked on here since probably around 2002/2003, so while you may not know me, I know most of you.
I am recently retired (mostly) so I decided what better way to spend my retirement than to dive fully (finally) into my Disney obsession. My first step naturally was to celebrate my new found freedom of time and finally become a member of these here boards thus becoming a functioning cog of the community. I have made a few posts already but I mildly planned my entrance to the board with a recent trip ... and thus I thought what better way to make a proper introduction than with a TRIP REPORT.
I am a single gal, not too old (at least I don't think so), and like I said (mostly) retired, I recently left Lakeland, FL and bought a home in the White Plains, NY area ... anyway I say that to, I guess, justify why I just made a week long solo trip to Walt Disney World. Most of my friends are married with kids, live in different parts of the country, or have hectic work schedules and its hard to coordinate all those schedules ... anyway I digress. The point is I made a solo week long trip to Orlando towards the end of February ... and here are my highlights as succinct as possible.
LODGING: The first 4 nights I stayed at the club level of the Yacht Club. I love the Yacht Club. Overpriced? Yes. Amenities? Not quite on the level with the room rate. However, there is such a great relaxing feel there and being so close to EPCOT, my heart, it's a no brainer for me. Additionally, traveling solo I tend to gravitate towards places with bars/lounges or restaurants with a bar that serve good menus. (i.e. I spend time at Crew's Cup and Flying Fish). The last 4 nights I stayed at the Portofino Bay hotel at Universal. I have a UNI AP (and a WDW AP) and that AP got me a room at Portofino Bay for 160/night! The resort is fabulous and with that rate it becomes unbelievable. Its very frustrating paying 300/night with an AP discount at Disney and then paying 160/night for the same class of hotel with bigger rooms and slightly more amenities. I'm not complaining really just saying this ... if you plan on splitting time between Disney and Universal then do the Universal hotel stay last or else you'll be pretty annoyed at the value/quality to price per night ratio.
FOOD: Let's see ... where to begin? As I stated I spend some time at Crew's Cup and Flying Fish. The latter I really like because, again, I can eat at the bar counter thing alone and not feel like a goon and the food is always very solid. Overpriced? Yes. But to me it's consistently very good to great and it's not like trying to sell my ovaries to get into Le Cellier (which to me has regressed). First let me touch on two places I ventured to outside of theme park areas; Norman's at the Ritz Carlton and Lee and Rick's Oyster Bar on Old winter Garden Road. These two places were fabulous. At Norman's I had beef tartare which so so fresh it melted in my mouth perfectly, in addition to pork belly and ... the real stand out was the foie gras french toast. This dish is so inventive yet simple, it combines some unique flavors to create this intensely savory taste. Delish! Lee and Rick's is on the other end of the spectrum, its charm is that its a bit of a dive with the freshest oysters around. I felt no shame bellying up to the bar with a bucket of oysters and a beer. Let me tell you the oysters were perfect, fresh salty brine going down my throat with that succulent oyster ... just magic.
OK ... theme parks ... let's attack this faster ... at Disney I ate at the Wave, Landscapes of Flavor, bluezoo, Kona Cafe, and the aforementioned Crew's Cup and Flying Fish (twice), in addition to a smattering of Sunshine Seasons, Tangerine Cafe, Pecos Bill's, and Flametree BBQ. I think we all know what to expect from these places now ... on a Disney scale these are Bs, B+s, and maybe some As ... on a real world scale (factoring in value) they are more like B-s to Bs ... but the extra magic from being in Disney is totally worth the extra prices and lower quality (yes I am part of the problem). Let me single out Kona Cafe as still being a great hidden retreat, this place is always good and never busy ... I DON'T GET IT. And two counter services places Sunshine Seasons and Tangerine Cafe ... great quality, preparation, selection, and service. There is no excuse to eat junk in EPCOT with those two places doing great things.
At UNI I ate at The Palm a couple times and The Kitchen. All very good.
THEME PARKS: I wandered through all the parks. It's great being alone to go at my own pace. A side note: The only draw back to being alone is guys assume I am (sad/lonely/in need of them) and I got some unwanted attention ... the EXCEPTIONS were a very attractive woman hit on me at the Palm and a couple of (college aged?) guys I met at IOA who assumed I was younger than I am and invited me to a party (on campus I assume?) one night. That made my night ... I didn't go because it'd be embarrassing to be in my 40s and going to a frat house but the sentiment was enough to put me on a cloud for the evening. Again I digress ... The parks looked pretty good. I feel like in the past year they have TRIED to improve the upkeep and maintenance, although I would argue that it couldn't get any lower than where they sunk that any improvement would be an accomplishment worthy of a parade but still ... let's give credit where it's due ... they seem to be trying. I have been a AP holder for many years, so perhaps I scrutinize more than others but there seemed to be less paint chips and broken AAs than in years past. I enjoyed New Fantasyland aesthetically ... it's some of the most beautiful work they have done in years. But for me ... Storytime with Belle is a waste, Little Mermaid is OK, and obviously jury's out on Mine Train ... I guess it's disappointing to have something so beautiful be so hollow. I guess I don't understand why they couldn't have combined the budgets for Belle and LM and make one E-ticket ... I guess this is for capacity allegedly or whatever ... either way, I liked strolling around it. I especially liked strolling around Storybook Circus at night. I think that mini-land looks fabulous. Again, not much for me to do there but ultimately as a solo traveler I spend quite a bit of time walking around and for me they created a couple of pretty new areas for me to wander in. Now my poor EPCOT ... specifically Future World, it needs some botox, a lift, and possibly implants ... TT2.0 is BLAH. I may be the minority but to me they made the experience very antiseptic ... they took out all the charm of the original, the characters, the goofiness, the actual testing grounds ... now it's black lights. I don't mean to sound all negative because no matter what the experience of going up the lift in Spaceship: Earth gives me goosebumps (no matter who is narrating) and the thrill of Soarin', the smells, the air ... it's magic for sure. The Studios and DAK were business as usual. I think DAK is the best THEMED park overall, every area is immaculately conceived and executed ... obviously just needs more attractions (not named AVATAR). The Studios, SW2.0 is great, I love it ... it works for me. Of course, I am a bit of a fan girl (woman) when it comes to Star Wars but as a fan girl (woman) it hits me right where I want it to. Muppetvision 3D looks great, clean ... I can't wait to find out what's going on in the queue.
Now let me touch on Universal ... they really seem to be trying to up their "game" ... I think they are doing everything right. The pricing of the AP, the perks of the AP, the aggressive construction, the pricing of food and merch, the activities, the experiences ... you can just feel walking around there that they have a swagger to them, they want to hit Disney in the neck. Meaning, they know they can' kill them but they want to knock them down and take their breath away. I did not like Rip Ride It Rock It ... that's probably the only thing I just outright did not like. It had nothing to do with coasters or fear or anything like that I just think it's a big waste of space, boring, and an eye sore. However, I loved the Simpsons (which I didn't think I could do as a big BTTF fan) and I love that they are expanding it. Harry Potter world (again not a fan of the movies) I loved unabashedly, the themeing, the rides, the food, everything just works. T2 looked great too, have they updated that print?
SUMMATION: If we had a scale to rate theme parks in the past I would have put WDW at 9/10 and UNI at a 5/6 ... NOW? I'd say it's more like WDW at 9 and UNI at 7 ... basically I think WDW has regressed a little and UNI has caught up a bit ... you can't walk around UNI and not admire what they are doing. However, (and this is our biggest problem as WDW fans) the "feeling" is just not the same. I love UNI I do but there is a different "feeling" at WDW. You could call it nostalgia, pixie dust, assimilation or whatever but it feels more like "home" ... Perhaps its a product of when the parks were created, who was behind them, the characters ingrained into the fabric of the park ... I don't know ... UNI feels like a great place to visit but WDW feels like "home" ... which sucks because it means they have me. TDO knows this and exploits us as fans ... which means naturally that the "change" we all want is unlikely to happen because we won't stop going. So here's what I learned ... while WDW is not what it used to be or how I want it to be ... it still feels good and what Disney taught me and what WDW was built on is hope. I'll keep going back because it feels good and I hope my loyalty and feelings won't be slowly squashed away ... I still believe.
I am new to these boards but only in written form, truth be told, I have lurked on here since probably around 2002/2003, so while you may not know me, I know most of you.
I am recently retired (mostly) so I decided what better way to spend my retirement than to dive fully (finally) into my Disney obsession. My first step naturally was to celebrate my new found freedom of time and finally become a member of these here boards thus becoming a functioning cog of the community. I have made a few posts already but I mildly planned my entrance to the board with a recent trip ... and thus I thought what better way to make a proper introduction than with a TRIP REPORT.
I am a single gal, not too old (at least I don't think so), and like I said (mostly) retired, I recently left Lakeland, FL and bought a home in the White Plains, NY area ... anyway I say that to, I guess, justify why I just made a week long solo trip to Walt Disney World. Most of my friends are married with kids, live in different parts of the country, or have hectic work schedules and its hard to coordinate all those schedules ... anyway I digress. The point is I made a solo week long trip to Orlando towards the end of February ... and here are my highlights as succinct as possible.
LODGING: The first 4 nights I stayed at the club level of the Yacht Club. I love the Yacht Club. Overpriced? Yes. Amenities? Not quite on the level with the room rate. However, there is such a great relaxing feel there and being so close to EPCOT, my heart, it's a no brainer for me. Additionally, traveling solo I tend to gravitate towards places with bars/lounges or restaurants with a bar that serve good menus. (i.e. I spend time at Crew's Cup and Flying Fish). The last 4 nights I stayed at the Portofino Bay hotel at Universal. I have a UNI AP (and a WDW AP) and that AP got me a room at Portofino Bay for 160/night! The resort is fabulous and with that rate it becomes unbelievable. Its very frustrating paying 300/night with an AP discount at Disney and then paying 160/night for the same class of hotel with bigger rooms and slightly more amenities. I'm not complaining really just saying this ... if you plan on splitting time between Disney and Universal then do the Universal hotel stay last or else you'll be pretty annoyed at the value/quality to price per night ratio.
FOOD: Let's see ... where to begin? As I stated I spend some time at Crew's Cup and Flying Fish. The latter I really like because, again, I can eat at the bar counter thing alone and not feel like a goon and the food is always very solid. Overpriced? Yes. But to me it's consistently very good to great and it's not like trying to sell my ovaries to get into Le Cellier (which to me has regressed). First let me touch on two places I ventured to outside of theme park areas; Norman's at the Ritz Carlton and Lee and Rick's Oyster Bar on Old winter Garden Road. These two places were fabulous. At Norman's I had beef tartare which so so fresh it melted in my mouth perfectly, in addition to pork belly and ... the real stand out was the foie gras french toast. This dish is so inventive yet simple, it combines some unique flavors to create this intensely savory taste. Delish! Lee and Rick's is on the other end of the spectrum, its charm is that its a bit of a dive with the freshest oysters around. I felt no shame bellying up to the bar with a bucket of oysters and a beer. Let me tell you the oysters were perfect, fresh salty brine going down my throat with that succulent oyster ... just magic.
OK ... theme parks ... let's attack this faster ... at Disney I ate at the Wave, Landscapes of Flavor, bluezoo, Kona Cafe, and the aforementioned Crew's Cup and Flying Fish (twice), in addition to a smattering of Sunshine Seasons, Tangerine Cafe, Pecos Bill's, and Flametree BBQ. I think we all know what to expect from these places now ... on a Disney scale these are Bs, B+s, and maybe some As ... on a real world scale (factoring in value) they are more like B-s to Bs ... but the extra magic from being in Disney is totally worth the extra prices and lower quality (yes I am part of the problem). Let me single out Kona Cafe as still being a great hidden retreat, this place is always good and never busy ... I DON'T GET IT. And two counter services places Sunshine Seasons and Tangerine Cafe ... great quality, preparation, selection, and service. There is no excuse to eat junk in EPCOT with those two places doing great things.
At UNI I ate at The Palm a couple times and The Kitchen. All very good.
THEME PARKS: I wandered through all the parks. It's great being alone to go at my own pace. A side note: The only draw back to being alone is guys assume I am (sad/lonely/in need of them) and I got some unwanted attention ... the EXCEPTIONS were a very attractive woman hit on me at the Palm and a couple of (college aged?) guys I met at IOA who assumed I was younger than I am and invited me to a party (on campus I assume?) one night. That made my night ... I didn't go because it'd be embarrassing to be in my 40s and going to a frat house but the sentiment was enough to put me on a cloud for the evening. Again I digress ... The parks looked pretty good. I feel like in the past year they have TRIED to improve the upkeep and maintenance, although I would argue that it couldn't get any lower than where they sunk that any improvement would be an accomplishment worthy of a parade but still ... let's give credit where it's due ... they seem to be trying. I have been a AP holder for many years, so perhaps I scrutinize more than others but there seemed to be less paint chips and broken AAs than in years past. I enjoyed New Fantasyland aesthetically ... it's some of the most beautiful work they have done in years. But for me ... Storytime with Belle is a waste, Little Mermaid is OK, and obviously jury's out on Mine Train ... I guess it's disappointing to have something so beautiful be so hollow. I guess I don't understand why they couldn't have combined the budgets for Belle and LM and make one E-ticket ... I guess this is for capacity allegedly or whatever ... either way, I liked strolling around it. I especially liked strolling around Storybook Circus at night. I think that mini-land looks fabulous. Again, not much for me to do there but ultimately as a solo traveler I spend quite a bit of time walking around and for me they created a couple of pretty new areas for me to wander in. Now my poor EPCOT ... specifically Future World, it needs some botox, a lift, and possibly implants ... TT2.0 is BLAH. I may be the minority but to me they made the experience very antiseptic ... they took out all the charm of the original, the characters, the goofiness, the actual testing grounds ... now it's black lights. I don't mean to sound all negative because no matter what the experience of going up the lift in Spaceship: Earth gives me goosebumps (no matter who is narrating) and the thrill of Soarin', the smells, the air ... it's magic for sure. The Studios and DAK were business as usual. I think DAK is the best THEMED park overall, every area is immaculately conceived and executed ... obviously just needs more attractions (not named AVATAR). The Studios, SW2.0 is great, I love it ... it works for me. Of course, I am a bit of a fan girl (woman) when it comes to Star Wars but as a fan girl (woman) it hits me right where I want it to. Muppetvision 3D looks great, clean ... I can't wait to find out what's going on in the queue.
Now let me touch on Universal ... they really seem to be trying to up their "game" ... I think they are doing everything right. The pricing of the AP, the perks of the AP, the aggressive construction, the pricing of food and merch, the activities, the experiences ... you can just feel walking around there that they have a swagger to them, they want to hit Disney in the neck. Meaning, they know they can' kill them but they want to knock them down and take their breath away. I did not like Rip Ride It Rock It ... that's probably the only thing I just outright did not like. It had nothing to do with coasters or fear or anything like that I just think it's a big waste of space, boring, and an eye sore. However, I loved the Simpsons (which I didn't think I could do as a big BTTF fan) and I love that they are expanding it. Harry Potter world (again not a fan of the movies) I loved unabashedly, the themeing, the rides, the food, everything just works. T2 looked great too, have they updated that print?
SUMMATION: If we had a scale to rate theme parks in the past I would have put WDW at 9/10 and UNI at a 5/6 ... NOW? I'd say it's more like WDW at 9 and UNI at 7 ... basically I think WDW has regressed a little and UNI has caught up a bit ... you can't walk around UNI and not admire what they are doing. However, (and this is our biggest problem as WDW fans) the "feeling" is just not the same. I love UNI I do but there is a different "feeling" at WDW. You could call it nostalgia, pixie dust, assimilation or whatever but it feels more like "home" ... Perhaps its a product of when the parks were created, who was behind them, the characters ingrained into the fabric of the park ... I don't know ... UNI feels like a great place to visit but WDW feels like "home" ... which sucks because it means they have me. TDO knows this and exploits us as fans ... which means naturally that the "change" we all want is unlikely to happen because we won't stop going. So here's what I learned ... while WDW is not what it used to be or how I want it to be ... it still feels good and what Disney taught me and what WDW was built on is hope. I'll keep going back because it feels good and I hope my loyalty and feelings won't be slowly squashed away ... I still believe.
