Trip Report 2013: Three resorts means 3 times the fun?!
We have only been back for a few days and we are already planning for next year of course. Overall our stays at the Beach Club, Bay Lake Tower and Polynesian were wonderful. You can check out my individual reviews that will be posted soon. When we checked out of BLT and moved to the Polynesian our room was actually ready at 10:30 AM! Turned out to be really nice, since we settled in and went right over to the MK and didn’t need to worry about unpacking and making our ADR later in the afternoon.
The flight from Cleveland was pleasant, but not for a few customers. A woman passed out before the plane was set to push off from the gate and paramedics had to be called in to check her out. They ended up pulling her off the flight as her vitals were okay, but they didn’t want to take any chances. The woman must have been fine because we saw her at Epcot a few days afterwards. What are the chances of that right?! It’s scary, but it happens. I know of a couple of cases where they landed the plane in a different airport because guests had consciousness from illness. Luckily she was okay and we got our flight underway.
I charged my credit card and watched the Golden Girls till we landed. After a smooth flight, we waited forever for the luggage! Continental never had a problem with baggage, but when they merged with United the problems began. Walked across the street to Alamo and picked out a red Impala. We went with something other than white or silver because some people tend to forget which color or make the car was in large, hot, sun parched parking lots. Red just made sense. We packed up the bags and were on our way.
Our first stop was lunch! I suggested House of Blues because the menu was rather large and had plenty of fan favorites. My dad opted for the pulled pork, I went with shrimp tacos and my mother had kiddy grilled cheese. The cornbread is a must have and the other dishes very good.
Afterwards we moved the car around the big dig at DTD to get to Guest Relations. I figured this would be easier than going to the resort, parking and walking over to Epcot. Cory helped us purchase our Annual Passes and Tables in Wonderland card with ease. Unfortunately the computers there were not functioning properly, but I figured concierge could assist us.
We arrived at the Beach Club and were treated like Kings and Queens as soon as we unloaded the car. Concierge assisted us with the Magic Band linking and taught me how to navigate MDE.
The Good:
Club Level at the Beach Club: lovely, friendly staff! Great snacks like crudite and dips, apples and caramel, cheeses and appetizers in the early evening, plus bottomless water for the girl that drinks tons of water. We had not yet gone to the grocery store, so dad appreciated the beer selection.
Magic Bands were awesome. When I first read about them, I wasn’t too keen on the idea, but after a day of using them, forget about it. Holding two cups of coffee while trying to enter the room, no need to fish for your KTTW, just bump Mickeys! You no longer had to make a mad dash to TSMM to get a Fastpass and ride standby. We were able to enter the park a few minutes after opening and get to the standby line at a leisurely pace. Test Track was down the one morning that we had a FP for it, but within 15 minutes of the time expiration I did receive an email notification to pick any other ride, except for Soarin’, for immediate FP line access. Really cool.
My Disney Experience: If you are an obsessive planner, like me, you probably already have spreadsheets and your phone full of ADRs and day plans. MDE has everything there for you on one application. You can plan your FPs around your dining experience and tailor your day. Our last day at the MK we saw that the park was open late, so we changed the time for our last FP and reserved a time for later in the evening.
Izzy at Artist Point…he is a rockstar! He made my birthday very special with cobbler and champagne =). At the same time he tended to a difficult table, he actually had the manager assist him, so our service wouldn’t suffer. That is heads up service.
Smaller ferry service between the resorts on Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon! They worked great getting from the Contemporary to the Wilderness Lodge for dinner and getting to and fro to the Magic Kingdom. The captains are quite friendly too.
The Bad:
Sci-Fi: great atmosphere, great service, but those cannot outshine the bad food. Stale bread, mushy tomatoes on tasteless turkey sandwich and a burger smothered in liquid smoke served with bad French fries. We will not return..probably ever! Good onion rings though!
Guests staring at glowing phone screens during shows
Guests holding up lines because they are staring at their glowing phone screens
Upcoming Polynesian construction makes me sad…walls were up near our favorite building Tahiti. Hopefully we can swing some Poly points when they become available.
No more Liverpool kits at the United Kingdom. Yes I get angry about this lol!! Disney and Warrior please sign a deal!
Why does the Haunted Mansion have a constant 15-20 minutes wait time!! It’s my favorite and I want to ride over and over again. Clearly it has become very popular over the years.
Pirates of the Caribbean-quit changing it!!
The Ugly:
The new band readers and credit card swiping machines. I do not think that all CMs have been trained properly with the new reader or it doesn’t always function correctly, hopefully after the test period they are up to speed. While we were checking into the Polynesian- after the 5th time the CM swiped my father’s credit card she realized that she forgot to press a button on her end. Aye! Another problem that may occur is that some credit card companies shut down the card if a location swiped the card more than once for fraud prevention. Make sure the CM is ready for the payment and only swipe once until you have the confirmation.
The parking situation at Downtown Disney is painful right now. So if are driving here is what you need to know. In the afternoon and early evening there are plenty of spots, but getting to them is the issue! People are flagging you this way or that way and you are left to walk pretty far from the crosswalks and sidewalks in some spots. If you have an ADR spare yourself a little extra time.
Had a FastPass+ for The Little Mermaid Show at DHS. Right after we beamed our bands they announced that the show was cancelled. Like really?! Long line for FP+ assistance and several CMs that didn’t know what to do. At 11 AM, I was unable to secure another FP+ before 2:30 PM, so basically hosed out of a FP for the day. This wasn’t handled the same way as the TT issue, so I was steamed.
Bell Service at the Polynesian. This really fried me. So my parents go down to get the luggage as I stayed behind to snap photographs of the room. They get the car unloaded and the bell man places our bags near a pile of bags going onto the DCL bus, while they waited for another bell person to get a cart. Well that pile continued to grow and consume our luggage that was sitting there. Luckily my mom saw this in action kept her eyes on the bags and immediately brought it to their attention. Finally another gentleman showed up with the metal dolly and loaded the suitcases. A bit too much handing off for me here and what if our suitcases would have been loaded on the DCL bus?!
Observation: Guests who talk continuously through attractions and shows—facepalm. I feel bad for guests that may be experiencing something for the first time or only time!
Things that were new to us:
Fantasyland Expansion: looks awesome. We rode Journey of the Little Mermaid twice and poked around the shop. Didn’t check out Gaston’s Tavern, but wasn’t hankering for a pork shank or Le Fou’s brew either. Be sure to check it out next year.
Test Track: I see what people meant by it being a stripped down version since they took out the individual elements of blocks, weather etc., but the overall ride stayed the same. The new preshow and custom car building is neat, but I think it will get old fast. The boarding procedure is much nice now that they are queuing you up sooner. I couldn’t stand the free for all room dumping of the old TT. Parties got separated and there was pushing and shoving many times.
In conclusion:
We had great weather, just a couple of brief downpours the entire week. Crowds were the worst opening weekend of the Food & Wine Festival, but during the week they were very manageable. TSMM & Soarin’ are still the worst standby lines in terms of early afternoon-long waits. Tower of Terror and Rock ‘N Roller Coaster were manageable stand by lines in the morning. Expedition Everest is another great ride to hit in the early morning because the stand by line rarely goes over the 10 minute mark this time of day. Can’t wait for the Mine Ride to open at Magic Kingdom, but I am sure it will be after we leave like TT did!
I love Disney, but I am always ready to come home at the end of the trip. It is a joy to come home and sleep in your own bed and cook something simple for dinner. I think the biggest reasons I am ready to come are that I get tired of the crowds, people not listening to CMs instructions or cutting in line. I do not know how CMs do it sometimes, so kudos to them.
Let me know if you have any questions-hope you enjoyed reading!
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