Just got back from a week at WDW a few days ago. Still in the moping, bummed stage.
Stayed at the GF which was amazing (hadn't stayed there since I was maybe 4?) and much of the refurbs had been pushed back, so we didn't have to navigate too much mess. All the CMs there are awesome. So friendly. Aside from our first day the monorail being down, it was a great hotel.
My things I noted while we were there:
-Our first trip with our son (7 months old) and now that were in the parent side of Disney, we met so many sweet, happy families especially on buses or monorail trips. That was really nice to see especially when so many people talk about negative guests they keep bumping into (I have that story too below)
-I won't be doing the deluxe dining plan again. All in total it was 7 adults and a baby and we all did deluxe thinking we'd make a ton of ADRs for amazing restaurants and max out the value. We did, but sacrificed so much time in the parks and to go to the nicer places, you're paying more in tips than you would have to just go to a decent table service spot (We went to Narcoossee's...yikes! The tip alone made me shudder!)
-Restaurants:
-Brown Derby didn't do much for me. The service was beyond slow. We were in there close to 3 hours mostly waiting!
-LOVE Ohana. Best food, in my opinion. Plus good drinks
We were the only ones in there who didn't get leis though 
-Finally got to eat at Le Cellier and our baby decided it would be best if mom and dad didn't get to eat their delicious steak. I had a bite or two before I ran outside to walk him around. The bite I had was amazing though!
-I hadn't been to the Biergarden in years and was not really looking forward to it. It ended up one of everyone's favorite meals!
-Finally did CRT for breakfast and it really is great. Plus seeing all the excited little girls is really fun. Snow White kissed our little man on the head and we left his big lipstick kiss on all day!
-Rides were all great. No honey smell on Winnie both days we went Most animatronics people call out seemed to be working great (no Yeti though, obv) Oh and our son's favorite ride? Haunted Mansion. He loved it and was laughing the whole way through!
The lowpoints?
-My mom had a ECV for a broken hip. It was fine aside from daily needing to recharge. Most CMs were super accommodating. Buses was a nightmare making her parallel park it. Talk about the easiest way to bring out the evil side of guests! She was mortified at times. Worst was a "lovely" couple staying at the GF with us on their 15th anniversary who decided my mom was probably just using a ECV to be lazy. When she transferred to a seat on a bus back late one night he stood right in front of her and decided to grin to his wife and he rammed into my mom and shoved her to the floor...I was right in front of him stunned I saw him do this! Real classy. My mom screamed in pain and tried to say something to him and he grinned big to his wife and pushed past my mom, ignoring her to go sit in a seat up front. What a jerk.
-Was really disappointed by La Cava. I hadn't been before and walked in excited to get a margarita and some tequila while the rest of our crew was outside. I heard so many great things about the bartenders there but they looked at me like I was invisible (and the bar was empty!) I finally got a menu and was deciding what I wanted and they asked what I wanted. I said I was trying to decide a margarita and before I could finish my sentence the other bartender glugged a premade, cheap margarita from a gallon jug under the counter into a glass, slid it at me and held out his hand for my card. I was taken back by it and said "but I was going to..." he cut me off and re-stated "14 dollars please" I just paid for the generic drink and left. It was really bad. Which is a shame because I got to try a good one from the menu when I was at San Angel Inn. My fault for not being more assertive, but still. I was so looking forward to visiting there too.
All in all it was a great trip full of good food, good company and great firsts for our son at WDW.
-
Stayed at the GF which was amazing (hadn't stayed there since I was maybe 4?) and much of the refurbs had been pushed back, so we didn't have to navigate too much mess. All the CMs there are awesome. So friendly. Aside from our first day the monorail being down, it was a great hotel.
My things I noted while we were there:
-Our first trip with our son (7 months old) and now that were in the parent side of Disney, we met so many sweet, happy families especially on buses or monorail trips. That was really nice to see especially when so many people talk about negative guests they keep bumping into (I have that story too below)
-I won't be doing the deluxe dining plan again. All in total it was 7 adults and a baby and we all did deluxe thinking we'd make a ton of ADRs for amazing restaurants and max out the value. We did, but sacrificed so much time in the parks and to go to the nicer places, you're paying more in tips than you would have to just go to a decent table service spot (We went to Narcoossee's...yikes! The tip alone made me shudder!)
-Restaurants:
-Brown Derby didn't do much for me. The service was beyond slow. We were in there close to 3 hours mostly waiting!
-LOVE Ohana. Best food, in my opinion. Plus good drinks
We were the only ones in there who didn't get leis though -Finally got to eat at Le Cellier and our baby decided it would be best if mom and dad didn't get to eat their delicious steak. I had a bite or two before I ran outside to walk him around. The bite I had was amazing though!
-I hadn't been to the Biergarden in years and was not really looking forward to it. It ended up one of everyone's favorite meals!
-Finally did CRT for breakfast and it really is great. Plus seeing all the excited little girls is really fun. Snow White kissed our little man on the head and we left his big lipstick kiss on all day!
-Rides were all great. No honey smell on Winnie both days we went
Most animatronics people call out seemed to be working great (no Yeti though, obv) Oh and our son's favorite ride? Haunted Mansion. He loved it and was laughing the whole way through!The lowpoints?
-My mom had a ECV for a broken hip. It was fine aside from daily needing to recharge. Most CMs were super accommodating. Buses was a nightmare making her parallel park it. Talk about the easiest way to bring out the evil side of guests! She was mortified at times. Worst was a "lovely" couple staying at the GF with us on their 15th anniversary who decided my mom was probably just using a ECV to be lazy. When she transferred to a seat on a bus back late one night he stood right in front of her and decided to grin to his wife and he rammed into my mom and shoved her to the floor...I was right in front of him stunned I saw him do this! Real classy. My mom screamed in pain and tried to say something to him and he grinned big to his wife and pushed past my mom, ignoring her to go sit in a seat up front. What a jerk.
-Was really disappointed by La Cava. I hadn't been before and walked in excited to get a margarita and some tequila while the rest of our crew was outside. I heard so many great things about the bartenders there but they looked at me like I was invisible (and the bar was empty!) I finally got a menu and was deciding what I wanted and they asked what I wanted. I said I was trying to decide a margarita and before I could finish my sentence the other bartender glugged a premade, cheap margarita from a gallon jug under the counter into a glass, slid it at me and held out his hand for my card. I was taken back by it and said "but I was going to..." he cut me off and re-stated "14 dollars please" I just paid for the generic drink and left. It was really bad. Which is a shame because I got to try a good one from the menu when I was at San Angel Inn. My fault for not being more assertive, but still. I was so looking forward to visiting there too.
All in all it was a great trip full of good food, good company and great firsts for our son at WDW.
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