3 nights at Royal Pacific, 13 nights at Wilderness Lodge Club Level
Myself, my wife, and our 3 boys (2, 2 and 8)
2 days before we left, the siatic nerves in my back and legs started acting up. I was in a load of pain. There was no way I was going to be able to hold one of our twins in hour long lines, and I knew it. My step-son has an anxiety disorder, so we've been told to get a Guest Assistance Card. I've never done it, as we didn't feel he really needed it. He was always fine without it. But this time, given my shape, I said screw it - Let's do it. More to come later....
Universal was up first for 3 nights. Royal Pacific was awesome. They treat you like first class all the way (Disney could learn a thing or 2), and the parks were fun, clean, and incredibly well-kept. Only bad part about Universal is the quick service food. It sucks and the service is slow as molasses. Other than that, Universal was awesome!
Now, we're off to Disney and Club Level at Wilderness Lodge. Let me talk about that joke for just a minute. We got there around 10:00AM, so our room wasn't ready yet. We just hung around until it was ready at 2:00. The Lodge is my favorite resort and there were no problems. Club Level - DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!! What a damn joke.
A.Our room wasn't cleaned until about 3:00PM every day. I had read Club Level was done first.
B.The food - HAHAHA!!! Soda, goldfish, gummy bears, cookies, and at night they had some cobbler. Not even appetizers or hot plates. It sucked!!! Breakfast were frozen hostess muffins or bagels. The rooms themself are the exact same as any other, except for the cheap bathrobes they give you and a DVD player. I can't fathom how anyone who has done this once would possibly pay for it again.
We get to the Magic Kingdom. My back is still killing me, so we go to Guest Services to try for the GAC. We had a copy of my step-son's prescription as well as a printout of what it's for. We got the biggest jerk at Guest Services. I explain it to him and he informs me "Normally, we don't give the card for people with anxiety disorders." I pointed out to him nicely as I could that I had read it in Passporter and his doctor recommended it. This guy had the audacity to say "Well, maybe I should give you a pass allowing you to skip the line at the doctor's office as well." Um, yeah, listen - If you don't want to give me the card, then don't give it to me. But don't take that tone of voice with me pal. Needless to say, my wife went ape at that comment and asked for a manager. When we told the manager what happened, he didn't believe us. Not in a rude way, but couldn't believe anyone would say something like that. He was very kind, got us a card and apologized. I hate to say it, but without that card, we couldn't have done this trip. My back started feeling better after about 7 days, but trying to pick my kids up and contain them was pretty much impossible.
The parks were fun as always. The Magic Kingdom needs some TLC BIG time. It looks like hell. I saw the same walls and fake facades up that I did back in January. The Buzz Lightyear ride interior looks like something you'd see at a travelling fair. Universal is doing a much better job at upkeep.
I'll never stay at a monorail resort. We were considering the Grand Floridian, but that's out. The GF shares buses with WL. WL gets picked up first. By the time we got to the GF, half the time, the guests from there had to stand. $400 a night for that??? One night, we were at the GF trying to catch a monorail. We had to wait for the 4th one before one came by with any room on it. The GF is the last stop, so by the time it gets there, it's packed. We got off at the Contemporary to take the boat back to WL, and the idiots have the elevators blocked off. We had to carry our boys and their strollers down on an escalator. I love Disney, but seriously, they have their heads up their rearends sometimes.
The parks were mobbed. No sign of recession in site in Disney.
Biggest pet peeves - Morons smoking whever they please and idiots taking flash photos in dark rides.
Myself, my wife, and our 3 boys (2, 2 and 8)
2 days before we left, the siatic nerves in my back and legs started acting up. I was in a load of pain. There was no way I was going to be able to hold one of our twins in hour long lines, and I knew it. My step-son has an anxiety disorder, so we've been told to get a Guest Assistance Card. I've never done it, as we didn't feel he really needed it. He was always fine without it. But this time, given my shape, I said screw it - Let's do it. More to come later....
Universal was up first for 3 nights. Royal Pacific was awesome. They treat you like first class all the way (Disney could learn a thing or 2), and the parks were fun, clean, and incredibly well-kept. Only bad part about Universal is the quick service food. It sucks and the service is slow as molasses. Other than that, Universal was awesome!
Now, we're off to Disney and Club Level at Wilderness Lodge. Let me talk about that joke for just a minute. We got there around 10:00AM, so our room wasn't ready yet. We just hung around until it was ready at 2:00. The Lodge is my favorite resort and there were no problems. Club Level - DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!! What a damn joke.
A.Our room wasn't cleaned until about 3:00PM every day. I had read Club Level was done first.
B.The food - HAHAHA!!! Soda, goldfish, gummy bears, cookies, and at night they had some cobbler. Not even appetizers or hot plates. It sucked!!! Breakfast were frozen hostess muffins or bagels. The rooms themself are the exact same as any other, except for the cheap bathrobes they give you and a DVD player. I can't fathom how anyone who has done this once would possibly pay for it again.
We get to the Magic Kingdom. My back is still killing me, so we go to Guest Services to try for the GAC. We had a copy of my step-son's prescription as well as a printout of what it's for. We got the biggest jerk at Guest Services. I explain it to him and he informs me "Normally, we don't give the card for people with anxiety disorders." I pointed out to him nicely as I could that I had read it in Passporter and his doctor recommended it. This guy had the audacity to say "Well, maybe I should give you a pass allowing you to skip the line at the doctor's office as well." Um, yeah, listen - If you don't want to give me the card, then don't give it to me. But don't take that tone of voice with me pal. Needless to say, my wife went ape at that comment and asked for a manager. When we told the manager what happened, he didn't believe us. Not in a rude way, but couldn't believe anyone would say something like that. He was very kind, got us a card and apologized. I hate to say it, but without that card, we couldn't have done this trip. My back started feeling better after about 7 days, but trying to pick my kids up and contain them was pretty much impossible.
The parks were fun as always. The Magic Kingdom needs some TLC BIG time. It looks like hell. I saw the same walls and fake facades up that I did back in January. The Buzz Lightyear ride interior looks like something you'd see at a travelling fair. Universal is doing a much better job at upkeep.
I'll never stay at a monorail resort. We were considering the Grand Floridian, but that's out. The GF shares buses with WL. WL gets picked up first. By the time we got to the GF, half the time, the guests from there had to stand. $400 a night for that??? One night, we were at the GF trying to catch a monorail. We had to wait for the 4th one before one came by with any room on it. The GF is the last stop, so by the time it gets there, it's packed. We got off at the Contemporary to take the boat back to WL, and the idiots have the elevators blocked off. We had to carry our boys and their strollers down on an escalator. I love Disney, but seriously, they have their heads up their rearends sometimes.
The parks were mobbed. No sign of recession in site in Disney.
Biggest pet peeves - Morons smoking whever they please and idiots taking flash photos in dark rides.
