Howdy, this is a brief trip report from the Panther.
Just got back from 6 days at the World. Stayed at the Dolphin. Beautiful place, beautiful views and ohmigod that bed....it's a Westin bed, supposedly, whatever that means, but it was incredible. Even better than the bed I slept on at the POR resort. Ate at the Garden Grove, among other places and LOVED it. Man that tree! I want one in MY house! Had the roast chicken - best chicken I have EVER tasted.
In WDW, I actually got to eat at the Castle! First time I managed to book a meal there - I'm thinking that Be Our Guest has taken some of the traffic away from Cindy's place.
I had the tenderloin with asparagus and potatoes. And frankly...that tenderloin was one of the best pieces of meat I've ever eaten in my life. VERY tender, VERY tasty, just the best. Ate every bite. For dessert, had the White and Dark Chocolate surprise. Yummy! And I got a sword AND a wand to take home with me. Awesome!!!
And I actually also managed to snag a dinner at Be Our Guest!!! Somebody cancelled, yay for me! Had dinner - the Pork Chop. Delicious! And for dessert...the Lemon Meringue cupcake. OH MY GAWD!!! Incredible. Oh, I had my dinner in the Ballroom, just off the West Wing. Like my cousin mentioned to me, the Wing is rather small, but VERY atmospheric. When the Beast's portrait changes, it is really creepy. Loved it! And the ballroom is BEAUTIFUL! Sparkling, magical, and those windows with the snow falling outside...it just blows me away. I'll never get tired of it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If you haven't eaten there yet, you MUST. Keep trying to get a reservation, or if you're at the park, check with the restaurant often and see if there's been a cancellation (if you want dinner). Persistence pays off - it sure did with me.
Other places I dined: Via Napoli (very good), Plaza Restaurant (okay - had the Club sandwich), the dear old Biergarten (the buffet could be better, but the ambience and beer are hard to beat), the Brown Derby (ate there twice - lunch and dinner - had the Fettucine for lunch and it was great, and had the Duck Three Ways for dinner, YUM, and of course the Grapefruit Cake for dessert!) I also had dinner at the Restaurant Merrakesh... and it was, frankly, AWFUL. One of only two bad meals I've had at WDW (the other bad place was the Sci-Fi Drive-In and its rubbery pork ribs.
). It was a neat-looking place, but the food..blech. I had the lamb and couscous, and basically it was a plate of couscous with this gray-looking piece of meat and bone on top of it. GAK. Tried to save the meal with bastilla, but it was nothing special. Very disappointing.
Rode the refurbed Splash, and it was wonderful. The AAs, although still dated-looking, were in good working order and once again, I was delighted with the queue and the skilled storytelling of this wonderful attraction. But - as was the case during my cousin's visit to WDW a few weeks ago - Mr. Bluebird is still paralyzed at the ride's end. You hear his dialogue but he doesn't move. Just stares at you. Bad show!
Rode the Haunted Mansion. Still don't like the new queue. And of COURSE it stopped 3 freaking times every single time I rode it. Good god, Disney, do something about the constant stoppage for wheelchair bound guests or what have you. I know this sounds very uncharitable, but maybe people with ride-stopping disabilities should simply not be allowed to ride the Mansion. It was never designed for that kind of thing, and trying to accommodate everyone is just killing the experience for everybody! Jeez. And also the new Hitchhiking Ghost effect wasn't working well - the timing was off and the damn thing looks like a projection. Please bring back the original effect, TDO. It was MUCH more convincing. Admit you screwed up with that AND the new queue - and speaking of which, just about everyone I saw going through it did NOT stop to talk to the Ghost Writer or push on the wall of instruments or play the organ. They just walked past them and hurried towards the Mansion. FAIL. A total waste of resources and a bad reason to rip up the original walkway of the Mansion. PLUS the split queue gets VERY claustrophobic when it's crowded. The Mansion used to be a must-see for me whenever I visited the World, but now? Forget it! It breaks my heart to say it, but it's just not worth the hassle, the stoppages, and the lousy new effects. End of rant.
But I did get to ride the Tower of Terror, which was wonderful as always, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which was excellent, Mickey's Philharmagic, which desperately needs an updating of the 3D film (COME ON TDO!!!), and even Peter Pan's Flight - almost laughable in its antiquity, yet still has an odd sort of charm. Plus I hit Small World AND visited Enchanted Tales with Belle. I have to say, that show does work every well in its own way. When the kids are into it, it's a hell of a lot of fun. And the Wardrobe was working very well, and Lumiere was amazing as always.
Well, that's as much as I'm going to write for now. Very tired. Hope you enjoyed. See ya real soon!
Just got back from 6 days at the World. Stayed at the Dolphin. Beautiful place, beautiful views and ohmigod that bed....it's a Westin bed, supposedly, whatever that means, but it was incredible. Even better than the bed I slept on at the POR resort. Ate at the Garden Grove, among other places and LOVED it. Man that tree! I want one in MY house! Had the roast chicken - best chicken I have EVER tasted.
In WDW, I actually got to eat at the Castle! First time I managed to book a meal there - I'm thinking that Be Our Guest has taken some of the traffic away from Cindy's place.
I had the tenderloin with asparagus and potatoes. And frankly...that tenderloin was one of the best pieces of meat I've ever eaten in my life. VERY tender, VERY tasty, just the best. Ate every bite. For dessert, had the White and Dark Chocolate surprise. Yummy! And I got a sword AND a wand to take home with me. Awesome!!!And I actually also managed to snag a dinner at Be Our Guest!!! Somebody cancelled, yay for me! Had dinner - the Pork Chop. Delicious! And for dessert...the Lemon Meringue cupcake. OH MY GAWD!!! Incredible. Oh, I had my dinner in the Ballroom, just off the West Wing. Like my cousin mentioned to me, the Wing is rather small, but VERY atmospheric. When the Beast's portrait changes, it is really creepy. Loved it! And the ballroom is BEAUTIFUL! Sparkling, magical, and those windows with the snow falling outside...it just blows me away. I'll never get tired of it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If you haven't eaten there yet, you MUST. Keep trying to get a reservation, or if you're at the park, check with the restaurant often and see if there's been a cancellation (if you want dinner). Persistence pays off - it sure did with me.
Other places I dined: Via Napoli (very good), Plaza Restaurant (okay - had the Club sandwich), the dear old Biergarten (the buffet could be better, but the ambience and beer are hard to beat), the Brown Derby (ate there twice - lunch and dinner - had the Fettucine for lunch and it was great, and had the Duck Three Ways for dinner, YUM, and of course the Grapefruit Cake for dessert!) I also had dinner at the Restaurant Merrakesh... and it was, frankly, AWFUL. One of only two bad meals I've had at WDW (the other bad place was the Sci-Fi Drive-In and its rubbery pork ribs.
). It was a neat-looking place, but the food..blech. I had the lamb and couscous, and basically it was a plate of couscous with this gray-looking piece of meat and bone on top of it. GAK. Tried to save the meal with bastilla, but it was nothing special. Very disappointing.Rode the refurbed Splash, and it was wonderful. The AAs, although still dated-looking, were in good working order and once again, I was delighted with the queue and the skilled storytelling of this wonderful attraction. But - as was the case during my cousin's visit to WDW a few weeks ago - Mr. Bluebird is still paralyzed at the ride's end. You hear his dialogue but he doesn't move. Just stares at you. Bad show!
Rode the Haunted Mansion. Still don't like the new queue. And of COURSE it stopped 3 freaking times every single time I rode it. Good god, Disney, do something about the constant stoppage for wheelchair bound guests or what have you. I know this sounds very uncharitable, but maybe people with ride-stopping disabilities should simply not be allowed to ride the Mansion. It was never designed for that kind of thing, and trying to accommodate everyone is just killing the experience for everybody! Jeez. And also the new Hitchhiking Ghost effect wasn't working well - the timing was off and the damn thing looks like a projection. Please bring back the original effect, TDO. It was MUCH more convincing. Admit you screwed up with that AND the new queue - and speaking of which, just about everyone I saw going through it did NOT stop to talk to the Ghost Writer or push on the wall of instruments or play the organ. They just walked past them and hurried towards the Mansion. FAIL. A total waste of resources and a bad reason to rip up the original walkway of the Mansion. PLUS the split queue gets VERY claustrophobic when it's crowded. The Mansion used to be a must-see for me whenever I visited the World, but now? Forget it! It breaks my heart to say it, but it's just not worth the hassle, the stoppages, and the lousy new effects. End of rant.
But I did get to ride the Tower of Terror, which was wonderful as always, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which was excellent, Mickey's Philharmagic, which desperately needs an updating of the 3D film (COME ON TDO!!!), and even Peter Pan's Flight - almost laughable in its antiquity, yet still has an odd sort of charm. Plus I hit Small World AND visited Enchanted Tales with Belle. I have to say, that show does work every well in its own way. When the kids are into it, it's a hell of a lot of fun. And the Wardrobe was working very well, and Lumiere was amazing as always.
Well, that's as much as I'm going to write for now. Very tired. Hope you enjoyed. See ya real soon!
