Just got back from an 11 night stay split between the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Polynesian.
AKL: requested a room close to the food court; got a room that was a hike and a half from anything, but thankfully on the lobby floor. Our room was on Kudu Trail and overlooked the savanna with the ostriches. It was also above a people pen. It was nice to see the giraffes and ostriches, but I wasn't overly impressed. The room felt really small and I just didn't feel at home there. The bus service also wasn't that great when leaving the parks. Fresca on tap in the food court is good. What's up with this new flatbread pizza at AKL and Poly? It's gross. Long walk from room to everywhere; disappointed. Spent five nights here.
Poly: requested a room in Samoa or Fiji; got a room in Tahiti. I had forgotten that the rooms in the newer buildings were bigger until I got there. It was nice having the extra room. Our room was close to the building entry, though, so there was a lot of traffic of both the human and golf cart variety at all times. Walking to the TTC for the monorail was nice. Our room still wasn't ready at 3:00, so the phone operator person assigned us to a different room (we were originally supposed to have a first floor room and ended up with a second floor room) because he didn't know why it hadn't been "released" yet. He told us to go to the front desk and get new keys. Went to front desk, CM didn't give us new keys, and also tried to tell us that we owed over $2500. Um... no. Even with the extra added day, our total was only around $1600, and my mom paid it in full at check-in. So we get to our new room and of course the keys don't open the door. Mom gets on house phone and is very testy with whoever answered the phone. They come to us with new keys, which also didn't work. Housekeeping lets us in and CM goes back to the front desk to get yet another set of keys. These ones finally work. Very disappointed with all staff that we had to personally deal with. The woman checking us in didn't seem to know what she was doing & kept making mistakes, other guy didn't give us new keys when he should have, and the girl who came both times with our other new keys pretty much just ignored the fact that we were really annoyed that it was past 4:00 and we weren't in our room and didn't have keys that worked. Spent six nights here. Disappointed with Captain Cook's. Again, flatbread pizza. All sorts of oddish food. I think we ate here twice. I like the new layout and decor, although they still need it to be bigger, and have more cashiers. Mom got self-serve Dole Whip which I twisted since I worked in an ice cream place; mom had the prettiest Dole Whip there.
YOAMD: we've been going to WDW for over 20 years and we got squat.
EPCOT:
Maelstrom: wasn't open at 11 with the rest of World Showcase on the 25th. It opened a little later. We rode it then. The only change I noticed was that the fibre optics on the ceiling in the troll scene were gone or not lit. Maelstrom was closed every other time we looked after that.
Test Track: did not break down while we were on it or in line; a first!
Mission Space: I rode this for the first time (green team). It was pretty cool, but gave me a slight headache, so I don't think I'll be doing orange team anytime soon. Gary Sinise is love. I didn't realize that the gravity wheel was so huge until I saw it for myself; wow! The Horizons symbol in the centre is a great addition. We waited less than 10 minutes each time we went on.
Nemo: awesome ride; beautiful. It was not at all what I was expecting. I enjoy the queue (miss the Nautilus model, though) and the colourful coral throughout the ride. What portion of the old ride and theatres does this take up? I can tell it utilizes the queue, hallway to circle room, and circle room. Does it also use one of the old theatres for The Seas film?
Fiesta Margarita: mmm.
Soarin': really long wait all the time; fastpasses gone very early. Best to ride with shoes off and let your feeties be free (after all, it's fun to be free).
The Odyssey: OPEN!!! Odd and off the beaten path location for F&G merch, but great to see it in use again.
Gran Fiesta Tour: cute and not obnoxious. The Three Caballeros song gets stuck in my head for the rest of the day; miss old song. Nice to see the dead marionette carousel gone in the final scene. I had to wait on a short and fast-moving line; I haven't waited on a line in Mexico since... 1988 maybe?
MAGIC KINGDOM:
Teacups: what is that hideous noise when the ride stops? Is that a braking system?
Pirates of the Caribbean: was it really necessary to remove the skull and crossbones before the drop? The Capt Jack AAs are done well, and minus the complete redo of the end scene, are unobtrusive. I don't like the new ending. It's Capt Jack sitting in a room being drunk and singing; ooooooh! At least the old one had some action.
BTMRR: going up the first lift, in the batcave room... awful noise and too much jerking; fix.
TTA: it had a line. There should be signs reminding people that the speedramp moves so they aren't so surprised and I don't get bumped into because they are astonished by this moving ramp.
Haunted Mansion: the audio in some of the doom buggies is all screwy. On, off, crackle, garble. The Madame Leota tombstone wasn't working properly.
I complain because I love.
http://webcookie.net/disneyvideos_may2007 -- some videos
Peekachurs coming later along with other random assorted odds & ends.
AKL: requested a room close to the food court; got a room that was a hike and a half from anything, but thankfully on the lobby floor. Our room was on Kudu Trail and overlooked the savanna with the ostriches. It was also above a people pen. It was nice to see the giraffes and ostriches, but I wasn't overly impressed. The room felt really small and I just didn't feel at home there. The bus service also wasn't that great when leaving the parks. Fresca on tap in the food court is good. What's up with this new flatbread pizza at AKL and Poly? It's gross. Long walk from room to everywhere; disappointed. Spent five nights here.
Poly: requested a room in Samoa or Fiji; got a room in Tahiti. I had forgotten that the rooms in the newer buildings were bigger until I got there. It was nice having the extra room. Our room was close to the building entry, though, so there was a lot of traffic of both the human and golf cart variety at all times. Walking to the TTC for the monorail was nice. Our room still wasn't ready at 3:00, so the phone operator person assigned us to a different room (we were originally supposed to have a first floor room and ended up with a second floor room) because he didn't know why it hadn't been "released" yet. He told us to go to the front desk and get new keys. Went to front desk, CM didn't give us new keys, and also tried to tell us that we owed over $2500. Um... no. Even with the extra added day, our total was only around $1600, and my mom paid it in full at check-in. So we get to our new room and of course the keys don't open the door. Mom gets on house phone and is very testy with whoever answered the phone. They come to us with new keys, which also didn't work. Housekeeping lets us in and CM goes back to the front desk to get yet another set of keys. These ones finally work. Very disappointed with all staff that we had to personally deal with. The woman checking us in didn't seem to know what she was doing & kept making mistakes, other guy didn't give us new keys when he should have, and the girl who came both times with our other new keys pretty much just ignored the fact that we were really annoyed that it was past 4:00 and we weren't in our room and didn't have keys that worked. Spent six nights here. Disappointed with Captain Cook's. Again, flatbread pizza. All sorts of oddish food. I think we ate here twice. I like the new layout and decor, although they still need it to be bigger, and have more cashiers. Mom got self-serve Dole Whip which I twisted since I worked in an ice cream place; mom had the prettiest Dole Whip there.
YOAMD: we've been going to WDW for over 20 years and we got squat.
EPCOT:
Maelstrom: wasn't open at 11 with the rest of World Showcase on the 25th. It opened a little later. We rode it then. The only change I noticed was that the fibre optics on the ceiling in the troll scene were gone or not lit. Maelstrom was closed every other time we looked after that.
Test Track: did not break down while we were on it or in line; a first!
Mission Space: I rode this for the first time (green team). It was pretty cool, but gave me a slight headache, so I don't think I'll be doing orange team anytime soon. Gary Sinise is love. I didn't realize that the gravity wheel was so huge until I saw it for myself; wow! The Horizons symbol in the centre is a great addition. We waited less than 10 minutes each time we went on.
Nemo: awesome ride; beautiful. It was not at all what I was expecting. I enjoy the queue (miss the Nautilus model, though) and the colourful coral throughout the ride. What portion of the old ride and theatres does this take up? I can tell it utilizes the queue, hallway to circle room, and circle room. Does it also use one of the old theatres for The Seas film?
Fiesta Margarita: mmm.
Soarin': really long wait all the time; fastpasses gone very early. Best to ride with shoes off and let your feeties be free (after all, it's fun to be free).
The Odyssey: OPEN!!! Odd and off the beaten path location for F&G merch, but great to see it in use again.
Gran Fiesta Tour: cute and not obnoxious. The Three Caballeros song gets stuck in my head for the rest of the day; miss old song. Nice to see the dead marionette carousel gone in the final scene. I had to wait on a short and fast-moving line; I haven't waited on a line in Mexico since... 1988 maybe?
MAGIC KINGDOM:
Teacups: what is that hideous noise when the ride stops? Is that a braking system?
Pirates of the Caribbean: was it really necessary to remove the skull and crossbones before the drop? The Capt Jack AAs are done well, and minus the complete redo of the end scene, are unobtrusive. I don't like the new ending. It's Capt Jack sitting in a room being drunk and singing; ooooooh! At least the old one had some action.
BTMRR: going up the first lift, in the batcave room... awful noise and too much jerking; fix.
TTA: it had a line. There should be signs reminding people that the speedramp moves so they aren't so surprised and I don't get bumped into because they are astonished by this moving ramp.
Haunted Mansion: the audio in some of the doom buggies is all screwy. On, off, crackle, garble. The Madame Leota tombstone wasn't working properly.
I complain because I love.
http://webcookie.net/disneyvideos_may2007 -- some videos
Peekachurs coming later along with other random assorted odds & ends.
