Trip Report The Big Fat Liars Thanksgiving Report!

bee · Feb 5, 2017

Tuvalu said:
Disney seems to enjoy spending money on fancy bathrooms. New attractions, not so much.

Do the bathrooms have a corporate sponsor? Is that why they are allowed to be fancy when Ellen's Energy Adventure still has the same movie from before Ellen came out? (And dinosaurs from BEFORE that!)

figmentfan423 said:
Like Rapunzel's tower Although the one's near Frostom were quite nice

I saw those bathrooms shortly before Maelzen opened and they were nice!

samantha788 said:
Enjoying your report!! I love seeing all of your adventures around WDW without actually going into the parks! I want to find the time to do that.
You've also left me wanting that beignet sundae, play with fire margarita and jiko wine tasting haha
And love seeing POFQ all dressed up for the holidays!
We must be neighbors because bayonne & jersey city are all a couple towns from me too

Glad you're enjoying it! As much time as we've spent inside and outside the parks over the years there are STILL so many things we haven't done!

Definitely try all three if you can! Do Jiko on a Wednesday afternoon, then Frontera for dinner that night, then take the bus/boat over the POFQ for the beignet sundae.

Yay neighbors!

MinnieM123 · Feb 5, 2017

I love the vibrant tile work at Frontera Cocina!

bee · Feb 5, 2017

Day 6: Monday, November 28

It was our last day in Disney.

But we still had plenty of things planned for this partial day!

Our boarding passes magically appeared! We had done mobile checkin through Southwest but we hadn't done this through Disney. I guess it's better not to ask questions about how these got here.

First on the agenda was a late breakfast at Kona Cafe. While the best option probably would have been to take a MK bus and then take the boat/monorail to the Poly. We waited and waited and no bus came! So we hopped on a Disney Springs bus, thinking that would be fast and then we could transfer to a Poly bus.

We arrived at DS and the Poly wasn't listed on the bus stop directly sign. So we asked a CM, who told us that buses to the Poly weren't running until 11:00-which was our reservation time. :arghh:

She asked if we were trying to get to the MK and we said that, no, we were trying to get to the Polynesian. She suggested we take a bus to Port Orleans (where we had just come from!) and then to MK and THEN to the Poly. :banghead:

Since that wasn't an option, we ONCE AGAIN took an Uber to a dining reservation. In case you weren't keeping count, that was THREE unnecessary Uber rides on this brief trip.

We also had to walk to the Strawberry Lot to catch our ride, which is quite a trek, and we had no idea if we would make it in time.

We arrived at the Poly JUST IN TIME to run upstairs and check in at 11:00.

We didn't have to wait long to be seated and then greeted by our server, Jennifer.

I ordered the egg white omelet.

M ordered Tonga Toast (which apparently is half on this menu pic and half on the previous one, haha. Oops).

And we OBVIOUSLY shared a Kona press pot!

French press action!

The omelet was a good as I had remembered it being last time!

And of course M enjoyed her Tonga Toast. And they're not pictured here but she was able to sub eggs for the meat with no problems.

That's one delicious Mickey!

We were positively stuffed after breakfast, but we were on a mission to take a certain monorail ride...

We just missed a train. Good thing we weren't in a rush. It wasn't long before...

We decided to ride in the very front!

But where could we be going??

bee · Feb 5, 2017

Day 6, cont.

I'm sure it wasn't hard to guess we were going to Epcot! (Or at least through it!)

Alas, our ride had come to an end. But we had more resort-hopping plans! We walked over to the bus stops. On our way we saw...

...a butterfly!

We waited at the appointed stop...

...and finally a Wilderness Lodge bus arrived!

bee · Feb 5, 2017

Day 6, cont.

Soon we were arriving here:

I've always loved visiting the WL. I have a whole of lot of dream resorts but this one's near the top of my list!

We had a bit of shopping to do!

Although these were totally cute (and totally BEE), we did not end up buying them.

I did however, buy these pencils as gifts for some of my students!

We had seen a sign in the store advertising the "Territory Coffee Lounge" -a specialty coffee shop during the daytime in the Territory Lounge space. Sign me up!!!

Did someone say "add a shot to your favorite beverage"??? You know me, coffee+alcohol and/or dessert=

Did someone say, "BOURBON"???

I decided on the S'mores Latte, iced and with the bourbon of course.

M had either the Gold Rush or the Wilderness Bark Latte-but we can't remember which exactly. Both drinks were prepared well and they were a tasty treat!

But our time at the WL wasn't over yet!

Figgy1 · Feb 5, 2017

Although WL is not on my bucket list of resorts to stay at I loved hopping over there, exploring, doing a bit of window shopping and eating at WCC. BTW love the earrings :inlove:

bee · Feb 6, 2017

Day 6, cont.

It was beautiful outside so we explored the grounds a bit.

Hello, boat!

We're on the boat! But where are we going?

Past the bungalows-errrr, whatever they're calling them here.

Hello, boat friend!

We got off at the MK dock.

We were glad not to be waiting on these lines!!

But I had to stop and admire some flowers!

Can you spot my friend the BEE??

Our DME time was approaching, so we soon boarded a POFQ bus.

bee · Feb 6, 2017

Day 6, cont.

Our first stop at POFQ was this bathroom in the lobby, which we somehow hadn't visited before. (oops, sideways!)

Breakfast had been awhile ago and we needed a snack. We decided on:

Some good ol' Disney mac and cheese!

While we were eating our mac and cheese we overheard some obviously Midwestern guests trying to figure out how to get milk out of the freestyle Coke machine. :hilarious:

M's parents are both from the Midwest and drink more milk in a day than we do in, like, months. I don't know if they ever figured out there's no milk in the Coke machine.

Clever how they incorporated the "floatworks" theme into the design here.

As our DME time approached we took a few more minutes to explore the grounds one last time.

So many boats!!!

This tree appears to be wearing Mardi Gras beads...

But we couldn't stall much longer...

...because it was time to face reality and head home.

The security wait was about what we expected but the queue system seemed to be better-organized this time that on previous trips. Everything went smoothly until apparently my ankle looked suspicious on the body scanner. I had to wait an extra minute or so to be patted down by a lady TSA agent. But she decided my ankle was not threatening and let me proceed to the gate area.

By the time we got to our area we were hungry so we got some Chipotle. I didn't take photos but I'm sure most of you know what a salad from Chipotle looks like.

I did manage to get a photo of this VERY CHILLED cup of red wine. I was feeling overly anxious about the flight and this helped a bit.

There was a family sitting near us in the food court area and their youngest child, who looked to be less than a year old, was screaming nonstop for several minutes. At one point the dad said, "Alright, stop!" to the child. You can guess how effective that was.

Soon we were boarding and taking off pretty close to on time (you never know how things will go when you have an evening flight). We had a nearly full flight but we still found a row to ourselves.

I also didn't get a photo of the drinks we ordered, but I asked for a bourbon and ginger and they didn't have any bourbon, only Jack, so the flight attendant gave me the drink for free for my "troubles!" :joyfull:

We flew a little too far north and had to turn around? I'm guessing there was a lot of traffic in the air so we had to wait.

But soon we landed and found our Uber driver and made it home.

This concludes the TR. I'll be posting some final thoughts later.

bee · Feb 6, 2017

Final thoughts

Warning: the rose-colored Disney bubble glasses will come off part way through this post. If you're looking for a cheery Pixie Dust conclusion you may not want to read past the first paragraph!

I had my doubts about taking a non-parks trip but it turned out to be so relaxing. Even though we are by no means park commandos, day after day of doing the parks in the heat and humidity can really wear us out. It was nice not to have to rush to a million things; although we had some dining reservations we weren't worrying about FPs or showtimes or getting to the parks by a certain time. Not to mention, with our schedules the way they are now (both working in some kind of education) it's difficult to travel during non-holiday times. I'm sure we would have been overwhelmed by the park crowds on Thanksgiving weekend!

POFQ is absolutely beautiful. We loved the size of the resort and being able to walk along the river and just take in the sights and sounds of "nature." We liked the size and decor of the room and the details of the building exteriors. That said, we were not a fan of the food courts at either POFQ or PORS. As vegetarians we did not find as many options as at other resorts where we've stayed, particularly POP and CSR.

The transportation situation was very frustrating. Every time I read of other guests complaining about Disney transportation I have thought they were crazy as we've always had good transportation experiences. The DME situation was totally nuts and, as I mentioned before, if that had been my first impression of DME I don't think I would have every tried it again. We spent so much more time waiting for the resort-park buses than we ever have before, and we've been going to the parks for most of our lives. I don't know whether the issue was POFQ (it was our first time staying there), the holiday weekend, or just the many cutbacks TDO has been making over the recent months. I'm inclined to believe it is the budget cuts. We've been to Disney on or around pretty much every major and minor holiday over the years and have NEVER had such bad bus service. It was pretty annoying to sometimes share buses with Riverside and not know if we would be going directly to our destination or stop at EVERY STOP at Riverside on the way.

As a result of both the food court and the bus experience (again, hard to tell how much was resort-specific and how much was just budget cuts) we concluded that, while we enjoyed the grounds and theming and size of POFQ immensely, we would most likely choose Coronado over French Quarter for future moderate stays. Even though CSR has multiple stops, the stopping pattern was consistent when we stayed there in July 2015 and the buses were frequent despite being summer and crowded. Plus, POFQ is (almost?) never discounted but CSR usually is included with general and passholder discounts, and has slightly better amenities since it's a conference resort.

With the news/report/rumor (whatever you want to call it) that Disney is adding a resort fee and/or parking fee soon, we are very hesitant to plan any on-site trips in the near future. We all know that you can get a 3.5-4 star hotel nearby offsite for the price of a Disney value most of the time and you're really paying to be "in the bubble." For us, there was a lot of added value in using DME and park transportation so we didn't have to rent a car or worry about driving ourselves. Given our most recent experiences, it is getting harder to justify paying that premium. We're members of various hotel rewards programs and can get great deals at nearby offsite hotels, so that even with the cost of a rental car we'd be saving money over Disney prices.

We are also not sure we are going to get APs this year. Our plan was to continue buying them every other year (we had them 13-14 and 15-16 so we were going to get them 17-18) but with the recent-ish changes in price structure we're not sure it's worth it for us anymore. We'll see where life goes.

Now, with all of that said you might think we're never planning to come back! BUT of course you'd be wrong! We'll be back for another brief non-parks trip in less than two weeks (in fact we'll be flying back to NJ exactly two weeks from today, haha). I will make a PTR for that trip soon and post here. I'll probably do a semi-live TR in that thread because it won't be a long enough trip to make a whole separate thread but you can watch the future PTR for details.

Thanks to all who have followed along and liked my posts! I always enjoy reliving our Disney adventures and sharing them with my fellow WDW fans!

DonnaOnTheRocks · Feb 6, 2017

bee said:
Thanks, Figgy!

Yes, and you'd better get in before they convert it to a character breakfast.

WHAT?!? Haven't heard this! Why would they do that? Cape May has characters, why do they need more on the Boardwalk?

bee · Feb 6, 2017

DonnaOnTheRocks said:
WHAT?!? Haven't heard this! Why would they do that? Cape May has characters, why do they need more on the Boardwalk?

http://www.wdwmagic.com/dining/trat...er-breakfast-coming-to-trattoria-al-forno.htm

:arghh:

bee · Feb 6, 2017

Here's the PTR for the new trip if anyone is interested: Back so soon?

Figgy1 · Feb 6, 2017

I'm sad it's over but agree staying on site isn't going to happen again anytime soon. Our next Florida trip will most likely be to UNI but we may stay at SOG depending on the cost of Royal Pacific

Tuvalu · Feb 6, 2017

Great report as always, @bee. Sorry POFQ did not meet your expectations. Em and I hope to have a good experience in April.

sheriffwoody · Feb 6, 2017

bee said:
The DME situation was totally nuts and, as I mentioned before, if that had been my first impression of DME I don't think I would have every tried it again. We spent so much more time waiting for the resort-park buses than we ever have before, and we've been going to the parks for most of our lives. I don't know whether the issue was POFQ (it was our first time staying there), the holiday weekend, or just the many cutbacks TDO has been making over the recent months.

I was surprised by the DME service this last time as well. I've only used it....4 times (?) now I think. This was by far the worst experience, and I was going to the Boardwalk. There was a moderate on our route as well. I don't know, I hope it's just a fluke.

bee said:
With the news/report/rumor (whatever you want to call it) that Disney is adding a resort fee and/or parking fee soon, we are very hesitant to plan any on-site trips in the near future.

UGH. This rumor. I hope it doesn't pan out, because it's going to irritate the crap out of me. They are already so much higher than a regular hotel, the resort fee is just adding an extra kick in the butt.

bee · Feb 6, 2017

figmentfan423 said:
I'm sad it's over but agree staying on site isn't going to happen again anytime soon. Our next Florida trip will most likely be to UNI but we may stay at SOG depending on the cost of Royal Pacific

We need to get back to UNI some time! Our last visit was New Year's Day 2015. Thanks for reading!

Tuvalu said:
Great report as always, @bee. Sorry POFQ did not meet your expectations. Em and I hope to have a good experience in April.

Thank you and thanks for reading! We really loved a lot of things about POFQ, including the rooms, grounds, size, theming, and overall feel of the resort. Which made the transportation issues and limited food options more annoying! Since we didn't know if the transportation stuff was POFQ-specific or a bigger, resort-wide issue, we might give it another chance if the price is right.

I know you and Em will enjoy it again!

bee · Feb 6, 2017

sheriffwoody said:
I was surprised by the DME service this last time as well. I've only used it....4 times (?) now I think. This was by far the worst experience, and I was going to the Boardwalk. There was a moderate on our route as well. I don't know, I hope it's just a fluke.

UGH. This rumor. I hope it doesn't pan out, because it's going to irritate the crap out of me. They are already so much higher than a regular hotel, the resort fee is just adding an extra kick in the butt.

I also hope it's just a fluke! We've used it maybe six or seven times now? (I'm sure I could actually count if I thought about it...) The last two times have been very long, frustrating waits. I now understand why people just spend the extra money on a rental car or car service to/from their resort. We're trying it again in a couple weeks so we'll see...

If it turns out to be true, it just bugs me so much that the "magical" Disney perks that are included now and make the trip a little more special won't be included anymore. Although I don't like paying a resort fee at the Swan and Dolphin I still find it to be a better value to be able to stay a short walk from Epcot at a more normal hotel price. Plus as a Starwood member I can often get great rates, especially if I keep looking as the dates approach.

MinnieM123 · Feb 6, 2017

bee said:
Although I don't like paying a resort fee at the Swan and Dolphin I still find it to be a better value to be able to stay a short walk from Epcot at a more normal hotel price.

And this is why I've stayed at the Swan for the past 5 years (I visit WDW once a year). Location, location, location . . . and at the price of a Disney "moderate" or even less at times, I think overall it's the best deal on Disney property.

Very much enjoyed your TR, Bee. You had some excellent photos, and I always read your comments and details with great interest. I always learn something by following other people's TRs.

Lastly, I got a kick out of your new hobby--gifs! HA! :joyfull:

DonnaOnTheRocks · Feb 6, 2017

Great report! I'm hoping DME can get it together, I would definitely consider staying offsite or at the Swolphin if it continues to go downhill. Switching to your new PTR now

bee · Feb 7, 2017

MinnieM123 said:
And this is why I've stayed at the Swan for the past 5 years (I visit WDW once a year). Location, location, location . . . and at the price of a Disney "moderate" or even less at times, I think overall it's the best deal on Disney property.

Very much enjoyed your TR, Bee. You had some excellent photos, and I always read your comments and details with great interest. I always learn something by following other people's TRs.

Lastly, I got a kick out of your new hobby--gifs! HA!

Yes yes yes! M and I were talking about this last night and both concluded we'd much rather pay for the Swan and get a beautiful, large room, be able to walk to the park we visit most frequently, and not have to worry too much about transportation onsite, even if it means we have to pay for either car service to and from the airport, or a rental car and parking fee.

I'm glad you enjoyed my TR! Thanks for following along! I'm also happy to provide amusement with gifs! When I realized I could very easily make them with the Tumblr app I went nuts with it! :joyfull:

DonnaOnTheRocks said:
Great report! I'm hoping DME can get it together, I would definitely consider staying offsite or at the Swolphin if it continues to go downhill. Switching to your new PTR now

Thanks for reading! I'll of course report on how the DME goes next time. If it's a nightmare that may be our last time using it and/or staying onsite. And yay!

Trip Report The Big Fat Liars Thanksgiving Report!

bee

Well-Known Member

MinnieM123

bee

Well-Known Member

bee

Well-Known Member

bee

Well-Known Member

Figgy1

bee

Well-Known Member

bee

Well-Known Member

bee

Well-Known Member

DonnaOnTheRocks

Well-Known Member

bee

Well-Known Member

bee

Well-Known Member

Figgy1

Tuvalu

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member

bee

Well-Known Member

bee

Well-Known Member

MinnieM123

DonnaOnTheRocks

Well-Known Member

bee

Well-Known Member