Hi all, just returned the other day and thought I would share a little bit about our trip.
We checked into the Beach Club fairly early (about 10am). Much to our surprise, our beautiful, lagoon/Boardwalk view, corner room was ready! So, we dropped off our luggage and headed for the Studios. Grabbed Fastpasses for RNR and headed over to ToT (quick 15 minute line). Had lunch at the Sci-Fi (good, but still think that menu needs to be revised). Dinner a little later on at Primetime, great time, the CM's were exceptional and a lot of fun.
I won't get into great day to day detail, so I will stick to the expectional and not so exceptional aspects of our trip.
We found the Cast Members amazingly friendly and helpful, more so then on past trips... the only bump in the road was using our Magical Wishes features (we were on the Discovery Magic package). When I called to make our PS arrangements, I was asked if we would be on any package that included meals, when I knew we would be using the features, I mentioned it. All in all it worked very well, we had some great meals and once again, found the the restaurant cm's to be amazing, friendly, helpful, etc. There just seemed to be some sort of lack of communication regarding how the meals would be paid for. Sometimes, we would be asked when we checked in at the podium, other times when our server approached us, but more often than not, no one ever asked. If we remembered, we mentioned it before we ordered anything (we started to do this as the norm towards the end of our trip). What it boiled down to was the CM being somewhat miffed that we didn't mention it, or the podium not alerting them. I can understand the frustration on their part, but I would think that it would be up to them to inquire if a party is using any meal plans (since there a few), as opposed to the travelers pointing it out...
Lunch at Alfredo's was superb (albeit a little too much food for lunch)... Portobello Yacht Club was our favorite. We had a PS at Cinderella's castle one night at 8:20, however, we didn't get seated till 9:20pm, at 8:45 when I asked about the wait time, I was told they were just starting to seat the 8:10 PS's... that was the longest we had to wait for any PS during our trip, so, we didn't mind so much. Although we felt rushed through our dinner and were in and out in about 45 minutes.
Went to 2 E-Ride nights, first one 8/16, it was great! Small crowd, zero wait times... exactly what I envisioned an E-ride night to be... BUT on 8/20... it was a waste! Hours were 8:30-11:30, we arrived at about 9:30 and stayed till the end, lines were long, it felt like a regular day (well, almost)... we would have done better early in the day and w/fast passes. Very disappointing, but glad we had great experience on 8/16.
We also rented a car, it made life so much easier, especially when we headed over to other resorts. It will be hard to go back to taking the buses, I admit. When we decided to drive to the parks, our timing was great as the walk to the front entrance was minimal, never took the trams once!!
Also, single riders on TT is the way to go! Although, the times we went on the ride, the stand-by line was never more than 30 minutes.
Ok, I will end here as I know this is a little long winded, but if anyone has any specific questions, I will be happy to try to answer!!
Have a great day!!
:wave:
We checked into the Beach Club fairly early (about 10am). Much to our surprise, our beautiful, lagoon/Boardwalk view, corner room was ready! So, we dropped off our luggage and headed for the Studios. Grabbed Fastpasses for RNR and headed over to ToT (quick 15 minute line). Had lunch at the Sci-Fi (good, but still think that menu needs to be revised). Dinner a little later on at Primetime, great time, the CM's were exceptional and a lot of fun.
I won't get into great day to day detail, so I will stick to the expectional and not so exceptional aspects of our trip.
We found the Cast Members amazingly friendly and helpful, more so then on past trips... the only bump in the road was using our Magical Wishes features (we were on the Discovery Magic package). When I called to make our PS arrangements, I was asked if we would be on any package that included meals, when I knew we would be using the features, I mentioned it. All in all it worked very well, we had some great meals and once again, found the the restaurant cm's to be amazing, friendly, helpful, etc. There just seemed to be some sort of lack of communication regarding how the meals would be paid for. Sometimes, we would be asked when we checked in at the podium, other times when our server approached us, but more often than not, no one ever asked. If we remembered, we mentioned it before we ordered anything (we started to do this as the norm towards the end of our trip). What it boiled down to was the CM being somewhat miffed that we didn't mention it, or the podium not alerting them. I can understand the frustration on their part, but I would think that it would be up to them to inquire if a party is using any meal plans (since there a few), as opposed to the travelers pointing it out...
Lunch at Alfredo's was superb (albeit a little too much food for lunch)... Portobello Yacht Club was our favorite. We had a PS at Cinderella's castle one night at 8:20, however, we didn't get seated till 9:20pm, at 8:45 when I asked about the wait time, I was told they were just starting to seat the 8:10 PS's... that was the longest we had to wait for any PS during our trip, so, we didn't mind so much. Although we felt rushed through our dinner and were in and out in about 45 minutes.
Went to 2 E-Ride nights, first one 8/16, it was great! Small crowd, zero wait times... exactly what I envisioned an E-ride night to be... BUT on 8/20... it was a waste! Hours were 8:30-11:30, we arrived at about 9:30 and stayed till the end, lines were long, it felt like a regular day (well, almost)... we would have done better early in the day and w/fast passes. Very disappointing, but glad we had great experience on 8/16.
We also rented a car, it made life so much easier, especially when we headed over to other resorts. It will be hard to go back to taking the buses, I admit. When we decided to drive to the parks, our timing was great as the walk to the front entrance was minimal, never took the trams once!!
Also, single riders on TT is the way to go! Although, the times we went on the ride, the stand-by line was never more than 30 minutes.
Ok, I will end here as I know this is a little long winded, but if anyone has any specific questions, I will be happy to try to answer!!
Have a great day!!
:wave:
