So this is my first "trip report" so keep with me
When: 8/31-9/9
Where: Carbbean Beach (Aruba)
Who: Me (32) DW (30) DDx3 (11, 8, 5)
Resort was clean and it looked like the Aruba portion had been refurbished since my last stay in 2014. Everything about the Aruba portion looked nice. Construction was still ongoing, but was not overly intrusive and Disney was doing extensive landscaping at Aruba. But once again, nothing was intrusive. Unfortunately Centertown was down due to construction. The makeshift dining hall was good for breakfast, better than the other QS options when Centertown is open. I didnt eat dinner there so I cannot comment.
Parks:
Wait times were manageable this time of year which was expected. I saw no trash or neglect issues in the parks, they actually seemed cleaner than my last visit. This could just have to do with the lower crowd levels this time of year (everywhere except EPCOT due to Food and Wine). Unfortunately, out of the 7 days we spent in the parks there was at least one major attraction down for a large portion of the day. I AM NOT including weather related outages in this list. Also, these outages are only for days where I was in that park - I know they were down other days due to the MDE app:
Magic Kingdom outage: At some point all these rides were down for mother than 3 hours. Splash, Space, 7DMT, Big Thunder, Pirates, Buzz. At one point, 7DMT, Splash, Pirates, and Space were down at the same time. This made the lines for the remaining attractions unbearably long
EPCOT: EPCOT did fairly well, but Test Track was down for several hours both day we were in EPCOT
Animal Kingdom: Animal Kingdom also did fairly well, with the only outage being Navi. This ride had multiple hour outages both days we were in AK. There may have been other outages but were either short enough to not affect us or went down after we rode.
Hollywood Studios: This was a disappointment. We rode Slinky Dog at opening, then did a fastpass for Midway Mania. By the time we were off Midway Mania (roughly park open, we entered with EMH) Slinky Dog was down and remained down for the rest of the day.
Outside of the rather disappointing ride outages, I have no complaints regarding the park operations or the cast members in the parks.
Transportation:
Bus Transportation to the resort was always adequate. We never waited more than 15 minutes to load a bus to go to our destination. No complaints.
Dining (Table Service): This is where my major disappointment lies. The food was good at all restaurants, but the service was unacceptable everywhere except Akershus and Crystal Palace.
Day 1: Breakfast - Tusker House: Good food as always, service was non existent. 1 refill over entire meal.
Day 2: Hoop De Doo: Same food as always. Just what you would expect. Due to the slow service I only consumed 2 beers over the entire 2 hour show
Day 3: Yak and Yeti: Food was outstanding. Unfortunately, from the time the 5 of us ordered it took over an hour to receive the food. Service was non existent as well. Took an additional 30 minutes after waiter took our plates to receive our check.
Day 4: Paradiso 37: Food was great. Service was adequate, but not fitting for a restaurant that cost $50 per person
Day 5: Coral Reef: Food was disappointing, seemed to be blander with less menu diversity than the last time I ate here (2012). Service was better than previous places but was still unacceptable
Day 6: Breakfast Crystal Palace: Food was good and was same as always. Service was also good. Overall positive experience.
Day 7: Sci Fi Theater: Food was adequate, not as good as I remember and not as good as other TS experiences. Service was by far the worst I have ever experienced in ANY Disney park EVER. It took 15 minutes after seating before the waitress came to take our drink orders, and she only came after I went to front to ask if I was going to be waited on. After ordering drinks it was 12 minutes before the drinks came out. We ordered when we received our drinks and it took an additional hour to get our food. During this time the waitress never checked on us or offered refills. Total time in Sci Fi was over 2 hours.
Day 8: Akershus (Princess Dinner): Food was great. Waitress was great. Best dining experience all trip.
I'm not sure what the issue with the dining is. Maybe I experienced a string of bad luck and isolated incidences. I dont know. But I do know that my family are not demanding guest when it comes to dining and every place except CP and Akershus fell short on service. I wouldn't label P37 as unacceptable (Although I think most would), but it was as poor as it could be before I put that label on it. In fact, the service at the remaining 5 places would have had me walk out of most places not in WDW. Maybe its a WDW issue, maybe its an individual manager issue, maybe I had bad luck and there is no issue, I don't know. But Dining was the single most disappointing thing about this trip day after day.
Security:
Ahh another one - metal detectors everywhere. Each trip seems to be getting more and more intrusive. I'm waiting for them to deploy the full body scanners the TSA uses. If anything drives me away from Disney for good it will be the intrusive security policies. If they are going to continue this push to overt, intrusive security I'll gladly pay for a TSA Precheck style fastpass but going through a metal detector every time I go anywhere is getting old.
Summary:
Would I do it again - Yes, but they really need to institute some kind of fastpass for security. If that means prescreened background checks that fine - just find a way to make the lines move. The dining issue really has me tilted toward buying the 5th wheel I want so I can stay in it and make/premake my own meals.. I enjoy the parks and the dining experiences, but the service we received was not up to par for any sit down restaurant anywhere, let alone ones that easily cost $50 a person.
When: 8/31-9/9
Where: Carbbean Beach (Aruba)
Who: Me (32) DW (30) DDx3 (11, 8, 5)
Resort was clean and it looked like the Aruba portion had been refurbished since my last stay in 2014. Everything about the Aruba portion looked nice. Construction was still ongoing, but was not overly intrusive and Disney was doing extensive landscaping at Aruba. But once again, nothing was intrusive. Unfortunately Centertown was down due to construction. The makeshift dining hall was good for breakfast, better than the other QS options when Centertown is open. I didnt eat dinner there so I cannot comment.
Parks:
Wait times were manageable this time of year which was expected. I saw no trash or neglect issues in the parks, they actually seemed cleaner than my last visit. This could just have to do with the lower crowd levels this time of year (everywhere except EPCOT due to Food and Wine). Unfortunately, out of the 7 days we spent in the parks there was at least one major attraction down for a large portion of the day. I AM NOT including weather related outages in this list. Also, these outages are only for days where I was in that park - I know they were down other days due to the MDE app:
Magic Kingdom outage: At some point all these rides were down for mother than 3 hours. Splash, Space, 7DMT, Big Thunder, Pirates, Buzz. At one point, 7DMT, Splash, Pirates, and Space were down at the same time. This made the lines for the remaining attractions unbearably long
EPCOT: EPCOT did fairly well, but Test Track was down for several hours both day we were in EPCOT
Animal Kingdom: Animal Kingdom also did fairly well, with the only outage being Navi. This ride had multiple hour outages both days we were in AK. There may have been other outages but were either short enough to not affect us or went down after we rode.
Hollywood Studios: This was a disappointment. We rode Slinky Dog at opening, then did a fastpass for Midway Mania. By the time we were off Midway Mania (roughly park open, we entered with EMH) Slinky Dog was down and remained down for the rest of the day.
Outside of the rather disappointing ride outages, I have no complaints regarding the park operations or the cast members in the parks.
Transportation:
Bus Transportation to the resort was always adequate. We never waited more than 15 minutes to load a bus to go to our destination. No complaints.
Dining (Table Service): This is where my major disappointment lies. The food was good at all restaurants, but the service was unacceptable everywhere except Akershus and Crystal Palace.
Day 1: Breakfast - Tusker House: Good food as always, service was non existent. 1 refill over entire meal.
Day 2: Hoop De Doo: Same food as always. Just what you would expect. Due to the slow service I only consumed 2 beers over the entire 2 hour show
Day 3: Yak and Yeti: Food was outstanding. Unfortunately, from the time the 5 of us ordered it took over an hour to receive the food. Service was non existent as well. Took an additional 30 minutes after waiter took our plates to receive our check.
Day 4: Paradiso 37: Food was great. Service was adequate, but not fitting for a restaurant that cost $50 per person
Day 5: Coral Reef: Food was disappointing, seemed to be blander with less menu diversity than the last time I ate here (2012). Service was better than previous places but was still unacceptable
Day 6: Breakfast Crystal Palace: Food was good and was same as always. Service was also good. Overall positive experience.
Day 7: Sci Fi Theater: Food was adequate, not as good as I remember and not as good as other TS experiences. Service was by far the worst I have ever experienced in ANY Disney park EVER. It took 15 minutes after seating before the waitress came to take our drink orders, and she only came after I went to front to ask if I was going to be waited on. After ordering drinks it was 12 minutes before the drinks came out. We ordered when we received our drinks and it took an additional hour to get our food. During this time the waitress never checked on us or offered refills. Total time in Sci Fi was over 2 hours.
Day 8: Akershus (Princess Dinner): Food was great. Waitress was great. Best dining experience all trip.
I'm not sure what the issue with the dining is. Maybe I experienced a string of bad luck and isolated incidences. I dont know. But I do know that my family are not demanding guest when it comes to dining and every place except CP and Akershus fell short on service. I wouldn't label P37 as unacceptable (Although I think most would), but it was as poor as it could be before I put that label on it. In fact, the service at the remaining 5 places would have had me walk out of most places not in WDW. Maybe its a WDW issue, maybe its an individual manager issue, maybe I had bad luck and there is no issue, I don't know. But Dining was the single most disappointing thing about this trip day after day.
Security:
Ahh another one - metal detectors everywhere. Each trip seems to be getting more and more intrusive. I'm waiting for them to deploy the full body scanners the TSA uses. If anything drives me away from Disney for good it will be the intrusive security policies. If they are going to continue this push to overt, intrusive security I'll gladly pay for a TSA Precheck style fastpass but going through a metal detector every time I go anywhere is getting old.
Summary:
Would I do it again - Yes, but they really need to institute some kind of fastpass for security. If that means prescreened background checks that fine - just find a way to make the lines move. The dining issue really has me tilted toward buying the 5th wheel I want so I can stay in it and make/premake my own meals.. I enjoy the parks and the dining experiences, but the service we received was not up to par for any sit down restaurant anywhere, let alone ones that easily cost $50 a person.
