My follow on post. . .
Disappointments from Disney parks/resorts
- CMs were beleaguered by the crowds. While we didn't witness any rude behavior, we didn't see a lot of magical moments, either.
- Food quality seems to have dipped again. We had a few tasty things, again mostly at the lounges which offer the best bang for your buck, too.
- Sleigh ride. While the lights were gorgeous at FW, the ride itself was disappointing. Was supposed to last half an hour but was barely 20 minutes. We arrived at FW via boat from WL at 7:50 p.m. with ride beginning at 8:30. Well, unknown to us, Disney switched the location to the Trading Post area which can only be accessed by bus. We had to ask four different CMs where we needed to go to catch said bus before getting the correct answer. Once there, we ran afoul of the crowd that had just let out for HDDR, and the bus stop was packed. They hadn't seen a bus heading where most needed to go (the Purple bus) in 45 minutes claimed one man. The next bus up was Yellow (which we needed), so we got on. However, that same gentleman then proceeded to forcefully state to the bus driver about how long the group had waited. I can't say as I blamed him. The bus driver called a supervisor, yada, yada, then finally left. And we were already by that time late for our ride. She then proceeds to go right by the drop off point, so we mentioned it to her, and she turned around. We arrived 10 minutes late for our ride, and I guess they took that 10 minutes away from us.
- Crowds at DHS. It's festive there but the whole park felt like a giant emergency waiting room. Many hang around waiting for RotR, and many others wait around for the lone FP or two they can muster at the newly minted, mostly Tier 1 rides. Everyone else is in line to ride said attractions with waits ranging from 50-90 minutes at 7:30 in the morning! I like DHS a lot, always have since it has two of my fave rides, RnR and ToT. But, it's a total dud now unless you don't mind waiting and sitting and dodging people.
- Rain. Not Disney's fault, but it rained every single day, and was gloomy when not raining. Washed us out of our Mickey Christmas party as it was pouring and we just didn't feel as though we could last in that environment with the cruise starting the next day.
- VWL room. As mentioned earlier, we got the very last room on the even side, so the Linen Loading View, second only to the dumpster. That wasn't so bad, but the room was dark, darker than we recall. And it seemed spartan, somehow, with the couch looking as though it had seen much better days. Given we saw little sunshine didn't help, either.
- Overall cleanliness, especially bathrooms. Some were in terrible shape, but it seems clear that labor cutbacks are real.
- Bell Services. Honestly, they get an F, and this spans more than one resort. We pulled up to the Lodge and no bell services, just valet types. We waited 10 minutes and saw no one. One of the valets wound up helping us. Every time we came through the main entrance, we saw no bell service CMs, including when we checked out. Same thing at CR when we went there for breakfast one day and at AKL. We had to hunt for a CM to help us with the CL check-in. She said they used to have two full-time CL CMs but that had been reduced to one, and that person only worked the hours between 10 and 2. Not good.
- RotR: Not a bad attraction, but not worth waiting 7.5 hours for, even if you can go off and do things while waiting.
Disappointments from Dream
- Food at Cabana's. It has been better. They still have a huge buffet, but they switched some things which likely saved money but also lowered the quality, such as the lamb chops, the Mickey waffles consistency, and the pasta options.
- Food at rotational restaurants. Granted, we only hit one, but the food seemed clumpy and uninspired. Perhaps the weather was getting to us.
- Overall CM friendliness. Again, perhaps it was the holiday frenzy, but the CMs were less engaging this time around (our 5th cruise). Very peremptory service in many instances.
- Mixology. No longer recommend this activity which has been on of our faves. According to the CM who headed the class, Disney decreed a few months ago--again, we hadn't been told or we would have cancelled--that no one but employees behind the bar. So, we wound up sitting on couches, listening how to make a drink instead of making it, and then being served the drinks. Rather boring though a good deal if you like to drink.
- Rain. Again, it's just nature happening, but it followed us except our Castaway Cay day when it was mostly sunny until that evening.
- The systems that produced the rains gave us 6-8 seas the entire voyage. We don't get seasick, but it does get annoying having to sway and roll and vibrate all day and night long. I felt it for 36 hours after we got off the ship!
- Oh, this is a positive I forgot: Senses Spa. We got the couples package for $129 for the entire cruise, and it was worth it. Uncrowded hot tubs, rain forest showers, saunas. Loved it!
Okay, I've blabbed long enough. We had a lot of fun experiences, but I will say that this was not a trip we'll look back on particularly fondly. I think our expectations were too high, frankly, and the weather dampened our mood more than we should have allowed it to do. On to the new year, 'cause we're going back in March!