Skicks35
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 13, 2015
I see this was already moved, so I'll edit my original post with more details. Without further adieu:
Hey All,
My family (9 in total: myself, wife, brother, sister-in-law, 3 nephews, and two parents) and I just got back from a 7 night trip, and just wanted to briefly share a few highlights and lowlights.
Hotel: Bay Lake - 3 bedroom grand villa
Itinerary:
7/22: Evening at AK
7/23: rope drop DHS; evening at EP
7/24: EP
7/25: MK
7/26: off day
7/27: AK/DHS
7/28: MK + DAH
7/29: EP/MK (mostly for dinner and HEA dessert party). The desserts for HEA party were about what you'd expect (pretty ordinary) with the exception of the macaroons and the ooey gooey toffee cake - both good. Glad we experienced this, but don't think we'd do it again.
Meals (was on regular DDP; I know the credits don't add up, but some of these were only my wife and I and some were before or after the plan started/ended):
Counter Service:
-Satu'li Canteen (dinner)
combo bowls: as good as advertised and could definitely be split between two people. Excellent food for a counter service
-Contempo Cafe (lunch)
I got the cuban sandwich and my wife got the hot turkey sandwhich thing. Both excellent, and again, very good quality for a counter service
-Tangierine Café (lunch) x2
This was the first time we've eaten here, and I'm so glad we did as I think this is our new favorite counter service location (with contemo cafe and satu'li canteen close behind). It's never crowded (that's actually the Moroccan pavilion in general, which could help explain why it's one of my favorites). We split the combo platter as it's plenty of food for two people
-Be Our Guest (lunch)
another tradition on our MK day: we split the braised pork as again, plenty of food for two people (it's a pretty heavy dish for walking around the park in the summer). As good as advertised and as I remember
-Gasparilla Island Grill (dinner)
Another first on our list. This was very good and glad we came here to try it out. I got the chicken and brie sandwich and my wife got the roasted turkey sandwich. We both thought the chicken and brie was the clear winner here as she thought her sandwich was ok, but the orange vinaigrette was a bit much and made it too citrusy. Not crowded at all though
-Flame Tree (lunch)
Wife and I split the combo platter (half chicken, 4 ribs, pulled pork, slaw, and beans). Excellent as always; flavor was very good (and I'm from St. Louis, so I know BBQ), and while the seating is all outdoors, there is plenty of it and the view by the water makes a great atmophere.
-Columbia Harbour House (lunch)
Wife and I both got the lobster roll with fries; again, great value for the dining plan and the taste was very good (large chunks of lobster). Was pretty crowded, but was able to get a table upstairs by a window overlooking the haunted mansion and big thunder in the background
Table Service:
-CA Grill brunch
Never been to CA Grill during the day, so it was a very fun, slow paced experience. Best meal we had all trip; between my wife and I, we split the blueberry pancakes, lobster benedict, steak and eggs, and a half order of shrimp and grits. Wish we would've ordered more of the shrimp and grits as those were definitely our favorites (I'm sure we could have, but were to full at the end). Lobster bendicts was disappointing (mostly the hollandaise), but the lobster itself was very good. As most people do, we boxed up the desserts for later (those macaroons.. so good, we had to ask for a couple more, ha).
-Via Napoli (dinner)
First time here as well. My wife and I split a large pepperoni pizza, which turned out was way too much food as we took three pieces home (although I did control myself a bit as I knew the patisserie in France was on deck for dessert..). Pizza was very good, as advertised and the service was excellent as well.
-Le Cellier (dinner)
Service: excellent; cheddar cheese soup/pretzel bread: excellent; atmosphere for an in park signature restaurant: excellent. Only downside was the filet itself. It's not like it's bad or anything (it was cooked fine), it's just not as good as I remember, and for that price, it should be perfect. I'll definitely try to go back here (when I'm not on the dining plan), but I'll just order something different. Probably overreacting a bit here, but this was the meal I was looking forward to the most, and the filet was just a bit disappointing.
-O'hana (dinner)
I'm happy to report that if you were afraid of recent bad reviews, no need to worry. The food was as good as I remember and I didn't think it was possible, but the bread pudding was even better than I remember. The service is on the rushed side, but that was perfectly ok with us as we had three boys and were going back into the parks for EMH, so we really weren't anticipating a relaxed drawn out affair. If it's just you and your SO, I'm sure you could slow things down by asking though. Overall, just a fun, nostalgic experience, as always
-Chef Mickey's (breakfast)
This is what it is (similar to O'hana, but with characters and worse food). It's a nostalgic thing, and it's so fun to remember how I was as a kid here then to see my nephews (my youngest nephew's favorite is Donald) react to the characters. The food is what it is - it's not going to win any awards, but it's certainly enjoyable (mickey waffles for the win!). Our reservation was at 10:45, so we were actually able to eat breakfast and lunch as they started changing over while we were there
-Boma (dinner)
This was a little disappointing as well. Could have been a timing issue as maybe the selection that night, but this wasn't as good as I remember either. Best things were the roasted chicken, sweet potato casserole type thing and zebra domes of course. Couple different salads were good as well. There definitely is quite the selection for a buffet though, so I'm sure there is something the whole family can find to enjoy. I did want to point out the service here was excellent
-Citricos (dinner)
After three straight buffets, it was nice for my wife an I to get away for a relaxing meal. Two years ago, we ate here as our first dinner as fiances, so it was neat to come back on our almost first anniversary. We both got the scallop risotto and it was excellent (certainly on the lighter side, but just the right amount of food as we knew unlimited mickey bars were in our future, ha). Service was excellent here as well (I don't think we had bad service anywhere actually)
-Be Our Guest (dinner)
This was my wife and I's 1st anniversary, so we did Be Our Guest dinner and I wanted to HEA justice by doing the dessert party (and basically guaranteeing a good viewing location without having to wait). The food at BOG was definitely the best part (we had the octopus/lobster bisque as appetizers and the lamb chops/seafood bouillabaisse - everything was excellent). The atmosphere for a signature dinner just doesn't work, imo. I think it's better suited for lunch, but I'm glad we experienced it. Again, service here was great as our waiter walked us through the new menu
-Kona Cafe (breakfast)
This is our departure day tradition (followed by a lap around the monorail to shop at the hotel gift shops, soak in the sights/smells one last time, etc). I noticed that the Big Kahuna is no longer on the menu, but they were more than happy to fix it for us, so my wife and I split it as it's a lot of food (for those that don't remember: two eggs, two pieces of french toast, two pancakes with pineapple filling/macadamia nut butter, all three meats, and breakfast potato wedges). I got the Tonga toast last time, but thought it was very overrated: not enough filling to bread ratio. Broken record alert, but our server, Kyle, was amazing. Not only accommodating the Big Kahuna, but was great wealth of knowledge/conversation of all things Disney (behind the scenes stuff, construction projects, differences in rides between Disneyland and Disney World versions; just a fun conversation for Disney nerds, ha)
Far too many snacks to count, but I'll include our favorites:
School bread, mickey bars, dole whip (the upside down cake is very good too, but not as good as the original), France probably needs its own category: napoleon, raspberry macaroon sandwich, beignet. I did try the brioche ice cream sandwhich but wasn't really impressed. The brioche makes it almost feel like an ice cream burger, which is an odd sensation, ha. Obviously not bad (it's ice cream and bread..), but not my taste; peanut butter pie from Contempo cafe, butterfinger cupcake at DHS
Highlights/things that were better than expected:
1. The room; absolutely amazing (pictures should be attached below)
Our room (8512/8612) was the best of both worlds: technically, it was a lake view, but it was the first room to the left of the elevator, so we also had a great view of the MK as well! 5 total beds (king in master, two queens in other two rooms, both upstairs) plus two sofa sleepers; 4 full baths; four balconies (each room has one, plus one off the kitchen). We aren't DVC members, but these villas get mousekeeping every day and also have access to the top of the world lounge on the 16th floor. We didn't go inside, but the last picture shows the amazing view. They even have fun signs that highlight the points of interest you can see across the horizon. Quick tip (and this is prob true for any room in bay lake): if you're watching the fireworks from the balcony/your room, turn your TV to channel 105 to hear the sound from inside the park synced up!
2. Brunch at CA Grill
3. FoP
This was my first time riding, but it's everything it's cracked up to be
4. SDD
I really enjoyed it (much more than I was expecting when the ride was announced). I think I like it more than 7DMT. Faster than I expected but very smooth. Just a really fun Disney ride.
5. Rope dropping TSL with the 7am EMH opening
If you're going during the time DHS has the 7am EMH, do yourself a favor and follow a version of Josh's plan and don't look back (click here for link). We Ubered and got there around 6:25 (was about $14). Josh's description of the process is dead on; no rushing; no elbows needed. We were on SDD by 6:45 and were able to accomplish all the below before 11:30am: SSD x2, AS2, TSMM x2, ToT x4, RnR x2, ST (this includes scheduled FPs for TSMM, ToT, and RnR, but the point is we were able to ride everything once before our FPs even started). This opened up the entire afternoon for the shows and a long break back at the hotel before dinner at Epcot. I can't stress how much we accomplished by following this plan, especially considering that this land was less than a month old at the time.
6. Tangierine Café - first time eating here and I think it's my new favorite counter service
7. Voices of Liberty
Really glad we caught this show; never seen them before, but they are very talented. It's just one of those little things that sets Disney apart from other theme parks
8. the Muppets great moments in history (but mostly America) show in MK
the same description for Voices of Liberty can be applied here; Muppets humor in its finest form. Just a neat little thing to catch in the middle of the day
9. DAH
2nd time doing this (1st was May 2016 when it first started). Apparently this was the first time this was sold out this summer and comparing to May 2016, you could definitely tell. To be clear though, I could only tell while walking around, no while riding rides: meaning we still didn't wait for anything (except for 7DMT, which I'll explain later). The main difference was that we were never alone walking around like we were. Very minor thing though, so if you're only concern is riding rides with little wait, this is how it's done, especially considering this one was sold out and we still didn't wait for any ride we rode on. We waited to 7DMT until 12:40, got in line, but realized we wouldn't get to Splash in time so we left as that was more important to us. I'm guessing it would have been a 15 min wait for 7DMT, even at 12:40. Here is what we accomplished in total: got to the park around 8:30 and had a FP for PP, so did that, then Pooh, then headed over to the People mover to watch HEA, which was pretty neat. From there, we headed up to HM. By this time, it was 10, so we headed over to Adventureland for JC, PotC, then to Frontierland for SM and Big Thunder. We then walked across to Tomorrowland, stopping in the hub for mickey bars/waters to Space Mtn and rode it 4 times in a row (unfortunately, they didn't let us through the re-ride line so we had to walk all the way around out the back... this was disappointing as it took up a bit of time, but it's my favorite ride, so I was ok with it). Next, it was Buzz, then up to 7DMT (which we bailed on in order to get back up to Splash Mtn). All in all, it was great to have no waits, so I will definitely do this again if it continues to be offered (although, hopefully they don't increase the ticket allotment with the increase in popularity). One last note: we tried to do the lantern photo opp around 12:45 on our way from fantasyland to frontierland, but the photographer was gone, so if you want that picture, go on the earlier side of the event
Lowlights/things that were disappointing (relatively speaking):
1. the change to the carrot cake cookie
taste is still good but the cookie to frosting ratio is way too high now
2. Le Cellier
included above
3. Evening extra magic hours
Before this trip, I always thought evening EMH were one of the perks that would always make me stay on property. Not so much anymore. I don't know if more people know about them, or because more hotels qualify now, but they just aren't the same. For MK, we were only able to accomplish 5 rides at DHS (ToT were 4 of those), 4 in MK and 3 in Epcot (40 min wait for FEA). Way too crowded and on multiple occasions we saw the following happen: family shows up to ride, CM asks if they are staying in a Disney hotel, Dad says no and acts oblivious and distracts CM while mom and kids sneak in. In the grand scheme of things, once wouldn't really impact things, but then you ask how many others are doing this? Also, you pay a premium to stay on property to have this perk that others are taking advantage of for free. That said, if your goal for EMH is to ride one single ride that you didn't get a FP for or to just enjoy the nighttime atmosphere, then it will totally work for you.
4. Buzz's ride
just not good in it's current state and needs some serious TLC
5. The dining plan in general
My parents swear by it, as they like the convenience of not paying at the time of consumption, but IMO, that convenience is offset by having to keep track of credits (plus, you still have to pay the tip, so you still have to pay something). But mostly, it handcuffs you to 1 one table service credit restaurants. Dining at a signature restaurant on the plan is simply not worth 2 credits, monetarily speaking. We were able to make it work, but it requires more planning as well. You just feel constantly restricted: ordering the most expensive entree, most expensive snack; eating at buffets to get your money's worth; not eating at signature restaurants because those aren't good values, etc. I didn't keep track of the receipts, but I can almost guarantee we paid more for the plan than the items we ordered on it. Like I said, we were able to make it all work and it absolutely did not negatively impact our trip one single bit (this is more me thinking out loud), but if I'm planning a trip for myself and my wife, no way we are doing any dining plan.
6. The MDE app
I'm pretty sure this is more of a me problem, than a MDE problem, but running the app on my iphone 6+ (most current ios software though) is just soooooo slow. After opening the app, it takes a good 60 seconds for the GPS map to load. Multiple crashes while refreshing for FP, changed plans not refreshing, constantly kicking me off wifi, etc. Didn't use the bus wait time feature, so I can't comment on that, but everything inside the app was just very slow. Like I said, it's probably because of my older phone though, so just be prepared for slowness if you are running the app on an older phone.
All in all, an absolutely unforgettable trip. The minor disappointing things mentioned above were in no way shape or form large enough to derail any enjoyment me or my family had. Can't wait to start planning the next one! If you have any additional questions or would like me to expand on any of my points above, please don't hesitate to ask!
-Scott
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