Most Recent Reviews
Review of Disney's Boardwalk Inn Concierge Level
Reviewed by Kerry218 Review Date: 12/19/2018
Rating: (10) Recommended
My husband and I just returned from a 7 night stay at the Innkeepers Club at the Boardwalk Inn. It was wonderful! We were in room 4259, a king room with a BW view. The cast members here are amazing and always had a smile on their faces despite some guests treating them like their personal servants. The chefs in the lounge at night cooked some delicious food and encouraged you to have seconds and thirds. Some of the food we enjoyed were, filet, sea scallops with sweet onion risotto, seafood risotto, muscles, sea bass, clam chowder, tomato basil soup, and wonderful salads and cheeses. I would highly recommend the Innkeepers Club to anyone and look forward to our return in February of 2019!
Pros:
Location, accommodations, friendly cast, beautiful resortCons:
NoneReview of Crystal Palace Breakfast
Reviewed by Tigger82 Review Date: 12/18/2018
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
As much as I love Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet, I won't be eating here soon
Pros:
Characters, only place for Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger together.Cons:
Food and Price, we went for lunch and the food wasn't very good and the price was way too much. I spent less at Tusker House for better food and a reserved seat at Rivers of Light. I may try breakfast here someday but the characters aren't worth $161 for three people.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 12/18/2018
Rating: (7) Recommended
Way too many tickets sold for the night of October 31, 2018. Cast members were not as efficient with crowd control for the first parade. Ride and candy lines were long with 30 minutes plus wait for most rides. Enjoyed the interaction with the Haunted Mansion "ghosts".
Pros:
Park was decorated for Halloween Good candyCons:
Too many people for this day of the event!!!!!Review of Wilderness Lodge (Deluxe Resort)
Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 12/18/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
October 29-November 1, 2018
Upon arrival, greeted at the front desk and told my room had been upgraded overlooking the pool area. Great view of the lodge from the balcony. Only drawback is the games and activities at the pool that started mid-day. Room was beautiful and housekeeping was on spot every day. Everyone was friendly and helpful. Boat and bus service was excellent with minimum wait and no standing at any time. Whispering Canyon was fun for breakfast.
Pros:
Great hotel nice rooms bus and water taxi service to Magic KingdomCons:
Expensive Small quick service dining area for ordering mealsReview of Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe
Reviewed by DanInNH Review Date: 12/18/2018
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
We had not intended to stop and eat here, but it started to pour and it was a quick duck-in out of the weather. We should have just got wet and moved on. There were 4 of us - 3 had tacos - the same 3 of us got sick. Coincidence? I do not think so. What we had taste-wise was nothing to write home about...filled our bellies as we were hungry. But before we made it to POTC, one of us ran to the rest room and was ill. After POTC the 2nd of us got sick....and it took me the better part of an hour before I too succumbed.
Pros:
Ah.....it wasn't raining inside?Cons:
what we ate didn't like us. at all.Review of Le Cellier Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by DanInNH Review Date: 12/18/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
great food, good service, and pass the preztel bread. PLEASE!. One of our favorite places and it did not disappoint.
Pros:
food quality, taste, tenderness, presentation was excellent. And have I said give me more pretzel bread yet? I think we eat more of those than anything else!Cons:
I guess compared to other places, a tad more pricey than other places, but the food never is less than terrific and we feel worth every disney penny.Review of Biergarten - Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by DanInNH Review Date: 12/18/2018
Rating: (8) Recommended
As usual, we loved the show and brews and the food. It is one of our regular stops. It was still excellent with only a few minor flaws if I was to get picky. Some of the buffet food items were not hot...well barely warm. No butter for rolls - only those fake butter/grease tubs which are NOT good tasting nor actually good for you. But what we had was very good and we enjoyed ourselves.
Pros:
many food options - something for everyone. wonderful show. Our server was fantastic and attentive.Cons:
as mentioned above. a few items were not nearly as hot as they should have been and zero butter. Getting picky I know, but both were noticeable to all of our party.Review of Be Our Guest Dinner
Reviewed by DanInNH Review Date: 12/18/2018
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
Once upon a time I would have given BOG an 8 or 9 rating. Well, we had not eaten at BOG in several months, I think since June, but we went last week and apparently they changed dinner to be one price - 3 course - meal. So we had to pay a lot to get appetizers and dessert - which if allowed, we would NOT have wanted or ordered. So we got more food than we wanted, but it was lousy enough to leave it where it laid without a thought.
Pros:
atmosphere...dining room aesthetics niceCons:
cost. did I say cost yet? and the quality of food was poor. For example, I am a filet mignon lover, and what I got paled mightily in comparison to both Le Cellier and Citricos. Looked for the chain saw. BOG had better choices and quality when it first opened. Loved the mussles...no longer offered. The braised pork? gone.. Anyway, it was nice once upon a disney time, but I doubt we will ever return unless it has a complete make over on the menu, both options and quality...Review of Grand Floridian Resort (Deluxe Resort)
Reviewed by Rebekah G Review Date: 12/18/2018
Rating: (7) Recommended
10 of us stayed at GF for the first time Dec. 9-15, 2018. We are Disney vets and have stayed at WDW resorts many, many times the last couple decades at value and moderate. This was only my second deluxe. We recently became pass holders and DVC members so we will start to stay at more and more Deluxe. Let me preface this trip was a big family holiday celebration with 8 adults, a 4 year old, and infant, which would present challenges no matter where we stayed.
I arrived on ME with some of our party about 10:30am; the rest arrived via car soon after. We got checked in and found we had two upgraded lagoon views from garden views, which was a hit because we could watch the monorail. Great balcony and a peaceful view!
The rooms were not quite ready so we headed to grab some lunch. The only real quick service option for lunch was Gasparilla. It was raining and only has a small inside seating area for the size of the resort so it was crowded even though we arrived about 11am. Food was fine for a QS. Cookies were underwhelming. The cupcakes we had later in the week were much better. That was the only QS meal we ate there, but got breakfast items, mug refills, and snacks all week. While Gasparilla was open 24 hours there are only two Coke freestyle machines (we found two others at the beach pool on other side of resort but those were limited hours). There was always a backup and mid day multiple flavors were frequently out.
We got the text rooms were ready shortly after lunch. We had no park plans the first day so we were glad to get situated with the large group. We were put in adjoining rooms in Sago Cay (lobby of buidling was beautiful). The rooms were clean and nicely appointed. We had the crib we ordered and were brought more Kcups. Both driving groups were able to get CM with golf carts drive to their cars and get their luggage, which was awesome since it was raining and the one car had two kids and a lot of stuff. Their only complaint driving is CM were not as helpful when they arrived to help direct to non-valet parking.
Those of us ME guests received our checked bags shortly thereafter. We had purchased military tickets so we needed to go to TTC to activate. This was our first experience with how inconvenient the transport is if you are staying there. We'd used resort monorail many times prior trips for dining and resort exploration, but it's not as fun when you are staying there. At this point (about 2:30pm) it finally stopped raining. We went to the monorail station and it was very backed up. We decided to take our chances walking to TTC. It took 7 adults a full 20 minutes at a brisk pace to make it to TTC, but we decided that was better than waiting for multiple monrails before we would get on. I upgraded my ticket to Gold annual pass, and the CM at TTC was very efficient with our group.
We had earlier dining reservations at Cape May (we decided before the trip, we would drive since we had two cars and that was the right choice after the monorail earlier). We had some time and the weather was good for December swimming for we northerners so we checked out the quieter pool in center of resort. The zero entry was fantastic for the four year old and for wading adults who did not want to get soaked. The pool was huge and not very crowded. We enjoyed that pool several times throughout the week. The hot tub is large and accommodated a lot of people. We went to the beach pool once, which was nice, but smaller and not as good for little ones wanting to swim. The four year old kept saying she wanted to go to the pool with "nothing." Aka, no slide. The beach pool was a little warmer.
We did eat at 1900 Park Fare, my first time for dinner (I'd done character breakfast before). We had a 4:20 reservation, which I would highly recommend. It was not very crowded compared to some of the lines we saw outside the restaurant many times walking through. Food was above average for a character buffet and the 4 year old loved Cinderella and the adults found the stepmother and sisters amusing.
The main lobby was exquisite as it always is for Christmas, but staying there for the first time, we found the lobby very crowded much of the time, which was inconvenient for those "living there." The gingerbread house had a constantly long line as did the photo pass for Christmas tree. We went a couple times later in the day before closing at gingerbread house. Less crowds, but they would be out of things and one night the cookies we got were inedible. Guest services gave us our snack credits back.
Overall, this is an amazing resort that feels so 5 star, less Mickey, and we did enjoy so much staying there. But, our biggest critique was transportation. While MK is so close, you cannot walk there. By the time the resort monorail gets around to your resort, there's usually minimal space. Security can get backed up. Going to MK, we took the boat one morning, but that was no better. It still took 20 minutes from the time we got on the boat because it stops at Poly first. Taking the boat back from MK is nice cause GF is first stop, but the boats fill up cause they hold 34 people and they only run one during day it seemed. One day we walked out to leave MK midday, and just missed boat. CM recommended monorail would be faster cause boat would not be back for 20-25 minutes. We walked right on a monorail, but it takes a full 20 minutes to go from MK to GF (sometimes longer) cause of all the stops. It just seems like being that close with the price of the resort it should be easier to get to and from MK. Somedays I would have been happier getting on a bus.
Going to Epcot is even worse. As I noted, at a brisk pace you can walk to TTC from GF in 20 minutes, but there was no way we would do that with 10 people and 2 little ones. So, we had to take the resort monorail (a solid 15 minutes on a good trip) to TTC, then unload, walk across, wait for Epcot monorail, ride over, and have to go through security AGAIN! A CM said they're working on fixing this, but we had to go through security at resort and again at Epcot. The return trip was a little better since we were second stop after TTC. If you're staying at Poly, you can walk to TTC; if you're staying at Contemporary, you can walk to MK. If you're staying at GF, one of the most expensive resorts, you can get no where fast. My husband and I stayed at AK lodge for the first time this past January, I came into worried about tranzport. While we were farther from all the parks except AK, we just walked out and got on a bus. It may have been a longer bus ride, but a much smoother experience. I much preferred going to HS and AK from GF because it was much easier logistically. I know Disney transport is not always the best, but I just expected a little better since monorail resorts are so pricey.
As a first time resort monorail stay (a longstanding Disney dream of our whole Disney family), I just expected getting everywhere to be easier for what you're paying. As DVC members, I want to stay at the other monorail resorts to compare. I'd stay again at GF, but now know what to expect in transport.
Pros:
Lovely grounds and rooms, surprisingly compactCons:
Transportation between MK and Epcot, busy lobbyReview of Grand Floridian Resort (Deluxe Resort)
Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 12/18/2018
Rating: (8) Recommended
Gorgeous hotel but not as convenient as a location you'd expect
