Most Recent Reviews
Review of Old Port Royale
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 08/22/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
I dined here for breakfast on 3 out of 5 mornings, as well as once each for lunch and dinner.
For breakfast I had the kid's mickey waffles, the kid's french toast, and a cheese danish with a side of pineapple. I was at OPR either very early (7:30am) or very late (10:45am), so it was never terribly crowded and I was always able to get one of two tables that were meant for two people.
For lunch, I ate around 11:45am, and ordered the Royale Sandwich, after Jack Spence recommended it in his blog recently. It came with a side of house made chips. The sandwich was great but so big I could barely eat half! Also loved the soft-serve ice cream option for dessert.
My friend and I ate dinner here once as well, around 6:45pm. I had the roast chicken with mashed potatoes, cornbread, and green beans, with a pineapple upside down cake for dessert. My friend had the turkey meal with the same sides. We both loved our meals.
I am also happy to say that I did not have nearly the same amount of trouble with my refillable mug that I did at All Star Movies several months ago. The RFID readers here were cooperative and I was able to get my soda with no frustration.
Pros:
Decent food, easy to find seating at off timesCons:
—Review of Typhoon Lagoon Counter Service
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 08/22/2014
Rating: (6) Recommended
I dined at Leaning Palms around 2pm on 8/13. Ordered the Tropical Salad with Chicken. It was surprisingly easy to find a table in the nearby shelter. The salad looked promising but turned out to be disappointing. The chicken was not cut, but was one solid piece. It was served in a cardboard dish that quickly became soggy from the dressing and made cutting the chicken almost impossible.
On the other hand, I stopped for a half dozen mini donuts before leaving the park. They stayed nice and hot during the short drive back to CBR, and were delicious with the accompanying raspberry dipping sauce.
Pros:
Easy to find a seat, mini donuts!Cons:
Cardboard salad dishReview of Grand Floridian Resort (Deluxe Resort)
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 08/22/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
My friend and I stayed here for the first time for one night, 8/18-8/19. I gave him the choice between a theme park view room at the Contemporary or an outer building garden view here, and this is what he chose. During online check in, I requested either Boca Chica or Big Pine Key, with the hopes of getting a pool view, but put in no further requests.
My friend stopped to check us in around 8:30am. When I arrived around 10, I stopped at the security guard shack, feeling I’d rather be safe than sorry about trying to use my band at the registered guests side. The guard was rather cross with me. He scanned my band, asked me what I was doing there, then requested to see photo ID. When I told him the reservation wasn’t in my name, he said he needed to see ID of the person who it was under-that has never happened to me before. My friend is a CM so he often goes to register us before we arrive and no other resort has given us this trouble. When I explained that he had already been to check in the guard rudely told me to just go in and park.
With that out of the way, I parked in the self-serve lot and took my bags in to Bell Services. Our room was not ready yet so I boarded the monorail to Magic Kingdom. The monorail was the only transportation we used at this resort but we never really had any problems. There was one time when they needed to reboot the system, which resulted in the A/C being turned off for a few minutes, but that was a very minor inconvenience.
Around 1:30, I received a text that our room was 8426 (Boca Chica) and it was ready, so I immediately headed back, stopping to pick up my bags on the way. It’s like the room assigners knew exactly what I wanted! We were on the fourth floor and had a nice view of the courtyard pool and grounds. The room itself was beautiful and I really like the new décor; I feel it’s much less stuffy than the old pastels and floral designs. I also got a kick out of the GF monogram on the throw pillows, as those are my initials! We had a connecting door and the insulation was very thin; at 3am I could hear the neighbors’ phone ringing and them sneezing.
We ate at Grand Floridian Café and Gasparilla’s Island Grill; both were very good. We enjoyed both pools and I thought the slide at the Beach Pool was the second best I’ve been on (beat only by Boardwalk). The lounge chairs were cushioned, not the plastic ones at all other resorts, and there was a cast member from the poolside bar wandering around checking to see if anyone needed drinks or food.
There was a commercial being filmed in the lobby for Disney Parks online, so we were politely asked to move from the couch we were occupying as to not be in the shot.
Like a previous poster, I was concerned about this resort feeling too upscale, as it has in the past when I’ve visited. However, it was very enjoyable for the night and I would consider a longer stay, if only I could afford it!
Pros:
Beautiful rooms, great pools, enjoyable restaurants, monorail accessCons:
Grumpy security guard, very little soundproofing between roomsReview of Caribbean Beach Resort (Moderate Resort)
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 08/22/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
I booked a stay in a king bed room for 8/13-8/18. During online check in, I requested a water view room in Jamaica, and I also faxed a letter with more specific room requests, down to various room numbers.
On 8/13, I arrived at the resort around noon and proceeded to the Custom House to check in. I did not even have to enter a line as a cast member greeted me with an iPad and went to get my packet for me. She told me my room was ready, and that it would be room 4217. This was the third room number I had requested so I was very pleased.
The room was a short walk from the parking lot, just steps away from the beach and quiet pool, a five-minute walk over the bridge to Old Port Royale, and had an amazing view of Barefoot Bay and OPR. It was a room that had recently been refurbished with darker woods and tones. Personally, I thought it was a little too dark, not light and airy like I picture the Caribbean to be. My two real complaints about the room were the very noisy A/C units and the WiFi. CBR has not switched to the motion sensor thermostats, which is nice because the room stays cool at night, but they still have the bulky, loud, under the window kind. The WiFi was very slow and I had to disconnect and reconnect about every five minutes.
Because the construction trailers are set up in the back of the Jamaica 41-43 parking lot, the parking was very restricted in that lot. During the day it was easy to find a spot, but coming back after the fireworks I had to park over in the 44-46 lot several times.
The Fuentes del Morro pool was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the slides. I bought some Magic Band accessories in the gift shop and ate three breakfasts, one lunch, and one dinner at the food court. I swam in the Jamaica pool one day and thought it was too warm. Did not use transportation so I can’t comment on that.
While this resort is spread out, I did not think the walk to OPR was unbearable, and oftentimes I drove over anyway. I was a bit hesitant to stay here at first but I am glad I gave it a try and would recommend it to others-there’s nothing quite like coming back from a busy day at the parks and being able to relax in a hammock just steps from your door!
Pros:
Refurbished rooms, relaxed feeling, friendly cast members, requests metCons:
new rooms seem dark, parking due to construction, loud A/C unitsReview of Walt Disney World's Magical Express
Reviewed by xxjess10 Review Date: 08/21/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
DME is one of our favorite parts of the trip! Well..when arriving, at least. We love that we don't have to keep track of our luggage, and it's exciting to be welcomed by the first cast members of the trip at the airport! I was very disappointed though, as I have been in years past, when our bus pulled up and it was just a plain yellow Mears bus. I understand that Mears is the company that provides this wonderful experience to Disney resort guests, but I just think that it detracts from the magic when you cannot ride a DME bus that is decked out in Disney glory! Other than that, I have no complaints. One member of our party did have an issue with the show that is played on the bus and has been updated since our last trip - she found it less pleasant than the shows in previous years, although we all loved the clips of the Disney Parks Blog that were put on for us on the trip home.
Pros:
Friendly staff, comfortable, timelyCons:
Mears yellow bus, boring showReview of Rose and Crown Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by xxjess10 Review Date: 08/21/2014
Rating: (7) Recommended
We have eaten several times at the Rose and Crown pub. This time around, we made our ADR as per the rules of our dining plan and on the evening of our dinner, checked in a little earlier than our 5:55 reservation. We watched the British Revolution show (love it!) to bide our time, and when we got called, our server tried to seat us in the outdoor section of the restaurant. This is not something we were interested in in the dog days of summer, in Florida no less! We quickly explained to him that we would wait for a table inside, of which there appeared to be many (although I know that they were all probably reserved as well). We had never experienced this problem before, and were sad to do so this vacation. Our food was very good as usual, and we love the pub-like atmosphere as well as the pleasant staff.
If you are making a reservation for this restaurant and do not want to eat outside, I suggest you specify your wants when doing so! It could have saved us 45 minutes of waiting.
Pros:
Food, atmosphereCons:
Outdoor seatingReview of La Hacienda de San Angel
Reviewed by xxjess10 Review Date: 08/21/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
We really enjoy Mexican food, and this new restaurant did not disappoint. As our wonderful server put it, it is more like traditional Mexican food than it is tex-mex or "American" Mexican cuisine. We decided to be adventurous and begin our meal with a tequila shot, which our waiter helped us pick out (none of us are knowledgeable in the slightest about tequila). One of our party then proceeded to order the traditional margarita, which she was quite pleased with. For our meal, the four of us split the two large entrees (the ones meant for two people), and most of what we got was pleasantly devoured. One of our party members thought that the steak was not the best he'd had, but this is after eating at Le Cellier days prior, and how could you compare? The desserts were very tasty, and the corn ice cream was definitely worth a try!
Pros:
food, drinks, service, atmosphereCons:
—Review of My Disney Experience
Reviewed by xxjess10 Review Date: 08/21/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
The ease of access that Disney provides for you is excellent. I find myself looking up the wait times for rides even when I'm not in the parks - it's just fun to marvel at some of them! I love how the app now keeps track of the fastpasses that you make throughout the day, although I found sometimes it was late in notifying me that a fastpass had been cancelled. I also think it'd be really helpful if the app included a system of keeping track of your dining credits if you are on a Disney dining plan, as we tended to horde receipts throughout the trip. Another thing we wished for was a bus locator - sometimes it was really disheartening to just wait and wait for buses, especially when all you want to do is get to the parks! Other than that, it was very user-friendly and helpful.
Pros:
Wait times, keep track of your fastpasses, full of infoCons:
Didn't update fastpasses always right on timeReview of FastPass+ (Retired)
Reviewed by xxjess10 Review Date: 08/21/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
We were really impressed with the new system. As a family that LOVES to plan ahead and has been to WDW many times, we knew exactly what we wanted to do and had already picked our fastpasses out well in advance of the actual date to create them. On said date, we were a little disappointed to find that you can really only pick one major attraction to Fastpass, but we found that once we were in the park it didn't matter! With the time that we saved running from ride to ride to make new Fastpasses, we were able to spend more time running to rides to ride them instead. We did find, however, that after using our three fastpasses it was tedious to find a kiosk to make another one. There aren't many of these in the parks, and there was almost always a line. I know it is a work in progress, and I'm excited to see what Disney will come up with regarding this new system.
Pros:
Planning ahead of time,, no more wasting time getting fastpassesCons:
Can't make new fastpasses from My Disney Experience, can't choose 3 major ridesReview of MagicBand
Reviewed by xxjess10 Review Date: 08/21/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
We thought the MagicBands were a great new product! Being able to customize them and receive them in advance really helped get us excited for the trip (as if we needed any help!) Because it is almost always on your wrist, we did not have much trouble keeping track of all of our party's bands. They are easily deactivated/reactivated from the My Disney Experience app, which does remove some of the stress of losing it should it happen. Although none of us needed it, I really liked how the band can be adjusted to become smaller for the little ones - Disney does think of everything.
