Most Recent Reviews
Review of All Star Music Resort (Value Resort)
Reviewed by momof3inMadisonAL Review Date: 01/13/2014
Rating: (5) Recommended
We decided to stay at ASMu originally because my in laws were going with us. We wanted a suite and they would need a regular room. Although we love AoA, we knew that there, it would mean our rooms would not be close together. Our reservations were a mess from the get go (booked with a bounceback offer which is evidently completely different than calling the main Disney reservation number). We ended up with 3 rooms at ASMu (after one of the reservations was lost) and we couldn't change resorts when we tried because our dates overlapped with the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
When we checked in and went to our rooms, we found that two rooms weren't connecting (not a good thing for a family of 6). We had to go back to the front desk to fix it. It took at least 30 mins to change 2/3 of our rooms. In the end, we were in the same building as my in laws, but not really close. With all the rooms, I really don't understand why they can't find 3 of them together.
I also want to state that we had NO refrigerator and did not know before we checked in that they were still having issues. We did get one delivered for my daughter's medication.
The rooms were in section 4 or 5 - farthest from the main building. It really made going to the QS inconvenient, especially after paying top dollar for those refill mugs. The QS was super busy and hard to find a table since the QS at ASSports was closed for renovation.
We have stayed in ASSports and ASMovies (3 times). Out of the All Stars, music is my least favorite. I just didn't like the theme as much as the others. Plus at least at ASMovies, the cheap rooms are near the food court for ASMusic so you don't have to walk as far.
Pros:
co$tCons:
theme, distance to food courtReview of Backstage Magic - 3 Park Tour
Reviewed by momof3inMadisonAL Review Date: 01/13/2014
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
We took the KTTK tour in October and left wanting more. Took this tour on Jan 10 and really wanted less.
Our tour group was 39 people. Although they had 2 tour guides and technically had us in 2 groups, we all rode the same bus. The large group really took away from the experience. (I decided to not name the tour guides because I did not find them to be very personable, which was in stark contrast to our tour guide for KTTK.)
Note, that as others may have pointed out this is a Disney Institute tour. It was a lot different than the KTTK tour by Disney.
We started off going to the back of Epcot and the American Adventure. We really enjoyed hearing about the show and seeing the mechanics. Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. We went around to the front of AA (while the second group went to the mechanical room), and heard about the building --all things I had read online before the tour.
Back on the bus. (We seemed to spend a lot of time getting off and on the bus.) Then we went to HS. First stop was costuming. They were working on costumes for the new parade, but our tour guide didn't seem to want to talk about that. Didn't see much more than what I would see on Backlot Tour. It was just longer and I was standing.
Then to Tower of Terror where we got out of the bus to STAND and look at a mechanical room where there was supposed to be a ride vehicle. We got a few fun facts from tour guide #2 (yes, we were all one BIG group for that part), but as another guest stated, "we could have stayed on the bus for that talk."
Then it was off to AK to see the parade floats. When I saw parade floats at MK as part of KTTK tour, our guide was full of facts and interesting tid bits. I didn't hear as much of that this time. Tour guide #1 had a couple of fun facts specific to AK, but I was underwhelmed.
Tour guide #1 talked a little about the new Lion King building and even less about Avatarland. He was upset when my husband asked about the rumor to get rid of the AK parade. I figured he wouldn't answer it even if it were true, but he seemed annoyed that we would have the audacity to ask about a rumor.
We then stopped to hear about topiaries. I'm not a plant person, so I could have skipped this part and not batted an eyelash.
Then it was lunchtime. I have eaten at Whispering Canyon Cafe before. Food was fresh and tasty. It was really a highlight of the day, if you are ok with eating family style with strangers. It was a little awkward although it was fun talking to other Disney fans at our table. After lunch, I really was ready to just "call it a day" and do my own thing.
But we still had more. First stop Central Shops. That was kind of fun to see, but I was getting tired of standing, and my back hurt. We passed by the Christmas shop. I would have loved to have seen and heard more since the Christmas decorations were just coming down this week.
But we were off to MK. It was fun to see where the trains and monorails go at night. Would have loved to see the CM enterance at MK, but then went back to the front to go inside the park.
Tour guide #1 pointed out a few things on Main Street but I heard more on KTTK tour. We then watched the Block party since there is no 3:00 parade right now. I've seen it many times before with my kids. It was awkward watching it without them. To me, that is a show for kids. Then it was down to the utilidoor. Saw on KTTK tour. Less interesting the second time around. Tour guide didn't really point out any of the interesting photos on the walls.
At the end of the tour, they were going to take us back to Epcot, but we opted to stay at MK. Although park admission wasn't needed for this tour, we have APs.
Just another side note. DH and I watched "One Man's Dream" at HS the next night. It seemed that tour guide #1 got all his info off that movie. So save yourself $200 and just go see the free attraction at HS (and do the KTTK tour if you haven't).
Pros:
American Adventure, lunch at WCCCons:
$$$, too long, group too largeReview of Keys to the Kingdom - Magic Kingdom
Reviewed by momof3inMadisonAL Review Date: 01/13/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
My husband and I took this tour October 4 (8:30). I realized that I didn't review it, now that I have taken the backstage magic tour (separate review). We have 4 kids, all too young to take this tour, but had a chance to visit WDW for a weekend by ourselves. This tour was a must do!
Our tour guide was Rachel. I only remember that because it is my daughter's name. She was super friendly and personable. She told us about her history with the company and it really felt like we knew her. She was very knowledgable and answered all of our questions (as able).
She first took us to the side street off of Main Street and we sat at the tables and chairs. (To counter someone else's review, our tour guide had us sit frequently.) It was so fun to see the park open and all the guests go by. She pointed out the windows and things that in all our visits to MK, we have missed.
We went to Adventureland and sat at the little tables across from Swiss Family Robinson. She gave us the history of Walt, disneyland etc. We rode Jungle Cruise and honestly I enjoyed this boat ride of fun facts more than the actual cruise.
Rachel was full of fun facts, pointing out things from Frontierland to Liberty Square. We ate lunch at Columbia Harbor House.
Then we did STAND near the Liberty boat while getting the history of Haunted Mansion, supposidly Rachel's favorite ride. She had so many facts about HM, that we couldn't remember a fraction of them as we rode through.
We were excited to see the utilidoor, but it was really uneventful as others have said, and we did have to STAND. We were hoping to see more than the coridor under Main Street. Rachel was great talking about the pictures that were on the wall though.
I definitely recommend this tour. Wish they had more tours like this one!
Pros:
great informationCons:
left wanting MOREReview of Coral Reef - Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by oliviaxoxo9 Review Date: 01/12/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
The steak was so good and the waiter was so funny and nice. Everyone at our table got the steak and it was awesome. The dessert was really good too. I would recommend this to someone. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for our table and we came early too.
Pros:
really good steak and great waiterCons:
noneReviewed by oliviaxoxo9 Review Date: 01/12/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
The quick service food was good and the resort was close to all the parks and the rooms were nice since we had connecting rooms with people we went with. The shower had bad water pressure. It took me 20 minutes to get the shampoo out of my hair in the morning because the water came out slow. Other than that the resort was really good and I would recommend this resort to other families.
Pros:
Good food,good locationCons:
the showerReview of Caribbean Beach Resort (Moderate Resort)
Reviewed by mala721 Review Date: 01/12/2014
Rating: (7) Recommended
Stayed here back at the end of October. (On a
"baby-moon" so just getting around to this)
Check-in was a breeze, even with booking kind of last minute, our magic bands were there waiting for us. We checked in(at 10:30am) bands were activated, room wasn't ready yet. We had a rental car for this trip(thankfully) and by the time we got to the car they were calling to let us know that our room was ready.
The grounds and property here are gorgeous and well kept. We enjoyed how quiet it was no matter what time of day it was. The quiet pools were great.
The first day we decided to use the buses even though we had a rental car. That was the last time we used the buses for the rest of our stay. We waited for a bus to Epcot for 15 min. (Not terrible) Leaving Epcot around 5pm(way before park closing) we waited a half hour for the bus to bring us back. That night we gave it another shot to go to Mgm and going there was ok but coming back was around a 45min wait.(we are not at all against handicap persons getting on the bus but when there are 2 scooters with their family members which are 7 people deep,it's a little frustrating). From then on we took the car everywhere we went and it was amazing. First time we had a car is Disney and will prob never not have one again. The longest it took us to get anywhere from CBR was 15 min.
The resort itself is huge but as I said before very quiet and very well kept. We had preferred room in Martinique which was close to Old Port Royale. Very convenient in the morning and wouldn't want to walk as far as some would have to in the further parts of the resort.
We would probably stay here again, but The Boardwalk is and always will be the top of our list. Port Orleans Riverside is another favorite as well, but CBR was absolutely a great place to return to at night.
Pros:
Grounds, pools, quietCons:
huge resort, busesReview of Art of Animation Resort (Value Resort)
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 01/12/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
I stayed here last July with two friends in a Lion King suite and loved the resort. When my mom and I decided to take my brother for his first trip and 19th birthday, I recommended this resort for the extra space. We gave him a choice of the rooms and he chose a Cars Suite. My CM friend was able to book us at a 60% discount.
I checked in online and requested a top floor room with a lake view. My friend went to the resort the morning of 1/6 to pick up our welcome packet and told us we would just have to stop at the desk to have our MagicBands activated when we arrived.
We drove up to the resort around 8:30pm. There was a short wait for the online check in desk. My mom asked the cast member how the MagicBands were working and the CM responded they were working great, she'd used them herself, things were wonderful, etc. And then the trouble started. There was some problem. We were repeatedly told "oh, just give us 5 minutes". After about 30 minutes they suggested we go eat dinner and by the time we returned the problem would be fixed. I said we were on the dining plan and they told us to just pay out of pocket and they would reimburse us and deduct the credits later.
We checked back about 30 minutes later. Still not done. After dinner, still not done. We were all tired and cranky. Finally, after 2.5 HOURS they managed to fix the problem-by canceling and rebooking the reservation. Then it was another 25 minutes to refund the money for dinner to the two credit cards and deduct the dining plan credits. They were also nice enough to credit us $50 for the inconvenience. This wasn't really the hotel's fault but it was still a horrible start to our vacation.
Finally, we made our way to room 1816. This was the Mater building, right next to the parking lot, which was great since we had a car. We were on the 4th floor as requested but had a view of the Port Cochere and not the lake-not a big deal. Our room was right next to the elevators but we hardly ever heard any noise at all. One night there was a child squealing and running down the hall but that was it.
We had plenty of space. My mom took the master bedroom. She felt the bed was a little on the hard side but loved the shower. My brother was enamored with the InovaBed and I slept on the sofa bed. Despite several people telling me the sofabed was the most comfortable due to the memory foam mattress, I found it thin and not super comfortable. I liked sleeping on the InovaBed last summer a lot more.
We used the fridge to store bottled drinks and snacks. There was enough drawer space for all of us. My brother liked watching the Disney channel at night before bed. We thought the Cars details were adorable.
Mousekeeping was fine. They left a bottle of cleaner in our room on the second day but I set it out in the hall and it was gone in the morning. They brought us a sharps container and replaced our broken blow dryer within an hour of us asking. On our last day, the mousekeeper knocked on our door around 9am, just minutes before we were ready to leave. We told them they'd be right out and there was no problem.
The in room WiFi was atrocious. I couldn't load anything at all despite having a five bar signal. Also no cell service, which I had come to expect, but the WiFi was not this bad over the summer.
Food court and transportation were fine and I've posted about those in their respective sections.
We went to the Nemo pool on our last day but they were just starting the pool party and it was way too loud for my brother (he has autism and intellectual disability). So we went to the Cars pool instead and he hung out in one of the cone cabanas. The pool wasn't crowded despite it being a warm and humid day.
Cast members throughout the resort were great. Everyone was friendly and my brother greeted everyone. They all treated him with respect and that was awesome to see.
As long as they work out the kinks with the WiFi and MagicBands I wouldn't hesitate to return.
Pros:
Adorable theming, plenty of space, friendly cast, transportationCons:
MagicBand disaster, HORRIBLE in room WiFiReview of Hollywood and Vine Dinner
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 01/12/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
I was skeptical about dining here because it has average reviews. However, we wanted the reserved seating for Fantasmic because my brother has autism and just can't wait a long time for the show. We chose this restaurant because it was the cheapest option and a buffet so I thought it would be easy to please everyone.
Our "dinner" reservation was originally for 4:55pm but when our plans changed and we had to switch it to a different day, the only time available was 3:40pm. We checked right around that time and there was quite a line. There was plenty of seating on the porch and Teri came out to get us within 10 minutes.
The table we were assigned was fairly close to the buffet. We sampled a variety of items. Standouts were the carved turkey and strip loin, and the pork. My brother had a lot of the penne pasta with meat sauce. Loved the dinner rolls, the creamed corn spoon bread, the mashed potatoes, and the fruit salad.
Desserts looked prominsing but were just okay. I liked the ice cream and mini blueberry cheesecake. The red velvet squares and strawberry cheesecake bites were very dry. Key Lime Tarts were nothing special. Cream puffs were good. They also gave my brother a cupcake for his birthday. I ended up eating it several days later and it was great!
It was kind of an expensive meal but we were able to walk into the ampitheater at 6:30 for the 7pm show and get great seats in the Mickey section-not too far back but not as close as I would normally sit because it was very, very cold that night and we didn't want to get wet.
If you're looking for a solid dinner and good seats for the show, give H&V a whirl.
Pros:
Good food and service, great seats for FantasmicCons:
So-so dessert barReview of Sunshine Seasons
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 01/12/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
Sunshine Seasons seems to be back on its game! We dined here for lunch on 1/8 around 2pm. My friend and I each got the pork chop with cheddar potatoes and barbecue sauce, which was more like a chutney. My friend liked the sauce, I didn't, but the pork chop and potatoes were great! He had the chocolate mousse cake and I had the strawberry shortcake, both were delicious.
My mom had the steak and bleu cheese sandwich with potato salad. She enjoyed the carrot cake cupcake which she said was a little dry but she still liked it.
My brother chose the sweet and sour chicken with jasmine rice and the strawberry shortcake and ate it all.
We were able to find a seat without any trouble.
Pros:
Good food, easy to find a seatCons:
—Review of Boulangerie Patisserie les Halles
Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 01/12/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
My family dined here on 1/8 for dinner around 6:45pm. The line moved quickly despite being on the longer side. We weren't able to find a table inside but snagged one outside and thankfully it was a warmer night.
I got the cheese plate. I had to use a snack credit for the baguette. That's my only complaint about this place-the cheese plate used to include half a baguette but not anymore. It was amazing, as usual. My mom and friend got the Brie, Apple, and Cranberry sandwich and both said it was great. My brother got a ham and cheese sandwich and ate it all. He had a boring chocolate chip cookie for dessert. The other three of us had the strawberry tart. Amazing! One of my favorite desserts on property.
Definitely recommend this restaurant.
