Most Recent Reviews
Review of MagicBand
Reviewed by Ben Review Date: 11/23/2013
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
I was at WDW this past September and had the magic bands. Here are the problems I see. (1) If you schedule changes you are now locked into a fast pass for where you are not. (ie. rain, tired children, someone getting sick.) (2) It limits how many times you can ride your favorite ride. (ie. you can only get one fast pass on the magic bands per ride per day.) (3) Like the other reader said, if you don't have the magic bands you are stuck with standing in line. (4) I am an annual pass holder and tried using the magic band one morning where I was first in line. It did not work and finally, after several tries, I had to get out my annual pass card. Therefore, I do not like the magic bands and hope Disney realizes they are not as magical as they thought.
Pros:
I prefer the old method of getting fast passes so I do not have any positive aspects to share.Cons:
Limits what you can do and whenReviewed by jim61vik Review Date: 11/22/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
This was my first visit to Arkeshus, heard it was a good alternative to Cinderellas Dinner at the MK which we tried on a previous visit.
My family includes myself, wife 2 daughters (10,17). We were on Deluxe Dining Plan and had Photo Pass Plus.
We arrived on time, just barely, for a reservation at 1:40PM. The queue was huge and we waited for a good 30 minutes to get to a table. My wife was very unhappy with the wait and I was worried this would affect her enjoyment of the meal.
We eventually were called to the podium where my Norwegian sounding surname was recognized and commented on by the staff.
After another wait for photos we eventually got to a table. Our server was very friendly and explained the appetizer bar. This VERY quickly became a huge plus, my wife (pretty grumpy at this point) was thrilled by the food at the appetizer bar, asparagus, fish, salad. Awesome!! This can easily be a meal in and of itself. We got drinks and ordered our main course. We had two for the meatballs and two for the pasta. The meatballs were very good, and my wife really liked the pasta. By this time, we were pretty stuffed but still tried the desserts which we ordered a variety and everyone got a taste. They were all quite good.
Then the princesses came around and they were delightful. Extremely personable and sweet. They were hands down the BEST character members I've dealt with in 20 years of visiting WDW. My wife who is a huge Dopey fan asked Snow White where Dopey was and as quick as a whip, Snow White giggled and said he was her favorite dwarf because he makes her laugh and that he was busy getting diamonds from the mine.
I can't recommend Akershus highly enough, food was great, characters were great. This was one of the highlights of our entire visit. The bad thoughts about the long wait in line were wiped out by the wonderful characters and food.
Pros:
Food, PrincessesCons:
Wait to get inReview of Keys to the Kingdom - Magic Kingdom
Reviewed by jim61vik Review Date: 11/22/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
A tour is a tour.
This is a 4+ hours of walking around the park with someone talking about it non-stop.
They give you a massive amount of information, and a great deal of insight on how the parks were laid out and designed. It's amazing all the things they take into consideration and the level of detail is impressive.
I would have like to see more of the mechanical side of the attractions how they move all the water for the water for water attractions, how they maintain the coasters and moving rides. Safety is a huge concern with Disney and their guests so I would have expected a bit more insight on all of the checks and things they have in place to insure safe operations.
Visiting the underground was interesting although "underwhelming". If you didn't realize before the tour it existed, it might be different but most people taking a tour like this already know about it even if they don't know the details.
I think it was worth the cost and for anyone who has thirst for more insight into how the Disney people bring this to fruition will enjoy it. I was left wanting more but in some ways I don't know what "more" was I guess I felt a bit unfulfilled.
Pros:
very informativeCons:
not what I really expectedReview of Disney's DELUXE Dining Plan
Reviewed by jim61vik Review Date: 11/22/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
My family and I stayed at the Polynesian resort 11/13-1/18 for 5 nights. We had the free dining plan upgraded to Deluxe.
My family consists of my 2 daughters (10,17) wife and myself. The 10 yr old likes steak and good size meals and is often not enamored of the "childrens menu" so we though it would be interesting to see how she did with nearly all grown up meals.
First off we were happy with the cost since we just did the upgrade on free dining at a deluxe resort we ended up getting more than our moneys worth assuming we would have made the same dining choices paying direct out of pocket (which we probably would not have had quit as many very large meals).
We tried a bunch of character meals:
Ohana - Breakfast
Chef Mickey - Breakfast
Park Fare (at GF) - Breakfast
Crystal Palace - Breakfast
They were all decent Chef Mickey probably had the best food and variety of the bunch. They are all fairly similar. Photos are very nice we had Photo Pass Plus.
We also tried the Arkeshus lunch which the whole family thought was awesome! The princesses there were unbelievably friendly best character experience I've ever had at Disney.
We ate at Artist Point which some of us loved and some of us didn't I'll try and write reviews of all the restaurants we tried.
We also tried Tuto Italia, Kona Cafe, Liberty Tree Tavern, 50's Primetime as well as a couple quick dining options.
One thing to keep in mind is that the tips on these meals can be substantial our tip alone was over $50 at Artist Point so make sure you keep those in mind if you are watching your budget. We did not drink any alcoholic beverages on this visit but those are also not included.
The amount of food is really staggering and I think you need to realize you aren't going to be able to eat it all at every meal. My youngest couldn't eat half of most of her meals. We did later on skip a couple appetizers or deserts just because we were full.
The biggest complaint I have is how long it takes, the servers in general are very cordial and attentive but some locations just don't seem to have enough servers or they have too many tables for the servers this seems especially so on the breakfast buffets. It takes forever to get your check, wait to process the tip, get your pin number, wait for the desert menus, etc. It was almost an 1.5 - 2 hours for each meal. Do the math... if you have 3 sit down meals you're talking about 5-6 hours of your day. And some restaurants are very busy and even if you are on time for your reservation you may wait 15-30 minutes. I don't have the answer to this problem, but Disney really needs to look at it and try to streamline it. It's to their benefit to get you back into the park and spend more money. I never felt rushed at any meal even though I had read that some people have experienced that. For us it was the opposite we were all sitting at our tables repeatedly waiting for something.
Another negative is the ADR, if you have to change a reservation it is nearly impossible to do so. So if you are running late you end up canceling and with the new rules on canceling a day ahead this will cost you if you just don't go.
Not sure how we'll do this next time. I like the food but it was too much. I wish they had another category with maybe 2 sit down meals a day and 1 quick serve.
This is definitely a good way to try some very nice restaurants if you can manage the schedules.
Pros:
Lots of good food choicesCons:
Takes too much timeReviewed by jim61vik Review Date: 11/22/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
Just finished our first stay at the Polynesian resort. We stayed 5 nights from 11/13 to 11/18/2013. After some research (thanks to Tikiman) we chose the Niue building because it's close to the central meeting house with all it's amenities and the monorail. This was an awesome choice for us. Very short walks to CMH, pool, monorail, bus stop and even a moderate walk to the TTC.
The ground level room was spacious and clean, housekeeping staff was great. My daughters (10,17) and wife were very happy with our ground level room.
Bus waits to other Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom were the standard wait up to 20-30 minutes. Buses were definitely not as crowded as when I've visited during the summer. I don't think I ever had to stand during a bus ride.
Food at the Poly was good, tried Ohana breakfast, Kona and Capt Cooks for those late nite snacks. The new refillable cups were a bit of a challenge to get the hang of but once we realized you have to have the base on the stand to fill the cup it was no worries.
The monorail broke down while we were there and my wife had some trouble getting to a brunch at the GF. Eventually someone explained how to use the boat to get over there and that worked fine. Seemed to have a couple issues with the monorail which was a shame as that was one of the main reasons we chose the polynesian for it's ease of transportation options.
The construction going on was no issue, in fact a couple of the contractors were friendly enough to point us down the right path one day when we were walking to the TTC to catch the epcot monorail.
I enjoyed the Poly and would stay again, although I will try another resort next time, wife wants the GF I want the Wilderness Lodge we'll see....
Pros:
LocationCons:
Trouble with the monorailsReview of FastPass+ (Retired)
Reviewed by pluto3 Review Date: 11/22/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
Used the fast pass plus in October 2013. Were able to secure passes the morning for same afternoon. Possibly because it is still new, however, if you do not want to get to the parks at the very opening (and stay hours), this gives you an option to enter in the afternoon, see three attractions and still make you ADR's!
Pros:
ability to get fast-passes before entering parkCons:
have to plan aheadReview of MagicBand
Reviewed by trudeasm Review Date: 11/21/2013
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
Just got back from the World. We were staying in one DVC room, but traveling with another family staying in a cash room at a different resort. We had problems every day with our Magic Bands. First, we could not link our reservations so that we could make reservations and FastPass+ together. Many hours on the phone with tech support prior to the trip did not resolve the issue. Then when we arrived, the bands were all mixed up, even though the names on the inside were correct. They were actually mixed up across the parties, making a simple switch impossible. Again, Cast Members were unable to correct the problems. We were told to wait a few hours without eating or visiting a park! Um, ok. When we returned to the desk to pick up our new bands, we discovered that no one had even begun addressing our problems. More waiting. The subsequent days were repeats of the same: our mugs kept turning off (because we were "checked out" when we were not!), our park tickets wouldn't work, entitlements were wrong, the PINs would not work, etc. Magic Express reservations were incorrect and required several calls. Pretty much an epic fail. I also agree that those not using FastPass+ are almost completely shut out of the major attractions. Hoping that Disney works out the bugs soon! That's what a beta test is for, right?
Pros:
convenient for park entryCons:
many technical issues that cast members cannot resolveReview of MagicBand
Reviewed by joanne22 Review Date: 11/21/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
Works well, would do it again, but only got 3 fast passes a day. If I had a regular ticket, I could get as many as possible. This was not told to us prior to our trip.
Pros:
Worked great, no fumbling for a room keyCons:
You can only get 3 fast passes per day, where regular ticket holders can get more than 3. You are almost penalized for using the wristbandReview of Yachtsman Steakhouse
Reviewed by kimpf1 Review Date: 11/20/2013
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
We dined here on 11/15/13. We make it a point to eat here each time we visit. We had a party of 7. 4 adults and 3 children under 9. Our server was Bill and he was very good. We had to wait over 25 min from our reservation time but we sat in the Crew Cup Lounge and it was really no issue. As usual my husband ordered the ribeye, inlaws filets, myself ribeye. We did have the Caesar salad which was good but much smaller than in the past. My husband had a very bad piece of meat delivered to the table. He requested medium rare and it was medium well and a very thin cut compared to mine. Our server noticed his displeasure immediately and had another steak brought over. The 2nd one was better but still a thin cut and still over done to his liking. For the cost they should have gotten it right the first time. Truthfully my husband had been looking forward to this meal all week and the manager did follow up and did take his steak and glass of wine off the bill which was great but disappointing that he did not get a great meal. This used to be a great place to dine but over the past few times it has been inconsistent, which is a shame
Pros:
—Cons:
—Review of General Exhibits and Experiences
Reviewed by wattage Review Date: 11/20/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
This was our third time attending the F&W Festival. We were there on 11/3/13 form 11am until 4pm. We really enjoyed the Canadian, French and US booths. The real stand out was the French beef bourguignon, and the US lobster tails and clam chowder. The only negatives I’ll mentions are the crowds (but I expected that on a Sunday), and the number of drunks. I think Disney needs to do a better job of limiting the number of drinks a person can have in a day. The Escargot we had at the French booth was way over cooked which made them chew like little rubber bands – not very pleasant.
