Most Recent Reviews
Review of Katsura Grill - Japan
Reviewed by DeanMoriarity Review Date: 09/08/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
Had a quick lunch here on a day i was looking for something light to eat. I was able to get a good healthy meal for a reasonable price. There is plenty of seating indoors and out, and the place never got too crowded. Perhaps the out of the way location of this restaurant deters some guests from discovering this place. Service was quick and the staff was very friendly. A good choice if you are looking to get a quick meal that isn't fast food.
Pros:
good value/ friendly staffCons:
noneReview of Steakhouse 55 Dinner
Reviewed by Stanton Review Date: 09/08/2013
Rating: (6) Not Recommended
SH55 suffers from elevated expectations; unfortunately, the food (at least the steaks) are just "good", not "great". The salads and sides are probably better than the main course, but overall it's not worth the price.
Pros:
atmosphere, serviceCons:
priceReview of Disney Dining Plan
Reviewed by traceyn Review Date: 09/08/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We always get DDP when we come to WDW. We find it so much easier than paying out of our pockets for meals, we try new restaurants and if we don't like the food then we don't feel like we have wasted our money, if we had to pay for the food at the time and never enjoyed it then we would feel like we wasted our money. I do feel like the past 2 years we don't seem to use our mugs as much as we did, not all resorts have hot chocolate, they all seem to have pop and coffee and the last 3 or 4 places we have stopped at we have to pay for the hot chocolate but in other hotels it's free?? We were so far away the last 2 years from the place where you can get refills we just didn't bother going.
Pros:
choiceCons:
—Review of Goods to Go
Reviewed by traceyn Review Date: 09/08/2013
Rating: (5) Recommended
The food we ate here was always cooked fresh, was hot and not that bad, not much choice but as a quick grab something to eat it's ok. My child loved the chicken noodle soup, it was a snack credit and she would of lived on it if we had let her.
Pros:
chicken noodle soupCons:
not much choiceReview of Cape May Cafe Clam Bake Dinner
Reviewed by buntingd Review Date: 09/08/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Check-in about 20 minutes before our ADR and within five minutes our beeper was going off. This was our fist visit and we WILL BE BACK!!! The service was great, drinks were refilled often, and plates were cleared. The only upsetting thing I saw and it was not Disney's fault was a parent allowing their child to come up to the buffet and get their dessert using their hands and carrying their brownies back to their table in their hands. The hostess gave us some recommendations of this to try.
Pros:
food selection, very friendly, helpful CMCons:
parents not monitoring their children at the buffetReview of Olivia's Breakfast
Reviewed by traceyn Review Date: 09/08/2013
Rating: (5) Recommended
We had lunch here as a last minute choice, we walked past it on the way to the pool and just walked in.
The service was friendly, nice staff, the steak was nice, the milkshakes were awful, not as nice as some I have had in other places.
I have tried this place but I don't think I would go back, nothing special.
Pros:
walked in straight awayCons:
—Review of Beach Club Marketplace
Reviewed by buntingd Review Date: 09/08/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
We were very disappointed with breakfast on 9/1. Very small selection and the quality of the food-breakfast platter was poor. The pastries were great They had just started the rapid-fill cups and people were still having problems - not going to the register and getting the cups scanned before trying to use them; not following the directions. I agree this is a very small quick-serve area for such a big resort.
Pros:
CMCons:
small size, limited selectionReviewed by traceyn Review Date: 09/08/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
I booked a 21 night stay here in a one bedroom villa, I asked for the ground floor and near the hospitality area, both I got.
Check in was a breeze, no waiting, very friendly member of staff. Our villa was lovely, and we were very happy with with what we got. The buses to the park came every 15 minutes apart from once when I waited 45 minutes to go to M.K., the bus driver did say how sorry she was to everyone so I think there may of been a problem. we were no more than 15 minutes away from any park which was better than S.S last year which seemed to take a good 30 mins to get anywhere. we got on the bus at the hospitality house which is the last stop, we found it better to get off the bus at the first stop and walk back to our room 1511 otherwise it took about 10 mins to get to our stop through the resort. Our child loved the pool and had great fun in the community hall, every day they had some kind of activity on for children, she made some lovely things which she will treasure.
We did have one problem, we arrived and got washing powder, no more was left so after day 2, Ii went to ask for some, they said they would sort it, came back after a day out and no powder again. I went back to reception and asked why, a very nice man who seemed to be in charge told me to buy some in the shop and give him the bill, mousekeeping seemed to have me as a DVC member who do not get it and I was a hotel guest we do. It was all sorted out and I could do my washing every day.
I would go back here, so relaxing.
Pros:
large roomsCons:
large resortReview of Beach Club Villas (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by buntingd Review Date: 09/08/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
Stayed 8/31to 9/2 in room 459. We could see that the decor needs to be updated, especially carpets and couches in the lobby. This was our fist trip to BCV and we will be back. Check-in was a little difficult because of the noisy level and the CM speaking so softly. I had to ask her to repeat everything she said. This caused us to pass the door to go out to the villas and had to ask another CM where to go. Checked-in at noon and room was ready. Bell services brought our bags up within 10 minutes of us calling down. The bed were not the most comfortable. Hopefully the mattresses will be replaced soon. Loved being able to walk in the back gate of EPCOT. Walked around the lake twice.
Pros:
great CM, closed to EPCOTCons:
loud lobby, wear showingReviewed by DeanMoriarity Review Date: 09/08/2013
Rating: (4) Not Recommended
This review is painful; but it needs to be done. First the good news. The monorail is still quick, efficient and a lot of fun to ride. I enjoy the monorail just as much as I did when I was a kid in the early 80's. As a resort guest, the lines are never long and you get from here to there quickly with little to no wait. I wish the monorail could be expanded to include more than just the MK, Epcot, and a couple of hotels. The monorail gets three out of the 4 points I give WDW transportation.
Bus Transportation. What happened Disney? It used to be a great choice. Back in the 80's, I never had an issue. But as time went on, I saw the bus service deteriorate with each succeeding trip to WDW. I stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside the last week of August in 2013. That said, bus transportation was my only choice. More often than not, there was an issue. Disney has the POR bus service paired with the POR French Quarter. Why? Being these are two very popular hotels, it is understandable that the lines for the buses would be the longest. Time and time again, no matter what park I was at, the lines for POR and PORFQ were the longest. I'd say the solution would be to separate the routes and give each hotel their own bus. Sounds like an easy solution. However, i noticed that this problem is not unique to the POR. At one point, I took a bus from the Contemporary only to find that it was paired with the Polynesian. I've seen that the value resorts pair up too. So it looks like the high end hotels also have to deal with this issue along with the low end and moderate resorts.
The bus service to and from Downtown Disney is horrendous. They really need to add buses to this route. On the afternoon of 8/27, it actually took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to get from Downtown Disney back to the POR. 75 minutes for a ride that's a little over a mile. You'd think they'd make transportation to and from the largest shopping district WDW has a bit easier.
Another problem that I encountered daily was watching multiple buses for another park come and go before the one I was waiting for would arrive. It was common to see two buses for another park go by. One day I actually saw three Epcot buses come back to back to back. That's three buses, all going to Epcot come in less than a minute. At what point does the third bus in line call dispatch for reassignment? Is bad management the reason?
What does this add up to? Overcrowded buses, that's what. More often than not, I didn't get a seat. We were just packed on like a bunch of cattle. My heart goes out to those traveling with young children. They had it twice as bad as I did. And leads me to my next point;safety. Just how safe is it for a bus to be overloaded like that on a daily basis. Is this just an accident waiting to happen? I think it's kind of ironic to think the most dangerous ride in all of WDW is the bus ride back to the hotel.
My last point for the WDW transportation system is how they handle handicapped passengers. My concern is that putting a handicapped person on an overcrowded bus with too many tired and irritable passengers is a dangerous situation. In a real emergency with passengers in a panic, a handicapped passenger would be in great peril. The solution here would be for WDW to have their own para-transit service. This is done in cities all across the USA. I like the fact that WDW has always been accessible to the handicapped and the elderly but i think it would behoove them to improve upon this service.
None of this is a matter of money. Disney has already put a lot of money behind the bus service. Read other reviews. Often we here of empty buses going to places no one wants to go to. This issue is a matter of poor management. Disney needs to reorganize and hire the right people to make the bus service world class. It can be done.
