Most Recent Reviews
Reviewed by tommygunn Review Date: 08/20/2013
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
It was cheap, and close to Epcot. But ultimately you get what you pay for. Dated is a kind word for this property. And ZERO Disney theming/magic. Will never stay here again. Spend a little more money and stay at the Port Orleans Riverside. Best deal going on sight IMHO.
Pros:
LocationCons:
Everything elseReview of Wild By Design - Animal Kingdom
Reviewed by cewait Review Date: 08/20/2013
Rating: (0) Recommended
We took this tour Friday August 16, 2013. Brenna was our tour guide and my wife and I were the tourists. In addition, we had a member of management who was sitting in on the tour. His goal was to look for other and possibly better ways to afford guest opportunities to interact with animals via a value added pathway. Of special note, he was also involved with the construction of a part of DAK. While Brenna was the presenter and gave a great explanation of the storyboarding behind the designs in the park, our special guest was able to add context from experiences 15+ years ago.
We have always been a little confused by the title of the tour, “Wild by Design†and the official description really did not clear up the confusion. Simply, this is a tour of the on-stage portion of the park pointing out many of the unique design features, the history of items and certain designs, how the part cares for and places animals on stage and a great explanation of the storyboarding of the park. Three hours is simply not enough time to go into much detail on any one area or subject, but the tour does offer an interested guest a set of ‘tools’ to use so that if they stay in the park the remainder of the day, they can go and explore the park further…seeing so much more than they may have in their past visits.
We were afforded two animal expert visits. The first was with a caregiver for the White Cheeked Gibbons in Asia. We discussed their age, family structure and how grown children must be placed in other settings due to their dominant parent structure. We discussed the storyboard of the exhibit and the forced perspectives that allow observation with no netting between the Gibbons and guests. The pots, pans and other items hanging on the structure are they to challenge the Gibbons to explore. They are often packed with food, nuts, seeds and give the Gibbons something different to do. Gibbons. The other caretaker visit was in the aviary of the Africa - Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. We arrived in time for the caretaker to perform his mid-morning bird inventory. He was entertaining, even more so after learning of my wife’s uncanny luck of being a bird poop target. He discussed at length how the birds are cared for, how they count the five times a day and how they occasionally have an escapee that they have to coax back into the aviary.
There is a midway break with a light snack of muffins and fruit. It was a great time to sit down and discuss points during the tour that we had later question about. We talked about Joe Rohde and his efforts during the initial construction of the park. We later stopped in Africa and Brenna pointed out the JORODIE Masks and Beads sign on the left as your pass the coral covered building.
Sadly, the tour does only last three hours. We said our goodbyes and continued to explore the park. The Animal kingdom is so much more than 'itsnotazu"
Pros:
A new perspective of the parkCons:
noneReview of Art of Animation Resort (Value Resort)
Reviewed by shazzey Review Date: 08/20/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
Party of 6, 4 adults, 2 teens, stayed 8/11-8/17
Magical Express went off without a hitch, room ready early (used online check in). Plenty of room, nice to have bathrooms. It was a great room for that many people and would definitely recommend for larger parties.
Front desk service very helpful. Mousekeeping good, but not over the top like other resorts
The food court was chaotic at best. Unless you would get up early for 6:00 opening or really late, it was always packed and unorganized (they seemed a bit overwhelmed). Bought refillable mugs, but they had a hard time keeping up with coffee, drinks. Should also have some kind of fruit punch available for refillable mugs.
Onlione check out and airline check in service was great and also went off without a hitch. What a great service!
Overall, a good resort, great for the room, but do prefer moderate/deluxe service and grounds a little better
Pros:
theming, room sizeCons:
food courtReviewed by Kthhfnr Review Date: 08/19/2013
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
Very disappointed as no fresh foods available for morning snacks like muffins or sandwiches or fresh fruit. Lunch was limited to pool bar and didn't think the variety was good or of the usual Disney quality. Have two teenagers so snacks super limited to all packaged foods unless you want to take the van to Jambo House. Sixth visit to Disney and worst experience so far. Makes me want to use my membership out of Disney for sure next year, if not others also.
Pros:
Nice room, savanna viewCons:
No quick service diningReview of Walt Disney World's Magical Express
Reviewed by elkhunter1 Review Date: 08/18/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We have used the WDW Magical Express twice{2011&2013} and we enjoy the ease of use and the comfort of an air-conditioned bus.In 2011 we got our luggage within 3 hours-this year our bags were in our room at POP in less than an hour!Baggage check-in at POP for our return home both years was very quick and staff was very nice and personable-worth the tips we gave them both times{other vacation destinations have not given half of the personal service we've gotten at POP.}Warning though-when they tell you what time to be there for your return to MCO-be there 10-15 minutes early-our buses have left right at time given and looking back this year we saw 2 large groups running out of lobby waving arms but our bus was already almost full and the driver said he didn't have room for all of them and their luggage too{driver's defense-we were waiting from 12:40 to 12:45[depature time!] with no one else in sight until we were out of the circle.}.Be EARLY!
Pros:
ease,comfortCons:
—Review of Albatross Treasure Cruise
Reviewed by Chicken Apple Review Date: 08/18/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Our boys are 4 & 7 and went on the cruise on 31-Jul-2013.
They had a great time!
There isn't too much information about this, since it's kids only.
We thought the price was good for a two hour adventure and the kids liked the idea of doing something "on their own".
There was a Captain, a first mate and a second mate on the boat (it was the second mate's first cruise). They were all very nice and the kids felt comfortable with them right away (so did we). There were about 9 kids, mostly boys between 5-9 on this one, I would guess.
The snack is now goldfish and juice (or water)- so there are no peanut allergies to worry about (our oldest was paranoid about the peanut butter & jelly).
They depart from the dock and start following clues & maps all over.
They de-boat in EPCOT to find a hidden Mickey in Canada and they do "something" in Japan. They also go over towards the studios (if you take the Friendships, you might see the pirate grave they visit).
The boat gets "stuck" at one point and have to get themselves loose. They get a sword and a spy glass and a little treasure chest filled with pirate themed goodies.
You do want to make it back early enough to see the pirate sword fight when they return (cast members fight, not the kids) and see them open the treasure chest they found on the adventure.
Both of our kids loved it! I think the 7yr old liked it more, but I would definitely do this (or one of the other versions) again next year.
This is about the best review I could put together from the information provided by the kids.
Pros:
Kids felt "independent" & had a great time. Good valueCons:
NoneReview of San Angel Inn Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by JJPrice Review Date: 08/17/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
We really enjoyed this restaurant, it is quite dark and tables are very close together. That being said, eating by the volcano is very cool.
My advice would be not to fill up on the tortilla chips and leave room for dinner. We had fish fish tacos and the steak with cheese enchilada. My kids had chicken tacos and everything was really tasty.
Our server was very nice, however he really messed up our dining credits. We found servers were having a hard time adjusting to the new payment system. Our server ended up charging us 5 Adult credits and 3 Kids credits, instead of 2 and 2. We didn't notice right away and ended up having to get the concierge at our resort to fix this mistake.
Pros:
FoodCons:
Tight seating, very darkReview of Teppan Edo - Japan
Reviewed by JJPrice Review Date: 08/17/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We had a great dinner here. We all enjoyed the meal and the chef's preparation was a lot of fun to watch. My oldest daughter wanted steak, but it wasn't listed on the kid's menu, I asked the server and the server said that they did have a kid's steak dinner, for $23. I was happy I wasn't going to have to share my steak ;o)
I would highly recommend Teppan Edo as one of the best dinners we had on our 10 day vacation.
Pros:
Great dinner, serviceCons:
NoneReview of Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria
Reviewed by JJPrice Review Date: 08/17/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We ate here for lunch and really enjoyed our meal. Service was great. After a terrible Italian meal at Mama Melrose, this was great. My daughter ordered spaghetti 3 times our trip, Mama Melrose, Wolfgang Puck and this was the only place that got it right.
The pizza was fantastic and we were able to split the ingredients on each half so everyone was happy. I would definitely come back again.
We paid out of pocket for this meal, and it was very expensive for lunch. Next time we'd do dinner on the Dining Plan here instead.
Pros:
Pizza, ServiceCons:
ExpensiveReview of Mama Melrose's Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by JJPrice Review Date: 08/17/2013
Rating: (5) Recommended
We decided to eat here because of the Fantasmic seating, which was excellent and we didn't have to wait too long for Fantasmic to begin.
The service was painfully slow. The food was pretty bad too. It looked like it should taste good, but it was pretty disappointing. I don't know if we'd go back, even though the Fantasmic seating was very convenient, which is the only reason I didn't give Mama Melrose a failing grade. Without the Fantasmic package, it would have been more like a 2/10.
My daughters spaghetti was plain, no sauce at all. The chicken was dry and inedible. The pizza was poor and lacked flavour. The penne a la vodka didn't taste very good either. Really disappointing dinner.
