Most Recent Reviews
Review of All Star Movies Resort (Value Resort)
Reviewed by maze4 Review Date: 03/28/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Stayed at ASMovies week of 3/18. Requested preferred room in 101 Dalmations, bottom floor, connecting rooms (we needed 2). Received all requests. Arrived 9am and rooms ready. DD4 got sick on day3 with flu, resort gave us roll away bed so she didn't have to share with grandma. no charge.They also arranged transportation to Centra Care so that we could take our DD to seek medical attention no charges even though we tipped since we were so grateful at all the help. Needed prescriptions filled, front desk faxed to Turner Drug who delivers until 10pm. very grateful castmember delivered to room when delivered. Left backpack in HS on day 2 and didn't realize it until back at resort again cast members sent someone to retrieve it since it had medication in it. Our room was 1718 &1719 view was of trees, shrubs very quiet, mousekeeping was excellent and left towels animals. I would highly recommend this resort since they were so accommodating to my family during our stay will always come back.We were to have dinner at 1900 Park Fare the day my DD got sick and had to cancel, front desk was able to rearrange our ressies so that we could go the next day. We ate at the food court and everyone was pleased. My only wish is that they would have a coffee maker and ice maker in room to freeze water for parks. Never waited for buses and only had to share buses when going to HS. We had late flight leaving and they let us check out late and helped us with all the luggage. Totally loved this our 2nd trip to the World.
Pros:
cost, resort staffCons:
noneReview of My Disney Experience
Reviewed by bethcode Review Date: 03/28/2013
Rating: (4) Not Recommended
We traveled to Disney in February 2013 and stayed at the AK Kidani Village. We went to the parks and didn't get back to the resort until after 9pm, at which time discovered that none of our room keys worked. The front desk fixed mine, and everyone else went down to get theirs replaced the next morning. To make a long story short, my husband had to get his replaced 4 times before it worked!!! We kept trying to charge things in the parks back to our room, but the little gold mouse you were supposed to tap never worked. If the cast member ran our cards through the cash register it worked every time. Some cast members wouldn't believe that it didn't work for us, and quickly tap it before we could stop them. It did something funny to their register and they'd have to void out the whole thing while we waited a long time for them to figure it out. We'd tell them to void it, but they'd say oh no, we just have to back out and change the method of payment, then they'd call a manager over, and end up voiding it out. I think this will be a great system once they get the kinks out, but it was a major pain for us, mainly because no one believed it wasn't working properly!
Pros:
good conceptCons:
never worked for usReview of Rainforest Cafe
Reviewed by maze4 Review Date: 03/28/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
Ate here our first day since we were at AK didn't want to hop to another park or resort. We had ressies at 6pm and was seated within 5 minutes. We were seated in the back which was dark but nice. Food was all good, the room was very cold and kids and grandma got cold so we didn't stay very long, we went here to experience the animatronics, but will probably try other restaurants just so we get a variety
Pros:
atmosphereCons:
coldReview of Flame Tree Barbecue
Reviewed by maze4 Review Date: 03/28/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Ate here our first day, all ordered ribs & chicken. Husband b-day and castmembers all gathered together and sang Happy Birthday and gave him a cupcake. Castmember helped us with trays and led us to a nice shaded quiet area down by the water. We had no complaints and everyone agreed we would return again.
Pros:
Hot food, wonderful locationCons:
noneReview of Boardwalk Villas (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by Disneydreamers3 Review Date: 03/28/2013
Rating: (5) Recommended
We'd been wanting to stay at BWV for the longest time and finally was able to this past week,unfortunately it was with big diasappointment. It started with our room not being ready and them telling us it would only be a few minutes longer and that they would text us when ready. After more than an hour and a half waiting and no text we finally asked and was told it HAD been ready for quite awhile!
We had a great room overlooking the main courtyard and side view of the boardwalk/lake, too bad our room was not as clean as it should have been. Food particles on the rug, dust on furniture and a pair of socks from a previous guest under the chair. Our 4th day housecleaning service proved worse, new washcloths placed but all the dirty ones left where they were last used! Although our room view was beautiful it was extremely noisy with everyone on the boardwalk, the bars, restaurants and hanging in the courtyard to all hours and at around 6am and earlier you can hear workers rolling carts on the walkway and making all kinds of noise to get things prepared for the day. If you decide to rent a car beware that the parking lot is as far away as walking to a theme park and you'll have more luck hitting the lotto than actually finding a spot!( I assume due to the convention center).Another big disappointment to us was the inconveinence of getting any form of quick service food/beverage.You had to go out onto the boardwalk or to the pool area(during open hours)to get anything. On a positive note, the boadwalk entertainers are FANTASTIC!!!! We enjoyed each of them night after night. Watching the EP fireworks from our room was great too. And, of course, the biggest positive of this resort is the conveinence of walking to Epcot(it's a nice walk too) and the boat ride to Hollywood Studios.
I reccommend this resort only for the close proximity to EP and HS however, I don't think we'll stay here again.
Pros:
Location, Boardwalk EntertainersCons:
HOUSEKEEPING, noise level, parking lotReview of Art of Animation Resort (Value Resort)
Reviewed by ntaylor28 Review Date: 03/29/2013
Rating: (5) Recommended
We stayed in the Little Mermaid section for our stay. Had we known about the long walk to the buses and cafe, we may not have chosen this resort. It seemed closer to Pop Century than to Animation Hall. Disney should consider a shuttle to that area from the buses (or a separate bus stop) because after a long day at the parks, the last thing you want to do is walk even more.
Good selection of food in the cafe. Clean. Liked how a coffee/soda station was set up midway from LM section to Animation Hall.
Rooms were nice, although our second room (we had to change rooms mid stay) was showing a lot of wear already (scuff marks on the walls, trim coming loose, etc).
Glad we stayed for the experience, Would spend more for the suite if we stay there again.
LOVE how the seagulls (on the stairs for the Nemo section) say "Mine, Mine". Detail is fabulous!
Pros:
Beautiful decor/detailCons:
LM section was a LONG, LONG walk to cafe & busesReview of Boardwalk Villas (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by arielwatcher Review Date: 03/29/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
OK, perhaps a 7.5.
While I checked in an off duty cast member chatted with the next station's cast member about the young man serving us. Of course he was half paying attention so you can imagine how our check in went.
I made a point about Wilderness Lodge messing up the 'charging' function of our first 3 day's stay and asked him to be sure our keys were loaded correctly. The first set of keys had only my husband being about to charge, my guest and I didn't have that ability. I handed them back and he had an epiphany then remade them.
Our room was on the lobby level (very convenient but a waste of the pool view points because it was into a thicket of trees)
It was worn, the carpet had a run in the middle of the room, the sofa worn and colorless. It didn't smell but it didn't smell fresh.
Everything worked fine.
The 2nd day my gal pal and I went to Ft Wilderness for a trail ride. When I attempted to charge $43. to my room key I was told I didn't have privileges. The clerk called BW and after several minutes talking to the Front Desk I was told I had to walk to the concierge at Ft Wilderness to get a corrected key....
I put the items back and returned to the BW loaded for bear. I simmered down by the time
I met a Manager in the lobby and quietly explained my situation as well as my embarrassment.
He found my reservation had to be completely backed out and reloaded for our charging privileges to be established. We were given new keys and a credit to our account for our time.
Later that day a tray with three decorated cupcakes and a birthday card were delivered on an elegant wooden tray (I've never had that in all my birthdays at a Disney resort).
After all their recent work on the pool area the Hot tub was abysmal, no real movement from the jets. Very disappointing.
Just a note about reservations:
I had made reservations from the 12-20th in two resorts (Because they didn't have a 1 BR in one resort) I also made a studio reservation for my son and a friend at SS.
The week before we arrived I called Disney to change who was in which room (Because I could not change the names online)
The clerk was surly about having to move a party from SS to Wilderness Lodge Villas because 'The magical express is expecting to take them to SS and now she has to go to WLV'
(And that could be adjusted couldn't it?) Evidently this cast member was put out because she said, 'I have to change the entire group of reservations!' (Isn't that her job since DVC won't let ME change it online?)
Our reservations were hinky from the time we arrived at Wilderness Lodge Villas. I had to ask for a receipt for the $500. cash I put on the account, twice!
All of the snafus had led me to dread the new wristbands they are planning......
Pros:
close to EPCOT/Disney StudiosCons:
worn out carpet/sofa, hot tub doesn't workReview of Be Our Guest -Counter Service Lunch
Reviewed by arielwatcher Review Date: 03/29/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Could not get for dinner (thru May 2013 according to the online reservations).
We arrived at 11am on 3/20 and the line moved fairly steady through great diversions like the decorating and the talking Armor as we lined thru halls to the selection room.
We were given a 'rose' and led to a machine to make our choices and pay on a touchscreen.
The payment aspect only worked after SEVERAL tries for all of the people in front of us and was no different for us. In fact the man from the party behind us was so short tempered he reached around me and pressed the screen, making us go through the process again.
I ordered the ham and cheese sandwich with the green beans, my Beast had the Turkey sandwich with fries. I had the Strawberry cupcake and he had the chocolate cream puff.
We almost had the room on the right to ourselves. The main ballroom was dim and loud and the tables were close together, we chose the Portrait gallery room because it was quieter.
In the room's middle is the lifesized music box of Beast and Belle. The walls are covered with tapestries of scenes we might not have seen in the movie.
Our food was delivered at the right temp and we had a great meal for a MK lunch.
Pros:
relaxing ambiance, good food choices availableCons:
none at allReviewed by arielwatcher Review Date: 03/29/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
Made our DVC reservations so late we had to split between here and the BW.
We arrived on the Magical Express around 10am and our 1BR room was ready!
The cast member was a bit too chatty about Disney Labor policies and I had to ask 2x for a receipt for the $500 cash I put down with my Credit card.
The walk to the Villas was short and close to the Bus stop.
Our room, 3314 overlooked the bus stop. Everything was fresh and clean.
We awaited other members of our party at Downtown Disney with some shopping. Imagine my shock at my room card being rejected for my charge! The store cast member made a call to the front desk and it was discovered I could not 'tap and pay', which was just fine, the card could be used when the cast member ran the card through their reader.
We rode the boat to MK and then took the monorail to EPCOT, using the Bus as little as possible because they insist on resorts sharing buses.
We'll happily return to the WLV.
Pros:
relaxing boats available to the MKCons:
Circuitous, LONG bus ridesReview of Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Party
Reviewed by arielwatcher Review Date: 03/29/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
Made the reservation on the phone and was told it would have desserts, fruits and cheese and would be from 8-9:30, be there AT EIGHT she emphasized.
We arrived at 8 to find NOTHING. I was nervous! We sought a CM and were told to wait at the gate.
Families accumulated as time wore on. Eventually slow moving CM's came and went, promising us we'd be seated in 5 min. or a few minutes (we were NOT seated until after 8:50, a waste of 50 minutes of park time on our last night there!).
Imagine our surprise that the majority of the guests were families who brought toddlers to a late night dessert party, they RAN WILD!
The quality of beverages (coffee, teas, flavored lemonades was good).
The selections of desserts were just the right size, the variety of flavors was well-represented. They kept replenishing them all the way until closing. There were no dessert cheeses as described by the operator.
Sadly our excellent seats meant nothing when the hoards of people headed to the railing.
It would have been nice for the Photopass Photographer to go from table to table to take candids.
Would be do it again? Not sure.
