Most Recent Reviews
Review of Morimoto Asia
Reviewed by Collette Review Date: 12/25/2016
Rating: (8) Recommended
We've been here twice and very much like the food. The Peking duck is fabulous, and the hot and sour soup is really good. Some of the sides are pretty plain. The wine list by-the-glass is somewhat limited. As a couple, once we got a nicely-located table for two, but once we got put in a really lousy location.
Pros:
Beautiful space, good foodCons:
PriceyReview of Flying Fish
Reviewed by Collette Review Date: 01/01/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
The new decor is gorgeous; much nicer than it was. It was a lot of fun to try the new wine system, where you can try several wines in whatever size pour you'd like (one-ounce, three-ounce, etc). Both appetizers we had were great—a rare tuna on watermelon, and a stone-fruit salad. The main courses were exceptional—the filet mignon was perfectly cooked and accompanied by a really nice concoction of vegetables; the bison strip steak was even better, though the ancient grains accompaniment wasn't as nice as the veggies with the beef. The lemon and blueberry cheesecake was very good, the napoleon was very beautiful and also good. The only thing that really bothered me was paying $7.50 for a pot of tea afterwards! The desserts were only $9 and $10 each, so the tea seemed a little out of proportion. This is the first time we've experienced an "apathetic" server, due to knowing we were on Tables in Wonderland, perhaps? Or maybe it was just due to the tiring week of Christmas.
Pros:
excellent foodCons:
extremely expensiveReview of Yuletide Fantasy - Parks and Hotels
Reviewed by pepperandchips Review Date: 01/03/2017
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
As a Disney Parks and Disney history enthusiast, this tour was the one experience I was most looking forward to during our recent December visit to WDW. As an educator and a history buff who regularly watch Jeopardy, listen to Disney history podcasts, and enjoy travel guides and other tours, I expected to greatly enjoy this "behind the scenes" look at the resort's holiday flair. Unfortunately, the Yuletide Fantasy tour turned out to be the most disappointing part of our trip. As a bit of a disclaimer, I believe that a better guide may have delivered a better experience.
In Epcot, we visited the Germany and America pavilions where we heard the tale of how "Silent Night" was written and looked at a piece of an aluminum Christmas tree and a Shiny Brite ornament. Our guide spent time discussing personal holiday traditions with the guests on the tour, but we felt like he may have missed "the point" of our visit to World Showcase as we mainly spent time looking at props from his shopping bag and these were not tied into the holiday traditions at the pavilions we visited. In addition, the guide's microphone did not work for the majority of the time we were visiting World Showcase, which resulted in a frustratingly long amount of time trying to get the microphone to work. In a group as big as ours, the microphone was essential, and I felt like our group may have suffered due to the technical difficulties. Unfortunately my take away from the Epcot portion was that the stories were too disjointed and overall I was bored.
The highlight of this tour was the time we spent visiting the holiday services warehouse, where we were able to watch cast members refreshing the autumn decorations. In addition, we walked through some of the warehouse area where we saw vast quantities of Christmas ornaments, glitter, the Epcot Flower and Garden artificial blooms, and other holiday decor. It was truly amazing seeing how much work goes into the decorations there and gave us a new sense of wonder when later visiting other parts of the resort.
Our other "parks" destination was a short stop in Magic Kingdom, where we looked at the garland outside of the hat shop for a few moments before spending the remainder of our time there on Center Street looking at a paperback copy of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (which our guide did not tie into the Disney parks at all, so I am not sure what we were missing there). We spent a very short amount of time in the Magic Kingdom and I am not sure why we even stopped there at all.
On the bus, our guide passed around a variety of "props" from his shopping bag, including photos of Santa over the years (which never made it back to us since we were seated in the back of the bus) and some Japanese dolls.
Our final stop was at the Wilderness Lodge, where we quickly walked past all of the gorgeous decorations in the lobby and were seated in the hotel's bar. For the following 30 minutes, our guide told us about a variety of pine cones and passed around pine cone specimens while the group was served small portions of hot cider. I would like to find something positive to say about this part of the tour but I have never been more disappointed or bored at Walt Disney World than I was for this part of the tour. I felt like I had stepped into a preschool class on pine cone day.
I would not take this tour again, and I would not recommend it for anyone else based on my experience. I have read other positive reviews from guests who experienced the tour in past years when the Grand Floridian was included on the tour (it was not a part of our tour, nor was the Japan pavilion, and the Italy pavilion was a brief pause outside of the wine bar). Our experience may have been shaped by our guide but it was a low part of our vacation. 3/10 for the guides' enthusiasm alone.
Pros:
Tour of holiday services warehouse, backstage views of World ShowcaseCons:
Boring, poor value, experience made by tour guideReviewed by pepperandchips Review Date: 01/03/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
We really enjoyed this experience as a fun way to see more of the Fort Wilderness campground and a nice few hours out in nature. We could not have had a lovelier day of weather the day we experienced this tour - our party of two was led by guides Forrest and Ron.
We spent a few minutes learning the basics of Segway operation and then we were off traveling mainly along paved surfaces but had some fun riding through pine straw and over some "rough" terrain near the Settlement areas of the campground. We enjoyed seeing the wooded areas and some of the campers' holiday decorations.
The guides provided some facts and history of the campground and though some of the Disney facts were a bit rusty (e.g. Walt Disney's father referred to as "Elijah" rather than "Elias", had the wrong year for the closing of Discovery Island) there were also quite a few great nuggets about the history of the resort. It was a pleasure spending time with the guides, visiting the horses, and just riding the segways. We had a great time and I would absolutely recommend this tour as a way to experience something different. Allow plenty of time for travel using the campground's internal bus system, as our tour started at the bike barn nestled well within the sprawling grounds.
Pros:
Scenery, fun of using the Segway, friendly guidesCons:
Depth of tour, no big "wow" momentsReview of Cinderella's Royal Table Dinner
Reviewed by Jenny217 Review Date: 01/04/2017
Rating: (10) Recommended
I scored an 8:10 reservation on 12/25/2016. Expectations were that we got to eat Christmas Dinner in Cinderella's castle. So, we were up for anything basically. We figured if we didn't like the food, we'd go fill up on churros, pretzels and ice cream later.
The thing no one mentions is how they do check in here. You don't check in early. They have a sign. Which I didn't notice until I went up to check in. They take you at your reservation time. Exactly. Not a problem, just not expected. And at dinner, they sequester you under the roof because you are back there in the fireworks "drop zone". (the little fellow who was in charge of this takes his job super seriously) So it gets a little tight with all the people crowding in waiting. We've been trained for years to arrive early! We're all early!! But it was Christmas and we were all in a good mood, so it was exciting.
Then you meet Cinderella and she told us a charming story about some new castle mice and we had a picture. Then we waited for our names to be announced. "Lords and Ladies, Princesses, etc." It was cute.
Then when I handed the hostess my ticket she squealed and led us over to a table by the window.
So, not only did we get amazing food (best steak I'd had in a while, maybe ever), meet several charming princesses (Ariel, Aurora, Snow White & Jasmine), magical wishing stars, a glass of champagne, we also had front row seats to the best show in town. On Christmas. My almost 15 year old daughter had a blast. My 8 year old son was captivated.
My daughter ordered from the adult menu, but they brought her the grapes and cheese for her appetizer. (She snatched some of our fancy cheese.)
All in all, we had a blast, the food was great, and, y'all, Snow White is the most adorable thing ever. I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd had a bird come land on her shoulder for real.
Pros:
Atmosphere, food, serviceCons:
Check-In was different experienceReviewed by Jenny217 Review Date: 01/04/2017
Rating: (10) Recommended
We ate lunch here on 12/24/2016. The food was amazing even for my picky eaters. The salad and rolls with honey butter were a perfect start. We tried everything except for the roast. (Didn't make it that far) So good! Way too much, though. Needed a nap afterwards! Dessert was painful, but sooo good.
The characters were so fun. My daughter had her Pluto shirt on, completely coincidence. She didn't know we'd have a character meal. Pluto loved it. Dale wanted to know where his representation was. Mickey loved her Mickey nail polish. Chip was a high five machine. Then he tried to steal some dessert. So much fun.
We made a full rotation during the meal, so we got to see everything. Had a seat at a booth on the lower level. Totally worth the price.
Pros:
Great food, fun charactersCons:
Way more food than you needReview of Tutto Italia Restaurant - Italy
Reviewed by Jenny217 Review Date: 01/04/2017
Rating: (10) Recommended
We dined here with family on 12/24/2016. The food was amazing. My daughter and husband ordered the ravioli and I think my daughter could have happily died after that. Then she had a cannoli. Lazarus effect. Rapturous. She loves this restaurant now. (She was super impressed when she saw her Aunt had caviar on her plate. It ticked off her list of all things fancy.)
I had the warm chocolate cake for dessert. It was amazing.
Pretty sure we'll have a return visit here. (If nothing more than to get my kids back to Epcot.) A visit just for dessert would be totally worth it.
Pros:
Food was amazingCons:
—Review of Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue
Reviewed by King Ezekiel Review Date: 01/06/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
I visited Hoop Dee Doo in December 2015 about a week before Christmas for the first time and boy was it amazing. Got category 1 seating (which I highly recommend) and we had a blast. Food was excellent, cast was funny. everything was great. Saw it with my mother, father, sister and niece. My other sister (niece's mother) was flying down to visit during Christmas and we decided we wanted to go again, as my other sister had never seen the show before. By some miracle I was able to get a category 1 table for 6 on Christmas eve. This show was even better than the first. Our table was dead center, the performers came and sang and danced right around our table, Claire came and sat on my dads lap and my niece was picked for a role towards the end of the show. A family experience we'll never forget.
Like most have said, it's a Disney must. The jokes will be corny but they never cease to be funny. Kids especially will love the show.
Pros:
Most food is great, you'll have a wonderful time, never gets oldCons:
Price keeps going up, some of the food is less than greatReview of Art of Animation Resort (Value Resort)
Reviewed by shageek Review Date: 01/08/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
Very happy with this resort. We have stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter and Riverside. This is our first value resort. In many ways, I liked it more than the moderate! The Themeing was wonderful (Even my non-Disney loving husband enjoyed the theme). If you want a really "Disney" feel I would recommend this resort.
The Food court was very good and the staff was overall very friendly.
It took us less time (even with it being a more crowded time of year) to get to all of the parks. (Hollywood studio 5 minutes, Animal Kingdom 10, Epcot and The Magic Kingdom 15 minutes). I was very pleased with the travel time (We rented a car)! This alone made it worth it! We could even watch the fireworks and hear the music from Hollywood Studios at night!.
The only negative was the beds and the room definitely felt smaller (I expected this though). I also had one issue with a cranky server at the food court. My son was sick and I was a little frazzled that night but she was not very helpful and every request I asked was met with a short and snippy comment. This was only one section of the food court. Overall everyone was wonderful!
Pros:
Close to parks, theme (Disney Feel),Staff, Food CourtCons:
Rooms a little small, Standard rooms far from food courtReview of Bay Lake Tower (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by mg0914 Review Date: 01/11/2017
Rating: (10) Recommended
Bay Lake is our home resort. Dec 27 - Jan 2 was our fifth time staying here. We absolutely love this resort. Compared with many resorts BLT is relatively small. The walk to the Contemporary or to the pool or anywhere else is under 5 minutes.
The Contempo Cafe has a good selection any time of the day. If you go you must try their cupcakes! We ate there a few times - once for a quick breakfast, once for lunch and once late at night (around 10:00). It's big enough to accommodate larger crowds when it gets busy. You're supposed to order and pay at the register and someone will bring your food to your table. But if you're on the meal plan you should select your drink and desert first and bring them with you to the register when you order your entree. We witnessed many people confused by this process.
We also ate at The Wave once which was excellent and hopefully I will get around to posting a separate review for The Wave.
The resort cast members were all so friendly and helpful. Check in was smooth and our room was ready well before 4:00 but because we had transferred from another resort (Polynesian) our luggage did not arrive until 3:30. So we had a room but no luggage! No problem really.
Every review mentions the easy access to MK and it is as simple and convenient as everyone says. One morning we even had our own entrance line as we arrived at MK. There was a security guard checking bags at the end of the walkway and once we cleared that we bypassed the metal detectors and walked directly to the entrance. That was convenient! It is worth noting that security was very heavy during our trip. Disney security, Homeland Security and local police officers made their presence known before you even reached the gates at all four parks. We visited Epcot multiple times and every guest that entered went through the metal detectors. In addition, every member of my family was randomly selected to go through the metal detectors several times. I have absolutely no problem with this! And in fact I applaud Disney's efforts.
Our room was clean, the bed was extremely comfortable and everything worked well. We had an incredible view of MK from the 11th floor. I love sitting on the balcony and watching the monorails go back and forth or just listening to the sounds from MK.
I mentioned earlier that we had transferred from Polynesian. The two resorts are very different of course. The Polynesian is serene and peaceful (well, the Great Ceremonial House is usually busy and loud) while Bay Lake is not nearly as quiet. But it's okay with us - we will always love BLT!
