Most Recent Reviews
Review of Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe
Reviewed by mrspierce39 Review Date: 01/16/2013
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
Only if you are desperate. Really . Really bottom of the barrel quick food but expensive. Pass on this one. Worst burgers and fries. Do not waste your money.
Pros:
N/aCons:
Poor foodReview of Kona Cafe Breakfast
Reviewed by mrspierce39 Review Date: 01/16/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Stayed at poly 1-9-13 to 1-12-13 had breakfast at kona
With dd I had tonga toast delicious dd had big kahuna and we
Shared them between us. Lots of food and excellent kept us full till dinner lol! Love kona will be back!
Pros:
Food!Cons:
NoneReview of Captain Cook's
Reviewed by mrspierce39 Review Date: 01/16/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Stayed at poly 1-9-13to1-12-13 used capt cooks for coffee and drink refills many times had sushi good cheesy flatbread tasty
Nice to have 24 hours getting back late . WAs glad to have it for snacks and ooh dole whips' yummy
Pros:
24 hours nice quick spot anytime tonga toastCons:
NoneReview of Wild Africa Trek - Animal Kingdom
Reviewed by melmac82 Review Date: 01/28/2013
Rating: (6) Recommended
I went on this tour with my mom, sister, and friend back in October. We are Disney regulars and probably average 2-3 trips every 2 years. I'll say that my expectations were a little too high for this, and I'll also admit that a large part of that was based on the cost. I put "yes" that I'd recommend the tour, but it's really a recommend with reservations. There are a lot of other reviews that detail every part of the tour, so I won't go into all of that, but rather just highlight and give my honest opinion of the things that most stood out to me.
I have to start off first with the cost. For a tour that offers no discounts I was expecting a lot for $201.29 (cost including tax). We did this tour as an incentive for my sister (she's 27 by the way) to not make us go to Universal to see the Harry Potter section. So let's say that the lunch (VERY GOOD!, but not for picky eaters and waaaayy too short) would cost about $20-25 if eaten at a restaurant; the CD (a lot of great pictures!, but remember the tour guides are not official PhotoPass photographers) would cost about $10-15; and the water bottle about $10. This all adds up to $40-50, meaning that the rest of the trek better be worth the $150. After doing the Keys to the Kingdom tour for $65 (less with discounts) and the Behind the Seeds tour for $18 (less with discounts) I can officially say that this one was not even close to being worth $150!!! Now, if the price for the entire tour was about half of what it is, then I would be a lot more likely recommend it to anyone who asked.
Another bad thing about the cost is that only one person in a group gets the Picture CD (I got the CD, but my mom, sister, and friend didn't get one). The CD is supposed to be included with the tour and nowhere does it say that only one person in a group gets a CD. So essentially, everyone paid for a CD up front, but I had to end up making and sending out a copy to everyone else. Since we are all adults and live in different locations I had to spend the money and time to buy blank CDs, make the copies, and mail them out. If everyone in your party lives in the same household then it's probably not a big deal, but if not then see if you can request that everyone in your party receive a CD when you check in.
Next, I'll point out some of the things in the description, what I expected, and what we actually got:
"Journey deep into Pangani Forest on a thrilling, privately guided expedition featuring close encounters with exotic wildlife species." --> Yep, the Pagani Forest is the trail that is located right outside the exit of the safari. So, I expected to see things that I couldn't from just walking on the trail like I've done dozens of times when visiting the park. Nope. You get to walk and fight the rest of the regular park crowd to see the animals while trying to listen, through the ear piece that keeps falling out of your ear, to the little extras that the tour guides are saying. And we went through the trail faster than I do on my own.
"Get closer than you ever dreamed possible to Nile crocodiles and massive hippos." --> Pretty accurate, but I would have liked to toss some of the fruit/veggies to the hippos.
Crossing the rope bridge was fun and something to experience! My complaint though is that they send you across one at a time. So if you're near the beginning of the group (we had an almost full group of 11) you have to stand around at the end waiting for everyone else to come across. Or if you are at the end, you have to stand around until it's your turn. I was probably 4th in our group and had to wait about 15 minutes until everyone was across. And yeah, crocodiles are cool to see, but they just lay there, so there's only so much looking until it gets boring.
"Venture on to a VIP safari across an open savanna teeming with native African creatures!" --> Again I expected that we would get to see other parts of the safari area other than what you get to see on the safari ride. And again, nope. You do get to ride in a private safari truck, but it just follows the regular safari ride's road. We did get to stop about 5 times (wildebeasts, ankole cattle, elephants, lions, rhinos) to take good pictures and hear more about the animals and their care from the tour guides. It was nice to get good pictures, but I didn't get to see anything that I couldn't otherwise see on the safari ride.
"...including a visit to an exclusive safari camp with incredible views of everything from towering giraffe to powerful rhinos." --> This is where we ate lunch. Again I was thinking that this was in an exclusive area, but it's right in the middle of the safari ride savanna - you can see the building while on the safari, it's on the right when you go by the flamingos. Lunch was very good and we had a good view of the giraffes - until they decided to wander off somewhere else. So you may or may not get a good look at animals during lunch. It just depends on which ones want to wander by. If you want a guaranteed look at the animals where you can spend as much time as you like and can see them closer just go to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and see the animals there. Also, lunch was kind of short. I'm a fast eater but I had to really eat quick and ended up stuffing the dessert in my mouth as we were leaving because I didn't want to leave any of the really good food!
So basically I have two summaries of the Wild Africa Trek depending on who I'm talking to:
For those who don't care about the cost and have tons of extra money laying around: The Wild Africa Trek is awesome and a great experience you don't want to miss!
For those who are wondering if they want to spend $200 on a tour: You get to experience some new things and get closer to the animals than you can in any other offered experience, but it's not worth the money. Go over to Animal Kingdom Lodge, eat at Sanaa for lunch (where they have savanna views from the restaurant), and then go sit outside in a rocking chair to watch the animals while enjoying a Mickey ice cream bar from the gift shop. You'll spend a lot less money, see about the same amount of animals, and hey, you get a Mickey icream out of the deal too. 🙂
Pros:
tour guides, lunchCons:
cost, safariReviewed by BuckeyeBarb Review Date: 01/28/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We arrived at Splitsville on 12/30 hoping to bowl and eat dinner (about 5pm). They had stopped taking reservations for a lane due to high demand that would take them up to closing time. The facility is beautiful and there are two levels for dining and bowling. We decided to get in the line for dining only and we are so glad we did! We waited about 30 minutes for a table and were seated on the first floor at a high top table. The menu is extensive and there's something for everyone in your party to enjoy. My husband and teenage son had a burger and decided it was the best they have ever had at Disney. My other teenage son and I shared a california roll and a meat lovers pizza. The sushi was excellent and the pizza was to die for. There was definately enough for two to share this pizza, and we ended up taking some of it back to our villa. Service was spot-on! Splitsville is now our favorite restaurant at Disney!
Pros:
Bowling and Great FoodCons:
Hard to get a lane due to popularityReview of Disney Dining Plan
Reviewed by PolynesianStitch Review Date: 01/28/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
The dining plan works exceptionally well for us. We get to try a large variety of food, many new restaurants, and save some money. We really enjoy that we get to have desserts with our meals and don't need to worry about the cost. It fits our dining style very well as we prefer a substantial sit-down dinner and a light lunch. We found that snack credits could be used for a wide variety of items that were suitable for breakfast. Also we could sometimes split a quick service credit between two for lunch and then again at breakfast for some of the more generously sized entrees.
Pros:
convenience, varietyCons:
—Review of Biergarten - Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by GMarcan920 Review Date: 01/28/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We always eat at the Biergarten and have never been disappointed. Food is good and plentiful, show is entertaining, servers are helpful; and it's fun to meet new people at the long dining tables.
Pros:
Excellent food, great show, wonderful helpCons:
NoneReviewed by GMarcan920 Review Date: 01/28/2013
Rating: (6) Recommended
Way too large and spread out, a real problem if you have trouble walking. Accommodations were very nice as is usual with Disney; had an issue at check in but it was solved after about 30 minutes.
Pros:
Nice Room, Nicely Cleaned Every DayCons:
Too big and spread outReview of Disney's QUICK SERVICE Dining Plan
Reviewed by slapps Review Date: 01/27/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
We have visited Disney 10 times over the past 11 years. We have used the regular DDP (counter, table service, and snack) plan on several occasions and if you like to enjoy table service meals, we found it nice. The problem is that a lot of times when planning expenses, you do not figure in the tips which can add a huge chunk to your expenses.
This time down we stayed for 10 days. We did the first 5 days on the Quick Service dining plan, which we had never used. We did this because we always visit during the Christmas Holiday and it can be a hassle to get to your ADR's, so we decided to experiment. We stayed at a DVC resort the Animal Kingdom Kidani Village the first 5 days in a studio. We found that we would eat breakfast in the room and then lunch and dinner on the QS plan. We also did out of pocket at two restaurants. On our last day of our first reservation, we had 6 meals left.
We then checked into our home resort Old Key West and we did not use the meal plan. We had 3 table service meals. Our stay at OKW was in a two bedroom with our good friends also from up-state New York. We had discussed many times in the past the better deal dining plan or not. I must say we did not cook in the villa, just a quick breakfast and then most days we were on our way. We charged all our meals to our room and we figured there really was not much difference in cost between paying out of pocket or the DDP. I must also point out we did not deal shop, if we were hungry we ate. We did not look for the best price.
One thing we did notice was we were not overfull when paying out of pocket. When we did the DDP, we tended to overeat I think because you are getting your dessert and the things that come with the plan. So we figured we did not eat as much off the plan.
Last year we used the standard plan and we did not plan well and ate our table service late in the afternoon and we had about 8 QS meals left over between our two families. We have our reservations for check in this next December and we will not be using a dining plan at all.
In summation I think it all depends on what you are looking for while visiting Disney. If you plan a lot of table service meals it might be worth while. If you have small children, the QS may be better.
Pros:
ConvenientCons:
Makes it easy to overeat.Review of Pizzafari
Reviewed by slapps Review Date: 01/27/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
We dined here on several occasions during our last trip (12/26/2012-01/06/2013). We find this eatery to be quick and it has decent food. I always enjoy the hot Italian sub. If you are looking for a quick meal this is not a bad place to eat. I do think the menu is a little bit limited but, there are other eateries if you do not see what you want.
