Most Recent Reviews
Review of Crystal Palace Breakfast
Reviewed by Chall312 Review Date: 04/11/2015
Rating: (7) Recommended
My family took our mom on her first Disney trip this past February and I took advantage of an early ADR so that we could get into MK early and get castle pictures without crowds. That alone was worth the meal. We only waited about 15 minutes past our ADR and we were lucky to be seated in a corner. The food was buffet fare and we can't complain, but we weren't blown away or anything. Since it was her first trip mom was very excited to see characters, we were walked past TWICE because we didn't have children at our table. Had to wait for the table after us to finish then ask them to come back. Added to that was how noisy it was, we could barely hear each other from across the table. The whole place echoes like a gymnasium. But, I would still go back if we could get in before rope drop.
Pros:
Early Park Entry, Mickey WafflesCons:
Crowded, loudReview of Boatwright's Dining Hall Dinner
Reviewed by Chall312 Review Date: 04/11/2015
Rating: (9) Recommended
I always choose Boatwrights over any other Steakhouse on property. The food is FANTASTIC and never disappoints but you pay less/use less credits than other places. We've never had to wait past our ADRs and service is always spot on. Thanks to Boatwrights I know make Horseradish Mashed Potatoes at home.
My one negative is the desserts, selections is a little blah. But you can never go wrong with chocolate.
Pros:
Food, Atmosphere, serversCons:
NoneReview of 'Ohana Dinner
Reviewed by Chall312 Review Date: 04/11/2015
Rating: (9) Recommended
Finally got an ADR at Ohana after trying for 3 consecutive trips. man this place books up fast. Had to take a 9:30pm reservation so my group was STARVED. We checked in at 9:25 and were not seated until 10:20! almost an hour long wait and 50 minutes after ADR. My poor mother was falling asleep in the lounge while we waited. We were finally seated and we got a corner spot at the window. Full view of the castle. Spectacular! The food was served quickly and our server was very sweet. He knew we'd been waiting and made sure we didn't wait any longer than necessary for food. I loved the noodles and wings, while the grilled stuff was also good, it all had the same seasoning so it was a little one note. The dessert though, I was so stuffed from dinner, I still forced myself to eat 2 servings of the dessert, it was sooo good. Will go everytime, regardless of wait.
Pros:
Food, view, serviceCons:
wait, hula instructerReview of Coral Reef - Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by mvass1 Review Date: 04/12/2015
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
Our experience was less than wonderful. We had ADR for our trip in Dec 2014. We waited much longer than our ADR time. Our waiter was really quick with greeting us, but, then took his time bringing the drinks. He raced off to do something else and then came back to get our order. Then when the food finally arrived, it was really disappointing. My daughter had the lobster manicotti (just ok) my husband and son had the strip steak (fatty and chewy and not done to their liking). I had the Mahi Mahi (cold). The best thing about this place is the view and the dessert. That doesn't say much about a place that you have to wait for months for an opening and then have to wait to get in. On top of that, the food was just mediocre and even though we had a nice view of the tank (we were on the second tier) it wasn't a wonderful experience that we all expected. Our tables were quite close together and I know I was expecting a quieter experience. We didn't have unruly kids running around, but, I would have liked to have had some serenity especially since this atmosphere exudes it. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. It isn't worth the price or the hassle. Even with the DDP, it isn't worth wasting a table service. Won't be back.
Pros:
The view and the dessertCons:
The foodReview of Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Party
Reviewed by klvb1162 Review Date: 04/12/2015
Rating: (6) Recommended
While being able to sit and watch the fireworks without having to deal with the crowds was great. The selection of the desserts were decent their taste was not and they ran out of ice cream and other items. Also, I don't understand why people had piles of food on their tables. Just because it is a buffet doesn't mean your supposed to take food to take it and not eat.
Pros:
Seating and decent fireworks viewingCons:
DessertsReview of IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party
Reviewed by klvb1162 Review Date: 04/12/2015
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
The views of the fireworks were fabulous. Everything else not so much. The price of $ 50.00 for a 15 yr. is a tad overboard. While I understand "dining" practices it is a tad excessive. After spending a hot day walking around EPCOT there is not seating you stand at table tops. Not enough for the number of people. The desserts were OK nothing to rave about.
Pros:
Beautifule view of fireworksCons:
Everything elseReview of Rainforest Cafe
Reviewed by lfellows Review Date: 04/13/2015
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
We dined here on 4/9/2015. We arrived-time for a 5:00p reservation for 9 people, including 4 adults, 4 kids and a toddler. We were seated n a reasonable amount of time as we were among the first round of dinner tables for the night. Service initially was pretty good. the waiter brought us our drinks and took orders in a timely manner. It was at that point that things went south. We asked if there were any crackers or bread we could give the toddler as she was getting hungry and cranky. We were told flatly, no, and given no options. The kids all ordered slushy drinks in special cups, and we were told they could have free refills. We later were told that the machine was broken, which was clearly a lie as other diners around us were being brought the same drinks. The food took 90 minutes to arrive at the table - far too long for hungry, tired kids, and a group expecting to make it to EPCOT for Illuminations (keep in mind, our reservation was for 5:00p). Once we got our food, the waiter was impossible to find. He finally arrived back at our table to take dessert orders, and told us that if we wanted a Volcano, it would count as dessert for the entire table (8 credits on the meal plan ?!?). We commented on the fact that we had been in the restaurant for now over 2 hours, and we needed to go, so he offered to box up our desserts "to go". This amounted to chocolate cake for the adults and pudding for the kids, in Styrofoam containers (!). The cake was fine, but the pudding was an impossible mess. One of our party wanted ice cream with the cake, which he gave us, also in Styrofoam container (wish I was making this up). We were not offered spoons or forks, and he re-ran the receipt to charge us an additional $0.79 for the ice cream. Can you imagine the mess?
AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!! Stick with the Disney run restaurants - you'll be much happier in the end.
Pros:
Immersive themingCons:
TERRIBLE service!Review of FastPass+ (Retired)
Reviewed by lfellows Review Date: 04/13/2015
Rating: (4) Recommended
The FP+ system works fine, BUT forget about any spontaneity. For starters, here's some insight I wish I had early on; FP+ assigns you your return times when you make your initial selections. You can ask it to give you different return times, but what you really want to do is select the return times. Guess what? You can immediately revise your return times individually - it just makes it look like you can't. Do you schedule all of your FP+'s early so you can get more or later when it is crowded? I HIGHLY recommend scheduling them @ peak crowd times unless you want to leave the park and come back during those times. Reason being, ALL of the FP+'s for the good rides will be gone before you even get to the park. You can get more than 3 in a day, but you have to stay in that same park, and the times you can get once you've used your first 3 will be extremely limited, and will likely be for long after the crowds have left and you don't need them.
Now for the real negative though; you can't get FP+'s for everything, so you WILL be waiting in standby lines. Since everyone has 3 FP+'s, there are A LOT of FP+'ers cutting ahead of you in line on every ride. The more crowded the park is, the more this is true. The standby lines JUST CRAWL!! To see the effect this has, just get to the park before the FP+ return times start. We saw what looked like 60 minute lines breeze by in 20 minutes in that first golden hour. The exact opposite is true in the middle of the afternoon. Seriously, bring a chair. The lines feel like the simply don't move.
More advice;
DO get a FP+ for Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Soarin', Toy Story Midway Mania and Jungle Cruise
DO get to the park early or stay late for Space Mountain and Test Track
DON'T get FP+ for Big Thunder or the Haunted Mansion. The lines fluctuate enough on these that you can always find a bearable standby wait, and the standby lines aren't that bad.
DON'T sleep in! The first hour is still a prime time to ride all of the rides with a minimal wait.
Pros:
Easy to useCons:
UNBEARABLY long standby lines, no flexibilityReview of Overall Cruise Experience Summary
Reviewed by Ranger275 Review Date: 04/14/2015
Rating: (10) Recommended
We went on the Miami 5 day cruise to Cozemul and Castaway Cay again this year for spring break. We had perfect weather and we had a great time. Since it was our 4th time on the Wonder we didn't go to any of the shows, we have seen them all many times. But we did see a few movies including McFarland which was very good. We stayed in a inside stateroom as the only time we are in the room is to sleep and change and it was fine. Our servers and room attendent were great as usual. No complaints and getting on and off the ship were very easy.
Pros:
food, sun, fun, shipCons:
can't think of anyReview of All Star Sports Resort (Value Resort)
Reviewed by Ranger275 Review Date: 04/14/2015
Rating: (6) Recommended
We were only visiting WDW for one night for a quick trip to Magic Kingdom so we choose to stay here as we would only be sleeping and not be enjoying the resort. Everything was fine but our room was at the end of a building which did help make it quieter. Kids were everywhere but we didn't have any issues with noise. The food court was fine but also very crowded. As we are used to staying at the DVC resorts and a little spoiled by them I don't think I would want to stay a week here but for our trip it was fine. I can see it being loud as there were a lot of teams staying here.
