Trip Reports

Prologue

Okay, okay. I've had a whole day to think about my two week sojourn to WDW so I decided what thoughts I was going to write about. I came up with four main catagories:

Part 1 - Wilderness Lodge

Part 2 - Port Orleans

Part 3 - Meals

Part 4 - Random thoughts

Feel free to read any or none as you wish.

I am dispensing with the ride by ride summaries. Yes the parks were crowded. No they weren't unbearable. It was quite a trip what with the crowds, the heat, and the encephalitis. Ah, but thats what keeps me coming back. Always something new to experience!

WILDERNESS LODGE

We have often gone to WL to eat and roam around but this was our first stay there. Things got off to a less than hospitable start as we were put in a "smoking optional" room as all the non-smoking rooms were gone. That's like going to a buffet dinner and being told it's "eating optional". Well I must admit that the room actually smelled fine. But the stench in the hallways was another matter. It certainly made us use the outdoor walkways a lot more often. The front desk person sent us a fruit basket because she couldn't give us a non-smoking room. Nice but hardly a good tradeoff for us.

The room (#1164) was on the first floor all the way down on the right wing as you face Bay Lake from the lobby. It was actually a neat location as we were only 22 steps from the pool. Yes I counted! The room was a little smaller than I was expecting. In fact it was smaller than the PO room we stayed in later. But it was nice. It had two queen beds, a small table and two chairs, an armoire with three drawers, a clothes closet with sliding doors, and a small chest of three drawers in the entrance way. The double sinks were outside the bath area as they usually are, but there was no shelf to put toiletries on. We had to use the small amount of vanity countertop. Made for a crowded situation. And to make it even more complicated, the refrigerator was put under one of the sinks as there were no other plugs available for it in the bedroom itself. Since our room was a first floor one, the patio (with a small table and 2 chairs) opened onto the grass.

At least one good thing was that WL does not indulge in the combination body wash/shampoo that some of the resorts are using. Separate bars of facial and bath soap and bottles of Mickey shampoo are the standard here. <applause!>

The central a/c was great. Much more accurate temperature-wise than the window units at PO. And of course the "free" morning newspaper delivered to your door is still a nice touch.

We did not eat at Artist Point or Whispering Canyon this trip so all of our meals here were from Roaring Forks. Maybe we just got lucky but my wife and I both agreed that the food here was very good. We especially liked the chicken tenders and the breakfast offerings.

We signed up for flag family for one morning. It was fun going up to the roof. My daughter got to raise the flag and she had the CM amazed as she pointed out all the hotels and FW and DI to him. And getting a free breakfast for all of us made it worth getting up so early.

I was surprised by one thing I saw that I haven't seen mentioned before. On three different occasions while we were at the pool at WL, one of the lifeguards came around to every chair and table and asked for a resort ID. When I asked what was going on, he said that they have started making periodic spot checks because people from other resorts as well as off-property people were coming to the pool and making it extremely crowded. I saw about 6 parties asked to leave.

We did manage to get an unexpected reptile show courtesy of a small black snake that was staking out his territory near the pool. A friend from Florida was with us and he said it wasn't anything to worry about. It was not poisonous and would just chase you if it got mad. Yeah right, I'm gonna piss this fast little sucker off - NOT! The bartender at the pool bar said we should report it to the lifeguards. They were the ones who would catch him. Well I couldn't do that. Let them find it themselves like we did.

I thought it was interesting to note that we were due to check out on a Sunday. On Friday the front desk left us a voice mail that if we wanted to extend our stay they could offer a special rate. So I called to check it out. We could extend for any number of nights at $165 + tax per night. Well we decided that since we already had a Sunday reservation at PO for $50 less than that to pass on the offer.

Basically, WL was very nice as I had expected it to be. I would definitely go back again.

PORT ORLEANS

We arrived at PO on Sunday morning having just left WL. Check-in was relatively quick and were assigned to room #2201. As the bellman (Mike) was driving us there I happened to ask if that was a non-smoking room. He said it was not and that we should go up and check out the room before bringing the luggage up. We walked into the room and started gasping. We told him there was absolutely no way we could stay in here. So Mike called the front desk and got our room changed to 3144 and took us over there. Ahhh...finally! A nice room and we could breathe, too. Mike brought our luggage in and then took our resort ID's back to the front desk to get new ones made. He also told us for our future reference that the smoking buildings at PO are 2, 4, and the top two floors of 6.

One thing the front desk told me they don't do anymore is make people change rooms when they have consecutive reservations. My worry was that we'd have to check in Sunday for a 1 night stay and then move on Monday when we re-registered for the 7 night Fall Fantasy. Boy was I happy to hear that!

The room was nice and bright. It was a standard view that overlooked the parking lot. That was ok with us as we could practically park at our door. The room was larger (by a little) than our WL room. Two double beds, table & 2 chairs, armoire with 4 drawers, and double sitting bench. But they use that God-awful body wash/shampoo combination here. Yechhh!!! The stuff is gold and smells like a combination of pond water and insect repellent. At least the green liquid soap they use in some of the resort restrooms smells like lanolin. This gold stuff was VILE!

PO has returned to supplying pool towels at Doubloon Lagoon but now there is a CM who issues them and usually (but not always) asks for a resort ID. They are also renting tubes and swim noodles by the hour to use in the pool.

Sassagoula Food and Float Works is the same. Only thing I saw that changed in there was the PO mugs. The all purple mugs have been replaced by white mugs with aquamarine lids and sport a "PO celebrates the 25th" logo. Still $6.95 and refills still .79 + tax. But one of the shift managers said they were close to changing that. I guess many people have complained about the non-uniformity of Disney's mug policy. He said that PO wanted to drop the refill charge but DxL didn't and that since they were sister resorts they both had to do the same thing. So time will tell I guess. Anyway he added that they knew there were a lot of people who just went and helped themselves to refills without paying. As far as they (PO) were concerned it wasn't a federal crime that they were going to worry about.

The beignets were wonderful. Gosh I get all excited just thinking about them <g>. But the ones in Bonfamilles were by far the best. We ate two breakfasts and one dinner in Bonfamilles and enjoyed them very much. I am really beginning to believe that the quality of Disney's food has improved all over.

PO (and Dxl, too) now rents the surrey bikes like the Boardwalk has. Cost is $12 per ½ hour. There is a course marked out for them that goes down to DxL and back. Takes about 20-25 minutes. Nice! They have two pedal or 4 pedal surreys.

Bus service was adequate. Longest morning wait we had was 10 minutes. Longest afternoon wait was about 15. The boats to the Marketplace now run separate boats after noon from PO and Dxl as well as one that stops at both. Guess they realized that the DxL people were filling up the boats before they ever got to PO. (Revenge for the buses? lol!).

Oh, I did find out the answer to a question that had been bugging me...would an old resort ID open the security gate? And the answer is...no it won't. <vbg>

One thing I couldn't figure out. At WL our room key/ID opened the door the first time every time. At PO, it took three, four, five and sometimes more times before the green light flashed. Damn but they didn't have any trouble scanning my room charge at the cash registers though. Go figure!

I just love the atmosphere here. It remains my favorite Disney resort.

CHARACTER MEALS

We had breakfasts at Cinderella's Royal Table, Soundstage, Chef Mickeys and 1900 Park Fare and dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern.

Cinderella's was a first for us. And it was great. But getting there early on a non-early opening day was a pain. We had 8:20 reservations on a Wednesday while staying at WL. We had to take a bus to the TTC and wait until they would let us through at about 7:30. Then on to the resort monorail to the MK. Next was a waiting line at the MK turnstyles where a CM came around to check your reservation on her list. Then we were let into the MK about 7:55. What a wonderful feeling walking alone up Main Street knowing in one hour there would be a throng of humanity (or what passes for it) on the street. Anyway got to the castle and they seated us right away. Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, and Peter Pan were there. I have to say it's nice to be able to have a two sided conversation with a character at a breakfast for a change. The food was very good (don't miss the banana stuffed french toast!).

Next one we attended was at the Soundstage in MGM. Another first for us. And we found it to be completely average. I was hoping for better but it wasn't to be. The food was buffet style and just okay. The thought of diner food crossed my mind. The characters were Aladdin, Genie, Meeko, Quasimodo, and Esmeralda. We (and a lot of others tables next to us) were kept waiting because Esmeralda failed to make a complete circuit of the dining room in time. After we had finished our breakfast and seen three of the characters twice we still had to wait about 20 more minutes for Esmeralda to make it. Once here was enough. Been there, done that.

Then it was Chef Mickey's next. This one to me is the best one running. The service is very good and the food was super. I do miss Tigger not being here anymore, but Chef Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale fill the bill really well. By far this was the best breakfast we had.

Our final breakfast was at 1900 Park Fare. This has changed a bit since we last attended. Mary Poppins is still there but now she and Bert the chimney sweep go around to tables. The other characters here were Minnie, Pluto, and Alice in Wonderland. Food was good (apple crisp is my new favorite breakfast item) but our server was super slow!

Our only character meal other than breakfast was the dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. I was NOT impressed. This would probably qualify as the worst meal we had this trip. The beef strips were dry, the ham tasted like paper and the turkey was passable. I don't know if it was a coincidence or not but my wife had a lot of gas and I spent much of the next day sitting on the toilet. If you have a chance to dine here, don't!

OTHER MEALS - CAPE MAY BUFFET

Also a first for us was the buffet at the Cape May. Wow! What a spread! Our server was a *very* pregnant Rachel who was really good. The buffet has a whole slew of items ranging from ribs to seafood. But the hit of the meal for my wife and I were the steamers. Mmmmmmmmm GOOD! The two of us put away 7 buckets of them. Hey the buckets were small! <vbg> My daughter loved the corn on the cob, the baked fish and the dessert table. Fantastic desserts - be sure to save room. She also liked the fact she could draw all over the paper tablecoth. The only mistake we made was doing a 5:30 reservation. They don't open until 5:30 and that's when the place fills and everyone is at the buffet line at the same time. If you go, pick a later time. You'll spend less time in the lines, believe me. But it's a definite thumbs up!

OTHER MEALS - WOLFGANG PUCK'S EXPRESS

This is the restaurant that replaced Minnie Mia's at the Marketplace. It is a cafeteria style place and has probably the largest selection of non-alcoholic beverages on property. It is a heavily Italian menu filled with salads and pizza. The pizza comes in 4 varieties and is very good, though small. What surprised me most was the lack of spaghetti and meatballs here! Sigh. Prices are high but not any higher than other Disney lunches.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE FOOD AT DISNEY

I was watching what I ate and still managed to put on 5 pounds. Damn those buffets!

JUST SOME RANDOM REMEMBRANCES THAT STUCK:

The Polynesian security gates are now being manned every morning and every evening. Seems they had an incidence recently of a guest being robbed at knifepoint in the parking lot at night.
The GF now has working card/ID gates at it's visitor and self-parking lot across the street.
DxL has new mugs. They are white with Song of the South characters on them. Cute. Much nicer than those UYT's (ugly yellow things) they had before.
Disney is now Beanie Baby heaven. They were selling the little suckers all over the place. Limit was 2 of each but you could by as many different ones as you wanted. We saw them in gift shops at the GF, Poly, WL and CR as well as on stands in Epcot and MGM and in two MK gift shops. And yes, my daughter picked up a few she didn't have. 21 new ones to be exact. Amazingly they were only $6 each! But the new Disney ones are $7.
My daughter made her first (but not her last) visit to the Neverland Club. She thought it was great. The best things in her opinion were the video games ("You don't need any money to play them") and the buffet ("Mama and Dad aren't here to tell me I can't have this or I have to finish that!"). When you bring your child in, they give you a pager and tell you that you cannot retrieve your child without bringing it back. Hmmm, did I think long and hard about that one ... trade Janet straight up for a pager ... hmmmmm.
I did fall victim to a stomach virus for one day. It was the second consecutive trip that I fell ill for a day. My daughter in her infinite 6 yr old wisdom said to her Mama, "Maybe we ought leave Dad home next time. He always gets sick when he comes down here." Ouch!
Best moment of the trip for me occurred as my daughter was taking her first trip on Splash Mountain. She knew what to expect and was sitting in front of me with her Mama. As we started down the big drop she let out a shriek of "Aaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhh....I LOVE IT!" twice in a row. My daughter is growing up. She's discovered thrill rides. Can I really handle this?
Worst moment of the trip for me was at the airport on the way down. USAirways was looking for volunteers to be bumped from the oversold flight. Compensation was a free ticket to each passenger good for one year. I tried *real* hard to convince my wife to bump, but to no avail.
Things I would change would include scheduling fewer character breakfasts. It's really hard staying up late at night and having to get up early for a breakfast. The Fall Fantasy package notwithstanding, there's a limit on how many all-you-can-eat meals you can endure. The extra 5 pounds I came home with agrees.
A thought I happened to come up with both at Blizzard Beach and at the hotel pools: What woman in her right mind would buy, wear, and swim in a solid white bathing suit? Don't get me wrong...I'm a male and I loved it, but they *gotta* know what's going on.
The crowds seemed to be a bit heavier this year than last during the last two weeks of August. I sure hope it's because of the 25th and all goes back to normal next summer.
Our packing strategy worked to a tee. We actually packed an empty 4th suitcase. Good thing, too, because we went home with 4 very full suitcases. Oh boy, is VISA gonna send me a thank you note this month!
The E-ticket promotion was great. I only wish I could have taken advantage of it.
I was sorry to miss the RADP meet on 8/27 at the Adventurer's Club but I couldn't very well take off on my family and party without them. Had this been at a more suitable family location I definitely would have been there.
Jack Marshall

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