Trip report...Disney over Christmas New Year season...DCL and DVC!!!

[queenie82]

Update...

Just wanted to add some links to photos of the rooms we stayed in.
We were in DVC rooms the whole time.
First batter up is Animal Kingdom Villas Jambo House
This is a VALUE studio room with a savannah view. The views possible with this room type are savannah, pool and carpark. You can request what you want and might or might not get what you want.

Next up - The divine Bay Lake Tower
I could happily stay here all the time. My favourite I think.

Others will be added as I get time
Here however are some you may not have even heard of!

Vero Beach...yes a lovely Disney Vacation Club resort in Vero Beach.
Now the 'beach' isn't quite what we spoilt Aussies are accustomed to but I loved this resort so much
This is an Inn room

And...
This is Hilton Head!! Yes Hilton Head DVC. This is Disney...and it is wonderful. You can even pin trade!
This is a 2 BEDROOM!!!
This is just a wonderful relaxing resort. I could happily chill here...

______________________________________________
This is the start of the trip report before the update
Howdy folks.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
We were in Disneyworld 2 weeks up until a bit before Christmas, and then spent NYE at Disneyland. Plus we went on a 3 night Disney Cruise at the start of December.

I will start with DCL as this is the something that not many Aussies have been on.

I have put up some cruise ones here

There are photos of our Category 10 room - hidden/secret porthole. It is about the best in the category. These rooms are great as they are on deck 5 and have a big porthole window. The reason they are on a lower category is because the view is obstructed by various flotation devices and other stuff on the side of the ship.

One shows the bunk bed.
This is where I slept.
I am about 5'10" and this was really comfortable. If you get up a lot during the night then this isn't ideal for you because the ladder is a little painful on the feet and narrow. But once you are up there is it really comfortable.

- There are photos from "Pirate Night"
On a 3 night cruise there technically isn't a pirate night....but there is one.
They have a dance party/show thing with pirate dressed characters and then they launched fireworks from the back of the ship.
It was really hard getting photos as there are lights directed at you as well as them, it is dark, and they are moving constantly. (not to mention the ship)
Like the welcome aboard/adventures away show there is NO (or very little) Disney music played which is really really sad
It is all "dance" music from the 60s and 70s as well as more recent



NASSAU
When I got back home I found out there was a recent article about DCL guests being robbed in the Bahamas on a shore excursion. Link
Unfortunately this doesn't surprise me.

Before the cruise I had read so many reports of bag snatching and aggressive "tour guides" expecting tips at various tourist locations on Nassau. (the fort, the queens staircase etc)
I don't remember this segway shore excursion on the list for Nassau but when I looked at the list months ago none were of interest to me so I don't remember them in detail.
It is very disappointing that this WAS an actual shore excursion you booked through Disney because you would hope they were safer.
There are many "tour guides" who all try and tout their tours as you go through the terminal area before entering the town. It is THOSE I would be most worried about.

I am VERY curious as to why people had passports with them though????? All you need is a photo ID (I took my license) and your key to the room which has all your info on it and gets scanned as you go on and off the ship.

We just looked around the town which is literally just 2mins from the port. You do NOT need to get a taxi. We had done the talk about shopping in Nassau on the cruise the night before the day in port which was very informative and helpful. We didn't buy much but we got all the "free gifts" with the coupons in the $25 book you can buy. It is actually good value if you put the time into going into the different shops which are interesting. I even won a $500 gemstone in one of the shop's contests for Disney cruise ship guests.

As you walk through the town you see police walking through all over the place.
Once you step beyond that main strip though you see more derelict buildings and it gets a bit creepy. We stopped at that point.

We were warned to always be aware of our surroundings and carry ONLY what you need. Stay in a group...avoid walking alone.
We felt safe in the town but as I say...beyond that I just didn't feel safe.

For me...I wouldn't bother with any of the excursions. I was on the cruise to enjoy the cruise SHIP!!
We went back for lunch which was DIVINE. One of the best meals was that lunch.
I enjoyed seeing the town but to me the rest of the island is of little interest.

_________________________________________________
General Advice
I really enjoyed it but my brother got sea sick on the last night.
It sure was rocking and rolling on that last night as we drove full board back to port.
So pack some sea sickness bands if you think you might be susceptible. They DO keep tablets at guest services in midship deck 3 though.
Once I was asleep I was fine...but the worst was eating dinner while it rocking from side to side.
Even our main server said it wasn't normally quite this bad.

The meals are great
As I say that lunch while in port was great.

GET TO THE SHIP EARLY ENOUGH TO GET ONBOARD IN TIME FOR LUNCH!
It is Parrot Cay buffet
ALSO it is a time when your kids can use the pool and slide while it is quiet.
Disney Transport from the resorts will NOT get you there in time. You don't get there until about 3pm.

Castaway cay was AWESOME
Don't bother going to a beach anywhere else. A day here is perfect. (although there are no waves )
The adult beach really isn't used as a beach. They haven't removed all the sharp rocks in the water so swimming in there is NOT foot friendly.
People just sit there and sun bake and read.
The food for lunch is beautiful and easy.
Your kids would probably enjoy the crab racing which is just between the main beach and where they serve lunch.


READ THE NAVIGATOR!!!!
There are LOTS of character meet and greets and the ship is the best place to try and get them. It is so much easier than the parks! And there are LOTS of different characters.

I LOVED the 2 shows....Disney Dreams – An Enchanted Classic and Golden Mickeys.
Disney Dreams – An Enchanted Classic is beautiful
I didn't like Toy Story the Musical...very disappointing. Too clunky scene changes and just not very good.
Maybe if you don't go expecting much it will be better though.

If you have girls that like princesses then they usually have 3 out at a time and you can queue up and move from one to another. Sometimes there are separate queues.

There are official photographers who do like a photo pass but I found the photos too washed out. There was no contrast in the faces. Sort of too much flash.
The areas are fairly dimly lit so I think they overcompensate. You can take your own photos though...that is fine. If there is an assistant CM with the photographer they may take it for you with your camera. The photographer won't though.

Tell the head server if you have a celebration...they will bring out a special cake and do a little celebration clap thing. [This is included...no extra fee]

This is a before and after at Animators Palette

I certainly think DCL is a great option for those with kids.
I mean I loved it as well but the kids clubs look great. As part of a tour of the ship we saw them.
The character interaction is great. And Castaway Cay is beautiful.
Christmas is a really magical time on board as well.
I think waiting for the dream is a good idea though. The slide is for EVERYONE not just kids. And the technology is 10 years better than the current ships.

I've found out I'm not really a cruise person. I wouldn't do any other than a Disney one.

 

[queenie82]

I spent New years at Disneyland Resort.
I don't have any of my own video or photos as I was worried about crowd levels.

But this is a fantastic video as it shows how it happened.
Each park was going bang for bang. My head was turning from one to the other. They were matching each other.
Of course until the DCA ones ended and DL went NUTS!!!!! Make sure you see to the end!

This second video shows how we saw the DCA ones.
We were standing UNDER the golden gate so we had a clear shot of the DCA ones and a clear shot OVER the entry to DCA and the train station in DL.
The DCA ones were a little more special as this was the first time there were fireworks in this part of DCA.

________________________________
It was a pretty amazing night.
We were unsure as to whether we would go due to crowds. We left WDW on the 31st and by 11am (or probably before) the Magic Kingdom was closed. Now if it reaches this point you probably don't want to be there.

We got to the area between DL and DCA that night at about 11pm???
About that. We were spending that night and the next couple nights at the Fairfield Marriott (I highly recommend this hotel. I love it.) and we walked over to DL with just handbags. We didn't take cameras etc. But it was nice not needing to worry about it and just watching it.

It turned out crowds were actually not too bad. As we were going over from Harbor Blvd there were streams of people leaving. Many were hauling lumps over their shoulders which I believe were exhausted children. There were 9:30 fireworks which they must have watched.

The Sydney fireworks usually are about the best NYE ones in the world......
But THIS - and especially the ending - was downright amazing.

 

[CairnsGirl]

Thankyou for the great trip report!

We have also added a 3 day cruise to our Disney World trip in September.

It was great to hear about it from and aussie view.

I am a bit worried about the visit to Nassua and will probaly just have a look around town and stay close to the ship.

I also tend to suffer from seasickness and hope I will be able to survive the three days ok.

 

[queenie82]

I also tend to suffer from seasickness and hope I will be able to survive the three days ok.

The first 2 days and nights were completely fine. You didn't really feel it.

It was when we left Castaway Cay at about 5pm that we took off at great speed. Because of the wind on the island things like jetskis and catamarans were unable to be used and most people were back on board by about 4pm. If they were in a screaming hurry to get back to port then they could have left earlier. As it was they got in an hour early.

Anyway
Feel free to ask questions. I can try and help

So back to Disneyland.
After 3 nights at the Fairfield Marriott we shifted to the Grand Cal Villas.
We have always stayed on Harbor Blvd and so always had that trek back from Disney. Now this isn't a long trek but we would go to the blvd to go to get food at maccas or dennys etc as well as going back to the room.
Once we checked into the villas...we never went that direction. It felt a bit strange...but a good strange.

We stayed in a studio and it is wonderful.
It isn't cheap [15 points per night - compare 12 for BLT or 8 at BWV for comparable seasonr] but it was fairly easy to book. We own Grand Cal points so we got first dibs for booking when bookings began though. And we will have 11 months window in the future. But it is still unclear just how easy of hard booking will be. It might be fairly easy for a couple years as people are still working on adding trips to DL to their schedules.

We stayed at other DVC resorts and I will gradually report on each of them. But given DL is where people visit from Australia most I thought I would start there and will refer you to my photo album here with room photos and the view we got in case it is informative to you...

ALL rooms are the same point level there is NO classification so you can't guarantee any particular view.
We got 6th floor park view though

The view

The only problem with this resort DVC wise is that there is no catering to DVC. There is no DVC feeling at all.
There is no Welcome Home DVC pack etc.
There is also no food store AT ALL. There is always at least a small component of shops in DVC resorts with milk and cereal and stuff like that. This was disappointing. They were never cheap but it was something that people expect.

I'm sure this seems petty....but I think it is something they should rectify.

 

[queenie82]

Howdy folks.
Well I have now done 3 segway tours so something of an expert...
I want one

I HIGHLY recommend doing one.

The Epcot World showcase one is great for those who love the showcase. It is nice seeing it without the crowds and I really enjoyed it.
It was the first segway tour and it took a bit of getting used to but once I got the hang of it I had LOADS of fun twisting and turning.

You can do it before world showcase opens and mostly before the park opens. I went on the 7:30am one. I was done by about 9:30-9:45.
It was an EMH morning so I was still doing it when the park opened but this was the most convenient time in our schedule.

So as I say you can have it done by pretty early.

I also did the fort wilderness one on the off road segway. It had been pouring during the early morning and was raining when we got there but then it eased off and didn't rain 95% of the time and when it did it was just light sprinkles.
It was funny as the guides when we got there said...oh yeah...no worries...we go out unless it is POURING.
This is AWESOME.
The off road ones are more stable in feeling and it is so cool going off road.
the tour guide was full of information and it was really relaxed and fun. We could play going between trees and so on as we went along.
I would actually probably do this one again.

A piece of info for the fort wilderness one. I'm not sure if you have been there lately but you can no longer drive into fort wilderness beyond the entry carpark unless you are a guest. So you need to use internal transport to get to the tour. Allow 15mins at least for the bus to arrive and 10mins to get to your destination.
They may tell you that you meet at the Meadow outpost shop or something.
It is in fact the BIKE BARN. So you are better off getting the bus that goes on the OPPOSITE side to the shop/outpost. It is quicker. I can't remember the route colour....orange perhaps? But if the other bus arrives and leaves first then that is still fine. Just get what leaves first.

They may also tell you that the first part of the tour is inside. THIS IS INCORRECT!!!
Because of the rain we RANG to check what would happen if it was raining and the person told us - the first half is inside and that if it continues to rain and the second half can not be completed you will get a 50% rain adjusted refund. WRONG...
The training at Fort Wilderness is OUTSIDE. They WILL continue with the tour if it is only light rain and they give you ponchos should you want one. As you can see in the pictures we brought our own spray jackets.

The segways seem to spend a decent time outside and unless fully zipped the bags aren't exactly waterproof. It was a little damp in the main pouch. But my bag survived ok in there. The smaller pocket I stuck my camera in so we and they could take photos for us.

To book one at WDW
Call (407) WDW-TOUR or (407) 939-8687

Guests must be at least 16 years of age or older...with the Signature of parent/guardian required for ages 16 - 17. Weight must be between 100-250 pounds. You MUST wear closed in Shoes.

The Epcot one requires park admission that day. So $99 plus the park admission. But as I say it doesn't eat much into park time if you do the earliest one.
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/tours-and-experiences/around-the-world-at-epcot/

The Fort Wilderness one obviously has no park admission requirement so is just the tour price ($90)
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/wilderness-back-trail-adventure/


There are discounts for DVC and I believe AAA, Annual Pass holders and Disney Visa as well. 15% I think.

_________________________________________
Finally I did the one at DCA.
This isn't wildly exciting but it was interesting. Most of the info about the park I knew but it as I say was interesting.
From now on there are going to be more and more construction walls up though and they will stay for some time...so...I don't know how will be in the future and what limitations there will be on the tour? Or if they will start taking you backstage?

Info -
The Disneyland staff are absolutely neurotic about safety.
They REMOVE the bags from the front of the segway because it might unbalance people??
The bag was designed by the company and the segway balances itself constantly. It has no impact unless you load it with bricks.
This means you have to use a locker (which they give you for free) for your stuff. This is a BIG pain. They will take photos for you but you can't put it in a bag. I had to jam it in a pocket. They don't even want it around your neck.
I had to take out my ID and ticket out of my bag and put that in a pocket as well.

You don't need to use a park entry on your ticket to go on this tour but you finish just before opening and I wanted to go straight to the rope drop so I could meet up with family before heading straight to TSMM. So I had to take it out of my bag.

I wish they warned you about this because at least I could have organised things a bit better in anticipation.

 

[Jade+3]

Great trip report Queenie. My kids love your cruise photo's and have decided they want to go again. We got sea sick on the first night of our cruise.

 

[BrizMarc]

great report. I loved all your cruise photos.

 

[shushh]

Queenie, thank you for the report! I love the photos.

How did you find WDW around Christmas time compared to other "peak" times. Also you did the dining package this time around didn't you? What were your favourites? Any tips of do's and don'ts?

 

[queenie82]

Queenie, thank you for the report! I love the photos.

How did you find WDW around Christmas time compared to other "peak" times. Also you did the dining package this time around didn't you? What were your favourites? Any tips of do's and don'ts?

It was interesting the crowd situation.
Like always it gradually got busier from the 7th through to the 20th December but not really in a consistent way. By staying on site we always took advantage of EMH in the morning. Going to Toy Story in the morning at DHS is HILARIOUS. They know exactly where you are going so they have a wall of Cast Members WALK you all down to there. I was in charge of Fastpasses so would go to there and then join the standby. The entry is fairly well set up to get you from one tot he other but the stroller parking is a nightmare and too close to the entry.
Also after that first influx time is over can I please plead people to not expect to join family members who are already halfway through the line. This drove me nuts.
Yes people get separated and you sort yourself out in the first 5 mins of the queue but after that is just plain rude. There was one woman who expected to weave herself through the entire queue to meet up with Family who were already at the area PAST the fastpass line join point. [so about 40mins through the queue]
Anyway....even as it got closer to Christmas the queue for TSM never got over about 80mins (which yes is a long time but it was that the first day we went there in the arvo)

The other attraction with the most warnings about crowds was Fantasmic which we went to about 1-1.5 hours before and got great seats but it was still not full 15mins before. The dining package area was not full and was opened to all 5mins before which also took more people in.
I don't know if this got worse as it got closer to Christmas but we didn't go back.

The main Epcot rides got busier but I must say this is the least affected by increased crowds [in that there is room to still spread out and mission green at mission space maintains await of about 10 mins] EXCEPT for the Candlelight Processional. If you want to do this without LONG waits and the possibility of not getting in then do it as early as possible. We did it on a rainy day and because it was literally raining as it was about to start we got in as the line was moving in a reasonable seating area. But the seating system for this is a joke. The area they corner off for the dining package people is obviously the best but they will keep space (and I mean a LOT of space) available for people even 15mins into the performance.
The first 2 centre rows of the section behind the first batch of seats (which are undercover) were empty for most of the performance. A batch of about 10 arrived 15mins in and took up maybe 1/2 of one row and that was it.

Not only is the unfair to those stuck in the side section (as we were) it is downright RUDE to the performers. As I said above the fantasmic dining section gets opened to all 5 mins before show time. Maybe even 10.
I've performed in orchestras at the Town Hall, the opera house and other performing spaces and people are only admitted late (to their specific allocated seat) at certain times during performance. Not while people are still singing And in areas where there is NOT allocated seating they do not set aside central blocks of seating for late arrivals.

But I digress...
The worst place is Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom. The crowds get ridiculous here as we get closer to Christmas.

What we GOT for staying until the 20th though and going to the Magic Kingdom was to see the Christmas Parade. The Christmas Parties finish and the accommodation prices tick over to extra expensive at this point so you get all the Christmas stuff included. This is the most amazing parade. It has everything and the floats are beautiful. The regular parade is a shadow of what a parade really could be. The floats are barren and disappointing.
But this Christmas parade was just beautiful. We saw it in the entry hub area (I'm never sure what this is called but it is the roundabout area at the start of Main Street) and I loved it.

The music for Holiday Wishes is very nice but it really isn't all that great and no better than regular Wishes. With the regular Wishes one night I was exhausted and really didn't want to do the mass exodus with the rest of the crowd so we left as it was beginning and hopped onto a ferry and went to the upper deck and looked back. We were one of the first on so were literally at the edge of the ferry and the ferry sat there for a while as it loaded so we didn't move until over half way through. It was such a magical night seeing the fireworks from there as you can see over the station and see the castle and the fireworks. I highly recommended it.

The previous time (which is why I was happy leaving as we had already seen it) we watched from the Tomorrowland bridge. Sure the fireworks aren't lined up with the castle but it is a beautiful angle to see the castle from.

As for Animal Kingdom and crowds...well...use the EMH and you are done by 12. EE doesn't get much of a crowd and nor does the Safari really. We didn't actually see the jingle jungle parade (which has been the same parade since they opened so we say it in 03 and 07) because we had run out of things to do by 12 each day we went. Even as it got closer to Christmas it still wasn't that busy.
I do recommend multiple visits though as it can vary so much the animal experiences.
Some days the safari animals really aren't all that active. Some days they are fantastic. The same for the Gorillas and other animals. Only ONE day did we have an amazing view of the Gorillas as the three silverbacks were all sitting nearby and then they even had a stand off.

Now as to dining.
Yes we did much dining...
Favourites at Epcot
Tutto Italia - FANTASTIC food Too many choices
The restaurant is beautiful and the service is wonderful.
It is hilarious the head of the restaurant. He is like the mafia in his organisation of the restaurant. We did 2 lunches and they weren't full but we could never go in until he had decided exactly where we could go and he was constantly checking on what the servers were doing
The first time with the drinks we were told Chocolate milk was included in the dining plan and we got it, including refills, so we got that the second time and he found this out and was not happy. Apparently it isn't...so he came over to tell us this. We said well...we got it yesterday...so I'm not sure if someone got in trouble because there was a rapid discussion in Italian in the corner before he returned and said we could get it included this time.
What I would HIGHLY recommend is the Virgin cocktail "Bellini" they have. It was only $3-4?? And getting it OUTSIDE the restaurant it was $5.
We were on Deluxe Dining so got
- Appetizer - Prosciutto di Parma each time for me. And the parental units got the Antipasto Misto which is a HUGE platter of all sorts of things for 2.
- My main I got was a breaded chicken with Prosciutto and a sauce stuffed inside
The dessert was the Profitteroles one time and a trifle the 2nd time I think. It was all great.

Biergarten
Fantastic value. This was a great show and great food. The germans really know what they are doing. Alas there was no Blackforest cake included in the buffet but it was wonderful food.

Rose and Crown
This isn't anything special really but we went there in part to see Illuminations from there. Which we did. We got a waterside table and it was WONDERFUL.
The pork Loin I got was FANTASTIC. But it really wasn't much better than the one you can get at Sunshine Seasons in The Land as part of the counterservice.

What drinks are included varies a LOT...so always ask for the FULL list.
We got Smoothies included here. Chocolate, Strawberry or Vanilla

Le Chefs De France
Great stuff here.
Appetizer - Tarte a la flamme Alsacienne Flat bread baked with cream fraiche, onion and bacon.
Jarret d'agneau aux haricots blanc - Braised lamb shank with navy beans The lamb fell off the bone.
Dessert - Creme Brulee of course

It is a very odd layout restaurant but we could see Illuminations from here as well as we were next to the window.

The BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!!!!
Le Cellier
This is a VERY hard to book restaurant...and so not worth the effort.
If you want to get a Well Done steak forget it. We gave them 3 goes and the outside got blacker as the inside stayed red.
If you want to survive forget it.
It is
- over hyped.
- Even if they had cooked it properly it is NOT the best steakhouse in Disney.
- it is VERY stuffy and hot (the only place with air movement is the restroom
- I don't think it is worth stressing about getting a reservation...get one if you can and want to go then go...but don't go in with the highest expectations
- If you are paying full price then it is a RIP OFF!!! Only do it on the dining plan.

Garden Grill
A family style character meal in The Land.
I actually enjoyed this. It gets mixed reviews so I wasn't sure but the food is good and it is a nice experience in the revolving restaurant. And Chip and Dale were HILARIOUS. It is a bit tight getting through to the tables so Chip would dramatically get out of the way when a server came through with plates.
There is nothing special about the food and there isn't much choice but I found it better than Ohana.

Elsewhere
1900 Park Fare is a beautiful and fun restaurant. Breakfast and Dinner is great. The Characters are very much in character.
Breakfast you get the Mad Hatter, Alice, Mary Poppins, Tigger and Pooh
Dinner you get Lady Tremaine, The ugle step sisters, Cinderella and Prince Charming.

The food is DIVINE The custom omelettes are wonderful.
Strawberry Soup is addictive.
For the Dinner if you want well done beef just let the chef know and they will go cook it for you.

Cape May
Breakfast and Dinner are great. It is so relaxed and while the food isn't as good as 1900 the atmosphere is perfect and the food is still very good.
It usually isn't as busy also so there really is quality time character interaction rather than the rushed production line.

Boma
Over hyped. I wasn't thrilled. There is a TONNE of food options but I just wasn't impressed with any component other than the desserts which are wonderful. There is nothing wrong with the food and certainly if you like African food you will love it. But even the milder dishes I just left disappointed. I'm glad I tried it and I DO recommend trying it at least once because it may well be your cup off tea but it wasn't mine.

Ohana
Good not great.
The breakfast was fun with Stitch and if you WANT Stitch it is the best way to get him. The service was ho hum. Family Style is fine but it relies on a good server who sees what you really liked and what you didn't as much and adjust accordingly. But there was no stand out. It was pretty much standard breakfast fare. The pineapple bread wasn't brilliant.
The DINNER was downright awful.
I don't eat shrimp and TOLD the server this and yet she dumped it on my plate. My dad eats anything and tried it and HATED it.
The Pork was over spiced and over cooked and tough.
The Steak was undercooked and when they did cook it it was flavourless except for the charcoal taste.
The one thing we did like was the chicken wings and asked for more and she disappeared for 15mins...before coming back with undercooked steak

Kona Cafe
Breakfast - Good not great. It was nice enough but not worth a table service credit. Better than Ohana food wise but without the Characters not worth it.

Crystal Palace
We tried Dinner buffet this time and was nice enough and good for getting Characters (pooh tigger piglet eeyore)
I think the breakfast is a better way of seeing the characters here.
A gripe we had at a couple of buffets (here and Boma) is we had very odd servers who wanted to "explain" the buffet and spend 10mins talking instead of just letting us go and explore. We shut them down both times...ordered our drinks...and got up to get food. I mean seriously...is it so hard to work out a buffet

Chef Mickey
Breakfast is average food as is Dinner.
But you go here for the Characters.
I was quite happy with the Dinner food as it was more edible (to me) than Boma but it isn't going to please people who like more "interesting" food.
Donald is adorable.


Animal Kingdom
Yak and Yeti
Loved this. It is a BEAUTIFUL restaurant and the food is great. Very good quality. I'd love to go back here in the future. We went for lunch

Tusker house
You go here for the Characters at Breakfast. The food is pretty good. Donald doesn't come into the Restaurant. You have to do the meet and great before going in. It unnecessarily creates a queue. Plus they had a character "break" 10 mins after him coming out Thankfully we convinced them to let us do a quick photo before he left for a break so we could go into the restaurant.


I think that is everywhere we ate....
Hope it helps

 

[shushh]

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to write in so much detail. It is very helpful. I will take the time to read it slowly to digest it will all this other info that I have!

So when and where will the next trip be for you?

 

[CairnsGirl]

Great second part to your trip report.

It's interesting to see your view off all the Disney World restaurants. I'm still debating over which ones to choose.

Reading your report gets me really excited about our upcoming trip!
Thanks again !

 

[queenie82]

I hope it is useful. Dining is such a personal thing and so obviously my reviews might be a different opinion to others. I have had friends say that our Le Cellier experience was possibly an anomaly but none of them have ever asked for Well Done Steak so they can't speak on that point.
Our biggest problem with this was that 1 - we gave them 3 chances to give us what we wanted; and 2 - We got better steak at The Wave [which I forgot to review]
As for the warmth they did agree with this as being the case...but in summer it is always cooler than the outside.

So the ones I forgot

The Wave
They seem to try too hard here with their meals. Odd vegetable and spice mixtures were going on. The appetisers especially weren't great. The seasonal soup was a strange spicy minestrone sort of thing and I just couldn't find anything I would eat. So...after asking many ways what on earth could we get instead - we got fruit salad. This is apparently a "kids menu" option which suited me just fine.

As for the main - I got the lamb shank which was quite good and others got the beef tenderloin which was also quite nice. I think France was better but this wasn't half bad. The tenderloin was cooked well done without needing sending back.

The dessert was very nice. Each option was a trio and I got the creamy indulgence which was very nice. A cheesecake a pannacotta and a mousse.

I don't think I would go back as it wasn't good enough to justify the prices. But a good restaurant nonetheless.

Coral Reef
Well this is the rather disturbing restaurant where you eat fish while you watch them swim by. It is a nice atmosphere and a wonderful set up but a little disappointing.
Like Le Cellier with the steak speciality - here it was fish. So you expect this to be the best place to order a fish.
Alas it was disappointing.
Now as Aussies and especially a Sydneysider who lives near the coast and can drive up and down the NSW coast to all sorts of wonderful fish shops perhaps I have higher or different expectations? I think we also seem to EAT different fish generally.
[I was rather disturbed to learn when we went to the Aquarium in Atlanta that they eat Groupers ]
BUT...what I ordered was something I have eaten before. Grilled Mahi Mahi.
It sure was grilled I will say that and it was a pretty thick hunk of fish...but it was over cooked and tough. There was too much blackened area there was no juicy flakes of fish on the inside.
The last time I had grilled Mahi Mahi was at the Moloolaba Fish Coop (NSW coast). So ultra fresh and luscious! It was cheaper too...

So as I say....I'm not sure if this is a difference of expectation as an Australian or what?

The dessert was LOVELY. I got the Baileys and Jack Daniel's Mousse

So...
there you go...
For Disney dining in the future there are WONDERFUL counter service options out there so I think I would do that plan in the future and then just a few table service.

 

[aussietravellers]

There is also no food store AT ALL. There is always at least a small component of shops in DVC resorts with milk and cereal and stuff like that. This was disappointing. They were never cheap but it was something that people expect.

Great report! I just wanted to let you know that they do have the small food store area at White Water Snacks. Well they did last month. Over near the registers where they keep the breakfast cereal, there are shelves with larger packets of food, can't remember exactly what it was, but not the normal restaurant food, it was more bulk type food to take back to your villa. I saw it when we were there last month and didn't notice until the last day, but it was definately there. It certainly wasn't as large as what they had at say AKL in WDW, but it definately there, just on a small scale .

Now back to reading your fantastic trip report.

 

[aussietravellers]

Ok, finished reading now

That was just such a great trip report. Oh I would so love to do the segway tours, but I always have my son with me and he is no where near 16 yet and the kids clubs are only open from 4.30pm to midnight so I NEVER get to do it. I looked at it last month when we were at DL and there was just no chance. So maybe at WDW this year I might find a way to do it.

LOVED the restaurant reviews. Interesting to read about Le Ceilier, thats on our list for this trip. Totally agree with you about Boma, although the breakfast was by far the best we had ANYWERE at WDW on our 21 nights there, the dinner, blah! I'm so glad to read that Yak & Yeti is still good, that was one of our favourites last trip, we went there twice, that and Jiko were our absolute favourites. Pity you didn't try the steak at Jiko, they actually use Australian beef we found out on our second visit.

Anyway thanks for such a great report!

 

[queenie82]

Great report! I just wanted to let you know that they do have the small food store area at White Water Snacks. Well they did last month. Over near the registers where they keep the breakfast cereal, there are shelves with larger packets of food, can't remember exactly what it was, but not the normal restaurant food, it was more bulk type food to take back to your villa. I saw it when we were there last month and didn't notice until the last day, but it was definately there. It certainly wasn't as large as what they had at say AKL in WDW, but it definately there, just on a small scale .

Now back to reading your fantastic trip report.

Thanks for the info Good for future reference.
I didn't really go into there so I must have missed it. I was kinda used to the actual main store (gift shop) having stuff. Not a counter Service. Makes sense though
We had done so much Disney dining at WDW we got Supermarket food. (gotta love Vons with Ben and Jerry's 2 for $7 )

Ok, finished reading now

That was just such a great trip report. Oh I would so love to do the segway tours, but I always have my son with me and he is no where near 16 yet and the kids clubs are only open from 4.30pm to midnight so I NEVER get to do it. I looked at it last month when we were at DL and there was just no chance. So maybe at WDW this year I might find a way to do it.

LOVED the restaurant reviews. Interesting to read about Le Ceilier, thats on our list for this trip. Totally agree with you about Boma, although the breakfast was by far the best we had ANYWERE at WDW on our 21 nights there, the dinner, blah! I'm so glad to read that Yak & Yeti is still good, that was one of our favourites last trip, we went there twice, that and Jiko were our absolute favourites. Pity you didn't try the steak at Jiko, they actually use Australian beef we found out on our second visit.

Anyway thanks for such a great report!

I appreciate the feedback. I'm glad I'm not nuts by not being thrilled about Boma. We were thinking of doing breakfast but we had so many other breakfasts we picked dinner.

Yak and Yeti was lovely. We were upstairs in the area around the stairs which was actually really nice. We didn't have a window in that spot but it is the inside which is so lovely. Joe Rohde has truly outdone himself.
Food wise I had the potstickers, ribs and fried wontons

Speaking of ribs there are so many great places around the Disney parks to get great ribs at counter service.

I hope you can do a Segway one sometime. The WDW ones are great. It was so much fun the off road one.

Lots of people talk about Jiko but we just don't do spicy so even going to Boma was pushing it for us. Maybe one day...but getting me to go there instead of Italy is unlikely

 

[aussietravellers]

Thanks for the info Good for future reference.
I didn't really go into there so I must have missed it. I was kinda used to the actual main store (gift shop) having stuff. Not a counter Service. Makes sense though
We had done so much Disney dining at WDW we got Supermarket food. (gotta love Vons with Ben and Jerry's 2 for $7 )

I appreciate the feedback. I'm glad I'm not nuts by not being thrilled about Boma. We were thinking of doing breakfast but we had so many other breakfasts we picked dinner.

Yak and Yeti was lovely. We were upstairs in the area around the stairs which was actually really nice. We didn't have a window in that spot but it is the inside which is so lovely. Joe Rohde has truly outdone himself.
Food wise I had the potstickers, ribs and fried wontons

Speaking of ribs there are so many great places around the Disney parks to get great ribs at counter service.

I hope you can do a Segway one sometime. The WDW ones are great. It was so much fun the off road one.

Lots of people talk about Jiko but we just don't do spicy so even going to Boma was pushing it for us. Maybe one day...but getting me to go there instead of Italy is unlikely

We had von's delivery for our groceries too they were great

Next time at WDW give Boma a try for breakfast and do give Jiko a try. We are so not spicy people (I have a no CCC rule, no chilli, curry or corriander Don't like any of those) and we really didn't like Boma dinner. We had breakfast there over 10 times (staying there for 21 nights it was handy), but tried dinner once and NEVER again. The food just wasn't to our tastes at all! But Jiko, OMG, we had the filet mignon and it was SO GOOD, not spicy at all, it has a 4 cheese maraconi and cheese and no fake yellow cheese here , just so delicious. The food at Jiko seems to be different from Boma.

 

[queenie82]

We had von's delivery for our groceries too they were great

Next time at WDW give Boma a try for breakfast and do give Jiko a try. We are so not spicy people (I have a no CCC rule, no chilli, curry or corriander Don't like any of those) and we really didn't like Boma dinner. We had breakfast there over 10 times (staying there for 21 nights it was handy), but tried dinner once and NEVER again. The food just wasn't to our tastes at all! But Jiko, OMG, we had the filet mignon and it was SO GOOD, not spicy at all, it has a 4 cheese maraconi and cheese and no fake yellow cheese here , just so delicious. The food at Jiko seems to be different from Boma.

Wow....10 times...that's something!
I reckon 1900 is the one I would keep going back to but only on the plan. I don't think they are worth the cash price really.

I love you CCC rule!!! That is ME.
As for the yellow cheese...it is the ORANGE cheese that is terrifying.
But I have a C to add to your 3 and that C is cheese. I don't do cheese unless an Italian is in charge of it.

 

[ehsmum]

Great report, Queenie .

I had a long list of ADRs that I wanted at WDW but I ended up not booking too many as I don't want to spend the whole time sitting down in or lining up to get into restaurants. Counter service will suit us fine.

I've booked:
dinners :
Chef Mickey's (the night we arrive)
Crystal Palace

breakfasts:
Tusker House
Cinderella's Royal Table
Hollywood and Vine

lunch:
Biergarten

I had 1900 Park Fare on my list but haven't booked it. If I decide to add another breakfast I think I'll do that one.

 

[queenie82]

Ok so I dug this report up again...to add some links to photos of the rooms we stayed in.
We were in DVC rooms the whole time.
First batter up is Animal Kingdom Villas Jambo House
This is a VALUE studio room with a savannah view. The views possible with this room type are savannah, pool and carpark. You can request what you want and might or might not get what you want.

Next up - The divine Bay Lake Tower
I could happily stay here all the time. My favourite I think.

I haven't done the others onsite yet but I'll get to it eventually...lol...

Here however are some you may not have even heard of!

Vero Beach...yes a lovely Disney Vacation Club resort in Vero Beach.
Now the 'beach' isn't quite what we spoilt Aussies are accustomed to but I loved this resort so much
This is an Inn room

And...

This is Hilton Head!! Yes Hilton Head DVC. This is Disney...and it is wonderful. You can even pin trade!

This is a 2 BEDROOM!!!
This is just a wonderful relaxing resort. I could happily chill here...