Inga
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 21, 1999
Hi Folks
Just spent two weeks in the beautiful state of Florida, returned yesterday. We were on Disney property (POFQ) from Feb 6th to 13th, then off to St Petes, and returned to stay at POP Feb 17th before our flight home to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on Friday, Feb 18th!
The cast of characters included:
Me, Inga: 35yo, WDW vets
DH: 37yo WDW vets
DFriend: 35yo been to WDW a few times
DBFofDFriend: 37yo first time to WDW as an adult!
Highlites:
Cirque du Soleil was awesome, it was the first time we had seen the show and it is definitely something to see, at least once!
Wolfgang Pucks Cafe before the show in DD (not the $$ upstairs restaurant, but the main level) was excellent. We had a terrible time a few years ago at Wolfgang Pucks but this experience has redeemed the place for us.
Cafe Tu Tu Tango was excellent, yet again, a must-see for us on International Drive
Arriving at the parks before official opening at any of the parks on non-EMH mornings. Even with the unusual high numbers at the parks during our visit, we were able to enjoy a relatively quiet park for the first 1.5 hours, and we got alot done. We would arrive ~30-45 minute prior to official park opening on these mornings.
Rose and Crown for Illuminations is still wonderful. This is our 5th visit to R&C for Illuminations and we have been lucky enough to have a great viewing table each time. The food is unfortunately not improving and probably is going slightly downhill in MHO.
POFQ was a quiet place to rest for the most part. The boat to DD is a wonderful benefit to staying at this resort. Please note if the temperature gets low, they shut the boat down which did happen during our trip.
National Car Rental: excellent price! We paid less than we were quoted! We also got a SUV...$200.00 US for 12 days!
The Earl of Sandwich surpassed our expectations. Those sandwiches were sooo good. Thanks to the DIS boards for alerting us to this gem!
Ghiradelli's ice cream shop. I had a less than stellar experience a few years ago, but this sundae was incredible.
Loved the Nemo exhibit at Living Seas, loved the Talking with Crush experience!!
Loved RnR as usual, as well as TT, Splash, Mickey's Phil, BTR
Less then Sunny Aspects:
Weather was cool, but what can you do? It is February!
Crowds. It was busier than we have ever experienced for February (or any other time we have gone to WDW, for that matter!). It was standing room only for Fantasmic! This is supposed to be February crowds! Between conventions and cheerleaders, it was packed at all parks, especially during EMH evening and morning. IMHO I would not recommend the EMH morning or evening hours, they are absolutely packed, particularly in the evening EMH. It was nuts...we couldn't even get into a comedy show at PI because of the crowds, which has never happened before. Our strategy changed mid-trip, where we avoided EMH parks like the plague, and it worked out much much better that way.
Planet Hollywood always seems to be a hassle...we used the $25 coupons that we got because we had a package, and it is always so busy, and disorganized, I think we'll avoid it next trip. The actual food isn't too bad, but the service is really quite terrible every time we go!
Traffic on the I-4...we stayed on site (thank goodness) but those staying off site should be aware of the major traffic accidents that seem to be happening each and every morning...there was one 5 hour delay major accident when we were there, and we talked with a couple that missed much of their Disney day because of the travel delay!
Food court food. We did everything in our power to avoid the food court at the resorts, and when we did indulge it was as bad as we remembered. Going off site or to DD is a much better option for us with regards to food!
We have heard concerns regarding mousekeeping at PO FQ and we did experience some of that during our trip. Upon arrival to our room, there was a smushed cookie in the middle of the floor, as well as someone elses soap left in the bathtub. The mousekeeping got better as our stay progressed, it really wasn't a big deal but did confirm what others have noted.
Test Track, always notorious for being down, was down more than normal this trip. Unfortunately, this happened during an EMH morning at Epcot which limits what you can do as there are only 4-5 things open. This also was a major problem at the EMHs at night when the park is totally packed, and only a few rides are open, making the lines very very very long. If you can get on this ride, it is a lot of fun! BTR was also down for parts of our trip.
As of yesterday (Friday, Feb 18th) the resorts were completely full, there was not a vacancy in the WDW property below $600/night, even at DTD resorts and many of the other resorts we called in Orlando. Between the Daytona 500 (which we found out that many of the Daytona hotels were still closed because of past hurricanes so people we staying in Orlando and commuting to Daytona), conventions, holidays (Presidents Week) the place was gridlocked!
Next trip, we'll be considering January as February has changed significantly compared to last year. Does this signify the end of low seasons at WDW?
Inga
Just spent two weeks in the beautiful state of Florida, returned yesterday. We were on Disney property (POFQ) from Feb 6th to 13th, then off to St Petes, and returned to stay at POP Feb 17th before our flight home to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on Friday, Feb 18th!
The cast of characters included:
Me, Inga: 35yo, WDW vets
DH: 37yo WDW vets
DFriend: 35yo been to WDW a few times
DBFofDFriend: 37yo first time to WDW as an adult!
Highlites:
Cirque du Soleil was awesome, it was the first time we had seen the show and it is definitely something to see, at least once!
Wolfgang Pucks Cafe before the show in DD (not the $$ upstairs restaurant, but the main level) was excellent. We had a terrible time a few years ago at Wolfgang Pucks but this experience has redeemed the place for us.
Cafe Tu Tu Tango was excellent, yet again, a must-see for us on International Drive
Arriving at the parks before official opening at any of the parks on non-EMH mornings. Even with the unusual high numbers at the parks during our visit, we were able to enjoy a relatively quiet park for the first 1.5 hours, and we got alot done. We would arrive ~30-45 minute prior to official park opening on these mornings.
Rose and Crown for Illuminations is still wonderful. This is our 5th visit to R&C for Illuminations and we have been lucky enough to have a great viewing table each time. The food is unfortunately not improving and probably is going slightly downhill in MHO.
POFQ was a quiet place to rest for the most part. The boat to DD is a wonderful benefit to staying at this resort. Please note if the temperature gets low, they shut the boat down which did happen during our trip.
National Car Rental: excellent price! We paid less than we were quoted! We also got a SUV...$200.00 US for 12 days!
The Earl of Sandwich surpassed our expectations. Those sandwiches were sooo good. Thanks to the DIS boards for alerting us to this gem!
Ghiradelli's ice cream shop. I had a less than stellar experience a few years ago, but this sundae was incredible.
Loved the Nemo exhibit at Living Seas, loved the Talking with Crush experience!!
Loved RnR as usual, as well as TT, Splash, Mickey's Phil, BTR
Less then Sunny Aspects:
Weather was cool, but what can you do? It is February!
Crowds. It was busier than we have ever experienced for February (or any other time we have gone to WDW, for that matter!). It was standing room only for Fantasmic! This is supposed to be February crowds! Between conventions and cheerleaders, it was packed at all parks, especially during EMH evening and morning. IMHO I would not recommend the EMH morning or evening hours, they are absolutely packed, particularly in the evening EMH. It was nuts...we couldn't even get into a comedy show at PI because of the crowds, which has never happened before. Our strategy changed mid-trip, where we avoided EMH parks like the plague, and it worked out much much better that way.
Planet Hollywood always seems to be a hassle...we used the $25 coupons that we got because we had a package, and it is always so busy, and disorganized, I think we'll avoid it next trip. The actual food isn't too bad, but the service is really quite terrible every time we go!
Traffic on the I-4...we stayed on site (thank goodness) but those staying off site should be aware of the major traffic accidents that seem to be happening each and every morning...there was one 5 hour delay major accident when we were there, and we talked with a couple that missed much of their Disney day because of the travel delay!
Food court food. We did everything in our power to avoid the food court at the resorts, and when we did indulge it was as bad as we remembered. Going off site or to DD is a much better option for us with regards to food!
We have heard concerns regarding mousekeeping at PO FQ and we did experience some of that during our trip. Upon arrival to our room, there was a smushed cookie in the middle of the floor, as well as someone elses soap left in the bathtub. The mousekeeping got better as our stay progressed, it really wasn't a big deal but did confirm what others have noted.
Test Track, always notorious for being down, was down more than normal this trip. Unfortunately, this happened during an EMH morning at Epcot which limits what you can do as there are only 4-5 things open. This also was a major problem at the EMHs at night when the park is totally packed, and only a few rides are open, making the lines very very very long. If you can get on this ride, it is a lot of fun! BTR was also down for parts of our trip.
As of yesterday (Friday, Feb 18th) the resorts were completely full, there was not a vacancy in the WDW property below $600/night, even at DTD resorts and many of the other resorts we called in Orlando. Between the Daytona 500 (which we found out that many of the Daytona hotels were still closed because of past hurricanes so people we staying in Orlando and commuting to Daytona), conventions, holidays (Presidents Week) the place was gridlocked!
Next trip, we'll be considering January as February has changed significantly compared to last year. Does this signify the end of low seasons at WDW?
Inga