BigRedDad
03-14-2010, 03:09 PM
I will be posting the details of each day. I felt I needed to post a general observation of our visit last week.
Cast: Grandma, DW, DD, and me
Resort: 4 nights at CSR and 4 nights at AKV
Trip: March 6-14
The trip was a blast. I had read many threads where people seem to think that WDW is lacking in some way. I disagreed vehemently. However, it is absolutely obvious. Nothing glaring or holding up a billboard. However, the overall feel is very much different.
Caveat: This generalization of our trip may sound extremely negative. It is not meant to be but there were only extremes of goods and bads. No middle ground.
Cast Members: There are so many cast members that don't even care that they are there. They simply act as if it is a job and you should feel obligated that they are even serving you. It used to be whenever you saw a CM, they would greet you cordially, ask how things are going, and if there is anything I can do. If I had to estimate, only 33% are like this now. Those 33% are a pleasure to interact with and make the trip that much more enjoyable.
Food: I thought the food was average in Nov 2008. The food now is even worse. Not that it is bad. It is worse in that the quality has gone down further and they are charging even more for it. If you are doing counter service dining, you have to plan even more than TS meals to get variety. Our only TS dinner was Boma. The quality was definitely not worth $31. It may have been an off day, but the quality was barely better than a $10 Golden Corral. I think the DDP and people accepting the sub-standard offerings is allowing WDW to continuously cut every corner possible for meals.
Logistics: This might have been my fault, but the lack of WDW advertising, warning or what-have-you is poor at best. The Princess Half Marathon was on March 7th. We were going to Epcot that day. This was a big mistake. We got to CSR bus stop at 7:30AM for a 9AM opening. We eventually arrived at DHS at 10:10AM. We had a 2-hour bus ride. WDW should have advertised that it was going to take forever to get to Epcot. They take us to TTC and arrived at 8:45AM (1-hour). We get to the Monorail area and are told it is a 1.5-2 hour wait for the Epcot Monorail. WHAT?!?!? Several CMs say it would be better to go to DHS and to get on a bus around the corner. OK, lesson learned and we go get on the DHS bus only to find out the roads are now closed and all WDW buses have been ordered not to debark from where they currently are. We ask to get off so we can walk back up the road a little to Poly. We are told they cannot let us off. Eventually we start moving again and another hour goes by and we get to DHS. At this point, DD is done. We spend 2 hours there and leave for the day.
Room Views: I have said this many times that views mean nothing. This trip proved my point again. We had a Savanna view room at AKV. Our view was of dirt, a Roan Antelope that appeared to be chained in place, and for 10 minutes of the day, we could see a giraffe. If you missed those 10 minutes, all you saw was the antelope and dirt. I would have preferred a view of a dumpster or Port o Let. If paying a premium for a view, you should get a premium view. Our last night at AKL was in a value room. Our view was of the pool and part of the Savanna. Personally, I think views at WDW should be categorized by room number and not general areas.
OK, this was all the negatives. Please do not take this as a completely negative trip. I will post daily trip details in the coming days. Our trip was incredible.
Cast: Grandma, DW, DD, and me
Resort: 4 nights at CSR and 4 nights at AKV
Trip: March 6-14
The trip was a blast. I had read many threads where people seem to think that WDW is lacking in some way. I disagreed vehemently. However, it is absolutely obvious. Nothing glaring or holding up a billboard. However, the overall feel is very much different.
Caveat: This generalization of our trip may sound extremely negative. It is not meant to be but there were only extremes of goods and bads. No middle ground.
Cast Members: There are so many cast members that don't even care that they are there. They simply act as if it is a job and you should feel obligated that they are even serving you. It used to be whenever you saw a CM, they would greet you cordially, ask how things are going, and if there is anything I can do. If I had to estimate, only 33% are like this now. Those 33% are a pleasure to interact with and make the trip that much more enjoyable.
Food: I thought the food was average in Nov 2008. The food now is even worse. Not that it is bad. It is worse in that the quality has gone down further and they are charging even more for it. If you are doing counter service dining, you have to plan even more than TS meals to get variety. Our only TS dinner was Boma. The quality was definitely not worth $31. It may have been an off day, but the quality was barely better than a $10 Golden Corral. I think the DDP and people accepting the sub-standard offerings is allowing WDW to continuously cut every corner possible for meals.
Logistics: This might have been my fault, but the lack of WDW advertising, warning or what-have-you is poor at best. The Princess Half Marathon was on March 7th. We were going to Epcot that day. This was a big mistake. We got to CSR bus stop at 7:30AM for a 9AM opening. We eventually arrived at DHS at 10:10AM. We had a 2-hour bus ride. WDW should have advertised that it was going to take forever to get to Epcot. They take us to TTC and arrived at 8:45AM (1-hour). We get to the Monorail area and are told it is a 1.5-2 hour wait for the Epcot Monorail. WHAT?!?!? Several CMs say it would be better to go to DHS and to get on a bus around the corner. OK, lesson learned and we go get on the DHS bus only to find out the roads are now closed and all WDW buses have been ordered not to debark from where they currently are. We ask to get off so we can walk back up the road a little to Poly. We are told they cannot let us off. Eventually we start moving again and another hour goes by and we get to DHS. At this point, DD is done. We spend 2 hours there and leave for the day.
Room Views: I have said this many times that views mean nothing. This trip proved my point again. We had a Savanna view room at AKV. Our view was of dirt, a Roan Antelope that appeared to be chained in place, and for 10 minutes of the day, we could see a giraffe. If you missed those 10 minutes, all you saw was the antelope and dirt. I would have preferred a view of a dumpster or Port o Let. If paying a premium for a view, you should get a premium view. Our last night at AKL was in a value room. Our view was of the pool and part of the Savanna. Personally, I think views at WDW should be categorized by room number and not general areas.
OK, this was all the negatives. Please do not take this as a completely negative trip. I will post daily trip details in the coming days. Our trip was incredible.