WDWCrazyKaren
02-09-2012, 09:54 AM
Who: Me (WDWCrazyKaren) and DH (Surly McCrankyPants)
When: January 31-February 7, 2012
We're baaaack! I'm not going to do a day by day and blow by blow, as I can never seem to finish a trip report, but I'll try and summarize as best I can.
This was NOT the trip dreams are made of! We had opted for the first week in February instead of January, as last year we had issues with the masses of tour groups. We'd heard they go back to school February 1st, so that's why we changed our dates. It didn't work. At all. We landed at MCO at about noon, were at All Star Music by 1:00PM, and in our king room, 3rd floor about 10 minutes later. This was GREAT! Everything we wanted! Did a quick change of clothes and headed to the bus stop for our tradition of Epcot. No one at the stop-about 10 minutes later a bus came up. There were about 15 people on the bus, all was great. Then we stopped at Sports. Where there were (not exagerating here) 250 teenage girls from South America waiting to catch the bus. Of course, only a small group of them could get on and pack it as full as they could, at which point it went downhill. The volume level was unbearable, the screaming, the hollering, it was awful. Then some brilliant mind decided it would be funny to scream "MOUSE" at the top of her lungs and watch the other guests on the bus react. It was not funny in the least to see an elderly woman trying to jump up on her seat, while the girls are all laughing. I was disgusted.
We spent a few hours at Epcot, but our hearts weren't in it at this point. Back at the resort, we went back to our room and after listening to them scream for a few hours, did actually fall asleep.
First seating of the day at Chef Mickey's on day 2, went very well. Monorail to MK, spent the morning there, then to downtown for a bit. Went back to the resort to shower and head to Epcot for the evening. It was nice. Back at the resort, all heck broke loose again. The groups were as loud and rude as they had been the day before. In the gift shop, waiting to pay for my purchases, and just as soon as it was my turn, a group of about 5 girls pushed in front of me (yes, literally PUSHED me) and tossed their stuff on the counter and laughed. DH lost control at that point. He'd been waiting, saw what happened, and elbowed (probably hard too, since I saw the look on his face!) his way through the girls and stuck his arms out as soon as he got in front of them and pushed them out of the way until I was finished. As we were walking back to the room, he lost it. He was so angry at their behavior, and how it just never stopped. I called the front desk when we got back to the room, but they were busy and said they would call me right back. They never did call back, and after a few hours of waiting, we decided to wait until morning and talk to the front desk at that time.
So, in the morning, we went to the front desk, to ask if there were any other rooms at any of the other value resorts that we could move to that did not have as many tour groups. There was no space available at any of the value resorts. We then advised we would pay the difference to move to a moderate. She checked around and all moderates were fully booked. At that point, a manager came out to help. He looked as well, and again stated all values and mods were fully booked. He started looking at deluxe, but I advised we couldn't afford to move to a deluxe, and that we would just have to either wait it out, or get a refund and move off-site. He then advised he found us a room at Saratoga Springs, no additional upcharge to us. He advised us to go pack our bags and get everything to bell services and that we could head straight over to Saratoga after we were done at the parks. We thanked him profusely and went off to pack our bags. On the way back to the room, DH and I were walking along a path, and all of a sudden we were shocked by an ARMADILLO walking out of the bushes about 3 inches from DH's right shoe! It totally freaked us out, and of course by the time we reached our phones or cameras to take a photo, he was gone already, but it was SO unexpected! Got back to our room, then headed off to DHS, laughing the whole way about the "bush monster".
Spent the morning at DHS, but it was so completely mobbed, that we didn't stay much beyond noon. Went to Saratoga, got checked in, got our KTTW, had a beautiful room in the building right next to the main hall, pool and food. It was stunning, and OH SO QUIET! Our balcony overlooked a small pond with fountain. It was amazing. The boat took us directly across the mighty Sassagoula River to downtown, and the rest of the trip was spent either at Epcot in the evenings, where DH found enjoyment with a Moosehead, and I found enjoyment with a Grey Goose Slushie, and we watched Off Kilter for many nights in a row. We spent very little time in the parks, as they were much more crowded than we can ever recall in a slow season.
We had an absolutely amazing meal at Chefs de France, A+. Also one more fantastic meal at Rose and Crown. Sat outside and watched the world go by. Servers at both were phenomenal. Had too much food on the dining plan (as usual!). But really, as long as we stayed at the resort and out of the parks, we had a pretty nice stay.
I think we're done with Disney for a few years. Until some sort of control can be placed on the groups, we'll find a new vacation spot in the winter. I know nothing can really be done, but it was enough this trip to keep us away. We loved and highly recommend Saratoga Springs, but we certainly could have stayed at a lovely resort somewhere else for far less money.
Peace!
When: January 31-February 7, 2012
We're baaaack! I'm not going to do a day by day and blow by blow, as I can never seem to finish a trip report, but I'll try and summarize as best I can.
This was NOT the trip dreams are made of! We had opted for the first week in February instead of January, as last year we had issues with the masses of tour groups. We'd heard they go back to school February 1st, so that's why we changed our dates. It didn't work. At all. We landed at MCO at about noon, were at All Star Music by 1:00PM, and in our king room, 3rd floor about 10 minutes later. This was GREAT! Everything we wanted! Did a quick change of clothes and headed to the bus stop for our tradition of Epcot. No one at the stop-about 10 minutes later a bus came up. There were about 15 people on the bus, all was great. Then we stopped at Sports. Where there were (not exagerating here) 250 teenage girls from South America waiting to catch the bus. Of course, only a small group of them could get on and pack it as full as they could, at which point it went downhill. The volume level was unbearable, the screaming, the hollering, it was awful. Then some brilliant mind decided it would be funny to scream "MOUSE" at the top of her lungs and watch the other guests on the bus react. It was not funny in the least to see an elderly woman trying to jump up on her seat, while the girls are all laughing. I was disgusted.
We spent a few hours at Epcot, but our hearts weren't in it at this point. Back at the resort, we went back to our room and after listening to them scream for a few hours, did actually fall asleep.
First seating of the day at Chef Mickey's on day 2, went very well. Monorail to MK, spent the morning there, then to downtown for a bit. Went back to the resort to shower and head to Epcot for the evening. It was nice. Back at the resort, all heck broke loose again. The groups were as loud and rude as they had been the day before. In the gift shop, waiting to pay for my purchases, and just as soon as it was my turn, a group of about 5 girls pushed in front of me (yes, literally PUSHED me) and tossed their stuff on the counter and laughed. DH lost control at that point. He'd been waiting, saw what happened, and elbowed (probably hard too, since I saw the look on his face!) his way through the girls and stuck his arms out as soon as he got in front of them and pushed them out of the way until I was finished. As we were walking back to the room, he lost it. He was so angry at their behavior, and how it just never stopped. I called the front desk when we got back to the room, but they were busy and said they would call me right back. They never did call back, and after a few hours of waiting, we decided to wait until morning and talk to the front desk at that time.
So, in the morning, we went to the front desk, to ask if there were any other rooms at any of the other value resorts that we could move to that did not have as many tour groups. There was no space available at any of the value resorts. We then advised we would pay the difference to move to a moderate. She checked around and all moderates were fully booked. At that point, a manager came out to help. He looked as well, and again stated all values and mods were fully booked. He started looking at deluxe, but I advised we couldn't afford to move to a deluxe, and that we would just have to either wait it out, or get a refund and move off-site. He then advised he found us a room at Saratoga Springs, no additional upcharge to us. He advised us to go pack our bags and get everything to bell services and that we could head straight over to Saratoga after we were done at the parks. We thanked him profusely and went off to pack our bags. On the way back to the room, DH and I were walking along a path, and all of a sudden we were shocked by an ARMADILLO walking out of the bushes about 3 inches from DH's right shoe! It totally freaked us out, and of course by the time we reached our phones or cameras to take a photo, he was gone already, but it was SO unexpected! Got back to our room, then headed off to DHS, laughing the whole way about the "bush monster".
Spent the morning at DHS, but it was so completely mobbed, that we didn't stay much beyond noon. Went to Saratoga, got checked in, got our KTTW, had a beautiful room in the building right next to the main hall, pool and food. It was stunning, and OH SO QUIET! Our balcony overlooked a small pond with fountain. It was amazing. The boat took us directly across the mighty Sassagoula River to downtown, and the rest of the trip was spent either at Epcot in the evenings, where DH found enjoyment with a Moosehead, and I found enjoyment with a Grey Goose Slushie, and we watched Off Kilter for many nights in a row. We spent very little time in the parks, as they were much more crowded than we can ever recall in a slow season.
We had an absolutely amazing meal at Chefs de France, A+. Also one more fantastic meal at Rose and Crown. Sat outside and watched the world go by. Servers at both were phenomenal. Had too much food on the dining plan (as usual!). But really, as long as we stayed at the resort and out of the parks, we had a pretty nice stay.
I think we're done with Disney for a few years. Until some sort of control can be placed on the groups, we'll find a new vacation spot in the winter. I know nothing can really be done, but it was enough this trip to keep us away. We loved and highly recommend Saratoga Springs, but we certainly could have stayed at a lovely resort somewhere else for far less money.
Peace!