Dulcee
01-03-2013, 11:11 AM
Just some overall thoughts and impressions from this trip..
Port Orleans French Quarter
I love this resort. Its quiet, comfortable and pretty. Some of my favorite parts of this vacation were the quiet mornings when I'd walk along the canal to the food court before most people were up and awake. We also really enjoyed the location relative to the other parks.
Deluxe Dining Plan
The usual response to this plan on here is its too much food! Personally, we loved it. To be fair we booked during free dining, so we only paid to upgrade it which I think cost us about $60 a day total to do. We certainly ate our monies worth. I can see it being too much food if you do a sit down breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. By doing a breakfast some mornings and combining credits most nights to do signature meals we didn't feel like all we did was eat. We also shared a counter service or just grabbed snacks for lunch most days which kept it lighter.
We really loved getting appetizers with dinner and as with the normal dining plan, I like not worrying about ordering a $72 steak and lobster tail because its already paid for. Also any and all extras they rolled in to our bill, sides, specialty drinks, coffees, teas, all included in the credits used.
We used all of our credits and never bought any food OOP. Planning ahead was a must to use them strategically. We loved having a ton of snack credits because we never had to think before getting something we wanted. The last day we had 8 left that we used to get cookies and lollipops for kids at home.
One word of caution on it is tips and alcohol will run way high when doing lots of signature restaurants. We planned for it but if you don't think of it in advance it could be an unpleasant surprise.
Smart Phones
Ok I get it, wireless access in the park is great. Smart phones are great. I love my iphone. We used our phones on occasion to check wait times but really people, put your phones away.
Every where we went people, kids, adults, had their faces buried in their phones. Why pay all this money to see Fantasmic if your going to watch it buried behind your iphone video camera? Why spend a week here if when you wait in line instead of talking to your kid you hand them a phone and tell them to play and be quiet.
I sound like an old crotchety when I was your age....but I swear I'm only 25 and it even annoys my techie self. Be on vacation. Really be there. Your email, games and texts will be waiting for you at home, I promise.
Lack of Personalization
Maybe this goes in the same cranky rant but I miss the personalization of castmembers on attractions. Living with the Land, Backlot tour....things that use to have real human interaction, I wish they'd bring it back.
Saratoga Springs Spa
No questions asked, we'll be back. If your thinking of doing this. If your spouse wants to treat you. If you want to treat you. Do it. For someone who was previously weirded out by massages it took less then 10 minutes to convert me.
Fast Pass Plus
Getting to test drive Fast Pass Plus was awesome. And despite being a naysayer originally, sorry folks but I liked it. It will obviously only work for planners. If you aren't a planner it will make your life miserable and make you feel like your missing out. But not having to run to the back of hollywood studios for a fast pass for Toy Story Mania? Priceless.
Overall we had a blast this trip. It was a fabulous honeymoon and we spent most days feeling special.
9 days was a bit long for us. We were both tired and missing our animals by the end. Next time we'll go back to 7 days with a few days at a beach afterward. But we'll be back... I may have already started day dreaming about a return trip in a year or two....:blush:
Port Orleans French Quarter
I love this resort. Its quiet, comfortable and pretty. Some of my favorite parts of this vacation were the quiet mornings when I'd walk along the canal to the food court before most people were up and awake. We also really enjoyed the location relative to the other parks.
Deluxe Dining Plan
The usual response to this plan on here is its too much food! Personally, we loved it. To be fair we booked during free dining, so we only paid to upgrade it which I think cost us about $60 a day total to do. We certainly ate our monies worth. I can see it being too much food if you do a sit down breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. By doing a breakfast some mornings and combining credits most nights to do signature meals we didn't feel like all we did was eat. We also shared a counter service or just grabbed snacks for lunch most days which kept it lighter.
We really loved getting appetizers with dinner and as with the normal dining plan, I like not worrying about ordering a $72 steak and lobster tail because its already paid for. Also any and all extras they rolled in to our bill, sides, specialty drinks, coffees, teas, all included in the credits used.
We used all of our credits and never bought any food OOP. Planning ahead was a must to use them strategically. We loved having a ton of snack credits because we never had to think before getting something we wanted. The last day we had 8 left that we used to get cookies and lollipops for kids at home.
One word of caution on it is tips and alcohol will run way high when doing lots of signature restaurants. We planned for it but if you don't think of it in advance it could be an unpleasant surprise.
Smart Phones
Ok I get it, wireless access in the park is great. Smart phones are great. I love my iphone. We used our phones on occasion to check wait times but really people, put your phones away.
Every where we went people, kids, adults, had their faces buried in their phones. Why pay all this money to see Fantasmic if your going to watch it buried behind your iphone video camera? Why spend a week here if when you wait in line instead of talking to your kid you hand them a phone and tell them to play and be quiet.
I sound like an old crotchety when I was your age....but I swear I'm only 25 and it even annoys my techie self. Be on vacation. Really be there. Your email, games and texts will be waiting for you at home, I promise.
Lack of Personalization
Maybe this goes in the same cranky rant but I miss the personalization of castmembers on attractions. Living with the Land, Backlot tour....things that use to have real human interaction, I wish they'd bring it back.
Saratoga Springs Spa
No questions asked, we'll be back. If your thinking of doing this. If your spouse wants to treat you. If you want to treat you. Do it. For someone who was previously weirded out by massages it took less then 10 minutes to convert me.
Fast Pass Plus
Getting to test drive Fast Pass Plus was awesome. And despite being a naysayer originally, sorry folks but I liked it. It will obviously only work for planners. If you aren't a planner it will make your life miserable and make you feel like your missing out. But not having to run to the back of hollywood studios for a fast pass for Toy Story Mania? Priceless.
Overall we had a blast this trip. It was a fabulous honeymoon and we spent most days feeling special.
9 days was a bit long for us. We were both tired and missing our animals by the end. Next time we'll go back to 7 days with a few days at a beach afterward. But we'll be back... I may have already started day dreaming about a return trip in a year or two....:blush: