Keith
17-06-2009, 09:29 AM
Well we're back :cry2:
We had a totally amazing time as always :yes:
Brief highs and lows
Highs
Port Orleans French Quarter - superb. I love Riverside too and think they're both the best moderates available but French Quarter does have that more intimate feeling.
Weather - wow! When we got there all the weather stations were saying rain and storms but in fact, apart from a couple of afternoons, it was simply hot and perfect the whole time.
Parks - not very busy at all! Wait times very good
American Idol experience - DW's favourite and even I had to admit it was very well done indeed
Uno Grill - really really nice informal place to eat. Great food, Great service!
Winter Garden Village - Slightly cheaper to get to by cab than the florida mall or mall at millenia and WAY less touristy! Great range of shops and nice people around generally. Winter Garden Village :: Winter Garden, FL (http://www.wintergardenvillage.com/)
Polynesian Luau - not the most exciting background story nor the most authentic luau but loads of relaxing fun as always
California Grill - We went a few times and were really lucky to get window tables. I feel a bit emotional even remembering watching wishes from there. There's a great atmosphere there and the food has been consistently excellent IF you tell them how you want it cooked! Important for UKers particularly since we're not all great at describing how we want things cooked and the CG chefs seem to err towards the rare side if you don't specify. All I can say is, when someone says "the chef recommends this is rare is that ok?" it's just a recommendation and he/she isn't paying/eating so feel totally free to say "no, medium-well please" or however you like it. It's not making a fuss, it's absolutely the accepted thing to do :yes: There's no point saying nothing and then spending the meal moaning to each other.
Chinese Dragon Court - at the other end of the dining scale :lol: a very nice chinese buffet by crossroads. FAR less choice than at the super buffets but this is a GOOD thing meaning the food on offer was always hot and replaced frequently. Great staff too. I'm not saying you'll be wowed by the surroundings, but it's cheap and the best chinese buffet we've found in Orlando so far.
Lows
Virgin atlantic - I phoned to enquire about an upgrade a few weeks before going. They messed up the booking totally requiring hours on the phone to sort it out and resulting in DW and I being on separate reservations without the seats which we'd booked about a year earlier. Every phone call to them was painful and complaint to customer services resulted in them refunding our miles. I didn't care about the miles, I just wanted the booking back the way I had it WITH our seats.
TTA closed for refurb - Magic Kingdom EMH night just not the same without a few rides on the TTA :(
Mortons steakhouse - I've been before in Washington and enjoyed it. In Orlando it was a let down. Expensive overall and disinterested server. No desire to go back. Ruth's chris was better for a celebration dinner and Charleys at other times.
Prices - more expensive across the board ESPECIALLY inside Disney. Couldn't believe how much things had gone up!
Fantasmic - down to three shows a week and it's a total scrum. HIGHLY recommend the fantasmic dining package and still get there early! Why they reduced the number of shows I don't know. Well I do, money :/ but mad.
Disney busses - not great this time. They took AGES to arrive especially downtown disney ones. No shade at our bus stop at downtown disney so it was especially annoying.
Pushchairs & rude parents - always a problem at Disney. People using pushchairs as weapons to try and barge through queues/crowds etc. Large amount of parents who seem to think because it's their holiday, letting their kids run wild in a restaurant annoying other guests is fine. Heard several arguments between people when they complained about kids. In one case, server asked nicely could they stop the kids running all over and got a mouth full of abuse. Later one of the kids got tripped over and of course it was everyone else's fault :slap: Easy to generalise and of course it wasn't every family but Disney is there for everyone not just the kids or families with kids. 'nuff said.
We had a totally amazing time as always :yes:
Brief highs and lows
Highs
Port Orleans French Quarter - superb. I love Riverside too and think they're both the best moderates available but French Quarter does have that more intimate feeling.
Weather - wow! When we got there all the weather stations were saying rain and storms but in fact, apart from a couple of afternoons, it was simply hot and perfect the whole time.
Parks - not very busy at all! Wait times very good
American Idol experience - DW's favourite and even I had to admit it was very well done indeed
Uno Grill - really really nice informal place to eat. Great food, Great service!
Winter Garden Village - Slightly cheaper to get to by cab than the florida mall or mall at millenia and WAY less touristy! Great range of shops and nice people around generally. Winter Garden Village :: Winter Garden, FL (http://www.wintergardenvillage.com/)
Polynesian Luau - not the most exciting background story nor the most authentic luau but loads of relaxing fun as always
California Grill - We went a few times and were really lucky to get window tables. I feel a bit emotional even remembering watching wishes from there. There's a great atmosphere there and the food has been consistently excellent IF you tell them how you want it cooked! Important for UKers particularly since we're not all great at describing how we want things cooked and the CG chefs seem to err towards the rare side if you don't specify. All I can say is, when someone says "the chef recommends this is rare is that ok?" it's just a recommendation and he/she isn't paying/eating so feel totally free to say "no, medium-well please" or however you like it. It's not making a fuss, it's absolutely the accepted thing to do :yes: There's no point saying nothing and then spending the meal moaning to each other.
Chinese Dragon Court - at the other end of the dining scale :lol: a very nice chinese buffet by crossroads. FAR less choice than at the super buffets but this is a GOOD thing meaning the food on offer was always hot and replaced frequently. Great staff too. I'm not saying you'll be wowed by the surroundings, but it's cheap and the best chinese buffet we've found in Orlando so far.
Lows
Virgin atlantic - I phoned to enquire about an upgrade a few weeks before going. They messed up the booking totally requiring hours on the phone to sort it out and resulting in DW and I being on separate reservations without the seats which we'd booked about a year earlier. Every phone call to them was painful and complaint to customer services resulted in them refunding our miles. I didn't care about the miles, I just wanted the booking back the way I had it WITH our seats.
TTA closed for refurb - Magic Kingdom EMH night just not the same without a few rides on the TTA :(
Mortons steakhouse - I've been before in Washington and enjoyed it. In Orlando it was a let down. Expensive overall and disinterested server. No desire to go back. Ruth's chris was better for a celebration dinner and Charleys at other times.
Prices - more expensive across the board ESPECIALLY inside Disney. Couldn't believe how much things had gone up!
Fantasmic - down to three shows a week and it's a total scrum. HIGHLY recommend the fantasmic dining package and still get there early! Why they reduced the number of shows I don't know. Well I do, money :/ but mad.
Disney busses - not great this time. They took AGES to arrive especially downtown disney ones. No shade at our bus stop at downtown disney so it was especially annoying.
Pushchairs & rude parents - always a problem at Disney. People using pushchairs as weapons to try and barge through queues/crowds etc. Large amount of parents who seem to think because it's their holiday, letting their kids run wild in a restaurant annoying other guests is fine. Heard several arguments between people when they complained about kids. In one case, server asked nicely could they stop the kids running all over and got a mouth full of abuse. Later one of the kids got tripped over and of course it was everyone else's fault :slap: Easy to generalise and of course it wasn't every family but Disney is there for everyone not just the kids or families with kids. 'nuff said.