Walt Disney World Vacation Review 2008 part 1

This post will give a detailed review of our latest trip to Walt Disney World. The dates of our trip were August 24th through the 30th. We arrived late Sunday night in Orlando (approx. 10:00PM). We headed straight for Disney's Magical Express desk where we were once again greeted warmly and promptly directed to the line where we could board our Disney Bus to Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort.

Here is a tip...if you book a late flight, don't assume that will mean less of a crowd on Magical Express. Because we were later in the evening, the buses were waiting much longer than usual to make sure they had as many guests on board as they could get since they run less frequently that late at night. We waited on the bus almost 45 minutes while they allowed more passengers to check in at the desk and get on board.

We then were on our way and arrived at the resort very close to 11:45PM. The crowd at check in was very light due to our late arrival and since most other passengers on the bus were headed for other resorts. In about 15 minutes we were checked in and waiting outside for the resort internal bus to take us to our assigned building. We were in "Aruba" which seemed about half way between the Custom House (where you check in) and Port Royale (where you go to eat and shop).

We got in the room at about 12:30AM and were very pleased with the size and decor of the room. Our room was a "Garden View" which really means you have some flora outside your window that pretty much blocks your view to anything else.


Here is another tip...when arriving this late to the resort, plan on packing your bath necessities and your next day's clothes in your carry-on bag so you will have what you need to get you through until the next afternoon. Then call the front desk when you arrive to your room and tell them to hold your bags until the next morning. If you don't, you will have to stay up until the bell service delivers them to your room which, in our case, was not until roughly 1:30AM. We were exhausted by the time they arrived and wished we had planned better for such things.

We had an early character breakfast reservation at Disney's Hollywood Studios which also meant we got little sleep before our first day in the parks, but it always seems like adrenaline kicks in when you get to a park and it manages to carry you through the day. We awoke at 6:15AM ready to get to our bus stop to catch one of the less frequent buses (so we thought). We understood that the buses ran only every 30 to 45 minutes if it was more than an hour before the parks were scheduled to open. Our reservation was for 8:00AM at Hollywood and Vine so we figured we better be at the bus stop to catch a bus that might be there around 7:15 or 7:30 in case another did not come until closer to 8:00AM. Well...we got at the stop around 6:50AM and the bus pulled up right at the moment for Disney's Hollywood Studios so we jumped on and a whopping 10 minutes later there we were right outside the gate of the park at an ever so early 7:00AM...a FULL HOUR before our breakfast reservation. Lesson learned! :)

Hollywood and Vine is a great place to eat breakfast in the park. It was a full breakfast buffet with an abundance of choices including some healthier fare. There were also characters from the Little Einsteins and JoJo's Circus present which seemed to be a hit among the children.

After breakfast...we headed out to get in the line forming for the official opening of the park. The good thing about having an early morning breakfast reservation in the park is that you do get to bypass the lines forming outside in the turnstiles and you end up about half way up in the crowd that is waiting or the rope to drop.

Tip: If you are visiting Disney's Hollywood Studios in the next few months, plan on heading to their newest attraction, Toy Story Mania, first. It seems to now be more popular than the Tower of Terror or even Rock N Roller Coaster.

The crowds were pretty good considering the time we traveled was also during Disney's free dining plan offer which is available to resort guests during a certain time of the year (usually the end of August until late September) and at select resorts. For those not familiar with the dining plan, here is how it works. You get 1 table service meal, 1 counter service meal and 1 snack per person, per night of your stay. We were staying 6 nights so we got 6 each. This dining plan works well if you plan on eating a lot of food. If you usually have a dessert item for lunch and dinner, then the plan will save you money overall. If you don't...I am not sure it is a benefit. It demands that you plan your meals well in advance of your trip. If you do not use your meal credits by the end of your stay...you lose them. We had to make advance reservations at 5 table service restaurants (The Hollywood Brown Derby is a signature restaurant so it required 2). If you wait until you arrive, the chances of getting into some of Disney's more popular sit down restaurants is pretty slim. We made our reservations about 90 days before our trip.

What has changed recently with the plan is that you no longer get an appetizer with your table service meals, only one non-alcoholic beverage, one entree and one dessert. Also tips are no longer included in the plan so make sure you tip each server accordingly.

I will post more about the meals and the other aspects of our trip in part 2...

Walt Disney World Review Part 2-The Criuise

Disney Wonder Cruise Review
December 9th-13th

This review will cover the cruise that my wife and I took on the Disney Cruise Line. Currently Disney has 2 ships in operation, the Magic and the Wonder. The Magic takes passengers on a 7 night Eastern Caribbean itinerary. We were on the Wonder, which is a 4 night cruise to 2 Bahamian ports of call; Nassau and Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay.

This cruise was a part of Disney’s Land and Sea package. We stayed 3 nights at one of Walt Disney’s resorts from December 6th through the 8th and then headed for the pier on the morning of 9th. Due to our visit to a local Church congregation, we made private transportation arrangements through Sunray Transportation. I cannot say enough about Sunray and Bob, one of Sunray’s owners. Bob made special arrangements to drive by our Church location a day ahead of time just so he would know where it was that he was to pick us up. If you want fantastic service (transportation in a nice leather seated SUV) at an affordable price, give Sunray a call. They can easily be found on the web.

We arrived at the pier at 12:30PM. Getting through security was a breeze. If we had not stopped for a 10-minute bathroom break once inside the terminal, we could have been on the ship in less than 10 minutes. Since we had stayed at one of Disney’s resorts prior to our sail date, we had the luxury of being able to check in at our hotel earlier that morning. That meant we had our stateroom keys in hand by the time we reached the terminal.

One of the neat things they do on all Disney cruises is announce you by name as you enter the ship. A neat little perk. After we boarded, we were directed to one of the 2 buffets (Beach Blanket Buffet and Parrot Cay). Since it was only 1:00PM, it would be another 30 minutes before we could go check out our stateroom.

We were told that Parrot Cay was full so we had no choice but to go to Beach Blanket Buffet. The first thing we noticed was that the buffet area was much smaller than what we became used to on Royal Caribbean. This made it very tight to get in and around the buffet line and it also meant that the selection of food seemed smaller. The seating area inside was also much smaller and meant that the only choice was to sit outside which had its challenges in the wind.
After w quick bite, we were anxious to see our stateroom. We were in a category 5 stateroom that was a deluxe stateroom with a verandah. Our room number was 7036. We were close to mid ship on deck 7. The room was very nice. It had a classical nautical theme with lots of Disney artwork placed throughout. One of the unique things about Disney staterooms is that most come with a bath and a half; one with a vanity and tub/shower combo and another with a vanity and a toilet. This was nice when we were both trying to get ready at the same time. The rooms seemed spacious and the beds were very comfortable. They do need some updating when it comes to the TV’s. Most cruise lines now are going to nice flat screen TV’s and the one we had was your typical 13-inch TV from the 1980’s. Other than that…the room was very nice and our stateroom attendant was superb.

Our dinner rotation schedule had us visiting the dining restaurants in this order; Parrot Cay, Tritons, Tritons, and Animator’s Palate. Parrot Cay was the least favorite of ours. The theme was nice, but the restaurant lacked any special flair. Tritons was actually our favorite out of the 4 due to the ambience and menu choices. Animator’s Palate was kind of a let down. We had heard so much about how the scene changes in the restaurant as your receive each dinner course, but the change was less than dramatic and the music change was almost unnoticeable. The servers all left at the same time and came back clapping with colorful vests on which was really the most dramatic part of the dinner experience and that wasn’t much to talk about.

The food was good, not great in all the restaurants except for Palo’s (which I will get to in a moment). The service however was noticeably sub par. Our two servers had a really hard time at remembering what each person had ordered. While we easily excused it the first night, it became a pattern by the last night. We were accustom to Royal Caribbean’s superior service and how their servers paid attention to the smallest level of detail and that was simply not the case with our experience on this cruise. One morning for breakfast we had decided to try the buffet at Parrot Cay and also found the service to be disappointing. I had asked the server for coffee, which never made it to our table. Now I am aware that each server is unique and we may have been the exception to the rule. So take this criticism for what it is worth.

On the day at sea, we had made arrangements to have brunch in Palo’s, Disney’s alternative dining restaurant. Our experience there was superb. The service was excellent! The food choices for a brunch were incredible and the atmosphere was exquisite. The extra charge was only $10 per person, which was a bargain, compared to other cruise lines. I highly recommend for everyone to take advantage of the opportunity to dine at Palo’s.

The ship itself is what I will call a classical ship with its elegant color scheme. The inside is simply decorated, but quite beautiful. Disney has done a great job by keeping the Disney theme out in the forefront while still keeping things elegant and simple. They used a lot of black and white Disney prints in the common areas and a person really needs to take the time to stop and take some of them in.

I want to make mention of 3 areas of the ship that we found to be above our expectations. First the ship’s Buena Vista movie theatre is second to none. For a ship of its size, it was a large theatre laid out with tiered seating similar to those found in modern theatres. The real plus was that they show first-run movies and even Disney’s movies that are also making their theatre debut back at home. I am not giving it justice in this review, but please do not overlook it once you are onboard. Trust me.

Second, the shops onboard were laid out well and had a great selection for every age group. You felt that you were in a shop back at one of Disney’s theme parks. Once again…trust me and take come extra cash for shopping!

Third, there was the Walt Disney Theatre had some of the best show productions we have seen so far at sea. From the set decorations to the cast members, you felt you were at a Broadway show production. They were highly entertaining and a must-do during your cruise.

I also want to mention one area of the ship that Disney really needs to address. I am not sure what they were thinking when they designed the Vista Spa to be placed on a deck right below the sports deck and basketball courts. The pouncing of a basketball really does detract away from a true spa experience. Also…I was surprised to learn that there was an additional charge to use their rainforest room even if you had scheduled a spa treatment. That is not the case on some of the other cruise lines. I understand charging a daily use fee for those who only want to come and use this amenity, but not for those who are already paying a nice fee for a massage etc.

Now…on to the excursions and ports of call. Since this was only a 4-night cruise, we had 2 ports of call scheduled as I already mentioned; Nassau and Castaway Cay. Nassau is what it is. We probably would not have bothered getting off the ship had we not planned for an excursion. The excursion was the Dolphin Encounter on Blue Lagoon Island. It was awesome! It was worth every penny and something everyone needs to do at least once in their lifetime. The staff on the Island is very professional and does a great job, not only with the interaction, but also with the educating of the guests regarding the dolphins and their environment. It was the highlight of our cruise and one we will cherish for a long time.

The second port of call was Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. We were docked by 7:30AM and cleared to disembark by 8:00AM. Being docked at the island is a luxury of being with Disney. Most cruise lines tender their guests onto their private islands. Docking is always a added advantage and it made getting off and on the ship a breeze. The Island is divided up into sections for all age groups, teen beaches, family beaches, children play areas, and even an area solely for adults called Serenity Bay. We were excited to be able to get away from the noise and bustle of the children spend the day in an entire “adults only” area. The beach at Serenity Bay was gorgeous. There were plenty of beach chairs. My wife made an appointment at one of their open-air cabanas, which was wonderful. The whole experience on the Island was great. Disney really has mastered the ability to organize and feed and transport large groups of people and this shined through on Castaway Cay.

For the sake of time and space, I will end the cruise review right here. Disney will make your cruise experience very enjoyable, especially if you have children. We prefer a longer cruise so we will probably not be going on this cruise again, but I can recommend it without reservations. You will be spoiled by Disney’s ability to get you on and off the ship at each and every port. The embarkation and disembarkation process was extremely hassle-free. We docked back at our homeport in Port Canaveral on the 13th at 6:00AM and were cleared to disembark by 7:00AM. You do not have to disembark in groups on Disney, which means you can simply walk off once the ship is cleared by the port authorities.

If you have any questions, please leave it on the comments section. If you would like to see pictures of the ship or other videos, you can visit our other blog site at www.xanga.com/oeshpdog2. You can also see other videos at www.youtube.com/oeshpdog2.