Edit: this experience was 2 weeks after the Disney takeover of tbe spas.
Our Disney honeymoon was wonderful, but everything about out massage experience on Disney property was stressful and not worth what we paid.
To begin, I tried researching available treatments and pricing before we left for the trip. The Disney site is very poorly arranged in terms of researching spa offerings. I eventually gave up because there was no single page that listed both treatment descriptions and prices together. The spa site also had an outdated message that said the GF spa would be closed while we were there. We ultimately decided to wait until we arrived and get assistance from Disney staff with scheduling.
Imagine our surprise when the concierge at French Quarter informed us that she was not allowed to help us schedule spa services! When we asked about brochures, she told us tbere were none. She handed us a hard to read photocopy of the phone numbers of various locations that had fitness centers and told us we had to call each one to find out if they offered massages. At this point, I just wanted to forget it, but hubby really wanted the massage.
Back at the room, we began making calls. The GF was open, but the rates they quoted over the phone were almost double what I had found on the website. $380 for a couples massage is ridiculous even on Disney property. After seven phone calls we decided on separate 50 minute Swedish massages at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
About 2 hours before the appointment we realized we forgot the 15% off voucher in the room. We checked with customer relations at Animal Kingdom Park, who called to see if theycould look it up by our room key or take us a few minutes late so we could go to our room to get it. After 20 minutes on the phone, they told her no to both, so it was back to the room for us. That part i know was my fault.
Once we got the voucher, we still had an hour til the appt, which should have gotten us there in time. We got stuck waiting 23 minutes on the AKL bus while thevdrivers changed. Once on the bus, we found out there were 2 AKL bus stops, and the driver told us there were masssage services at both. The spa staff should have given us this info when we schedulec. Luckily another passenger overheard and told us one stop was the DVC building, so we decided to do the other building. Once we finally got there, with 1 minuteto spare, we asked an employee outside where to go for massages. He had no idea. He sent us to another person who sent us to a stairway that took us to a dead end. We finally found a concierge who walked us down personally. By now we were 10 minutes late.
My hubby enjoyed his massage, but mine was terrible. The MT pretty much ignored my midback and calves, which were the areas I asked her to target. Any time she started working a spot that needed it, i would tell her and she would immediately move on to a different area. Hubby's MT did give him about 5 of the 10 minutes back that we were late for, but mine did not.
At checkout, no one asked about our experience, and they automatically added a 20% gratuity, which my MT certainly did not deserve. They also talked in front of us about how there were no more appointments after us that day, completely conflucting with their claim that they could not push our appts back. In all, we ended up paying 60% more for 50 minute swedish than we would have paid for 80 minute hot rock at home, and i didn't even feel relaxed!
So in summary, do vacation at Disney, but don't use their spas.
Our Disney honeymoon was wonderful, but everything about out massage experience on Disney property was stressful and not worth what we paid.
To begin, I tried researching available treatments and pricing before we left for the trip. The Disney site is very poorly arranged in terms of researching spa offerings. I eventually gave up because there was no single page that listed both treatment descriptions and prices together. The spa site also had an outdated message that said the GF spa would be closed while we were there. We ultimately decided to wait until we arrived and get assistance from Disney staff with scheduling.
Imagine our surprise when the concierge at French Quarter informed us that she was not allowed to help us schedule spa services! When we asked about brochures, she told us tbere were none. She handed us a hard to read photocopy of the phone numbers of various locations that had fitness centers and told us we had to call each one to find out if they offered massages. At this point, I just wanted to forget it, but hubby really wanted the massage.
Back at the room, we began making calls. The GF was open, but the rates they quoted over the phone were almost double what I had found on the website. $380 for a couples massage is ridiculous even on Disney property. After seven phone calls we decided on separate 50 minute Swedish massages at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
About 2 hours before the appointment we realized we forgot the 15% off voucher in the room. We checked with customer relations at Animal Kingdom Park, who called to see if theycould look it up by our room key or take us a few minutes late so we could go to our room to get it. After 20 minutes on the phone, they told her no to both, so it was back to the room for us. That part i know was my fault.
Once we got the voucher, we still had an hour til the appt, which should have gotten us there in time. We got stuck waiting 23 minutes on the AKL bus while thevdrivers changed. Once on the bus, we found out there were 2 AKL bus stops, and the driver told us there were masssage services at both. The spa staff should have given us this info when we schedulec. Luckily another passenger overheard and told us one stop was the DVC building, so we decided to do the other building. Once we finally got there, with 1 minuteto spare, we asked an employee outside where to go for massages. He had no idea. He sent us to another person who sent us to a stairway that took us to a dead end. We finally found a concierge who walked us down personally. By now we were 10 minutes late.
My hubby enjoyed his massage, but mine was terrible. The MT pretty much ignored my midback and calves, which were the areas I asked her to target. Any time she started working a spot that needed it, i would tell her and she would immediately move on to a different area. Hubby's MT did give him about 5 of the 10 minutes back that we were late for, but mine did not.
At checkout, no one asked about our experience, and they automatically added a 20% gratuity, which my MT certainly did not deserve. They also talked in front of us about how there were no more appointments after us that day, completely conflucting with their claim that they could not push our appts back. In all, we ended up paying 60% more for 50 minute swedish than we would have paid for 80 minute hot rock at home, and i didn't even feel relaxed!
So in summary, do vacation at Disney, but don't use their spas.
. Does anyone know if we will be able to have any sort of Disney design painted on our nails?
