Mrs. Bradbury
It will ALWAYS be the PeopleMover!
- Joined
- May 11, 2009
Hello!
My 26-year-old daughter and I were in WDW from 2/3 – 2/10 at POR-Riverside in a Princess room. I have visited WDW more times than I can count since 1972 at various times of the year and have stayed at various levels of hotel all over property.
We had a late addition to our party, my 2 year old grandson (my older son’s son; my daughter has no children). You never know how kids are going to travel, and I can say with glee that my grandson was FABULOUS all week. His 2 year old tantrums are quiet – usually he just squats down and refuses to communicate or move – and they pass through like a Florida afternoon thundershower.
We flew Southwest – no problems. I do wish the TSA folks were aware that there is no consistency in going through security from airport to airport or even the same airport from trip to trip. They acted like we were idiots, when it’s been decades since I’ve flown with someone small enough for a stroller. Maybe they purposely make you feel rattled because it gives them the upper hand? Beats me. At one airport we had to put his security blanket through the scanner; it wasn’t enough for it to be shaken out flat. He was a trooper about it in the end but he had big ol’ tears in his eyes about Boom Boom being taken away by strangers and disappearing for minutes.
Resort: Beautiful. Peaceful. Nice counter service options. We didn’t use the sit-down restaurant onsite because the menu options did not interest us. The bus situation was OK. I think we prefer the one main bus stop like at the Values. Housekeeping was pretty bad, a first for us on Disney property. One day they left a roll of toilet paper with literally 4-5 squares of toilet paper left in the TP holder, and NO SPARE ROLL. We left a note every single day to please leave 4 coffee pods. Some days it worked and some days it did not. The carpet definitely showed wear and had stains.
Weather was beautiful to WARM. Only rained one day.
Crowds were INSANE. We chose this week because it’s supposed to be the slowest week of the year, and cool weather. Not this year! We went a week later last year (2/12 – 2/17/17) and it was WONDERFUL until the President’s day crowds starting building, so we bumped it up a week. We’ll have to sit down and consider our options for another trip. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed seeing WDW through her nephew’s eyes.
Tip: We had 2 breakfasts at the monorail resorts. For the one at the Contemporary, we took the bus to the MK and had to go through security with the mass of humanity as though we were going to the MK – it was a huge time suck, and we had to go back through security again (the Contemporary’s, this time) to get back on the monorail to go to the MK. The 2nd time we were going to the Poly and took an Uber directly to the resort, no security until we were leaving to get on the monorail to go to the MK and better still, no line. SO MUCH BETTER. Worth $8 to sail through security. I’m not sure what the prevailing wisdom is with the security moved back. Couldn’t they have security at the TTC or something to cut down on the volume at MK?
The other thing I noticed was there seemed to be a lack of unique things to buy. Seriously! Stores all sold mostly the same things. There used to be a much better selection, particularly from park to park. Almost everybody was wearing custom shirts, brought from home I imagine; I wonder if it’s having an impact on Disney merchandising.
Overall we had a grand time with lots and lots of priceless memories.
My 26-year-old daughter and I were in WDW from 2/3 – 2/10 at POR-Riverside in a Princess room. I have visited WDW more times than I can count since 1972 at various times of the year and have stayed at various levels of hotel all over property.
We had a late addition to our party, my 2 year old grandson (my older son’s son; my daughter has no children). You never know how kids are going to travel, and I can say with glee that my grandson was FABULOUS all week. His 2 year old tantrums are quiet – usually he just squats down and refuses to communicate or move – and they pass through like a Florida afternoon thundershower.
We flew Southwest – no problems. I do wish the TSA folks were aware that there is no consistency in going through security from airport to airport or even the same airport from trip to trip. They acted like we were idiots, when it’s been decades since I’ve flown with someone small enough for a stroller. Maybe they purposely make you feel rattled because it gives them the upper hand? Beats me. At one airport we had to put his security blanket through the scanner; it wasn’t enough for it to be shaken out flat. He was a trooper about it in the end but he had big ol’ tears in his eyes about Boom Boom being taken away by strangers and disappearing for minutes.
Resort: Beautiful. Peaceful. Nice counter service options. We didn’t use the sit-down restaurant onsite because the menu options did not interest us. The bus situation was OK. I think we prefer the one main bus stop like at the Values. Housekeeping was pretty bad, a first for us on Disney property. One day they left a roll of toilet paper with literally 4-5 squares of toilet paper left in the TP holder, and NO SPARE ROLL. We left a note every single day to please leave 4 coffee pods. Some days it worked and some days it did not. The carpet definitely showed wear and had stains.
Weather was beautiful to WARM. Only rained one day.
Crowds were INSANE. We chose this week because it’s supposed to be the slowest week of the year, and cool weather. Not this year! We went a week later last year (2/12 – 2/17/17) and it was WONDERFUL until the President’s day crowds starting building, so we bumped it up a week. We’ll have to sit down and consider our options for another trip. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed seeing WDW through her nephew’s eyes.
Tip: We had 2 breakfasts at the monorail resorts. For the one at the Contemporary, we took the bus to the MK and had to go through security with the mass of humanity as though we were going to the MK – it was a huge time suck, and we had to go back through security again (the Contemporary’s, this time) to get back on the monorail to go to the MK. The 2nd time we were going to the Poly and took an Uber directly to the resort, no security until we were leaving to get on the monorail to go to the MK and better still, no line. SO MUCH BETTER. Worth $8 to sail through security. I’m not sure what the prevailing wisdom is with the security moved back. Couldn’t they have security at the TTC or something to cut down on the volume at MK?
The other thing I noticed was there seemed to be a lack of unique things to buy. Seriously! Stores all sold mostly the same things. There used to be a much better selection, particularly from park to park. Almost everybody was wearing custom shirts, brought from home I imagine; I wonder if it’s having an impact on Disney merchandising.
Overall we had a grand time with lots and lots of priceless memories.