Some Thoughts on Our Return Yesterday

[Mr Tom Morrow]

OP. A very honest and well presented post. Well done.
All in all it sounds like you had a good time and some good dining experiences.
The only one I would pick up on is Chef de Paris. I would have walked out without paying as that type of service is a disgrace.

[evergreen]

We’ve just returned from a trip around East Coast most hotels charged to park, our last hotel in Boston $48 per night, so not just Disney, Universal hotels have always charged

[alisonjones]

Welcome home - sounds like you had a good time. I know what you mean about Narcoosses they blew it for us last time - rotten service and cold food which even after complaining came back cold. Thanks for posting

[Siobhan]

It’s funny that you should mention Chefs, my soup was hotter than the surface of the sun, my main course arrived whilst I was still eating it (as I had to wait ages for it to cool down). I had to send my main course back, something that I’ve never done, as it was undercooked (I’d chosen salmon) but our server was attentive and helpful.

[Beanie1]

Very helpful, thank you. Can I ask what you think the best quick service dining restaurants are, especially in the evening?

[loves2plan]

Originally Posted by Beanie1

Very helpful, thank you. Can I ask what you think the best quick service dining restaurants are, especially in the evening?

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For evening meals we like some of the Disney Springs options like Wolfgang Puck Express and Blaze Pizza. The Polite Pig is meant to be good too, but not somewhere we've tried. Depending on which resort you're at, the QS places can also be very good. We're fans of the POR food court, especially the create your own pasta and salad bars. I'm hoping the CBR food court is greatly improved to be similar when it reopens.

If we're in a park for an evening, then we'd just go to the same places as we would during the day, the only exception being BOG as that's TS in the evening.

[collybird]

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

The parking charge will more than likely stop us from hiring a car and I am annoyed at myself for letting Disney win; they clearly wanted to trap us in the Disney bubble and I've fallen for it.

We are staying at Caribbean Beach this year and I am a little nervous about the building work. How easy was the move once complained? I anticipate we'll be fine but I'd like to be prepared for the worst.

[2littleboys]

Originally Posted by collybird

The parking charge will more than likely stop us from hiring a car and I am annoyed at myself for letting Disney win; they clearly wanted to trap us in the Disney bubble and I've fallen for it.

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I had never thought of it that way collybird but you are so right, I think that is a ridiculous amount to charge for parking when you have paid through the nose to stay in the hotel anyway!

[macdonald]

Brilliant summary...Thank you

[Squidgyness]

Originally Posted by evergreen

We’ve just returned from a trip around East Coast most hotels charged to park, our last hotel in Boston $48 per night, so not just Disney, Universal hotels have always charged

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This is true but Disney hotels are usually more per night than similarly placed hotels outside of the property.

It did irk me a little reading people complaining on tripadvisor about paying for parking for a night at RPR when they got it "free" at the Grand Floridian/Wilderness Lodge/Polynesian etc etc. It was never "free", it was one of the ways Disney was careful to place it's services as "free" or "included" in the price whilst charging you more than you would pay elsewhere.

Which makes the fact that Disney have now decided to add it on anyway even more galling. It wouldn't affect me as I don't have a car on holidays to Florida but its not a good thing in any way.

Sounds like you had a good time overall OP, totally agree with you on the QS places, we've always used them in the Disney parks and always come out reasonably satisfied and if anything goes wrong (never really has at the QS places for us), you've only paid under $15 rather than $30+tip or the £1k cost to upgrade the dining plan.

Also good on getting back into the parks quickly, something I really value as an Orlando trip can get pretty crammed and time is a valuable commodity to me.