Trip Report 8-16 to 8/23 at PC About This Page:

[racinjunkie]

I’ve only posted once or twice here with questions. I’ve used the passporter for our only two trips as a family, this one and our trip in May of 2002, it’s been INVALUABLE!! I’m posting a report because we had quite a few *issues* with this trip that I thought I would share. I’ve been to the magically world 5 times now and have never had need to make issue with anything…until this time.

First the details:
Travelers: Me (age 35), DH (age 42), twins dd and ds (age 7) (dd has some special needs she is in renal failure and we manage her needs on our own typically but an issue will come up later…)
Dates: We left BWI airport on 8/16 were picked up by Disney’s Magical Express from Orlando. We returned to the Orlando airport by DME on 8/23.
Accommodations: Pop Century (preferred room)

Issue 1: This so called preferred room… Our room was on the 3rd floor and was the farthest room from the lobby. There were rooms in several other buildings that were a much closer walk to the pool and the lobby than our room. Now I knew with PC’s layout was like before I booked there but I had hoped that paying for a preferred room would mean something and it didn’t seem to.

Issue 2: We purchased the dining plan which for us is great because I tend to stress about anything and everything and being able to just order whatever I want without concern for cost really does add to my trip experience. I knew when we purchased it that the kids would have to order from the children’s menu and I was fine with that, we’d just been with them a few years before, also on the dining plan and there had been no problems. However, the children’s menu at the counter service restaurants is REALLY limited. In most places there were only two items one of which was PB&J (which my kids happen to not like.) At the American Experience in Epcot the options were “Grilled Chicken over Romaine Lettuce” or PB&J… now I know there are salad eating kids out there but to have those be the only two options is really limiting!! However, if a change is not made my suggestion is do what we did.. we ordered two adult meals and two kid meals and then had a buffet. The burgers were usually huge so we cut them in half and everyone had half a burger, my husband and I split the salads (or cold chicken slices at Pecos Bills in MK.)

Issue 3: Closely related to issue 2. At MGM there’s a counter service place called Pizza Planet (a name they gave it to appeal to children) where kids and adults alike can order small personal sized pizzas and salads if they choose. However at AK there’s a counter service place called Pizzafari (again given that name to appeal to children) where the children’s menu consists of “Cheese Quesadillas” or PB&J sandwich both served with mickey cheddar crackers. Now… I ask you why would someone enter an establishment named Pizzafari if they did not plan on eating Pizza… or at least some kind of an Italian dish, last time I checked Quesadillas are still Mexican fare, right?

Issue 4: On our last evening in the parks we had dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, the food was great as usual, however, I saw things I have NEVER seen at Disney. There was a cast member, playing the roll of … I believe the correct title is “character greeter” I took to calling them character handlers LOL… his name was Orlando. Orlando was not in a costume/uniform, he was simply wearing a black shirt and black pants, his attire really blew the fantasy for me, it was just so odd to see someone no dressed in Disney attire. He had two person to person conversations with characters while they were in costume and in the dining area. One involved grabbing Chip by the arm and saying in a rather angry voice “did you hear me?” While my children weren’t at the table I approached him about this first conversation and he denied any wrongdoing just said he was asking Chip if he had heard him. I pointed out that Chip… is a Chipmunk. Later on he had an “aside” conversation with Goofy. He also had two lengthy discussions with the other character handler, out on the dining room floor. This was so out of character for Disney dining and the mood of the whole place was affected. Employees were sullen, characters weren’t as playful as in other places (already during out stay we had eaten at the Crystal Palace, Rest. Akershus, & Garden Grill.) I did pass my concerns on to our server who said he would pass them along.

Issue 5: I mentioned dd’s special needs. We realized on the morning of our last day in the parks as we were on our way to the princess breakfast (which dd had been waiting for all week) that we had really pushed her too hard, because her health started to kind of fall apart. So we decided to rent a wheelchair for her and try to minimize the stress on her body and the length of her day without taking her last day of vacation away from her. We got through the princess breakfast just fine, then headed to MK for the rest of our day. I was happy to find a booklet on the seat of the wheel chair which explained wheelchair access to certain attractions. Booklet in hand we headed for Peter Pan, approached the attendant, and said “in this booklet it says we should get a fast pass, does that mean we need one with a valid time or do we just get one” he said he wasn’t sure why it said that that we could just go right through the fast pass line. So off we went and ride #1 on her “must do” list was complete. We headed to It’s a Small World, booklet in hand and read to the attendant “it says in this booklet we are to enter through the exit” and the attendant said “I don’t know why it says that just get in this stand by line and when you get to that point (he pointed to the HC entrance that could be reached after snaking through 3 levels of the line) go through the HC gate and down the exit.” So we did as we were told and ride #2 on her “must do” list was complete. Then we headed to Winnie the Pooh, booklet in hand, these instructions were the same as the ones for Peter Pan so we thought we could just enter through the fast pass line, here we were told that that was not true that we had to have a fast pass with a valid time stamp or stand in the stand by line. Now… believe me I’m not complaining about having to wait in lines or wait until a fast pass is valid, what bothers me is that on not one occasion where we approached a ride were we told to follow the instructions as they were printed in the guide booklet for people with disabilities. I’m happy to follow the rules but it seemed as if they were being made up by each ride attendant as we went. I will need to get much more info on this issue before our next trip because we will be keeping dd in a wheelchair for the whole trip and we will need to shorten the length of her days. One ride attendant said something about a Guest Services Pass so I will have to find out what that is all about.

Outside of issues, I can tell you that I probably won’t stay at PC again. The rooms are much too small for our needs, there was really no where for me to change my clothes because the bathroom was so very small. Also, my dd has a procedure we have to do with her each day that takes almost an hour and she has to be in the bathroom so not being able to open the door to the bathroom while someone is in it was really inconvenient for us too. I’m not sure what the accessible rooms look like that may be worth considering, but we’ll probably just stick to moderate or deluxe resorts for future trips.

Thanks for listening,

Amy

[jakenjess]

Welcome to the boards, Amy!

I'm sorry there were some not-so-magical things about your trip. It sounds like Disney needs to address its procedures for wheelchair access to the attractions! I hope you enjoyed your trip, despite the issues you had to deal with. Thanks for sharing!

[RobDVC]

welcome to the boards. Sorry to hear that you're trip wasn't as magical as it should have been.

[Princess_Wantabe]

Sorry your trip wasnt as magical as you wanted it to be, but welcome to the boards

[Colexis Mom]

Welcome to the boards Sorry you didn't have a magical trip

[dsnytina]

Welcome!
I certainly hope they revise their booklet or train the CMs better!
Orlando sounds like he needs re-training as well!
Here's to hoping your next trip goes smoother!
Tina
p.s. I don't know what we'd do with a PB&J kids menu - DD is allergic to peanuts!

[DrDolphin]

Welcome to the boards Amy -- I think you should get a copy of the new passporter for Special needs - it may tell you lots about the guest services pass - about the accessible rooms....

[DisneyKira]

For future reference - it is only at table service restaurants that you are required to order from the children's menu. For counter service restaurants, you are free to order any item you want, regardless of the age of your children

We were travelling with our 4 kids, 2 of whom were "adults" and 2 of whom were "children" (according to Disney anyway!). We were able to order what we liked at counter service meals without regard to their ages.

I'm sorry you were not aware of that before you went - it might have made some of your "issues" easier!

Thanks for posting.