AffordableDisney-Trip Reports
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John and Donna Gross "The Full Mickey - At a Discount!" The Wall Street Journal
Kelly visited WDW May, 2004: "Dear John, Thanks so much for suggesting that we go to your website to plan for our trip to WDW. It provided useful information that made our trip affordable and enjoyable. We rented a limo to and from the airport. This saved us a lot of money on a car we really didn't need. Once we were on the Disney property, everything was there that we needed. Our limo driver stopped at a grocery store, where we purchased 2 cases of water, a cooler, milk (for our 4 year old), and breakfast cereal. We ate breakfast at the hotel only one morning for a total of $23.00. We soon realized how smart we were to get cereal and milk, as one pint of milk for our son was $.99. That alone in four days would have made us poor! Your website suggested that we do those things along with purchase water. That also was a very smart tip, as bottled water costs $2.50 each. We packed at least 6 bottled waters in our backpack each day to go to the parks. We drank every bottle that we took. The people that your website suggests that we get in touch with, were absolutely delightful. We will continue to visit the website again for updates and new information. Thanks again. You really helped make our stay in Disney magical." |
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Steve visited WDW in May, 2004: "Just got back from Disney 5/23-5/29. We stayed at the Pop Century-was very well kept and food was OK. I had a friend that told me to try and stay in the 60's decade since it was closer to the food court and bus stop. When I checked in I asked about the 60's and was informed that this was the "preferred" accommodations and it would be $10.00 more a night. A little hint - we stayed in the 50's which was right on the side of 60's. Not really worth the extra money. I was disappointed in Disney Quest. I've wanted to go before but never made it on past trips. There are some great games there, but they were having trouble with some of the computers freezing up on some of the virtual games. The regular arcade games are not supervised and people aren't considerate enough to get off the game after they have played a couple of times. Don't really feel like it was worth the money we paid to watch someone else play. Could use a little more supervision around some of the arcade games. The parks weren't too crowded and lines weren't bad. Will make the trek back in another 4 years!!"
William visited WDW April, 2004: "Hi john, i just got back from disney world with my two nephews Ryan and Michael. We were there from 4/8/04-4/16/04. we had a very good time. We stayed at all-star movies which was a wonderful place, food was good and our room was very clean. All around the hotel area was kept very clean, grass cut, bushes trimmed, place looked great. We went to the magic kingdom and all the other them parks and everything was beautiful. Parks were all kept clean. Myself and my two nephews Ryan and Michael had a great time and can hardly wait to go back next year. Disney world is surely the happiest place in the world and that's from Ryan (15) and Michael (13) who had a wonderful trip to disney world. Thanks john for all your tips from your newsletter."
Renea writes about her stay at the Polynesian in 2004: "We booked the concierge at the Polynesian. Our room was not ready until after 3:30 p.m. When we finally got into the room, the smell of mold and mildew nearly knocked us all down! We found a large wet spot on the rug under the table. We have allergies and could not stay in that room. We called housekeeping and she tried calling the concierge desk. This took about 20 minutes more of our time and she finally had 2 managers come to the room. They tried to move us into a room 2 doors down which still smelled bad. We went to another room which wasn't much better. When we opened the fridge, it smelled like sour milk and there were shower shoes left on the floor near the bed! This place smelled awful! The only good thing was the food in the concierge lounge. A few days later, 2 families had to check out of the Poly because they were getting nose bleeds. We took the monorail over to the Floridian and explained our trouble. They were able to get us into a concierge room for only $221.00 more for the remainder of our stay. WE arrived on Sunday and departed on Friday. The concierge manager came to the main lobby and personally walked us to see the room. This hotel is beautiful and the service outstanding! They showed us the room and we agreed it was much cleaner and the people at the desk were very nice. We had to stay at the Poly for 1 night but quickly moved to the Floridian the next morning. WE asked for a second floor and we got one. The dryer was broken in the other building (there isn't one in the concierge) so the manager sent someone to take our 2 loads of wash to their dryer. They delivered it to us folded and dried for no cost! The service is fantastic and I would recommend this to anyone with 3 children in their party. They offer cont'l breakfast, snacks during the day and coffee, tea, lemonade, iced tea and juice. It saved us a bundle. We only had to order room service twice and ate at Chef Mickey's one night! Who would I write to about our problems at the Poly? I think we should get a refund for the one night we stayed there."
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John and Matt visited WDW March, 2004 and sent us this trip report: "Your newsletter asks for trip reports of our WDW adventures, so here is my report on Spring Break at WDW! My 15 year-old son and I ventured to WDW during Spring Break March 16-20. On previous trips, we have usually stayed at the Yacht & Beach resort or Caribbean Beach, but this time opted for the new Disney Pop Century resort. What fun! We were very impressed with the whole Pop Century concept of the different decades and the way Disney chose to represent each era. We spent quite some time just wandering the grounds and taking pictures with all the decade icons -- Lady & Tramp, Play-Doh, Big Wheel, Mougli & Ballou, Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, etc. We stayed in the 80's wing, complete with the giant Rubick's Cube stairwells. As with most value-resorts, the rooms were small but efficiently laid out. Having an in-room wall safe was nice for storing the valuables we didn't want to haul to the parks. And if you like hunting Hidden Mickey's, check the bathroom wallpaper carefully. My only real comment about the rooms was that the bathroom toilets were down-right scary! They are low-water toilets which use air-power assist. When flushed, it gives quite a powerful burst of air and water to clean them out. Once, I even saw the closed toilet lid pop up briefly when flushed! A small child would probably be easily startled by the noisy "toilet monster"... Other than that, we slept very comfortably. The dining facility at the Classics Hall was an interesting experience and downright chaotic at peak times. We typically only ate breakfast there on our way to the buses to the parks. The many cafeteria serving lines offer different fare at each, and naturally the longest lines were for the Mickey and Pop-Century Waffles, and the cinnamon rolls. The omelets were tasty despite sometimes sitting under a heat lamp for a bit. (If you really want a fresh omelet, ask for any type that they are currently out of and then wait a bit as the chef cooks a fresh one.) After a few days of breakfasts, the hash-brown potatoes served with every breakfast entree becomes a bit boring. You can spot more Hidden Mickey's in the tile of the food court floor. Here's a real puzzle for you though -- In each of the rooms is a special green trash can and notice asking guests to recycle their aluminum cans, plastic bottles, etc. to be environmentally friendly. And the bathrooms have notices requesting help to save water by not having housekeeping replace used towels. But then, in the cafeteria *everything* is served on paper plates and covered with clear-plastic lids. Even though we were planning on eating in the seating area, they insisted on putting on a plastic lid -- because that is where they put the barcode sticker for the cashier! You cannot believe the volume of plastic (lids and silverware) that goes straight to the trash can! Come on, Disney... Since Pop Century is the newest resort, none of the guidebooks are totally accurate on the resort. Most common comment in the guidebooks is that Pop Century doesn't have a adult-beverage bar, but it does -- carved into the corner of the dining seating area and open only in the evenings. Also, we never saw the much ballyhooed Fluffer-Nutter peanut butter and marshmallow cream sandwiches on tie-dyed bread that was often recommended. Maybe they were just too much culture shock and quietly disappeared? But the tie-dyed cheesecake was not bad! Across the lake from the Pop Century Classics Hall is the currently moth-balled Legends Hall and a few of the room buildings. Disney stopped construction on this part of the resort due to the travel economy taking a big nose-dive after 9/11. All of the buildings are totally painted a shade of dirt brown. Even the large decade signs outside Legends Hall -- 00, 10, 20, 30, & 40 -- are painted the same brown. It is kind of eerie to see these ghostly buildings off in the distance..." Thank you, John and Matt, for your wonderful trip report!
Millie writes: "My family of 11 went to Disney the end of Jan for 1 week. We stayed at Pop Century. We have stayed at other value resorts before and it works out fine. We spend very little time at the hotel. We arranged to be a grand gathering group. We did the fireworks voyage with Capt. Hook, Peter Pan and Mr. Smee. They meet and greet. Kids loved it. The pirate on the actual cruise was wonderful. Our breakfast at Donald's Brontasaurus was great after we got in. We waited over an hour even tho we had reservations. They promised us one table for 11 and they couldn't seem to manage that. Our waiter was incredibly attentive to the kids - ages 4,5,6, and 7. All of them loved him and his magic tricks. We had a noisy air conditioner/heating unit so the hotel changed our rooms. When we got back to the hotel there were balloons and signed pictures from the characters for the kids. As far as Disney being clean: at the Pop Century the staff was washing the sidewalk every morning. I never saw any trash on the ground at the hotel. In the parks themselves we saw people cleaning all the time. There may have been a little more "stuff" on the ground than years ago, but it wasn't because Disney wasn't cleaning. People in general don't seem to be able to take an extra two seconds to take their trash to a trash can. Can't fault Disney on this one."
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