Originally Posted By davewasbaloo sun-n-fun, I do think the values are fine for those sorts of stays. For me though, if I am travelling 3000 miles to go with toddlers who may want naps or chill out time at the pool, then the deluxes to me are very important. Back in the days of commando touring, then the values would have been adequate, though I can get better deals off site due to corporation links. Disney is all about the theming. But now places like Marriott are out theming disney. At Disneyland Paris, the Marriott Vacation Club feels more highly themed and luxurious than the Disney hotels.
Originally Posted By X-san ***I love you too man!*** lol. In all fairness, *I* qualify as a grumpy (somewhat older just a little) man much more than you do.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Perhaps X, you and I could be the Stattler and Waldorf of LP - lol.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 ^^^That would be a riot. Sorry Dave, but I'm married to the original grumpy old man. Although there is magic at Disney, and he does a total change to a friendly, cheerful old man. (he turned 65 while we were there, had breakfast at the castle, and loved every second of hamming it up with the princesses.) That didn't stop me from buying him the Grumpy antenna topper. I tend to spend most of my time at MK or EPCOT, so by staying at the Poly, the monorail is always available. The buses just make too many stops. I really don't know if the difference in room price is worth all that wait for buses. Come on Disney, I'm not spending any money while I'm waiting for or riding a bus. Extend the monorail, or how about a huge WEDway? There has to be a better way to get me where I want to be.
Originally Posted By X-san ***Perhaps X, you and I could be the Stattler and Waldorf of LP - lol.*** Sounds good to me.
Originally Posted By u k fan I'm not sure I agree that the Marriott at DLP is more highly themed than the Disney hotels at DLP. More luxurious? Yes. Better themed? No!!!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Having stayed in them, with all the extra actitivities such as oil painting class, wine tasting, crepe cookery, I would say it is. You couldn't see the gardens and such in the night.
Originally Posted By MPierce Yes it is, and will continue in that direction as long as the masses keep showing up. >>We just got on the ME bus at 11:05 AM today. This trip we stayed at WL: the hotel, grounds, and CMs we all super. But the transportation bleeps!! << Welcome back bobbelee9. I trust you had a great time other than the transportation, which does leave a lot to be desired. What kind of a view did you end up with?
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 The room was very nice, little critters carved into the bed posts, beavers holding the rails in the elevator, nice touches. The lobby is gorgeously striking. Our room overlooked the "Blazing Guns Smokehouse" a storage thing probably, but we could see the monorail too. My daughter's room was a couple over, and she watched the MK fireworks from her room. The hallways at WL are like the HM. The long hallway with the chandeliers. Speaking of the Haunted Mansion, I absolutely LOVE everything they did to it, fantastic. It's much more than adding 3 Jack Sparrows to the Pirates ride. They did a great job in HM. But I lost the hand hanging over the door, why'd that go away? And Gaston, I finally found Toad in the Pet Cemetary, too dark to get a pic, but we saw him. And Madame Leota's eyes open in the first cemetary, I didn't see that before. Although we communicated at WDW, Gaston & I never met up. Conflicting plans.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Well it's true. Ok, to be fare, 2000 was my honeymoon and the 1st time to WDW since Epcot, MGM and Dak had opened.>> Yeah. I knew all that and didn't want to say that it could have perhaps made the trip a bit more ... ahm ... ah ... magical! <<But, our room was clean, all the cast members were fab, and we had a great stay. Buses were not bad either.>> I have had good and bad bus experiences everywhere. I remember waiting 45 minutes for an MK bus from Dixie back in '99 when I was meeting friends for dinner. No fun. I've had buses from WL suddenly wind up deep in the FW woods or over at the GF. Buses are just hit or miss. I;ve had trips when I swear they are literally reading my mind and never wait more than 5 minutes and trips when I realize what a mess WDW transport is. <<Fastforward to DAK, only 2 cast members stood out as above average (for staff, not cast members). Sarah ripped her pants on a broken chair at the Mara (they did manage the situation afterwords very well). Check in was a nightmare (3 rooms - 2 were smoking, when we had paid for a deluxe savannah view and requested Non Smoking on 5 occassions), bell services lost our luggage for a bit, maid service was hit and miss, and the transport, well needless to say it was legendarily bad. And the shop/room service hours are way too short for being stuck in the middle of nowhere without a car (Grand Californian offers 24 room service in DL, the AKL does not).>> Yep. All valid concerns, no doubt. Now, I hardly ever order room service at WDW but EVERY deluxe resort should have 24-hour availability. No excuse for that at all. <<So although the atmosphere, decor and animals were amazing, and the food at Boma and Mara were good, the overall experience in terms of staffing were 3 star at best. The funny thing is almost all of my moans about WDW could be fixed very easily. Shameful thing is the Orlando market is saturated which leads to a decrease in labour quality.>> Yeah. Much of these things winds up costing Disney far more than fixing them would. They need to hire some NON-INDUSTRY consultants (I could suggest a few spirits) that just look for things like this. Simple things that can make or break a trip. <<So Spirit, we wanted to love AKL, and we did like it. But next time, I think we will stay Marriott and rent a car. >> Well, I love the Marriott World Center. And it's closer to some places like EPCOT than many on-property resorts. And I just believe that anyone who doesn't want to be inconvenienced at WDW needs a car. Otherwise if you want to go from Port Orleans to FW, don't bitch if it takes a few hours!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ***Please do not think of me as a grumpy old man, I am not.*** <<Certainly not! Dave, you're not old at all. >> Beat me to it ... that's what I get for not reading the LP daily!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<And spirit, I see what you're saying. If I had more early years experience, I'm sure I'd probably see things differently. There are many things I read about that I'm sure I would have loved.>> Understandable. I practically grew up at WDW since 1974. I've had an AP since they began selling them when EPCOT debuted. I've spent more days and nights (and more thousands of dollars) on property than I can remember. I guess I must like the place. But it went through some profound changes in the past 15 years, grew too fast, forgot about what made it so wonderful and has parks that have grown stale. Thankfully, there's enough great stuff to mitigate the damage and keep me coming back. But I sure wish we could go back to 1988 and do some things differently.
Originally Posted By u k fan <<<Having stayed in them, with all the extra actitivities such as oil painting class, wine tasting, crepe cookery, I would say it is. You couldn't see the gardens and such in the night.>>> To me, apart from perhaps the gardens, those are things that contribute to the standard (luxuriousness!), not the theme. Unless they're aiming for a Disney Institute vibe. IMHO, none of those things compete in terms of theming with the lobby of the Sequoia or parts of the Cheyenne!!!
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 ^^^Or the beavers holding the handrails in the elevator. Critters carved into the headboard. I love the atmospheric details. Even the vending machines at the hotels.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 As for the bus vs rental. The bus is free, and I guess you get what you pay for.
Originally Posted By -em >>Thankfully, there's enough great stuff to mitigate the damage and keep me coming back. But I sure wish we could go back to 1988 and do some things differently.<< Agreed.... Do I think WDW is too expensive? Kinda. As a whole I do not think its overpriced (the fact they can still draw 40,000+ a day) says its not. I do think its value is dropping drastically. What you used to get for your $$$ is not what you get now. Its like seeing a movie- Charge me 10 bucks and put me in a broken seat with a sticky floor with bad audio- you bet Ill complain- Show me the same movie in a average theatre with everything working correctly Ill be happy. Show me the same movie in IMAX with the reclining chairs Ill be coming back again and again... We used to get the Imax experiance at WDW now its somewhere between the broken seat and the average theatre... -em
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<We used to get the Imax experiance at WDW now its somewhere between the broken seat and the average theatre... >> Wow! Great analogy, Em. I'm almost in awe ... and that takes a lot!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Indeed -em, I am so sorry to say you are right on the money! >>>^^^Or the beavers holding the handrails in the elevator. Critters carved into the headboard. I love the atmospheric details. Even the vending machines at the hotels.<<< At DLP none of the hotels except the DLH are as highly themed as Wilderness Lodge. I was comparing Marriott with the DLP hotels.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<At DLP none of the hotels except the DLH are as highly themed as Wilderness Lodge. I was comparing Marriott with the DLP hotels.>> I still find them nice at least to look at ... even NBC is nice and nautical ... it just has godawful service and was rotting away until recently. And Sequioa Lodge may be no WL, but it still is pretty detailed. When I decide to stay on DLP property again, it will definitely be DLH followed by SL. But your place on the golf course really looks terrific in pics. I wanted to stay there last year, but was traveling with a friend who wanted to stay somewhere she had stayed before in Paris and I wound up PLing a very nice hotel in Paris as well since the cost was more than I cared to pay without splitting it up. But I'd stay there in the future ... especially with your seal of approval!
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Do I think WDW is too expensive? Kinda. As a whole I do not think its overpriced (the fact they can still draw 40,000+ a day) says its not. I do think its value is dropping drastically. What you used to get for your $$$ is not what you get now. >> I think we need to understand that WDW isn't really targetting the "Joe Six Pack" demographic. I'm not saying that J6P's don't go to WDW, just that Disney ideally wants families to spend a 3K+ (if not more) on their WDW vacations. The truth is that a WDW vacation is and will remain out of reach of most familes with median (40-50K) incomes.
