Originally Posted By leobloom -Had lunch at Cosmic Ray's at MK. Anyone else find it annoying that you have to go to separate "bays" to order burgers, chicken, or sandwiches? I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich which turned out to be the worst sandwich I think I've ever had at WDW. Chicken was dry, almost no flavor. The piece of chicken was smaller than the bun. (Maybe that was a blessing.) The fries were not good, either. Honestly considering emailing WDW about the poor quality of the meal. Just awful. -Wife was not permitted to save us a table in the Sonny Eclipse room because she didn't have a tray. How stupid is this rule? Can't believe people spend thousands for the joy of dealing with this stuff. -I'm completely baffled by the queue changes at Mansion. Why make the graveyard optional? Certainly gives the impression it’s not “essential” or even “important.” Weird. Went through the graveyard and noticed the big tomb with the sea captain was creating a nice watery mess on the ground. The timing was also off with one of the effects. When the captain sneezes, water shoots out of the top of the tomb. But there was a lag between the sound effect and the water effect. Looked very shoddy, I thought. I’ve seen the graveyard once, and that was plenty. No need to go back through it. Maybe that’s why they made it optional. Someone must’ve realized it’s not really spectacular. Thank you to that person. -The hitchhiking-ghost effect. Rode it twice (it’s a favorite of my wife’s, AC, and a short line prevailed). The first time we got the ghost who dangles a lantern and makes your head disappear. Second time we got the ghost who switches the riders’ heads. First complaint: the effect would work A LOT better if the scene took place with ONE continuous mirror instead of three mirrors that divide up the action. Not sure if the separate mirrors make the effect possible, but this was a glaring deficiency, I thought. I found that at times it was really hard to follow what was happening because the action was interrupted by the gaps between the mirrors. Also, the disappearing-head effect and the switching-heads effects didn’t look completely convincing in person. The best way to describe it would be to say it looked like something (dark patch or the other rider’s head) had been placed over the reflection of my head. But I don’t think my reflection ever completely disappeared. I’d say this is actually one effect that looked better on Youtube than it did in person. Then again, I’m not going to be won over by the effect just because it’s a neat idea. The execution of the idea is everything. Will be curious to see what Explorer thinks of it after he sees it live. -Audio in Country Bears was better than the last time I saw it. But the audio for a few of the Henry AAs was still pretty muffled and low. -I don’t know why anyone goes to the parks during the summer. More power to Vbdad and Explorer for braving it. It’s such a less pleasant experience than going in Dec-Feb. -Something I realized about Philharmagic – the Ariel scene is going to seem a little redundant when it’s around the corner from a dark ride devoted to the songs of that movie. And are they going to get rid of the MGM Mermaid show, or are we just going to pretend Disney is better when they hit you over the head again and again with their most popular film/merchandise properties? -Rode the Snow White dark ride for probably the last time. So long, it’s been kinda good to know you since you rarely had more than a 10 minute wait and were kinda cheesy and good for a laugh or two, but yeah, you know, um, good luck or whatever.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 <<-I don’t know why anyone goes to the parks during the summer.>> School?
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<-Wife was not permitted to save us a table in the Sonny Eclipse room because she didn't have a tray. How stupid is this rule? Can't believe people spend thousands for the joy of dealing with this stuff.>> I think this is great. Beforehand, you had people sitting in the QS restaurants that had no intention of purchasing food, which made it impossible to get a seat. Since this was put in, I've never had a problem getting a seat.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Why would anyone go to the parks in the Summer? Because all the Little Mermaid addicts out there need to get their mermaid 'fixes' just as much in the summer as they do in the winter???
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORGOCH: Well, I still has a hard time findin' a seat in those dang eatin' joints--with er WITHOUT 'em lettin' somebody in our coven pickin' a seat ahead a time. They need ta re-open that eatin' joint they used ta have in Adventureland ta the right as ya enter the place. Might make a dif' as ta how crowded all the eatin' joints in the park was!
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer Great report, you hit on a few interesting things: >>>-Had lunch at Cosmic Ray's at MK. Anyone else find it annoying that you have to go to separate "bays" to order burgers, chicken, or sandwiches? I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich which turned out to be the worst sandwich I think I've ever had at WDW. Chicken was dry, almost no flavor. The piece of chicken was smaller than the bun. (Maybe that was a blessing.) The fries were not good, either. Honestly considering emailing WDW about the poor quality of the meal. Just awful.<<< YES. Very aggravating, which is why I won't go near that place anymore. Though, I was pleasantly surprised by a "Philly" Cheesesteak I had there. Was pretty good. And yeah, they won't let you sit w/o a tray. In Pecos, too. >>>Will be curious to see what Explorer thinks of it after he sees it live.<<< Heh. I'll be there Sunday, so my thoughts are forthcoming. Looking forward to seeing it, of course, but I really don't think I'll be impressed. Eager to be proven wrong, though. >>> -I don’t know why anyone goes to the parks during the summer. More power to Vbdad and Explorer for braving it. It’s such a less pleasant experience than going in Dec-Feb<<<< School. Insanity. Celebrating a birthday... LOL
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt I've NEVER had a bad meal at Cosmic Ray's..bummer <<-I don’t know why anyone goes to the parks during the summer>> Our next summer trip will be to DL!
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<Though, I was pleasantly surprised by a "Philly" Cheesesteak I had there. Was pretty good.>> That is why you fail.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>That is why you fail.<<< You are so predictable. Did you not notice the ""'s?!
Originally Posted By ReelJustice <<I think this is great. Beforehand, you had people sitting in the QS restaurants that had no intention of purchasing food, which made it impossible to get a seat. Since this was put in, I've never had a problem getting a seat.>> Good to see Disney show some semblance of balls while dealing with guests.
Originally Posted By leobloom <<I think this is great. Beforehand, you had people sitting in the QS restaurants that had no intention of purchasing food, which made it impossible to get a seat. Since this was put in, I've never had a problem getting a seat.>> Well, we've never had trouble getting a seat in a QS place, so I'm not sure how necessary this kind of rule is. But I also haven't seen that many people sitting at tables with no intention of eating. Not sure I've ever noticed that, in fact.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> Good to see Disney show some semblance of balls while dealing with guests. << At the expense of guests who are ordering food and want a table before they pick up their trays with food and beverage? Bad idea, IMO. Not to mention a worse idea when the meal is as bad as the one I had.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> School. Insanity. Celebrating a birthday... LOL << I'm sure you'll have fun, and there are plenty of construction walls to take pictures of (honestly, was astonished by the number of "Dream Builders" signs with ironic and seemingly irrelevant Walt quotes), but I think my wife has sworn off WDW during the summer after that visit.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> <<-I don’t know why anyone goes to the parks during the summer.>> School? << Yeah, I guess free transportation, tickets, room and food would do it, too. One good thing about summer visiting: you overhear some of the greatest upset parent and whiny kids conversations. Saw one incident outside of Mansion that was more entertaining than the new queue.
Originally Posted By FenwayGirl Heck..we went the 2nd week of May and it was in the high 90's with humidity already!!! But...not croweded.
Originally Posted By SeventyOne >> Good to see Disney show some semblance of balls while dealing with guests. << <At the expense of guests who are ordering food and want a table before they pick up their trays with food and beverage?> I'd rather this policy that caters to guests already carrying trays. This was getting to be a serious issue 2 years ago--once bought food at Pecos, ended up walking all the way to Pirate & Parrot for a table. Glad they did something. If you want to avoid this, you can always eat at off-hours, they're more lenient then.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Agreed, I'd rather this. I know in DLP, it is often impossible to find a table because people have staked their claim (some of them picnicers - grrrrrr). In tokyo, they seat you and then you get your food I belive. That is even better. Don't they do that at the Pepper Mill at Coronado Springs as well?
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I think Disney was experimenting last year with some type of controlled/ushered seating in some of the restaurants. If the choice is making sure are seats for families with trays in hand or for families who are saving space for people who will eventually have trays in hand then I'd say...take care of the former first. But, I also can't stand the families who send a representative to church an hour early to save a pew on Christmas Eve only to have the family show up two minutes after the service started. That is just rude.
Originally Posted By leobloom I guess we typically eat at off hours anyway, because I don't remember ever having to wait for a table at a QS place. We didn't have trouble finding a table at Cosmic Ray's this time, but we wanted to sit in the Sonny Eclipse room. Also wanted to mention the tables at Cosmic Ray's outside of the Sonny Eclipse room were very dirty. As a matter of fact, as I sat at lunch and pondered what we'd do with the rest of the day, I came pretty close to resenting that we'd even gone to MK. No new attractions, awful lunch, crowds and heat. Very little reason for me to go back anytime soon. I suspect I'll enjoy my trip to Hawaii this week much more than I did the WDW parks. And I really wonder why people drop thousands of dollars to experience what I did last week.
