ktrm
12-24-2009, 11:11 AM
Who: me, my mom, my kids
When: Dec 18-Dec 23, 2009
Where: Residence Inn Maingate on Clementine
Why: Christmas!!!!
THE HOTEL
I decided to try the Residence Inn Maingate this trip based on the rave reviews of Malcon10t. I agree with the reviews. It was a very comfortable hotel with good service. The hot breakfast was great and the pool area is nice. We were in the building area with its own separate hot tub!! The grounds are well maintained and its a nice quiet complex to get away from the hustle and bustle of DL. The only complaint I had was that the housekeeping seemed to be unpredictable. Sometimes they came in the early morning and sometimes at 5:oopm. It was one of those trips when they seemed to come when I was still sleeping or was taking a late afternoon nap. They just never seemed to come while I was at the park. In their defense, though, the hotel was completely booked and I know they were swamped. I should have told the front desk when I preferred to have them come.
The location of the hotel to the Gardenwalk is excellent. I like the restaurants in there. McCormick and Schmit(spelling??) has a really cheap and excellent happy hour in the bar. (Yummy Korean ribs and killer margaritas on the rocks). The 20%AP discount for both Johnny Rockets and California Pizza kitchen also was very much appreciated. The food and service at both locations was great. Another plus of the hotel is that you can see the fireworks(even some of the low ones) extremely well from the corner of Disney Way and Clementine. This was definitely a huge plus. I would stay at this hotel again based on my experience. It is not as cheap as some of the other places I have stayed but it also has a lot more amentities.
THE PARK EXPERIENCE
It was crowded even for me. I know how to navigate but have never gone this week before. We had a great time none this less by getting fast passes and going on rides that don't take too long like pirates and IASW. We kindof lucked out with the cold weather on Tuesday. It was blowing like crazy and lots of people left but us crazies held fast and stayed. We walked on Dumbo at night and matterhorn was only a 15 minutes wait. It was extremely cold though but we perserved. When it got too crowded we hoped over to Ca Adventures which I like more and more every time I go. It probably has a lot to do with the port and wine cheese tasting near the wine trattoria!! I love getting wine, cheese and a loaf of sour dough from the fruit stand near by and just chilling and people watching.
THE BEST EXPERIENCEs
The delta daddios at CA Adventures were awesome. I have never seen them before on any of my trips. They are an acapello group of singers. They were so good and the kids thought they were amazing. I noticed their performance times were not on the schedule, however.
Santa in the Grand California is awesome. He talks a long time to the kids and jokes around with them. The pictures with the beautiful Christmas tree come out very good.
THE WORST EXPERIENCES
Sorry to say but the Napa Rose in the Grand CA. IMO this is way, way, way overpriced. We ate appetizers and drank wine in the lounge. The diligently selected cheese platter is tasty but the portion sizes are ridiculous. The cheese pieces are teeny tiny. The amount of wine our waitress poured for a glass was a joke. She filled the glass maybe 1/4 full for $10.00 a glass. I have gotten much better pours at both the wine tasting in DCA and at the Hearth Lounge. The appetizer to share was just ok but for $36.00 I expected a lot better. The kids meals were probably the best deal. I paid $136 for 2 kids meals, a cheese platter, an appetizer to share, and four very small glasses of wine. For comparison purposes, I paid $45.00 at McCormick and Schmits for 4 margaritas(2 each adult..excellent quality), 1 kid meal(yummy coconut shrimp..huge portion), a huge hamburger and fries, a korean rib appetizer, a buffalo wing appetizer, and a calamari appetizer. The service at the Napa Rose was also not good. I was expecting impectable service for this price. No one explained the cheese platter for us and I did not know what to start with or what to pair it with. The service was slow and the waitress not very friendly at all. Based on this experience, I will never go back to this restaurant.
The crowds at DL were crazy. Monday was the worst. We watched the fireworks from IASW and it was shoulder to shoulder. I have never seen this before. We also had a lot of audio issues this trip. The audio at Splash Mountain broke down. Pretty funny seeing creatures mouths moving but no sound coming out. I had no sound in my doom buggy on HMH. It was kindof cool though because I heard the ghosts better than I ever had before. The speaker I was near for the fireworks at IASW did not work. I could still hear from the surrounding speakers but it was not as good as when you can really hear well. I had to strain my ears. The sound for the projection show on IASW(the nutcracker music) was not working.
All and all though still a very fun trip. I would probably brave this week next year as well because its getting harder and harder to take the kids out of school.
When: Dec 18-Dec 23, 2009
Where: Residence Inn Maingate on Clementine
Why: Christmas!!!!
THE HOTEL
I decided to try the Residence Inn Maingate this trip based on the rave reviews of Malcon10t. I agree with the reviews. It was a very comfortable hotel with good service. The hot breakfast was great and the pool area is nice. We were in the building area with its own separate hot tub!! The grounds are well maintained and its a nice quiet complex to get away from the hustle and bustle of DL. The only complaint I had was that the housekeeping seemed to be unpredictable. Sometimes they came in the early morning and sometimes at 5:oopm. It was one of those trips when they seemed to come when I was still sleeping or was taking a late afternoon nap. They just never seemed to come while I was at the park. In their defense, though, the hotel was completely booked and I know they were swamped. I should have told the front desk when I preferred to have them come.
The location of the hotel to the Gardenwalk is excellent. I like the restaurants in there. McCormick and Schmit(spelling??) has a really cheap and excellent happy hour in the bar. (Yummy Korean ribs and killer margaritas on the rocks). The 20%AP discount for both Johnny Rockets and California Pizza kitchen also was very much appreciated. The food and service at both locations was great. Another plus of the hotel is that you can see the fireworks(even some of the low ones) extremely well from the corner of Disney Way and Clementine. This was definitely a huge plus. I would stay at this hotel again based on my experience. It is not as cheap as some of the other places I have stayed but it also has a lot more amentities.
THE PARK EXPERIENCE
It was crowded even for me. I know how to navigate but have never gone this week before. We had a great time none this less by getting fast passes and going on rides that don't take too long like pirates and IASW. We kindof lucked out with the cold weather on Tuesday. It was blowing like crazy and lots of people left but us crazies held fast and stayed. We walked on Dumbo at night and matterhorn was only a 15 minutes wait. It was extremely cold though but we perserved. When it got too crowded we hoped over to Ca Adventures which I like more and more every time I go. It probably has a lot to do with the port and wine cheese tasting near the wine trattoria!! I love getting wine, cheese and a loaf of sour dough from the fruit stand near by and just chilling and people watching.
THE BEST EXPERIENCEs
The delta daddios at CA Adventures were awesome. I have never seen them before on any of my trips. They are an acapello group of singers. They were so good and the kids thought they were amazing. I noticed their performance times were not on the schedule, however.
Santa in the Grand California is awesome. He talks a long time to the kids and jokes around with them. The pictures with the beautiful Christmas tree come out very good.
THE WORST EXPERIENCES
Sorry to say but the Napa Rose in the Grand CA. IMO this is way, way, way overpriced. We ate appetizers and drank wine in the lounge. The diligently selected cheese platter is tasty but the portion sizes are ridiculous. The cheese pieces are teeny tiny. The amount of wine our waitress poured for a glass was a joke. She filled the glass maybe 1/4 full for $10.00 a glass. I have gotten much better pours at both the wine tasting in DCA and at the Hearth Lounge. The appetizer to share was just ok but for $36.00 I expected a lot better. The kids meals were probably the best deal. I paid $136 for 2 kids meals, a cheese platter, an appetizer to share, and four very small glasses of wine. For comparison purposes, I paid $45.00 at McCormick and Schmits for 4 margaritas(2 each adult..excellent quality), 1 kid meal(yummy coconut shrimp..huge portion), a huge hamburger and fries, a korean rib appetizer, a buffalo wing appetizer, and a calamari appetizer. The service at the Napa Rose was also not good. I was expecting impectable service for this price. No one explained the cheese platter for us and I did not know what to start with or what to pair it with. The service was slow and the waitress not very friendly at all. Based on this experience, I will never go back to this restaurant.
The crowds at DL were crazy. Monday was the worst. We watched the fireworks from IASW and it was shoulder to shoulder. I have never seen this before. We also had a lot of audio issues this trip. The audio at Splash Mountain broke down. Pretty funny seeing creatures mouths moving but no sound coming out. I had no sound in my doom buggy on HMH. It was kindof cool though because I heard the ghosts better than I ever had before. The speaker I was near for the fireworks at IASW did not work. I could still hear from the surrounding speakers but it was not as good as when you can really hear well. I had to strain my ears. The sound for the projection show on IASW(the nutcracker music) was not working.
All and all though still a very fun trip. I would probably brave this week next year as well because its getting harder and harder to take the kids out of school.