Deluxe? You decide.
Jan 16, 2022 BrittanyB883 Santa Clarita, California
This was a tough hotel to rate. But I’m factoring in my experience at the Caribbean Beach, a moderate resort, and that pushes the score down. Let’s start with the positives. The resort is gorgeous, with beautiful and thoughtfully remodeled rooms. We stayed in Samoa on the third floor with a view of the Oasis (quiet) pool, and access was easy to…
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This was a tough hotel to rate. But I’m factoring in my experience at the Caribbean Beach, a moderate resort, and that pushes the score down. Let’s start with the positives. The resort is gorgeous, with beautiful and thoughtfully remodeled rooms. We stayed in Samoa on the third floor with a view of the Oasis (quiet) pool, and access was easy to all restaurants and amenities. And the large rooms with a sofa that converts to a twin-sized pull down bed allowed our two teens to have their own beds with only one room for the family. Access to the Magic Kingdom is unparalleled with the monorail, and since they do security checks before you board you avoid those crowds. Food at the Kona Cafe is some of the best moderately priced food at Disney World. Front desk staff are friendly and helpful. Would I stay again unless someone else wanted to? No. That segways us into the negatives. Check-in took longer than it should have. Which wouldn’t have been an issue, except the only reason we ended up with a room in the 3:00 hour was because my son encouraged me to ask someone at the front desk how long it would be. And it turns out they were waiting for housekeeping to press a button that the room quality inspection had been completed. Not that it hadn’t been completed - it just hadn’t been communicated. Okay, no big deal. Let’s talk about the vibe. We had just stayed at the Caribbean Beach, which had a laid-back vibe and where we were literally welcomed the moment we stepped into the port cochere. We didn’t experience that same welcome here. It could be because we arrived via monorail from EPCOT; but honestly after CBR I just was left a bit cold. It’s a deluxe resort! Also, there were times when I felt downright unwelcome and like we didn’t belong. Mind you, we paid the same money as anyone else, and sometimes more. For instance, we rented a cabana at the Oasis pool. But when we arrived it didn’t have our nameplate. So we spent a good half hour sitting there awkwardly, worried that we’d look like we hadn’t paid. Add to that, the waitress at the bar of the Oasis actually skipped us (twice) and did not come to take our order. Like, she literally was having conversations with the other families. Tom the bartender really saved this, since I ended up going to the bar to place my order. I had to carry my own drinks but he took the time to bring our food to us. Reminder: I paid $50 for a cabana at a deluxe resort and was treated as lesser than the people that did not. In addition, food service was hit or miss. We got attitude from a host when we showed up for a reservation without our full party. I’m okay with this policy, but we’d just been to Citricos the night before, where they seated us even though my husband was delayed paying the bill at the lounge next door. And the restaurant was more than half empty. Kindness would have gone a long way there. Also, Captain Cooks, the quick service restaurant, was something of a zoo the whole time. There are lots of non-resort guests eating there to get away from MK crowds. And the food was only OK. We also noticed the crowds here were less diverse than at CBR or even the Grand Floridian, and as an interracial family that matters. Finally, when our driver wasn’t able to get to us in time for us to make our flight because of the marathon traffic, the staff only suggested we talk to the bus driver of the next Magical Express to see if there was room. They couldn’t contact the service to make a reservation for us, and didn’t offer to hail down a cab among the transports that had already made it through. Hubby ended up taking matters into his own hands and engaging a taxi. Again - this is at a deluxe resort, with a price tag of over $750 a night. After all is said and done, I’m glad we stayed at a deluxe to get access to the extended evening hours at MK. But I don’t think I’ve found my preferred deluxe experience here.
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