Category — q. Reviews

REVIEW: ALIEN SWIRLING SAUCERS IN TOY STORY LAND AT DISNEY’S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Alien Swirling Saucers opened in the new Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the end of June 2018.

Very much the lesser of the two new rides that opened at Toy Story Land (my review  of the other, Slinky Dog Dash, is here), it does delight kids!

According to Disney, “inside a play set that Andy won at Pizza Planet, the Aliens have powered up their flying saucers—and they’re ready to spin you on a wild ride into space! Hold on for some wild fun as your toy rocket takes off, all while electronic space music provides an intergalactic soundtrack. And if you’re really lucky, you might just get “chosen” by the claw.”

So just to be clear, you won’t be chosen by “the claw”—the claw plays no role in the ride, and you might miss its presence entirely.

Rather, Alien Swirling Saucers is simply a fun, carnival style spinning–well, swirling–ride.

You ride in the back part of a two-part ride vehicle. which will seat two or three people.

One seatbelt is shared by all.

The front part of the vehicle rides a track that shifts it from circle to circle, and the back part, where you sit, moves more freely, including by centripetal force, with a fun but not trivial “crack-the-whip” motion in your part of the ride vehicle.

The most similar ride at Disney World is the teacups of the Mad Tea Party at Magic Kingdom, but at Alien Swirling Saucers the “whip” creates more energy and kinetics, and there is, thank God, no means for your kids to speed the circular motion of the ride.

Like the rest of Toy Story Land, Alien Swirling Saucers takes on added charm at night—although perhaps not as much as does the rest of the land.

Overall, I’d rate as more fun than the teacups—but the ride’s extra energy and kinetics is perhaps why, unlike the teacups, it has a height restriction, 32 inches.

There are two sides to Alien Swirling Saucers, each with eleven vehicles. The vehicles can take three people, if two are little—you will more commonly see two riders, or perhaps a lonely blogger all by hisself. Kids younger than seven need an older person with them, and there’s no sitting on laps.

So with 22 vehicles and around two people in each, call the capacity about 44 folks. The entire ride cycle, when I timed it, was 3 minutes—90 seconds to unload and load, and 90 seconds for the ride itself. That makes for an hourly capacity of about 900 people. At least at open, many more than that wanted to ride it, so standby waits can get long.

Alien Swirling Saucers is one of three rides at the Studios in Tier One of FastPass+–meaning you can pre-book only one of the three.

There will be very, very few people for whom it is the best choice—from among the other two Tier Ones those up for a thrill should pick one of Slinky Dog Dash, and those looking for tamer fare should pick Toy Story Mania.

That said, I saw only smiles on this ride, especially from youngsters. (Above, by the way, is the worst photo I’ve posted on this site, which is saying a lot.  But I loved the smile on that youngster.) So it’s worth a bit of a wait.

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(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, see this.)

DINING AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

Note 8/4/2019: I am in the middle of updating this review to incorporate the changes at Coronado Springs that opened in July 2019. An overview of these changes is here, and a photo tour of a new room in the new Gran Destino tower is here.

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort has a wider range of dining options than any other Disney World moderate resort, with more to come in July 2019.

It has in its El Centro area two table service venues, a counter-service option, and a grab and go coffee shop.  It shares with Caribbean Beach the distinct position among the moderates of having hot food at the main pool and it has a more extensive room-service menu than any other moderate. There are also three bars, with more to come.

Coming in 2019 are two more venues–a rooftop restaurant and lounge on top of the 15 story tower that’s being built between El Centro and the Cabanas, and an over-the water bar and grill whose construction status as of late April 2018 is shown above.

In El Centro you’ll find a grab and go food shop…

…and El Mercado de Coronado, formerly Pepper Market, the “quick service” meal offering.

The food stations used to be overly complicated, but fresh and interesting, making Pepper Market then the best food court among the moderates, though admittedly convoluted.  Now El Mercado de Coronado is much more like any other Disney World food court, with a bit of an added garnish of southwestern offerings and flavors.

Checkout and payment used to have a mystifying multi-step approach that garnered the envy of former Warsaw Pact customer service staff, but now is utterly simple. El Mercado de Coronado is now comparable to other moderate quick service offerings, a loss on the food front but a gain on the service and simplicity dimension.

The El Mercado de Coronado menu is here.

There are two table service offerings at Coronado Springs.  Best known is the Maya Grill.

The Maya Grill review from The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2019:

The Maya Grill menu is here.

Also available is dining in Cafe Rix.

The main pool bar, Siestas Cantina, is unique among the moderates in offering a hot menu.

One of my lunches-Carnitas Tacos–from Siestas Cantina.

A perhaps more legible version of the menu is here.

On the lake side of El Centro, you’ll find the Laguna Bar–because of its setting, the best bar among the moderates.

Also here is lots of other outdoor seating.

Inside the main building you’ll find a third bar, the Rix Lounge.

Although the other moderates have caught up a lot the last few years, Coronado Springs still offers the best room service menu among them.

A larger version of the dinner side:

THE POOLS AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

This review continues here!

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

• Overview and summary review of Coronado Springs
• The theming and accommodations areas of Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a standard room at Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a Gran Destino Tower room at Coronado Springs
• Amenities at Coronado Springs
• Dining at Coronado Springs
• The pools at Coronado Springs

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

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UP: A Great Bird Adventure opened in Asia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on April 22, 2018, replacing Flights of Wonder, and I had the chance to see it a few days later.

UP: A Great Bird Adventure is essentially two bits shoved together: a bird show, not wildly dissimilar to Flights of Wonder, and some play and interactions among the host, cast members and avians of the bird show with Russell and Dug of UP.

There are some linkages among the bits, and an even deeper linkage between the new UP: A Great Bird Adventure and the revamped Pirates of the Caribbean (which I will write about soon) at the sublime chicken level, but not enough to make it a tight show or one with a high payoff for UP fans.

I saw it with friend and co-author Josh of easyWDW.com (Josh will likely have a review with MUCH better images posting soon). We both had some trepidation, as we each loved the old show Flights of Wonder and were concerned that the fun birds of that show would disappear into the IP of UP.

Not to worry—well, mostly not to worry. The bird show part of UP: A Great Bird Adventure remains delightful, and make up probably around 20 minutes of the 25 minute show.

A fun and interesting mix of birds—most, if not all, from the prior show—demonstrate a fun mix of looks and capabilities.

And there’s still some audience participation, both from the theater and on the stage.

Some more images of the show (I did not get a publishable shot of the chickens, even by my remarkably low standards, but hopefully Josh did):

The actual bird acts, I hear, vary a bit depending on which birds are ready for which parts of the show. Living beings aren’t as reliable as audio-animatronics.

The Russell and Dug interactions will be fun for fans of those characters, but create the potential for some missteps, as their lines are pre-recorded and if for some reason the relevant birds don’t hit their cues, the audio may mismatch the action.

UP: A Great Bird Adventure is showing in the same Caravan Theater space in Asia in which Flights of Wonder was set. The theater is not air-conditioned, but it is shaded. Show times may vary—for mid-July, it is currently scheduled five times over the course of the day at 10:30a, 12:00 noon, 1:30p, 3:30p and 5:00p.

When we arrived—about half an hour before the 3.30p show—the theater was already half full, but guests continued to be admitted until right before the 3.30p show. I would not bet on getting a seat that close to show time, but you probably don’t need to arrive up half an hour early, either.

UP: A Great Bird Adventure is not remotely so strong that you need to plan your day around it, but if you have any interest in animals or birds, or in Russell or Dug, it is worth your time.

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In mid-March the Spyglass Grill, a new counter-service option at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, opened in Trinidad South.

This is a bit of a big deal, for a couple of reasons:

• It’s the first real fruit of the massive re-do of Caribbean Beach that’s been underway for about a year (and is expected to be mostly complete at the end of this year, although the gondola will take longer)
• In particular, while limited, it’s the first permanent dining to open/re-open here, and is for some Caribbean Beach guests a welcome alternative to the temporary dining they can find elsewhere in the resort. The menu, while slight, has both routine and interesting options.
• Finally, it greatly lessens the extent to which the Trinidad South Pirate Room area is an awkward stepchild at Caribbean Beach. Yes, this area remains the only one at Caribbean Beach with full rather than queen beds, and yes it remains a bit of a hike from the main pool. But the new Spyglass Grill option greatly simplifies guests in this area  getting a quick bite for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Trinidad South will become even less of a stepchild after the Disney Skyliner gondola system opens in 2019, as the Skyliner’s Caribbean Beach station will be just across the bridge, south of Jamaica.

On the other hand, Skyglass Grill is small, has limited seating, and—that I could see—has limited protection against weather, particularly blowing rain.

It’s also distant from the rest of Caribbean Beach—other than a couple of accommodations buildings in Jamaica and Trinidad North, the offerings at Centertown/Old Port Royale will be more convenient to most not staying in Trinidad South.

I had the chance to try it out in my late April visit, and here’s the scoop.

The Spyglass Grill is located near the water by the pool in Trinidad South. Besides some indoor seating, there’s also outdoor seating between the pool and the bus stop, and also some picnic tables between buildings 35 and 36.

The grill itself has a drinks station (you can both use and pick up your refillable mug here)…

…ordering area…

…and a few tables, roofed over and with ceiling fans above, but no particular protection that I could see from weather that might be blowing outside.

The seating from another angle.

Behind the ordering station is a prep area, with another prep area back behind it.

After you order, you’ll get a pager—handy if you are in one of the outdoor seating areas or at the Trinidad South pool.

Reportedly open from 7a til 10p  (I’m not convinced it will stay open that late forever), the Spyglass Grill offers two menus, one for breakfast…

…and one for lunch and dinner.

Note the interesting mix at lunch and dinner of standard burgers and Caribbean tacos and Cuban sandwiches, and the breakfast options ranging from a scrambled egg platter to a pretty interesting looking “Cream Cheese and Guava Stuffed French Toast.”

I tried several of the more likely broadly appealing options, the bacon cheeseburger and the scrambled eggs platter.

The burger was fine, and I appreciated the onions and pickle on the side (it comes with lettuce and tomato) , as (not surprisingly) there’s no fixin’s bar, and your other options are limited to the usual mustard, ketchup, and mayo packets. It was also nice to get fruit that was not in a cup—fresher.

The scrambled eggs platter was even better. Oddly, the toast was the highlight. I am skeptical of overengineered breads, but the “yuca and sunflower multigrain toast” was nicely light, not wooden, and subtly flavored.

Varied and adventuresome Disney World menus have a way of getting dumbed down, so if you plan to patronize the Spyglass Grill, check the current menu here, and ask at check-in what the operating hours will be.

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(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, see this.)

Note 8/4/2019: I am in the middle of updating this review to incorporate the changes at Coronado Springs that opened in July 2019. An overview of these changes is here, and a photo tour of a new room in the new Gran Destino tower is here.

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort completed a room refurb project in the fall of 2018.

The main differences in the refurbed rooms:

• Double rather than single sinks
• More Disney theming
• The addition of an easy chair
• Wooden rather than carpeted floors
• Higher beds, with storage underneath
• Bigger TVs and many, many more power points
• More structured storage, especially in the old closet area
• Many rooms with showers instead of tub/shower combos, and where tub/shower combos still exist, the shower curtain is now sliding glass, rather than fabric

The rooms continue to be largely similar to those in the other Disney World moderate resorts, but with a few key differences related to the importance of the convention and meetings market at Coronado Springs–specifically, a desk instead of a table and two chairs, and a dresser optimized for two convention-goers.

As you enter the room, on one side you’ll find a pair of queen beds.

The bed side from the back.

A closer view of one of the queens.

Besides the lights over the beds you can see, there’s four of these pencil reading lights–one on each side of each bed.

As has become common in recent Disney World refurbs, the beds are a single mattress on a platform, and are about 30 inches high.

Open underneath, there’s now room for you to stick your luggage under the beds–there’s about 14.5 inches of clearance.

Between the two beds is a bedside table. Note the Three Caballeros-inspired art above.

There’s multiple power points on either side of this table…

…and a drawer, small but big enough for your important books.

Inside the table you’ll find a safe.

It’s as large a safe as I’ve seen in a Disney World room, likely so it can hold to hold the valuables of two conventioneers.

To give you a sense of its size, my book is six by nine inches.

The other side of the room is dominated by an easy chair and a long mini-fridge/desk/dresser combo.

This side of the room from the back.

The easy chair by the window is new in this refurb, replacing a couple of small ottomans, and makes the room more comfortable for conventioneers or families. Note more Three Caballeros art.

Next to it is the first part of the long object…

…with a glass-doored mini-fridge below…

…and a coffee service above.

Next is the desk area with a task lamp and set of power points.

Here you’ll also find the room service menu.

A larger version of the dinner side–still a little better than what you will find at the other moderates; note in particular the chef’s daily special.

Next is the dresser with a 54 inch TV above and another set of power points in between at the right.

The six drawers of the dresser will easily fit the two conventioneers or family of four that these rooms can hold.

The divided bath is in the back of the room, separated from it by a pair of sliding doors.

The sinks are just behind these doors. Note the makeup mirror, new with this refurb.

There’s an extensive set of toiletries, including sunburn relief gel, a shower cap, and a sewing kit–more than you’ll find at other moderates, or most deluxes–suited to the demands of business travelers.

There’s some storage below the sinks…

…and also at the back of the sink area.

The formerly open closet area is now enclosed.

Inside the closet you’ll find the iron and ironing board.

The rest of the bath is enclosed behind a pocket door.

It features either a shower, or (as I learned on Mario’s terrific Coronado Springs Facebook group–also see his site and forum), a shower/tub combo with sliding glass doors. If a tub is important to you, Mario says to request one.

Either way you’ll get a rainfall showerhead and in addition a hand-held head.

As is becoming common in hotels at Disney World and elsewhere, shampoo, conditioner and body wash is available in large wall-mounted bottles.

A motion-sensitive fan is in this part of the bath, and because it is loud and seems to never shut off, it may drive you mad until you realize that you can turn it off by tapping on the left-most of the three controls in this area.

In general this refurb is a positive step. Some will object to the lost carpet, and others to the shower or the glass doors in the tub. But the added sink, added easy chair, bigger TV, plethora of power points, re-structured closet, and other additions are all positives for both business and family visitors.  And the Three Caballeros art adds a bit of Disney theming to a space that in its prior life did not have any.

PHOTO TOUR OF A GRAN DESTINO TOWER STANDARD ROOM AT DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

This review continues here!

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S CORONADO SPRINGS RESORT

• Overview and summary review of Coronado Springs
• The theming and accommodations areas of Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a standard room at Coronado Springs
• A photo tour of a Gran Destino Tower room at Coronado Springs
• Amenities at Coronado Springs
• Dining at Coronado Springs
• The pools at Coronado Springs

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

I’ve just re-published a re-do of my review of the Treehouses at Saratoga Springs, based on my stay in one in January—our third in a Treehouse, and eighth at Saratoga Springs. The updated Treehouse review includes 50+ new images.

In total, the updated Treehouse review has four pages:

• A summary and overview 
• A photo tour of the living/dining/kitchen spaces in a Treehouse
• A photo tour of a Treehouse master bedroom and master bath
• A photo tour of the back bedrooms and second bath of a Treehouse

Treehouses are among the most distinctive offerings on property for larger families or two-family groups. They are the only spaces that sleep nine with three bedrooms at a price comparable to a Two Bedroom villa.

The third Treehouse bedroom, however, has two bunk beds that won’t fit anyone much over 5’ 4”.

The living-dining-kitchen area feels more spacious than the equivalent in most Two Bedroom Villas, and both the dining table and the living room area seat more than almost all other such villas.

However, these rooms are distant from the main amenities at Saratoga Springs, and have a separate bus line that goes to Saratoga Springs rather than the parks. So I’m not at all keen on them for first-timers, and would strongly advise that returning visitors have a car or two.

But if your party can fit the beds and deal with the inconveniences, they are a spacious, flexible, darling, secluded, and woodsy choice, much the favorite in my family. Sadly, we’ve outgrown the bunk beds, but I look forward to future family stays here with grandchildren (are you listening, Teddy and Alex???).

There’s only 60 of them, and they seem to be pretty popular. So if you want one, can fit, and plan to have wheels, book them well in advance. Kelly, the long-time travel agent partner of this site, can help you book your Disney World vacation at the Treehouses or anywhere else.  Contact her by using the form on this page.

The full updated review of the Treehouses begins here.

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